Just finished reading that. Stock is absolutely on fire. Extraordinary given Stock is relatively evenhanded in her approach to gender politics. She's not holding back here, but speaking truth to power and the emperor with no clothes.
Partly thanks to Knox and the high levels of literacy he encouraged in schoolchildren for Bible-reading purposes, Scottish culture has a long and justly famed tradition of valuing independent thinking. There is a rejection of closed hierarchies of power, and a habit of nose-thumbing authority figures. Outward appearances of prestige are supposed to mean little, and the lowliest and poorest member of society is thought equal to the most powerful and well-connected. “A man’s a man for a’ that,” Robert Burns famously told us. “Trans women are women,” piped the incongruent refrain from Sturgeon. To prove it, she put violent, unstable murderers and paedophiles into close living arrangements with impoverished, abused females. And then she left them to get on with it.
Meanwhile, a trans activist is arguing that trans people have the right to decide for themselves who they are in the eyes of the law. I assume this means one day they can be male and the next female (yes, this does happen), and the law has to bend to that.
Read the tweet in the context of Stock's piece. This is the power she is talking about that Sturgeon enabled. A closed loop between government funding a gender ideology lobby group to tell the government how to write trans identified law. Law that impacted on women and girls (and lesbians and gays, and actually everyone), but where women were excluded from that loop, not just by intentional omission as in NZ, but also by hate politics that Sturgeon no doubt has experienced herself but that she endorsed on her own female MPs.
tl;dr trans activists get to write law, women are ostracised, abused and bullied when they try and retain existing laws that protect women.
Canada fulling supporting the butchering of language as well.
Both uniformed and plainclothes police do regular welfare checks at Lemieux’s apartment after they recieved death threats, according to a law enforcement source.
Yes, once you add that (means what I say it means and not necessarily what I said yesterday) – "Gender Expression" – to the things you may not discriminate against, he can do what he likes at the school that employs him and nobody can do anything about it.
I read somewhere that some of the kids in school think he puts on a game to get fired or reprimanded so that he can sue for a pay out.
Considering that this is Canada where the only people still having rights are people such as this dude, and the fact that the school is bending over back wards to accomodate this person i can imagine that.
Thats right she was raised in Scotland but worked at a minor English university and is obsessed with womens 'safety' and uses the terminology of the segregationists and the anti Semites and maintaining ‘purity’ of womens spaces
"Six first-class counties are demanding urgent answers from the England and Wales Cricket Board as to why a middle-aged player who transitioned from a man to a woman is being allowed to compete against girls as young as 12".
It was not when I posted it. I got it from an archive post. And you can stuff your "rich and angry". A middle aged man identifying as a woman and playing cricket against young women and girls.
It's really annoying when people post inaccessible articles. Should be a rule about it in the policy.
Not up to me to find the free version, which indeed is the theft of property, by the way. I won’t read it because it is stolen.
Also, adults and kids aged 13 regularly play together in adult comps in NZ. Example, this happens in North Harbour hockey which has no youth grade so once kids leave Y8 there, they play in division hockey with adults who are very supportive.
We're a political blog. It doesn't make sense to cut ourselves off from a sizeably chunk of MSM, given how much is paywalled now. Interestingly the only MSM that I can't access via archive.is is NZ. Not sure what that is about. Press Reader is available for library members but it's clunky.
This is a very well constructed tweet that manages the paywall well,
Ianmac writes his opnion, asks a question, gives enough of a quote to work with without going overboad, and links for those that can access (who can then also quote other bits).
oh to be a lazy person. I don't subscribe to the Telegraph, but like many other outlets they let guests read a few stories per month for free. But here, let me help you as clearly you seem to have issues accessing free content on the internet.
From the link posted above these are the first three paragraphs.
Six first-class counties are demanding urgent answers from the England and Wales Cricket Board as to why a middle-aged player who transitioned from a man to a woman is being allowed to compete against girls as young as 12.
Telegraph Sport has seen multiple letters from coaches and parents whose daughters have faced the player, whose case has not previously appeared in the media, in club cricket matches. All express alarm at the safety implications of an adult carrying the residual physical advantages of male puberty playing in the same league as girls. One letter from a coach claims the player “hits the ball harder than any other I have seen in the league”.
It is understood that the player has previously caused injuries,although inadvertently, including one to an umpire and another to an opponent at county trials who was left unable to play for months. Some parents, disturbed at the significant inequalities of power between young girls and an adult who was born male, have threatened to remove their daughters from their league in response. One characterised the situation as “unacceptable, uncomfortable and dangerous”.
I removed the shit that has no importance by strike through.
A middle aged male plays with girls and women (the biological ones not the self id'd ones), managed to injure two people, one who took month to recover and return to play and people are somewhat reluctant to chant 'tranwoman are women' cause in reality all transwomen are men. You know that too.
But then dignity, safety and respect is for males, females needn't apply.
Can you believe the audacity of females demanding spaces away from males.
Don't these things know that when males declare themselves female in order to gain access to female spaces that females have to obey? What do these females think, that they live in a world were they have a right to dignity, safety and respect.
Arnold Rimmer has his "backing the rapists and murderers" moment and I'm surprised more hasn't been made if this dreadfully tasteless politicking while people suffer and lives have been lost:
ACT is criticising the government over its approach to Cyclone Gabrielle and has opposed the adjournment of Parliament, saying Labour "loves disaster politics".
I do fear this stain on humanity will achieve some sort of power at a point in the future. Particular worrying if paired with a weak coalition leader like Luxton.
So 2 to 3 degrees warming of the earth is probably myth making at this point. 2 to 3 degrees warming would be a total disaster, but no we let the fossil fuel companies and the worlds military run amuck, so we now looking down the barrel of a 10 degrees heat increase.
This means a few humans in Antarctica scratching out a living, if we are lucky. As things are going, we are totally screwed.
And there is the real kicker, as things are going. We are beyond reform, we need to act on the advise of the leading scientists and be radical now.
The worlds governments can't act in any other way except slow reform which will mean death, we have to act.
Start by pulling your money out of the banking and finance systems. These are the filth who are keeping this slow heat induced death going.
Thank you for the link to that March 2012 TED talk – are we paying attention now?
James Hansen speaks out about global climate change
This [energy] imbalance, if we want to stabilize climate, means that we must reduce CO2 from 391 ppm, parts per million, back to 350 ppm. That is the change needed to restore energy balance and prevent further warming.
…
The important point is that we will have started a process that is out of humanity’s control.
… So now you know what I know that is moving me to sound this alarm. Clearly, I haven’t gotten this message across. The science is clear. I need your help to communicate the gravity and the urgency of this situation and its solutions more effectively. We owe it to our children and grandchildren.
Thank you.
CO2 is now 417 ppm – we’re seemingly powerless to reverse this anthropogenic trend.
The global average carbon dioxide set a new record high in 2021: 414.72 parts per million.
As a result, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere in 2022 reached a record 417.2 parts per million (ppm) averaged over the year.
Civilisation continues to do a great job of hyper-energising spaceship Earth
An editor at new media start-up The Platform says she was yelled and sworn at by founder Sean Plunket, before he “punched a desk” standing just a metre in front of her.
But while Plunket largely accepts what he describes as “appalling” behaviour, he rejects a personal grievance claim lodged by digital engagement editor Ani O’Brien, who says she feels the workplace is too unsafe to return to and lacks sound dispute resolution processes.
Can anyone familiar with Hawkes Bay explain where all the silt came from?
In the bush when it floods, you get a lot of silt much of which then gets dumped in the bush, this is part of the fertility cycle. But this is an incredible amount of silt which makes me thinks there's been a lot of erosion in the top of the catchment in addition to what the the storm caused. And not enough trees.
Multiple occurrences like the Tarndale Slip. It's best of Gisborne, but the same geology occurs right down the East Coast. The whole place is quite soft rock and eroding rapidly so huge amounts of silt come down in the slightest flood. Makes for some of the best horticultural land in the country, but more arrives on each good flood.
Really the best land use for the eroding hill country is to get it back into permanent forest somehow. We tried with pines on runs that had been abandoned / bought out by Crown in 70's but somewhere along the the track someone thought there was a margin in harvesting the things. Then it rains and the hill and the remains of the forest was down and trash the plains, and everything between.
What's not semi abandoned and reverting to bush would be sheep or cattle country. The cattle might be making money, sheep probably not, both would really classify as lifestyle uses.
Hopefully a lot will be that munted that insurance will be a total loss, and Government buys / takes over the land and reverts it to bush. Been a few signals from ministers that land uses will change.
Of course there will be wails from farming groups that communities will be threatened and lifestyles destroyed, but really strong wool farming is a lifestyle occupation, most are loosing money and it can cost more to shear the sheep than the wool returns.
In the 70's I was an engineering cadet for the old Forest Service roading abandoned stations on the East Coast so the pines could be planted. One station had been abandoned, the owners had just walked off and left a lot of effects in the house we lived in. In a cupboard were 30 years of farm records, interesting reading, the place hadn't made a profit for most of that 30 years and just got further in debt. The neighbour said the owners lost the plot and disappeared.
that's sad. It says a lot about NZ that we leave family farming to the market to sort out.
We should be paying farmers to stay on the land and plant forests. Not plantations, but permanent forest. Could do agroforestry and food forestry in appropriate places as well.
I should go look it up, but from memory the Greens' original tree planting by the millions plan was geared towards this. Then NZF got hold of it and messed it up.
The culture of farming is to develop the land and make it more productive, so clear the bush, sow grass and run stock. To then turn around and let it go back to bush is totally counter to generations of financial and emotional investment.
Also the timeframes of farming are annual, season to season, whereas in forestry or regeneration the timeframes are often multi generational, or at least a generation. It's quite a mental leap to go from farming to forestry, the other way a lot easier.
Agriculture is very communal and co-operative, neighbours / communities co-operate together big tasks done and there can be very strong communities helping each other every year over many generations. The social, community and sporting institutions of agricultural districts all come from, and foster that co-operative society. They see their world very much from a 'we' perspective, but it's a quite exclusive 'we'.
When that annual seasonal interaction breaks down with the loss of agricultural activity the community starts to go to pieces.
Forestry has bigger, but less frequent tasks which are done by contractors, or large work gangs, much larger than shearing and there's no stock to move so the owners having little input.
The tree becomes an existential threat to the farmer's being.
Last year Brazilian presidential candidate, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—known to most as Lula—promised, during his campaign, to protect the Amazon rainforest. In his first month in office, Lula demonstrated that he intends to deliver on that promise.
According to an analysis of satellite data by Reuters, deforestation rates in Brazil fell by 61% in January compared to the year before.
Lula’s environmental protection policies will have global consequences. The Amazon rainforest stores an estimated 150 to 200 billion metric tons of carbon. To put that in context, all countries around the world emit about 35 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide every year.
A few weeks ago an invitation dropped into my email inbox to attend a joint Treasury/Motu seminar on recent, rather major, changes that had apparently been made to the discount rates used by The Treasury to evaluate proposals from government agencies. It was all news to me, but when ...
All your life is Time magazineI read it tooWhat does it mean?PressureI'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationaleBut here you are with your faithAnd your Peter Pan adviceYou have no scars on your faceAnd you cannot handle pressureSongwriter: Billy Joel.Christopher Luxon is under pressure from all sides. The reviews are ...
After seeing yet-more-months of political debate and policy decisions to ‘go for growth’ by pulling the same old cheap migration and cheap tourism levers without nearly-enough infrastructure, or any attempt to address the same old lack of globally conventional tax incentives for investment, I thought it would be worth issuing ...
The plans for the buildings that will replace the downtown carpark have been publicly notified giving us the first detailed glance at what is proposed for one of the biggest and best development sites in the city centre. The council agreed to sell the site to Precinct Properties for $122 ...
With the Reserve Bank expected today to return the Official Cash Rate to where it was in mid-2022 comes a measure of how much of a psychological impact the rate has. Federated Farmers has published its latest six-monthly farm confidence survey, which shows that profit expectations have fallen and risen ...
Kiwis Disallowed From Waiting Lists Based on Arbitrary MeasuresWellington hospital are now rejecting patients from specialist waiting lists due to BMI (body mass index).This article from Rachel Thomas for The Post says it all (emphasis mine):A group of Porirua GPs are sounding alarm bells after patients with body mass indexes ...
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide IMDB On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and ...
Wellington travellers say their buses are so hot they’re often forced to get off early and walk. Shanti Mathias explores the impact of non-functioning air conditioning on public transport. When Bella, a young professional living in Wellington, thinks about taking the bus, her first thought is “Ugh”. The bus might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Kroen, Research Fellow Planning and Transport, RMIT University The cleanup is underway in northern Queensland following the latest flooding catastrophe to hit the state. More than 7,000 insurance claims have already been lodged, most of them for inundated homes and other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Subha Parida, Lecturer in Property, University of South Australia Carl Oberg/Shutterstock Houses and fire do not mix. The firestorm which hit Los Angeles in January destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings and forced 130,000 people to evacuate. The 2019–20 Australian megafires destroyed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania Tasmania has been burning for more than two weeks, with no end in sight. Almost 100,000 hectares of bushland in the northwest has burned to date. This includes the Tarkine rainforest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Loosemore, Professor of Construction Management, University of Technology Sydney This week, the Productivity Commission released its much-awaited report into productivity growth in Australia’s housing construction sector. It wasn’t a glowing appraisal. The commission found physical productivity – the total number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago Royal spoonbills are among several new species that have crossed the Tasman and naturalised in New Zealand. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA When people arrived on the shores of Aotearoa ...
Stats NZ’s head is stepping down over the agency’s failure to safeguard census data, and more officials may soon be in the firing line, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. An ‘absolutely unacceptable’ failure Stats NZ chief ...
Health NZ is under greater government scrutiny, with the new health minister setting up a unit he says will "drive greater accountability and performance". ...
Manurewa Marae acknowledges should have done better at handling completed census forms, following an inquiry into steps government agencies took to protect data. ...
Police failed to protect people from protesters at a high-profile rally and made unlawful arrests at another, the Independent Police Conduct Authority says. ...
Comment: Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are making it easier for people to invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum without having to handle digital wallets or private keys. These allow investors to buy and sell cryptocurrency through their regular brokerage accounts.This has opened the door for billions of dollars ...
Two long-awaited reports into alleged personal data misuse, centred on census collection and Covid-19 vaccination efforts at Manurewa Marae, were released yesterday. Here’s what you need to know.“Very sobering reading” was how public service commissioner Sir Brian Roche described his organisation’s long-awaited report into the alleged misuse of census ...
Backbench MPs reached new levels of patsy questions in an extraordinarily dull question time on Tuesday. Echo Chamber is The Spinoff’s dispatch from the press gallery, recapping sessions in the House. Columns are written by politics reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith and Wellington editor Joel MacManus. “MPs ask questions to explore key issues ...
The New Zealand Government says the Cook Islands must share more information about the deals it has signed with China, following the release of an ‘action plan’ in the face of protests in the Pacific nation’s capital.The Cook Islands government has also revealed plans to spend $3 million on a ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 19 February appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Comment: The recent attack by Destiny Church front groups on a Drag science show at Te Atatū library crossed a line. This wasn’t the first time that Brian Tamaki, the multimillionaire self-appointed ‘apostle’, has ordered acts of aggression against the queer community. Last year, Drag Story Time events were targeted, ...
Martina Salmon is well versed in the fast-paced action on a netball court, but even she was caught by surprise with the speed at which her career changed tack last year.Staying in the fast lane is only part of her drive this season.Fresh off a nine-day camp in Sydney with ...
Last night I may as well have been in Taihape. Or, closer to home, for me at least, somewhere in the Wairarapa. Or Tūrangi, even – which is near where we used to spend the summer when I was a child. For there was that same gorgeous small town feeling ...
Having Auckland’s food scraps dumped onto your rural backyard sounds scandalous, but in the North Island town of Reporoa there’s no fuss about the thousands of tonnes carted here every week.From the same site as one truck drops the waste, another truck picks up fertiliser to spread on local sheep ...
Negotiating rights over freshwater in Treaty settlement negotiations could have extended negotiations a decade, a Ngāi Tahu leader says.Tribal leaders, and its umbrella body, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, have taken the Attorney-General to court in a bid to have the Crown recognise its rangatiratanga (chiefly authority) over wai māori ...
Analysis: Poor safeguarding of New Zealanders’ data could be a widespread practice within the public service and certainly within the health system, according to the findings of an independent inquiry into allegations of misused census and Covid-19 vaccination information.The Public Service Commission’s review, led by consultant Pania Gray and former ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Stone, Principal Research Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Having dense breasts is a clear risk factor for breast cancer. It can also make cancers hard to spot on mammograms. Yet you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The National Anti-Corruption Commission will finally investigate whether six people referred to it by the royal commission into Robodebt engaged in corrupt conduct. This follows an independent reconsideration by former High Court judge Geoffrey ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University Last week in Europe, the United States sent some very strong messages it is prepared to upend the established global order. US Vice President JD Vance warned a stunned Munich ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank cut official interest rates on Tuesday, the first decrease in four years, saying inflationary pressures are easing “a little more quickly than expected”. However, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Allan Fels, Professor Allan Fels, Professor of Law, Economics and Business at the University of Melbourne and Monash University., The University of Melbourne Australia is creeping towards adding a divestiture power to its Competition and Consumer Act. Under such a law, ...
Long term Republicans leaving the party.
Weekend reading
https://twitter.com/docstockk/status/1626481188742352896
You beat me to it Weka. Kathleen Stock was hounded out of her University position for daring to say that sex is real and has consequences for women.
Just finished reading that. Stock is absolutely on fire. Extraordinary given Stock is relatively evenhanded in her approach to gender politics. She's not holding back here, but speaking truth to power and the emperor with no clothes.
Meanwhile, a trans activist is arguing that trans people have the right to decide for themselves who they are in the eyes of the law. I assume this means one day they can be male and the next female (yes, this does happen), and the law has to bend to that.
Read the tweet in the context of Stock's piece. This is the power she is talking about that Sturgeon enabled. A closed loop between government funding a gender ideology lobby group to tell the government how to write trans identified law. Law that impacted on women and girls (and lesbians and gays, and actually everyone), but where women were excluded from that loop, not just by intentional omission as in NZ, but also by hate politics that Sturgeon no doubt has experienced herself but that she endorsed on her own female MPs.
tl;dr trans activists get to write law, women are ostracised, abused and bullied when they try and retain existing laws that protect women.
Always the question – is this a "piss take" or not?
https://nypost.com/2023/02/17/kayla-lemieux-ditches-her-z-size-breasts-outside-the-classroom/
lawsuit payout or AGP. Or both.
Canada fulling supporting the butchering of language as well.
Yes, once you add that (means what I say it means and not necessarily what I said yesterday) – "Gender Expression" – to the things you may not discriminate against, he can do what he likes at the school that employs him and nobody can do anything about it.
I read somewhere that some of the kids in school think he puts on a game to get fired or reprimanded so that he can sue for a pay out.
Considering that this is Canada where the only people still having rights are people such as this dude, and the fact that the school is bending over back wards to accomodate this person i can imagine that.
What Scottish university was Stock employed at ?
Thats right she was raised in Scotland but worked at a minor English university and is obsessed with womens 'safety' and uses the terminology of the segregationists and the anti Semites and maintaining ‘purity’ of womens spaces
Yeah – these spaces are important.
"Six first-class counties are demanding urgent answers from the England and Wales Cricket Board as to why a middle-aged player who transitioned from a man to a woman is being allowed to compete against girls as young as 12".
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2023/02/17/parents-demands-answers-ecb-trans-woman-competing-against-girls/
And you got done over here yesterday for your "transperbole".
[paywall free link added https://archive.is/jIQJz%5D
Impossible to know what you are talking about because it's behind a paywall.
To be a rich and angry Telegraph subscriber…
It was not when I posted it. I got it from an archive post. And you can stuff your "rich and angry". A middle aged man identifying as a woman and playing cricket against young women and girls.
Well, you posted a paywalled article and that's that. No-one can read it so your point, whatever it is, is lost.
you couldn't read it and now you can. You can also stop being a troll.
https://archive.is/jIQJz
It's really annoying when people post inaccessible articles. Should be a rule about it in the policy.
Not up to me to find the free version, which indeed is the theft of property, by the way. I won’t read it because it is stolen.
Also, adults and kids aged 13 regularly play together in adult comps in NZ. Example, this happens in North Harbour hockey which has no youth grade so once kids leave Y8 there, they play in division hockey with adults who are very supportive.
We're a political blog. It doesn't make sense to cut ourselves off from a sizeably chunk of MSM, given how much is paywalled now. Interestingly the only MSM that I can't access via archive.is is NZ. Not sure what that is about. Press Reader is available for library members but it's clunky.
This is a very well constructed tweet that manages the paywall well,
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17-02-2023/#comment-1935743
Ianmac writes his opnion, asks a question, gives enough of a quote to work with without going overboad, and links for those that can access (who can then also quote other bits).
oh to be a lazy person. I don't subscribe to the Telegraph, but like many other outlets they let guests read a few stories per month for free. But here, let me help you as clearly you seem to have issues accessing free content on the internet.
From the link posted above these are the first three paragraphs.
I removed the shit that has no importance by strike through.
A middle aged male plays with girls and women (the biological ones not the self id'd ones), managed to injure two people, one who took month to recover and return to play and people are somewhat reluctant to chant 'tranwoman are women' cause in reality all transwomen are men. You know that too.
But then dignity, safety and respect is for males, females needn't apply.
Not up to me to chase paywalled content.
Can you believe the audacity of females demanding spaces away from males.
Don't these things know that when males declare themselves female in order to gain access to female spaces that females have to obey? What do these females think, that they live in a world were they have a right to dignity, safety and respect.
Such silly things, females ey? You tell em.
the audacity of a woman in a minor English university having an opinion about women's rights! Or safety!!
Great three part blog article here about the self-supporting circular nature of funding and political influence and advocacy:
https://www.the11thhourblog.com/post/all-aboard-the-human-rights-campaign-and-the-making-of-transgender-industry-leaders-part-i
https://www.the11thhourblog.com/post/all-aboard-the-human-rights-campaign-and-the-making-of-transgender-industry-leaders-part-2
https://www.the11thhourblog.com/post/all-aboard-the-human-rights-campaign-and-the-making-of-transgender-industry-leaders-part-3
(Not paywalled for the copyright conscious,
)
Don't expect gold-plated Cyclone Gabrielle roading fixes – Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/484412/don-t-expect-gold-plated-cyclone-gabrielle-roading-fixes-te-tai-tokerau-mp-kelvin-davis
Good on Kelvin Davis for being realistic and not being afraid to say it.
Yes.
Engineers – "Give us a shedload of $$$$$ and we will build you a road here."
Mother Nature – "Hold my glass of organic dandelion wine".
Well fwiw, they are used to their single lane metal roads anyways. Can't expect better. That building back better is slogans only.
Arnold Rimmer has his "backing the rapists and murderers" moment and I'm surprised more hasn't been made if this dreadfully tasteless politicking while people suffer and lives have been lost:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/484228/act-criticises-cyclone-response-parliament-hiatus
I do fear this stain on humanity will achieve some sort of power at a point in the future. Particular worrying if paired with a weak coalition leader like Luxton.
I thought it was Rimmer playing disaster politics!!
Was browsing another forum and one of the resident nut jobs claimed, "Labour loves a good disaster".
He was rightly roundly and harshly criticised and I am left wondering why Seymour hasn't received the same backlash.
So 2 to 3 degrees warming of the earth is probably myth making at this point. 2 to 3 degrees warming would be a total disaster, but no we let the fossil fuel companies and the worlds military run amuck, so we now looking down the barrel of a 10 degrees heat increase.
This means a few humans in Antarctica scratching out a living, if we are lucky. As things are going, we are totally screwed.
And there is the real kicker, as things are going. We are beyond reform, we need to act on the advise of the leading scientists and be radical now.
The worlds governments can't act in any other way except slow reform which will mean death, we have to act.
Start by pulling your money out of the banking and finance systems. These are the filth who are keeping this slow heat induced death going.
https://www.marinebio.org/james-hansen-speaks-out-about-global-climate-change/
Thank you for the link to that March 2012 TED talk – are we paying attention now?
CO2 is now 417 ppm – we’re seemingly powerless to reverse this anthropogenic trend.
Civilisation continues to do a great job of hyper-energising spaceship Earth
Bugger, we've been outed.
https://twitter.com/LizerReal/status/1626257565528080384
incel virtue signalling
One right-wing crank to another:
Oh, for safe workplaces!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/employee-alleges-broadcaster-sean-plunket-yelled-at-her-punched-desk/FWES6UEFSVCELMXHOTUCCXYETY/
Can anyone familiar with Hawkes Bay explain where all the silt came from?
In the bush when it floods, you get a lot of silt much of which then gets dumped in the bush, this is part of the fertility cycle. But this is an incredible amount of silt which makes me thinks there's been a lot of erosion in the top of the catchment in addition to what the the storm caused. And not enough trees.
https://twitter.com/MichaelMorrah/status/1625771552196415489
It is the price of unregulated growth in unsuitable areas. Might get away with it for 10 years or 50, but not 100.
Multiple occurrences like the Tarndale Slip. It's best of Gisborne, but the same geology occurs right down the East Coast. The whole place is quite soft rock and eroding rapidly so huge amounts of silt come down in the slightest flood. Makes for some of the best horticultural land in the country, but more arrives on each good flood.
Really the best land use for the eroding hill country is to get it back into permanent forest somehow. We tried with pines on runs that had been abandoned / bought out by Crown in 70's but somewhere along the the track someone thought there was a margin in harvesting the things. Then it rains and the hill and the remains of the forest was down and trash the plains, and everything between.
impressive slip. Pine forest is also fire prone. Native and/or mix forest that doesn't burn is urgently needed in many places.
What are the hills used for currently? Sheep? Wine?
What's not semi abandoned and reverting to bush would be sheep or cattle country. The cattle might be making money, sheep probably not, both would really classify as lifestyle uses.
Hopefully a lot will be that munted that insurance will be a total loss, and Government buys / takes over the land and reverts it to bush. Been a few signals from ministers that land uses will change.
Of course there will be wails from farming groups that communities will be threatened and lifestyles destroyed, but really strong wool farming is a lifestyle occupation, most are loosing money and it can cost more to shear the sheep than the wool returns.
In the 70's I was an engineering cadet for the old Forest Service roading abandoned stations on the East Coast so the pines could be planted. One station had been abandoned, the owners had just walked off and left a lot of effects in the house we lived in. In a cupboard were 30 years of farm records, interesting reading, the place hadn't made a profit for most of that 30 years and just got further in debt. The neighbour said the owners lost the plot and disappeared.
that's sad. It says a lot about NZ that we leave family farming to the market to sort out.
We should be paying farmers to stay on the land and plant forests. Not plantations, but permanent forest. Could do agroforestry and food forestry in appropriate places as well.
I should go look it up, but from memory the Greens' original tree planting by the millions plan was geared towards this. Then NZF got hold of it and messed it up.
There's a cultural disconnect there.
The culture of farming is to develop the land and make it more productive, so clear the bush, sow grass and run stock. To then turn around and let it go back to bush is totally counter to generations of financial and emotional investment.
Also the timeframes of farming are annual, season to season, whereas in forestry or regeneration the timeframes are often multi generational, or at least a generation. It's quite a mental leap to go from farming to forestry, the other way a lot easier.
Agriculture is very communal and co-operative, neighbours / communities co-operate together big tasks done and there can be very strong communities helping each other every year over many generations. The social, community and sporting institutions of agricultural districts all come from, and foster that co-operative society. They see their world very much from a 'we' perspective, but it's a quite exclusive 'we'.
When that annual seasonal interaction breaks down with the loss of agricultural activity the community starts to go to pieces.
Forestry has bigger, but less frequent tasks which are done by contractors, or large work gangs, much larger than shearing and there's no stock to move so the owners having little input.
The tree becomes an existential threat to the farmer's being.
Sounds utopian I admit, but there are different cultures associated with trees.(Not just short rotation timber production)
A lot of us have connections to these European traditions
http://www.woodlanders.com/
Walking the talk.
Last year Brazilian presidential candidate, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—known to most as Lula—promised, during his campaign, to protect the Amazon rainforest. In his first month in office, Lula demonstrated that he intends to deliver on that promise.
According to an analysis of satellite data by Reuters, deforestation rates in Brazil fell by 61% in January compared to the year before.
Lula’s environmental protection policies will have global consequences. The Amazon rainforest stores an estimated 150 to 200 billion metric tons of carbon. To put that in context, all countries around the world emit about 35 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide every year.
https://www.distilled.earth/p/deforestation-in-brazil-falls-by
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/deforestation-brazils-amazon-falls-first-month-under-lula-2023-02-10/
Of ourse Rimmer will be vocal in his condemnation of these road blocks, too.
//
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/cyclone-gabrielle-police-urge-hawkes-bay-village-against-arming-forming-blockades-after-looting/5EFJ72XX2BFGRACWZL4JI2O2K4/