The Herald produces another intellectually powerful article on the failings of our school system. Apparently, according to some expert voice, if we get rid of cell phones, the problem will be solved. WTF. What suburb did she establish that evidence. Remuera perhaps?
Quote… NZ Writers’ College principal Nichola Meyer said changes in language had been affecting children’s writing skills for years.
“The language they are hearing is all jargon. There is a lot of slang and it’s almost phonetically based and not spelling based.
“So when they have to sit down and write something, it is completely alien to them.”
…unquote.
Then surprise, surprise, in the next paragraph
Quote …The fact that English was a second language to many students was also a big factor, Ms Meyer said, as other cultures were traditionally verbal and therefore reading and writing were not the norm….unquote.
BrianBailey32 minutes ago
Of course there will be 27 or so % below this stupid arbitrary standard. That’s the way the normal curve works, when it comes to intelligence, ability etc. We used to use the curve to establish that in all learning fields. 25% of students were classified as below average, the average ranged from the 25th%ile rank to the 75%. We then expected them to work up to their ability–and they did NOT fail at all. Well done, Tory politicians for classifying these children as unsuccessful. Keep it up! It’s part of your social agenda to stigmatize and disadvantage the children of the poor.
And Nania Mahuta points to a problem with the Nat Standards focusing too much on individualistic competition:
“The Government’s covert attempt to promote league tables will destroy the very best elements of a 21st century education system that requires greater collaboration – not mindless competition.
All that turmoil over National Standards so that it can be said that they have identified some children who are failing. Funny/sad thing is that they were already known. I mean how else did they believe that 20% of children were “failing”? Where did that data come from? The very precise assessments that have been around for years.
What a pity that this extra “focussed help” that Tolley and Parata keep talking about wasn’t applied where it was needed for those underachieving kids who have been known about forever. Now they will say that smaller classes for underachievers would be a help and maybe decent food would help and cultural respect would. Hold your breath.
The Government is doing more than “destroying” child education, it is positively “cruel” toward the children of New Zealand in virtually every respect.
Yes, collecting some hard evidence around educational achievement to help drive where effort and money should be expended. Oh the horror. Why wont they think about the children.
We already knew that and so wasting money on National Standards was just that – a waste of money. On top of that they’ll actually destroy the great educational system we have in NZ and all because a few people can’t understand it.
Hi Paul.
there is no such thing as unbiased objective journalism in New Zealand.
they are handpicked before they even get entry inot J school and then shoulder tapped when they show themselves to be craven apologists for the right.
and wait there is more.
they will never get a job with fox if they break ranks and that is the deciding factor.
they all want a job with the plastic people at fox.
You mean the commentators who raise issues and ideas that you wish wouldn’t get raised? Not like the compliant left-wing media – yes John and Rachel, I especially mean you. But Duncan et al aren’t far behind either.
And on Planet New Zealand’s national radio news, highest ever nett migration figures of 40,000 to Australia. Key will say that this is how we keep up with Australia’s wages- by remittance.
A refreshing bit of candour has been presented to the US Congress by a reputable Climatologist – turns out there are no significant “extreme weather events” related to the ‘hoax’ known as Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming. Also turns out CO2 isn’t the nasty thing the doom sayers all talk about either.
All in all – a good day for the planet. http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/09/21/dr-john-christys-testimony-before-congress/
So, enjoy the weekend – turns out there are plenty more good ones ahead for us all.
@ Lprent
Ah yes – I’ve heard about the crazies at SkepticalScience.com
To quote them:
“And this isn’t about science or personal careers and reputations any more. This is a fight for survival. Our civilisations survival. .. We need our own anonymous (or not so anonymous) donors, our own think tanks…. Our Monckton’s … Our assassins. Anyone got Bill Gates’ private number, Warren Buffett, Richard Branson? Our ‘side’ has got to get professional, ASAP. We don’t need to blog. We need to network. Every single blog, organisation, movement is like a platoon in an army. ..This has a lot of similarities to the Vietnam War….And the skeptics are the Viet Cong… Not fighting like ‘Gentlemen’ at all. And the mainstream guys like Gleick don’t know how to deal with this. Queensberry Rules rather than biting and gouging. ..So, either Mother Nature deigns to give the world a terrifying wake up call. Or people like us have to build the greatest guerilla force in human history. Now. Because time is up…Someone needs to convene a council of war of the major environmental movements, blogs, institutes etc. In a smoke filled room (OK, an incense filled room)we need a conspiracy to save humanity.”
[As quoted by Geoff Chambers in this Bishop Hill thread. http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2012/3/26/opengate-josh-158.html?currentPage=2#comments ]
Yet climate skeptics are being painted as conspiracy theory nutters by the very same people who say“a conspiracy to save humanity” is needed.
Wow! Great to see some light being shone upon these Booze Barns by communities.
Interesting, the impact that demographics is having, and will increasingly have, upon China’s Economy; the numbers of elderly and retired ever-increasing, projected to equal the entire population of Western Europe in 20 years Time, with a diminishing workforce to support them arising from 1-Child policy
With younger generations being discouraged economically to remain in Aotearoa and inter-generational economic and cultural conflict being established through the hegemony of Neoliberalism, what future for our Boomers? Dormitories?
Furthermore, our natural born citizens are increasingly being displaced through the immigration of economically neccesary cheaper labour; workers who are less likely to have economically dependent parents living here.
Very Important!-There are numerous Christian Socialist/Social Political Parties and Movements around the world, particularly in Europe and South America (forget Tony Abbott and Tony Blair)
Yes, I watched the first part of it before I went to work this morning. I particularly like Manning’s description of the Herald as conservative – forget the actual phrase he used – but I liked it when I heard it.
Will watch the rest tomorrow.
Manning and Bradford are both very smart people, and not afraid to tell it clearly and well from a left perspective.
Election to power shouldn’t allow a government to do anything it likes. Consideration must be given to New Zealand’s interests, our environment and especially what the general public wants on any given issue. National has arrogantly ignored both the economic benefit and our conservation ideals by voting not to save the Maui Dolphin, and that makes them a bunch of assholes through and through…
regarding FB and all that other twatting nonsense (recorded in albums)
My son, if sinners (read people on the paths of deception) entice you, do not give in to them.
If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood, let’s waylay some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;
throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse”-
my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into sin (deception), for they are swift to shed blood.
How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds! These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they waylay only themselves (personal experience of that)!
Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; Pr. 1: 10-
rather,
Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the the noisy streets (Christchurch) she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
How long will you simple ones (identify) love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? Pr. 1: 20-
IT IS EXCELLENT to learn of the implementation of greater Reading programmes within Corrections; Teach a person to fish and all that..
In a taped appearance on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers,” Lieberman said he believed reported attacks against the banks “were not done just by random hackers” and that there was “some basis for believing this was an Iranian-sponsored attack.”
Earlier this week, the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center raised its cyber threat level to “high” from “elevated.” The center warned banks of “recent credible intelligence” about potential cyber attacks against financial institutions “that could make companies’ websites unusable for customers.”
Experts have repeatedly warned about Iran’s ability to launch cyber attacks. In April, Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, told a House panel that the Iranian regime has invested heavily in building up its cyber capabilities and has expressed an increasing desire to use it.
Wondering what this could be actually be about, obvious war drums aside
The program, to be managed by the Department of Homeland Security, would establish cybersecurity standards that companies could voluntarily adopt to better protect banks, telecommunication networks and the U.S. power grid from electronic attacks, the officials, who have seen the draft, said on condition of anonymity because the document hasn’t been made public.
The draft, which remains under review and could change, seeks to implement a key provision in a cybersecurity bill that failed to advance in the Senate last month, the officials said. The administration is contemplating using an executive order because it isn’t clear Congress would pass a cybersecurity bill.
“An executive order is one of a number of measures we’re considering as we look to implement the president’s direction to do absolutely everything we can to better protect our nation against today’s cyberthreats,” White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in an e-mailed statement today. “We are not going to comment on ongoing internal deliberations.”
Recently before Obama was to sign a UN treaty on gun control, the Aurora massacre happened, now while drafting an EO on cyber security, BAM, cyber attacks on banks, and its Irans fault too apparantly!
Well the M.O is familiar and predictable….another stinking pile from the US sewer. No wonder NZ is starting to reek so badly!
The stuxnet thing sucks, no respect for human lives, let alone the equipment.
It must’ve been written with evil intent to do what it did, which was f**k with the power supply.
And based on the damage it was ramping up the voltages etc.
(i.e it was designed to blow up local domestic and industrial appliances)
That’s simply evil, and would cost civilians dearly.
I’d be wondering if Iran still does blame America.
I’d be wondering if Iran still does blame America.
Or perhaps the banks are being “attacked” by the same crew who launched Stux? You know, so as to create the perception of “motive” by Iran, because “you” want to launch a military war against that country!
Or perhaps the banks are not being attacked at all…
Yeah, that’s the one which has made it into the public domain so far.
The digital grid – Like a prison which you can’t see, and most believe to “freedom”, you know, because they get to choose the gadgets to inprison yourself with!
So true, networks fail etc, ultimately you’ll get a hit
But if it rips the ground out from under citizens’ feet (Fear/Heartbreak/Loss)
Where’s the thin blue line going to be drawn for their sakes?
Is it really necessary, all prohibitive cultures being equal at the coal face,
NZ and other experience tells us that fear will lead to Heartbreak.
Which is where the “crazy” comes from … people expressing loss and fear.
Heartbreak/loss also affects memory which is why it repeats itself in the community.
how can he spend so long looking at himself in the mirror?
Have you ever read his columns? they make less sense to most people than mine
(there ya go rodders, a free lesson in self-depreciation) 🙂
Too be honest I don’t recall reading any, but likely some twisted reflection of himself.
Dime a Dozen in some ways, the the problem with a moderated “success driven” lifestyle.
If ya didn’t understand the phrase and then repeat it as gospel, what does that really say?
Do it for long enough, the success emotion becomes so great their body will get angry etc when it’s threatened, strange reaction when you didn’t understand the phrase in the first place.
Almost childish.
Just to think, we are currently exposed to such “columnists” as Rodney Hide, SIR Bob Jones, Paul Holmes (oh, welcome back indeed!), John Roughan, Fran O’Sullivan, and the rest (I will make some allowance for Armstrong, as has been known, from time to time, to strive for a degree of fair-mindedness).
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Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has added her warm congratulations to the New Zealanders recognised for their contributions to their communities and the country in the New Year 2021 Honours List. “The past year has been one that few of us could have imagined. In spite of all the things that ...
Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment David Parker has congratulated two retired judges who have had their contributions to the country and their communities recognised in the New Year 2021 Honours list. The Hon Tony Randerson QC has been appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the New Year’s Honours List 2021 highlights again the outstanding contribution made by Pacific people across Aotearoa. “We are acknowledging the work of 13 Pacific leaders in the New Year’s Honours, representing a number of sectors including health, education, community, sports, the ...
The Government’s investment in digital literacy training for seniors has led to more than 250 people participating so far, helping them stay connected. “COVID-19 has meant older New Zealanders are showing more interest in learning how to use technology like Zoom and Skype so they can to keep in touch ...
A nationwide poll has found majority support for the government to continue to closely monitor abortions in New Zealand and the reasons for it, despite the Ministry of Health recently suggesting that there is not a use for collecting much of this information. ...
The out-of-control growth in gangs, gun crime, and violent gang activity is exposing our communities to dangerous levels of violence that will inevitably end in tragedy, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “The recent incidents of people being shot and ...
Successive governments have paid lip service to our productivity challenge but have failed to deliver. It's time to establish a Productivity Council charged with prioritising efforts. ...
Understanding the connection between chronic fatigue syndrome and ‘long Covid’ might be helpful in treating symptoms that doctors will find all too easy to dismiss.When people began to report signs of “long Covid”, characterised by a lack of full recovery from the virus and debilitating fatigue, I recognised their stories. ...
Nadine Anne Hura, who never considered herself an artist, reflects on what art and making has taught her.I couldn’t clean or cook or wash the clothes, but I could sew. That’s a lie, I’m a terrible sewer, but I left work early to fossick around in the $1 bin of ...
Summer reissue: In the final episode of this season of Bad News, Alice is joined by Billy T award winner Kura Forrester to look at how well we’re honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2020.First published September 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The ...
Lucy Revill’s The Residents is a blog about daily life in Wellington that has morphed into a stylish, low-key coffee-table book featuring interviews and photographic portraits of 38 Wellingtonians. In this extract, Revill profiles Eboni Waitere, owner and executive director of Huia Publishers. The Residents features names like Monique Fiso ...
Pacific Media Watch correspondent The pro-independence conflict in West Papua with a missionary plane reportedly being shot down at Intan Jaya has stirred contrasting responses from the TNI/POLRI state sources, church leaders and an independence leader. A shooting caused a plane to catch fire on 6 January 2021 in the ...
“Last year ACT warned that rewarding protestors at Ihumātao with taxpayer money would promote further squatting. We just didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it is in Shelly Bay” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “The prosperity of all ...
Our kindly PM registered her return to work as leader of the nation with yet another statement on the Beehive website, the second in two days (following her appointment of Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council on Wednesday). It’s great to know we don’t have to check with ...
A Pūhoi pub is refusing to remove a piece of memorabilia bearing the n-word from its walls. Dr Lachy Paterson looks at the history of the word here, and New Zealand’s complicity in Britain’s shameful slave trading past.Content warning: This article contains racist language and images.On a pub wall in ...
Supermarket shoppers looking for citrus are seeing a sour trend at the moment – some stores are entirely tapped out of lemons. But why? Batches of homemade lemonade will be taking a hit this summer, with life not giving New Zealand shoppers lemons. Prices are high at supermarkets and grocers that ...
You’re born either a cheery soul or a gloomy one, reckons Linda Burgess – but what happens when gene pools from opposite ends of the spectrum collide?In our shoeboxes of photos that we have to sort out before we die or get demented – because who IS that kid on ...
Summer reissue: Prisoner voting rights are something that few in government seem particularly motivated to do anything about. Could a catchy charity single help draw attention to the issue?First published September 1, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Hundreds more Cook Islanders are expected to begin criss-crossing the Pacific, Air NZ will triple the number of flights to Rarotonga next week, and about 300 managed isolation places will be freed up for Kiwis returning from other parts of the world. When Thomas Tarurongo Wynne took a job in Wellington at ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Ena Manuireva in Auckland It seems a long time ago – some 124 days – since Mā’ohi Nui deplored its first covid-19 related deaths of an elderly woman on 11 September 2020 followed by her husband just hours later, both over the age of 80. The local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral research associate, UNSW A global coalition of more than 50 countries have this week pledged to protect over 30% of the planet’s lands and seas by the end of this decade. Their reasoning is clear: we need greater protection ...
The Reserve Bank Governor’s apology and claim he will ‘own the issue’ is laughable given the lack of answers and timing of its release. Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union said: “It’s been five days since they came clean, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Kokshagina, Researcher – Innovation & Entrepreneurship, RMIT University Are too many online meetings and notifications getting you down? Online communication tools – from email to virtual chat and video-conferencing – have transformed the way we work. In many respects they’ve made ...
The Reserve Bank acknowledges information about some of its stakeholders may have been breached in a malicious data hack. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has commissioned an independent inquiry into how stakeholders' information was compromised when hackers breached a file sharing service used by the bank. “We ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland This story contains spoilers for Ammonite Palaeontologist Mary Anning is known for discovering a multitude of Jurassic fossils from Lyme Regis on England’s Dorset Coast from the age of ten in 1809. ...
A tribute to the sitcoms of old? In the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Yup. Sam Brooks reviews the audacious WandaVision.Nothing sends a chill up my spine like the phrase “Marvel Cinematic Universe”. Since launching in 2008 with Iron Man, the MCU has become a shambling behemoth, with over 23 films (not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University The alt-right, QAnon, paramilitary and Donald Trump-supporting mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6 claimed they were only doing what the so-called “founding fathers” of the US had done in ...
The Point of Order Ministerial Workload Watchdog and our ever-vigilant Trough Monitor were both triggered yesterday by an item of news from the office of Conservation Minister Kititapu Allan. The minister was drawing attention to new opportunities to dip into the Jobs for Nature programme (and her statement was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Kupz, Senior Research Fellow, James Cook University In July 1921, a French infant became the first person to receive an experimental vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), after the mother had died from the disease. The vaccine, known as Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is ...
The first Friday Poem for 2021 is by Wellington poet Rebecca Hawkes.While you were partying I studied the bladeI your ever-loving edgelord God-emperorof the bot army & bitcoin mine subsistingon an IV drip of gamer girl bathwaterfinally my lonelinessis your responsibility………. you seeI need a girlfriend assigned to me by the ...
The arming of police officers in Canterbury was inevitable with the growing numbers and brazenness of the gangs across the country – this should be a permanent step, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is unfortunate that we have come to the point ...
Celebrations in Aotearoa New Zealand to mark the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will begin on Thursday 21 January with ICAN Aotearoa New Zealand’s Wellington and online event, and continue on Friday ...
Hardly anyone is using their Covid Tracer app. Something needs to change.As the mercury approaches 30°C in Aotearoa, there is a good deal of slipping and slopping, but, let’s face it, piss-all scanning. As few as around 500,000 QR codes are being scanned by users of the NZ Covid Tracer ...
On the East Coast, a group of Māori-owned enterprises is innovating to create new revenue streams while doing what they love.New Zealand’s remote and sparsely populated regions are typically not the best places to create thriving brick-and-mortar businesses. In small communities miles away from any major centres, there are so ...
As we reach the height of summer, it’s not too late to do a safety check on your gas bottle. The Environmental Protection Authority’s Safer Homes programme has some tips and tricks to keep in mind before you fire up the grill. "If you’ve ...
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.AUCKLAND1Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold by Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph, $37)If you’re in any way unsure about ...
“We may as well knock on the gang headquarters around this country and tell them we all give up," says Darroch Ball co-leader of Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is simply outrageous that violent offender, James Tuwhangai, has been released from ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Ireland, Israel, and Lebanon. Chart by Keith Rankin. The countries with the most recent large outbreaks of Covid19 are those with large numbers of recent recorded cases, but yet to record the deaths that most likely will result. In this camp, this time, are Ireland, Israel ...
RuPaul is in Aotearoa, kicking back in managed isolation to await the filming of an Australasian version of her hugely popular reality show Drag Race. But not everyone is happy about, explains Eli Matthewson. The world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul, is in New Zealand, the government confirmed earlier this week ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Melleuish, Professor, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong What can we make of Clive Palmer? This week, he announced his United Australia Party (UAP) would not contest the upcoming West Australian state election on March 13. After a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gisela Kaplan, Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England Have you ever seenmagpies play-fighting with one another, or rolling around in high spirits? Or an apostlebird running at full speed with a stick in its beak, chased by a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Jackson, Program Director, Centre for Policy Development, and Associate Professor of Education, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Childcare centres across Australia are suffering staff shortages, which have been exacerbated by the COVID crisis. Many childcare workers across Australia left when parents started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Rhetoric plays an important role in tax debate and therefore tax policy. If your side manages to gain traction in the public imagination with labels such as “death ...
*This article was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission* Whoever leads the Republican Party post-Trump will need to consider how they will maintain the rabid support of his “base”, while working to regain more moderate voters who defected from the party in the 2020 election. In a historic ...
Covid-19 fears accelerated banks’ moves towards cashless transactions. But the Reserve Bank is fighting to protect cash, and those who still use it. ...
Good morning and welcome to this one-off edition of The Bulletin, covering major stories from the last few weeks.A quick preamble to this: Today’s special edition of The Bulletin is all about filling you in on some of the stories you might have missed over the summer period. Perhaps you had ...
Summer reissue: In this episode of Bad News, Alice Snedden is forced to confront her own mortality before hosting a very special dinner party to get to grips with the euthanasia debate.First published August 27, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
The contrast between the words of John F Kennedy and today’s anti-democratic demagogue is inescapable, writes Dolores Janiewski I still remember three eloquent speeches by an American president. One happened in January 1961 and spoke about a “torch being passed to a new generation”. Two years later and one day apart, ...
The debate over cutting down a large macrocarpa to make way for a new residential development has highlighted a wider agreement between developers and protesters: that we also need to be planting far more trees. At the corner of Great North Road and Ash Street in Avondale, a 150-year-old macrocarpa stands its ground ...
More infectious variants of Covid-19 are increasingly being intercepted at the country’s borders, but the minister running New Zealand’s response is resisting pressure to accelerate vaccination plans despite demands from health experts as well as political friends and foes, Justin Giovannetti reports.New Zealand’s first Covid-19 jabs will be administered in ...
As CEO of her iwi rūnanga, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer was on the frontline protecting her community during the first outbreak of Covid-19. Now that more virulent strains threaten to breach our borders, the Māori Party co-leader calls on the government to introduce much stricter measures.As we enter the New Year I ...
The Prada Cup challenger series starts today. Suzanne McFadden goes behind the scenes of the world's only live yachting regatta to see what's in store for the next five weeks. At 6am on race days, Iain Murray wakes up and immediately checks the weather outside his Auckland window. “It’s all ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Raquel Peel, Lecturer, University of Southern Queensland This story contains spoilers for Bridgerton The first season of Bridgerton, Netflix’s new hit show based on Julia Quinn’s novels, premiered on December 25 last year. The show is set in London, during the ...
The New Zealand government believes its own negotiations with Rio Tinto will be resolved "fairly quickly" now there is certainty about the future of the Tiwai Point smelter. ...
Amanda Thompson and her family are attempting to cut back on the meat, so they gave all the vego sausies the local supermarket had to offer a hoon on the barbie. Here are the results.I was a vegetarian once. Even the best of us take a well-meaning wrong turn on ...
The Taxpayers’ Union welcomes the call by Wellington City Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons for a shift to land value based rates charges. Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "Local government leaders across the country should join in Fitzsimons’s call ...
It’s been described as ‘pointless revenge’, but impeaching the president has a firm moral purpose, argues Michael Blake – setting a limit to what sorts of action a society will accept.A House majority, including 10 Republicans, voted today to impeach President Trump for “incitement of insurrection”. The vote will initiate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bryan Cranston, Lead Academic Teacher – Politics & Social Science (Swinburne Online), Swinburne University of Technology In a historic vote today, Donald Trump became the only US president to be impeached twice. By a margin of 232–197, the Democrat-controlled US House of ...
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The electricity sector, Government and people of Southland are rejoicing after Tiwai Point aluminium smelter owner Rio Tinto announced the major industrial would be open until the end of 2024, Marc Daalder reports Stakeholders in the electricity sector and across Southland are celebrating the extension of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter's ...
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Allowing 1,000 returning international students back to New Zealand is the right move by the Government, and hopefully we will be able to welcome more, says ExportNZ Executive Director Catherine Beard. "International education has contributed ...
A majority of the House of Representatives have voted to make Donald Trump the first US president ever to be impeached twice, formally charging him in his waning days in power with inciting an insurrection just a week after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol. Follow the ...
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The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Rotorua Lakes District Council to urgently release the engineering report on the public safety and structural integrity of the visible foundation-misalignment and lean of the City’s Hemo Gorge monument to government ...
Changes in income and movement in and out of poverty over time are only weakly associated with higher rates of child hospitalisation in New Zealand, according to a new University of Auckland study. Published today in PLOS ONE, the collaborative study led by Dr ...
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A century of sexual abuse of women in New Zealand is analysed in a University of Auckland study. The newly-published research looks back as far as 1922 by analysing interviews with thousands of women about their lifetime experiences. The study indicates ...
62,686 more native trees will be planted in New Zealand in 2021 thanks to generous Kiwis who chose to go green for Christmas gifting. <img src="https://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/2101/cf409712f141732a8543.jpeg" width="720" height="540"> Trees That Count, a programme ...
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Education
The Herald produces another intellectually powerful article on the failings of our school system. Apparently, according to some expert voice, if we get rid of cell phones, the problem will be solved. WTF. What suburb did she establish that evidence. Remuera perhaps?
Quote… NZ Writers’ College principal Nichola Meyer said changes in language had been affecting children’s writing skills for years.
“The language they are hearing is all jargon. There is a lot of slang and it’s almost phonetically based and not spelling based.
“So when they have to sit down and write something, it is completely alien to them.”
…unquote.
Then surprise, surprise, in the next paragraph
Quote …The fact that English was a second language to many students was also a big factor, Ms Meyer said, as other cultures were traditionally verbal and therefore reading and writing were not the norm….unquote.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10835754
And in an article on literacy, they quote Hekia as saying that Reading Recovery is provided to assist children failing in Maths.
Clever, Hekia.
And the first comment below this stuff article sums up the excercise well:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/7715044/Inside-New-Zealand-schools
And Nania Mahuta points to a problem with the Nat Standards focusing too much on individualistic competition:
http://www.labour.org.nz/news/ropey-league-tables-agenda-just-dopey
All that turmoil over National Standards so that it can be said that they have identified some children who are failing. Funny/sad thing is that they were already known. I mean how else did they believe that 20% of children were “failing”? Where did that data come from? The very precise assessments that have been around for years.
What a pity that this extra “focussed help” that Tolley and Parata keep talking about wasn’t applied where it was needed for those underachieving kids who have been known about forever. Now they will say that smaller classes for underachievers would be a help and maybe decent food would help and cultural respect would. Hold your breath.
The Government is doing more than “destroying” child education, it is positively “cruel” toward the children of New Zealand in virtually every respect.
Yes, collecting some hard evidence around educational achievement to help drive where effort and money should be expended. Oh the horror. Why wont they think about the children.
We already knew that and so wasting money on National Standards was just that – a waste of money. On top of that they’ll actually destroy the great educational system we have in NZ and all because a few people can’t understand it.
Which cultures would that be then? 😀 (None of the ones I have taught, and that’s about 10 of them)
John Roughan in today’s Herald, calling for unbiased reporting. Not a trace of irony anywhere. He must live on Planet Key.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10835683
Does he mention Larry Williams, Leighton Smith and the other ‘unbiased’ presenters on Planet ZB?
Hi Paul.
there is no such thing as unbiased objective journalism in New Zealand.
they are handpicked before they even get entry inot J school and then shoulder tapped when they show themselves to be craven apologists for the right.
and wait there is more.
they will never get a job with fox if they break ranks and that is the deciding factor.
they all want a job with the plastic people at fox.
You mean the commentators who raise issues and ideas that you wish wouldn’t get raised? Not like the compliant left-wing media – yes John and Rachel, I especially mean you. But Duncan et al aren’t far behind either.
And on Planet New Zealand’s national radio news, highest ever nett migration figures of 40,000 to Australia. Key will say that this is how we keep up with Australia’s wages- by remittance.
A refreshing bit of candour has been presented to the US Congress by a reputable Climatologist – turns out there are no significant “extreme weather events” related to the ‘hoax’ known as Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming. Also turns out CO2 isn’t the nasty thing the doom sayers all talk about either.
All in all – a good day for the planet.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/09/21/dr-john-christys-testimony-before-congress/
So, enjoy the weekend – turns out there are plenty more good ones ahead for us all.
[lprent: ‘Reputable’ hardly. But I guess that is like saying Watts does peer reviewed research. Here is a rather scathing analysis of that presentation.
http://skepticalscience.com/christy-once-again-misinforms-congress.html ]
@ Lprent
Ah yes – I’ve heard about the crazies at SkepticalScience.com
To quote them:
“And this isn’t about science or personal careers and reputations any more. This is a fight for survival. Our civilisations survival. .. We need our own anonymous (or not so anonymous) donors, our own think tanks…. Our Monckton’s … Our assassins.
Anyone got Bill Gates’ private number, Warren Buffett, Richard Branson? Our ‘side’ has got to get professional, ASAP. We don’t need to blog. We need to network. Every single blog, organisation, movement is like a platoon in an army. ..This has a lot of similarities to the Vietnam War….And the skeptics are the Viet Cong… Not fighting like ‘Gentlemen’ at all. And the mainstream guys like Gleick don’t know how to deal with this. Queensberry Rules rather than biting and gouging.
..So, either Mother Nature deigns to give the world a terrifying wake up call. Or people like us have to build the greatest guerilla force in human history. Now. Because time is up…Someone needs to convene a council of war of the major environmental movements, blogs, institutes etc. In a smoke filled room (OK, an incense filled room)we need a conspiracy to save humanity.”
[As quoted by Geoff Chambers in this Bishop Hill thread.
http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2012/3/26/opengate-josh-158.html?currentPage=2#comments ]
Yet climate skeptics are being painted as conspiracy theory nutters by the very same people who say “a conspiracy to save humanity” is needed.
“a conspiracy to save humanity” is needed.
Yes and why not? If the corporates and governments conspire to do nothing, then maybe the people will have to act?
What are the choices, and what are their outcomes?
http://www.tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/
A particularly good ‘Citizen A’ with Sue Bradford and Selwyn Manning.
Actual Link
Just have to mention here that I absolutely hate the Tumeke website.
Wow! Great to see some light being shone upon these Booze Barns by communities.
Interesting, the impact that demographics is having, and will increasingly have, upon China’s Economy; the numbers of elderly and retired ever-increasing, projected to equal the entire population of Western Europe in 20 years Time, with a diminishing workforce to support them arising from 1-Child policy
With younger generations being discouraged economically to remain in Aotearoa and inter-generational economic and cultural conflict being established through the hegemony of Neoliberalism, what future for our Boomers? Dormitories?
Furthermore, our natural born citizens are increasingly being displaced through the immigration of economically neccesary cheaper labour; workers who are less likely to have economically dependent parents living here.
Very Important!-There are numerous Christian Socialist/Social Political Parties and Movements around the world, particularly in Europe and South America (forget Tony Abbott and Tony Blair)
“Just have to mention here that I absolutely hate the Tumeke website.”
why?
It’s slow and difficult to navigate.
God Bless lprent!
And the heavens paused ….
Please don’t moderate me sir //0-0\
I know I’m a bit crazy …. but I mean well 😀
Yes, I watched the first part of it before I went to work this morning. I particularly like Manning’s description of the Herald as conservative – forget the actual phrase he used – but I liked it when I heard it.
Will watch the rest tomorrow.
Manning and Bradford are both very smart people, and not afraid to tell it clearly and well from a left perspective.
Kate Wilkinson – Asshole of the Week
Election to power shouldn’t allow a government to do anything it likes. Consideration must be given to New Zealand’s interests, our environment and especially what the general public wants on any given issue. National has arrogantly ignored both the economic benefit and our conservation ideals by voting not to save the Maui Dolphin, and that makes them a bunch of assholes through and through…
Billy Bragg – I love that guy, his views, his music and his politics.
Great song A New England and . great smackdown of BNP candidate
plus he was on with our Kim this morning.
Ta Marty. That “smackdown” did my heart good.
Doublethink, propaganda and how far people will go to deny cognitive dissonance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liJfPuyrF1k&feature=g-all-u
WRT to uncle Sam, our new BFF.
Slim Gaillard Quartette – Atomic Cocktail.
So how come kweewee was out of the country when Leon Panetta was in town.
I don’t think the Americans trust him.
It’s not Obama or Hilary so why bother, get a lackey instead.
regarding FB and all that other twatting nonsense (recorded in albums)
My son, if sinners (read people on the paths of deception) entice you, do not give in to them.
If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood, let’s waylay some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;
throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse”-
my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into sin (deception), for they are swift to shed blood.
How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds! These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they waylay only themselves (personal experience of that)!
Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; Pr. 1: 10-
rather,
Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the the noisy streets (Christchurch) she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
How long will you simple ones (identify) love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? Pr. 1: 20-
IT IS EXCELLENT to learn of the implementation of greater Reading programmes within Corrections; Teach a person to fish and all that..
Having been somwhat uncomfortable at the lack of genuine propaganda on Iran of late, This from Senator Joe Lieberman
Wondering what this could be actually be about, obvious war drums aside
President Barack Obama’s administration is drafting an executive order that would create a program protecting vital computer networks from cyber attacks, according to two former government officials with direct knowledge of the effort.
Recently before Obama was to sign a UN treaty on gun control, the Aurora massacre happened, now while drafting an EO on cyber security, BAM, cyber attacks on banks, and its Irans fault too apparantly!
Well the M.O is familiar and predictable….another stinking pile from the US sewer. No wonder NZ is starting to reek so badly!
Interesting ….
The IP network has always been open, again the majority of the time it’s left alone for the sake of commerce and communication.
But it’s not the only one, and redundancy is what those institutions need if they are serious about “Cyber Protection”
The problem is the “Mystery” when service fails, thruth is it’s a very easy thing to do.
And yes it’ll affect everyone if you do the homework.
Caches still need a “Source”, it’ll simply stop.
Yas have to remember we are talking about government institutions
The stuxnet thing sucks, no respect for human lives, let alone the equipment.
It must’ve been written with evil intent to do what it did, which was f**k with the power supply.
And based on the damage it was ramping up the voltages etc.
(i.e it was designed to blow up local domestic and industrial appliances)
That’s simply evil, and would cost civilians dearly.
I’d be wondering if Iran still does blame America.
I’d be wondering if Iran still does blame America.
Or perhaps the banks are being “attacked” by the same crew who launched Stux? You know, so as to create the perception of “motive” by Iran, because “you” want to launch a military war against that country!
Or perhaps the banks are not being attacked at all…
BTW this US programme is just as likely to be used against US citizens as to defend against scary foreigners.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/%E2%80%9Cwe-are-far-turnkey-totalitarian-state-big-brother-goes-live-september-2013
Yeah, that’s the one which has made it into the public domain so far.
The digital grid – Like a prison which you can’t see, and most believe to “freedom”, you know, because they get to choose the gadgets to inprison yourself with!
Genius!
So true, networks fail etc, ultimately you’ll get a hit
But if it rips the ground out from under citizens’ feet (Fear/Heartbreak/Loss)
Where’s the thin blue line going to be drawn for their sakes?
Is it really necessary, all prohibitive cultures being equal at the coal face,
NZ and other experience tells us that fear will lead to Heartbreak.
Which is where the “crazy” comes from … people expressing loss and fear.
Heartbreak/loss also affects memory which is why it repeats itself in the community.
Is it just me, or has Rodney Hide launched a one man campaign against the union movement?
He pritty much announced it a week or more so ago.
Good luck on that one M8!
Yeah M8!, Snowballs chance!
how can he spend so long looking at himself in the mirror?
Have you ever read his columns? they make less sense to most people than mine
(there ya go rodders, a free lesson in self-depreciation) 🙂
Too be honest I don’t recall reading any, but likely some twisted reflection of himself.
Dime a Dozen in some ways, the the problem with a moderated “success driven” lifestyle.
If ya didn’t understand the phrase and then repeat it as gospel, what does that really say?
Do it for long enough, the success emotion becomes so great their body will get angry etc when it’s threatened, strange reaction when you didn’t understand the phrase in the first place.
Almost childish.
Rodney Hide and the Whalespew army are out to get the unions. I’d hardly be worried.
Just to think, we are currently exposed to such “columnists” as Rodney Hide, SIR Bob Jones, Paul Holmes (oh, welcome back indeed!), John Roughan, Fran O’Sullivan, and the rest (I will make some allowance for Armstrong, as has been known, from time to time, to strive for a degree of fair-mindedness).