ship strike and coincidence stated in article but 'so long….' was first thought that sprang to mind ….some 'odd' shark behaviour been reported recently as well
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.
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
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.
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."
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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]
I guess we will never know what was fact and what was your opinion. So, sadly, this debate never got off the ground in a good way because of lack of appropriate sharing of information, IMHO.
Commenters here often link to stuff that’s behind paywalls and usually warn about it too. A small gesture goes a long way. In any case, linking gives others an opportunity to go to same source and make up their own minds. Subsequently, a debate might ensue and if new information needs to be included, a new link will appear in the discussion thread, et cetera. It is really that simple.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
Media works had their licence payments changed from paying them in advance to in arrears. So there are no foregone money, just the timing on when they pay and the govt received the income. it was made out to be a larger issue than what is was, but that is the game of politics 😉 https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10711051
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.
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.
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.”
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
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 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.
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
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A couple of days ago I attended (and spoke at) the University of Waikato’s “LearnFest” event. There were lots of talks and sessions on very diverse aspects of teaching, mostly at tertiary level. One was by Myra Williamson from Te Piringa Faculty of Law here at Waikato, on Contract Cheating ...
There will be a transit of Mercury – the planet Mercury will pass across the face of the Sun – taking place at sunrise in New Zealand on Tuesday, 12th November. It was by observing such an event 250 years ago that James Cook and his scientist colleagues were able ...
Since becoming the world’s first openly transexual mayor and member of parliament, Georgina Beyer has been recognised as a trailblazer for trans rights. Daphna Whitmore talks with her about where she sees the current trans movement We start out talking about legislation the government put on hold that would have ...
If FFNZ really put their faith in “Top Medical Journals” they would now be amending their billboards to recognise new research results. Image from FFNZ but updated to agree with the latest research. ...
National Messiah? Chris Luxon identifies himself as an evangelical Christian. If he is genuine in this self-characterisation, then he will take every opportunity his public office provides to proselytise on behalf of his faith. He will also feel obliged to bear witness against beliefs and practices he believes to be ...
I'm going to make a Reckless Prediction™ that the Tories have 'topped out' in the 'poll of polls' / Britain Elects multipoll tracker at about 38%, and in the next week we will start to see Labour creep up on them.In fact, we might just be seeing the start of ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Lizzie Marvelly: “I may have missed this… has @afterellen gone all terf-y? Or am I reading something incorrectly? “ https://twitter.com/LizzieMarvelly/status/1191840059105742849 After Ellen is a lesbian website that is unashamedly pro-lesbian, as you’d expect. So why is Ms Marvelly so bothered about lesbians having their ...
Did you know there once was a time when it was illegal to be a gypsy (aka Romani) in Britain?That was between 1530, when the Egyptians Act was passed, and 1856, when it was repealed.Amongst other things, the act forbade the entry of 'Egyptians' into England, ordered those already there ...
Some days I sit and think, “what will I write…?” What do you say when you get to 1000 posts? Maybe you just start where you are, diverge to where this all began, then offer a collection of reader’s favourite posts, and a few of your own? (And throw in ...
Counter-Puncher: The “activists” and “radicals” (his own words) from the Indian community who took such strong exception to Shane Jones’ remarks about Immigration NZ’s treatment of arranged marriages, may end up bitterly regretting their intervention. Jones is not the sort of person who turns the other cheek to his critics.SHANE ...
In the spirit of Remember, remember the fifth of November, let's keep this in mind FOREVER.
Oh dear. Extraordinary interview on PM with Andrew Bridgen and @EvanHD just now. Bridgen was defending Jacob Rees Mogg’s Grenfell comments. Evan asked him if JRM had meant to say he would have left ...
Collision Course? In conditions of ideological white-out, the international bankers’ “Woop-Woop! Pull Up!” warning may have come too late to save global capitalism.WHAT DOES IT MEAN when international bankers are more willing to embrace radical solutions than our politicians and their electors? At both the International Monetary Fund and the ...
Pertussis (whooping cough) is a conundrum. It is a disease that was described hundreds of years ago and the bacteria that causes it (Bordetella pertussis) isolated in 1906. We have had vaccines for about 80 years but this disease is defiant in the face of human immunity. I wanted to ...
The Zero Carbon Bill has just passed its third reading, uanimously. In the end, National supported it - but we all know they'll turn around and gut it the moment they regain power. Meanwhile, I guess ACT's David Seymour didn't even bother to show up. I am on record as ...
Dr Lindsay Robertson, Dr Jerram Bateman, Professor Janet HoekMembers of the public health community hold divergent views on how access to vaping products or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products should be arranged. Some believe ENDS should be as widely available as smoked tobacco and argue for liberal ...
When the Police were trying to cover up for the National Party over Dirty Politics, they went all-in with their abuses of power. They illegally search Nicky Hager's house, violating his journalistic privilege and invading his privacy. They unlawfully acquired Hager's bank records. They did the same to left-wing blogger ...
Last month, in response to a wave of protests by Extinction Rebellion, the British government purported to ban their protests from the whole of London. It was a significant interference with the freedoms of expression and assembly, and another sign of the country's decline into tyranny. But now, a court ...
Last year, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security reported on significant problems with the intelligence warrant system. While they were unwilling to declare any warrant "irregular" (meaning unlawful) due to the recent law change, they were also not willing to give the system a clean bill of health. Now, they've ...
The National Party has come out in support of encouraging greater vaccination uptake. But it sure isn’t the way I’d do it. National’s suggested docking the benefits of those on benefit whose kids aren’t keeping up with their vaccinations. Some in National have suggested extending that to payments under Working ...
Feeding The Flames: It is simply not enough to demand an end to “corruption”, or “inequality”, or the overbearing influence of the authorities in Beijing. These are just “lowest common denominator” demands: the sort of slogans that pull people onto the streets. They are not a plan.WHERE’S THE PLAN? Across ...
The labour market statistics have been released, and unemployment has risen to 4.2%. There are 115,000 unemployed - 11,000 fewer than when Labour took office. In that time the minimum wage has gone up by $2 an hour, which shows that the right's fears about increases causing unemployment are simply ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has called for submissions on Andrew Little's tyrannicalTerrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill. Normally I encourage participation in the democratic process. I am not doing so in this case. Instead, I encourage all of you to boycott this submissions process, and to post ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIf tiny concentrations of carbon dioxide can hold enough heat ...
Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and within it, one of the fastest sources is elite travel: billionaires flitting around the world in their private jets, spewing excessive pollution into the atmosphere just so they can avoid mixing with us dirty peasants. But in ...
That's what we face if we don't stop climate change, according to a warning from 11,000 scientists:The world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists. “We declare clearly and unequivocally ...
by Phil Duncan Here’s just a few of the kind of threats issued day in and day out against gender-critical women – feminists, marxists, etc – overwhelmingly by MEN (albeit men identifying as women). “Kill all Terfs”. “Shoot a Terf today”. “All terfs deserve to be shot in the head”. ...
This is the third of the synopses of parts of the opening chapter of John Smith’s Imperialism in the 21st Century (New York, Monthly Review Press, 2016). The synopsis and commentary below is written by Phil Duncan. Unlike the humble cup of coffee and t-shirt that we looked at in ...
Tom MooreTraditionally a food source and cutting tool, freshwater mussels/kākahi are now widely valued as water filters that help clean our waterbodies and maintain ecosystem health throughout Aotearoa. The improvement they provide in water quality can make it easier for other animals to live in streams and rivers, as ...
And to think he gave all the potential goodwill away with that moronic, cult-like statement (repeated ad nauseam by many National hardliners) that Key is quite simply “the greatest PM we ever had”…Installation complete: this was nothing ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is back in the House today for its second reading. While this isn't the final stage, its still effectively D-Day for the bill. Because today, at around 5pm, is when we're going to find out if it has a majority, whether National will support it or ...
Winston Peters is in court today, suing a bunch of former Minister and civil servants over their pre-election leak of his superannuation repayment. He's characterised the leak as malicious, and said that it is repugnant that his information was passed on to Ministers to use for political advantage. And he's ...
Murray CoxDo I have to finish my favourite genome? That’s an often-asked question. Geneticists generally strive to produce high-quality genomes that sequence every last gene, making full use of the state-of-the-art technologies coming on stream. Sequencing DNA means determining the order of the four chemical building blocks – called ...
Transformative Politics: The idea is to turn each recipient into an unwitting accomplice in their own transformation. From interested observer to hyped-up activist, sharing our messages promiscuously with ‘friends’. You’ll be part of an ever-expanding circulatory system, Jennifer, for the ideas that will win us the election.”JENNIFER SKITTERED her chair ...
The boycott is a fundamental tool of protest. By choosing who we buy from, we can send a message, and hopefully change corporate behaviour. Historically, boycotts have been effective, for example over apartheid in South Africa and Israel, in forcing divestment from Myanmar, and in ending bus segregation in the ...
Jan Rivers spoke at the Abortion Legislation Select Committee in favour of the bill, but in opposition to calls from other submitters to exchange the word ‘woman’ for ‘person’ throughout the bill. Jan is a supporter of the feminist group Speak Up For Women and has recently written an excellent ...
I checked my traffic stats:I was intrigued by 'monica29' - who was this very dedicated individual? I clicked on the link, to be greeted with ...Ho, hum.Spreadin' the word, spreadin' the word. Doesn't matter who hears it, as long as it gets out there. ...
There have been three polls since the election was announced, and I will shamelessly steal YouGov / UK Polling Report's Anthony Wells' summary of them:Survation – CON 34%, LAB 26%, LDEM 19%, BREX 12%, GRN 1% Ipsos MORI – CON 41%, LAB 24%, LDEM 20%, BREX 7%, GRN 3% YouGov ...
The following article is translated from Lutte Ouvrière, the weekly newspaper of the organisation usually known by the same name in France. When, for the second time this year, Chilean President Piñera announced an increase in the price of Metro tickets from 800 to 830 pesos, students in the high ...
Today, a worker contacted me asking if she could go to the police over her employer stealing thousands of dollars from her in unpaid wages. The employer also did not pay this worker’s taxes or student loan which amounts to tax fraud. As a workers rights activist, who founded the ...
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, They're Yours: Is there any person more vulnerable than a jilted lover on the rebound? Or, anything more certain than that the charmer, the predator, the glib spinner of lies and promises will seek such broken people out? Yes, of course, he will love every one of ...
Though Jonathan Romain is a fairly high profile Rabbi, writing in several papers and popping up on TV and the radio, this story doesn't seem to have made it to the Guardian yet, so I'll take the unusual step of linking the Stephen Pollard edited Jewish Chronicle:Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain ...
There's an election afoot, and that is when noted opinion formers such as myself get to make wild fools of ourselves by pretending we have the faintest idea what will happen.So, here is my absurdly optimistic prediction:Labour - 285Conservative - 262SNP - 53Lib Dems - 20PC - 5Ireland - 18 ...
Image Credit:Increase Social Media Traffic & Website Traffic I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your ...
Belinda CridgeI was reading my son a story last night. A great tale of derring-do of five mountaineers scaling the Matterhorn for the first time. One in the party had tried six times previously and failed, this was the last attempt before winter closed another season. They tried a ...
As introduced, the Zero Carbon Bill included an expansive secrecy clause, which would have covered virtually all decisions by the Climate Change Commission over our most important policy area. The Ministry for the Environment admitted this was a mistake (or as they put it, an "oversight"), and the select committee ...
Rachael Shaw, Victoria University of WellingtonWhen we think about animals storing food, the image that usually comes to mind is a squirrel busily hiding nuts for the winter. We don’t usually think of a small songbird taking down an enormous invertebrate, tearing it into pieces and hiding these titbits ...
. . NZ First’s success in putting the euthenasia bill to a public referenda may not be the victory they believe it to be. They may even have sounded the death-knell for a second Labour-NZ First-Green coalition. On 23 July this year, NZ First MP, Jenny Marcroft, submitted a Supplementary ...
Interesting contrasting pictures in the Guardian:Corbyn gets the classic positive shot - low angle and a clear background, making him look authoritative (of course, being Corbyn, he doesn't do authoritative very well).Where as Johnson gets pictured with children at some sort of mad-hatters' tea party:Begging the question, who is the ...
Paternalism is contentious. Arguments for state action to protect us from ourselves are fraught. I come down pretty heavily on the anti-paternalism side of the argument, but I’ve heard respectable defences of paternalism. But policy around vaccination is hardly paternalistic. There’s a clear market failure that could be pointed to ...
I’ve been reading Jules Verne’s novel Twenty thousand leagues under the sea, considered as one of the very earliest science fiction stories. In brief, Monsieur Aronnax and a couple of sidekicks are taken prisoner by Captain Nemo and his mysterious crew and treated to an underwater voyage around the world ...
The climate crisis is going to mean some pretty big changes in our country, both from its impacts and the policies required to address them. Most obviously, whole suburbs are going to be underwater by 2100, meaning people and businesses are going to have to relocate to higher ground. But ...
Yesterday a dairy company was fined $483,000 for repeatedly failing to report listeria in its facility. Its a serious fine for a serious crime: listeria is a serious disease, and they were effectively trying to kill people with it. But there's another story hidden in there, and its not a ...
Gay men see the excesses of trans activism and are increasingly speaking out. A new Facebook group addressing ‘gender identity’ and contemporary trans activism has been set up for gay men, by gay men. The following is the group’s Statement of Intent, Group Rules, and link to the group for ...
Criminal Enterprises: Gangs are not welfare institutions. Nor are they a substitute for the family their members never had. They are ruthless, violent, criminal money-making machines. That is all.OKAY, first-things-first. Gangs exist for one purpose – and only one. They are a sure-fired, time-tested institution for making crime pay – ...
Prof Nick Wilson, A/Prof George Thomson, A/Prof Simon Hales, Prof Michael BakerThe NZ Ministry for the Environment has produced a valuable discussion document with many good ideas for improving the health of waterways in New Zealand. But there are important gaps. In this blog we consider three big-ticket items ...
Finding reality needs more than wishful thinking. The problem is that statistical arguments often provide a jargon to confirm biases. Image credit:Accurate Thinking Versus Wishful Thinking in Gambling I worry at the way some ...
"Today we have made a choice that will leave a legacy... I hope that means that future generations will see that we, in New Zealand, were on the right side of history." - Jacinda Ardern, Third Reading of the Zero Carbon Bill ...
Darroch Ball, New Zealand First List MP A Member’s bill has been proposed that would provide income tax exemptions for all New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel while on operational deployment overseas. The Income Tax (Exemption for Salary or Wages of NZDF Members on Active Deployment) Amendment Bill proposed by New Zealand First ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have brought common sense to the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, which passed its final reading in Parliament today. Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters says months of hard work went into negotiating a balanced ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First has listened to calls to recognise paramedics as registered health professionals under the Health Practitioners’ Competence Assurance Act (the Act).Today, the Coalition Government announced plans for paramedics to be registered as health practitioners under the Act, and the establishment of a ...
We began the week by commemorating the New Zealand Wars and celebrating a major increase in the number of teachers. Then, we were busy supporting offenders into work and getting our rail back on track after years of underinvestment. And that's just the start! ...
In October I was sworn in as the Mayor of Lower Hutt.It’s the privilege of my life to serve Hutt people as their Mayor. There is something really special to be able to serve the community where I was raised, and where I live. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters met with Korea Racing Authority Chairperson Nak Soon Kim in Seoul today to discuss closer cooperation between the New Zealand and Korean horse racing industries. As part of the visit to the Seoul Racecourse, Mr Peters witnessed ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10 million to establish Otago as the centre of New Zealand’s creative digital industry over the next ten years, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “The initiative will bring us closer to the vision of ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)’s skills and employment programme will help young Otago people into long-term forestry careers, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. Te Ara Mahi will invest $63,000 in the 2020 school year to support eight 17 and 18 ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will support local plans to revitalise and stimulate economic development opportunities in Otago, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The four Regional Economic Development Ministers have approved an in-principle investment of $19.9 million towards the region’s ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is pleased to have received the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) report on the Coalition Government’s Mycoplasma bovis eradication efforts, which shows significant progress in the fight against the disease. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, says the report’s findings ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon David Parker, Minister for Trade and Export Growth The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing to support economic growth opportunities for Otago’s engineering and manufacturing sectors, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Trade and Export Minister David Parker announced today. Almost $20 million ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, discussed in Seoul today opportunities to work more closely in the Pacific and the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Mr Peters and Minister Kang confirmed New Zealand and the ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister for Māori Development The three marae in the historic Parihaka Pa complex in Taranaki have been upgraded to high speed broadband with the support of the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Connecting the ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence Minister of Defence Ron Mark will today launch the Advancing Pacific Partnerships 2019 Defence Assessment during a speech at Te Papa. The Assessment outlines how Defence will partner with our Pacific Island neighbours and invest in Pacific regional security architecture. The Plan aligns with the Coalition ...
A new Provincial Growth Fund investment could create about 80 new jobs in Gisborne over the next two years, turning a local small business into a “beacon of employment” in the process. Regional Economic Development Parliamentary Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau said the PGF’s Te Ara Mahi funding stream would provide $1.6m ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters will travel to the Republic of Korea and Japan next week. “The Republic of Korea and Japan are two of New Zealand’s closest partners in the region with whom we share common values and ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced today that New Zealand is leading a police support mission in Bougainville as the region prepares to vote in a non-binding referendum on its political future. “New Zealand has accepted an invitation ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is defending Immigration New Zealand (INZ) after it instructed officials to stop granting visas as an exception to instructions. He has also lashed out at immigrant leaders upset with the tightening of the rules, saying they had an “elevated sense of entitlement”. Members of ...
A change to the End of Life Choice Bill was passed in Parliament, meaning if politicians decide to vote for the law it must be approved by the public first. A binding referendum was a condition insisted on by New Zealand First, and Jenny Marcroft’s supplementary order paper (SOP) successfully ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), through its skills and employment programme,Te Ara Mahi, is investing a further $1.6m into Tairāwhiti’s workforce development, said Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. “This PGF funding follows on from significant PGF investment earlier this ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters says the Government’s steps to reduce farm livestock emissions are necessary and timely. Today the Government and farming leaders announced a plan to measure and price emissions at the farm level by 2025. “Many farmers ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters welcomes the tabling of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) 2019 Annual Report in Parliament today. He says the 2019 Annual Report marks the point when New Zealand’s racing industry’s decline was arrested and a turnaround started. RITA’s 2019 Annual Report recorded an industry net profit ...
The New Zealand Government is today sending 21 firefighters to help fight the ongoing catastrophic Australian bushfires. “The fires in Australia are in some of the toughest, most challenging conditions ever,” says Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin. “As of yesterday morning, there were 100 active bushfire-related incidents across Queensland and ...
More frontline support for schools through a new education agency, as part of a redesigned Ministry of Education More support for principals and school boards including through a new centre of leadership and local leadership advisor roles New independent disputes panels for parents and students Management of school property ...
The Government’s reform of the Tomorrow’s Schools system is a watershed moment in education and an opportunity to create meaningful change for ākonga Māori and their whānau, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis said today. “Last year through Kōrero Mātauranga | Education Conversation, Māori teachers, parents, ākonga, whānau, hapū and iwi ...
Infrastructure Minister is welcoming the first of many updated project pipelines from the newly established New Zealand Infrastructure Commission today. The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga, has released an expanded pipeline of major capital projects – another crucial step towards delivering better infrastructure outcomes. “The first iteration of the ...
Tougher gun laws designed to improve public safety through firearms prohibition orders are proposed in a new document released for public input. Police Minister Stuart Nash says firearms prohibition orders (FPOs) would give new powers to Police to ensure high-risk individuals come nowhere near firearms. “We have already prohibited the ...
Andy Coupe has been confirmed as TVNZ’s new Board Chair. “Mr Coupe has strong commercial and capital markets experience and TVNZ has benefited from his technical knowledge of business and finance, as well as his extensive governance experience,” the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Kris Faafoi said. Andy ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today officially opened a separated pathway, following the completion of the Kaiwharawhara Stream bridge, which will improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians along Hutt Road. The $6.8m Hutt Road project provides a separated path for cycling and pedestrians, the replacement of informal parking ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced the appointment of career diplomat Si’alei van Toor as New Zealand’s next Ambassador to Russia. “I’m pleased to appoint Ms van Toor to this position. She brings a wealth of experience to the role having previously served as Senior Trade Adviser to the ...
The Treasury’s 2019 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) will be released on Wednesday December 11, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Coalition Government will publish the 2020 Budget Policy Statement at the same time, outlining the priorities for Budget 2020. Further details on arrangements for the release will ...
A new initiative to better support small businesses through hands-on mentoring and advice has been launched by the Minister for Small Business. The first event in the Kiwi Business Boost series of regional workshops and online tools has been launched in Wairoa by Stuart Nash. “The Business Boost initiative combines ...
The latest Quarterly Connectivity Report shows that more and more New Zealanders are moving to Ultra-fast Broadband (UFB), with Rolleston having the highest uptake at 74 per cent, as at the end of September. “This means that nearly three quarters of Rolleston’s households and businesses have moved to ultra-fast services. ...
The passing of the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill will help ensure a safe planet for our kids and grandkids, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw said today. The landmark legislation which provides a framework to support New Zealanders to prepare for, and adapt to, the effects ...
The review of Oranga Tamariki practice around the planned uplift of a Hastings baby in May shows significant failings by the Ministry and that the planned and funded changes to shift from a child crisis service to a proper care and protection service need to be accelerated, Children’s Minister Tracey ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins has wished students the best of luck for this year’s NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams which start tomorrow. Around 140,000 students will have participated in 119 NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams by the end of the exam period on 3 December. “I want to ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced the appointment of Bede Corry as New Zealand’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. “The appointment of a senior diplomat to this important role underlines the significance New Zealand places on our relationship with the United Kingdom,” said Mr Peters. “The United ...
An innovative approach to boosting the number of frontline Police has seen 20 new officers graduate from one of the uncommon training wings in Auckland. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation of 20 constables today means that 1,765 new Police officers have been deployed since the coalition government took ...
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says the 1.2 million hours of community work completed by offenders in the last financial year has helped local communities right across the country. “Community work sentences are a great way for people to pay something positive back to society. There is a massive benefit to ...
"A pathway for Police in leadership with Iwi Māori, to achieve the aspirations of Māori whānau." Police launch of Te Huringa o Te Tai, Pipitea Marae, Thorndon Quay, Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou. Hello everyone, warm greetings to you all. ...
Working New Zealanders are getting more in their back pockets under the Coalition Government’s economic plan. Stats NZ data today shows average weekly ordinary time earnings are up by $83 since the Government took office. This shows that working New Zealanders are getting higher take-home pay, and that employers are ...
The Government is supporting schools to cut down their energy consumption and reduce environmental impacts, with a quarter of all schools having their lights replaced with LEDs, a sustainability contestable fund and a plan to improve the environmental sustainability of all schools in the future. Education Minister Chris Hipkins and ...
Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis heads to China on Friday to lead the New Zealand Government presence at the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism closing ceremony. The ceremony will take place at Canton Tower in Guangzhou on Sunday 10 November. “The Year of Tourism has been mutually beneficial for both New ...
Should we plan for drought or deluge and how is CO2 released from the ocean’s floor? Several climate change projects were given a boost in the latest Marsden Fund investment of $83.6 million, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods said today. “Climate change is long-term challenge that requires out-of-the-box ...
Leaders of 16 countries negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have announced the completion of negotiation on the text as well as agreement on virtually all market access issues between 15 countries. The leaders said they will work with India to resolve its outstanding concerns in a way that ...
Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare says World Tsunami Awareness Day today (5 November) is a chance for all New Zealanders to learn more about the tsunami risk in our regions and the right actions to take to stay safe. “All of New Zealand’s coastline is at risk of tsunami. ...
New Zealand’s more than 1000 paramedics are to have their role as key frontline health professionals formally recognised and regulated in the same way as doctors and nurses, Health Minister David Clark says. The Government has agreed to regulate paramedics under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003. “Paramedic leaders ...
Changes to insolvency law announced by the Government today will include requirements to honour up to 50 per cent of the value of gift cards or vouchers held by consumers, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi says. “When a business is insolvent, these consumers are often left out of ...
Six New Zealanders tonight received medals for their meritorious work in the frontline public service. The Public Service Medal, established by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is awarded annually. “For the second year this Government has recognised public servants who have made a real difference to the lives of New ...
Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker heads to Shanghai today for the China International Import Expo and meetings focused on reforming the WTO. Over 90 New Zealand companies will be exhibiting at the second China International Import Expo (CIIE), which runs from 5-10 November. “China is one of New Zealand’s ...
Drivers holding a current five-year learner or restricted car or motorbike licence, expiring between 1 December 2019 and 1 December 2021, will receive an automatic two-year extension, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Over 144,000 drivers’ time-limited licences are due to expire in the next two years; 67,000 ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker have announced the conclusion of negotiations to upgrade New Zealand’s existing free trade agreement with China. “This ensures our upgraded free trade agreement will remain the best that China has with any country,” Jacinda Ardern said. She ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau congratulates the Ten Kiwi organisations who have been recognised for their outstanding contribution to the wellbeing and the prosperity of their communities. Economic Development New Zealand (EDNZ), announced the awards at its annual conference in Blenheim last weekend. “A special congratulations to ...
Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa has welcomed the record high of 13,000 building and construction apprentices in active training with main provider the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO). “We are committed to reversing the long-term decline in trades training and it’s excellent to see more people ...
PHARMAC’s decision to fund a new leukaemia treatment means three new cancer medicines have now been funded so far this year, Health Minister David Clark says. From 1 December venetoclax (Venclexta) will be funded for people living with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Just last month funding was also confirmed for alectinib ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today formally gifted a white horse to Toshogu Shrine in Nikko, Japan in front of thousands of attendees at a ceremony conducted by Chief Priest Inaba. The horse named Kōmaru, which means ‘sheltered’ in Maori and ‘shining’ in Japanese, is a white 12-year-old purebred Andalusian ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has named diplomat Martin Harvey as New Zealand’s next High Commissioner to Canada. “Canada is one of New Zealand’s closest and longstanding international partners,” said Mr Peters. “Our close friendship is underpinned by our shared democratic values, history and our parliamentary traditions. As Commonwealth countries and ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi has today announced the appointment of Jane Wrightson as Retirement Commissioner. “Jane has strong leadership, management and governance skills which will help champion improved financial capability for all New Zealanders and provide advice on retirement income policy issues,” Kris Faafoi said. Jane Wrightson ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi announced a plan last night to cooperate more closely in the Pacific, as part of the strong and ambitious relationship between the two countries. “Japan is one of New Zealand’s most important partners and closest friends. My discussions with Minister ...
The Government’s plan to help older New Zealanders live well, Better Later Life – He Oranga Kaumātua 2019 to 2034, was launched by Seniors Minister Tracey Martin today. “Better Later Life takes a fresh look at what is required to ensure everyone gets the chance to live well as they ...
Trees can play a lead role in New Zealand’s transition to a low emissions economy, and this is reflected in a new request for research into innovative ways to use wood fibre, announced by Forestry Minister Shane Jones at the blessing of the new government forestry hub site in Rotorua ...
In the second part of a new event series looking at the future of Auckland, The Spinoff and Auckland Council host In My Backyard: Glen Innes, to ask what the suburb can teach the rest of the city about housing. Throughout its history, Glen Innes has had the highest density of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Badlan, Postdoctoral Researcher, Atmospheric Dynamics, UNSW As the east coast bushfire crisis unfolds, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Rural Fire Service operational officer Brett Taylor have each warned residents bushfires can create their own weather systems. This is not ...
Iran has announced the discovery of a new oilfield containing 53 billion barrels of crude. So what does that say about the NZ government’s move to be a world leader in shutting down the issue of new permits for oil and gas exploration – a move which Jacinda Ardern characterised ...
A wild, hilly spear, studded with brilliant beaches and thrilling bush, the Coromandel Peninsula is a magic geographical cul-de-sac. Here’s how to explore this stunning part of our backyard.If you’ve got friends or relatives visiting Aotearoa, top of their list should be sorting out their NZeTA (New Zealand Electronic Travel ...
12 November 2019 Water and infrastructure professionals from across the public and private sectors attended a panel discussion on 4 November, focused on the Government’s proposed water reforms and most particularly the potential impacts on our urban environments. ...
Fifteen years on, Sam Brooks looks at Gwen Stefani’s wet, weird, wild and wonderful debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.The first thing we hear on Love. Angel. Music. Baby. – No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani’s first album – is applause and cheering.Then a piano. Then Stefani warbling, sweetly, mournfully, almost ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Coral Gartner, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland More than 2,000 people in the United States have developed serious lung damage in a poisoning outbreak associated with the use of vaping devices this year. At least 39 people ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maggie Ivanova, Senior Lecturer, Drama, Creative and Performing Arts, Flinders University Review: The Dark Master and Totes Adorbs Hurricane, OzAsia Festival, Adelaide, 22 October – 8 November In theatre, the play text tends to drive the storytelling. The interpretation of this ...
Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee has made key amendments to the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill, giving borrowers more protection from harmful high cost consumer credit contracts. The changes indicate that the Select Committee ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janet Stanley, Associate professor/Principal Research Fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne Fires of unprecedented number and ferocity are today raging in New South Wales and Queensland. Residents in some regions woke to news that the fire danger was “catastrophic”. Rural ...
The government’s reform of 1989’s Tomorrow’s Schools legislation has been announced today, and it’s promising changes for students, teachers, principals and boards.What is “Tomorrow’s Schools”?In 1989, the government introduced the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms, which meant all schools became much more independent, giving Boards power over almost all school ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) is urging politicians to heed evidence from respected international experts on why a proposed firearms registry in New Zealand is doomed to fail. ...
Go Bus drivers in Auckland will be taking full strike action from tomorrow as relations reach a new low with their employer following a week where the company has cancelled regular wage bargaining, arbitrarily suspended union-affiliated drivers, rejected ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Peterson, Associate Professor, Flinders University Review: OzAsia Festival, Adelaide, 22 October – 8 November The most exciting work at OzAsia cuts across genres, styles, and cultures to create something distinctive and new: a work of art that could not exist without ...
Large and small scale and Māori foresters say the 50 Shades of Green march on parliament on Thursday (eds 14 November) highlights deliberately created confusion about the true nature and recent scope of forestry expansion. ...
Where do we watch content, what do we want from it, and how do we view New Zealand news? Here’s what we learned from NZ On Air’s latest survey on identity, culture and the media. We still like to watch free-to-view TVDespite the lingering doom and gloom around linear television, almost ...
The candidates to tackle Donald Trump are very keen on the New Zealand prime minister.It could be because Vogue called her “the anti-Trump”. It could be the desperate shortage of tolerable left-leaning leaders in the Anglosphere. Or it could be because everyone knows it’s illegal to be mean about people ...
Responding to the launch of Massey University's new policy and code regarding free speech and external speaker, Free Speech Coalition spokesman Dr David Cumin says: ...
The Government is creating a new division of the Education Ministry in an overhaul that will strip schools of the right to manage their enrolment zones and their property. ...
Making Northport Auckland’s main port will require massive investment in rail and road and will increase carbon emissions and the cost of goods says National Road Carriers Association CEO David Aitken. ...
Tuesday, November 12: After months of mounting pressure, the Environmental Protection Authority has now publicly released oil giant OMV’s application to drill a high risk oil well off the Otago Coast. ...
Simon Day eats a burger and considers becoming a vegetarian (again). For two years in my 20s, I was vegetarian. It was a choice based on the idea that it’s a much more efficient and much less environmentally invasive way to feed the world. I used to habitually roll out a ...
Ahead of TVNZ1’s new wildlife documentary Serengeti, Tara Ward presents the best animals that make up the juiciest drama on the plains.If you love nature docos filled with argy-bargy and love triangles, jealous siblings and power struggles, then TVNZ’s new wildlife documentary series Serengeti is a dream come true. The ...
The Panama Papers exposed a world in which the uber-rich and powerful were able to hide unimaginable wealth. The reporters who broke the story describe how they did it.“When it takes a whistleblower to sound the alarm… it signals that democracy’s checks and balances have all failed.”The final words in ...
Family First New Zealand has proposed a number of bills to the government regarding the access to pornography in both public places, including schools and the work place. “There has been an important national conversation around consent and ‘rape culture’. ...
Vernon Tava, the leader of the Sustainable NZ party, used to be part of the Greens. So how did he fit in there? Former MP Catherine Delahunty shares her impressions of him from then, and analyses where his new party will fit in.I first met Vernon Tava when he joined ...
A Parliamentary Petition has been issued, calling for the regulation of sunscreens in New Zealand as well as funding of effective sunscreens for low income and high risk populations. ...
It’s been a rough year for unit-holders in Fonterra Shareholders Fund, with the unit price slumping from $5.12 to its lowest point ever at $3.15. Chairman John Shewan didn’t mince words when he told the Fund’s annual meeting this week Fonterra’s financial performance had been “very poor” in 2019. Not ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Zero Carbon Bill, climate change Henry Cooke (Stuff): NZ First kept methane target from exiting ...
At 5:00pm on 22 November 2019, the period closes for public submissions regarding the changes BSA is proposing to the Election Programmes Code of Broadcasting Practice (Election Programmes Code). ...
Rachel Boyack was confirmed as the Labour Party candidate for Nelson for the 2020 General Election at a meeting of Party members held in Nelson tonight ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is bland and ineffective. Don’t fall for the spin, argues Steve Abel of Greenpeace. It was hard to not be buoyed by our House of Representatives, seemingly aligned in their commitment to climate action, at last week’s passing of the Zero Carbon Act. Bold expositions of pride ...
A new nationwide Curia Market Research poll shows the vast majority of New Zealanders are confused about what the End of Life Choice Bill aims to legalise. ...
The Prime Minster is defending her proposed firearms protection orders which has received mixed reactions in parliament; and attempted suicide in police custody has risen by almost 400 percent in four years. ...
A Helen Clark Foundation project to reduce online harm will be presented today in competition at the Paris Peace Forum. 'The Christchurch Principles' full report is available for download here . The Forum is a prestigious international event, initiated ...
Construction of more than 500 houses for New Zealand’s most needy families has been put on hold during a housing crisis because of a controversial policy change. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Sinclair, Research Fellow, NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University Endometriosis is a chronic, inflammatory condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus is found outside of the womb. It affects around one in ten women of reproductive age, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Fisher, Professor of Cattle & Sheep Production Medicine, University of Melbourne The plight of Australia’s dairy farmers is on the political agenda this week, after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson narrowly failed in her Senate bid for a minimum milk price. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katina Zammit, Deputy Dean, School of Education, Western Sydney University When I was younger I decided to learn Greek. I learnt the letter-sound correspondences and could say the words – the sounds, that is. But although I could and still can decode ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pamela Snow, Professor and Head, Rural Health School, La Trobe University Being able to read means being able to make meaning from printed words. At a functional level, we read to get the message – such as how many times per day ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thijs Dhollander, Post-doctoral neuroscientist, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health While looking at the MRI brain scan of a 29-year-old woman that had been taken for a different study, researchers in Israel recently stumbled upon a scientific mystery. The woman appears ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Holland, Senior Lecturer in Australian History, Macquarie University When the minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, recently announced a co-design process for creating an Indigenous “voice to government”, it was characterised as a shift in rhetoric. Yet, on closer inspection, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Zadro, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Sydney Patients might not be getting the best advice about which treatments do or don’t work, according to our study published today. We found professional societies are more likely to call out other health professionals ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Abou-Nemeh, Lecturer in Early Modern History, Victoria University of Wellington This week New Zealand’s parliamentarians will vote on the third reading of the End of Life Choice Bill. Much public discussion on the merits of euthanasia has centred around the role ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cris Brack, Associate Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University Trees die. You don’t have to like it, but they do. And this comes as a surprise to some. A senior public servant once told one of us (Brack): ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elaine Stratford, Professor, University of Tasmania In this series, we look at under-acknowledged women through the ages. We are all touched by relationships with animals — as domestic and working companions, wild inspirations, threats, or pests. Some of us may know about ...
The government's firearms prohibition order proposal - to keep high-risk individuals away from firearms - is being met with both approval and alarm bells. ...
The government's firearms prohibition order proposal - to keep high-risk individuals away from firearms - is being met with both approval and alarm bells. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Armed police arrest raises alarm, report makes strong call for Auckland port to go north, and a battle is going on among Fonterra shareholders.Serious concerns have been raised about the trial of armed police officers, after a team arrested an ...
Some observers have been thinking that the forthcoming British election on 12 December would be about a lot more than just Brexit. Some of the issues polling supports this view. And the party leaders have certainly been leading off with their plans for the radiant future. And yet – new ...
A little-known hormone-related condition affecting up to 8 percent of people with periods is sometimes mistaken for bipolar disorder and incorrectly treated. ...
The unusual case of Winston Peters vs the Crown took a new twist yesterday with revelations the deputy PM and head of the civil service have not talked since the Government was formed. ...
Dr Samantha Marsh explains why we need to be wary of drawing definitive conclusions from single studies on social media that appear to ‘let us off the hook’. ...
Tech sector giants have a vested interest in prioritising freedom of expression, often at the expense of other rights. A new project to reduce harmful online content, presented yesterday to the Paris Peace Forum, aims to change that. One of the architects of the Christchurch Principles, Dr David Hall, explains. What ...
As parliament voted all but unanimously to pass the Zero Carbon Bill into law last week, climate change minister James Shaw credited Generation Zero for its very existence. Here, Jenny Coatham explains how the youth-led climate action group pulled off such a monumental task. Our generation has been described as having ...
Open mike 19/10/2019 
The Referendums Framework Bill was due back from select committee today. But there's no report on it. Instead, the bill has been bounced back to the House under Standing order 29593) because the Committee didn't bother to produce one. They probably tried. But given the membership of the committee (which ...5 hours ago
Two years into New Zealand’s Labour-led government, the long-delayed Zero Carbon Bill became law on 7 November. Passed essentially unanimously, the lengthy public debates and political manoeuvring faded away until the final passage was even anticlimactic: Flipping through the @nzstuff @DomPost I was starting to wonder if I’d dreamt ...5 hours ago
Distract And Divert: The rise of what we have come to call “Identity Politics” represents the ideological manifestation of the ruling class’s objective need to destroy class politics, and of the middle-class’s subjective need to justify their participation in the process.THE RELIEF of the ruling class can only be imagined. ...11 hours ago
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Since becoming the world’s first openly transexual mayor and member of parliament, Georgina Beyer has been recognised as a trailblazer for trans rights. Daphna Whitmore talks with her about where she sees the current trans movement We start out talking about legislation the government put on hold that would have ...2 days ago
If FFNZ really put their faith in “Top Medical Journals” they would now be amending their billboards to recognise new research results. Image from FFNZ but updated to agree with the latest research. ... 2 days ago
by Phil Duncan Here’s just a few of the kind of threats issued day in and day out against gender-critical women – feminists, marxists, etc – overwhelmingly by MEN (albeit men identifying as women). “Kill all Terfs”. “Shoot a Terf today”. “All terfs deserve to be shot in the head”. ...7 days ago
And to think he gave all the potential goodwill away with that moronic, cult-like statement (repeated ad nauseam by many National hardliners) that Key is quite simply “the greatest PM we ever had”…
Installation complete: this was nothing ... 1 week ago
Today, a worker contacted me asking if she could go to the police over her employer stealing thousands of dollars from her in unpaid wages. The employer also did not pay this worker’s taxes or student loan which amounts to tax fraud. As a workers rights activist, who founded the ...1 week ago
Image Credit: Increase Social Media Traffic & Website Traffic I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your ... 2 weeks ago
. . NZ First’s success in putting the euthenasia bill to a public referenda may not be the victory they believe it to be. They may even have sounded the death-knell for a second Labour-NZ First-Green coalition. On 23 July this year, NZ First MP, Jenny Marcroft, submitted a Supplementary ...2 weeks ago
Finding reality needs more than wishful thinking. The problem is that statistical arguments often provide a jargon to confirm biases. Image credit: Accurate Thinking Versus Wishful Thinking in Gambling I worry at the way some ... 2 weeks ago
"Today we have made a choice that will leave a legacy... I hope that means that future generations will see that we, in New Zealand, were on the right side of history." - Jacinda Ardern, Third Reading of the Zero Carbon Bill ...4 days ago
Darroch Ball, New Zealand First List MP A Member’s bill has been proposed that would provide income tax exemptions for all New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel while on operational deployment overseas. The Income Tax (Exemption for Salary or Wages of NZDF Members on Active Deployment) Amendment Bill proposed by New Zealand First ...4 days ago
Racing Minister Winston Peters welcomes the tabling of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) 2019 Annual Report in Parliament today. He says the 2019 Annual Report marks the point when New Zealand’s racing industry’s decline was arrested and a turnaround started. RITA’s 2019 Annual Report recorded an industry net profit ...4 hours ago
It's being labelled a backdown but a closer look shows the principles of the Govt's education overhaul remain. ...1 hour ago
Word out of MediaWorks is that there is more interest in buying the company’s loss-making TV arm than expected - maybe as many as five. ...1 hour ago
In the second part of a new event series looking at the future of Auckland, The Spinoff and Auckland Council host In My Backyard: Glen Innes, to ask what the suburb can teach the rest of the city about housing. Throughout its history, Glen Innes has had the highest density of ...1 hour ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Badlan, Postdoctoral Researcher, Atmospheric Dynamics, UNSW As the east coast bushfire crisis unfolds, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Rural Fire Service operational officer Brett Taylor have each warned residents bushfires can create their own weather systems. This is not ...2 hours ago
Could Shane Jones have unwittingly provided an opportunity to avoid the cycle of damaging populist politics sweeping the world? ...2 hours ago
Iran has announced the discovery of a new oilfield containing 53 billion barrels of crude. So what does that say about the NZ government’s move to be a world leader in shutting down the issue of new permits for oil and gas exploration – a move which Jacinda Ardern characterised ...2 hours ago
12 November 2019 Water and infrastructure professionals from across the public and private sectors attended a panel discussion on 4 November, focused on the Government’s proposed water reforms and most particularly the potential impacts on our urban environments. ...3 hours ago
Power company Mercury will spend another $208 million building the country's largest wind farm near Palmerston North. ...4 hours ago
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So long, and thanks for all the fish.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/18/second-whale-in-10-days-found-dead-in-river-thames
whales have been dying in the US this years in large numbers. Just washed up in numbers of one to three here and there every other day.
No whales showing up around cape town where they supposed to come by every year and this is after no sharks showed up.
I think we are doing a bang on job of killing everything we can as fast as we can because why not.
here https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/03/humpback-whales-unusual-mortality-event/
https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/whales-are-dying-round-alaska-and-scientists-dont-know-why/
https://phys.org/news/2019-06-feds-declare-emergency-gray-whale.html
ship strike and coincidence stated in article but 'so long….' was first thought that sprang to mind ….some 'odd' shark behaviour been reported recently as well
Japanese whale meat consumption has sky rocketed this year ?
We're removing millions of sharks each year for consumption, some just remove the fin and toss them back.
The experts say ecosystem collapse is inevitable with Apex predators removed.
Article 1 Section 9 Clause 8 of the US Constitution states:
Article 2 Section 1 Clause 7 of the US Constitution states:
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
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
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.
Unfortunately you can add the police and the military to that list.
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."
Rats:
Bad news in the USA. New York in 2018
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/21/new-york-rat-crisis-climate-change
Good news in agricultural Canada – Alberta. 2018 Vigilance and death.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/15/alberta-rat-catcher-phil-merill-canada-pest-free
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.
Japanese whale meat consumption has sky rocketed this year ?
Whats that got to do with the price of fish?
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
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/
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.
including ourselves
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.
Laying the narrative for Kiwibank to be sold?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/115992087/18yearold-kiwibank-still-has-only-4-per-cent-of-the-market-whats-happened
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.
Unfortunately, at some stage, National will get back into power.
Hopefully they spend a bit of time in the wilderness first, meditating on their wretched failure to govern.
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.
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?
Ross has NO chance.The true blues in Botany are staunch to the Natz.JLR needs to be given a job.
Yes, but they can party vote National and also vote for JLR. Which may provide National with help getting over the line.
Good thinking JLR is well disposed to the Natz=a match made in..heaven.
When it comes to National not having friends, could this be the "space" that Simon keeps telling us to watch for?
Simon Luxon?
Bridges.
Luxon
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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?
As those that earn the most pay a larger share.
Yeah, Right. TUI!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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]
See my Moderation note @ 3:03 PM.
Latest episode.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/q-and-a/episodes
This one: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/q-and-a/episodes/s2019-e32?
That’s no good because you need to “Login to unlock this video.”
It could have been this clip: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/q-and-a/clips/twyford-says-pressure-on-councils-to-grow-cities-up-and-out
But you didn’t link to that one!?
I guess we will never know what was fact and what was your opinion. So, sadly, this debate never got off the ground in a good way because of lack of appropriate sharing of information, IMHO.
Yes, I was referring to the latest episode and of course the clip from it that you linked too.
I have no control over who can and can’t log into TVNZ. Therefore, what clips and episodes people can see.
This proposal (not Twyford's one re infrastructure bonds) is all my opinion.
Thank you.
Commenters here often link to stuff that’s behind paywalls and usually warn about it too. A small gesture goes a long way. In any case, linking gives others an opportunity to go to same source and make up their own minds. Subsequently, a debate might ensue and if new information needs to be included, a new link will appear in the discussion thread, et cetera. It is really that simple.
Speaking of light rail, have you seen this?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/116705422/light-rail-reality-the-six-power-point-slides-that-stopped-a-city
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
flavourtarget 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.
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.
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?
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.
CRL's Mt Eden Station – now under construction – is right next door to the TV3 site.
CRLL should buy it and fold it into their post-CRL construction plan.
Media works had their licence payments changed from paying them in advance to in arrears. So there are no foregone money, just the timing on when they pay and the govt received the income. it was made out to be a larger issue than what is was, but that is the game of politics 😉
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10711051
Thanks I thought it important then, so am glad they did pay it back.
But her emails!
Can the Trumpkins and Alt Left Wing Trolls now please give this a rest.
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.
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
Te Tui is my favourite Titi
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
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
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
Kia Ora Breakfast.
I tau toko tangata who champion mitigating Global Warming.
(Well Hello)
Ka kite Ano
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
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
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
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.
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.
Kia Ora Breakfast.
Richard.
Isn't it deja vu Whutu paoro
I can carry on with my project
Ka kite Ano
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/
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
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.
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.