Jonathon Pie is a breath of fresh air. He’s on the button about this ridiculous over-reaction to hyperbole and humorous if slightly risque utterances. A personal example:
back in 1991 just before the first Iraq invasion started, I had a conversation with a former friend about the over-reaction of the American Embassy when they warned Americans living in NZ to beware of terrorists. [28 years ago we didn't have any terrorists.] I quipped to the friend… if you come across any terrorists let me know because I know a Yank who could do with being bumped off . (a bully boy I worked with)
That person reported my quip and I found myself under inexplicable siege for some six weeks. Funny to look back on now but it sure wasn't funny at the time. And no apologies from the authorities involved were forthcoming.
The person who made the complaint turned out to be a full blown narcissist.
I'm offended by comb overs, boy bands, blank switch plugs in top of the range cars and the high number of offended people. I demand my concerns are addressed immediately.
Infinite – who understands it? I am reminded of clever Jonathan Cainer.
“Our brains are not capable of comprehending the infinite so, instead, we ignore it and eat cheese on toast.”
― Jonathan Cainer
and –
“Why do we love the idea that people might be secretly working together to control and organise the world? Because we don't like to face the fact that our world runs on a combination of chaos, incompetence and confusion.”
― Jonathan Cainer
"A man in a clown outfit stood outside the gates of Parliament shouting, “Save our bendy bananas!”"
"But Johnson’s political career has been marked by lies and evasions. “He is genuinely a bad person. Not an unlikable person but a bad person, as in he has no morals, no principles and beliefs,” a former close colleague told me. “He would be whatever Prime Minister was necessary to maximize the chances of gaining and then maintaining power.” Between 2008 and 2016, Johnson was a liberal mayor of London. During his campaign, earlier this year, to become the leader of the Conservative Party, he veered between promises to leave the E.U. on October 31st, “do or die,” and strange, chummy disquisitions on his hobby of making model buses and painting the passengers inside."
"Roland Rudd, the chairman of the People’s Vote campaign, which advocates for a new referendum, told me. “I don’t pretend that reversing this madness is going to bring us together. Honestly, it won’t.”"
"One of the riddles of English nationalism, as personified by Rees-Mogg and Johnson, is how seriously to take it. (Rees-Mogg has six children; the sixth is called Sixtus.) “A lot of this stuff sounds like it is sort of pantomime, this right-wing stuff in Britain,” Stewart told me. “Because the tone in which they do it is all a bit Gilbert and Sullivan.” Like other unlikely populist figures, Rees-Mogg operates within an ironic shimmer, knowing what people have come to hear. His descriptions of the perfidy of the British élite have the ring of an insider. “We found ourselves up against the British establishment at its least attractive,” he said. “People who pretend to do one thing and do another.”"
"In the space of a few weeks this fall—in “the compression,” as Baker, of the E.R.G., called it—Johnson made startling political progress. The glue loosened. People diverged. Britain’s constitutional fabric suffered, too, in ways it is too early to understand. But, in the process, Johnson clarified to a great extent what Brexit is going to look like and feel like. The shape of the future is now visible. The uncertainty has receded. The worst is most likely yet to come."
On Brexit – I have paid some money to The Telegraph and am getting Brexist updates these days. Which seem pretty accurate from them.
The latest is under the heading The Nightmare Before Christmas.
I'm James Crisp, The Telegraph's Brussels Correspondent, and Westminster is on an election footing. But there are two problems – Emmanuel Macron and Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Corbyn said he wanted to wait until the EU27 granted an extension before agreeing to the election suggested by Boris Johnson, but his stance has jeopardised the agreement on the delay to the Oct 31 Brexit deadline.
Mr Macron has been a lone voice in arguing for a shorter Brexit extension than the three-month flextension to Jan 31 2020 supported by the majority of EU27 leaders.
The EU could still grant the extension to the end of January but, unless Mr Macron caves, the bloc could be forced to call an emergency summit on Monday. Any decision on extension must be unanimous…..
and
Fraser Nelson argues that the working class is so strongly behind Boris Johnson that he is willing to risk a December vote.
In the run-up to Oct 31, you will be able to read a wide variety of articles on the Brexit saga. Please see the links below for a selection of some of today's best articles.
If you want to become a subscriber and read the hundreds of articles we publish every day, try a free 30-day subscription.
The working class behind Boris? Is it a case that the workers feel that people who rush around looking important, throwing criticisms and statements about and hubris (though they don't know what it means and don't care), are people like themselves. Is it that they like to be able to blame others, especially foreigners, for anything that isn't right and imply that the celebrity leader will change all that and 'Make ..(insert country here) .. Great Again? Is it that these talking heads imply that there will be affordable beer and good food, affordable sport-spectating and someone always ready and willing to ease their ailments. Is it that our education has not been the right sort to enable democratic decisions to be analysed and made in a thoughtful way?
I think something is rotten in the state of D…….. or wherever English-speaking democracy reigns. Time for me to clean out the smelly frig I think, that is something useful that I can do, and then perhaps join others getting together to look at the state of our democracies which haven't been great for a while and may never be again at this rate.
The Telegraph and other media outlets run by tories keen to hide their tax haven wealth from the EU and force Brexit through have had a significant hand in the destruction of democracy in the UK.
racist mary and racist nicky – so common – so fucken racist
Newstalk ZB host Marcus Lush was shocked to receive two calls during his show on Thursday night from New Zealand-born women who insisted on mispronouncing the Māori names of the places where they'd been born.
Could you expect a Highland Scot to accurately pronounce Maori place names…?
Have you even heard how the Americans pronounce anything Maori???
Did you know our linguistic vocal cords are formed by the age of around 6 which gives rise to accents?
And that some Maori dont pronounce Anglo place names properly but people dont bat an eyelid?
I think,… its time we celebrated our differences so we dont become clones or cringe worthy tryhards trying too hard to identify with cultures we dont belong to.. its like putting on a fake Japanese accent just to fit in and sound hip. Except its all in reverse.
But, thats how dialects and accents arise, along with all it colloquialisms… Look at England… a Geordie sounds totally different from an East Ender…
ffs it is not about accents or dialects – did you even listen to the original comment I put up – pretty basic stuff and totally doable with the will to do it – without the will we get deliberate offence designed to hurt and belittle
Okey dokeys… but can you imagine going around 'correcting' someone in England from another locality when they 'mispronounced' a local twang or drawl?
I think you might end up with an ale all over your face and called a nitpicker. As they are all English and accept the differences. Black or white these days as well.
Basically, your making people feel unnecessarily bad for being born in a different time , family , culture and / or locality.
There was a gang of Iranian painters I got chatting to,.. I asked where they were from… I heard ' irin'…. was puzzled at that and asked again ..again they replied… ' irin'… and then I learnt… instead of the usual Kiwi drawl ' eye – ran'… they were from Iran and pronounced it' irin'….
I said '' Ohhhhh… 'Eye – ran'…. OK '' ,… they were too busy to even care about the mispronunciation… to my relief…
Yet … I do not pronounce Iran as ' Irin'….
Why ? … because I am not an Iranian and I would actually like other Kiwis to know what Im saying rather than looking at me strangely … this is how language changes over time. This country , was formed of many Scots, Irish , Welsh and English as well as Maori… yet,… you would be hard pressed to find anyone with an original Welsh or Irish accent now unless they were of recent immigrant arrival.
Well , the same can be said for those brought up over generations of familys pronouncing a word in a certain way… it takes time to change that… and many times… it makes people feel forced and uncomfortable. So they would rather be honest and pronounce things as theyve always done. Local parlance, in other words.
You cannot force these things, and in Gisbourne and Northland, the Maoris there speak with their own accent on the English language themselves.
you are just talking shit buddy – this is Aotearoa and we have TWO treaty partners and THREE official languages
I don't care what the racists do apart from using their example of how utterly very fucking far we have to go to get anywhere near equality in this land
Do you really expect Indian, Chinese and every other immigrant to bow the knee to the sacred cow of correct pronunciation of the Maori language ?
Get off the grass racist.
Climb down off that high horse your on and go outside and sniff the roses for a change.
…. '' I don't care what the racists do apart from using their example of how utterly very fucking far we have to go to get anywhere near equality in this land '' …
How old are you ? … 12 ?
Or do you only consort with your select inhouse fellow delusionists?
Get a grip , man.
Do you realize how stupid you sound , – when if the only thing you have to offer is the mispronunciation of a language that constitutes major racial problems and inequality in this country , – while overseas people die in race riots and shootings… well buddy… perhaps it is YOU that has a long way to go.
yes you struggle with a lot of things I'm sure – I certainly feel shame about that dropkick woman from the same town as me and her dimwitted views – I wonder what part of you you feel shame about – lol just jiving, it's pretty obvious bro
"Could you expect a Highland Scot to accurately pronounce Maori place names…?"
Maybe not, but neither of the people in this example were Highland Scots, or even from overseas. Both have lived long lives here so it's not like they're *that far away from good pronunciation. This really had nothing to do with ability.
In my experience, Māori are generally patient and kind with people attempting to get pronunciation right. There's not really an expectation of perfection with the general public.
As an aside, it wouldn't surprise me if Scots learn te reo more easily, because of the whole R thing. I would expect this to be true of people born and bred in the south of NZ as well.
"Did you know our linguistic vocal cords are formed by the age of around 6 which gives rise to accents?"
Not sure how that's relevant tbh, plenty of Pākehā learn to pronounce te reo well later in life.
I think the first woman and Lush were talking a bit past one another. I understand where the elderly lady was coming from. She grew up at a time when all Maori names were incorrectly pronounced but that was the way they were taught to say them. Given her age, it would be hard for her to even remember the correct pronunciations let alone use them. She tried to argue her point of view in a friendly, non-nasty way and Lush acknowledged as much.
But the 49 year old… she was a racist git and he was way too polite to her imo.
I don't see her age being an issue – anyone can make an effort to improve if they want. And if they can't be bothered they out themselves.
The 2nd woman was an idiot. I grew up in mosgiel too and know exactly how racist and uncompromising that place can be and it is NOT as backward as she makes out. She does represent some but not all by any measure imo – just look at me lol
I think we are slowly emerging ourselves in Te Reo. Adult classes are chocka. I think you're right Marty, Nicky thinks she's being staunch. When I got home after an extended period in Oz everyone was saying Kowhai and Whangarei different. I learned to change, not out of a deep seated respect for Te Reo, I didn't want to sound like an ignorant pillock.
In a few minutes, I think 'How to Dad' does a great job of sharing the Te Reo building blocks.
I'm as shit as the next person at some te reo Māori pronunciation – and that is sincere – my cousin corrected me the other day – what did I do? Learned and tried to get it right – this is what living in a community, a country means – giving it a fair attempt and being open to trying again if it is a stuff up. I'm not asking these people to go to te reo Māori classes or become fluent or do anything other than trying to be part of our society – and that is the rub – they don't see Māori as part of their society – they couldn't care less about Māori let alone the language – so fair enough I call that racism and note it.
The first woman was probably casual racism in her yeah, nah, I'm too old, not going to change now. I didn't have too much of a problem with it in the sense of I wouldn't call her racist if I was in the conversation and like Marcus I could probably find some common ground upon which to talk.
The second woman was out and out racist. She's not just saying hey I like how I say things, she's actively holding a cultural position of preventing te reo taking hold and the subtext is that no-one in the South supports Māori. I'd say she's a white supremacy apologist.
I really wanted to hear the start of the conversation with the first woman, how they got onto pronunciation.
Dummy? Not sure about that, I think she was smart enough to know exactly what she was doing. Doesn't hurt to name that kind of racism when it's there, although I doubt I'd bother talking it through with her in real life.
… '' they don't see Māori as part of their society – they couldn't care less about Māori let alone the language '' …
Thats identity politics.
1/ You dont speak for all white New Zealanders – all youve done is make a gross generalisation.
2 / Your assumption can equally be applied to the very people group you choose to champion. Except it is reversed. Many Maori ( and people from other cultures ) dont particularly care about white New Zealand culture as well.
3 / You belittle those who have taken the time to learn Te Reo who are not of Maori ancestry.
4 / If your generalization is true, – then that makes other cultures , – not just white New Zealanders , – participants culpable in the charge of ' not caring about Maori let alone the language' .
Therefore I would charge you with being an inverted racist yourself.
We all have seen the evidence of Maori oppression through colonialism, we all have read the history and the Bellich books, we are aware of the statistics in under achievement and incarceration – and for the most part , many non Maori have agreed, – yet for the last 3-4 decades weve had it rammed down our throats actually…to the point where its become overload. Yet if the plight of Maori is so dire, then the correct pronunciation of the Maori language is the least of their concerns.
It is all too easy to look at the extremes.
That said, it is nice to preserve languages.
However,… English in particular has many accents and dialects- from the Public School accent of the BBC to the Creole to Pidgin…
Thats language. It lives with each and every new generation, it develops with each and every new permutation as there is people.
And not you , not the identity politics crowd or any other force will ever stop that process. Try reading or speaking 12th century English. You'd be lost. You would struggle with even the simplest of pronunciations. You would probably have to learn Frisian or even German to get a handle on it.
mate I LOVE identity politics – and I'm very proud to follow that approach.
Anyway thanks for the compliments – I'm really not too worried in this land of equality we live in – and I'm sorry to be insulting to you – I can't really be bothered keeping up the hostility so peace and love
I'm ambivalent on this one. When pronunciation evolves into mispronunciation, crapping on people for saying it the way everyone around them has said it for 80 years is a bit much.
And I note he used "camembert" not "croissant" – almost nobody says that word correctly lol
But then it's one of them power dynamics: attitudes to English language and pronunciation instructions are descriptive rather than prescriptive, these days. Māori instruction is more prescriptive in order to encourage expansion and consistency and recover usage. Because colonialism.
And then there's the entire meta discussion about when a word in one language becomes a word in another language.
It's one thing to have a lifetime habit that one doesn't want to change (eg how one pronounces where one grew up), but it's another entirely to go on the radio and make the case vehemently that society shouldn't move towards better te reo pronunciation (the second woman).
The other issue about te reo is that pronunciation affects meaning, and is part of literacy. It's not just about 'rightness' and not offending. How words are said in te reo Māori also affects whether one comes to a better understanding of what is being said, including concepts that are hard to say in English, which then leads to better understanding of Te Ao Māori. The words often go layers deep in ways that don't happen so much in English. I heard the second woman not just resisting changing an old habit, but actively working to suppress Te Ao Māori. Racist af.
Yeah, talkback radio callers for the win right there. Salt of the earth lol.
But I don't think it's down to berating individuals for not making an effort, when everyone else would look at them like freaks if they asked after the "Ōpoho" bus rather than "Opoho".
I think that sort of change comes from the local bodies – putting macrons on the bus signs, changing the literature and maps, etc. Like Whanganui DHB did back in the day.
Is it a thing at the moment, the pronunciation of Ōpoho? I didn't even know it had a macron. Would have better if Newstalk had made the whole audio public so we can hear the start, I feel like I'm missing an important part of the conversation.
I don't think the issue is a couple of people mispronouncing a Māori placename, it's the *way it was defended. I wouldn't berate them for how they say the word, but obviously I will berate someone for being a dick about it.
I thought that was the pronunciation Lush was going for? Always just been "Opoho" to me.
But holy shit it just occurred to me that this has been the first time in years talkback has caused a kerfuffle and the bigot/dickhead wasn't the announcer! The last time I can think of that happening was the "Hone" Carter phone calls. Normally it's Lhaws or Tamihere or whomever going for the controversy.
I don't see her age being an issue – anyone can make an effort to improve if they want.
Agreed. But I'd still cut the elderly lady a bit of slack. I would call her problem more ignorance than racism.
One way to bring it home to them is for all Maori to start mispronouncing English place-names especially when on radio or television where they are going to be heard.
Examples:
Wellington… we – ling – ton (as in con).
Onehunga… one – hunga (as in hunger)
St Kilda… st – kil – da (as in dat)
You could have a lot of fun in the process as well as causing an upsurge in pakeha related strokes. 😉
We already have people of all races mispronouncing names, places and the like. What are we all going to do? – draw and quarter them all for a simple error or guillotine them for being brought up in a certain way ?
Geez.
Maybe a simpler way would be to recognize that we all come from different backgrounds and cultures… and to stop trying to squeeze us all into the cookie cutter homogenous mould some would like to see…
Seems I recall the call went out for us all to be tolerant and celebrate our diversity… or is that no longer applicable when it comes to to the pronunciation of either the English or Maori language….
Seems just a little too ‘ convenient when it suits’ to me… but you know the old saying… '' you cant have your cake and eat it too''…
So which one is it?
Celebrating diversity and being tolerant or the cookie cutter?
Anyways,… had enough of this puerile conversation.
The Swedish people warmed to me as I gained a handle on their kooky language. My pal Tedde shared why. 'There are few greater genuine compliments that can be made to a group of people than learning their language.'
As the world grows smaller and sameness infiltrates everywhere, Te Reo is ours and only ours.
That rigid sail system would overcome most of the reasons not to put conventional sails on a tanker. No extra crew, the captain could control them from the bridge. Low maint. They're not 300m high. The wind direction doesn't matter. A 9.2% fuel saving is substantial. I wonder if fuel savings improve beyond that as more of the units are added to a deck.
These points may well be in the article grey, you're a Telegraph subscriber.
I'm a neophyte Telegraph subscriber. Can't get all their stuff at present and have to review what I paid and should pay. So can't give you any more about the sails at present, but even putting up the headlines I find is very bracing, knowing that something is going on in the intelligent side of the world.
I have to decide whether I want to pay monthly or drop in a donation FTTT – whatever options are being offered and for the other UK ones, I would like to get Scottish one too. I may be able to keep up on Bella Caledonia. (Just looking at their page and they are fulminating about David Cameron
' reportedly earning £120,000 per hour to provide audiences with “lessons in leadership” in global affairs. Similarly, Gordon Brown was paid around £75,000 for one speech that claims to give a “comprehensive view of complex issues”.' https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2019/10/24/a-prosperous-future/
At least it won't cost me that much to be informed, and with a spread of media I am likely to be as well grounded in general, as many paying big money to hear the mega-stars, famous in their own galaxy.
I'm going to be donating to the Guardian, want to subscribe to local Scoop, and also The Standard. And I get local paper at a reduced rate. It all adds up. The Guardian, The Telegraph and aljazeera have been my main ones on Brexit with the BBC and Channel 4 FTTT.
Once upon a time I favoured enabling vaping – as a means to wean people off tobacco.
I still do. But, given
1. the harm that can result from allowing an addictive substance – nicotine – to be on-sale
2. those over 18 are supplying it to younger teens and children
3. growing evidence that there is damage to lungs from vaping
I now only favour it by prescription to existing tobacco addicts, where the doctor felt the risk from vaping was worth it for the patient – as part of a process to getting people off tobacco.
“On certain routes during the trial the vessel achieved fuel savings way beyond the average of 8.2% even with average wind conditions,” Hylands said.
“There is a clear potential to achieve higher fuel savings, and hence CO2 savings, on routes with more favourable wind conditions, which further improves the commercial viability of the technology.”
Targeting windy routes is way more efficient than adding more windmills.
That shipping site is amazing. GPS position, headings, speed. Pelican looks very tired in the Maersk file pics. Was probably due to be slipped when the round sails went on.
Weka stuck Harvey's public shaming up the other night but like Harvey, we had so much fun lets do it again.
Phone + Facebook/Twitter account are like the village stocks of old and Harvey is copping rotten fruit for a second day on The Standard. Seems fitting, creep.
If I was the boss at Sky City I would invite the dominant union executive body to select the lab to do the air purity analysis. (I would run my own tests on the quiet.)
If there was a marked difference between data sets, I'd ring the head of the union body and suggest reps from each lab come together for one more comprehensive test. Agree on methodology and deliver a collective report.
Because giant interference arrays are so yesterday.
/
Russia will test its internal RuNet network to see whether the country can function without the global internet, the Russian government announced Monday. The tests will begin after Nov. 1, recur at least annually, and possibly more frequently. It’s the latest move in a series of technical and policy steps intended to allow the Russian government to cut its citizens off from the rest of the world.
“On Monday, the government approved the provision on conducting exercises to ensure the stable, safe and holistic functioning of the Internet and public communications networks in the Russian Federation,” notes an article in D-Russia. (The original article is in Russian. We verified a translation with the help of a native Russian speaker.) “The exercises are held at the federal (in the territory of the Russian Federation) and regional (in the territory of one or more constituent entities of the Russian Federation) levels.”
The word “holistic” shows that the exercises follow April’s passage of the sovereign internet law that will require all internet traffic in Russia to pass through official chokepoints, allowing the government to shut down outside access, block websites that they don’t like, and monitor traffic.
'to cut its [Russian] citizens off from the rest of the world'. / sarc
This step to try and be self-sufficient comes after western provocation and Ukraine meddling and all sorts of attacks and provocations from both sides in retaliation to the ones before. It is quite reasonable to try and withdraw from such resource wasting interaction. And of course there are the sanctions that the USA plaster round the place, elephants are more dainty.
Putin and his Chekists are losing the propaganda battle. Their response is to do what their forebears did.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to monitor the online behavior of young Russians and to produce “moral and spiritual education” content for them.
Young Russians have been targeted by several government initiatives in recent years, including a ban on minors attending protests and efforts to provide them with a military and patriotic education. This year, Russia launched a new channel targeting young viewers with 24/7 World War II programming and announced military-patriotic reeducation camps for delinquent youngsters.
Perhaps that is the appropriate thing to do at this point in time? I am so disillusioned with world politics that I no longer can produce the moth-eaten banner left over from last century with words of hope and glory where if everyone is treated properly and allowed to say what they will, the tooth fairy will give us beautiful teeth and we won;t even have to paint them every night.
I am amazed that the government cannot find funding for the Chathams and their airport. These outlying regions need some investment to build further business on. Everything can't be about trees. I hope that there is another agency that would find a place in its budget for them.
I'm going to sand the last one and lay another coat of lacquer over the Simca. I love spray-painting while the All Blacks play their big games. So far we have mirrored results.
Geeez, I so want to get this right. I know how to do this, I'm good at it, I need to relax. I need to be seventeen and painting my tutor's car again. I was brilliant without trying.
Trudeau may have his issues, but Canadians had the wit to give the racist, climate denier fossil fuel loving anti-immigrant nazi the arse.
Bernier spent the campaign promoting a divisive and exclusionary message that could have easily come from far-right parties such as Germany’s AfD or France’s National Front. He vowed to build a border fence to keep out asylum seekers, stoked fears of “radical Islam” in the country and told a rally earlier this year that he wanted to “make Canada great again.”
Bernier founded the party in 2018, after losing a Conservative Party leadership contest to Andrew Scheer, and quickly settled on an anti-immigration message. Despite the party polling around 3% throughout the campaign, Bernier was a highly visible figure during the race and participated in the federal leaders debate. His presence in the election, a sharp contrast with Canada’s progressive multicultural image, drew international media attention, including a profile in The New York Times that described him as a “lanky provocateur.”
Yes Anne, I had the same feeling after the match that it would be Jandal’s fault that the AB’s loss to English. You can’t fault that wiry old fox Jonesy who a masterful game plain to beat the AB’s tonight.
Easy foot-notery above when our predeccessors spent their lives, destroyed their families, for reality. And all I am is the angriest of the footnoters. Massive cream before a massive fall.
I think we're fighting against reality. That is, our mental nature.
If one stubbornly clings to the Elimination strategy (I don’t support it, but that will have to wait for another occasion) then try to get it right. You need secure borders. We have attempted this with a very large measure of success. It has not been perfect as the Covid-19 Response ...
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In a recent interview with RNZ (14th of January), NZ Council of Civil Liberties Chair Thomas Beagle, in response to Simon Bridges condemnation of the post-Trump Twitter purge of local far Right and other accounts, said the following: “Cos the thing about freedom of expression is that it’s not just ...
Let’s be clear: if Trump is not politically killed off once and for all, he will become a MAGA Dracula, rising from the dead to haunt US politics for years to come and giving inspiration to his wretched family of grifters and thousands of deplorables well into the next decade. ...
Since its demise as an imperial power, and especially its deindustrialisation under Thatcher, the UK's primary economic engine has been its role as a money laundry, using its network of overseas territories as tax havens to enable rich people around the world to steal from the societies they live in. ...
Last month OMV quit the Great South Basin and surrendered its offshore exploration permits outside of Taranaki. This month, Australian-owned Beach Energy has done the same: Beach Energy Resources New Zealand has decided to abandon all of its oil and gas exploration permits off the South Island coast, including ...
The new Northland case has been linked to the South African strain of Covid-19, one of a number of new, more contagious Covid variants. Here’s how they emerge and why. Let’s start with the basics. The genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 is a strand of RNA ...
MARVIN HUBBARD, US citizen by birth, New Zealand citizen by choice, Quaker and left-wing activist, has been broadcasting his show, "Community or Chaos", on Otago Access Radio for the best part of 30 years. On 24 November last year, I spoke with him about the outcome of the 2020 General ...
This is a guest blog post by Daniel Tamberg, Potsdam, co-founder and director of SCIARA GmbH. The non-profit organisation SCIARA is developing and operating a flexible software platform for scientific simulation games that allows thousands of players to explore, design and understand possible climate futures together. Decision-makers in politics, business, ...
Yesterday's Gone: Cold shivers are running up and down the spines of conservatives everywhere. Donald Trump may have gone, but all the signs point to there being something much more momentous in the wind-shift than a simple return to the status quo ante. A change is gonna come. ONE COULD ...
Is it possible to live and let live in the post-Trump era? The online campaign to vilify Christopher Liddell, ex-White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to Trump, makes for an interesting case study. Liddell is a New Zealander whose illustrious career in corporate America once earned him plaudits ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 17, 2021 through Sat, Jan 23, 2021Editor's Choice12 new books explore fresh approaches to act on climate changeAuthors explore scientific, economic, and political avenues for climate action ...
This discussion is from a Twitter thread by Martin Kulldorff on 20 December 2020. He is a Professor at Harvard Medical School specialising in disease surveillance methods, infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety. His Twitter handle is @MartinKulldorff #1 Public health is about all health outcomes, not just a single ...
The Treasury forecasts suggest the economy is doing better than expected after the Covid Shock. John Kenneth Galbraith was wont to say that economic forecasting was designed to make astrology look good. Unfair, but it raises the question of the purpose of economic forecasts. Certainly the public may treat them ...
Q: Will the COVID-19 vaccines prevent the transmission of the coronavirus and bring about community immunity (aka herd immunity)? A: Jury not in yet but vaccines do not have to be perfect to thwart the spread of infection. While vaccines induce protection against illness, they do not always stop actual ...
Joe Biden seems to be everything that Donald Trump was not – decent, straightforward, considerate of others, mindful of his responsibilities – but none of that means that he has an easy path ahead of him. The pandemic still rages, American standing in the world is grievously low, and the ...
Keana VirmaniFrom healthcare robots to data privacy, to sea level rise and Antarctica under the ice: in the four years since its establishment, the Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund has supported over 30 projects.Rebecca Priestley, receiving the PM Science Communication Prize (Photo by Mark Tantrum) Associate Professor ...
Nothing more from me today - I'm off to Wellington, to participate in the city's annual roleplaying convention (which has also eaten my time for the whole week, limiting blogging despite there being interesting things happening). Normal bloggage will resume Tuesday. ...
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weaponscame into force today, making the development, possession, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons illegal in international law. Every nuclear-armed state is now a criminal regime. The corporations and scientists who design, build and maintain their illegal weapons are now ...
"Come The Revolution!" The key objective of Bernard Hickey’s revolutionary solution to the housing crisis is a 50 percent reduction in the price of the average family home. This will be achieved by the introduction of Capital Gains, Land, and Wealth taxes, and by the opening up of currently RMA-protected ...
by Daphna Whitmore Twitter and Facebook shutting down Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill is old news now but the debates continue over whether the actions against Trump are a good thing or not. Those in favour of banning Trump say Twitter and Facebook are private companies and ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade, albeit with razor thin Congressional majorities. The last time, in the 111th Congress (2009-2011), House Democrats passed a carbon cap and trade bill, but it died ...
Session thirty-three was highly abbreviated, via having to move house in a short space of time. Oh well. The party decided to ignore the tree-monster and continue the attack on the Giant Troll. Tarsin – flying on a giant summoned bat – dumped some high-grade oil over the ...
Last night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Michael Cowling, CQUniversity AustraliaWe’ve probably all been there. We buy some new smart gadget and when we plug it in for the first time it requires an update to work. So we end up spending hours downloading and updating before we can even play with our new toy. But ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
A Waitomo-based Jobs for Nature project will keep up to ten people employed in the village as the tourism sector recovers post Covid-19 Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “This $500,000 project will save ten local jobs by deploying workers from Discover Waitomo into nature-based jobs. They will be undertaking local ...
Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw spoke yesterday with President Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. “I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Kerry this morning about the urgency with which our governments must confront the climate emergency. I am grateful to him and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta today announced three diplomatic appointments: Alana Hudson as Ambassador to Poland John Riley as Consul-General to Hong Kong Stephen Wong as Consul-General to Shanghai Poland “New Zealand’s relationship with Poland is built on enduring personal, economic and historical connections. Poland is also an important ...
Work begins today at Wainuiomata High School to ensure buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Minister joined principal Janette Melrose and board chair Lynda Koia to kick off demolition for the project, which is worth close to $40 million, as the site ...
A skilled and experienced group of people have been named as the newly established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis today. The Board will provide independent advice and assurance to the Minister for Children across three key areas of Oranga Tamariki: relationships with families, whānau, and ...
The green light for New Zealand’s first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...
The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. “All three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACC” said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...
The Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced. The grant for Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
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 ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission.Two new community Covid-19 cases have been identified as the more infectious South African variant, but Auckland Mayor Phil Goff sayit would be "premature to go into lockdown now". The two new cases of Covid-19 identified in the ...
Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine in Southland to Fonterra’s ...
KiwiRail STOP Hauling COAL Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Dunn, Associate professor, University of Sydney The government is rolling out a new public information campaign this week to reassure the public about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, which one expert has said “couldn’t be more crucial” to people actually getting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Therese O’Sullivan, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan University The COVID vaccine rollout has placed the issue of vaccination firmly in the spotlight. A successful rollout will depend on a variety of factors, one of which is vaccine acceptance. One potential hurdle to vaccine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernard Walker, Associate Professor in Organisations and Leadership, University of Canterbury Kiwis know what it’s like when life throws curveballs. We’ve had major quakes, floods, fires, an eruption, a terrorist attack and now a pandemic. In those situations, it’s the ability to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Irwin, Emeritus professor, Murdoch University While we continue to be occupied with the COVID pandemic, another life-threatening disease has emerged in northern Australia, one that’s cause for considerable alarm for the millions of dog owners around the country. This disease — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cath Ferguson, Academic, Edith Cowan University Almost half of Australian adults struggle with reading. Similar levels of struggling readers are reported in the United Kingdom and United States. This does not mean all struggling readers are illiterate. It means they often struggle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abbas Shieh, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Design, Islamic Azad University The industrial revolution transformed cities, resulting in places of residence and work becoming more distant than ever before. This spatial segregation is still largely embedded in the design of our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Review: Occupation: Rainfall, written and directed by Luke Sparke Historically, when a sequel to a film was greenlit, you could rest assured this was because the first film made a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 28, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tourism suffers in the shadow of Covid-19, two new positive cases in Auckland confirmed, and National will contest the Māori electorates.The front page of the January 4 Greymouth Star carried grim tidings for several of the glacier towns on the ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Two people who left managed isolation on January 15 have been confirmed as positive Covid-19 cases, with the Ministry of Health urging anyone who visited the same locations during the same time period as the infected pair in Auckland to ...
The watchlist of 'offensive or unreasonable' babies' names is to be reviewed, to include more names from other languages. Generations of the Īhaka family have played a meaningful role in bringing Te Reo and stories of Māori to our wider community. Archdeacon Sir Kīngi Matutaera Īhaka (Te Aupōuri, 1921-93) was known as the orator of ...
After Morocco’s flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire in Western Sahara on Friday 13 November 2020 war broke out between the two sides. In the midst of this war Tauranga based Ballance Agri-Nutrients has decided to carry on importing phosphate ...
Nicholas Agar suggests that our handling of the pandemic could be partly down to our distinctive Treaty of Waitangi relationship, and Māori ideas that enabled us to make it through without tens of thousands of deaths A mission for universities in the coming decade will be a deep understanding of the meaning ...
A young girl who once sent $5 to an embattled America's Cup team is now among the women on the water helping run the contest for the Auld Mug. As an eager and generous nine-year-old, Melanie Roberts posted a letter, with a $5 note, to OneAustralia’s America’s Cup team. It was 1995, ...
At 5am today, cock’s crow, the embargo lifted on the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist. Here are the books in the race, followed by thoughts from poetry editor Chris Tse and books editor Catherine Woulfe. A shortlist of four books in each category will be announced March 3, with ...
Ignoring those QR codes when you drop into the supermarket? Can’t be bothered when you grab a coffee? The people serving you notice, and you’re freaking them out.So far, New Zealanders’ use of the Covid-19 Tracer app has been notably woeful. Food industry workers who’ve watched streams of customers walk ...
Steve Braunias reveals the longlist of the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards Apart from one or two unfortunate omissions which cast doubt on the sanity and intellectual acumen of judges, especially the nobodies who judged this year's non-fiction, the longlist for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards is ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea’s biggest hospital is straining to provide medical services to the growing population of the capital Port Moresby – with an estimated growth rate of 3 percent annually, a medical executive says. Port Moresby General Hospital chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Nationals who attend Thursday’s memorial service in Tweed Heads for Doug Anthony, who died last month aged 90, may muse on the contrast between the state of their party when he led it and now. ...
Returning to quarantine-free travel in 2021 doesn't just need a vaccine, but a way to check whether arriving passengers are actually immune to the virus. A smart Kiwi science start-up is working with a global biometrics giant to make that happen. A deal signed between Kiwi research and development company Orbis Diagnostics, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlyn Forster, PhD Candidate, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney This summer’s wetter conditions have created great conditions for flowering plants. Flowers provide sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen, attracting many insects, including bees. Commercial honey bees are also thriving: ...
Lotto scratchie tickets featuring the pop band Six60 are being withdrawn after a public backlash. In a statement, Lotto NZ said there had been a mutual decision made with the band to remove the tickets from sale following the negative feedback, and it offered an apology. The band faced criticism, both ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New England Shell-crushing predation was already in full swing half a billion years ago, as our new research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals. A hyena devouring ...
Vodafone has suspended advertising on the radio station amid calls for talkback host John Banks to be taken off air after yet another racist outburst. Alex Braae reports. In an alarming segment of talkback radio, former Auckland mayor John Banks endorsed the views of a caller who described Māori as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Welch, Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland When a COVID-19 case was found in Northland last Sunday, Aotearoa’s second-longest period with no detected community case came to an end. ESR scientists worked late into Sunday night to obtain a whole genome sequence ...
He has the perfect moustache, an exceptional mullet, and he uses terms like ‘face hole’ on national TV. Who or what is Dr Joel Rindelaub?I was drawn in by the moustache, but it was the mullet that really kept me there. Watching TVNZ’s Breakfast yesterday morning I was fixated. Often, ...
We’ll never be royals with nearly a quarter of declined baby names featuring “Royal” in some form or another. Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs has released the list of names declined in 2020 by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and ...
After a raft of inquiries delving into and recommending what should be done about the politically beleaguered Orangi Tamaraki, along with the briefing papers we suppose he has been given, we imagined Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis would have no more need for expert advice. Wrong. He has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University There’s a common assumption men take longer than women to poo. People say so on Twitter, in memes, and elsewhereonline. But is that right? What could explain it? And if ...
Just as sexuality is a spectrum, so too is asexuality. In Ace of Hearts, members of New Zealand’s asexual community talk about the challenges and misconceptions of identifying as ace.First published November 17, 2020.Ace of Hearts is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff.“A ...
Sam Brooks wasn’t allowed to watch kids TV as a kid. Now, as a 30 year old man, he watches it for the first time.My mother’s approach to parenting was unorthodox. I wrote weekly book reports on top of my actual homework, I did maths equations in Roman numerals and ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk More leading Indonesian figures have made racial slurs against Natalius Pigai, former chair of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) – and all West Papuans, says United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda. “Since the illegal Indonesian invasion in 1963, Indonesian ...
“The Government’s failure to even conduct a standard cost-benefit analysis for the most expensive infrastructure project in New Zealand’s history is mind-bogglingly arrogant,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “A ...
The Ministry of Health is today drawing backlash from the local New Zealand vaping industry following its release of proposed regulations for the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act. Vaping Trade Association New Zealand (VTANZ) President, ...
Sophie Gilmour and Simon Day are joined by special guest Hugo Baird, co-owner of Grey Lynn’s Honey Bones and Lilian, to talk about opening new pub Hotel Ponsonby.Auckland is a city of many bars but few really good pubs – the kind of places you’d be just as comfortable going ...
The appointment of an advisory board for Oranga Tamariki is welcome and should be a step toward a total transformation of the care and protection system to a by Māori, for Māori approach, Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft said today. Minister ...
Taking control of your financial wellbeing can have cascading positive impacts for your life and it can also be fun. With the help of the team at Kiwi Wealth, we’ve compiled some simple tricks for balancing your books in 2021. There’s something about the beginning of a new year, especially after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology As we know, getting into New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult. There are practicalities, such as high airfare and managed isolation costs. And there are legal requirements, including pre-flight testing, mandatory ...
New Zealand faces the risk of a generation being locked out of the housing market unless land is freed up and more houses built, National Party leader Judith Collins says. ...
On Sunday, Stuff published a months-long investigation by Alison Mau detailing allegations of harassment and exploitation within the local music industry.The piece, ‘Music industry professionals demand change after speaking out about its dark side’, includes allegations of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power by male artists, international acts and executives; ...
“The Government is all at sea on timelines for Australia and New Zealand’s respective vaccine roll-outs, with the worst news coming from the mouth of Pfizer Australia CEO Anne Harris,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “Yesterday, under increasing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Higgins, Senior Research Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden promised the US would demonstrate “global leadership on refugees”. Once elected, he pledged to vastly increase refugee resettlement in the US. If history is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Baumann, Casual Academic, School of Social Sciences & Psychology, Western Sydney University Among the many hard truths exposed by COVID-19 is the huge disparity between the world’s rich and poor. As economies went into freefall, the world’s billionaires increased their already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jan Lanicek, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History and Jewish History, UNSW On January 27 communities worldwide commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz — the largest complex of concentration camps and extermination centres during the Holocaust. This is the first year the International ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lorinda Cramer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Australian Catholic University The summer break is over, marking a return to the office. For some, this ends almost a year of working from home in lockdown. Some analysts are predicting it might also mark an enduring ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 27, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato New Zealand has a strong history of protecting and promoting human rights at home and internationally, and prides itself on being an outspoken critic and global leader in this area. So, when the most ...
Good morning and welcome to the Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins outlines the plan forward for National, no spread of Covid spotted yet in Northland, and students return for climate protest.In front of a Rotary Club at the Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, National leader Judith Collins yesterday set out her ...
*This articlefirst appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The tourism industry isn't holding its breath for a trans-Tasman travel bubble being in place after Australia temporarily closed its borders to New Zealand. New Zealanders could be waiting even longer for a full trans-Tasman bubble, with the ...
We continue our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with an essay by Anahera Gildea on cultural appropriation Every night at 7pm sharp, my Irish Catholic father and his eight siblings would have to kneel on the carpet of the living room, facing the freshly polished nudity of ...
Children's Minister Kelvin Davis will have independent eyes and ears across Oranga Tamariki over the next five months as the Government tries to change the work and practices of the ministry. The Government has created a Māori-led watchdog to oversee how the children's ministry, Oranga Tamariki, deals with parents and ...
A Covid reset will force costly and inflexible cities to take a hard look at their planning systems, or people will vote with their feet. Broken urban planning systems make for misery even in the best of times. If land use and housing regulations prevent metropolitan areas from growing up or out as ...
When an Auckland school classroom went up in flames in December last year, exploding asbestos over neighbouring houses, five separate government agencies were involved. Yet stressed residents dealing with the aftermath on their homes say the response felt chaotic and uncoordinated; even local MPs who got involved couldn't get the information they wanted. Hundreds of thousands of ...
The pandemic has accelerated the trend of doing our banking online instead of in person. This rapid digital embrace has, in turn, sped up the closure of many smaller bank branches. But, as Mark Jennings writes, there are new branches springing up with a different look and purpose. Auckland’s Wynyard ...
Corrina Gage has represented New Zealand in a trio of water sports. But it's her love for waka ama - and the opportunities it gives paddlers from 5 to 85 - that keeps her racing and coaching around the world. Lake Karāpiro is quiet and still now. But last week, it was all noise ...
Telling a Rotary Club audience that housing is a serious problem and they should care deeply about it landed flat but took some daring from the National leader, writes Justin Giovannetti.Judith Collins’ level of control over the National Party is still a question best answered by a shrug.Elevated to her ...
A gang turf war gripped the South Auckland suburb in late 2020, forcing schools to lock down and armed police to patrol the streets. Community leaders are now warning the cycle of violent retribution could continue in 2021, unless radical interventions are made.The violent altercations that loomed large in Ōtara ...
Free speech? Apparently we have to be very careful about what we say.
"… hyperbole and irony and a certain moral ambiguity to make a comment about free speech…"
Jonathon Pie is a breath of fresh air. He’s on the button about this ridiculous over-reaction to hyperbole and humorous if slightly risque utterances. A personal example:
back in 1991 just before the first Iraq invasion started, I had a conversation with a former friend about the over-reaction of the American Embassy when they warned Americans living in NZ to beware of terrorists. [28 years ago we didn't have any terrorists.] I quipped to the friend… if you come across any terrorists let me know because I know a Yank who could do with being bumped off . (a bully boy I worked with)
That person reported my quip and I found myself under inexplicable siege for some six weeks. Funny to look back on now but it sure wasn't funny at the time. And no apologies from the authorities involved were forthcoming.
The person who made the complaint turned out to be a full blown narcissist.
Yes, satisfying the offended is an infinite task.
I'm offended by comb overs, boy bands, blank switch plugs in top of the range cars and the high number of offended people. I demand my concerns are addressed immediately.
Infinite – who understands it? I am reminded of clever Jonathan Cainer.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/391103.Jonathan_Cainer
He does have a point..
always appreciate your contributions on the standard Peter
When you respond to a comment Anker, press the Reply place under it if there is one and your comment then goes alongside the originating one.
Chile seems to be having problems.
Brexit news –
Business and finance in UK –
https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/pound-languishes-red-eu-delays-brexit-extension-verdict-191025120015250.html
EU agrees delay but time not certain.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/eu-uk-brexit-delay-delays-decision-length-191025103931252.html
A lengthy and entertaining opinion piece on how Brexit will end, in The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/04/how-brexit-will-end
Excerpts:
Drowsy M Kram – Thanks a bunch (of bananas). I'll have a glass of cleansing water to drink beside me as I read.
The Rohe, of the river people and the march to stop violence against the senseless murders of maori woman.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/401793/maori-whanganui-community-rally-together-after-spate-of-deaths
On Brexit – I have paid some money to The Telegraph and am getting Brexist updates these days. Which seem pretty accurate from them.
The latest is under the heading The Nightmare Before Christmas.
I'm James Crisp, The Telegraph's Brussels Correspondent, and Westminster is on an election footing. But there are two problems – Emmanuel Macron and Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Corbyn said he wanted to wait until the EU27 granted an extension before agreeing to the election suggested by Boris Johnson, but his stance has jeopardised the agreement on the delay to the Oct 31 Brexit deadline.
Mr Macron has been a lone voice in arguing for a shorter Brexit extension than the three-month flextension to Jan 31 2020 supported by the majority of EU27 leaders.
The EU could still grant the extension to the end of January but, unless Mr Macron caves, the bloc could be forced to call an emergency summit on Monday. Any decision on extension must be unanimous…..
and
Fraser Nelson argues that the working class is so strongly behind Boris Johnson that he is willing to risk a December vote.
In the run-up to Oct 31, you will be able to read a wide variety of articles on the Brexit saga. Please see the links below for a selection of some of today's best articles.
If you want to become a subscriber and read the hundreds of articles we publish every day, try a free 30-day subscription.
The working class behind Boris? Is it a case that the workers feel that people who rush around looking important, throwing criticisms and statements about and hubris (though they don't know what it means and don't care), are people like themselves. Is it that they like to be able to blame others, especially foreigners, for anything that isn't right and imply that the celebrity leader will change all that and 'Make ..(insert country here) .. Great Again? Is it that these talking heads imply that there will be affordable beer and good food, affordable sport-spectating and someone always ready and willing to ease their ailments. Is it that our education has not been the right sort to enable democratic decisions to be analysed and made in a thoughtful way?
I think something is rotten in the state of D…….. or wherever English-speaking democracy reigns. Time for me to clean out the smelly frig I think, that is something useful that I can do, and then perhaps join others getting together to look at the state of our democracies which haven't been great for a while and may never be again at this rate.
The latest Brexit survey suggests that violence against MPs is a price people are willing to pay…https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2019/10/25/new-brexit-survey-shows-why-we-need-to-make-corbyn-prime-minister-as-soon-as-possible/
The Telegraph and other media outlets run by tories keen to hide their tax haven wealth from the EU and force Brexit through have had a significant hand in the destruction of democracy in the UK.
racist mary and racist nicky – so common – so fucken racist
Could you expect a Highland Scot to accurately pronounce Maori place names…?
Have you even heard how the Americans pronounce anything Maori???
Did you know our linguistic vocal cords are formed by the age of around 6 which gives rise to accents?
And that some Maori dont pronounce Anglo place names properly but people dont bat an eyelid?
I think,… its time we celebrated our differences so we dont become clones or cringe worthy tryhards trying too hard to identify with cultures we dont belong to.. its like putting on a fake Japanese accent just to fit in and sound hip. Except its all in reverse.
Anyways… maybe Im too middle of the road.
Heres some Scotties for ya.
Face it, whether we like it or not, language is a living , evolving thing… we butcher each others language everyday. Sadly.
But unless we live in total isolation,.. language, and its pronunciation… is going to change over time.
But, thats how dialects and accents arise, along with all it colloquialisms… Look at England… a Geordie sounds totally different from an East Ender…
ffs it is not about accents or dialects – did you even listen to the original comment I put up – pretty basic stuff and totally doable with the will to do it – without the will we get deliberate offence designed to hurt and belittle
they DELIBERATELY mispronounce even after being corrected – if you think that's okay then bully for you
Okey dokeys… but can you imagine going around 'correcting' someone in England from another locality when they 'mispronounced' a local twang or drawl?
I think you might end up with an ale all over your face and called a nitpicker. As they are all English and accept the differences. Black or white these days as well.
Basically, your making people feel unnecessarily bad for being born in a different time , family , culture and / or locality.
There was a gang of Iranian painters I got chatting to,.. I asked where they were from… I heard ' irin'…. was puzzled at that and asked again ..again they replied… ' irin'… and then I learnt… instead of the usual Kiwi drawl ' eye – ran'… they were from Iran and pronounced it' irin'….
I said '' Ohhhhh… 'Eye – ran'…. OK '' ,… they were too busy to even care about the mispronunciation… to my relief…
Yet … I do not pronounce Iran as ' Irin'….
Why ? … because I am not an Iranian and I would actually like other Kiwis to know what Im saying rather than looking at me strangely … this is how language changes over time. This country , was formed of many Scots, Irish , Welsh and English as well as Maori… yet,… you would be hard pressed to find anyone with an original Welsh or Irish accent now unless they were of recent immigrant arrival.
Well , the same can be said for those brought up over generations of familys pronouncing a word in a certain way… it takes time to change that… and many times… it makes people feel forced and uncomfortable. So they would rather be honest and pronounce things as theyve always done. Local parlance, in other words.
You cannot force these things, and in Gisbourne and Northland, the Maoris there speak with their own accent on the English language themselves.
Live and let live.
NB.
I do pronounce Iran as ' eye – rharn… for some reason… but still it is not a shadow on the correct pronunciation.
you are just talking shit buddy – this is Aotearoa and we have TWO treaty partners and THREE official languages
I don't care what the racists do apart from using their example of how utterly very fucking far we have to go to get anywhere near equality in this land
Dont be a joke.
Your real problem is white New Zealanders.
Do you really expect Indian, Chinese and every other immigrant to bow the knee to the sacred cow of correct pronunciation of the Maori language ?
Get off the grass racist.
Climb down off that high horse your on and go outside and sniff the roses for a change.
…. '' I don't care what the racists do apart from using their example of how utterly very fucking far we have to go to get anywhere near equality in this land '' …
How old are you ? … 12 ?
Or do you only consort with your select inhouse fellow delusionists?
Get a grip , man.
Do you realize how stupid you sound , – when if the only thing you have to offer is the mispronunciation of a language that constitutes major racial problems and inequality in this country , – while overseas people die in race riots and shootings… well buddy… perhaps it is YOU that has a long way to go.
Get off the computer and go outside.
jeepers you are thick – piss off and bigfoot yourself dummy
Well… that was an enlightening exchange.
he knows I still love him as a human being
What does your wife think of your anti-white racist views Mars.?
Or your son?
what anti-white racist views? Not something I've seen from marty.
are you back are you bm – oh dreary
Just passing through.
Having scoped you out, I struggle to get past the racist bullshit you write about especially considering your family dynamic.
Don’t you feel any sort of shame or guilt?
yes you struggle with a lot of things I'm sure – I certainly feel shame about that dropkick woman from the same town as me and her dimwitted views – I wonder what part of you you feel shame about – lol just jiving, it's pretty obvious bro
When somebody is baiting you, don’t give them the satisfaction of biting, at least not publically.
he's okay – just sad cos the cup is over
Is it?
yep – spose some beatings are in store for some victims now
It is not over yet. Woo hoo woo woo hoo lol
Yeah it is over mate – no one of any note cares now
But I share Marty's concerns for domestic violence victims tonight.
That's a bit parochial, but at least that bloody advert won't be seen for another four years. At least you're half happy, right?
I don't care anything about rugby or the abs. They burned me off way back in the tour days. The english I really care even less about sorry.
Don't be sorry, mate, I don't really care about it either.
Thanks for that WK
Here is a recent one from the the Western Isles fa ya.
Peat and Diesel are a new group who have taken the Western Isles by storm.
"Could you expect a Highland Scot to accurately pronounce Maori place names…?"
Maybe not, but neither of the people in this example were Highland Scots, or even from overseas. Both have lived long lives here so it's not like they're *that far away from good pronunciation. This really had nothing to do with ability.
In my experience, Māori are generally patient and kind with people attempting to get pronunciation right. There's not really an expectation of perfection with the general public.
As an aside, it wouldn't surprise me if Scots learn te reo more easily, because of the whole R thing. I would expect this to be true of people born and bred in the south of NZ as well.
"Did you know our linguistic vocal cords are formed by the age of around 6 which gives rise to accents?"
Not sure how that's relevant tbh, plenty of Pākehā learn to pronounce te reo well later in life.
I’ve just been listening to that exchange online.
I think the first woman and Lush were talking a bit past one another. I understand where the elderly lady was coming from. She grew up at a time when all Maori names were incorrectly pronounced but that was the way they were taught to say them. Given her age, it would be hard for her to even remember the correct pronunciations let alone use them. She tried to argue her point of view in a friendly, non-nasty way and Lush acknowledged as much.
But the 49 year old… she was a racist git and he was way too polite to her imo.
I don't see her age being an issue – anyone can make an effort to improve if they want. And if they can't be bothered they out themselves.
The 2nd woman was an idiot. I grew up in mosgiel too and know exactly how racist and uncompromising that place can be and it is NOT as backward as she makes out. She does represent some but not all by any measure imo – just look at me lol
I think we are slowly emerging ourselves in Te Reo. Adult classes are chocka. I think you're right Marty, Nicky thinks she's being staunch. When I got home after an extended period in Oz everyone was saying Kowhai and Whangarei different. I learned to change, not out of a deep seated respect for Te Reo, I didn't want to sound like an ignorant pillock.
In a few minutes, I think 'How to Dad' does a great job of sharing the Te Reo building blocks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pPthzQrFy8
I'm as shit as the next person at some te reo Māori pronunciation – and that is sincere – my cousin corrected me the other day – what did I do? Learned and tried to get it right – this is what living in a community, a country means – giving it a fair attempt and being open to trying again if it is a stuff up. I'm not asking these people to go to te reo Māori classes or become fluent or do anything other than trying to be part of our society – and that is the rub – they don't see Māori as part of their society – they couldn't care less about Māori let alone the language – so fair enough I call that racism and note it.
I don't see racism so much, I see lazy and stubborn. "It was Wonger Ray the day I was born and it'll be bloody Wonger Ray till the day I die."
It's an attitude that is dying out, it's rare in someone younger than 50. At 49 Marcus' caller was an entertaining cringe of an exception.
The first woman was probably casual racism in her yeah, nah, I'm too old, not going to change now. I didn't have too much of a problem with it in the sense of I wouldn't call her racist if I was in the conversation and like Marcus I could probably find some common ground upon which to talk.
The second woman was out and out racist. She's not just saying hey I like how I say things, she's actively holding a cultural position of preventing te reo taking hold and the subtext is that no-one in the South supports Māori. I'd say she's a white supremacy apologist.
That first woman was the sort of gnarly ol trout, her hubby could stick his head round the door and be Nga Puhi as.
The second woman, all those reasons to burn her. She's just a dummy weka, they're everywhere.
I really wanted to hear the start of the conversation with the first woman, how they got onto pronunciation.
Dummy? Not sure about that, I think she was smart enough to know exactly what she was doing. Doesn't hurt to name that kind of racism when it's there, although I doubt I'd bother talking it through with her in real life.
Marty , your statement :
… '' they don't see Māori as part of their society – they couldn't care less about Māori let alone the language '' …
Thats identity politics.
1/ You dont speak for all white New Zealanders – all youve done is make a gross generalisation.
2 / Your assumption can equally be applied to the very people group you choose to champion. Except it is reversed. Many Maori ( and people from other cultures ) dont particularly care about white New Zealand culture as well.
3 / You belittle those who have taken the time to learn Te Reo who are not of Maori ancestry.
4 / If your generalization is true, – then that makes other cultures , – not just white New Zealanders , – participants culpable in the charge of ' not caring about Maori let alone the language' .
Therefore I would charge you with being an inverted racist yourself.
We all have seen the evidence of Maori oppression through colonialism, we all have read the history and the Bellich books, we are aware of the statistics in under achievement and incarceration – and for the most part , many non Maori have agreed, – yet for the last 3-4 decades weve had it rammed down our throats actually…to the point where its become overload. Yet if the plight of Maori is so dire, then the correct pronunciation of the Maori language is the least of their concerns.
It is all too easy to look at the extremes.
That said, it is nice to preserve languages.
However,… English in particular has many accents and dialects- from the Public School accent of the BBC to the Creole to Pidgin…
Thats language. It lives with each and every new generation, it develops with each and every new permutation as there is people.
And not you , not the identity politics crowd or any other force will ever stop that process. Try reading or speaking 12th century English. You'd be lost. You would struggle with even the simplest of pronunciations. You would probably have to learn Frisian or even German to get a handle on it.
THATS how much languages change, marty.
mate I LOVE identity politics – and I'm very proud to follow that approach.
Anyway thanks for the compliments – I'm really not too worried in this land of equality we live in – and I'm sorry to be insulting to you – I can't really be bothered keeping up the hostility so peace and love
I'm ambivalent on this one. When pronunciation evolves into mispronunciation, crapping on people for saying it the way everyone around them has said it for 80 years is a bit much.
And I note he used "camembert" not "croissant" – almost nobody says that word correctly lol
But then it's one of them power dynamics: attitudes to English language and pronunciation instructions are descriptive rather than prescriptive, these days. Māori instruction is more prescriptive in order to encourage expansion and consistency and recover usage. Because colonialism.
And then there's the entire meta discussion about when a word in one language becomes a word in another language.
It's one thing to have a lifetime habit that one doesn't want to change (eg how one pronounces where one grew up), but it's another entirely to go on the radio and make the case vehemently that society shouldn't move towards better te reo pronunciation (the second woman).
The other issue about te reo is that pronunciation affects meaning, and is part of literacy. It's not just about 'rightness' and not offending. How words are said in te reo Māori also affects whether one comes to a better understanding of what is being said, including concepts that are hard to say in English, which then leads to better understanding of Te Ao Māori. The words often go layers deep in ways that don't happen so much in English. I heard the second woman not just resisting changing an old habit, but actively working to suppress Te Ao Māori. Racist af.
Yeah, talkback radio callers for the win right there. Salt of the earth lol.
But I don't think it's down to berating individuals for not making an effort, when everyone else would look at them like freaks if they asked after the "Ōpoho" bus rather than "Opoho".
I think that sort of change comes from the local bodies – putting macrons on the bus signs, changing the literature and maps, etc. Like Whanganui DHB did back in the day.
And the schools, of course.
Is it a thing at the moment, the pronunciation of Ōpoho? I didn't even know it had a macron. Would have better if Newstalk had made the whole audio public so we can hear the start, I feel like I'm missing an important part of the conversation.
I don't think the issue is a couple of people mispronouncing a Māori placename, it's the *way it was defended. I wouldn't berate them for how they say the word, but obviously I will berate someone for being a dick about it.
I thought that was the pronunciation Lush was going for? Always just been "Opoho" to me.
But holy shit it just occurred to me that this has been the first time in years talkback has caused a kerfuffle and the bigot/dickhead wasn't the announcer! The last time I can think of that happening was the "Hone" Carter phone calls. Normally it's Lhaws or Tamihere or whomever going for the controversy.
Agreed. But I'd still cut the elderly lady a bit of slack. I would call her problem more ignorance than racism.
One way to bring it home to them is for all Maori to start mispronouncing English place-names especially when on radio or television where they are going to be heard.
Examples:
Wellington… we – ling – ton (as in con).
Onehunga… one – hunga (as in hunger)
St Kilda… st – kil – da (as in dat)
You could have a lot of fun in the process as well as causing an upsurge in pakeha related strokes. 😉
Bugger… that should have been sti – kil – da (as in dat). That'd stump em.
Why?- whats the point?
We already have people of all races mispronouncing names, places and the like. What are we all going to do? – draw and quarter them all for a simple error or guillotine them for being brought up in a certain way ?
Geez.
Maybe a simpler way would be to recognize that we all come from different backgrounds and cultures… and to stop trying to squeeze us all into the cookie cutter homogenous mould some would like to see…
Seems I recall the call went out for us all to be tolerant and celebrate our diversity… or is that no longer applicable when it comes to to the pronunciation of either the English or Maori language….
Seems just a little too ‘ convenient when it suits’ to me… but you know the old saying… '' you cant have your cake and eat it too''…
So which one is it?
Celebrating diversity and being tolerant or the cookie cutter?
Anyways,… had enough of this puerile conversation.
Good grief. Have you not got a sense of humour? It's a joke mate.
J…O…K…E
A bit of light hearted banter at the expense of pakeha.
Yes it is fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2LpG3Fkmwo
Ha! Touche Marty.
The Swedish people warmed to me as I gained a handle on their kooky language. My pal Tedde shared why. 'There are few greater genuine compliments that can be made to a group of people than learning their language.'
As the world grows smaller and sameness infiltrates everywhere, Te Reo is ours and only ours.
I heard Sir Peter Jackson was trying to get Andy Foster to change Wellington's name to Wellywood. Just a rumour. I can't guarantee that it's true.
Shipping going forward.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/10/25/shipping-giant-maersk-uses-mechanical-sails-cut-fuel-consumption/
Energenie?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/10/25/death-knell-fossil-fuels-iea-claims-offshore-wind-can-power/
Big firms with numbers of outlets cut out mini local businesses and drain funds from the circular local economy and multiplier effect in my opinion.
In the UK –
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/10/25/death-knell-fossil-fuels-iea-claims-offshore-wind-can-power/
That rigid sail system would overcome most of the reasons not to put conventional sails on a tanker. No extra crew, the captain could control them from the bridge. Low maint. They're not 300m high. The wind direction doesn't matter. A 9.2% fuel saving is substantial. I wonder if fuel savings improve beyond that as more of the units are added to a deck.
These points may well be in the article grey, you're a Telegraph subscriber.
This story on same ship says 8.2%
"The Finnish developer of the technology explained that this was equivalent to approximately 1,400 tonnes of CO2."
Doesnt tell how much oil the tanker carried in the 12 month period , could it be over 750,000 tons?
DWT is 110,000 tonnes
Currently off west coast of Africa at 10 kts
I'm a neophyte Telegraph subscriber. Can't get all their stuff at present and have to review what I paid and should pay. So can't give you any more about the sails at present, but even putting up the headlines I find is very bracing, knowing that something is going on in the intelligent side of the world.
I have to decide whether I want to pay monthly or drop in a donation FTTT – whatever options are being offered and for the other UK ones, I would like to get Scottish one too. I may be able to keep up on Bella Caledonia. (Just looking at their page and they are fulminating about David Cameron
' reportedly earning £120,000 per hour to provide audiences with “lessons in leadership” in global affairs. Similarly, Gordon Brown was paid around £75,000 for one speech that claims to give a “comprehensive view of complex issues”.' https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2019/10/24/a-prosperous-future/
At least it won't cost me that much to be informed, and with a spread of media I am likely to be as well grounded in general, as many paying big money to hear the mega-stars, famous in their own galaxy.
I'm going to be donating to the Guardian, want to subscribe to local Scoop, and also The Standard. And I get local paper at a reduced rate. It all adds up. The Guardian, The Telegraph and aljazeera have been my main ones on Brexit with the BBC and Channel 4 FTTT.
Another advantage over conventional sails, unlike most mono hull sailing vessels, it wouldn't lean over.
It would be history repeating itself – the rise of steam turned all the sailing ships into colliers – time being less critical for that cargo.
Once upon a time I favoured enabling vaping – as a means to wean people off tobacco.
I still do. But, given
1. the harm that can result from allowing an addictive substance – nicotine – to be on-sale
2. those over 18 are supplying it to younger teens and children
3. growing evidence that there is damage to lungs from vaping
I now only favour it by prescription to existing tobacco addicts, where the doctor felt the risk from vaping was worth it for the patient – as part of a process to getting people off tobacco.
Duke, that article also notes
“On certain routes during the trial the vessel achieved fuel savings way beyond the average of 8.2% even with average wind conditions,” Hylands said.
“There is a clear potential to achieve higher fuel savings, and hence CO2 savings, on routes with more favourable wind conditions, which further improves the commercial viability of the technology.”
Targeting windy routes is way more efficient than adding more windmills.
That shipping site is amazing. GPS position, headings, speed. Pelican looks very tired in the Maersk file pics. Was probably due to be slipped when the round sails went on.
One for marty.
Hope you can understand the point…
And get off the demanding , petulant one way rail road track.
Live and let live.
https://youtu.be/QrLjsCCGnuo?t=1https://youtu.be/QrLjsCCGnuo?
ta mate
Aww…
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/harvey-weinstein-mocked-during-rare-public-appearance
Weka stuck Harvey's public shaming up the other night but like Harvey, we had so much fun lets do it again.
Phone + Facebook/Twitter account are like the village stocks of old and Harvey is copping rotten fruit for a second day on The Standard. Seems fitting, creep.
Some Sky City workers are refusing to go to work now after the fire.
Some are feeling sick in the complex from acrid smoke smells apparently.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/skycity-workers-could-strike-over-work-conditions-after-convention-centre-fire
TV3 news said today 26th October news tonight.
There would be a massive air-cond system at Sky City. All of the air in the building can be exchanged rapidly. Change filters, clean towers etc.
I don't mean to belittle concerns, I've had a cough and had to take paid time off. Caught a 20lber
Seriously, of course the air purity should be checked. A 3 hour job when being closed costs $1000 a minute.
If I was the boss at Sky City I would invite the dominant union executive body to select the lab to do the air purity analysis. (I would run my own tests on the quiet.)
If there was a marked difference between data sets, I'd ring the head of the union body and suggest reps from each lab come together for one more comprehensive test. Agree on methodology and deliver a collective report.
Because giant interference arrays are so yesterday.
/
Russia will test its internal RuNet network to see whether the country can function without the global internet, the Russian government announced Monday. The tests will begin after Nov. 1, recur at least annually, and possibly more frequently. It’s the latest move in a series of technical and policy steps intended to allow the Russian government to cut its citizens off from the rest of the world.
“On Monday, the government approved the provision on conducting exercises to ensure the stable, safe and holistic functioning of the Internet and public communications networks in the Russian Federation,” notes an article in D-Russia. (The original article is in Russian. We verified a translation with the help of a native Russian speaker.) “The exercises are held at the federal (in the territory of the Russian Federation) and regional (in the territory of one or more constituent entities of the Russian Federation) levels.”
The word “holistic” shows that the exercises follow April’s passage of the sovereign internet law that will require all internet traffic in Russia to pass through official chokepoints, allowing the government to shut down outside access, block websites that they don’t like, and monitor traffic.
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2019/10/russia-will-test-its-ability-disconnect-internet/160861/?
'to cut its [Russian] citizens off from the rest of the world'. / sarc
This step to try and be self-sufficient comes after western provocation and Ukraine meddling and all sorts of attacks and provocations from both sides in retaliation to the ones before. It is quite reasonable to try and withdraw from such resource wasting interaction. And of course there are the sanctions that the USA plaster round the place, elephants are more dainty.
Putin and his Chekists are losing the propaganda battle. Their response is to do what their forebears did.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to monitor the online behavior of young Russians and to produce “moral and spiritual education” content for them.
Young Russians have been targeted by several government initiatives in recent years, including a ban on minors attending protests and efforts to provide them with a military and patriotic education. This year, Russia launched a new channel targeting young viewers with 24/7 World War II programming and announced military-patriotic reeducation camps for delinquent youngsters.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/10/17/putin-orders-monitoring-youth-behavior-online-a67776
Perhaps that is the appropriate thing to do at this point in time? I am so disillusioned with world politics that I no longer can produce the moth-eaten banner left over from last century with words of hope and glory where if everyone is treated properly and allowed to say what they will, the tooth fairy will give us beautiful teeth and we won;t even have to paint them every night.
I am amazed that the government cannot find funding for the Chathams and their airport. These outlying regions need some investment to build further business on. Everything can't be about trees. I hope that there is another agency that would find a place in its budget for them.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/401845/chatham-islands-airport-misses-out-on-government-funding
I'm going to sand the last one and lay another coat of lacquer over the Simca. I love spray-painting while the All Blacks play their big games. So far we have mirrored results.
Damn I want to blame the gun, but it was me, I hovered too long on the B pillar and I've got 3 runs.
Geeez, I so want to get this right. I know how to do this, I'm good at it, I need to relax. I need to be seventeen and painting my tutor's car again. I was brilliant without trying.
I've wiped it back to where it was with prepsol and invited a woman I know that usually has a smoke over for a curry.
I hope she gets here soon because I long for the day that the All Blacks play stoned.
ding dong, brb
Hey, everyone gets their own pattern, I've got a purple quilt sort of thing going on. Cynthia says "Hi"
I didn't have the overhead booth fans on. I should of asked myself "Why can I hear Miles so clearly while in here?"
I'm expecting the enhanced booth vacuum to have a favourable effect over my spray fan.
The lads and I need to dust on some coats of glass and get up to Cynthia's party cones.
Miles Davis? Do I even have to ask?
I like the sound of Cynthia; Hya-Cynthia.
Geez I was going well, all the top surfaces glistening, cat walked over it. Who visits with a cat? Tyler, cat, yeah I know.
That was different. Thanks for keeping us up with the play. Great try.
Bugger!
Trudeau may have his issues, but Canadians had the wit to give the racist, climate denier fossil fuel loving anti-immigrant nazi the arse.
Bernier spent the campaign promoting a divisive and exclusionary message that could have easily come from far-right parties such as Germany’s AfD or France’s National Front. He vowed to build a border fence to keep out asylum seekers, stoked fears of “radical Islam” in the country and told a rally earlier this year that he wanted to “make Canada great again.”
Bernier founded the party in 2018, after losing a Conservative Party leadership contest to Andrew Scheer, and quickly settled on an anti-immigration message. Despite the party polling around 3% throughout the campaign, Bernier was a highly visible figure during the race and participated in the federal leaders debate. His presence in the election, a sharp contrast with Canada’s progressive multicultural image, drew international media attention, including a profile in The New York Times that described him as a “lanky provocateur.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/canada-peoples-party-bernier-far-right_n_5daf6efce4b0f34e3a7e29af?
The ABs lose.
It'll be Jacinda's fault. It's her what done it you wait and see. 😉
Yes Anne, I had the same feeling after the match that it would be Jandal’s fault that the AB’s loss to English. You can’t fault that wiry old fox Jonesy who a masterful game plain to beat the AB’s tonight.
Wall of putative claims not based on reality. Meeting the wall of reality.
Does anyone know how to get to the subjectivists? Cult disentanglers are central to a future. I have 2 siblings I can't do shit with.
Easy foot-notery above when our predeccessors spent their lives, destroyed their families, for reality. And all I am is the angriest of the footnoters. Massive cream before a massive fall.
I think we're fighting against reality. That is, our mental nature.
Though beyond that, all species come bam against the wall of natural selection. We're just locomotive powered. Severe dip-off.
I have to say, being a social animal, I more enjoy subjectivists being fucked in the face than my early demise. .