Number of cars crushed by Judith (crusher) Collins – 0
Number of prisons made smoke free by Judith (cougher) Collins – 0
Prisoners openly stand around smoking in front of guards, the air is heavily scented with cigarette smoke.
Corrections Officers say the whole policy is a joke, and could only be enforced with massive and violent over the top methods.
Desperate prisoners have even resorted to smoking their patches, and even risking electrocution by getting a light jamming tin foil into the wall plugs, and shorting out the power systems on a regular basis.
If they had been asked, Corrections Officers said the policy may have had some chance, if instead of a blanket ban, smoking was only banned from indoor areas – as in other public buildings.
Number of prison officers asked for their advice by Judith (la la land) Collins – 0
Increased cost on the taxpayer for funding unlimited nicotine patches and lozenges per inmate: who knows.
What’s your point? Non-imates can get subsidised patches – I have some from my abortive attempt to quit (before the company I worked for collapsed.) It’s well-known to anyone who cares about people rather than just about enforcing their will on the unworthy, that quitting is next to impossible in high-stress situations. Don’t kid yourself that Tariana’s policy was about anyone’s “health” – it was purely a punitive power play, with a dose of middle class snobbery thrown in. The middle classes drink (oh man do they drink!) but they love to sneer at the working and beneficiary classes who smoke.
Not a big fan of smokers or smoking, regardless of socio-economic status, but you make a good point there, Vicky. Though I see it more in the furore over liqour outlets. If a bottle store opens in a poor area there is a huge outrage, but barely a peep if it is in a middle-upper class area.
Though I see it more in the furore over liqour outlets. If a bottle store opens in a poor area there is a huge outrage, but barely a peep if it is in a middle-upper class area
Doesn’t matter to you that he might have been executed?
Or that he might have been toppled because the west wanted his oil reserves (the second largest in Africa)?
Or that Tony Blair might have sucked him into a non-aggression pact that the west was never intending to honour?
Or that Obama might have pushed for this as a campaign lead up to an election year?
Or that NATO and US forces have now bombed Libya back to the stone age, so that it will be entirely reliant on debt funding from the IMF and World Bank? (as a precursor to taking the countries mineral assets away)?
Doesn’t matter to you that he might have been executed?
– No, dead is dead
Or that he might have been toppled because the west wanted his oil reserves (the second largest in Africa)?
– Doesn’t matter, still a terrorist douche bag
Or that Tony Blair might have sucked him into a non-aggression pact that the west was never intending to honour?
– Didn’t rhink Blair was that smart but good on him (Sun Tzu would probably approve)
Or that Obama might have pushed for this as a campaign lead up to an election year?
– So what
Or that NATO and US forces have now bombed Libya back to the stone age, so that it will be entirely reliant on debt funding from the IMF and World Bank? (as a precursor to taking the countries mineral assets away)?
– I’m sure Gaddafi had a hand in keeping his people in the stone age already
yeah the world sure looks like a better place.
– Well its a good start
Or that he might have been toppled because the west wanted his oil reserves (the second largest in Africa)?
Or water, I’ve heard…
Or that Obama might have pushed for this as a campaign lead up to an election year?
Seems very likely!
Or that NATO and US forces have now bombed Libya back to the stone age, so that it will be entirely reliant on debt funding from the IMF and World Bank? (as a precursor to taking the countries mineral assets away)?
Oh yes, and the country resembles one of the inner circles of hell right now. I am very suspicious about it – and have been all along… “Libya has been liberated!” a newsreader just cried excitedly on the BBC. Yeah, right!
Including a fair few agreements and assurances that were made between Libya, the UK and the US. Let’s see what happens to Gaddaffi’s children; they each had a role in helping him run the state and will also know much.
@Carol, I guess you’re right. They’ll be a few “Western Interests” giving a sigh of relief today that he’s not alive to tell stories.
Problem is that doubt he would have made a good witness as I think, mentally, he had been treading water in the deep end for too long. Some have said drugs, others mental illness.
This is probably more a geo-political chess move disguised as a revolution of the people. If you are the US (and Britain & France) you want to ensure a continual supply of oil (especially of the quality that Libya has) from a compliant state. The Ghadaffi (?) dynasty government was far too independent and unreliable to be allowed to continue.
Saudi Arabia is on side, Iraq is now in the bag, Southern Sudan is now independent, Nigeria is a basket case and now Libya is accessible.
So who’s next? Who is the next country that is going to have “democracy” brought to them in exchange for oil?
Wow! Shock – Horror – Western Oil firms are interested in making money in oil rich nations!
Who would have thunk it.
The only link to something suggesting impropriety in handling of these contracts is an opinion piece which state that handling out technical contracts to multinational oil firms rather than specialists is unusual. However that is then countered by a quote in the next link which explains this as follows “But the deals, known as service contracts, are unusual, said Greg Mutitt, co-director of Platform, an oil industry research group. “Normally such service contracts are carried out by specialist companies … The majors are not normally interested in such deals, preferring to invest in projects that give them a stake in ownership of extracted oil and the potential for large profits. The explanation is that they see them as a stepping stone…” ”
One of your links was about oil interest BEFORE military intervention in Libya and one of them was a Cartoon as far as I could see. This is the best you could do???
Someone stated that this information was on CNN this morning. If so I’m sure it is easy enough to link the article to make your case stronger.
Just to reiterate, as it seems some of you are having difficulty comprehending what is being asked here, where is the evidence that Western Oil firms are benefiting unproperly as a result of military intervention by Western nations in oil rich countries?
“where is the evidence that Western Oil firms are benefiting unproperly as a result of military intervention by Western nations in oil rich countries?”
Gosman, is war an ‘unproper’ way to carry out business? Before each of these invasions the oil was being exploited by quite a different set of companies/state agencies. There was interest from western oil companies in gaining access to Libyan oil (which, as you note, one of my links provides evidence for).
After the invasions, a set of companies that just happened to match (in ‘home nationality’ status) the countries doing the invading are lined up to do the exploiting.
Further, in one of those links it also noted that the service contracts in Iraq were written with US State Department help. Is that ‘proper’?
Evidence, in both a legal and scientific sense, is not usually ‘cast iron’. Rather, it is used to build a case. In that sense, there is ample evidence that the oil contracts were a result of improper practices (including invasion).
I included the cartoon as a humorous punchline for the links – hence my attempt at a ‘smiley’ just after it (though it didn’t appear as the full yellow-faced icon we’ve all come to love (?))
If he was kept alive, as Carol had wished, Libyans would still be “no longer under a tyrant and torturer”, so I’m not sure what your point is.
Also, we are led to believe that the rebel forces had taken him alive and intended to keep him alive. Whether or not that is simply propaganda, it is also true that it could be to the advantage of Libyan people to find out things from Gaddafi about the country’s situation (e.g., any hidden wealth, corruptly instituted contracts with foreign companies that they may now wish to re-litigate or annul, etc.).
That’s the reason he was shot Carol /The Capitalist West has so much to hide . I would presume it will be hidden from public view until most of us have gone ahead.
Exactly! On Radio NZ this morning, I kept hearing on the news that the “rebel leader” regretted that Ghaddafi was dead, and that he “had tried to save him”. Tui billboard!
Dirty raghead eh Cris? Never mind the tens of thousands of other people who were killed during the raids and the new Ambassador calling Libia the jewel in the crown because of the oil and gold they can loot, you sad racist piece of shit.
That’s not what he said Ev, so don’t twist it. He referenced the stuff article and then said he was glad Gadaffi was dead. Not even close to what you just commented.
Second that ev. If NATO and the oil men can do this to Libya they can do it to any country that suits. With peak oil these people are desperate for more fossil fuel supplies.
A new regime that appears to have started with an execution rather than a trial of the deposed ex leader is not a great beginning for any Libyans expecting enhanced human rights. I predict they will have a US compliant government that oversees the export of oil wealth to the detriment of local needs.
“With peak oil these people are desperate for more fossil fuel supplies.”
For that reason I am concerned about the possibility for foreign pressure on our government (overt or covert) to open up our EEZ to foreign oil companies.
You just can’t go in there and scoop up a bunch of it in the back of trucks. You actually need to invest heavily in the infrastructure for extraction..
Also there is no evidence that Western oil firms get the oil for free from places like Iraq so why would you think Libya was going to be any different?
It’s not about free but reliable supply and at a reasonable price.
What will be interesting is what is going to happen to Libya’s assets? LIA has position in GE, Catepillar, Citigroup, Haliburton, BASF and more in Italy and France (plus millions in bank accounts).
NATO may confiscate these in return for the cost of the air strikes.
Ummmmmm…. Western oil firms had reliable supply and at a reasonable price BEFORE the Libyan uprising.
If anything having a country without a firm and dictatorial leadership increases instability. You lefties should know this. That is why many of you keep claiming that the West loves the leaders of Saudi Arabia.
Of course you could easily win this argument by pointing out an example in Iraq where Western oil firms have been able to get preferential treatment in oil contracts. Perhaps you could find this evidence in this article on the subject http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/02/iraq-oil-production-increasing-to-3.html
With peak oil and the pressure to ensure this is an “American century” and/or the dominance of the west it is about ensuring supply is reliable – you do that by having more than one source in the event that the source you have relied upon “BEFORE the Libyan uprising” is no longer available.
“If anything having a country without a firm and dictatorial leadership increases instability.”
It is not about the type of government (democrartic or dictatorial) but whether they will be compliant with your objectives. The US, Britain et al have historically shown that they will do deals with the devil as long as it gets them what they want.
“The US, Britain et al have historically shown that they will do deals with the devil as long as it gets them what they want.”
Quite possibly true however there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that they get better deals after a military intervention. If you note the article I linked to you will have noted the large influence of Chinese oil companies in developing Iraqi fields.
I didn’t argue preferential contracts. As I said it was not about free but cheap, available, constant.
I assume market prices will still prevail (in theory – the more supply the cheaper).
But cost is less of a consideration than available and constant. You cannot be a world power, and project that power unless you have oil to power your planes and to run the economy at home.
With regard to assets – CNN listed the investments made by LIA and that there would be an expectation that NATO countries would be reimbursed.
Look back in history (read the book The Prize) and you will see that the geo-politics of the mid-east has been about oil as far back as the early 20th century.
Last week I gave Dave Brown the Trotskyite a hard time about his contentions about the Russian revolution…his theological attachment to his dogma spoke louder to him than the corpses of the victims. The record was written in blood for all to see.
I would contend that support of the US / European incursions into the Middle East will be equally judged in terms of morality by the very substantial body count of the innocents. We are all beneficiaries of the oil flow and therefore culpable because we subscribe to and foster a model of economy that takes what it wants from whoever gets in the way. No easy answers here.
“Most of the incremental oil will come from work by BP and China National Petroleum Corp. at Rumaila, an Eni-led group at Zubair and — later in the year — from Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell at West Qurna-Phase 1.”
Chinese oil companies? Only one, in partnership with BP. The rest are part of the “Coalition of the Willing”. I note, for example, a lack of mention of any Russian companies. Or Iraqi, for that matter.
Your argument does not hold water William Joyce. The Libyan and Iraqi governments still control the awarding of oil extraction rights in their nations. They can quite easily withdraw these at some stage in the future.
The fact that these nations are far more democratic now means that there will be in fact less stability in relation to this than if the countries was being run by a brutal dictator. If I sign an agreement with a brutal dictator I can be reasonably assured that he will be in power for a number of years. There is no way of knowing in places like Iraq if the agreement you signed might not be repudiated by another government that is less interested in maintaining good relations with the country that you are based in.
Mcflock – I believe when the article mentions the Iraq’s Missan Oil Co it is fair to assume this is an Iraqi bassed oil company. In fact you can read more about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missan_Oil_Company
What you fail to deal with is the fact that there is Chinese there at all in a major role should be evidence that the West is not controlling Iraq’s oil extraction. Why would the West allow the Chinese a key role when the Chinese were less than happy with the 2003 invasion?
I stand corrected – an Iraqi company has a 25% share in a field that produces 265,000bpd, so they basically account for 70,000bpd out of 4,000,000bpd (based on the cumulative field totals).
As for the Chinese involvement, you always give a taste of the action to the guy who bankrolls your existence at the moment.
But the majority of contracts went to members of the “Coalition of the Willing”.
Gosman, I understand your point that, theoretically, there is a greater certainty of making a deal and having continued supply if there is only one person to deal with.
But there can come a point (and we have seen it so often in US foreign policy) where the ally can become the enemy.
These events more than likely come about for a combination of reasons and so may or may not be about oil. But one thing is certain, when the dust settles, they want to have their foot in the door. Yes, there is less certainty if a democracy is in place but democracies can be surprisingly easy to manipulate/corrupt.
As I said above… The Ghadaffi (?) dynasty government was far too independent and unreliable to be allowed to continue.
Did the US start the revolution? I don’t know, probably not. But once it was under way I am sure that France and Britain saw a possible end game that would work in their favour – hence the pressure they put on the US to intervene.
It’s one thing to have oil agreements with Libya but a better thing to have an oil supply agreement + access to other resources + an open market to invest in + an economy that can be supplied with western products.
It should be pointed out France and possibly Britain had other reasons to see Gadaffi gone – if I remember rightly something to do with telecommunications, money lent to France (or was his Sarkosy’s political funds – I can’t remember)
Intervention is an action. The motives for intervention can differ. The Neo-Cons who want American dominance in the world see the chance to ease their concerns about supply. The liberals see intervention as a means to support some sort of democratic self-determination.
Dick Cheney made it perfectly clear (and I which I could give you a reference) that the future of US foreign policy (diplomatic and military) was all about securing the supply of oil.
. You actually need to invest heavily in the infrastructure for extraction..
What makes you think there’s not already an infrastructure? Maybe you think that Libya is just a wide oasis in the desert, with airports comprising a few Nissen huts surrounded by camels and a few WW2 jeeps… (as portrayed in American movies.)
Thank heaven for small mercies. The slash and burn Tea-Party Hamilton City Council has backed down on proposed charges for library books. They will still make huge cuts to their libarary budget, but at least there was some place they were willing to stop.
Damn right they should be thankful Millsy. They are getting a spanking new velodrome (strangely situated at a private school), what the hell do they need books for?
The rate payers group of Hamilton is growing at an alarming rate with more and more young people and ex-Nat voters. Nothing gets people more upset as rising taxes and lowering house prices with the money spend on stupid projects such a velodromes etc. while they can’t afford to buy their necessities anymore. Like $2 per book from the library to name but one.
thankfully the Council has stepped back from that particular brainfart, but has said it will reduce new stock purchases amongst steps to scrape back spending.
My submission on that proposal (the velodrome) indicated my concern over its location. The whole ‘cycling centre of excellence’ is now spread over a 100km triangle – a complete nonsense – it should have been in Rotorua as it was the only place that had all the requirements of the tender, but no money to ‘buy’ a velodrome.
Councils have become an even sicker joke over recent decades.
People continue to elect any vain, bombastic buffoon that can pay to get their picture in the paper and then wonder why they end up with motley gaggles of barely-literate car salesmen and intellectually-challenged social climbers who proceed to trip over themselves in farcical efforts to make the most regressive taxation system in history even more punishing to the poorest.
One day someone might examine the huge transfer of the rating burden from rich to poor (via eg UAGCs and targeted rates) but don’t hold your breath.
They’re now easy meat and sitting ducks to any well-heeled lobby group and their own legions of upper-middle-class employees: many council staff and CEOs are now paid massively more than the CEO of the world’s largest bank (which incidentally is $150k – see Bernard Hickey’s blog of a couple of days ago)
It’s a farce. And while they contribute vast amounts of ratepayers’ money to their local rags via advertising, they’ll continue to receive the same sychophantic press fellation as NACT, and the trend will continue.
Either organise locally or expect more amalgamations and wave goodbye to local democracy.
Yes, because farmers should so be given free reign to ignore the RMA when it comes to water pollution from runoff and shovel off the costs of climate change to the government and public…
Why do journos insist on carrying on as if the rest of the world cannot use the Internet? Even if the [Journalist ? ] chooses not to do any basic research, most people i know do some level of fact checking especially when they are told to look the other way. Stories like this seem outdated and more and more desperate in their pathetic attempts to brand a popular global movement as if it is a Sociology capping stunt.
It’s always fascinated me that she has chosen (or at least not vetoed) a picture to accompany her “journalism”, in which one eye is covered. If I thought she had any capacity for self-awareness I’d think the one-eyed image was a bit of a joke.
I loved the comment someone left on the page, along the lines of “let them eat cake, eh?”.
It really was a mentally-vacant upper-middle-class opinion piece, the sort of thing someone says at a dinner party after a few too many glasses of chardonnay. With a wee hint of “but we’re smarter than them so we’re richer”.
@ Blue
Have you ever heard her on Jim Mora’s The Panel session? She is the most loud mouthed, ignorant woman that has ever graced that programme. And that includes Christine Rankin before she won – courtesy of that other ignoramus, Paula Bennett – a spot on the Families Commission.
Care to point out the errors or are you just taking the bog standard approach to an opinion piece that you disagree with by stating it is all based on lies?
I actually didn’t see anything in there that anybody could point out as being factually incorrect. You are entitled to disagree with her opinion and conclusion of course.
I take it you are referring to my “well researched” comment. I guess you didn’t bother reading to the end of the line where i also wrote “clearly reasoned”. The trick to comprehension there gosman is the relationship of information to the intent to persuade. Intent to persuade being a pretty big part of the whole ‘reasoning’ thing.
I did not say she had misrepresented any facts, that issue is your interpretation. My issue is with what she wrote. The piece Ms Cone wrote is, as you point out, an opinion piece.
An opinion published in a National Newspaper is an opportunity to express a view that few get to take advantage of. As a recepient of that privilege it is beholden of Ms Cone to inform herself of the topic she is making comment on. She has clearly failed to do. Her tone and statements, such as “Anyway, I suspect many of the Occupy protesters are not so much against capitalism per se, as feeling miffed that they personally are not rich capitalists. ” expose her ill-informed prejudice.
I respect her right to voice her informed opinion, naturally, as i do yours. Informed opinions are the foundations on which we build our social norms and conventions. With strong foundations great structures can be built. Which is i why i object to foundations built of conjecture and ignorance.
Her insinuation that the 1% got there by merit has the same prejudicial basis. Difficult to argue that one, factually.
I watched a programme on Sky in which the medieval mind was explored. That mind believed the ruling class, the 1%ers, got there by merit and by superior genes, of course.
What utter bollocks. You have no way of knowing how much information Deborah Cone has researched. Just because someone doesn’t share your opinion about a topic that must mean they are not as informed as you. The intellectual arrogance dripping from that is simply astounding to behold.
A (potentially) good point, but it’s shame that you’ve historically failed to follow it yourself. Unfortunately a quick skim over the article shows she done about a year 11 student level of research that borders on “not achieved” if we’re going on NCEA standards, and instead fills in by conjecturing with teh “jealously” hypothesis. Which when dealing with grass roots protests is a pretty clear cut case of pick and chose, instead of doing teh smart thing and looking at all the various voices…
Also highly amusing is her referencing of a shining example of pseudoscience via bullshitting with statistics that is The Bell Curve as a hint that the rich are “smarter” than the poor and thus natural elites. Funny thing about that is that is, if memory serves me right, quick stats tests show little difference between the upper income earners and the rest of the population in terms of average intelligence, and that IQ scores aren’t a statistically significant predictor of a persons income.
But hey, why try and wrap your head around complex causations behind income levels and old boys networks when you can play pretend and believe it’s down to “merit”?…
And as the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to be critiqued from “on high”, it emerges that Goldman Sachs executives have awarded themselves US$10.01 billion in bonuses so far this year.
Good Press Release from the Mana Party where Ikaroa Rawhiti candidate Tawhai McClutchie calls for a complete cancellation on oil and gas development in New Zealand.
“Tauranga Moana needs to be a wake-up call. Our country should be developing more widespread, community-based sustainable energy alternatives. Not only does it behove this country’s clean, green image, such sustainable energy alternatives help break our habit of oil dependence, puts power back into our people’s hands, and it is healthier for the environment and wildlife. All future oil operations must stop.”
I agree with this call because further exploitations are based on selfishness and greed and the myth of unending growth, which is false and illusory – it just isn’t going to happen – peak oil and the effects of climate change are happening now and the world as we have known it is changing, drastically. Community and connection are the only answer and this Press Release is part of the solution to the problems many refuse to acknowledge. As Tawhai says, “Their greed is insatiable.”
There’s always room for doubt, you only have to look at young earth creationists raging against the far taller mountain of evidence for evolutionary biology on the basis of ideological beliefs 🙁
I reckon Joky Hen fears a Brashional government and is therefore only prepared to put “Two Ticks National” when he votes.
In fact, with so many current, former, and aspiring leaders of the National Party potentially there in November, they must all be watching their backs.
The country knows where Brash stands on most issues and Key will find it very difficult to work with him.
Question: On the official programme for the final, will it say
France vs New Zealand or France vs All Blacks?
From memory, of following the tours of United Kingdom, the provincial/club games used to be against the All Blacks but the games against the then Five Nations, i.e the internationals, it was vs New Zealand.
The All Blacks used to be the official touring party, bit like the MCC in cricket. The tests were against England but state and minor games were against the MCC.
Has someone made a killing therefore on the printing of all those flags with All Blacks rather than New Zealand on them.
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Back in 2017, right after being elected, Jacinda Ardern promised that there would be no new mines on conservation land. Since then, her government has done nothing to make that happen, and now the policy has been officially "parked" for the election:West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor says the "no new ...
So the guy who advocated for public burning and beheading feels offended because someone called him a racist!Perhaps Bob Jones hasn't heard of the very old saying; Live by the sword, die by the sword?I mean for someone who often writes opinionated nonsense about Maori; this is a ridiculous case ...
The government today announced a major support package aimed at reducing homelessness. A thousand new transitional housing places, more support for people to find homes (or not lose them in the first place), all good stuff. The one problem with it is that they're going to start charging people in ...
Courtroom Drama: There is no off-switch in a courtroom. Neither is it possible to turn the page in disgust. Ill-formed and ill-defended opinions will be exposed ruthlessly and unapologetically. As Shakespeare put it: “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.” Sometimes the ...
As of today, the novel coronavirus spreading in China is called COVID-19. Why does it matter? Around the office, we’ve had several conversations over the past few weeks about how 2019-nCoV needed its own name. First, it was getting annoying calling it by the above designation, and ‘novel coronavirus’ doesn’t ...
by Philip Ferguson Last month B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported: “In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Arms (Firearms Prohibition Orders) Amendment Bill (No 2) (Brett Hudson)Its basicly more "tough on crime" nonsense (its already illegal for unlicensed people to own guns) designed to wedge NZ First against its arsehole base. ...
In 2015 the world agreed to the Paris Agreement to fight climate change. Each country would offer a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) "that it intends to achieve", and "pursue domestic mitigation measures, with the aim of achieving [it]". And every five years, they'd improve on it, ratcheting up ambition until ...
In theory, the emissions trading scheme should reduce emissions. Making polluters pay for permits to pollute lets them save money by reducing pollution, giving them a financial incentive to do the right thing. But right from the start the ETS was broken with a system of free allocation, so polluters ...
Irish voters went to the polls on Saturday in parliamentary elections, and perhaps delivered a political revolution. Since independence, Irish politics has been dominated by two parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Basicly patronage networks with indistinguishable policies, their cleavage isn't ideology, but who killed whose father or grandfather in ...
Once again the Aotearoa Bike Challenge is on us, and once again I’m participating. In principle this is not hard because it does not represent a significant switch in behavior for me. I already bike nearly every day. The Bicycle The fascinating thing about cycling is the realisation that this ...
Lately there has been a great deal of misinformation regarding the origins and purpose of Skeptical Science. As John Cook wrote nearly a decade ago, Skeptical Science is primarily a website that debunks climate misinformation with peer-reviewed science. Despite the ever-worsening impacts from climate change, with record after record being broken in ...
Under Attack: By sacking not only RNZ Concert’s presenters, but also its producers and librarians, and reducing the station to an automated purveyor of classical music in-between parliamentary broadcasts, RNZ’s CEO, Paul Thompson, wasn’t simply announcing an operational shake-up, he was declaring war on one of the most important guardians of ...
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Australian smoke plume sets recordsThe recent wildfires in Australia sent one of ...
The Global Protest to #FightInequality was powerful – thankyou and what next? Dear allies, We started the decade with a huge protest to #FightInequality that was heard around the world, including the 1% at Davos. Watch and share the highlights on facebook and twitter. A huge thank you. Together we ...
The Ministry of Health have announced a package that might ensure NZ will never experience another measles epidemic. While at the time of writing the details are still limited it appears that the important limitations in our current programme have been acknowledged and the intent is to address them. Great ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael BakerIn this blog we briefly summarise our assessment of the highly uncertain new coronavirus threat. Given its potential to become a severe and prolonged global pandemic, a precautionary response now means activating all components of our pandemic plan, with a particular focus on ‘keep ...
When Labour was running for election, Jacinda Ardern famously said that climate change was "my generation's nuclear free moment". The implication was that her government would take the problem seriously, and act swiftly to reduce emissions. The reality:New Zealand will emit a million more tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2020 ...
James Renwick is Professor of Physical Geography at Victoria University of Wellington. He studied at Canterbury and the University of Washington and has worked on diverse aspects of climate science, including global atmospheric circulation and Antarctic sea ice. In December 2019 he was appointed to the New Zealand Climate Change ...
by Philip Ferguson Exit polls are showing a three-way virtual tie between the main parties in the south of Ireland. Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are all on just over 22%. FG on 22.4, SF on 22.3, FF on 22.2. Exit polls indicate that over 30% of 18-24 ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 2, 2020 through Sat, Feb 8, 2020 Editor's Pick New Report Details How Fossil Fuel Industry's Climate Destruction Also Exacerbates Human Rights Abuses"Even in the face of the ...
In a previous post I described briefly when and how the Starlink satellite chains – recent launches by Space-X in a scheme to bring 5G internet connectivity to the whole globe – could be seen from New Zealand with the naked eye. Here I provide an update and predictions for ...
Keeping The Faith: This Government’s broad, new, heavily moderated, progressive faith does not require a prime minister with the powers of a medieval pope. Jacinda’s regime has no need of subterranean torture chambers to ensure compliance. A gift for diplomacy and the ability to inspire her fellow human-beings is all ...
Jonathan Freedland of the Guardian has penned a column which chastises the left wing of the Labour party for daring to retain principles and ideals, qualities - it seems - that should be jettisoned in pursuit of power.Never mind that Freedland was an ardent Remainer, that is to say, one ...
Tonight’s news suggests the coronavirus outbreak may have originated from pangolins. Details are very sketchy, almost nothing at all beyond a claim of high similarity. My impression is this claim comes from a press release by South China Agricultural University. Initial discussion online suggests this is a more likely candidate ...
by Susanne Kemp The Fire and Emergency service (FENZ) has recently asked firefighters in Auckland Areas 3, 4 and 5 to take on an additional duty that has rather ominous implications. Namely, to collect names and addresses of everyone on the premises of fires they attend. The firefighters’ union, the ...
Part of the story of the Nazis' rise to power in Germany was the willingness of mainstream right-wing parties to work with them to keep out the left. Because of this, one of the fundamental rules of postwar German politics has been "do not work with Nazis". As a result, ...
There has long been a truism in public broadcasting: don't mess with Concert FM. The theory was that although the station has been in a long-term audience decline, and that audience is steadily ageing out, it has powerful establishment support – and any threat to it would provoke a fury.As ...
This is a re-post from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists The heat absorbed in Earth’s oceans reached a new record in 2019, found a recent study published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. Despite the fact that this has been the case for almost every year over the past decade, this information ...
We are confronted with the spectre of Simon Bridges making clear he cannot, will not, trust Winston Peters – the oft-cited “King Maker” in New Zealand politics.Supporters are lauding it as a master stroke, naturally, because in their eyes, it prevents him being the tail that wags the dog. ...
by Don Franks Under a government claiming empathy with the fine arts, Radio New Zealand ( RNZ) is poised to cut back its classical music station, RNZ Concert. The plan is replacing it on FM radio with music “for a younger audience” as part of a new multimedia music brand. ...
More Thwaites This past week we heard disturbing news about Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier. Helping to fill in the longer term history of Thwaites' behavior and especially helpful in interpreting results of the recent drilling project and what it may say about the future of this unstable mass of ice is Revealing the ...
Inaccuracies are very common in scientific paper abstracts. Image credit:Science in the Abstract: Don’t Judge a Study by its Cover I have come to accept anti-fluoride campaigners will never stop cherry-picking research and findings ...
“The scene is set, the players met…”. And what players they are in this farce of an Election coming up in the United States this year. There is a multi-faceted anger in the broader situation the world finds itself in, in which the false promises of so-called “moderates” find themselves ...
A few years ago, a company lowballed a contract to dispose of toxic waste from the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. So, they dumped it in a disused paper mill in Mataura, then went into liquidation - effectively dumping the problem on local councils. The waste is dangerous - it releases ...
Unhappy with the demonisation of Iran in Western media, I was fortunate to have the Australian Institute of International Affairs invite me to write an alternative analysis for their on-line journal Australian Outlook. I did, and they serialised it into two parts. The essays are short, so I did not ...
Over on The Good Society, Max Rashbrooke suggests that its time to start directly taxing wealth:A wealth tax would be levied on net wealth – that is, the value of people’s assets once their debts have been subtracted. Such a tax would be highly redistributive. Levied at 1% on wealth ...
The quarterly labour market statistics have been released, and unemployment has dropped to 4%. There are now 111,000 unemployed - 15,000 fewer than when Labour took office. Its not the performance we had under Clark (when unemployment was ~3.3%), but its still a reasonable improvement over prevailing conditions under National. ...
Prof Michael Baker, Prof Nick Wilson, Louise Delany, Prof Richard Edwards, Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanThe current national measles epidemic in New Zealand is amongst the largest we have experienced in the last 40 years. It can be linked to the problems created by long-term erosion and fragmentation of national public health ...
I’m about to start teaching science communication to tertiary students, which is equally hilarious and terrifying to me. (Hi to my students who have Googled me and found this post.) I loved English at high school, but we spent most of our time reading The Outsiders, discussing the differences between metaphors and ...
Space-X has started launching its Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit with a plan to use some tens of thousands of these to deliver 5G wifi to the whole globe. Chains of these satellites can be seen in the evening or before-dawn skies, through the sunlight they scatter. Here I provide ...
New Zealand was the first country to decriminalise prostitution and it was promoted as a progressive move. Yet survivors of the sex trade say that pimps and johns are emboldened operating within the law, and that the women are treated more like a piece of property to be used and ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Broadcasting New Zealand First supports the commissioning of a business case to assess the viability of a new public media entity. “A strong media environment is critical for a healthy democracy. New Zealand First is a strong supporter of a diverse, independent media,” New Zealand First broadcasting spokesperson ...
Pounamou and technology industries in the West Coast region are set to receive more than $2 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding. This was announced by the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau during Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika. He said $800,000 would be given to Development West ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First spokesperson for Labour and Industrial Relations Unemployment and wage growth numbers released by Stats NZ today demonstrate a labour market in good shape with unemployment falling to 4.0%, the underutilisation rate falling to an 11 year low, and wage growth at a 10-year high ...
Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence Ron Mark, welcomes the official opening of Te Rau Aroha, a new museum at Waitangi Treaty Grounds as part of our Coalition Agreement. “It is a great honour to be part of an effective Government ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterGood morning,Let us start with important acknowledgements.First, this special day, in remembrance of the 28th Maori Battalion, is also to honour all those men and women who have risked their lives in the service of our country.Second, special guest Robert ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand will look to build on its relationship with the United Kingdom and recommit to the European Union, after the country officially left the continental union recently. The Minister said New Zealand already cooperates closely with Britain on defence and security issues and has ...
New Zealanders are increasingly better off under this Government as wages rise and families have more disposable income, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ reported today that average household disposable incomes after housing costs rose 4.9% in 2019. This was the highest rise in four years and came as ...
All New Zealanders need to have their voices heard at work to ensure we have an inclusive and productive economy. Today we introduce a Bill to do this for workers in the New Zealand screen industry, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “The Screen Industry Workers Bill will ...
The Government has announced further help for the Southland and Otago regions to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. “I’ve approved Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG), making $500,000 available to help with the clean-up in Fiordland, Southland, and the Clutha district in Otago,” Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
Following the announcement that more than 340 schools will be funded to run events promoting vocational education, the Government has announced it will fund a further 257 events to be run by employers and industry. “These industry-run events will allow more than 30,000 students to connect with more than 2,000 ...
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...
A Government programme to wipe out pea weevil has achieved a world first, with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor today announcing the successful eradication of the noxious pest from Wairarapa. This means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today. Commercial and home gardeners can again grow ...
Southland residents hit by flooding caused by heavy rainfall can now access help finding temporary accommodation with the Government activating the Temporary Accommodation Service, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare announced today. “The Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help ...
“Is that it?” That’s Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s response to Simon Bridges’ much-hyped economic speech today. “Simon Bridges just gave the most over-hyped and under-delivered speech that I can remember during my time in politics,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s not surprising. Simon Bridges literally said on the radio this morning ...
A trial deployment of the Police Eagle helicopter in Christchurch will test whether the aircraft would make a significant difference to crime prevention and community safety. “The Bell 429 helicopter will be based in Christchurch for five weeks, from 17 February to 20 March,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The ...
The Government has kept up the pace of its work to promote New Zealand’s trade interests and diversify our export markets, with visits to Fiji and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker. Building momentum to bring the PACER Plus trade and development agreement ...
The Coalition Government’s investment in a strong border and disrupting transnational organised crime produced record results for stopping drugs in 2019, says Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. The illegal drugs were seized at the New Zealand border by Customs, and overseas by Customs’ international border partners before the drugs could ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off construction of a separated cycleway alongside Tamaki Drive. A two-way separated cycleway will be built along the northern side of Tamaki Drive, between the Quay Street Cycleway extension and Ngapipi Road. There will be a separate walking path alongside. Phil Twyford said giving ...
Owner-occupiers of unit and apartments living in earthquake-prone buildings will have certainty about the financial support they’ll be eligible for with the release of criteria for an upcoming assistance scheme, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. The Residential Earthquake-Prone Building Financial Assistance Scheme will help unit owners facing ...
Temporary restrictions on travel from China will remain in place as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The restrictions which prevent foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through, mainland China from entering New Zealand have been extended for a further 8 days. This position ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today that Tairāwhiti rangatahi will benefit from an investment made by the Government’s He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) scheme. The funding will go to the Tautua Village, Kauneke programme and the Matapuna Supported Employment Programme which will fund 120 rangatahi over two years. “Both programmes work ...
All parents and caregivers need to ensure that their children go to school unless they are sick, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin said today. “The school attendance results for 2019 show, across the board, a drop in the number of students going to school regularly,” the Minister says. “Apart from ...
A Deed of Settlement agreeing redress for historical Treaty claims has been signed by the Crown and Moriori at Kōpinga Marae on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) today, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little has announced. Moriori have a tradition of peace that extends back over 600 years. This settlement ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today with Māori King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII officially opened the country’s newest road, the $384 million Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway. The 15km four-lane highway with side and central safety barriers takes State Highway 1 east of Huntly town, across lowlands and streams ...
The rapid uptake of life-saving new hepatitis C medicine Maviret since it was funded by PHARMAC a year ago means the elimination of the deadly disease from this country is a realistic goal, Health Minister David Clark says. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus which attacks the liver, proving fatal ...
Kaupapa Māori will underpin the Government’s new plan to deal with homelessness announced by the Prime Minister in Auckland this morning. “Māori are massively overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness, so, to achieve different outcomes for Māori, we have to do things very differently,” says the Minister of Māori Development ...
1000 new transitional housing places delivered by end of year to reduce demand for emergency motel accommodation. Introduce 25% of income payment, after 7 days, for those in emergency motel accommodation to bring in line with other forms of accommodation support. Over $70m extra to programmes that prevents those at ...
Clear requirements for ensuring customers are treated fairly by banks, insurers and other financial service providers are included in new financial conduct legislation that passed its first reading today. “The recent reviews, by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) and Reserve Bank of New Zealand, into the conduct of banks and ...
Applications are now open for the fifth round of the Regional Culture and Heritage Fund Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Grant Robertson announced today. “I am delighted to open this year’s fund which has some $7 million available to support performing arts venues, galleries, museums and whare ...
The Minister of Māori Development, Hon Nanaia Mahuta today congratulated Associate Professor Amokura Kawharu on her appointment as the next President of the Law Commission. “Amokura Kawharu will be a standout in her new role, leading in an innovative and forward looking approach to the law reform process. She will ...
Auckland University legal academic Amokura Kawharu has been appointed as the next President of the Law Commission, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Associate Professor Kawharu will take up her new appointment on 11 May 2020. “I would like to congratulate Associate Professor Kawharu on her appointment,” Andrew ...
A programme for employers to help them engage effectively with younger employees was launched today by Minister of Employment, Willie Jackson. The Youth Ready Employer Programme contains a range of on-line templates that employers can easily access to help with employing and retaining young people in their businesses. The programme ...
Budget 2020 will be delivered on Thursday 14 May, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “This year’s Budget will continue the Coalition Government’s focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also preparing the economy for the future. “Those challenges and opportunities cannot be resolved in one budget, ...
I move, That this House place on record its appreciation and thanks for the devoted and distinguished service to New Zealand by the late Rt Hon Michael Kenneth Moore, member of the Order of New Zealand, a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, an Honorary Member of the ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has today classified the drought conditions in Northland as an adverse event for the primary sector, unlocking $80,000 in Government support. “This is recognition that the extreme and prolonged nature of this dry spell is taking its toll on our farmers and growers and additional support ...
The Minister of Police says an operation to smash a trans national drug smuggling ring today will make a significant impact on the methamphetamine trade fuelling harm in our communities. Police have announced 10 arrests and the seizure of up to five million dollars’ worth of illicit drugs after an ...
The Government’s books are in a strong position to withstand global headwinds, with the accounts in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the six months to December. The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was above ...
Race courses can improve safety with this year’s second round of funding from the Racing Safety Development Fund. Minister for Racing Winston Peters has announced the second funding round of 2019/20 is open with $347,875 available for distribution. “The racing industry is integral to the economic and social fabric of ...
The Government is committing $300,000 to fund research to update behavioural information to make sure HIV and STI prevention services are targeted appropriately in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson made the announcement at today’s Big Gay Out in Auckland. “There is much talk about ...
The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media has announced work will begin on a business case to assess the viability of forming a new public media entity. “The Government must ensure New Zealanders have a strong independent public media service for decades to come, which means ensuring public ...
Minister of Civil Defence Hon Peeni Henare announced today that the Government will contribute $100,000 to the Southland regional Mayoral Relief Fund, to support communities impacted by the recent flooding in Southland. Mr Henare says this week’s flooding has caused significant disruption to communities in the lower South Island. ...
Heritage buildings throughout New Zealand will benefit from the $1.1 million in Heritage EQUIP funding grants announced today. “These grants for seismic strengthening projects help private building owners get the advice they need to start building work or to get the work completed,” Grant Robertson says. “Timaru’s Grosvenor Hotel has ...
A new survey has found New Zealand’s game development sector has grown beyond expectations and is on track to becoming a billion dollar industry in 2025, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says. “New Zealand’s interactive media sector grew by 42 per cent in last financial year to $203.4 million, according ...
Te Tii, the lower marae at Waitangi, is among more than 70 marae now connected to broadband internet thanks to the Provincial Growth Fund’s marae connectivity scheme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said today. In February 2019, the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) allocated $21 million to connect rural towns ...
The West Coast has had a funding injection of over $1.2 million from the Provincial Growth Fund, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika today. The PGF projects announced are: $800,000 to Development West Coast for a Grey District Regional Digital Hub ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has declared an adverse event for the Southland and Otago regions, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “Widespread flooding has resulted in severe disruption, with many people evacuated from their homes and many farms being affected by flood waters. It’s putting pressure on our farmers, ...
Alex Casey delivers her seventh power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where a group of intruders have herniated the competition’s intestines forever. Click here for previous instalments. Welcome back to The Bachelorette NZ, where everything is made up and every man is suddenly named Mike. Intruders! Five of them! A whole ...
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila Solicitor-General Jose Calida asked the Supreme Court today to issue a gag order against ABS-CBN, claiming the Philippines’ largest television network was engaging in “propaganda” to sway the justices in the quo warranto case seeking to void its franchise. Calida filed the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen R Fisher, Professor, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for young children with disability is not equal across Australia. Where you live can hinder access to information about disability support, assistance to apply for ...
The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations applauds the changes to the Residential Tenancies Act released by the government yesterday but does not believe that they go far enough to improving the rights of renters. The power imbalance in the current ...
The Prime Minister will take no action against Deputy Prime Minister and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, after confirmation of a Serious Fraud Office investigation. ...
Eamonn Marra’s debut novel makes a study of the mundane: sanding a fence, heating baked beans, three pizzas for $29.99 delivered. Alie Benge reckons it belongs somewhere between Sally Rooney and Elena Ferrante. It was about page three of 2000ft Above Worry Level. A feeling burst inside me: the joy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzie Gibson, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Charles Sturt University The gothic developed as a European architectural phenomenon in 12th-century France, where awe-inspiring cathedrals reflected a world drenched in religious piety and superstition. Its veneration was revisited in 18th-century English literature, when ...
Financial services company Heartland Bank has reported a solid lift in its first-half profit driven by increased lending despite a squeeze on margins and rising costs. ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, e-bikes are now just a tap away! Josie Adams reviews the latest disruption in transport culture.When Lime launched in 2018, New Zealand’s transport culture got the electric shock it needed. For too long we’d ...
Ministers love to bray about the seizing of illegal drugs. Customs statistics on seizures last year – albeit “preliminary” statistics – therefore were irresistible to Customs Minister Jenny Salesa. They gave her a platform to remind us of her existence as a Minister while acknowledging the work of her officials. ...
The rise of ‘plant-based’ diets seems like a win for those who decry eating meat. But some vegan groups claim the halfway step of vegetarianism is ineffectual if you really care about animal cruelty, climate change, or your own personal health.An article in the Guardian last year asked “Why do ...
FIRST Union General Secretary Dennis Maga says that this morning’s comments from National Party Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith that the party would consider scrapping the Government’s proposed minimum wage increases if elected ...
The State Housing Action Network (SHAN) is deeply disappointed that the Government’s recently announced Aotearoa Homelessness Action Plan fails to provide for increases in the state housing stock which are essential for addressing the homelessness crisis. ...
Electricity retailers will no longer be able to entice former customers with steep and exclusive discounts, the Electricity Authority has announced. ...
The National Party leader Simon Bridges says it came as a surprise to him that the Serious Fraud Office prosecution relates to two $100,000 donations to the party. ...
National Party leader Simon Bridges says it came as a surprise to him that a Serious Fraud Office prosecution relates to two $100,000 donations to the party. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne The federal court’s rejection of the ABC case against the Australian Federal Police raid on its Sydney headquarters in June 2019 reveals two issues of great importance to ...
Zero waste campaigners are petitioning the Government to take a more active stance in tackling Aotearoa New Zealand’s waste crisis, with a comprehensive ban on single-use disposable plastic food and drink serviceware, and a phasing in of accessible, reusable ...
“Callaghan Innovation’s $440,000 grant for an electric ferry design is pure corporate welfare,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “If EV Maritime’s ferries present such good value, then why didn’t it get private ...
President Rodrigo Duterte takes legal action to shut down the biggest broadcaster in the Philippines in what is being described as the most severe attack on media freedom in the country. Video: Al JazeeraPacific Media Watch More than 500 journalists have gathered to protest threats to the survival ...
Pacific Media Centre Papua New Guinea’s Minister for State Enterprises Sasindran Muthuvel has reassured the nation that Air Niugini is taking all necessary steps to protect the country against the spread of coronavirus, reports EMTV News. “The airline has instituted a wide range of measures to minimise the risk ...
Our writers celebrate the best performances you can watch right now on NEON. Basically? They’re iconic.We all love a good story, and a great plot twist can turn a mediocre TV show into addictive weekly viewing. But what really keeps us coming back are the characters, and seeing actors at ...
National finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith has refused to give details on the party's planned tax cut policy announced in a speech by leader Simon Bridges yesterday. ...
The owners of three properties in Twizel will have to sell-up after they failed to seek consent from the Overseas Investment Office (OIO). Vanessa Horne, Group Manager for the OIO, says a group of overseas investors bought the three properties, which ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentNZ First donations scandal Guyon Espiner and Kate Newton (RNZ): NZ First Foundation trustee was lobbying for donor Bryce ...
A Southland school has been criticised for requiring girls to see a counsellor before opting to wear shorts as their uniform. It’s merely a symptom of a bigger problem, Madeleine Chapman writes.On Sunday, Stuff reported that James Hargest College in Southland would soon allow girls to wear shorts or pants ...
The Manawatu Tenants’ Union’ (MTU) celebrates yesterday’s release of the Residential Tenancies Act Reform Bill, but challenges the Minister to stil go further to improving tenancy rights. The Bill would remove the ability for landlords to terminate a tenancy ...
The Government is putting together an $11 million package to offset the fallout from coronavirus and attract tourists from countries other than China. ...
Friends of Sherwood are asking that the following question be put to all voters: “ Should New Zealand stop using all cruel and inhumane poisons, such as 1080, brodifacoum, and PAPP, to kill wildlife because these toxic substances inflict intense and prolonged, ...
Organise Aotearoa will be joining rallies for abortion law reform, scheduled today in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin. The National Day of Action is hosted by Fem Force - Feminist Action Aotearoa. “Nobody should be pressured to ...
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Number of cars crushed by Judith (crusher) Collins – 0
Number of prisons made smoke free by Judith (cougher) Collins – 0
Prisoners openly stand around smoking in front of guards, the air is heavily scented with cigarette smoke.
Corrections Officers say the whole policy is a joke, and could only be enforced with massive and violent over the top methods.
Desperate prisoners have even resorted to smoking their patches, and even risking electrocution by getting a light jamming tin foil into the wall plugs, and shorting out the power systems on a regular basis.
If they had been asked, Corrections Officers said the policy may have had some chance, if instead of a blanket ban, smoking was only banned from indoor areas – as in other public buildings.
Number of prison officers asked for their advice by Judith (la la land) Collins – 0
Increased cost on the taxpayer for funding unlimited nicotine patches and lozenges per inmate: who knows.
What’s your point? Non-imates can get subsidised patches – I have some from my abortive attempt to quit (before the company I worked for collapsed.) It’s well-known to anyone who cares about people rather than just about enforcing their will on the unworthy, that quitting is next to impossible in high-stress situations. Don’t kid yourself that Tariana’s policy was about anyone’s “health” – it was purely a punitive power play, with a dose of middle class snobbery thrown in. The middle classes drink (oh man do they drink!) but they love to sneer at the working and beneficiary classes who smoke.
Non-inmates:
Don’t dry used tea leaves,
Don’t sprinkle the contents of nicotine patches, or crushed lozenges over dried tea leaves,
Don’t smoke this vile concoction.
Not a big fan of smokers or smoking, regardless of socio-economic status, but you make a good point there, Vicky. Though I see it more in the furore over liqour outlets. If a bottle store opens in a poor area there is a huge outrage, but barely a peep if it is in a middle-upper class area.
A very good point, millsy!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/5826304/Gaddafi-killed-as-last-stronghold-falls
Better late then never I guess
A new era for Libya I suppose. The ‘rebels’ can at last claim an absolute victory.
I don’t care who claims the kill, just that hes dead
A bit bloodthirsty of you, chris73. Isn’t it enough for you just to see his régime toppled?
I think the world is a better place (however small) because hes dead.
Doesn’t matter to you that he might have been executed?
Or that he might have been toppled because the west wanted his oil reserves (the second largest in Africa)?
Or that Tony Blair might have sucked him into a non-aggression pact that the west was never intending to honour?
Or that Obama might have pushed for this as a campaign lead up to an election year?
Or that NATO and US forces have now bombed Libya back to the stone age, so that it will be entirely reliant on debt funding from the IMF and World Bank? (as a precursor to taking the countries mineral assets away)?
yeah the world sure looks like a better place.
Doesn’t matter to you that he might have been executed?
– No, dead is dead
Or that he might have been toppled because the west wanted his oil reserves (the second largest in Africa)?
– Doesn’t matter, still a terrorist douche bag
Or that Tony Blair might have sucked him into a non-aggression pact that the west was never intending to honour?
– Didn’t rhink Blair was that smart but good on him (Sun Tzu would probably approve)
Or that Obama might have pushed for this as a campaign lead up to an election year?
– So what
Or that NATO and US forces have now bombed Libya back to the stone age, so that it will be entirely reliant on debt funding from the IMF and World Bank? (as a precursor to taking the countries mineral assets away)?
– I’m sure Gaddafi had a hand in keeping his people in the stone age already
yeah the world sure looks like a better place.
– Well its a good start
Or water, I’ve heard…
Seems very likely!
Oh yes, and the country resembles one of the inner circles of hell right now. I am very suspicious about it – and have been all along… “Libya has been liberated!” a newsreader just cried excitedly on the BBC. Yeah, right!
Actually, I would have preferred Gaddafi was kept alive. There’s probably a few skeletons in his closet that would rattle some western governments.
Including a fair few agreements and assurances that were made between Libya, the UK and the US. Let’s see what happens to Gaddaffi’s children; they each had a role in helping him run the state and will also know much.
@Carol, I guess you’re right. They’ll be a few “Western Interests” giving a sigh of relief today that he’s not alive to tell stories.
Problem is that doubt he would have made a good witness as I think, mentally, he had been treading water in the deep end for too long. Some have said drugs, others mental illness.
This is probably more a geo-political chess move disguised as a revolution of the people. If you are the US (and Britain & France) you want to ensure a continual supply of oil (especially of the quality that Libya has) from a compliant state. The Ghadaffi (?) dynasty government was far too independent and unreliable to be allowed to continue.
Saudi Arabia is on side, Iraq is now in the bag, Southern Sudan is now independent, Nigeria is a basket case and now Libya is accessible.
So who’s next? Who is the next country that is going to have “democracy” brought to them in exchange for oil?
Where is the evidence William Joyce that Western nations get preferential treatment in handling of oil contracts after military intervention?
Your musings on this topic are essentially conspiratorial nonsense mascarading as an attempt at serious geopolitical analysis.
It was on CNN this morning.
Try here, here and here in relation to Libya. Try here, here and here 🙂 for Iraq.
Conspiracy theories are one thing; naivety quite another.
Wow! Shock – Horror – Western Oil firms are interested in making money in oil rich nations!
Who would have thunk it.
The only link to something suggesting impropriety in handling of these contracts is an opinion piece which state that handling out technical contracts to multinational oil firms rather than specialists is unusual. However that is then countered by a quote in the next link which explains this as follows “But the deals, known as service contracts, are unusual, said Greg Mutitt, co-director of Platform, an oil industry research group. “Normally such service contracts are carried out by specialist companies … The majors are not normally interested in such deals, preferring to invest in projects that give them a stake in ownership of extracted oil and the potential for large profits. The explanation is that they see them as a stepping stone…” ”
One of your links was about oil interest BEFORE military intervention in Libya and one of them was a Cartoon as far as I could see. This is the best you could do???
Someone stated that this information was on CNN this morning. If so I’m sure it is easy enough to link the article to make your case stronger.
Just to reiterate, as it seems some of you are having difficulty comprehending what is being asked here, where is the evidence that Western Oil firms are benefiting unproperly as a result of military intervention by Western nations in oil rich countries?
“where is the evidence that Western Oil firms are benefiting unproperly as a result of military intervention by Western nations in oil rich countries?”
Gosman, is war an ‘unproper’ way to carry out business? Before each of these invasions the oil was being exploited by quite a different set of companies/state agencies. There was interest from western oil companies in gaining access to Libyan oil (which, as you note, one of my links provides evidence for).
After the invasions, a set of companies that just happened to match (in ‘home nationality’ status) the countries doing the invading are lined up to do the exploiting.
Further, in one of those links it also noted that the service contracts in Iraq were written with US State Department help. Is that ‘proper’?
Evidence, in both a legal and scientific sense, is not usually ‘cast iron’. Rather, it is used to build a case. In that sense, there is ample evidence that the oil contracts were a result of improper practices (including invasion).
I included the cartoon as a humorous punchline for the links – hence my attempt at a ‘smiley’ just after it (though it didn’t appear as the full yellow-faced icon we’ve all come to love (?))
Gosman has always had trouble understanding the difference between evidence and proof.
He demands the former thinking it synonymous with the latter.
And then when the former is provided in abundance he gets on his high horse because it isn’t the latter that he thought he was demanding.
lol.
Felix, That about sums Gosman up! LOL
Another Libyan resource now likely to be pillaged by Western corporate interests, specifically French corporations, are the massive water aquifers in the south of the country.
Always follow the money.
Carol:
Seriously, you dont care that his people is no longer under a tyrant and torturer, you just
want western governments to be embarrassed ?
Brett Dale,
If he was kept alive, as Carol had wished, Libyans would still be “no longer under a tyrant and torturer”, so I’m not sure what your point is.
Also, we are led to believe that the rebel forces had taken him alive and intended to keep him alive. Whether or not that is simply propaganda, it is also true that it could be to the advantage of Libyan people to find out things from Gaddafi about the country’s situation (e.g., any hidden wealth, corruptly instituted contracts with foreign companies that they may now wish to re-litigate or annul, etc.).
That’s the reason he was shot Carol /The Capitalist West has so much to hide . I would presume it will be hidden from public view until most of us have gone ahead.
Exactly! On Radio NZ this morning, I kept hearing on the news that the “rebel leader” regretted that Ghaddafi was dead, and that he “had tried to save him”. Tui billboard!
Wouldn’t you rather he were tried, chris?
There may be some reasons people dont want him tried, dead is far more convenient.
http://www.cluborlov.blogspot.com/
Club Orlov, nice holiday spot that one.
Only if it was guaranteed that he’d be executed once hes found guilty, if not then no.
So it’s not actually about justice then. Good to know.
Dirty raghead eh Cris? Never mind the tens of thousands of other people who were killed during the raids and the new Ambassador calling Libia the jewel in the crown because of the oil and gold they can loot, you sad racist piece of shit.
That’s not what he said Ev, so don’t twist it. He referenced the stuff article and then said he was glad Gadaffi was dead. Not even close to what you just commented.
Cheers
Its sad (but typical I guess) that little dick-smacks like ev read what they want in a statement.
He/she sees a statement as racist even when theres no racist statements in it, kind of suggests that he/she might be a little bit racist…
Second that ev. If NATO and the oil men can do this to Libya they can do it to any country that suits. With peak oil these people are desperate for more fossil fuel supplies.
A new regime that appears to have started with an execution rather than a trial of the deposed ex leader is not a great beginning for any Libyans expecting enhanced human rights. I predict they will have a US compliant government that oversees the export of oil wealth to the detriment of local needs.
“With peak oil these people are desperate for more fossil fuel supplies.”
For that reason I am concerned about the possibility for foreign pressure on our government (overt or covert) to open up our EEZ to foreign oil companies.
Don’t worry, we’ve got sweet FA proven reserves so its a big fat nothing until someone finds 10Bb equivalent somewhere around here.
How are they going to loot the oil?
You just can’t go in there and scoop up a bunch of it in the back of trucks. You actually need to invest heavily in the infrastructure for extraction..
Also there is no evidence that Western oil firms get the oil for free from places like Iraq so why would you think Libya was going to be any different?
It’s not about free but reliable supply and at a reasonable price.
What will be interesting is what is going to happen to Libya’s assets? LIA has position in GE, Catepillar, Citigroup, Haliburton, BASF and more in Italy and France (plus millions in bank accounts).
NATO may confiscate these in return for the cost of the air strikes.
Ummmmmm…. Western oil firms had reliable supply and at a reasonable price BEFORE the Libyan uprising.
If anything having a country without a firm and dictatorial leadership increases instability. You lefties should know this. That is why many of you keep claiming that the West loves the leaders of Saudi Arabia.
Of course you could easily win this argument by pointing out an example in Iraq where Western oil firms have been able to get preferential treatment in oil contracts. Perhaps you could find this evidence in this article on the subject http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/02/iraq-oil-production-increasing-to-3.html
With peak oil and the pressure to ensure this is an “American century” and/or the dominance of the west it is about ensuring supply is reliable – you do that by having more than one source in the event that the source you have relied upon “BEFORE the Libyan uprising” is no longer available.
“If anything having a country without a firm and dictatorial leadership increases instability.”
It is not about the type of government (democrartic or dictatorial) but whether they will be compliant with your objectives. The US, Britain et al have historically shown that they will do deals with the devil as long as it gets them what they want.
Avoiding the issue I see there William Joyce
“The US, Britain et al have historically shown that they will do deals with the devil as long as it gets them what they want.”
Quite possibly true however there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that they get better deals after a military intervention. If you note the article I linked to you will have noted the large influence of Chinese oil companies in developing Iraqi fields.
I didn’t argue preferential contracts. As I said it was not about free but cheap, available, constant.
I assume market prices will still prevail (in theory – the more supply the cheaper).
But cost is less of a consideration than available and constant. You cannot be a world power, and project that power unless you have oil to power your planes and to run the economy at home.
With regard to assets – CNN listed the investments made by LIA and that there would be an expectation that NATO countries would be reimbursed.
Look back in history (read the book The Prize) and you will see that the geo-politics of the mid-east has been about oil as far back as the early 20th century.
Last week I gave Dave Brown the Trotskyite a hard time about his contentions about the Russian revolution…his theological attachment to his dogma spoke louder to him than the corpses of the victims. The record was written in blood for all to see.
I would contend that support of the US / European incursions into the Middle East will be equally judged in terms of morality by the very substantial body count of the innocents. We are all beneficiaries of the oil flow and therefore culpable because we subscribe to and foster a model of economy that takes what it wants from whoever gets in the way. No easy answers here.
“Most of the incremental oil will come from work by BP and China National Petroleum Corp. at Rumaila, an Eni-led group at Zubair and — later in the year — from Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell at West Qurna-Phase 1.”
Chinese oil companies? Only one, in partnership with BP. The rest are part of the “Coalition of the Willing”. I note, for example, a lack of mention of any Russian companies. Or Iraqi, for that matter.
Your argument does not hold water William Joyce. The Libyan and Iraqi governments still control the awarding of oil extraction rights in their nations. They can quite easily withdraw these at some stage in the future.
The fact that these nations are far more democratic now means that there will be in fact less stability in relation to this than if the countries was being run by a brutal dictator. If I sign an agreement with a brutal dictator I can be reasonably assured that he will be in power for a number of years. There is no way of knowing in places like Iraq if the agreement you signed might not be repudiated by another government that is less interested in maintaining good relations with the country that you are based in.
Mcflock – I believe when the article mentions the Iraq’s Missan Oil Co it is fair to assume this is an Iraqi bassed oil company. In fact you can read more about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missan_Oil_Company
What you fail to deal with is the fact that there is Chinese there at all in a major role should be evidence that the West is not controlling Iraq’s oil extraction. Why would the West allow the Chinese a key role when the Chinese were less than happy with the 2003 invasion?
I stand corrected – an Iraqi company has a 25% share in a field that produces 265,000bpd, so they basically account for 70,000bpd out of 4,000,000bpd (based on the cumulative field totals).
As for the Chinese involvement, you always give a taste of the action to the guy who bankrolls your existence at the moment.
But the majority of contracts went to members of the “Coalition of the Willing”.
Gosman, I understand your point that, theoretically, there is a greater certainty of making a deal and having continued supply if there is only one person to deal with.
But there can come a point (and we have seen it so often in US foreign policy) where the ally can become the enemy.
These events more than likely come about for a combination of reasons and so may or may not be about oil. But one thing is certain, when the dust settles, they want to have their foot in the door. Yes, there is less certainty if a democracy is in place but democracies can be surprisingly easy to manipulate/corrupt.
As I said above…
The Ghadaffi (?) dynasty government was far too independent and unreliable to be allowed to continue.
Did the US start the revolution? I don’t know, probably not. But once it was under way I am sure that France and Britain saw a possible end game that would work in their favour – hence the pressure they put on the US to intervene.
It’s one thing to have oil agreements with Libya but a better thing to have an oil supply agreement + access to other resources + an open market to invest in + an economy that can be supplied with western products.
It should be pointed out France and possibly Britain had other reasons to see Gadaffi gone – if I remember rightly something to do with telecommunications, money lent to France (or was his Sarkosy’s political funds – I can’t remember)
Intervention is an action. The motives for intervention can differ. The Neo-Cons who want American dominance in the world see the chance to ease their concerns about supply. The liberals see intervention as a means to support some sort of democratic self-determination.
Dick Cheney made it perfectly clear (and I which I could give you a reference) that the future of US foreign policy (diplomatic and military) was all about securing the supply of oil.
Gosman has always had trouble understanding the difference between conspiracy and opportunism.
Until recently he still had a black and white tv. He only got rid of it because the shades of grey were confusing him.
What makes you think there’s not already an infrastructure? Maybe you think that Libya is just a wide oasis in the desert, with airports comprising a few Nissen huts surrounded by camels and a few WW2 jeeps… (as portrayed in American movies.)
Thank heaven for small mercies. The slash and burn Tea-Party Hamilton City Council has backed down on proposed charges for library books. They will still make huge cuts to their libarary budget, but at least there was some place they were willing to stop.
Damn right they should be thankful Millsy. They are getting a spanking new velodrome (strangely situated at a private school), what the hell do they need books for?
The rate payers group of Hamilton is growing at an alarming rate with more and more young people and ex-Nat voters. Nothing gets people more upset as rising taxes and lowering house prices with the money spend on stupid projects such a velodromes etc. while they can’t afford to buy their necessities anymore. Like $2 per book from the library to name but one.
thankfully the Council has stepped back from that particular brainfart, but has said it will reduce new stock purchases amongst steps to scrape back spending.
My submission on that proposal (the velodrome) indicated my concern over its location. The whole ‘cycling centre of excellence’ is now spread over a 100km triangle – a complete nonsense – it should have been in Rotorua as it was the only place that had all the requirements of the tender, but no money to ‘buy’ a velodrome.
Still, the posh kids can have fun!
obviously part of keys cycleway
You’d think they could start by reducing their bloated roads budget.
Councils have become an even sicker joke over recent decades.
People continue to elect any vain, bombastic buffoon that can pay to get their picture in the paper and then wonder why they end up with motley gaggles of barely-literate car salesmen and intellectually-challenged social climbers who proceed to trip over themselves in farcical efforts to make the most regressive taxation system in history even more punishing to the poorest.
One day someone might examine the huge transfer of the rating burden from rich to poor (via eg UAGCs and targeted rates) but don’t hold your breath.
They’re now easy meat and sitting ducks to any well-heeled lobby group and their own legions of upper-middle-class employees: many council staff and CEOs are now paid massively more than the CEO of the world’s largest bank (which incidentally is $150k – see Bernard Hickey’s blog of a couple of days ago)
It’s a farce. And while they contribute vast amounts of ratepayers’ money to their local rags via advertising, they’ll continue to receive the same sychophantic press fellation as NACT, and the trend will continue.
Either organise locally or expect more amalgamations and wave goodbye to local democracy.
I couldn’t agree more ak.
“Organising locally” is often difficult and time-consuming where ‘community ties’ have become most fractured, but urgently, and unavoidably necessary.
Micheal Redman, Hamiltons ad man form hell. Sorry Auckland he’s yours now.
No mention of the Labour party policy on Agriculture at the moment I see.
It looks like the Labour party has decided to give up any hope of winning over the provinces and are pandering to it’s urban constinuency again.
Yes, because farmers should so be given free reign to ignore the RMA when it comes to water pollution from runoff and shovel off the costs of climate change to the government and public…
Another well researched and clearly reasoned piece of work on the Occupy movement -sarc
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10760490
Why do journos insist on carrying on as if the rest of the world cannot use the Internet? Even if the [Journalist ? ] chooses not to do any basic research, most people i know do some level of fact checking especially when they are told to look the other way. Stories like this seem outdated and more and more desperate in their pathetic attempts to brand a popular global movement as if it is a Sociology capping stunt.
It’s Deborah Hill Cone, Freedom. You can’t really expect much.
It’s always fascinated me that she has chosen (or at least not vetoed) a picture to accompany her “journalism”, in which one eye is covered. If I thought she had any capacity for self-awareness I’d think the one-eyed image was a bit of a joke.
I loved the comment someone left on the page, along the lines of “let them eat cake, eh?”.
It really was a mentally-vacant upper-middle-class opinion piece, the sort of thing someone says at a dinner party after a few too many glasses of chardonnay. With a wee hint of “but we’re smarter than them so we’re richer”.
@ Blue
Have you ever heard her on Jim Mora’s The Panel session? She is the most loud mouthed, ignorant woman that has ever graced that programme. And that includes Christine Rankin before she won – courtesy of that other ignoramus, Paula Bennett – a spot on the Families Commission.
Which facts do you have a problem with?
Care to point out the errors or are you just taking the bog standard approach to an opinion piece that you disagree with by stating it is all based on lies?
I actually didn’t see anything in there that anybody could point out as being factually incorrect. You are entitled to disagree with her opinion and conclusion of course.
I take it you are referring to my “well researched” comment. I guess you didn’t bother reading to the end of the line where i also wrote “clearly reasoned”. The trick to comprehension there gosman is the relationship of information to the intent to persuade. Intent to persuade being a pretty big part of the whole ‘reasoning’ thing.
I did not say she had misrepresented any facts, that issue is your interpretation. My issue is with what she wrote. The piece Ms Cone wrote is, as you point out, an opinion piece.
An opinion published in a National Newspaper is an opportunity to express a view that few get to take advantage of. As a recepient of that privilege it is beholden of Ms Cone to inform herself of the topic she is making comment on. She has clearly failed to do. Her tone and statements, such as “Anyway, I suspect many of the Occupy protesters are not so much against capitalism per se, as feeling miffed that they personally are not rich capitalists. ” expose her ill-informed prejudice.
I respect her right to voice her informed opinion, naturally, as i do yours. Informed opinions are the foundations on which we build our social norms and conventions. With strong foundations great structures can be built. Which is i why i object to foundations built of conjecture and ignorance.
Her insinuation that the 1% got there by merit has the same prejudicial basis. Difficult to argue that one, factually.
I watched a programme on Sky in which the medieval mind was explored. That mind believed the ruling class, the 1%ers, got there by merit and by superior genes, of course.
What utter bollocks. You have no way of knowing how much information Deborah Cone has researched. Just because someone doesn’t share your opinion about a topic that must mean they are not as informed as you. The intellectual arrogance dripping from that is simply astounding to behold.
A (potentially) good point, but it’s shame that you’ve historically failed to follow it yourself. Unfortunately a quick skim over the article shows she done about a year 11 student level of research that borders on “not achieved” if we’re going on NCEA standards, and instead fills in by conjecturing with teh “jealously” hypothesis. Which when dealing with grass roots protests is a pretty clear cut case of pick and chose, instead of doing teh smart thing and looking at all the various voices…
Also highly amusing is her referencing of a shining example of pseudoscience via bullshitting with statistics that is The Bell Curve as a hint that the rich are “smarter” than the poor and thus natural elites. Funny thing about that is that is, if memory serves me right, quick stats tests show little difference between the upper income earners and the rest of the population in terms of average intelligence, and that IQ scores aren’t a statistically significant predictor of a persons income.
But hey, why try and wrap your head around complex causations behind income levels and old boys networks when you can play pretend and believe it’s down to “merit”?…
And as the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to be critiqued from “on high”, it emerges that Goldman Sachs executives have awarded themselves US$10.01 billion in bonuses so far this year.
Multiple highly radioactive spots found all around Tokyo
Japanese MSM seems complicit in keeping this quiet.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/10/more-than-20-radioactive-hotspots-found-in-tokyo.html
Rush Limbaugh Sympathizes With Terrorist Sex Slavers, the Lords Resistance Army.
It just had to be said…
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse…..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10760745
Macaroon’s coming to hang out with Key – more photo ops!
Whale stranded on Ohope beach. Conservationists concerned it may have ingested oil.
I bet Key and Bridges won’t show up for a photo op with the whale!
“I didn’t drive that whale onto the beach”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5828339/Whale-strands-on-Ohope-Beach
Good Press Release from the Mana Party where Ikaroa Rawhiti candidate Tawhai McClutchie calls for a complete cancellation on oil and gas development in New Zealand.
“Tauranga Moana needs to be a wake-up call. Our country should be developing more widespread, community-based sustainable energy alternatives. Not only does it behove this country’s clean, green image, such sustainable energy alternatives help break our habit of oil dependence, puts power back into our people’s hands, and it is healthier for the environment and wildlife. All future oil operations must stop.”
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1110/S00359/national-the-party-of-irresponsibility-and-greed.htm
I agree with this call because further exploitations are based on selfishness and greed and the myth of unending growth, which is false and illusory – it just isn’t going to happen – peak oil and the effects of climate change are happening now and the world as we have known it is changing, drastically. Community and connection are the only answer and this Press Release is part of the solution to the problems many refuse to acknowledge. As Tawhai says, “Their greed is insatiable.”
The rights war on the poor continues.
The Economist: The heat is on.
A new analysis of the temperature record leaves little room for the doubters. The world is warming
There’s always room for doubt, you only have to look at young earth creationists raging against the far taller mountain of evidence for evolutionary biology on the basis of ideological beliefs 🙁
There ain’t no warmin’, e-volutchun and Jay-zus walked himself with the dyno-saws. And that nice Mista Key, ain’t he just the sweetest thang?
hey joe 90 funny how the temperature graph matches the CO 2 graph
What’s your Number?
I reckon Joky Hen fears a Brashional government and is therefore only prepared to put “Two Ticks National” when he votes.
In fact, with so many current, former, and aspiring leaders of the National Party potentially there in November, they must all be watching their backs.
The country knows where Brash stands on most issues and Key will find it very difficult to work with him.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5830022/ACT-can-t-bank-on-Keys-support
Question: On the official programme for the final, will it say
France vs New Zealand or France vs All Blacks?
From memory, of following the tours of United Kingdom, the provincial/club games used to be against the All Blacks but the games against the then Five Nations, i.e the internationals, it was vs New Zealand.
The All Blacks used to be the official touring party, bit like the MCC in cricket. The tests were against England but state and minor games were against the MCC.
Has someone made a killing therefore on the printing of all those flags with All Blacks rather than New Zealand on them.
Greece continues to disintegrate as their politicians again choose the banksters over their own people
The guillotine is the only answer at this stage.
http://www.youtube.com/user/RussiaToday#p/u/4/YdL97_SE9nc
That’s always what it comes down to once the psychopaths take control.
Haere ra Muammar
You gave em shit for a while
Danced em in circles
Let the crushed masses smile
But in the end it’s numbers
And the width of the gall
You sacrificed thousands
While they’d take us all.
Rest easy Muammar
As they prance on your grave
Join the warrior rank
And sup deep to the brave.
Uh huh
Amene!
-304
Good words, ak!