Congratulations to Clayton Cosgrove for his performance on RNZ this morning. He made very sharp points on the Key&co handling of Solid Energy. He “gives” good radio!
Kerry called for collective action to deal with this problem. “So let’s commit ourselves to doing the smart thing and the right thing and truly commit to tackling this challenge,” he said. “Because if we don’t rise to meet it, rising temperatures and rising sea levels will surely lead to rising costs down the road. If we waste this opportunity, it may be the only thing our generations are remembered for. We need to find the courage to leave a far different legacy.”
“We cannot talk about the unprecedented changes happening on our planet without talking about the unprecedented changes in its population – another great opportunity at our fingertips,” he warned.
But midway through the climate change section, Kerry paused. “Can we all say thank you and to our signers?” the secretary of state said referencing those who were translating his speech into sign language.
There’s the answer Jenny, the one people can’t get their heads around being foisted upon them!
Sergey Brin and Mark Zuckerberg, along with their spouses, joined Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner to award 11 scientists $3 million each to launch the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.
Solving the enormous complexity of human diseases calls for a much bigger effort compared to fundamental physics and therefore requires multiple sponsors to reward outstanding achievements,” Milner said of the Silicon Valley heavyweights teaming up to back the award.
This public admission that Google/FB are in fact the same entity being confirmed in this open collaboration, referring to sponsoring research which has long since been going on, and to which the results will not be available, for those John Kerry has designated to be reduced in numbers!
Go ahead and argue it then James, be sure to trace the shareholders of those companies all the way back, as far as possible.
Don’t forget that its been well covered in the MSM, that the intelligence services are *key stakeholders* in both google/FB!
McFlock – Unprecedented changes in population, and another great opportunity at *our* fingertips – Note, not yours or mine eh, we are not, *our*
Increased funding in medical research – nah thats an announcement of whats already been going on – i.e – access to advancements that the masses are never going to see or get!
For someone who seems to take some pride in being a word nerd, you are not at all able to read through the words delivered by the rulers – Which is why you and your ilk flap around wondering WFT is really happening!
As to what medical advances the hooples “see or get” – well, how has your smallpox or polio been? Too long ago? Popped by A&E recently, or do you think the CT scanners want to rob your thoughts? Maybe you meant the bulk of the world population – well, fair call on that, it does take a while to get to those places. Capitalism sucks at that, by definition. Although there are quite a few organisations providing new AIDS or Malaria treatments in deprived regions.
It’s not “the rulers” words I have much difficulty seeing through.
Figuring out WTF planet you are on, however…
Maybe I “get” more than for what you give me credit, while you flit from shallow thought to shallow thought, thinking the world would be so much better if everyone did what you said.
He makes the very good point that essentially the Government is selling legislation for the convention centre. There is currently a cap on the number of casinos and on the provision of casino gambling and if the Convention Centre as envisaged is to go ahead then this law will have to change.
He says:
Would we mind if a tobacco company were to build the convention centre in return for lowering the smoking age? How about a mining company in return for the right to mine a national park? Would you be outraged if Greenpeace built it in return for heavy regulation on the fishing industry, or perhaps the mining industry? How about PETA build it in return for heavy animal welfare codes for the pork or poultry industries?.
The point is that the validity of these ideas has nothing to do with a convention centre. Call me naive but I assume laws restricting pokie machines came about through a process focused on the pros and cons of pokie machines. Surely therefore, assessing the pros and cons of pokie machines is the only way this legislation should be changed. A new convention centre may or may not be a great idea, but it is completely unrelated to the debate on restrictions on pokie machines and should stay that way.
Cripes. Whatever’s become of all our big strong “anti nanny-state” boys?
Seems they’ve run out of assorted scapegoats and random Lithuanian left-handed beneficiaries to bash, so it’s on to the spouses.
How is a spouse defined? And does Bluster Borrows’ latest brainwave mean that every criminal act by the little woman is now also blamed on her knowing lord and master? And Vicky Vercoe?
If not why not?
Where are the concerned Lords of the Law Societies in all this?
Or does it just apply to those solo slappers. You know, like Slippery’s mum.
Ah well, as the boy himself said, if you cancel all their benefits, bugger-all will starve. Just not sure he meant the lads as well…..
I see Chris Trotter has chucked in the towel over trying to stop the train-wreck that is the Labour Party:
Charles Chauvel, “Champagne Charlie”, that wilful roisterer whose liberal disposition and utterly brilliant legal mind promised a Labour Attorney General and Justice Minister of rare ability and enduring achievement, is merely the latest victim of a Labour caucus which, increasingly, is distinguished by nothing other than its dreary mediocrity.
I ask myself: “With Champagne Charlie gone, can the talented Mr Cunliffe be far behind?”
New Zealand now faces the dismal prospect of a change of government by default. It is entirely possible that, in twenty months’ time, Mr Key and his National Party, in spite of enjoying a ten percentage point advantage over their nearest political rival – will, nevertheless, lose the 2014 General Election
He concludes:
The mandate of these three, ideologically distinct, political parties will be impossible for the electorate to discern. Inevitably, New Zealand’s policy direction will default to the usual bureaucratic suspects: Treasury, MFAT and the Ministry for Primary Industries. Their attached ministers are unlikely to cause any trouble. The ambition of courtiers is to climb things – not change things.
It is in the nature of bulls to defend their own. Mr Cunliffe’s supporters should, therefore, console themselves with the knowledge that while they lacked the judgement to avoid a head-on collision with Labour’s locomotive, they retained just enough courage for one final, redeeming, charge.
I disagree with the misleading term “Cunliffe’s supporters” , but his blog pretty much sums up my views.
not “spam” (green eggs and ham)
is that Maryanne Street?
Prescription Charges- (“an inflation adjustment”; Ryally?)
-inflating stressors
-cost
-overwhelming discounting retailers
-and, surprise, surprise, scripts left on pharmacy shelves. (not mine, i only take an anti-histamine, amongst the privet i’m allergic to what NAct is pollinating)
Y-because we like you (but you are awe, shucks) agriculture’s Fall dethroned by Joining the National Party in December gifts may be exchanged, and briefly, “Jack’s as good as his master” Led by the braided F-ring circus when The Levee Breaks it will be Titian to the rescue we Assume / know Virgins were harmed in the painting of this tryptich tableaux, Actaeon though, was torn to pieces by his own hounds.Sooo…satyagrahn down, a node yore out there somwhere Cath; remember golden splendour? That was Delicious (Waves theta warm Helio-); can you see paradise by the dashboard light.
I haven’t read Geoff Bertram, Economist, Victoria University – today he made commented on Radionz about Solid Energy’s problems. I’ve decided for me he is someone with sound ideas whose mind is worth following, and I give a link to extensive notes he used at a lecture on our economy. It has great charts for those who like to see trends at a glance.
Notes for Fabians Seminar “Fresh Ideas for a Productive Economy”
July 2011 – Legislative Chamber, NZ Parliament
comprehensive (give us 40 acres and we’ll turn this rig around; bit tricky to reverse a road-train)
“failing states”; interesting. coming to a casino near you Monty?
(thanks for the weekend reading joe; it’s all agape where i hang out;”Giant steps are what you take, Walking On The Moon…”)
being the H-SS blade that i am sometime, i just about wept watching Campbell on the Canterbury Water Catchment, and all this “desert” has transpired in 40 years or so; smells like the fragrance of “Egypt” to me.
btw…
“the distinction between two sorts of truths…profound truths recognized by the fact that the opposite is also a profound truth, in contrast to trivialities, where opposites are obviously absurd.”
(Neils), hope that doesn’t Bohr you.
rhetorically, grammatically and logically speaking, experience is ambiguous and that’s a
Porcupinestarfish Fact.Record. (thank God for Martin Hannett the mad bastard).
aaah, so monitoring, not really training. But in effect it is to monitor the entire conversation at a later point for whatever purpose necessary I imagine. I don’t trust any such large organisation – in either intention or competency
Many moons ago a former acquaintance of mine worked at a local international toll exchange before it became fully automated. She regularly listened-in to conversations especially if they were well known people – pollies were a particularly good source of info. She got away with it because they didn’t have the ability to record every toll-call made through an operator. Years later I heard she was summarily sacked, and have always assumed she was eventually caught.
I repeat this anecdote because there can also be legitimate reasons for recording phone calls. For one thing it ensures the operators will always be polite and helpful and not try to fob the caller off in some way.
i fellow-ship at least three to four times a week with some wonderful “disciples”, all at different stages on their journeys (try not to stumble anybody), anyway, the same themes keep cropping up between people who are not individually in direct communication…
an interesting one is a perception of a reverse traversal of the biblical narrative unfolding all around
anyway,
Open Mike 12/02/2013 I asked “What has really made the Pope’s job untenable?”
To think that the Pope is more concerned about sex between priests than his failure to address child sexual assault sickens me. Consenting sex among adults is seen by the Pope as being a problem (adultery) and priests who have offended against children, they have not been exposed (reported to law enforcement) because of being protected by the Vatican.
Sounds as though there is a well organised theft ring in the Vatican and when you steal from your own action will be taken.
I can now see why the Pope does not have the stamina for the job and how he would have had to watch his back more than he will have to in the future. Quite clever in handing over the rot to his successor.
That article is a load of rubbish – I think you can be reasonably sure that the stories about underground gay sex, and corrution may well be true, but are being used as cover.
On December 17, 2012, they handed the pontiff two red-leather bound volumes, almost 300 pages long, containing “an exact map of the mischief and the bad fish” inside the Holy See, La Repubblica said.
This is something out of Nancy Drew – Its all terribly exciting if it was not such a load of crap.
Expose the sinister nature of the Church, people undersand what it represents, the trail of child abuse is the calling card for what sits at the heart of this *religious* entity.
Oh they worship a god alright, but its not the god they have the world believing it is!
Put it this way, whatever has been going on, is well before benedict became the pope, so stepping down on account of these gay sex stories is a nonsense, in any case wasn’t it because he was sick etc…
If anyone is being blackmailed it is likely to have been the pope himself, with these cover stories keeping people guessing.
What sort of entity hides the what could be the worlds history in its vaults, and among other secretive dealings, also supports a structure which preys on children, now what sort of religious entity feasts on that kind of energy!
The source who will do the exposing if the Pope is implicated has to be powerful e.g. connection to a marfia like organisation. This would make any Pope’s job untenable.
Also class one drugs may flow freely and a drug lord could be another source. Possibly priests mixed up in a drug cartel, (there could even be a P lab down in the winery cellars).
I also said on Open Mike 22/02/2013 “Probably the last eight decades of child sexual assault creating a backlog of settlements” The reason I only went back eight decades was because there will not be many survivors alive.
Regardless of commandments 6 & 7 being mentioned as the reason for the Pope’s resignation I want to know more about what the blackmail is about.
heh – if you did, then it wouldn’t be useful for blackmail
The cardinals were said to have uncovered an underground gay network, whose members organise sexual meetings in several venues in Rome and Vatican City, leaving them prone to blackmail.
You could probably add a few secret families a la Schwarzenegger and some financial stuff to the list, too. Plus any paedophiles or their protectors that might still be about.
Not really political, but I note that once again the crash occurred after “pursuit was abandoned”, which seems to be a recurring theme. Questions being whether the driver knew pursuit had been abandoned, and whether the crash occurred because the driver was still amped up after the chase, and whether “abandoned” is the same as “let go, move on to other jobs”. Not to mention whether the line about abandoning pursuit is pr spin.
I’m not suggesting the police shouldn’t do anything about joyriders. It’s just such a waste.
stolen car.
But I’m thinking more of alternative tactical solutions for police to use, rather than preventative measures like boosting social services and reducing inequality and deprivation.
Good on you for mentioning those prevention measures that might actually be effective at stopping kids from being killed, rather than simply apportioning blame in what might otherwise appear to be an effort to wash your and society’s hands clean of any obligation to try and stop our teenagers from being killed. Oh, um…
I’ve had friends who have done the job of coroner in various places around the country, and even with the most forgiving will in the world after you’ve seen your hundredth instance of drunken youths wrapping themselves and their passengers around other cars, pedestrians and inanimate objects they tend to have little sympathy left for the reckless unthinking behaviour and what are usually young men barely out of or into their teens.
I’m sure you and all your friends never did anything remotely stupid or dangerous as teenagers.
I’m a great fan of insensitivity born of bitter experience, but if we (as a society) are raising our kids wrong and then not finding ways to deal with them in safer ways than we are at present, then we are authors of our own demise (or irritation, as the case may be).
The “causing death” bit is often a matter of pure luck. And not just for stealing cars. Some really interesting work on brain development in teens has been done with scanners over the last ten or fifteen years. There are interesting reasons why they have seem to have shit impulse control and so on.
But okay. You and your mates are better than teenagers today. If only because one or two of your mates might have A) been lucky to avoid causing serious harm; and B) got diversion or a discharge without conviction.
So, do you have a solution for today’s teenagers and young adults? Or are you limited to “Get the parents to take away their keys”?
It is certainly a very difficult problem with no quick fix.
In relation to the particular problems we seem to have with young people in vehicles there may be a number interventions needed.
Vehicle immobilizers
Tougher and more thorough driving tests and education
Greater restrictions and penalties on alcohol
Greater restrictions and penalties on young drivers having more than one occupant in the vehicle
Greater restrictions on the power/top speed of vehicles
Taking a look at similar countries that don’t have these problems and asking why ?
Unlike some I do not believe these incidents are caused by police doing their job.
Yeah, I know McFlock, trite, and I am well aware of the stolen vehicle/police pursuit thing some youngsters engage in being an outcome of a youth disconnection that continues to grow.
While young men have always been drawn to riding their horses fast, there is nonetheless a strong element of modelling going on here.
All I can suggest is that when I was this age it would scarcely have occurred to any of us to actually try and outrun the cops. It just never happened. Something has changed.
Well…some of us were extremely naughty even back then (been reading my thoughts Red; was just nostalgically reminiscing with some “peers”, both former and current coincidentally last night, yet this longitudinal research being carried out by Otago recently demonstrated associations between media exposure and violence / anti-social / “deviant behaviour, then there is the “myth of invincibility”, anomie, gnomes without “homes”…(i was particularly interested when the availability / affordability of cars that were more powerful per mass than bikes came about.In the 70’s it seemed like a lot of moolah had to be outlaid to own a car that would beat a GSThou’ from the bay to taupo; 40mins, junction to junction)
+1. What more can be said though – I mean really! Life lost ….. next, next, next
– But you know… when you listen to them (AND hear them), they’re mostly of the “do the crime, pay the time ilk” in all their pathetic machismo – even though the lack of brain development, the peer pressure, and all the shit is well known.
I’d have thought a smart Police force would have picked up on that attitude (if they’re genuinely concerned about saving lives).
Unfortunately there seems to be a Polis Force that can be just as ficked as the ‘perps’ they pursue.
Never mind though aye! The trivialities such as the rep of silly little pricks at the wheel of a car (with underdeveloped brain material – as we already know) will soon be forgot.
Instead, the bastions of those mandated to protect us from evil – all wearing a uniform, and waddling like ducks with the necessary weaponry to suppress and protect (both themselves and a supposedly supporting public) have our undivided support and attention – after all – they’re such HEROES. Why they’ve even got a ‘personality’ ready to pop-up on the next MSM venue to remind us that’s so. Even before anyone ends up before the courts (usually).
I’ve never been able to understand how once upon a time, a comparatively primitively armed Polis force coped with gang warfare (Aro Valley/Wadestown bikie warfare – for example), – all the shite elsewhere, all the while dressed in suits of heavy serge, whilst today, tasers, long batons, suped-up cars carrying guns with bullets seem to be required.
Let’s just give them tanks and surface to air missiles now aye Greg!?
yeah, it’s pretty interesting how they almost never crash while the pursuit’s still going.
In which case there are issues around alternative pursuit measures (air, distance tailing without lights, anything else? ).
Heck, the sci-fi answer is a gps tag fired at the vehicle to everyone can pull back out of sight. Worst thing that would happen is that the occupants notice it and stop to either ditch the car or remove the tag, in which case the operative word is “stopped”. Even for a moment it gives time to put a roadblock up ahead.
The 1984 solution is to have a gps tag fitted to every car, one that also acts a transponder so the pursuer can identify the vehicle. Then the police would know where every car is, how fast it was going, where the boy racers are congregating on Saturday night, where all the park up sites are, who’s been into the grog shop, stopped by the tinny house, visited the dope patch or the burglary site, etc.
If the boss can monitor where the workers in the company car are by GPS, well …….nah, it’s all right, just joking……… though, …….. hmmmm……….. hmmmmm?
Lolz, never tried the stuff myself, having the belief that the mind can only be expanded so far i spent the 80’s doing just that with other illicit substances and the odd variety of mushroom and now happily stimulate my inner cranium with mugs of tea and the odd coffee while occasionally being the recipient of an infrequent flash-back,(or is that forward)…
Iggy and The Stooges on the cafe radio as I type…sorry to read of your health struggles…rare for any of us to get out of here unscathed…Killing us Softly with his song…(hey there is always Ray Winstone in The Sweeny to watch as we await Last Orders / Nil by Mouth you Sexy Beast; Ripleys Game, and even beyond the Edge of Darkness, beyond The Departed, is the horror of The War Zone (like The Woodsman); anyway, for something lighter there is always Jerusalem or The Magic Roundabout
Reading the background documents on FYI, the government’s clear aims were to avoid commitment while retaining access to the international carbon market. In that context, the lockout can only be viewed as a major foreign policy failure.
Another failure by this government. One that’s going to hit the financial markets and the local economy hard I suspect.
It’s all that time Jonkey spent in the US – invent a nice-sounding advertising slogan to hide a disaster, and just keep repeating it until people think it must be a good thing.
1:1…that’s running hard just to stay in the same place.
Gail the Actuary has some good thoughts on this issue, posted at The Oil Drum
The world outside of Saudi Arabia is now running into an investment sinkhole issue as well. This takes several forms: water limits that require deeper wells or desalination plants; oil and gas limits that require more expensive forms of extraction; and pollution limits requiring expensive adjustments to automobiles or to power plants.
These higher investment costs lead to higher end product costs of goods using these resources. These higher costs eventually transfer to other products that most of us consider essential: food because it uses much oil in growing and transport; electricity because it is associated with pollution controls; and metals for basic manufacturing, because they also use oil in extraction and transport.
Ultimately, these investment sinkholes seem likely to cause huge problems. In some sense, they mean the economy is becoming less efficient, rather than more efficient. From an investment point of view, they can expect to crowd out other types of investment. From a consumer’s point of view, they lead to a rising cost of essential products that can be expected to squeeze out other purchases.
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This is a guest post by Malcolm McCracken. It previously appeared on his blog Better Things Are Possible and is shared by kind permission. New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project, the City Rail Link (CRL), is expected to open in 2026. This will be an exciting step forward for Auckland, delivering better ...
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Should I stay, or should I go now?Should I stay, or should I go now?If I go, there will be troubleAnd if I stay, it will be doubleSo come on and let me knowSongwriters: Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Joe Strummer.Christopher,Tomorrow marks seventeen months since the last election. We’re ...
Homelessness in Auckland has risen by 53% in 4 months - that’s 653 peopleliving in cars, on streets and in parks.The city’s emergency housing numbers have fallen by about 650 under National too - now at record lows.Housing First Auckland is on the frontlines: There is “more and more ...
A growing consensus holds that the future of airpower, and of defense technology in general, involves the interplay of crewed and uncrewed vehicles. Such teaming means that more-numerous, less-costly, even expendable uncrewed vehicles can bring ...
Only two more sleeps to the Government’s Jamboree Investor Extravaganza! As a proud New Zealander I’m very much hoping for the best: Off-shore wind farms! Solar power! Sustainable industry powered by the abundant energy we could be producing!I wonder, will they have a deal already lined up, something to announce ...
After decades of gradual decline, Australia’s manufacturing capability is no longer mission-fit to meet national security needs. Any whole-of-nation effort to arrest this trend needs to start by making the industrial operating environment more conducive ...
Back in October 2022, Restore Passenger Rail hung banners across roads in Wellington to protest against the then-Labour government's weak climate change policy. The police responded by charging them not with the usual public order offences, but with "endangering transport", a crime with a maximum sentence of 14 years in ...
Luxon’s popularity continues to fall, and a new survey shows voters rank fixing the health system as the top priority. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning: National’s pollster finds Christopher Luxon has fallen behind Chris Hipkins as preferred PM for the first ...
The CTU is calling for an apology from Nicola Willis after her office made a false characterisation of CTU statements, which ultimately saw him blocked from future Treasury briefings. New data shows that Māori make up 83% of those charged under new gang laws. Financial incentives are being offered to ...
Australia’s cyber capabilities have evolved rapidly, but they are still largely reactive, not preventative. Rather than responding to cyber incidents, Australian law enforcement agencies should focus on dismantling underlying criminal networks. On 11 December, Europol ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters Finally, there’s some good news to report from NOAA, the parent organization of the National Hurricane Center, or NHC: During the highly active 2o24 Atlantic hurricane season, the NHC made record-accurate track forecasts at every time interval (12-, ...
The Australian government has prioritised enhancing Australia’s national resilience for many years now, whether against natural disasters, economic coercion or hostile armed forces. However, the public and media response to the presence of Chinese naval ...
It appears that Auckland Transport is finally set to improve Auckland’s busiest non-frequent bus route, the 120. As highlighted in my post a month ago on Auckland’s busiest bus routes, the 120 is the busiest route that doesn’t already run frequently all day/week and carries more passengers than many other ...
Economists have earned their reputation for jargon and tunnel vision, but sometimes, it takes an someone as perceptive as Simplicity economist Shamubeel Eaqub to identify something simple and devastating. As he pointed out recently, the coalition government is trying to attract foreign investment here to generate economic growth, while – ...
Opinion & AnalysisSimeon Brown, left, and Deloitte partner David LovattIn September 2024, Deloitte Partner David Lovatt, was contracted by the National Government to help National ostensibly understand “the drivers behind HNZ’s worsening financial performance”.1 i.e. deficit.The report shows the last version was dated December 2024.It was formally released this week ...
This cobbled-together government was altogether more the beneficiary of Labour getting turfed out than anything it managed to do itself. Even the worthless cheques they were writing didn't buy all that much favour.How’s it all looking now?Shall we take a look at a Horizon poll?The Government’s performance is making only ...
There's horrible news from the US today, with the Trump regime disappearing Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student, for protesting against genocide in Gaza. Its another significant decline in US human rights, and puts them in the same class as the authoritarian dictatorships they used to sponsor in South ...
Yesterday National announced plans to amend the Public Works Act to "speed up" land acquisition for public works. Which sounds boring and bureaucratic - except its not. Because what "land acquisition" means is people's homes being compulsorily acquired by the state - which is inherently controversial, and fairly high up ...
Contenders: The next question after “Will Luxon really go?” is, of course, “Will that work?” The answer to that question lies not so much in the efficacy of Luxon’s successor as it does in the perceived strength of the Centre-Left alternative.AT LEAST TWO prominent political commentators are alluding publicly to the ...
Ice will melt, water will boilYou and I can shake off this mortal coilIt's bigger than usYou don't have to worry about itIt's circumstantialIt's nothing written in the skyAnd we don't even have to trySongwriters: Neil Finn / Tim Finn.Preparing for the future.Many of you will be familiar with the ...
In my post last Thursday I offered some thoughts on changes that should be initiated by the government in the wake of the Governor’s surprise resignation. (Days on we still have no real explanation as to why he just resigned with no notice, disappearing out the door and (eg) leaving ...
In late February a Chinese navy flotilla including a cruiser, a frigate and a replenishment ship began to circle Australia, conducting a live fire exercise in the Tasman Sea along the way. The Strategist featured ...
China’s deployment of a potent surface action group around Australia over the past two weeks is unprecedented but not unique. Over the past few years, China’s navy has deployed a range of vessels in Australia’s ...
Long stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning: Within months and before Parliamentary approval is obtained, the Government plans to strip non-Maori landowners of the right to use the Environment Court to stop compulsory acquisition for fast-track projects and big new motorways.The Government also wants to buy off landowners ...
Hi,When I was 16 (pimples, braces, painfully awkward) — I applied for a job at Video Ezy.It’s difficult to describe how much I wanted this job. Video Ezy was my local video shop in Tauranga, and I’d spend hours of my teenage life stalking through those aisles, looking at the ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 2, 2025 thru Sat, March 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. We are still interested ...
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is avoiding accountability by refusing to answer key questions in the House as his Government faces criticism over their dangerous citizen’s arrest policy, firearm reform, and broken promises to recruit more police. ...
The number of building consents issued under this Government continues to spiral, taking a toll on the infrastructure sector, tradies, and future generations of Kiwi homeowners. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to rule out joining the AUKUS military pact in any capacity following the scenes in the White House over the weekend. ...
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s plan to disestablish Resource Teachers of Māori (RTM) roles, a move that takes another swing at kaupapa Māori education. ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
After months of mana whenua protecting their wāhi tapu, the Green Party welcomes the pause of works at Lake Rotokākahi and calls for the Rotorua Lakes Council to work constructively with Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tumatawera on the pathway forward. ...
New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. This week we've made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand.Winston representing New ZealandWinston Peters is overseas this week, with stops across the Middle East and North Asia. Winston's stops include Saudi Arabia, the ...
Green Party Co-Leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
At this year's State of the Planet address, Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
The Government has spent $3.6 million dollars on a retail crime advisory group, including paying its chair $920 a day, to come up with ideas already dismissed as dangerous by police. ...
The Green Party supports the peaceful occupation at Lake Rotokākahi and are calling for the controversial sewerage project on the lake to be stopped until the Environment Court has made a decision. ...
ActionStation’s Oral Healthcare report, released today, paints a dire picture of unmet need and inequality across the country, highlighting the urgency of free dental care for all New Zealanders. ...
As the world marks three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced additional sanctions on Russian entities and support for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. “Russia’s illegal invasion has brought three years of devastation to Ukraine’s people, environment, and infrastructure,” Mr Peters says. “These additional sanctions target 52 ...
A global renewable energy developer backing one of New Zealand’s last standing offshore wind farm proposals says it would be “difficult” to cohabit with seabed mining.Danish developer Michael Hannibal, a partner in Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is visiting New Zealand for the Government’s infrastructure investment summit. His firm and the NZ ...
A wide-ranging conversation with the opposition spokesperson on foreign affairs. Even before the second Trump term began, the world was a volatile place. But since January 20, across eight whiplash weeks, the pace of change has been astonishing. Donald Trump’s America First geopolitics, melding expansionist and isolationist instincts, has created ...
Surviving terror can be isolating, trauma expert Jo Dover says.Dover – a Brit who is in New Zealand to hold resilience workshops with the Muslim community, speak publicly, and meet government officials – has supported people affected by terrorism, conflict and war for almost three decades. She arrived in Christchurch ...
Two trade experts based in Delhi expressed some mild optimism about Luxon's chances, but with a major caveat: NZ would have to abandon hope of including dairy in any deal.. ...
MONDAYAt precisely 0300 hours I gave last-minute instructions to a team of crack troops who had sworn their allegiance in the war against woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. They assembled in the basement bunker at the Beehive. It was built to withstand nuclear radiation. ...
It’s been six years since a lone gunman opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch, killing 51 people, shattering the country’s innocence and changing lives forever.Now a young Afghan-Kiwi couple, who were praying in another mosque in the Garden City that fateful day, is releasing a film in remembrance of ...
Gabi Lardies for now, Mad Chapman next week. Despite allegations they’re filled with shit books, I cannot pass by a little library without having a peek inside. Two weeks ago, stretching my legs from a hard morning sitting on my non-ergonomic wheely chair, I spied two curious spines in the ...
Poet Kate Camp learned to swim late in life. Now it’s a defining component of her identity. But why won’t she write about it? I learned to swim in a 15 metre pool in the backyard of Mandi’s place in Paraparaumu. That’s not true. I learned to swim in a ...
The highs, lows and silver linings of single-parenting a toddler. He lay there prone, unmoving, his dark eyes glassy and fixed on the ceiling above. My daughter looked at him, then at me. “Is that… Daddy?” I sighed. “No, darling, that’s not Daddy.” I grabbed the man to whom her ...
The star of Secrets at Red Rocks takes us through his life in television, including being duped by the Goodnight Kiwi and botching a song on Shortland Street. Whether he’s musing over a murder mystery as a cop in One Lane Bridge or in the midst of a surprise tandem ...
With five regular season games remaining, the Wellington Phoenix women are still in with a great chance of finishing in the top six of the A-League and making the business end of this season’s competition.This Saturday night, they travel across the Tasman to face bottom of the table Sydney FC, ...
With the passenger seat withdrawn like this, for extra leg room, it occurs to Llew that someone has been having sex in this car. He and Nancy haven’t had sex since Waiheke. Barely even a kiss. Nancy shields her nipples with a forearm now out of the shower and Llew’s ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands Journal and RNZ Pacific correspondent in Majuro The late Member of Parliament Jeton Anjain and the people of the nuclear test-affected Rongelap Atoll changed the course of the history of the Marshall Islands by using Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior ship to ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown rejected advice from officials to lower the bowel screening age to 58 for the general population and 56 for Māori and Pacific people, just-released documents show. ...
Much was made in the build-up about the bipartisan spirit of the summit, with both government and opposition aware of the need to see through projects beyond election cycles. ...
COMMENTARY:By Gavin Ellis New Zealand-based Canadian billionaire James Grenon owes the people of this country an immediate explanation of his intentions regarding media conglomerate NZME. This cannot wait until a shareholders’ meeting at the end of April. Is his investment in the owner of The New Zealand Herald and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carolina Quintero Rodriguez, Senior Lecturer and Program Manager, Bachelor of Fashion (Enterprise) program, RMIT University Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock When you come home from a run or a sweaty gym session, do you immediately fling your clothes into the washing machine for a hot ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexis Vassiley, Lecturer, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University Aussie Family Living/Shutterstock A battle is underway on the mine sites in Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region. Unions are keen to get back into the iron ore industry after decades ...
"It will be a chance, really, for an update as to the different lines of diplomatic efforts that are going in across securing peace in Ukraine," Luxon said. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pat McConville, Lecturer in Ethics, Law, and Professionalism, School of Medicine, Deakin University Master1305/Shutterstock This week, doctors announced that an Australian man with severe heart failure had left hospital with an artificial heart that had kept him alive until he could ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tanya Latty, Associate Professor, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney Mircea Costina/Shutterstock About 90% of flowering plants rely on animals to transfer their pollen and optimise reproduction, making pollination one of nature’s most important processes. Bees are usually ...
A first step of good faith would be the reinstatement of a Social Sector Budget lockup for Budget 2025, inviting a cross-section of organisations representing the diversity of our population to hear key Budget messages firsthand. ...
The great thing about living on a rotating planet with an orbiting rocky satellite is that opportunities for orbs to align, well, come around. Here’s how to enjoy tonight’s lunar eclipse. In May 2024, Aotearoa was blessed with the celestial phenomenon of an exceptionally strong solar storm, causing the aurora ...
A new poem by Ted Greensmith-West. My grief is like a never-ending anticipation of impending dooms The dark hand that lurks behind the curtain is like Dorothy in photonegative with snarled teeth and pigtails… and acts as the constant reminder that Cole is dead forever now, like dust. // The ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Fourth Estate, $38) Dream Count is the first novel in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Shutterstock Nearly 30 years before the Christchurch terror attacks of March 15 2019, New Zealand had to grapple with the horrors of another mass shooting. The Aramoana massacre on November 13 1990 left ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alice Nason, Research Associate, Foreign Policy and Defence, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney Shutterstock Following the recent imposition of steel and aluminium tariffs, the Australian government is coming to terms with the reality of engaging with a US ally ...
By Sera Sefeti and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Pacific delegates have been left “shocked” by the omission of sexual and reproductive health rights from the key declaration of the 69th UN Commission on the Status of Women meeting in New York. This year CSW69 will review and assess the implementation ...
Tara Ward watches Meghan Markle’s new Netflix lifestyle series and finds herself held hostage by a rainbow fruit platter.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. Meghan Markle wants us to find love in the details. The Duchess of Sussex’s new lifestyle series ...
Newsroom has reported today that a second offshore wind group, Sumitomo, has been forced to halt plans for massive new electricity generation in the south Taranaki Bight after the government announced it was promoting seabed mining in the same space. ...
By Atereano Mateariki of Waatea News The future of Māori radio in Aotearoa New Zealand requires increased investment in both online platforms and traditional airwaves, says a senior manager. Matthew Tukaki, station manager at Waatea Digital, spoke with Te Ao Māori News about the future of Māori radio. He said ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan van den Hoek, Senior Lecturer, Clinical Exercise Physiology, University of the Sunshine Coast A Ferrari test drive simulator cockpit at the Ferrari Museum in Italy. Luca Lorenzelli/Shutterstock The Albert Park circuit for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix has 14 ...
Shanti Mathias and Gabi Lardies review a sweaty, ecstatic night at the Auckland Arts Festival. “Imagine a dancefloor, the world’s greatest gospel choir and a DJ set for the ages” is the tantalising description of History of House provided by Auckland Arts Festival. It definitely wasn’t just Gabi and I ...
Well done David Shearer re: homophobe mumbling.
Congratulations to Clayton Cosgrove for his performance on RNZ this morning. He made very sharp points on the Key&co handling of Solid Energy. He “gives” good radio!
John Kerry, in a direct response to Jennys request for action on climate change. Promotes depopulation, channels GHW Bush, breaks speech, thanks sign language translators…
There’s the answer Jenny, the one people can’t get their heads around being foisted upon them!
But going against the Kerry talk of depopulation
Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin back research to extend life
This public admission that Google/FB are in fact the same entity being confirmed in this open collaboration, referring to sponsoring research which has long since been going on, and to which the results will not be available, for those John Kerry has designated to be reduced in numbers!
“This public admission that Google/FB are in fact the same entity ”
Ahhhh – no they are not.
You have to lose the tin foil hat.
I also liked the idea that Kerry has a list of designated individuals to kill in order to save the planet.
Most people would like increased funding for medical research, although a few would merely “+1” it.
Go ahead and argue it then James, be sure to trace the shareholders of those companies all the way back, as far as possible.
Don’t forget that its been well covered in the MSM, that the intelligence services are *key stakeholders* in both google/FB!
McFlock – Unprecedented changes in population, and another great opportunity at *our* fingertips – Note, not yours or mine eh, we are not, *our*
Increased funding in medical research – nah thats an announcement of whats already been going on – i.e – access to advancements that the masses are never going to see or get!
For someone who seems to take some pride in being a word nerd, you are not at all able to read through the words delivered by the rulers – Which is why you and your ilk flap around wondering WFT is really happening!
As to what medical advances the hooples “see or get” – well, how has your smallpox or polio been? Too long ago? Popped by A&E recently, or do you think the CT scanners want to rob your thoughts? Maybe you meant the bulk of the world population – well, fair call on that, it does take a while to get to those places. Capitalism sucks at that, by definition. Although there are quite a few organisations providing new AIDS or Malaria treatments in deprived regions.
It’s not “the rulers” words I have much difficulty seeing through.
Figuring out WTF planet you are on, however…
Planet Onan?
lol
by the way, you did get that the “like” vs “+1” thing was a fucking joke, right? Smile once in a while – it might stop you being such a tool.
McFlock – Nah you’re not getting it, don’t want to get etc..
Love the attempted personality reading though, probably not your strong point I’m guessing, intuition I mean!
Maybe I “get” more than for what you give me credit, while you flit from shallow thought to shallow thought, thinking the world would be so much better if everyone did what you said.
McFlock – it make no differnce to me what you do or dont get, that’s for you to fumble around with, I’m sure you can manage some additional fumbling!
What I can you, is that that use of the words, *shallow thought* in my direction, indicate you don’t understand diddly squat.
And yes, if people thought a little more deeply etc, then its possible we would not all be in the deep poo we’re in, thats fundamental!
lol:
don’t care
I iz deep
yez tha wirld wud b betta if peeps did what I sed.
You’re a true heir to the vacant crown of Bertrand Russell /sarc
There is a very good article by Simon Paterson on Stuff’s website this morning.
He makes the very good point that essentially the Government is selling legislation for the convention centre. There is currently a cap on the number of casinos and on the provision of casino gambling and if the Convention Centre as envisaged is to go ahead then this law will have to change.
He says:
Cripes. Whatever’s become of all our big strong “anti nanny-state” boys?
Seems they’ve run out of assorted scapegoats and random Lithuanian left-handed beneficiaries to bash, so it’s on to the spouses.
How is a spouse defined? And does Bluster Borrows’ latest brainwave mean that every criminal act by the little woman is now also blamed on her knowing lord and master? And Vicky Vercoe?
If not why not?
Where are the concerned Lords of the Law Societies in all this?
Or does it just apply to those solo slappers. You know, like Slippery’s mum.
Ah well, as the boy himself said, if you cancel all their benefits, bugger-all will starve. Just not sure he meant the lads as well…..
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/
I see Chris Trotter has chucked in the towel over trying to stop the train-wreck that is the Labour Party:
He concludes:
I disagree with the misleading term “Cunliffe’s supporters” , but his blog pretty much sums up my views.
Ouch. He can be a bit hit and miss but on this occasion can I say that Trotter describes the situation perfectly.
Of course Shearer can use the upcoming rejig of Labour’s parliamentary seating arrangement to show that Trotter is wrong.
But I am not holding my breath.
not “spam” (green eggs and ham)
is that Maryanne Street?
Prescription Charges- (“an inflation adjustment”; Ryally?)
-inflating stressors
-cost
-overwhelming discounting retailers
-and, surprise, surprise, scripts left on pharmacy shelves. (not mine, i only take an anti-histamine, amongst the privet i’m allergic to what NAct is pollinating)
Y-because we like you (but you are awe, shucks) agriculture’s Fall dethroned by Joining the National Party in December gifts may be exchanged, and briefly, “Jack’s as good as his master” Led by the braided F-ring circus when The Levee Breaks it will be Titian to the rescue we Assume / know Virgins were harmed in the painting of this tryptich tableaux, Actaeon though, was torn to pieces by his own hounds.Sooo…satyagrahn down, a node yore out there somwhere Cath; remember golden splendour? That was Delicious (Waves theta warm Helio-); can you see paradise by the dashboard light.
I haven’t read Geoff Bertram, Economist, Victoria University – today he made commented on Radionz about Solid Energy’s problems. I’ve decided for me he is someone with sound ideas whose mind is worth following, and I give a link to extensive notes he used at a lecture on our economy. It has great charts for those who like to see trends at a glance.
Notes for Fabians Seminar “Fresh Ideas for a Productive Economy”
July 2011 – Legislative Chamber, NZ Parliament
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1107/S00315/geoff-bertram-fresh-ideas-for-a-productive-economy.htm
Listened to this Jeremy Grantham interview last night. Fascinating.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0148yp8
His 2012 third quarter newsletter too.
http://www.gurufocus.com/news/198413/gmos-jeremy-grantham-third-quarter-letter–on-the-road-to-zero-growth
Grantham on TS.
comprehensive (give us 40 acres and we’ll turn this rig around; bit tricky to reverse a road-train)
“failing states”; interesting. coming to a casino near you Monty?
(thanks for the weekend reading joe; it’s all agape where i hang out;”Giant steps are what you take, Walking On The Moon…”)
being the H-SS blade that i am sometime, i just about wept watching Campbell on the Canterbury Water Catchment, and all this “desert” has transpired in 40 years or so; smells like the fragrance of “Egypt” to me.
btw…
“the distinction between two sorts of truths…profound truths recognized by the fact that the opposite is also a profound truth, in contrast to trivialities, where opposites are obviously absurd.”
(Neils), hope that doesn’t Bohr you.
rhetorically, grammatically and logically speaking, experience is ambiguous and that’s a
Porcupinestarfish Fact.Record. (thank God for Martin Hannett the mad bastard).
Add Telecom to the list of companies laying off hundreds in this government’s term. It’s particularly bad as National prides itself on ICT.
The miners at the States Huntly coal mine are attending a meeting this afternoon, not sure what this is about but expect the worst,
Possibly ‘take a pay cut or face redundancies’ will be the best thing that those employed at Huntly can hope for…
What does this mean when you phone some large organisation….
“… please note that your call may be recorded for training purposes…”?
Sounds like BS to me and that they are simply being recorded for any purpose that may arise in the future.
It’s like its bloody big brother wherever one turns today.
Recorded for ‘training’ the operator you speak to should they not perform to company expectations.
aaah, so monitoring, not really training. But in effect it is to monitor the entire conversation at a later point for whatever purpose necessary I imagine. I don’t trust any such large organisation – in either intention or competency
Some of them have stopped saying “training purposes” and instead now simply say “for our purposes” which is a bit creepier but probably more honest.
Many moons ago a former acquaintance of mine worked at a local international toll exchange before it became fully automated. She regularly listened-in to conversations especially if they were well known people – pollies were a particularly good source of info. She got away with it because they didn’t have the ability to record every toll-call made through an operator. Years later I heard she was summarily sacked, and have always assumed she was eventually caught.
I repeat this anecdote because there can also be legitimate reasons for recording phone calls. For one thing it ensures the operators will always be polite and helpful and not try to fob the caller off in some way.
or mislead the customer. You never know if the customer has a recording of an unauthorised verbal guarantee, too.
Yeah, I sometimes record my phone conversations if I’m expecting sneakiness or duplicity from an organisation.
(And sometimes I just say I’m recording… )
Amoungst all the pretty bleak news, there’s this:
http://news.smh.com.au/world/vatican-scandal-cited-in-pope-resignation-20130222-2euzj.html
which promises weeks and years of lulz.
I love their language, I really do. Problems related to the 6th and 8th comandments. Quite so, yes indeed. *laughs*
i fellow-ship at least three to four times a week with some wonderful “disciples”, all at different stages on their journeys (try not to stumble anybody), anyway, the same themes keep cropping up between people who are not individually in direct communication…
an interesting one is a perception of a reverse traversal of the biblical narrative unfolding all around
anyway,
P.S:4-Aldous would be chuckley, or would he?
Open Mike 12/02/2013 I asked “What has really made the Pope’s job untenable?”
To think that the Pope is more concerned about sex between priests than his failure to address child sexual assault sickens me. Consenting sex among adults is seen by the Pope as being a problem (adultery) and priests who have offended against children, they have not been exposed (reported to law enforcement) because of being protected by the Vatican.
Sounds as though there is a well organised theft ring in the Vatican and when you steal from your own action will be taken.
I can now see why the Pope does not have the stamina for the job and how he would have had to watch his back more than he will have to in the future. Quite clever in handing over the rot to his successor.
Can a cardinal refuse the job?
That article is a load of rubbish – I think you can be reasonably sure that the stories about underground gay sex, and corrution may well be true, but are being used as cover.
This is something out of Nancy Drew – Its all terribly exciting if it was not such a load of crap.
Expose the sinister nature of the Church, people undersand what it represents, the trail of child abuse is the calling card for what sits at the heart of this *religious* entity.
Oh they worship a god alright, but its not the god they have the world believing it is!
Oh do go on.
You’ve clearly got your finger on it.
Put it this way, whatever has been going on, is well before benedict became the pope, so stepping down on account of these gay sex stories is a nonsense, in any case wasn’t it because he was sick etc…
If anyone is being blackmailed it is likely to have been the pope himself, with these cover stories keeping people guessing.
What sort of entity hides the what could be the worlds history in its vaults, and among other secretive dealings, also supports a structure which preys on children, now what sort of religious entity feasts on that kind of energy!
The source who will do the exposing if the Pope is implicated has to be powerful e.g. connection to a marfia like organisation. This would make any Pope’s job untenable.
Also class one drugs may flow freely and a drug lord could be another source. Possibly priests mixed up in a drug cartel, (there could even be a P lab down in the winery cellars).
I also said on Open Mike 22/02/2013 “Probably the last eight decades of child sexual assault creating a backlog of settlements” The reason I only went back eight decades was because there will not be many survivors alive.
Regardless of commandments 6 & 7 being mentioned as the reason for the Pope’s resignation I want to know more about what the blackmail is about.
I imagine that would be the gay sex. They’re shameless about everything else.
heh – if you did, then it wouldn’t be useful for blackmail
You could probably add a few secret families a la Schwarzenegger and some financial stuff to the list, too. Plus any paedophiles or their protectors that might still be about.
Another police chase, another death.
Not really political, but I note that once again the crash occurred after “pursuit was abandoned”, which seems to be a recurring theme. Questions being whether the driver knew pursuit had been abandoned, and whether the crash occurred because the driver was still amped up after the chase, and whether “abandoned” is the same as “let go, move on to other jobs”. Not to mention whether the line about abandoning pursuit is pr spin.
I’m not suggesting the police shouldn’t do anything about joyriders. It’s just such a waste.
Surprise surprise, adolescents dished up ‘wildest police chases’ as entertainment, think police chases are cool.
bit more complicated than that, issue-wise.
The question is how to stop kids dying, rather than blaming a tv format for something that predates reality television.
Get he parents to take away their keys ?
I see this was not an option in this instance as the vehicle appears to have been stolen.
stolen car.
But I’m thinking more of alternative tactical solutions for police to use, rather than preventative measures like boosting social services and reducing inequality and deprivation.
Good on you for mentioning those prevention measures that might actually be effective at stopping kids from being killed, rather than simply apportioning blame in what might otherwise appear to be an effort to wash your and society’s hands clean of any obligation to try and stop our teenagers from being killed. Oh, um…
I’ve had friends who have done the job of coroner in various places around the country, and even with the most forgiving will in the world after you’ve seen your hundredth instance of drunken youths wrapping themselves and their passengers around other cars, pedestrians and inanimate objects they tend to have little sympathy left for the reckless unthinking behaviour and what are usually young men barely out of or into their teens.
I’m sure you and all your friends never did anything remotely stupid or dangerous as teenagers.
I’m a great fan of insensitivity born of bitter experience, but if we (as a society) are raising our kids wrong and then not finding ways to deal with them in safer ways than we are at present, then we are authors of our own demise (or irritation, as the case may be).
I’m sure we did lots of stupid stuff but stealing cars, fleeing from the police and causing death wasn’t amongst the stupid stuff we did.
The “causing death” bit is often a matter of pure luck. And not just for stealing cars. Some really interesting work on brain development in teens has been done with scanners over the last ten or fifteen years. There are interesting reasons why they have seem to have shit impulse control and so on.
But okay. You and your mates are better than teenagers today. If only because one or two of your mates might have A) been lucky to avoid causing serious harm; and B) got diversion or a discharge without conviction.
So, do you have a solution for today’s teenagers and young adults? Or are you limited to “Get the parents to take away their keys”?
It is certainly a very difficult problem with no quick fix.
In relation to the particular problems we seem to have with young people in vehicles there may be a number interventions needed.
Vehicle immobilizers
Tougher and more thorough driving tests and education
Greater restrictions and penalties on alcohol
Greater restrictions and penalties on young drivers having more than one occupant in the vehicle
Greater restrictions on the power/top speed of vehicles
Taking a look at similar countries that don’t have these problems and asking why ?
Unlike some I do not believe these incidents are caused by police doing their job.
And you suggest immobilizers? Isn’t that changing how the police change their job?
And increased penalties might just increase the incentive to escape/run.
gah, i dunno.
Yeah, I know McFlock, trite, and I am well aware of the stolen vehicle/police pursuit thing some youngsters engage in being an outcome of a youth disconnection that continues to grow.
sigh..
I agree with joe90 on this.
While young men have always been drawn to riding their horses fast, there is nonetheless a strong element of modelling going on here.
All I can suggest is that when I was this age it would scarcely have occurred to any of us to actually try and outrun the cops. It just never happened. Something has changed.
Well…some of us were extremely naughty even back then (been reading my thoughts Red; was just nostalgically reminiscing with some “peers”, both former and current coincidentally last night, yet this longitudinal research being carried out by Otago recently demonstrated associations between media exposure and violence / anti-social / “deviant behaviour, then there is the “myth of invincibility”, anomie, gnomes without “homes”…(i was particularly interested when the availability / affordability of cars that were more powerful per mass than bikes came about.In the 70’s it seemed like a lot of moolah had to be outlaid to own a car that would beat a GSThou’ from the bay to taupo; 40mins, junction to junction)
+1. What more can be said though – I mean really! Life lost ….. next, next, next
– But you know… when you listen to them (AND hear them), they’re mostly of the “do the crime, pay the time ilk” in all their pathetic machismo – even though the lack of brain development, the peer pressure, and all the shit is well known.
I’d have thought a smart Police force would have picked up on that attitude (if they’re genuinely concerned about saving lives).
Unfortunately there seems to be a Polis Force that can be just as ficked as the ‘perps’ they pursue.
Never mind though aye! The trivialities such as the rep of silly little pricks at the wheel of a car (with underdeveloped brain material – as we already know) will soon be forgot.
Instead, the bastions of those mandated to protect us from evil – all wearing a uniform, and waddling like ducks with the necessary weaponry to suppress and protect (both themselves and a supposedly supporting public) have our undivided support and attention – after all – they’re such HEROES. Why they’ve even got a ‘personality’ ready to pop-up on the next MSM venue to remind us that’s so. Even before anyone ends up before the courts (usually).
I’ve never been able to understand how once upon a time, a comparatively primitively armed Polis force coped with gang warfare (Aro Valley/Wadestown bikie warfare – for example), – all the shite elsewhere, all the while dressed in suits of heavy serge, whilst today, tasers, long batons, suped-up cars carrying guns with bullets seem to be required.
Let’s just give them tanks and surface to air missiles now aye Greg!?
‘Oops, he’s leaving the road. Abandon pursuit.’
yeah, it’s pretty interesting how they almost never crash while the pursuit’s still going.
In which case there are issues around alternative pursuit measures (air, distance tailing without lights, anything else? ).
Heck, the sci-fi answer is a gps tag fired at the vehicle to everyone can pull back out of sight. Worst thing that would happen is that the occupants notice it and stop to either ditch the car or remove the tag, in which case the operative word is “stopped”. Even for a moment it gives time to put a roadblock up ahead.
The 1984 solution is to have a gps tag fitted to every car, one that also acts a transponder so the pursuer can identify the vehicle. Then the police would know where every car is, how fast it was going, where the boy racers are congregating on Saturday night, where all the park up sites are, who’s been into the grog shop, stopped by the tinny house, visited the dope patch or the burglary site, etc.
If the boss can monitor where the workers in the company car are by GPS, well …….nah, it’s all right, just joking……… though, …….. hmmmm……….. hmmmmm?
faster than the speed of sound
bandwidth congestion would be an issue. But they already have systems that can be activated in the case of vehicle theft.
Of course, but only if the little darlings involved are EGGS or ABGSS.
http://www.starchase.com/news-section/an-alternative-to-vehicle-pursuits.html
Of course, but only if the little darlings involved are EGGSS or ABGSS.
http://www.starchase.com/news-section/an-alternative-to-vehicle-pursuits.html
Of course, but only if the little darlings involved are EGGS or ABGSS.
http://www.starchase.com/news-section/an-alternative-to-vehicle-pursuits.html
well, this Krap is certainly not helping (been stung myself, i know, was “tired” and not thinking clearly)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10866933
Lolz, never tried the stuff myself, having the belief that the mind can only be expanded so far i spent the 80’s doing just that with other illicit substances and the odd variety of mushroom and now happily stimulate my inner cranium with mugs of tea and the odd coffee while occasionally being the recipient of an infrequent flash-back,(or is that forward)…
.
up
down
all around
please don’t
let
me
hit
the
ground
Iggy and The Stooges on the cafe radio as I type…sorry to read of your health struggles…rare for any of us to get out of here unscathed…Killing us Softly with his song…(hey there is always Ray Winstone in The Sweeny to watch as we await Last Orders / Nil by Mouth you Sexy Beast; Ripleys Game, and even beyond the Edge of Darkness, beyond The Departed, is the horror of The War Zone (like The Woodsman); anyway, for something lighter there is always Jerusalem or The Magic Roundabout
That K2 shit does push people off the edge. I see empty packets around the street most weeks.
Climate change: Locked out
Another failure by this government. One that’s going to hit the financial markets and the local economy hard I suspect.
btw, “Rollergirl, she just loves to take them on…skate-away, that’s all…she’s Making Movies…she just loves to see them fall…”
There’s so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones
Read more at http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/5863/#pvqK2DqA3kLFUTzC.99
French Toast
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9886776/France-freezes-spending-to-hit-EU-targets-as-slump-deepens.html
5 of Clubs for a Poor 500 all round escagot
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1212021-5-reasons-the-s-p-500-could-fall-20-by-the-end-of-2013
not “Permanent”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/21/scientists-warn-of-melting-permafrost-if-temperatures-continue-to-rise/
(“tites” come down)
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23205-major-methane-release-is-almost-inevitable.html?cmpid=RSS|NSNS|2012-GLOBAL|online-news
Crazy old John Key saying don’t be too concerned about up to 1000 jobs going at telecom because we have ‘a flexible job market.’
trouble is, it only ever seems to bend in one direction: backwards
The only job market is being on an unemployment benefit and searching for work or going to a job interview if you’ re lucky.
Ha. It’s so bloody flexible if anyone manages to catch a job they soon discover they can’t hang on to it.
greased up and flexible then – and prepared to fuck anyone.
Only the nats could make that description repulsive.
It’s all that time Jonkey spent in the US – invent a nice-sounding advertising slogan to hide a disaster, and just keep repeating it until people think it must be a good thing.
A TED Talk from photographer Garth Lenz on the impact of tar sands oil: The true cost of oil.
Related:
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/aswift/transcanadas_record_presents_a.html
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20130219/oil-sands-mining-tar-sands-alberta-canada-energy-return-on-investment-eroi-natural-gas-in-situ-dilbit-bitumen?page=show
http://www.desmog.ca/2013/02/18/tar-sands-tailings-contaminate-alberta-groundwater
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/02/19/alberta-bitumen-peace-river-baytex.html
1:1 over the complete cycle EROI
1:1…that’s running hard just to stay in the same place.
Gail the Actuary has some good thoughts on this issue, posted at The Oil Drum
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/9825
Crazy old John Banks on Focus on Politics said that the critics of Charter schools are right, but no one is listening to them.