I agree with Chris T. Chloe is like a young Helen, and somewhere down the line she will very likely have a significant role in shaping the future for many.
“John Key always wanted to be PM since he was a boy” rofl yeah right, more like when the currency trading puppet was told by his American string pulling masters.
No, its not at all Puckish Rogue. You know John key’s back story doesn’t seem to add up. Too much of a Crosby Textor fabrication maybe? and since when has anyone from the Herald, like John Roughan for instance, been honest and told the truth?
Dude you probably think 9/11 was a conspiracy, that there’s something up with chemtrails and that the moon landings were faked so I’m comfortable with you thinking theres something up with John Keys backstory
(Don’t worry about those black helicopters over your house, its totally coincidental)
Is that the best you can do? What black helicopters? And I don’t have any “9/11, chemtrails and moon landings” conspiracy theories and it’s pretty obvious that you are not “comfortable” either Puckish Rogue.
A plane ain’t a bowling ball Bill – the pins don’t destroy a ball but a plane that hits a building isn’t much more than a cloud of debris. Now I wasn’t there – don’t know everything about it – but the official story does not come close to explaining what happened.
Any particular reason you played the false analogy card?
Stuart
“WTC 7 collapsed because of fires fueled by office furnishings. It did not collapse from explosives or from diesel fuel fires.” Conspiracy theorists have long pointed to the collapse of the 47-story structure as key evidence that the U.S. government orchestrated or abetted the 9/11 attacks” http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/design/a3524/4278874/
Not remotely Bob – for your bowling ball to be a credible analogy the plane would need to be substantially intact – enough to support a hypothesis that its kinetic energy contributed materially to the collapse. High rise buildings do not collapse from office materials fires – they rarely collapse at all because fire is one of the things they are designed to withstand.
This lame chiropracter has fuck all engineering competence either, for that matter. Otherwise their takedown of NIST’s analysis would be delivered using Maths in an appropriate technical journal.
cv trying to be intellectual yet remaining idiotic is a fail – you rely on others expertise, own up to that one mate, save yourself some OAB learning which I’m sure is coming, deservedly so imo.
No Stuart, it is you who “has to do better than that”: your incompetence at reading a detailed engineering analysis (such as NIST’s report on WTC7, for example) is evidence of nothing.
Your comments clearly reveal said incompetence, in case you’re wondering.
A Popular Mechanics article that addresses none of the the anomalies the collapse raises is enough to satisfy you?
It is, as the article reports a unique event. There have been numerous high rise fires around the world and none of them caused collapses. Done any firefighting OAB? Thought not.
Do you suppose any of those buildings contained office furnishings? You know they most probably did.
To cause a structural failure of the steel encased in concrete columns requires very high temperatures. These typically do not occur for sustained periods in office block fires. The fuel is exhausted or fails to burn in such a way as to maintain the 1000 degree plus temperatures for long enough. To obtain the effect would have required the building to act somewhat like a chimney or blast furnace – blast furnaces being a contrivance invented because ordinary fires do not reach temperatures that melt steel. Had the building chimneyed video would have shown this.
The clincher is probably the conjecture about the decibel level of thermite charges – no witness reports of explosions the report claims. Human attention is a focused phemonon and people on the spot at the time may have been slightly distracted. But an engineer would look for robust physical evidence rather than bystander conjecture.
But since you’re so pro OAB – you’d better tell us something to enlighten us.
No Stuart, I’ve cited NIST’s WTC7 analysis. If you can’t demonstrate it’s flawed using appropriate engineering calculations your reckons have no standing.
I’m happy to let them speak for me in this matter.
Long on rhetoric, short on Maths. Pack a sad, Stu.
Personally, I’m pretty sure US foreign policy was a contributing factor (not as much as the lame tanties of wannabe hero boys who think daesh are the solution, but still), and the buildings collapsed exactly as the various engineering reports describe.
Can’t debate with someone too frightened to put up any evidence – but that would require you to have read and understood the NIST report. And I don’t think the NIST report is the basis of your disagreement for some reason.
Let’s be clear here – I don’t have all the evidence on 9/11 – it’s not really a big deal for me, but I have read the substance of shortcomings of the NIST report.
The first and largest is that NIST is not a professional engineering body – it was a political assemblage like FEMA, and thus it didn’t follow the kinds of processes that engineers usually would. Most specifically it had a tight timeframe to report in, whereas engineers usually want to get to the bottom of things however long that might take.
There was a lot of computer modelling – but computer modelling is not necessarily reflective of reality. Even among impartial operators there is a temptation to adjust data points until you arrive at the solution you desire – a criticism that was made of climactic models that predicted global warming.
The prevailing engineering criticism of the NIST report considers the collapse anomalous. The building imploded symetrically – this is not an easy feat to achieve – the leading experts on it, demolitions engineers, build very complex firing plans to achieve it, and their impression of film of the building is generally that it was demolished.
If it were demolished the support beams would typically be cut with thermite charges or hexagen cutting bars. This would produce the symmetrical implosion that a randomly occurring natural fire would be unlikely to replicate.
Such a demolition would leave ample chemical and particulate evidence. There is evidence of thermite microspheres consistent with demolition, but it is contested, a debate which I imagine neither of us is qualified to parse.
a criticism that was made of climactic models that predicted global warming.
Svante Arrhenius’ adjusted the data of his global circulation models until they produced warming, and that’s the reason they accurately predicted the consequences of the greenhouse effect?
Or are you talking about the models the IPCC cites, which predict the lower range of consequences?
The capacity to adjust results makes them deservedly suspect.
But the object of climactic modelling was originally to understand the interrelations of complex systems, not to produce evidentiary quality outcomes to sway a political debate.
They were useful for that. More refined models eventually become predictive and reliable – but those of us who are not climate scientists cannot determine how reliable they are.
We do better with robust concrete data like glacier shrinkage, vegetation patterns, weather event frequency and so forth.
& CV agreed – the thing about NIST is that they were a Bush creation, and Bush was not overattached to the truth, as various WMD pronouncements established.
Funny how you are confident in your opinion of NIST’s work and then fail to summarise it.
Or perhaps you’re dishonest as opposed to incompetent, in which case I suppose it’s not really funny, eh.
My personal experience of your unethical rhetoric suggests the latter, but that doesn’t really matter: Occam’s Razor provides your inability to present the Maths involved as sufficient to support the former hypothesis, and charity does the rest.
@Stuart – Svante Arrhenius published his model of the atmosphere in 1896. Everything he predicted has occurred, within the limits of accuracy provided by the model.
This is the sense of George Box’s aphorism – “all models are wrong, some are useful”.
To criticise NIST’s model as not describing the exact minutiae of the collapse of WTC7 is indicative of a fundamental misunderstanding of what models are for: they assist curiosity.
Of course, in the stupid world where engineers are in league with the Illuminatii this cuts no ice. Still, maths, eh. Got any?
But no, – I don’t have any maths on building 7. Nor do I need any.
What math explains the presence of thermite microspheres?
If they were present in large quantities as some chemists and engineers state then no amount of modelling can overturn the presumption that thermite explosives were present.
I’d love, personally, to have been in a position to check out samples for myself, but what I have is hearsay from two groups of engineers. One group has a potential political motive to support the establishment story, the other may be provocative trouble makers for all I know. Still, NIST should have done the tests.
There were the Moscow apartment bombings of 1999 as a precedent, and the buildings in the Twin Towers district were plausible targets for anarchist terrorist demolition.
To criticise NIST’s model as not describing the exact minutiae of the collapse of WTC7 is indicative of a fundamental misunderstanding of what models are for: they assist curiosity.
Actually, engineering modelling (aka simulation) is used to determine how engineering structures will perform under different loading, stress and event scenarios.
It is used to help determine many things from ‘buildability’, normal engineering performance, materials cost reduction and of course, evaluation of the design in catastrophic failure.
Yes, you are not an expert on thermite, nor iron rich spheres. That being so, see point 1 on the number of engineers who would have to be bribed forever to keep them quiet and incurious.
No, actually, yawny yawn yawn, believe whatever you like and say a prayer for poor old Schiller and the dummheit.
I think you underestimate the effect of the media consensus at the time – it was about two years before any media could look critically at anything the Bush administration did.
Whether by chance or by design Bush had the perfect situation to launch his middle eastern adventures, which at least in terms of the Iraq invasion seem not to have been justified by the events of 9/11.
No, I’m not an expert on thermite microspheres, but I could probably determine their presence or absence. This was an important historical event as well as a crime scene, I’d expect it to have been explored thoroughly – but the NIST report does not give that impression. Nor am I alone in saying so.
The bribery thing is perhaps not as clear as black and white. After a time a report tends to be accepted. You seem to claim some kind of academic mantle but your acceptance of it is based on its authority, not its content. You haven’t checked the math, and I presume no-one has bribed you. Engineers are busy, and 9/11 truth fixations are probably not career enhancing.
But something is anomalous about it being the only highrise to have collapsed due to fire. People will continue to look for evidence – and the chance that Bush manufactured this event as blithely as he manufactured Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction makes the search somewhat consequential.
Yeah I always figured that in the absence of a provenance in National Party circles in his youth that was always a bunch of Crosby Textor shit, like the salary donated to charity. No provenance, no proof. Part of the package the country was sold when Michelle Boag and The Roundtable imported him.
Yeah, he was so into politics that he can’t remember what he was thinking in ’81. Nothing apparently.
Good point – it’s good pāhekā get to nut out their side. Middle class conservation and indigenous rights have pretty much always been in conflict and with the effects of climate change being felt AND the denial of government to do actual meaningful things many people of the left will be faced with stark and uncomfortable choices and decisions. As a Māori activist I also feel the toughness of those choices and I’m her to say that are FALSE. The dicotomy is not true both can be protected but it will take a change of attitude. The one that needs to change is that indigenous rights are expendable – they arent.
marty mars, that this guy made an effort like this must be encouraging for the future don’t you think? Combine this with the generation coming through now who have been raised with far more te reo and te ao maori and the older bigotries must be beginning to disappear.
Yes it is encouraging. I hope people reach out and offer the guy a course. Imagine him coming back next election being fluent or much better than his current level.
Maybe this might be true if he actually tried. Getting “some Maori woman” in the office to translate his bio is not much of a try, and the fact it appears that he doesn’t even know this women or what she does speaks even more volumes of his mindset and level of commitment to the betterment of society.
UK, Danish military admit to air striking Syrian Government Army
The US, Brits and the Danes have admitted their involvement in a prolonged US airstrike which killed 62 Syrian Army soldiers, wounded over 100 and destroyed Syrian army equipment and installations.
The airstrike hit a Syrian Government forward operating base which had been besieged on all sides by ISIS/ISIL for the last 2 years.
Immediately after the western airstrike the militants launched an attack and overran the Syrian Government base, leading to accusations that the US had in this case acted as the ISIL airforce.
Russia immediately called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council; the US said that such a meeting was unnecessary and that it was a “stunt” by Russia.
Yes, after 4 attack runs over 20 minutes, the Western attack stopped. The position was then immediately overrun by an ISIS/ISIL offensive.
Do you know anyone personally who has the level of prescience and control you regularly ascribe to the US military?
Fire control is a basic element of military operations.
These attacks are monitored by NATO and the US in real time by satellite. It wasn’t some squad or platoon which was hit as a target of opportunity and then later found out to be friendly.
It was a long standing forward base.
In addition, it appears that the target would also have been reviewed and cleared by Australians, Danes and Brits.
IMO the Pentagon has wanted from day one the ceasefire Kerry signed with Lavrov a few weeks ago to fail.
It’s a fucking static base McFlock that the Syrian Government had been defending from for fucking years; the Americans have also hit Syrian forces in this same immediate area with airstrikes prior to 2016.
It’s a frontline target. Get the camera angle off by a degree when you estimate its position, it’s fucked. If nobody tells the yanks that it’s friendly, it’s fucked. If it’s misidentified as enemy rather than dodgy third party with a common enemy, it’s fucked. If the yanks fail to pass on to the controllers that it’s friendly, it’s fucked. If the controllers fuck up the fire mission or plug the wrong numbers into the gps, it’s fucked.
The don’t get targeting data from the intrinsic intelligence of the universe.
Oh, so you’re a theatre critic or a eunuch: you know what needs to be done, you can tell people where they went wrong, you know when you’ve seen it done badly, but you can’t do it yourself.
He hasn’t said anything about it, but to be fair, the various western democracies involved in the attack on Syrian government forces killed military personnel of a murderous dicatorship, while the authoritarian nationalist regime involved in the attack on an aid convoy killed humanitarian aid workers. Obviously a person is going to rate one of those incidents as much worse than the other, and CV has done his rating…
Don’t propagandise about Assad’s “murderous regime” when the West is drowning in culpability for the destruction of the Syrian state.
The basis for that “stability” you’re so keen on in Syria was the efficient and ruthless torture and murder of the Assad regime’s opponents and anyone associated with them. For my money, that warrants the term “murderous dictatorship.” Your imaginings of how the uprising against that murderous dictatorship was somehow a plot by Western governments, on the other hand, doesn’t warrant some bullshit exercise in false equivalence.
Psycho Milt, I don’t particularly give a flying fuck if in fact Assad was disappearing hundreds of protestors into his secret prison system.
The US/Saudi/Turkey/Qatar used that – and their own agent provocateurs – to provide a pretext to fuel an illegal, geopolitically motivated war of regime change via Jihadist proxies. A war which has killed 400,000 to 500,000 Syrians, displaced several million more, and left an entire country on the verge of imploding just like the other Clinton pet project, Libya.
That’s the real fucking crime here.
Maybe someone even as morally blind as you can finally figure out where the truly “murderous regimes” lie in this picture.
Imaginary crimes you’ve convinced yourself of aren’t the “real” crime when compared to actual real crimes. And I don’t need lectures on morality from someone who thinks a friendly fire incident against military personnel is a duplicitous attack that warrants a lengthy diatribe while a friendly fire incident against an aid convoy isn’t worth a mention.
So its not a real crime that the US and NATO have allowed NATO member Turkey to fund, restock, regroup and rearm head chopping Islamist fighters across Turkish borders for the last four plus years?
Thats a real crime which has caused tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of Syrian deaths.
And no mate, despite your delusions, its very real, up to and including the ISIS oil tankers crossing the Turkish border, inconvenient as these facts may be to your stupidly misplaced outrage.
UN rows back from calling attack on aid convoy as being due to an airstrike, Russia/Syria deny involvement of air forces, say that attack damage to convoy not consistent with blast damage and cratering of an airstrike.
However it seems that some people still remain too quick to swallow the over-simplified anti-Assad, anti-Russian feed of the corporate MSM
Could you tell the difference? So you rely on the guys on the ground communicating their position to you. When that has to happen through three or more seperate command structures, mistakes will be made.
the old joke from WW2 was “When the English fly over, the Germans hit the ground. When the Germans fly over, the English and Americans hit the ground. When the Americans fly over, everyone hits the ground”.
I think that the Pentagon and the White House are at loggerheads over what to do in Syria. Obama and Kerry want to leave a legacy of co-operating with the Russians to destroy ISIS/ISIL.
The Pentagon neocons refuse to have anything to do with that and are undermining the efforts of both the President and the Sec State John Kerry.
I missed the duplicity in this specific case, although given Sun Tzu’s famous dictum – the art of war is deception – it would be unusual if the Pentagon weren’t from time to time, lying.
The same is true of all the other players.
This, on the other hand, has SNAFU written all over it.
#pt: Initial reports suggest 10/20 aid trucks are totally destroyed & all staff are either wounded or dead.The convoy was to feed 78,000.— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) September 19, 2016
Omar Barakat the director of the Syrian Red Crescent had been killed by the bombing on a convoy of aid in western Aleppo with more than 25 barrels and rocket
If your not wealthy, chinese and donating millions to National you can fuck off, we don’t care you created a wifi network and are a extremely highly university skilled IT person who made the area connected which helps business, in fact everyone, we don’t count that sort of thing here.
Donations lady and if you havn’t got one for us you can fuck off..eh?
“Larsen originally came to New Zealand on a long term business visa with plans for a personal development business which did not work out. Instead, she got involved with community projects, including helping to get internet access for rural areas.
Larsen said the problem was although she had a degree [a PhD in telecommunications], she was not actively using that degree to earn more than $45,000 which meant she did not qualify as a skilled immigrant. ”
reporting on immigration issues is routinely utter shit. This likely has very little to do with MPs and much more to do with a failure to meet policy or a failure to carry out required steps under the visa category
in short – never believe a single article about immigration.
This will be up soon everywhere, for the fact probably that Hekia is leaving for a study of privatisation in the us under the disguise of education research..
We gonna have to pay for our kids educations soon..and on the minimum wage..
Is it time to get the AR-15 out yet, I need protection from my government..one thing the US got right maybe, just.., gun laws. I got to protect myself and kids from these psychopaths surely.
Global funding eh, so do we put our kids up for something, is that like crowd funding? Like a photo on the internet.., a stunning pic of your kid and see how much you get for it?
I could PR, Not too sure about an SKS CV, as with my deep knowledge of guns due to all the hours of gun games I play the SKS is slow and gives a high recoil.
My preferred method of cleaning out the garbage would probably be a grenade.
Or perhaps as in BattleField I could just plant a shit load of mines around the house to keep them away.
God help election time if some idiot from National happens to have the misfortune to knock at my door. I may brew up a special concoction of mine I use for the garden, you know fermented seafood that sort of thing 🙂 Give him a grenade alright.
Well as long as you have the licence and then endorsement to buy a MSSA then its all good and good luck to you though I really should let you know the authorities tend to look down on people being shot
This is one of the problems of PC linguistic imperialism – there are some gender linked behaviours that nevertheless ought to attract condemnation. Of the two I think the ‘boys with guns’ trope is the more sociopathic, but doubtless there are vicious condemnations of females that also bear the inconvenient ring of truth.
I’m not offended by you talking about my boner, I’m ackshully quite proud of my boner and I feel it should be talked about more but I am confused because I haven’t mentioned my boner on this thread
I’ve got a feeling the phrase ‘Can you reference my boner’ may become a TS go to put down in future. Definitely funnier than ‘yes, dear’.
On a more serious matter, talking about using weapons against political opponents, even with tongue in cheek, is crossing a line, people. Please take care with your words.
It’s getting bad in NZ when old hippies are getting so pissed off with the actions of the government and what this once caring land has become, that he actually experiences emotions of anger.
Declining NZ – 1st world to 5th? Stop the rot! Stop the rort!
3 Fish stocks unknown – information faulty.
MPI making deals to try and get some precise information thru observers, upsetting level playing field.
30% of catch may be thrown back – probably dead or maimed – as it is presently uneconomic to harvest.
Quota system not working for the health of sea harvest – but no 💡 to introduce newer appropriate and necessary legislation.
4 People in severe pain and left unable to work and earn after having metal-on-metal hip replacements. World recall by Johnson and Johnson (a trusted company and brand) after metalosis from the two metals cobalt and something else (my ignorance would be similar to those of the recipients who would rely on the integrity of supply
company and their specialists).
Specialists were advised about recall but government does not make it mandatory for them to advise their clients. 500 of these hip-ops supplied to NZ, about 400 used and about 25 applying to sue for their rightful share of payout from Johnson and Johnson to help with their disablement and suffering, now and almost certainly, in future. ACC rules allow suing for punitive and exemplary damages but still the decision of the Courts is needed. Don’t know why. Again ignorance would be widespread amongst all who haven’t training in this particular field of sorrows. Believed that many people still not informed about having a toxic implant inside them. E&OE
Hide had a grizzle piece in The Horrid on Sunday about how his holiday as a wee boy was ruined because of Cook Straight ferry workers’ industrial action and presumably sees all worker representation evil as a result.
Under the current government policy of floating bizarre and discredited ideas for industry and public consumption before sniffing the wind and canning said idea, unions have never had it better.
Well of course the unions would reject anything the National government said, I don’t think anyone would surprised about the teachers unions putting ideology above kids best interests
What PR? Do you actually agree that Key’s Nat government are; “putting ideology above kids best interests”? Or did you just not understand RR’s comment?
Either way does not convince me to pay heed to anything you have to say on the topic of education.
You got it round the wrong way. We’re putting childrens best interests before National Party ideology. Just remember that teachers working conditions are children’s learning conditions. Make it too hard for teachers to do their job and the children are the ones that suffer.
You have a peculiar Pink Floyd view of the world no doubt fashioned from where you get your opinions. That somehow NZ teachers are out to destroy kids.
Still no evidence of that provided by you. 99% against global funding isn’t some sort of anomaly. There could not be a greater mandate rejecting Parata’s, the current government’s, and your opinion unless it were 100%.
As You_fool describes below, how can the entire teaching profession be wrong, while one proven incompetent minister who never taught a classroom in her life, and uses google for education policy, be right?
Oh please, NCEA was the end of the world, Tomorrows Schools was the end of the world, I’m guessing it was the end of the world when NZ changed to metric and the dollar
The teaching unions default position when it comes to National or change is the same, against it (whatever it is)
NZ has slid in international rankings with all these changes. Teachers I guess want to arrest a further slide. You be the judge – it’s what you like to do.
Novapay PR – and every other lamebrained educational disaster the Gnats have come up with – stupid wasteful ideas that have not advanced education. The Gnats have long since burned any shreds of credibility they could have had with teachers and thus the unions, as democratic organisations, are obliged to oppose their every ill-conceived whim.
NCEA and Tomorrow’s Schools were both incompetent mismanagement of the education system, and so is this. It was correctly rejected by the teacher’s union.
Why not ? They are all self-optimising individuals in a free market. Just teach the “kids” how to think rationally and get the perfect information “they need” and all’s sweet. And grades achievement skills too, for “teacher’s ” sake.
How is a funding regime that will see schools having to balance numbers of teachers and support staff against ever increasing operational costs thus seeing class sizes increase and support staff numbers dropping in the children’s best interests.
What evidence do you have that National’s ideological experimentation is in childrens’ best interests? Because they say it is? There doesn’t seem to be any grounding in research of successful practice in their adoption of failed overseas trials.
The current government’s strategy toward public service is to throw any old idea at it in the hope it will stick. Where education is concerned however it’s not a case of it being broken, because the teaching and the curriculum is fine, it’s the neoliberal policy of keeping the disenfranchised crushed which makes home life in certain communities very hard for kids to study in.
No, your response here is a parroting of noted anti-worker collective shills like Slater, Hooton, Farrar, and Hide. It would be good if you could have a thought of your own once in a while.
It always surprises me that we train up people to teach our kids, ensuring that they have the best skills, knowledge and techniques to teach the next generation and then routinely ignore them on how best to actually do the job of teaching.
Yes… And may I point out to Poxish Rogue that the PPTA did NOT oppose NCEA, despite the reservations of many members. By and large PPTA has supported NCEA. PPTA does not automatically oppose every proposed change.
Poxish Rogue demonstrates an abysmal ignorance of what motivates good teachers. Engaging with their students and caring about them is the first element. And the vast majority of those good teachers belong to and support the PPTA, just to forestall the crap argument that the union is only there to protect incompetent teachers. Good teachers want to protect their students from pernicious, ideologically-based Government policies that have shown no benefits overseas, and will fight tooth and nail to do so.
Just read an article, drone with arms could lift toddler..
imaginings of dirty old pedies in raincoats lining up at hobby shops comes to mind.
I mean why do they print articles like that? Some sick Journo having a fantasy moment?
I know you know what..some jobsworth is going to have to make a law/bylaw now, stating all drones have to have a , ” CAUTION do not lift toddlers or young children, dogs cats or your grandma with this device” warning sticker placed on them.
This is part of Part One of Five by Katherine Dolan who has left NZ looking for something better.
It would be good if people could see it as from a female who feels and sees it both as a female,and a NZr who assesses that we all should expect better. And also not be like some of the commenters who look at themselves, their own family and locale which they find satisfactory, and who then reject it as being untrue. There is an opportunity to see beyond our own little personal understandings to the truth of the bigger picture.
Part one of New Zealand is no paradise: Sex, Drugs and Denial, a five-part series about growing up hating New Zealand by Katherine Dolan, written for Stuff Nation. And after being homeless in Canada, swaddled in black in Saudi Arabia and living hand to mouth in the Balkans, why do I still consider my New Zealand a uniquely lonely and uncomfortable place?
I say “my New Zealand” because the place I grew up perhaps no longer exists. I hope it doesn’t, because rural New Zealand in the 1980s and ’90s was a puritanical, misogynist, authoritarian, anti-intellectual, alcohol-dependent society that specialised in casual brutality.
I grew up in a New Zealand that worshipped the Spartan virtues: stoicism, masculinity, physical strength, group cohesion, terseness.
Pony-tail guy wields the TPP as a threat to the US in his most recent speak/slur on the world stage.
My question is if he’s that afraid of Chinese influence in the region, why doesn’t he address the massive influence of cheap, laundered, and ill-gotten Chinese money flooding into the New Zealand residential property market?
Yet again, dropped-soap guy says one thing yet does another and fails to recognise he doesn’t stand for the people of the Asia Pacific region at all.
It would be interesting to know if there has been more to this trip he is on than batting for his former enemy and parading around the UN …. maybe Bilderberg?
What I do know is the international community don’t take him seriously. Obama is on record wondering why Australia listens to him. Clark is tainted in UN circles because of her association with Key and his anti-worker government.
“What I do know is the international community don’t take him seriously”
Really? Do you have anything other than your overactive imagination to justify this, and the comments that follow this, statement?
Helen Clark certainly seemed very grateful for Key’s supporting he candidacy on TV last night? Is there something you know that she doesn’t?
Obama certainly didn’t to seem to hold the views you subscribe to when he was overheard talking to the Australian PM did he?
Obama did hold the views I subscribe to. He questioned Turnbull on wether he listened to the New Zealanders, and followed by saying Key was a great guy to play golf with. Damned by faint praise on the second part, for sure.
Fair enough that you query there Alwyn but what we’ve got here is a ‘machine’. Dear Helen, whom (for my sins) I’d re-vote for at the drop of a hat…..reasons later…..is part of that ‘machine’. “Hate and damn you today, hold you close and kiss you tomorrow.” There’s nothing as mind-altering as power/the prospect of it.
To wit, Marigold Barry when asked why she was standing in North Shore, was it?…… produced the howler that she she had “a great deal to offer……” Hmm, Hmm…..Ahem.
What is wrong with an actual train? Countless developed and developing countries use them and have used them for many decades since the beginning of the industrial revolution. They are a very efficient form of transport, local, public, and otherwise.
That New Zealand has not kept up with this technology is our own fault and one which must be paid for now.
especially if you import some steel from china that comes with a ‘good quality’ certification. Yeah, cheap must be good and practical.
in saying that, Wuppertal has had a sky gondola since the beginning of the last century, mainly due to the roads being so small that a tram or bus would not pass. its quite awesome fun taking a trip over the Wupper.
NZers always seem to choose the short-term cheap, worst option and long term most expensive option. It doesn’t help when the politicians keep telling us we can have things ever cheaper.
So 4,000+ sky cabs reaching the cbd every hour. Sorry I can’t see it. Then there’s the issue of keeping something with so many moving parts running freely. Any human error or emergency in one cab holds up the whole system and everyone is left dangling in the air. Potential nightmare scenarios are high.
Due to their simplistic design they are low maintenance.
Nonetheless, one would assume they would have procedures in place in the event of a breakdown. For example, units would have an auxiliary motor or could be pushed or towed by another unit.
Simplistic designs tend to be more low maintenance as there is generally less to go wrong.
The lifespan and overall maintenance requirements of the network itself will largely come down to the construction materials used. One would expect they will be aware of the elements, thus requirements.
It would probably be like the monorail that used to run in Sydney.
They finally scrapped it in 2013, from memory.
It was estimated to be about 40% more expensive than even light rail would have been. I think the idea that it would be “cheaper than rail” would prove to be someone’s wet dream.
Of course the cost estimate would probably be like the one some of the Wellington Regional Council candidates have. They just claim that we could have light rail at half the cost determined in an evaluation of the idea. Bloody idiots the lot of them.
No train expert here, but the big advantage to me is that you wouldn’t have to construct a rail corridor through Auckland, this could be tacked onto the side of existing roads or run up the middle.
Yep. I think public servants top salaries need to be capped at $100k. Provides a good living standard without being over the top as what we have now is.
Kermadecs and the Foreshore.
Is this just another instance of Key not having any knowledge of history. His tendency of governing in the now reflects his poor judgement. His allowing Smith to be anywhere near the Kermadecs issue in the first place would seem to bear this out. The sidelining of Smith from the Kermadec issue should not come as a surprise to many – remember the Foreshore issue and the disgraceful grandstanding of Smith and Peter Dunne in Nelson.
Wow! thanks for the link – that is definitely well worth remembering, and certainly pertinent to the current clusterfuck. Smith, needs to be as far away from this as possible.
No it has a well documented history of Polynesian settlement or use. But it was abandoned hundreds of years before European arrival. So claims of customary use are nonsense.
Well the archeology I’m aware of is that there is no evidence of regular journeys, that raoul was settled for a period by eastern Polynesians (not Maori) but it was abandoned in the 15th century. Apart from a small number of flakes of obsidian there’s no evidence of any kind of ongoing transit between nz and the kermadecs.
Eastern Polynesian was the originating culture of Maori but that does not mean the people who travelled to the kermadecs and then onto Norfolk and lord Howe islands were Maori
Four flakes, from Raoul Island in the Kermadec Group, are identical to obsidian from Mayor Island, New Zealand. The four flakes, from a Polynesian settlement site between 450 and 640 years old, provide the first clear demonstration that Polynesians who had reached New Zealand had, as Maori tradition records, some success in return voyaging…
Read atholl Anderson in ‘ Tangata whenua An illustrated history ‘ a much more recent book that contains a summary of recent research.
There he says that no archeological evidence exists of return trips to eastern Polynesia despite the wealth of new and useful materials found in NZ. The people who went to the kermadecs likely left nz soon after arrival and then went on to Norfolk Island, lord Howe island and then New South Wales. Artefacts of these travels have been found but none going back east.
Polynesian people were there. I’m told they weren’t Maori. The Prime Minister is John Key – you should get out more, try Venezuela it would suit your thinking or lack there of.
He tells too many lies. That’s why I wondered if he’s the one spoon-feeding you.
Here’s RTM from the Kermadecs thread to set you straight:
…archaeologists have found obsidian from Mayor Island in the Bay of Plenty on Raoull, the largest of the Kermadec Islands, alongside recognisably Maori artefacts…
Now you know the facts make sure not to keep spreading the lies, there’s a dearie. You could even elect not to trust your source on other matters if you were smart.
Now there’s some expert trolling, behold! Peter Jackson has certainly done all right for himself, well done him, shame he had to shaft a bunch of NZ workers to get there, & a bit disappointing he hasn’t made a decent movie in over a decade (but hey, check out that new frame rate!).
Apparently David Seymour thinks tax payers need to fund a ‘Ministry of Men’.
How about a “Ministry of Vulnerable Men’? The Chief’s players, Tony Veitch and Nikolas Delegat can lodge complaint’s there about their appalling and unfair treatment from Women and the NZ political system. (sarc.)
He does actually make some good points:
“A Few Stats
Where once women were clearly marginalised, men are now behind in most social statistics. University graduates: women 60/40. Imprisonment: men 94/6. Life expectancy: women 84/80 (non-Maori), 77/73 (Maori). Suicide rate: men 74/16. We could go on. The only significant stat running against women is income (Men 53/47)”
So women are better educated, imprisoned less, live longer, but still earn less? How does that work without omitting criteria that doesn’t suit your narrative?
What narrative? That David Seymour has a point?
We have a Ministry for Women which seems to have two primary goals, gender pay equality, and reducing violence against Women. These are two very significant social ills that need addressing, but are they any more significant than our men growing up poorly educated with high imprisonment rates (I would suggest there is a link right there) and dying younger?
Well, the first step would be to see whether other socioeconomic or demographic factors have a greater correlation and causal relationship than “men”, and whether those factors are being independantly addressed by other responsible ministries.
By just ignoring the historic and current power imbalance within society and leaping upon arbitrary gender distinctions, your narrative of “what about teh menz” is shallow, venal, self-absorbed and stupid. If a targeted effort is needed, it should target the division that causes the power imbalance that causes the negative outcomes, which does not necessarily equate to the most obvious example of division within those outcomes.
Search for the confounding variable, not the one that matches your preconceptions.
See response to Sabine below. The gender links regarding education have already been identified, perhaps the idea of a ‘Ministry for Men’ doesn’t fit your preconceptions. Or perhaps it is just because of who raised the issue…
You’re welcome to demonstrate the systemic issues that make your whinge du jour a male issue rather than a cultural or socioeconomic issue. Because domestic violence and income disparities are direct results of historic treatment and social relegation of women. But men were always the main populators of prison, for example, even when women were little more than property. Prison isn’t a male problem it’s a social problem . Addressing it as a male problem restricts the list of observable solutions.
Damn, if those pesky women would just go back to the three K’s. Kinder, Kirche, Kueche.
Surely all would be good for the poor misunderstood man that fail in all other categories other then wages. Despite being lesser educated, more often imprisoned and live shorter yet they still earn more money.
For what its worth my wife earns more then I do but its my hope that one day I can finally achieve my dream of become a kept man, living off my wifes earnings
average Puckish Rogue, on average women earn less then man. And i really hope that we don’t have to re-hash this truth.
My partner also hopes he could be a kept man, however i have been telling him for years that i started working at an earlier age (cause girls will have husbands and need no stinkn higher education 🙂 ) as he did cause he got that higher education thingy, so if anyone is to be kept it would be me. But alas, i don’t really function well when kept and having to ask for stuff. So i go to work every day 🙂 and count my pennies.
Interestingly enough even though my wife makes more then me (its not a great deal more to be completely honest) I pretty much the financial decisions in our household because, in her words, its “I trust you” and when it comes to decisions about our retirement its “I’m not interested in that, I’ll leave it up to you”
prison? so that has got nothing to do with man offending at a higher rate?
early death? maybe you want to complain to certain businesses that don’t implement safety for their workers, the forestry industry comes to mind for once.
low education? Are you saying that boys in NZ are not going to the same schools as girls? Are you saying that schools in NZ are discriminating against boys? Or may it be that boys often don’t get the support they need from their families, where as girls know that if they don’t finish schools they will never ever be anything other the a min wage slave? (the boys in my partners family who have not finished school did so cause ‘school was boring’ and ‘ i am not learning anything’ and ‘i don’t need this i can be like my dad’).
suicide: this is the one thing in NZ that always stumps me, it is such an issue and the country as a collective refuses to talk about it and do something about it. . (the mind does not understand)
Good for you Sabine, at least you are starting to ask the questions that need to be asked about the hard raw life so very many men get..
Though I do worry that there is a lack of consistency when similar such questions are put about other sectors of our population, for example your question one and Maori and prison…. we know the question is not that simple is it ….
at least the issues are getting out there though
cos you know, I don’t want to die early just because I’m male, nor go to prison – but that is the reality for us
You’re not going to die early because you’re male, or go to prison because you’re male. Statistical differences at the population level tell us nothing about particular individuals, that’s why the whole “paid 12% less because you’re a woman” thing was a crock of shit. We don’t need a “sent to prison because you’re a man” crock of shit to even things out…
but frankly do not blame the success of the girls to the failure of the boys.
or let me rephrase this, would the failure of your son be the result of your daughters success? or would you rather your daughter pretend to fail so your son could be successful?
If and when women commit more crimes and are apprehended for it they will end up in prison.
This has got nothing to do with Maori men being more likely to be arrested then white men – this has more to do with institutionalized racism, alive and very well in NZ as recent cases have shown again. btw. no girl forced that rich boy to beat a women unconscious, and no girl forced that judge to give that rich boy a slap with a very wet bus ticket.
as for you dying early, eat well, drink in moderation, laugh a lot and you may live long, do not offend, don’t piss off popo and you will not go to prison.
Again, this has got nothing to do with women.
care to comment that the women despite it all still earn less then men? or is it that men should earn more cause men? 🙂
“low education? Are you saying that boys in NZ are not going to the same schools as girls? Are you saying that schools in NZ are discriminating against boys?”
It may have a link to the ratio’s of Female/Male teachers in our system,:
“The dominant research perspective is that connected to issued of male identity formation – specifically how boys see themselves as learners. Much of the research suggests that issues of gender identity are the most significant area to understand and address in boys’ education issues. In this approach, consideration is given to how boys perceive themselves as learners in contemporary classrooms and how this translates into educational achievement.
It also claimed in some research that aspects of education are ‘feminised’ and inherently biased towards the achievement of girls” http://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/boys-education-good-practice-in-secondary-schools/introduction/
Perhaps the boys in your family were ‘bored’ and didn’t learn anything because the teaching methods being used were not conducive to their learning requirements.
This could be the root cause of why male incarceration rates and suicide rates are so high also. If you don’t feel like you fit in…if only we had a Ministry that could be researching these links further.
so who is stopping the men from educating boys? Who is stopping men from going into the teaching profession? Why not more boys only schools?
as for the teaching methods, is that the fault of girls? Or is that the fault of governments? And the fact that maybe some kids are not made for long studies? you will find if you search here that I am one who advocates for proper apprenticeships as i fully understand that not every one is made for the academics.
But is that the fault of girls?
I can’t and won’t comment on the suicide rates, as i stated above, i can not understand why NZ is refusing to have an open and honest discussion about it. Maybe it has to do with that stupid bull shit about ‘harden up’, have a beer mate ‘she’ll be alright’ attitude that is so prevalent in this country.
Maybe we should just have a Ministry for Vulnerable Humans.
But non of this has anything to do with Girls, how they do in school, how old they live and how much less they get paid then their male counterparts in equal roles.
“men don’t go into primary or early childhood education any more for obvs reasons.” – Coz the work is too hard? Can get better pay laying gravel on roads? Funny how most principals are males innit?
just sad then, how a few fuckwits have fucked it up for the men and the teaching profession. No?
I still believe that Gangnam Style reasons have more to do with it, namely that they pay is too lowly for men to even apply.
But I can see how some men may fear these accusations so much that all of the men refuse to be teachers. Especially when one considers the girls and their knobbly knees that adult male teachers must be protected from.
Primary teacher salaries
The current starting salary for a primary school teacher with a Bachelor’s teaching degree is $47,039.
Secondary teacher salaries
The current entry salary for a secondary school teacher who holds registration granted by The Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and a New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF) Level 7 subject or specialist qualification (the qualification must have at least 72 credits at Level 7) and a recognised teaching qualification is $50,268.
so essentially there is not a lot of pay involved in teaching, despite a high level of qualification demanded.
Might it not just be that many blokes look at teaching and go nah, can’t be arsed, to hard and not enough pay.
but hey, i can see where ‘i might get accused of inapropriate behaviour’ seems like an nicer out instead of saying i am not paid enough to bother with the badly educated kids of others.
Yeah, the pay isn’t stellar ether, other reasons include.
!. low pay.
2, Mainly Woman environment
3,Accusations of kiddy fiddling
4.Seems to be very little career prospects.
5. Getting hit on by kids Mothers.
6,Looked on with suspicion by a good percentage of the public.
The only positive is the amount of holidays you get.
!. low pay. – Well maybe if men were to join the service pay would go up?
2, Mainly Woman environment – Maybe if men were to join the service it would be a mixed environment?
3,Accusations of kiddy fiddling – both men and women have been found guilty of the offense, so really that is just a cheap cop out, also cops, doctors, sales people, it people and all other sorts of people have been accused and found guilty of the offense. so maybe men should just stay at home and never leave the house without an appropriate chaperone? A mother, wife, or aunty would do. Only old women of course. Lest you get accused?
4.Seems to be very little career prospects. – principal? become Hekia Parata Minister of ‘Education’ at least you would be a Minister with teaching credentials?
5. Getting hit on by kids Mothers. – why no gay men have children in school?
6,Looked on with suspicion by a good percentage of the public. -you have a very low opinion of a. yourself, and b. the public
The only positive is the amount of holidays you get. – yei, upside.
t
but the reason there are no more men in teaching is men like yourself, as it is you who would taunt the male teacher with your bogus accusations, your bogus snide remarks and your bullshit suspicion.
But it lets you blame the women for not doing their job education your son or your future son should he fail in school. Cause while a man may have been better we can fully understand why no man would want that low pay, low career option, surrounded by women, low regards type o job.
Hi m pledger, I read recently, a few essays on suicide in aotearoa.
Disconnection from community seemed to be a strong factor in suicide.
That is not to deny the part alcohol may play.
I agree with Sabine, the silence around this issue is not helping.
Re-upping for Don Jr Twitter: He said his mom had "great boobs" when he toasted her at her wedding https://t.co/F6ik5S6tPE— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 20, 2016
Also one time Don Jr got intv'd by a radio host who has said interracial sex is bad and slavery was good https://t.co/F6ik5ROSY6— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 20, 2016
A man who had blown up bombs in New York, and shot multiple times at the police. He is wounded and then arrested.
An African-American is shot dead for walking or driving and is unarmed.
Anyone else see the blatant contradiction?
Excellent comment Ianmac ! Whom amongst us can’t see the blatant contradiction ? “Black Lives” DON’T matter. In contrast to other rotten lives which DO matter. If only for the purposes of the show trial which follows.
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Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
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The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
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The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
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Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...
ByKoroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...
Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...
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Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...
MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...
Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...
Piracy is a reality of modern life – but copyright law has struggled to play catch-up for as long as the entertainment industry has existed. As far back as 1988, the House of Lords criticised copyright law’s conflict with the reality of human behaviour in the context of burning cassette ...
As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...
The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...
Alex Casey spends an afternoon on the job with River, the rescue dog on a mission to spread joy to Ōtautahi rest homes.Almost everyone says it is never enough time. But River the rescue dog, a jet black huntaway border collie cross, has to keep a tight pace to ...
Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...
By 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and 1News reporters A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week. The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Professor in Modern History, University of New England Bunker.Image courtesy of Michael Leunig, CC BY-NC-SA Michael Leunig – who died in the early hours of Thursday December 19, surrounded by “his children, loved ones, and sunflowers” – was the ...
The House - On Parliament's last day of the year, there was the rare occurrence of a personal (conscience) vote on selling booze over the Easter weekend. While it didn't have the numbers to pass, it was a chance to get a rare glimpse of the fact ...
A new poem by Holly Fletcher. bejeweled log i was dreaming about wasps / wee darlings that followed me / ducking under objects / that i was fated to pickup / my fingers seeking / and meeting with tiny proboscis’s / but instead / i wake up / roll sideways ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne Versta/Shutterstock Australians are exposed to some of the highest levels of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the world. While we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Terry, Professor of Business Regulation, University of Sydney Michael von Aichberger/Shutterstock Even if you’ve no idea how the business model underpinning franchises works, there’s a good chance you’ve spent money at one. Franchising is essentially a strategy for cloning ...
If something big is going to happen in Ferndale, it’s going to happen at Christmas. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If there’s one episode of Shortland Street you should watch each year, it’s the annual Christmas cliffhanger. The final episode of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William A. Stoltz, Lecturer and expert Associate, National Security College, Australian National University US President-elect Donald Trump has named most of the members of his proposed cabinet. However, he’s yet to reveal key appointees to America’s powerful cyber warfare and intelligence institutions. ...
Announcing the top 10 books of the the year at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $37) The phenomenal Irish writer is the unsurprising chart topper for 2024 with her fourth novel that, much like her first ...
Keith Olbermann on Trump, – 176 remarks by the US Republican presidential nominee.
http://www.vox.com/2016/9/14/12919744/trump-keith-olbermann
Reporter Chris Chang interviews 22-year-old Chloe Swarbrick who wants to be the mayor of Auckland.
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/chloe-swarbrick-wants-auckland-s-top-job-video-6493381
Build The Surge For Chloe Swarbrick!
Chris Trotter
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/09/19/build-the-surge-for-chloe-swarbrick/
I agree with Chris T. Chloe is like a young Helen, and somewhere down the line she will very likely have a significant role in shaping the future for many.
A 22 year old who wants to be Mayor of Auckland, how horrific.
Well, John Key always wanted to be PM since he was a boy. Why not support those who want political power ahead of all else?
I have to agree cv. Not about the power bit.
Not so sure about Chloe’s pro development endorsements. Her policy reads like the Young Natz on the property development roundtable.
“John Key always wanted to be PM since he was a boy” rofl yeah right, more like when the currency trading puppet was told by his American string pulling masters.
Yes because the very idea of someone having a previous career before becoming a politician is so unbelievable these days
No, its not at all Puckish Rogue. You know John key’s back story doesn’t seem to add up. Too much of a Crosby Textor fabrication maybe? and since when has anyone from the Herald, like John Roughan for instance, been honest and told the truth?
Dude you probably think 9/11 was a conspiracy, that there’s something up with chemtrails and that the moon landings were faked so I’m comfortable with you thinking theres something up with John Keys backstory
(Don’t worry about those black helicopters over your house, its totally coincidental)
Is that the best you can do? What black helicopters? And I don’t have any “9/11, chemtrails and moon landings” conspiracy theories and it’s pretty obvious that you are not “comfortable” either Puckish Rogue.
2 planes 3 buildings mate – something ain’t right there.
You’ll need a bit more detail than that, otherwise 10 pin bowling is impossible! (1 ball, 10 pins, something ain’t right there…)
hi bob, why did wtc tower 7 collapse?
the one the bbc reprted as having collapsed, before the tower collapsed.
A plane ain’t a bowling ball Bill – the pins don’t destroy a ball but a plane that hits a building isn’t much more than a cloud of debris. Now I wasn’t there – don’t know everything about it – but the official story does not come close to explaining what happened.
Any particular reason you played the false analogy card?
Stuart
“WTC 7 collapsed because of fires fueled by office furnishings. It did not collapse from explosives or from diesel fuel fires.” Conspiracy theorists have long pointed to the collapse of the 47-story structure as key evidence that the U.S. government orchestrated or abetted the 9/11 attacks” http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/design/a3524/4278874/
So the 10 pin bowling analogy stands.
Not remotely Bob – for your bowling ball to be a credible analogy the plane would need to be substantially intact – enough to support a hypothesis that its kinetic energy contributed materially to the collapse. High rise buildings do not collapse from office materials fires – they rarely collapse at all because fire is one of the things they are designed to withstand.
You’ll have to do better than that.
…for example, you don’t appear to understand the meaning of “kinetic”.
There’s a zero percent chance that office fires caused the collapse of WTC7.
Popular Mechanics, and the NIST report, have it demonstrably wrong.
This lame chiropracter has fuck all engineering competence either, for that matter. Otherwise their takedown of NIST’s analysis would be delivered using Maths in an appropriate technical journal.
It’s okay, apparently zero percent has a margin for error that’s just as wide as 50/50 lol
OAB, this “lame chiropractor” knows quite a bit about mechanics, and NIST have it 100% wrong.
cv trying to be intellectual yet remaining idiotic is a fail – you rely on others expertise, own up to that one mate, save yourself some OAB learning which I’m sure is coming, deservedly so imo.
of course I rely on others’ expertise, I ain’t no genius level savant.
wicked!
set fire to a few la-zy-boys, and down comes a 47 story building, 7 hours later.
who woulda thunk.
No Stuart, it is you who “has to do better than that”: your incompetence at reading a detailed engineering analysis (such as NIST’s report on WTC7, for example) is evidence of nothing.
Your comments clearly reveal said incompetence, in case you’re wondering.
Charming –
A Popular Mechanics article that addresses none of the the anomalies the collapse raises is enough to satisfy you?
It is, as the article reports a unique event. There have been numerous high rise fires around the world and none of them caused collapses. Done any firefighting OAB? Thought not.
Do you suppose any of those buildings contained office furnishings? You know they most probably did.
To cause a structural failure of the steel encased in concrete columns requires very high temperatures. These typically do not occur for sustained periods in office block fires. The fuel is exhausted or fails to burn in such a way as to maintain the 1000 degree plus temperatures for long enough. To obtain the effect would have required the building to act somewhat like a chimney or blast furnace – blast furnaces being a contrivance invented because ordinary fires do not reach temperatures that melt steel. Had the building chimneyed video would have shown this.
The clincher is probably the conjecture about the decibel level of thermite charges – no witness reports of explosions the report claims. Human attention is a focused phemonon and people on the spot at the time may have been slightly distracted. But an engineer would look for robust physical evidence rather than bystander conjecture.
But since you’re so pro OAB – you’d better tell us something to enlighten us.
I note that NIST ≠ Popular Mechanics, despite the latter’s established credibility.
Still nothing evidence based OAB – put up or shut up.
No Stuart, I’ve cited NIST’s WTC7 analysis. If you can’t demonstrate it’s flawed using appropriate engineering calculations your reckons have no standing.
I’m happy to let them speak for me in this matter.
You’re not worth my time
https://books.google.co.nz/books?hl=en&lr=&id=XaQDAQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=9/11+collapse&ots=O0S6lNrNrl&sig=mMceKwfprz6fMiDI3ICDBzxKVDQ#v=onepage&q=9%2F11%20collapse&f=false
OAB the NIST analysis of the WTC7 failure is completely wrong.
Get it into your head.
That report is not to be relied upon.
…I seen it! Or at least, Jesse Ventura seen it, and he’s inphalloble!
Long on rhetoric, short on Maths. Pack a sad, Stu.
Personally, I’m pretty sure US foreign policy was a contributing factor (not as much as the lame tanties of wannabe hero boys who think daesh are the solution, but still), and the buildings collapsed exactly as the various engineering reports describe.
Still seen no maths from you OAB.
Can’t debate with someone too frightened to put up any evidence – but that would require you to have read and understood the NIST report. And I don’t think the NIST report is the basis of your disagreement for some reason.
So what’s your beef?
My confidence in NIST is based on:
1. Common sense.
2. My personal experiences with engineering software.
3. In this context, I know what kinetic means, and you don’t.
So – you go with the establishment view without trying to understand the evidence. Congratulations – you probably wouldn’t have understood it anyway.
‘Common sense’ is neither abundant nor shared.
Engineering software is neither here nor there.
I know perfectly well what kinetic means – but I’m so impressed by your dishonest attempt at one-upmanship.
.
1. It would take far too many engineers to be part of the conspiracy.
2. It would be horribly expensive and time consuming to concoct the false software required.
3. You used the word first, apparently blissfully unaware of the fact that thermal expansion is kinetic.
The stupid consequences of stupid US foreign policy fail do not require a giant conspiracy of civil and structural engineers.
Let’s be clear here – I don’t have all the evidence on 9/11 – it’s not really a big deal for me, but I have read the substance of shortcomings of the NIST report.
The first and largest is that NIST is not a professional engineering body – it was a political assemblage like FEMA, and thus it didn’t follow the kinds of processes that engineers usually would. Most specifically it had a tight timeframe to report in, whereas engineers usually want to get to the bottom of things however long that might take.
There was a lot of computer modelling – but computer modelling is not necessarily reflective of reality. Even among impartial operators there is a temptation to adjust data points until you arrive at the solution you desire – a criticism that was made of climactic models that predicted global warming.
The prevailing engineering criticism of the NIST report considers the collapse anomalous. The building imploded symetrically – this is not an easy feat to achieve – the leading experts on it, demolitions engineers, build very complex firing plans to achieve it, and their impression of film of the building is generally that it was demolished.
If it were demolished the support beams would typically be cut with thermite charges or hexagen cutting bars. This would produce the symmetrical implosion that a randomly occurring natural fire would be unlikely to replicate.
Such a demolition would leave ample chemical and particulate evidence. There is evidence of thermite microspheres consistent with demolition, but it is contested, a debate which I imagine neither of us is qualified to parse.
a criticism that was made of climactic models that predicted global warming.
Svante Arrhenius’ adjusted the data of his global circulation models until they produced warming, and that’s the reason they accurately predicted the consequences of the greenhouse effect?
Or are you talking about the models the IPCC cites, which predict the lower range of consequences?
Or are you just galloping with Mr. Gish?
No, you’re wrong. You should have zero confidence in NIST. They have got it wrong when it comes to WTC7. Their analysis is faulty in the extreme.
There is zero chance that WTC7 collapsed due to fires.
A computer model is not evidence.
The capacity to adjust results makes them deservedly suspect.
But the object of climactic modelling was originally to understand the interrelations of complex systems, not to produce evidentiary quality outcomes to sway a political debate.
They were useful for that. More refined models eventually become predictive and reliable – but those of us who are not climate scientists cannot determine how reliable they are.
We do better with robust concrete data like glacier shrinkage, vegetation patterns, weather event frequency and so forth.
& CV agreed – the thing about NIST is that they were a Bush creation, and Bush was not overattached to the truth, as various WMD pronouncements established.
@CV
Funny how you are confident in your opinion of NIST’s work and then fail to summarise it.
Or perhaps you’re dishonest as opposed to incompetent, in which case I suppose it’s not really funny, eh.
My personal experience of your unethical rhetoric suggests the latter, but that doesn’t really matter: Occam’s Razor provides your inability to present the Maths involved as sufficient to support the former hypothesis, and charity does the rest.
@Stuart: Arrhenius didn’t use a computer.
Cheap shots and no content – I neither know nor care who Arrhenius is.
Occam’s razor – principals are not to be multiplied beyond necessity – excludes him.
You want math when the evidence is microspheres.
Disingenuous.
@Stuart – Svante Arrhenius published his model of the atmosphere in 1896. Everything he predicted has occurred, within the limits of accuracy provided by the model.
This is the sense of George Box’s aphorism – “all models are wrong, some are useful”.
To criticise NIST’s model as not describing the exact minutiae of the collapse of WTC7 is indicative of a fundamental misunderstanding of what models are for: they assist curiosity.
Of course, in the stupid world where engineers are in league with the Illuminatii this cuts no ice. Still, maths, eh. Got any?
Thanks – always good to know.
But no, – I don’t have any maths on building 7. Nor do I need any.
What math explains the presence of thermite microspheres?
If they were present in large quantities as some chemists and engineers state then no amount of modelling can overturn the presumption that thermite explosives were present.
NIST made no such tests.
http://journalof911studies.com/volume/2008/Ryan_NIST_and_Nano-1.pdf
I’d love, personally, to have been in a position to check out samples for myself, but what I have is hearsay from two groups of engineers. One group has a potential political motive to support the establishment story, the other may be provocative trouble makers for all I know. Still, NIST should have done the tests.
There were the Moscow apartment bombings of 1999 as a precedent, and the buildings in the Twin Towers district were plausible targets for anarchist terrorist demolition.
Actually, engineering modelling (aka simulation) is used to determine how engineering structures will perform under different loading, stress and event scenarios.
It is used to help determine many things from ‘buildability’, normal engineering performance, materials cost reduction and of course, evaluation of the design in catastrophic failure.
“Assisting curiosity” is a quaint idea though.
Yes, you are not an expert on thermite, nor iron rich spheres. That being so, see point 1 on the number of engineers who would have to be bribed forever to keep them quiet and incurious.
No, actually, yawny yawn yawn, believe whatever you like and say a prayer for poor old Schiller and the dummheit.
I think you underestimate the effect of the media consensus at the time – it was about two years before any media could look critically at anything the Bush administration did.
Whether by chance or by design Bush had the perfect situation to launch his middle eastern adventures, which at least in terms of the Iraq invasion seem not to have been justified by the events of 9/11.
No, I’m not an expert on thermite microspheres, but I could probably determine their presence or absence. This was an important historical event as well as a crime scene, I’d expect it to have been explored thoroughly – but the NIST report does not give that impression. Nor am I alone in saying so.
The bribery thing is perhaps not as clear as black and white. After a time a report tends to be accepted. You seem to claim some kind of academic mantle but your acceptance of it is based on its authority, not its content. You haven’t checked the math, and I presume no-one has bribed you. Engineers are busy, and 9/11 truth fixations are probably not career enhancing.
But something is anomalous about it being the only highrise to have collapsed due to fire. People will continue to look for evidence – and the chance that Bush manufactured this event as blithely as he manufactured Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction makes the search somewhat consequential.
Yeah I always figured that in the absence of a provenance in National Party circles in his youth that was always a bunch of Crosby Textor shit, like the salary donated to charity. No provenance, no proof. Part of the package the country was sold when Michelle Boag and The Roundtable imported him.
Yeah, he was so into politics that he can’t remember what he was thinking in ’81. Nothing apparently.
+1 North. Yes, you are onto it. It’s surprising how people who should know better (i.e CV) still have their eyes closed to the spin.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11713057
Looks like we’re about to find out if mccullys corruption bares fruit.
Anything written by Audrey Young has to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Nah Paul, it’s way past that, more like anything said in NZ is to be taken as spin and bullshit.
I’m not exaggerating either. It is exactly like that. Nothing printed is the truth anymore at all.
Liar
Yes you are Stunned Mullet.
Or is I ?
We all am.
veritasly
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/84398001/hamilton-candidates-google-translation-misguided-gibberish-maori-likely-to-switch-off
Way to encourage Te reo Maori fellas, no wonder no one bothers.
Try supporting the Left in general lol
What do you mean? You are not left and in fact you act like you spit on the left from your exhalted position of judgment.
How are you enjoying Left Wing support of the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary.
That’s what I mean.
Good point – it’s good pāhekā get to nut out their side. Middle class conservation and indigenous rights have pretty much always been in conflict and with the effects of climate change being felt AND the denial of government to do actual meaningful things many people of the left will be faced with stark and uncomfortable choices and decisions. As a Māori activist I also feel the toughness of those choices and I’m her to say that are FALSE. The dicotomy is not true both can be protected but it will take a change of attitude. The one that needs to change is that indigenous rights are expendable – they arent.
Yeah I give the guy ups for giving it a go – good lesson about g-translate. And a lesson about seeking help real help if you want to get it right.
marty mars, that this guy made an effort like this must be encouraging for the future don’t you think? Combine this with the generation coming through now who have been raised with far more te reo and te ao maori and the older bigotries must be beginning to disappear.
Yes it is encouraging. I hope people reach out and offer the guy a course. Imagine him coming back next election being fluent or much better than his current level.
Agree BM, fuck the media vilifying this guy, big ups & a ‘Kia Ora’ from me.
Maybe this might be true if he actually tried. Getting “some Maori woman” in the office to translate his bio is not much of a try, and the fact it appears that he doesn’t even know this women or what she does speaks even more volumes of his mindset and level of commitment to the betterment of society.
Bill mitchell on Basic Income guarantees.
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=34448
UK, Danish military admit to air striking Syrian Government Army
The US, Brits and the Danes have admitted their involvement in a prolonged US airstrike which killed 62 Syrian Army soldiers, wounded over 100 and destroyed Syrian army equipment and installations.
The airstrike hit a Syrian Government forward operating base which had been besieged on all sides by ISIS/ISIL for the last 2 years.
Immediately after the western airstrike the militants launched an attack and overran the Syrian Government base, leading to accusations that the US had in this case acted as the ISIL airforce.
Russia immediately called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council; the US said that such a meeting was unnecessary and that it was a “stunt” by Russia.
https://www.rt.com/uk/359856-uk-hit-syria-troops/
Aus was involved: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-19/syria-air-strikes-will-continue-despite-botched-operation/7858694
IMO there is no way US target intel could have mistaken a long held Syrian Govt base beseiged on all sides by ISIS for years, for an ISIS position.
SNAFU. Friendly fire is a thing.
Does the rt report mention that the bombing ceased as soon as the Russians updates the “intel”.
Or did you leave that part out?
Do you know anyone personally who has the level of prescience and control you regularly ascribe to the US military?
Yes, after 4 attack runs over 20 minutes, the Western attack stopped. The position was then immediately overrun by an ISIS/ISIL offensive.
Fire control is a basic element of military operations.
These attacks are monitored by NATO and the US in real time by satellite. It wasn’t some squad or platoon which was hit as a target of opportunity and then later found out to be friendly.
It was a long standing forward base.
In addition, it appears that the target would also have been reviewed and cleared by Australians, Danes and Brits.
IMO the Pentagon has wanted from day one the ceasefire Kerry signed with Lavrov a few weeks ago to fail.
🙄
“Fire control”
Which works 100% of the time, eh. In my opinion, your opinion of the Pentagon is informed by little but Russian “news” reports.
RAF reaper drones were used in the attack. These drones have extremely high tech, high resolution sensors used for correctly identifying targets.
A Syrian Govt base isn’t a rag tag bunch of guys with AK47s on a goat track.
Nor is daesh.
I doubt you could tell the difference between the sides, even with a drone as good as you think they are in optimal viewing conditions.
It’s a fucking static base McFlock that the Syrian Government had been defending from for fucking years; the Americans have also hit Syrian forces in this same immediate area with airstrikes prior to 2016.
It’s a frontline target. Get the camera angle off by a degree when you estimate its position, it’s fucked. If nobody tells the yanks that it’s friendly, it’s fucked. If it’s misidentified as enemy rather than dodgy third party with a common enemy, it’s fucked. If the yanks fail to pass on to the controllers that it’s friendly, it’s fucked. If the controllers fuck up the fire mission or plug the wrong numbers into the gps, it’s fucked.
The don’t get targeting data from the intrinsic intelligence of the universe.
Full of excuses.
Time for the US to open up to a full investigation of the incident.
Meanwhile, the US aircover for ISIS has meant that ISIS has now gained a critical firing position over a key Syrian Govt airbase.
I’m sorry that the real world isn’t as perfect as you are.
If you reckon you can do better, you’re a fool.
Listen up dickhead, I’m not a forward air controller or an air mission planner.
In fact, let’s see the US present to the UN Security Council their story of what really happened. Instead of avoiding it. Or minimising it.
Oh, so you’re a theatre critic or a eunuch: you know what needs to be done, you can tell people where they went wrong, you know when you’ve seen it done badly, but you can’t do it yourself.
You demand the US “open up to a full investigation” of how they bombed troops that were incredibly close to the guys you’re happy for them to bomb (close enough to be overwhelmed “immediately” afterwards), and yet your total response to comments about the Syrians and/or Russians bombing a routine aid convoy with the appropriate permissions and notifications is zero.
We don’t need to see up your kilt to know which side you dress to, do we…
He hasn’t said anything about it, but to be fair, the various western democracies involved in the attack on Syrian government forces killed military personnel of a murderous dicatorship, while the authoritarian nationalist regime involved in the attack on an aid convoy killed humanitarian aid workers. Obviously a person is going to rate one of those incidents as much worse than the other, and CV has done his rating…
Don’t propagandise about Assad’s “murderous regime” when the West is drowning in culpability for the destruction of the Syrian state.
The West greenlit and supported the Turkish/Saudi/Qatari fuelled+funded war in Syria which has killed 400,000 to 500,000 Syrians now.
Various estimates has the US supplying roughly US$1B of aid to anti-Assad islamist fighters per year, over the last 4 years.
While the russians and syrians just bomb hospitals and relief convoys. Got that.
let’s see what happens after Nov 8.
Don’t propagandise about Assad’s “murderous regime” when the West is drowning in culpability for the destruction of the Syrian state.
The basis for that “stability” you’re so keen on in Syria was the efficient and ruthless torture and murder of the Assad regime’s opponents and anyone associated with them. For my money, that warrants the term “murderous dictatorship.” Your imaginings of how the uprising against that murderous dictatorship was somehow a plot by Western governments, on the other hand, doesn’t warrant some bullshit exercise in false equivalence.
Psycho Milt, I don’t particularly give a flying fuck if in fact Assad was disappearing hundreds of protestors into his secret prison system.
The US/Saudi/Turkey/Qatar used that – and their own agent provocateurs – to provide a pretext to fuel an illegal, geopolitically motivated war of regime change via Jihadist proxies. A war which has killed 400,000 to 500,000 Syrians, displaced several million more, and left an entire country on the verge of imploding just like the other Clinton pet project, Libya.
That’s the real fucking crime here.
Maybe someone even as morally blind as you can finally figure out where the truly “murderous regimes” lie in this picture.
That’s the real fucking crime here.
Imaginary crimes you’ve convinced yourself of aren’t the “real” crime when compared to actual real crimes. And I don’t need lectures on morality from someone who thinks a friendly fire incident against military personnel is a duplicitous attack that warrants a lengthy diatribe while a friendly fire incident against an aid convoy isn’t worth a mention.
So its not a real crime that the US and NATO have allowed NATO member Turkey to fund, restock, regroup and rearm head chopping Islamist fighters across Turkish borders for the last four plus years?
Thats a real crime which has caused tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of Syrian deaths.
And no mate, despite your delusions, its very real, up to and including the ISIS oil tankers crossing the Turkish border, inconvenient as these facts may be to your stupidly misplaced outrage.
You really have developed false equivalence to a kind of art form.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN11Q1NR
UN rows back from calling attack on aid convoy as being due to an airstrike, Russia/Syria deny involvement of air forces, say that attack damage to convoy not consistent with blast damage and cratering of an airstrike.
However it seems that some people still remain too quick to swallow the over-simplified anti-Assad, anti-Russian feed of the corporate MSM
A base that was right on the front line, close enough to immediately fall to daesh.
You can’t have it both ways. Either it was close enough to be taken immediately, or it was far enough away to be clearly not daesh.
Huh? It was a long standing forward base which was overrun by ISIS/ISIL straight after the US destroyed its fighting capability.
Indeed. Which means daesh must have been fucking close, no?
Yes probably within 5km. Outside of machine gun/sniper range but well inside mortar range.
Well within. Closer than Syrian reinforcements.
Could you tell the difference? So you rely on the guys on the ground communicating their position to you. When that has to happen through three or more seperate command structures, mistakes will be made.
US friendly fire casualties are so high that the screwup is quite likely.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2002/04/generals_apathy.html
Estimates put US friendly fire at between 25 and 40% of their casualties. The Brits, who are our usual model, managed closer to 3% in the Falklands.
Good outfit to stay away from in combat – though it’s often air-ground rather than ground – ground.
the old joke from WW2 was “When the English fly over, the Germans hit the ground. When the Germans fly over, the English and Americans hit the ground. When the Americans fly over, everyone hits the ground”.
Another blatant example of American stupidity and duplicity. Just watch all the anti Russian rhetoric drown out what has actually happened.
I think that the Pentagon and the White House are at loggerheads over what to do in Syria. Obama and Kerry want to leave a legacy of co-operating with the Russians to destroy ISIS/ISIL.
The Pentagon neocons refuse to have anything to do with that and are undermining the efforts of both the President and the Sec State John Kerry.
Stupidity, yes. The gods themselves and so-forth…
I missed the duplicity in this specific case, although given Sun Tzu’s famous dictum – the art of war is deception – it would be unusual if the Pentagon weren’t from time to time, lying.
The same is true of all the other players.
This, on the other hand, has SNAFU written all over it.
pretty much. Hell, the yanks have been bombing themselves and their allies for decades.
Meanwhile….
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/09/syria-deadly-aid-convoy-bombing-ceasefire-ends-160919194433498.html
well that sucks.
Killed one of the good guys, too.
Omar Barakat the director of the Syrian Red Crescent had been killed by the bombing on a convoy of aid in western Aleppo with more than 25 barrels and rocket
http://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2016/19-september-omar-barakat-the-director-of-the-syrian-red
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/84436652/immigration-new-zealand-tells-danish-woman-in-nelson-silke-larsen-she-must-go
If your not wealthy, chinese and donating millions to National you can fuck off, we don’t care you created a wifi network and are a extremely highly university skilled IT person who made the area connected which helps business, in fact everyone, we don’t count that sort of thing here.
Donations lady and if you havn’t got one for us you can fuck off..eh?
This fucking government is FUBAR.
“Larsen originally came to New Zealand on a long term business visa with plans for a personal development business which did not work out. Instead, she got involved with community projects, including helping to get internet access for rural areas.
Larsen said the problem was although she had a degree [a PhD in telecommunications], she was not actively using that degree to earn more than $45,000 which meant she did not qualify as a skilled immigrant. ”
reporting on immigration issues is routinely utter shit. This likely has very little to do with MPs and much more to do with a failure to meet policy or a failure to carry out required steps under the visa category
in short – never believe a single article about immigration.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11713072
This will be up soon everywhere, for the fact probably that Hekia is leaving for a study of privatisation in the us under the disguise of education research..
We gonna have to pay for our kids educations soon..and on the minimum wage..
Is it time to get the AR-15 out yet, I need protection from my government..one thing the US got right maybe, just.., gun laws. I got to protect myself and kids from these psychopaths surely.
Global funding eh, so do we put our kids up for something, is that like crowd funding? Like a photo on the internet.., a stunning pic of your kid and see how much you get for it?
Choose an SKS, not an AR15.
Showing your age there CV?
I always liked the Vintorez.
Or, perhaps, the Barrett.
Don’t worry about it, you probably couldn’t afford an AR-15 🙂
http://www.guncity.com/firearms/all-firearms/ec-category-lic./ecategory/223
I could PR, Not too sure about an SKS CV, as with my deep knowledge of guns due to all the hours of gun games I play the SKS is slow and gives a high recoil.
My preferred method of cleaning out the garbage would probably be a grenade.
Or perhaps as in BattleField I could just plant a shit load of mines around the house to keep them away.
God help election time if some idiot from National happens to have the misfortune to knock at my door. I may brew up a special concoction of mine I use for the garden, you know fermented seafood that sort of thing 🙂 Give him a grenade alright.
Well as long as you have the licence and then endorsement to buy a MSSA then its all good and good luck to you though I really should let you know the authorities tend to look down on people being shot
Well I spent some time on COD4 so if not an SKS maybe a G3 that seemed pretty good in the game
That’s because demand for particular firearms skyrocket when they get the free advertising of being used to kill defenceless people.
As soon as firearms are mentioned the conversation never seems to head in a good direction. There has to be a better way to express anger imo.
I disagree, as soon as firearms gets mentioned the conversations seems to get more interesting/amusing so its all good
I agree mauī – some boys get too physically excited by firearms.
Thats sexist
Some kinds of sexism are fine and acceptable, apparently
Nope – it’s an immaturity putdown.
What about women giggling like little girls? Is that an “immaturity put down” as well? In fact, double standards is what it is.
Nah you’re confusing inclusion with exclusion.
This is one of the problems of PC linguistic imperialism – there are some gender linked behaviours that nevertheless ought to attract condemnation. Of the two I think the ‘boys with guns’ trope is the more sociopathic, but doubtless there are vicious condemnations of females that also bear the inconvenient ring of truth.
So why not just say some people, why single out boys and not girls?
I was referring to your boner and the specific conversation. Sorry if you were offended.
I’m not offended by you talking about my boner, I’m ackshully quite proud of my boner and I feel it should be talked about more but I am confused because I haven’t mentioned my boner on this thread
Yes i hear your confusion.
Can you please reference my boner so I know what you’re on about
Freud would have a field day…
@ p.s. no I quite like your freigned confusion it suits you.
I’ve got a feeling the phrase ‘Can you reference my boner’ may become a TS go to put down in future. Definitely funnier than ‘yes, dear’.
On a more serious matter, talking about using weapons against political opponents, even with tongue in cheek, is crossing a line, people. Please take care with your words.
oh fuck, I missed the ideal response for “can you please reference my boner?”: “did you just ask for a sightation?” 🙂
http://www.superdickery.com/batmans-boner/
It’s getting bad in NZ when old hippies are getting so pissed off with the actions of the government and what this once caring land has become, that he actually experiences emotions of anger.
The dude is not impressed.
Declining NZ – 1st world to 5th? Stop the rot! Stop the rort!
3 Fish stocks unknown – information faulty.
MPI making deals to try and get some precise information thru observers, upsetting level playing field.
30% of catch may be thrown back – probably dead or maimed – as it is presently uneconomic to harvest.
Quota system not working for the health of sea harvest – but no 💡 to introduce newer appropriate and necessary legislation.
4 People in severe pain and left unable to work and earn after having metal-on-metal hip replacements. World recall by Johnson and Johnson (a trusted company and brand) after metalosis from the two metals cobalt and something else (my ignorance would be similar to those of the recipients who would rely on the integrity of supply
company and their specialists).
Specialists were advised about recall but government does not make it mandatory for them to advise their clients. 500 of these hip-ops supplied to NZ, about 400 used and about 25 applying to sue for their rightful share of payout from Johnson and Johnson to help with their disablement and suffering, now and almost certainly, in future. ACC rules allow suing for punitive and exemplary damages but still the decision of the Courts is needed. Don’t know why. Again ignorance would be widespread amongst all who haven’t training in this particular field of sorrows. Believed that many people still not informed about having a toxic implant inside them. E&OE
Would this be the same union power Rodney Hide and Dirty Politics David Farrar said is dead?
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/teachers-vote-overwhelmingly-against-global-funding-2016092010
Hide had a grizzle piece in The Horrid on Sunday about how his holiday as a wee boy was ruined because of Cook Straight ferry workers’ industrial action and presumably sees all worker representation evil as a result.
Under the current government policy of floating bizarre and discredited ideas for industry and public consumption before sniffing the wind and canning said idea, unions have never had it better.
Well of course the unions would reject anything the National government said, I don’t think anyone would surprised about the teachers unions putting ideology above kids best interests
Could say that about National! PR. Exactly that.
Yup
What PR? Do you actually agree that Key’s Nat government are; “putting ideology above kids best interests”? Or did you just not understand RR’s comment?
Either way does not convince me to pay heed to anything you have to say on the topic of education.
sorry for the misunderstanding, I’m agreeing that Richard could say that not that I agree with him
But you don’t have any coherent argument against RR, so you just resorted to facile glibness? That is at least in character for you.
Still not convinced of why I should pay any attention to your hollow opinions on this topic.
Only you can answer that one
And there’s the facile glibness in action.
Yep the cardboard cutout of commenters shows his depth.
Still waiting for you to bring up my boner…
Is key in your office today? I thought he was away trying to build his credibility against insurmountable odds
Forgive my naievity but I always thought you couldn’t bring up a boner without having first swallowed it……must we discuss this ?
Back to sense and my (home cooked) green curry pork dinner this is a very comical thread. Thank you everyone !
You got it round the wrong way. We’re putting childrens best interests before National Party ideology. Just remember that teachers working conditions are children’s learning conditions. Make it too hard for teachers to do their job and the children are the ones that suffer.
Indeed, and 99% of teachers agreed this is the case.
There could hardly be a more convincing ‘get stuffed’ to Hekia Parata.
I sometimes wonder if she has forgotten where she came from.
The unions are doing whats best for their members as they’ve always done, not whats best for the kids
You have a peculiar Pink Floyd view of the world no doubt fashioned from where you get your opinions. That somehow NZ teachers are out to destroy kids.
Destroy kids no, put teachers interests ahead of kids interests, yes
Still no evidence of that provided by you. 99% against global funding isn’t some sort of anomaly. There could not be a greater mandate rejecting Parata’s, the current government’s, and your opinion unless it were 100%.
As You_fool describes below, how can the entire teaching profession be wrong, while one proven incompetent minister who never taught a classroom in her life, and uses google for education policy, be right?
Oh please, NCEA was the end of the world, Tomorrows Schools was the end of the world, I’m guessing it was the end of the world when NZ changed to metric and the dollar
The teaching unions default position when it comes to National or change is the same, against it (whatever it is)
NZ has slid in international rankings with all these changes. Teachers I guess want to arrest a further slide. You be the judge – it’s what you like to do.
Novapay PR – and every other lamebrained educational disaster the Gnats have come up with – stupid wasteful ideas that have not advanced education. The Gnats have long since burned any shreds of credibility they could have had with teachers and thus the unions, as democratic organisations, are obliged to oppose their every ill-conceived whim.
NCEA and Tomorrow’s Schools were both incompetent mismanagement of the education system, and so is this. It was correctly rejected by the teacher’s union.
No they are not trying to destroy kids. But the interests of the kids and the teachers most certainly do not coincide.
Right. And I suppose Hekia Parata’s interests and the kids’ are one and the same?
Why not ? They are all self-optimising individuals in a free market. Just teach the “kids” how to think rationally and get the perfect information “they need” and all’s sweet. And grades achievement skills too, for “teacher’s ” sake.
And unions having in their membership real human beings who have kids prefer to proceed without thought for their children. Puleez !
How is a funding regime that will see schools having to balance numbers of teachers and support staff against ever increasing operational costs thus seeing class sizes increase and support staff numbers dropping in the children’s best interests.
What evidence do you have that National’s ideological experimentation is in childrens’ best interests? Because they say it is? There doesn’t seem to be any grounding in research of successful practice in their adoption of failed overseas trials.
The current government’s strategy toward public service is to throw any old idea at it in the hope it will stick. Where education is concerned however it’s not a case of it being broken, because the teaching and the curriculum is fine, it’s the neoliberal policy of keeping the disenfranchised crushed which makes home life in certain communities very hard for kids to study in.
No, your response here is a parroting of noted anti-worker collective shills like Slater, Hooton, Farrar, and Hide. It would be good if you could have a thought of your own once in a while.
It always surprises me that we train up people to teach our kids, ensuring that they have the best skills, knowledge and techniques to teach the next generation and then routinely ignore them on how best to actually do the job of teaching.
Yes… And may I point out to Poxish Rogue that the PPTA did NOT oppose NCEA, despite the reservations of many members. By and large PPTA has supported NCEA. PPTA does not automatically oppose every proposed change.
Poxish Rogue demonstrates an abysmal ignorance of what motivates good teachers. Engaging with their students and caring about them is the first element. And the vast majority of those good teachers belong to and support the PPTA, just to forestall the crap argument that the union is only there to protect incompetent teachers. Good teachers want to protect their students from pernicious, ideologically-based Government policies that have shown no benefits overseas, and will fight tooth and nail to do so.
It’s National and its support puppets that are putting ideology above the well-being of our children and society in general.
Just read an article, drone with arms could lift toddler..
imaginings of dirty old pedies in raincoats lining up at hobby shops comes to mind.
I mean why do they print articles like that? Some sick Journo having a fantasy moment?
I know you know what..some jobsworth is going to have to make a law/bylaw now, stating all drones have to have a , ” CAUTION do not lift toddlers or young children, dogs cats or your grandma with this device” warning sticker placed on them.
the issue is not that.
the issue is when are drones going to be able to lift adults….. and become our own personal flying devices …. coming soon to a store near you …
Interesting series on Stuff Nation. They put out an invitation for people to contribute. Why not have a go and say how yiu find NZ its highs and lows.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/84158436/New-Zealand-is-no-paradise-it-is-brutal
This is part of Part One of Five by Katherine Dolan who has left NZ looking for something better.
It would be good if people could see it as from a female who feels and sees it both as a female,and a NZr who assesses that we all should expect better. And also not be like some of the commenters who look at themselves, their own family and locale which they find satisfactory, and who then reject it as being untrue. There is an opportunity to see beyond our own little personal understandings to the truth of the bigger picture.
Part one of New Zealand is no paradise: Sex, Drugs and Denial, a five-part series about growing up hating New Zealand by Katherine Dolan, written for Stuff Nation.
And after being homeless in Canada, swaddled in black in Saudi Arabia and living hand to mouth in the Balkans, why do I still consider my New Zealand a uniquely lonely and uncomfortable place?
I say “my New Zealand” because the place I grew up perhaps no longer exists. I hope it doesn’t, because rural New Zealand in the 1980s and ’90s was a puritanical, misogynist, authoritarian, anti-intellectual, alcohol-dependent society that specialised in casual brutality.
I grew up in a New Zealand that worshipped the Spartan virtues: stoicism, masculinity, physical strength, group cohesion, terseness.
I’ve been following it. There is some discussion on it in open mike the 17th.
Pony-tail guy wields the TPP as a threat to the US in his most recent speak/slur on the world stage.
My question is if he’s that afraid of Chinese influence in the region, why doesn’t he address the massive influence of cheap, laundered, and ill-gotten Chinese money flooding into the New Zealand residential property market?
Yet again, dropped-soap guy says one thing yet does another and fails to recognise he doesn’t stand for the people of the Asia Pacific region at all.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/313728/john-key-warns-us-of-risks-in-failing-to-ratify-tpp
It would be interesting to know if there has been more to this trip he is on than batting for his former enemy and parading around the UN …. maybe Bilderberg?
Not sure on that.
What I do know is the international community don’t take him seriously. Obama is on record wondering why Australia listens to him. Clark is tainted in UN circles because of her association with Key and his anti-worker government.
“What I do know is the international community don’t take him seriously”
Really? Do you have anything other than your overactive imagination to justify this, and the comments that follow this, statement?
Helen Clark certainly seemed very grateful for Key’s supporting he candidacy on TV last night? Is there something you know that she doesn’t?
Obama certainly didn’t to seem to hold the views you subscribe to when he was overheard talking to the Australian PM did he?
Obama did hold the views I subscribe to. He questioned Turnbull on wether he listened to the New Zealanders, and followed by saying Key was a great guy to play golf with. Damned by faint praise on the second part, for sure.
John Key fluffers can’t read between the lines.
I suggest that you actually listen to what Obama said
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11548292
“He’s a wonderful guy. He and I have become good friends. And not just because we play golf together.”
Nothing like what you are saying is it?
Recall Key declaring war on North Korea? I doubt the international community take the nitwit that seriously.
Really?
And what are the grounds for this wild figment of your imagination?
Declaring war? Do you even know what that means?
Fair enough that you query there Alwyn but what we’ve got here is a ‘machine’. Dear Helen, whom (for my sins) I’d re-vote for at the drop of a hat…..reasons later…..is part of that ‘machine’. “Hate and damn you today, hold you close and kiss you tomorrow.” There’s nothing as mind-altering as power/the prospect of it.
To wit, Marigold Barry when asked why she was standing in North Shore, was it?…… produced the howler that she she had “a great deal to offer……” Hmm, Hmm…..Ahem.
Do you favour SkyCabs for Auckland?
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11627681
Looks like shit.
Next.
I like it.
It looks modern. It’s practical, cost efficient and environmentally friendly.
What is wrong with an actual train? Countless developed and developing countries use them and have used them for many decades since the beginning of the industrial revolution. They are a very efficient form of transport, local, public, and otherwise.
That New Zealand has not kept up with this technology is our own fault and one which must be paid for now.
“What is wrong with an actual train?”
This can compliment the rail network where it is more cost effective and practical to do so.
especially if you import some steel from china that comes with a ‘good quality’ certification. Yeah, cheap must be good and practical.
in saying that, Wuppertal has had a sky gondola since the beginning of the last century, mainly due to the roads being so small that a tram or bus would not pass. its quite awesome fun taking a trip over the Wupper.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Suspension_Railway
It’s cost effective because of its simplistic design and ease to install.
Interestingly enough, I think you’ll find that it’s harder to install than a good underground. People simply won’t want them mucking up their skyline.
The rate burden that comes with going underground would soon entice them to change their mind.
Possibly or they’ll just stop everything.
NZers always seem to choose the short-term cheap, worst option and long term most expensive option. It doesn’t help when the politicians keep telling us we can have things ever cheaper.
Good idea, Looks a hell of a lot cheaper than rail.
Love to see the data on what it can handle peak time.
It can pickup 8 people at a time, about as much use as building a mini van only lane on the motorway. Stupid.
32,000 people into the CBD per hour, or 64,000 people per morning peak with all seated or 120,000 people with standees.
http://www.skycabs.co.nz/documents/AucklandStrategyForeword.pdf
So 4,000+ sky cabs reaching the cbd every hour. Sorry I can’t see it. Then there’s the issue of keeping something with so many moving parts running freely. Any human error or emergency in one cab holds up the whole system and everyone is left dangling in the air. Potential nightmare scenarios are high.
Due to their simplistic design they are low maintenance.
Nonetheless, one would assume they would have procedures in place in the event of a breakdown. For example, units would have an auxiliary motor or could be pushed or towed by another unit.
LOL
Your not actually buying that BS are you?
Or, to put it another way:
Due to them being in the open, salt saturated air of Auckland, they’ll be bloody high maintenance.
Simplistic designs tend to be more low maintenance as there is generally less to go wrong.
The lifespan and overall maintenance requirements of the network itself will largely come down to the construction materials used. One would expect they will be aware of the elements, thus requirements.
http://www.skycabs.co.nz/documents/AucklandStrategyForeword.pdf
It would probably be like the monorail that used to run in Sydney.
They finally scrapped it in 2013, from memory.
It was estimated to be about 40% more expensive than even light rail would have been. I think the idea that it would be “cheaper than rail” would prove to be someone’s wet dream.
Of course the cost estimate would probably be like the one some of the Wellington Regional Council candidates have. They just claim that we could have light rail at half the cost determined in an evaluation of the idea. Bloody idiots the lot of them.
No train expert here, but the big advantage to me is that you wouldn’t have to construct a rail corridor through Auckland, this could be tacked onto the side of existing roads or run up the middle.
It’s got great potential.
New Zealanders paid $1.3 billion dollars more in council rates in 2015 than in 2009.
Since 2009, increases at a national level have outstripped both population growth and inflation.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/84015499/local-government-rates-are-up-government-funding-is-down
Six figure council ‘manager’ salaries seem common as nowadays.
It’s outrageous what some are being paid.
Yep. I think public servants top salaries need to be capped at $100k. Provides a good living standard without being over the top as what we have now is.
I like it.
Kermadecs and the Foreshore.
Is this just another instance of Key not having any knowledge of history. His tendency of governing in the now reflects his poor judgement. His allowing Smith to be anywhere near the Kermadecs issue in the first place would seem to bear this out. The sidelining of Smith from the Kermadec issue should not come as a surprise to many – remember the Foreshore issue and the disgraceful grandstanding of Smith and Peter Dunne in Nelson.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/treaty-of-waitangi/news/article.cfm?c_id=350&objectid=3515159
It would also be interesting to know what Key’s own utterances on the Foreshore issue were back then – … he probably “couldn’t quite remember”.
Wow! thanks for the link – that is definitely well worth remembering, and certainly pertinent to the current clusterfuck. Smith, needs to be as far away from this as possible.
I’m told Maori had no idea the Kermadecs existed before Cook and co turned up. Is this right?
Possibly, but would they have found had Cook and co not taken their rights away?
same logic as the radio frequencies.
No it has a well documented history of Polynesian settlement or use. But it was abandoned hundreds of years before European arrival. So claims of customary use are nonsense.
Apart from the custom of seafarers to stop there to restock etc.
Well the archeology I’m aware of is that there is no evidence of regular journeys, that raoul was settled for a period by eastern Polynesians (not Maori) but it was abandoned in the 15th century. Apart from a small number of flakes of obsidian there’s no evidence of any kind of ongoing transit between nz and the kermadecs.
Perhaps you can invent an alternative scenario. Aliens visited tangata whenua, perhaps…
Alien: “What can we do for you?”
Tangata Whenua: “Can you put these flakes on Raoul Island for us? “
Eastern Polynesian was the originating culture of Maori but that does not mean the people who travelled to the kermadecs and then onto Norfolk and lord Howe islands were Maori
It’s time for your reality check.
My bold.
Perhaps it was the doing of an alien?
After all, people have found rocks from the Moon and even Mars on Earth.
http://www.space.com/178-crater-moon-linked-rock-earth.html
http://www.space.com/14268-rare-mars-meteorite-rocks-tissint.html
Amazing isn’t it?
Only joking about the aliens. Donald Trump was not in the vicinity of these being found.
Read atholl Anderson in ‘ Tangata whenua An illustrated history ‘ a much more recent book that contains a summary of recent research.
There he says that no archeological evidence exists of return trips to eastern Polynesia despite the wealth of new and useful materials found in NZ. The people who went to the kermadecs likely left nz soon after arrival and then went on to Norfolk Island, lord Howe island and then New South Wales. Artefacts of these travels have been found but none going back east.
Check http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/79760636/atholl-Anderson-where-did-Maori-come-from
Irrelevant. This is about Treaty rights, not customary ones. You’re getting mixed up with the foreshore law.
Some were saying yesterday that there were customary trips to the kermadecs, so it’s relevant in that sense
Not exactly. Customary trips that used the Kermadecs as a place to re-stock on the journey.
Nobody said that they were customary.
As discussed yesterday, they left artefacts there, so no, your source is feeding you false information. Who is it, the Prime Minister?
Polynesian people were there. I’m told they weren’t Maori. The Prime Minister is John Key – you should get out more, try Venezuela it would suit your thinking or lack there of.
He tells too many lies. That’s why I wondered if he’s the one spoon-feeding you.
Here’s RTM from the Kermadecs thread to set you straight:
Now you know the facts make sure not to keep spreading the lies, there’s a dearie. You could even elect not to trust your source on other matters if you were smart.
Oh do float off Tarquin.
You race batting pillock.
Oh wait, what new from national supporters who write on the standard…
National party supporters default; Racist, sexist, and smug Tory scum – I’m sure I missed somthing. 😉
Fraudulent through wilful ignorance and prejudice. I’m sure I have also forgotten something.
#only POKEMONES
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/09/15/wellington-the-little-city-that-could-and-did/?ncid=tweetlnkauhpmg00000001
“If you were to pinpoint a person and a moment in time for Wellington’s transformation, it would probably be Peter Jackson and the late 1990s.”
Hes a good man Sir Peter
Now there’s some expert trolling, behold! Peter Jackson has certainly done all right for himself, well done him, shame he had to shaft a bunch of NZ workers to get there, & a bit disappointing he hasn’t made a decent movie in over a decade (but hey, check out that new frame rate!).
+1 Gangnam Style – yep we value those that help others as well as themselves in a decent society.
Ok so I disagree with you on the shafting of the workers, they were treated decently.
On the decent movie…yeah fair enough
Apparently David Seymour thinks tax payers need to fund a ‘Ministry of Men’.
How about a “Ministry of Vulnerable Men’? The Chief’s players, Tony Veitch and Nikolas Delegat can lodge complaint’s there about their appalling and unfair treatment from Women and the NZ political system. (sarc.)
He does actually make some good points:
“A Few Stats
Where once women were clearly marginalised, men are now behind in most social statistics. University graduates: women 60/40. Imprisonment: men 94/6. Life expectancy: women 84/80 (non-Maori), 77/73 (Maori). Suicide rate: men 74/16. We could go on. The only significant stat running against women is income (Men 53/47)”
So women are better educated, imprisoned less, live longer, but still earn less? How does that work without omitting criteria that doesn’t suit your narrative?
Seymour just trolling surely, MRAs prob closely linked to ACT I would imagine.
What narrative? That David Seymour has a point?
We have a Ministry for Women which seems to have two primary goals, gender pay equality, and reducing violence against Women. These are two very significant social ills that need addressing, but are they any more significant than our men growing up poorly educated with high imprisonment rates (I would suggest there is a link right there) and dying younger?
Well, the first step would be to see whether other socioeconomic or demographic factors have a greater correlation and causal relationship than “men”, and whether those factors are being independantly addressed by other responsible ministries.
By just ignoring the historic and current power imbalance within society and leaping upon arbitrary gender distinctions, your narrative of “what about teh menz” is shallow, venal, self-absorbed and stupid. If a targeted effort is needed, it should target the division that causes the power imbalance that causes the negative outcomes, which does not necessarily equate to the most obvious example of division within those outcomes.
Search for the confounding variable, not the one that matches your preconceptions.
See response to Sabine below. The gender links regarding education have already been identified, perhaps the idea of a ‘Ministry for Men’ doesn’t fit your preconceptions. Or perhaps it is just because of who raised the issue…
You’re welcome to demonstrate the systemic issues that make your whinge du jour a male issue rather than a cultural or socioeconomic issue. Because domestic violence and income disparities are direct results of historic treatment and social relegation of women. But men were always the main populators of prison, for example, even when women were little more than property. Prison isn’t a male problem it’s a social problem . Addressing it as a male problem restricts the list of observable solutions.
Damn, if those pesky women would just go back to the three K’s. Kinder, Kirche, Kueche.
Surely all would be good for the poor misunderstood man that fail in all other categories other then wages. Despite being lesser educated, more often imprisoned and live shorter yet they still earn more money.
Ministry of vulnerable men indeed. 🙂
For what its worth my wife earns more then I do but its my hope that one day I can finally achieve my dream of become a kept man, living off my wifes earnings
Sadly though its yet to happen 🙂
average Puckish Rogue, on average women earn less then man. And i really hope that we don’t have to re-hash this truth.
My partner also hopes he could be a kept man, however i have been telling him for years that i started working at an earlier age (cause girls will have husbands and need no stinkn higher education 🙂 ) as he did cause he got that higher education thingy, so if anyone is to be kept it would be me. But alas, i don’t really function well when kept and having to ask for stuff. So i go to work every day 🙂 and count my pennies.
Come on Sabine, PR hates women – of course he going to rehash it.
What makes you say that?
Your comments and your attitude here.
I mean look at your history PR. It shows.
Interestingly enough even though my wife makes more then me (its not a great deal more to be completely honest) I pretty much the financial decisions in our household because, in her words, its “I trust you” and when it comes to decisions about our retirement its “I’m not interested in that, I’ll leave it up to you”
Men definitely get the raw end of the stick as the stats show
Are we allowed to say such yet? Or we not that advanced to recognise these things ……
prison
early death
low education
suicide
great aint it
prison? so that has got nothing to do with man offending at a higher rate?
early death? maybe you want to complain to certain businesses that don’t implement safety for their workers, the forestry industry comes to mind for once.
low education? Are you saying that boys in NZ are not going to the same schools as girls? Are you saying that schools in NZ are discriminating against boys? Or may it be that boys often don’t get the support they need from their families, where as girls know that if they don’t finish schools they will never ever be anything other the a min wage slave? (the boys in my partners family who have not finished school did so cause ‘school was boring’ and ‘ i am not learning anything’ and ‘i don’t need this i can be like my dad’).
suicide: this is the one thing in NZ that always stumps me, it is such an issue and the country as a collective refuses to talk about it and do something about it. . (the mind does not understand)
Good for you Sabine, at least you are starting to ask the questions that need to be asked about the hard raw life so very many men get..
Though I do worry that there is a lack of consistency when similar such questions are put about other sectors of our population, for example your question one and Maori and prison…. we know the question is not that simple is it ….
at least the issues are getting out there though
cos you know, I don’t want to die early just because I’m male, nor go to prison – but that is the reality for us
You’re not going to die early because you’re male, or go to prison because you’re male. Statistical differences at the population level tell us nothing about particular individuals, that’s why the whole “paid 12% less because you’re a woman” thing was a crock of shit. We don’t need a “sent to prison because you’re a man” crock of shit to even things out…
mate i have always asked the question.
but frankly do not blame the success of the girls to the failure of the boys.
or let me rephrase this, would the failure of your son be the result of your daughters success? or would you rather your daughter pretend to fail so your son could be successful?
If and when women commit more crimes and are apprehended for it they will end up in prison.
This has got nothing to do with Maori men being more likely to be arrested then white men – this has more to do with institutionalized racism, alive and very well in NZ as recent cases have shown again. btw. no girl forced that rich boy to beat a women unconscious, and no girl forced that judge to give that rich boy a slap with a very wet bus ticket.
as for you dying early, eat well, drink in moderation, laugh a lot and you may live long, do not offend, don’t piss off popo and you will not go to prison.
Again, this has got nothing to do with women.
care to comment that the women despite it all still earn less then men? or is it that men should earn more cause men? 🙂
Ahhh, a classic victim blaming argument.
😛
“low education? Are you saying that boys in NZ are not going to the same schools as girls? Are you saying that schools in NZ are discriminating against boys?”
It may have a link to the ratio’s of Female/Male teachers in our system,:
“The dominant research perspective is that connected to issued of male identity formation – specifically how boys see themselves as learners. Much of the research suggests that issues of gender identity are the most significant area to understand and address in boys’ education issues. In this approach, consideration is given to how boys perceive themselves as learners in contemporary classrooms and how this translates into educational achievement.
It also claimed in some research that aspects of education are ‘feminised’ and inherently biased towards the achievement of girls”
http://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/boys-education-good-practice-in-secondary-schools/introduction/
Perhaps the boys in your family were ‘bored’ and didn’t learn anything because the teaching methods being used were not conducive to their learning requirements.
This could be the root cause of why male incarceration rates and suicide rates are so high also. If you don’t feel like you fit in…if only we had a Ministry that could be researching these links further.
A Ministry genuinely makes sense in light of these massive issues …
so who is stopping the men from educating boys? Who is stopping men from going into the teaching profession? Why not more boys only schools?
as for the teaching methods, is that the fault of girls? Or is that the fault of governments? And the fact that maybe some kids are not made for long studies? you will find if you search here that I am one who advocates for proper apprenticeships as i fully understand that not every one is made for the academics.
But is that the fault of girls?
I can’t and won’t comment on the suicide rates, as i stated above, i can not understand why NZ is refusing to have an open and honest discussion about it. Maybe it has to do with that stupid bull shit about ‘harden up’, have a beer mate ‘she’ll be alright’ attitude that is so prevalent in this country.
Maybe we should just have a Ministry for Vulnerable Humans.
But non of this has anything to do with Girls, how they do in school, how old they live and how much less they get paid then their male counterparts in equal roles.
men don’t go into primary or early childhood education any more for obvs reasons.
“men don’t go into primary or early childhood education any more for obvs reasons.” – Coz the work is too hard? Can get better pay laying gravel on roads? Funny how most principals are males innit?
what reasons?
and why obvious?
Thought that was fairly obvious, accusations of kiddy fiddling,
Men fear career-ending accusations of paedophilia. It’s not a trivial concern.
Someone even made a movie about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_(2012_film)
just sad then, how a few fuckwits have fucked it up for the men and the teaching profession. No?
I still believe that Gangnam Style reasons have more to do with it, namely that they pay is too lowly for men to even apply.
But I can see how some men may fear these accusations so much that all of the men refuse to be teachers. Especially when one considers the girls and their knobbly knees that adult male teachers must be protected from.
http://www.newstalk.com/New-Zealand-school-girls-told-to-wear-longer-skirts-to-create-a-good-work-environment-for-male-staff
“This was reportedly to ‘keep our girls safe, stop boys from getting ideas and create a good work environment for male staff’.”
– cause we can’t trust men and boys to behave themselves appropriatly we must cover our girls to keep them safe. Yeah, right fucking Tui.
There’s also the issue of young girls using the “he touched me accusation” to get leverage over or get back at male teachers.
As demonstrated on this site on numerous occasions, the female is always truthful and honest and the man is always guilty.
Your career could be over just like that.
seriously BM there are how many Girls accusing teachers of having touched them? In NZ?
when you google Girls accusing teachers of molestation what comes up are cases of teachers – male and female – of having been accused and found guilty of molestation, or sexual misconduct.
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=teachers+accused+of+sexual+molestation+in+NZ&oq=teachers+accused+of+sexual+molestation+in+NZ&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.6305j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I still believe that the low pay is more of an issue
https://www.teachnz.govt.nz/teaching-in-new-zealand/salaries/
Primary teacher salaries
The current starting salary for a primary school teacher with a Bachelor’s teaching degree is $47,039.
Secondary teacher salaries
The current entry salary for a secondary school teacher who holds registration granted by The Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and a New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF) Level 7 subject or specialist qualification (the qualification must have at least 72 credits at Level 7) and a recognised teaching qualification is $50,268.
so essentially there is not a lot of pay involved in teaching, despite a high level of qualification demanded.
Might it not just be that many blokes look at teaching and go nah, can’t be arsed, to hard and not enough pay.
but hey, i can see where ‘i might get accused of inapropriate behaviour’ seems like an nicer out instead of saying i am not paid enough to bother with the badly educated kids of others.
Yeah, the pay isn’t stellar ether, other reasons include.
!. low pay.
2, Mainly Woman environment
3,Accusations of kiddy fiddling
4.Seems to be very little career prospects.
5. Getting hit on by kids Mothers.
6,Looked on with suspicion by a good percentage of the public.
The only positive is the amount of holidays you get.
!. low pay. – Well maybe if men were to join the service pay would go up?
2, Mainly Woman environment – Maybe if men were to join the service it would be a mixed environment?
3,Accusations of kiddy fiddling – both men and women have been found guilty of the offense, so really that is just a cheap cop out, also cops, doctors, sales people, it people and all other sorts of people have been accused and found guilty of the offense. so maybe men should just stay at home and never leave the house without an appropriate chaperone? A mother, wife, or aunty would do. Only old women of course. Lest you get accused?
4.Seems to be very little career prospects. – principal? become Hekia Parata Minister of ‘Education’ at least you would be a Minister with teaching credentials?
5. Getting hit on by kids Mothers. – why no gay men have children in school?
6,Looked on with suspicion by a good percentage of the public. -you have a very low opinion of a. yourself, and b. the public
The only positive is the amount of holidays you get. – yei, upside.
t
but the reason there are no more men in teaching is men like yourself, as it is you who would taunt the male teacher with your bogus accusations, your bogus snide remarks and your bullshit suspicion.
But it lets you blame the women for not doing their job education your son or your future son should he fail in school. Cause while a man may have been better we can fully understand why no man would want that low pay, low career option, surrounded by women, low regards type o job.
i can see how that makes sense.
The biggest thing that would help men would be to restrict alcohol – alcohol is a contributing factor in crime, early death and suicide.
Hi m pledger, I read recently, a few essays on suicide in aotearoa.
Disconnection from community seemed to be a strong factor in suicide.
That is not to deny the part alcohol may play.
I agree with Sabine, the silence around this issue is not helping.
They’d be happier and live longer if they stayed at home and looked after their children.
Does Seemore Coq know what the incarceration rates were when fewer women got degrees? I’m betting it was similar to now.
The apple doesn’t fall far….
A man who had blown up bombs in New York, and shot multiple times at the police. He is wounded and then arrested.
An African-American is shot dead for walking or driving and is unarmed.
Anyone else see the blatant contradiction?
Excellent comment Ianmac ! Whom amongst us can’t see the blatant contradiction ? “Black Lives” DON’T matter. In contrast to other rotten lives which DO matter. If only for the purposes of the show trial which follows.
NZ should sell all its best food producing companies to the Chinese, that’s the way forward for this country.
You forgot the /sarc
Things gotten too peaceful for you CV?
The 9/11 and trump squabbles aren’t enough.
The agitation is strong in this one.
Damn right I am agitated.
Silver Fern Farms, sold off to the Chinese
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/84462859/government-approves-shanghai-malingsilver-fern-farms-deal
Hi Colonial Viper
The response can be distilled to TINA
we clearly need 3 more years of National then, cause job well done.
ahh.. i see.
apparently its going to
‘ create substantial and identifiable benefit’.
excellent, i can rest easy with paula bennett on the case.