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.
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Is the Gender Identity Movement a movement for human liberation, or is it a regressive movement which undermines women’s liberation and promotes sexist stereotypes? Should biological males be allowed to play in women’s sport, use women-only spaces (public toilets, changing rooms, other facilities), be able to have access to everything ...
Ian Whittaker, Nottingham Trent University and Gareth Dorrian, University of BirminghamSpace exploration achieved several notable firsts in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial human spaceflight and returning samples of an asteroid to Earth. The coming year is shaping up to be just as interesting. Here are some of ...
Michael Head, University of SouthamptonThe UK has become the first country to authorise the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for public use, with roll-out to start in the first week of 2021. This vaccine is the second to be authorised in the UK – following the Pfizer vaccine. The British government ...
So, Boris Johnson has been footering about in hospitals again. We should be grateful, perhaps, that on this occasion the Clown-in-Chief is only (probably) getting in the way and causing distractions, rather than taking up a bed, vital equipment and resources and adding more strain and danger to exhausted staff.Look at ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... SkS in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Many Scientists Now Say Global Warming Could Stop Relatively Quickly After Emissions Go to ZeroThat’s one of several recent ...
The situation in the UK is looking catastrophic.Cases: over *70,000* people who were tested in England on 29th December tested positive. This is *not* because there were more tests on that day. It *is* 4 days after Christmas though, around when people who caught Covid on Christmas Day might start ...
by Don Franks For five days over New Year weekend, sixteen prisoners in the archaic pre WW1 block of Waikeria Prison defied authorities by setting fires and occupying the building’s roof. They eventually agreed to surrender after intervention from Maori party co-leader Rawiri Waititi. A message from the protesting men had stated: ...
Lost Opportunity: The powerful political metaphor of the Maori Party leading the despised and marginalised from danger to safety, is one Labour could have pre-empted by taking the uprising at Waikeria Prison much more seriously. AS WORD OF Rawiri Waititi’s successful intervention in the Waikeria Prison stand-off spreads, the Maori ...
Dear friends, it’s been a covidious year,A testing time for all of us here—Citizens of an island nationIn a state of managed isolation,A team (someone said) five million strong,Making it up as we went along:Somehow in typical Kiwi fashion,Without any wild excess ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Dec 27, 2020 through Sat, Jan 2, 2021Editor's Choice7 Graphics That Show Why the Arctic Is in Trouble Arctic Sea Ice: NSIDC It’s no secret that the Arctic is ...
One of the books I read in 2020 was She, by H. Rider Haggard (1887). I thoroughly enjoyed it, as being an exemplar of a good old-fashioned adventure story. I also noted with amusement ...
Scottish doctor Malcolm Kendrick looks at the pandemic and the responses to it 30th December 2020 I have not written much about COVID19 recently. What can be said? In my opinion the world has simply gone bonkers. The best description can be found in Dante’s Inferno, written many hundreds of ...
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 the numbers seem very low please check this out. After correcting send me the URL for your ...
As we welcome in the new year, our focus is on continuing to keep New Zealanders safe and moving forward with our economic recovery. There’s a lot to get on with, but before we say a final goodbye to 2020, here’s a quick look back at some of the milestones ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has added her warm congratulations to the New Zealanders recognised for their contributions to their communities and the country in the New Year 2021 Honours List. “The past year has been one that few of us could have imagined. In spite of all the things that ...
Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment David Parker has congratulated two retired judges who have had their contributions to the country and their communities recognised in the New Year 2021 Honours list. The Hon Tony Randerson QC has been appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the New Year’s Honours List 2021 highlights again the outstanding contribution made by Pacific people across Aotearoa. “We are acknowledging the work of 13 Pacific leaders in the New Year’s Honours, representing a number of sectors including health, education, community, sports, the ...
The Government’s investment in digital literacy training for seniors has led to more than 250 people participating so far, helping them stay connected. “COVID-19 has meant older New Zealanders are showing more interest in learning how to use technology like Zoom and Skype so they can to keep in touch ...
A nationwide poll has found majority support for the government to continue to closely monitor abortions in New Zealand and the reasons for it, despite the Ministry of Health recently suggesting that there is not a use for collecting much of this information. ...
The out-of-control growth in gangs, gun crime, and violent gang activity is exposing our communities to dangerous levels of violence that will inevitably end in tragedy, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “The recent incidents of people being shot and ...
Successive governments have paid lip service to our productivity challenge but have failed to deliver. It's time to establish a Productivity Council charged with prioritising efforts. ...
Understanding the connection between chronic fatigue syndrome and ‘long Covid’ might be helpful in treating symptoms that doctors will find all too easy to dismiss.When people began to report signs of “long Covid”, characterised by a lack of full recovery from the virus and debilitating fatigue, I recognised their stories. ...
Nadine Anne Hura, who never considered herself an artist, reflects on what art and making has taught her.I couldn’t clean or cook or wash the clothes, but I could sew. That’s a lie, I’m a terrible sewer, but I left work early to fossick around in the $1 bin of ...
Summer reissue: In the final episode of this season of Bad News, Alice is joined by Billy T award winner Kura Forrester to look at how well we’re honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2020.First published September 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The ...
Lucy Revill’s The Residents is a blog about daily life in Wellington that has morphed into a stylish, low-key coffee-table book featuring interviews and photographic portraits of 38 Wellingtonians. In this extract, Revill profiles Eboni Waitere, owner and executive director of Huia Publishers. The Residents features names like Monique Fiso ...
Pacific Media Watch correspondent The pro-independence conflict in West Papua with a missionary plane reportedly being shot down at Intan Jaya has stirred contrasting responses from the TNI/POLRI state sources, church leaders and an independence leader. A shooting caused a plane to catch fire on 6 January 2021 in the ...
“Last year ACT warned that rewarding protestors at Ihumātao with taxpayer money would promote further squatting. We just didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it is in Shelly Bay” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “The prosperity of all ...
Our kindly PM registered her return to work as leader of the nation with yet another statement on the Beehive website, the second in two days (following her appointment of Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council on Wednesday). It’s great to know we don’t have to check with ...
A Pūhoi pub is refusing to remove a piece of memorabilia bearing the n-word from its walls. Dr Lachy Paterson looks at the history of the word here, and New Zealand’s complicity in Britain’s shameful slave trading past.Content warning: This article contains racist language and images.On a pub wall in ...
Supermarket shoppers looking for citrus are seeing a sour trend at the moment – some stores are entirely tapped out of lemons. But why? Batches of homemade lemonade will be taking a hit this summer, with life not giving New Zealand shoppers lemons. Prices are high at supermarkets and grocers that ...
You’re born either a cheery soul or a gloomy one, reckons Linda Burgess – but what happens when gene pools from opposite ends of the spectrum collide?In our shoeboxes of photos that we have to sort out before we die or get demented – because who IS that kid on ...
Summer reissue: Prisoner voting rights are something that few in government seem particularly motivated to do anything about. Could a catchy charity single help draw attention to the issue?First published September 1, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Hundreds more Cook Islanders are expected to begin criss-crossing the Pacific, Air NZ will triple the number of flights to Rarotonga next week, and about 300 managed isolation places will be freed up for Kiwis returning from other parts of the world. When Thomas Tarurongo Wynne took a job in Wellington at ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Ena Manuireva in Auckland It seems a long time ago – some 124 days – since Mā’ohi Nui deplored its first covid-19 related deaths of an elderly woman on 11 September 2020 followed by her husband just hours later, both over the age of 80. The local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral research associate, UNSW A global coalition of more than 50 countries have this week pledged to protect over 30% of the planet’s lands and seas by the end of this decade. Their reasoning is clear: we need greater protection ...
The Reserve Bank Governor’s apology and claim he will ‘own the issue’ is laughable given the lack of answers and timing of its release. Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union said: “It’s been five days since they came clean, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Kokshagina, Researcher – Innovation & Entrepreneurship, RMIT University Are too many online meetings and notifications getting you down? Online communication tools – from email to virtual chat and video-conferencing – have transformed the way we work. In many respects they’ve made ...
The Reserve Bank acknowledges information about some of its stakeholders may have been breached in a malicious data hack. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has commissioned an independent inquiry into how stakeholders' information was compromised when hackers breached a file sharing service used by the bank. “We ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland This story contains spoilers for Ammonite Palaeontologist Mary Anning is known for discovering a multitude of Jurassic fossils from Lyme Regis on England’s Dorset Coast from the age of ten in 1809. ...
A tribute to the sitcoms of old? In the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Yup. Sam Brooks reviews the audacious WandaVision.Nothing sends a chill up my spine like the phrase “Marvel Cinematic Universe”. Since launching in 2008 with Iron Man, the MCU has become a shambling behemoth, with over 23 films (not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University The alt-right, QAnon, paramilitary and Donald Trump-supporting mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6 claimed they were only doing what the so-called “founding fathers” of the US had done in ...
The Point of Order Ministerial Workload Watchdog and our ever-vigilant Trough Monitor were both triggered yesterday by an item of news from the office of Conservation Minister Kititapu Allan. The minister was drawing attention to new opportunities to dip into the Jobs for Nature programme (and her statement was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Kupz, Senior Research Fellow, James Cook University In July 1921, a French infant became the first person to receive an experimental vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), after the mother had died from the disease. The vaccine, known as Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is ...
The first Friday Poem for 2021 is by Wellington poet Rebecca Hawkes.While you were partying I studied the bladeI your ever-loving edgelord God-emperorof the bot army & bitcoin mine subsistingon an IV drip of gamer girl bathwaterfinally my lonelinessis your responsibility………. you seeI need a girlfriend assigned to me by the ...
The arming of police officers in Canterbury was inevitable with the growing numbers and brazenness of the gangs across the country – this should be a permanent step, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is unfortunate that we have come to the point ...
Celebrations in Aotearoa New Zealand to mark the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will begin on Thursday 21 January with ICAN Aotearoa New Zealand’s Wellington and online event, and continue on Friday ...
Hardly anyone is using their Covid Tracer app. Something needs to change.As the mercury approaches 30°C in Aotearoa, there is a good deal of slipping and slopping, but, let’s face it, piss-all scanning. As few as around 500,000 QR codes are being scanned by users of the NZ Covid Tracer ...
On the East Coast, a group of Māori-owned enterprises is innovating to create new revenue streams while doing what they love.New Zealand’s remote and sparsely populated regions are typically not the best places to create thriving brick-and-mortar businesses. In small communities miles away from any major centres, there are so ...
As we reach the height of summer, it’s not too late to do a safety check on your gas bottle. The Environmental Protection Authority’s Safer Homes programme has some tips and tricks to keep in mind before you fire up the grill. "If you’ve ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold by Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph, $37)If you’re in any way unsure about ...
“We may as well knock on the gang headquarters around this country and tell them we all give up," says Darroch Ball co-leader of Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is simply outrageous that violent offender, James Tuwhangai, has been released from ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Ireland, Israel, and Lebanon. Chart by Keith Rankin. The countries with the most recent large outbreaks of Covid19 are those with large numbers of recent recorded cases, but yet to record the deaths that most likely will result. In this camp, this time, are Ireland, Israel ...
RuPaul is in Aotearoa, kicking back in managed isolation to await the filming of an Australasian version of her hugely popular reality show Drag Race. But not everyone is happy about, explains Eli Matthewson. The world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul, is in New Zealand, the government confirmed earlier this week ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Rhetoric plays an important role in tax debate and therefore tax policy. If your side manages to gain traction in the public imagination with labels such as “death ...
*This article was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission* Whoever leads the Republican Party post-Trump will need to consider how they will maintain the rabid support of his “base”, while working to regain more moderate voters who defected from the party in the 2020 election. In a historic ...
Covid-19 fears accelerated banks’ moves towards cashless transactions. But the Reserve Bank is fighting to protect cash, and those who still use it. ...
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The electricity sector, Government and people of Southland are rejoicing after Tiwai Point aluminium smelter owner Rio Tinto announced the major industrial would be open until the end of 2024, Marc Daalder reports Stakeholders in the electricity sector and across Southland are celebrating the extension of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter's ...
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Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By Arturo López-LevyOakland, CaliforniaUnfortunately, the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters, encouraged by the Inciter-in-Chief, will not be the last act of mischief. Trump is insisting on causing as much damage as possible to the interests and values ...
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