The answer, sadly, is that the contemporary Left is almost entirely ignorant of geopolitics and the strict limitations it places on diplomatic action. Even when it comes to basic economics and its decisive influence on politics, the Left’s powers of analysis have atrophied to an astonishing degree.
Others would summarise that into `ignorant & clueless'. Yet, having adopted the wrong frame for the situation, Chris risks putting himself into the same category!
The Cold War was produced by a polarisation of ideology: two competing belief systems. Capitalism and communism. Since China is now both, the frame doesn't apply to current geopolitics. What part of that don't you understand, Chris??
He then proceeds to falsify history as though fronting as an apologist for the communist regime is a good idea.
Whenever the Chinese Empire was strong enough to assert its suzerainty over Tibet (which was most of the time) the Tibetan theocracy willingly paid homage to Beijing.
Those of us who have actually done the historical research know he's bullshitting. There was a century or two when that suzerainty was real (around the 17th, from memory) but the rest of the time it was mere pretence by the emperor – and he fails to mention the earlier period of history when the Tibetans conquered China and the opposite situation prevailed.
Intellectual dishonesty is characteristic of leftists, of course, so his demonstration of tribalism merely serves to remind us why the left never achieves widespread respect.
One can be thoughtful and pose questions and offer an alternative view, and still be handing people the wrong end of the stick. Which Trotter does with monotonic regularity.
Dennis merely showed one aspect of the shit smeared on the wrong end of the stick Trotter is offering. But Trotter starts out from the get-go with bullshit framing and misrepresentation, let alone the public self-pleasuring he indulges in his second paragraph.
As for echo chambers – there's a particular echo chamber filled with blinkered views formed in particular group in an odd period almost half a century ago. Trotter keeps that chamber resonating admirably.
Andre – Chris provokes discussion at least. And Dennis and you are so entrenched in the belief that you know all, that you set yourselves up as gurus. You may worship yourselves, others respect your knowledge and wisdom, but don't accept your take on everything as the last word. Hence words from and to Chris's opinions are valuable. And accepted truth may change over time as different information and perspectives arise.
Trotter writes brilliantly but he writes to be provocative.The consistent themes are 1. Old School Labour is good. 2. The Greens are bad.
He often makes valid points. For instance he rues the gradual loss of the unions (which I agree with) because power has shifted far too much into the hands of the employees employers. For this reason he often attacks the current Labour government for not addressing this power imbalance. He overdoes these attacks.
He consistently attacks the Greens either because they are not green enough or because they are too green. I think he yearns for the old FPP days where a strong Labour government could do what it likes.
IMHO he would be better off accepting the current order of things under MMP, especially the rise of the Greens and the need to address Climate Change, and argue for a CGT, Land Tax, and Transaction Tax that will move capital from the rich to the poor and into resources that will combat Climate Change.
I don’t think the new cold war has anything to do with capitalism/communism , why should it?
It’s about a failing ,falling empire trying to hang on and a new rising power challenging it’s economic/military hegemony
A so called cold war means shots have (so far) not been fired .The hot war comes when its all out hard weaponry, not just propaganda and economics
Dennis, that's a nice critique of Trotter's post. Have you ever reflected on why you feel the need to spoil such contributions by ending them with rubbish generalisations and hyperbole? Are you perhaps 'concerned' that without a provocative assertion or two your contributions would lack punch?
"Intellectual dishonesty is characteristic of leftists, of course, so his demonstration of tribalism merely serves to remind us why the left never achieves widespread respect."
Really, Dennis, NEVER? Certainly 'the right' governments in the USA, UK and Brazil haven't covered themselves in glory with their 'handling' of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the evident failure of those administrations to keep their citizenry safe has contributed to the “widespread respect” that NZ citizens, not to mention the wider world, have for our health services and centre-left government.
Never felt the need for physical projection during this form of jousting, although I do get some relief from wearing a brace to treat tendonitis in my right achilles
So it seems to me that your counter argument Dennis is "Those of us who have actually done the historical research know he's bullshitting."
However it doesn't take much effort to research your claim and I find that Chris may be right.
"The first international document which used and explained this word was a convention signed by Britain and Russia in Petersburg on August 31, 1907, titled The Convention Between Great Britain and Russia Relating to Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet.
The third ….. section declared that the governments of Great Britain and Russia recognized China's right of suzerainty over Tibet."
One wonders why you haven't challenged Chris on TDB or his own blog.
Bash, bash , bash, the great West on China bash, the elite one percent fear their moribund grip on power and their bashing of their Capitalist rivals, China and Russia knows no bounds, as though they have the moral high ground, of course no mention of the 'Berlin wall' Israel has built to imprison Palestinians and jailing 12 year old stone throwers for 3-4 years. No mention of the Arms sales that enable their mates to bomb and starve to death Yemeni children etc etc. Mushroom clouds for tea anyone?.
We've discussed the terrors Israel places on the Palestinians as well as the horrid situation in Yemen many times on this blog. Am yet to read a poster on TS that supports what is happening in either Palestine or Yemen.
Sorry Byd0NZ, my bad. Thanks for explaining 🙂 I appreciate that, text has no tone, sometimes I get confused 🙂
Dennis, re the car crash. Yes will wait with interest regarding the result. I hope the person in hospital makes a recovery, their insight will be paramount.
Shoot the messenger has been around a very long time. Reasonable to suspect Chinese agents somehow performed the elimination of their opponents, but we must wait & see if the cops find evidence.
I remember reading in Rolling Stone about how Karen Silkwood got killed. She was a reporter investigating a nuclear power plant in '75. Car got run off the road & Hollywood eventually made a movie about it. Best way to prevent someone telling the truth is to eliminate them. It's why the left does de-platforming, eh?
Karen Silkwood was a whistleblower, working in a nuclear plant and very anxious about what seemed to be a cover-up of their operations. And had a convenient vehicle malfunction that led to her death.
This was a very unfortunate car crash in NZ killing two pro-democracy Chinese activists. Vehicle crossing the centre line, scraping one and lining up for head-on for the second with these precious, brave people inside. Is that coincidence? Who was driving the vehicle that was 'out of line'?
However, international security analyst Paul Buchanan said China had a track record of interfering in other nations' affairs, including hacking.
Furthermore, "independent" Chinese voices in New Zealand regularly experienced intimidation by pro-Beijing groups, he said.
"It's not unjustified that independent members of the Chinese community may feel threatened to the point that when something tragic like this happens, they – if not jump to conclusions – then certainly suspect that the accident may have more sinister causes than a mere accident."
I'm reading Anne Perry's book, A Sunless Sea which is about opium and gives detail of the Opium Wars and degradation that Britain rained on China and the terrible toll produced by vicious British behaviour. I think she does good backgrounding giving correct information. I'll try to put a bit up later as it would help us to know what may be in Chinese minds if we understood some of the low-down dirtiness this part of British history overseas. Which would help in balancing our opinions.
So now we have the northbound assassins doing a kamikaze move over the centre line, initially missing the target, clipping the wrong car but serendipitously slamming headlong into the right car and severely injuring themselves.Not much of a payoff or career advancement there.
I can think of more surefire ways, but why waste a tragedy when there's propagandistic hay to be made?
I think Prof Brady is showing her true pro US (Wilson Centre)colours here and would take a large grain of salt with her claims
Evidently the car that collided into them was driven by a Women with a young daughter as a passenger.
Yesterday the news implied sabotage, the only thing I could think of that would result in the death of the front seat occupants was that the safety belts had been interfered with, or the air bags failed.
Yes, a rather messy “hit” to say the least. It stretches credibility really, unless some evidence emerges beyond the apparent coincidences.
Professor Brady makes some fair and interesting points about China in her writings, but seems too much of a US proxy to have her every utterance taken as absolute truth.
Those with valid concerns about the influence and 'machinations' of the CCP do their case no favours by indulging in fact-free speculation. Fearmongering, IMHO.
I am delighted to read that vaccinologist Helen Petousis- Harris has finally realised that dismissing or minimising adverse effects from vaccines is not a sound tactic when trying to sell the product to the wider public.
Excellent and well referenced article from Farah Hancock on the progress around developing a vaccine against Covid 19.
With vaccine hesitancy an identified global health concern there's a risk not communicating likely side effects could see people lose trust in a vaccination programme.
University of Auckland vaccinologist associate professor Helen Petousis-Harris said potential side effects need to be talked about upfront.
“People will lose trust and their confidence if you don’t.”
Side effects are normal “and not necessarily a bad thing either” she said.
“You don’t want them to be serious or severe but there’s a range of effects you get when your body is making an immune response.”
This is the first time I have heard of a vaccine promoter actually admitting that a vaccine can cause significant symptoms, and acknowledging that being honest and transparent about these significant post -vaccine symptoms (rather than dismissing them as being 'coincidental') is more likely to inspire trust in the target market.
Everyone will agree that it is way too early to celebrate the apparent efficacy of these very new and novel vaccines as potential long term effects have not as yet been assessed.
Misrepresenting again, Rosemary. Or else you really haven't been paying attention.
Every time I've gone and got a jab, the possibility of side effects and reactions has been presented to me, along with going through a checklist to determine that the vaccines I was about to get were not contraindicated for me. Ranging from being told to expect my shoulder to be sore enough to be dysfunctional for several days, to being expected to call in regularly to the travel health doctor's office for several days after getting a whole bunch at once (if they didn't hear from me on schedule they were going to come looking).
Let alone that even the briefest glance at credible information sources shows a plethora of info on what kinds of reactions are likely.
If I did not make it clear…I am not referring to an individual’s experience with an individual vaccine administrator, although there are one or two accounts from credible persons whose vaccine experience has not been as well managed as your own. For example, the former editor of the British Medical Journal who's account you seem to be ignoring. https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2019/03/13/richard-smith-who-is-most-likely-to-have-side-effects-to-flu-vaccination/
I am referring to the official vaccine narrative…if I missed the press release where it was acknowledged that many vaccines cause local pain and irritation and perhaps low fever, and that some vaccines cause more significant symptoms in some people and occasionally long term disability or health effects…please provide a link.
Any vaccine can cause side effects. For the most part these are minor (for example, a sore arm or low-grade fever) and go away within a few days. Listed below are vaccines licensed in the United States and side effects that have been associated with each of them. This information is copied directly from CDC’s Vaccine Information Statements (VISs), which in turn are derived from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations for each vaccine.
Remember, vaccines are continually monitored for safety, and like any medication, vaccines can cause side effects. However, a decision not to immunize a child also involves risk and could put the child and others who come into contact with him or her at risk of contracting a potentially deadly disease.
Petousis-Harris said even though a vaccine is still some time away, it’s a good time to start thinking about managing people’s expectations so side effects don't come as a surprise.
“That can be tailored as time goes on.”
She said it’s something New Zealand has done before for the Meningococcal B MeNZB vaccine where a side effect was a very sore arm after injection.
“That was talked about a lot in the media, and people were prepared for that. They actually over-talked it, and it wasn’t as bad, but it made people prepared.”
And:
The public’s tolerance for side effects has reduced in recent decades. Le Gros said he has a deep scar on his arm from a smallpox vaccine. Nowadays, that kind of reaction would be considered too severe for a vaccine to get approved.
Just a brief search for Petousis-Harris and vaccine side-effects turns up plenty:
Informed consent is about gaining appropriate knowledge in an environment and manner that is meaningful and without coercion. People must understand what is being offered, what is involved, the probable benefits, risks, side effects, failure rates, alternatives, the risks and benefits of not receiving the treatment, and that they have a choice.
Sounds reasonable? The sticking point is what constitutes risks and benefits, and scientific information versus pseudoscience. Informed consent must be based on the best current science-based information or else it is a sham.
My note: grossly overstating risks and side effects degrades and interferes with informed consent by falsely skewing the entire benefit/risk picture.
You're correct that I'm not spending my time looking for examples of credible people making comments I can misrepresent and distort into painting a false overstated picture of risks and harms from vaccines, and/or paint a false picture that vaccine experts hide the widely acknowledged side effects that can occur, and that a very few people should not get specific vaccines and that these contraindications are checked for before administering a vaccine..
And Bill Gates says something similar – that there are side effects and these need to be reduced before a vaccine is provided. He gets well mis-represented by the conspiracy people.
"You know, if we have, you know, one in 10,000 side effects, that’s, you know, way more — 700,000, you know, people — who will suffer from that,” he said.
“So, really understanding the safety at gigantic scale across all age ranges… it’s very, very hard.”
It has been my experience as a person who has been having the flu vaccine, as an at risk person since 1995, that with all vaccines their possible side-effects are pointed out at the time of 'sticking' as it were. I am of an age were to travel we had to have a range of vaccinations & a vaccination card and the side-effects of these were always pointed out
Whenever I have had a vaccination I have had to give an informed consent and the last flu one I signed the form that the nurse had that had the actual name and makeup of the vaccine and was taken through any side-effects and asked if I had any allergies. For instance people who are allergic to egg white were known to have a reaction to one of the flu vaccines as egg white is used as a carrier.
With all vaccines there will be side-effects whether permanent or transitory, ranging from the carrier ingredients to the attenuated culture used. These will be known at the time of sticking. As part of informed consent they will be explained.
The vaccine trials will have thrown up side effects and that is why time to test and do a range of tests is always a good thing. Treatments have to undergo a huge testing regime after they have been derived.
So for me far from being unusual it is very usual and has been my experience over many years with vaccines and other 'chemical' medical treatments.
Some side-effects they will know to be coincidental from the testing carried out. Some they will note as possibly new, do some more testing etc.
But as with most things these days there will be people who don't want to have treatment for whatever reason. The key is to get as many people who do not have concerns vaccinated/treated, keep the communication up so the nay-sayers do not queer the pitch ie by putting people off seeking vaccines or treatment for those who are wanting to play a part.
There have always been articles on side effects and usually at flu jab time they come out in the press releases/articles. The side effects for other vaccines are available on Ms Google.
The narrative about the current work on the Covid-19 vaccine has always seemed wrapped around with the issue of possible side-effects.
Rosemary, I'm wondering about your use of the phrases "sell the product" and "the target market" with regard to vaccines. I've been vaccinated for polio, MMR, tetanus, influenza (regularly) and probably others I've forgotten about (damn vaccines!), but have yet to part with a penny directly for any of those treatments. I suppose I must thank taxpayers (and therefore myself) for covering the cost of that disease protection.
For those concerned about New Zealand's greenhouse gas emission roduction, a really interesting release from Stats NZ yesterday:
Approximately two-thirds of New Zealand’s regions recorded decreases in their total greenhouse gas emissions, while one-third of regions saw increases between 2007 and 2018.
Between 2007 and 2018, the largest falls in emissions were in:
– Auckland, down 955 kilotonnes (7.8 per cent)
– Taranaki, down 707 kilotonnes (11.3 per cent)
– Northland, down 545 kilotonnes (10.8 per cent), and
– Waikato, down 272 kilotonnes (2.0 per cent).
Over the same period, emissions increased in:
– Canterbury, up 1,175 kilotonnes (11.0 per cent),
– Bay of Plenty, up 356 kilotonnes (11.9 per cent),
– Southland, up 335 kilotonnes (6.2 per cent), and
– Otago, up 333 kilotonnes (7.0 per cent).
“This is the first comprehensive picture we have been able to develop to show where emissions are being produced in New Zealand and which regions are driving the changes in emissions,” Mr Oakley (Head of Stats) said.
I'm hoping this gives rise to debate about divergence between energy density and industrial productivity, and to be able to break that down on a regional basis.
Today’s the 20th Anniversary of the my mate Lenny Manning who was KIA while on a Patrol in Timor-Leste with BCoy 2/1 Battalion as a part of NZBATT2 under a UN Peacekeeping Mandate.
The Black Beret represents his service in WAI/WEC SQN, the Bayonet represents his service BCoy in 2nd/ 1st Battalion RNZIR, the beer can in QAMR stubby cooler is the many beers we drunk on Crewmen’s and later at Burnham Camp home to both NZ Scots & 2/1 Battalion
Thanks for reminding us Skud. Not to be forgotten. We who read and happily/unhappily responded to the overseas fighting can too easily dismiss those who faced it.
And it is interesting to read Tricledown's points on outdated gear. I thought that National was all gun-ho to paraphrase, and would be wanting ours to be strong, well-equipped fighting men. But it seems that even matters they agree with they want to do on a mean budget, the skinflints.
Maybe it is because they are less skin and more flint; they like machinery and technology and despise the human side of life, in other words, their own selves and person. Now that is really screwy. Let's not vote the National Anti-Human Party into power for God's sake – and for those of us who haven't caught this obliterating human-hating virus. Nah to NAHPs.
The NZ Army was sent into Timor by the Shipley govt with antique equipment that didn't work and the Steyr rifle that malfunctioned.
Tax cuts by National led to running down of military capability to where it was barely functioning. Same with Healthcare Education etc.
Now Goldsmith is promising to cut $80 billion of govt spending .
Are we going to run down healthcare further than now with Carona virus threatening our Country,Education now we have lost overseas students and have high unemployment. Police numbers with gangs on the rise,
Cutting govt spending will send New Zealand into a deeper longer recession making it harder to repay debt as well as keeping the economy afloat.
What makes me laugh at Goldsmiths naivety is the Conservative Australian govt is tracking on the same debt level per capita as NZ so that makes Goldsmith's false narative scaremongering about debt levels in NZ a fallacy.
The announcement by Paora Goldsmith on the Nats plan for cutting back the Public Service seems
other-wordly like harking back in the mists of time
boring
repetitive
super BAU from the National waybacks
missed the public mood with all our public servants being thanked for all their steady work in Covid-19 and to come.
That was the effect on me, after thought.
My first reaction though was a chill. Really it was.
Been there done that got oodles of scars mentally & career-wise from the time-wasting, stupid, never-ending restructurings that took place in the PS. What a pall these constant PS restructurings cast over NZ. They restricted service, diverted us from being able to work on our departmental work full time so as to serve our people. Instead we spent time, endless days and months fighting to retain our own jobs, functions or departments.
To turn the corner we need innovation, failed has-been policies won't work. They shouldn't be given the opportunity to work.
The cost is too high on those affected both 'clients' or whatever name our people are called, and public servants. Public Servants work for the good of the public.
I'd love to get away from the tosh neo-lib stuff written into the Acts dealing with the State Sector that we work for the Minister. We work for whatever govt is in power upholding and bringing about whatever legislation, policies etc the govt has been elected to do.
The Minister is responsible for bringing us $$$$, legislation, policy direction. We don't work for them…our over-riding work is for the people of NZ.
Hopefully the reviews of legislation this Govt is proposing will look at, and determine, what was actually wrong with the system prior to these pieces of legislation. Sure there were a few good parts in what followed but those of us working at the sharp end were never sure what the 'mischief' was that the reforms were trying to remedy.
Meantime here is the link…..public servants prepare to shiver.
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu/uk-ready-to-quit-eu-on-australia-terms-if-no-brexit-deal-johnson-says-idUSKBN23Y0J6
Jun.28/20 LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will be ready to quit its transitional arrangements with the European Union “on Australia terms” if no deal on their future relationship is reached, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday. .. Australia does not have a comprehensive trade agreement with the EU. Much of EU-Australia trade follows default World Trade Organisation rules, though specific agreements are in place for certain goods.
The UK Government has now passed a deadline of 30 June where it could have asked for extension from the EU and now the end of December 2020 seems fixed as final for leaving – ready or not as in the chant of the children's game. However… it may be possible for the UK and the EU to secure more preparation time in the form of a real implementation phase later in the year.
An obvious hit job , pay back double . I have no doubt about that as she , unlike the PM , felt an overpowering need to drop it into the media's lap so as to play it as whataboutism . Difference from Falloon is that there is no aggrieved victim (s) behind the disclosure and the ex mistress is seemingly living in London now and no doubt horrified about being ammunition in Collins game of dirty politics . The equivalent to Key's top drawer of dirt but more likely tip offs from Slater. I think Collins figures the only way to win is to have a bitch fight in a mud pool and needs to drag Jacinda down to her level for a competition to be had.
Alan makes a valid point. I already know the answer to "when Jacinda knew."
I do think she would have sorted it out had she known at an earlier date and ILG would have lost his ministerial portfolios but not have been in the position to have hastily resigned.
I'm more interested in the time line for falloons case . When did the first victim make a complaint and was it only to the police? It seems strange that the national party was the last to know.?
I don't want Ian L-G to stay on as an MP. I have a very low opinion of him now. While I understand people giving in to attraction under intense circumstances when working at parliament, what I think is outrageous about Lees-Galloway is taking his mistress to Paris. Can you imagine the lying and underhandedness that went on. Phoning his wife from Paris and lying. Meanwhile, she's at home in Palm North looking after their three kids……………what an absolute pig he is. He has treated her with utter contempt…………….She deserves better than this
Yes you are right I am assuming the affair was secret or at least his wife didn't know about it. I assume that if she did LG might have said "my wife and I have an understanding and I was completely transparent with her. She also said about Paris, no darling you take the mistress, I am all good here in Palmy minding our three children"…. But seriously though, I am making an assumption that the wife didn't know and I could be wrong.
BTW my opinion of LG doesn't alter my opinion about Judith C's handling of this, definitely a political hit, playing dirty politics, muddying the waters the old they do it too defence.
Ok Treetop, I accept that you didn't want the conversation to go in this direction. But I was expressing my view. There has not be a note from a moderator that my view is unacceptable for this site (at least not yet).
I am certainly not trying to be a marriage counsellor. No marriage counsellor would or should express such a view to a couple they are trying to help. It was just my opinion. I am making a judgement on L-G behaviour or an aspect of it. My perception is that others on this site talk about other politicians and each other like this. It is out of character for me to comment like this…..and I will give thought as to whether it is helpful to do so or not.
I still maintain my view of L-G behaviour.
I to am making a judgment and I am trying to keep within the boundary of dirty politics ending a politicians career. My judgment is not based on the private life or the impact on the individuals involved.
Individuals have their own style on TS, some comments I look forward to reading and others I only partially read.
"If we go down this pathway of abandoning Tiwai Point, in favour of a transition package as some politicians would advocate for, the results will be dwarfed by what happens here and the wider impact on employment across New Zealand," he said.
"If we don't prevail, and restore honesty and common sense to this issue, we will have disastrous effects here and across the country."
Where 'common sense' means increasing corporate welfare.
My son is an alternative power researcher and when asked about Tesla going to Tiwai he doubted it would happen as a battery factory would not use much electricity as the component materials need to be processed nearer to source as they are only a very small percentage of the rocks and soils containing them and it is that process that requires almost all of the power use. Transporting thousands of tonnes of rock halfway around the world to extract kilos of rare earths etc is not an economic goer, not to mention the problems we already have with the existing dross from Tiwai.
Rio Tinto have plenty of money, they can write off any losses, last yr they increased production by 30% by adding another Pot, 6 months later we're closing down, power is too expensive.
Peters wants to provide Corporate Welfare, again, and again, to a mining magnate thats makes $2.5m every hour of every day.
A number of yrs ago she suggested to Aus Govt that she should be able to import workers from China who'll work for $1 an hour, they turned her down.
TC, see my comment at 12.1.1, similar things apply for a data server, not many jobs for the local boys and girls and good luck convincing 250k/pa data scientists from Silicon Valley to relocate to Bluff. Auckland maybe, or Coromandel at a pinch, better off using the power to electrify trucks and trains which is the use that would have the most dramatic results on our carbon total.
The thought occurs that we already have the KAREN fibre network in place. Plus lots of power and a good source of cooling seawater.
Sure, not many local jobs in the finished product, but an ongoing process of construction of supercomputer facility A, five year construction of B when A is online, refit of A when B is online… a fair few local jobs in the ongoing development cycle.
Dunedin might be about the closest place slightly attractive to foreign staff that's not atop a faultline, but overall our problem making data centres viable is constrained cable capacity into the world. Shame because NZ has the governance and integrity reputation to make that sort of industry work.
Yeah – ISTR a data centre was part of the harbour revamp aspiration.
I'm just intrigued by what could be done with the massive power infrastructure going to the smelter, but that wouldn't track through the dunedin CBD 🙂
We do have good fibre within NZ. So something with moderate international data flows but lots of calculations required on it? And if it gets really good, Bluff might be a handy shore station for another fibre cable in a decade or so.
I just can't help thinking there's a powerful resource there for a jump ahead for Southland.
As in "when the smelter closure makes hundreds of people unemployed in Southland, what new industries and enterprises can use the infrastructure strengths of Southland to supplement the employment and revenue of Southland in the manner of the SIT free fees scheme?"
The HVDC link from Benmore to Haywards (Lower Hutt) loses about 6% of the input energy over that 610km distance. So if the HVDC were extended to Manapouri in the south and to Auckland in the north, total losses from Manapouri to Auckland might be around 15%, compared to maybe a couple percent loss in transmission (wild-ass guess) from Manapouri to Tiwai Point.
Round figures Tiwai Point was guessed to pay around $250M a year for electricity plus maybe $60M for transmission. So rough hand-wavy numbers there's maybe $50M of value in electricity that's not lost by using it in Southland rather than sending it all the way to Auckland.
That's without considering the cost of grid upgrades that would be needed.
The main high voltage line goes direct from Manapouri to Invercargill where it joins up with the rest of the grid. Then looking at really non-detailed maps it appears the high-voltage lines go north past Gore to Roxburgh and Clyde.
The smelter's demand is fairly closely matched to Manapouri's output, by design. But there are times when Tiwai Point draws more than Manapouri produces and draws the extra from the rest of the grid, and there are times when Tiwai Point doesn't use all of what Manapouri is producing so that excess goes into the grid.
So if a new heavy user appeared somewhere close to existing high-voltage lines, then it's likely just a matter of putting in a substation to tap off from existing lines. But if the new heavy user were well away from existing lines, say somewhere like Mossburn or Kingston, then a new high voltage line would likely be needed as well as a substation.
Losses are affected by distance (more distance more loss), voltage (higher voltage loses less) and whether it's AC or DC (DC loses less, but it's not easy to convert to AC so you need to be dealing with a lot of juice to make DC transmission worthwhile)
Wonder about electrifying the big dairy factory at Edendale (currently a coal burner). There's an existing grid line via Gore but don't know if it has sufficient capacity (it's lower voltage 110kV, compared to the main national grid 220kV).
Manapouri to Tiwai lines run near Ohai then straight to Makarewa substaion north of Invercargill (see Transpower National Grid maps).
@ Andre
Rather than HVDC through to Auckland, I wonder about increaing the 220kV capacity north of Wellington, which would allow more South Island power to be used throughout the Lower North Island. Might free up some of the existing North Island generation for Auckland.
Probably throughout the region, but an electrical system is a bit like plumbing or information transmission: a network is only as big as its smallest pipe. If the local subtation or lines are at capacity, then being able to supply more energy is useless because the current pipe isn't big enough.
But we do know that the smelter already has bloody big pipes from generator to factory floor, so if I were to make an uneducated and speculative guess, I'd suspect the cheapest option from a grid point of view would be to have another high-energy facility (maybe not as big as the smelter, but a good energy user).
Another high-energy option would be a particle accelerator: the Large Hadron Collider uses 200MW at peak flow, less than half the smelter's capacity. And the farmland around might be easier to access for a trench-dug tunnel (like a fuel line, but without the kauri logging risk) or elevated pipe than in other countries. And the data can get transmitted to any NZ scientific facility via the KAREN fibre line.
I'm just spitballing here, but my point is that there are far more options than "save the smelter" available. And, frankly, Shadbolt's Invercargill has a history of having good ideas for Southland that are out of left field. I wouldn't be surprised if they float something that makes people go "wtf" but which actually comes off looking good.
Given we have supplies of iron sand in NZ could there be conversion to steel and us building our own trains, building supplies, etc.
We'd have to move away from the notion that cheapest is best of course – we know that this is generally not the case.
We need to build the notion of community good into our state owned infrastructure rather than this notion of profit e.g. rail has a split of public good (say 60%) paid through taxation and private good (40%) paid for through sales and fees and ticketing.
I do actually think the same for roads if we applied the same 60/40 split to roads then maybe road user charges could be reduced.
And they should be state owned – profit is just a dead-weight and high executive salaries are just capital theft.
The smelter is at Tiwai because of the the deep water port for the alumina, and other inputs coming in, and product going out.
Another industry may not be that critical of location, data centre could be just north of Invercargill by the Lorneville substation. A silica refinery, probably between the resource in Western Southland and Lorneville.
It feels a bit like the occasional problem I have at work, where although I don't know the method I can feel there's a bloody good answer that's just a bit too far away to grasp at the moment.
Ah well, Southland will figure it out. It's a bit flat for my taste, but it's got a lot going for it these days.
There's a mapped active fault less than 10 km from The Octagon (runs along SE side of Taieri Plain at least as far N as Wingatui) (NZAFD, GNS). Also, the Akatore Fault that goes offshore near Taieri Mouth likely continues towards Dunedin (& possible under it). Recent research suggests it's capable of M7 to M7.4 quake & is the biggest seismic threat to Dunedin (piece on Newshub: best non-paywalled source I could find).
Just for fun, looking back to the Ruatoki event (Urerewa-Operation 8) and Comm. Marshall's (video) comments; (Jackal’s post, 24 May 2012).
Did the accused NOT get the legal representation that many believed they deserved?
He, he, he, ho, ho, ho!
And did anyone ever really determined whether the bus (or the tourist coach perhaps) would have been targeted at Johnkey's head from a great height, or Bush’s? (George Bush that is, not Mike Bush's)
Is it not high time that Tame Iti got himself a high salaried job somewhere, either in corporate or performing arts?
That guy still has heaps of talent and maybe he should avoid getting mixed up with many of those old farty arts patrons (especially of the Akarana ilk).
I really do not believe that most of them have his best interests at heart.
Brian Easton writes van interesting column on Pundit. It covers the National shifts in Economic terms and some pointers on the Collin position.
So where in the political spectrum does the current National Party stand? I start with the right-to-left (or more precisely extreme-right-to-centre-right) economic spectrum and include the social dimension later.
John Key repeatedly distanced his party from the extreme right, treating Don Brash almost cruelly in order to maintain the distance. He was not of the centre-right either. His allegiance was (mainly) to the Auckland Business Community (which abandoned neoliberalism about twenty years ago in favour of a more active government support). His style was mañana: never do anything today which can be left to tomorrow….
…National’s fundamental tenet is low taxes which means squeezing the public sector. It was so adamant about this that when the Canterbury Earthquakes provided the perfect opportunity to raise taxes, it failed to impose a special earthquake levy. Not only did the earthquake recovery suffer, but so did the public sector, to the detriment of its service to the public. The current government is still trying to recover the mess…..
"Addendum: This column was drafted before the events involving Andrew Falloon and Ian Lees-Galloway. It has not been rewritten.. However, I must add this. The column tries hard to be fair towards Judith Collins; after all it is really about wider issues than her. But the way she dealt with the Lees-Galloway allegations was inappropriate. She was right to pass her knowledge on to Jacinda Ardern, as the prime minister had done to her over Falloon. She was wrong to announce she had done so (on morning radio) before the Prime Minister had publicly dealt with the information. In contrast Ardern waited until Collins had made her Falloon announcement before explaining her involvement. Collins’ timing has the hallmarks of a Whale Oil counterpuncher. It does not promise a clean election."
got chipped on FB yesterday fordaring to mention that some of the nationals female mp's were showing a bit more cleavage than necessary on teevee ch31 last night. then a nationals troll showed up and demanded this and that and it was a great old brou ha ha. the upshot was the post was deleted but then they all went and changed their clobber. hahahahahaha.
Jonathan Pie spouts his disgust at the sensitivity that has established new norms so that we aren't even allowed to regard ourselves as one biological sex now and accept that there is generally two plus.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
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Chris Trotter asks "Why Is The Left Not Opposing The West’s New Cold War With China?" Then fumbles around for a while trying to figure it out. https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/07/24/why-is-the-left-not-opposing-the-wests-new-cold-war-with-china/
Others would summarise that into `ignorant & clueless'. Yet, having adopted the wrong frame for the situation, Chris risks putting himself into the same category!
The Cold War was produced by a polarisation of ideology: two competing belief systems. Capitalism and communism. Since China is now both, the frame doesn't apply to current geopolitics. What part of that don't you understand, Chris??
He then proceeds to falsify history as though fronting as an apologist for the communist regime is a good idea.
Those of us who have actually done the historical research know he's bullshitting. There was a century or two when that suzerainty was real (around the 17th, from memory) but the rest of the time it was mere pretence by the emperor – and he fails to mention the earlier period of history when the Tibetans conquered China and the opposite situation prevailed.
Intellectual dishonesty is characteristic of leftists, of course, so his demonstration of tribalism merely serves to remind us why the left never achieves widespread respect.
My question is simpler: why does anyone pay any attention at all to Chris Trotter?
In asking that, you prove the point Dennis was making.
Dennis Frank wants to suggest that Trotter talks crap.
To make the point that he knows what crap is he wrote that last paragraph.
He successfully proves that point.
Why do people read Chris Trotter?
Because his is a thoughtful voice that poses questions and offers an alternate view to the mainstream
Who wants to live in an echo chamber
One can be thoughtful and pose questions and offer an alternative view, and still be handing people the wrong end of the stick. Which Trotter does with monotonic regularity.
Dennis merely showed one aspect of the shit smeared on the wrong end of the stick Trotter is offering. But Trotter starts out from the get-go with bullshit framing and misrepresentation, let alone the public self-pleasuring he indulges in his second paragraph.
As for echo chambers – there's a particular echo chamber filled with blinkered views formed in particular group in an odd period almost half a century ago. Trotter keeps that chamber resonating admirably.
Andre – Chris provokes discussion at least. And Dennis and you are so entrenched in the belief that you know all, that you set yourselves up as gurus. You may worship yourselves, others respect your knowledge and wisdom, but don't accept your take on everything as the last word. Hence words from and to Chris's opinions are valuable. And accepted truth may change over time as different information and perspectives arise.
Aha. A new word to me. "
2.speaking or uttered with an unchanging pitch or tone.
"her dour, monotonic husband"
Trotter writes brilliantly but he writes to be provocative.The consistent themes are 1. Old School Labour is good. 2. The Greens are bad.
He often makes valid points. For instance he rues the gradual loss of the unions (which I agree with) because power has shifted far too much into the hands of the
employeesemployers. For this reason he often attacks the current Labour government for not addressing this power imbalance. He overdoes these attacks.He consistently attacks the Greens either because they are not green enough or because they are too green. I think he yearns for the old FPP days where a strong Labour government could do what it likes.
IMHO he would be better off accepting the current order of things under MMP, especially the rise of the Greens and the need to address Climate Change, and argue for a CGT, Land Tax, and Transaction Tax that will move capital from the rich to the poor and into resources that will combat Climate Change.
[lprent: corrected ’employees’. ]
I think you mean employers not employees. 😉
oops yes I meant employers…..thanks Anne
That's a must-read for me Shanreagh.
.
Oh, a number of people here … Intersectionals & Clintonistas in particular (although the former demands while the latter simply wants).
.
He sometimes gets things right and its worth paying attention when he does.
I'm not big on watching stopped clocks.
I don’t think the new cold war has anything to do with capitalism/communism , why should it?
It’s about a failing ,falling empire trying to hang on and a new rising power challenging it’s economic/military hegemony
A so called cold war means shots have (so far) not been fired .The hot war comes when its all out hard weaponry, not just propaganda and economics
The Cold War was also about having a ready bogey-man to keep US defence spending through the roof and the populace scared.
There was a fair amount of willy-waving involved too.
Colonel Trotter's writings are ever-wistful for that waving and the certainties of his youth.
Dennis, that's a nice critique of Trotter's post. Have you ever reflected on why you feel the need to spoil such contributions by ending them with rubbish generalisations and hyperbole? Are you perhaps 'concerned' that without a provocative assertion or two your contributions would lack punch?
"Intellectual dishonesty is characteristic of leftists, of course, so his demonstration of tribalism merely serves to remind us why the left never achieves widespread respect."
Really, Dennis, NEVER? Certainly 'the right' governments in the USA, UK and Brazil haven't covered themselves in glory with their 'handling' of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the evident failure of those administrations to keep their citizenry safe has contributed to the “widespread respect” that NZ citizens, not to mention the wider world, have for our health services and centre-left government.
Before you engage with some you may want to strap on your shin pads: one on the right and two on the left leg. Jockstrap/pelvic protector is optional.
Never felt the need for physical projection during this form of jousting, although I do get some relief from wearing a brace to treat tendonitis in my right achilles
That’s good; some acutely feel the body blows and some don’t.
So it seems to me that your counter argument Dennis is "Those of us who have actually done the historical research know he's bullshitting."
However it doesn't take much effort to research your claim and I find that Chris may be right.
"The first international document which used and explained this word was a convention signed by Britain and Russia in Petersburg on August 31, 1907, titled The Convention Between Great Britain and Russia Relating to Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet.
The third ….. section declared that the governments of Great Britain and Russia recognized China's right of suzerainty over Tibet."
One wonders why you haven't challenged Chris on TDB or his own blog.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24-07-2020/#comment-1733839
Maybe Dennis doesn’t want to falsify his own beautiful hypothesis 😉
Bash, bash , bash, the great West on China bash, the elite one percent fear their moribund grip on power and their bashing of their Capitalist rivals, China and Russia knows no bounds, as though they have the moral high ground, of course no mention of the 'Berlin wall' Israel has built to imprison Palestinians and jailing 12 year old stone throwers for 3-4 years. No mention of the Arms sales that enable their mates to bomb and starve to death Yemeni children etc etc. Mushroom clouds for tea anyone?.
Byd0nz, Looks like you are new here, welcome.
We've discussed the terrors Israel places on the Palestinians as well as the horrid situation in Yemen many times on this blog. Am yet to read a poster on TS that supports what is happening in either Palestine or Yemen.
Meanwhile China is rather topical atm, especially considering the information surrounding the recent deaths of two NZ Chinese in a car accident.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12350414
Yes, well I was refering to the news media being the ones doing the bashing rather than the good people on this blog.
Sorry Byd0NZ, my bad. Thanks for explaining 🙂 I appreciate that, text has no tone, sometimes I get confused 🙂
Dennis, re the car crash. Yes will wait with interest regarding the result. I hope the person in hospital makes a recovery, their insight will be paramount.
Shoot the messenger has been around a very long time. Reasonable to suspect Chinese agents somehow performed the elimination of their opponents, but we must wait & see if the cops find evidence.
I remember reading in Rolling Stone about how Karen Silkwood got killed. She was a reporter investigating a nuclear power plant in '75. Car got run off the road & Hollywood eventually made a movie about it. Best way to prevent someone telling the truth is to eliminate them. It's why the left does de-platforming, eh?
Karen Silkwood was a whistleblower, working in a nuclear plant and very anxious about what seemed to be a cover-up of their operations. And had a convenient vehicle malfunction that led to her death.
This was a very unfortunate car crash in NZ killing two pro-democracy Chinese activists. Vehicle crossing the centre line, scraping one and lining up for head-on for the second with these precious, brave people inside. Is that coincidence? Who was driving the vehicle that was 'out of line'?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/421877/concerns-raised-over-crash-involving-chinese-activists
However, international security analyst Paul Buchanan said China had a track record of interfering in other nations' affairs, including hacking.
Furthermore, "independent" Chinese voices in New Zealand regularly experienced intimidation by pro-Beijing groups, he said.
"It's not unjustified that independent members of the Chinese community may feel threatened to the point that when something tragic like this happens, they – if not jump to conclusions – then certainly suspect that the accident may have more sinister causes than a mere accident."
I'm reading Anne Perry's book, A Sunless Sea which is about opium and gives detail of the Opium Wars and degradation that Britain rained on China and the terrible toll produced by vicious British behaviour. I think she does good backgrounding giving correct information. I'll try to put a bit up later as it would help us to know what may be in Chinese minds if we understood some of the low-down dirtiness this part of British history overseas. Which would help in balancing our opinions.
So now we have the northbound assassins doing a kamikaze move over the centre line, initially missing the target, clipping the wrong car but serendipitously slamming headlong into the right car and severely injuring themselves.Not much of a payoff or career advancement there.
I can think of more surefire ways, but why waste a tragedy when there's propagandistic hay to be made?
I think Prof Brady is showing her true pro US (Wilson Centre)colours here and would take a large grain of salt with her claims
Smoke.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/07/30/705870/aut-scraps-tiananmen-square-event
Fire?
Evidently the car that collided into them was driven by a Women with a young daughter as a passenger.
Yesterday the news implied sabotage, the only thing I could think of that would result in the death of the front seat occupants was that the safety belts had been interfered with, or the air bags failed.
Conspiracy????
Yes, a rather messy “hit” to say the least. It stretches credibility really, unless some evidence emerges beyond the apparent coincidences.
Professor Brady makes some fair and interesting points about China in her writings, but seems too much of a US proxy to have her every utterance taken as absolute truth.
Those with valid concerns about the influence and 'machinations' of the CCP do their case no favours by indulging in fact-free speculation. Fearmongering, IMHO.
Appears it was pouring rain. More likely they planed in the wet.
Mr Trotter
You want the Lefties to take the burden of War.
You are worse than smug Trotter.
Good ol' Observer Tokoroa. Always comes up with something interesting and helpful. Not.
I am delighted to read that vaccinologist Helen Petousis- Harris has finally realised that dismissing or minimising adverse effects from vaccines is not a sound tactic when trying to sell the product to the wider public.
Excellent and well referenced article from Farah Hancock on the progress around developing a vaccine against Covid 19.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/be-prepared-for-covid-19-vaccine-side-effects
With vaccine hesitancy an identified global health concern there's a risk not communicating likely side effects could see people lose trust in a vaccination programme.
University of Auckland vaccinologist associate professor Helen Petousis-Harris said potential side effects need to be talked about upfront.
“People will lose trust and their confidence if you don’t.”
Side effects are normal “and not necessarily a bad thing either” she said.
“You don’t want them to be serious or severe but there’s a range of effects you get when your body is making an immune response.”
This is the first time I have heard of a vaccine promoter actually admitting that a vaccine can cause significant symptoms, and acknowledging that being honest and transparent about these significant post -vaccine symptoms (rather than dismissing them as being 'coincidental') is more likely to inspire trust in the target market.
Everyone will agree that it is way too early to celebrate the apparent efficacy of these very new and novel vaccines as potential long term effects have not as yet been assessed.
Misrepresenting again, Rosemary. Or else you really haven't been paying attention.
Every time I've gone and got a jab, the possibility of side effects and reactions has been presented to me, along with going through a checklist to determine that the vaccines I was about to get were not contraindicated for me. Ranging from being told to expect my shoulder to be sore enough to be dysfunctional for several days, to being expected to call in regularly to the travel health doctor's office for several days after getting a whole bunch at once (if they didn't hear from me on schedule they were going to come looking).
Let alone that even the briefest glance at credible information sources shows a plethora of info on what kinds of reactions are likely.
Andre. You remind me of Pavlov's dogs.
If I did not make it clear…I am not referring to an individual’s experience with an individual vaccine administrator, although there are one or two accounts from credible persons whose vaccine experience has not been as well managed as your own. For example, the former editor of the British Medical Journal who's account you seem to be ignoring. https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2019/03/13/richard-smith-who-is-most-likely-to-have-side-effects-to-flu-vaccination/
I am referring to the official vaccine narrative…if I missed the press release where it was acknowledged that many vaccines cause local pain and irritation and perhaps low fever, and that some vaccines cause more significant symptoms in some people and occasionally long term disability or health effects…please provide a link.
The CDC on side effects:
Your own link:
And:
Just a brief search for Petousis-Harris and vaccine side-effects turns up plenty:
My note: grossly overstating risks and side effects degrades and interferes with informed consent by falsely skewing the entire benefit/risk picture.
You're correct that I'm not spending my time looking for examples of credible people making comments I can misrepresent and distort into painting a false overstated picture of risks and harms from vaccines, and/or paint a false picture that vaccine experts hide the widely acknowledged side effects that can occur, and that a very few people should not get specific vaccines and that these contraindications are checked for before administering a vaccine..
And Bill Gates says something similar – that there are side effects and these need to be reduced before a vaccine is provided. He gets well mis-represented by the conspiracy people.
"You know, if we have, you know, one in 10,000 side effects, that’s, you know, way more — 700,000, you know, people — who will suffer from that,” he said.
“So, really understanding the safety at gigantic scale across all age ranges… it’s very, very hard.”
https://factcheck.afp.com/bill-gates-did-not-say-covid-19-vaccine-could-kill-nearly-million-people
It has been my experience as a person who has been having the flu vaccine, as an at risk person since 1995, that with all vaccines their possible side-effects are pointed out at the time of 'sticking' as it were. I am of an age were to travel we had to have a range of vaccinations & a vaccination card and the side-effects of these were always pointed out
Whenever I have had a vaccination I have had to give an informed consent and the last flu one I signed the form that the nurse had that had the actual name and makeup of the vaccine and was taken through any side-effects and asked if I had any allergies. For instance people who are allergic to egg white were known to have a reaction to one of the flu vaccines as egg white is used as a carrier.
With all vaccines there will be side-effects whether permanent or transitory, ranging from the carrier ingredients to the attenuated culture used. These will be known at the time of sticking. As part of informed consent they will be explained.
The vaccine trials will have thrown up side effects and that is why time to test and do a range of tests is always a good thing. Treatments have to undergo a huge testing regime after they have been derived.
So for me far from being unusual it is very usual and has been my experience over many years with vaccines and other 'chemical' medical treatments.
Some side-effects they will know to be coincidental from the testing carried out. Some they will note as possibly new, do some more testing etc.
But as with most things these days there will be people who don't want to have treatment for whatever reason. The key is to get as many people who do not have concerns vaccinated/treated, keep the communication up so the nay-sayers do not queer the pitch ie by putting people off seeking vaccines or treatment for those who are wanting to play a part.
There have always been articles on side effects and usually at flu jab time they come out in the press releases/articles. The side effects for other vaccines are available on Ms Google.
The narrative about the current work on the Covid-19 vaccine has always seemed wrapped around with the issue of possible side-effects.
Rosemary, I'm wondering about your use of the phrases "sell the product" and "the target market" with regard to vaccines. I've been vaccinated for polio, MMR, tetanus, influenza (regularly) and probably others I've forgotten about (damn vaccines!), but have yet to part with a penny directly for any of those treatments. I suppose I must thank taxpayers (and therefore myself) for covering the cost of that disease protection.
For those concerned about New Zealand's greenhouse gas emission roduction, a really interesting release from Stats NZ yesterday:
Approximately two-thirds of New Zealand’s regions recorded decreases in their total greenhouse gas emissions, while one-third of regions saw increases between 2007 and 2018.
Between 2007 and 2018, the largest falls in emissions were in:
– Auckland, down 955 kilotonnes (7.8 per cent)
– Taranaki, down 707 kilotonnes (11.3 per cent)
– Northland, down 545 kilotonnes (10.8 per cent), and
– Waikato, down 272 kilotonnes (2.0 per cent).
Over the same period, emissions increased in:
– Canterbury, up 1,175 kilotonnes (11.0 per cent),
– Bay of Plenty, up 356 kilotonnes (11.9 per cent),
– Southland, up 335 kilotonnes (6.2 per cent), and
– Otago, up 333 kilotonnes (7.0 per cent).
“This is the first comprehensive picture we have been able to develop to show where emissions are being produced in New Zealand and which regions are driving the changes in emissions,” Mr Oakley (Head of Stats) said.
I'm hoping this gives rise to debate about divergence between energy density and industrial productivity, and to be able to break that down on a regional basis.
http://community.scoop.co.nz/2020/07/mixed-performance-by-regions-leaves-national-emissions-picture-unchanged/
Another photo here.
I remember the news at the time. RIP.
Today’s the 20th Anniversary of the my mate Lenny Manning who was KIA while on a Patrol in Timor-Leste with BCoy 2/1 Battalion as a part of NZBATT2 under a UN Peacekeeping Mandate.
The Black Beret represents his service in WAI/WEC SQN, the Bayonet represents his service BCoy in 2nd/ 1st Battalion RNZIR, the beer can in QAMR stubby cooler is the many beers we drunk on Crewmen’s and later at Burnham Camp home to both NZ Scots & 2/1 Battalion
RIP Lenny
https://flic.kr/p/2jpcEir
https://flic.kr/p/2jp9T6Z
Thanks for reminding us Skud. Not to be forgotten. We who read and happily/unhappily responded to the overseas fighting can too easily dismiss those who faced it.
And it is interesting to read Tricledown's points on outdated gear. I thought that National was all gun-ho to paraphrase, and would be wanting ours to be strong, well-equipped fighting men. But it seems that even matters they agree with they want to do on a mean budget, the skinflints.
Maybe it is because they are less skin and more flint; they like machinery and technology and despise the human side of life, in other words, their own selves and person. Now that is really screwy. Let's not vote the National Anti-Human Party into power for God's sake – and for those of us who haven't caught this obliterating human-hating virus. Nah to NAHPs.
Cheer scud, appreciated.
+1,000 Scud. Kia kaha to your brother.
The NZ Army was sent into Timor by the Shipley govt with antique equipment that didn't work and the Steyr rifle that malfunctioned.
Tax cuts by National led to running down of military capability to where it was barely functioning. Same with Healthcare Education etc.
Now Goldsmith is promising to cut $80 billion of govt spending .
Are we going to run down healthcare further than now with Carona virus threatening our Country,Education now we have lost overseas students and have high unemployment. Police numbers with gangs on the rise,
Cutting govt spending will send New Zealand into a deeper longer recession making it harder to repay debt as well as keeping the economy afloat.
What makes me laugh at Goldsmiths naivety is the Conservative Australian govt is tracking on the same debt level per capita as NZ so that makes Goldsmith's false narative scaremongering about debt levels in NZ a fallacy.
Nationals three main policies are:
Tax Cuts
Austerity
Cuts to all Govt spending
The last 30 yrs proves that.
The announcement by Paora Goldsmith on the Nats plan for cutting back the Public Service seems
other-wordly like harking back in the mists of time
boring
repetitive
super BAU from the National waybacks
missed the public mood with all our public servants being thanked for all their steady work in Covid-19 and to come.
That was the effect on me, after thought.
My first reaction though was a chill. Really it was.
Been there done that got oodles of scars mentally & career-wise from the time-wasting, stupid, never-ending restructurings that took place in the PS. What a pall these constant PS restructurings cast over NZ. They restricted service, diverted us from being able to work on our departmental work full time so as to serve our people. Instead we spent time, endless days and months fighting to retain our own jobs, functions or departments.
To turn the corner we need innovation, failed has-been policies won't work. They shouldn't be given the opportunity to work.
The cost is too high on those affected both 'clients' or whatever name our people are called, and public servants. Public Servants work for the good of the public.
I'd love to get away from the tosh neo-lib stuff written into the Acts dealing with the State Sector that we work for the Minister. We work for whatever govt is in power upholding and bringing about whatever legislation, policies etc the govt has been elected to do.
The Minister is responsible for bringing us $$$$, legislation, policy direction. We don't work for them…our over-riding work is for the people of NZ.
Hopefully the reviews of legislation this Govt is proposing will look at, and determine, what was actually wrong with the system prior to these pieces of legislation. Sure there were a few good parts in what followed but those of us working at the sharp end were never sure what the 'mischief' was that the reforms were trying to remedy.
Meantime here is the link…..public servants prepare to shiver.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300064628/national-would-need-to-cut-tens-of-billions-in-public-services-to-meet-debt-target
Great article, thanks for sharing.
The 1980s and the 1990s – a case in point.
Experienced long-time servants thrown to the wolves.
Colleagues pitted against colleagues.
Back stabbing and lies in order to gain ascendancy.
New managements who didn't have a clue about the departments they were managing.
In the department/agency I worked for they lost some of the best brains in the business.
I could go on……………
Yeah, go get 'im, AOC. 🔥
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-ted-yoho_n_5f19a190c5b6296fbf3eddd5\
For a bit more detail:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/aoc-ted-yoho-bitch-speech_n_5f19d838c5b6296fbf3f7b6d
Yep. Watch and marvel. Fire and ice.
Ice has a chance against fire. Maybe more like, I dunno, fire and a pile of used tissues?
Thinking of the famous Robert Frost poem – "but if it had to perish twice…" i.e. double destruction, once by fire, then by ice.
Watching full speech now, wow, and shows why we need people like her in these positions.
That guy is a pile in search of a butt.
What are 'Australian terms' I asked myself.
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu/uk-ready-to-quit-eu-on-australia-terms-if-no-brexit-deal-johnson-says-idUSKBN23Y0J6
Jun.28/20 LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will be ready to quit its transitional arrangements with the European Union “on Australia terms” if no deal on their future relationship is reached, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday. ..
Australia does not have a comprehensive trade agreement with the EU. Much of EU-Australia trade follows default World Trade Organisation rules, though specific agreements are in place for certain goods.
The UK Government has now passed a deadline of 30 June where it could have asked for extension from the EU and now the end of December 2020 seems fixed as final for leaving – ready or not as in the chant of the children's game. However… it may be possible for the UK and the EU to secure more preparation time in the form of a real implementation phase later in the year.
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/june-deadline-brexit-extension-uk-buy-more-time
and
https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/bracing-brexit-uk-tells-companies-prepare-december-31-200713011733897.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/post-brexit-exports-ni-uk-customs-papers-200702153740965.html
and
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/02/brexit-talks-break-up-early-over-serious-disagreements-michel-barnier
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/13/uk-to-open-10-12-brexit-border-customs-sites-in-eu-trading-shake-up
https://membership.theguardian.com/event/are-we-heading-towards-a-nodeal-brexit-113347112264
Finally concern about British citizens overseas – and what about
EU citizens in UK? What a shower the UK is.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/19/uk-urges-eu-countries-to-ensure-britons-living-abroad-can-stay-after-brexit
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/07/eu-citizens-being-used-as-guinea-pigs-for-brexit-digital-immigration-system-mps-told
Does anyone think that there is not an exception to not take action in regard to dirty politics when dirty politics should not claim a scalp of an MP?
I want an inquiry into when Collin's knew about ILG?
I saw what happened to Moyle after it happened and this is on par with what is happening to ILG.
I do realise that ILG compromised his Work Relations and Employment portfolio and that there is an investigation to check his ministerial spending.
I cannot prove it that Collin's knew earlier than claimed, this is why I want an inquiry held into my above question.
I would also like members of her caucus to come forward and say if Collins knew before she is alledging that she knew.
It isn't not difficult not to be uncertain about what you may not be asking due to the double negatives you haven't not eschewed.
TS is for opinions and not for proof reading grammar, comprehension or spelling.
Not untrue but it cannot have failed to escape your attention that unless clarity isn't avoided opinions may not be entirely unclear.
Depends if you want a discussion or just to enjoy the sound of your own voice.
Your interpretation of my opinion or any other opinion on TS is up to you. You can ignore it, nit pick it or reply.
Or not understand what not you are not saying.
Grow up Sacha and I am calling you out on your behaviour.
An obvious hit job , pay back double . I have no doubt about that as she , unlike the PM , felt an overpowering need to drop it into the media's lap so as to play it as whataboutism . Difference from Falloon is that there is no aggrieved victim (s) behind the disclosure and the ex mistress is seemingly living in London now and no doubt horrified about being ammunition in Collins game of dirty politics . The equivalent to Key's top drawer of dirt but more likely tip offs from Slater. I think Collins figures the only way to win is to have a bitch fight in a mud pool and needs to drag Jacinda down to her level for a competition to be had.
I want an inquisition into when Jacinda knew, apparently it was common knowledge for months – the boss should know about these things from the outset
Cameras on underpants and in bra straps and you could get a shoe like in the tv show Get Smart with a mike in the heel. What a heel!
You raise a good question.
Did you know about the affair?
Did you know that the other woman was connected to the office?
Is it up to a leader to ask a team member about their sex life?
The affair has been used against an MP to harm them and their political party. It is dirty politics to do this.
NOBODY expects the Alan Inquisition.
Alan makes a valid point. I already know the answer to "when Jacinda knew."
I do think she would have sorted it out had she known at an earlier date and ILG would have lost his ministerial portfolios but not have been in the position to have hastily resigned.
Alan if you hold this view, the same should be true for Judith/Todd/Simon they should have known about Falloon.
I'm more interested in the time line for falloons case . When did the first victim make a complaint and was it only to the police? It seems strange that the national party was the last to know.?
I am more interested to know if the images shared were photo-shops of a labour MP’s head on to a nude body
And at whose bidding Falloon was passing around the smut.
Strange how the ILG affair was exposed and the timing.
The only other recent affair exposed was Jamie lee Ross and what a mess that was in how the National Party handled that.
That is what I am getting at, so nasty to use an affair against someone to try and end their career.
I do admire Jamie lee Ross for standing as an independent and leaving on his own terms and not letting dirty politics kick him to the curb.
There were issues with Jamie lees behaviour in his office and I gather he took responsibility for this.
I would like ILG to change his mind about resigning as an MP. I do think not being a minister is enough punishment.
I don't want Ian L-G to stay on as an MP. I have a very low opinion of him now. While I understand people giving in to attraction under intense circumstances when working at parliament, what I think is outrageous about Lees-Galloway is taking his mistress to Paris. Can you imagine the lying and underhandedness that went on. Phoning his wife from Paris and lying. Meanwhile, she's at home in Palm North looking after their three kids……………what an absolute pig he is. He has treated her with utter contempt…………….She deserves better than this
We're assuming it was all secret I guess.
Yes you are right I am assuming the affair was secret or at least his wife didn't know about it. I assume that if she did LG might have said "my wife and I have an understanding and I was completely transparent with her. She also said about Paris, no darling you take the mistress, I am all good here in Palmy minding our three children"…. But seriously though, I am making an assumption that the wife didn't know and I could be wrong.
BTW my opinion of LG doesn't alter my opinion about Judith C's handling of this, definitely a political hit, playing dirty politics, muddying the waters the old they do it too defence.
Well it could have been more along the lines of ok we'll get divorced after the election.
I did not want the discussion to go where you are taking it and assuming it is for you to be a marriage guidance counsellor.
So every politician who has had an affair you are not fit to be in parliament.
Is that what you are saying?
Ok Treetop, I accept that you didn't want the conversation to go in this direction. But I was expressing my view. There has not be a note from a moderator that my view is unacceptable for this site (at least not yet).
I am certainly not trying to be a marriage counsellor. No marriage counsellor would or should express such a view to a couple they are trying to help. It was just my opinion. I am making a judgement on L-G behaviour or an aspect of it. My perception is that others on this site talk about other politicians and each other like this. It is out of character for me to comment like this…..and I will give thought as to whether it is helpful to do so or not.
I still maintain my view of L-G behaviour.
I to am making a judgment and I am trying to keep within the boundary of dirty politics ending a politicians career. My judgment is not based on the private life or the impact on the individuals involved.
Individuals have their own style on TS, some comments I look forward to reading and others I only partially read.
I think the answer to your question was in Bridge's safe and that is why Muller wanted a new safe.
Collins said she was done with dirty tricks. No worries. Nationals puppets and arselickers in the media, will do all the dirty politics for her.
Campaigning Winnie flaps his gums over Tiwai. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12350762
Where 'common sense' means increasing corporate welfare.
Down at the garage they said that Tesla was looking at the site for a possible manufacturing plant or whatever.
My son is an alternative power researcher and when asked about Tesla going to Tiwai he doubted it would happen as a battery factory would not use much electricity as the component materials need to be processed nearer to source as they are only a very small percentage of the rocks and soils containing them and it is that process that requires almost all of the power use. Transporting thousands of tonnes of rock halfway around the world to extract kilos of rare earths etc is not an economic goer, not to mention the problems we already have with the existing dross from Tiwai.
Utter fantasy. Also way too far from their markets.
Rio Tinto have plenty of money, they can write off any losses, last yr they increased production by 30% by adding another Pot, 6 months later we're closing down, power is too expensive.
Peters wants to provide Corporate Welfare, again, and again, to a mining magnate thats makes $2.5m every hour of every day.
A number of yrs ago she suggested to Aus Govt that she should be able to import workers from China who'll work for $1 an hour, they turned her down.
How greedy do you have to be.
Who is she?
This is interesting a write down of 14 billion wow. A while back. 2013
https://www.industryweek.com/leadership/companies-executives/article/21959275/rio-tinto-writes-down-14-billion-ceo-resigns
I suspect Just Is is mistakenly referring to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_Rinehart
Gina Reinhart, Australias wealthiest person.
FFS Winnie, not an industry anyone wants to go up against china state sponsored makers anymore. Common sense is to say goodbye.
Maybe our own Silicon Valley/ Server farms etc as about time we had our own long white data cloud or act as our plan B. Tesla sounds fanciful IMO.
Not too tropical with significant power available, just saying. With Imagination
TC, see my comment at 12.1.1, similar things apply for a data server, not many jobs for the local boys and girls and good luck convincing 250k/pa data scientists from Silicon Valley to relocate to Bluff. Auckland maybe, or Coromandel at a pinch, better off using the power to electrify trucks and trains which is the use that would have the most dramatic results on our carbon total.
The thought occurs that we already have the KAREN fibre network in place. Plus lots of power and a good source of cooling seawater.
Sure, not many local jobs in the finished product, but an ongoing process of construction of supercomputer facility A, five year construction of B when A is online, refit of A when B is online… a fair few local jobs in the ongoing development cycle.
Dunedin might be about the closest place slightly attractive to foreign staff that's not atop a faultline, but overall our problem making data centres viable is constrained cable capacity into the world. Shame because NZ has the governance and integrity reputation to make that sort of industry work.
Agree about electrifying transport. Imagine farm vehicles too. Enough to support a local EV maintenance industry.
Yeah – ISTR a data centre was part of the harbour revamp aspiration.
I'm just intrigued by what could be done with the massive power infrastructure going to the smelter, but that wouldn't track through the dunedin CBD 🙂
We do have good fibre within NZ. So something with moderate international data flows but lots of calculations required on it? And if it gets really good, Bluff might be a handy shore station for another fibre cable in a decade or so.
I just can't help thinking there's a powerful resource there for a jump ahead for Southland.
Southland is not the answer.
No, Southland is the question, not the answer.
As in "when the smelter closure makes hundreds of people unemployed in Southland, what new industries and enterprises can use the infrastructure strengths of Southland to supplement the employment and revenue of Southland in the manner of the SIT free fees scheme?"
is the power supply best used at Tiwai Point? Or anywhere in the nearby area?
The HVDC link from Benmore to Haywards (Lower Hutt) loses about 6% of the input energy over that 610km distance. So if the HVDC were extended to Manapouri in the south and to Auckland in the north, total losses from Manapouri to Auckland might be around 15%, compared to maybe a couple percent loss in transmission (wild-ass guess) from Manapouri to Tiwai Point.
Round figures Tiwai Point was guessed to pay around $250M a year for electricity plus maybe $60M for transmission. So rough hand-wavy numbers there's maybe $50M of value in electricity that's not lost by using it in Southland rather than sending it all the way to Auckland.
That's without considering the cost of grid upgrades that would be needed.
using it anywhere in Southland? (i.e is the power supplied via normal grid, or is it something special for Tiwai?)
The main high voltage line goes direct from Manapouri to Invercargill where it joins up with the rest of the grid. Then looking at really non-detailed maps it appears the high-voltage lines go north past Gore to Roxburgh and Clyde.
The smelter's demand is fairly closely matched to Manapouri's output, by design. But there are times when Tiwai Point draws more than Manapouri produces and draws the extra from the rest of the grid, and there are times when Tiwai Point doesn't use all of what Manapouri is producing so that excess goes into the grid.
So if a new heavy user appeared somewhere close to existing high-voltage lines, then it's likely just a matter of putting in a substation to tap off from existing lines. But if the new heavy user were well away from existing lines, say somewhere like Mossburn or Kingston, then a new high voltage line would likely be needed as well as a substation.
Losses are affected by distance (more distance more loss), voltage (higher voltage loses less) and whether it's AC or DC (DC loses less, but it's not easy to convert to AC so you need to be dealing with a lot of juice to make DC transmission worthwhile)
so quite a bit of potential not just the Tiwai site then. Which way do the lines go if not past Mossburn?
@Weka
Wonder about electrifying the big dairy factory at Edendale (currently a coal burner). There's an existing grid line via Gore but don't know if it has sufficient capacity (it's lower voltage 110kV, compared to the main national grid 220kV).
Manapouri to Tiwai lines run near Ohai then straight to Makarewa substaion north of Invercargill (see Transpower National Grid maps).
@ Andre
Rather than HVDC through to Auckland, I wonder about increaing the 220kV capacity north of Wellington, which would allow more South Island power to be used throughout the Lower North Island. Might free up some of the existing North Island generation for Auckland.
Depending on your level of nerdness, Transpower's GIS data is freely downloadable …
Probably throughout the region, but an electrical system is a bit like plumbing or information transmission: a network is only as big as its smallest pipe. If the local subtation or lines are at capacity, then being able to supply more energy is useless because the current pipe isn't big enough.
But we do know that the smelter already has bloody big pipes from generator to factory floor, so if I were to make an uneducated and speculative guess, I'd suspect the cheapest option from a grid point of view would be to have another high-energy facility (maybe not as big as the smelter, but a good energy user).
Another high-energy option would be a particle accelerator: the Large Hadron Collider uses 200MW at peak flow, less than half the smelter's capacity. And the farmland around might be easier to access for a trench-dug tunnel (like a fuel line, but without the kauri logging risk) or elevated pipe than in other countries. And the data can get transmitted to any NZ scientific facility via the KAREN fibre line.
I'm just spitballing here, but my point is that there are far more options than "save the smelter" available. And, frankly, Shadbolt's Invercargill has a history of having good ideas for Southland that are out of left field. I wouldn't be surprised if they float something that makes people go "wtf" but which actually comes off looking good.
Given we have supplies of iron sand in NZ could there be conversion to steel and us building our own trains, building supplies, etc.
We'd have to move away from the notion that cheapest is best of course – we know that this is generally not the case.
We need to build the notion of community good into our state owned infrastructure rather than this notion of profit e.g. rail has a split of public good (say 60%) paid through taxation and private good (40%) paid for through sales and fees and ticketing.
I do actually think the same for roads if we applied the same 60/40 split to roads then maybe road user charges could be reduced.
And they should be state owned – profit is just a dead-weight and high executive salaries are just capital theft.
The smelter is at Tiwai because of the the deep water port for the alumina, and other inputs coming in, and product going out.
Another industry may not be that critical of location, data centre could be just north of Invercargill by the Lorneville substation. A silica refinery, probably between the resource in Western Southland and Lorneville.
good point about the port, too.
It feels a bit like the occasional problem I have at work, where although I don't know the method I can feel there's a bloody good answer that's just a bit too far away to grasp at the moment.
Ah well, Southland will figure it out. It's a bit flat for my taste, but it's got a lot going for it these days.
Unlikely to beat other locations for sustainable ongoing benefit to the nation rather than one region. Takes more than one plant.
NZBitcom computers? Although there are no jobs from that – I think they just chew power. And the end product is pretty much a fantasy
There's a mapped active fault less than 10 km from The Octagon (runs along SE side of Taieri Plain at least as far N as Wingatui) (NZAFD, GNS). Also, the Akatore Fault that goes offshore near Taieri Mouth likely continues towards Dunedin (& possible under it). Recent research suggests it's capable of M7 to M7.4 quake & is the biggest seismic threat to Dunedin (piece on Newshub: best non-paywalled source I could find).
oops, there goes that advantage
the road to Tiwai Point comes from Invercargill not Bluff. Bluff is closer, but across the water.
surprised Winnie did not walk across, for effect
he's saving it up for next week.
The chameleonic Winston Peters has abandoned Northland for Southland. Someone needs to make this point in parliament or the media.
it's kind of obvious though.
Just for fun, looking back to the Ruatoki event (Urerewa-Operation 8) and Comm. Marshall's (video) comments; (Jackal’s post, 24 May 2012).
Did the accused NOT get the legal representation that many believed they deserved?
He, he, he, ho, ho, ho!
And did anyone ever really determined whether the bus (or the tourist coach perhaps) would have been targeted at Johnkey's head from a great height, or Bush’s? (George Bush that is, not Mike Bush's)
Is it not high time that Tame Iti got himself a high salaried job somewhere, either in corporate or performing arts?
That guy still has heaps of talent and maybe he should avoid getting mixed up with many of those old farty arts patrons (especially of the Akarana ilk).
I really do not believe that most of them have his best interests at heart.
Be self reliant or be a bottom feeder, I guess.
Drastic times call for drastic measures.
B.C. health officials are recommending an age-old, occasionally cutting-edge tactic for sex during the coronavirus pandemic: “glory holes.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/7204384/coronavirus-glory-holes-sex/
"cutting-edge tactic" – ouch! Also, from the article:
"The recommendation is just a tip and not a firm rule, according to the website."
Na they should just get married , that stops sex happening altogether 🤣
Brian Easton writes van interesting column on Pundit. It covers the National shifts in Economic terms and some pointers on the Collin position.
https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/maana-politics
His addendum is most interesting:
"Addendum: This column was drafted before the events involving Andrew Falloon and Ian Lees-Galloway. It has not been rewritten.. However, I must add this. The column tries hard to be fair towards Judith Collins; after all it is really about wider issues than her. But the way she dealt with the Lees-Galloway allegations was inappropriate. She was right to pass her knowledge on to Jacinda Ardern, as the prime minister had done to her over Falloon. She was wrong to announce she had done so (on morning radio) before the Prime Minister had publicly dealt with the information. In contrast Ardern waited until Collins had made her Falloon announcement before explaining her involvement. Collins’ timing has the hallmarks of a Whale Oil counterpuncher. It does not promise a clean election."
Yes Robert. Collins never misses a chance to use a nasty jibe. Be interesting to know which people like her for that habit.
Na key was far right ,he just disguised it well .
His governments underfunding of health is privatization by stealth.
collins and goldsmith will finish the job if given the chance.
spot on bwaghorn. he knew what he was doing. punishing the working classes and siphoning off the money.
got chipped on FB yesterday fordaring to mention that some of the nationals female mp's were showing a bit more cleavage than necessary on teevee ch31 last night. then a nationals troll showed up and demanded this and that and it was a great old brou ha ha. the upshot was the post was deleted but then they all went and changed their clobber. hahahahahaha.
Surprising, given that Nat MPs excel at cover ups.
Jonathan Pie spouts his disgust at the sensitivity that has established new norms so that we aren't even allowed to regard ourselves as one biological sex now and accept that there is generally two plus.
Breaking news: Terrorists on the loose in Te Rapa.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/122247176/police-hunting-possible-quarantine-breakers-in-hamilton