He believes we’ve entered a phase of rapid climate change, which will result in a 4 degrees C rise in temperature, and that humans have never existed beyond a 3.3 degree range above the average.
“The climate situation is much worse than I’ve led you to believe, and is accelerating far more rapidly than accounted for by models. Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledges, in a press release dated 6 June 2013, potentially lethal heat waves on the near horizon.”
“An increasing number of scientists agree that warming of 4 to 6 C causes a dead planet. And, they go on to say, we’ll be there much sooner than most people realize.”
“Director of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States John Brennan delivered a speech 16 November 2015 at the Opening Session of the Global Security Forum 2015, held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He addressed climate change, and I apologize for his misogyny in these lines: “Mankind’s relationship with the natural world is aggravating these problems and is potential source of crisis itself. Last year was the warmest on record, and this year is on track to be even warmer. Extreme weather, along with public policies affecting food and water supplies, can worsen or create humanitarian crises. Of the most immediate concern, sharply reduced crop yields in multiple places simultaneously could trigger a shock in food prices with devastating effect, especially in already-fragile regions such as Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Compromised access to food and water greatly increases the prospect for famine and deadly epidemics.”
So, if this is the case, what can we expect in the next 14 or so years? All that follows is speculation: there is no way of knowing how much, or how little, may come true.
a) an increasing number of extreme weather events.
So, more droughts and, paradoxically, more floods. More heat waves and, perhaps, more severe hurricanes and cyclonic storms.
‘500 year floods’ will happen with increasing frequency, destroying crops and communities.
Severe and prolonged droughts will result in widespread crop failures.
Food shortages will occur in urban areas, resulting in riots and the breakdown of civil order. These events will be particularly acute where urbanisation is highly dense, such as in Western Europe, parts of North America, China and India.
b) an epidemic of infectious and deadly diseases
So, more infectious diseases and epidemics sweeping the world and killing millions of people.
Large areas of the tropical world will become disease-prone areas, with ‘no-go’ zones.
Agencies like NZ’s MFAT will warn people against travel to such areas, with a resulting collapse of tourism travel.
c) rising sea levels (and perhaps more rapidly than we think!)
A fascinating series of maps showing NZ under various sea level scenarios. Rapid climate change and rapid sea level rises could overwhelm our efforts to keep ahead of the changes!
Billions of dollars worldwide spent on futile attempts to stop or retard coastal erosion.
The disappearance of island nations such as the Maldives and Kiribati, and of huge parts of countries like Bangladesh and the Netherlands.
Internal migration in many countries world wide, including NZ, away from low-lying coastal areas.
d) an increasing number of crop failures.
“Large-scale crop failures like the one that caused the recent Russian wheat crisis are likely to become more common under climate change due to an increased frequency of extreme weather events, a new study shows.”
Increasing famines due to crop failures, with millions of deaths.
The rise and rise in the number of climate refugees as millions attempt to flee famines.
The rise of economic nationalism as countries close borders to refugees.
The collapse of tourism and its replacement by the movement of people seeking a place where existence is at least possible.
New Zealand is already perceived as a place where the worst effects of climate change might be possibly avoided: expect to see increasing numbers of ‘boat people’ [and 1%ers] trying to get here.
A resulting collapse in ‘commercial or corporate’ farming and the revision to more immediate ‘food’ crops, such as market gardens.
e) temperatures simply too hot for humans to survive.
“Extreme heat waves cause the most harm among elderly people and young children. City dwellers are at particular risk because of elevated temperatures in cities, known as the “urban heat island effect” due to the magnifying effect of paved surfaces and the lack of tree cover.
In the United States, an average of 400 deaths per year are directly related to heat, and an estimated 1,800 die from illnesses made worse by heat – including heat exhaustion, heat stroke, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease. Deadly heat waves swept across most of the nation in 2006, hitting California the hardest; the state saw an additional 16,000 emergency room visits during the two-week heat wave.” http://www.nrdc.org/health/climate/heat.asp
So, summers simply too hot to be comfortable, with resulting deaths from heat stroke and other complications. Large parts of the world too hot to be outside during the day!
f) and by about 2020, expect to see the 1%ers begin to build climate domes to protect themselves from the consequences of their own actions!
The collapse of welfare agencies such as those associated with the United Nations – catastrophes just too big to manage or alleviate.
The subsequent collapse of globalisation and the retreat of nation states to within their own borders in an effort to feed their own people.
The rise of extremism in all its various religious and political manifestations.
Do I believe Guy McPherson? I desperately don’t want to accept his model. My God, there are kids born yesterday who will only be just 14 or so when the shit hits the fan – though it is unlikely to be that dramatic. What I do think is that life will be an increasingly difficult struggle for all humans in the near future.
The NZ government must, first of all, accept that climate change is real and that its consequences should NOT be minimised or dismissed. Second, that plans, or at least discussions, should be initiated to at least begin to prepare for the worst possible scenario.
If Guy McPherson is right, we haven’t got much time left!
McPherson I think cherry picks his data in a very complex science. He also creates fear based responses like geo engineering which would only compound our problems.
+1. In the past when I’ve listened to him, he comes across as someone stuck in their own version of The One True Way. He believes that humans are going to go extinct and then he presents that as fact instead of his belief. That’s dangerous, not least because if people believe him why would they change? If it’s too late, why go through the pain of shifting to a post-carbon life?
There is no doubt our situation is precarious, and we are fast running out of time. MacPherson is part of the problem not part of the solution. Tony, if you are considering he might be right, what does that mean for you?
(and is MacPherson still flying around the planet and using more than his fair share of fossil fuels to promote his work?).
Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster) 1.1.1.2.1
I do not wish to think he’s right!
But, I also don’t think we should minimise the problem.
If Labour can run a conference on the Future of Work, which is important and worthwhile, then perhaps the Greens could sponsor a conference on the Future of the Planet!
At the very least, we should be talking strategies/thinking of ways to actively combat climate change – certainly not holding oil exploration meetings!
I note he is accused of cherry picking and it is potentially disastrous to implement unproven geo engineering responses, however, his arguments are not fundamentally refuted and it highlights the fact that what is being done is essentially nothing….is that a logical response?
Well, Why are we not changing then.
Cause i look outside my window, and i don’t see the world changing. I see lip service being paid, i see trees being cut down, i see cow shit in water, fertilizers used to grow stuff where naturally it would never grow, i see bio-engineering our food is commonplace and I in the meantime the world is heating up, tick tick tick…..and the buckets flows over.
My point in all of that, if species are to go extinct due to global warming, coastal flooding, acidification of the oceans and the likes, why would we human assume that we can ‘science’ our way out of it, and why would we assume that we would not ‘go extinct’. On the ground of whats? Our intellectual superiority? Look where that got us too, ….
I don’t assume any of those things, and neither do many of the people I know.
I see things changing. People are far more aware of the problem with cc than even five years ago, and people are starting to get out there and do something. It’s not fast enough, but it’s not nothing either.
Lol..except some “good climate scientists” have supported his conclusions….it appears to me he is simply at the worst case scenario end of the impact spectrum.
If you consider that over 50% of the worlds population now live in cities and have something like 6 days food security then 15 years is a very long time…there are many weaknesses within our global model that could conceivably cause a rapid decline….and there is no denying the massive enviromental changes occurring as we speak, many already exceeding the predictions of the recently developed models.
“Thom goes over the basics of what global warming is, what’s causing it, and how we can stop it with climate scientist Michael Mann, author of the book “Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change.”
He is a symptom of what happens when collective consciousness has divided and subdivided so many times within this neoliberal psychosis that we no longer know how to make alliances, build coalitions and have each other’s backs or stand with each other when the going gets rough.
Reading more, it looks like Arizona Primary is rightly being called a Disaster. Election called while people still voting, democrats given independent voting forms, the fix in for Latino, and a really poorly run vote.
Not that it means anything – the establishment are going with Hilary. She is there only hope.
Utah
Democratic result: Bernie Sanders crushed Hillary Clinton, winning about 80 percent of the vote compared to her 20 percent or so. Again, a Sanders win was expected, but the extent of the landslide he got is surprising.
Idaho
Democratic result: Bernie Sanders’s enormous win in Idaho nearly matched his win in Utah — he got 78 percent of the vote to Clinton’s mere 21 percent. When all of Tuesday’s results are combined, Sanders will likely pick up somewhat more delegates than Clinton. But he’ll still trail her in pledged delegates overall by 300 or so.
I saw the news article on TV last week, and reminded me of a visit to kiwiblog last year, nearly all the pundits were scathing of Germany taking 800k Syrian refugees, saying that it was a ticking time bomb.
Another news article about the refugees, comparing Germany and Denmark (who took only 700 or so), that Germany had received the bulk of skilled refugees, the doctors and engineers, and the refugees that went to Denmark (who legislated to take the assets of refugees) received the ones with no skills and dependent on the state.
“Rockefeller family charity to withdraw all investments in fossil fuel companies
Started by John D Rockefeller – who made his fortune from oil – the fund singled out ExxonMobil, calling the world’s largest oil company ‘morally reprehensible’”
This headline is no surprise. Politicians and the captains of industry promised us golden times from the ’80s, to expect more leisure time and expect a boom in service industries, as the microchips replaced the majority of jobs as we know/knew them.
Of course, the reality has been redundancies and a general derision of the now growing pool of unemployed by those same captains of industry and their cheerleaders (conservative governments world wide.)
So here’s a thought. Every time a company installs a new computer system, it must declare how many human positions it replaces and the company must be levied the equivalent in PAYE losses for the lifetime of that system and any subsequent system developments.
If the government had a clue they would be using Technology to create jobs, not replace jobs!
We could have a silicon valley here, we could have incredible engineering here, look at climate change solutions and patent them, etc etc.
Instead the National government uses low wages and lazy immigration to keep making more stuff, cheaper and with government subsidised pollution and exporting it to someone else who adds the value.
“If the government had a clue they would be using Technology to create jobs, not replace jobs!”
The National govt has never been interested in Job creation, that’s a job for private industry, they just want to facilitate the businesses through low wages and conditions, only problem there is that the this model only serves to increase unemployment with less revenue circulating through the economy.
There hasn’t been a National govt in the last 30 years that has provided low unemployment, high unemployment is a National party strategy, keep the serfs down.
I want the technologies that are increasing the dividends being enjoyed by shareholders) to support the increasing pool of “the great unwashed” that they are creating.
Those being made redundant by automation are still being told to “get on your bike” and look for work by those very same shareholders.
I want the technologies that are increasing the dividends being enjoyed by shareholders) to support the increasing pool of “the great unwashed” that they are creating.
But your policy won’t do that. Instead it’ll force us to more hard labour.
Those being made redundant by automation are still being told to “get on your bike” and look for work by those very same shareholders.
Yes, I’m aware of that. The problem is neither the workers nor the automation but the rentier capitalists. Which means that we need to get rid of the rentier capitalists.
cheers draco, should be compulsary viewing for anyone opposed to the ubi.
went to the presentation he gave in wellys for the fabian society.
it aint a left or right thing.
it aint even an economic thing.
it’s a tool for reducing inequality and perhaps the true way that a rising tide lifts all boats.
+100 DTB and gsays… Yes ( now that I have had time to view this, and not be distracted by cats)
… absolutely agree this is compulsory viewing especially for young people , women in unpaid caring work, the unemployed, artists…and what is left of the working class
…in fact everyone who is not part of the 0.01 % crooks who own the wealth and control the people and the planet
Professor Guy Standing ( Professor for Economic Security , University of Bath) is an articulate advocate for why the precariat absolutely requires a basic income …and for a redistribution of wealth
He is really the equivalent of the old trade unionist and socialist…calling passionately for a return to an egalitarian, compassionate, just and humanitarian society…dignity and freedom for ALL
interesting …but does this mean that human males are more likely to have toxoplasmosis?…because they are overwhelmingly the ones who have the road rage in my experience
‘People with rage disorder twice as likely to have latent toxoplasmosis parasite infection’
…”A number of studies have found that individuals with road rage were predominantly young (33 years of age on average) and male (96.6%).[3]”
I had one last weekend, the guy stopped at a Stop sign in front of me and got out his car and tried to give me an earful, he falls directly into the group listed above (33 and male), he was an incompetent, inconsiderate driver who thought the road belongs to him alone, his girl friend got out of the car, I could see the embarrassment on her face as she gestured an apology for her boyfriends behavior, and asked him to get back in the car.
Iv’e had several other incidents on the road, and each time it’s been a guy about 33, they seem to have serious anger issues.
re..”a guy about 33″…yes I think so…at the invitation of the lawyer concerned, I once watched a prosecuting lawyer in Melbourne make the case against an Australian male in this age group….the accused had killed someone with a bottle in a fit of road rage…he would have been in his late twenties early thirties…and in my experience they do seem to be the most impatient and inconsiderate drivers… who speed, overtake dangerously and cut people off…in the USA my friend tells me you don’t engage with them or give them the fingers because they are likely to get a gun out of the glove box
Hayden please have some sense. The video evidence establishes that the car driver could have stopped. It shows that the car driver did not stop. Intended action. Did not stop. Resulting assault with weapon. Serious. Don’t fret……it just shows Man-Child PM’s “higher standards”.
Twenty-one years ago, when Felix Geiringer was 19, he lay down in front of a cabinet minister’s limousine. The driver didn’t see him and the hot-headed Otago University maths undergraduate ended up with abrasions, a couple of cracked ribs and a conviction for behaving in a disorderly manner.
His appeal to the High Court that he’d just been exercising his freedom of expression rights failed.
The key TMM…….driver didn’t see him. Look at the video here. The car nearly stopped, then proceeded. Having seen the people Driver nearly stopped the car. Driver then stopped stopping the car. Thereby wilfully applying force to the person of another. Mr Car Driver has no right to icebreaker his way through human beings, using a weapon and causing injury. Ensuring Paula Benefit’s timely delivery to airport is not a special reason in terms of any applicable law. This is very serious offending ! Demonstrable of Key’s “higher standards” governance.
This ain’t far from Trump’s campaign manager roughing up some female reporter.
Paula: “Ooh look protesters……quickly, run them over !”
Chester: “Right on future leader, with you all the way !”
The Herald allows Katherine Rich to pimp for Big Sugar.
How does she sleep at night, shilling for greedy corporates who care more about profit that people?
Does she have a conscience?
Whatever…….the masters of the universe they bloatedly perceive themselves as. Rotting away. Adored by slimey little people below them who luv the E! Channel of it. It’s not completely unlike the Trump/Trumpites picture.
Cadbury and mondelez are massive enough that if they made a decision to genuinely go to fair trade cocoa, it would shift the entire market, FT production would soar, and FT cocoa would become the norm, not the minority.
And even with half measures, they reckon they can’t monitor their logistics chain to keep the two seperate? Yeah, right…
Pretty good rule of thumb, if a big company is a doing ethics on the side, it’s unlikely to be ethical. Same applies to free range chooks too, companies that have a free range brand and conventional brand. Better to buy from the people who genuinely give a shit.
Cadbury in the UK,
Bought a 79p Dairy Milk? You just paid more than @CadburyUK paid in corporation tax for a whole year. #taxavoidance
Soooo…. the FBI needs the Israelis to crack an iphone but NSA can do it anyways…does this mean the FBI and the NSA are not talking to each other ….and does it mean the Israelis control NSA?
‘FBI using Israeli firm to crack San Bernardino iPhone without Apple’
Someone tell Key that the reason for the big poll number in the second flag vote was nothing to do with people being interested in change.
It was the majority telling him that they are sick of his corporate driven lifestyle.
No-one gives a monkeys what his cronies think. They don’t give a hoot what the sports personalities think. Colin Meads and the like have had their day. They have been rewarded with their honours and that should have been enough.
Congratulations to the Kiwi battler.
If Russian wheat crops have failed so badly and if they continue to do so maybe there is hope for dairy to convert back to wheat on the canterbury plains…
In 1976, Republican Governor Jay Hammond started Alaska’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF), which has come to be called the Alaska Permanent Fund. The way it works is Alaska has a big pile of money that it uses to buy up the means of production (sometimes called stocks and bonds). Those investments yield returns and revenue for the state. Right now, Alaska plows that revenue into its universal basic income (UBI) program, which is called the Permanent Fund Dividend. The way it works is the state sends a check to every single Alaskan each year. Last year, it was $900, but in better years, it has been as high as $2000. For a family of four, that’s a $3,600 and $8,000 income boost respectively.
The Alaska communist story gets more interesting than that though. The way Alaska builds the principal of the fund is in line with another of Myerson’s proposals: take back the land. You see, the oil wealth in Alaska happened to reside underneath public land. Instead of doing the red-blooded American thing and just giving all of that natural wealth that nobody creates away to oil companies, Alaska held on to its ownership and collects royalties from the oil. Those royalties are plowed into its SWF. So what you have in Alaska is a state that is leveraging publicly-owned natural resources to build a SWF that pays out a UBI. Or as conservatives on twitter call it: a communist hellscape.
Paul Connet, head of the anti-fluoride propaganda group, Fluoride Action Network, claims that the IQ of children bottle-fed in fluoridated areas drops by 9 points. But he misrepresented the research. There is no observable effect. For earlier articles in this series see: Part 1: Anti-fluoridation propaganda now relies on only ...
The Queen’s coronavirus broadcast, with its overtones of Winston Churchill and Vera Lynn, prompted me to reflect on the tribulations my parents’ generation suffered during the Second World War – and I imagine that those parallels, given her own wartime experience, were very much in the Queen’s mind as she ...
Back in February, the Marlborough District Council increased the mount it charges for LGOIMA requests. I used the LGOIMA to poke into this, and it seems the case for increased charges is unjustified: the supposed increase in request volumes it rests on is an artefact of the Council suddenly deciding ...
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Imagination By-Pass: Had the Communications Minister, Kris Faafoi (above) taken a firm stand with Bauer, reminding them of their obligations to both their staff and the wider New Zealand public, then a much more favourable outcome may well have ensued. He should have made it clear to the Bauer board ...
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Connett promotes Riddell et al (2019) as one of the only four studies one needs to read about fluoridation. But he misunderstands and misrepresents the findings of this study. Image credit: Fluoride Action ...
Last month I wrote my blog on covid-19 pointing out the in our pre Alert Level 4 days that a subject no one had heard here months ago was now dominating the media. An amazing feature of this crisis is how quickly it has swept every other issue aside worldwide. ...
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Maybe you’ve seen the graph that says those countries where everyone wears a mask are the ones that have managed to keep Covid-19 under control? The first thing to say about that claim is that those countries also did lots of other things, too – they acted fast, with intense ...
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As far as anyone can say, New Zeaand still has a general election scheduled for September 19 this year. The election will be accompanied by two referenda, one of which will ask voters:Do you support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill?The official campaign period for the cannabis referendum begins ...
The vast majority of tributes to the Listener hearken back to its glory days, with little reflection on the magazine as it was at its end.I wrote for it, for half the Listener’s life; I have known personally all the editors except the first (mythical) three. From 1978 to 2014 ...
As the world economy slides rapidly towards deep recession there are growing calls for a Universal Benefit coming from some leftists and rightists. Now Finance Minister Grant Robertson is saying it is on the table. This article by a French party Workers Struggle provides analysis of various forms of universal ...
This is the advice from the very top of the anti-fluoride movement – Paul Connett, director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN). Don’t worry about reading up on all the scientific information “You only have ...
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Some time during the night we went over the 850,000 views mark. We might have had our millionth view by the end of this year – certainly by early next year. Most of the people involved in Redline spent years and years producing various small left-wing papers and selling them ...
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It's my distraction, setting up tiny scenes to photograph. I've got stuck on the Babushka dolls for now. Something about their bubble shape. Something about their never changing, smiling features, suggesting persistent equanimity. Can we get through everything that is being thrown at us and keep at least a tiny ...
. . March 31: Day six of living in lock-down… This time I managed to sleep a little longer and the alarm woke me at the pre-set time: 6.55am. Then remembered I was working a later shift and could’ve slept in. Oh well, there are things to do at home. ...
Image credit:Diamond Harbour School Blogs I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or ...
Yesterday's Horizon poll showing support for a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum sliding into the majority for the first time in a year looked like good news for reformers – and it probably is. But the result warrants some scrutiny.The poll is the fifth in a series commissioned ...
For almost a week now, every one of us who isn’t an essential worker has been confined to their bubble. We are allowed to go shopping for groceries, to visit the doctor, and to get a bit of exercise if we stay local. The reason we are doing this is ...
The Covid-19 saga will no doubt produce many twists and turns for us before it is finally brought to an end. But one thing it has shown us – and what comfort it should bring us – is that our country’s government is in good hands. I am not thinking ...
In the absence of a vaccine or a cure for a deadly disease, staying home in your bubble is what you do, the concept is not new. To the best of my knowledge last time we did this in NZ was for polio, in the years before a vaccine came ...
The following statement was released on March 28 by the National Network on Cuba, a coalition of 40 groups, based in the United States. In recent weeks, Cuba has deployed hundreds of medical providers to over a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, as well as to their neighbors in Latin ...
This has been a terrible summer for Hector’s dolphins. The first indication was very low numbers of dolphin sightings during late spring and early summer. The Otago University Marine Mammal Research Team has carried out routine dolphin surveys at Banks Peninsula for more than 30 years. In all that time, ...
On March 17, Finance Minister Grant Robertson was quick out of the blocks with an economic rescue package to help businesses through the inevitable recession resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Robertson had pulled together a scheme in short order that so far seems to have saved many jobs. In his ...
The purpose of the lockdown is to save lives, by reducing the spread of covid-19. We won't know if its really working for another week, but given the devastation that will result if it doesn't - 14,000 dead is the optimistic scenario - its definitely worth trying. But pausing the ...
. . March 30: Day five of living in lock-down… Woke up still in darkness. Alarm hadn’t gone off. Turn to radio clock; it’s a few minutes after 6am… I lie there in the dark, waiting to drift off to sleep… but it ain’t happening. Clock ticks over to 6.55 ...
The story of Les Gray, the public sector psychologist who told the truth about his use of cannabis and set off a storm, has a special place in the lore of cannabis reform in New Zealand.When Paul Shannon interviewed Gray for the 'Dope and Hope' issue of Planet magazine in ...
by Phil Duncan For Marxists, a key concern about social trends is their context – not just their causes, but why they happen when they do. Events and phenomena have causes, but they also are time or period-specific. While much of the left have capitulated recently to postmodernism, most notably ...
Since the lockdown began, we've all suddenly been reminded who the actually essential workers in our society are: not the people at the top who pay themselves the big bucks and rort the perks, but the people at the bottom they screw over and squeeze: cleaners, warehouse staff, truck drivers ...
Kia ora! As I've watched nearly all my remaining work vanish over the past couple of days, it has occured to me that one good way to keep me away from arguing with fools on Twitter all the time (in the knowledge that all we're really doing is processing our ...
Aotearoa New Zealand has committed to trying to extirpate the virus that causes COVID-19 from its shores. To do that, as a society we’ve moved to “Level 4”. That means adapting to unprecedented restrictions on our personal freedoms, particularly to our rights to move freely and associate with friends and ...
When the Prime Minister declared a state of emergency last week, she handed the police powers to enforce it. And almost immediately, we started hearing about heavy-handed, arbitrary "enforcement" by police who (at best) cared more about order than law, or (more likely) had no idea what the rules were ...
. . Lock Down: Day 4 – A photo essay with observations . March 29: Usual wake up routine as RNZ snaps on my radio-clock. Jim Mora’s voice slowly enters my conciousness; there’s talk of a second wave of covid19 taking hold in South Korea; the week in Parliament – ...
Yesterday, New Zealand recorded its first Covid-19 related death on the West Coast. Unfortunately this is unlikely to be the only fatality, with the virus now being found in every region of the country.However despite the significant danger, people are still unfortunately breaching lockdown rules.There’s really only one main very ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... ‘Misinformation kills’: The link between coronavirus conspiracies and climate denialGrist / Rob Kim / Stringer / CSA Images Scientific ...
The kids did surprisingly well today – meltdown count was about 3, and mostly fairly short ones. (And a fourth while I was writing.) Game-wise I had a go at Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark. It’s a fairly standard RPG with turn-based combat and what they call a “mature storyline” (it ...
by Don Franks Hi David, Nice hearing from you, I’m glad to hear you’re getting by okay in these grim times. You asked how’s it going for us back here in New Zealand. You would have heard that the whole country is locked down and with breaks for exercise and ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced that New Zealand will enter into transit arrangements with a range of countries to make it easier for each other’s citizens to get home. “There are millions of people around the world stranded ...
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Government has striven to provide calm, clear and consistent communication, including daily press conference updates from the Prime Minister. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says getting New Zealanders back home and other travellers out of the country is "a nightmare for our embassies, consuls, and staff around the world".Speaking to NewstalkZB's Mike Hosking, the Foreign Minister said that he gave a clear message to people travelling overseas that they ...
The domestic travel ban has been lifted for stranded foreign tourists trying to get to international airports to fly home, after the Coalition Government announced a plan to help the tens of thousands of foreigners stranded here. Foreign Minister Rt. Hon. Winston Peters spoke with RNZ's Susie Ferguson said foreign ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters believes the country is rediscovering its resilience and self-reliance through its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.He says he is heartened that the mass majority of New Zealanders are following lockdown rules and that the government looking at the future, including paying to keep much ...
New Zealand can emulate the success of the US after the Great Depression by exploiting our own resources to turn the economy around quickly, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says. Mr. Peters told Magic Talk that New Zealand has an opportunity to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic a "superior, ...
All 45 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel are either on their way back to New Zealand, or already in the country, according to Defence Minister Ron Mark."Twenty-eight personnel arrived back in New Zealand last week and are in isolation at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base in ...
The COVID-19 situation in New Zealand is moving fast - and to avoid what we've seen overseas - the Government's response must be to move fast too. We're committed to keeping New Zealanders safe and well-informed every step of the way. ...
We know people are feeling anxious about COVID-19. While the situation is serious, New Zealand has a world-class health system and we’re well-prepared to keep New Zealanders safe. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging New Zealanders overseas to stay where they are amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are reaching a point where the best option for most New Zealanders offshore is to shelter in place, by preparing to safely stay where they are.” "This includes following the instructions ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging the tens of thousands of New Zealanders travelling overseas to consider sheltering in place, in light of COVID-19. “Since 18 March, we have been warning New Zealanders offshore that the window for flying ...
More New Zealanders are taking up the chance to work in horticulture as the sector keeps New Zealanders fed and in jobs during the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our ...
The Provincial Development Unit is working through applications and projects to see where Provincial Growth Fund money can be repurposed for initiatives deemed more critical to fighting the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “We need to be throwing everything we have at ...
The Government’s wage subsidy to protect jobs and keep workers and businesses connected during the lockdown has now supported over a million New Zealanders, with $6.6 billion already paid out. “We’re supporting businesses to pay wages, and stay connected with their workers so that we are all in a better ...
The Government is stepping up efforts to help protect New Zealand’s Pacific communities in the fight against COVID-19. Cabinet has agreed that $17 million will be allocated to support a COVID-19 Pacific Response Package, which will: Support Pacific health and disability services facing increased demand; Ramp up public health messaging ...
“Yesterday evening the Health Minister advised me of his trip to a beach during the lockdown and offered his resignation,” Jacinda Ardern said. “Under normal conditions I would sack the Minister of Health. What he did was wrong, and there are no excuses. “But right now, my priority is our ...
Last night as part of my preparation for the Epidemic Response Committee, I provided the Prime Minister with a complete picture of my activity outside my home during Alert Level 4. That included the fact that on the first weekend of the Alert Level 4 lockdown I drove my family ...
A range of support is being rolled out across New Zealand to help people look after their mental health during COVID-19 Health Minister David Clark said this morning. “COVID-19 has brought a lot of uncertainty into our lives and many of us will be feeling some level of distress or ...
The New Zealand Government has made arrangements to charter a flight for New Zealanders stranded in Peru to depart the country, following agreement with the Chilean government to allow the necessary transit through Chile, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. “Like many travellers around the world at the moment, ...
Hospital preparations for COVID-19 are well advanced says Health Minister David Clark. “Hospitals across New Zealand are repurposing buildings and training staff to get ready for COVID-19 patients. This gives me confidence that we are well prepared for any potential increase in COVID-19 patients needing hospital level care,” said David ...
The Government will be introducing legislation to make changes to the Companies Act to help companies facing insolvency due to COVID-19 to remain viable and keep New Zealanders in jobs. The temporary changes include: Giving directors of companies facing significant liquidity problems because of COVID-19 a ‘safe harbour’ from insolvency ...
The Government’s plan to cushion the blow of COVID-19 by supporting incomes, jobs and businesses, and position the economy to recover has been backed by another international report. International credit rating agency Moody’s today reaffirmed its highest Aaa credit rating on New Zealand, saying the economy is expected to remain ...
National sports organisations have been given certainty of funding to ensure they can remain viable through the COVID-19 pandemic, Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “The global spread of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on sport and recreation in New Zealand, including the cancellation or postponement of ...
Changes have been made to allow butchers to process pork, only for supply to supermarkets or other processors or retailers that are open, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “We carefully weighed the risk of allowing butchers to open their shops for retail customers, but the risk of spreading COVID-19 ...
Essential workers who take leave from work to comply with public health guidance are being supported with a leave scheme to ensure they will continue to receive income, say the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Iain Lees-Galloway and Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni. A number of essential businesses ...
A Government WhatsApp channel has been launched to help make information more easily accessible and shareable in the fight against COVID-19. Govt.NZ, which is free to use on any mobile device, will carry information and news for the public, businesses, healthcare providers, not for profits and local government. It can ...
The Government has announced a plan to enable the safe, orderly exit of tens of thousands of stranded foreign nationals from New Zealand during the current COVID-19 Alert Level 4 restrictions, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters has said. “When we moved into lockdown a week ago, the ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says the Government is delivering on its commitment to support general practice doctors and nurses, and pharmacies on the front-line of our fight against COVID-19. "For us to overcome COVID-19, we need community health services such as general practice and community pharmacy to step up ...
Justice Susan Thomas has been appointed Chief High Court Judge, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. She replaces Justice Geoffrey Venning who has resigned from the position. David Parker paid tribute to Justice Venning, who he said had stewarded the High Court very capably over the last five years. “On behalf ...
Businesses can start applying to their banks for loans under the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme set up to support the New Zealand economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re moving quickly to protect New Zealand businesses, jobs and the economy during this unprecedented global economic shock,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. ...
Work is underway looking at measures to speed up consents for development and infrastructure projects during the recovery from COVID 19, to provide jobs and stimulate our economy. Environment Minister David Parker said the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global crisis that will have a wide ranging and lasting impact ...
Advance payments will be made to transport construction industry contractors to retain the workforce and ensure it is ready to quickly gear up to build projects which will be vital to New Zealand’s COVID-19 economic recovery, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. He said keeping the workforce required to build ...
The Government has tasked a group of industry leaders to seek out infrastructure projects that are ready to start as soon as the construction industry returns to normal to reduce the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones say. The Infrastructure ...
Work to scale up the health system in preparation for COVID-19 was today outlined by Health Minister David Clark, as he reported back to the new Epidemic Response Committee. “We are well placed to contain the spread of COVID-19. We have taken early and decisive action at our borders, and ...
The Government is refining its COVID-19 essential business guidance to include the distribution of news publications for communities which are hard to reach. The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, Kris Faafoi, said the move was in recognition of the importance for New Zealanders who might be harder to ...
The Government is ensuring supermarkets can open on Easter Sunday so we can buy groceries, but stay closed on Good Friday allowing workers to take a break. This provides a balanced approach and ensures we avoid large queues that two days closure may cause. “Supermarkets will be able to open ...
Following the successful conclusion of the Building Partner Capacity (BPC) mission at Taji, New Zealand defence personnel are returning to New Zealand from Iraq, in accordance with the Cabinet decision made in June 2019, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “New Zealand is very ...
The State of National Emergency to help stop the spread of COVID-19 has been extended for a further seven days, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare said. The initial declaration on March 25 lasted seven days and can be extended as many times as necessary. “Since we went into isolation ...
New Zealand’s ability to go hard and go early in the fight against COVID-19 has been underpinned by strong Government finances and the growing economy heading into this global pandemic, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown financial statements for the eight months to the end ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says 36 new intensive care beds at Christchurch Hospital’s new Hagley building are being fast tracked so they are available for treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Ministry of Health is working with contractor CPB and Canterbury DHB to enable access to the hospital’s ICU, ...
The Government has fast-tracked up to $1 million to help Air New Zealand move urgent freight to and from New Zealand, with the first flight to Shanghai leaving tonight, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says it’s crucial that trade in vital goods such as medical supplies and ...
New Zealand will temporarily remove tariffs on all medical and hygiene imports needed for the COVID-19 response. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said today that the New Zealand Customs Service will apply tariff concessions to all diagnostic reagents and testing ...
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson has clarified that the changes to the wage subsidy scheme announced yesterday mean that employers should be passing on the full subsidy to workers, except in the case where the person’s normal income is less than the level of the subsidy. “We still want employers ...
Medical face masks from the national reserve supply are now being distributed to District Health Boards, while at the same time local production is being ramped up. Yesterday more than 640,000 masks were sent to DHBS – that is an immediate two week supply, with more to follow in coming ...
The Government has made modifications to the wage subsidy scheme to ensure people don’t lose their jobs during the national lockdown. These changes will soften the impact of COVID-19 on workers, families and businesses, and position them to exit the lockdown and look to recovery, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. ...
Farmers whose herds were culled in response to the outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis will be able to minimise the tax treatment of their income in some circumstances. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash says Cabinet has agreed to change the law. It means farmers may be eligible to spread their income over ...
A $27 million dollar package, effective immediately, is being provided to social sector services and community groups to ensure they can continue to provide essential support to communities as we stay at home as a nation to stop the spread of COVID-19, Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni announced. “At ...
“The guilty plea today will provide some relief to the many people whose lives were shattered by what happened on March 15,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “These guilty pleas and conviction bring accountability for what happened and also save the families who lost loved ones, those who were injured, ...
The Prime Minister is holding daily press conferences to update New Zealanders on the Government's response to COVID-19. Links to videos and transcripts of these updates below. These transcripts also include All of Government press conferences led by Director Ministry of Health's Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. 25 March: Live update from the Prime ...
Frontline Police numbers have broken through the 10,000 mark for the first time in history as officers step forward to keep the community safe during the COVID19 lockdown. “Two Police graduations in Auckland and Wellington in the past week have been conducted in unprecedented circumstances,” Police Minister Stuart Nash said. ...
Urgent legislation has been passed to support the package of economic and social measures needed to recover from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. “The COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill will cushion New Zealanders from the worst economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Revenue Minister ...
‘Yes, it’s endearing that the PM said that the Easter Bunny is an essential service but I wondered how many kids had a hope in hell of seeing three good meals a day let alone a chocolate egg.’Read more Lockdown Letters here.Bob Dylan’s latest, Murder Most Foul, is an interesting ...
Covid 19 coronavirus: Expert professor says no blanket quarantine at border risks a longer lockdown; and Covid-19: 387 Air NZ pilots look set to lose jobs. ...
Amid COVID-19, New Zealanders disregard privacy concerns for convenience – 1.2m affected by cybercrime, 600k by identity theft Over a third of New Zealanders estimated to have experienced cyber crime in the past 12 months Highlights: More than half ...
The National Party leader intends to continue commuting between Tauranga and Wellington so he can do his job effectively in an unprecedented situation. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand. Today’s contentPublic health strategy, exiting lockdown Thomas Manch (Stuff): A path out of lockdown is being charted, but experts say ...
US death toll catching Italy's fast; Johnson on oxygen in ICU, but not intubated; US threatens India, Canada over mask and drugs; Germany accuses America of 'piracy' as China, Russia send supplies to New YorkUS cases spiral: The United States leads the world in total cases, but not yet ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meead Saberi, Senior lecturer, UNSW Traffic jams may have disappeared from our roads as people stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we can be confident they will be back. Scientists have studied traffic and congestion for decades. We know a lot ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Lindsey, Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, University of Melbourne Almost no one thinks Indonesia is handling the COVID-19 pandemic well. Until early March, the government claimed it had no ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rod Lamberts, Deputy Director, Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University Good news: COVID-19 is not the only thing going on right now! Bad news: while we’ve all been deep in the corona-hole, the climate crisis has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Waters-Lynch, Lecturer Entrepreneurship and Innovation, RMIT University If you’re working from home for the first time, you might be asking yourself why you didn’t get to do this years ago. The benefits of remote work have been discussed for nearly half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roslyn Petelin, Course coordinator, The University of Queensland When a literary luminary such as Thomas Kenneally declares so early in 2020 that he is certain a “more original” novel “will not be published this year”, the reviewer faces a challenge. The book ...
NZIER says confidence survey suggests 100 percent of businesses now have negative outlooks; 596 kiwi pilots laid off by Air NZ and Virgin; RBNZ confirms will buy $3b of council bondsGloomy outlook: The March quarter survey of business opinion from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) made for ...
Op-Ed by Armida Salsiah AlisjahbanaArmida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP. The unprecedented public health emergency triggered by the COVID -19 pandemic and its multi-faceted impact on people’s lives around the world is taking a heavy toll on Asia and the Pacific. ...
Kiwi Wealth’s Customer Services Manager Matt Beach zooms in from his home in Whitby to talk to Bernard Hickey about how his team worked remotely to answer questions from Kiwi Saver customers Matt Beach has been in tricky situations before, but reconfiguring Kiwi Wealth’s call centre to work remotely and ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Dire warnings about water levels, tentative good news on Covid-19 case numbers, and local government struggles for funding.The seriousness of this issue has largely gone unnoticed amid everything else, but if we don’t address it now things could get pretty ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The ...
In a bid to keep the netball community engaged and active in lockdown, Netball NZ are beaming a free fitness programme into Kiwi homes. In these strange and unsettling times, Laura Langman feels just a little funny having others inside her Sunshine Coast home.Just to make it clear, the Silver Ferns captain ...
As life in lockdown becomes our new normal, you may be asking how you can maintain your wellbeing and relationships under these conditions. Here are some tips based on psychological research that will help you cope, get in routine, and make the best of the lockdown experience. Tips to help ...
A surfer photographed raising his middle finger says it was clearly aimed at the photographer, not the police, and wants the online threats against him to stop, reports Bonnie Sumner. A west Auckland surfer says threats have been made against him and his family after the Stuff news site published ...
A new Wattie's cookbook has four recipes of things to make with all that flour and all those cans of Wattie's that you panic-bought.CURRIED LAMB SAUSAGE ROLLS Prep time: 20 minutes. Cook time: 20–25 minutes. 1 small onion, finely diced2 tsp Gregg’s Curry Powder400g lamb mince ...
There is a trade-off: how many lives will be taken by Covid-19 and how many lives will be lost due to our attempts to prevent loss of lives from Covid-19, writes Professor Ananish Chaudhuri of the University of Auckland In his book “Risk Savvy”, the behavioural scientist Gerg Gigerenzer notes that, ...
Like countless local events and businesses, the Vineyard Half in Blenheim is about so much more than money. It’s about the often hidden ties that bind communities together, writes Allan Ramsay. Week two of lockdown and now the layers of what holds all our rural communities together are slowly being ...
Times are tough, tempers are short but memories are long. How can businesses preserve their good reputations? Andrew Patterson reports. There’s an old saying “when times are tough you discover who your true friends are.” The same might be said of business relationships. As businesses fight for survival there’s one ...
A bank tells its customers they're following the lead of their counterparts across the ditch in trying to make thousands more transactions contactless More keypad-free transactions might be coming as part of a measure to raise the paywave threshold to $200. The announcement was made a little early by an eager ...
As new restrictions affecting people’s ability to work are put in place, there's a growing segment of workers we must ensure aren't left out in the cold, writes Victoria University of Wellington's Stephen Blumenfeld The Covid-19 outbreak and nationwide lockdown should not create an opening for employers to treat the ...
With shearing gangs mostly stood down under the level 4 lockdown, farmers face the prospect of having to shear their own sheep, reports Jill Herron. Shearers and wool-handlers across the country are “very keen” to get back to work once Covid 19 restrictions ease – and farmers will be pretty ...
As learning shifts online at pace, the key will be for educators will be to keep it simple, coordinated and normal, write Stephen Dobson and Edward Schofield of Victoria University of Wellington Things have moved quickly in the global scramble to move everything online. We are reminded of how it ...
A new life has been put on hold for people in the Auckland resettlement centre, writes Greta Yeoman.For the 135 refugees based at the Māngere Refugee Resettlement Centre in Auckland, plans to resettle in towns across New Zealand towards the end of April are up in the air with the ...
Amid the seemingly endless bad news at the moment, a new initiative is trying to get people to think positively. While the world may seem like it’s slowed to a crawl, there are still people out there creating and innovating. The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically altered how we’re living, but ...
From the reemerging debate around capital gains tax to the increasing reach of tax authorities, Terry Baucher, writing for interest.co.nz, looks at a number of implications the coronavirus pandemic could have on the tax system. “There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen,” Lenin is said ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison has made clear his view that any attempt to eliminate COVID-19 entirely in Australia would carry too high an economic cost, while Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says such an aim would require ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stanley Shanapinda, Research Fellow, La Trobe University A conspiracy theory claiming 5G can spread the coronavirus is making the rounds on social media. The myth supposedly gained traction when a Belgian doctor linked the “dangers” of 5G technology to the virus during ...
As governments around the world prepare to spend billions of dollars to stimulate their economies, climate activists see these investments as the last chance for big spending on climate change, Marc Daalder reports "We're out of time." That's the alarm that Climate Change Minister James Shaw has been raising for anyone ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Even regional distribution, though South Island is worse. Chart by Keith Rankin. New Zealand now has sufficient case data to get a sense of its regional distribution of Covid19. Surprisingly, Auckland is not dominant, unlike the main business cities in other countries such as London, ...
Analysis by Bryce Edwards.Minister of Health, David Clark. Is David Clark the best possible Minister of Health to be leading New Zealand through the Coronavirus crisis? Confidence in Clark has plummeted with today’s revelation that the Health minister made another recreational trip during the lockdown that appears to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The High Court today quashed the conviction of Cardinal George Pell, who had originally been found guilty on a number of charges by a jury of 12 people. His ...
NZNO urgently needs the Government and all health employers to commit to a comprehensive ‘He Kete Tapuhi Ora response package’ to assist all nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kai mahi hauora in this exceptional fight against the COVID-19 ...
The government is exploring taking legal action regarding the Ruby Princess cruise ship which has proven to be a hotbed of Covid-19 infection in Australia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Climie, Exercise Physiologist and Research Fellow, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute Fitbit recently released data showing a global decrease in physical activity levels among users of its activity trackers compared to the same time last year. As we navigate the coronavirus ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Indigo Holcombe-James, Sessional academic, School of Media and Communications, RMIT University Museums, galleries and artist collectives around the world are shutting their doors and moving online in response to coronavirus. But engaging with audiences online requires access, skills and investment. My research ...
Two hundred merchants are trialling an online contactless payment method in store, using just mobile phones and no EFTPOS terminal. The technology - devised by Paymark - has been designed in response to Covid-19, allowing customers to purchase items without having to physically touch the terminal. The transaction uses the ...
A report on the NZ Farmer segment of Stuff caught the eye of Point of Order. It led off with a quote from respected economist Cameron Bagrie. “Thank God for farmers….They’ve felt beaten up over the past couple of years, well, thank God agriculture is still the backbone of NZ.The story ...
The introduction of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) now is totally unaffordable and wrong says Peter Malcolm spokesperson for Income Equality Aotearoa NZ Inc. A UBI or Universal Basic Income is a Government payout to all adults and some say for children ...
Unite Union says SkyCity has broken the law by sacking 200 salaried workers without consultation or discussion. It said SkyCity's letter of notice stated that the decision had already been made and it was not seeking the employees' views to the extent that it would do under normal circumstances. Unite ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Hamilton, Visiting Fellow, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University No Australian government has ever spent A$130 billion so quickly. Last Tuesday, when the Prime Minister announced the government would subsidise six million jobs for ...
By Anita Roberts in Port Vila While the Vanuatu government is investing its resources in tackling the coronavirus pandemic threat, it is now stretching its resources to tackle other natural disasters posing threats to the lives of the people – Cyclone Harold still moving over the country after lashing ...
New Zealand has 54 new confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases to 1160, the Health Ministry has confirmed. Today’s new figure is down from the 67 new cases reported yesterday. With 65 people recovering in the past day, today is also the first ...
The latest in our new series of charts, graphics and data visualisations by Chris McDowall.This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff MembersThese posts collate the most recent statistics and present them as charts and maps. The Ministry of Health typically publishes data updates in the early ...
Misinformation about adrenochrome and its supposed links to Covid-19 has gone into overdrive. But what is it? We separate the substance’s literary history from its real-world functions.If you’ve spent much time online lately, like everyone else in lockdown, you’ve probably fallen down some strange Covid-19 rabbit holes. One word you ...
ANALYSIS:By Sally Young of the University of Melbourne Many newspapers betrayed their readers during the Great Depression and now some are doing so again during the coronavirus pandemic. During the Depression, Australia’s major daily newspapers loudly resisted calls for economic stimulus to revive the economy. Even the tabloids ...
The locked-down residents of a Wellington rest home – including her mum – are treated to a live gig courtesy of historian and author Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa).Ever since I was Dorothy in the New Plymouth Operatic Society’s production of The Wizard of Oz, I have wanted an international ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Perkiss, Senior Lecturer, University of Wollongong The coronavirus might make Easter celebrations a little subdued this year, but that doesn’t mean going without chocolate eggs. In fact, South Australia’s chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier reportedly said people should partake in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne The centerpiece of the Commonwealth government’s COVID-19 economic stimulus program is JobKeeper. Priced at A$130 billion, it will pay eligible employers $1,500 per fortnight for each eligible employee for up to six months. ...
Bernard Hickey talks to Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr about the latest weak business confidence figures and they hear from Oliver Hartwich about the Euro's dire prospects Bernard Hickey talks with Jarrod Kerr about the latest Covid-19 figures showing New Zealand's hard and early lockdown appears to be controlling ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Mathews, Professor, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology The High Court today granted Cardinal George Pell special leave to appeal, and unanimously allowed the appeal. In other words, Pell won. His convictions were quashed and he will be released from ...
The number of new Covid-19 cases reported on Tuesday was the lowest it has been in two weeks, Marc Daalder reports There were just 54 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand as of Tuesday morning, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said. This is the lowest figure in two weeks, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh, Lecturer, Faculty of Education, Monash University The unfolding COVID-19 situation has brought many changes to school education. NAPLAN tests have been cancelled for 2020 and most children are learning online. Education minister Dan Tehan is meeting with the states on ...
The way we buy our food has changed hugely since the lockdown began. Small New Zealand producers have taken a massive hit, closing stores and struggling with online demand. Here are some ways shoppers can help these businesses.In the first week of lockdown, shoppers panicked. It was a perfectly natural ...
Wellington, 7 April - The Government’s current wage subsidy scheme may insufficiently protect Kiwis from the worst effects of the Covid-19 crisis, according to a new report from the New Zealand Initiative. Comparing New Zealand with Australia and Canada, ...
How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening.The following charts are based on numbers shared at the daily press conference. These may vary from the full day's numbers released in the Ministry of Health's spreadsheet ...
New Zealand is seeking reciprocal transit arrangements with other nations after a decision to allow foreign nationals to use country's airports to get home. ...
After a second revelation of a lockdown breach in as many weeks, David Clark's political career is on life support. But in truth he has never really seemed a good fit as health minister, Sam Sachdeva writes. Appearing before Parliament’s epidemic response committee hours after his latest public shaming, Health ...
Powerplay - Health Minister David Clark stays in Cabinet after he breaches lockdown rules, but this could compromise the government's Covid-19 response and cause distractions for the prime minister at a crucial time, writes Jane Patterson. ...
After offering up his resignation, Health Minister David Clark answered questions along with Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and Otago University Professor and epidemiologist Sir David Skegg. ...
The Sensible Sentencing Trust is calling on the Government to postpone the report due date for Minister Andrew Little’s Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill. This Bill would allow prisoners with a sentence of three years or ...
Reverend Scottie Reeve on the meaning of Easter during the Covid-19 pandemic, and why we need to embark on a journey of collective repentance. On Wednesday while I was going for a walk, I came across a friend on the Wellington waterfront. We’ll call him David. David had no idea what ...
Our essential workers deserve more than a round of applause, but danger pay is not the answer, writes Kerry Davies from the Public Service Association.Did you shower this morning? Is the kitchen clean? Have you changed your sheets since we went into lockdown? Have you vacuumed? Are you taking that ...
The local government sector has banded together to open a helpline for all council drinking and waste water technicians, providing an accessible source of advice for small suppliers across New Zealand to lean on. While drinking and waste water infrastructure ...
This story first appeared in The Mercury Bay Informer and is republished here with permission. Roadblocks could be in place at entry points to the Coromandel this week as the local Civil Defence Controller moves to prevent unlawful travel to the Peninsula during the Covid-19 lockdown. Speaking to The Informer last ...
He Waka Eke Noa – We are all in this together, according to the Prime Minister. Except that we’re not…………………….. After pressure from employees, Fletcher Building executives have shown the way with their decision to take a 30 ...
New Zealanders in need during the COVID-19 lockdown are set to further benefit from a food charity’s distribution programme. KiwiHarvest, a national food rescue charity which collects food from retailers before it goes to waste and distributes it to ...
Open mike 24/03/2016 
Open mike is your post.
Paul Connet, head of the anti-fluoride propaganda group, Fluoride Action Network, claims that the IQ of children bottle-fed in fluoridated areas drops by 9 points. But he misrepresented the research. There is no observable effect. For earlier articles in this series see: Part 1: Anti-fluoridation propaganda now relies on only ...1 hour ago
The Queen’s coronavirus broadcast, with its overtones of Winston Churchill and Vera Lynn, prompted me to reflect on the tribulations my parents’ generation suffered during the Second World War – and I imagine that those parallels, given her own wartime experience, were very much in the Queen’s mind as she ...3 hours ago
Back in February, the Marlborough District Council increased the mount it charges for LGOIMA requests. I used the LGOIMA to poke into this, and it seems the case for increased charges is unjustified: the supposed increase in request volumes it rests on is an artefact of the Council suddenly deciding ...19 hours ago
. . April 6: Day 12 of living in lock-down… Another day of a near-empty Park N Ride carpark; . . And another day of near-empty Wellington streets; . . . Light traffic on the motorway. No apparent increase in volume. Commercial vehicles sighted; a gravel-hauling truck; McAuley’s Transport; a ...22 hours ago
Imagination By-Pass: Had the Communications Minister, Kris Faafoi (above) taken a firm stand with Bauer, reminding them of their obligations to both their staff and the wider New Zealand public, then a much more favourable outcome may well have ensued. He should have made it clear to the Bauer board ...23 hours ago
We all know that Simon Bridges has, at the best of times, an intermittent relationship with the truth. However you would think that during a pandemic and economic crisis the current opposition leader would pull his head in and start to do the right thing.Obviously leading by example should be ...24 hours ago
Connett promotes Riddell et al (2019) as one of the only four studies one needs to read about fluoridation. But he misunderstands and misrepresents the findings of this study. Image credit: Fluoride Action ... 1 day ago
Last month I wrote my blog on covid-19 pointing out the in our pre Alert Level 4 days that a subject no one had heard here months ago was now dominating the media. An amazing feature of this crisis is how quickly it has swept every other issue aside worldwide. ...2 days ago
Nick Wilson,1 Ayesha Verrall,1,2 Len Cook,3 Alistair Gray,3 Amanda Kvalsvig,1 Michael Baker,1 (1epidemiologists, 2infectious disease physician, 3statisticians) In this blog, we raise ideas for how New Zealand might optimise testing to both identify cases in the community as part of the COVID-19 elimination strategy, and to confirm when the virus ...2 days ago
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... North Atlantic's capacity to absorb CO2 overestimated, study suggests Research into ocean’s plankton likely to lead to ...2 days ago
As far as anyone can say, New Zeaand still has a general election scheduled for September 19 this year. The election will be accompanied by two referenda, one of which will ask voters:Do you support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill?The official campaign period for the cannabis referendum begins ...2 days ago
As the world economy slides rapidly towards deep recession there are growing calls for a Universal Benefit coming from some leftists and rightists. Now Finance Minister Grant Robertson is saying it is on the table. This article by a French party Workers Struggle provides analysis of various forms of universal ...3 days ago
This is the advice from the very top of the anti-fluoride movement – Paul Connett, director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN). Don’t worry about reading up on all the scientific information “You only have ... 3 days ago
Comfortably, in the very first round, with an impressive 56% of the votes.I wonder, did members of the Shadow Cabinet start tweeting their resignations during Starmer's victory speech, or is that only a trick the right pull?It is odd how all the talk of how the next leader "needs to ...3 days ago
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addressed the nation today about the decline in daylight New Zealand has been experiencing over the previous few months. She said “As many of you will notice, our attempts to stem the dwindling of the daylight over the last few months have been completely ...4 days ago
We must root out the traitors among us! ...5 days ago
I haven’t done a huge amount in the last few days. I’m reading The Poppy War and I’ve sort of poked at a couple of games – I started SOMA but I’m a wimp and I quit while in the first room after the brain scan. I might try it ...6 days ago
Image credit: Diamond Harbour School Blogs I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or ... 1 week ago
The following statement was released on March 28 by the National Network on Cuba, a coalition of 40 groups, based in the United States. In recent weeks, Cuba has deployed hundreds of medical providers to over a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, as well as to their neighbors in Latin ...1 week ago
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced that New Zealand will enter into transit arrangements with a range of countries to make it easier for each other’s citizens to get home. “There are millions of people around the world stranded ...21 hours ago
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Government has striven to provide calm, clear and consistent communication, including daily press conference updates from the Prime Minister. ...3 days ago
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The scale of what we face right now is unlike anything we have ever seen before. Overcoming it is our common purpose. ...2 weeks ago
More New Zealanders are taking up the chance to work in horticulture as the sector keeps New Zealanders fed and in jobs during the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our ...5 hours ago
‘Yes, it’s endearing that the PM said that the Easter Bunny is an essential service but I wondered how many kids had a hope in hell of seeing three good meals a day let alone a chocolate egg.’Read more Lockdown Letters here.Bob Dylan’s latest, Murder Most Foul, is an interesting ...22 mins ago
Covid 19 coronavirus: Expert professor says no blanket quarantine at border risks a longer lockdown; and Covid-19: 387 Air NZ pilots look set to lose jobs. ...27 mins ago
Amid COVID-19, New Zealanders disregard privacy concerns for convenience – 1.2m affected by cybercrime, 600k by identity theft Over a third of New Zealanders estimated to have experienced cyber crime in the past 12 months Highlights: More than half ...41 mins ago
The National Party leader intends to continue commuting between Tauranga and Wellington so he can do his job effectively in an unprecedented situation. ...2 hours ago
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
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Kiwi Wealth’s Customer Services Manager Matt Beach zooms in from his home in Whitby to talk to Bernard Hickey about how his team worked remotely to answer questions from Kiwi Saver customers Matt Beach has been in tricky situations before, but reconfiguring Kiwi Wealth’s call centre to work remotely and ...3 hours ago
In a bid to keep the netball community engaged and active in lockdown, Netball NZ are beaming a free fitness programme into Kiwi homes. In these strange and unsettling times, Laura Langman feels just a little funny having others inside her Sunshine Coast home. Just to make it clear, the Silver Ferns captain ...5 hours ago
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There is a trade-off: how many lives will be taken by Covid-19 and how many lives will be lost due to our attempts to prevent loss of lives from Covid-19, writes Professor Ananish Chaudhuri of the University of Auckland In his book “Risk Savvy”, the behavioural scientist Gerg Gigerenzer notes that, ...5 hours ago
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The number of new Covid-19 cases reported on Tuesday was the lowest it has been in two weeks, Marc Daalder reports There were just 54 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand as of Tuesday morning, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said. This is the lowest figure in two weeks, ...20 hours ago
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After a second revelation of a lockdown breach in as many weeks, David Clark's political career is on life support. But in truth he has never really seemed a good fit as health minister, Sam Sachdeva writes. Appearing before Parliament’s epidemic response committee hours after his latest public shaming, Health ...22 hours ago
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Gone by 2030!
Human extinction in 14 years?
Nah! Surely impossible?
Well, Guy McPherson seems to think so.
He believes we’ve entered a phase of rapid climate change, which will result in a 4 degrees C rise in temperature, and that humans have never existed beyond a 3.3 degree range above the average.
“The climate situation is much worse than I’ve led you to believe, and is accelerating far more rapidly than accounted for by models. Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledges, in a press release dated 6 June 2013, potentially lethal heat waves on the near horizon.”
“An increasing number of scientists agree that warming of 4 to 6 C causes a dead planet. And, they go on to say, we’ll be there much sooner than most people realize.”
“Director of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States John Brennan delivered a speech 16 November 2015 at the Opening Session of the Global Security Forum 2015, held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He addressed climate change, and I apologize for his misogyny in these lines: “Mankind’s relationship with the natural world is aggravating these problems and is potential source of crisis itself. Last year was the warmest on record, and this year is on track to be even warmer. Extreme weather, along with public policies affecting food and water supplies, can worsen or create humanitarian crises. Of the most immediate concern, sharply reduced crop yields in multiple places simultaneously could trigger a shock in food prices with devastating effect, especially in already-fragile regions such as Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Compromised access to food and water greatly increases the prospect for famine and deadly epidemics.”
http://guymcpherson.com/climate-chaos/see-how-far-weve-come/
(A very long article, but impeccably referenced.)
So, if this is the case, what can we expect in the next 14 or so years? All that follows is speculation: there is no way of knowing how much, or how little, may come true.
a) an increasing number of extreme weather events.
So, more droughts and, paradoxically, more floods. More heat waves and, perhaps, more severe hurricanes and cyclonic storms.
‘500 year floods’ will happen with increasing frequency, destroying crops and communities.
Severe and prolonged droughts will result in widespread crop failures.
Food shortages will occur in urban areas, resulting in riots and the breakdown of civil order. These events will be particularly acute where urbanisation is highly dense, such as in Western Europe, parts of North America, China and India.
b) an epidemic of infectious and deadly diseases
So, more infectious diseases and epidemics sweeping the world and killing millions of people.
Large areas of the tropical world will become disease-prone areas, with ‘no-go’ zones.
Agencies like NZ’s MFAT will warn people against travel to such areas, with a resulting collapse of tourism travel.
c) rising sea levels (and perhaps more rapidly than we think!)
http://www.musther.net/nzslr/
A fascinating series of maps showing NZ under various sea level scenarios. Rapid climate change and rapid sea level rises could overwhelm our efforts to keep ahead of the changes!
Billions of dollars worldwide spent on futile attempts to stop or retard coastal erosion.
The disappearance of island nations such as the Maldives and Kiribati, and of huge parts of countries like Bangladesh and the Netherlands.
Internal migration in many countries world wide, including NZ, away from low-lying coastal areas.
d) an increasing number of crop failures.
“Large-scale crop failures like the one that caused the recent Russian wheat crisis are likely to become more common under climate change due to an increased frequency of extreme weather events, a new study shows.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101007092817.htm
Increasing famines due to crop failures, with millions of deaths.
The rise and rise in the number of climate refugees as millions attempt to flee famines.
The rise of economic nationalism as countries close borders to refugees.
The collapse of tourism and its replacement by the movement of people seeking a place where existence is at least possible.
New Zealand is already perceived as a place where the worst effects of climate change might be possibly avoided: expect to see increasing numbers of ‘boat people’ [and 1%ers] trying to get here.
A resulting collapse in ‘commercial or corporate’ farming and the revision to more immediate ‘food’ crops, such as market gardens.
e) temperatures simply too hot for humans to survive.
“Extreme heat waves cause the most harm among elderly people and young children. City dwellers are at particular risk because of elevated temperatures in cities, known as the “urban heat island effect” due to the magnifying effect of paved surfaces and the lack of tree cover.
In the United States, an average of 400 deaths per year are directly related to heat, and an estimated 1,800 die from illnesses made worse by heat – including heat exhaustion, heat stroke, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease. Deadly heat waves swept across most of the nation in 2006, hitting California the hardest; the state saw an additional 16,000 emergency room visits during the two-week heat wave.”
http://www.nrdc.org/health/climate/heat.asp
So, summers simply too hot to be comfortable, with resulting deaths from heat stroke and other complications. Large parts of the world too hot to be outside during the day!
f) and by about 2020, expect to see the 1%ers begin to build climate domes to protect themselves from the consequences of their own actions!
The collapse of welfare agencies such as those associated with the United Nations – catastrophes just too big to manage or alleviate.
The subsequent collapse of globalisation and the retreat of nation states to within their own borders in an effort to feed their own people.
The rise of extremism in all its various religious and political manifestations.
Do I believe Guy McPherson? I desperately don’t want to accept his model. My God, there are kids born yesterday who will only be just 14 or so when the shit hits the fan – though it is unlikely to be that dramatic. What I do think is that life will be an increasingly difficult struggle for all humans in the near future.
The NZ government must, first of all, accept that climate change is real and that its consequences should NOT be minimised or dismissed. Second, that plans, or at least discussions, should be initiated to at least begin to prepare for the worst possible scenario.
If Guy McPherson is right, we haven’t got much time left!
Most human beings are already struggling, have been forever, and its not only due to climate
There are many more pressing threats, than the uncertain outcomes of ‘climate change’
Posts like this ignore appear to ignore the wider picture, entirely
McPherson I think cherry picks his data in a very complex science. He also creates fear based responses like geo engineering which would only compound our problems.
Geo-engineering has been developed & ‘tested’ over many decades
It was written about in mainstream science journals back in the 1950s
+1. In the past when I’ve listened to him, he comes across as someone stuck in their own version of The One True Way. He believes that humans are going to go extinct and then he presents that as fact instead of his belief. That’s dangerous, not least because if people believe him why would they change? If it’s too late, why go through the pain of shifting to a post-carbon life?
There is no doubt our situation is precarious, and we are fast running out of time. MacPherson is part of the problem not part of the solution. Tony, if you are considering he might be right, what does that mean for you?
(and is MacPherson still flying around the planet and using more than his fair share of fossil fuels to promote his work?).
I do not wish to think he’s right!
But, I also don’t think we should minimise the problem.
If Labour can run a conference on the Future of Work, which is important and worthwhile, then perhaps the Greens could sponsor a conference on the Future of the Planet!
At the very least, we should be talking strategies/thinking of ways to actively combat climate change – certainly not holding oil exploration meetings!
I note he is accused of cherry picking and it is potentially disastrous to implement unproven geo engineering responses, however, his arguments are not fundamentally refuted and it highlights the fact that what is being done is essentially nothing….is that a logical response?
Of course not. But what MacPherson is doing doesn’t help. If it’s too late, why would we change?
Well, Why are we not changing then.
Cause i look outside my window, and i don’t see the world changing. I see lip service being paid, i see trees being cut down, i see cow shit in water, fertilizers used to grow stuff where naturally it would never grow, i see bio-engineering our food is commonplace and I in the meantime the world is heating up, tick tick tick…..and the buckets flows over.
My point in all of that, if species are to go extinct due to global warming, coastal flooding, acidification of the oceans and the likes, why would we human assume that we can ‘science’ our way out of it, and why would we assume that we would not ‘go extinct’. On the ground of whats? Our intellectual superiority? Look where that got us too, ….
I don’t assume any of those things, and neither do many of the people I know.
I see things changing. People are far more aware of the problem with cc than even five years ago, and people are starting to get out there and do something. It’s not fast enough, but it’s not nothing either.
Yup watch ‘chasing ice’. A former cc sceptic scientist documenting glacial retreats.
If glaciers are the canary in the climate coalmine then the bird seems to have flown.
I would suggest that it appears the worlds governments may have concluded exactly that (@Weka)
I’m not so sure about that. I think it’s more likely they’re still in denial.
I would say good climate scientists have got better things to do than debate with a guy who says we’re all going to die within 15 years.
Lol..except some “good climate scientists” have supported his conclusions….it appears to me he is simply at the worst case scenario end of the impact spectrum.
If you consider that over 50% of the worlds population now live in cities and have something like 6 days food security then 15 years is a very long time…there are many weaknesses within our global model that could conceivably cause a rapid decline….and there is no denying the massive enviromental changes occurring as we speak, many already exceeding the predictions of the recently developed models.
Thomas Mann thinks McPherson is a bit extreme. This is worth watching too…and it doesn’t pull any punches.
‘Understanding climate change: A conversation with Michael Mann’
https://www.rt.com/shows/big-picture/321538-global-warming-climate-change/
“Thom goes over the basics of what global warming is, what’s causing it, and how we can stop it with climate scientist Michael Mann, author of the book “Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change.”
“it appears to me he is simply at the worst case scenario end of the impact spectrum.”
I would have way less of a problem with MacPherson if he was honest about that and presented his theory as a theory rather than fact.
An outstanding summary from Eve Ensler of how Trump represents the inevitable outcome of a malignant hatred fuelled political system
That’s (soon to be) Sir John Key and his legacy will be the only four term leader elected under MMP
Nightmares are free, Puckish Rogue
that should kill the reputation of the Queen’s honours system dead
… and cement it as a cronyist list of male crooks…a list made up by cronyist male crooks
…now PR get out your cooking sherry and have drink to that
If it happened that would be his only legacy.
Look on Key’s works ye mighty and despair.
Sheesh crushing wins by Sanders.
Reading more, it looks like Arizona Primary is rightly being called a Disaster. Election called while people still voting, democrats given independent voting forms, the fix in for Latino, and a really poorly run vote.
Not that it means anything – the establishment are going with Hilary. She is there only hope.
Utah
Democratic result: Bernie Sanders crushed Hillary Clinton, winning about 80 percent of the vote compared to her 20 percent or so. Again, a Sanders win was expected, but the extent of the landslide he got is surprising.
Idaho
Democratic result: Bernie Sanders’s enormous win in Idaho nearly matched his win in Utah — he got 78 percent of the vote to Clinton’s mere 21 percent. When all of Tuesday’s results are combined, Sanders will likely pick up somewhat more delegates than Clinton. But he’ll still trail her in pledged delegates overall by 300 or so.
http://www.vox.com/2016/3/22/11284564/when-do-polls-close-results-utah-arizona-idaho
http://usuncut.com/politics/bernie-blasts-arizona-voting-disaster-calls-the-fiasco-a-disgrace/
What’s the story with the independents? Is that people not registered with either party but who should be able to vote in the primaries somehow?
If I understand it right, if you are given independent papers, that’s all you can vote for.
You then can’t vote for a democrat or a republican.
hmm, ok I’ve misunderstood then. I thought I saw someone in Arizona saying they were refused a vote because they were an independent.
Yes they would not have been allowed a vote if they were registered as an Independent.
Arizona runs a “closed” system for the Presidential primary.
http://www.fairvote.org/primaries#presidential_primary_or_caucus_type_by_state
If you run your cursor over the map you will get the state details.
There’s a lot of different permutations on who can vote in which primaries – way too many to try to cover in comments here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_election
Ironic…
Syrians rescue German far-right candidate from car crash wreckage
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/22/syrians-rescue-german-far-right-stefan-jagsch-from-car-crash-wreckage?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H&utm_term=163258&subid=13842748&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
I saw the news article on TV last week, and reminded me of a visit to kiwiblog last year, nearly all the pundits were scathing of Germany taking 800k Syrian refugees, saying that it was a ticking time bomb.
Another news article about the refugees, comparing Germany and Denmark (who took only 700 or so), that Germany had received the bulk of skilled refugees, the doctors and engineers, and the refugees that went to Denmark (who legislated to take the assets of refugees) received the ones with no skills and dependent on the state.
“Rockefeller family charity to withdraw all investments in fossil fuel companies
Started by John D Rockefeller – who made his fortune from oil – the fund singled out ExxonMobil, calling the world’s largest oil company ‘morally reprehensible’”
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/23/rockefeller-fund-divestment-fossil-fuel-companies-oil-coal-climate-change
Technology to replace jobs.
This headline is no surprise. Politicians and the captains of industry promised us golden times from the ’80s, to expect more leisure time and expect a boom in service industries, as the microchips replaced the majority of jobs as we know/knew them.
Of course, the reality has been redundancies and a general derision of the now growing pool of unemployed by those same captains of industry and their cheerleaders (conservative governments world wide.)
So here’s a thought. Every time a company installs a new computer system, it must declare how many human positions it replaces and the company must be levied the equivalent in PAYE losses for the lifetime of that system and any subsequent system developments.
@Logie(7
If the government had a clue they would be using Technology to create jobs, not replace jobs!
We could have a silicon valley here, we could have incredible engineering here, look at climate change solutions and patent them, etc etc.
Instead the National government uses low wages and lazy immigration to keep making more stuff, cheaper and with government subsidised pollution and exporting it to someone else who adds the value.
QFT
This is what I mean by increased productivity developing our economy. It’s also this automation that kills economies of scale.
saveNZ
“If the government had a clue they would be using Technology to create jobs, not replace jobs!”
The National govt has never been interested in Job creation, that’s a job for private industry, they just want to facilitate the businesses through low wages and conditions, only problem there is that the this model only serves to increase unemployment with less revenue circulating through the economy.
There hasn’t been a National govt in the last 30 years that has provided low unemployment, high unemployment is a National party strategy, keep the serfs down.
I take it that you actually want to prevent that leisure time and improved living standards that automation promise us?
I want the technologies that are increasing the dividends being enjoyed by shareholders) to support the increasing pool of “the great unwashed” that they are creating.
Those being made redundant by automation are still being told to “get on your bike” and look for work by those very same shareholders.
But your policy won’t do that. Instead it’ll force us to more hard labour.
Yes, I’m aware of that. The problem is neither the workers nor the automation but the rentier capitalists. Which means that we need to get rid of the rentier capitalists.
+100…YUS….and artists
cheers draco, should be compulsary viewing for anyone opposed to the ubi.
went to the presentation he gave in wellys for the fabian society.
it aint a left or right thing.
it aint even an economic thing.
it’s a tool for reducing inequality and perhaps the true way that a rising tide lifts all boats.
+100 DTB and gsays… Yes ( now that I have had time to view this, and not be distracted by cats)
… absolutely agree this is compulsory viewing especially for young people , women in unpaid caring work, the unemployed, artists…and what is left of the working class
…in fact everyone who is not part of the 0.01 % crooks who own the wealth and control the people and the planet
Professor Guy Standing ( Professor for Economic Security , University of Bath) is an articulate advocate for why the precariat absolutely requires a basic income …and for a redistribution of wealth
He is really the equivalent of the old trade unionist and socialist…calling passionately for a return to an egalitarian, compassionate, just and humanitarian society…dignity and freedom for ALL
The fatal attraction of rats and cats,and the limitations under the policeman’s hats.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160323142328.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1690701/
interesting …but does this mean that human males are more likely to have toxoplasmosis?…because they are overwhelmingly the ones who have the road rage in my experience
‘People with rage disorder twice as likely to have latent toxoplasmosis parasite infection’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage
…”A number of studies have found that individuals with road rage were predominantly young (33 years of age on average) and male (96.6%).[3]”
Sansone, Randy A.; Sansone, Lori A. (July 2010). “Road Rage: What’s Driving It?”. Psychiatry 7 (7): 14–18. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2922361/
Chooky
…”A number of studies have found that individuals with road rage were predominantly young (33 years of age on average) and male (96.6%).[3]”
I had one last weekend, the guy stopped at a Stop sign in front of me and got out his car and tried to give me an earful, he falls directly into the group listed above (33 and male), he was an incompetent, inconsiderate driver who thought the road belongs to him alone, his girl friend got out of the car, I could see the embarrassment on her face as she gestured an apology for her boyfriends behavior, and asked him to get back in the car.
Iv’e had several other incidents on the road, and each time it’s been a guy about 33, they seem to have serious anger issues.
re..”a guy about 33″…yes I think so…at the invitation of the lawyer concerned, I once watched a prosecuting lawyer in Melbourne make the case against an Australian male in this age group….the accused had killed someone with a bottle in a fit of road rage…he would have been in his late twenties early thirties…and in my experience they do seem to be the most impatient and inconsiderate drivers… who speed, overtake dangerously and cut people off…in the USA my friend tells me you don’t engage with them or give them the fingers because they are likely to get a gun out of the glove box
…i guess we are rather better off in New Zealand
mmmeeeeoooow
‘Cuckoo for Kitty Cats? You Should Be! Health Benefits of Cats’
http://www.crazycatladyconcoctions.com/health-benefits-of-cats/
Free publicity for the National Party courtesy of the fuzz.
“Police are investigating a complaint that Whanganui MP Chester Borrows drove his car into an anti-TPP protester”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/299816/mp-accused-of-driving-into-protester
At minimum dangerous driving. Obvious assault whether physical contact made or not. Assault with weapon. This is very serious.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11611165
No it’s not. This is exactly the outcome she was after.
Who is “she” ?
Hayden please have some sense. The video evidence establishes that the car driver could have stopped. It shows that the car driver did not stop. Intended action. Did not stop. Resulting assault with weapon. Serious. Don’t fret……it just shows Man-Child PM’s “higher standards”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7415536/More-than-a-lawman
The cabinet minister was Bill Birch. Have any labour Party done it too?
The key TMM…….driver didn’t see him. Look at the video here. The car nearly stopped, then proceeded. Having seen the people Driver nearly stopped the car. Driver then stopped stopping the car. Thereby wilfully applying force to the person of another. Mr Car Driver has no right to icebreaker his way through human beings, using a weapon and causing injury. Ensuring Paula Benefit’s timely delivery to airport is not a special reason in terms of any applicable law. This is very serious offending ! Demonstrable of Key’s “higher standards” governance.
This ain’t far from Trump’s campaign manager roughing up some female reporter.
Paula: “Ooh look protesters……quickly, run them over !”
Chester: “Right on future leader, with you all the way !”
This infamy done with Paula Benefit in front passenger seat. More and more they are caracitures of themselves. A power clique rotting away…….
Rotting away, polling nearly 50%.
And stand for nothing…apart from greed.
Which only translates to about 1/3 of the country when you take into account non voters… who are actually people too ya know.
+1
The Herald allows Katherine Rich to pimp for Big Sugar.
How does she sleep at night, shilling for greedy corporates who care more about profit that people?
Does she have a conscience?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11610731
Whatever…….the masters of the universe they bloatedly perceive themselves as. Rotting away. Adored by slimey little people below them who luv the E! Channel of it. It’s not completely unlike the Trump/Trumpites picture.
Just listen to yourself mate!! Have you had your pills today?
Nah nah Hayden bro’……..never meant to say you’re with the slime bro’…….nah nah no way bro’. Eckshully…….why fucking not ?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/299770/mayoral-candidate-pulled-up-over-signs
Right wingers are incabable of winning an honest contest it would seem.
Perhaps she gets her arrogance from the Slippery one.
With Easter almost upon us, here’s an interesting fact:
The Fairtrade label on a Dairy Milk bar is no guarantee it does not contain cocoa grown and harvested using exploitative child labour.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/78235708/cadbury-no-longer-offers-fairtrade-dairy-milk-easter-eggs
Sounds like false advertising to me.
Cadbury and mondelez are massive enough that if they made a decision to genuinely go to fair trade cocoa, it would shift the entire market, FT production would soar, and FT cocoa would become the norm, not the minority.
And even with half measures, they reckon they can’t monitor their logistics chain to keep the two seperate? Yeah, right…
“Sounds like false advertising to me.”
Indeed. Very misleading. But, evidently legal.
Pretty good rule of thumb, if a big company is a doing ethics on the side, it’s unlikely to be ethical. Same applies to free range chooks too, companies that have a free range brand and conventional brand. Better to buy from the people who genuinely give a shit.
Cadbury in the UK,
Bought a 79p Dairy Milk? You just paid more than @CadburyUK paid in corporation tax for a whole year. #taxavoidance
https://twitter.com/OLGCurtis/status/712372164347953152
From the stuff link
“First and foremost, farmers must begin to make a better living from cocoa by increasing their productivity,” Melo said.
Says it all really.
Soooo…. the FBI needs the Israelis to crack an iphone but NSA can do it anyways…does this mean the FBI and the NSA are not talking to each other ….and does it mean the Israelis control NSA?
‘FBI using Israeli firm to crack San Bernardino iPhone without Apple’
https://www.rt.com/usa/336948-fbi-israel-crack-iphone/
…but Snowden who worked for NSA argues they can do it already:
‘That’s horse sh*t!’: FBI can already unlock iPhone without Apple’s help – Snowden
https://www.rt.com/usa/335054-snowden-apple-fbi-fight/
…and from Kathryn Ryan and Robbie Allan RNZ
… “what’s all this fuss about unlocking the terrorist’s iPhone?”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201794523/new-technology-commentator-robbie-allan
Bloody Oz racism…how dare they ?!…time to boycott OZ banks!
‘Detainee accuses prison guards of assault’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/299840/detainee-accuses-prison-guards-of-assault
“Former New Zealand soldier Ko Haapu, who has arrived back in New Zealand, says he was assaulted by guards while in detention in Australia.”
BBC told to stop reporting/filming in UK parliament buildings a protest against disability cuts,
Poor old David Cameron, he’s so knackered he has to go to Spain to recuperate from the disastrous week he’s had.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/12202655/David-Cameron-flies-to-Spain-after-a-tough-week-telling-his-own-MPs-he-needs-more-time-to-think.html
Thanks ScottGN-
To paraphrase ,’ Poor old John Key, he’s so knackered he has to go to Hawaii? to recuperate from the disastrous week he’s had.’
Someone tell Key that the reason for the big poll number in the second flag vote was nothing to do with people being interested in change.
It was the majority telling him that they are sick of his corporate driven lifestyle.
No-one gives a monkeys what his cronies think. They don’t give a hoot what the sports personalities think. Colin Meads and the like have had their day. They have been rewarded with their honours and that should have been enough.
Congratulations to the Kiwi battler.
If Russian wheat crops have failed so badly and if they continue to do so maybe there is hope for dairy to convert back to wheat on the canterbury plains…
This.
In 1976, Republican Governor Jay Hammond started Alaska’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF), which has come to be called the Alaska Permanent Fund. The way it works is Alaska has a big pile of money that it uses to buy up the means of production (sometimes called stocks and bonds). Those investments yield returns and revenue for the state. Right now, Alaska plows that revenue into its universal basic income (UBI) program, which is called the Permanent Fund Dividend. The way it works is the state sends a check to every single Alaskan each year. Last year, it was $900, but in better years, it has been as high as $2000. For a family of four, that’s a $3,600 and $8,000 income boost respectively.
The Alaska communist story gets more interesting than that though. The way Alaska builds the principal of the fund is in line with another of Myerson’s proposals: take back the land. You see, the oil wealth in Alaska happened to reside underneath public land. Instead of doing the red-blooded American thing and just giving all of that natural wealth that nobody creates away to oil companies, Alaska held on to its ownership and collects royalties from the oil. Those royalties are plowed into its SWF. So what you have in Alaska is a state that is leveraging publicly-owned natural resources to build a SWF that pays out a UBI. Or as conservatives on twitter call it: a communist hellscape.
http://www.demos.org/blog/1/5/14/spectre-haunting-alaska%E2%80%94-spectre-communism