Conference Invitation
People who are in, or can get to Wellington on the weekend of 9 & 10 October – 3 weeks away would enjoy Information, ethics and the public good.
Conference info at http://bit.ly/whocanwetrust
The mini-conference will be held at St Andrews on the Terrace church and conference centre. It follows on from one held last year titled democracy, ethics and the public good when Sandra Grey, Bronwyn Hayward and Jane Kelsey were amongst the speakers. 2014 Conference report
This years conference has come directly out of the recommendations of last years which were that the lack of reliable information and problems with information flows to and from the media were amongst the most important challenges to NZ’s democracy. Like last year the focus is as much on participation as listening.
If you’d like to support this but can’t come you can donate to help us cover the costs of videoing, facilitation and some of the speakers travel costs.
The conference is part of the programme of lectures and seminars put on by the St Andrews Trust for the Study of Religion and Society and also Public Good whose kaupapa is to defend strong public services and a good quality democracy.
Jan Rivers
Thanks for the heads up on that conference. I hope you will get good numbers and help with donations. It is good that there are meetings for thought and discussion in other places than Auckland. I hope people will be able to go. You can get cheap hotels in the weekends in Wellington when the political tide is out. Myself I have another project on just now but will try to get to Wellington from Nelson. There are lots of airlines available for from here to there now.
It would be lovely to meet you. I’m sure we can find places to stay in Welly for anyone coming from out of town, We’ll be videoing parts of the conference as per last year. To get a sense of what happened last year here’s a href=”http://www.publicgood.org.nz/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Democracy-conference-summary.pdf” title=”summary report “ with links to video presentations by Jane Kelsey, Bronwyn Hayward, Lloyd Geering and Michael Macaulay and Sandra Grey and Charles Sedgwick’s report on their research on NGOs amongst others.
Anyone’s who’s needs somewhere to stay can text or email the address on the public good website – http://www.publicgood.org.nz
There’s a couple of feel good stories on rural delivery this am (will be on tv1 delay at 8) one’s a young orchard grower that employs local and pays a living wage the other one is for Draco T B about growing pine nuts on hard country.
Noms Pine nuts! A crop we should be growing instead of importing the korean ones. Theres many years wait before the tree is mature enough to harvest, but those little beauties are worth the wait. Once you’ve had a NZ grown pine nut you’ll never go back.
Buy NZ grown walnuts too. Support our local growers (lots of walnuts come from Canterbury) and wow yourself with their superior taste and freshness
Is the show about pine nuts on tvnz on demand?
Sometimes country calendar has good news shows about sustainable agricultural and cropping practices. Nice antidote to the horror stories about pollution, unsustainable irrigation and farmed animal cruelty.
Thank you Robert. I missed that show. I’ve watched a few minutes and put it in a file to watch the rest later.
I love what you both have done with your land. The food forest and native forest look’s like it’s bursting with life as a result of the methods you’ve used for cultivation. What an achievement!
Lowers my blood pressure just to see all that green and hear the bird song. I live on a wasteland of a development and really do feel the loss of connection to nature. You actually feel it almost as a physical loss, because the psychological loss is so great.
Look forward to watching the rest of the show when chores are out of the way.
Great to see your picture on promo on TV on Demand. Sounds great what you have done but don’t want to get on TV1 list of addresses. So can’t get access to this public service. I don’t need their sort of service, just would like to catch up on occasional archives.
– More corporate welfare – if the big 4 media companies were so sure he was guilty (Unlike Sony who kept out of it) why is the NZ taxpayer paying this legal tab. Shouldn’t the overseas media companies be paying the bill as this is a civil claim! Of course to make the corporate welfare work they had upgrade the charges. Hmmm – this is a good way to waste NZ taxpayers money on red herrings for the movie industry. They have the money to fight, but why should they, when John Key will get the NZ public to pick up the tab to get back at him.
Did he even get compensation when the GCSB illegally spied on him?
ISDS; privatized justice system, conflicts with human rights, rubbished in
UN report published 17 Sept 2015
UN expert: UN Charter and Human rights treaties prevail over free trade and investment agreements
GENEVA (17 September 2015) – United Nations Independent Expert Alfred de Zayas today urged the UN system and Governments across the world to radically reform the international investment regime by putting an end to free trade and investment agreements that conflict with human rights treaty obligations. In his full-length report* to the Human Rights Council, he also called on States “to conduct human rights, health and environmental impact assessments before and after entering into bilateral and multilateral investment agreements.”
“In his report the expert deplores the paradox resulting from assuming conflicting treaty obligations. “States that ratify human rights treaties also enter into agreements that prevent them from fulfilling their human rights obligations. Revision of the investment treaties must ensure that in case of conflict, human rights prevail,” he noted.
“In the light of widespread abuse over the past decades, the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism, which accompanies most free trade and investment agreements must be abolished as contra bonos mores, because it encroaches on the regulatory space of States and suffers from fundamental flaws including lack of independence, transparency, accountability and predictability,” he stressed.
In his report, the expert observes that: “This dispute settlement mechanism has mutated into a privatized system of ‘justice’, incompatible with article 14(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, whereby three arbitrators are allowed to override national legislation and the judgments of the highest national tribunals, in secret and with no possibility to appeal. This constitutes a grave challenge to the very essence of the rule of law”.
Mr. de Zayas also recommends that the International Court of Justice issue an advisory opinion clarifying that in case of conflict between human rights treaty obligations and investment treaties, priority must be given to human rights. “Moreover those provisions of international investment agreements that violate fundamental principles of the UN Charter including State sovereignty and self-determination must be declared invalid under article 103 of the Charter, and eliminated pursuant to the doctrine of severability” he says.
This.
It is this that pretty much rules invalid all of the present FTAs.
TPPA developments – we need to keep the pressure on PM John Key and Trade Minister Tim Groser!
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Last ditch TPPA Ministerial in 10 days
Press Release – Professor Jane Kelsey (17 September 2015)
Last ditch TPPA Ministerial in 10 days – is Groser preparing to swallow the rat? Canadian officials have confirmed rumours that the trade ministers from the twelve countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) plan to meet …Last ditch TPPA Ministerial in 10 days – is Groser preparing to swallow the rat?
Canadian officials have confirmed rumours that the trade ministers from the twelve countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) plan to meet in Atlanta, US at the end of the month in a last ditch attempt to conclude the deal. The chief negotiators are set to meet on 26 September to try to clear the ground for the politicians.
The ministers’ meeting coincides with the UN Sustainable Development Summit when their political leaders will be together in New York, giving US President Obama the perfect opportunity to pressure John Key and the others to accept US demands, according to Auckland University law professor Jane Kelsey.
Of the three big outstanding issues – market access on automobiles and dairy and longer monopoly protections biologic medicines – autos is the only one where there have been public moves to settle the differences.
Mexico and Canada object to a deal on autos reached by the US and Japan. The four said progress was made at a meeting this week and will meet again early next week in the US.
‘Whether the Atlanta ministerial would proceed without agreement on autos remains to be seen’ Professor Kelsey said. ‘Another failed ministerial would doom the negotiations. But they are between a rock and a hard place, as the controversial deal is now hostage to the US presidential election cycle and this is really their last chance to conclude it under Obama’.
The market access issues are especially sensitive for Canada, which has an election in a month from now, but the details of the deal would not be released until after that date.
‘In contrast to autos, there has been no noise about dairy at all,’ Kelsey said. ‘This lends support to the view expressed to me by informed people in other countries that autos is the bigissue and once that is settled dairy is not expected to delay a final agreement.’
‘Put another way, Groser is expected to swallow the rat, rather than hold up the deal, and wear the flack at home by saying New Zealand couldn’t afford not to be part of the TPPA. The details of the final deal won’t be available for another 30 days so he can talk up the benefits without any facts to get in the way.’ *
Professor Kelsey called on Minister Groser to ‘abandon his carefully ambiguous language and set out some real bottom lines on pharmaceuticals, investment, state-owned enterprises, and dairy so New Zealanders know where he stands before the secret deal-making resumes in Atlanta.’
* New Zealand officials have confirmed inevidence to the Waitangi Tribunal that no substantive changes can be made after the negotiations are concluded. The US Fast Track law then drives the timetable. The President must give 90 days notice before signing the TPPA and the text must be made available 30 days after that – but too late to change anything in the text.
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Energy and Resources Minister, Simon Bridges, refused to answer questions over the bulbs, instead sending a statement via his private secretary Stephanie Edridge.
It read: “The Government believes that consumer choice should be preserved, and so does not support the phasing out of whole categories of lighting. Instead, our focus has been on encouraging consumers to make informed choices about their lighting needs.”
It stated that market share of “efficient lighting for the year ending July 2015 has reached around 27 per cent of total sales in supermarkets, where most consumers buy their lightbulbs,” but did not define efficient lighting.
The statement said the numbers showed Government did not need to get involved.
It happens that if you are very short of cash, had $5, and need to buy a light bulb, some bread and stuff for sandwich lunches, you will buy a bulb for $1, some white bread for $1, and have $3 for a couple of bananas and some other fillings. Buy a long-last bulb and you are lucky to have any of that $5 left. They are too dear for poor people, and will lead to a rise in candle use.
They are too dear for poor people, and will lead to a rise in candle use.
Interestingly enough the solution to that is to get the cheap, inefficient light bulbs out of the market pushing demand for the efficient ones and thus shifting the resources used for the bad light bulbs to efficient light bulbs.
BTW, if I had $5 and had to buy a light bulb and food I’d go hungry for a meal or two to get the efficient light bulb because I’d save more money and thus be able to get more food.
Of course, in reality I plan it so that I don’t get into that position.
I think the point is that not everyone has the same choices you do.
btw, have the pollution issues been solved with CFLs? If not, it’s just swapping one set of problems for another. What we should have done is worked towards transitioning to LEDs and then we wouldn’t have wasted all that industry on tech that too many people didn’t want to take up and that was always going to cause environmental problems. I agree with you that the govt should have regulated this process.
edit, myself, I’d rather we had a choice, and I’d choose incandescents where appropriate and save power in other ways. But really the whole notion that we would increase efficiency via light bulb change when we ignore conservation and sustainability in almost every other area kind of makes a mockery of the conversation.
btw, have the pollution issues been solved with CFLs?
Nope because we still don’t have proper recycling processes. That said, it was never really that much of a problem. A concern that should have been addressed, yes, and now that LEDs are available it probably means that we should be banning CFLs but watch as National and other idiots scream blue murder over that one.
Shifting over LEDs would also give us the excellent excuse to shift house lighting over to 12v DC as well thus improving safety there.
edit, myself, I’d rather we had a choice, and I’d choose incandescents where appropriate and save power in other ways.
I’m happy for people to have that choice – as long as we get to charge for the extra power that they use. I suggest a selling price of $20 each with $19 of that going to lower power prices for everyone else.
Or perhaps we could have it so that the price per kilowatt went up with the more you used on the basis of supply and demand. You demand more (use inefficient light bulbs) you get charged more.
Or, the better option, is to just ban inefficient light bulbs (it is possible to get efficient light bulbs that look like incandescent bulbs and even have similar colour).
And then read this article to find out why you’d never, ever buy an incandescent light bulb ever again if you were smart:
Of course, that same math could indeed kill the incandescent light bulb one day. While a compact fluorescent might cost you $2 each, or $13 for a 60-watt equivalent LED, they use closer to $1 a year in electricity, and since they last much longer that yearly savings can stack. The expected life of a halogen bulb is just one or two years, but compact fluorescents can sometimes make it to ten. According to manufacturer estimates, an LED bulb can last 15-20 years before it even starts to dim by a perceptible measure. That’s why savings-conscious consumers already stocked up on fluorescents years ago, and why they might pick LEDs now.
Going hungry for a day is worth it to buy an efficient light bulb so that you’ll eat better for years to come.
Interesting DTB about DC lighting. Going hungry to afford a better light bulb is making a sacrifice for the future public good. Austerity touch.
But when each day there is something one has to sacrifice food as a gesture of public good, rational choice for the future you can end up with a starving child and a parent with insufficient energy to even think and cope with today. That’s the reality.
Going without now to make a better future is only possible if you are in the precariat and managing your way through the present with time to think and hope for a future that’s better.
There is a lot we don’t know about the new lighting, its effects on the human brain through changing light levels and spectrum, then there is the extra bulb cost, noticeable for multiple lights. There is a lack of information and effective regulation with new lighting being placed into old fittings some of which can be a fire hazard,
And not overlooking that there may be extra energy and resource required to make these bulbs. Is there a sufficiency of the raw materials for them? Will the gas in them add to greenhouse gases, or mix with other gases resulting in another problem. Perhaps we should start burning rushes again, be collecting fat from meat eating households and making old fashioned tallow candles?
Then there are the manufacturers statements about their efficacy. How many people know how long their bulbs last? I have marked the base of my incandescent ones and get about 6 months. How many people do that with their new bulbs, said to last four years, actually much less – who would remember, who would note the placement date?
And the lightness comparison doesn’t seem correct. Supposed to be 75 watt equivalent, it seems more like 60watt. I fear that we will never get a true statement of equivalence on the packets and we will end up disagreeing with scientific findings presented to us and have to go by our own findings. This could be like television advertisers saying that ads are not louder, they just sound that way because of compression (whatever that is. And don’t anyone bother to tell me –
I will just accept that and put my time into thinking about the news and information about the world falling to pieces round our ears.)
Going hungry to afford a better light bulb is making a sacrifice for the future public good.
Actually, it was for your own personal good. And I did point out that people should plan these things so that they’re not in that position. It is possible to do that.
And not overlooking that there may be extra energy and resource required to make these bulbs.
There isn’t. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up using less.
Is there a sufficiency of the raw materials for them?
Yes – once we get recycling going properly.
Will the gas in them add to greenhouse gases, or mix with other gases resulting in another problem.
How many people do that with their new bulbs, said to last four years, actually much less – who would remember, who would note the placement date?
Occasionally you’ll get a bad one. I’ve personally had one last for more than ten years. The one in my bedroom is more than two years old.
And the lightness comparison doesn’t seem correct.
It’s correct. The problem seems to come from the fact that a lot of modern ones have a lot of blue light in them which looks darker to many people. If this is true for you then look for ones that have more yellow light in them (usually advertised as warm).
There is a lot we don’t know about the new lighting, its effects on the human brain through changing light levels and spectrum
It’s like stocking up on cheap specials on groceries, or buying good quality (as opposed to just plain expensive) clothes, or paying the power bill early to get the discount, or getting the vehicle serviced regularly to avoid breakdowns – richer people can afford to do that, so end up spending less than poor people.
Remember the stated reasons for the establishment of the United Nations?
If the underpinning ‘Purposes and Principles’ were actually PRACTISED – would there be such an international refugee crisis happening now?
As New Zealand is currently a member of the UN Security Council – what steps are being taken to advocate, promote, implement and enforce the following underpinning ‘Purposes and Principles’ of the UN Charter?
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CHAPTER I: PURPOSES AND PRINCIPLES
Article 1
The Purposes of the United Nations are:
To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and
To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
Article 2
The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.
The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.
All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.
All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.
The Organization shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter Vll.
“Ending Syria’s horrific civil war is possible, but the political will to do so remains elusive. Over the years the facts on the ground have changed in Syria – with the rise of the Islamic State being the deadliest new reality. But Washington and its regional allies remain focused on an illegal regime change in Damascus. The west is fighting the wrong war and will surely lose the peace.
CrossTalking with Kapil Komireddi, Scott Bennett, and Richard Murphy.”
Sigh. I take it some developer or other has their eye on Jollie St in Christchurch. McGehan Close, Madeline Ave, now the whole of Glen Innes – the list goes on. The subtext is always the same – this place will be lovely once we remove the scary poor people. They could basically have a standard form newspaper article ready for download and just change the street name as each one becomes ripe for middle class/developer colonisation:
They could basically have a standard form newspaper article ready for download and just change the street name as each one becomes ripe for middle class/developer colonisation:
Sounds Rachmanish. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Rachman
” In the annals of the London underworld, few names cast as long a shadow as that of slum landlord Peter Rachman, a racketeer and pimp who ran a squalid empire of overcrowded properties in the run-down Notting Hill area in the post-war period.
His speciality was “sending in the schwarzes” which is a disparaging Yiddish term for Blacks. Rachman would put West Indians and their prostitutes into his London properties to drive out rent-controlled White neighbours with their outrageous and disgusting behaviour. To ensure stubborn tenants got the message, a crew of thugs with Alsatians doled out threats, intimidation and worse.”
The link is not a balanced one so no address.
Peter Rachman sounds like a regular old racketeer, without the veneer of respectability given to our lot. And where he was into rack-renting, our lot seem to be more into ethnic or class cleansing. But the get-the-money-and to-hell-with-the-people principle seems to rule in both cases.
The rise of ad blockers isn’t just a clash of sensibilities, though. The major leaders in tech are all trying to leverage their advantages at the expense of their competitors. “So it’s Apple vs. Google vs. Facebook, all with their own revenue platforms,” Nilay Patel wrote, in his article for The Verge. “Google has the web, Facebook has its app, and Apple has the iPhone.” It’s also no mistake, as Newitz pointed out, that Apple starting allowing ad blockers on the same operating system that features a news app that can’t be deleted from people’s homescreens.
Bold mine.
Can’t say I’m surprised by Apple’s tactics there. It’s pretty much the end of ‘competition’ where each ‘player’ is out to destroy the others rather than working together to develop better products.
I use ad blockers. I’m paying for my bandwidth and not the advertisers. I’m also against ads anyway as I view them as psychopathic manipulation of the people and thus think that they should be banned. There has got to be a better business model than manipulation.
hi draco
“I’m also against ads anyway as I view them as psychopathic manipulation of the people and thus think that they should be banned. There has got to be a better business model than manipulation.”
amen brother.
minutemen “fuck advertising,
psychological methods to sell,
should be destroyed.
let the products sell themselves.”
and don mcglashan re ads,
“with their enticements and their threats.”
i feel the same as you have described, and that is partly why i have kicked the habbit of ugly fm,newspapers and most tv.
It has always been there. However it has become mandatory on iOS9 which got released some time last week. It was a bloody nuisance as I was direct updating an inhouse app (that I’d fixed bugs in) on a pile of iPod touch. That useless behemoth iTunes kept prompting me for each of them about an upgrade to the iOS.
Takes about 4 minutes to boot a iPod, update the app, check that it works, and shut it down. Takes about 15 minutes to update the iOS.
One of the problems with the Apple ad blocker is that it also blocks trackers like google analytics, sitemeter, and wordpress stats.
We depend on those for figuring out loads. I can tolerate robots that do that because I have many mechanisms to limit their access and cut them off. At present the only limits on humans are the numbers of pages per minute and no cutoff, just a throttle. The reason that works is because trackers allow the databases for not-humans to be updated automatically. They don’t execute the JavaScript. If we lose the trackers, then we lose that ability.
To keep loadings under control, I will probably set up a JavaScript feedback system that looks like a tracker and eliminate anything that doesn’t use it apart from google, natlib, and wayback.
Bye bye new safari users and a whole lot of bots. It lowers my costs and eliminate a browser that just became threatening to the net – safari heads off to extinction.
I couldn’t give a damn if apple eliminates ads. But when they start eliminating something useful for our site, then they can get stuffed.
There was a Radionz report on what it is like on a small poor Greek island getting an influx of refugees whose bags and their resources have been thrown over the side by their ferry masters – to fit the maximum people in without sinking.
I have just put $20 into helping through Give-A-Little. I have some big bills to pay but thought I’d keep feeding money in to various money ports set up by communities to go direct to their needs, toilet paper, feeding bottles, food, footwear, probably spades to dig graves, drinking water bottles, sanitary pads? You name it the refugees will need it – except clothes they have plenty. It is better to give money at this time from here. And Greece is still trying to run a country and may have to charge duty on gift parcels which no-one will be able to pay. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201770839
09:05 New Zealander on front line of refugee crisis in Greece
As Europe fails to reach an agreement over how to share the burden of the massive flow of asylum seekers out of Syria and Iraq, we meet Christchurch woman Anne Tee, who has lived on the tiny Greek island of Leros for 25 years. Leros has been inundated by refugees, mostly from Syria, and Anne is co-ordinating volunteer aid to them.Just yesterday a boat from Turkey sank off the nearby island of Farmakonisi – the BBC are reporting that 34 people drowned, amongst them four babies and 11 children.
Give a little: Help a Kiwi care for Syrian refugees in Leros, Greece
But it’s one thing to speculate; it’s something entirely different to have hard proof.
And while speculation was rife that just like the CIA-funded al Qaeda had been used as a facade by the US to achieve its own geopolitical and national interests over the past two decades, so ISIS was nothing more than al Qaeda 2.0, there was no actual evidence of just this.
That may all have changed now when a declassified secret US government document obtained by the public interest law firm, Judicial Watch, shows that Western governments deliberately allied with al-Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups to topple Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad.
According to investigative reporter Nafeez Ahmed in Medium, the “leaked document reveals that in coordination with the Gulf states and Turkey, the West intentionally sponsored violent Islamist groups to destabilize Assad, despite anticipating that doing so could lead to the emergence of an ‘Islamic State’ in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
… there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist Principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime ….
In other words, the powers supporting the Syrian opposition – the West, our Gulf allies, and Turkey wanted an Islamic caliphate in order to challenge Syrian president Assad.
Apparently our troops are over there to help stop the allies that the US built up to topple Assad.
Like the tobacco companies and their research, the oil industry knew decades ago about the potential for disaster.
At a meeting in Exxon Corporation’s headquarters, a senior company scientist named James F. Black addressed an audience of powerful oilmen. Speaking without a text as he flipped through detailed slides, Black delivered a sobering message: carbon dioxide from the world’s use of fossil fuels would warm the planet and could eventually endanger humanity.
“In the first place, there is general scientific agreement that the most likely manner in which mankind is influencing the global climate is through carbon dioxide release from the burning of fossil fuels,” Black told Exxon’s Management Committee, according to a written version he recorded later.
It was July 1977 when Exxon’s leaders received this blunt assessment, well before most of the world had heard of the looming climate crisis.
A survey of 2,000 people found that Mr Corbyn’s election as Labour leader has made one in five people who voted for his party at the May general election more likely to vote Conservative next time. Some 37 per cent of Labour voters say they are less likely to back the party at the next election.
A long but interesting review of a book by Kevin M. Kruse
‘One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America’
The secret history of the 1950s Christian right and its zeal for capitalism. http://www.democracyjournal.org/38/laissez-prayer.php?page=all
Apologies in advance folks for being a prick but just talking on phone with a right-wing-ish mate in Aux (not by philosophy or considered application…….by default really) – prosaic Aux media type if you know what I mean.
Me: “Donald Trump reminds me of one of those blow-up plastic fuck dolls……mouth all circular and ready for use.”
My mate (belly laughing): “You’re right you’re right !”
Anyone else ?
I’m afraid that even if I was a coiffed, silver-haired, Viagra spruiked, Mid-West, GOP arsehole…….like the fruit loop who told Old Fuck Mouth that Obama’s a Muslim, that vision would haunt me……
So the EU don’t like the current ISDS setup and have proposed changes.
Will the TPPA be rushed through with the existing ISDS system (with its faults pointed out in the link in my comment #5) or will they take the time to look at alternatives, like those proposed below.
European Commission publishes draft investment chapter for the TTIP, including investment protection provisions and the establishment of an International Investment Court
“The proposed new Investment Court system
The Commission proposes the establishment of a new court system to resolve disputes under the TTIP, to be comprised of a Tribunal of First Instance (to be called the “Investment Tribunal”) and an Appeal Tribunal.
The Investment Tribunal would consist of 15 judges appointed jointly by the EU and US governments, with 5 EU nationals, 5 US nationals and 5 nationals of other countries. This standing body of judges would be appointed for a six-year term, renewable once. Tribunals would be appointed at random from the 15 members with no party influence over who would hear any case, although always comprised of one EU, one US and one third party tribunal member (with the third party member as chair). However, the disputing parties could agree on a sole arbitrator (to be appointed out of the 5 nationals of third countries). Once appointed, the tribunal would resolve the dispute under the rules chosen by the investor in the case in question from the ICSID rules, UNCITRAL rules or “any other rules agreed by the disputing parties”.
The permanent Appeal Tribunal would be comprised of six members, each appointed for a six year term, with two EU and two US nationals, and a further two nationals of third countries. The Appeal Tribunal would have a President and Vice-President selected only from the nationals of third countries. The composition of each Appeal Tribunal would be “random and unpredictable” (albeit that each tribunal would need an EU, US and third country national). The Appeal Tribunal would be there to ensure that there (to quote the Commission) “could be no doubt as to the legal correctness of the decisions of [first instance] tribunals“. There would be strict time limits for the parties to appeal an award (90 days from issuance) and for the appeal proceedings themselves (usually not to exceed 180 days from notification of appeal to decision, but subject to a longstop of 270 days).
All judges of the Investment and Appeal Tribunals would be required to have high technical and legal qualifications, including having demonstrated expertise in public international law. They would also be subject to strict ethical rules under Article 11 and a Code of Conduct under Annex II. In particular, Article 5 of Annex II requires that they “shall not be influenced by self-interest, outside pressure, political considerations, public clamour, loyalty to a Party or disputing party, or fear of criticism“. They would be prohibited from taking on work as counsel on any investment disputes under the TTIP or any other agreement.”
This is the way an agreement should be attained- by openly discussing the terms and rules of the agreement in the way that the European Commission has published this draft investment chapter for discussion.
The secrecy of the TPPA has been a total abuse of process. Sure, there are some aspects that needed to be treated in a confidential manner, but the blanket secrecy and shutting out of any public input (as if the public are not stakeholders when their sovereignty is being threatened) is downright shameful.
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If you haven’t watched Newsroom’s video showing Oranga Tamariki staff attempting to uplift a newborn baby yet you should do so. Although it's not the worst case as far as interventions go, it’s certainly not a good look for the Government. Because of this controversy there’s been a plethora of ...
Genesis Energy is planning to build the country's biggest PV solar farm:Power generator and retailer Genesis Energy says it is in advanced discussions to build New Zealand's biggest solar farm in northern Waikato. The company, which earlier reported a 15 per cent decline in operating earnings to $167.2 million, said ...
Transport is our second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Any credible effort to reduce emissions to net-zero has to target it. So what is the government doing? Subsidising some of the dirtiest, most inefficient vehicles on the roads:New Zealand's favourite cars - double cab utes - are largely exempt ...
You’ve really got to wonder what the NZ First Party was thinking and drinking last Friday? Not only did they hamstring the Greens by halting one of their main environmental policies, the electric vehicle fee-bate scheme, a policy that the public was led to believe was a done deal…but they ...
High Risk Call: Insensitive though it may seem to even pose the question: how will the electorate respond to what the Prime Minister’s opponents will undoubtedly characterise as an attack on New Zealanders’ freedom of speech? At more than twelve month’s remove from the terrible events of 15 March 2019, ...
Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Climate change leads to more violence against women, girlsRape, domestic violence, forced marriages: A new ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 16, 2020 through Sat, Feb 22, 2020 Editor's Pick JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is threat to human raceLeaked report for world’s major fossil fuel financier says ...
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...
Winston Peters - Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the NZ First PartyWe all know that politics can be pretty messy at times. Just look at the Dirty Politics saga in New Zealand, the misgovernment of the Australian bushfires or the recent Trump impeachment debacle in the US. In a ...
Last Monday SpaceX launched another clutch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, bringing up to 300 the number of these units intended to bring 5G internet to the whole globe. In this post I present a movie showing how all 300 such satellites will be zipping around our planet over ...
The recent floods in Southland have highlighted the issue of Rio Tinto's illegal toxic waste dump in Mataura. But according to Newsroom, there's an even worse mess in Ruakaka near Whangarei:A Northland property stockpiled one million litres of flammable and toxic chemicals. Almost two years since the situation came to ...
It’s amazing just how many attack ads $100,000 buys you these days. The National Party has really been going to town lately, with their latest Twitter campaign making a number of questionable and blatantly false assertions, one being that poverty has worsened under the Labour led Government.The National Party's claim ...
OMV's exploratory drilling in the Great South Basin has failed to find oil. Good. Firstly, because we can't afford to burn the oil and gas we've already found, so there's just no point looking for more. And secondly, because offshore, deep-water drilling poses a risk of an environmental catastrophe, which ...
The government has announced it will strengthen whistleblower protections. The major change is "allowing people to report serious wrongdoing direct to an external authority if they wish", which fixes one of the big flaws in the Act. At present, whistleblowers must generally make their disclosure direct to the body they ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bruce Lieberman CARLSBAD, CA. – When it comes to paying the electric bill, most people don’t give it a second thought – it’s something that in effect is “baked in.” But across California and several other states, local governments increasingly are ...
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Spinifex Press, 2013. Part 4 Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the fourth part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
The Democracy Virus: China’s authoritarian political system enables a level of social surveillance and control that liberal democratic societies cannot match. The Chinese Government makes full use of the latest digital technology to both punish – and reward – its citizens. The plans it formulates cannot be challenged, or hindered. Where ...
Another day, another IPCA report on criminal conduct by policy. This time they kicked a child in the head when he was handcuffed:Police chased him and yelled out for him to stop. When he turned to face the police, he threatened them with a hammer. That's when the officers tasered ...
The investigation of two of the five parties in Parliament for fraud around their election donations has pushed the issue of party funding back into the spotlight. And while there are obvious things we can do to tighten up the donations regime - a much lower declaration threshold, realtime disclosure ...
While the south of New Zealand has been struggling with too much rain in recent days, here in the north we are so very short of it (though Saturday’s forecast looks promising). Basically, we have had almost none since Christmas.As someone who relies on rain to wash the car, ...
Former National Party MP Jami-Lee RossIt comes as no surprise that Jami-Lee Ross has been named as one of the defendants in the X2 $100,000 National Party donations case currently before the courts. Click bait journalists who were chaffing at the bit to discredit the former senior whip had already ...
Stand Clear! Winston Peters is encouraging voters to think of RNZ as belonging to “The Media Party”. He wants them to see it as a politically partisan institution with its own, vicious attack-dogs in the electoral fight. If he succeeds, it will be, and probably should be, the end of ...
"You're going to need a longer runway" Gratton et al explore the ongoing effects of upward-creeping temperatures on aviation in Greece in the period since 1955 at a range of airports in that country. For longer runways impacts are measurable but with little impact on operations. For airports with shorter runways, ...
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...
Former National Party chief whip Jami-Lee Ross is one of the four people charged over National's multiple fraudulent donations. How unsurprising. Meanwhile, just days ago National leader Simon Bridges was trying to pretend the charges were nothing to do with his party. Yeah, right. When your chief whip effectively publicly ...
If you've been watching FYI for a while, you'll have noticed that the police have a bad habit of demanding ID from requesters. They have apparently been repeatedly told to stop doing this by the Ombudsman, but we all know what law enforcement thinks of the law, so thye keep ...
Collateral Damage: For the Green Phoenix to be reborn, the funeral pyre so patiently assembled by its identity politicians over the course of many fractious years – but with growing intensity over the past three – first has to be ignited. The terrible probability, of course, is that, in setting ...
If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...
The Herald reported over the weekend that an Auckland business owner is being targeted with asset forfeiture laws over a workplace death:A workplace fatality has seen police use a law usually associated with drugs and organised crime to seize millions of dollars in assets from a business owner because of ...
Just days after talking about how people feel "squeezed" and promising tax and service cuts as a "solution", National is talking about cancelling a rise in the minimum wage if elected: National is considering scrapping the Government's planned minimum wage increase if it wins this year's election, the party's finance ...
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...
A Labour government desperate for the numbers crawls into bed with Winston Peters. Winston ignores the law and secretly takes money under the table from someone. When it is exposed just months out from an election, he is investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. That's what happened back in 2008. ...
So the Serious Fraud Office has another secret $100,050 National Party donation before the Courts in a major scandal that looks set to quash any chances Simon Bridges had of winning the 2020 election.Yesterday, Newsroom reported:The Serious Fraud Office prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica Story Highlights: The Pine Island ...
Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanHousing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...
Stuff today has a piece about the government discovering it has been oversubsidising polluters for a decade under the Emissions Trading scheme:The Government is pledging to urgently fix an issue within the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), after it emerged some polluters are likely being over-compensated with taxpayer-funded carbon credits. [...] ...
The Marlborough District Council, tired of public scrutiny, wants to increase the amount it charges for LGOIMA requests:The cost of requesting official information from Marlborough's government agency could almost double after a jump in "fishing expeditions". Charges could be raised from $60 to $100 an hour for information supplied by ...
When Winston Peters was caught money laundering donations and stalking journalists, the Greens were conspicuous by their silence. It was another example of how getting along with their government partners was eroding their values and their own reputation. It was obviously unsustainable, and so now James Shaw has finally spoken ...
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...
With over 69,000 confirmed cases and 1,600 deaths, here’s your round-up of the latest coronavirus news. New disease and virus have now officially been named On the 11th February, the WHO Director General announced a new name for the disease: COVID-19 which is short for coronavirus disease 2019. The naming ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 9, 2020 through Sat, Feb 15, 2020 Editor's Pick ANALYSIS-Climate change opens up 'frontier' farmland, but at what cost to the planet?Climate change could expand farmland globally by ...
After cross-examination Jones knew he would lose the defamation case he took against film maker Renae Maihi. That’s why he threw in the towel. The weight of evidence was clearly against the old tycoon with the defense presenting fifty articles to confirm Jones’ racist views.Being unable to harass somebody into ...
Sprung! Former NZ First president, Lester Gray, chats with RNZ's Guyon Espiner in the carpark of a Tauranga shopping centre.(Photo supplied anonymously to NZ First and The BFD.)IT’S CLEAR THAT an important aspect of Jacinda Ardern’s political success is her willingness to seek – and take – advice. This ...
Ruth Cunningham, Charlotte Paul, Andrew MoorePublic health responses to infectious diseases such as COVID-19 require us to draw on our common humanity and be explicit about our values. Recognising this will help us make good decisions in difficult situations so that, for example, the need to impose restrictive measures ...
The Helen Clark Foundation has released its report on the housing crisis, and found that house-hoarders are to blame for it:Property investors are to blame for New Zealand's high house prices, a new research paper published by the Helen Clark Foundation says. [...] McArthur said previous attempts to address housing ...
The Abortion Legislation Committee has reported back on the Abortion Legislation Bill and recommended that it be passed with some amendments. Unfortunately, the latter include even more hoops to jump through for those seeking abortions after 20 weeks, including a time-wasting requirement to consult a second doctor. No-one casually seeks ...
Brexit is likely to be a disaster for the UK (how sad, never mind). But now that they're out of the EU, the latter has finaly taken the opportunity to blacklist one of their key tax havens:The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, is to be put on an EU ...
I’m not quite sure of what to make of the new figures for COVID-19 (as we must now call the novel coronavirus – though I’m not sure the capitalisation is correct) from Hubei province:Image from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51495484The spike yesterday is a consequence of a using a different way of ...
Bob Jones has dropped his defamation case against Renae Maihi. Good. But at the same time, it perfectly exposes what the case was all about: not protecting Jones' reputation, but punishing someone who had dared to criticise him, and deterring others from doing the same. This rich pompous asshat dragged ...
As I've done for the past few years, I'm curating and presenting The Listening Lounge, the talk programme at Splore. On the morning of Saturday the 22nd at the Living Lounge stage, the korero goes like this.Yes, we're talking about drugs again, not just because I'm professionally interested in drug ...
What Were They Thinking? RNZ's CEO Paul Thompson (left) and Jim Mather, Chairman of the RNZ Board of Governors, attempt to justify the debacle arising out of their attempt to downgrade RNZ Concert to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Select Committee at Parliament on Thursday, 13 February 2020.WHAT IS ...
Dame Tariana Turia with former PM John KeyWhat is it about Tariana Turia’s grudge against the Labour Party? Not content with attacking the Government over Whānau Ora funding, which was increased by $80 million in 2019, she has now made it personal by saying that Jacinda Ardern is out of her ...
Back in 2017, right after being elected, Jacinda Ardern promised that there would be no new mines on conservation land. Since then, her government has done nothing to make that happen, and now the policy has been officially "parked" for the election:West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor says the "no new ...
So the guy who advocated for public burning and beheading feels offended because someone called him a racist!Perhaps Bob Jones hasn't heard of the very old saying; Live by the sword, die by the sword?I mean for someone who often writes opinionated nonsense about Maori; this is a ridiculous case ...
The government today announced a major support package aimed at reducing homelessness. A thousand new transitional housing places, more support for people to find homes (or not lose them in the first place), all good stuff. The one problem with it is that they're going to start charging people in ...
Courtroom Drama: There is no off-switch in a courtroom. Neither is it possible to turn the page in disgust. Ill-formed and ill-defended opinions will be exposed ruthlessly and unapologetically. As Shakespeare put it: “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.” Sometimes the ...
As of today, the novel coronavirus spreading in China is called COVID-19. Why does it matter? Around the office, we’ve had several conversations over the past few weeks about how 2019-nCoV needed its own name. First, it was getting annoying calling it by the above designation, and ‘novel coronavirus’ doesn’t ...
by Philip Ferguson Last month B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported: “In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Arms (Firearms Prohibition Orders) Amendment Bill (No 2) (Brett Hudson)Its basicly more "tough on crime" nonsense (its already illegal for unlicensed people to own guns) designed to wedge NZ First against its arsehole base. ...
In 2015 the world agreed to the Paris Agreement to fight climate change. Each country would offer a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) "that it intends to achieve", and "pursue domestic mitigation measures, with the aim of achieving [it]". And every five years, they'd improve on it, ratcheting up ambition until ...
In theory, the emissions trading scheme should reduce emissions. Making polluters pay for permits to pollute lets them save money by reducing pollution, giving them a financial incentive to do the right thing. But right from the start the ETS was broken with a system of free allocation, so polluters ...
Irish voters went to the polls on Saturday in parliamentary elections, and perhaps delivered a political revolution. Since independence, Irish politics has been dominated by two parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Basicly patronage networks with indistinguishable policies, their cleavage isn't ideology, but who killed whose father or grandfather in ...
Once again the Aotearoa Bike Challenge is on us, and once again I’m participating. In principle this is not hard because it does not represent a significant switch in behavior for me. I already bike nearly every day. The Bicycle The fascinating thing about cycling is the realisation that this ...
Lately there has been a great deal of misinformation regarding the origins and purpose of Skeptical Science. As John Cook wrote nearly a decade ago, Skeptical Science is primarily a website that debunks climate misinformation with peer-reviewed science. Despite the ever-worsening impacts from climate change, with record after record being broken in ...
Under Attack: By sacking not only RNZ Concert’s presenters, but also its producers and librarians, and reducing the station to an automated purveyor of classical music in-between parliamentary broadcasts, RNZ’s CEO, Paul Thompson, wasn’t simply announcing an operational shake-up, he was declaring war on one of the most important guardians of ...
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Australian smoke plume sets recordsThe recent wildfires in Australia sent one of ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Finance, Fletcher Tabuteau has welcomed Statistics New Zealand’s latest report as a timely reminder of the value that this Coalition Government brings to every day New Zealanders: “This Coalition Government has meant a ...
Today New Zealand First made a pledge to campaign at the election to fund St John Ambulance the 90 per cent it has asked for. Government funding would allow St. John’s to achieve fully funded status. Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters publicly declared his determination to deliver ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order Newly released Police data shows once again the number of fleeing drivers have continued to skyrocket with a record 512 incidents occurring in December – almost tripling the number of incidents occurring just ten years ago, says New Zealand First Law and ...
While the Provincial Growth Fund has provided $2 million to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia, Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones said he is greatly concerned that there are “issues” in implementing the projects. The Minister said the immediate solution was to pipe water from a bore ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland NZ First is calling on Rio Tinto to accept its responsibilities to the Southland community and enable the immediate removal of the toxic Aluminium Dross from the Mataura Paper Mill site. New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland, Mark Patterson ...
The Coalition Government has announced that a further $500,000 will be given to help residents in Southland and Otago to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. It follows prior government assistance of $200,000 earlier this month where the Southland Mayoral Relief Fund received $100,000 to support communities impacted by ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Broadcasting New Zealand First supports the commissioning of a business case to assess the viability of a new public media entity. “A strong media environment is critical for a healthy democracy. New Zealand First is a strong supporter of a diverse, independent media,” New Zealand First broadcasting spokesperson ...
Pounamou and technology industries in the West Coast region are set to receive more than $2 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding. This was announced by the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau during Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika. He said $800,000 would be given to Development West ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First spokesperson for Labour and Industrial Relations Unemployment and wage growth numbers released by Stats NZ today demonstrate a labour market in good shape with unemployment falling to 4.0%, the underutilisation rate falling to an 11 year low, and wage growth at a 10-year high ...
Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence Ron Mark, welcomes the official opening of Te Rau Aroha, a new museum at Waitangi Treaty Grounds as part of our Coalition Agreement. “It is a great honour to be part of an effective Government ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterGood morning,Let us start with important acknowledgements.First, this special day, in remembrance of the 28th Maori Battalion, is also to honour all those men and women who have risked their lives in the service of our country.Second, special guest Robert ...
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...
Strengthening New Zealand’s political and business ties with India will be the focus of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker’s visit to India this week. The Ministers are co-leading a high level business delegation to India to support increased people and economic engagement ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio continues to champion for greater Pacific participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers with the announcement of the Toloa Awards, with 8 recipients of the Toloa Community Fund and 13 Toloa Tertiary Scholarships. “The Toloa Programme encourages more Pacific peoples ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has extended the date for people to have their say on proposed changes to improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. Submissions were due to close on 2 March 2020 but will now remain open until 9am on Monday 16 March 2020. “I have ...
The endangered toroa/Antipodean albatross has new international protection for its 100,000km annual migration, thanks to collaborative efforts led by New Zealand, Australia and Chile. Today, 130 countries agreed to strictly protect Antipodean albatross at the Conference of Parties on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild ...
No sales to under-18-year-olds No advertising and sponsorship of vaping products and e-cigarettes No vaping or smokeless tobacco in smokefree areas Regulates vaping product safety comprehensively, - including devices, flavours and ingredients Ensure vaping products are available for those who want to quit smoking Vaping regulation that balances ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little will travel to Berlin tomorrow to represent New Zealand at a high-level summit on nuclear disarmament. This year, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) celebrates 50 years since it entered into force. “New Zealand’s proud record and leadership on nuclear disarmament is unwavering, so it’s important we are present ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will visit two of New Zealand’s most important Pacific partners, Fiji and Australia, next week. The visit to Fiji will be the first by a New Zealand Prime Minister in four years and comes during the 50th anniversary of Fijian independence and diplomatic relations between our ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little and New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball, have today announced the appointment of the Chief Commissioner of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the location, and the membership of the Establishment Advisory Group. Colin Carruthers QC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of the CCRC for an ...
Māori Development Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Agriculture Minister Hon Damien O’Connor co-announced the first horticultural finalists for the Ahuwhenua Trophy celebrating excellence in the Māori agricultural sector. The three finalists are Ngai Tukairangi Trust from Mt Maunganui, Otama Marere Trust from Tauranga, and Hineora Orchard Te Kaha 15B Ahuwhenua ...
A new kete of resources to strengthen support for students with dyslexia will provide extra tools for the new Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) as they start in schools, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Minister launched the kete in Wellington this morning, at the first of three induction ...
The Government continues to make progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the First Reading of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill and its referral to the Social Services and Community Select Committee. “Now is the opportunity for landlords, tenants and others who want ...
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Hon James Marape will visit New Zealand from 21-25 February, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “New Zealand and Papua New Guinea have a warm and friendly relationship. I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Marape here and strengthening the relationship between our two countries,” ...
Thousands of children have begun receiving a free lunch on every day of the school week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. The Government’s free and healthy school lunch programme is under way for 7,000 students at 31 schools in Hawke’s Bay / Tairāwhiti and Bay of Plenty / Waiariki, extending ...
The Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni today announced a new approach that continues to broaden the Government’s social sector focus from a narrow, investment approach to one centred on people and wellbeing. Minister Sepuloni said redefining the previous approach to social investment by combining science, data and lived experience ...
The Government is strengthening the Protected Disclosures Act to provide better protection for whistle blowers, Minister of State Services Chris Hipkins said today. “The Protected Disclosures Act is meant to encourage people to speak up about serious wrongdoing in the workplace and protect them from losing their jobs or being ...
Nǐn hǎo (Hello in Mandarin). Xīn Nián Kuài Lè (Happy New Year in Mandarin) Néi Hóu (Hello in Cantonese). Sun Nin Fai Lok (Happy New Year in Cantonese) Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you for your invitation to attend this celebration today. I would like to acknowledge ...
Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Nau mai haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata. E ngā mana whenua ki tēnei rohe Taranaki Whānui, Te Upoko o Te Ika, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa – kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. E ngā mana, e ...
Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Nau mai haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata. E ngā mana whenua ki tēnei rohe Taranaki Whānui, Te Upoko o Te Ika, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa – kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. E ngā mana, e ngā ...
Tougher penalties for gun crime are a step closer with the passage of firearms reform legislation through another stage in Parliament. The Arms Legislation Bill has tonight passed its Second Reading. “The changes have one objective - to prevent firearms falling into the wrong hands,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. ...
Introduction Mr Speaker We all know why we are here today. It has been a long journey. The journey did not actually begin on 15 March 2019. It began on 30 June 1997. Almost 23 years ago, Justice Sir Thomas Thorp told us what was wrong with our firearms legislation. ...
The Government’s work to put trades and vocational education back on the agenda took another major step forward today with the passing of the Education (Vocational Education and Training Reform) Amendment Bill, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “This is a watershed day for trades and vocational education. These law changes formalise ...
Speeding up the return of Christchurch regeneration activities to local leadership is behind the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament today by Minister Megan Woods. “As we approach nine years since the February 2011 earthquake in Canterbury, and with the transition to local leadership well underway, the time ...
Hundreds of New Zealanders and international visitors will be able to get back out into nature with the Milford Track partially reopening next week, after extensive assessments and repairs, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today. The popular Great Walk has been closed since 3 February after an extreme ...
Up to 110 new EV chargers nationwide in cities and regions 50 electric vehicles for ride-sharing The Government is helping deliver more infrastructure and options for low emissions transport through new projects, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. Tauranga, Nelson, Levin, New Plymouth and Oamaru are just some ...
New Zealanders are increasingly better off under this Government as wages rise and families have more disposable income, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ reported today that average household disposable incomes after housing costs rose 4.9% in 2019. This was the highest rise in four years and came as ...
All New Zealanders need to have their voices heard at work to ensure we have an inclusive and productive economy. Today we introduce a Bill to do this for workers in the New Zealand screen industry, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “The Screen Industry Workers Bill will ...
The Government has announced further help for the Southland and Otago regions to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. “I’ve approved Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG), making $500,000 available to help with the clean-up in Fiordland, Southland, and the Clutha district in Otago,” Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
Following the announcement that more than 340 schools will be funded to run events promoting vocational education, the Government has announced it will fund a further 257 events to be run by employers and industry. “These industry-run events will allow more than 30,000 students to connect with more than 2,000 ...
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...
A Government programme to wipe out pea weevil has achieved a world first, with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor today announcing the successful eradication of the noxious pest from Wairarapa. This means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today. Commercial and home gardeners can again grow ...
Southland residents hit by flooding caused by heavy rainfall can now access help finding temporary accommodation with the Government activating the Temporary Accommodation Service, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare announced today. “The Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help ...
“Is that it?” That’s Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s response to Simon Bridges’ much-hyped economic speech today. “Simon Bridges just gave the most over-hyped and under-delivered speech that I can remember during my time in politics,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s not surprising. Simon Bridges literally said on the radio this morning ...
A trial deployment of the Police Eagle helicopter in Christchurch will test whether the aircraft would make a significant difference to crime prevention and community safety. “The Bell 429 helicopter will be based in Christchurch for five weeks, from 17 February to 20 March,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The ...
The Government has kept up the pace of its work to promote New Zealand’s trade interests and diversify our export markets, with visits to Fiji and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker. Building momentum to bring the PACER Plus trade and development agreement ...
The Coalition Government’s investment in a strong border and disrupting transnational organised crime produced record results for stopping drugs in 2019, says Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. The illegal drugs were seized at the New Zealand border by Customs, and overseas by Customs’ international border partners before the drugs could ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off construction of a separated cycleway alongside Tamaki Drive. A two-way separated cycleway will be built along the northern side of Tamaki Drive, between the Quay Street Cycleway extension and Ngapipi Road. There will be a separate walking path alongside. Phil Twyford said giving ...
Owner-occupiers of unit and apartments living in earthquake-prone buildings will have certainty about the financial support they’ll be eligible for with the release of criteria for an upcoming assistance scheme, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. The Residential Earthquake-Prone Building Financial Assistance Scheme will help unit owners facing ...
Temporary restrictions on travel from China will remain in place as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The restrictions which prevent foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through, mainland China from entering New Zealand have been extended for a further 8 days. This position ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today that Tairāwhiti rangatahi will benefit from an investment made by the Government’s He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) scheme. The funding will go to the Tautua Village, Kauneke programme and the Matapuna Supported Employment Programme which will fund 120 rangatahi over two years. “Both programmes work ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Stewart, Doctoral Candidate at BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University In the wake of last week’s horrific murder of a woman and her three children in Brisbane at the hands of her estranged partner, Social Services Minister Anne Ruston ...
Politicians who have appeared on Dancing with the Stars over the past 15 years say the publicity could backfire for would-be politician Hannah Tamaki if she puts on her dancing shoes. ...
Marlin’s Dreaming have a new single out ahead of their next, ‘least accessible’ album. Frontman Semisi Maiai sat down to talk about how a bunch of jocks from Dunedin became indie darlings.Semisi Maiai embodies the duality of man. He’s a barista and a basketballer; he’s a jock and an indie ...
Pacific Media Watch A University of Waikato researcher says some of the current colonial representations of climate change in the Pacific are obscuring Pacific voices and failing to recognise the importance of Indigenous knowledge in the fight against the changing climate. Dr Jessica Pasisi’s thesis, Niue Women’s Perspective and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne Bernie Sanders has easily won the Nevada Democratic caucus, cementing his status as front-runner for the Democratic nomination in the US presidential election. With 88% of precincts reporting, Sanders won ...
An announcement that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will be based in Hamilton makes “perfect sense” given the city’s location and strong transport links says Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate. On Friday Justice Minister Andrew Little ...
Steel & Tube has recorded a large half-year loss, in line with forecasts, mostly because of a $37 million write-down in asset values. For the six months ended December the steel manufacturing company made a $36.9m loss. Chief executive Mark Malpass said the company expected an improved second half. "While ...
The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter has slumped to a large loss because of volatile prices and power costs. Pacific Aluminium, controlled by Rio Tinto, made a loss of $313 million for the year ended December compared with the previous year's profit of $207m. However, the underlying loss fell to $46m ...
The Government has extended its ban on travel from China by another eight days until early March, but may provide an exemption for international students, while the Treasury is considering global recession scenarios. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced Cabinet decided on Monday afternoon to extend its ban on travel ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Australia’s catastrophic bushfire season has done immense damage to Australia’s tourist industry. Then, just as heavy rain began to bring the situation under control, came the coronavirus outbreak in China – now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Hole, Senior Research Fellow, Mathematical Sciences Institute, Australian National University Recent reports from scientists pursuing a new kind of nuclear fusion technology are encouraging, but we are still some distance away from the “holy grail of clean energy”. The technology developed ...
First the broadcaster was caught up in an online swindle using Facebook – now it’s the other media giant.“Hosking’s Latest Investment”, went the headline on the Google-served advertisement, complete with a photograph of the award-winning broadcaster, placed on a New Zealand news site. “New Zealand’s citizens are already raking in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will Steffen, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University Opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s announcement on Friday that a Labor government would adopt a target of net-zero emissions by 2050 was a big step in the right direction. But a bit of simple maths reveals ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Gurrieri, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, RMIT University Under Australia’s harsh sun, we’ve long slapped on sunscreen to protect ourselves from skin damage and cancer. Now the product, once known for protecting skin against harmful UV rays, is becoming part of beauty ...
Get data at the national level, by regional council area, territorial authority / Auckland local board area, statistical area 2 (SA2), and district health board area. Tables contain 2018, 2013, and 2006 Census data. Access data in NZ.Stat Use ...
Northland's biggest trucking operator has accused the Transport Agency of letting an employee wage a personal vendetta against him that's cost him millions of dollars. Stan Semenoff says the employee went after his scalp, but he's defeated the Agency and shown that it had no safety case to begin with. ...
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 contentPolitical donations scandals John Armstrong (TVNZ): Jacinda Ardern’s refusal to reprimand Winston Peters is nothing short of disgraceful Luke ...
Keep New Zealand Beautiful partners with Waste Management New Zealand to send educational book to New Zealand schools New Zealand not-for-profit organisation, Keep New Zealand Beautiful, has teamed up with Waste Management to distribute an educational storybook ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paxton Loke, Paediatric Allergist and Immunologist, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Some children grow out of their food allergies, but researchers don’t exactly know why. Here’s how to work with your allergy specialist if you suspect your child isn’t allergic any more. Read ...
The Māori Party candidate for Waiariki - Rawiri Waititi - believes the younger generation will be the key to the party getting back into Parliament this year. ...
The Sustainable New Zealand Party is struggling to demonstrate it has enough political sustainability to last until the election campaign heats up later this year. Within just a few months media attention has turned from its founding to its foundering. The New Zealand Herald seems not to have caught up ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling You’ve heard of dark matter. You’ve probably heard there’s a fair bit of it out there in space, and that astronomers don’t know for sure what it is. But, strange as dark matter is, there’s an ...
When NZME reports its annual results on Tuesday, attention will focus on its mooted purchase of rival Stuff Ltd and the revenue its paywalled nzherald.co.nz site has brought in ...
After 43 years on the telly, Fair Go knows exactly how to stick up for Kiwi consumers. Tara Ward talks to Sophie Baird, the woman changing New Zealand, one consumer complaint at a time. For over four decades, Fair Go has been our saviour. They’ve defended us when we’ve been ripped ...
ANALYSIS:By Asmiati Malik in Jakarta The Indonesian government plans to evaluate the efficacy of special funds for the West Papua region. These funds have been disbursed to the easternmost region, comprising the two provinces of Papua and West Papua, for nearly two decades. The funds, paid since 2002 to ...
Last week Nick Loosley, founder of food waste and food poverty charity Everybody Eats, was named the 2020 Kiwibank New Zealand Local Hero of the Year. He talked to Alex Braae about how a more sustainable approach to our food system can help feed those in need. There’s a theme of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natalie Skead, Professor, Dean of Law School, University of Western Australia In 2017, a business lecturer posted a photo on LinkedIn showing a completely empty university classroom, 15 minutes after the class had been scheduled to start. This is not an isolated ...
The coronavirus outbreak is set to cost Air New Zealand as much as $75 million, as it moved to cut more flights to lessen the impact. The airline has issued a revised forecast for its full year earnings, cutting its estimate of operating earnings by between $35m to $75m to ...
New Zealand's steps to shield itself from the Covid-19 coronavirus will not save the economy from feeling its effects. Hundreds of millions of dollars is likely to be shaved off the value of the economy for the first quarter, with estimates currently between 0.3 and 0.6 percentage points less than ...
By Evaristo Soares Martins in Dili Early elections cannot be allowed to “become the political culture” in Timor-Leste, says the leader of the opposition Fretilin party, Dr Marí Alkatiri. The former Prime Minister said he wants to see an end to the political impasse, prompted by the collapse of ...
By Sharlyne Eri in Lae A Papua New Guinean man who once resorted to crime to make a living is now running a bicycle repair business. Collin Kunan is a long-time resident of West Taraka, one of Lae’s urban settlements where petty crime is rife because of high unemployment. ...
Jamie’s away with the lads, Claire’s elbow deep in a dead man’s abdomen, and Roger wants to go back to the future. Tara Ward recaps episode two of season five of Outlander.Well, my thirstly little Outlander cherubs, that was something else, wasn’t it? It’s been many a moon since I watched ...
Opposition leader Simon Bridges says a National government will look at amending the law to allow Australians convicted of serious crimes in New Zealand to be deported. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carlo Perrotta, Senior lecturer, Monash University The spread of the coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 is a public health emergency with economic and social ramifications in China and across the world. While the impacts on business are well documented, education is also ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Cullen, Adjunct professor, University of Western Australia The extradition hearing to decide whether to send Julian Assange to the United States to be tried for publishing classified military documents on Wikileaks is expected to finally begin today in London. Assange is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernadette McSherry, Foundation Director, Melbourne Social Equity Institute, University of Melbourne In 2018, the Victorian Ombudsman, Deborah Glass, delivered a report about “the saddest case” she had ever seen. A 39-year-old woman with a developmental disorder had been locked in her prison ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick O’Connor, Associate Professor, University of Adelaide Among the vast number of native species damaged by the recent bushfire crisis, we must not forget native pollinators. These animals, mainly insects such as native bees, help sustain ecosystems by pollinating native plants. Native ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natalie Skead, Professor, Dean of Law School, University of Western Australia In 2017, a business lecturer posted a photo on LinkedIn showing a completely empty university classroom, 15 minutes after the class had been scheduled to start. This is not an isolated ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Neil G Sipe, Adjunct Researcher in Transport and Planning, The University of Queensland Over the past decade almost US$200 billion has been invested globally in mobility technology that promises to improve our ability to get around. More than US$33 billion was invested ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dodd, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne In a recent ruling the Australian Press Council has given a signal to gossip magazines it is OK to make up and publish rubbish about people, so long as the ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern anticipates cabinet ministers will decide to extend the ban on foreign travellers arriving from mainland China which is due to expire tonight. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The transformation of the national electricity market has “progressed at a remarkable pace and scale” over the last year as it moves towards renewables, but security is a critical issue, according to the Energy Security ...
The Labour Party has selected Kerrin Leoni as their candidate for the electorate of Waikato. In a confirmation meeting held in Ngaruawahia on 23rd February, Ms Leoni, 39, was nominated unopposed as the electorate candidate, with the electorate covering ...
RNZ Checkpoint last week reported that the rodeo industry has killed two animals during the current rodeo season. Information recently obtained by animal rights organisation SAFE reveals two bulls were killed at ‘Mad Bull’ rodeo events in November and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern anticipates cabinet ministers will decide to extend the ban on foreign travellers arriving from mainland China - which is due to expire tonight. ...
Climate change will be a hot topic in Jacinda Ardern's meeting with the Fijian PM this week, but an elephant in the room for her talk with the Australian PM. ...
In today’s edition: plant-based diets add a new item to the rural-urban tension menu, Genesis plans NZ’s biggest solar farm and a major regulatory push on vaping.The Sunday Star-Timesdevoted its whole cover to a dramatic image under the headline ‘Is meat for the chop?’, while inside a Colmar ...
What’s the economic impact of draining a wetland, or depleting soil health? An economist is looking at the value of some of the mostly unseen ecological services nature performs. A lot of what occupies economist Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta’s mind is invisible processes. While environmentalists fighting for wetland protection, or ...
Coronavirus has created new economic uncertainties in China and beyond. There is no doubt the short-term impact on New Zealand’s businesses will be severe, but how exactly is difficult to foresee. The outlook for global trade already looks grim compared to our expectations late last year. CNN reported that Maersk, ...
Belinda Muller has managed major Kiwi sports teams in three different codes – netball, rugby and, now, cricket. The only difference, she's found, is the size of their balls. It was supposed to last just three days. A bit of a paperwork at a netball centre, to help out a ...
The Children’s Commissioner responds to a UN committee's decision about the torture of children at Lake Alice. David Williams reports Pressure is building on a police review of their file into Lake Alice psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks. The review was prompted by a landmark decision by the United Nations Committee against ...
ReadingRoom is devoting all week to the best-selling book in New Zealand right now, In The Clearing, the brilliant new thriller by Kiwi author JP Pomare, inspired by creepy Australian cult The Family. Today: The creepy opening chapter.— Amy’s journal — Here are two things I learnt today: 1. ...
Back to university today? Beware the flashy voluntourism brochures promising a chance to save the world, writes AUT lecturer Daniel Crouch.It was my first day as a lecturer, February 2018, and I was feeling pretty nervous as students filed in. Just before the nine o’clock start, a young woman approached ...
The rise of litigation funding in New Zealand puts politicians and business leaders on notice – their actions will now be policed by a powerful new sheriff, writes Chris Lee.In business, as in life, there may be a range of thought processes that quell the temptation to cheat. One would ...
Aucklanders are breaking records for water usage - at the same time as the city breaks records for days without rain. How secure is the city's future water supply if these droughts continue? Auckland's water use has gone through the roof this summer, breaking records of 560 million litres per ...
News broke today that Hannah Tamaki has been cast for the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars. Emily Writes explains why the religious leader and aspirant politician has no place on the show.In an exceptionally sad display of desperation, MediaWorks appears to have booked Hannah Tamaki, known for her ...
Political parties must, this election year, pledge to press forward with a massive build of “social” homes to tackle New Zealand’s human rights crisis in housing, a move that will also help reduce inequality, Peter Malcolm, spokesperson for the ...
Details of the Government's newly-announced vaping crackdown may keep New Zealanders smoking and paying exorbitant excise taxes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union. Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "We welcome the decision not ...
News that the Government is set to regulate vaping is welcomed. However, heavily restricting where most vape flavours can be sold is a step too far and could lead to rising smoking rates, says the Vaping Trade Association of New Zealand (VTANZ). ...
Tala Pasifika is applauding Associate Minister of Health Jenny Salesa’s Vaping Amendment Bill announcement and hopes that all parties will support the bill as a positive move for Pacific peoples trying to quit smoking. The Smoke-free Environments ...
Rawiri Waititi will stand for the Maori Party in Waiariki at September’s General Election. The 39-year-year old’s candidacy was today confirmed in Rotorua. Waiariki Maori Party Electorate Chair Verna Ohia-Gates said Waititi was an outstanding choice ...
ASH NZ congratulates Minister Salesa on the introduction of legislation to regulate vaping. ASH NZ Chair, Prof Robert Beaglehole said, “It is wonderful that a Bill will be introduced next week and we congratulate Minister Salesa on balancing the ...
Open mike 19/09/2015 
Open mike is your post.
Surprisingly enough, one could argue (as I often do) that the day inserted into a leap year is not that we label 29th February, but actually the 24th of February. Here I explain why, briefly. Almost everyone assumes that the day added into February in a leap year is the ...27 mins ago
If you haven’t watched Newsroom’s video showing Oranga Tamariki staff attempting to uplift a newborn baby yet you should do so. Although it's not the worst case as far as interventions go, it’s certainly not a good look for the Government. Because of this controversy there’s been a plethora of ...8 hours ago
Genesis Energy is planning to build the country's biggest PV solar farm:Power generator and retailer Genesis Energy says it is in advanced discussions to build New Zealand's biggest solar farm in northern Waikato. The company, which earlier reported a 15 per cent decline in operating earnings to $167.2 million, said ...10 hours ago
High Risk Call: Insensitive though it may seem to even pose the question: how will the electorate respond to what the Prime Minister’s opponents will undoubtedly characterise as an attack on New Zealanders’ freedom of speech? At more than twelve month’s remove from the terrible events of 15 March 2019, ...12 hours ago
Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Climate change leads to more violence against women, girls Rape, domestic violence, forced marriages: A new ...14 hours ago
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...2 days ago
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...2 days ago
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...5 days ago
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...1 week ago
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Finance, Fletcher Tabuteau has welcomed Statistics New Zealand’s latest report as a timely reminder of the value that this Coalition Government brings to every day New Zealanders: “This Coalition Government has meant a ...9 hours ago
We're taking action on child poverty, getting Kiwis into the trades, and more ...2 days ago
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...6 hours ago
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is brushing off pressure from National to take a tougher stance on deporting Australian criminals. ...2 hours ago
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The Government tells Wellington city council they should tread carefully before bucking a national trend on water ...3 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Stewart, Doctoral Candidate at BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University In the wake of last week’s horrific murder of a woman and her three children in Brisbane at the hands of her estranged partner, Social Services Minister Anne Ruston ...3 hours ago
Marlin’s Dreaming have a new single out ahead of their next, ‘least accessible’ album. Frontman Semisi Maiai sat down to talk about how a bunch of jocks from Dunedin became indie darlings.Semisi Maiai embodies the duality of man. He’s a barista and a basketballer; he’s a jock and an indie ...4 hours ago
Without the feebate scheme - which was mildly ambitious at best - the Government has virtually no policy on cutting transport emissions. ...4 hours ago
An announcement that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will be based in Hamilton makes “perfect sense” given the city’s location and strong transport links says Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate. On Friday Justice Minister Andrew Little ...5 hours ago
Steel & Tube has recorded a large half-year loss, in line with forecasts, mostly because of a $37 million write-down in asset values. For the six months ended December the steel manufacturing company made a $36.9m loss. Chief executive Mark Malpass said the company expected an improved second half. "While ...5 hours ago
The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter has slumped to a large loss because of volatile prices and power costs. Pacific Aluminium, controlled by Rio Tinto, made a loss of $313 million for the year ended December compared with the previous year's profit of $207m. However, the underlying loss fell to $46m ...5 hours ago
The Government has extended its ban on travel from China by another eight days until early March, but may provide an exemption for international students, while the Treasury is considering global recession scenarios. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced Cabinet decided on Monday afternoon to extend its ban on travel ...5 hours ago
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Northland's biggest trucking operator has accused the Transport Agency of letting an employee wage a personal vendetta against him that's cost him millions of dollars. Stan Semenoff says the employee went after his scalp, but he's defeated the Agency and shown that it had no safety case to begin with. ...7 hours ago
The Sustainable New Zealand Party is struggling to demonstrate it has enough political sustainability to last until the election campaign heats up later this year. Within just a few months media attention has turned from its founding to its foundering. The New Zealand Herald seems not to have caught up ...8 hours ago
The coronavirus outbreak is set to cost Air New Zealand as much as $75 million, as it moved to cut more flights to lessen the impact. ...9 hours ago
When NZME reports its annual results on Tuesday, attention will focus on its mooted purchase of rival Stuff Ltd and the revenue its paywalled nzherald.co.nz site has brought in ...9 hours ago
The coronavirus outbreak is set to cost Air New Zealand as much as $75 million, as it moved to cut more flights to lessen the impact. The airline has issued a revised forecast for its full year earnings, cutting its estimate of operating earnings by between $35m to $75m to ...11 hours ago
New Zealand's steps to shield itself from the Covid-19 coronavirus will not save the economy from feeling its effects. Hundreds of millions of dollars is likely to be shaved off the value of the economy for the first quarter, with estimates currently between 0.3 and 0.6 percentage points less than ...11 hours ago
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National won't scrap planned minimum wage hikes - Collins; and Auckland Council struggling to sell construction disruption as good news. ...13 hours ago
What’s the economic impact of draining a wetland, or depleting soil health? An economist is looking at the value of some of the mostly unseen ecological services nature performs. A lot of what occupies economist Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta’s mind is invisible processes. While environmentalists fighting for wetland protection, or ...16 hours ago
Coronavirus has created new economic uncertainties in China and beyond. There is no doubt the short-term impact on New Zealand’s businesses will be severe, but how exactly is difficult to foresee. The outlook for global trade already looks grim compared to our expectations late last year. CNN reported that Maersk, ...16 hours ago
Belinda Muller has managed major Kiwi sports teams in three different codes – netball, rugby and, now, cricket. The only difference, she's found, is the size of their balls. It was supposed to last just three days. A bit of a paperwork at a netball centre, to help out a ...16 hours ago
The Children’s Commissioner responds to a UN committee's decision about the torture of children at Lake Alice. David Williams reports Pressure is building on a police review of their file into Lake Alice psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks. The review was prompted by a landmark decision by the United Nations Committee against ...16 hours ago
ReadingRoom is devoting all week to the best-selling book in New Zealand right now, In The Clearing, the brilliant new thriller by Kiwi author JP Pomare, inspired by creepy Australian cult The Family. Today: The creepy opening chapter. — Amy’s journal — Here are two things I learnt today: 1. ...16 hours ago
Aucklanders are breaking records for water usage - at the same time as the city breaks records for days without rain. How secure is the city's future water supply if these droughts continue? Auckland's water use has gone through the roof this summer, breaking records of 560 million litres per ...17 hours ago
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The worm has turned in the latest Roy Morgan Poll!
RM polls are too ‘bouncy’ for a single one to mean much. The trend is encouraging though.
Kia ora all,
Conference Invitation
People who are in, or can get to Wellington on the weekend of 9 & 10 October – 3 weeks away would enjoy Information, ethics and the public good.
Conference info at http://bit.ly/whocanwetrust
The mini-conference will be held at St Andrews on the Terrace church and conference centre. It follows on from one held last year titled democracy, ethics and the public good when Sandra Grey, Bronwyn Hayward and Jane Kelsey were amongst the speakers. 2014 Conference report
This years conference has come directly out of the recommendations of last years which were that the lack of reliable information and problems with information flows to and from the media were amongst the most important challenges to NZ’s democracy. Like last year the focus is as much on participation as listening.
If you’d like to support this but can’t come you can donate to help us cover the costs of videoing, facilitation and some of the speakers travel costs.
The conference is part of the programme of lectures and seminars put on by the St Andrews Trust for the Study of Religion and Society and also Public Good whose kaupapa is to defend strong public services and a good quality democracy.
Jan Rivers
Thanks for the heads up on that conference. I hope you will get good numbers and help with donations. It is good that there are meetings for thought and discussion in other places than Auckland. I hope people will be able to go. You can get cheap hotels in the weekends in Wellington when the political tide is out. Myself I have another project on just now but will try to get to Wellington from Nelson. There are lots of airlines available for from here to there now.
Greyrawshark,
It would be lovely to meet you. I’m sure we can find places to stay in Welly for anyone coming from out of town, We’ll be videoing parts of the conference as per last year. To get a sense of what happened last year here’s a href=”http://www.publicgood.org.nz/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Democracy-conference-summary.pdf” title=”summary report “ with links to video presentations by Jane Kelsey, Bronwyn Hayward, Lloyd Geering and Michael Macaulay and Sandra Grey and Charles Sedgwick’s report on their research on NGOs amongst others.
Anyone’s who’s needs somewhere to stay can text or email the address on the public good website – http://www.publicgood.org.nz
There’s a couple of feel good stories on rural delivery this am (will be on tv1 delay at 8) one’s a young orchard grower that employs local and pays a living wage the other one is for Draco T B about growing pine nuts on hard country.
Noms Pine nuts! A crop we should be growing instead of importing the korean ones. Theres many years wait before the tree is mature enough to harvest, but those little beauties are worth the wait. Once you’ve had a NZ grown pine nut you’ll never go back.
Buy NZ grown walnuts too. Support our local growers (lots of walnuts come from Canterbury) and wow yourself with their superior taste and freshness
Is the show about pine nuts on tvnz on demand?
Sometimes country calendar has good news shows about sustainable agricultural and cropping practices. Nice antidote to the horror stories about pollution, unsustainable irrigation and farmed animal cruelty.
This one:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/country-calendar/22-08-2015/series-2015-episode-21
🙂
It’s yourself!
Thank you Robert. I missed that show. I’ve watched a few minutes and put it in a file to watch the rest later.
I love what you both have done with your land. The food forest and native forest look’s like it’s bursting with life as a result of the methods you’ve used for cultivation. What an achievement!
Lowers my blood pressure just to see all that green and hear the bird song. I live on a wasteland of a development and really do feel the loss of connection to nature. You actually feel it almost as a physical loss, because the psychological loss is so great.
Look forward to watching the rest of the show when chores are out of the way.
I had a look today. Once traversed the TV1 On Demand (!)it was an inspirational program. Thanks Robert.
Great to see your picture on promo on TV on Demand. Sounds great what you have done but don’t want to get on TV1 list of addresses. So can’t get access to this public service. I don’t need their sort of service, just would like to catch up on occasional archives.
Dotcom case sets Crown back $5.8m
– More corporate welfare – if the big 4 media companies were so sure he was guilty (Unlike Sony who kept out of it) why is the NZ taxpayer paying this legal tab. Shouldn’t the overseas media companies be paying the bill as this is a civil claim! Of course to make the corporate welfare work they had upgrade the charges. Hmmm – this is a good way to waste NZ taxpayers money on red herrings for the movie industry. They have the money to fight, but why should they, when John Key will get the NZ public to pick up the tab to get back at him.
Did he even get compensation when the GCSB illegally spied on him?
ISDS; privatized justice system, conflicts with human rights, rubbished in
UN report published 17 Sept 2015
UN expert: UN Charter and Human rights treaties prevail over free trade and investment agreements
GENEVA (17 September 2015) – United Nations Independent Expert Alfred de Zayas today urged the UN system and Governments across the world to radically reform the international investment regime by putting an end to free trade and investment agreements that conflict with human rights treaty obligations. In his full-length report* to the Human Rights Council, he also called on States “to conduct human rights, health and environmental impact assessments before and after entering into bilateral and multilateral investment agreements.”
“In his report the expert deplores the paradox resulting from assuming conflicting treaty obligations. “States that ratify human rights treaties also enter into agreements that prevent them from fulfilling their human rights obligations. Revision of the investment treaties must ensure that in case of conflict, human rights prevail,” he noted.
“In the light of widespread abuse over the past decades, the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism, which accompanies most free trade and investment agreements must be abolished as contra bonos mores, because it encroaches on the regulatory space of States and suffers from fundamental flaws including lack of independence, transparency, accountability and predictability,” he stressed.
In his report, the expert observes that: “This dispute settlement mechanism has mutated into a privatized system of ‘justice’, incompatible with article 14(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, whereby three arbitrators are allowed to override national legislation and the judgments of the highest national tribunals, in secret and with no possibility to appeal. This constitutes a grave challenge to the very essence of the rule of law”.
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16439&LangID=E
This.
It is this that pretty much rules invalid all of the present FTAs.
TPPA developments – we need to keep the pressure on PM John Key and Trade Minister Tim Groser!
————————————————————————————–
Last ditch TPPA Ministerial in 10 days
Press Release – Professor Jane Kelsey (17 September 2015)
Last ditch TPPA Ministerial in 10 days – is Groser preparing to swallow the rat? Canadian officials have confirmed rumours that the trade ministers from the twelve countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) plan to meet …Last ditch TPPA Ministerial in 10 days – is Groser preparing to swallow the rat?
Canadian officials have confirmed rumours that the trade ministers from the twelve countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) plan to meet in Atlanta, US at the end of the month in a last ditch attempt to conclude the deal. The chief negotiators are set to meet on 26 September to try to clear the ground for the politicians.
The ministers’ meeting coincides with the UN Sustainable Development Summit when their political leaders will be together in New York, giving US President Obama the perfect opportunity to pressure John Key and the others to accept US demands, according to Auckland University law professor Jane Kelsey.
Of the three big outstanding issues – market access on automobiles and dairy and longer monopoly protections biologic medicines – autos is the only one where there have been public moves to settle the differences.
Mexico and Canada object to a deal on autos reached by the US and Japan. The four said progress was made at a meeting this week and will meet again early next week in the US.
‘Whether the Atlanta ministerial would proceed without agreement on autos remains to be seen’ Professor Kelsey said. ‘Another failed ministerial would doom the negotiations. But they are between a rock and a hard place, as the controversial deal is now hostage to the US presidential election cycle and this is really their last chance to conclude it under Obama’.
The market access issues are especially sensitive for Canada, which has an election in a month from now, but the details of the deal would not be released until after that date.
‘In contrast to autos, there has been no noise about dairy at all,’ Kelsey said. ‘This lends support to the view expressed to me by informed people in other countries that autos is the bigissue and once that is settled dairy is not expected to delay a final agreement.’
‘Put another way, Groser is expected to swallow the rat, rather than hold up the deal, and wear the flack at home by saying New Zealand couldn’t afford not to be part of the TPPA. The details of the final deal won’t be available for another 30 days so he can talk up the benefits without any facts to get in the way.’ *
Professor Kelsey called on Minister Groser to ‘abandon his carefully ambiguous language and set out some real bottom lines on pharmaceuticals, investment, state-owned enterprises, and dairy so New Zealanders know where he stands before the secret deal-making resumes in Atlanta.’
* New Zealand officials have confirmed inevidence to the Waitangi Tribunal that no substantive changes can be made after the negotiations are concluded. The US Fast Track law then drives the timetable. The President must give 90 days notice before signing the TPPA and the text must be made available 30 days after that – but too late to change anything in the text.
————————————————————————–
or http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1509/S00215/last-ditch-tppa-ministerial-in-10-days.htm
Could not resist reposting this for a LOL on a cold, wet Saturday.
So – many – ponytails …
Lol. Thanks. Needed that today. That twitter thing is funny all the way through.
National still a pack of obdurate ideologues:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/72167422/consumer-nz-calls-for-incandescent-bulbs-to-go
Of course the government needs to get involved – inefficient lighting shouldn’t be on the shelves.
It happens that if you are very short of cash, had $5, and need to buy a light bulb, some bread and stuff for sandwich lunches, you will buy a bulb for $1, some white bread for $1, and have $3 for a couple of bananas and some other fillings. Buy a long-last bulb and you are lucky to have any of that $5 left. They are too dear for poor people, and will lead to a rise in candle use.
Interestingly enough the solution to that is to get the cheap, inefficient light bulbs out of the market pushing demand for the efficient ones and thus shifting the resources used for the bad light bulbs to efficient light bulbs.
BTW, if I had $5 and had to buy a light bulb and food I’d go hungry for a meal or two to get the efficient light bulb because I’d save more money and thus be able to get more food.
Of course, in reality I plan it so that I don’t get into that position.
DTB
You are so wise, objective, efficientand with a touch of austerity.. Why can’t we all be like that. It’s a puzzle.
/facepalm
People need to do what they can – not try and do what they wish.
In the mean time we try and change the system so as to eliminate poverty.
I think the point is that not everyone has the same choices you do.
btw, have the pollution issues been solved with CFLs? If not, it’s just swapping one set of problems for another. What we should have done is worked towards transitioning to LEDs and then we wouldn’t have wasted all that industry on tech that too many people didn’t want to take up and that was always going to cause environmental problems. I agree with you that the govt should have regulated this process.
edit, myself, I’d rather we had a choice, and I’d choose incandescents where appropriate and save power in other ways. But really the whole notion that we would increase efficiency via light bulb change when we ignore conservation and sustainability in almost every other area kind of makes a mockery of the conversation.
Nope because we still don’t have proper recycling processes. That said, it was never really that much of a problem. A concern that should have been addressed, yes, and now that LEDs are available it probably means that we should be banning CFLs but watch as National and other idiots scream blue murder over that one.
Shifting over LEDs would also give us the excellent excuse to shift house lighting over to 12v DC as well thus improving safety there.
I’m happy for people to have that choice – as long as we get to charge for the extra power that they use. I suggest a selling price of $20 each with $19 of that going to lower power prices for everyone else.
Or perhaps we could have it so that the price per kilowatt went up with the more you used on the basis of supply and demand. You demand more (use inefficient light bulbs) you get charged more.
Or, the better option, is to just ban inefficient light bulbs (it is possible to get efficient light bulbs that look like incandescent bulbs and even have similar colour).
And then read this article to find out why you’d never, ever buy an incandescent light bulb ever again if you were smart:
Going hungry for a day is worth it to buy an efficient light bulb so that you’ll eat better for years to come.
Interesting DTB about DC lighting. Going hungry to afford a better light bulb is making a sacrifice for the future public good. Austerity touch.
But when each day there is something one has to sacrifice food as a gesture of public good, rational choice for the future you can end up with a starving child and a parent with insufficient energy to even think and cope with today. That’s the reality.
Going without now to make a better future is only possible if you are in the precariat and managing your way through the present with time to think and hope for a future that’s better.
There is a lot we don’t know about the new lighting, its effects on the human brain through changing light levels and spectrum, then there is the extra bulb cost, noticeable for multiple lights. There is a lack of information and effective regulation with new lighting being placed into old fittings some of which can be a fire hazard,
And not overlooking that there may be extra energy and resource required to make these bulbs. Is there a sufficiency of the raw materials for them? Will the gas in them add to greenhouse gases, or mix with other gases resulting in another problem. Perhaps we should start burning rushes again, be collecting fat from meat eating households and making old fashioned tallow candles?
Then there are the manufacturers statements about their efficacy. How many people know how long their bulbs last? I have marked the base of my incandescent ones and get about 6 months. How many people do that with their new bulbs, said to last four years, actually much less – who would remember, who would note the placement date?
And the lightness comparison doesn’t seem correct. Supposed to be 75 watt equivalent, it seems more like 60watt. I fear that we will never get a true statement of equivalence on the packets and we will end up disagreeing with scientific findings presented to us and have to go by our own findings. This could be like television advertisers saying that ads are not louder, they just sound that way because of compression (whatever that is. And don’t anyone bother to tell me –
I will just accept that and put my time into thinking about the news and information about the world falling to pieces round our ears.)
Actually, it was for your own personal good. And I did point out that people should plan these things so that they’re not in that position. It is possible to do that.
There isn’t. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up using less.
Yes – once we get recycling going properly.
No, because the gases used in them are inert.
Occasionally you’ll get a bad one. I’ve personally had one last for more than ten years. The one in my bedroom is more than two years old.
It’s correct. The problem seems to come from the fact that a lot of modern ones have a lot of blue light in them which looks darker to many people. If this is true for you then look for ones that have more yellow light in them (usually advertised as warm).
Probably somewhere between zero and none.
Long term good.
Short term not-so-good.
That’s actually one of the prisons of poverty – you end up paying more because you can only afford to pay less at the time.
It’s like stocking up on cheap specials on groceries, or buying good quality (as opposed to just plain expensive) clothes, or paying the power bill early to get the discount, or getting the vehicle serviced regularly to avoid breakdowns – richer people can afford to do that, so end up spending less than poor people.
Remember the stated reasons for the establishment of the United Nations?
If the underpinning ‘Purposes and Principles’ were actually PRACTISED – would there be such an international refugee crisis happening now?
As New Zealand is currently a member of the UN Security Council – what steps are being taken to advocate, promote, implement and enforce the following underpinning ‘Purposes and Principles’ of the UN Charter?
—————————————————————————
CHAPTER I: PURPOSES AND PRINCIPLES
Article 1
The Purposes of the United Nations are:
To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and
To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
Article 2
The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.
The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.
All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.
All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.
The Organization shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter Vll.
‘Obama’s Syria’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/315495-syria-war-isis-rise/
“Ending Syria’s horrific civil war is possible, but the political will to do so remains elusive. Over the years the facts on the ground have changed in Syria – with the rise of the Islamic State being the deadliest new reality. But Washington and its regional allies remain focused on an illegal regime change in Damascus. The west is fighting the wrong war and will surely lose the peace.
CrossTalking with Kapil Komireddi, Scott Bennett, and Richard Murphy.”
A message to talleys.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1509/S00256/global-food-unions-watching-talley-affco-bargaining-closely.htm
Sigh. I take it some developer or other has their eye on Jollie St in Christchurch. McGehan Close, Madeline Ave, now the whole of Glen Innes – the list goes on. The subtext is always the same – this place will be lovely once we remove the scary poor people. They could basically have a standard form newspaper article ready for download and just change the street name as each one becomes ripe for middle class/developer colonisation:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/72095461/life-in-jollie-st-you-wouldnt-last-a-week
What makes you think that they don’t?
Creepy
Sounds Rachmanish.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Rachman
” In the annals of the London underworld, few names cast as long a shadow as that of slum landlord Peter Rachman, a racketeer and pimp who ran a squalid empire of overcrowded properties in the run-down Notting Hill area in the post-war period.
His speciality was “sending in the schwarzes” which is a disparaging Yiddish term for Blacks. Rachman would put West Indians and their prostitutes into his London properties to drive out rent-controlled White neighbours with their outrageous and disgusting behaviour. To ensure stubborn tenants got the message, a crew of thugs with Alsatians doled out threats, intimidation and worse.”
The link is not a balanced one so no address.
Some Brit housing and speculation links.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aa1c9dfa-30ea-11e3-b478-00144feab7de.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_to_let
http://www.icij.org/offshore/secret-london-real-estate-speculators
Peter Rachman sounds like a regular old racketeer, without the veneer of respectability given to our lot. And where he was into rack-renting, our lot seem to be more into ethnic or class cleansing. But the get-the-money-and to-hell-with-the-people principle seems to rule in both cases.
The Allure of an Ad-Free Internet
Bold mine.
Can’t say I’m surprised by Apple’s tactics there. It’s pretty much the end of ‘competition’ where each ‘player’ is out to destroy the others rather than working together to develop better products.
I use ad blockers. I’m paying for my bandwidth and not the advertisers. I’m also against ads anyway as I view them as psychopathic manipulation of the people and thus think that they should be banned. There has got to be a better business model than manipulation.
hi draco
“I’m also against ads anyway as I view them as psychopathic manipulation of the people and thus think that they should be banned. There has got to be a better business model than manipulation.”
amen brother.
minutemen “fuck advertising,
psychological methods to sell,
should be destroyed.
let the products sell themselves.”
and don mcglashan re ads,
“with their enticements and their threats.”
i feel the same as you have described, and that is partly why i have kicked the habbit of ugly fm,newspapers and most tv.
And where does iOS force you to use that news app? I have used iOS for around 7 years and never used it.
Have you removed it from your homescreen?
But to answer your question: I didn’t say anything about force did I moron?
It has always been there. However it has become mandatory on iOS9 which got released some time last week. It was a bloody nuisance as I was direct updating an inhouse app (that I’d fixed bugs in) on a pile of iPod touch. That useless behemoth iTunes kept prompting me for each of them about an upgrade to the iOS.
Takes about 4 minutes to boot a iPod, update the app, check that it works, and shut it down. Takes about 15 minutes to update the iOS.
One of the problems with the Apple ad blocker is that it also blocks trackers like google analytics, sitemeter, and wordpress stats.
We depend on those for figuring out loads. I can tolerate robots that do that because I have many mechanisms to limit their access and cut them off. At present the only limits on humans are the numbers of pages per minute and no cutoff, just a throttle. The reason that works is because trackers allow the databases for not-humans to be updated automatically. They don’t execute the JavaScript. If we lose the trackers, then we lose that ability.
To keep loadings under control, I will probably set up a JavaScript feedback system that looks like a tracker and eliminate anything that doesn’t use it apart from google, natlib, and wayback.
Bye bye new safari users and a whole lot of bots. It lowers my costs and eliminate a browser that just became threatening to the net – safari heads off to extinction.
I couldn’t give a damn if apple eliminates ads. But when they start eliminating something useful for our site, then they can get stuffed.
“the Apple ad blocker … also blocks trackers like google analytics, sitemeter, and wordpress stats.”
Ridiculous. Richly deserve your response.
There was a Radionz report on what it is like on a small poor Greek island getting an influx of refugees whose bags and their resources have been thrown over the side by their ferry masters – to fit the maximum people in without sinking.
I have just put $20 into helping through Give-A-Little. I have some big bills to pay but thought I’d keep feeding money in to various money ports set up by communities to go direct to their needs, toilet paper, feeding bottles, food, footwear, probably spades to dig graves, drinking water bottles, sanitary pads? You name it the refugees will need it – except clothes they have plenty. It is better to give money at this time from here. And Greece is still trying to run a country and may have to charge duty on gift parcels which no-one will be able to pay.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201770839
09:05 New Zealander on front line of refugee crisis in Greece
As Europe fails to reach an agreement over how to share the burden of the massive flow of asylum seekers out of Syria and Iraq, we meet Christchurch woman Anne Tee, who has lived on the tiny Greek island of Leros for 25 years. Leros has been inundated by refugees, mostly from Syria, and Anne is co-ordinating volunteer aid to them.Just yesterday a boat from Turkey sank off the nearby island of Farmakonisi – the BBC are reporting that 34 people drowned, amongst them four babies and 11 children.
Give a little: Help a Kiwi care for Syrian refugees in Leros, Greece
From the What you already knew but were too afraid to believe file:
Secret Pentagon Report Reveals US “Created” ISIS As A “Tool” To Overthrow Syria’s President Assad
Newly-Declassified U.S. Government Documents: The West Supported the Creation of ISIS
Apparently our troops are over there to help stop the allies that the US built up to topple Assad.
I’m so slow – I was sent this a couple of days ago.
Are people seeing this?
Not, bad. Not bad at all.
https://leapmanifesto.org/en/the-leap-manifesto/
Like the tobacco companies and their research, the oil industry knew decades ago about the potential for disaster.
At a meeting in Exxon Corporation’s headquarters, a senior company scientist named James F. Black addressed an audience of powerful oilmen. Speaking without a text as he flipped through detailed slides, Black delivered a sobering message: carbon dioxide from the world’s use of fossil fuels would warm the planet and could eventually endanger humanity.
“In the first place, there is general scientific agreement that the most likely manner in which mankind is influencing the global climate is through carbon dioxide release from the burning of fossil fuels,” Black told Exxon’s Management Committee, according to a written version he recorded later.
It was July 1977 when Exxon’s leaders received this blunt assessment, well before most of the world had heard of the looming climate crisis.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/15092015/Exxons-own-research-confirmed-fossil-fuels-role-in-global-warming
A survey of 2,000 people found that Mr Corbyn’s election as Labour leader has made one in five people who voted for his party at the May general election more likely to vote Conservative next time. Some 37 per cent of Labour voters say they are less likely to back the party at the next election.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-loses-a-fifth-of-labour-voters-with-critics-already-plotting-to-oust-leftwinger-10508584.html
Oh, Happy Happy Happy Lost Sheep I guess……
good therre obviously sheep gd work lost sheep
A long but interesting review of a book by Kevin M. Kruse
‘One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America’
The secret history of the 1950s Christian right and its zeal for capitalism.
http://www.democracyjournal.org/38/laissez-prayer.php?page=all
Apologies in advance folks for being a prick but just talking on phone with a right-wing-ish mate in Aux (not by philosophy or considered application…….by default really) – prosaic Aux media type if you know what I mean.
Me: “Donald Trump reminds me of one of those blow-up plastic fuck dolls……mouth all circular and ready for use.”
My mate (belly laughing): “You’re right you’re right !”
Anyone else ?
I’m afraid that even if I was a coiffed, silver-haired, Viagra spruiked, Mid-West, GOP arsehole…….like the fruit loop who told Old Fuck Mouth that Obama’s a Muslim, that vision would haunt me……
So the EU don’t like the current ISDS setup and have proposed changes.
Will the TPPA be rushed through with the existing ISDS system (with its faults pointed out in the link in my comment #5) or will they take the time to look at alternatives, like those proposed below.
European Commission publishes draft investment chapter for the TTIP, including investment protection provisions and the establishment of an International Investment Court
“The proposed new Investment Court system
The Commission proposes the establishment of a new court system to resolve disputes under the TTIP, to be comprised of a Tribunal of First Instance (to be called the “Investment Tribunal”) and an Appeal Tribunal.
The Investment Tribunal would consist of 15 judges appointed jointly by the EU and US governments, with 5 EU nationals, 5 US nationals and 5 nationals of other countries. This standing body of judges would be appointed for a six-year term, renewable once. Tribunals would be appointed at random from the 15 members with no party influence over who would hear any case, although always comprised of one EU, one US and one third party tribunal member (with the third party member as chair). However, the disputing parties could agree on a sole arbitrator (to be appointed out of the 5 nationals of third countries). Once appointed, the tribunal would resolve the dispute under the rules chosen by the investor in the case in question from the ICSID rules, UNCITRAL rules or “any other rules agreed by the disputing parties”.
The permanent Appeal Tribunal would be comprised of six members, each appointed for a six year term, with two EU and two US nationals, and a further two nationals of third countries. The Appeal Tribunal would have a President and Vice-President selected only from the nationals of third countries. The composition of each Appeal Tribunal would be “random and unpredictable” (albeit that each tribunal would need an EU, US and third country national). The Appeal Tribunal would be there to ensure that there (to quote the Commission) “could be no doubt as to the legal correctness of the decisions of [first instance] tribunals“. There would be strict time limits for the parties to appeal an award (90 days from issuance) and for the appeal proceedings themselves (usually not to exceed 180 days from notification of appeal to decision, but subject to a longstop of 270 days).
All judges of the Investment and Appeal Tribunals would be required to have high technical and legal qualifications, including having demonstrated expertise in public international law. They would also be subject to strict ethical rules under Article 11 and a Code of Conduct under Annex II. In particular, Article 5 of Annex II requires that they “shall not be influenced by self-interest, outside pressure, political considerations, public clamour, loyalty to a Party or disputing party, or fear of criticism“. They would be prohibited from taking on work as counsel on any investment disputes under the TTIP or any other agreement.”
http://hsfnotes.com/arbitration/2015/09/18/european-commission-publishes-draft-investment-chapter-for-the-ttip-including-investment-protection-provisions-and-the-establishment-of-an-international-investment-court/
This is the way an agreement should be attained- by openly discussing the terms and rules of the agreement in the way that the European Commission has published this draft investment chapter for discussion.
The secrecy of the TPPA has been a total abuse of process. Sure, there are some aspects that needed to be treated in a confidential manner, but the blanket secrecy and shutting out of any public input (as if the public are not stakeholders when their sovereignty is being threatened) is downright shameful.
Walkom in the Toronto Star.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/09/18/canadas-election-and-the-return-of-activist-government-walkom.html