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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First way – the state, Keynesian demand management, the working class as the base of support. Second way – free-market, reduce the scope of the state and cut taxes, relative indifference to social justice. Third Way – well that's the ...
E15 is a London-based housing campaign that arose from the eviction of a group of young working-class mothers from a homeless hostel in 2013. Cat Wiener, through her work with the Revolutionary Communist Group, helped get Focus E15 up and ...
Going Upstairs: If we accept the LGBTQI+ community’s untrammelled right to advance their understanding of love, then we must also accept Israel Folau’s right to articulate his own simplistic and inadequate interpretation of the Christian religion.ONE OF THE FIRST things ...
So, some Labour MPs and peers have written Corbyn a letter complaining about the re-admission of loudmouth MP Chris Williamson, who had been suspended over allegations he made anti-Semitic comments.Never mind the Guardian's typically biased headline that Corbyn is facing ...
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...
Million-dollar start to gun collection eventsPolice Minister Stuart Nash says a solid start has been made to the gun buyback and amnesty after the first weekend of community collection events. “Gun owners will walk away with more than ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash has praised Police and gun owners after the first firearms collection event saw a busy turnout at Riccarton Racecourse in Christchurch. “Police officers and staff have put a tremendous effort into planning and logistics for the ...
Seventy-eight new Police constables are heading out to the regions following today’s graduation of a new recruit wing from the Royal New Zealand Police College. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the record high number of new Police officers being recruited, ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa will take legal action over the lengthy delay in implementing pay increases for teachers. Novopay announced yesterday that teachers would have to wait until 11 September to see pay increases that they won when they settled ...
EDS has filed its submission on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. The Bill sets targets for greenhouse gas reductions, provides for the government to set a series of carbon budgets, and sets up a new, independent, Climate ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has identified an absurd case of mission creep at Wellington City Council: the decision to spend $21,750 on two Consumer NZ investigations into different brands of bike lights. ...
The Motor Trade Association is welcoming the release of the Government’s new draft road safety strategy. MTA Chief Executive Craig Pomare says the association is pleased to see vehicle safety has been made a priority in the Road to Zero ...
The Department of Conservation continue to repeat the same old story about attacks on staff and how it is affecting their role in protecting our precious wildlife. NZ herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249704 ...
The government's silence on the fact that the country's second-largest milk processor is on the brink of becoming 25% Chinese Government owned has been deafening. ...
School Strike 4 Climate NZ welcomes the coalition Government’s endeavour to take action on reducing agricultural emissions but is disappointed at the weak stance that the Government has taken on the issue. ...
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has issued a formal warning under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) to seven reporting entities within the Regus Management Limited (RNZML) designated business ...
The Northland Regional Council (NRC) has voted to exclude all GM/GE precautionary provisions in its regional plan, despite years of community engagement showing support for such protection. There is a sense of betrayal following the way the NRC Chairman ...
New Zealand’s ‘mission-driven’ charities working in international aid are showing early signs of changing the way they work, in particular prioritising building the capacity and resilience of local communities to do their own development. ...
Teachers will have to wait until 11 September for pay increases won as part of their collective agreement negotiations settled in June, according to an update sent to schools today from Novopay. ...
July 16 (BusinessDesk) - Energy Minister Megan Woods says the government “won’t die in a ditch” if its goal of 100 percent renewable electricity generation isn't reached by 2035. ...
The Electricity Networks Association (ENA) is welcoming the Government’s response to the Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC) Report released today. Graeme Peters, chief executive of the ENA, said one of the key recommendations, endorsed by the ...
An article* published this month in the Journal of Health Organization and Management raises questions over the way health board members are elected and whether the boards are even needed. ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa's kindergarten teacher members will vote on a proposed settlement to their collective agreement after four days of negotiations with the Ministry of Education and kindergarten employers. ...
Vector has today welcomed the ICCC’s report on Accelerated Electrification . Vector agrees that accelerating the electrification of transport and process heat will play a major role in reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Initiatives to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Porirua City Council to cancel its underwriting of a proposed Canadian-led privately owned adventure park slated for public land after a similar project created a huge liability for Christchurch ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero welcome the Interim Climate Change Committee’s (ICCC’s) reports: Accelerated Electrification and Action on agricultural emissions ; which were finally released by the Government today, almost three months ...
Fish & Game New Zealand notes the announcement today that the Government and the intensive agriculture leadership have reached a ‘historic consensus’ and are exploring using a formal sector-government agreement instead of bringing agriculture ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report on Accelerated Electrification was released today by the Minister for Energy and Resources, Hon Dr Megan Woods. ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report Action on agricultural emissions was released today by the Minister for Climate Change, Hon James Shaw and the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O’Connor. ...
Please find attached embargoed copies of two media statements from the Interim Climate Change Committee http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1907/Embargoed_Interim_Climate_Change_Committee_Accelerated_electrification_MEDIA_STATEMENT.pdf ...
Greenpeace Executive Director, Dr Russel Norman, has reacted with disbelief that the Government’s latest climate proposal includes an option for dairy to voluntarily deal with their emissions over the next six years. ...
This week’s “Youth Parliament” is an expensive waste of time that promotes taxpayer-funded junketeering, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . “We shouldn’t be training kids on the joys of the trough,” says Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones admitted on Q+A tonight that the state of New Zealand’s infrastructure planning is “dismal” and the government needs to get on with building “rather than writing more reports about it.” ...
DairyNZ has released its submission on the Zero Carbon Bill and is calling on the Government to revise the methane target in the Bill to one that does not put at risk New Zealand’s world-leading dairy sector. Farm profit could ...
July 15 (BusinessDesk) - Foreign Minister Winston Peters will have bi-lateral meetings with two of US president Donald Trump's most hawkish defence and security advisers in a five day trip to Washington D.C. ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero are calling for Members of Parliament to show political courage as the Zero Carbon Bill goes through the crucial Select Committee process. ...
Annual net migration was provisionally estimated at 50,200 (± 800) in the year ended December 2018 compared with 52,600 in the previous year, Stats NZ said today. ...
New Zealanders have the opportunity to contribute to the government’s Review of Retirement Income Policies, including questions around Superannuation and KiwiSaver. Submissions are now open for the Review, being run by the Commission for Financial ...
Yesterday at Mataatua Marae the Tamaki Makaurau Electorate of the Māori party congratulated Rangi Mclean who was appointed to the Vice president Tāne role of the party nation-wide executive. ...
The funding crisis facing the disability sector has become more urgent following the disturbing news that the Ministry of Health will not increase contract prices for providers this year, the New Zealand Disability Support Network said today. ...
The growing number of working poor is an alarming indicator that the regulatory Minimum Wage does not cut it said Closing the Gap spokesperson Peter Malcolm. ...
Historic hui gives overwhelming agreement for a Māori Inquiry The inquiry into state run Oranga Tamariki will be led by whanau, kaimahi and Māori leaders. ...
Drug infiltration into our maximum security prisons is putting prisoners and staff at unnecessary risk, and one tool that would be of huge benefit is a full body scanner. ...
The Socialist Equality Group is hosting a protest rally in Cuba Street, Wellington (at the intersection with Left Bank) on Sunday 14 July at 2:30pm to oppose the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning, and to ...
Simon Shepherd: The National Party proposed its own medicinal cannabis scheme last year. Its Health Spokesperson, Michael Woodhouse, says it shouldn’t have been ignored. So I began by asking him what his problem is with the government’s proposed regime. ...
Countries around the world are also dealing with medicinal cannabis. Britain legalised it last year, but the uptake has been slow. Neurologist Professor Mike Barnes wrote the report that convinced UK lawmakers it was a good idea. He's coming here ...
Simon Shepherd: Green MP Chloe Swarbrick’s name has become synonymous with drug reform, so following years of campaigning for safe, public access to medicinal cannabis, what does she think of the government’s new plan? Well, Chloe Swarbrick joins me ...
Social Credit is calling for a Government enquiry into the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board over it's handling of the Sarah Preece attack in 2017 and its subsequent report. ...
An overwhelming response sees Māori from across the country pouring into Māngere today. The call for action came from Māori leadership concerned with the practice of tamariki removals by the state. Whānau, experts, and highly skilled Māori from ...
Responding the announcement of a $2.37 million loan from the Provincial Growth Fund to a Northland berry farm, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says: “Why couldn’t this business get a loan from the bank? If no bank was ...
Multicultural NZ is delighted to congratulate former Gisborne Mayor, Meng Foon, who has been appointed as New Zealand’s Race Relations Commissioner. ...
Award-winning broadcaster, Waatea has been selected by North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency to exclusively livestream the historic Māori-led Inquiry on Oranga Tamariki. ...
“The Peace Movement sends an urgent call to Winston Peters to reject any US demands for New Zealand participation in patrolling the Persian Gulf and Straits of Hormuz. New Zealand should have nothing to do with any war on the ...
Figure 10: A Kanak voter wearing a ‘Kanaky New Caledonia’ flag tee shirt at the Loyalty Islands special polling booth in Vallee du Tir, Noumea. Image: David Robie David Robie Wednesday, July 17, 2019 Abstract The French-ruled ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darren Paul Fisher, Head of Directing, Department of Film, Screen and Creative Media, Bond University Something incredible might be happening to James Bond: a separation, a personal Brexit of sorts. According to ...
Depending on which coalition party you ask, the Government is either introducing a new way to fund community wellbeing or using the same funds to tackle organised crime. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Hepburn, Director of the Centre for Energy and Natural Resources Law, Deakin Law School, Deakin University A freedom of information request has revealed Adani sought the names of CSIRO and Geoscience ...
For generations, women have done the heavy lifting in the fight for social change. What will it take to get more men to give a fuck about their children’s future?At every question and answer session I attend, I get a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa Kang, Associate professor, University of Technology Sydney I Need to Know is an ongoing series for teens in search of reliable, confidential advice about life’s tricky questions. If you’re a teen, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katarina Miljkovic, ARC DECRA fellow, Curtin University Look up on a clear night and you can see some circular formations on the face of our lunar neighbour. These are impact craters, circular ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Wolpe, Non-resident senior fellow, United States Study Centre, University of Sydney The past three days in US politics have been very difficult – and ugly. President Donald Trump chosen to exploit ...
Today is the 5oth anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, the first spaceflight to land humans on the Moon. Astronomer Richard Easther looks back. One of my earliest memories is standing with my father on the ...
In a world of racist tweeting presidents, climate crisis and cricketing travesty, what you need in your life is this palliative conversation about Dunedin’s Baldwin Street losing its crown as world’s steepest street to Ffordd Pen Llech in WalesThe slope ...
Last night on The Block NZ, something incredible happened: James Reid from The Feelers showed up. Every now and again, something completely unexpected happens on reality television that shakes you awake from your slack-jawed couch coma. It’s that jolt of electricity ...
Sam Brooks, lifelong gamer, lost himself on a virtual battlefield in the days after his mother’s death. Here, he reviews a book by a kindred spirit: Lost in A Good Game: Why We Play Video Games and What They Can ...
Laura Vincent reviews Golden Boy, a new sitcom from Three skewering small town New Zealand and the colourful characters who populate it.From Twin Peaks to all the shows that copied Twin Peaks, small towns have long been fertile ground for television ...
Bernard Hickey explains why New Zealand's housing market bubble has become armour plated and why it is proving almost impossible to burst, despite the predictions of overseas experts. ...
The government’s reluctance to front up about support for mentally traumatised mosque shooting survivors has shined a spotlight on the limitations of ACC, writes RNZ’s Veronica Schmidt.The difficulty with being held up as a symbol of empathy and compassion is ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Two school girls from East Java, Aeshnina Azzahra (alias Nina), 12, and Zahira Zade, 11, have sent hand-written protest letters to US President Donald Trump over the dumping of toxic plastic waste in Indonesia. The ...
Jacinda Ardern needs to make a stand for the things she says her Government believes in, despite the public preference for strong, dominant and often otherwise repugnant politicians. ...
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 contentClimate change Zane Small (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern defends ‘laughable’ ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Options for getting agriculture into ETS unveiled, leading academic savages billion trees programme, and OIO approves Westland Milk sale. A historic day for climate change policy in New Zealand, with agriculture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sumeet Walia, Senior Lecturer and Vice Chancellor’s Fellow, RMIT University What better way to build smarter computer chips than to mimic nature’s most perfect computer – the human brain? Being able to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Twomey, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Sydney Debates about constitutional change in Australia inevitably raise the poor success rate of referendums. Only eight out of 44 attempts have ever succeeded ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Whitehouse, Bennett Chair of Autism, Telethon Kids Institute, Univeristy of Western Australia, University of Western Australia Therapies given to infants before they receive a diagnosis of autism may lead to important ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emily Fobert, Research Associate, Flinders University Clownfish achieved worldwide fame following Finding Nemo, but it turns out these fish don’t do so well in the spotlight. Our research, published in Biology Letters, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Pollack, Associate Professor, University of Sydney Someone we know recently told us about a team-building event that proved anything but. The chief executive who arranged it loved mountain biking. So he ...
Oskar Howell travels to Otorohanga to interview Danielle Hawkins, author of When It All Turns to Custard, over a delicious two-course home-cooked lunch. ...
Dreamed of traveling long term, but at a loss about how to afford it? Here’s how Kristin Hall and her partner managed it (spoiler: involves a lot of brown rice and cabbage).*Scroll to the end for an important note about ...
Daniel Ziffer’s rollicking account of Australia’s Royal Commission into banking is a jaw-dropping laundry list of scandals, heartbreaking stories, and ‘gotcha’ moments.The Haynes Commission was set up in 2017 to inquire into and report on misconduct in the Australian banking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Harry Hobbs, Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad has announced that the state will begin a conversation about a pathway to treaty with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mair Underwood, Lecturer in Anthropology and Sociology, The University of Queensland Months after a public breakup with her husband, the politician Barnaby Joyce, Natalie Joyce made news when she displayed her “new” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brittany Huber, Postdoctoral researcher, Swinburne University of Technology Most (80%) Australian parents worry children spend too much time with screens. But what children are doing on and off screen matters more than ...
A local photographer has posted emails from Warner Brothers NZ requesting they work “unpaid” on Married At First Sight NZ. A wedding photographer has posted emails from Warner Brothers NZ on Reddit after the production company requested that they work for ...
How ANZ Bank fought for more than three years to keep its role in New Zealand’s biggest Ponzi scheme quiet and stop a regulator telling out-of-pocket investors the details. ...
Sam Brooks reviews Mean Mums, the new sitcom from Three that manages to make putting a great show together look easy.When it premiered as part of Three’s Pilot Week last year, I called Mean Mums the winner of the bunch. Nearly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Last week on this podcast we talked to Ken Wyatt about the government’s plan for a referendum – hopefully this parliamentary term – to recognise ...
Imagine if we treated our native birds with as little care as we do our precious fish stocks, writes ecologist Stella McQueen.Earlier this year, 900 at-risk native mudfish were relocated to make way for a wastewater development. But despite a ...
Open mike 24/03/2016 
Open mike is your post.
The proposed Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill treats biogenic methane emissions differently from all other carbon emissions. The latter are to be measured net so that emissions from fossil fuels can be offset by carbon stored in trees. ...2 mins ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh This article aims to answer a simple question, whether the conflict is only a rural one or whether it is also urban. The verb ‘to be’ is conjugated in the present tense as ,despite what some ...7 hours ago
Yesterday the government released its discussion document on action on agricultural emissions. As sadly usual, it proposed enormous subsidies for farm emissions, including for nitrogen-based fertiliser. This is a huge mistake. In addition to being one of the chief drivers ...8 hours ago
12 hours ago
On Sunday July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced their intention to review the Ministry of Health’s Funded Family Care policy and repeal Part 4Aof the 2000 NZ Public Health and Disability Act. These are festering injustices ...1 day ago
Belle is a lovely fifteen year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan’s Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy. Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but – as a constant participant at social ...2 days ago
A Woman’s Place is on the Podium was a public meeting in London on 10 July to discuss women’s sports and the impact of transwomen competing against women. The venue was sold out with a packed hall of 750 people. ...3 days ago
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...6 days ago
1 week ago
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Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...2 weeks ago
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...2 weeks ago
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...2 weeks ago
I have been working my way through a 47,000 document tranche of declassified US government communications related to Argentina and the “Dirty War” of 1976-83. I grew up in Argentina in the period leading up to the March 24, 1976 ...2 weeks ago
Image Credit: Blog Writing Tips. I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the ... 2 weeks ago
When people slate the current Government for taking too long on certain issues, or not getting everything right, just check the outrage and quit helping National manufacture consent for their decade of Disaster Economics and much more. Bill couldn’t ...3 weeks ago
Robots could soon replace many low-skill jobs, such as President of the United States. US Presidential hopeful and doomsday prophet Andrew Yang went to extreme lengths to make a point in the first round of Democratic primary debates today, replacing ...3 weeks ago
More people have died in the shower this year than will die in a KiwiBuild home. KiwiBuild home owners are experiencing a surprise windfall this month, as the price of their houses have begun to rise dramatically, due to growing ...3 weeks ago
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A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...2 days ago
NZEI Te Riu Roa will take legal action over the lengthy delay in implementing pay increases for teachers. Novopay announced yesterday that teachers would have to wait until 11 September to see pay increases that they won when they settled ...8 hours ago
Figure 10: A Kanak voter wearing a ‘Kanaky New Caledonia’ flag tee shirt at the Loyalty Islands special polling booth in Vallee du Tir, Noumea. Image: David Robie David Robie Wednesday, July 17, 2019 Abstract The French-ruled ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darren Paul Fisher, Head of Directing, Department of Film, Screen and Creative Media, Bond University Something incredible might be happening to James Bond: a separation, a personal Brexit of sorts. According to ...6 hours ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Hepburn, Director of the Centre for Energy and Natural Resources Law, Deakin Law School, Deakin University A freedom of information request has revealed Adani sought the names of CSIRO and Geoscience ...6 hours ago
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For generations, women have done the heavy lifting in the fight for social change. What will it take to get more men to give a fuck about their children’s future?At every question and answer session I attend, I get a ...7 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katarina Miljkovic, ARC DECRA fellow, Curtin University Look up on a clear night and you can see some circular formations on the face of our lunar neighbour. These are impact craters, circular ...9 hours ago
Co-working office space company Regus Management has been warned for not complying with anti-money laundering laws. ...9 hours ago
Today is the 5oth anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, the first spaceflight to land humans on the Moon. Astronomer Richard Easther looks back. One of my earliest memories is standing with my father on the ...10 hours ago
Last night on The Block NZ, something incredible happened: James Reid from The Feelers showed up. Every now and again, something completely unexpected happens on reality television that shakes you awake from your slack-jawed couch coma. It’s that jolt of electricity ...11 hours ago
Sam Brooks, lifelong gamer, lost himself on a virtual battlefield in the days after his mother’s death. Here, he reviews a book by a kindred spirit: Lost in A Good Game: Why We Play Video Games and What They Can ...11 hours ago
Laura Vincent reviews Golden Boy, a new sitcom from Three skewering small town New Zealand and the colourful characters who populate it.From Twin Peaks to all the shows that copied Twin Peaks, small towns have long been fertile ground for television ...11 hours ago
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Jacinda Ardern needs to make a stand for the things she says her Government believes in, despite the public preference for strong, dominant and often otherwise repugnant politicians. ...13 hours ago
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Oskar Howell travels to Otorohanga to interview Danielle Hawkins, author of When It All Turns to Custard, over a delicious two-course home-cooked lunch. ...18 hours ago
Highland dancing's lone male competitor, Angus Hendry, dominated the sport's national championships in Marlborough. ...18 hours ago
Auckland's lava caves offer a glimpse of volcanic activity on this planet and others - but they may be at risk. ...18 hours ago
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A local photographer has posted emails from Warner Brothers NZ requesting they work “unpaid” on Married At First Sight NZ. A wedding photographer has posted emails from Warner Brothers NZ on Reddit after the production company requested that they work for ...1 day 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
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