The US Justice Department will phase out use of privately owned prisons, citing safety concerns.
Contracts with 13 private prisons will be reviewed and and allowed to expire over the next five years.
“They do not save substantially on costs and … they do not maintain the same level of safety and security,” Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said explaining the decision.
The majority of US prisoners are held in state-run prisons.
On Wall Street, the stocks of private prison companies declined sharply after the news was announced.
By Thursday afternoon, Corrections Corp stock had plunged by nearly 50%.
An Inspector General’s report released this month found that private prisons saw higher rates of violent incidents and rule infractions in comparison with government-run institutions.
In November 2009, an expanded panel of 9 judges of the Israeli Supreme Court ruled (in an eight to one decision) that privately run prisons are unconstitutional.
As usual NZ is playing catch up with other nations who have tried and failed with turning state agencies into private ones. We obviously are too arrogant and think we can do it when others have failed. Ideology is failing us in every direction in this country from education to health and corrections.
A snippet which offers hope. Nats should take note.
‘U.S. Justice Department says it will end use of private prisons
The Justice Department plans to phase out its use of private prisons after they were determined to be less safe and less effective that government facilities, The Washington Post reports.’ http://thehill.com/
Helen said something like..’Only the democratically elected state has a mandate to incarcerate people- not commercially motivated private companies or individuals.’
If even the US now realizes this axiom, how long will it take the English/Key cabal to catch up with what the civilized world already knows.
This is a comment particularly for Anne; here is a recent video on how long term climate change is now affecting the specific day to day and week to week weather system behaviours that we are now seeing in the world.
Thanks again CV. I was transported back to a former life. He also did a cracking good job explaining what Climate Change actually is for the uninitiated.
NZ Women at Rio : seems to me that we have quite a few women winning medals – has anyone done a count of how many medals the men have won, and how many the women have won ? Would be interested to know ……
What I like, as opposed to some of the coverage coming in from overseas, is that we give proper dues to our female athletes whereas in places like the USA mens performances are glamourised over their female counterparts.
Coca-Cola’s second largest bottling plant in India has been shut down
The bottling plant in Hapur has been under scrutiny by the National Green Tribunal India’s ‘Green Court ‘ since 2015, and a number of inspections by government regulators have found the plant to be flouting environmental laws in India, and also operating without valid licenses, or No Objection Certificate (NOC).
The Indian govt seems to be doing some interesting things,
Monsanto is losing millions on failed GM cotton. The company illegally pushed a form of Bt cotton into India and Africa more than a decade ago, but farmers are now pushing back by planting their own indigenous seed.
Monsanto is accused of writing laws and then breaking them to enter the market in India, but after more than 300,000 farmer deaths between 1995 and 2013, many of them attributed to Monsanto, the company is finally paying for their misdeeds. The corporation’s greed is linked to farmer suicides throughout Maharashtra, considered the ‘Cotton Belt’ in India.
The Indian government is now actively promoting the use of indigenous seed, and has called Monsanto out for profiteering illegally on Bt cotton seed.
Monsanto has already lost nearly $75 million in royalties this year (5 billion rupees) due to the change in seed choice by farmers. Sales in India have fallen by 15 percent, and though this is a relatively small market share, it is still making a huge impact on the company’s bottom line.
A question from me after reading the Mother Jones story I linked to above:
Why are prisons sex segregated? Spanish prisons allow conjugal visits every 4-8 weeks. They are experimenting with family cells to keep families together if both parents are in jail and they have children under three, Spanish prisons have separate mens and womens wings, but the inmates mix in work and sometimes even marry,
Now, thinking about it, if a man is convicted of a domestic violence crime why do we send him to a all-male, hyper-aggressive environment? How will that challenge his attitudes towards woman? Surely, strictly supervised interaction with women in prison (for example, in anger management sessions wouldn’t it be handy to have a few women inmates there to describe how they feel when assaulted?) would be much better? Surely, allowing sexual activity via conjugal visits would have a major impact on sexual assault inside prisons?
My views on this are similar to posh, single sex private schools. Is sending your kids to an all white, decile 10, mono cultural, single sex school really the best way to prepare them for lives in a multi cultural society? Or is it just a way to try and preserve class based advantage for a clearly identifiable social minority? I am pretty sure it is for the latter. Personally, I would abolish all single sex and private schools completely and make it a requirement that schools reflect as accurately as possible the socioeconomic and ethnic mix of a 10km radius.
And if I reason like that for schools, why then would I reason any differently about prisons?
Girls schools emphasis seems to be at the 40th percentile. Boys schools emphasis seems to be at the 90th percentile (and sports stars).
It means more girls pass, but boys fill the top spots.
If your boy is top-notch academically send him to a boys schools, if he is top-notch at sport send him to a boys school, if he is neither send him coed.
Well CV , I finally have found something I disagree with you on(apart from Trump by a landslide – there just aren’t enough redneck white males to get him there).
I think boys need the interaction with females to grow up as better balanced citizens.
I have taught at both a boys and a coed and I know which I prefer. In an all boys school Sport is paramount and used as bribery.
I think Sanctuary’s comments re schooling are spot on.
The hypocrisy and vacuousness of the right wing National Party member mind is something to behold …….
We have the steel suppliers who were all happy with the free market at play in the Chch rebuild when they made gold out of their steel through demand and supply driving prices from around $2-3 kg up to $7-8 kg.. oh yay they went, smiling all the way to the bank, driving around in new utes, buying new boats, aint it great this unfettered free market …
… yet when supply from China drives those prices back down to where they used to be there is all manner of wailing and gnashing of teeth and crying to mummy in the government for some help..
… pathetic
Same with employers in the regions making their wares and voting for the free market and voting for the free market National Party ….
… yet when they need a component for their business, namely labour, all semblance of the free market is abandoned for more crying and tears….. instead of paying more for what they need…
… pathetic
its called the free market business people, the free market. You voted for it. Man up and live with it, you are pathetic with your whingeing
“It makes no sense that the government is continuing to push the TPPA legislation through Parliament even though it would add huge costs from extending copyright from 50 to 70 years and strengthening patent rights. The benefits will go to big foreign corporations – New Zealand innovators and consumers will lose out.
The research and evidence on TPPA is shoddy, with superficial analysis written or commissioned by MFAT to support their position. This contrasts with more thorough reports done in the US by the International Trade Commission that found virtually no economic benefit for the US, and a recent draft report by the Australian Productivity Commission that concluded the TPPA provisions would inhibit innovation and raise costs.
In New Zealand, a series of expert peer-reviewed papers have raised serious questions about the TPPA, and highlighted the economic costs and problems such as restrictions on the government’s right to regulate (see https://itsourfuture.org.nz/tppa-research/).
The TPPA is in big trouble in the US, and there is a huge majority of the public against it, as well as the two leading Presidential candidates. There is time for New Zealand to re-think its involvement in the TPPA and undertake proper research. The more we find out about this agreement, the more concerns that it raises. When we see the objective evidence, the government will have to agree with the majority of the public and reject the TPPA.
Or if they don’t, the voters of New Zealand will have their chance at the next election to support political parties that reject the TPPA and similar agreements, and get rid of the provisions in exising treaties that allow foreign investors to sue our government.”
These are the full prepared remarks from Trump a couple of days ago. He was relentlessly on message, regretting his more offensive remarks, nailing his rationale hard:
“How Bloomberg spun their own poll data to make Clinton seem inevitable”
Clinton 6 points ahead of Trump said the Bloomberg headline.
(Except when you look at the four way data between Clinton, Trump, the Libertarians and the Greens, Clinton was actually only 2 points ahead i.e. in a statistical tie with Trump).
Yeah, that’s happened a number of times over the last week or two. Headlines based on the two-way rather than four-way data, thus exaggerating Clinton’s lead.
Similar in the UK – in the last couple of days, there’s been some dodgy reporting of a BMG Poll on Corbyn vs Smith as Labour leader. Among people who voted Labour in 2015, Corbyn beats Smith marginally (by 4 points – 52% vs 48%). But among people currently intending to vote Labour at the next General Election, Corbyn wins by a massive 32 points (66% vs 34%).
A number of UK media outlets (along with prominent poll analyst-twitters with strong anti-Corbyn tendencies) have focussed solely on the 52/48 split, strongly implying that these are the figures for current Labour supporters.
Dunno but the DNC CEO, chair, communications director and CFO all resigned in disgrace over it, so they were all involved in screwing the scrum against Bernie.
well, bad-mouthing the fuck out of him in emails to each other. A bit like how that general lost his job after badmouthing the president when the embedded rolling stone journo was in the room.
Didn’t affect the number of votes Sanders got in the primaries, though.
Oh I see McFlock. The DNC’s cheating doesn’t count as cheating unless it affected things on the ground?
Well, for starters it lends credence to Sanders supporters complaints that from the very start that voter registration and polling booth management was slanted against them.
You haven’t demonstrated any cheating. A lot of griping and unprofessional emails, but nothing that affected the election.
It doesn’t “lend credence” to anything, unless D W-S was personally handling voter registrations or managing a polling booth. Do the parties even have anything to do with polling booth management or voter registration? Because at least some seem to be run by state boards of elections.
Trump campaign has curtained off most of this large convention hall in Charlotte for this rally: pic.twitter.com/x7uuPl3icp— Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) August 19, 2016
Hillary doesn’t really need to do another rally. She’s already won. If big numbers at rallies was the decider, Bernie Sanders would have won the Democrat nomination, because he sure packed ’em out. But, in the real world, it’s votes that count and most voters make their mind up via their favourite media, not down at the town hall. The big rallies to come will really be aimed at maxing out the win. That’s about Democrat senators, congressman and governors. The real victory will be winning back control of the house and senate and taking the governorships in states that haven’t been democrat in years. That’ll be Trump’s legacy; handing the Democrats near total control of the political apparatus.
I suspect you’re going to very quiet in November, oh great sage. But I for one won’t be rubbing it in when you do reappear. We all make mistakes. The point is to not repeat them too often or too publicly.
From the Washington Post, about the top revelations from the DNC emails:
1) Targeting Sanders’s religion?
On May 5, DNC officials appeared to conspire to raise Sanders’s faith as an issue and press on whether he was an atheist — apparently in hopes of steering religious voters in Kentucky and West Virginia to Clinton. Sanders is Jewish but has previously indicated that he’s not religious.
2) Wasserman Schultz calls top Sanders aide a “damn liar”…
On May 17, after controversy erupted over the Nevada state Democratic convention and how fair the process was there, Wasserman Schultz herself took exception to Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver’s defense of his candidate’s supporters.
3) … and says Sanders has “no understanding” of the party
That wasn’t the only time Wasserman Schultz offered an unvarnished opinion about the Sanders operation. And in one late-April email, she even questioned Sanders’s connection to the party.
4) A Clinton lawyer gives DNC strategy advice on Sanders
When the Sanders campaign alleged that the Clinton campaign was improperly using its joint fundraising committee with the DNC to benefit itself, Clinton campaign lawyer Marc Elias offered the DNC guidance on how to respond.
5) Plotting a narrative about how Sanders’s campaign failed
On May 21, DNC national press secretary Mark Pautenbach suggested pushing a narrative that Sanders “never ever had his act together, that his campaign was a mess.”
After detailing several arguments that could be made to push that narrative, Paustenbach concludes: “It’s not a DNC conspiracy, it’s because they never had their act together.”
6) Mocking Sanders for his California debate push
One of the chief complaints from Sanders and his supporters was a lack of debates. They said the fact that there were so few was intended to help Clinton by reducing her opponents’ exposure and their chances to knock her down.
7) Wishing Sanders would just end it
Many of these emails came as it was clear Clinton was going to win — which makes the apparent favoritism perhaps less offensive (though Sanders supporters would certainly disagree).
But it’s also clear that there was plenty of cheerleading for the race to simply be over — for Sanders to throw in the towel so that Clinton could be named the presumptive nominee. The party, of course, was still supposed to be neutral even though the odds and delegate deficit for Sanders looked insurmountable.
8) Calling an alleged Sanders sympathizer a “Bernie bro”
The term “Bernie bro” — or “Berniebro,” depending on your style — over the course of the campaign became a kind of shorthand for the worst kind of Sanders supporter. These were the supporters who couldn’t be reasoned with and verbally assaulted opponents, sometimes in very nasty ways.
9) Criticizing Obama for lack of fundraising help — “That’s f—ing stupid”
While the Sanders emails have gained the most attention, some of the more interesting emails involve a peek behind to curtain of how party officials talk about fundraising and major donors — and even President Obama.
In one email on May 9, DNC mid-Atlantic and PAC finance director Alexandra Shapiro noted that Obama wouldn’t travel 20 minutes to help the party secure $350,000 in donations.
“He really won’t go up 20 minutes for $350k?” Shapiro wrote. “THAT’S f—ing stupid.”
10) 10) Flippant chatter about donors
In a May 16 exchange about where to seat a top Florida donor, Kaplan declared that “he doesn’t sit next to POTUS!” — referring to Obama.
“Bittel will be sitting in the sh—iest corner I can find,” responded Shapiro. She also referred to other donors as “clowns.”
Funny list, none of which expplains why Sanders didn’t win the nomination. It does explain the resignations, though – especially ripping shit out of Obama. Very similar to McChrystal.
Itemised response below, but TL:DR – all can be answered with some combinations of “In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email?” and “Did it effect the primary?”
1) Targeting Sanders’s religion?
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
2) Wasserman Schultz calls top Sanders aide a “damn liar”…
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
3) … and says Sanders has “no understanding” of the party
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
4) A Clinton lawyer gives DNC strategy advice on Sanders
Did it effect the primary?
5) Plotting a narrative about how Sanders’s campaign failed
Did it effect the primary?
6) Mocking Sanders for his California debate push
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
7) Wishing Sanders would just end it
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
8) Calling an alleged Sanders sympathizer a “Bernie bro”
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
9) Criticizing Obama for lack of fundraising help — “That’s f—ing stupid”
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email?
10) 10) Flippant chatter about donors
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email?
Um, if you win a two option democratic election, you are, by definition, the popular candidate. Sanders has got over it and showed that he understands the process and the real threat facing the people of the States (and the rest of us). You, on the other hand, not so much …
Repeating already forgotten attack lines doesn’t change the simple fact that Hillary Clinton won the nomination. More people voted for her than for her opponent. She campaigned and won. You’d better get used to that, because it’s going happen again in a couple of months.
No wonder the Clinton machine had to work so hard to exclude independent voters from their primaries.
Read and weep status quo supporting bros.
Right now the poll averages reported by both Real Clear Politics and the Huffington Post show Sanders with an average 11 percent lead over Trump, and Clinton ahead of Trump by a much narrower margin of 3 percent. The four latest polls that compare Sanders and Clinton all show Sanders ahead with margins of 12, 13, 13, and 4 percent.1 Clinton, in contrast, is ahead by 3, 2, and 6 points in three of the four polls and behind Trump by 3 points in the latest of the four; together these four polls produce an average Sanders lead of 10.5 points and a Clinton lead of 2 points.
cv why are you bringing up bernie – you support trump – are you really saying you’d have flip flopped between sanders and trump – that seems hardly credible.
Spotted at Trump's rally in Charlotte, NC: Man holding a "Citizen's Rule Book" and an 8-pointed star w/ 'Muslim': pic.twitter.com/62AcuuFEji— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) August 19, 2016
First thing that springs to mind is why are you linking to a story over a week old?
I think cannabis reform is inevitable and there is a huge appetite for more open access to medicinal cannabis right now.
If anyone is having a bob each way it is of course John Key who intimated during the week that cops ‘kind of’ turn a blind eye to recreational possession already. He worries about sending the wrong message through decriminalisation but isn’t the slightest bit concerned about sending the wrong message by stating cops currently enforce the law (or not) as they see fit.
I think we can all guess which type of person cops are likely to throw the book at…
If that’s the beat up from last week I understood perfectly clearly where Labour stand. They will move on medical csnnsbis as soon as in power and they will consider a referendum on general decriminalisation but it won’t be a priority eg not in their first hundred days. Don’t know why some people found that difficult to understand.
Don’t shoot the messenger. I merely put the question out there.
Moreover, Labour don’t require me to paint them as indecisive and contradictory, they’ve done a pretty good job of giving voters that impression themselves. They often grandstand against things, only to later go on and support them, albeit, with a few minor changes.
Don’t tell me. You’ve always voted Labour. As did your father, and your father’s father. Your family has always been Labour, but you can’t bring yourself to vote for them now because Andrew Little doesn’t smile enough.
One finds politicians often come and go. It’s the Party’s agenda that tends to remain. Unfortunately, Labour adopted a neo-liberal agenda long before Little came along and have yet to fully let go.
Therefore, it would be fair to say Labour parted with me. Nevertheless, still hoping they’ll find their Corbyn moment.
While there is no Corbyn in the NZ Labour Party, it doesn’t necessarily mean a Corbyn moment will never develop.
Labour being center left robs the party of that crucial point of difference (not merely fluffing around the edges as they do) while allowing National far greater opportunity to copy policy.
Moreover, it’s helping shift the whole political spectrum to the state now that the Greens are considered by a number to be far left, while reaffirming to voters there is no real alternative but to fluff around the edges. Helping to strengthen and cement in the neo-liberal view.
Additionally, this has disappointed and disenfranchised a number of voters, giving them the impression little changes, there is no brighter future regardless who one votes for. Thus. they no longer partake.
Bringing into question your assertion that we are better served at this point by letting Labour be centre left.
I’m not calling for extreme leftism. But Labour requires to show more of a point of difference. As they did with Kiwibuild, which was widely welcomed by voters.
This highlights voters are open to a more hands on Government where they feel the market is lacking (or, as the cannabis poll highlights, laws are deemed heavy handed and outdated).
I don’t know where you or CV are coming from on this.
While there are some areas where Labour today finds it important to meet a changed world at an appropriate junction, from what I understand the very core Labour values of the past around housing as a right and not a privilege, strong rights and representation for workers, and educational investment in the future for all Kiwis have not been a stronger priority in recent times than under the current Andrew Little lead Labour party.
I think there is a fair amount of Corbyn in Little and despite what the conservative media and blogosphere might have you believe, Little is very consistent on these things mentioned above.
I see socialist values in Little. I just don’t think he is a Corbyn. He has his own attributes though and I think we are better served at this poin by letting Labour be centre left (hopefully moving left), rather than expecting people to be who and what they are not. You can’t manufacture a Corbyn, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other good ways to be.
“While there are some areas where Labour today finds it important to meet a changed world at an appropriate junction, from what I understand the very core Labour values of the past around housing as a right and not a privilege, strong rights and representation for workers, and educational investment in the future for all Kiwis have not been a stronger priority in recent times than under the current Andrew Little lead Labour party.”
Well said. However, I somewhat disagree.
While it is important to meet a changed world at an appropriate junction, Labour have yet to identify that appropriate junction which also brings a significant number of voters along.
It’s good Labour is trying to improve rights and representation for workers but their educational investment falls short. As with their housing policy, it doesn’t go far enough mitigating offshore demand.
So while these may have not been a stronger priority in recent times than under the current Andrew Little lead Labour party, there is clearly more work to be done.
Andrew Little -Qualified Lawyer, -Union president- Labour. Got my vote against I’m relaxed … John -‘no but what I can say’ boy.
It’s interesting how the Nat trolls persist in using multiple questions and repetitive question marks. That’s Amway 101 strategy. (He who asks the questions controls the conversation). Zzzzz
I think it would depend on how they were doing with everything else. Lots of NZers support decriminalisation, but would not be too happy about it being prioritised over other things that are more important. I think the medical cannabis issue is more important and should be dealt with separately. I also think that the L/G govt will need to coax NZ left again not go hard out. Then there is the Peters issue.
btw Little didn’t say what a priority meant for Labour. The example he gave was not in the first hundred days. So you calling the first term a priority is about you not Labour. Just so we are clear.
“I think it would depend on how they were doing with everything else. Lots of NZers support decriminalisation, but would not be too happy about it being prioritised over other things that are more important.”
Hence, to be clear, my suggesting within the first term.
Moreover, surely Labour are capable of doing more than one thing at a time?
Coaxing NZ left again opens Labour up to falling short and looking indecisive. Often resulting in disappointing both the right and left.
Equal rights based on humanity not sexual orientation and the right to take natural substances that aren’t going to get you sent to jail – hmmm both rights to fight for imo and I don’t really see the binary of one verses the other. Your pettiness and privilege and ihatelabour colours are showing again cv and it ain’t pretty.
Labour was quite happy to lead the charge for gay marriage
Actually it was a private member’s bill that received cross-party support. It wasn’t exactly Labour policy. Nor were civil unions, although they were ministerial decisions. Helen Clark was about as committed to “gay marriage” as Litte is for marijuana legalisation.
Because it was the correct thing to do. And I’m sure the Greens, and even half of the nats, were pretty happy about it. They also voted for it. Hell, the most famous speech in support of it was an otherwise unremarkable nat talking about big gay rainbows.
I also liked how you could only respond to facts with a tone argument. Very illuminating.
Little’s and Labour’s priorities have been clearly spelt out several times, Weka. They are (not necessarily in this order) housing, education, good public health, jobs, and being fair to people (not just the 1%) .
“First thing that springs to mind is why are you linking to a story over a week old?”
Merely catching up with some older news.
Yes, there is a huge appetite for more open access to medicinal cannabis right now. Moreover, overwhelming support for a law change around recreational use/possession.
Unfortunately, Little personally doesn’t support a law change. However, he is open to a referendum, but doesn’t believe it’s a priority.
Considering how poorly Labour is polling while keeping in mind the strong support in the poll for a cannabis law change, perhaps Little should reconsider making it a priority?
I think he was referring to something in the previous comment that demonstrated Labour don’t listen (his interpretation). Not aimed at you, and the comment was a reply to yours.
Unfortunately, Little personally doesn’t support a law change. However, he is open to a referendum, but doesn’t believe it’s a priority.
Considering how poorly Labour is polling while keeping in mind the strong support in the poll for a cannabis law change, perhaps Little should reconsider making it a priority?
I’m pretty sure I do show respect, where it’s deserved. However, woman hating, lefty baiting, ableist, conservative misanthropes get very little respect from me at all. Get used to it.
Ah, well. It’s nice that you acknowledge she’s a winner, CV.
Speaking of jumped up authoritarians, hows Donald Trump going? I see he’s lost yet another leader from his team this morning. Maybe you should offer to take Paul Manafort’s place? You’re definitely his kinda guy (see list above).
You telling porkies about some rule I’ve apparently either laid down or adhere to there trp?
tsk-tsk.
Mind you, thanks to the torturous catch 22 that your assertion spawns, you won’t actually have to be self banning for six weeks in the interests of consistency or whatever….I mean, that would’ve been quite a thing, aye? 😉
The truth is the best defence, CV. I’ve never described your unpleasant traits inaccurately. They’re your comments, your opinions. If you don’t like being identified as a misogynist or ableist etc. don’t write the comments that show you to be those things.
No, clearly, you don’t get it. CV. You comment like an unrestrained arse and don’t like being called on it. Your expressed opinions are often deeply offensive to women, the old, unionists, the left and most recently, those you consider to be physically unfit to contribute to society in the way they choose. You don’t get to have it both ways. Express your hate filled opinions freely and get called on it from time to time or moderate your language so it’s not quite so obvious that you are a misanthrope.
You’ll have spotted that plenty of other righties can comment here without being deliberately offensive. Perhaps you can learn from them?
I made a decision. A decision is not a rule. eg – today I decided to put on red socks. That doesn’t mean a rule has been passed or laid down to the effect that red socks must be worn.
You’re behaving like a school yard bully – making shit up with the sole intention of abusing people.
It’s really fucking boring and unpleasant trp – one of the worst types of trolling.
Fair call, Bill. Apologies for getting the terminology wrong. It’s a decision, not a ruling. I respect your decision and will build on the precedent it sets where needed.
Some in Labour and a number of their cheerleaders often don’t like having their position questioned or critiqued. Thus, regularly pull out the old right wing troll line instead of genuinely taking it on board.
The guts of their behaviour is that they are so internally certain they both know more and know better than everyone else. Pretty arrogant for a declining party on track to come in somewhere around the 25% mark.
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Nick Wilson,1 Ayesha Verrall,1,2 Len Cook,3 Alistair Gray,3 Amanda Kvalsvig,1 Michael Baker,1 (1epidemiologists, 2infectious disease physician, 3statisticians)In this blog, we raise ideas for how New Zealand might optimise testing to both identify cases in the community as part of the COVID-19 elimination strategy, and to confirm when the virus ...
Maybe you’ve seen the graph that says those countries where everyone wears a mask are the ones that have managed to keep Covid-19 under control? The first thing to say about that claim is that those countries also did lots of other things, too – they acted fast, with intense ...
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... North Atlantic's capacity to absorb CO2 overestimated, study suggestsResearch into ocean’s plankton likely to lead to ...
The Treaty on Open Skies is one of the most effective mechanisms for preventing war curently in force. By letting countries make surveillance flights over each others' territory, it eliminates fears that they are secretly preparing for war. So naturally, the US is planning to withdraw from it: The Trump ...
. . April 5: Day eleven of living in lock-down… My one day of rest for the week, and an opportunity to mow my lawns – which I’d been delaying for about three weeks. (On the plus side, the damp micro-climate in my back yard yielded three lovely fresh mushrooms ...
As far as anyone can say, New Zeaand still has a general election scheduled for September 19 this year. The election will be accompanied by two referenda, one of which will ask voters:Do you support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill?The official campaign period for the cannabis referendum begins ...
The vast majority of tributes to the Listener hearken back to its glory days, with little reflection on the magazine as it was at its end.I wrote for it, for half the Listener’s life; I have known personally all the editors except the first (mythical) three. From 1978 to 2014 ...
As the world economy slides rapidly towards deep recession there are growing calls for a Universal Benefit coming from some leftists and rightists. Now Finance Minister Grant Robertson is saying it is on the table. This article by a French party Workers Struggle provides analysis of various forms of universal ...
This is the advice from the very top of the anti-fluoride movement – Paul Connett, director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN). Don’t worry about reading up on all the scientific information “You only have ...
. . April 4: Day 10 of living in lock-down… I wake up to a fine Saturday morning which normally would be like an early Christmas. But it’s Day 10 of Level 4 Lock Down. What will my fellow New Zealanders be doing on a day like this – staying ...
Some time during the night we went over the 850,000 views mark. We might have had our millionth view by the end of this year – certainly by early next year. Most of the people involved in Redline spent years and years producing various small left-wing papers and selling them ...
Comfortably, in the very first round, with an impressive 56% of the votes.I wonder, did members of the Shadow Cabinet start tweeting their resignations during Starmer's victory speech, or is that only a trick the right pull?It is odd how all the talk of how the next leader "needs to ...
One of the key voices in this extraordinary time in which we live is that of University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker. Philip Matthews did an an excellent job this weekend of capturing the way he became the man for this moment in a profile for The Press.But one ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addressed the nation today about the decline in daylight New Zealand has been experiencing over the previous few months. She said “As many of you will notice, our attempts to stem the dwindling of the daylight over the last few months have been completely ...
Redline received this article from the KOE a Marxist party in Greece Our friends in the KOE describe here the mounting crisis in Greece and tensions on the Turkish border. As desperate people flee from their homelands which have been ruined after decades of imperialist wars and interventions the people ...
As the first week of Level Four lockdown unfolded, mounting questions grew as to just what was (and was not) allowed under its “rules”. Partly these were driven by some apparently contradictory messagesfrom different authority figures and explanations carried in the media. Partly they reflected a somewhat sketchy legal basis ...
. . April 3: Day 9 of living in lock-down… Another late-start to my work day. Everything is temporarily upended as clients are shuffled around so we can minimise our “bubble” by reducing the number of people we help. One of my colleagues has been removed from his clients; his ...
In order to meet our 2050 carbon target and do our bit to avoid making the Earth uninhabitable, New Zealand needs to decarbonise our economy, replacing fossil fuels with electricity in the energy, industrial and transport sectors. The good news is that it will mean cheaper power for all of ...
For those folk who find my other Lock-Down Diary versions too “negative” or otherwise unpalatable… Here’s a photo of a pretty flower, . . Better? Tomorrow’s Sanitised Version: a cute animal video. . . . =fs= ...
. . April 2: Day eight of living in lock-down… Today, my work day starts late. Our rosters and clients have been dramatically changed, lessening (theoretically) the number of people in our work “bubble”. If just one of us catches covid19 the impact could be considerable as Grey Base Hospital ...
As Aotearoa enters week two of lockdown, it’s clear we’re all still working out what our “bubbles” look like and how to stay in them to stop the spread of Covid-19. New to the government’s Covid-19 website is some good guidance for people living in apartment blocks. Recent decades have ...
“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” Lenin Don’t we all know that feeling now.
Prospect Magazine alerted me to this particularly apt quote. It is a much more evocative quote than Hemingway’s “gradually then suddenly” which is also doing ...
Yesterday was the day the consequences of the lockdown suddenly got very real for many. Firms have been closing and laying people off since the outset of the quarantine but this has mostly been happening out of the public eye. The mass closure of a number of iconic New Zealand ...
Brian Williamson1, Prof Nick Wilson2 (1Economic consultant, UK; 2University of Otago Wellington)In this blog, we outline how a win-win social contract could be forged to address the major dimensions of response to the COVID-19 pandemic when using a mitigation strategy: the particular need to protect older people from high ...
Resuming Normal Service: The Republican Party's nominee for in 1920, Warren Harding, promised the American people: “not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration”. If she wishes to remain our prime minister, then Jacinda Ardern will offer New Zealanders the same.HOW EDUCATED AMERICA snickered when the ...
No Free Society Without A Free And Functioning News Media: If we are to surrender our civil rights to the broader cause of defeating Covid-19, then foreign corporations must, likewise, surrender their right to inflict immense economic and cultural harm on New Zealanders simply because it improves their bottom line.I’M ...
by Daphna Whitmore A third of the world is under lockdown and a clear assessment of this measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 is urgently needed. With any high-stakes decisions it has to be asked what are we dealing with here? Are the measures warranted? Will they achieve their ...
I haven’t done a huge amount in the last few days. I’m reading The Poppy War and I’ve sort of poked at a couple of games – I started SOMA but I’m a wimp and I quit while in the first room after the brain scan. I might try it ...
The swan politicians may be gliding on the water, occasionally snapping at one another. Meanwhile, as the Covid19 crisis illustrates, the officials are desperately paddling below providing the real locomotion. One of the most fatuous recent grandstanding comments (of about a week ago), adding to the public’s anxieties, was ...
Much has been written about the importance of discretion in an emergency situation, and the concerns raised by the potential for it to be exercised arbitrarily. Given the quality of the discussion, there seemed little point in adding to it at any length. In particular, I point to the evidence ...
Today has felt surreal. I was all set to touch base online with my science communication students when a colleague shared the news that Bauer Media would be shutting down its publications immediately. The first link I saw implied it was Woman’s Weekly affected, and even that shocked me. But ...
Bogeymen, Real And Imagined: Is the number of psychopathic and sociopathic individuals in any given society truly as vanishingly small as we like to tell ourselves? Isn’t it more likely that the mass-shooters and serial-killers filling the headlines represent only the tip of a much, much larger iceberg of frightfulness? ...
Outgoing Police Commissioner Mike Bush appeared before the Epidemic Response Committee today, who asked him for the rules police are using to enforce the lockdown. He refused:Police Commissioner Mike Bush has admitted the advice given to Kiwis about what they're able to do during the lockdown hasn't been clear enough. ...
For those folk who find my other Lock-Down Diary versions too “negative” or otherwise unpalatable… Here’s a photo of my cat, . . Better? Tomorrow’s Sanitised Version: a pretty flower. . . . =fs= ...
. . April 1: Day seven of living in lock-down… This morning I had a brief chat with one of my neighbours, “D” (social distance between us, a good three or four metres). I learned he had resigned from his previous job and had been hired by another company – ...
Funnily enough, my thought as I start this post is whether it will be well written enough. Or should that be well enough written? Because so much of what I know about good writing came from my two stints at The Listener, which this morning was shut down due to ...
With normal democratic procedures in abeyance, there were two ways to go. First, it was open for the government to dissolve itself and invite the National Party to join a ministry of national salvation. That would have lessened the democratic deficit of the times by having a team of rivals without ...
Dr Kirsty Ross Children and young people can respond differently in times of distress. This also varies by age and developmental stage, with younger children having more magical and imaginative thinking, and older children having more awareness and knowledge of the issues our communities are facing (which brings up ...
Hungary has been a virtual dictatorship for a decade now, as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has gradually eroded its democracy. But now, its official, with the passage of an indefinite emergency law allowing rule by decree:Hungary’s parliament has passed a new set of coronavirus measures that includes jail terms for ...
While the economy is on pause under lockdown, the government is beginning to plan how to cope with the post-lockdown, post-tourism, post-export education world we will eventually find ourselves in. They're planning a lot of infrastructure spending as economic stimulus, and have asked for proposals which can start the moment ...
It's my distraction, setting up tiny scenes to photograph. I've got stuck on the Babushka dolls for now. Something about their bubble shape. Something about their never changing, smiling features, suggesting persistent equanimity. Can we get through everything that is being thrown at us and keep at least a tiny ...
. . March 31: Day six of living in lock-down… This time I managed to sleep a little longer and the alarm woke me at the pre-set time: 6.55am. Then remembered I was working a later shift and could’ve slept in. Oh well, there are things to do at home. ...
Image credit:Diamond Harbour School Blogs 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 blog is unexpectedly missing or ...
Yesterday's Horizon poll showing support for a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum sliding into the majority for the first time in a year looked like good news for reformers – and it probably is. But the result warrants some scrutiny.The poll is the fifth in a series commissioned ...
For almost a week now, every one of us who isn’t an essential worker has been confined to their bubble. We are allowed to go shopping for groceries, to visit the doctor, and to get a bit of exercise if we stay local. The reason we are doing this is ...
The Covid-19 saga will no doubt produce many twists and turns for us before it is finally brought to an end. But one thing it has shown us – and what comfort it should bring us – is that our country’s government is in good hands. I am not thinking ...
In the absence of a vaccine or a cure for a deadly disease, staying home in your bubble is what you do, the concept is not new. To the best of my knowledge last time we did this in NZ was for polio, in the years before a vaccine came ...
The following statement was released on March 28 by the National Network on Cuba, a coalition of 40 groups, based in the United States. In recent weeks, Cuba has deployed hundreds of medical providers to over a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, as well as to their neighbors in Latin ...
This has been a terrible summer for Hector’s dolphins. The first indication was very low numbers of dolphin sightings during late spring and early summer. The Otago University Marine Mammal Research Team has carried out routine dolphin surveys at Banks Peninsula for more than 30 years. In all that time, ...
On March 17, Finance Minister Grant Robertson was quick out of the blocks with an economic rescue package to help businesses through the inevitable recession resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Robertson had pulled together a scheme in short order that so far seems to have saved many jobs. In his ...
The purpose of the lockdown is to save lives, by reducing the spread of covid-19. We won't know if its really working for another week, but given the devastation that will result if it doesn't - 14,000 dead is the optimistic scenario - its definitely worth trying. But pausing the ...
. . March 30: Day five of living in lock-down… Woke up still in darkness. Alarm hadn’t gone off. Turn to radio clock; it’s a few minutes after 6am… I lie there in the dark, waiting to drift off to sleep… but it ain’t happening. Clock ticks over to 6.55 ...
The story of Les Gray, the public sector psychologist who told the truth about his use of cannabis and set off a storm, has a special place in the lore of cannabis reform in New Zealand.When Paul Shannon interviewed Gray for the 'Dope and Hope' issue of Planet magazine in ...
by Phil Duncan For Marxists, a key concern about social trends is their context – not just their causes, but why they happen when they do. Events and phenomena have causes, but they also are time or period-specific. While much of the left have capitulated recently to postmodernism, most notably ...
Since the lockdown began, we've all suddenly been reminded who the actually essential workers in our society are: not the people at the top who pay themselves the big bucks and rort the perks, but the people at the bottom they screw over and squeeze: cleaners, warehouse staff, truck drivers ...
Kia ora! As I've watched nearly all my remaining work vanish over the past couple of days, it has occured to me that one good way to keep me away from arguing with fools on Twitter all the time (in the knowledge that all we're really doing is processing our ...
Aotearoa New Zealand has committed to trying to extirpate the virus that causes COVID-19 from its shores. To do that, as a society we’ve moved to “Level 4”. That means adapting to unprecedented restrictions on our personal freedoms, particularly to our rights to move freely and associate with friends and ...
When the Prime Minister declared a state of emergency last week, she handed the police powers to enforce it. And almost immediately, we started hearing about heavy-handed, arbitrary "enforcement" by police who (at best) cared more about order than law, or (more likely) had no idea what the rules were ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced that New Zealand will enter into transit arrangements with a range of countries to make it easier for each other’s citizens to get home. “There are millions of people around the world stranded ...
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Government has striven to provide calm, clear and consistent communication, including daily press conference updates from the Prime Minister. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says getting New Zealanders back home and other travellers out of the country is "a nightmare for our embassies, consuls, and staff around the world".Speaking to NewstalkZB's Mike Hosking, the Foreign Minister said that he gave a clear message to people travelling overseas that they ...
The domestic travel ban has been lifted for stranded foreign tourists trying to get to international airports to fly home, after the Coalition Government announced a plan to help the tens of thousands of foreigners stranded here. Foreign Minister Rt. Hon. Winston Peters spoke with RNZ's Susie Ferguson said foreign ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters believes the country is rediscovering its resilience and self-reliance through its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.He says he is heartened that the mass majority of New Zealanders are following lockdown rules and that the government looking at the future, including paying to keep much ...
New Zealand can emulate the success of the US after the Great Depression by exploiting our own resources to turn the economy around quickly, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says. Mr. Peters told Magic Talk that New Zealand has an opportunity to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic a "superior, ...
All 45 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel are either on their way back to New Zealand, or already in the country, according to Defence Minister Ron Mark."Twenty-eight personnel arrived back in New Zealand last week and are in isolation at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base in ...
The COVID-19 situation in New Zealand is moving fast - and to avoid what we've seen overseas - the Government's response must be to move fast too. We're committed to keeping New Zealanders safe and well-informed every step of the way. ...
We know people are feeling anxious about COVID-19. While the situation is serious, New Zealand has a world-class health system and we’re well-prepared to keep New Zealanders safe. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging New Zealanders overseas to stay where they are amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are reaching a point where the best option for most New Zealanders offshore is to shelter in place, by preparing to safely stay where they are.” "This includes following the instructions ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging the tens of thousands of New Zealanders travelling overseas to consider sheltering in place, in light of COVID-19. “Since 18 March, we have been warning New Zealanders offshore that the window for flying ...
Communities stepping up to help New Zealanders stay at home to break the transmission of COVID-19 and save lives have received Government support, said Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. “Delivering groceries for the elderly who can’t shop online, providing data packs for low income families to keep them connected, and being ...
Across New Zealand 120 sites are taking samples to be tested for COVID-19. 68 community based assessment centres (CBACs) have been established to take samples from people with COVID-19 symptoms. Alongside this, 52 other centres including designated general practices, swabbing centres, and mobile clinics are now testing people for ...
The Ministry of Education is working with partners to develop a package of options so that students can learn at home when Term 2 begins on 15 April, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. Supports are also being prepared for households with children under five, to help parents and whānau ...
Māori Television to begin educational te reo programmes Ki te Ao Mārama – a new online learning space Thousands of hard copy learning packs ready for distribution Helpdesk and advice service for kōhanga, kura and wharekura Television, the internet and hard copy learning packs are some of the ways whānau ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced an initial package of support to help the people and the Government of Vanuatu respond to the impact of Tropical Cyclone Harold. “Our Pacific neighbours have been hit by a Category 5 Cyclone at the same time as dealing with the economic impacts ...
Tourism New Zealand to lead work reimagining the way tourism operates in post-COVID-19 world. Ministers to review International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy investment plan. The Government, industry and business are working together to develop a plan for how tourism will operate in a post-COVID-19 world, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis ...
More New Zealanders are taking up the chance to work in horticulture as the sector keeps New Zealanders fed and in jobs during the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our ...
The Provincial Development Unit is working through applications and projects to see where Provincial Growth Fund money can be repurposed for initiatives deemed more critical to fighting the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “We need to be throwing everything we have at ...
The Government’s wage subsidy to protect jobs and keep workers and businesses connected during the lockdown has now supported over a million New Zealanders, with $6.6 billion already paid out. “We’re supporting businesses to pay wages, and stay connected with their workers so that we are all in a better ...
The Government is stepping up efforts to help protect New Zealand’s Pacific communities in the fight against COVID-19. Cabinet has agreed that $17 million will be allocated to support a COVID-19 Pacific Response Package, which will: Support Pacific health and disability services facing increased demand; Ramp up public health messaging ...
“Yesterday evening the Health Minister advised me of his trip to a beach during the lockdown and offered his resignation,” Jacinda Ardern said. “Under normal conditions I would sack the Minister of Health. What he did was wrong, and there are no excuses. “But right now, my priority is our ...
Last night as part of my preparation for the Epidemic Response Committee, I provided the Prime Minister with a complete picture of my activity outside my home during Alert Level 4. That included the fact that on the first weekend of the Alert Level 4 lockdown I drove my family ...
A range of support is being rolled out across New Zealand to help people look after their mental health during COVID-19 Health Minister David Clark said this morning. “COVID-19 has brought a lot of uncertainty into our lives and many of us will be feeling some level of distress or ...
The New Zealand Government has made arrangements to charter a flight for New Zealanders stranded in Peru to depart the country, following agreement with the Chilean government to allow the necessary transit through Chile, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. “Like many travellers around the world at the moment, ...
Hospital preparations for COVID-19 are well advanced says Health Minister David Clark. “Hospitals across New Zealand are repurposing buildings and training staff to get ready for COVID-19 patients. This gives me confidence that we are well prepared for any potential increase in COVID-19 patients needing hospital level care,” said David ...
The Government will be introducing legislation to make changes to the Companies Act to help companies facing insolvency due to COVID-19 to remain viable and keep New Zealanders in jobs. The temporary changes include: Giving directors of companies facing significant liquidity problems because of COVID-19 a ‘safe harbour’ from insolvency ...
The Government’s plan to cushion the blow of COVID-19 by supporting incomes, jobs and businesses, and position the economy to recover has been backed by another international report. International credit rating agency Moody’s today reaffirmed its highest Aaa credit rating on New Zealand, saying the economy is expected to remain ...
National sports organisations have been given certainty of funding to ensure they can remain viable through the COVID-19 pandemic, Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “The global spread of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on sport and recreation in New Zealand, including the cancellation or postponement of ...
Changes have been made to allow butchers to process pork, only for supply to supermarkets or other processors or retailers that are open, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “We carefully weighed the risk of allowing butchers to open their shops for retail customers, but the risk of spreading COVID-19 ...
Essential workers who take leave from work to comply with public health guidance are being supported with a leave scheme to ensure they will continue to receive income, say the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Iain Lees-Galloway and Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni. A number of essential businesses ...
A Government WhatsApp channel has been launched to help make information more easily accessible and shareable in the fight against COVID-19. Govt.NZ, which is free to use on any mobile device, will carry information and news for the public, businesses, healthcare providers, not for profits and local government. It can ...
The Government has announced a plan to enable the safe, orderly exit of tens of thousands of stranded foreign nationals from New Zealand during the current COVID-19 Alert Level 4 restrictions, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters has said. “When we moved into lockdown a week ago, the ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says the Government is delivering on its commitment to support general practice doctors and nurses, and pharmacies on the front-line of our fight against COVID-19. "For us to overcome COVID-19, we need community health services such as general practice and community pharmacy to step up ...
Justice Susan Thomas has been appointed Chief High Court Judge, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. She replaces Justice Geoffrey Venning who has resigned from the position. David Parker paid tribute to Justice Venning, who he said had stewarded the High Court very capably over the last five years. “On behalf ...
Businesses can start applying to their banks for loans under the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme set up to support the New Zealand economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re moving quickly to protect New Zealand businesses, jobs and the economy during this unprecedented global economic shock,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. ...
Work is underway looking at measures to speed up consents for development and infrastructure projects during the recovery from COVID 19, to provide jobs and stimulate our economy. Environment Minister David Parker said the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global crisis that will have a wide ranging and lasting impact ...
Advance payments will be made to transport construction industry contractors to retain the workforce and ensure it is ready to quickly gear up to build projects which will be vital to New Zealand’s COVID-19 economic recovery, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. He said keeping the workforce required to build ...
The Government has tasked a group of industry leaders to seek out infrastructure projects that are ready to start as soon as the construction industry returns to normal to reduce the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones say. The Infrastructure ...
Work to scale up the health system in preparation for COVID-19 was today outlined by Health Minister David Clark, as he reported back to the new Epidemic Response Committee. “We are well placed to contain the spread of COVID-19. We have taken early and decisive action at our borders, and ...
The Government is refining its COVID-19 essential business guidance to include the distribution of news publications for communities which are hard to reach. The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, Kris Faafoi, said the move was in recognition of the importance for New Zealanders who might be harder to ...
The Government is ensuring supermarkets can open on Easter Sunday so we can buy groceries, but stay closed on Good Friday allowing workers to take a break. This provides a balanced approach and ensures we avoid large queues that two days closure may cause. “Supermarkets will be able to open ...
Following the successful conclusion of the Building Partner Capacity (BPC) mission at Taji, New Zealand defence personnel are returning to New Zealand from Iraq, in accordance with the Cabinet decision made in June 2019, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “New Zealand is very ...
The State of National Emergency to help stop the spread of COVID-19 has been extended for a further seven days, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare said. The initial declaration on March 25 lasted seven days and can be extended as many times as necessary. “Since we went into isolation ...
New Zealand’s ability to go hard and go early in the fight against COVID-19 has been underpinned by strong Government finances and the growing economy heading into this global pandemic, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown financial statements for the eight months to the end ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says 36 new intensive care beds at Christchurch Hospital’s new Hagley building are being fast tracked so they are available for treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Ministry of Health is working with contractor CPB and Canterbury DHB to enable access to the hospital’s ICU, ...
The Government has fast-tracked up to $1 million to help Air New Zealand move urgent freight to and from New Zealand, with the first flight to Shanghai leaving tonight, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says it’s crucial that trade in vital goods such as medical supplies and ...
New Zealand will temporarily remove tariffs on all medical and hygiene imports needed for the COVID-19 response. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said today that the New Zealand Customs Service will apply tariff concessions to all diagnostic reagents and testing ...
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson has clarified that the changes to the wage subsidy scheme announced yesterday mean that employers should be passing on the full subsidy to workers, except in the case where the person’s normal income is less than the level of the subsidy. “We still want employers ...
Medical face masks from the national reserve supply are now being distributed to District Health Boards, while at the same time local production is being ramped up. Yesterday more than 640,000 masks were sent to DHBS – that is an immediate two week supply, with more to follow in coming ...
The Government has made modifications to the wage subsidy scheme to ensure people don’t lose their jobs during the national lockdown. These changes will soften the impact of COVID-19 on workers, families and businesses, and position them to exit the lockdown and look to recovery, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. ...
By RNZ News Social media misinformation about Covid-19 is putting Pacific communities in New Zealand at particular risk, government advisers say. The government announced a $17 million package toward building an awareness campaign in Pacific languages, as well as support for health providers. Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa identified ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marilyn McMahon, Deputy Dean, School of Law, Deakin University A distinctive feature of the prosecution of Cardinal George Pell is that the former choirboy who accused him of sexual abuse (known in the High Court as Complainant “A”) was regarded as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darren Palmer, Associate professor, Deakin University The law on what we can and can’t do during the coronavirus outbreak is changing on an almost hourly basis. Some of what is written now might be overtaken by the shifts in the pandemic powers ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassandra Mudgway, Senior Lecturer in Law, Auckland University of Technology As millions of people are moving work and social interactions online to protect themselves from COVID-19, existing online safety measures may not be enough to deal with a surge in harassment and ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says the primary sector will play a critical role in NZ’s economic recovery once the country emerges from the Covid-19 lockdown. It is the first time (at least within Point of Order’s close surveillance of the issue) that a coalition minister has acknowledged how the pandemic ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Doughney, Emeritus professor, Victoria University The loss of international students due to COVID-19 restrictions, and predicted second semester declines, will see universities lose between A$3 and 4.5 billion, according to Universities Australia. The higher education sector was dealt another blow this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brian Oliver, Research Leader in Respiratory cellular and molecular biology at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and Professor, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney Harry Potter author JK Rowling says a breathing technique has helped her coronavirus-like respiratory symptoms, a ...
8 April 2020 This media release summarises changes to the operation of the courts entering week of COVID-19 alert level 4. It also looks ahead to how the courts will operate in the short and medium term under alert restrictions. Courts to function ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Glasziou, Professor of Medicine, Bond University Should members of the public be wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic? It’s a controversial question, with different countries and authorities giving different advice. We have reviewed the results of more than a dozen ...
The Government is moving to safeguard businesses from insolvency with 'safe harbour' legislation for directors’ liabilities and a business debt hibernation regime. Practically, the business debt hibernation regime will see company directors seeking ...
This Passover, we won’t be attending synagogue, we won’t be participating in large raucous dinners and sharing our food with our extended family and friends, we won’t be welcoming strangers into our homes, as Jewish people are instructed to do, writes Juliet Moses.Tonight, on what is hopefully the halfway point ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brad Elphinstone, Lecturer in psychology., Swinburne University of Technology The same week social distancing measures were announced in Australia (March 16 – March 22), sales of game consoles leaped 285.6%. Prior to this, sales were declining month on month. We’ve also seen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Harris, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, UNSW As part of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all elective surgeries across Australia have been temporarily cancelled. Elective surgery is non-urgent surgery people choose (elect) to have: things like cataract surgery, joint replacement, ...
Infratil and Wellington Council are preparing to lend Wellington Airport funds to help it cope with a traffic collapse because of Covid-19 restrictions, DIleepa Fonseka reports from Infratil's update to investors Wellington City Council and listed investment firm Infratil are preparing a loan to support Wellington Airport, which has seen ...
The latest in our new series of charts, graphics and data visualisations by Chris McDowall.This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff MembersThese posts collate the most recent statistics and present them as charts and maps. The Ministry of Health typically publishes data updates in the early ...
After two weeks of lockdown, police are no longer taking "I didn't know the rules" as a valid excuse, Marc Daalder reports Two weeks into the nationwide lockdown, the police are starting to take non-compliance seriously. The number of prosecutions nearly tripled in 24 hours and 76 new breaches of ...
As the Ministry of Social Development struggles to cope with unprecedented inquiries due to Covid-19, Child Poverty Action Group is calling for the Government to fix our broken welfare system and redesign it so all New Zealanders, but particularly ...
Fijian authorities are scrambling to ensure Cyclone Harold doesn’t make the country’s Covid-19 crisis worse, Teuila Fuatai reports. As Cyclone Harold hits Fiji, authorities have issued physical distancing and sanitation guidelines for evacuation centres. Lashing rain and strong winds caused widespread flooding, power outages and damage to homes and buildings ...
The Government has announced a $88 million package to help students adjust to the new normal of learning from home Thousands of modems and internet-ready devices are being sent to households around the country, in a bid to bridge the digital divide before children resume their studies at home next ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Jenkins, Professor, Respiratory Medicine, UNSW Sydney and Clinical Professor at the University of Sydney, George Institute for Global Health The new respiratory coronavirus COVID-19 is particularly worrying for the 2.7 million Australians who already suffer from asthma. That’s roughly one in ...
By Maggie Boyle of FBC News Fiji disaster authorities have put the whole of Viti Levu island on restricted movement due to TC Harold. Director for National Disaster Management Vasiti Soko confirmed the step had been taken as a precautionary measure. Soko said everyone except emergency services were to ...
By Wansolwarastaff Fiji now has 15 coronavirus cases after a single new case has been confirmed by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. The new case was one of 25 samples that were tested at the molecular lab and is the husband of an existing patient from Lautoka – the Zumba ...
Māori will likely make up the worst unemployment figures in the forthcoming economic recession. Things can’t go back to the way they were, writes Joshua Hitchcock.Our world has changed. While it is too early to know with any certainty what the full impact of this crisis will be on Māori, ...
‘New Zealand leads world in public perception of Covid-19 response,’ says pollster Colmar Brunton.Public support for the official New Zealand response to the Covid-19 outbreak remains high, and well ahead of the world’s richest coutries, new polling suggests.The numbers show New Zealanders’ backing for measures “far outstrips the response in ...
People waiting a week or longer for the results of their Covid-19 tests say the delays are making them anxious, even as the Government says they're nothing to worry about, Marc Daalder reports Anand Rama says the worst part wasn't the waiting, it was that he had no idea how ...
In any crisis, large or small, people usually rally round those in control so long as they convey a sense of knowing what they are doing. If those in charge lose that sense, start to waver, or are otherwise deflected, then their authority quickly starts to erode, warns Peter Dunne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa O’Donnell, Senior Research Fellow, University of Western Australia Tackling a health crisis such as COVID-19, with society in lockdown can’t help but place families under strain. It’s been reported family violence notifications to police nearly tripled in some areas of China’s ...
A new study released today by Colmar Brunton shows the public’s response to Government measures to tackle COVID-19 far outstrips the response in any of the G7 nations. The Colmar Brunton COVID Times is a study of over 600 New Zealanders surveyed from ...
Launching a new series, 60 Seconds with Siouxsie, the inimitable Dr Wiles has a few sharp words for anyone thinking they might catch up with neighbours for a drink or a chat, even at a couple of metres apart.In our first video, made possible by the support of Spinoff members, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bekessy, Professor in Sustainability and Urban Planning, Leader, Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group (ICON Science), RMIT University Intriguing things sometimes happen in places deserted by people. Plants creep back, animals return, and slowly, birdsong fills the air. The coronavirus pandemic means ...
What’s an Ōamaru sweet maker doing giving away a product remarkably similar to the late, lamented Snifter? Amanda Thompson searches for the truth behind a minty mystery.I’m not in this for laughs, people. I’m not playing. At the time of writing, things are bad, they don’t seem to be getting ...
The Tūpuna Maunga Authority is calling for a total ban on the private sale of fireworks following the latest fire at Maungarei / Mt Wellington on Tuesday 7 April. Fire and Emergency crew in attendance advised Authority management they received reports of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geetanjali Saluja, Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney Governments everywhere face the challenge of getting people to stay home so they can limit the spread of coronavirus. In order to make their messages more effective, governments must ensure these appeals resonate with the ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government has no plans to end New Zealand’s four-week lockdown ahead of schedule, despite acknowledging there are signs the country is “starting to turn a corner” in its fight against coronavirus. Ardern’s comments came as Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield reported there had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Blakely, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Melbourne Australia is on track to flatten the curve of coronavirus cases, which will allow our health system to cope with increasing demand for intensive care unit (ICU) beds, recently released modelling confirms. The modelling, ...
Today, dozens of peace groups, academics and human rights campaigners are calling on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to withdraw from RIMPAC, the world’s largest, US-led military exercise due to begin in June. The text of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meredith Rossner, Professor of Criminology, Australian National University In the past, the courts were ideal breeding grounds for spreading disease. In what became known as the “Black Assize”, a deadly fever that swept through prisons and courts in England in 1586, 11 ...
Returning nutrients to the soil was once part of every culture, and now, more than ever, it’s time we restore its valuable role in everyday life.Like keep cups, organic cotton tote bags and eco-friendly cleaning products, composting can at times seem like a new trend latched on to by sustainability-obsessed ...
How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening.The following charts are based on numbers shared at the daily press conference. These may vary from the full day's numbers released in the Ministry of Health's spreadsheet ...
The Prime Minister’s chief science adviser Juliet Gerrard says the next few days will be key to determining when the country can come out of lockdown at the end of four weeks. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Trauer, Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Australia is effectively in lockdown. Public gatherings of more than two people are banned and people are only permitted to leave home for a limited set of reasons. The recent tough measures appear to be ...
She’s not a teacher or a fluent speaker – she just wants to practise with you. Join Leonie Hayden as she works through the first four weeks of Scotty Morrison’s Māori Made Easy.Today we’re asking and answering: how many?E hia te roa o te rāhui e toe ana? How long have ...
Jacinda Ardern has pushed back on calls to lift New Zealand out of lockdown early - but businesses say we need a roadmap for how and when we come out the other side Business leaders have urged the Government to provide greater clarity about how New Zealand will move out ...
It looks like troughers should go back to the drawing board before submitting – or re-submitting – their claim to a serving from the Provincial Growth Fund. Shane Jones, the Minister of Munificence, has announced that the Provincial Development Unit is working through applications and projects ” … to see ...
E tū members at Fletcher Building Ltd are opening up about how they expect their pay cut to affect them and their families. The company has announced that most workers are in line for a wage cut of up to 70%, while the top executives on millions of ...
A simple, long overdue change in New Zealand’s policy for blood donations would benefit everyone, writes Dr. Oliver Armstrong-Scott. The New Zealand Blood Service recently pleaded for Kiwis to continue donating blood during the Covid-19 lockdown to ensure supplies do not run out. As a medical doctor, I have seen ...
Tonight New Zealand marks the halfway point of alert level four. Assuming, that is, it ends on schedule. What will determine the decision to lift the strictest restrictions, and what comes next? Kate Newton of RNZ asks the experts.Covid-19 researchers in New Zealand are optimistic that the level four restrictions ...
If crisis point was met, there is little doubt that the Bay of Plenty regions District Health Boards and hospitals could not cope with a severe outbreak of COVID-19. Medical staff would be stretched to their limits, resulting in deaths, and iwi and hapu in ...
The creators of a commercial property clause that may exempt tenants from paying all or some of their rent say it is working as intended. Clause 27 of the Auckland District Law Society (ADLS) Deed of Lease includes a "no access in emergency clause", which the Property Councilwarned could lead ...
As New Zealand enters day 14 of a scheduled four-week lockdown, director general of health Ashley Bloomfield says New Zealand can be ‘increasingly confident’ . ...
The On the Rag team meet one more time to talk about how the Covid-19 crisis affects women and what you can do to cope. It’s our last podcast for a little while so crack open a bottle of something fizzy and join us as we undergo what is basically a ...
Former Chief Justice Sir Arnold Amet … emergency powers up to controller alone. Video: EMTV NewsBy Martha Louis in Madang Papua New Guinea’s former Chief Justice Sir Arnold Amet says the state of emergency (SoE) in the country means that no other authority has any ability or powers ...
By Florencio Miranda Ximenes and Antónia Gusmão in Dili Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak has explained the decision to dismiss the vice-health minister, saying he lost trust in her to do the job. The President dismissed Élia António de Araújo dos Reis Amaral from her post on Friday, following ...
Farrowing crates, which confine mother pigs kept on factory farms, violate the Animal Welfare Act 1999, and for the first time in New Zealand history the Act will be tested in court. SAFE and the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) filed court proceedings ...
‘Yes, it’s endearing that the PM said that the Easter Bunny is an essential service but I wondered how many kids had a hope in hell of seeing three good meals a day let alone a chocolate egg.’Read more Lockdown Letters here.Bob Dylan’s latest, Murder Most Foul, is an interesting ...
Covid 19 coronavirus: Expert professor says no blanket quarantine at border risks a longer lockdown; and Covid-19: 387 Air NZ pilots look set to lose jobs. ...
Amid COVID-19, New Zealanders disregard privacy concerns for convenience – 1.2m affected by cybercrime, 600k by identity theft Over a third of New Zealanders estimated to have experienced cyber crime in the past 12 months Highlights: More than half ...
The National Party leader intends to continue commuting between Tauranga and Wellington so he can do his job effectively in an unprecedented situation. ...
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 contentPublic health strategy, exiting lockdown Thomas Manch (Stuff): A path out of lockdown is being charted, but experts say ...
US death toll catching Italy's fast; Johnson on oxygen in ICU, but not intubated; US threatens India, Canada over mask and drugs; Germany accuses America of 'piracy' as China, Russia send supplies to New YorkUS cases spiral: The United States leads the world in total cases, but not yet ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meead Saberi, Senior lecturer, UNSW Traffic jams may have disappeared from our roads as people stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we can be confident they will be back. Scientists have studied traffic and congestion for decades. We know a lot ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Lindsey, Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, University of Melbourne Almost no one thinks Indonesia is handling the COVID-19 pandemic well. Until early March, the government claimed it had no ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rod Lamberts, Deputy Director, Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University Good news: COVID-19 is not the only thing going on right now! Bad news: while we’ve all been deep in the corona-hole, the climate crisis has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Waters-Lynch, Lecturer Entrepreneurship and Innovation, RMIT University If you’re working from home for the first time, you might be asking yourself why you didn’t get to do this years ago. The benefits of remote work have been discussed for nearly half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roslyn Petelin, Course coordinator, The University of Queensland When a literary luminary such as Thomas Kenneally declares so early in 2020 that he is certain a “more original” novel “will not be published this year”, the reviewer faces a challenge. The book ...
Open mike 19/08/2016 
Open mike is your post.
We are seeing what has been termed “a greater challenge than the crash of 2008” by a growing number of economists and more rational, sane commentators, because whilst that was a shocking exposure of the levels to which hubris had sunk, right down to the blank cheque given those who ...2 hours ago
I am a Kiwi living in Jersey City, New Jersey. Jersey City is the second-largest city in the state and is located directly across the Hudson River from downtown Manhattan. Locals call it New York’s sixth borough. More than 350,000 New Jersey citizens, including myself, commute to New York daily ...5 hours ago
It’s a beautiful autumn afternoon, we need to get out of the house, and so our bubble sets off on a bike ride around our local neighbourhood, Cambridge Park. The bikes come out of the garage, and, being really certain we have a front door key, close the garage door ...6 hours ago
. . April 7: Day 13 of living in lock-down… and unlucky for those who are superstitious. A day when there was a ray of sunshine from an otherwise bleak day of worrying signs. Today, as RNZ reported; Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield reported 54 new confirmed and probable cases ...9 hours ago
So far, universal basic income policies, which see people given a regular income without any conditions, have been trailed only on a small scale. But now, Spain is introducing one nationwide as a response to the pandemic: Spain is to roll out a universal basic income (UBI) “as soon as ...9 hours ago
Paul Connet, head of the anti-fluoride propaganda group, Fluoride Action Network, claims that the IQ of children bottle-fed in fluoridated areas drops by 9 points. But he misrepresented the research. There is no observable effect. For earlier articles in this series see: Part 1: Anti-fluoridation propaganda now relies on only ...12 hours ago
The Queen’s coronavirus broadcast, with its overtones of Winston Churchill and Vera Lynn, prompted me to reflect on the tribulations my parents’ generation suffered during the Second World War – and I imagine that those parallels, given her own wartime experience, were very much in the Queen’s mind as she ...13 hours ago
Imagination By-Pass: Had the Communications Minister, Kris Faafoi (above) taken a firm stand with Bauer, reminding them of their obligations to both their staff and the wider New Zealand public, then a much more favourable outcome may well have ensued. He should have made it clear to the Bauer board ...1 day ago
We all know that Simon Bridges has, at the best of times, an intermittent relationship with the truth. However you would think that during a pandemic and economic crisis the current opposition leader would pull his head in and start to do the right thing.Obviously leading by example should be ...1 day ago
Connett promotes Riddell et al (2019) as one of the only four studies one needs to read about fluoridation. But he misunderstands and misrepresents the findings of this study. Image credit: Fluoride Action ... 2 days ago
Last month I wrote my blog on covid-19 pointing out the in our pre Alert Level 4 days that a subject no one had heard here months ago was now dominating the media. An amazing feature of this crisis is how quickly it has swept every other issue aside worldwide. ...2 days ago
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... North Atlantic's capacity to absorb CO2 overestimated, study suggests Research into ocean’s plankton likely to lead to ...2 days ago
As the world economy slides rapidly towards deep recession there are growing calls for a Universal Benefit coming from some leftists and rightists. Now Finance Minister Grant Robertson is saying it is on the table. This article by a French party Workers Struggle provides analysis of various forms of universal ...3 days ago
This is the advice from the very top of the anti-fluoride movement – Paul Connett, director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN). Don’t worry about reading up on all the scientific information “You only have ... 3 days ago
Comfortably, in the very first round, with an impressive 56% of the votes.I wonder, did members of the Shadow Cabinet start tweeting their resignations during Starmer's victory speech, or is that only a trick the right pull?It is odd how all the talk of how the next leader "needs to ...3 days ago
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addressed the nation today about the decline in daylight New Zealand has been experiencing over the previous few months. She said “As many of you will notice, our attempts to stem the dwindling of the daylight over the last few months have been completely ...4 days ago
We must root out the traitors among us! ...5 days ago
I haven’t done a huge amount in the last few days. I’m reading The Poppy War and I’ve sort of poked at a couple of games – I started SOMA but I’m a wimp and I quit while in the first room after the brain scan. I might try it ...6 days ago
Image credit: Diamond Harbour School Blogs 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 blog is unexpectedly missing or ... 1 week ago
The following statement was released on March 28 by the National Network on Cuba, a coalition of 40 groups, based in the United States. In recent weeks, Cuba has deployed hundreds of medical providers to over a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, as well as to their neighbors in Latin ...1 week ago
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced that New Zealand will enter into transit arrangements with a range of countries to make it easier for each other’s citizens to get home. “There are millions of people around the world stranded ...1 day ago
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Government has striven to provide calm, clear and consistent communication, including daily press conference updates from the Prime Minister. ...3 days ago
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The scale of what we face right now is unlike anything we have ever seen before. Overcoming it is our common purpose. ...2 weeks ago
Communities stepping up to help New Zealanders stay at home to break the transmission of COVID-19 and save lives have received Government support, said Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. “Delivering groceries for the elderly who can’t shop online, providing data packs for low income families to keep them connected, and being ...5 hours ago
By RNZ News Social media misinformation about Covid-19 is putting Pacific communities in New Zealand at particular risk, government advisers say. The government announced a $17 million package toward building an awareness campaign in Pacific languages, as well as support for health providers. Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa identified ...1 hour ago
Business leaders are scrutinising the government's decision to only let essential businesses and those with essential goods operate. ...2 hours ago
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says the primary sector will play a critical role in NZ’s economic recovery once the country emerges from the Covid-19 lockdown. It is the first time (at least within Point of Order’s close surveillance of the issue) that a coalition minister has acknowledged how the pandemic ...3 hours ago
8 April 2020 This media release summarises changes to the operation of the courts entering week of COVID-19 alert level 4. It also looks ahead to how the courts will operate in the short and medium term under alert restrictions. Courts to function ...4 hours ago
This Passover, we won’t be attending synagogue, we won’t be participating in large raucous dinners and sharing our food with our extended family and friends, we won’t be welcoming strangers into our homes, as Jewish people are instructed to do, writes Juliet Moses.Tonight, on what is hopefully the halfway point ...5 hours ago
Infratil and Wellington Council are preparing to lend Wellington Airport funds to help it cope with a traffic collapse because of Covid-19 restrictions, DIleepa Fonseka reports from Infratil's update to investors Wellington City Council and listed investment firm Infratil are preparing a loan to support Wellington Airport, which has seen ...5 hours ago
After two weeks of lockdown, police are no longer taking "I didn't know the rules" as a valid excuse, Marc Daalder reports Two weeks into the nationwide lockdown, the police are starting to take non-compliance seriously. The number of prosecutions nearly tripled in 24 hours and 76 new breaches of ...5 hours ago
Fijian authorities are scrambling to ensure Cyclone Harold doesn’t make the country’s Covid-19 crisis worse, Teuila Fuatai reports. As Cyclone Harold hits Fiji, authorities have issued physical distancing and sanitation guidelines for evacuation centres. Lashing rain and strong winds caused widespread flooding, power outages and damage to homes and buildings ...6 hours ago
The Government has announced a $88 million package to help students adjust to the new normal of learning from home Thousands of modems and internet-ready devices are being sent to households around the country, in a bid to bridge the digital divide before children resume their studies at home next ...6 hours ago
People waiting a week or longer for the results of their Covid-19 tests say the delays are making them anxious, even as the Government says they're nothing to worry about, Marc Daalder reports Anand Rama says the worst part wasn't the waiting, it was that he had no idea how ...6 hours ago
In any crisis, large or small, people usually rally round those in control so long as they convey a sense of knowing what they are doing. If those in charge lose that sense, start to waver, or are otherwise deflected, then their authority quickly starts to erode, warns Peter Dunne ...6 hours ago
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government has no plans to end New Zealand’s four-week lockdown ahead of schedule, despite acknowledging there are signs the country is “starting to turn a corner” in its fight against coronavirus. Ardern’s comments came as Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield reported there had been ...7 hours ago
How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening. The following charts are based on numbers shared at the daily press conference. These may vary from the full day's numbers released in the Ministry of Health's spreadsheet ...8 hours ago
The Prime Minister’s chief science adviser Juliet Gerrard says the next few days will be key to determining when the country can come out of lockdown at the end of four weeks. ...8 hours ago
Jacinda Ardern has pushed back on calls to lift New Zealand out of lockdown early - but businesses say we need a roadmap for how and when we come out the other side Business leaders have urged the Government to provide greater clarity about how New Zealand will move out ...9 hours ago
In which we gaily rip-off the fun quarantine-house thing on the internet and adapt it to NZ authors ...9 hours ago
It looks like troughers should go back to the drawing board before submitting – or re-submitting – their claim to a serving from the Provincial Growth Fund. Shane Jones, the Minister of Munificence, has announced that the Provincial Development Unit is working through applications and projects ” … to see ...10 hours ago
The creators of a commercial property clause that may exempt tenants from paying all or some of their rent say it is working as intended. Clause 27 of the Auckland District Law Society (ADLS) Deed of Lease includes a "no access in emergency clause", which the Property Councilwarned could lead ...10 hours ago
As New Zealand enters day 14 of a scheduled four-week lockdown, director general of health Ashley Bloomfield says New Zealand can be ‘increasingly confident’ . ...11 hours ago
Covid 19 coronavirus: Expert professor says no blanket quarantine at border risks a longer lockdown; and Covid-19: 387 Air NZ pilots look set to lose jobs. ...11 hours ago
US death toll catching Italy's fast; Johnson on oxygen in ICU, but not intubated; US threatens India, Canada over mask and drugs; Germany accuses America of 'piracy' as China, Russia send supplies to New York US cases spiral: The United States leads the world in total cases, but not yet ...13 hours ago
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37124183
In November 2009, an expanded panel of 9 judges of the Israeli Supreme Court ruled (in an eight to one decision) that privately run prisons are unconstitutional.
As usual NZ is playing catch up with other nations who have tried and failed with turning state agencies into private ones. We obviously are too arrogant and think we can do it when others have failed. Ideology is failing us in every direction in this country from education to health and corrections.
Big big call in the US.
But has time run out on Obama to close Guantanamo?
Obama legacy shopping…but it is both a good and surprising move
A snippet which offers hope. Nats should take note.
‘U.S. Justice Department says it will end use of private prisons
The Justice Department plans to phase out its use of private prisons after they were determined to be less safe and less effective that government facilities, The Washington Post reports.’
http://thehill.com/
Well, well, well. How interesting to find that private operators of prisons do not do it all that well ! As if some of us ever thought they could.
Helen said something like..’Only the democratically elected state has a mandate to incarcerate people- not commercially motivated private companies or individuals.’
If even the US now realizes this axiom, how long will it take the English/Key cabal to catch up with what the civilized world already knows.
A background piece of outstanding journalism from Mother Jones…
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-prisons-corrections-corporation-inmates-investigation-bauer
This is a comment particularly for Anne; here is a recent video on how long term climate change is now affecting the specific day to day and week to week weather system behaviours that we are now seeing in the world.
Thanks. Will watch later today. 🙂
Thanks cv – will also watch when time permits.
Thanks again CV. I was transported back to a former life. He also did a cracking good job explaining what Climate Change actually is for the uninitiated.
very welcome, Anne.
NZ Women at Rio : seems to me that we have quite a few women winning medals – has anyone done a count of how many medals the men have won, and how many the women have won ? Would be interested to know ……
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/83337433/rio-olympics-2016-recordbreaking-games-for-new-zealand-as-medal-tally-reaches-14
I’m not sure why its interesting but ok
Men have won three golds and women have won one
Men have won one silver and women have won seven silvers
Bronze have been equally shared one each
Probably more to come of course
What I like, as opposed to some of the coverage coming in from overseas, is that we give proper dues to our female athletes whereas in places like the USA mens performances are glamourised over their female counterparts.
Coca-Cola’s second largest bottling plant in India has been shut down
The Indian govt seems to be doing some interesting things,
Monsanto is losing millions on failed GM cotton. The company illegally pushed a form of Bt cotton into India and Africa more than a decade ago, but farmers are now pushing back by planting their own indigenous seed.
Monsanto is accused of writing laws and then breaking them to enter the market in India, but after more than 300,000 farmer deaths between 1995 and 2013, many of them attributed to Monsanto, the company is finally paying for their misdeeds. The corporation’s greed is linked to farmer suicides throughout Maharashtra, considered the ‘Cotton Belt’ in India.
The Indian government is now actively promoting the use of indigenous seed, and has called Monsanto out for profiteering illegally on Bt cotton seed.
Monsanto has already lost nearly $75 million in royalties this year (5 billion rupees) due to the change in seed choice by farmers. Sales in India have fallen by 15 percent, and though this is a relatively small market share, it is still making a huge impact on the company’s bottom line.
http://www.ecosnippets.com/environmental/farmers-in-india-rebel-cotton-seed/
All Monsanto are good for now is selling themselves into corporate parts.
They’ve been on the block for a while and vastly overestimating their price to suitors.
Very interesting as the US has been pressuring India to open its domestic market up to large US corporates more and more.
Very heartening after such brutal corporate control of India’s farmers
A question from me after reading the Mother Jones story I linked to above:
Why are prisons sex segregated? Spanish prisons allow conjugal visits every 4-8 weeks. They are experimenting with family cells to keep families together if both parents are in jail and they have children under three, Spanish prisons have separate mens and womens wings, but the inmates mix in work and sometimes even marry,
Now, thinking about it, if a man is convicted of a domestic violence crime why do we send him to a all-male, hyper-aggressive environment? How will that challenge his attitudes towards woman? Surely, strictly supervised interaction with women in prison (for example, in anger management sessions wouldn’t it be handy to have a few women inmates there to describe how they feel when assaulted?) would be much better? Surely, allowing sexual activity via conjugal visits would have a major impact on sexual assault inside prisons?
Good points Sanctuary. We need new thinking and ideas about social issues, and then pilot programs to see if they work.
My views on this are similar to posh, single sex private schools. Is sending your kids to an all white, decile 10, mono cultural, single sex school really the best way to prepare them for lives in a multi cultural society? Or is it just a way to try and preserve class based advantage for a clearly identifiable social minority? I am pretty sure it is for the latter. Personally, I would abolish all single sex and private schools completely and make it a requirement that schools reflect as accurately as possible the socioeconomic and ethnic mix of a 10km radius.
And if I reason like that for schools, why then would I reason any differently about prisons?
Boys do better in single sex schools, so they should be kept, especially given how disadvantaged males are in the public education system today.
Girls schools emphasis seems to be at the 40th percentile. Boys schools emphasis seems to be at the 90th percentile (and sports stars).
It means more girls pass, but boys fill the top spots.
If your boy is top-notch academically send him to a boys schools, if he is top-notch at sport send him to a boys school, if he is neither send him coed.
Well CV , I finally have found something I disagree with you on(apart from Trump by a landslide – there just aren’t enough redneck white males to get him there).
I think boys need the interaction with females to grow up as better balanced citizens.
I have taught at both a boys and a coed and I know which I prefer. In an all boys school Sport is paramount and used as bribery.
I think Sanctuary’s comments re schooling are spot on.
well, i started by saying Trump by landslide, I’ve ratcheted that back down to Trump by easy win 🙂
Yes boys need interaction with females, thats what going to a coed for the final year is for 🙂
The Emperor has no Balls
Donald Trump Sculptures, real live and all are popping up all over the US.
http://gothamist.com/2016/08/18/naked_donald_trump_statue.php#photo-1
oh dear, someone please fetch me some pearls to clutch and a cup o tea 🙂
LUV IT LUVIT!!!
The parks department offer stiff opposition:
“NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small,” said Sam Biederman, a parks spokesman.
😀 Thanks for that Sam Biederman! (Hope you don’t lose your job).
The hypocrisy and vacuousness of the right wing National Party member mind is something to behold …….
We have the steel suppliers who were all happy with the free market at play in the Chch rebuild when they made gold out of their steel through demand and supply driving prices from around $2-3 kg up to $7-8 kg.. oh yay they went, smiling all the way to the bank, driving around in new utes, buying new boats, aint it great this unfettered free market …
… yet when supply from China drives those prices back down to where they used to be there is all manner of wailing and gnashing of teeth and crying to mummy in the government for some help..
… pathetic
Same with employers in the regions making their wares and voting for the free market and voting for the free market National Party ….
… yet when they need a component for their business, namely labour, all semblance of the free market is abandoned for more crying and tears….. instead of paying more for what they need…
… pathetic
its called the free market business people, the free market. You voted for it. Man up and live with it, you are pathetic with your whingeing
Angela Merkel surprised by massive protest march against TTIP in Berlin
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-hundreds-of-thousands-protest-in-berlin-against-eu-us-trade-deal-2015-10/?r=AU&IR=T
Injured Aleppo boy in ambulance illustrates Syrian conflict
http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/injured-aleppo-boy-in-ambulance-illustrates-syrian-conflict-2016081821?ref=newshubFB
(Not sure if the world’s media is ready to share images of kids in war by US bomb strikes which are edited out of the world’s media).
message from Barry Coates
“It makes no sense that the government is continuing to push the TPPA legislation through Parliament even though it would add huge costs from extending copyright from 50 to 70 years and strengthening patent rights. The benefits will go to big foreign corporations – New Zealand innovators and consumers will lose out.
The research and evidence on TPPA is shoddy, with superficial analysis written or commissioned by MFAT to support their position. This contrasts with more thorough reports done in the US by the International Trade Commission that found virtually no economic benefit for the US, and a recent draft report by the Australian Productivity Commission that concluded the TPPA provisions would inhibit innovation and raise costs.
In New Zealand, a series of expert peer-reviewed papers have raised serious questions about the TPPA, and highlighted the economic costs and problems such as restrictions on the government’s right to regulate (see https://itsourfuture.org.nz/tppa-research/).
The TPPA is in big trouble in the US, and there is a huge majority of the public against it, as well as the two leading Presidential candidates. There is time for New Zealand to re-think its involvement in the TPPA and undertake proper research. The more we find out about this agreement, the more concerns that it raises. When we see the objective evidence, the government will have to agree with the majority of the public and reject the TPPA.
Or if they don’t, the voters of New Zealand will have their chance at the next election to support political parties that reject the TPPA and similar agreements, and get rid of the provisions in exising treaties that allow foreign investors to sue our government.”
Today, nearly one hundred and fifty-three years after the bloodiest post-Treaty battle on the soil of these islands, the invaders are withdrawing, and Rangiriri pa is being returned to Maori: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/311348/rangiriri-pa-returned-after-1863-invasion
What was the battle of Rangiriri like for the men who fought it? We can get one answer to this question but looking at the beautiful and terrible photographs taken by the man who won a VC at Rangiriri:
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/going-to-war-with-william-temple.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/north-island/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503932&objectid=11696970
The rape and plunder goes on, good old free market in action
These are the full prepared remarks from Trump a couple of days ago. He was relentlessly on message, regretting his more offensive remarks, nailing his rationale hard:
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-never-lie-227183
Enjoy! He ain’t out out of this race.
“How Bloomberg spun their own poll data to make Clinton seem inevitable”
Clinton 6 points ahead of Trump said the Bloomberg headline.
(Except when you look at the four way data between Clinton, Trump, the Libertarians and the Greens, Clinton was actually only 2 points ahead i.e. in a statistical tie with Trump).
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-16/how-bloomberg-spun-its-own-poll-data-make-hillary-clinton-seem-inevitable
Yeah, that’s happened a number of times over the last week or two. Headlines based on the two-way rather than four-way data, thus exaggerating Clinton’s lead.
Similar in the UK – in the last couple of days, there’s been some dodgy reporting of a BMG Poll on Corbyn vs Smith as Labour leader. Among people who voted Labour in 2015, Corbyn beats Smith marginally (by 4 points – 52% vs 48%). But among people currently intending to vote Labour at the next General Election, Corbyn wins by a massive 32 points (66% vs 34%).
A number of UK media outlets (along with prominent poll analyst-twitters with strong anti-Corbyn tendencies) have focussed solely on the 52/48 split, strongly implying that these are the figures for current Labour supporters.
in the Bloomberg one they also had to throw in the “lean to” results from the don’t knows to give Clinton her 6 point lead.
If Scott Adams is right at least some of those will have said Clinton because they didn’t want to admit to supporting Trump.
As prepared.
How was his delivery?
Compare the crowd size to Clinton’s campaign events.
didn’t we do the same comparison with Bernie’s crowds? How did that work out?
Bernie lost, the Democrats stabbed him in the back
You mean he didn’t get enough delegates to win.
The more Trump speaks, the more he becomes entertainment rather than presidential material.
No, I mean Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the other leaders of the DNC stabbed Bernie in the back, and had to resign over it.
Uh-huh.
How did their activities affect Sanders’ delegate votes?
Dunno but the DNC CEO, chair, communications director and CFO all resigned in disgrace over it, so they were all involved in screwing the scrum against Bernie.
well, bad-mouthing the fuck out of him in emails to each other. A bit like how that general lost his job after badmouthing the president when the embedded rolling stone journo was in the room.
Didn’t affect the number of votes Sanders got in the primaries, though.
they organised against Sanders. You know, like using his religion against him.
But you don’t know if it’s even likely that this affected the primaries? Were there any indications of ballot-stuffing, or whatever?
How did they organise against him?
Oh I see McFlock. The DNC’s cheating doesn’t count as cheating unless it affected things on the ground?
Well, for starters it lends credence to Sanders supporters complaints that from the very start that voter registration and polling booth management was slanted against them.
You haven’t demonstrated any cheating. A lot of griping and unprofessional emails, but nothing that affected the election.
It doesn’t “lend credence” to anything, unless D W-S was personally handling voter registrations or managing a polling booth. Do the parties even have anything to do with polling booth management or voter registration? Because at least some seem to be run by state boards of elections.
Trump was entertainment during the primaries. Now he’s a very bad horror movie.
My worry is that he learns how to stick to an autocue.
Yuuge….
Looked like a crowd of maybe 5,000 to me. How many at the Hillary campaign rally today?
Oh yeah there wasn’t one.
Hillary doesn’t really need to do another rally. She’s already won. If big numbers at rallies was the decider, Bernie Sanders would have won the Democrat nomination, because he sure packed ’em out. But, in the real world, it’s votes that count and most voters make their mind up via their favourite media, not down at the town hall. The big rallies to come will really be aimed at maxing out the win. That’s about Democrat senators, congressman and governors. The real victory will be winning back control of the house and senate and taking the governorships in states that haven’t been democrat in years. That’ll be Trump’s legacy; handing the Democrats near total control of the political apparatus.
I’ll check back in with your personal fantasy world come November
I suspect you’re going to very quiet in November, oh great sage. But I for one won’t be rubbing it in when you do reappear. We all make mistakes. The point is to not repeat them too often or too publicly.
The aggregate state polling is interesting, albeit still a bit soon to tell 🙂
trp – Hillary won because the Democratic Party shafted Bernie.
How?
From the Washington Post, about the top revelations from the DNC emails:
1) Targeting Sanders’s religion?
On May 5, DNC officials appeared to conspire to raise Sanders’s faith as an issue and press on whether he was an atheist — apparently in hopes of steering religious voters in Kentucky and West Virginia to Clinton. Sanders is Jewish but has previously indicated that he’s not religious.
2) Wasserman Schultz calls top Sanders aide a “damn liar”…
On May 17, after controversy erupted over the Nevada state Democratic convention and how fair the process was there, Wasserman Schultz herself took exception to Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver’s defense of his candidate’s supporters.
3) … and says Sanders has “no understanding” of the party
That wasn’t the only time Wasserman Schultz offered an unvarnished opinion about the Sanders operation. And in one late-April email, she even questioned Sanders’s connection to the party.
4) A Clinton lawyer gives DNC strategy advice on Sanders
When the Sanders campaign alleged that the Clinton campaign was improperly using its joint fundraising committee with the DNC to benefit itself, Clinton campaign lawyer Marc Elias offered the DNC guidance on how to respond.
5) Plotting a narrative about how Sanders’s campaign failed
On May 21, DNC national press secretary Mark Pautenbach suggested pushing a narrative that Sanders “never ever had his act together, that his campaign was a mess.”
After detailing several arguments that could be made to push that narrative, Paustenbach concludes: “It’s not a DNC conspiracy, it’s because they never had their act together.”
6) Mocking Sanders for his California debate push
One of the chief complaints from Sanders and his supporters was a lack of debates. They said the fact that there were so few was intended to help Clinton by reducing her opponents’ exposure and their chances to knock her down.
7) Wishing Sanders would just end it
Many of these emails came as it was clear Clinton was going to win — which makes the apparent favoritism perhaps less offensive (though Sanders supporters would certainly disagree).
But it’s also clear that there was plenty of cheerleading for the race to simply be over — for Sanders to throw in the towel so that Clinton could be named the presumptive nominee. The party, of course, was still supposed to be neutral even though the odds and delegate deficit for Sanders looked insurmountable.
8) Calling an alleged Sanders sympathizer a “Bernie bro”
The term “Bernie bro” — or “Berniebro,” depending on your style — over the course of the campaign became a kind of shorthand for the worst kind of Sanders supporter. These were the supporters who couldn’t be reasoned with and verbally assaulted opponents, sometimes in very nasty ways.
9) Criticizing Obama for lack of fundraising help — “That’s f—ing stupid”
While the Sanders emails have gained the most attention, some of the more interesting emails involve a peek behind to curtain of how party officials talk about fundraising and major donors — and even President Obama.
In one email on May 9, DNC mid-Atlantic and PAC finance director Alexandra Shapiro noted that Obama wouldn’t travel 20 minutes to help the party secure $350,000 in donations.
“He really won’t go up 20 minutes for $350k?” Shapiro wrote. “THAT’S f—ing stupid.”
10) 10) Flippant chatter about donors
In a May 16 exchange about where to seat a top Florida donor, Kaplan declared that “he doesn’t sit next to POTUS!” — referring to Obama.
“Bittel will be sitting in the sh—iest corner I can find,” responded Shapiro. She also referred to other donors as “clowns.”
You missed the bit where the DNC forced people at gunpoint to vote for Hillary against their will. Bastards.
TRP, I think people can read for themselves to see what the self proclaimed “neutral” DMC was all about, when it came to Clinton vs Sanders.
The pro status quo’ers backed Clinton the weaker, less popular, more right wing candidate.
lol
Funny list, none of which expplains why Sanders didn’t win the nomination. It does explain the resignations, though – especially ripping shit out of Obama. Very similar to McChrystal.
Itemised response below, but TL:DR – all can be answered with some combinations of “In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email?” and “Did it effect the primary?”
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
Did it effect the primary?
Did it effect the primary?
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email? Did it effect the primary?
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email?
In public? Or, shock horror, did someone use an unprofessional tone in an internal email?
Um, if you win a two option democratic election, you are, by definition, the popular candidate. Sanders has got over it and showed that he understands the process and the real threat facing the people of the States (and the rest of us). You, on the other hand, not so much …
Repeating already forgotten attack lines doesn’t change the simple fact that Hillary Clinton won the nomination. More people voted for her than for her opponent. She campaigned and won. You’d better get used to that, because it’s going happen again in a couple of months.
Not according to the votes.
No wonder the Clinton machine had to work so hard to exclude independent voters from their primaries.
Read and weep status quo supporting bros.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerome-karabel/sanders-clinton-electability_b_10106256.html
How did they exclude independent voters?
Isn’t voter registration administered by the states, not the parties?
cv why are you bringing up bernie – you support trump – are you really saying you’d have flip flopped between sanders and trump – that seems hardly credible.
Fox and Trump campaign on the difference between a crowd of 5,000, and one person and their tv:
http://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/08/17/michael-cohen-donald-trump-poll-number-brianna-keilar-sot-tsr.cnn
Them 3 percenters love some Donald.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_Rule_Book
National voters now think they own the colour blue…
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/complaint-over-goffs-blue-billboards-2016081913
Media beat-up or was Andrew Little trying to highlight to voters that Labour can row in different directions all on its own?
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/where-does-labour-stand-on-decriminalising-cannabis-2016081116
Thoughts?
First thing that springs to mind is why are you linking to a story over a week old?
I think cannabis reform is inevitable and there is a huge appetite for more open access to medicinal cannabis right now.
If anyone is having a bob each way it is of course John Key who intimated during the week that cops ‘kind of’ turn a blind eye to recreational possession already. He worries about sending the wrong message through decriminalisation but isn’t the slightest bit concerned about sending the wrong message by stating cops currently enforce the law (or not) as they see fit.
I think we can all guess which type of person cops are likely to throw the book at…
If that’s the beat up from last week I understood perfectly clearly where Labour stand. They will move on medical csnnsbis as soon as in power and they will consider a referendum on general decriminalisation but it won’t be a priority eg not in their first hundred days. Don’t know why some people found that difficult to understand.
Agree. It’s a beat up by those interested in painting Andrew Little and Labour as indecisive and contradictory. See The Chairman.
Don’t shoot the messenger. I merely put the question out there.
Moreover, Labour don’t require me to paint them as indecisive and contradictory, they’ve done a pretty good job of giving voters that impression themselves. They often grandstand against things, only to later go on and support them, albeit, with a few minor changes.
Don’t tell me. You’ve always voted Labour. As did your father, and your father’s father. Your family has always been Labour, but you can’t bring yourself to vote for them now because Andrew Little doesn’t smile enough.
One finds politicians often come and go. It’s the Party’s agenda that tends to remain. Unfortunately, Labour adopted a neo-liberal agenda long before Little came along and have yet to fully let go.
Therefore, it would be fair to say Labour parted with me. Nevertheless, still hoping they’ll find their Corbyn moment.
There is no Corbyn in the NZ Labour Party. Not point in waiting for something that is literally not possible.
While there is no Corbyn in the NZ Labour Party, it doesn’t necessarily mean a Corbyn moment will never develop.
Labour being center left robs the party of that crucial point of difference (not merely fluffing around the edges as they do) while allowing National far greater opportunity to copy policy.
Moreover, it’s helping shift the whole political spectrum to the state now that the Greens are considered by a number to be far left, while reaffirming to voters there is no real alternative but to fluff around the edges. Helping to strengthen and cement in the neo-liberal view.
Additionally, this has disappointed and disenfranchised a number of voters, giving them the impression little changes, there is no brighter future regardless who one votes for. Thus. they no longer partake.
Bringing into question your assertion that we are better served at this point by letting Labour be centre left.
I’m not calling for extreme leftism. But Labour requires to show more of a point of difference. As they did with Kiwibuild, which was widely welcomed by voters.
This highlights voters are open to a more hands on Government where they feel the market is lacking (or, as the cannabis poll highlights, laws are deemed heavy handed and outdated).
I don’t know where you or CV are coming from on this.
While there are some areas where Labour today finds it important to meet a changed world at an appropriate junction, from what I understand the very core Labour values of the past around housing as a right and not a privilege, strong rights and representation for workers, and educational investment in the future for all Kiwis have not been a stronger priority in recent times than under the current Andrew Little lead Labour party.
I think there is a fair amount of Corbyn in Little and despite what the conservative media and blogosphere might have you believe, Little is very consistent on these things mentioned above.
You can tell that there is less Corbyn rather than more Corbyn in Little simply because Labour’s right wing tolerate Little.
Whereas UK Labour’s right wing couldn’t tolerate a self declared socialist like Corbyn.
Well, happy to see you recognise at least some true socialist values in Little even if weka doesn’t.
“Labour’s right wing tolerate Little” lol I think you have been out of the loop too long cv – what a rubbish line you’ve used.
I see socialist values in Little. I just don’t think he is a Corbyn. He has his own attributes though and I think we are better served at this poin by letting Labour be centre left (hopefully moving left), rather than expecting people to be who and what they are not. You can’t manufacture a Corbyn, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other good ways to be.
+100% Muttonbird
“While there are some areas where Labour today finds it important to meet a changed world at an appropriate junction, from what I understand the very core Labour values of the past around housing as a right and not a privilege, strong rights and representation for workers, and educational investment in the future for all Kiwis have not been a stronger priority in recent times than under the current Andrew Little lead Labour party.”
Well said. However, I somewhat disagree.
While it is important to meet a changed world at an appropriate junction, Labour have yet to identify that appropriate junction which also brings a significant number of voters along.
It’s good Labour is trying to improve rights and representation for workers but their educational investment falls short. As with their housing policy, it doesn’t go far enough mitigating offshore demand.
So while these may have not been a stronger priority in recent times than under the current Andrew Little lead Labour party, there is clearly more work to be done.
Andrew Little -Qualified Lawyer, -Union president- Labour. Got my vote against I’m relaxed … John -‘no but what I can say’ boy.
It’s interesting how the Nat trolls persist in using multiple questions and repetitive question marks. That’s Amway 101 strategy. (He who asks the questions controls the conversation). Zzzzz
Weka, do you believe if Labour were to make it (a referendum) a priority (sometime within the first term) it will harm them or improve their support?
I think it would depend on how they were doing with everything else. Lots of NZers support decriminalisation, but would not be too happy about it being prioritised over other things that are more important. I think the medical cannabis issue is more important and should be dealt with separately. I also think that the L/G govt will need to coax NZ left again not go hard out. Then there is the Peters issue.
btw Little didn’t say what a priority meant for Labour. The example he gave was not in the first hundred days. So you calling the first term a priority is about you not Labour. Just so we are clear.
“I think it would depend on how they were doing with everything else. Lots of NZers support decriminalisation, but would not be too happy about it being prioritised over other things that are more important.”
Hence, to be clear, my suggesting within the first term.
Moreover, surely Labour are capable of doing more than one thing at a time?
Coaxing NZ left again opens Labour up to falling short and looking indecisive. Often resulting in disappointing both the right and left.
Labour is happy to lead in a “priority” area like gay marriage, but not on a non-priority area like cannabis decriminalisation.
Equal rights based on humanity not sexual orientation and the right to take natural substances that aren’t going to get you sent to jail – hmmm both rights to fight for imo and I don’t really see the binary of one verses the other. Your pettiness and privilege and ihatelabour colours are showing again cv and it ain’t pretty.
as I pointed out Marty Mars Labour was quite happy to lead the charge for gay marriage but not in decriminalising cannabis. Because not as important.
Actually it was a private member’s bill that received cross-party support. It wasn’t exactly Labour policy. Nor were civil unions, although they were ministerial decisions. Helen Clark was about as committed to “gay marriage” as Litte is for marijuana legalisation.
Yeah but in reality all the Labour MPs speeches on the night the Bill passed into law were so thoroughly triumphant and righteous.
Because it was the correct thing to do. And I’m sure the Greens, and even half of the nats, were pretty happy about it. They also voted for it. Hell, the most famous speech in support of it was an otherwise unremarkable nat talking about big gay rainbows.
I also liked how you could only respond to facts with a tone argument. Very illuminating.
Little’s and Labour’s priorities have been clearly spelt out several times, Weka. They are (not necessarily in this order) housing, education, good public health, jobs, and being fair to people (not just the 1%) .
Thanks Jenny 🙂
“First thing that springs to mind is why are you linking to a story over a week old?”
Merely catching up with some older news.
Yes, there is a huge appetite for more open access to medicinal cannabis right now. Moreover, overwhelming support for a law change around recreational use/possession.
Unfortunately, Little personally doesn’t support a law change. However, he is open to a referendum, but doesn’t believe it’s a priority.
Considering how poorly Labour is polling while keeping in mind the strong support in the poll for a cannabis law change, perhaps Little should reconsider making it a priority?
Concern troll is concerned.
You may have noticed The Chairman that Labour does not have well developed listening skills.
I’m not the Labour Party, CV. Remember Bill’s rule about telling porkies about authors. Six weeks off, as I recall.
I think he was referring to something in the previous comment that demonstrated Labour don’t listen (his interpretation). Not aimed at you, and the comment was a reply to yours.
Unfortunately, Little personally doesn’t support a law change. However, he is open to a referendum, but doesn’t believe it’s a priority.
Considering how poorly Labour is polling while keeping in mind the strong support in the poll for a cannabis law change, perhaps Little should reconsider making it a priority?
Fair call, weka, benefit of the doubt and all that.
I think it was the threading that made it a bit clearer for me.
this ain’t your post TRP, and if you want authors treated with respect you can always try and show us how by example why don’t you.
I’m pretty sure I do show respect, where it’s deserved. However, woman hating, lefty baiting, ableist, conservative misanthropes get very little respect from me at all. Get used to it.
I’ve dealt with plenty of jumped up authoritarians before TRP. Join the list.
Yes, dear. Care to remind us again of the mortal blows you struck against jumped up authoritarian Clare Curran?
Curran’s majority will be under 3,000 next year; she’s totally trashed the almost 11,000 electorate majority that Benson Pope built up.
Ah, well. It’s nice that you acknowledge she’s a winner, CV.
Speaking of jumped up authoritarians, hows Donald Trump going? I see he’s lost yet another leader from his team this morning. Maybe you should offer to take Paul Manafort’s place? You’re definitely his kinda guy (see list above).
You telling porkies about some rule I’ve apparently either laid down or adhere to there trp?
tsk-tsk.
Mind you, thanks to the torturous catch 22 that your assertion spawns, you won’t actually have to be self banning for six weeks in the interests of consistency or whatever….I mean, that would’ve been quite a thing, aye? 😉
That is a good recursive one Bill nice
Boy you dribble out incoherently some days marty mars. And boy am I over you having a go at Colonial Viper.
Take it to the right thread bub.
I don’t care what you think about my interrelationshp with cv – we have been conversing for years.
Bill, it’s your ruling. Peter Swift a few weeks ago. Look it up if it’s slipped your mind.
Are you going to ban yourself now TRP for misrepresenting Bill’s ruling?
Or is it different rules for yourself, than for everyone else?
It’s Bill’s ruling. Lie about an author, get banned. It seems perfectly sensible to me and I’m happy to follow the path he has laid down.
Then feel free to ban yourself for calling me misogynist, ableist, and those other stupid sneers you spout.
The truth is the best defence, CV. I’ve never described your unpleasant traits inaccurately. They’re your comments, your opinions. If you don’t like being identified as a misogynist or ableist etc. don’t write the comments that show you to be those things.
Easy, eh?
OK I get it, your sneering bullshit about another author is the unvarnished honest truth whereas my bullshit about you are merely lies.
Whateva you say, you like being the boss.
No, clearly, you don’t get it. CV. You comment like an unrestrained arse and don’t like being called on it. Your expressed opinions are often deeply offensive to women, the old, unionists, the left and most recently, those you consider to be physically unfit to contribute to society in the way they choose. You don’t get to have it both ways. Express your hate filled opinions freely and get called on it from time to time or moderate your language so it’s not quite so obvious that you are a misanthrope.
You’ll have spotted that plenty of other righties can comment here without being deliberately offensive. Perhaps you can learn from them?
I made a decision. A decision is not a rule. eg – today I decided to put on red socks. That doesn’t mean a rule has been passed or laid down to the effect that red socks must be worn.
You’re behaving like a school yard bully – making shit up with the sole intention of abusing people.
It’s really fucking boring and unpleasant trp – one of the worst types of trolling.
Fair call, Bill. Apologies for getting the terminology wrong. It’s a decision, not a ruling. I respect your decision and will build on the precedent it sets where needed.
Some in Labour and a number of their cheerleaders often don’t like having their position questioned or critiqued. Thus, regularly pull out the old right wing troll line instead of genuinely taking it on board.
The guts of their behaviour is that they are so internally certain they both know more and know better than everyone else. Pretty arrogant for a declining party on track to come in somewhere around the 25% mark.