A very nasty story of Assange's deterioration Francesca. The cause of his crash mentally and physically may never know only conjectured. A blow to democracy.
A very interesting phenomenon. There is now a huge industry of independent "truth tellers/independent journalists" who endlessly recycle social media posts and write "exposes" recycling same while at the same time touting for donations to support their noble struggle often with large "click farms" of associated url's and social media accounts. The one truth about these operators is that their business plan depends on Assanges continued incarceration. They contribute nothing and their wall of white noise and misdirection impedes Assange in his struggle
I didn't realise that xanthe but I shouldn't be surprised. Everybody can present themselves as a journalist these days it seems. It is bad enough with people in the Fairfax papers with big Bylines giving Opinions and not even a sentence of background information on them. So nothing to advise you as to why they should lay their opinions on you and what line of career, education, culture or experience has built their perceptions and facts they have chosen to accept.
Thanks francesca – I feel guilty letting his welfare drop out of sight. So have to remember to keep thinking of him. At present I seems to be like a rabbit in the headlights watching Boorish and his Rubber Band play their discordant music in the UK. Need a good dose of Spitting Images I think to illustrate the Farrago of it all.
Yes good call – a childrens author just has a view like anyone else and shouldn't have a platform imo especially when the opinion is yucky,
A popular children's author has been asked not to speak at a retreat for Catholic school principals in Central Otago, after defending a disgraced bishop's sexual relationship with a young woman.
Joy Cowley hit the headlines last week, after writing a column in defence of former Catholic Bishop of Palmerston North, Charles Drennan, who resigned earlier this month after admitting a sexual relationship with a young woman.
…Last week, in an RNZ interview, she went further, saying the sexual relationship between an older bishop and a young woman – even if aged in her late teens – was not an abuse of power.
The relationship would also help ''make him a much better bishop'', she told RNZ.
''He would know how to work with women, wouldn't he? As a man, he wouldn't be just hopping on one foot.''
A report on National Radio last week outlined the significant shift which allowed marriage for Catholic priests under some conditions, in priest strapped South America. I don't remember where I heard that sorry.
There are some eastern rite orthodox churches which accept the Supremacy of the Pope ( so are 'catholic') that allow priests to marry.
In addition some existing married Church of England priests who broke away from the CofE to join the Catholic church are allowed to act as Catholic priests, but if their wife dies they cant re- marry and if the werent married already they cant marry.
Just been, for my sins, listening to Soimun on RNZ – and the lack of logic he displays is quite exceptional.
In his monotone monologue he accused Andrew Little of only wanting to make NZers half safe by not extending the supervision period and not lowering the age to 14 years.
But does this mean National won't support the bill? And if that's the case, will NZ be not at all safe?
I hope Andrew calls his bluff on this and makes National support the bill, or risk being accused to endangering all NZers. Surely, "the reality is" half safe is better than no safe?
The time line on Mars makes the few seconds of human life on earth makes us pretty insignificant. Wonder if some sort of living organisms existed on Mars back then?
The first couple Prince albums are stunning, I love later Prince but the early albums are so different and interesting, I Feel For You is on his 2nd album but the acoustic version is awesome! Thanks for sharing.
The former US homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, repeatedly defended her decision to separate thousands of children from their parents at the southern border, in her first public interview since she resigned in April.
At Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Woman summit in Washington DC on Tuesday, the PBS NewsHour correspondent Amna Nawaz asked Nielsen four times if she regretted signing off on the family separation policy, before Nielsen responded: “I don’t regret enforcing the law.
Back in Feb 2017, KiwiSaver architect Sir Michael Cullen joined the board of variable annuity company Retirement Income Group. Former retirement commissioner Diana Crossan is also on the board.
Now, interim Retirement Commissioner Peter Cordzt is taking public submissions on an annuity scheme (called KiwiSpend) before he decides which recommendations will make it into his review of retirement incomes.
The final report will be presented to Government in December.
It will be interesting to see what comes of this.
Submissions are open until October 31.
[Again, you did not provide a link so that readers could follow-up (e.g. to make a submission) and gain more insight into the context/background. To label it “interesting” is pretty vanilla (beige?) too IMO and you might as well have asked “should we be concerned?” Please provide a link – Incognito]
The Government is asking New Zealanders for their views on proposals to stop freshwater health getting worse and to restore waterways to a healthy state in a generation. We have prepared a discussion document setting out the proposals, which is available on our website. We recommend you refer to the discussion document when completing your submission.
We have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to develop the proposals and are keen to hear your views on them.
We have grouped the questions from the discussion document by theme, but if you want to answer a specific question, please note the question number from the discussion document in your submission. You do not need to answer all of the questions. Notes boxes are provided under each question for your comments. Supporting documents may also be attached at the end of the form.
Just because Russell Norman told the truth doesn't mean either he – and those of us who agree with him – have no sympathy for those directly affected like the inner city dwellers who have had 24 hrs of toxic smoke to contend with.
There was much hoopla and some political concessions made at the time – maybe the government of the day aimed to make political capital out of it. ‘Bum deal’? Scam? A bit of both? Will taxpayers ever get will get the full story?
Don't know the real extent of public or private costs, although some major private companies got burned, 'going forward'. There was a remarkable dearth of good news stories about the project in 2016/17 – funny that.
"In 2015, Skycity announced Fletcher Construction would be building the new international convention centre in Auckland. Nobody then suspected it would lead to over $400m of losses to Fletcher Building."
after all they want plausible deniability when the firefighters/first responders come to ACC with health issues caused by the job. Toxic fires are quite common, and the guys putting them out are more often then not unpaid volunteers.
so yeah, how dare he talk about the toxic fumes, he should thank the fire fighters for their service instead! It is simply not polite from him to point out all the toxic smoke, debris and waste water. 🙂
Interesting to see that the owners of Tiwai Point Aluminium have requested talks with the government.
As a result Meridian dropped 7.75% in a morning's market trade, and others like Mercury also fell down a chunk as well.
I sure feel for the people of Southland who are having to go through this again.
But it is surely one of the greatest gifts that Minister Wood could have dropped on her, if she wanted to require Meridian to divert that power supply from Tiwai Point to the national grid.
That would be a considerable shift in our energy carbon emissions, and hopefully put a really hard floor under our energy price with that much constant supply on tap.
I sure feel for the people of Southland who are having to go through this again.
Until Tiwai Point is shut down, they will forever be pawns in Rio Tinto's game of extorting the cushiest deal they can out of the government of the day. This government needs to develop a hostage rescue plan, and come up with alternatives for those workers.
If it isn't already in Rio Tinto's interest to move out of Southland, it will be very soon. The estimates I've seen for what Rio Tinto pays for electricity in NZ are around 6 cents/kWhr (vs around 25 cents/kWhr average for residential consumers). Plus the alumina has to be shipped here, then the refined aluminium shipped elsewhere. But new solar power projects are being built to supply electricity at under US 3 cents/kWhr, and the Weipa bauxite mine is quite handy to one of the best solar resources in the world.
Concentrating solar power schemes which can keep supplying into the night aren't quite that low yet, but they're not that far off. Here's a scheme from 2017 in Australia contracting to supply for 78 dingodollars/MWhr.
The idea that capital equipment must be kept running 24/7 is a managerialist axiom, but it's not necessarily the lowest cost way to produce a product.
In the case of aluminium smelting after there's a reasonable waste disposal fee placed on carbon emissions, it may turn out most cost effective to just smelt during the day using extremely cheap PV electricity and just do the minimum to keep them hot and ready to go overnight. Or it may be cheaper to pay a bit more on the electricity side for concentrating solar with a shitload of storage. Or something else. Whatever the outcome may be, that should be Rio Tinto's problem, not ours.
But what's going to be really stupid for New Zealand is to continue paying a premium for fossil generated electricity for the rest of the country while continuing to give Rio Tinto extremely cheap clean hydro electricity.
"Capital equipment must be kept running 24/7 is a managerialist axiom, but it's not necessarily the lowest cost way to produce a product.
Its a smelter, the Al pot lines will solidify. Plenty of production processes are continuous for technical reasons and off peak power is cheaper for the very big customers.
Theres 2 reasons the Smelter power is cheap .
1) Only a short distance from Manapouri to Bluff , so Transpower lines charges are low
2) They are a heavy bulk power under contract, not a flick the switch user like a home or small to medium business. They can drop power for short periods to help with small spikes in demand or sudden system failures.
Portugal has always subsidized its Solar power. The latest one isnt publicly subsidized ( a first) but the price is fixed and confidential. Public outcry over the existing subsidies. of course Portugal can get Power from Spain as well. Good luck with NZ having an interconnector with another Grid – although the North And South islands are run like that with the Cook St cable connecting Benmore and Haywards in Upper Hutt
Solar power has many issues, the biggest is the sun doesnt shine when the morning and evening peaks occur. The second is the power production isnt synchronous at 50Hz, so some sort of rotating generator is needed to stabilise the frequency. In NZ we have hydro power stations around the country to do that , otherwise its thermal , either coal or gas.
Yes a smelting pot needs to be kept hot so it doesn't solidify, but that doesn't mean it needs to be running at full production. It just needs to be kept hot. Keeping it hot requires a lot less power if you aren't dumping cold alumina in the top and tapping molten aluminium out the bottom.
There's a third reason Rio Tinto gets it cheap, they successfully apply pressure on the government using Southland employment as hostages for leverage.
If that continuous 600ish MW continuous draw from Tiwai Point went away, I'm sure the grid and generators would work out how to manage the extra available power. Y'know, it could supply base load for the rest of the country that is currently coming from sources that can quite happily operate in a variable mode. Meridian might even find they get more for it by selling most of it at higher variable rates rather than just a continuous low rate.
Aluminium smelting pots don't run on 50Hz AC, they're only roughly 2V DC. It is possible to convert AC to DC and back again – the Cook Strait cables are DC.
You sure that Portugal price is subsidised? It's a couple of years on from the unsubsidised US 1.79 cents/kWhr in Saudi in 2017, and PV prices have fallen significantly from 2017 to now.
So much wrong with what you are saying. You clearly have half a clue about a lot of things.
The pot lines are DC but the power generated at Manapouri which is fed to the Grid is AC at 50hz. Its a single grid , that the smelter changes the power for its purposes doesnt matter for the grid.
Cheapest power production is from large load thermal stations, mainly coal and gas, then come hydro. They can provide power on demand day or night. Then comes wind which is intermittant and last comes solar.
Carbon taxes deliberately push up the cost of creating thermal power, but its still the cheapest because of scale and it can be used as a base load
There would be many positives if the corporate blackmail ceased…..unless you live in Invercargill where Tiwai smelter employs around 10 % of the workforce.
Another political difficulty this government could do without at this time
"I sure feel for the people of Southland who are having to go through this again."
maybe it's time that NZ started considering what sustainability is, and applying that to economics. Not the co-opted meaning of the word, but the regenerative, nature-based meaning, where something is able to be sustained over long periods of time without causing damage or stealing rersources from other communities. This is going to be an ongoing issue with climate transition, may as well get used to it now. When dairy and tourism contract, how will Southland and NZ make a living?
"That would be a considerable shift in our energy carbon emissions, and hopefully put a really hard floor under our energy price with that much constant supply on tap."
Likewise, might be a good time to learn about the limits of nature and make good use of the freed up resource for transition and essential goods and services rather than wasting it.
Agreed. The time of climate change is upon us, and one day, petrol station staff are gonna be out of jobs, like most miners will be and combustion engine mechanics. Sometime the bullet has to be bitten, and what's needed is not outrage, but a plan to move employees into sustainable jobs outside the norm.
As a petty political aside, Surely Invercargil is a true blue region, so no loss to the government should a hard decision needs to be made?
Invercargill has had Labour and National MPs. They consistently vote in Shadbolt for Mayor, fwiw.
But yeah, just transition can be coupled with designing sustainable systems and that needs to include security around making a living, and local economies. The old rhetoric of jobs vs environment needs to be changed to seeing jobs as a benefit of the environment.
It's exactly as I wrote – If the hard decision is to be taken, then in a tory area, the hit to the government will be minimal, so less of a barrier to making the call. That doesn't mean those people are disposable or collateral damage, to me or the government, which is why twice I've posted about replacement sustainable jobs, but these type of job cuts will be more common in the future as we combat cutting emissions to save the planet.
I don't see that as a big issue in the big scheme of things.
I am worried for the people inhaling the smoke in Auckland. I wonder where all the drainage goes – into the normal system? Into a special system? Pollution? I spose the toxic firefighting foam is no longer used which is good. Anyway I hope everyone and the environment stays safe.
I expect the water hosed on the fire ends up in the harbour – a place where in a month's time or so I expect to be catching dinner occasionally. Interesting that something that makes Auckland a brilliant place (catching fish within sight of downtown) could theoretically be jeopardised by something that makes it a sh*thole (Skycity and all its doings).
Which leads to a larger question – why is a trashy private fiefdom like Skycity allowed any influence over our cityscape, or our lives in general?
But Massey University lecturer Ralph Bathurst disagreed.
"The thing that is surprising about the David Hisco case is that it is unsurprising. We as citizens should be outraged by CEOs, and board members receiving astronomical salaries and benefits under the pretence that they are talented. The primary talent that these senior so-called business 'leaders' have in common is that they can fool us into believing that they are talented," he said.-Stuff.
Your sarcasm is unnecessary.I quoted the part I wanted to and attributed it to Stuff.
[Little things like adding links to quoted text take a few seconds and do lift the quality of discourse. If everybody do their bid we will all benefit – this is not sarcasm but a fact. In addition, it is about appropriate attribution of the originator of the quoted text or info – Incognito]
Do each of the following comments here on Open Mike today also fall into the same category as those of The Chairman and Blazer and require links to be provided to the statements made:
Tony V @ 3 re what Simon Bridges said on RNZ this morning
Ad @10 re the owners of Tiwai Point Aluminium requesting talks with the government
The Al1en @ 13 claiming that Jono and Ben have fled Mediaworks for TVNZ
Newsense @ 15 re political party support for light rail.
Not speaking for Incognito but the mod note said if you quote, provide a link. You'll note in my post I didn't quote, just made an observation. Though I'm happy to provide a link, if required, it'll have to be when I get home from work and can stop using this shitty tablet.
Theo Spierings springs to mind. Obscene salary package (and bonus) NOT based on performance. I would have no problem if he was earning say, $3 million a year and the company was performing.
Those seriously unfunny or unoriginal pillocks Jono and Ben have fled the sinking ship that is mediaworks and got a gig at tvnz. Whilst not being the absolute worst examples of what passes for kiwi man's humour, though it's close, it still won't make them any less Rattus rattus.
Much hope for Mark Richardson than he deserves, then, if that’s the level they’re prepared to stoop to at the national broadcaster.
Ill admit to switching channels when any of them are on TV, I dislike the act so much, but of course it's each to their own and all that.
I have recently been re watching The thick of it, about a spin doctor for the last labour gov, starring the better jock doctor who, so my taste in comedy is probably a bit different to b&j's world view.
Seymour told Newsroom that he worried the auction would politicise the charity, which he supports as a local MP, and asked Allen to change the recipient of the funds to ACT.
Yup, you read that "right": Seymour was so concerned for the reputation of the charity that he bravely suggested that his organisation should bear the brunt of the donation. Such a fine humanitarian lol
Surely the minister for wasting time and burning political capital is on thin ice?
Before the election there was two party consensus on light rail, and Labour was promising 2 lines, plus high speed rail Auckland to Tauranga in 9 years.
Now we are down to the Nats and NZ First not supporting light rail and there has been sod all progress of any kind.
If this was encouraged because a PPP looks better…grr
When you say 2 party consensus do you mean Labour and Greens? Cos the National Party hasn’t ever supported light rail. Just like they didn’t support the Northern Busway when Clark announced that or the CRL until Key gave in on that or the Waterview tunnel or had the commonsense to build the northwestern busway infrastructure while they were widening that motorway.
Racial terrorism is actually normal in American history but I believe we talk about in the wrong way. These are not isolated incidents , nor are they rare.
This is the story of how a national campaign by whites terrorists overthrew the US government
A few weeks ago, Donald Trump tweeted that there would be a coup if he was ousted from the presidency and media outlets portrayed him as crazy. It it is NOT crazy to think that a race war is possible.
The Council has a huge job ahead of it sorting out the demise of the old mining water rights, water quality issues that are going to hit like a sledge hammer when the dairy waste reaches ground water and streams in Central, public transport needs throughout the region and public dis-engagement with a council that seemed only interested in building a Dunedin centric empire.
Jesse Mulligan (afternoons on Natrad) had former Herald columnist Rachel Stewart as a guest today. Stewart shared her favourite music, books and movie….and for at least a short while created an oasis of quality listening in this usually bland timeslot.
Sorry, can't do the link thing from my phone….but this is well worth a listen.
Social Development minister Carmel Sepuloni says the issue of disabled unemployment has been overlooked for too long.
“It’s our responsibility to ensure that we are breaking down the barriers and providing opportunities to work,” she says.
Issues range from mental health issues, to sight or hearing impairments, intellectual disabilities and autism.
It’s also not a stagnant group – people are going off and on the benefit, many taking up employment for a short time. Sepuloni says 74 percent of them do want to work.
“We want them to thrive, and they want to thrive,” she says. (How can people believe this sort of bumf.)
It's a mirage. How many people who are employed are getting a decent wage so that they can do sufficient hours during the hours of daylight to fulfil their roles and lives as advanced human beings? People are sick, they are stressed, and the jobs that are available largely depend on basic neds , providing health, or catering for tourists who need to be from overseas, or are old age pensioners. Too many young and; middle aged people are making do on a knife-edge, very uncomfortably. Thriving? Even our bacteria can't thrive and people need faecal inputs; there is a fog of stats around employment.
What we need is work along demography strata age=group lines – and show about five different measures per 100,000 like full-time in normal working periods of a 5 day weeks b 6day weeks c revolving flexible weeks where the hours are tacked in here and there and no guaranteeed 2 day break.
Etc – Possibly not drawn up by the OECD because they make up the stats so countries can lie to their populations.
The public service used to pick up many of those with disabilities as employees. The profit imperative of business means the private sector will never create sufficient employment for this group.
Same with young school leavers.
She should put her money where her mouth is and fund the public service to do this on top of their existing funding – ring fenced so the funding doesn't get siphoned off elsewhere.
Busy telling private sector employers to do this when she needs to look closer to home.
In my view the public service should look like the local communities they serve.
Agreed. I was amazed to listen to the very fluent Sepuloni go on and on in such a well-modulated voice, like she has been programmed. These tertiary institutions really fill you up with rhetoric and on just a tiny reservoir of energy, the information can go for hours. Turned her off after a short while.
There may be good reason for a disabled person to go and do a wage job, or not. They might want one and get a real burst of determination to achieve something that takes them to the peak of their own Mt Aoraki (analogy). I heard nothing said about setting up opportunity groups to do volunteer work, and class that as alternative employment so it is listed in separate statistics from the usual employment figures.
The relish that they announce how good it is for everyone to be working, ie in a paid job, is an example of saturation programming. It has been picked up from somebody's paper/s as reliable and honourable as the material on anti-vaxxers. I am all for people contributing to society, and I mean all, evem just coaching one person in reading, teaching music, making scones, permaculture, learning extra skills even the best way to use garden tools (as done in big hardware shops) etc.
Have joint classes for mothers with young children, encourage the availability of jobs during school hours. One thing that I think I did hear this morning was that mothers were encouraged to share a job, so the other could cover with child care, or when there is sickness. If I heard right that was an innovative step for a start.
Per Peck, some of the more bizarre practices of the EY [Ernest & Young] Power-Presence-Purpose training (as it was called) included:
– Women were encouraged to "signal fitness and wellness" by getting manicures and wearing flattering clothing – yet were told not to "flaunt their body."
– Attendees had to rate how "masculine" or "feminine" they were before the training. Masculine adjectives included "ambitious" and "has leadership abilities"; feminine adjectives included "shy" and "childlike."
– Women were told to sit cross-legged and not to make face-to-face contact with men at work.
– The presenter claimed women had smaller brains than men, a former EY executive director who wished to remain anonymous told HuffPost. She added that the presentation said women absorbed information "like pancakes," making it hard for them to focus.
The presentation also had a breakdown describing differences between men's and women's speaking styles, saying women ramble and "miss the point" when they communicate and "think men hog air time."
Well it’s this time of the year I start look for books to read or reference books for my 1/700 model ships that I build during the summer period (the Northern Australian Wet Season) while listening to the summer of cricket on ABC radio except for the Boxing Day Test as I will be there in person with the old man over from NZ.
Anyway I find this new book on poor old Neville Chamberlain while looking for a book on the WW2 Illustrious Class Carriers line drawings and camouflage markings. This book looks like it could be a good read, for example he has a butterfly named after him, enjoyed bird watching and was a bit of a greenie/ naturalist among other things. Model ship building does leads me down to some interesting paths like the why, who, where, when and how these ships came to be built.
Plus a couple of books from the New Zealand Rail Society on the rebuilding the SIMT Line after the Kaikoura earthquake and one on the Hillside workshops, where I drank a few ales with some of the old boys in the pubs around Hillside workshops and it was also close to KAH Barracks during the 90’s.
Nice one Ex Kiwi I have noted those for future reading. As an ex-engineer at one stage involved in the Aircraft Industry, well, that is when Britain had an aircraft industry before it was destroyed by inept politicians and management. I can highly recommend the following books "Empire of the Clouds" by James Hamilton-Paterson about the demise of the British Aircraft industry, EXACTLY by Simon Winchesterly, how precision engineering made the modern world. Great stories from automating the pulley block making for Nelson's navy to why that RR Engine blew apart on that Qantas flight. and lastly, a book I am reading now which gives great insight into the development of the U2 and stealth aircraft by Lockheeds highly secretive department called Skunk Works, written by the CEO Ben R Rich and Leo Jonos. Great insights into brilliant engineers and in the book Empire of the Clouds cretinous fuckwit politicians who should have been put down at birth
Britain was spending 10% of its government budget on Defence in the middle 50s, plus paying for development of the civil aviation industry, which largely ended with the most expensive of all – Concorde
Thats what the cuts made by successive governments from Conservatives in late 50s to labour in mid 60s and later was all about reducing
“Thats what the cuts made by successive governments from Conservatives in late 50s to labour in mid 60s and later was all about reducing “
We all know that, but they didn't save or reduce on this little exercise did they, fact it cost the UK dearly in more ways than one. This is just one example of many, I could mention like Sandys and his fetish for missiles and how much that cost the taxpayer and the UK aircraft industry. Also, like Cleese, I won't mention the war or the Miles 52 project, a complete irreparable incompetent criminal stuff up by politicians who did not have a clue how to open a bottle of milk let alone minister an aircraft industry.
From the book Empire of the Clouds
“Thus ended TSR.2 and with it all hopes that Briton could remain in the major league of aircraft manufacturing countries. 195 million in development costs were written off. The immediate effect on BAC and particularly on English Electric's Warton workforce was devasting, with large numbers of redundancies and general demoralisation that hit the RAF and spread throughout the industry. For TSR,2 was not the only project prat (my words) Healey had cancelled that fateful day. With it went Fairey's project Rotodyne feeder helicopter for ferrying passengers from airports to city centres(21 Million written off); Hawkers P.1154 projected supersonic version of what was to be the Harrier verticle take-off fighter (my words again something the Yanks have just managed to achieve in the last decade at enormous costs) another 21 million; and the Hawkers Siddeley/Armstrong Whitworth 681 military freighter much the same cost (my words again, would have made the Hercules look pathetic) There was widespread disbelief at both the policy and the crassness with which it was implemented, but this quickly turned to real anger when the full irony was revealed: that the 150 F-111's ordered for the RAF because they would have been so much cheaper than 150 TSR.2's turned out – when the equivalent F-111s were delivered to the Australian Airforce – to be even MORE expensive because their recurrent bugs and teething problems ( my opinion, another heap of American shit something Australia found out). “ Eventually the UK order for the F-111's was cancelled in 1968 at a cost of 46.4 million.”
Great "reducing" there aye mate, it certainly “reduced” the British Aircraft Industry
The TSR.2 is one of my favourite planes of the 50-60's along the Avro Canada's CF-105. The TSR.2 shit fight is something I still to this day can't get my head around as it was basically an EE design Aircraft, but the lead builder was Vickers out of Weybridge which had no SME on building Supersonic Military aircraft, but EE had all the knowledge etc from the Lighting, long a enough runway etc and other research design at Warton was made the a secondary partner. Vickers only post war military AC was Valiant Bomber and had been more focus on Civil AC.
Then we have Avro Canada's and the stuff that was coming out of the Company was leading edge stuff like its Avro Jetliner which then follow CF100 and lastly the doomed CF-105. Just reading Randall Whitcomb books on Avro Canada is just mind blowing
As you said the Miles 52 project was an opportunely lost and having read Winkle Brown's book, does lead me to think they would've beat the Yanks by far margin and, again the Vickers with Barnes Wills got into the ear of the then Labour Government to say its rockets while alot safer and cheaper, a maned flight.
The Fairey's Rotodyne was another excellent design, but again it was way a head of its time and a lot less complex than the US Osprey that flies over my house during the dry season when the Yanks are in town.
The Joint British/ Australian Rocket programme is another subject, i still can't really get my head a round either, when one considers that the UK/ Aus were the third nation to put up a satellite and then pull the plug on it as some muppet called Roy Jenkins why do we need satellites and what's there use? All the work of the Black Arrow, Black Prince, Black Knight and Blue Streak along with Saro and co kicked into the scrap yard.
The Civil Aircraft was no better either the V1000/ VC7 would've been the first widebody aircraft in world and would've been built in the 50's and then later the VC10 which if had been built to its original design spec's without BOAC sticking in fingers in pie would've been another world beating widebody. Then we have the sorry episode of DH's lovely Trident Tri Jet and again if it had been built to it original design without BEA sticking its fingers in the pie, it would beating the Boeing 727 hands down.
The way Handley Page was treated during the 60's by then Labour Government is be on contempt and quite frankly fucking disgusting. It had a couple of good aircraft coming online, Victor Bomber upgrades would've been world class and it research dept at the time looking into carbon fibre/ composite materials back in the late 50's/ 60's before they became the rage in 90's.
Boulton & Paul was mucking around with Radar Absorbent Material until it was caned in the 60's and today its research files are still class as for UK Eyes only. Just think if the B&P RAM was applied to the Vulcan which already had a very small radar cross section or the Blackburn Buccaneer (One blight spot among the chaos of the 60's and should've sold more if wasn't for the BS from the RAF)?
The list is endless IRT to the UK Labour Government of the 60's, but don't get me started on the post war Churchill/ Eden Government.
Then lastly the High Speed Train is a What if or could've been? which was in the in end scaled right back. And the same could be said of the Nimrod MR4 and there is some interesting chat over at the http://www.secretprojects.uk.com on the balls up by Big And Expensed and co.
The answer is simple the UK couldnt afford all this stuff and the over sized military forces that went with it. Even by this stage the US was winding back some of its development projects as too expensive. Was all the best decisions made to keep the best projects ? No but hindsight is a great thing they didnt have back then.
Rather than reading fanboys stories of how great these planes were – they were generally shocking management and old and inefficent production plants and very long development times. Even some missile projects were cancelled.
Tony Buttler has done some good recent reserach on the original papers covering aircraft and engines from that era ( 1957) showing how many competing and likely outdated by the time they were ready.
Check out other defence cuts in Army and navy forces and programs at the time
eg
'There was to be a reduction in the number of regular infantry battalions from 64 to 49 "
'The British Army was to be reduced in size and reorganised to reflect the ending of National Service and the change to a voluntary army, and to "keep the Army abreast of changing circumstances, policies, weapons and techniques of war". 51 major units and a large number of smaller ones were to be disbanded or amalgamated,"
I fully agree with what you are saying, but my issue is that TSR2 should've continue even just purely as research Aircraft, instead of backing Concorde when the TSR2 got canned and even back then there were doubts about Concorde even being a success. Especially what was on the drawing broads at Hatfield (DH125 and the DH148) and coming of Woodford (Arvo) two wide body Airliners which become the A300 &310, the FTA (Future Transport Airlifter) also known by the Woodford crew as FAT's which became the bases for the A400 and the replacement of the Avro 748 (the Mount Cook AC and the RNZAF Andover) or ATP. Where the then Labour Government should've supported as a backstop to Concorde and the TSR2.
But if you ask anybody around Preston today about the TSR2? the punters would say we were stab in the back Labour as they said they would never cancel TSR2 as the now infamous Labour Party leaflet issued in the Preston South constituency before the 64 General Election say's:
Harold Wilson Tells TSR2 workers "Your Jobs are Guaranteed Under Labour" etc etc.
Ref: Pg 268 TSR2 Britain's Lost Bomber by Damien Burke
There is a book on my wishlist on Frogpond on the Brit Army from 45- 1971, but it will cost a bomb to get around the $150 mark.
And people wonder why the Working class/ Working poor in the Mildlands are going to give the UK Labour the two fingers in this election. I think the Blairites within the UK labour Party are going to be in for a rude shock this time round. The Australian Working Class give the Shorten and the Oz labour the two fingers, and the NZ Labour Party better watch themselves as well next year.
Thanks for that Kiwi I agree with you 300% I could have written more and thank you for adding what I wanted to say
I have friends in NZ who worked on the TSR.2 The way they speak about this aircraft which they had great pride in I get the impression it was the last straw where they were concerned when it was scrapped. There is one airframe left and that is at Duxford Agree with you I feel English Electric should have built it as you said it was a EE design, but once again cretinous fuckwit politicians got in the way.
You mentioned Avro of Canada another great design the Avro Arrow, that upset the Yanks scrapped within a couple of weeks and the then Canadian government had their arm twisted to buy a missile from the Yanks which once again was a heap of crap that did not work.
A great quote from Sir Sydney Camm designer of the Hurricane and Hunter(I think)
“All modern aircraft have four dimensions: Span, Length, Height and Politics. TSR2 simply got the first three right.” -……………………….. Sir Sydney Camm.
TSR2 Britain's lost cold war strike aircraft by Tim Mclelland,
X Planes TSR2 Britain's lost cold war strike jet by Andrew Brookes who an Bomber Command/ Strike Command V Bomber Pilot
Also this book called the Lost Eagle on the TSR2 is very good as well.
I have two Diecast 1/72 models of both the TSR2 and the CF-105 and this book Avro Arrow put out by The Boston Mills Press http://www.bostonmillpress.com
Then I also have Tony Butlers books called the British Secret Projects and two are on Rockets Hypersonic and Ramjets and Dan Sharp's Vol 5 of this is the UK Space Program Projects.
Chris Gibson also has a Series where he breaks down all the various Operational Requirements (OR's) into
Vulcan's Hammer (Bomber)
Battle Flight (Fighters and Air Defence)
Nimrod's Genesis (Maritime Patrol and Weapons)
On Atlas shoulders (RAF Transport)
Listening In (RAF Spookies/ Snoopy's aka Electronic Intelligence) and the new out is
Typhoon to Typhoon (Close Air Support)
Sir Sid Cam’s last jet fighter is also very interesting the Hawker P1121 which wouldn’t look out of place on a modern flightline in today’s airforce either. It’s remains are held at Canwell Aviation Centre for Aeronautical Research I believe
No one is immune from the Greedy chasing putea $$$$$$$$$$$$$ cause all the problems of Te Papatuanuku. We must change the way we live or we are all going to be suffering.
My rich town was poisoned by a corporation. Even the 1% isn't safe from pollution
Environmental and political leaders in the US have decided the environment is worth compromising for private profit
My son took his first breath in a place I never imagined would be potentially harmful for his health: Hinsdale, Illinois.
Hinsdale is listed in the top 1% of the wealthiest towns in Illinois. It’s filled with multimillion-dollar mansions, Zook architectural masterpieces and upscale shops. But Hinsdale, despite its privileged position in Chicago’s western suburbs, has one unfortunate thing against it: like any other American town, it’s part of a country whose environmental and political leaders have decided that the environment is worth compromising for private profit.
Somehow, many of the privileged among us, including myself, didn’t think the unfortunate choices of our political leaders could have the power to kill us. They might hurt the poor in Flint, Michigan, the migrant workers in Bakersfield, California, or those who don’t have the means to leave Louisiana’s Cancer Alley. But most of us living in Hinsdale and its neighboring well-to-do towns never considered that our villages could be a Flint or Cancer Alley.
What is happening in America's Cancertown is tragic, immoral and evil | Rev William Barber
Read more
We were naive. Last year we learned that Sterigenics, a global medical sterilization company with a plant in Willowbrook, Illinois, quietly spewed insane amounts of ethylene oxide (EtO), a powerful carcinogen, into our air for 35 years.
This was wishful thinking. Nothing was done. So enraged residents formed Stop Sterigenics, a group that is now is over 10,000 members strong. We staged protests, packed town hall meetings, signed witness slips and called for Illinois politicians to shut down the company for the sake of public health
In February, the Illinois environmental protection agency issued a seal order temporarily banning Sterigenics from using EtO, but last month, the agency granted the company a permit to continue to use the chemical. The message to all of us was clear: the rights of Sterigenics to make a profit mattered more to the IEPA than the rights of thousands of people living in its vicinity not to be subjected to cancer-causing air. This really shouldn’t have been surprising to anyone reading the news, where every day there seems to be another disaster related to an environmental policy decision, but, until it happens to you, it is.
Just as we were preparing to breathe toxic air again, the unthinkable happened: despite being given the green light to continue using EtO (albeit with certain emissions restrictions in place), Sterigenics announced it was leaving Willowbrook. They blamed their lease and the “unpredictable” regulatory landscape rather than the community activism that has fought them relentlessly for 14 months. But the question to the rest of the nation is: where are they going? They emit EtO in eight other locations nationwide, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Air Toxics Assessment has linked EtO to high cancer rates in Smyrna, Georgia, where Sterigenics also has a plant
But the tough community activism of Stop Sterigenics proves that even in a world where the EPA protects corporations instead of people, people still do have power. Let’s use it to join the attorneys general of Illinois, California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin, who, on 10 October, wrote a letter asking the EPA to update its current emissions standards to protect the nation from the EtO the EPA knows is killing us
ETO Eco Maori, another acronym to add to our list of confusing identification of harmful substances and practices. Glad they are leaving one part of Illinois, but where else are they going to go with their ill-ness producing methods?
I agree no one would have thought that the intelligence tangata of Te Papatuanuku would strike for our futures Climate 10 years ago or even 3 years ago. Kia Kaha to all the Tangata who are doing the correct thing for our future.
There are no excuses left': why climate science deniers are running out of rope
Guardian environment correspondent Fiona Harvey recalls being heckled at the House of Commons and explains how attitudes to climate have shifted in 10 years
The shouted words rang out across the packed parliamentary corridor: “Fiona Harvey is the worst journalist there is. She’s the worst journalist of them all, because she should know better.”
They were the words of Lord Lawson, former UK chancellor of the exchequer, turned climate denier and now Brexiter, addressing a crowd of more than 100 people trying to cram into a House of Commons hearing on climate change. As listeners craned their necks to hear better, whispering and nudging, he elaborated at length on my insistence on reporting the work of the 97% of the world’s climate scientists whose work shows human responsibility for global heating, and failure to give equal weight to the tiny number of dissenters
As the science of climate chaos has become vastly clearer in the past two decades, and the warnings more stark, the rearguard action fought by climate denialists has grown fiercer and their attacks more vicious. Fact-based arguments will never serve their purpose; trolling is the last refuge of the discredited. We can expect much more of the same.
When I began writing full-time on the environment in 2004, climate change had hit a political impasse. George W Bush was in the White House, the US preoccupied with the war on terror and – as Bush admitted – “addicted to oil”. The 1997 Kyoto protocol was on ice, without the backing of enough countries to bring it into force, and international negotiations on greenhouse gases were stagnating as a result.
Suddenly, like a glacier destabilising, small cracks turned into crevasses and whole edifices came avalanching down. First Russia played the unlikely hero: by ratifying Kyoto in late 2004 (cynically, in return for a favour at the World Trade Organization) the Duma rescued the treaty from the scrapheap of history. That was enough to galvanise the UN negotiations, loosening entrenched positions and giving the talks a point once more.
Its good that people are being caught a charged for pouching Kai Moana .
Mike Smith that's the way we need to leave the carbon in Te Papatuanuku.
Congratulations Hinerangi Goodman on your winning a seat on the Whakatane Council Awsome to see more Wahine and tangata whenua standing for Local government positions.
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Brakenridge, Postdoctoral research fellow at Swinburne University, Centre for Urban Transitions, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute The Conversation, Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall ...
The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Jeremiah Manele has been elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, polling 31 votes to 18 over rival candidate and former opposition leader Mathew Wale with one abstention. The final result of the election by secret ballot was announced by the Governor-General, Sir David Vunagi, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priestley Habru, PhD candidate, public diplomacy, University of Adelaide Former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele has been elected the next prime minister of Solomon Islands, defeating the opposition leader, Matthew Wale, in a vote in parliament. The result is a mixed bag for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shaun Eaves, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Jamey Stutz, CC BY-SA How often do mountains collapse, volcanoes erupt or ice sheets melt? For Earth scientists, these are important questions as we try ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Flood, Professor of Sociology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Most young adult men in Australia reject traditional ideas of masculinity that endorse aggression, stoicism and homophobia. Nonetheless, the ongoing influence of those ideas continues to harm men and the people ...
The NZQA proposal released to staff today would involve a net loss of 35 roles. There are 66 roles being disestablished with 13 of those currently vacant, and 31 new roles proposed, said Fleur Fitzsimons Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga ...
Alex Casey talks to Loren Taylor, the writer, director and star of new film The Moon is Upside Down, about assembling her dream ensemble cast, toilet paper pads and turning literal dreams into reality. There’s a moment in The Moon is Upside Down where frazzled anaesthetist Briar (Loren Taylor) gets ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassy Dittman, Senior Lecturer/Head of Course (Undergraduate Psychology), Research Fellow, Manna Institute, CQUniversity Australia With winter sports swinging into action, adults around the country have volunteered or been volunteered by others (humorously known as being “volun-told”) to coach junior sports teams. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University richardernestyap/Shutterstock Parents are often advised to burp their babies after feeding them. Some people think burping after feeding is important to reduce or prevent discomfort crying, or to ...
Workers at a major ASB contact centre in Auckland have voted to take strike action and withdraw their labour following disappointing pay negotiations with the employer and an "offer" to workers that would leave them worse off than the previous year. ...
As the government tries to get the country back on track with a school phone ban, Tara Ward has an idea for where they should turn their attention to next.New Zealand students returned to school on Monday morning, but their cellphones did not. The government’s new phone ban began ...
The Labour Party is demanding Peters be stood down, saying "he's embarrassed the country" with a "totally unacceptable" attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. ...
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance, whose members were victims of a China-backed cyber attack, is discussing forming a standing committee to deal with foreign influence. ...
The PSA is concerned that the voluntary redundancies being offered to staff by Stats NZ will impact on the agency’s ability to deliver on its core functions. ...
Results ranged from surprisingly yum to soul-destroying. I love cooking. The kitchen is a hearth of culinary creation, of sensory delights, of gastronomic poetry. I also can’t afford anything nice. Why does a pack of instant noodles and some milk cost ten bucks? I love you, Aotearoa, but I miss ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Police in Solomon Islands are on high alert ahead of the election of the prime minister today. The two candidates for the top job are former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele at the head of the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation, which is ...
He’s fine but it feels like I’m losing a friend and it’s making me bitter. How do I say ‘enough is enough’? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzHey Hera,I’ve recently moved in with a girlfriend, her partner Steve, and his friend. We all live in a lovely little house. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Hendriks, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Curtin University Children and young people may be seeing news headlines about men murdering women or footage of people rallying to call for action. Perhaps they or their friends have even gone to the protests. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
Labour market figures came in softer than the Reserve Bank had forecast, but they won’t be enough to move the needle on interest rates, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Unemployment ...
The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
A Labour Party Member’s Bill aims to plug a culpability gap between manslaughter and health and safety breaches The post New push for corporate killing laws appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,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, Thursday 2 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Why has New Zealand slipped from third to 12th on Quality of Death Indexes over the past decade or so? Hospice New Zealand Chief Executive Wayne Naylor has a list of reasons. “We don’t have a current national strategy – the Government hasn’t renewed our 2001 strategy, so we don’t ...
While women’s sport is exploding in Aotearoa and around the world, you still don’t hear a lot of talk about athletes and their periods, RED-S, breastfeeding and visible panty-lines. SASS (Suze and Sez Sports)Talk isn’t afraid to have that kōrero.LockerRoom founder Suzanne McFadden and Olympian broadcaster Sarah ...
On an unusually hot night in January 2019, a little boy’s lifeless body was found face up in a small town’s sewage oxidation pond. To the police, it was an open and shut case: three-year-old Lachlan Jones had run away from his home in the Southland town of Gore, climbed ...
Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament after National accused her of intimidating and attacking one of its ministers in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders met on Wednesday as the national cabinet to discuss a crisis gripping Australia – the horrific number of women murdered this year. The killings have shocked ...
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Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University Since Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum in October 2023, diverse commentaries have sought to explain why it failed. But what does an analysis of media ...
Greywarshark
You were interested in current news of Assange.
News isn't great, for him, human rights, or journalism in general, but at least some Australian politicians are starting to stir
Assange in court
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/
and 10 Aussie MPs raising their objections ….too little too late,… the guy is gone
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/10/21/judge-denies-assange-extension-on-extradition-hearing/
A very nasty story of Assange's deterioration Francesca. The cause of his crash mentally and physically may never know only conjectured. A blow to democracy.
A very interesting phenomenon. There is now a huge industry of independent "truth tellers/independent journalists" who endlessly recycle social media posts and write "exposes" recycling same while at the same time touting for donations to support their noble struggle often with large "click farms" of associated url's and social media accounts. The one truth about these operators is that their business plan depends on Assanges continued incarceration. They contribute nothing and their wall of white noise and misdirection impedes Assange in his struggle
I didn't realise that xanthe but I shouldn't be surprised. Everybody can present themselves as a journalist these days it seems. It is bad enough with people in the Fairfax papers with big Bylines giving Opinions and not even a sentence of background information on them. So nothing to advise you as to why they should lay their opinions on you and what line of career, education, culture or experience has built their perceptions and facts they have chosen to accept.
Thanks francesca – I feel guilty letting his welfare drop out of sight. So have to remember to keep thinking of him. At present I seems to be like a rabbit in the headlights watching Boorish and his Rubber Band play their discordant music in the UK. Need a good dose of Spitting Images I think to illustrate the Farrago of it all.
Yes good call – a childrens author just has a view like anyone else and shouldn't have a platform imo especially when the opinion is yucky,
At least some people have their heads screwed on.
A report on National Radio last week outlined the significant shift which allowed marriage for Catholic priests under some conditions, in priest strapped South America. I don't remember where I heard that sorry.
There are some eastern rite orthodox churches which accept the Supremacy of the Pope ( so are 'catholic') that allow priests to marry.
In addition some existing married Church of England priests who broke away from the CofE to join the Catholic church are allowed to act as Catholic priests, but if their wife dies they cant re- marry and if the werent married already they cant marry.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018716496/pope-francis-mulls-letting-married-men-become-priests
Joy Cowley advances thoughts on considering what is moral and ethical in a warm relationship rather than dogma.
She is an admirable woman.
she certainly can write books for children – the rest? yeah nah.
Just been, for my sins, listening to Soimun on RNZ – and the lack of logic he displays is quite exceptional.
In his monotone monologue he accused Andrew Little of only wanting to make NZers half safe by not extending the supervision period and not lowering the age to 14 years.
But does this mean National won't support the bill? And if that's the case, will NZ be not at all safe?
I hope Andrew calls his bluff on this and makes National support the bill, or risk being accused to endangering all NZers. Surely, "the reality is" half safe is better than no safe?
…. and how much damage could one NZ Army trained misfit cause by returning from a jaunt with IS in Syria? Enough to suggest anyone is at risk?
IS is defeated, did you not hear the news? So maybe you need to find a different thing to be scared of.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/21/politics/syria-cabinet-meeting-donald-trump/index.html
NASA’s Curiosity Rover finds an ancient oasis on Mars
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191007112956.htm
The time line on Mars makes the few seconds of human life on earth makes us pretty insignificant. Wonder if some sort of living organisms existed on Mars back then?
You might wish to have a look at
https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/
and now for something nice
accousting version of 'i feel for you' from Prince (as a twenty year old) Chaka Khan made it a hit in the early 80s.
time flies.
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/18/771266727/hear-princes-acoustic-i-feel-for-you-demo-fresh-from-the-vault?utm_term=nprnews&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr
The first couple Prince albums are stunning, I love later Prince but the early albums are so different and interesting, I Feel For You is on his 2nd album but the acoustic version is awesome! Thanks for sharing.
swamp's too nice for this toxic creature
Interesting.
Back in Feb 2017, KiwiSaver architect Sir Michael Cullen joined the board of variable annuity company Retirement Income Group. Former retirement commissioner Diana Crossan is also on the board.
Now, interim Retirement Commissioner Peter Cordzt is taking public submissions on an annuity scheme (called KiwiSpend) before he decides which recommendations will make it into his review of retirement incomes.
The final report will be presented to Government in December.
It will be interesting to see what comes of this.
Submissions are open until October 31.
[Again, you did not provide a link so that readers could follow-up (e.g. to make a submission) and gain more insight into the context/background. To label it “interesting” is pretty vanilla (beige?) too IMO and you might as well have asked “should we be concerned?” Please provide a link – Incognito]
https://www.cffc.org.nz/reviews-and-reports/2019-review-of-retirement-income-policies/make-a-submission/
See my Moderation note @ 12:18 PM.
That was written up by me, hence there was no link.
Nevertheless, here you go.
https://www.cffc.org.nz/reviews-and-reports/2019-review-of-retirement-income-policies/
Save our waterways – make a submission
…have to agree Russel Norman's tweet puts him to the class of being an A-Grade dork…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12278896
I quite liked that tweet. It was exactly what I was thinking…
Not something i would admit to Scott.
Noddy Norman's tweet make him look like nasty bitter scumbag,
Only if you’ve succumbed to the manufactured outrage from the usual suspects. Otherwise it’s just the usual to-and-fro in the Twittersphere.
It was exactly what I was thinking…
Me too ScottGN.
Just because Russell Norman told the truth doesn't mean either he – and those of us who agree with him – have no sympathy for those directly affected like the inner city dwellers who have had 24 hrs of toxic smoke to contend with.
You rwnjs are an incredibly stupid lot sometimes.
How quickly, and conveniently 'they' forget.
There was much hoopla and some political concessions made at the time – maybe the government of the day aimed to make political capital out of it. ‘Bum deal’? Scam? A bit of both? Will taxpayers ever get will get the full story?
Don't know the real extent of public or private costs, although some major private companies got burned, 'going forward'. There was a remarkable dearth of good news stories about the project in 2016/17 – funny that.
A case of 'Big Smoke' and mirrors? Better that than 'all up in smoke', which has (alas) now eventuated.
"SkyCity to remove aluminium cladding from International Convention Centre"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/110551367/sky-city-expects-395-million-from-fletchers-in-compensation-for-building-delays
It's a case of a global gaming organisation up against the kids running Fletchers currently who swallowed nationals dead rat convention centre.
It's one of a few projects the kids thought they knew better about that’s gnawing away
selective outrage.
after all they want plausible deniability when the firefighters/first responders come to ACC with health issues caused by the job. Toxic fires are quite common, and the guys putting them out are more often then not unpaid volunteers.
so yeah, how dare he talk about the toxic fumes, he should thank the fire fighters for their service instead! It is simply not polite from him to point out all the toxic smoke, debris and waste water. 🙂
Interesting to see that the owners of Tiwai Point Aluminium have requested talks with the government.
As a result Meridian dropped 7.75% in a morning's market trade, and others like Mercury also fell down a chunk as well.
I sure feel for the people of Southland who are having to go through this again.
But it is surely one of the greatest gifts that Minister Wood could have dropped on her, if she wanted to require Meridian to divert that power supply from Tiwai Point to the national grid.
That would be a considerable shift in our energy carbon emissions, and hopefully put a really hard floor under our energy price with that much constant supply on tap.
I sure feel for the people of Southland who are having to go through this again.
Until Tiwai Point is shut down, they will forever be pawns in Rio Tinto's game of extorting the cushiest deal they can out of the government of the day. This government needs to develop a hostage rescue plan, and come up with alternatives for those workers.
If it isn't already in Rio Tinto's interest to move out of Southland, it will be very soon. The estimates I've seen for what Rio Tinto pays for electricity in NZ are around 6 cents/kWhr (vs around 25 cents/kWhr average for residential consumers). Plus the alumina has to be shipped here, then the refined aluminium shipped elsewhere. But new solar power projects are being built to supply electricity at under US 3 cents/kWhr, and the Weipa bauxite mine is quite handy to one of the best solar resources in the world.
"But new solar power projects are being built to supply electricity at under US 3 cents/kWhr"
No solar power plant does that…. and the other problem for a smelter which runs day and night is what ?
The UK solar power stations have a government guarantee of minimum price ( called a Contract for Difference CFD) well above what yo mention
Solar during the day, hydro at night.
Portugal just contracted for 14.76 euro per MWhr, or 1.476 euro cents per kWhr
https://www.energyglobal.com/solar/12082019/portugal-awards-worlds-lowest-cost-solar-pv-contract/
Concentrating solar power schemes which can keep supplying into the night aren't quite that low yet, but they're not that far off. Here's a scheme from 2017 in Australia contracting to supply for 78 dingodollars/MWhr.
https://www.solarpaces.org/solarreserve-breaks-csp-price-record-6-cent-contract/
Or the new scheme at Ouarzazate in Morocco is around the same price.
https://www.solarpaces.org/morocco-breaks-new-record-with-800-mw-midelt-1-csp-pv-at-7-cents/
The idea that capital equipment must be kept running 24/7 is a managerialist axiom, but it's not necessarily the lowest cost way to produce a product.
In the case of aluminium smelting after there's a reasonable waste disposal fee placed on carbon emissions, it may turn out most cost effective to just smelt during the day using extremely cheap PV electricity and just do the minimum to keep them hot and ready to go overnight. Or it may be cheaper to pay a bit more on the electricity side for concentrating solar with a shitload of storage. Or something else. Whatever the outcome may be, that should be Rio Tinto's problem, not ours.
But what's going to be really stupid for New Zealand is to continue paying a premium for fossil generated electricity for the rest of the country while continuing to give Rio Tinto extremely cheap clean hydro electricity.
"Capital equipment must be kept running 24/7 is a managerialist axiom, but it's not necessarily the lowest cost way to produce a product.
Its a smelter, the Al pot lines will solidify. Plenty of production processes are continuous for technical reasons and off peak power is cheaper for the very big customers.
Theres 2 reasons the Smelter power is cheap .
1) Only a short distance from Manapouri to Bluff , so Transpower lines charges are low
2) They are a heavy bulk power under contract, not a flick the switch user like a home or small to medium business. They can drop power for short periods to help with small spikes in demand or sudden system failures.
Portugal has always subsidized its Solar power. The latest one isnt publicly subsidized ( a first) but the price is fixed and confidential. Public outcry over the existing subsidies. of course Portugal can get Power from Spain as well. Good luck with NZ having an interconnector with another Grid – although the North And South islands are run like that with the Cook St cable connecting Benmore and Haywards in Upper Hutt
Solar power has many issues, the biggest is the sun doesnt shine when the morning and evening peaks occur. The second is the power production isnt synchronous at 50Hz, so some sort of rotating generator is needed to stabilise the frequency. In NZ we have hydro power stations around the country to do that , otherwise its thermal , either coal or gas.
Yes a smelting pot needs to be kept hot so it doesn't solidify, but that doesn't mean it needs to be running at full production. It just needs to be kept hot. Keeping it hot requires a lot less power if you aren't dumping cold alumina in the top and tapping molten aluminium out the bottom.
There's a third reason Rio Tinto gets it cheap, they successfully apply pressure on the government using Southland employment as hostages for leverage.
If that continuous 600ish MW continuous draw from Tiwai Point went away, I'm sure the grid and generators would work out how to manage the extra available power. Y'know, it could supply base load for the rest of the country that is currently coming from sources that can quite happily operate in a variable mode. Meridian might even find they get more for it by selling most of it at higher variable rates rather than just a continuous low rate.
Aluminium smelting pots don't run on 50Hz AC, they're only roughly 2V DC. It is possible to convert AC to DC and back again – the Cook Strait cables are DC.
You sure that Portugal price is subsidised? It's a couple of years on from the unsubsidised US 1.79 cents/kWhr in Saudi in 2017, and PV prices have fallen significantly from 2017 to now.
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/10/07/the-birth-of-a-new-era-in-solar-pv-record-low-cost-on-saudi-solar-project-bid/
So much wrong with what you are saying. You clearly have half a clue about a lot of things.
The pot lines are DC but the power generated at Manapouri which is fed to the Grid is AC at 50hz. Its a single grid , that the smelter changes the power for its purposes doesnt matter for the grid.
Cheapest power production is from large load thermal stations, mainly coal and gas, then come hydro. They can provide power on demand day or night. Then comes wind which is intermittant and last comes solar.
Carbon taxes deliberately push up the cost of creating thermal power, but its still the cheapest because of scale and it can be used as a base load
There would be many positives if the corporate blackmail ceased…..unless you live in Invercargill where Tiwai smelter employs around 10 % of the workforce.
Another political difficulty this government could do without at this time
"I sure feel for the people of Southland who are having to go through this again."
maybe it's time that NZ started considering what sustainability is, and applying that to economics. Not the co-opted meaning of the word, but the regenerative, nature-based meaning, where something is able to be sustained over long periods of time without causing damage or stealing rersources from other communities. This is going to be an ongoing issue with climate transition, may as well get used to it now. When dairy and tourism contract, how will Southland and NZ make a living?
"That would be a considerable shift in our energy carbon emissions, and hopefully put a really hard floor under our energy price with that much constant supply on tap."
Likewise, might be a good time to learn about the limits of nature and make good use of the freed up resource for transition and essential goods and services rather than wasting it.
Agreed. The time of climate change is upon us, and one day, petrol station staff are gonna be out of jobs, like most miners will be and combustion engine mechanics. Sometime the bullet has to be bitten, and what's needed is not outrage, but a plan to move employees into sustainable jobs outside the norm.
As a petty political aside, Surely Invercargil is a true blue region, so no loss to the government should a hard decision needs to be made?
"As a petty political aside, Surely Invercargil is a true blue region, so no loss to the government should a hard decision needs to be made?"
You may wish to consider we have MMP now and there remain considerable party votes on offer regardless of the colour of the electorate MP
https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2017/electorate-details-19.html
Invercargill has had Labour and National MPs. They consistently vote in Shadbolt for Mayor, fwiw.
But yeah, just transition can be coupled with designing sustainable systems and that needs to include security around making a living, and local economies. The old rhetoric of jobs vs environment needs to be changed to seeing jobs as a benefit of the environment.
so they don't deserve jobs and care? they don't deserve true representation from their elected government?
this is snark?
People will lose jobs because of dealing to global warming. It's a fact.
this is not what your statement was about.
i asked you about this – the rest of your comment i had no issue with,
Care to elaborate on 'true blue region, so no loss"? is loss now measured by party affiliation – or what would 'blue region' mean?
It's exactly as I wrote – If the hard decision is to be taken, then in a tory area, the hit to the government will be minimal, so less of a barrier to making the call. That doesn't mean those people are disposable or collateral damage, to me or the government, which is why twice I've posted about replacement sustainable jobs, but these type of job cuts will be more common in the future as we combat cutting emissions to save the planet.
I don't see that as a big issue in the big scheme of things.
ok then.
thanks for clarifying that for me.
I am worried for the people inhaling the smoke in Auckland. I wonder where all the drainage goes – into the normal system? Into a special system? Pollution? I spose the toxic firefighting foam is no longer used which is good. Anyway I hope everyone and the environment stays safe.
I expect the water hosed on the fire ends up in the harbour – a place where in a month's time or so I expect to be catching dinner occasionally. Interesting that something that makes Auckland a brilliant place (catching fish within sight of downtown) could theoretically be jeopardised by something that makes it a sh*thole (Skycity and all its doings).
Which leads to a larger question – why is a trashy private fiefdom like Skycity allowed any influence over our cityscape, or our lives in general?
ain't this the truth…
'
But Massey University lecturer Ralph Bathurst disagreed.
"The thing that is surprising about the David Hisco case is that it is unsurprising. We as citizens should be outraged by CEOs, and board members receiving astronomical salaries and benefits under the pretence that they are talented. The primary talent that these senior so-called business 'leaders' have in common is that they can fool us into believing that they are talented," he said.-Stuff.
Please add the link when you quote something. Here's one for free: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/116782789/hisco-wants-privacy-but-what-could-he-do-next
Your sarcasm is unnecessary.I quoted the part I wanted to and attributed it to Stuff.
[Little things like adding links to quoted text take a few seconds and do lift the quality of discourse. If everybody do their bid we will all benefit – this is not sarcasm but a fact. In addition, it is about appropriate attribution of the originator of the quoted text or info – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 2:11 PM.
'university lecture Ralph Bathurst'…'Here's one for free'…is definitely sarcasm.
Stop being a prick.And your opinion is just that=not fact at all.
[Please refrain from making personal insults and please provide links in future, thanks – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 2:43 PM.
Do each of the following comments here on Open Mike today also fall into the same category as those of The Chairman and Blazer and require links to be provided to the statements made:
Not speaking for Incognito but the mod note said if you quote, provide a link. You'll note in my post I didn't quote, just made an observation. Though I'm happy to provide a link, if required, it'll have to be when I get home from work and can stop using this shitty tablet.
I always understood it was only about direct quotes.
Will personally read with a grain of salt if it's anyone (including me) just characterising a source, so I do not mind.
Nothing is B&W and set in stone but my personal take is:
HTH
Theo Spierings springs to mind. Obscene salary package (and bonus) NOT based on performance. I would have no problem if he was earning say, $3 million a year and the company was performing.
Oddly enough, it seems there is indeed a relationship between CEO pay and company performance: they're inversely correlated.
https://cooleypubco.com/2016/07/25/new-study-shows-inverse-correlation-between-ceo-pay-and-performance-over-the-long-term/
Those seriously unfunny or unoriginal pillocks Jono and Ben have fled the sinking ship that is mediaworks and got a gig at tvnz. Whilst not being the absolute worst examples of what passes for kiwi man's humour, though it's close, it still won't make them any less Rattus rattus.
Much hope for Mark Richardson than he deserves, then, if that’s the level they’re prepared to stoop to at the national broadcaster.
What's wrong with J&B? They're not my cup of tea, but they're not tory chatbots like hosking or richardson AFAIK
Not my cup of tea at all, either, but if opinions are like arseholes, I can ignore my dag just like I can wipe yours. Lol
lol fair enough. I much prefer folk like them on the telly rather than hosking, who is just a propagandist of the lowest kind.
Now that's something we can all agree on lol
I guess its a matter of opinion, I don't mind them but I just do not find their off sider Guy Williams funny at all.
Ill admit to switching channels when any of them are on TV, I dislike the act so much, but of course it's each to their own and all that.
I have recently been re watching The thick of it, about a spin doctor for the last labour gov, starring the better jock doctor who, so my taste in comedy is probably a bit different to b&j's world view.
Here we go with jobs for the Boyz n girlz. Tvnz needs a clear out from the top down.
Unfunny and unoriginal….how about something new and interesting.
I love the concern tories have for charity.
So ACT's David Seymour signed a MAGA hat to be auctioned, originally for a donation to the kidsline charity. The MAGA hat was made by a right wing nutter.
Yup, you read that "right": Seymour was so concerned for the reputation of the charity that he bravely suggested that his organisation should bear the brunt of the donation. Such a fine humanitarian lol
I assume the hat was a 'Make Ardern Go Away' hat….
Surely the minister for wasting time and burning political capital is on thin ice?
Before the election there was two party consensus on light rail, and Labour was promising 2 lines, plus high speed rail Auckland to Tauranga in 9 years.
Now we are down to the Nats and NZ First not supporting light rail and there has been sod all progress of any kind.
If this was encouraged because a PPP looks better…grr
When you say 2 party consensus do you mean Labour and Greens? Cos the National Party hasn’t ever supported light rail. Just like they didn’t support the Northern Busway when Clark announced that or the CRL until Key gave in on that or the Waterview tunnel or had the commonsense to build the northwestern busway infrastructure while they were widening that motorway.
tl;dr 'Murica's been as racist AF forever.
https://twitter.com/michaelharriot/status/1186468302400507904
Racial terrorism is actually normal in American history but I believe we talk about in the wrong way. These are not isolated incidents , nor are they rare.
This is the story of how a national campaign by whites terrorists overthrew the US government
A few weeks ago, Donald Trump tweeted that there would be a coup if he was ousted from the presidency and media outlets portrayed him as crazy. It it is NOT crazy to think that a race war is possible.
It has happened FOUR TIMES in history.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1186468302400507904.html
I couldn't believe that actually happened, WTF? & great Twitter thread.
In Europe they were called pogroms…meaning "to destroy, to wreak havoc"
A good day for the Otago region with Marion Hobbs elected as chairman of Otago Regional Council, with Michael Laws as deputy.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/labour-minister-orc-chairwoman
The Council has a huge job ahead of it sorting out the demise of the old mining water rights, water quality issues that are going to hit like a sledge hammer when the dairy waste reaches ground water and streams in Central, public transport needs throughout the region and public dis-engagement with a council that seemed only interested in building a Dunedin centric empire.
Get to work people.
Jesse Mulligan (afternoons on Natrad) had former Herald columnist Rachel Stewart as a guest today. Stewart shared her favourite music, books and movie….and for at least a short while created an oasis of quality listening in this usually bland timeslot.
Sorry, can't do the link thing from my phone….but this is well worth a listen.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018718998/rachel-stewart-on-being-in-the-public-eye
Ta.
Canada’s first Climate Change Election?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/trudeau-sheer-election-carbon-tax-1.5330829
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018717779/nz-s-low-unemployment-rate-is-hiding-huge-inequity
Social Development minister Carmel Sepuloni says the issue of disabled unemployment has been overlooked for too long.
“It’s our responsibility to ensure that we are breaking down the barriers and providing opportunities to work,” she says.
Issues range from mental health issues, to sight or hearing impairments, intellectual disabilities and autism.
It’s also not a stagnant group – people are going off and on the benefit, many taking up employment for a short time. Sepuloni says 74 percent of them do want to work.
“We want them to thrive, and they want to thrive,” she says. (How can people believe this sort of bumf.)
It's a mirage. How many people who are employed are getting a decent wage so that they can do sufficient hours during the hours of daylight to fulfil their roles and lives as advanced human beings? People are sick, they are stressed, and the jobs that are available largely depend on basic neds , providing health, or catering for tourists who need to be from overseas, or are old age pensioners. Too many young and; middle aged people are making do on a knife-edge, very uncomfortably. Thriving? Even our bacteria can't thrive and people need faecal inputs; there is a fog of stats around employment.
What we need is work along demography strata age=group lines – and show about five different measures per 100,000 like full-time in normal working periods of a 5 day weeks b 6day weeks c revolving flexible weeks where the hours are tacked in here and there and no guaranteeed 2 day break.
Etc – Possibly not drawn up by the OECD because they make up the stats so countries can lie to their populations.
The public service used to pick up many of those with disabilities as employees. The profit imperative of business means the private sector will never create sufficient employment for this group.
Same with young school leavers.
She should put her money where her mouth is and fund the public service to do this on top of their existing funding – ring fenced so the funding doesn't get siphoned off elsewhere.
Busy telling private sector employers to do this when she needs to look closer to home.
In my view the public service should look like the local communities they serve.
Agreed. I was amazed to listen to the very fluent Sepuloni go on and on in such a well-modulated voice, like she has been programmed. These tertiary institutions really fill you up with rhetoric and on just a tiny reservoir of energy, the information can go for hours. Turned her off after a short while.
There may be good reason for a disabled person to go and do a wage job, or not. They might want one and get a real burst of determination to achieve something that takes them to the peak of their own Mt Aoraki (analogy). I heard nothing said about setting up opportunity groups to do volunteer work, and class that as alternative employment so it is listed in separate statistics from the usual employment figures.
The relish that they announce how good it is for everyone to be working, ie in a paid job, is an example of saturation programming. It has been picked up from somebody's paper/s as reliable and honourable as the material on anti-vaxxers. I am all for people contributing to society, and I mean all, evem just coaching one person in reading, teaching music, making scones, permaculture, learning extra skills even the best way to use garden tools (as done in big hardware shops) etc.
Have joint classes for mothers with young children, encourage the availability of jobs during school hours. One thing that I think I did hear this morning was that mothers were encouraged to share a job, so the other could cover with child care, or when there is sickness. If I heard right that was an innovative step for a start.
Accounting and Law are similar fields to my mind. At least it is an overseas example, and yes it did happen recently
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/116814057/ey-seminar-claims-women-have-smaller-brains-than-men-less-ambition
This seems much more concrete than most of the other leadership philosophy and advise I have observed.
Probably a rark up it's so 1980s
June last year….and the usual corporate BS that passes as training
Well it’s this time of the year I start look for books to read or reference books for my 1/700 model ships that I build during the summer period (the Northern Australian Wet Season) while listening to the summer of cricket on ABC radio except for the Boxing Day Test as I will be there in person with the old man over from NZ.
Anyway I find this new book on poor old Neville Chamberlain while looking for a book on the WW2 Illustrious Class Carriers line drawings and camouflage markings. This book looks like it could be a good read, for example he has a butterfly named after him, enjoyed bird watching and was a bit of a greenie/ naturalist among other things. Model ship building does leads me down to some interesting paths like the why, who, where, when and how these ships came to be built.
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Neville-Chamberlains-Legacy-Hardback/p/16537
Plus a couple of books from the New Zealand Rail Society on the rebuilding the SIMT Line after the Kaikoura earthquake and one on the Hillside workshops, where I drank a few ales with some of the old boys in the pubs around Hillside workshops and it was also close to KAH Barracks during the 90’s.
Nice one Ex Kiwi I have noted those for future reading. As an ex-engineer at one stage involved in the Aircraft Industry, well, that is when Britain had an aircraft industry before it was destroyed by inept politicians and management. I can highly recommend the following books "Empire of the Clouds" by James Hamilton-Paterson about the demise of the British Aircraft industry, EXACTLY by Simon Winchesterly, how precision engineering made the modern world. Great stories from automating the pulley block making for Nelson's navy to why that RR Engine blew apart on that Qantas flight. and lastly, a book I am reading now which gives great insight into the development of the U2 and stealth aircraft by Lockheeds highly secretive department called Skunk Works, written by the CEO Ben R Rich and Leo Jonos. Great insights into brilliant engineers and in the book Empire of the Clouds cretinous fuckwit politicians who should have been put down at birth
Britain was spending 10% of its government budget on Defence in the middle 50s, plus paying for development of the civil aviation industry, which largely ended with the most expensive of all – Concorde
Thats what the cuts made by successive governments from Conservatives in late 50s to labour in mid 60s and later was all about reducing
“Thats what the cuts made by successive governments from Conservatives in late 50s to labour in mid 60s and later was all about reducing “
We all know that, but they didn't save or reduce on this little exercise did they, fact it cost the UK dearly in more ways than one. This is just one example of many, I could mention like Sandys and his fetish for missiles and how much that cost the taxpayer and the UK aircraft industry. Also, like Cleese, I won't mention the war or the Miles 52 project, a complete irreparable incompetent criminal stuff up by politicians who did not have a clue how to open a bottle of milk let alone minister an aircraft industry.
From the book Empire of the Clouds
“Thus ended TSR.2 and with it all hopes that Briton could remain in the major league of aircraft manufacturing countries. 195 million in development costs were written off. The immediate effect on BAC and particularly on English Electric's Warton workforce was devasting, with large numbers of redundancies and general demoralisation that hit the RAF and spread throughout the industry. For TSR,2 was not the only project prat (my words) Healey had cancelled that fateful day. With it went Fairey's project Rotodyne feeder helicopter for ferrying passengers from airports to city centres(21 Million written off); Hawkers P.1154 projected supersonic version of what was to be the Harrier verticle take-off fighter (my words again something the Yanks have just managed to achieve in the last decade at enormous costs) another 21 million; and the Hawkers Siddeley/Armstrong Whitworth 681 military freighter much the same cost (my words again, would have made the Hercules look pathetic) There was widespread disbelief at both the policy and the crassness with which it was implemented, but this quickly turned to real anger when the full irony was revealed: that the 150 F-111's ordered for the RAF because they would have been so much cheaper than 150 TSR.2's turned out – when the equivalent F-111s were delivered to the Australian Airforce – to be even MORE expensive because their recurrent bugs and teething problems ( my opinion, another heap of American shit something Australia found out). “ Eventually the UK order for the F-111's was cancelled in 1968 at a cost of 46.4 million.”
Great "reducing" there aye mate, it certainly “reduced” the British Aircraft Industry
The TSR.2 is one of my favourite planes of the 50-60's along the Avro Canada's CF-105. The TSR.2 shit fight is something I still to this day can't get my head around as it was basically an EE design Aircraft, but the lead builder was Vickers out of Weybridge which had no SME on building Supersonic Military aircraft, but EE had all the knowledge etc from the Lighting, long a enough runway etc and other research design at Warton was made the a secondary partner. Vickers only post war military AC was Valiant Bomber and had been more focus on Civil AC.
Then we have Avro Canada's and the stuff that was coming out of the Company was leading edge stuff like its Avro Jetliner which then follow CF100 and lastly the doomed CF-105. Just reading Randall Whitcomb books on Avro Canada is just mind blowing
As you said the Miles 52 project was an opportunely lost and having read Winkle Brown's book, does lead me to think they would've beat the Yanks by far margin and, again the Vickers with Barnes Wills got into the ear of the then Labour Government to say its rockets while alot safer and cheaper, a maned flight.
The Fairey's Rotodyne was another excellent design, but again it was way a head of its time and a lot less complex than the US Osprey that flies over my house during the dry season when the Yanks are in town.
The Joint British/ Australian Rocket programme is another subject, i still can't really get my head a round either, when one considers that the UK/ Aus were the third nation to put up a satellite and then pull the plug on it as some muppet called Roy Jenkins why do we need satellites and what's there use? All the work of the Black Arrow, Black Prince, Black Knight and Blue Streak along with Saro and co kicked into the scrap yard.
The Civil Aircraft was no better either the V1000/ VC7 would've been the first widebody aircraft in world and would've been built in the 50's and then later the VC10 which if had been built to its original design spec's without BOAC sticking in fingers in pie would've been another world beating widebody. Then we have the sorry episode of DH's lovely Trident Tri Jet and again if it had been built to it original design without BEA sticking its fingers in the pie, it would beating the Boeing 727 hands down.
The way Handley Page was treated during the 60's by then Labour Government is be on contempt and quite frankly fucking disgusting. It had a couple of good aircraft coming online, Victor Bomber upgrades would've been world class and it research dept at the time looking into carbon fibre/ composite materials back in the late 50's/ 60's before they became the rage in 90's.
Boulton & Paul was mucking around with Radar Absorbent Material until it was caned in the 60's and today its research files are still class as for UK Eyes only. Just think if the B&P RAM was applied to the Vulcan which already had a very small radar cross section or the Blackburn Buccaneer (One blight spot among the chaos of the 60's and should've sold more if wasn't for the BS from the RAF)?
The list is endless IRT to the UK Labour Government of the 60's, but don't get me started on the post war Churchill/ Eden Government.
Then lastly the High Speed Train is a What if or could've been? which was in the in end scaled right back. And the same could be said of the Nimrod MR4 and there is some interesting chat over at the http://www.secretprojects.uk.com on the balls up by Big And Expensed and co.
The answer is simple the UK couldnt afford all this stuff and the over sized military forces that went with it. Even by this stage the US was winding back some of its development projects as too expensive. Was all the best decisions made to keep the best projects ? No but hindsight is a great thing they didnt have back then.
Rather than reading fanboys stories of how great these planes were – they were generally shocking management and old and inefficent production plants and very long development times. Even some missile projects were cancelled.
Tony Buttler has done some good recent reserach on the original papers covering aircraft and engines from that era ( 1957) showing how many competing and likely outdated by the time they were ready.
Check out other defence cuts in Army and navy forces and programs at the time
eg
'There was to be a reduction in the number of regular infantry battalions from 64 to 49 "
'The British Army was to be reduced in size and reorganised to reflect the ending of National Service and the change to a voluntary army, and to "keep the Army abreast of changing circumstances, policies, weapons and techniques of war". 51 major units and a large number of smaller ones were to be disbanded or amalgamated,"
I fully agree with what you are saying, but my issue is that TSR2 should've continue even just purely as research Aircraft, instead of backing Concorde when the TSR2 got canned and even back then there were doubts about Concorde even being a success. Especially what was on the drawing broads at Hatfield (DH125 and the DH148) and coming of Woodford (Arvo) two wide body Airliners which become the A300 &310, the FTA (Future Transport Airlifter) also known by the Woodford crew as FAT's which became the bases for the A400 and the replacement of the Avro 748 (the Mount Cook AC and the RNZAF Andover) or ATP. Where the then Labour Government should've supported as a backstop to Concorde and the TSR2.
But if you ask anybody around Preston today about the TSR2? the punters would say we were stab in the back Labour as they said they would never cancel TSR2 as the now infamous Labour Party leaflet issued in the Preston South constituency before the 64 General Election say's:
Harold Wilson Tells TSR2 workers "Your Jobs are Guaranteed Under Labour" etc etc.
Ref: Pg 268 TSR2 Britain's Lost Bomber by Damien Burke
There is a book on my wishlist on Frogpond on the Brit Army from 45- 1971, but it will cost a bomb to get around the $150 mark.
And people wonder why the Working class/ Working poor in the Mildlands are going to give the UK Labour the two fingers in this election. I think the Blairites within the UK labour Party are going to be in for a rude shock this time round. The Australian Working Class give the Shorten and the Oz labour the two fingers, and the NZ Labour Party better watch themselves as well next year.
Thanks for that Kiwi I agree with you 300% I could have written more and thank you for adding what I wanted to say
I have friends in NZ who worked on the TSR.2 The way they speak about this aircraft which they had great pride in I get the impression it was the last straw where they were concerned when it was scrapped. There is one airframe left and that is at Duxford Agree with you I feel English Electric should have built it as you said it was a EE design, but once again cretinous fuckwit politicians got in the way.
You mentioned Avro of Canada another great design the Avro Arrow, that upset the Yanks scrapped within a couple of weeks and the then Canadian government had their arm twisted to buy a missile from the Yanks which once again was a heap of crap that did not work.
A great quote from Sir Sydney Camm designer of the Hurricane and Hunter(I think)
“All modern aircraft have four dimensions: Span, Length, Height and Politics. TSR2 simply got the first three right.” -……………………….. Sir Sydney Camm.
This book might be your up alley and does look to be quite interesting
http://www.crecy.co.uk/britain-s-aircraft-industry-since-1909
The three TSR2 Books I have are
TSR2 Britain's lost bomber by Damien Burke,
TSR2 Britain's lost cold war strike aircraft by Tim Mclelland,
X Planes TSR2 Britain's lost cold war strike jet by Andrew Brookes who an Bomber Command/ Strike Command V Bomber Pilot
Also this book called the Lost Eagle on the TSR2 is very good as well.
I have two Diecast 1/72 models of both the TSR2 and the CF-105 and this book Avro Arrow put out by The Boston Mills Press http://www.bostonmillpress.com
Then I also have Tony Butlers books called the British Secret Projects and two are on Rockets Hypersonic and Ramjets and Dan Sharp's Vol 5 of this is the UK Space Program Projects.
Chris Gibson also has a Series where he breaks down all the various Operational Requirements (OR's) into
Vulcan's Hammer (Bomber)
Battle Flight (Fighters and Air Defence)
Nimrod's Genesis (Maritime Patrol and Weapons)
On Atlas shoulders (RAF Transport)
Listening In (RAF Spookies/ Snoopy's aka Electronic Intelligence) and the new out is
Typhoon to Typhoon (Close Air Support)
Sir Sid Cam’s last jet fighter is also very interesting the Hawker P1121 which wouldn’t look out of place on a modern flightline in today’s airforce either. It’s remains are held at Canwell Aviation Centre for Aeronautical Research I believe
Kia Ora 1 News.
Natural prouds are not extremely hard to extinguish when on ahi.
I know who I won't tau toko.
I did not know much
about India culture.
I don't think that statement should have been made.
Its good that some reparation has been given to Parihaka Tangata Whenua of Tarakihi.
I would like my day in Whare whakawa.
Ka kite Ano.
No one is immune from the Greedy chasing putea $$$$$$$$$$$$$ cause all the problems of Te Papatuanuku. We must change the way we live or we are all going to be suffering.
My rich town was poisoned by a corporation. Even the 1% isn't safe from pollution
Environmental and political leaders in the US have decided the environment is worth compromising for private profit
My son took his first breath in a place I never imagined would be potentially harmful for his health: Hinsdale, Illinois.
Hinsdale is listed in the top 1% of the wealthiest towns in Illinois. It’s filled with multimillion-dollar mansions, Zook architectural masterpieces and upscale shops. But Hinsdale, despite its privileged position in Chicago’s western suburbs, has one unfortunate thing against it: like any other American town, it’s part of a country whose environmental and political leaders have decided that the environment is worth compromising for private profit.
Somehow, many of the privileged among us, including myself, didn’t think the unfortunate choices of our political leaders could have the power to kill us. They might hurt the poor in Flint, Michigan, the migrant workers in Bakersfield, California, or those who don’t have the means to leave Louisiana’s Cancer Alley. But most of us living in Hinsdale and its neighboring well-to-do towns never considered that our villages could be a Flint or Cancer Alley.
What is happening in America's Cancertown is tragic, immoral and evil | Rev William Barber
Read more
We were naive. Last year we learned that Sterigenics, a global medical sterilization company with a plant in Willowbrook, Illinois, quietly spewed insane amounts of ethylene oxide (EtO), a powerful carcinogen, into our air for 35 years.
This was wishful thinking. Nothing was done. So enraged residents formed Stop Sterigenics, a group that is now is over 10,000 members strong. We staged protests, packed town hall meetings, signed witness slips and called for Illinois politicians to shut down the company for the sake of public health
In February, the Illinois environmental protection agency issued a seal order temporarily banning Sterigenics from using EtO, but last month, the agency granted the company a permit to continue to use the chemical. The message to all of us was clear: the rights of Sterigenics to make a profit mattered more to the IEPA than the rights of thousands of people living in its vicinity not to be subjected to cancer-causing air. This really shouldn’t have been surprising to anyone reading the news, where every day there seems to be another disaster related to an environmental policy decision, but, until it happens to you, it is.
Just as we were preparing to breathe toxic air again, the unthinkable happened: despite being given the green light to continue using EtO (albeit with certain emissions restrictions in place), Sterigenics announced it was leaving Willowbrook. They blamed their lease and the “unpredictable” regulatory landscape rather than the community activism that has fought them relentlessly for 14 months. But the question to the rest of the nation is: where are they going? They emit EtO in eight other locations nationwide, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Air Toxics Assessment has linked EtO to high cancer rates in Smyrna, Georgia, where Sterigenics also has a plant
But the tough community activism of Stop Sterigenics proves that even in a world where the EPA protects corporations instead of people, people still do have power. Let’s use it to join the attorneys general of Illinois, California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin, who, on 10 October, wrote a letter asking the EPA to update its current emissions standards to protect the nation from the EtO the EPA knows is killing us
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/23/hinsdale-illinois-pollution-sterigenics-epa
ETO Eco Maori, another acronym to add to our list of confusing identification of harmful substances and practices. Glad they are leaving one part of Illinois, but where else are they going to go with their ill-ness producing methods?
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
https://youtu.be/gOsM-DYAEhY
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
https://youtu.be/SKprXO-f2pM
Kia Ora Breakfast.
I think it's good that our government has given farmers 5 years to come up with a plan and show they are lowering their carbon footprint
. That's good the Australians respecting Te Tangata of Australias views and banning people from climbing their Taonga moanga Uluru
Te insurance industry in Aotearoa will kick Te little companies to touch. Greed and Prophets.
Ka kite Ano
I agree no one would have thought that the intelligence tangata of Te Papatuanuku would strike for our futures Climate 10 years ago or even 3 years ago. Kia Kaha to all the Tangata who are doing the correct thing for our future.
There are no excuses left': why climate science deniers are running out of rope
Guardian environment correspondent Fiona Harvey recalls being heckled at the House of Commons and explains how attitudes to climate have shifted in 10 years
The shouted words rang out across the packed parliamentary corridor: “Fiona Harvey is the worst journalist there is. She’s the worst journalist of them all, because she should know better.”
They were the words of Lord Lawson, former UK chancellor of the exchequer, turned climate denier and now Brexiter, addressing a crowd of more than 100 people trying to cram into a House of Commons hearing on climate change. As listeners craned their necks to hear better, whispering and nudging, he elaborated at length on my insistence on reporting the work of the 97% of the world’s climate scientists whose work shows human responsibility for global heating, and failure to give equal weight to the tiny number of dissenters
As the science of climate chaos has become vastly clearer in the past two decades, and the warnings more stark, the rearguard action fought by climate denialists has grown fiercer and their attacks more vicious. Fact-based arguments will never serve their purpose; trolling is the last refuge of the discredited. We can expect much more of the same.
When I began writing full-time on the environment in 2004, climate change had hit a political impasse. George W Bush was in the White House, the US preoccupied with the war on terror and – as Bush admitted – “addicted to oil”. The 1997 Kyoto protocol was on ice, without the backing of enough countries to bring it into force, and international negotiations on greenhouse gases were stagnating as a result.
Suddenly, like a glacier destabilising, small cracks turned into crevasses and whole edifices came avalanching down. First Russia played the unlikely hero: by ratifying Kyoto in late 2004 (cynically, in return for a favour at the World Trade Organization) the Duma rescued the treaty from the scrapheap of history. That was enough to galvanise the UN negotiations, loosening entrenched positions and giving the talks a point once more.
Tony Blair did his bit by making climate change the main theme for the UK’s 2005 presidency of the G8, which forced world leaders to confront the issue. The EU’s emissions trading scheme came into being early that year, marking the first time companies were held responsible financially for their carbon output.
Ka kite Ano link below.
Eco Maori link for the above.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/17/climate-science-deniers-environment-warning
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
https://youtu.be/tgIqecROs5M
Kia Ora 1 News.
What a mess.
That's is cool a new drinking water quality monitor.
Tawhirimate is Mana at Uluru.
The 5 new Islands that the Russian have mapped looks like the wild life have made a whare there.
Ringer for Mark
SainBury
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Its good that people are being caught a charged for pouching Kai Moana .
Mike Smith that's the way we need to leave the carbon in Te Papatuanuku.
Congratulations Hinerangi Goodman on your winning a seat on the Whakatane Council Awsome to see more Wahine and tangata whenua standing for Local government positions.
Ka kite Ano