Thanks for that, my friend. This brutal occupation will come to an end one day, thanks to people like those in that video, and also to brave fighters like these….
A widespread outbreak of myrtle rust disease had the potential to dramatically change the treescape of the region.
The long term effects of the windborne fungal disease, which has so far affected five horticultural properties nationwide, including three in Taranaki, are unknown.
The disease affects the myrtaceae family including 3000 species, among them pohutukawa, rata, feijoa, ramarama and manuka, and various garden ornamentals.
The Taranaki landscape would be altered if large tracts of pohutukawa and manuka were destroyed by the disease, said gardening writer, Glyn Church.
“We could see 1000’s of pohutukawa trees dying in front of our eyes,” Church said.
“The myrtaceae family is quite large, it includes eucalypts, and the outcome of the disease is not known.
“It could wipe out the trees, or it could make the plant weaker but not really kill the plant. “One thing we are certain of is that is here and would be impossible to get rid of.”
Church said plants grown in warmer climates were often more susceptible to the disease than colder climates.
honey companies have been paying huge money for land in the manuka areas of nz ,they will be sweating now, instead of spraying to kill it they will be spraying to save it,
The disease has been across the ditch for 7 years now. You would think our biosecurity boffins would have tested the rust on pohutukawa and manuka by now to see the likely effects on nz plants. But it appears we have no idea what its going to do from here. Biosecurity win?
Wow Glenn Greenwald 3 months ago, but he could be describing the goings on in Washington just this last week. He’s basically calling the propaganda against Trump the “destruction of democracy”.
Deep State vs Tr*mp/Bannon State. Not much of a choice is it.
Greenwald, “I happen to think that the Trump Presidency is extremely dangerous” 😉
I agree with his general premise about the loss of democracy though and the danger of the conservatives (including in the Dems) thinking that the Deep State will save them. Really stupid.
It’s tricky to compare the two, Trump is hurting people’s lives in America now although the Deep State has probably had a much worse effect across the world for decades.
I just find it particularly grating that a political figure is being ousted by the so called “good folks” through the use of lies and propaganda. If there was a bully at my school who had done some horrible stuff to some other kids would I want him expelled due to some fabricated stories made up by other students in order to get rid of him for good. I’d like to think I would want no part of that, and you start to get into the territory of being no better than the bully.
The CIA has of course a long history of tampering with”foreign” countries using legal and illegal means. The USA is in deep trouble when the CIA uses its “skills” to collapse the democratically elected government. Innocent until proven guilty.
But The Washington Post says they were told by an anonymous official that Trump did (fill in whatever takes your fancy). Therefore it behooves every person who might have any degree of reservation about Trump as a person or any dislike of Trump policies to jump on board and denounce, decry and destroy.
And if The Washington Post, can’t get you on board, well we got it over here… in The New York times, The Guardian, The Independent and any other major, liberal and msm news outlet that knows what the control c /control v functions of a keyboard do.
But wait. There’s more! We got CNN, BBC, ABC, MSNBC and every other piece of liberal alphabet spaghetti with broadcast wavelength, who’ll breathlessly provide (fill in whatever takes your fancy) as actual, verifiable news with a straight face and secondary analysis to boot.
How can you not jump aboard? Are you against us? Are you a Trump voter? A Putin lover? A fascist? Just plain stupid? What’s wrong with you Will Robinson?
Boo hoo for trump. Who cares, he deserves everything he gets imo. I hope all media continues to dig up the truth about the unpleasant man. If his followers can’t take that much truth then that is as expected too after all they support the mango mussolini.
If media were digging up truths and truly holding power to account with genuinely sourced and verifiable materials, then that would be great. But they’re not.
Liberal msm are being willing stooges for the establishment (as personified by the likes of McCain and Clinton) – and every fucker who just mindlessly jumps on board with the shit they’re pushing through their various contacts to msm are aiding and abetting their attempts to re-assume a hold on the reins of power.
In case it escaped your notice – not very many people anywhere want these clowns to actually have power any more. That’s why they keep losing elections (Democrats, both the traditional left and right in France) and internal control of the parties they belong to (Corbyn, Trump) or, retaining control of their parties through running machevelian bullshit (Sanders) and only winning elections and campaigns, courtesy of campaigns that are just variations on ‘Project Fear’ (Scottish independence, French Presidential elections)…and yes, losing some too (BREXIT) …
In the choice between ‘Deep State’ (ie, the establishment) and ‘Trump/Bannon State’ (ie, authoritarian ‘new kids’), I say, a curse on both houses. I choose “left”.
Seriously I just don’t believe all of that. You seem to want big baddies like a James bond movie and it just isn’t like that imo. Real life doesn’t need a liberal application of imagination it’s full on enough, if you have eyes to see, already.
So, you’re happy to believe what you’re being asked to believe by msm that offer no verifiable evidence (Russians messing in elections for example) and that consistently rely on anonymous sources for the stories and/or the vague assertions that they report?
And you’re comfortable whereby one outlet (eg BBC) merely uses the reporting of another outlet (eg NYT) to lend its own reporting on a particular issue a sense of depth and veracity?
That’s not journalism. Journalism is examining and questioning sources and evidence. (Which is kind of difficult in a world of news that runs on anonymous sources and zero evidence)
There are no ‘big baddies’ marty, and I don’t imagine any ‘big baddies’. It’s a question of established power – which is institutional and so not predicated on particular individuals (Clinton and McCain could disappear tomorrow and the same shit would continue).
Yep it may not be journalism and it is the way it is. I just think all the shadowy plots are fictional. Mostly it is selfish incompetence that drives things along rather than deep state mega Corp.
No shadowy plots and no ‘deep state mega corp’ – just institutional power, in its various facets and iterations asserting itself.
Maybe you need to imagine a character or an individual or a committee orchestrating some great plan in order that you can ‘pin’ things on a definable physical something – but that isn’t and never has been how institutional power operates.
Institutional power is exercised through people and their positions, rather than by people in their positions. And what guides and sustains it? Simple institutional memory with all its assumptions and what not that pass on in the same way as in any culture.
So there are no state agents plotting against the welfare of their citizens? The people plotting against Julian Assange are just incompetent, are they? Have you actually read anything by Edward Snowden, or by Julian Assange? Or Jeremy Scahill? Or Glenn Greenwald? Or Nicky Hager?
Members of Parliament who represent powerful interests and not their constituents, prosecutors, MI5, MI6, the Police—and their quasi-official media outlets, including most shamefully the BBC.
Greenwald would like to think that the U.S. intelligence community functions as the real government.
Greenwald should open his horizon a little more.
Trump’s administration has already gain an extremely conservative Supreme Court, to go with control of the Senate and Congress.
Trump’s administration is openly flouting all kinds of probity andy ethics violations, and there are plenty of investigations going on about his dealings both personal and private with Russian interests.
Trump’s administration also has complete control of the military, its funding, and its massive subcontractors.
Trump’s administration has shown it’s perfectly happy to take out anyone it likes in the intelligence community.
Trump also acts in total symbiosis with Fox News and Breitbart, far and away the two most powerful media outlets in North America.
Trump’s administration has exceedingly close relationships with the banking system – far greater and more obvious than anything Bill Clinton or Obama ever dreamed of.
Greenwald should stop looking for Washington circle-jerk intelligence conspiracies to uncover, and pay more attention to the far broader power President Trump already holds and wields across civil, legal, military, media, banking, commerce, and political spheres.
“Greenwald would like to think that the U.S. intelligence community functions as the real government.”
Greenwald doesn’t say that though. He says that the Deep State is undermining real government and that it’s too our peril to support that in the hopes it will bring Trump administration down and restore order.
Your last paragraph is odd, given that Greenwald basically says in the video that Trump is also very dangerous (I even quoted him saying that).
Greenwald wasn’t saying that Ad. He was pointing out that the Intelligence Community seeks to persist and to exercise its ‘god-given’ powers regardless of any changes in elected administrations.
The Intelligence Community is one part of what we might call ‘the establishment’ – an inherently conservative expression of power that’s exercised through various institutions (legal, media, military etc)
As for the supposed executive powers of a US President, I don’t know enough about the US system of government to comment much, but I’d be very, very surprised if it was the case (as you claim) that a US President has complete control of the military, its funding, and its massive subcontractors.
You’re saying by that, that neither Congress nor the Senate have any say in military budgets or military operations and that a US President could decree all military sub-contracts were to go to his Chinese mate.
Much of the rest of what you say cannot be backed up by evidence and is just so much allegation as rumour (the Russian connections etc)
Fox News and Breitbart are far and away the two most powerful media outlets in North America and yet (according to the lauded intelligence Community report into Russian interference in the election) RT exerted more influence on the minds of US voters than both those outlets put together! How’s that work? 🙂
He fired a guy…one guy. Big deal (it’s not really) – though it affords a nice stick for those wanting something to hit him with.
A US Admin in bed with bankers? Well, fuck me dead, who’d have thunk it?! Exactly how is Trump’s relationship something that Clinton and Obama could only dream of (bearing in mind that financiers hold the upper hand in that relationship)? Y’know – “Bail me! Bail me!!” “Duh – okay”
“Fox News and Breitbart are far and away the two most powerful media outlets in North America and yet (according to the lauded intelligence Community report into Russian interference in the election) RT exerted more influence on the minds of US voters than both those outlets put together! How’s that work? ”
I haven’t really been following the whole thing, but if you use programmers to manipulate social media that’s an entirely different thing than broadcast media like Fox.
I thought part of the theory was social media manipulation. And sorry, but if you think FB and google are the only ones manipulating social media, that’s incredibly naive. I fully expect that the various secretive agencies in the US are also doing that. I can’t see any good reason to think the Russians wouldn’t be.
The supposed ‘theory’ was to do with armies of paid commenters and such like.
There’s manipulation and manipulation, but where google and facebook are at, is that they write the algorithms that determine what becomes prominent and what disappears. And sure, that can be ‘gamed’ to an extent.
I understand what google and FB do. What I’m saying is that in addition to that it’s possible to do things like programme twitter and FB accounts to astroturf and that has nothing to do with FB and Twitter as corporations. And that governments will be doing that as well as other big players with vested interests. I think the issue here is whether it was done on the scale being claimed (likewise with Brexit), with the intention of altering another state’s democracy. I have no trouble believing that the US or Russian govt are capable of that ethically and technically.
I have no idea whether that happened in the last US election or not. Which is part of why I don’t follow the issue, because I’m not sure that there is any way to know. I also think the polarisation that is happening around this issue plays into the hands of the fascists and authoritarians.
So astroturfing is setting something up to look as though it’s grassroots and popular when in actual fact it’s a piece of wholly contrived bullshit. Corporations are doing it all of the time – supposed citizens networks/ pressure groups etc.
You saying that finds a mode of expression through twitter and what not? I wouldn’t know – don’t do twitter and know nothing about it. I’m not understanding how an account can astroturf though. (Maybe you’re meaning something else?)
With BREXIT, it’s being claimed that a US (?) company had the wherewithal to target messaging at fairly precise demographics based on data they possessed around browsing habits or some such. I’m sure if you google, you’ll find the details.
What’s the polarisation that’s feeding into the hands of authoritarians? Whether people voted on a punt or in protest or desperation or whatever, as against being manipulated by “the Russians” or “tyhe Kremlin”? If that’s what you’re referring to then sorry, but that’s like saying there’s polarisation around the issue of there being fairies at the foot of the garden.
edit – I should add that the Intelligence Community report that so many put so much store by mentioned nothing about any of the stuff you’re alluding to. Most of it was the supposed influence of RT broadcasts.
The President is the Commander in Chief of the entire military.
The President proposes the budget, and has had his first one approved already. That’s how it works.
The President has fired and replaced almost all senior figures in the entire public sector – and that is standard practise.
The Constitution predicts and expects that other branches of government will continue while the seat of President goes through elections. That continuity exists in every part of our public sector, and theirs.
Now, I fully expect that under this Presidency the US constitutional framework part will be challenged, right to its core, but so far it really looks to me like all parts of the system are working there as they should.
Greenwald was better under the Bush 2 administration – because that was an inept and weak President. Trump ain’t one of those.
What you call the ‘deep state’ (however you would like to define it) is better known to mere mortals as the public service, doing its’ job.
As a result, Greenwald continues to sound like a Bourne Supremacy extra.
If there was a sniff that we were in the midst of a full scale 1950s-1960s Commie witch-hunt, or a massive 1970s ‘Manufacturing Consent’ South American rogue CIA, or even a 1980s Contra programme, I’d say, fair enough, have a good crack Mr Greenwald. Write a book.
Instead, all the scandals are in perfectly plain sight. Where they should be in a democracy. The media and the Senate are doing their jobs.
Hell, even Comey has agreed to testify in public.
Trump’s military and intelligence leadership is accelerating what Obama set in train: managed and gradual retreat.
Trump will either figure out how to operate in the sunlight, continuing this strategic direction, or he will resign in frustration.
“What you call the ‘deep state’ (however you would like to define it) is better known to mere mortals as the public service, doing its’ job.”
I’m just using the term as short hand. But I don’t think it’s the public service doing its job. It’s extra that, that’s the point. Greenwald might be over-egging it, but it’s not helpful to deny that the culture of the secret services would be self-serving, and that individuals within it don’t gather and use the power at their disposal. I’m not suggesting widespread corruption, but I can’t see how those agencies could be corruption free entirely.
“Instead, all the scandals are in perfectly plain sight.”
How would we know? I don’t mean that in a paranoia way, but honestly, with a set of systems this complex and large, how would we know?
Weka, Greywarshark et al;. – this article from The Dark Mountain Project is wonderful! All about the rhizomati (the who?) – you heard right, the rhizomati 🙂
“When contemplating the quagmire of obstacles and institutions within our capitalist society that interfere with the equitable and just interchange of currency and access to resources, I find myself motivated to explore less oppressive economic, social, and political human relationships.
In doing so, I have become aligned with that ever-gallant and hopeful group of folks dismissed as unrealistic dreamers. We ‘dreamers’ always hold fast to the truth that the wilful designation of creation and power can be delineated into a network of horizontal or lateral functions that make greed, conquest, and competition unnecessary and invalid, except in extreme conditions.”
Good thoughts Robert. It is a big journey from town man to earth man – farmers, horticulturalists, isolated locations – to simple-living earth man in tune with the seasons, and the plants.
So sad to be losing our entities of excellence (non-business oriented) because they aren’t immediately, or at all, profitable. Can we do something about Waikato University and their desire for functionality?
education music
11:05 am today
David Dolan – Please don’t stop the music
From Saturday Morning, 11:05 am today
Listen duration 55′ :32″
Lecturers at the Waikato University School of Music fear proposed staff cuts will see the school’s demise, with University management preparing to restructure the faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and proposing to cut the full time staff numbers in the music department from eight to five. David Dolan is a concert pianist, researcher and a professor both at the Yehudi Menuhin School and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in the UK, and he is dedicated to the revival of the art of classical improvisation. He has weighed in to efforts to try and save the facility, describing it as a “rare and precious” world class centre of excellence, with a standard of teaching he has rarely witnessed anywhere in his travels. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/201844557/david-dolan-please-don-t-stop-the-music
Immigration New Zealand has taken steps to close a loophole which it says immigrants were exploiting to bring children who are sick, disabled or have special needs into the country.
It has prohibited parents from leaving children off residence applications or withdrawing them, as it said some families were doing so to circumvent health criteria and then later making a humanitarian case for their child to be allowed to stay.
In other words what some people were doing was ‘losing’ some children to get residence and then once settled ‘finding’ those children again and then bringing them here for the medical care.
They’re trying to close the loophole by doing data matching with the MoE which itself could be problematical. If they’ve lied once then the chances are that they’ll lie again. Obviously we need to catch these discrepancies at the border and not after they’ve settled here.
I regret the crude sentence i spoke earlier tonight and followed it up by apologizing on air. It was unprofessional. I am genuinely sorry.— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) May 20, 2017
I regret the crude sentence i spoke earlier tonight and followed it up by apologizing on air. It was unprofessional. I am genuinely sorry.
I believe the current form is for the mouthpieces to deny a dump took place and explain that someone might have misidentified a bowl of hershey’s kisses, and the fake news outlets are making things up.
And the next morning Trump tweets that he’s president and can take a dump wherever he wants, and Obama did it too.
Loony lefty fake news does exist and is spreading and needs to be guarded against. Anything passing near the likes of Louise Mensch, John Schindler, Claude Taylor should be viewed with extreme skepticism.
But this is not to be confused with the work of proper journalists in credible news organisations (like CNN, NYT, WaPo, Guardian etc) that still believe in fact-checking and not publishing until they’re reasonably confident in their accuracy (but still occasionally get things wrong).
lol – nice article there on being hoist by ones own petard.
The second part of your comment, obviously doesn’t stack up. It’s the evidence free reporting of anonymous sources from your CNN, NYT, WaPo, Guardian etc that’s feeding this shit…making the claims of the worlds’ Mensch’s seem plausible and/or believable.
HEARTENING – Educational interview on bringing education to adult school leavers. One so poorly advised that he thought he did not have any educational qualifications for his school time, and actually when checked on-line, he had over 100. (We have to help each other because the government will not, although it has been tasked with bringing the aids of a modern society to all.) Can we help this initiative in a way they would find helpful?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/201844586/ngaire-aben-tuhiwai-and-cleveland-raroa-from-nuhaka-with-aroha
Listen 15.10m
Nuhaka in the northern Hawke’s Bay has a general store, a fish and chip shop, eight marae and until recently little in the way of post-secondary educational opportunities. Educationalist Ngaire Aben-Tuhiwai decided to do something about that and has started an educational programme for local rangitahi that aims to see them all complete their NCEA level 3 qualifications. Twenty-six-year old Cleveland Raroa says it’s education with aroha and that’s the way he likes it.
GOOD Insight doco on P – Meth Listen to the full Insight documentary here duration 26′ :58″ http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight/audio/201844428/insight-meth-the-human-cost-of-a-hit
The police and health authorities are trying a new tack in Northland – to loosen the grip of methamphetamine on troubled communities. They’re joining forces in a pilot project – not to arrest users – but to offer them help to kick the P habit that’s breaking hearts – and families across the region.
The call came out of the blue last week, for Margaret – a Whangārei grandmother.
And yet it was one she’d been half-expecting for years.
Her methamphetamine addicted daughter in Auckland had left her five children home alone.
Someone called the police – and at 3am they’d picked them up.
The eldest was 10 – the youngest, two.
Unless Margaret took in the two eldest girls and the other grandmother in Kaitaia took in the rest, they’d all be going into foster care.
“Wednesday, my daughter brought two of the children up to me and she just quickly left,” she said.
Her daughter, who’s 28, has been using P since she was 18.
Another part of the story was about grandparents with adult children who have fallen under the spell of P or meth and have neglected children who have learned to despise their parents. The law says that grandparents can ask for a benefit for each child to be paid to them so they can provide and support it. But the social welfare – WINZ? agent turned them down.
Winston Peters has helped nine of these hard-worked oldies gain this money. And the children can be helped to settle down eventually with settled lives and continual stable care. But once settled with the grandparents when the children have let their guard down and rely on them, they can develop separation anxiety so it is hard to attempt to leave them for a time. Emotional, health, learning disabilities – grandparents deserve all the help they can get.
But one great thing, an organised team is helping with this dreadful P epidemic. It is bad in Northland, they used to make it themselves, but its coming in from China now, left off shore attached to a buoy, and with a GPS tracker on it so it is easy to pick up.
ALSO early on: TAX and Fairness was subject at 7am+. You may have been still dozing and missed it but it will be important to listen to. ( I am reminded of watching a vid of Mark Blyth, Scot lecturer living in USA. His message on how to get things going there – most basic thought – “Pay your taxes”.)
Mr Baucher told Sunday Morning tax rules meant KiwiSaver members ended up paying tax even if their fund had not earned anything.
“Over time what is emerging is that … if you looked at the size of KiwiSaver funds, looked at the tax it’s paid relative to property investors, they’re paying four times as much.”
Mr Baucher said the latest figures showed in the past five years the average tax paid by property investors was less than a third of what the New Zealand Super Fund paid last year alone.
Tax consultant Terry Baucher has written a book “Tax and Fairness” with Massey University tax lecturer and Labour candidate Deborah Russell, outlining why our tax system needs work. They’ve timed its release to begin a discussion on capital gains tax, negative gearing and superannuation in election year. Terry Baucher and former IRD Deputy Commissioner Robin Oliver discuss tax and why we should smile when paying it.
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In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about today’s global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was ...
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Valmaine Toki, University of WaikatoAotearoa New Zealand likes to think it punches above its weight internationally, but there is one area where we are conspicuously falling behind — the number of sites recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Globally, there are 1,121 ...
An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." Prisons are places of unceasing emotional and physical violence, unrelieved despair and unforgivable human waste.IT WAS NATIONAL’S Bill English who accurately described New Zealand’s prisons as “fiscal and moral failures”. On the same subject, Labour’s Dr Martyn Findlay memorably suggested that no prison ...
This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
When I was preparing for my School C English exam I knew I needed some quotes to splash through my essays. But remembering lines was never my strong point, so I tended to look for the low-hanging fruit. We’d studied Shakespeare’s King Lear that year and perhaps the lowest hanging ...
When I went to bed last night, I was expecting today to be eventful. A lot of pouting in Congress as last-ditch Trumpers staged bad-faith "objections" to a democratic election, maybe some rioting on the streets of Washington DC from angry Trump supporters. But I wasn't expecting anything like an ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Jacinda Ardern has reminded Labour MPs "ongoing vigilance" will be required in 2021 to avoid another Covid outbreak, admitting she held her breath over the summer break. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Pinged $65 for overstaying 10 minutes in a parking block? Put away your hard-earned cash and read this first.Hopefully, by now, I’ve already established myself at The Spinoff as the resident tightarse, determined to avoid all unfair and unnecessary punishments (see: oversize baggage charges). Today, I’m focusing my attention on ...
Nuclear weapons states and their allies risk reputational ruin if they flout a new UN Treaty, Carolina Panico argues The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will come into force this month, on January 22, 2021, turning nuclear weapons into illegal objects. It is an achievement that ...
How does one turn into a rabid extremist over the description of a children’s bike? Emily Writes looks at Facebook comments so you don’t have to.You’ve been there, I know it. You’re scrolling along, trying to avoid QAnon conspiracy theories and Trump apocalypse memes when a story catches your eye. ...
Joe Biden is now the President of the United States and many people across America and throughout the world will consequently be breathing more easily. But while the erratic, unpredictable and irresponsible years of the Trump Presidency may be over, ...
Tough border testing for New Zealand honey imports to Japan is re-igniting the conversation about the use of the weed killer glypohsate in New Zealand. ...
The Taxpayers Union should be aware of the law and of the history of ACC. The ACC is a legal system introduced in 1974 to replace the common law right of accident victims to sue for damages for personal injury sustained as a result of negligence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne Terrorism, political extremism, Donald Trump, social media and the phenomenon of “cancel culture” are confronting journalists with a range of agonising free-speech dilemmas to which there are no easy answers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Associate Professor of the Sydney Pharmacy School, University of Sydney You’ve just come from your monthly GP appointment with a new script for your ongoing medical condition. But your local pharmacy is out of stock of your usual medicine. Your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna D’Alessandro, Professor & ARC Future Fellow, University of Sydney On Wednesday this week, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was measured at at 415 parts per million (ppm). The level is the highest in human history, and is growing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington It might be summer in New Zealand but we’re in for some wild weather this week with forecasts of heavy wind and rain, and a plunge in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle O’Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University Last week, the McIver’s Ladies Baths in Sydney came under fire for their (since removed) policy stating “only transgender women who’ve undergone a gender reassignment surgery are allowed entry”. The policy was ...
There are good grounds for optimism after the guardrails of American democracy held firm through to Joe Biden's inauguration today as President, writes Stephen Hoadley Pessimism abounds about the perilous condition of American democracy. Commentators and headline writers proffer memes such as ‘broken and divided nation’, ‘the threat from within’. ...
*This article was originally appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Donald Trump will forever be remembered as the president who was impeached twice - and for his rhetoric that struck a chord so deep in America that it will take years to dissipate. Donald Trump leaves Washington with the lowest approval ...
A new plan shows how and where the Government will build 8,000 new state housing places it funded in Budget 2020, Marc Daalder reports Jacinda Ardern has kicked off the political year with a major announcement, promising hundreds of new state housing places in regional centres across the country. With ...
This is the full transcript of President Joe Biden's speech after being sworn in at his inauguration this morning in Washington DC Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, and my distinguished guests, my fellow Americans, this is America's day. This ...
Analysis: President Donald Trump has left the White House, and his deputy chief of staff confirms he is withdrawing his candidacy to lead the OECD. New Zealander Christopher Liddell withdrew his nomination to be Secretary-General of the powerful 37-member OECD and was one of the last members of the Trump Administration to depart ...
Kate Wills is facing stage four cancer with the same fierce approach she takes into her ocean swimming - never say can't. Even on the mornings Kate Wills feels wretched from her fortnightly chemotherapy treatment, she drags herself up at 5am and goes swimming. “I have to. It’s my job – to ...
Some costs associated with meetings speak for themselves, others are less conspicuous. Victoria University of Wellington's Val Hooper lays those costs out, making suggestions on where we can rein them in. Meetings – when last did we count the costs? And so it’s back to work and one of the ...
Andrew Paul Wood assesses the best-selling picture book by Grahame Sydney It's no great secret the commercially very successful Grahame Sydney has a long-standing beef that his work doesn’t receive more critical and institutional approval. I sympathise about the lack of critical attention, but I can understand why. The Discourse™ ...
This story was produced in collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity and Columbia Journalism Investigations. It was originally published by Public Integrity, Mother Jones, The Arizona Republic and Orlando Sentinel. It is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the ...
Analysis: It has been easy to ignore anyone daring to criticise or even question any aspect of the government’s Covid-19 response. Their voices have rarely been heard, and when they have been raised they have been quickly and decisively howled down by the favoured coterie of academics. ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US presidential inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated through Wednesday and Thursday. The inauguration ceremony begins at 5.15am Thursday, NZ time, and Joe Biden takes the oath of office around 6am. 7.25am: And what about Trump?In the early hours of this morning, NZ ...
In 10 x 100, we survey a group of 100 people via Stickybeak and ask them 10 questions. Last month we quizzed Wellingtonians. Today, we ask NZ drivers how they’ve found a holiday period without international tourists, and what they get up to while they’re on the road.Across Aotearoa roads ...
Emmanuel Macron's anti-separatist policies have garnered backlash from the international Muslim community. Now, a global coalition has complained to the UN. ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they go on an odyssey of women’s rage, and find out how we can channel our anger into good. First published September 15, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by ...
By Lorraine Ecarma in Cebu City The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) will continue to stand against any threats to human rights, chancellor Clement Camposano has declared in response to the termination of a long-standing accord preventing military incursion on campus. In a Facebook post, Camposano said the academic ...
ANALYSIS:By Jennifer S. Hunt, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit different. If the last US presidential inauguration in 2017 debuted the phrase “alternative facts”, the ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby In spite of Papua New Guinea’s mandatory mask-wearing requirement under the National Pandemic Act 2020, many public servants attending a dedication service in Port Moresby have failed to wear one. They were issued masks before entering the Sir John Guise Indoor Complex but took ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Moro, Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University How do scabs form? — Talila, aged 8 Great question, Talila! Our skin has many different jobs. One is to act as a barrier, protecting us from harmful things in the ...
US President Donald Trump is pardoning former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who is accused of fraud in a case involving funds for the border wall. ...
Joel Little with Lorde, Dera Meelan with Church & AP, Josh Fountain with Maala and Randa and Benee – producers make good songs great. Now a new fund from NZ on Air is putting the focus on them.Six months ago it looked like the music industry was on the brink ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denise Buiten, Senior Lecturer in Social Justice and Sociology, University of Notre Dame Australia On average, one child is killed by a parent almost every fortnight in Australia. Last week, three children — Claire, 7, Anna, 5, and Matthew, 3 — were ...
This commendable and realistic decision again underlines that it is the police, not government, who are largely responsible for the reduction in cannabis prosecutions over the past 15 years, writes Russell Brown.The news that New Zealand police have discontinued the annual Helicopter Recovery Operation, which has, each summer for more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilan Noy, Professor and Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington We will not be able to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us until the world’s population is mostly immune through vaccination ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated throughout Wednesday and Thursday, NZ time. Reach me at catherine@thespinoff.co.nz.4.00pm: What will Trump be doing tomorrow?It’s pretty well known by now that outgoing president Donald Trump intends to throw out the rulebook when it comes to ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling out Mayor Phil Goff for his undignified comment that the claim made by Councillor Greg Sayers asking why Auckland Council is funding yoga classes is “bullshit.” Yesterday, Councillor Greg Sayers penned ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At 4am Thursday AEDT, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice president of the United States, replacing Donald Trump and Mike Pence. What follows is ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission. New Zealanders flocked to beaches and lakes this summer, but it wasn't enough to fill the gap left by international tourists in other regions. The tourism industry is struggling to fill a $6 billion hole left by international tourists ...
Summer reissue: Chef Monique Fiso joins us for a chat about Hiakai – her acclaimed Wellington restaurant, and the title of her stunning new book.First published November 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn ...
A new trough was brought to our attention this morning, although ethnicity will limit the numbers of eligible applicants. If you are non-Maori, it looks like you shouldn’t bother getting into the queue – but who knows?We learned of the trough from the Scoop website, where the Kapiti ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Britta Denise Hardesty, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs economies up to US$50 billion globally each year, and makes up to one-fifth of the global catch. It’s a huge problem not only for the ...
Police stopping major cannabis eradication operations has given the green light to drug dealers and gangs to expand operations, make more profit, and continue to wreak havoc on the most vulnerable in our society, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. ...
Varieties of merino wool footwear are emerging faster than Netflix series about British aristocracy. Michael Andrew takes a look at the rise of the shoe that almost everyone – including his 95-year-old grandma – is wearing.Some might say it all started with Allbirds. After all, to the average consumer, it ...
A new report from New Zealand’s Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) highlights the realities and challenges disabled people faced during the COVID-19 emergency. The report, Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic, Te Whakatinana i ngā Tika ...
The Maritime Union is questioning the reasons provided for ongoing delays at the Ports of Auckland. Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says there is a need for an honest conversation about what has gone wrong at the ...
As New Zealand faces a dire shortage of veterinarians, a petition has been launched urging the Government to reclassify veterinarians as critical workers so we can Get Vets into NZ. “New Zealand desperately needs veterinarians from overseas to counter ...
New Zealand is fast developing a reputation as a South Pacific vandal, says Greenpeace, as the government continues to fight against increased ocean protection. At the upcoming meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), ...
The Department of Internal Affairs and Netsafe are urging parents and caregivers to be mindful of the online content their tamariki may be consuming in the lead up to the inauguration of president-elect of the United States of America Joe Biden ...
Care is at the centre of Auckland Zoo’s mandate, and it’s clear to see when you witness the staff doing their day-to-day jobs up close. Leonie Hayden went behind the scenes to talk to two people who would do anything for the animals they look after. “We were having this ...
The Game Animal Council (GAC) is applying its expertise in the use of firearms for hunting to work alongside Police, other agencies and stakeholder groups to improve the compliance provisions for hunters and other firearms users. The GAC has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Verica Rupar, Professor, Auckland University of Technology “The lie outlasts the liar,” writes historian Timothy Snyder, referring to outgoing president Donald Trump and his contribution to the “post-truth” era in the US. Indeed, the mass rejection of reason that erupted in a ...
The internet ain’t what it used to be, thanks to privacy issues, data leaks, censorship and hate speech. But a group of New Zealanders are working on a way to give power back to the people. A flood of headlines over the last week made it clear: the internet has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Brooks, Scientia Professor of Evolutionary Ecology; Academic Lead of UNSW’s Grand Challenges Program, UNSW The views of women and men can differ on important gendered issues such as abortion, gender equity and government spending priorities. Surprisingly, however, average differences in sex ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer S. Hunt, Lecturer in National Security, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle In Australia and around the world, research is showing changes in body weight, cooking, eating and drinking patterns associated with COVID lockdowns. Some changes have been positive, such as people cooking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hao Tan, Associate professor, University of Newcastle Australian coal exports to China plummeted last year. While this is due in part to recent trade tensions between Australia and China, our research suggests coal plant closures are a bigger threat to Australia’s export ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asha Bowen, Head, Skin Health, Telethon Kids Institute A year ago, in late January 2020, Australia reported its first cases of COVID-19. Since then, we have seen almost 29,000 confirmed cases and 909 deaths. As cases climbed in Australian cities in 2020, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Davis, Emeritus Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne Political pressure forced the federal government in 2017 – when Scott Morrison was treasurer – to call the royal commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services sector. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Ellis, Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Newcastle, University of Newcastle The Rise and Fall of Saint George is a story about place, belonging and community that taps into universal tensions of identity and faith in multicultural societies. Playing for ...
An in-depth analysis of media coverage of the euthanasia and cannabis referendums has found that while both sides of the euthanasia referendum were given reasonably fair and balanced coverage, the YES position in the cannabis debate received a heavily ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission Auckland has no plans to hand over the ownership of it assets under the government's planned water reforms, with Auckland Mayor Phil Goff saying his top priority is to ensure it stacks up for the city. Despite ...
Auckland Transport is putting nine new electric buses on the roads today, as it dramatically accelerates its plans to get rid of all its diesel buses – in a funding challenge to the council. Public transport operators are being told to not buy any more diesel buses or risk losing their council ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they find out exactly what we’re voting on in the cannabis referendum, and discover how legalising weed is a women’s issue.First published August 4, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
A principal analyst for the Climate Change Commission says more needs to be done to reduce agricultural emissions or the country will miss its methane targets. ...
New Zealand needs to be bold in making developers enhance the environment - not just limit its degradation, writes Stephen Knight-Lenihan All human activity should help restore the natural world. This is a concept that may resonate following the upheavals of 2020 and one which is beginning to appear in law. Imagine ...
Derek Challis, son of the legendary author Robin Hyde, died last Thursday. Michelle Leggott pays tribute He opens a suitcase and there they are, the precious manuscript notebooks written by his poet mother Iris Wilkinson aka Robin Hyde. We are in Dunedin for a Hyde conference. Yes, says Derek Arden ...
Former New Zealand gymnast Katya Nosova is now a champion bodybuilder, who was prepared to spend Christmas alone in quarantine to compete in the 'Olympics' of her sport. Katya Nosova was willing to do everything she could to pose on the world stage in her third Ms Olympia. Despite a ...
Heartening! Jews and Palestinians working to reclaim occupied land.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1869129410026697&id=1438208006452175
Thanks for that, my friend. This brutal occupation will come to an end one day, thanks to people like those in that video, and also to brave fighters like these….
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2017/05/17/31days/
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/92751129/keith-ng-four-tax-myths-that-might-pop-up-this-year
tax facts for dummys
Stuff published that? I hope they keep that sort of thing up for the next six months to keep the bullshit in check.
Maybe they are throwing a hissy at dildo for not getting stuffme over the line and aren’t playing in his “communications” sandpit
GST and “tax cuts”. Those politicians are just dishonest. Who would have guessed Bull English.
A widespread outbreak of myrtle rust disease had the potential to dramatically change the treescape of the region.
The long term effects of the windborne fungal disease, which has so far affected five horticultural properties nationwide, including three in Taranaki, are unknown.
The disease affects the myrtaceae family including 3000 species, among them pohutukawa, rata, feijoa, ramarama and manuka, and various garden ornamentals.
The Taranaki landscape would be altered if large tracts of pohutukawa and manuka were destroyed by the disease, said gardening writer, Glyn Church.
“We could see 1000’s of pohutukawa trees dying in front of our eyes,” Church said.
“The myrtaceae family is quite large, it includes eucalypts, and the outcome of the disease is not known.
“It could wipe out the trees, or it could make the plant weaker but not really kill the plant. “One thing we are certain of is that is here and would be impossible to get rid of.”
Church said plants grown in warmer climates were often more susceptible to the disease than colder climates.
“We’ve seen this in Australia where the disease has spread further northward along the eastern coast than southward.
The warmer the temperature the worst effect it had on the plants.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/92792393/myrtle-rust-spread-has-potential-to-change-landscape
The outcome of this could be horrendous for the environment and “tourisms scenic NZ”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uredo_rangelii
honey companies have been paying huge money for land in the manuka areas of nz ,they will be sweating now, instead of spraying to kill it they will be spraying to save it,
The disease has been across the ditch for 7 years now. You would think our biosecurity boffins would have tested the rust on pohutukawa and manuka by now to see the likely effects on nz plants. But it appears we have no idea what its going to do from here. Biosecurity win?
The continuing “fake news” offensive is best described as digital book burning – Bill Holter.
Wow Glenn Greenwald 3 months ago, but he could be describing the goings on in Washington just this last week. He’s basically calling the propaganda against Trump the “destruction of democracy”.
Deep State vs Tr*mp/Bannon State. Not much of a choice is it.
Greenwald, “I happen to think that the Trump Presidency is extremely dangerous” 😉
I agree with his general premise about the loss of democracy though and the danger of the conservatives (including in the Dems) thinking that the Deep State will save them. Really stupid.
It’s tricky to compare the two, Trump is hurting people’s lives in America now although the Deep State has probably had a much worse effect across the world for decades.
I just find it particularly grating that a political figure is being ousted by the so called “good folks” through the use of lies and propaganda. If there was a bully at my school who had done some horrible stuff to some other kids would I want him expelled due to some fabricated stories made up by other students in order to get rid of him for good. I’d like to think I would want no part of that, and you start to get into the territory of being no better than the bully.
The CIA has of course a long history of tampering with”foreign” countries using legal and illegal means. The USA is in deep trouble when the CIA uses its “skills” to collapse the democratically elected government. Innocent until proven guilty.
But The Washington Post says they were told by an anonymous official that Trump did (fill in whatever takes your fancy). Therefore it behooves every person who might have any degree of reservation about Trump as a person or any dislike of Trump policies to jump on board and denounce, decry and destroy.
And if The Washington Post, can’t get you on board, well we got it over here… in The New York times, The Guardian, The Independent and any other major, liberal and msm news outlet that knows what the control c /control v functions of a keyboard do.
But wait. There’s more! We got CNN, BBC, ABC, MSNBC and every other piece of liberal alphabet spaghetti with broadcast wavelength, who’ll breathlessly provide (fill in whatever takes your fancy) as actual, verifiable news with a straight face and secondary analysis to boot.
How can you not jump aboard? Are you against us? Are you a Trump voter? A Putin lover? A fascist? Just plain stupid? What’s wrong with you Will Robinson?
Boo hoo for trump. Who cares, he deserves everything he gets imo. I hope all media continues to dig up the truth about the unpleasant man. If his followers can’t take that much truth then that is as expected too after all they support the mango mussolini.
If media were digging up truths and truly holding power to account with genuinely sourced and verifiable materials, then that would be great. But they’re not.
Liberal msm are being willing stooges for the establishment (as personified by the likes of McCain and Clinton) – and every fucker who just mindlessly jumps on board with the shit they’re pushing through their various contacts to msm are aiding and abetting their attempts to re-assume a hold on the reins of power.
In case it escaped your notice – not very many people anywhere want these clowns to actually have power any more. That’s why they keep losing elections (Democrats, both the traditional left and right in France) and internal control of the parties they belong to (Corbyn, Trump) or, retaining control of their parties through running machevelian bullshit (Sanders) and only winning elections and campaigns, courtesy of campaigns that are just variations on ‘Project Fear’ (Scottish independence, French Presidential elections)…and yes, losing some too (BREXIT) …
In the choice between ‘Deep State’ (ie, the establishment) and ‘Trump/Bannon State’ (ie, authoritarian ‘new kids’), I say, a curse on both houses. I choose “left”.
Seriously I just don’t believe all of that. You seem to want big baddies like a James bond movie and it just isn’t like that imo. Real life doesn’t need a liberal application of imagination it’s full on enough, if you have eyes to see, already.
So, you’re happy to believe what you’re being asked to believe by msm that offer no verifiable evidence (Russians messing in elections for example) and that consistently rely on anonymous sources for the stories and/or the vague assertions that they report?
And you’re comfortable whereby one outlet (eg BBC) merely uses the reporting of another outlet (eg NYT) to lend its own reporting on a particular issue a sense of depth and veracity?
That’s not journalism. Journalism is examining and questioning sources and evidence. (Which is kind of difficult in a world of news that runs on anonymous sources and zero evidence)
There are no ‘big baddies’ marty, and I don’t imagine any ‘big baddies’. It’s a question of established power – which is institutional and so not predicated on particular individuals (Clinton and McCain could disappear tomorrow and the same shit would continue).
Yep it may not be journalism and it is the way it is. I just think all the shadowy plots are fictional. Mostly it is selfish incompetence that drives things along rather than deep state mega Corp.
No shadowy plots and no ‘deep state mega corp’ – just institutional power, in its various facets and iterations asserting itself.
Maybe you need to imagine a character or an individual or a committee orchestrating some great plan in order that you can ‘pin’ things on a definable physical something – but that isn’t and never has been how institutional power operates.
You’ve lost me now but it’s okay I’m good.
Institutional power is exercised through people and their positions, rather than by people in their positions. And what guides and sustains it? Simple institutional memory with all its assumptions and what not that pass on in the same way as in any culture.
So there are no state agents plotting against the welfare of their citizens? The people plotting against Julian Assange are just incompetent, are they? Have you actually read anything by Edward Snowden, or by Julian Assange? Or Jeremy Scahill? Or Glenn Greenwald? Or Nicky Hager?
What is a state agent?
What is a state agent?
Members of Parliament who represent powerful interests and not their constituents, prosecutors, MI5, MI6, the Police—and their quasi-official media outlets, including most shamefully the BBC.
Greenwald would like to think that the U.S. intelligence community functions as the real government.
Greenwald should open his horizon a little more.
Trump’s administration has already gain an extremely conservative Supreme Court, to go with control of the Senate and Congress.
Trump’s administration is openly flouting all kinds of probity andy ethics violations, and there are plenty of investigations going on about his dealings both personal and private with Russian interests.
Trump’s administration also has complete control of the military, its funding, and its massive subcontractors.
Trump’s administration has shown it’s perfectly happy to take out anyone it likes in the intelligence community.
Trump also acts in total symbiosis with Fox News and Breitbart, far and away the two most powerful media outlets in North America.
Trump’s administration has exceedingly close relationships with the banking system – far greater and more obvious than anything Bill Clinton or Obama ever dreamed of.
Greenwald should stop looking for Washington circle-jerk intelligence conspiracies to uncover, and pay more attention to the far broader power President Trump already holds and wields across civil, legal, military, media, banking, commerce, and political spheres.
“Greenwald would like to think that the U.S. intelligence community functions as the real government.”
Greenwald doesn’t say that though. He says that the Deep State is undermining real government and that it’s too our peril to support that in the hopes it will bring Trump administration down and restore order.
Your last paragraph is odd, given that Greenwald basically says in the video that Trump is also very dangerous (I even quoted him saying that).
Greenwald’s focus is way too narrow.
He’s dated and it shows.
Greenwald wasn’t saying that Ad. He was pointing out that the Intelligence Community seeks to persist and to exercise its ‘god-given’ powers regardless of any changes in elected administrations.
The Intelligence Community is one part of what we might call ‘the establishment’ – an inherently conservative expression of power that’s exercised through various institutions (legal, media, military etc)
As for the supposed executive powers of a US President, I don’t know enough about the US system of government to comment much, but I’d be very, very surprised if it was the case (as you claim) that a US President has complete control of the military, its funding, and its massive subcontractors.
You’re saying by that, that neither Congress nor the Senate have any say in military budgets or military operations and that a US President could decree all military sub-contracts were to go to his Chinese mate.
Much of the rest of what you say cannot be backed up by evidence and is just so much allegation as rumour (the Russian connections etc)
Fox News and Breitbart are far and away the two most powerful media outlets in North America and yet (according to the lauded intelligence Community report into Russian interference in the election) RT exerted more influence on the minds of US voters than both those outlets put together! How’s that work? 🙂
He fired a guy…one guy. Big deal (it’s not really) – though it affords a nice stick for those wanting something to hit him with.
A US Admin in bed with bankers? Well, fuck me dead, who’d have thunk it?! Exactly how is Trump’s relationship something that Clinton and Obama could only dream of (bearing in mind that financiers hold the upper hand in that relationship)? Y’know – “Bail me! Bail me!!” “Duh – okay”
“Fox News and Breitbart are far and away the two most powerful media outlets in North America and yet (according to the lauded intelligence Community report into Russian interference in the election) RT exerted more influence on the minds of US voters than both those outlets put together! How’s that work? ”
I haven’t really been following the whole thing, but if you use programmers to manipulate social media that’s an entirely different thing than broadcast media like Fox.
RT is a broadcast network. Nothing more. Manipulation of social media belongs to the facebooks and googles of this world.
I thought part of the theory was social media manipulation. And sorry, but if you think FB and google are the only ones manipulating social media, that’s incredibly naive. I fully expect that the various secretive agencies in the US are also doing that. I can’t see any good reason to think the Russians wouldn’t be.
The supposed ‘theory’ was to do with armies of paid commenters and such like.
There’s manipulation and manipulation, but where google and facebook are at, is that they write the algorithms that determine what becomes prominent and what disappears. And sure, that can be ‘gamed’ to an extent.
I understand what google and FB do. What I’m saying is that in addition to that it’s possible to do things like programme twitter and FB accounts to astroturf and that has nothing to do with FB and Twitter as corporations. And that governments will be doing that as well as other big players with vested interests. I think the issue here is whether it was done on the scale being claimed (likewise with Brexit), with the intention of altering another state’s democracy. I have no trouble believing that the US or Russian govt are capable of that ethically and technically.
I have no idea whether that happened in the last US election or not. Which is part of why I don’t follow the issue, because I’m not sure that there is any way to know. I also think the polarisation that is happening around this issue plays into the hands of the fascists and authoritarians.
So astroturfing is setting something up to look as though it’s grassroots and popular when in actual fact it’s a piece of wholly contrived bullshit. Corporations are doing it all of the time – supposed citizens networks/ pressure groups etc.
You saying that finds a mode of expression through twitter and what not? I wouldn’t know – don’t do twitter and know nothing about it. I’m not understanding how an account can astroturf though. (Maybe you’re meaning something else?)
With BREXIT, it’s being claimed that a US (?) company had the wherewithal to target messaging at fairly precise demographics based on data they possessed around browsing habits or some such. I’m sure if you google, you’ll find the details.
What’s the polarisation that’s feeding into the hands of authoritarians? Whether people voted on a punt or in protest or desperation or whatever, as against being manipulated by “the Russians” or “tyhe Kremlin”? If that’s what you’re referring to then sorry, but that’s like saying there’s polarisation around the issue of there being fairies at the foot of the garden.
edit – I should add that the Intelligence Community report that so many put so much store by mentioned nothing about any of the stuff you’re alluding to. Most of it was the supposed influence of RT broadcasts.
The President is the Commander in Chief of the entire military.
The President proposes the budget, and has had his first one approved already. That’s how it works.
The President has fired and replaced almost all senior figures in the entire public sector – and that is standard practise.
The Constitution predicts and expects that other branches of government will continue while the seat of President goes through elections. That continuity exists in every part of our public sector, and theirs.
Now, I fully expect that under this Presidency the US constitutional framework part will be challenged, right to its core, but so far it really looks to me like all parts of the system are working there as they should.
Greenwald was better under the Bush 2 administration – because that was an inept and weak President. Trump ain’t one of those.
I can’t see any reason why the so called deep state can’t operate within the framework you just outlined.
What you call the ‘deep state’ (however you would like to define it) is better known to mere mortals as the public service, doing its’ job.
As a result, Greenwald continues to sound like a Bourne Supremacy extra.
If there was a sniff that we were in the midst of a full scale 1950s-1960s Commie witch-hunt, or a massive 1970s ‘Manufacturing Consent’ South American rogue CIA, or even a 1980s Contra programme, I’d say, fair enough, have a good crack Mr Greenwald. Write a book.
Instead, all the scandals are in perfectly plain sight. Where they should be in a democracy. The media and the Senate are doing their jobs.
Hell, even Comey has agreed to testify in public.
Trump’s military and intelligence leadership is accelerating what Obama set in train: managed and gradual retreat.
Trump will either figure out how to operate in the sunlight, continuing this strategic direction, or he will resign in frustration.
“What you call the ‘deep state’ (however you would like to define it) is better known to mere mortals as the public service, doing its’ job.”
I’m just using the term as short hand. But I don’t think it’s the public service doing its job. It’s extra that, that’s the point. Greenwald might be over-egging it, but it’s not helpful to deny that the culture of the secret services would be self-serving, and that individuals within it don’t gather and use the power at their disposal. I’m not suggesting widespread corruption, but I can’t see how those agencies could be corruption free entirely.
“Instead, all the scandals are in perfectly plain sight.”
How would we know? I don’t mean that in a paranoia way, but honestly, with a set of systems this complex and large, how would we know?
Weka, Greywarshark et al;. – this article from The Dark Mountain Project is wonderful! All about the rhizomati (the who?) – you heard right, the rhizomati 🙂
“When contemplating the quagmire of obstacles and institutions within our capitalist society that interfere with the equitable and just interchange of currency and access to resources, I find myself motivated to explore less oppressive economic, social, and political human relationships.
In doing so, I have become aligned with that ever-gallant and hopeful group of folks dismissed as unrealistic dreamers. We ‘dreamers’ always hold fast to the truth that the wilful designation of creation and power can be delineated into a network of horizontal or lateral functions that make greed, conquest, and competition unnecessary and invalid, except in extreme conditions.”
http://dark-mountain.net/blog/radicle-and-rhizomati-notes-from-a-folk-herbalist/
A thing that has stood me in good stead from those reckless days of youth is never to underestimate the power of a ‘shroom! 😉
good read, cheers.
Good thoughts Robert. It is a big journey from town man to earth man – farmers, horticulturalists, isolated locations – to simple-living earth man in tune with the seasons, and the plants.
Heard on Kim Hill this morning on Radionz.
So sad to be losing our entities of excellence (non-business oriented) because they aren’t immediately, or at all, profitable. Can we do something about Waikato University and their desire for functionality?
education music
11:05 am today
David Dolan – Please don’t stop the music
From Saturday Morning, 11:05 am today
Listen duration 55′ :32″
Lecturers at the Waikato University School of Music fear proposed staff cuts will see the school’s demise, with University management preparing to restructure the faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and proposing to cut the full time staff numbers in the music department from eight to five. David Dolan is a concert pianist, researcher and a professor both at the Yehudi Menuhin School and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in the UK, and he is dedicated to the revival of the art of classical improvisation. He has weighed in to efforts to try and save the facility, describing it as a “rare and precious” world class centre of excellence, with a standard of teaching he has rarely witnessed anywhere in his travels.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/201844557/david-dolan-please-don-t-stop-the-music
Also heard – see details I’ve put up under #1 on post about Mike King and Mental Health suicide prevention.
Ariel Levy
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/201844552/ariel-levy-the-rules-do-not-apply
and
Tommy Rhattigan
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/201844547/tommy-rhattigan-bread-jam-and-terror
Immigrants ‘bypassing health criteria’ – MBIE
In other words what some people were doing was ‘losing’ some children to get residence and then once settled ‘finding’ those children again and then bringing them here for the medical care.
They’re trying to close the loophole by doing data matching with the MoE which itself could be problematical. If they’ve lied once then the chances are that they’ll lie again. Obviously we need to catch these discrepancies at the border and not after they’ve settled here.
heh
lol
I believe the current form is for the mouthpieces to deny a dump took place and explain that someone might have misidentified a bowl of hershey’s kisses, and the fake news outlets are making things up.
And the next morning Trump tweets that he’s president and can take a dump wherever he wants, and Obama did it too.
Great Thinkers of Our Time: Bernard-Henri Lévy
BHL’s a fool and a buffoon, so of course he makes a lot of money as a “philosopher” in France….
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2017/05/17/scenes-from-the-life-of-frances-most-honored-philosopher-since-voltaire/
More Great Thinkers of Our Time….
Loony lefty fake news does exist and is spreading and needs to be guarded against. Anything passing near the likes of Louise Mensch, John Schindler, Claude Taylor should be viewed with extreme skepticism.
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/5/19/15561842/trump-russia-louise-mensch
But this is not to be confused with the work of proper journalists in credible news organisations (like CNN, NYT, WaPo, Guardian etc) that still believe in fact-checking and not publishing until they’re reasonably confident in their accuracy (but still occasionally get things wrong).
lol – nice article there on being hoist by ones own petard.
The second part of your comment, obviously doesn’t stack up. It’s the evidence free reporting of anonymous sources from your CNN, NYT, WaPo, Guardian etc that’s feeding this shit…making the claims of the worlds’ Mensch’s seem plausible and/or believable.
I liked Wallace Chapman this Sunday – gripping.
HEARTENING – Educational interview on bringing education to adult school leavers. One so poorly advised that he thought he did not have any educational qualifications for his school time, and actually when checked on-line, he had over 100. (We have to help each other because the government will not, although it has been tasked with bringing the aids of a modern society to all.) Can we help this initiative in a way they would find helpful?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/201844586/ngaire-aben-tuhiwai-and-cleveland-raroa-from-nuhaka-with-aroha
Listen 15.10m
Nuhaka in the northern Hawke’s Bay has a general store, a fish and chip shop, eight marae and until recently little in the way of post-secondary educational opportunities. Educationalist Ngaire Aben-Tuhiwai decided to do something about that and has started an educational programme for local rangitahi that aims to see them all complete their NCEA level 3 qualifications. Twenty-six-year old Cleveland Raroa says it’s education with aroha and that’s the way he likes it.
GOOD Insight doco on P – Meth Listen to the full Insight documentary here duration 26′ :58″
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight/audio/201844428/insight-meth-the-human-cost-of-a-hit
The police and health authorities are trying a new tack in Northland – to loosen the grip of methamphetamine on troubled communities. They’re joining forces in a pilot project – not to arrest users – but to offer them help to kick the P habit that’s breaking hearts – and families across the region.
The call came out of the blue last week, for Margaret – a Whangārei grandmother.
And yet it was one she’d been half-expecting for years.
Her methamphetamine addicted daughter in Auckland had left her five children home alone.
Someone called the police – and at 3am they’d picked them up.
The eldest was 10 – the youngest, two.
Unless Margaret took in the two eldest girls and the other grandmother in Kaitaia took in the rest, they’d all be going into foster care.
“Wednesday, my daughter brought two of the children up to me and she just quickly left,” she said.
Her daughter, who’s 28, has been using P since she was 18.
Another part of the story was about grandparents with adult children who have fallen under the spell of P or meth and have neglected children who have learned to despise their parents. The law says that grandparents can ask for a benefit for each child to be paid to them so they can provide and support it. But the social welfare – WINZ? agent turned them down.
Winston Peters has helped nine of these hard-worked oldies gain this money. And the children can be helped to settle down eventually with settled lives and continual stable care. But once settled with the grandparents when the children have let their guard down and rely on them, they can develop separation anxiety so it is hard to attempt to leave them for a time. Emotional, health, learning disabilities – grandparents deserve all the help they can get.
But one great thing, an organised team is helping with this dreadful P epidemic. It is bad in Northland, they used to make it themselves, but its coming in from China now, left off shore attached to a buoy, and with a GPS tracker on it so it is easy to pick up.
This is a harsh look at the drug scene from Tom Lehrer (at present meths is being offered for free, as a taster).
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTfuGeKPsZM
ALSO early on: TAX and Fairness was subject at 7am+. You may have been still dozing and missed it but it will be important to listen to. ( I am reminded of watching a vid of Mark Blyth, Scot lecturer living in USA. His message on how to get things going there – most basic thought – “Pay your taxes”.)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/201844580/tax-and-fairness-what-s-wrong-with-the-system
New Zealander’s are being taxed too harshly with KiwiSaver funds paying four times as much as property investors, a tax expert says.
A new book, Tax and Fairness, by tax consultant Terry Baucher and senior taxation lecturer and Labour Party candidate Deborah Russell said a tax system needs to be fair and ours is not.
Mr Baucher told Sunday Morning tax rules meant KiwiSaver members ended up paying tax even if their fund had not earned anything.
“Over time what is emerging is that … if you looked at the size of KiwiSaver funds, looked at the tax it’s paid relative to property investors, they’re paying four times as much.”
Mr Baucher said the latest figures showed in the past five years the average tax paid by property investors was less than a third of what the New Zealand Super Fund paid last year alone.
Tax consultant Terry Baucher has written a book “Tax and Fairness” with Massey University tax lecturer and Labour candidate Deborah Russell, outlining why our tax system needs work. They’ve timed its release to begin a discussion on capital gains tax, negative gearing and superannuation in election year. Terry Baucher and former IRD Deputy Commissioner Robin Oliver discuss tax and why we should smile when paying it.
Piece in local Gisborne Herald about the initiative of adult, school leavers furthering their education in isolated Nuhaka.
http://gisborneherald.co.nz/lifestyle/2755271-135/nuhaka-education