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Open mike 19/10/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, October 19th, 2019 - 86 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

86 comments on “Open mike 19/10/2019”

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  2. Andre 2
    19 October 2019 at 9:31 am

    Article 1 Section 9 Clause 8 of the US Constitution states:

    No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

    Article 2 Section 1 Clause 7 of the US Constitution states:

    The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

    One or both of these clauses gets violated every time any foreign delegation stays at a Trump Organisation property, or the Secret Service has to pay for the rooms their agents use when protecting the Prez when he goes to a Trump Organisation property.

    But the greatest grifter of them all isn't content with forcing the minor cognitive dissonance of ignoring or defending this level of corruption on his cultists. No sirree, he has to go for the big kahuna of using one of his properties to host the G-7 meeting, thereby forcing the US government and all participating foreign governments into massive tribute payments.

    https://www.vox.com/2019/10/17/20919414/trump-g7-doral-resort-2020-mulvaney

  3. OnceWasTim 3
    19 October 2019 at 10:59 am

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/116039166/prison-spying-scandal-drugs-the-unauthorised-operation-and-the-police-investigation

    I think what this shows, and all the other examples in recent times (whether NZTA, MSD cruelty, the T&C examples, MoBIE employees calling people "scum", etc., etc., etc.), is that if you give state agencies an opportunity, certain elements within will go rogue. EVEN IF they think its all with the best of intentions.

    Far worse now as parts of our public service operate as little feifdoms with KPIs et all to meet. Proper oversight and accountability is well overdue

    • greywarshark 3.1
      19 October 2019 at 11:38 am

      OwT    +100

      EVEN IF they think its all with the best of intentions.

      It's a return to the degrading attitudes of Victorian times and the rigid class distinctions and who is entitled to respect and who not, with punitive punishments meted out by the people in society who see themselves as domatrixes? over the lower class.  It's ugly and so are the thoughts behind the well-made up and expensively dressed group.    It actually becomes so embedded in society without it being noticed, examined and condemned that it becomes a caste system, with untouchables at the base of it.   

       

    • gsays 3.2
      19 October 2019 at 6:59 pm

      Unfortunately you can add the police and the military to that list.

  4. greywarshark 4
    19 October 2019 at 11:50 am

    Self-delusion is strong amongst UK Conservatives.  How do you diagnose the Madness of the Entitled deep into group-think?

    The Telegraph passed on this gem from Rees-Mogg (Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since 2019, Eton and Trinity Colleges), from a report by Asa Bennett,  Brexit Commissioning Editor.

    Meanwhile, don't miss Jacob Rees-Mogg's column, in which he urges his fellow MPs to pass the deal, adding: "It is a great injustice meted upon the British people by the political class that the joyful decision they took, born out of confidence and resolution, should have become so associated with stasis and stagnation."

  6. greywarshark 6
    19 October 2019 at 12:43 pm

    I think the time has come to stop taking the p out of Simon.   He will end up getting a sympathy vote for being mocked and picked-on.   The emotional responses of all our educated citizens are high, compared to the informed judicious approach when deciding on election choice.

  7. greywarshark 7
    19 October 2019 at 1:26 pm

    A large number of deaths of apparently healthy antelope.   Why?

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/25/mass-mortality-events-animal-conservation-climate-change   Feb 2018
    The scientists on the ground pinpointed blood poisoning as the cause, but were puzzled as to why whole herds were dying so quickly. After 32 postmortems, they concluded the culprit was the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, which they believe normally lives harmlessly in the tonsils of some, if not all, of the antelopes. In a research paper published in January in Science Advances, Kock and colleagues contrasted the 2015 MME with the two from the 1980s. They concluded that a rise in temperature to 37C and an increase in humidity above 80% in the previous few days had stimulated the bacteria to pass into the bloodstream where it caused haemorrhagic septicaemia, or blood poisoning.

    The weather link raises the spectre of climate change. Just as it is rarely wise to link a single extreme weather event – whether it’s the Australian heatwave, last summer’s Hurricane Harvey or this winter’s North American cold snap – to climate change, it is equally difficult to blame an MME on global warming. But what can be said with confidence is that the sorts of extreme weather events linked to MMEs – such as the temperature and humidity rise that nearly wiped out the saiga – will become more frequent.

    And more climate change problems for animals and us?

    Ticks.  2018

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/as-winters-warm-blood-sucking-ticks-drain-moose-dry/

    https://geographical.co.uk/nature/wildlife/item/3008-ghost-moose

    Caring idealists doing what they can to help themselves and species survive.
    https://www.dw.com/en/dying-fish-and-drying-rivers-consequences-of-europes-summer-heat-wave/a-45019500
    .

    Uncaring idealists who are too purist and sensitive for this world!   2017
    https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/nov/01/animal-rights-activists-inuit-clash-canada-indigenous-food-traditions

    • joe90 7.1
      19 October 2019 at 3:27 pm

      We're going to kill everything.

      More than half a century ago, conservationist Rachel Carson sounded an alarm about human impacts on the natural world with her book Silent Spring. Its title alluded to the loss of twittering birds from natural habitats because of indiscriminate pesticide use, and the treatise spawned the modern conservation movement. But new research published Thursday in Science shows bird populations have continued to plummet in the past five decades, dropping by nearly three billion across North America—an overall decline of 29 percent from 1970.

      https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/silent-skies-billions-of-north-american-birds-have-vanished/

      A new study suggests that 40 percent of insect species are in decline, a sobering finding that has jarred researchers worldwide.

      https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/02/why-insect-populations-are-plummeting-and-why-it-matters/

      • greywarshark 7.1.1
        19 October 2019 at 4:52 pm

        The answer is apparently for ths hoi polloi to elect someone like Harper in Canada 2014 who sacked 2000 scientists and encouraged destruction of archived records. and buffoon politicians with an air of confidence who lie about the conditions, and then there is no need to think.     I think this proves that democracy tends to fall into the hands of finaglers and connivers and people are lulled into thinking they don't need to participate in the running of their country and so democracy is never really tried, as has also been said of Christianity.

      • Pat 7.1.2
        19 October 2019 at 7:33 pm

        including ourselves

         

  8. greywarshark 8
    19 October 2019 at 1:30 pm

    https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2095707/great-tea-robbery-how-british-stole-chinas

    China has been 'got at' by the west.    This may be at the back of their minds as they organise their political blocs in the world.

    • amirite 9.1
      19 October 2019 at 3:30 pm

      Not a chance in Hell, unless Nats get back to power. They'd sell their mothers if it helps with funding tax cuts for the rich and moar roads.

      • The Chairman 9.1.1
        19 October 2019 at 3:59 pm

        Unfortunately, at some stage, National will get back into power.

        • Stuart Munro. 9.1.1.1
          19 October 2019 at 5:05 pm

          Hopefully they spend a bit of time in the wilderness first, meditating on their wretched failure to govern. 

          • Sabine 9.1.1.1.1
            19 October 2019 at 5:20 pm

            you have misunderstood conservative. 

            they don't give up on their plans.

            they don't worry about the time it takes

            and they can never failed, they can only ever befailed.  ( see republicans in the us, or tories in england, or cdu/csu germany etc etc etc ) 

             

            only liberals need to reflect, pontificate, meditate and be bipartisan. 🙂  And sadly more often then not they are. 

  10. The Chairman 10
    19 October 2019 at 3:32 pm

    What's the chance of Jami-Lee Ross winning Botany come next election?

    And if he did, what's the chance he'd help National over the line if need be?

    • Blazer 10.1
      19 October 2019 at 5:19 pm

      Ross has NO chance.The true blues in Botany are staunch to the Natz.JLR needs to be given a job.

      • The Chairman 10.1.1
        19 October 2019 at 5:46 pm

        The true blues in Botany are staunch to the Natz.

        Yes, but they can party vote National and also vote for JLR. Which may provide National with help getting over the line.

        • Blazer 10.1.1.1
          19 October 2019 at 7:05 pm

          Good thinking JLR is well disposed to the Natz=a match made in..heaven.

          • The Chairman 10.1.1.1.1
            20 October 2019 at 1:48 pm

            When it comes to National not having friends, could this be the "space" that Simon keeps telling us to watch for?

            • Incognito 10.1.1.1.1.1
              20 October 2019 at 2:08 pm

              Simon Luxon?

              • The Chairman …
                20 October 2019 at 3:03 pm

                Bridges.

                • Incognito …
                  20 October 2019 at 3:20 pm

                  Luxon

                  • The Chairman …
                    20 October 2019 at 3:28 pm

                    If National voters vote strategically, they can party vote National and for JLR as a potential to help National over the line. 

                    Luxon doesn't offer them that potential. And if he (Luxon) has a high listing, he'll get in regardless.

                    • Incognito …
                      20 October 2019 at 3:41 pm

                      I don’t smoke my own dope.

                      Hard to see Luxon getting a high (enough) placing on the List and not aiming for a win in his electorate (if he’s selected to stand). OTOH, he could stand and do a Goldsmith.

                  • The Chairman …
                    20 October 2019 at 5:05 pm

                    He (Luxon) may aim to win but ultimately that will come down to how strategically National voters in Botany decide to vote.

                    Considering his high profile, one would expect a safe listing.

                    • Incognito …
                      20 October 2019 at 7:43 pm

                      A high or high enough listing?

                      It would be cynical to parachute Luxon high into the party when he hasn’t done the hard yards yet and not proven himself. That said, he might get a high listing if he takes one for the team in Botany, i.e. do a Goldsmith. I can’t see it nor can I see JLR play along with it but in politics anything is possible.

                      How the voters vote will depend on the cues from the party (National) and the campaign.

  11. McFlock 11
    19 October 2019 at 4:19 pm

    Apparently, having to give up state-of-the-art bang-bangs makes some gun owners "feel like victims".

    Fair point, from one perspective. Fuckwits in the world are why we can't have a lot of nice or fun things. Skyrockets, for example.

    But I also have the impulse to say "awwww, having your toy taken away makes you feel like you were just going about your daily routine when some fuckwit put several high-velocity projectiles through your body? You poor dear."

  12. The Chairman 12
    19 October 2019 at 5:38 pm

    Phil Twyford on Q&A was pointing at targeted rates. Where private finance is brought in (such as infrastructure bonds) and paid back through targeted rates or a levy to be added on top of current rate bills. Shifting the debt off council books (helping to address their problem) but which Twyford admitted, will do nothing for ratepayer affordability.

    And of course, this will have a flow on effect. Putting further upward pressure on rents, thus putting further pressure on incomes. Which in turn, reduces spending elsewhere. 

    To better address households ability to pay, rates should be funded through income tax. Which is far more progressive, thus far better suited to address household affordability issues. As those that earn the most pay a larger share.

    What are your thoughts? 

     

    • Sabine 12.1
      19 October 2019 at 6:33 pm

       As those that earn the most pay a larger share.

       

      Yeah, Right. TUI!

       

       

      • The Chairman 12.1.1
        19 October 2019 at 6:40 pm

        Yeah, sure.

        Nevertheless, while income tax is not perfect, it's the most progressive from of taxation we have, thus the most suited to address household affordability issues. 

    • Descendant Of Smith 12.2
      19 October 2019 at 7:36 pm

      Central government needs to stop pushing stuff onto councils without thinking of the unintended consequences e.g. increasing immigration as a matter of government policy increases  the infrastructure requirements that councils have to meet but the government at the same time as pushing these costs up sides with the developers moaning about the cost of putting in such infrastructure.

      Or funding private landlords to buy rental properties through both tax incentives and rent subsidies while at the same time reducing state rentals (both proportionally to population and in some councils in actuality) putting undue pressure on council housing which receives zero central government support for housing.

      It was an original accord between councils and government that the state would pick up most of the need for state housing and councils some for the elderly and the disabled. Councils who have retained their housing (and thanks to the ones that have) should get a cash injection from  government to upgrade and replace their aging housing. This to compensate for the years of support private landlords have had.

    • Ad 12.3
      19 October 2019 at 7:56 pm

      Twyford's subtext for this "uplift" is the light rail deal, and how HLC uplifts development profit out of that deal. Although with TV3 selling out of their Eden Terrace property, there's scope for CRLL to buy it as it's an adjacent property and would then be able to be pulled into a wider redevelopment deal. More scope for betterment there.

      If he wants to fund rates through income tax, he should have a sit-downwith an actual tax policy specialist, such as Deb Russel who runs the Finance Committee. 

      Otherwise he should stop putting up tax policy balloons that have no support.

      • Incognito 12.3.1
        20 October 2019 at 2:40 pm

        I think it was The Chairman, not Phil Twyford, who is pushing for nation-wide income tax as mechanism to fund local projects and services at Council level.

        Unfortunately, The Chairman did not include a link in his comment @ 12, which would have been helpful.

        • The Chairman 12.3.1.1
          20 October 2019 at 3:03 pm

          Yes, that's correct re use of tax funding.

          And the reason I didn't provide a link is because I clearly stated it was on Q&A.

          [Whether it is “correct” use of tax funding is a matter of opinion.

          Without a link people have to do a search to find what you are referring to in order to verify your comment. How many times has Phil Twyford appeared on Q & A? This does not make for good debate and does not show good faith. It would take you a few seconds to find and post the link here so please correct your omission – Incognito]

    • Pat 12.4
      19 October 2019 at 8:10 pm

      The rates burden wont be solved by redesignating the collector …regardless the increasing costs will continue (unless you advocate further austerity) as it must occur for as the sum of infrastructure increases so does its maintenance…..such is growth

      • greywarshark 12.4.1
        19 October 2019 at 11:20 pm

        And there will be the, or should be, the extra personnel keeping an eye on infrastructure for cracks, bulges etc when the materials start breaking down or not performing as required.

      • The Chairman 12.4.2
        20 October 2019 at 1:43 pm

        Indeed, Pat.With growth comes cost. However, to improve the sustainability in meeting those costs, how rates are collected (or more precisely how the burden is shared) needs to change to a more progressive form.

        The Government can't expect people who are currently struggling to take on more costs without the wheels falling off. Which, of course, will result in wider, negative ramifications for the economy and society overall.  

        • Incognito 12.4.2.1
          20 October 2019 at 2:06 pm

          Sounds to me you’re conflating a number of things and pushing for some kind of privatising profits/benefits and socialising losses/costs (AKA externalising). Intuitively, the user-pays argument makes a lot of sense. You will have to argue hard to convince a wage earner in Invercargill to pay effectively income tax for a swimming pool in a suburb of Auckland.

          • The Chairman 12.4.2.1.1
            20 October 2019 at 2:55 pm

            Sounds to me you’re conflating a number of things and pushing for some kind of privatising profits/benefits and socialising losses/costs

            Not at all. I talking about peoples ability to pay ever increasing costs. Thus, the need to find a more sustainable source of funding.

            In this regard, all the Government has done thus far is to come up with a way (infrastructure bonds) to keep the cost off of councils books, while largely overlooking peoples ability to pay growing, ongoing costs moving forward. 

            And in the case of infrastructure bonds, one would assume the rate will be higher than the rate it currently costs the Government to borrow.

            As a funding source, the use of infrastructure bonds will privatize profits. The use of taxes won't.  

            As for a taxpayer in Invercargill paying for projects elsewhere, taxpayer funding already pays for spending elsewhere throughout the country. Therefore, in that context, what I'm suggesting wouldn't change a thing.

             

            • Incognito 12.4.2.1.1.1
              20 October 2019 at 3:19 pm

              Who’s currently paying for Council debt?

              How do Council progress projects and services if they cannot borrow more?

              Who will pay for those Infrastructure Bonds?

              Will these help to reduce Council debt?

              Please provide evidence that a portion of income tax paid by a wage earner in Invercargill goes towards local projects and services elsewhere in the country that are paid for by targeted rates. In any case, if your suggestion “wouldn’t change a thing” what nation-wide projects and services will receive less of the taxpayers’ dollar?

              Are you thinking of an extension of the Provincial Growth Fund for local Councils?

              • The Chairman …
                20 October 2019 at 4:48 pm

                Ratepayers largely fund council, thus their costs/debt.

                Moody's highlighted Auckland Council could suffer a future credit downgrade if it faces reduced support from the government to deliver its infrastructure program.

                Back in April, there was currently $1.2 billion of debt headroom against the internal debt-to-revenue ceiling of 265%. This headroom was projected to be fully utilised over the next couple of years. 

                The Auditor-General released a report in February which talked about the increasing pressures many of the country’s councils are facing as they tried to deal with increasing costs associated with infrastructure and growth in the face of growing debt levels.

                https://www.interest.co.nz/bonds/98926/auckland-councils-12-bln-debt-headroom-keeps-credit-rating-agency-happy-meantime-using

                Please provide evidence that a portion of income tax paid by a wage earner in Invercargill goes towards local projects and services elsewhere in the country that are paid for by targeted rates.

                I didn't state that. I said as for a taxpayer in Invercargill paying for projects elsewhere, taxpayer funding already pays for spending elsewhere throughout the country. So in that context, nothing would change.

                 In any case, if your suggestion “wouldn’t change a thing” what nation-wide projects and services will receive less of the taxpayers’ dollar?

                Again, you are changing the context. I was alluding to there being no change in the fact tax dollars obtained from one region is already being spent elsewhere. Some even goes offshore as in foreign aid.

                In the wider context, as for what nation-wide projects and services will receive less taxpayer funding as a result? That depends on whether or not the Government would opt for an additional infrastructure tax (largely targeted at high income earners, reducing downward in the income scale) opposed to cutting back tax spending elsewhere. Such as defense spending, offshore aid, etc… 

                Ultimately, I would like to see a total shift away from rates (which are less progressive and don't really take into account people’s income, thus people's ability to pay) moving to all council rates being funded directly via income taxes. Which, of course, does take into account people’s income hence ability to pay, thus is far more sustainable going forward. 

                Infrastructure bonds will help slow the build up of council debt, but they are not the only solution. Furthermore, they come at a far greater public cost.

                • Incognito …
                  21 October 2019 at 12:58 pm

                  I’m afraid you’re shifting the goalposts (context) and roping in all sorts of stuff that have nothing to do with the original discussion topic (hint: it was about what Phil Twyford said during an interview). In other words, you’re conflating a number of things, as I said previously. Please re-read your comment @12 that started this thread. If you want to discuss foreign aid or defense spending, which I know is one bee in your bonnet, and then start a new thread.

                  • The Chairman …
                    22 October 2019 at 12:25 pm

                    Foreign aid and defense spending were examples brought up due to your questioning. Nevertheless, as your questioning indicates, the two are interconnected – i.e. funding and expenditure.
                     

                    • Incognito …
                      22 October 2019 at 12:54 pm

                      Fascinating that you blame my questioning for you not staying on topic and bringing your hobbyhorses into the conversation. For your convenience, please let me remind you of the topic as started by you @ 12: (alternative) ways of funding/financing targeted rates and reasoning from a Council’s perspective as raised by Phil Twyford in his interview that you couldn’t link to (you got close, in the end). Even within your starting comment @ 12, you already went off track and avoided addressing Twyford’s points with your idiosyncratic way of criticising negatively. You claim to come here to build consensus, which IMHO relies on finding and acknowledging commonality. Your MO, OTOH, is to find and highlight distinction, separation, discord, and discontent, to name just a few, which usually are based on assumptions that you and only you seem to make and rarely based on hard facts.

              • The Chairman …
                22 October 2019 at 1:16 pm

                Talk about not staying on topic, I’m not the topic.

                The Government knows the high cost of housing is a problem which has wider, negative ramifications.Yet, they seem intent on adding to it.

                Addressing council's affordability via private sector investment will add to household costs (privatizing profits) while also encouraging councils to spend more (via removing current funding constraints) putting more affordability pressures on households.

                Can you not see the problems this is going to create going forward? 

                 

                • Incognito …
                  22 October 2019 at 1:50 pm

                  Nice try of deflecting that you cannot and did not stay on topic and only used Twyford’s interview to spew your usual concern about this country going to hell in a handbasket thanks to the Labour-led Government. Of course, Twyford is flavour target of the month.

                  Yes, living costs are (too) high and so are Council debts. Projects and services need to be delivered/executed in a timely fashion or costs will rise astronomically – do you follow the NZTA story at all?

                  Twyford was addressing a possible alternative for Councils to move forward and clear their debts, which are paid for by ratepayers who are likely to benefit, which is one argument for targeted rates, which happened to be one of Twyford’s talking points. You still haven’t given a single decent argument why a wage earner in Invercargill should pay income tax to pay for a local project or service in Auckland, for example, that is/should/could be funded by targeted rates. That argument will, of course, never eventuate because foreign aid and defense spending blablabla.

                  Could this create (unintended?) problems? Possibly, but neither your problems nor your ‘solutions’ seem to have been thought through for more than a fleeting moment; they just feel good to you so they/you must be right.

                  I’d never climb a mountain if I were you because the Labour Yetis will get you.

                  • The Chairman …
                    22 October 2019 at 2:20 pm

                    Twyford was addressing a possible alternative for Councils to move forward and clear their debts…

                    No. Twyford was addressing a possible alternative for Councils to overcome their debt constraints. An alternative that is likely to come in at a higher cost to households.
                     

                    You still haven’t given a single decent argument why a wage earner in Invercargill should pay income tax to pay for a local project or service in Auckland, for example, that is/should/could be funded by targeted rates. 

                    But I have. To better address household's affordability to pay, avoiding wider, negative ramifications for the economy and society overall. Was one. So can you explain why you don't see that as being a decent argument?

                    Helping to fund infrastructure throughout the nation is one of the reasons we pay tax. 

                    Unintended problems you say. More like foreseeable problems such as an exacerbation of many of our current problems. 

                    As for my proposal, it's open to suggestions of improvement or do you prefer to continue to dis me? 

  13. greywarshark 13
    19 October 2019 at 7:36 pm

    channel 3 for sale.

    The intention is for MediaWorks to sell the television side of the business while retaining ownership of radio and QMS. The Flower Street property will also be put up for sale with a lease back option for a buyer to continue to operate television from that location.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1910/S00422/mediaworks-to-pursue-a-sales-process-for-television-business.htm

    Wasn't Media works helped out with a lessening of its licence some years ago when there were money troubles?    If it is going to sell up, then we must put our hand out and recover that foregone money.

  14. Macro 14
    19 October 2019 at 10:37 pm

    But her emails!

    Investigation of Clinton emails ends, finding no 'deliberate mishandling'

    The state department has completed its years-long internal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of private email and found “no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information”.

    The investigation, launched more than three years ago, did find violations by 38 people, some of whom may face disciplinary action.

    Investigators determined that those 38 people were “culpable” in 91 cases of sending classified information that ended up in Clinton’s personal email, according to a letter sent to Republican senator Chuck Grassley this week and released on Friday. The 38 are current and former state department officials but were not identified.

    Can the Trumpkins and Alt Left Wing Trolls now please give this a rest.

  15. greywarshark 15
    19 October 2019 at 11:16 pm

    Brexit –

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/uk-brexit-showdown-latest-updates-191019080100527.html

    The speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, said he had selected for a vote a proposal to withhold support for Johnson's Brexit deal until formal ratification legislation has passed.

    The amendment was put forward by former Conservative MP Oliver Letwin and is backed by a cross-party alliance of opposition MPs. If it passes, it would force Johnson to request an extension to Brexit by the end of Saturday…

    Labour –

    Main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn told parliament Johnson's deal risks jobs, rights, the environment and health service.

    "This deal would be a disaster for working people," he said, adding it was "even worse" than the one it replaces, which was voted down three times.

    "Voting for a deal today won't end Brexit. It won't deliver certainty and the people should have the final say," Corbyn said.

    He had earlier reiterated that Labour MPs would vote against the revised withdrawal agreement in a post on Twitter.

    The BovverBoy –

    (Johnson is now casting himself as the clear decision maker turning the Brexit matter around after the unfortunate decision of the referendum.The fact that it was the Conservatives who held it, and then acted on it on a whim really (it appeared), does not enter into the situation.)

    They won't give up easily as getting out of Europe will mean changing laws in a swingeing way that give the workers standards  under EU rules.  Plus everything else and throwing away an Irish solution that resolved the deadly bombings and British shootings and prison sentences with excrement smearing and fasting and men desperate at the intransigence of Britain.  

    The Cons are so irresponsible and greedy, and Forage is a conniver, schemer and demagogue; a toxic mix.

  16. Eco maori 16
    21 October 2019 at 8:40 am

    Kia Ora Breakfast. 

    Kia Kaha to all the Teams who didn't make the semi finals at the Rugby World Cup. 
    Tui

     Still Lives Book by Maderlin all humans should be treated humanly by other people. 

    Ka kite Ano 

     

     

     

     

     

  17. Eco maori 17
    21 October 2019 at 8:50 am

    Te Tui is my favourite Titi

  18. Eco maori 18
    21 October 2019 at 2:23 pm

    Carbon is not only bad for Our environment is bad for one's health to. Let do the logical thing and drop carbon out of our society. 

    Scores more heart attacks and strokes on high pollution days, figures show

    Data reveals acute impact on people’s health and the strain it puts on emergency services

    Scores of children and adults are being rushed to hospital for emergency treatment on days of high pollution in cities across England, figures show.

    Each year emergency services see more than 120 additional cardiac arrests, more than 230 additional strokes and nearly 200 more people with asthma requiring hospital treatment on days of high pollution compared with the average on days of lower pollution

    Scores of children and adults are being rushed to hospital for emergency treatment on days of high pollution in cities across England, figures show.

    Each year emergency services see more than 120 additional cardiac arrests, more than 230 additional strokes and nearly 200 more people with asthma requiring hospital treatment on days of high pollution compared with the average on days of lower pollution.

    The data, to be published in full next month, shows the extra strain that poor air quality is putting on already stretched NHS emergency resources.

    Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, said: “These new figures show air pollution is now causing thousands of strokes, cardiac arrests and asthma attacks, so it’s clear that the climate emergency is in fact also a health emergency. Since these avoidable deaths are happening now, not in 2025 or 2050, together we need to act now

    Much of the recent research on air pollution has focused on the lifelong effects of chronic exposure, including cognitive decline, stunted growth in children and premature death. However, it can also bring on serious illness more immediately.

    Jenny Bates, an air pollution campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “Many people may not realise how dangerous air pollution at high levels can be, and that it can trigger heart attacks, strokes and asthma attacks as well as having long-term health effects. These figures will be a wake-up call for city leaders to take the strongest possible action.”

    Ka kite Ano link below. 

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/21/scores-more-heart-attacks-and-strokes-on-high-pollution-days-figures-show

  19. Eco maori 19
    21 October 2019 at 6:29 pm

    Kia Ora 1 News. 

    Japan can be proud of the way there Rugby team played and hold their heads up they have made vast improvement in their team and games. 

    The engineered stone used for kitchen bench tops cutting causeing lung damage is quite a bit of a hazard. 

     

    Ka kite Ano 

     

     

  20. Eco maori 20
    21 October 2019 at 6:47 pm

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News. 

    That's cool more putea for trade training for our youth I will be making sure my mokopuna get a good education. 

    Rudolph being treated badly is sad because he was different people can be cruel.

     

    We do need more Maori teachers in university but I say we are discriminated against I have seen the proof.

    Good on Te Tai tokarau for their WAKA build with the Tahitians. I want to see Ngāti Porou WAKA building revived. 

    Ka kite Ano 

     

  21. Eco maori 21
    22 October 2019 at 8:35 am

    Kia Ora Breakfast. 

    I tau toko tangata who champion mitigating Global Warming. 

    (Well Hello)

    Ka kite Ano 

  22. Eco maori 22
    22 October 2019 at 9:47 am

    Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute. 

     

  23. Eco maori 23
    22 October 2019 at 11:04 am

    The reason the system is failing comes down to that thing called Greed its greed for Putea its greed Mana. 

    The wealthy do want to ceed Mana to the many pohara tangata they don't want the pohara tangata to become food and energy independent as these 2 thing is what controls the World and control is power they don't want to leave carbon in the ground were mother earth put it because having everyone depending on their carbon is controlling the %99 they would even put humanity’s future in grave jeopardy because of their GREED The wealthy could easily set the pohara tangata up to become independent food and energy producers but that old human Sin stops them from doing the correct things in respecting others tangata happiness and well-being. We are all Tamariki of the Earth and we all deserve to share her bounty EQUALLY. 

     

    Failing' food system leaves millions of children malnourished or overweight

    Unicef report finds poorest children at greatest risk, while price of healthy food in rich nations drives food poverty

    In the UK, the situation is a growing crisis. Almost two million children in England live in food poverty and one in three are overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school, Unicef said.

    Globally almost 200 million children under five are malnourished, mostly due to poverty and deprivation, while 340 million suffer from hidden hunger in the form of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

    Poor children are carrying “the greatest burden of all forms of malnutrition”, the agency said, stressing that only one in five children aged six months to 23 months from the poorest families “is fed the minimum recommended diverse diet for healthy growth and brain development

    In south Asia 50% of children are undernourished or overweight. The malnutrition rate in east and southern Africa is 42%, and 39% in west and central Africa 

    Globally, 149 million children under five are stunted, meaning they have low height for their age, and almost 50 million are wasted, with low weight to height ratio

    “The number of stunted children has declined in all continents, except in Africa, while the number of overweight children has increased in all continents, including in Africa,” the report said.

    Obesity is rapidly rising among children and young people around the world, driving early outbreaks of type 2 diabetes. At least 40 million children over the age of five are overweight. From 2000–2016, the number of overweight children aged five to 19 has doubled from one in 10 to one in five.

    “Ten times more girls and 12 times more boys in this age group suffer from obesity today than in 1975,” the agency said.

    Poorer children in the UK are twice as likely to be obese compared with those from the wealthier backgrounds. So-called “food swamps” – areas abundant in high-calorie, low-nutrient, processed foods – are disproportionately concentrated in deprived areas. In England, less than one in five children aged five to 15 eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day and the poorest areas have five times more exposure to fast-food chains and corner shops

    The report also looks at how globalisation, urbanisation and the climate emergency are compounding unhealthy diets. Just 100 giant firms dominate 77% of global sales of processed food. “Climate shocks, loss of biodiversity and damage to water, air and soil are worsening the nutritional prospects of millions of children and young people, especially among the poor,” said the report.

    In Bangladesh alone, up to 19 million children are on the frontline of climate disasters

    Ka kite Ano link below. 

     

    https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/oct/15/failing-food-system-means-millions-of-children-are-malnourished-or-overweight-unicef

  24. Eco maori 24
    22 October 2019 at 12:48 pm

    Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute. 

     

  26. Eco maori 26
    22 October 2019 at 6:27 pm

    Kia Ora 1 News. 

    Hope that they can get the fire under control in Tamiki Makaru before to much damage is caused.

    That explaine the small swam today 

    There you go. 

    Congratulations to the left Canadian Prime Minister for his re election Kia Kaha 

    Ka kite Ano. 

     

  27. Eco maori 27
    22 October 2019 at 6:49 pm

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.

    Condolences to Tommy's Whanau for their loss. 

    Big fires at sky city convention centre. 

    That's awesome Te Japanese tangata whenua Te Ainu building their own style Marae 

    I Maori always get the short end of the stick. 

    I don't think that Kura should turn down our Government funding for free Kai for their tamariki. If you need a new kitchen then get the parents to build it there are many ways to solve a problem.

    I learnt never turn down koha putea or Kai

    Kia Kaha Albe.

    I tau toko Te Anglican Church. 

    Ka kite Ano. 

  28. Eco maori 28
    23 October 2019 at 8:19 am

    Kia Ora Breakfast. 

    Richard. 

     

    Isn't it deja vu Whutu paoro

    I can carry on with my project 

    Ka kite Ano 

     

  29. Eco maori 29
    23 October 2019 at 2:33 pm

    I was very sceptical with shonky trying to stay in the medias EYE. Here you go Whanau he want his cake and to be able to eat it too as the old saying goes. 

    He wants to line his pocket with billions and still having a political influence on Aotearoa IE Whanau he is cheating. 

    Why Is John Key Running Around Trying to Organise a New Political Party?

    National is panicking. They have started to realise that they need friends and they’ve also realised that the blue/green party is a stillborn nonsense.

    That probably explains why John Key has been tasked with gathering up support for a new political party and has been busily talking up such a prospect to senior and wealthy business people

    This is how it works. John Key gets an invite to dinner or a group to talk about whatever. Discussions inevitably steer towards the dreadful leadership of Simon Bridges and the need for a partner for National. At this point John Key suggests that the only viable option is for Judith Collins to go off and start her own party. Otherwise, he says they will have to deal with Winston Peters and he would rather see them booted from parliament than have to deal with him. He then says, that in his considered opinion, it is the only viable option. Those gullible business people, still thinking that John Key is the messiah then run around playing Chinese whispers and spreading the idea.

    Quite how he thinks he can go around making such pronouncements is beyond this writer’s comprehension, save the only reasonable assumption one could make and that is that he is doing this with the approval and blessing of Simon Bridges and his leadership team.

    However, it does expose Key somewhat as he retired from politics, got his knighthood, and a couple of cushy government appointments

    It is obvious that he is still playing politics, but that causes him problems with his board positions, particularly the position he holds at Air New Zealand. That is a government-appointed position, and he has meddled in the selection processes in attempting to anoint Christopher Luxon.

    John Key had his time in the sunlight, he got his knighthood, but failed in his other two goals of winning a fourth term and being the longest serving National PM. He should quietly bugger off and do his business thing and stop playing politics. He’s either in politics and out of business, or he’s in business and out of politics. He can’t do both. Not if he wants to keep his government board appointments.

    John Key has always had a desire to sit on the board of one of the big Chinese Banks, a desire he expressed often enough to his political colleagues.

    This is yet another dog that won’t hunt

    Ka kite Ano link below. 

     

    https://thebfd.co.nz/2019/10/why-is-john-key-running-around-trying-to-organise-a-new-political-party/

  30. Eco maori 30
    23 October 2019 at 3:06 pm

    Global Warming is here and now it's not a phenomenon of our future its is a phenomenon we have to minimise and mitigate NOW. 

    Melting glaciers reveal five new islands in the Arctic

    Russian navy discovers yet-to-be-named islands previously hidden under glaciers

    An expedition in August and September charted the islands, which have yet to be named and were previously hidden under glaciers, said the head of the northern fleet, Vice-Admiral Alexander Moiseyev

    Mainly this is of course caused by changes to the ice situation,” Moiseyev, who headed the expedition, said at a press conference in Moscow. “Before these were glaciers; we thought they were (part of) the main glacier.Melting, collapse and temperature changes led to these islands being uncovered.”

    Glacier loss in the Arctic in the period from 2015 to 2019 was more than in any other five-year period on record, a United Nations report on global warming said last month

    Ka kite Ano link below. 

     

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/22/melting-glaciers-reveal-five-new-islands-in-the-arctic

  31. Eco maori 31
    23 October 2019 at 6:31 pm

    Kia Ora 1 News. 

    A referendum would be OK. 

    I think that it would be sad if the aluminium smelter shut down with the cleaner aluminium that's produced by our Awa power. 

    Ka kite Ano. 

     

     

  32. Eco maori 32
    23 October 2019 at 6:52 pm

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News. 

    The building has heaps of carbon in it. 

    Every culture has to abide by the rules.

    Ka pai to Tangata Whenua getting a stronger voice in the Rotorua lakes councils kia kaha. 

    Awsome to see Te Carving Hinemateioro back in Turangi A Kiwa. 

    Its great to see Te reo being digitised that will make tangata learning Te reo easer to learn . 

    Jo Joe rabbit will be a good move to watch.

     Ka kite Ano. 

     

     

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  • NZDF sends more support to Australia
    The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is sending an Environmental Health Team, a Primary Health Care Team and a Chaplain to Australia, boosting New Zealand support for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as it battles bush fires in Victoria and New South Wales, Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. The ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand joins partners in calling for full investigation into air crash in Iran
    Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Rt Hon Winston Peters says that developments suggesting a surface-to-air missile is responsible for the downing of the Ukrainian International Airlines flight in Iran is disastrous news. “New Zealand offers its deepest sympathies to the families of the 176 victims. It is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Staying connected to Australian agriculture
    Agriculture Minister, Damien O’Connor, says the Ministry for Primary Industries is continuing to stay connected to federal authorities in Australia as devastating fires affect the country.  “The Ministry is using an existing trans-Tasman forum for discussions on the agricultural impact of the fires and the future recovery phase,” says Damien ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Investment in schools – a commitment to communities
    Thousands of school-age children, their teachers and wider communities are benefiting from the Government’s multi-million dollar investment upgrading and renewing schools, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “We want New Zealand to be the best place to be a child and that means learning in warm, comfortable and modern classrooms,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand Defence Force sends support to Australia
    Minister of Defence Ron Mark today announced New Zealand is sending three Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopters and crew, and two NZ Army Combat Engineer Sections as well as a command element to support the Australian Defence Force efforts in tackling the Australian fires.  The New Zealand Defence Force ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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