“Beijing rights activist Hu Jia said the station has been set up with the aim of exporting China’s ideology beyond its borders.”
“The Voice of China is under the control of the Central Propaganda Department,” Hu said. “This is an important tactic on Xi Jinping’s part, and a huge weapon in his hands to change the world’s opinion of this dictator and his autocratic one-party rule.”
“Xi has the self-confidence of a czar following the constitutional amendments, and now he wants to bravely lead the fight against mainstream values in the rest of the world,” he said.
“He will use authoritarian power to make Chinese lies sound nice, and engage in ideological infiltration and indoctrination.”
Many on here have commented on Russia Today as a propaganda agent of the Russian Federation – yet we don’t get RT as a Freeview channel in this country.
” yet we don’t get RT as a Freeview channel in this country.”
I am sure we used to be able to get it on Freevew
Not surprised that we no longer can get this channel, Yes it is Putin’s propaganda outlet, you don’t need a degree to work that one out, but it did have some interesting programmes on it providing you looked at them with an opened mind.
Max Kaiser was one good programme. Once again had to keep an open mind but he did have some very interesting guests like Steve Keen, who had a lot of economic alternatives to this Neo shit they appear to teach in universities.
But hey the powers to be are “saving” us from making up our own minds and really why do we need RT when we have so many unbiased media outlets like Fox News The Daily Fail The Torygraph and our own very unbiased press like the Granny and reporters Hoskins, Gower, Gardner just to name a few.
By saving what they would have otherwise spent on mortgage, rates, maintenance and insurance minus rent, Mary says renters might come out as well or better off than their home-buying friends, she says.
The advantages of renting:
Better savings diversification
Less responsibility
No need to do (or pay someone else to do) maintenance
May be easier to live close to downtown
Can move easily and cheaply
Can use long-term savings for a business or other investment
That’s the way it should be. However, profiteers and price gougers have skewed the system.
I have always been happy to rent. And would welcome changes to shift the balance of power away from landlords.
I have a pretty good landlord at the moment. Rent rises are once a year and at the lower end of rises I’ve heard about. I live in a well maintained secure unit.
But even this landlord raises the rent yearly a bit above average income rises.
That housing is too expensive full stop.
Housing investment for the home owner is tax free unless you are flipping in less than 2 years.
On the average family income there is no money left over for investment.
She’s been inoculated with the Neo Liberal Bullshit. They all say that the Neo’s want the peasantry brought to heel and know their place and renting is just one other control to achieve this.
There are more people coming in than houses being built. We have had the same rental system for decades and seemed to be fine with little shortages, now it’s dramatically changed because for the last decade and in particular the last few years, there are 70+ new residents pa, 180,000 work permits given out for new residents pa, and massive tourism. Then how easy it is for other nations to invest in ‘gold bricks’ in NZ and how everyone is expected to have multiple mansions around the world. (Look where that has got Queenstown).
So you have raise taxes, have no rental fees etc etc but it will not change the fundamental problem.
There are too many people for the amount of houses and the houses being built are generally beyond the reaches of those on NZ wages.
So there is very little hope, unless the government fundamentally change immigration and neoliberalism because that is what is increasing the prices of things like building. We export logs, bring them back as wood, and end up paying more than other countries for building materials for examples even when we produce a lot of the raw products. We have plenty of skilled and unskilled local labour, but the way the industry has gone, has been to ignore those people because they don’t want to train them and instead get paid to provide a work permit or pay well below the going wage for industry AND be able to work people longer and harder which they have to put up with because they can’t change jobs.
Right there savenz,
And there are more trucks bigger longer and heavier than ever now entering our rural dirt roads now and we see less repairs to them every week until some are going to become impassable soon.
This lack of regional funding of our dirt roads will soon be stopping the farming communities in their tracks, so we are all being setup for a big fall.
Pineapple lumps to you Asleep.
Thank Warren Buffet.
Next rationalization is Watties Heinz Cerebos Gregg’s .
Same owners different vehicle.
Monopolization of food production is allowed to happen no international regulation.
I liked whittackers, but then someone said they weren’t labour-friendly (lowercase “L”).
Donovan’s does some nice confectionary, dunno much about them and their practises though.
Waiting for Ocho to make some round orange-coated chocolate balls. Chocolate with percentages is all well and good, but gimme some pineapple chumps, sniffies, Byzantine brilliantines, orange aucklanders, and other generic names for movie staples…
You heard Whitaker’s weren’t? They’re still here and employing aren’t they? Some of their employees have been there 30 years and more. Low brow, even for you
Goodby to mass and bulk production, hello to the higher-quality, fair-trade, artisan chocolate factory. Also in Dunedin. Fully crowd-sourced from locals:
Not sure why the system went down at 0652. I was already at work and there is nothing in the logs. Looked like the CPU had a temperature shutdown – but there is nothing in the logs, and it isn’t exactly summer at 0652 at this time of year even in Auckland.
Also not sure why my phone isn’t alarming me when it can’t see the website.
Bill had to send a message through to my phone (Thanks Bill).
My windows 10 computer has frequently shut down without warning. I googled it and it seems to be something that happens with windows 8-10 – some say it started suddenly on their computers last year. Various fixes are recommended online – some too technical, and delving into code, for me.
I unticked enabling quick start in power options – one of the suggestions. And that seemed to work til it ticked itself again.
However the particular computer that it normally runs on is getting pretty old. I suspect I need to have a look at the fans and cooling systems again. Or upgrade.
It is a 8 core AMD FX9590 from 2013 which was when I brought it to assemble as a workstation box. It’s most distinguishing characteristic is that it runs up to 225W on the CPU – effectively it is factory overclocked.
So it runs bloody hot and has a rather large stock water cooler with some large very silent but high volume fans on the radiator. This throws heat out of the back.
Even so when the conversation gets warm on the site, you can keep a coffee pretty warm by placing it on the top of case above the radiator. And in winter, your conversation provides my apartment’s heating.
Not so good in summer when we need open windows to prevent the apartment and the computer from cooking us or itself.
The backup server was meant to be the new server last year but wound up as being my workstation.
It is a Ryzen 7 1700 8 core (with 8 virtuals). Way more computing power, but a different design that only runs at 65W. It barely gets warm. I don’t even run it with a water cooler.
However neither the Linux kernel and ASUS motherboard firmware was really ready for it on release. It spent the first 5 months rebooting too frequently (ie about as much as a normal windows computer). It is pretty stable now – which I define as I have to think about actually manually rebooting it every few months..
But I have gotten used to its speed when building code.
I’m not going back to a AMD Piledriver. And since I have to get a new motherboard, memory and cooling system so I can upgrade TS’s server, then something like a AMD Threadripper 1960X could do some severe improvements in my compilation speeds….
But that may have to wait for a while. My partner is trying to build her own business (on one of my older discards from 2011 🙂 and her even older mac laptop). So I’m paying the mortgages and living costs while she gets it off the ground. Upgrading my already over powered workstation is low on the priority list.
I suppose I could consider Intel again – but they are always frigging overpriced and because of their builtin obsolescence policies with form factors for their sockets, too expensive to maintain.
Basically The Standard has been running since 2014 on my old development systems. Good thing that I’m an active programmer eh?
My windows 10 shut my 8 month old computer down and next time we tried to start it we had no windows 10 operating system any more; – so we had to buy a new program and get Microsoft to reload all my stuff we lost.
Dear gods. I still trust my macbook more than the windows laptop – and my second hand ubuntu one.
Edit: it’s interesting that so many windows 8 and 10 pcs started shutting down without warning around the same time. And microsoft seems to blame everything else but it’s OS.
I’ve had no issues at all, apart from some people sitting in front of the screen, with windows seven, eight and ten.
Keep up with updates and windows defender seems to do the trick.
And don’t let any geeks near them. They always want to fix something that isn’t broke.
As my network engineer cousin says. 90% of computer problems can be fixed by a restart. 9% by changing he person on the keyboard. 1% is caused by trying to make software work, in a way it is not designed to do.
SCL group (Strategic Communication Laboratories) is very intertwined with UK Tories and aristocrats. It’s the parent company for Cambridge Analytica.
SCL is another political propaganda enterprise, focusing on manipulation of people’s views by targeting emotions (like Cambridge Analytica and Crosby Textor). It has some security clearance which gives it access to confidential documents. It has done work for the UK MOD.
(SCL Group) – an organisation with its roots deeply embedded within the British political, military and royal establishment.
Indeed, as the Observer article which broke the scandal said “For all intents and purposes, SCL/Cambridge Analytica are one and the same.”
…
In 2005, SCL went public with a glitzy exhibit at the DSEI conference, the UK’s largest showcase for military technology.
It’s ‘hard sell’ was a demonstration of how the UK government could use a sophisticated media campaign of mass deception to fool the British people into the thinking an accident at a chemical plant had occurred and threatened central London. Genuinely.
Board members include an array of Lords, Tory donors, ex-British army officers and defense contractors.
…
We finally have the most concrete evidence yet of shadowy actors using dirty tricks in order to rig elections. But these characters aren’t operating from Moscow intelligence bunkers.
Instead, they are British, Eton educated, headquartered in the city of London and have close ties to Her Majesty’s government.
The NZ Defence Service has been told it has to release the details of it’s contractual arrangements with Palantir, the intelligence gathering data base company owned by none other than our very own ‘citizen’, Peter Thiel. Should be interesting in light of what we have learned about Cambridge Analytica.
This month the firm [Palantir] won a billion-dollar contract to provide software to the United States Army, and the company has in recent years sought to expand its client base beyond the western military and spy community to include police forces, immigration enforcement agencies and Wall Street.
These data base companies – whether they’re based in Britain or the US – are all related and doing much the same thing. At least that is the way it appears on the surface.
France: Mass protests against Macron’s economic policies
Protesters march across the country to protest against government plans to change labour law, scrap social benefits.
As usual even the Daily Mail is keeping me better informed on World events than RNZ and the msm…for those who don’t want to go there, i’ve included Al Jazeera’s coverage..
But…but…but..not another poster child – a saviour no less if I remember the French Presidential campaign coverage correctly – turning out to be just another fucking liberal bastard? Surely not!
Le Pen would have the most powerless President France has had. And please, let’s not forget how the liberal media, in turn, denigrated and ignored the threat to their preferred poster boy coming from the left while simultaneously playing up ye olde fascist canard to get people to herd in the centre.
I’m guessing the argument got through then, if all you got is an ad-hominem.
I like my politics to have a bit more morality/body/do actual good not just nice words – to it, than the other guy is a little less evil than that guy. Because that road just leads to more evil guys and you end up with pig skewers and trump. (the pig skewers and trump are probably interchangeable at this point) I think the last what 35 years have proven that if you vote that way all your getting is worse and a little more worse. The last 2 PM’s anyone.
And note I said guys, because that all it ever is – le pen was just more male macho politics as well.
Bridge had a good point about this post – nothing has really changed even though the law changed for the last 30 odd years.
Someone here nailed it by recalling the expression “the perfect is the enemy of the good”. In a democracy, those who are relentlessly negative about policy (except for their preferred candidate) leave the election open to nobody except demagogues. Not even Bernie could switch off the hate some supporters have for the ideologically nearest-but-one candidates.
So yeah, Macron is better than a fucking nazi. And maybe if the left vote weren’t always so fractured by idealogues, France would have someone better than Macron. If Hamon and Mélenchon hadn’t split each other’s vote in the first round, you’d have to find something else to bitch about.
Your doing that make up an argument from what I said, so you can knock it down again. You do that a lot.
I’m not arguing for perfect, never have, nor did I go with negatives except to prove your argument is exactly that, negative. Your argument is a negative argument, which continues to have negative consequences.
How the hell did we get to nazi’s running for office in the first place, sure wasn’t via socialist policies. 35 years of hard liberalism, anyone.
That said, the left isn’t so fractured in France, see protests.
Nazis always run for office. Why are they becoming more popular?
Every time a bunch of lefties run for office, the ones who are less popular throw more shit at the others than the tories do. Every time the right wing run for office, they get past their differences and vote as their favoured candidate or group directs. Epsom, anyone?
The more ‘neoliberalism’ fails, the more extreme people want the change to be. If you knew next to fuckall about an issue other than something was seriously fucked up, would you choose:
option A (extreme but you have reservations),
option B) business as usuall but they look clean and responsible, or
option C) a random selection from indistinguishable but apparently extreme alternatives that all bitterly hate each other and are constantly throwing shit?
Because that’s what most voters are faced with when trying to figure out what party would make life better for them. So, yeah, keep being a bile-spitting depressive all you want, but unless you actually do something constructive you’re just part of the problem.
“Ordinary folk reading might think he is impartial.”
Especially as it not bylined as an opinion piece. His second sentence is blatant RW spin,
“Those of us who still believe in mainstream economics have Shane Jones to thank for again highlighting the lunacy of a government minister owning 51.9 per cent of Air New Zealand.
See, Shane Jones is part of the terrible loony left who want to destroy the economy. Which is classic Hooton. Undermine the target, mindfuck the Overton Window, mess with the left, and that’s all in the first nine words.
He really is very good at his job, but it’s not journalism.
It’s incredibly heartening to see the Prime Minister write about energy transition planning. I’ve been interested in the transition towns movement for a while and I think it’s a great step for this sort of thing to be on a national policy level.
And has taken on John Bolton. Interesting how Trump’s fans were thinking he would be such a departure from US foreign policy and now he’s taking on the most severe hawk from the GWB administration.
A new Greenpeace investigation has exposed the environmental risks of the fast-growing krill industry in one of the most pristine parts of the Antarctic Ocean.
The krill fishing industry removes a vital species from the Antarctic food web – tiny shrimp-like krill – eaten by blue whales, penguins, seals and other wildlife.
We Thestandard site shut down for a couple of hours apologies about my earlier comments it seems strange that there is not actual explanation why. Because the sandflys have been blocking me in the past I checked it at 5pm and I could get to the site come 8.30am no go. PS ECO MAORI does not mind admitting when he is wrong. I trust no one Kia kaha Ka kite ano
Very interesting comparing the general wailing and gnashing of molars in Granny by Mike Hosking and Matthew Hooton and then whoosh – a wee gem by ex Nat MP for Whanganui, Chester Borrows headed ‘Politicians bailed Air N Z out – the airline can’t now complain about Shane Jones’. It’s worth a read. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12018271
Nice dig by Garner in the Dominion at Hosking. (About the Obama dinner.)
“Some of the more miserable or perhaps unhappier grumps among us confused this for boring. They should stay at home and read car manuals next time or a book about themselves.”
Hosking’s column showed him to be an unhappy grump who found the visitor boring.
Newshub just helping son-in-law fix a trough. The Chief Highlanders will be a good Game. Mike you would have had a good time last night Ka pai. I’m on the farm and have to try and get a TV off the Mokopunas to watch the new lol. So I missed most of your new Ka kite ano
The project the sandflys have got anxiety now they no I ain’t no pushover.
The Pink and White terraces was a beautiful sight what a shame to have lossed them. That Westpack bank ad looks like another attack on brown people dont you think from ECO MAORI view Ka kite ano
Iv been getting the run around by my bank since my idiot nabour sandflys started his personal vendetta against me they won’t give me life insurance they stop my truck insurance payments I had no problem with this till the idiot stepped up his harresment. I wonder what their intentions are there is malic in his intentions in my view and some people know that they have malicious intentions against me and they still assist them?????? So I will get my Utu for there treatment of ECO MAORI. Ana to kai PS And they no I’m a good person
Ausome sounds on the radio this afternoon enough said some people mite have thought I thought that those 2 Super Rugby team that I would like to see play each other was on this weekend. I know we’re OUR Rugby team are playing I am a Kiwi after all. I Back the League as well ECO MAORI does not chose side enough said Kia kaha players Ka kite ano I have my favourite but the kumara never say how sweet it is
Newshub it was good having Obama here more Good publicity for Aotearoa one thing I noticed was he was not to comfortable around shonky I would not be comfortable around shonky ether. Global warming is hear and now we have to CHANGE OUR culture and start living in a sustainable way. I seen some other person who now knows ECO MAORI is not a pushover now. Kia kaha Ka kite ano P.S Some other people are paying back their backers with good publicity for Aotearoa to ka pai
There you go Judges bulling in my view they are bullying people to do as they are told so that they don’t question there rulings or judgements. When counsel sees bull___going down they don’t question it I say here’s the link.
Many thanks to Jacinda for letting everyone know her intention of a transition to a carbon neutral economy and OUR Coalition Government for backing her.
This might be the longest delay between reading (or in this case re-reading) a work, and actually writing a review of it I have ever managed. Indeed, when I last read these books in December 2022, I was not planning on writing anything about them… but as A Phuulish Fellow ...
Kia Ora,I try to keep most my posts without a paywall for public interest journalism purposes. However, if you can afford to, please consider supporting me as a paid subscriber and/or supporting over at Ko-Fi. That will help me to continue, and to keep spending time on the work. Embarrassingly, ...
There was a time when Google was the best thing in my world. I was an early adopter of their AdWords program and boy did I like what it did for my business. It put rocket fuel in it, is what it did. For every dollar I spent, those ads ...
A while back I was engaged in an unpleasant exchange with a leader of the most well-known NZ anti-vax group and several like-minded trolls. I had responded to a racist meme on social media in which a rightwing podcaster in the US interviewed one of the leaders of the Proud ...
Hi,If you’ve been reading Webworm for a while, you’ll be familiar with Anna Wilding. Between 2020 and 2021 I looked at how the New Zealander had managed to weasel her way into countless news stories over the years, often with very little proof any of it had actually happened. When ...
It's a long white cloud for you, baby; staying together alwaysSummertime in AotearoaWhere the sunshine kisses the water, we will find it alwaysSummertime in AotearoaYeah, it′s SummertimeIt's SummertimeWriters: Codi Wehi Ngatai, Moresby Kainuku, Pipiwharauroa Campbell, Taulutoa Michael Schuster, Rebekah Jane Brady, Te Naawe Jordan Muturangi Tupe, Thomas Edward Scrase.Many of ...
Last year, 292 people died unnecessarily on our roads. That is the lowest result in over a decade and only the fourth time in the last 70 years we’ve seen fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year. Yet, while it is 292 people too many, with each death being ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob HensonFlames from the Palisades Fire burn a building at Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire had destroyed thousands of structures and ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Regulatory Standards Bill, as I understand it, seeks to bind parliament to a specific range of law-making.For example, it seems to ensure primacy of individual rights over that of community, environment, te Tiriti ...
Happy New Year!I had a lovely break, thanks very much for asking: friends, family, sunshine, books, podcasts, refreshing swims, barbecues, bike rides. So good to step away from the firehose for a while, to have less Trump and Seymour in your day. Who needs the Luxons in their risible PJs ...
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland In 2003, after much argument, including the election of a Mayor in 2001 who ran on stopping it, Britomart train station in downtown Auckland opened. A mere 1km twin track terminating branch ...
For the first time in a decade, a New Zealand Prime Minister is heading to the Middle East. The trip is more than just a courtesy call. New Zealand PMs frequently change planes in Dubai en route to destinations elsewhere. But Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it got dissolved into soul music, girl groups, and within pop music in general. Basically, doo wop was a form of small group harmonising with a ...
The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
Open access notablesLarge emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications:Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
We’ll have a climate change ChristmasFrom now until foreverWarming our hearts and mindsAnd planet all togetherSpirits high and oceans higherChestnuts roast on wildfiresIf coal is on your wishlistMerry Climate Change ChristmasSong by Ian McConnellReindeer emissions are not something I’d thought about in terms of climate change. I guess some significant ...
KP continues to putt-putt along as a tiny niche blog that offers a NZ perspective on international affairs with a few observations about NZ domestic politics thrown in. In 2024 there was also some personal posts given that my son was in the last four months of a nine month ...
I can see very wellThere's a boat on the reef with a broken backAnd I can see it very wellThere's a joke and I know it very wellIt's one of those that I told you long agoTake my word I'm a madman, don't you knowSongwriters: Bernie Taupin / Elton JohnIt ...
.Acknowledgement: Tim PrebbleThanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..With each passing day of bad headlines, squandering tax revenue to enrich the rich, deep cuts to our social services and a government struggling to keep the lipstick on its neo-liberal pig ...
This is from the 36th Parallel social media account (as brief food for thought). We know that Trump is ahistorical at best but he seems to think that he is Teddy Roosevelt and can use the threat of invoking the Monroe Doctrine and “Big Stick” gunboat diplomacy against Panama and ...
Don't you cry tonightI still love you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightDon't you cry tonightThere's a heaven above you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightSong: Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so”, said possibly the greatest philosopher ever to walk this earth, Douglas Adams.We have entered the ...
Because you're magicYou're magic people to meSong: Dave Para/Molly Para.Morena all, I hope you had a good day yesterday, however you spent it. Today, a few words about our celebration and a look at the various messages from our politicians.A Rockel XmasChristmas morning was spent with the five of us ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
From 1 January 2025, first-time tertiary learners will have access to a new Fees Free entitlement of up to $12,000 for their final year of provider-based study or final two years of work-based learning, Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Targeting funding to the final year of study ...
“As we head into one of the busiest times of the year for Police, and family violence and sexual violence response services, it’s a good time to remind everyone what to do if they experience violence or are worried about others,” Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence ...
A parent shares their experience and fears as public submissions are sought on the use of puberty blockers for gender-affirming care. Both the author and daughter’s names have been changed to protect their privacy.When my daughter Marie was born, everyone, including me, thought she was a boy. She started ...
Thrice thwarted previously, the Act Party’s Regulatory Standards Bill is set to pass in 2025, ushering in a new – and potentially controversial – era for government rule-making. Here’s everything you need to know. Before public submissions for the Treaty principles bill came to a close on Tuesday, a separate ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 15 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Summer reissue: Adopted in 1834 the first national flag of New Zealand (Te Kara o Te Whakaminenga o Ngā Hapū o Nu Tīreni) symbolises more than just necessity – it represents Māori autonomy and a legacy of self-determination that continues today.The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying ...
Summer reissue: Shortsightedness in kids is skyrocketing overseas. Is New Zealand next? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.“Hey bro, are you blind now?” ...
While mediator Qatar says a Gaza ceasefire deal is at the closest point it has been in the past few months — adding that many of the obstacles in the negotiations have been ironed out — a special report for Drop Site News reveals the escalation in attacks on Palestinians ...
In our latest in-depth podcast investigation, Fractured, Melanie Reid and her team delve deep into a complex case involving a controversial medical diagnosis and its fallout on a young family. While Fractured is a forensic examination of this case here in New Zealand, the diagnosis that started it all is ...
While last year was termed the ‘year of elections’, 2025 will see some highly significant elections set to take place throughout the world that could have significant impacts on countries, their regions, and the wider global picture.AfricaThe presidential elections in Cameroon this October see the world’s oldest head of state ...
ANALYSIS:By Ali Mirin Indonesia officially joined the BRICS — Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa — consortium last week marking a significant milestone in its foreign relations. In a statement released a day later on January 7, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that this membership reflected Indonesia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Risk & Resilience, UNSW Sydney Imagine a gathering so large it dwarfs any concert, festival, or sporting event you’ve ever seen. In the Kumbh Mela, a religious festival held in India, millions of Hindu pilgrims come ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Motortion Films/Shutterstock You may have seen stories the Australian dollar has “plummeted”. Sounds bad. But what does it mean and should you be worried? The most-commonly quoted ...
Summer reissue: Lange and Muldoon clash, two days after the election. Our live updates editor is on the case. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gina Perry, Science historian with a specific interest in the history of social psychology., The University of Melbourne ‘Guards’ with a blindfolded ‘prisoner’.PrisonExp.org A new translation of a 2018 book by French science historian Thibault Le Texier challenges the claims of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Jordan, Professor of Epidemiology, The University of Queensland Peakstock/Shutterstock Many women worry hormonal contraceptives have dangerous side-effects including increased cancer risk. But this perception is often out of proportion with the actual risks. So, what does the research actually say ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiley Seymour, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Behaviour, University of Technology Sydney Vector Tradition/Shutterstock From self-service checkouts to public streets to stadiums – surveillance technology is everywhere. This pervasive monitoring is often justified in the name of safety and security. ...
South Islanders Alex Casey and Tara Ward reflect on their so-called summer break. Alex Casey: Welcome back to work Tara, how was your summer? Tara Ward: I’m thrilled to be here and equally as happy to have experienced my first New Zealand winter Christmas, just as Santa always intended. Over ...
Summer reissue: Five years ago, we voted against legalising cannabis. But what if the referendum had gone the other way? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a software developer shares his approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Male. Age: 34. Ethnicity: NZ European. Role: Software developer. Salary/income/assets: Salary ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan Cassidy-Welch, Professor of History and Dean of Research Strategy, University of Divinity Lieven van Lathem (Flemish, about 1430–93) and David Aubert (Flemish, active 1453–79), Gracienne Taking Leave of Her Father the Sultan, 1464 The J. Paul Getty Museum Travellers have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian A. Wright, Associate Professor in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University Goami/Shutterstock On hot summer days, hitting the beach is a great way to have fun and cool off. But if you’re not near the salty ocean, you might opt for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Loc Do, Professor of Dental Public Health, The University of Queensland TinnaPong/Shutterstock Fluoride is a common natural element found in water, soil, rocks and food. For the past several decades, fluoride has also been a cornerstone of dentistry and public health, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ladan Hashemi, Senior Research Fellow in Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau PickPik, CC BY-SA Children with traumatic experiences in their early lives have a higher risk of obesity. But as our new research shows, this risk can be ...
Further interest rate cuts are coming, but why does everything still feel so bleak? Stewart Sowman-Lund explains for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The year ahead: On a small boat in an oyster farm devastated by storms, ANZ’s boss learns about the importance of adapting to change The post Making the world your oyster appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Two key events in February will set the direction of New Zealand’s clean, green reputation for the rest of the year – and perhaps even many years to come.First, the Government must announce its next emissions reduction target under the Paris Agreement by February 10. Then, later in the month, ...
In our latest in-depth podcast investigation, Fractured, Melanie Reid and her team delve deep into a complex case involving a controversial medical diagnosis and its fallout on a young family. While Fractured is a forensic examination of this case here in New Zealand, the diagnosis that started it all is ...
To complete our series looking back at 2024 and gazing forward to 2025, we asked our big political commentary brains to nominate the three issues that will loom large in the year to come. Madeleine Chapman (editor, The Spinoff)The Treaty principles bill just won’t rest, and will start the ...
Summer reissue: There are fewer pokie machines in Aotearoa than ever, but they still rake in more than $1bn a year. So are strict council policies working – and do the community funding arguments stack up? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 14 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: The Economist magazine asks whether Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘Trump gamble’ of discontinuing fact-checking posts on Meta will pay off. We in Aotearoa should understand that good news for Meta’s bottom line could be a disaster for us.We live at a time when everything seems to be happening all at once. There is an incoming ...
Comment: With the right leadership, local government can be a genuine part of democratic community life. With a little effort, anyone can contribute to that. The post Don’t shrug your shoulders over local government appeared first on Newsroom. ...
I have to say, I found Jacinda’s reported child related question to Obama quite touching.
Her real values shining through.
One propaganda machine to rule them all!
“Beijing rights activist Hu Jia said the station has been set up with the aim of exporting China’s ideology beyond its borders.”
“The Voice of China is under the control of the Central Propaganda Department,” Hu said. “This is an important tactic on Xi Jinping’s part, and a huge weapon in his hands to change the world’s opinion of this dictator and his autocratic one-party rule.”
“Xi has the self-confidence of a czar following the constitutional amendments, and now he wants to bravely lead the fight against mainstream values in the rest of the world,” he said.
“He will use authoritarian power to make Chinese lies sound nice, and engage in ideological infiltration and indoctrination.”
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-propaganda-03212018140841.html
Many on here have commented on Russia Today as a propaganda agent of the Russian Federation – yet we don’t get RT as a Freeview channel in this country.
The same can’t be said about Chinese propaganda!
” yet we don’t get RT as a Freeview channel in this country.”
I am sure we used to be able to get it on Freevew
Not surprised that we no longer can get this channel, Yes it is Putin’s propaganda outlet, you don’t need a degree to work that one out, but it did have some interesting programmes on it providing you looked at them with an opened mind.
Max Kaiser was one good programme. Once again had to keep an open mind but he did have some very interesting guests like Steve Keen, who had a lot of economic alternatives to this Neo shit they appear to teach in universities.
But hey the powers to be are “saving” us from making up our own minds and really why do we need RT when we have so many unbiased media outlets like Fox News The Daily Fail The Torygraph and our own very unbiased press like the Granny and reporters Hoskins, Gower, Gardner just to name a few.
Here is the Wikipedia entry for Freeview.
It lists a string of defunct channels but doesn’t include RT in the list.
This article at least seems to think that RT was never on the service.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeview_(New_Zealand)#Defunct_channels
It is conceivable it was visible at the very beginning. There seems to have been problems with lots of odd channels showing up.
From 2007
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10481054
I felt like that when i found “Friend” a Japanese magazine in our school library, many years ago.
Mary Holm is out of touch with low to middle income earners.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018637268/is-home-ownership-the-only-way-to-go
By saving what they would have otherwise spent on mortgage, rates, maintenance and insurance minus rent, Mary says renters might come out as well or better off than their home-buying friends, she says.
The advantages of renting:
Better savings diversification
Less responsibility
No need to do (or pay someone else to do) maintenance
May be easier to live close to downtown
Can move easily and cheaply
Can use long-term savings for a business or other investment
Where should we begin?
That’s the way it should be. However, profiteers and price gougers have skewed the system.
I have always been happy to rent. And would welcome changes to shift the balance of power away from landlords.
I have a pretty good landlord at the moment. Rent rises are once a year and at the lower end of rises I’ve heard about. I live in a well maintained secure unit.
But even this landlord raises the rent yearly a bit above average income rises.
That housing is too expensive full stop.
Housing investment for the home owner is tax free unless you are flipping in less than 2 years.
On the average family income there is no money left over for investment.
She’s been inoculated with the Neo Liberal Bullshit. They all say that the Neo’s want the peasantry brought to heel and know their place and renting is just one other control to achieve this.
There are more people coming in than houses being built. We have had the same rental system for decades and seemed to be fine with little shortages, now it’s dramatically changed because for the last decade and in particular the last few years, there are 70+ new residents pa, 180,000 work permits given out for new residents pa, and massive tourism. Then how easy it is for other nations to invest in ‘gold bricks’ in NZ and how everyone is expected to have multiple mansions around the world. (Look where that has got Queenstown).
So you have raise taxes, have no rental fees etc etc but it will not change the fundamental problem.
There are too many people for the amount of houses and the houses being built are generally beyond the reaches of those on NZ wages.
So there is very little hope, unless the government fundamentally change immigration and neoliberalism because that is what is increasing the prices of things like building. We export logs, bring them back as wood, and end up paying more than other countries for building materials for examples even when we produce a lot of the raw products. We have plenty of skilled and unskilled local labour, but the way the industry has gone, has been to ignore those people because they don’t want to train them and instead get paid to provide a work permit or pay well below the going wage for industry AND be able to work people longer and harder which they have to put up with because they can’t change jobs.
Right there savenz,
And there are more trucks bigger longer and heavier than ever now entering our rural dirt roads now and we see less repairs to them every week until some are going to become impassable soon.
This lack of regional funding of our dirt roads will soon be stopping the farming communities in their tracks, so we are all being setup for a big fall.
I’m guessing you mean gravel roads.
Goodbye, fare thee well, and turn out the lights.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/353180/cadbury-s-dunedin-factory-turns-out-final-sweets-today
Now it’s all Aussie (until Singapore comes online) and palm oil.
So I’m going to say you can’t call them Kiwi anymore.
Look on the bright side – at least we still have Whittakers and Mayceys.
Cadbury chocolate is fucking shit anyway.
Pineapple lumps to you Asleep.
Thank Warren Buffet.
Next rationalization is Watties Heinz Cerebos Gregg’s .
Same owners different vehicle.
Monopolization of food production is allowed to happen no international regulation.
Cerebos’s was marked over 10 years ago in East Tamaki as EOL.
+1
I liked whittackers, but then someone said they weren’t labour-friendly (lowercase “L”).
Donovan’s does some nice confectionary, dunno much about them and their practises though.
Waiting for Ocho to make some round orange-coated chocolate balls. Chocolate with percentages is all well and good, but gimme some pineapple chumps, sniffies, Byzantine brilliantines, orange aucklanders, and other generic names for movie staples…
Brilliant
I thought Whittakers were meant to be one of the better ones ethically 🙁
better than cadbury’s. I could be wrong about them, I have no actual evidence. Just a someone said.
Thinking about it, it might only be some of the Whittakers range that is more ethical. Yep, better than Cadbury’s by some margin.
You heard Whitaker’s weren’t? They’re still here and employing aren’t they? Some of their employees have been there 30 years and more. Low brow, even for you
You know so much about ’em, what’s their unionisation rate? Are all their cocoa ethically sourced?
I clearly said that’s what I’d heard, and the strongest words I used were “weren’t labour friendly”.
If you think that’s low brow, you can suck my balls.
The fairtrade beans are just in their dark Ghana and creamy milk blocks, but they are GM and Palm Oil free acros all products.
E Tu represents people in the confectionery industry. They have no posts on their site for Whittakers, but quite a few for Cadbury.
fair call, I’ll go with that then.
Goodby to mass and bulk production, hello to the higher-quality, fair-trade, artisan chocolate factory. Also in Dunedin. Fully crowd-sourced from locals:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/101329158/otago-chocolate-company-finds-new-factory-site-on-dunedins-waterfront
Let a thousand flowers bloom.
Buy Whittakers always folks.
Not sure why the system went down at 0652. I was already at work and there is nothing in the logs. Looked like the CPU had a temperature shutdown – but there is nothing in the logs, and it isn’t exactly summer at 0652 at this time of year even in Auckland.
Also not sure why my phone isn’t alarming me when it can’t see the website.
Bill had to send a message through to my phone (Thanks Bill).
Heading back to work.
Is it a windows computer?
My windows 10 computer has frequently shut down without warning. I googled it and it seems to be something that happens with windows 8-10 – some say it started suddenly on their computers last year. Various fixes are recommended online – some too technical, and delving into code, for me.
I unticked enabling quick start in power options – one of the suggestions. And that seemed to work til it ticked itself again.
I’d say the server hosting this site isn’t running Windows software.
Definitely not. Both servers run linux.
However the particular computer that it normally runs on is getting pretty old. I suspect I need to have a look at the fans and cooling systems again. Or upgrade.
It is a 8 core AMD FX9590 from 2013 which was when I brought it to assemble as a workstation box. It’s most distinguishing characteristic is that it runs up to 225W on the CPU – effectively it is factory overclocked.
So it runs bloody hot and has a rather large stock water cooler with some large very silent but high volume fans on the radiator. This throws heat out of the back.
Even so when the conversation gets warm on the site, you can keep a coffee pretty warm by placing it on the top of case above the radiator. And in winter, your conversation provides my apartment’s heating.
Not so good in summer when we need open windows to prevent the apartment and the computer from cooking us or itself.
The backup server was meant to be the new server last year but wound up as being my workstation.
It is a Ryzen 7 1700 8 core (with 8 virtuals). Way more computing power, but a different design that only runs at 65W. It barely gets warm. I don’t even run it with a water cooler.
However neither the Linux kernel and ASUS motherboard firmware was really ready for it on release. It spent the first 5 months rebooting too frequently (ie about as much as a normal windows computer). It is pretty stable now – which I define as I have to think about actually manually rebooting it every few months..
But I have gotten used to its speed when building code.
I’m not going back to a AMD Piledriver. And since I have to get a new motherboard, memory and cooling system so I can upgrade TS’s server, then something like a AMD Threadripper 1960X could do some severe improvements in my compilation speeds….
But that may have to wait for a while. My partner is trying to build her own business (on one of my older discards from 2011 🙂 and her even older mac laptop). So I’m paying the mortgages and living costs while she gets it off the ground. Upgrading my already over powered workstation is low on the priority list.
I suppose I could consider Intel again – but they are always frigging overpriced and because of their builtin obsolescence policies with form factors for their sockets, too expensive to maintain.
Basically The Standard has been running since 2014 on my old development systems. Good thing that I’m an active programmer eh?
Thanks for the explanation. So does it require some increase in donations for an upgrade?
Oh, are you a programmer?
😉
We will probably learn that is when people lose their bitcoin… or something similar.
I am always suspicious. Paranoia!!
My windows 10 shut my 8 month old computer down and next time we tried to start it we had no windows 10 operating system any more; – so we had to buy a new program and get Microsoft to reload all my stuff we lost.
Dear gods. I still trust my macbook more than the windows laptop – and my second hand ubuntu one.
Edit: it’s interesting that so many windows 8 and 10 pcs started shutting down without warning around the same time. And microsoft seems to blame everything else but it’s OS.
I’ve had no issues at all, apart from some people sitting in front of the screen, with windows seven, eight and ten.
Keep up with updates and windows defender seems to do the trick.
And don’t let any geeks near them. They always want to fix something that isn’t broke.
As my network engineer cousin says. 90% of computer problems can be fixed by a restart. 9% by changing he person on the keyboard. 1% is caused by trying to make software work, in a way it is not designed to do.
microsoft seems to have lost interest in the consumer OS space. mass market windows PCs are going the way of the dinosaurs
Only in geek land.
you seem like an expert. 🙄
http://www.zdnet.com/article/todays-most-popular-operating-systems/
So, further down the rabbit hole we go. This post by Liam O’Hare” SCL – A very british coup.
SCL group (Strategic Communication Laboratories) is very intertwined with UK Tories and aristocrats. It’s the parent company for Cambridge Analytica.
SCL is another political propaganda enterprise, focusing on manipulation of people’s views by targeting emotions (like Cambridge Analytica and Crosby Textor). It has some security clearance which gives it access to confidential documents. It has done work for the UK MOD.
Posted this late yesterday on Daily Review:
The NZ Defence Service has been told it has to release the details of it’s contractual arrangements with Palantir, the intelligence gathering data base company owned by none other than our very own ‘citizen’, Peter Thiel. Should be interesting in light of what we have learned about Cambridge Analytica.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12014265
These data base companies – whether they’re based in Britain or the US – are all related and doing much the same thing. At least that is the way it appears on the surface.
Great decision. Note it is another of the long delayed processes which might have seen info released prior to or during the election..
France: Mass protests against Macron’s economic policies
Protesters march across the country to protest against government plans to change labour law, scrap social benefits.
As usual even the Daily Mail is keeping me better informed on World events than RNZ and the msm…for those who don’t want to go there, i’ve included Al Jazeera’s coverage..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5530905/French-public-sector-rail-workers-strike-test-Macron.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/france-mass-protests-macron-economic-policies-180322203829332.html
Instead of endless coverage of Trumps Tweets, imagine a news service that covered the people making a stand??
It seems lots of I Reckons is what passes for media in NZ now
+111
Facts are inconvenient in NZ for the political class right about now.
But…but…but..not another poster child – a saviour no less if I remember the French Presidential campaign coverage correctly – turning out to be just another fucking liberal bastard? Surely not!
And there were a few dissenters to the labelling him of some kind of breath of fresh new air
New air same as the old air(really old), punishing the middle class and working people. Because they are just not rich enough.
Same liberal bastards want to drag us into a war with Russia.
The rich have enough of our blood!
Still better than Le Pen.
Le Pen would have the most powerless President France has had. And please, let’s not forget how the liberal media, in turn, denigrated and ignored the threat to their preferred poster boy coming from the left while simultaneously playing up ye olde fascist canard to get people to herd in the centre.
Oh look take this pile of crap, becasue it’s better than that pile of crap.
But make sure you don’t complain about having to take that pile of crap, becasue we will pull out the other pile of crap if you do.
It can’t be healthy, being so fucking sour all the time.
I’m guessing the argument got through then, if all you got is an ad-hominem.
I like my politics to have a bit more morality/body/do actual good not just nice words – to it, than the other guy is a little less evil than that guy. Because that road just leads to more evil guys and you end up with pig skewers and trump. (the pig skewers and trump are probably interchangeable at this point) I think the last what 35 years have proven that if you vote that way all your getting is worse and a little more worse. The last 2 PM’s anyone.
And note I said guys, because that all it ever is – le pen was just more male macho politics as well.
Bridge had a good point about this post – nothing has really changed even though the law changed for the last 30 odd years.
https://libcom.org/blog/series-interviews-working-class-women-west-london-part-4-19032018
Oh bullshit.
Someone here nailed it by recalling the expression “the perfect is the enemy of the good”. In a democracy, those who are relentlessly negative about policy (except for their preferred candidate) leave the election open to nobody except demagogues. Not even Bernie could switch off the hate some supporters have for the ideologically nearest-but-one candidates.
So yeah, Macron is better than a fucking nazi. And maybe if the left vote weren’t always so fractured by idealogues, France would have someone better than Macron. If Hamon and Mélenchon hadn’t split each other’s vote in the first round, you’d have to find something else to bitch about.
Your doing that make up an argument from what I said, so you can knock it down again. You do that a lot.
I’m not arguing for perfect, never have, nor did I go with negatives except to prove your argument is exactly that, negative. Your argument is a negative argument, which continues to have negative consequences.
How the hell did we get to nazi’s running for office in the first place, sure wasn’t via socialist policies. 35 years of hard liberalism, anyone.
That said, the left isn’t so fractured in France, see protests.
Nazis always run for office. Why are they becoming more popular?
Every time a bunch of lefties run for office, the ones who are less popular throw more shit at the others than the tories do. Every time the right wing run for office, they get past their differences and vote as their favoured candidate or group directs. Epsom, anyone?
The more ‘neoliberalism’ fails, the more extreme people want the change to be. If you knew next to fuckall about an issue other than something was seriously fucked up, would you choose:
option A (extreme but you have reservations),
option B) business as usuall but they look clean and responsible, or
option C) a random selection from indistinguishable but apparently extreme alternatives that all bitterly hate each other and are constantly throwing shit?
Because that’s what most voters are faced with when trying to figure out what party would make life better for them. So, yeah, keep being a bile-spitting depressive all you want, but unless you actually do something constructive you’re just part of the problem.
Just lower your standards Bill. 🙂
I see HootOn is writing for the Herald.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12018308
No disclaimer no description of him as formerly working for the Nat Party etc…
Ordinary folk reading might think he is impartial.
AFAIK he hasn’t done work for National for years and has been criticisng Joyce since 2014, and Key for the last two to three years. Word has it that his firm, Exceltium has done more work for ACT over that period.
Eg
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/101989860/joyce-complains-to-nbr-about-critical-piece-by-nowaxed-columnist
https://nz.linkedin.com/in/matthewhooton
https://nz.linkedin.com/in/brookevanvelden
And look who was here at No 3 for ACT in 2017 – http://act.org.nz/act-unveils-party-list/
Ben Thomas seems to be Exceltium’s National man these days.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11917012
https://thespinoff.co.nz/author/ben-thomas/
https://nz.linkedin.com/in/ben-thomas-1325a9b5
Oops I was editing the above and checking something elsewhere and it went up uncorrected.
Re Ben Thomas – was amending this to read
Ben Thomas * seemed to be Exceltium’s National man for a while but then wrote these Herald articles immediately before the 2017 election:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11917012
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11921023
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11923730
* https://thespinoff.co.nz/author/ben-thomas/ and https://nz.linkedin.com/in/ben-thomas-1325a9b5
Back to Hooton, perhaps he has taken over Ben Thomas’ slot at the Herald. Who knows/cares?
Always like Peter Aranyi’s takes on Hooton, eg this from last Sept:
http://www.thepaepae.com/about-matthew-hootons-declared-loyalties/37847/
“Ordinary folk reading might think he is impartial.”
Especially as it not bylined as an opinion piece. His second sentence is blatant RW spin,
“Those of us who still believe in mainstream economics have Shane Jones to thank for again highlighting the lunacy of a government minister owning 51.9 per cent of Air New Zealand.
See, Shane Jones is part of the terrible loony left who want to destroy the economy. Which is classic Hooton. Undermine the target, mindfuck the Overton Window, mess with the left, and that’s all in the first nine words.
He really is very good at his job, but it’s not journalism.
It’s incredibly heartening to see the Prime Minister write about energy transition planning. I’ve been interested in the transition towns movement for a while and I think it’s a great step for this sort of thing to be on a national policy level.
Thanks for the transition towns link
“Donald Trump has ousted his national security advisor HR McMaster..”
Oh boy. Next…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/102531434
And has taken on John Bolton. Interesting how Trump’s fans were thinking he would be such a departure from US foreign policy and now he’s taking on the most severe hawk from the GWB administration.
Having campaigned on getting career people out he has soon realised their value. Running a country is not the same as running a business
Yeah, but he promised..
/
Yeah right said the Tui ad.
Apparently Natz are claiming that “Gas exports would reduce global emissions’ this is based on gas is better than coal.
Natz logic seem to ignore that solar and renewable energy is going to reduce global emissions even more than gas and coal.
But I guess you write what people pay you to write if you are a Nat and thinking or even researching does not even come into it.
Greedy and fucking stupid.
Goodbye whales…
A new Greenpeace investigation has exposed the environmental risks of the fast-growing krill industry in one of the most pristine parts of the Antarctic Ocean.
The krill fishing industry removes a vital species from the Antarctic food web – tiny shrimp-like krill – eaten by blue whales, penguins, seals and other wildlife.
http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/en/press/Licensed-to-krill-Greenpeace-report-exposes-Antarctic-fishing-industry/
We Thestandard site shut down for a couple of hours apologies about my earlier comments it seems strange that there is not actual explanation why. Because the sandflys have been blocking me in the past I checked it at 5pm and I could get to the site come 8.30am no go. PS ECO MAORI does not mind admitting when he is wrong. I trust no one Kia kaha Ka kite ano
LPrent commented on it above:
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-23-03-2018/#comment-1464758
Very interesting comparing the general wailing and gnashing of molars in Granny by Mike Hosking and Matthew Hooton and then whoosh – a wee gem by ex Nat MP for Whanganui, Chester Borrows headed ‘Politicians bailed Air N Z out – the airline can’t now complain about Shane Jones’. It’s worth a read. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12018271
Nice dig by Garner in the Dominion at Hosking. (About the Obama dinner.)
“Some of the more miserable or perhaps unhappier grumps among us confused this for boring. They should stay at home and read car manuals next time or a book about themselves.”
Hosking’s column showed him to be an unhappy grump who found the visitor boring.
Newshub just helping son-in-law fix a trough. The Chief Highlanders will be a good Game. Mike you would have had a good time last night Ka pai. I’m on the farm and have to try and get a TV off the Mokopunas to watch the new lol. So I missed most of your new Ka kite ano
The project the sandflys have got anxiety now they no I ain’t no pushover.
The Pink and White terraces was a beautiful sight what a shame to have lossed them. That Westpack bank ad looks like another attack on brown people dont you think from ECO MAORI view Ka kite ano
To the sandflys feel the THUNDER
https://youtu.be/fKopy74weus
Iv been getting the run around by my bank since my idiot nabour sandflys started his personal vendetta against me they won’t give me life insurance they stop my truck insurance payments I had no problem with this till the idiot stepped up his harresment. I wonder what their intentions are there is malic in his intentions in my view and some people know that they have malicious intentions against me and they still assist them?????? So I will get my Utu for there treatment of ECO MAORI. Ana to kai PS And they no I’m a good person
Disregard the statement of Utu I’m just upset at the bank for mucking me around on a service that is needed in this day and age insurance Ka kite ano
Ausome sounds on the radio this afternoon enough said some people mite have thought I thought that those 2 Super Rugby team that I would like to see play each other was on this weekend. I know we’re OUR Rugby team are playing I am a Kiwi after all. I Back the League as well ECO MAORI does not chose side enough said Kia kaha players Ka kite ano I have my favourite but the kumara never say how sweet it is
Newshub it was good having Obama here more Good publicity for Aotearoa one thing I noticed was he was not to comfortable around shonky I would not be comfortable around shonky ether. Global warming is hear and now we have to CHANGE OUR culture and start living in a sustainable way. I seen some other person who now knows ECO MAORI is not a pushover now. Kia kaha Ka kite ano P.S Some other people are paying back their backers with good publicity for Aotearoa to ka pai
There you go Judges bulling in my view they are bullying people to do as they are told so that they don’t question there rulings or judgements. When counsel sees bull___going down they don’t question it I say here’s the link.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/102562165/chief-justice-dame-sian-elias-rebukes-judges-after-revelations-of-widespread-bullying
Many thanks to Jacinda for letting everyone know her intention of a transition to a carbon neutral economy and OUR Coalition Government for backing her.
We’re planning for fossil fuel transition
OPINION: Accused of delivering confusion for businesses over oil and gas, Jacinda Ardern says her vision is clear.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102498682/jacinda-ardern-i-lived-through-fast-economic-change-in-the-80s-we-wont-repeat-that-with-our-move-to-cleaner-energy-future
Kia kaha Ka kite ano