Time for New Zealand to assert its independence from foreign superpowers.
“Twenty-nine academics, researchers and human rights advocates have written an open letter to Jacinda Ardern in support of China critic and Canterbury University politics professor Anne-Marie Brady.
“We have been shocked and disturbed by the reports of intimidation and harassment suffered by Professor Anne-Marie Brady,” the letter said.
“Attempts to intimidate and harass one academic in New Zealand have implications for freedoms of all the others – and indeed, for the freedoms of all who live here.”
The group also urged the prime minister to “make a clear statement in defence of academic freedom” in light of the case and to be “very clear that any intimidation and threats aimed at silencing academic voices in this country will not be tolerated”.
Damn right. Prof Brady: “The Education Act requires all political leaders and government agencies to protect and defend our academic freedom and uphold the critic and conscience role of the academic. So I do my job, and I expect the government to do their job.”
A spokesperson for the prime minister said she supported and defended the legal right to academic freedom, as set out in law. “The matters contained in this letter are under investigation by the police and it is not appropriate to comment on them before the investigation is finished.” But Prof Brady said the investigation was over, and the issue was now in the government’s hands. [RNZ]
So another Schrodinger’s Cat situation. The police investigation is over and is not over simultaneously. Truth lies somewhere between the two? Could be the PM’s spokesperson is misrepresenting the situation?
Perhaps someone will open the box and report whether the Cat is really alive or dead. And if the truth is that a police report must be written and obtained by the PM before the truth can be ascertained by her, the slowly-grinding wheels of public service bureaucracy will probably ensure that she goes to the xmas break none the wiser. Her relief at not having to do her job will probably be considerable! Will Chinese agents successfully eliminate Professor Brady while we wait?
Andrews actually went into the campaign beset by a number of controversies in his Victorian Labor Party but voters seem to have responded to his plans for major infrastructure spending across the state. And of course, all those Labor campaign billboards of state Liberal leader Guy hanging out with Peter Dutton, Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison helped.
There is a new game in town. Well, in America. Combining both waste and storm water for treatment, treated waters are redirected to spreading basins where they can percolate into the land and recharge aquifers.
While these methods are land intensive, they bring up some points worth noting.
We have done nothing towards recharging aquifers, despite corporate entities showing it is liquid gold.
2. We have significant wastewater resources in both rural and urban settings that contain revenue streams, we have not tapped these, namely: water for irrigation, composts for agriculture, biogas for power.
The resources are right there waiting for some government body to wake up. NZ water revenue should be returned, 100%, to NZ. The revenue generated can pay for improvements to water treatment and storm water diversion. Here we need to think big, but on a catchment by catchment basis.
In 2017 391 billion litres of bottled water were sold.
Billions, that’s what we are giving away. Take it back and get NZ on track.
There is an aquifer-recharge project being “scoped” in Southland, at Five Rivers, where it is proposed river water be “directed” into a depleted aquifer. In theory, the water will be taken at high flow, but I’ve concerns about the mixing of previously seperate “waters”, especially in light of their bacterial (and nitrogenous) make-up; natural filtering and time can clean surface water before it gets into an aquifer and this “direct injection” through reverse bore, will result in an “unnatural” introduction of pathogens, potentially. Of course, it may be that there’s no problem, but if successful there, other farming operations might see potential to fill their own aquifers with flood water, say, and be able to irrigate at a greater rate and thereby, intensify their farming operations. Mike Joy wouldn’t be a supporter, I’m guessing. I know there’s a lot of natural river/aquifer interaction in many cases, but it seems to me these geo-engineering jobs don’t always pan out well (if ever). All in my opinion, naturally 🙂
Wetlands are spreading basins. They could also be for tourism, aquaculture, ornithology, duck season, boating, walking, education…
The idea of topping aquifers from river flow is insane. We get our highly polluted shit and run it into our pristine sources. Then our potential for $ per litre goes down to parts of a cent per litre for shitty irrigation. How is that a good thing?
We need to stop falling over ourselves to accommodate farmers. Why build such an obviously shitty system? Farmers… that’s all.
Farmers should be playing a large part in recharging groundwater, but no, they merely take it. Imagine if we were to do something as simple as put floodgates at storm culverts letting the drainage systems of the country fill before overflowing (same flow capacity as it is governed by diameter of pipes under roads). All of a sudden the entire countryside is holding and percolating water after storm events. And that’s just getting started. Add swales and ponds…
Those stormwater drains, it makes no difference if they’re full or empty, except, when full they replenish the land, and are vast potential aquaculture infrastructure.
Who is it ‘scoping’ five rivers? They need a boot up the ass.
Well now, I couldn’t have said it like that, could I 🙂
Because there was such a hue and cry about “visible” dammed/damned water storage proposed by farmers in, especially North Canterbury, the industry has looked for hidden opportunities and aquifer recharge occurred to them. Have you done any work on the biology of aquifers? There’s living creatures down in them cold, dark waters! They probably won’t enjoy a dose of what their surface-dwelling cousins have to put up with .
A subterranean cave was explored by Charles Mitchell and some peers. They discovered sixty year old kokopu that had no food source. They’d lived purely through minerals ingested from water. Blind, albino kokopu.
One ‘silly idea’ I’ve had for Canterbury is to follow the Hawaiian example and run a tunnel through the mountain range taking west coast excess water to Canterbury.
Who was opposed to water bodies in Canterbury? Was it a large dam, or on farm ponds? I reckon turning the region into a monoculture desert is ugly enough, and ponds and plantings would improve the place. But what do I know.
Years ago “think big style” with electricity it was decided to redirect high flow water going into other waterway systems into the Taupo water system. So it’s gravitational potential energy could best be utilised.
There is no reason why your idea, that has been proposed for many rears, cannot be a reality.
Tunnel boring machines in the 1meter diameter range are cheap and you could create a little team of people running a site, creating a tube from one side to the other. The rock waste can be used in civil engineering.
If a big earthquake happens and the tube gets ruined, you accept it as part of reality, you then go in and fix it.
Making farms more productive because of water supply, because they become more drought resistant, or crops get water at the correct time of their life cycle. When farmland produces more from increasing the efficient use of sunlight everything is a benifit.
They absorb more CO2.
The farms Eco systems benifit.
If the farm is more efficient, profitable, it can invest in projects were fence to drain distances increase, a small area of trees and a wetland can be added, etc.
They can invest in environmental solutions. A farm of 100Ha doing mainstream farming can decide to try a few Ha in some radical new way, with the intent of lowering urea use, or improving production due to animal health benifits rather than off farm inputs. Diets creating less methane, plants that result in less nitrate leaching, etc etc.
The no to everything for farming is the wrong approach, and bringing water from the west coast as part of solving water issues should have happened decades ago.
Auckland city steals the Wiakato systems water for example. That happened because it was a good idea.
Are you on the turn @DJ?
Not too many days/weeks ago, you were coming in here as just another pompous trolling git.
These days……reading your thoughts and contributions is worthwhile
I saw something interesting by DJ the other day. Looked like real thought and not knee jerk stuff. Mmmm. You can’t be sure about anything these days. Grizzle.
That’s too far-fetched for me to believe 🙂
That said, we discovered a dog who’d been trapped in a glasshouse for 6 weeks over winter (hail and snow) without food, seemingly, who lived, though very thin (she went in plump). Curiously, there was no dog poo on the ground 🙂
Obscene profits being made (taken off NZ for private concerns).
A rich asshole I know was jizzing over these profits a decade ago as National came in. The Nats and their donors were in there like a shark feeding frenzy.
We have the Central Inceptor at a cost of $1.2b
Yet in a time of where “user Pays” still exists where greenfield developments have to provide infrastructure at the cost of the new locals and when these developments will have additional rates applied to pay for their infrastructure https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12159099 https://www.watercare.co.nz/About-us/News-media/Central-Interceptor-one-step-closer-to-start-date
Why do these wealthy inner city areas expect the rest of Auckland to pay for solutions to THEIR waste water issues ?
They already have the best public transport service available, subsidised by all rate payers. And as they are increasingly serviced e.g. new rail link, the value of their properties increase, yet they make no additional contributions for this.
“During wet weather the central wastewater network currently overflows to local waterways and the Waitematā Harbour at more than 100 locations and to the north-eastern Manukau Harbour at 14 locations. The Central Interceptor is expected to reduce the volume of overflows by over 80 per cent.”
Sounds really good. Not comprehensive but it is a large improvement.
I’m guessing actinobacteria are still the major issue in biological treatment (clumping), however, am very pleased they’ve not gone the silly chemical sanitation route, which produces treated yet unusable water. The clumping could be used for solids removal and processing as solid compost making the water treatment a lot easier. I’ve seen similar on a farm where solids were taken out before effluent ponding, the solids becoming compost. The Farmer could not get enough of the compost though it sat for a year and let the worms have at it to finish.
The composts from these processes can then feed non-edible crops to make them removed from human consumption/western sensibilities e.g. timber crops.
Exactly Herodotus, are the developers in particular those that are contributing the most to wastewater pollution with large high rises, are not being charged a new levy for ‘user pays’ with new builds for pollution and wastewater, as because as you rightly say, they are also getting the cream of public transport money too.
And often the inner city apartments are not good options for Kiwi families who sound like they are one of the poorest demographics now. But new builds and in particular apartments are open to be speculated on by the world’s wealthy as they are exempt from the OIA.
Meanwhile the poor on the outer city limits with no or few public transport options are forced to pay the petrol tax that the mostly inner/central city folks are largely exempted from for commuting to work or university.
Of course getting to the airport is a priority for work and holidays which is why that is PRIORITY number one for public transport. We can’t let the politicians get stuck in traffic going to Wellington or Phil Goff’s trip to China or expect them to pay an airline levy for the public transport link that Auckland ratepayers are expected to pay for.
Rampant development around beaches and more and more run off from roads are having a horrible effect.
Long Bay (rampant development) was the only beach to experience a more extreme red alert last summer with a reading of 810 enterococci/100ml taken on New Year’s Day after heavy rainfall.
Apparently…
“Recent historical data for the water quality of our swimming beaches is not available for comparison.
North Shore City Council stopped routine monitoring in 2008 because it was confident of its ability to identify water quality issues after analysing the previous 10 years worth of data.
Auckland Council resumed water quality testing on the North Shore last November because it felt there was an inconsistent approach to water safety across the city.”
I think the shell fish has also been effected around Long Bay regional park area, but any media about the pollution is quickly pulled. The developer seems to be able to keep it out of the media, surprise surprise.
P>S> hope those that once believed that the new housing was necessary for affordable housing for Kiwis, are now able to comprehend that allowing new builds to be sold and speculated around the world, firmly puts a stop to that idea and they are instead a way to do a Natz and keep the lazy economy moving within the Ponzi, while making the Kiwis who are rate payers pay for it and the residents and future generations pay for it with increased pollution and loss of quality of life, and new charges being dreamed up, for anything from petrol to wastewater around the city .
If we use this new diversion drain (central interceptor), AND capture roof water for gardens, we might actually cope in Auckland. Road runoff could be diverted more creatively too. Some to wetlands, some to industry…
Took the girls to the Santa Parade over in Richmond yesterday.
What kind of flag is that mum? They asked as a ‘redneck’ float went past.
That’s the confederate flag, it’s a symbol of white people using black people for slaves in the USA.
Woah, why is it in the parade mum?
Because, it was on the roof of a popular ‘redneck’ race car in a 1980’s TV series, which made a whole generation relate that flag to nothing else but two men and a Chrysler.
Some might say people are going PC mad, others might say we need to learn about real history rather than the Dukes of Hazard.
Was wondering if anyone else noticed….. looks like they did…PS the beer cans were tacky as.
“Because, it was on the roof of a popular ‘redneck’ race car in a 1980’s TV series, which made a whole generation relate that flag to nothing else but two men and a Chrysler.”
I think you kind of nailed it on the head here
I would think there are quite a lot of people who just aren’t aware of the fairly recent controversy around it, as they just don’t take a huge amount of interest in current US cultural issues.
They do just associate it with TDoH and that is what they got brought up as to what the flag represents. Personally I don’t actually put any blame on them, US events can sometimes be exceedingly dull and have zero relevance to NZ
Slight side point
Pretty sure the car was a Dodge Charger. Chrysler was the Aussie version.
Chrysler was owned by Dodge and the Dodge shared some structure, but it was a different shape etc.
The parent company was Chrysler right from the beginning in the 1920s up until the merger/bailout/buyout by Fiat a few years ago. The Dodge name was acquired not long after startup, and a bunch of other brands like De Soto, Plymouth, Imperial etc were acquired/created, used for a while, then killed/sold. Chrysler also got involved in various games of Big Boy’s Monopoly in buying and selling other car companies around the the world, such as the Rooted Group that was responsible for atrocities such as the Hillman Scavenger …
mmmm @ Andre.
I saw you more in a black Super Snipe.
It had that really really huge bonnet ahead of its steering wheel and some serious straight in-line cylinders. It was mainly driven by those that had reason (such as a J Toebes – gone but not forgotten).
But then it had many others who could only pretend and tryhard jobbie jobbie to emulate
Chris T is correct, and to give some context to the Dukes Of Hazard the car was named the General Lee and the thing they were celebrating was Lee being a “rebel”, and so were the Dukes. There’s also Billy Idols song Rebel Yell which refers to the shouts of the confederate army when going into battle. Of course we know better now, I see trucks with the flag all the time, either that or a Jim Beam flag, I doubt they put much thought into it other than it “looks cool”. Watch the TV series Atlanta which cleverly takes the piss out of southern racists.
I don’t think there is a “fairly recent controversy” over it. There’s been negative connotations surrounding that flag for decades.
I also find it difficult to reconcile that a bunch of people would openly parade around with that flag looking nothing like DoH and not have a second thought about how they come across.
The USA is our default godfather don’t you know, just listen to the news from RadioNZ every day, what other country gets the same coverage? And their citizens are a dime a dozen around the country. Free to enter almost at will and probably easy residency though few would give up their own States citizenship. They like having the best of both worlds, maybe ‘to have their cake and eat it too’.
Ain’t that the truth @ Greywarshark.
They’re probably the lowest of the low on that demographic immigration spreadsheet – oops, I meant ‘best practiced risk analysis’ immigration criteria reference’, just next to mother Britain and slightly above a Canadian.
I’m not exactly sure of the weightings or where the Okkers rank.
As for giving up their own States citizenship, I have a close relative who has now lived far more of his life in NuZull than the Greatest Nation on Earth. He even has one of those ONZ or Merity trinkets. Trying to renounce US citizenship was like being placed on a charge of treason.
I’m saying yes, he wanted to renounce his US citizenship. He no longer felt any sort of affinity with the place and had become more than disillusioned with its policies overseas (not that he ever publicly stated them). Most of his US based relatives had already karked it.
I think he retains dual citizenship to this day – the threats of tax audits and various other hurdles meant renouncing it just wasn’t worth it.
Oh, and to clarify…..I meant that non-US, non-Canadian, non-Brit dontcha know immigrants figure on the best practice risk analysis reference crib sheet whilst, as you suggest, the US citizen is automatically an asset and due for a rubber stamp on the PR application.
Anyway if you want people not fly those flags then a start, is to get people of NZ to understand history.
Because at present there is a dumbing down the NZ education system for arts and reducing tertiary departments for the arts, discouraging people to study the arts in NZ (apart from Law of course when we have all manner of fascists operating because they have no understanding of history, let alone morals), removing resources for the arts aka libraries, undermining history of western and local history at government and council level in real terms apart from surface representation with no real deep understanding of history, art and culture from different view points.
No floats from Hawera, far out those ‘lions’ really did my head in.
Am pretty sure both of those float theme’s came from similar generations.
There is a lack of diversity in Richmond, which results in a lack of understanding especially when it comes to different cultures. Tunnel vision as. Spot the brown person. You get the picture.
I know at the local school here in Motueka, they do learn about many different cultures. This is in part due to such diversity within the students and families here. And it’s awesome. It makes a huge difference, it really does, one of the reasons this white girl moved her little family here.
Absolutely get where you are coming from SaveNZ re history/culture/arts knowledge of different view points etc.
Western MSM expose their own total lack of integrity and pretense of being institutions of fair and balanced reporting through their own deafening silence in the defense of the creator of the most effective whistle blower delivery system the world has ever seen..
ON CONTACT: CRUCIFYING JULIAN ASSANGE
Chris Hedges and Joe Lauria, journalist and editor-in-chief, Consortium, discuss efforts to force WikiLeaks publisher, Julian Assange, out of the Ecuador Embassy in London and extradite him to the USA to stand trial.
Yes it is a very sad indictment on western ‘liberial’ media including our own RNZ that nearly all the (now former) heroes of western reportage Robert Fisk, John Pilger, Seymour Hersh, Glenn Greenwald etc are all now effectively barred from having a voice on any of the outlets that used to champion them, we really are living is a Orwellian period of, half truths and out right lies.
love him or not, bomber bradbury being banned (alliteration!), from rnz the panel is another example.
i heard the segment when it was broadcast, and yes, twas bombastic.
i couldn’t disagree with him and found it refreshing to hear that attitude put so forthrightly.
Evidence-based public policy often uses science as basis, and science often uses stats. Don’t assume stats are reliable. Those commissioning research are inclined to try to leverage the outcome:
“A stunning report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concludes that researchers often make “inappropriate requests” to statisticians. And by “inappropriate,” the authors aren’t referring to accidental requests for incorrect statistical analyses; instead, they’re referring to requests for unscrupulous data manipulation or even fraud.”
“The authors surveyed 522 consulting biostatisticians and received sufficient responses from 390. Then, they constructed a table (shown below) that ranks requests by level of inappropriateness. For instance, at the very top is “falsify the statistical significance to support a desired result,” which is outright fraud. At the bottom is “do not show plot because it did not show as strong an effect as you had hoped,” which is only slightly naughty.”
My supervisor was dead set against me removing data that could be dubious in case it also removed the result. I did it anyway as science idealistically is about getting to the truth of a thing, not a convenience. Had to argue black and blue to get things done ‘properly.’
This was UoA, 2016.
The result was that my result was that much stronger, even with a smaller data set. It really annoyed me when he tried to stifle my enthusiasm for getting to the crux of things. I’d prefer no result to a BS result, any day.
Yeah, me too. Doing college science in the sixties, we were taught never to eliminate anomalous data points, always put them on the graph even if miles away from the trend line makes them look wacky. Authenticity.
So you can imagine how I felt when reading the Climategate emails, seeing actual professors agreeing to remove outliers so they could defeat climate deniers more convincingly!! They say the end justifies the means. History shows that everyone slides down a slippery slope into evil if they use that attitude.
Sometimes outliers should be clearly taken out (a female in an all male dataset on muscle power) and some should be left in (Bill Gate’s income clearly belongs to a dataset about American incomes) … or not, depending on the point of the analysis.
Sometimes the answer is clear about what to do and sometimes it’s not clear which way to go (Does Peter Thiel’s income belong in a dataset about NZer’s incomes?). Usually, if you’re stuck not knowing what to do then analyse with and without outliers and see what difference it makes (and present both answers if there are clear differences).
Unfortunately, people want clear cut answers and sound nibbles – equivocation is taken as a weakness.
Reminds me of the Stanford prison experiment, which as far as I can see had no real concret ‘scientific’ results to speak of , but nonetheless was ( and probably still is) used as some sort of meaningful insight to human behaviour under certain conditions.
I just went to remind myself, and the wiki account has a bunch of interesting nuances. Critics make valid points, but I still agree with Zimbardo’s thesis. Human nature is indeed context-driven. Warping via context can be designed.
” but I still agree with Zimbardo’s thesis. Human nature is indeed context-driven. ”
I too agree completely with that thesis, this was the point I was trying to make with a producer from RNZ during an email exchange earlier in the year, her position was, we give people the stories they want to hear, so (according to her) people are more interested in peoples stories/lives from France or the USA than they are of people in Africa/Asia or the Middle East, to which I responded, people would be concerned or interested in other peoples lives and interests of any country in the World if those peoples lives were contextualised, given form and substance, a privilege that RNZ rarely gives to these ‘other’ people…so in fact the editorial decisions of RNZ becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
Russell was the first thinker I stumbled across and liked ( probably because of his support of Muhammad Ali ) when I was a angry young 14 or 15 yo punk, I somehow found an audio of his debate with Father Frederick C. Copleston, it was a pivotal moment for me, there was something about the way these two thinkers with completely opposing concepts of reality sparred with an intellectual grace that greatly impressed me at the time, and still does.
I think Grey’s point was that good manners and a bit of grace in a genuine debate between intellectually mature people is as rare as a flying Dodo and a flying Moa doing air-acrobatics in your backyard.
That remark wasn’t being sarcastic or pointed at you Adrian – it was a great phrase that I liked the sound of and would like to aspire to. So there is no problem at all. We have enough already without misunderstanding each other. Sorry about that.
And ianmac you have also expressed yourself well. Very funny. The blog has been very interesting lately.
The data are unreliable, the stats are unreliable, the scientists are unreliable and thus so-called evidence-based public policy is unreliable? Is that your message, Dennis? So, we might as well flick a coin to make important decisions? An almost 50% chance of getting it right?
Things aren’t that bad. Yet. I think it signals a trend that has serious implications for public policy formulation. Reliance on stats is no longer a good idea. There’s still quite a prevalent tendency for folks to have blind faith in scientists. Sceptical appraisal makes more sense now.
The other thing to learn from this study is the extent to which motivation is likely to warp the findings of scientists. Climate science has exposed that too, but admissions from so many researchers that they had been offered inducements to produce suitable results indicates the likelihood of a proportion of acceptance.
Since those who take the money are unlikely to admit doing so, we can only speculate on that proportion. The bottom line is that truth and reality are not the only factors incentivising scientific discoveries: we now have good reason to suspect that some such are fake news. Which is where the scientific discipline of replication comes in. Such discoveries become reliable when confirmed by other researchers operating independently. Initial discoveries ought to be regarded as provisional. Of course, the media will ignore that need for caution.
I do struggle a little with the ambiguous term “scientific discovery” but can’t formulate a decent argument for discussion right now except to say that provisional findings make for poor public policy or (better) not at all. Maybe another time.
White women are a conservative force in the USA: “white women voters overwhelmingly threw their support behind conservative Republican male candidates. Again. They did it for President Trump, who won an estimated 53 percent of the white female vote in 2016. And they did it with Roy Moore, accused of sexually predatory behavior, in Alabama’s special Senate election last year.” https://www.vogue.com/article/white-women-voters-conservative-trump-gop-problem
““Our perception that white women are going to vote the way ‘we’ think they should has been proven false over and over again,” Elizabeth Gillespie McRae, historian and author of Mothers of Massive Resistance: White Women and the Politics of White Supremacy, tells Vogue. She points to white women’s historic role in upholding racial segregation, from campaigning against the United Nations (on the grounds that it would upend the racial divide) to rallying against school integration after Brown v. Board of Education, including leading the charge against busing black students to new districts. The Confederate monuments that have caused so much modern-day controversy, McRae adds, were often funded by white women’s organizations, prior to the 19th Amendment.”
“The latest gut punches, courtesy of CNN polling: In the Georgia governor’s race, an estimated 75 percent of white women—more even than white men!—voted for Republican Brian Kemp, who is passionately pro-life, over Stacey Abrams, a staunch protector of women’s reproductive rights, while 97 percent of black women supported her. In Texas, 60 percent of white women cast their ballots for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a supporter of alleged assaulters President Trump and Brett Kavanaugh, over Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who is dedicated to improving women’s health care. (Ninety-four percent of black women backed O’Rourke.)”
@ Dennis Frank. Interesting juxtaposition between your post on 6, showing how statistics are being manipulated with your post 7 suggesting that an estimated white women voted 53% in 2016 for Trump (also suggests that estimated 47% white women did not vote for Trump). Then add in voters who did not vote, any statistical error and based on who identifies as ‘white’ and who identifies as a ‘women’. Not sure what the point of your post of 7 is, actually? would be more interesting if you had the entire estimated voting gender/ethnicity.. otherwise what is the point of it especially as it seems like your selected demographic of ‘white women’ is actually pretty even between Trump and not voting for Trump (if that was the point of the statistic).
It actually shows that relying on identity politics in politics is probably not a good idea.. people are voting on their perception of who they think is the better candidate.. and going on about reproductive rights aka abortion, to christians might not be a good idea..
75% identified as Christian in US in 2015. But the number is dropping fast.
107:100 boys:girls, so close to half of them female.
> 60% white.
> 325 million Americans.
325 x 0.6 x 0.5 x 0.75 = approx 73 125 000 white christian women voters in US.
Churches with patriarchal bias = pretty much all of them.
1 Timothy 2:12 “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, she must be silent.”
Or this gem
Ephesians 5:22 “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.”
Anyone with half a heart only has to read that cursed book to reject it.
Brainwashing in US however, runs very deep. All that patriotism doesn’t leave much room for grey matter. Republicans, like our own right w(h)ingers, love repugnant rhetoric espousing them as natural leaders. Here’s another pearl of wisdom from the ‘good book’.
1 Peter 2:18 “Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel.”
Here’s some breakdown of beliefs and political affiliation. Actual proportions of each religion would be nice to have as well.
the scary one is “Sources of guidance on right and wrong”
Republicans use religion to guide them 44% of the time, science 6%. Religion to guide them in their sexist racist homophobic genocidal ways. Science because Space Force!
Thanks WtB. I thought you were green, but you come in many colours like Josephs coat I see. The saying religiously-related applying to me:
‘The Lord loves a tryer’. Thanks for the help with the maths.
I was just reporting the Vogue writer’s framing (women voting against their common interests) but I agree with you that identity politics is unreliable. Stats are equally so. One could likewise argue that the conservative women identify with their husbands, their class interests, their skin colour etc…
Next May’s European elections will be pretty interesting as a real stress test for anti-immigration populism.
Here comes Yanis Varoufakis for EU Parliament, proposing to represent …………. Germany.
Yesterday he accepted the nomination on behalf of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), which he launched in 2016 to “democratize” the continent. He calls it the European Spring, after the Arab Spring.
My son is leaving to work again in Germany so I will report to you what the mood is over there now as when Sam (my Son) was in Germany working last during 2005 to 2006 he said then that Arabs/Turks and others were coming in and locals were fearful then to walk the streets at night so interesting times indeed.
Not unusual or recent my wife and I took a stroll in Southern French city in early 90s and began to notice we were in an area of group’s of men standing about, a lady pulled over in her car and suggested we hop in as the area was not safe for us and as we were feeling intimidated by the looks we were recieving we did.
That’s interesting. A boy on a bicycle in some USA city suburb was stopped by a large man with the Orthodox Jew hat and curl on. He was refused entry.
He felt quite uneasy.
nd who were afraid? It can be important for women in any town and city to know they will be safe at night, and if they have fears, they may hesitate to try but the fear may be unjustified.
I can’t say who we we afraid of but the looks we recieved from these men was not of welcome and the feeling was not good. On the same trip we arrived early in the morning from an overnight train and found ourselves in the midst of many homeless and rough sleepers with smiles we felt quite comfortable to sit take coffee and a bun. As a traveller I find it’s best to trust your feelings. In Sth East Asia I poke my nose into most situations but found in Cambodia stepping outside the tourist areas was quite uncomfortable. But seeing the horror museums and reading that to survive meant being able to smash your mother’s skull with a hoe I understand how the locals might feel less socially inclusive.
“The European Union has called on Russia and Ukraine to “act with utmost restraint to de-escalate” the situation in the Black Sea.
Ukraine says that three of its ships have been seized by the Russian coast guard, including two that were fired upon, and two crew members were wounded. Russia has blamed Ukraine for preparing and orchestrating “provocations.”
The EU, in a statement from foreign affairs spokeswoman Maja Kocijanic, also said that it expected Russia to “restore freedom of passage” through the Kerch Strait after Moscow blockaded it.”
nothing happened, nothing to see, move along citizen
Hmmm
Interesting timing, just as Kiev launches a move occupying village in buffer area between the front lines in Eastern Ukraine. , and as Poroshenkos ratings hit an all time low(7.8%) with elections coming up and Yulia Tymoshenko looking set to win
Poroshenko now has the consent of his national defence and security council to declare martial law , which would suspend parliament and elections , can be used to ban protests and activities by political parties, and allows for media, TV stations and newspapers to be shut down.
Russia has called for an emergency meeting of theUN SC scheduled in about 9 hours.
Poroshenko has scheduled a meeting with Stoltenberg.
Basically a squabble over whether Ukraine gave advance notice of intention to move through that Kerch area, which they say they did. The Russian coastguard says they didn’t.
Previously Ukraine has obeyed that protocol
poor russia, so hard done buy the big angry heavily armed superpower Ukraine, who always goes walkabouts invading in Russia, seizing Russian ships n just. Luckily Russia is calling for the help of the UN. Cause what would Russia do otherwise. Cry a bucket?
A day after Russia’s massive PD-50 drydock suddenly sank underneath the country’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, as it was receiving a long-awaited overhaul in frigid Murmansk, just how big a deal this may end up being for the Russian Navy is becoming clearer. The dry dock, which is the largest of its kind in Russian hands, appears to have sunk at first on a steep incline before it disappeared totally beneath the water’s surface. Russian officials are now saying that it could be many months before it is raised from the seabed 160 feet below and that doing so would be a very tedious and delicate operation. That’s if they decide to salvage it at all.
Regardless, PD-50 services all types of vessels that make up Russia’s most powerful fleet, including its largest submarines. So leaving it out of action for years, or even losing it altogether, would be a major hit for the Northern Fleet and the Russian Navy’s overall readiness.
Ukraine is seen as in the USA oriented nations, and which country knows what they will do next. White the USA surrounds itself with defensive sites. Didn’t help with September 2001 though.
malcolm gladwell has a great podcast series.
one of the episodes was looking at the movement of people across the mexican/u.s. border over 40 or so years.
the surprising conclusion was that when movement was less stringently controlled (up till the last 10 years), mexicans were far more likely to return and stay home, (not be aliens/illegal), than when the border got tightly controlled.
i thoroughly recommend revisionist history podcast.
i am not sure what this episode was.
another goodie was looking at french fries and how much better they tasted when they were cooked in beef fat compared to vege oils.
vege oils that are not good for you…
there are whole familys that are almost nomadic, they travel the various states for the harvest seasons and once done go back home. Rinse repeat every year.
but hey, what ever gets one elected as the candidate not beholden to corporate interest, self funded, and only worried about the economic anxiety of the white male working class.
After all, all mexicans are rapists and drug peddler. So said the Orange Saviour in 2015. In front of a camera and people and everyone just nodded and said: It is good.
“I think it’s just PC gone – I don’t know if it’s mad, but too far. You guys this morning are telling me that man didn’t walk on the moon, now you’re telling me Santa’s a woman – I just want a few things I can believe in.”
“…….We’ve got discrimination rules and they’re absolutely right, you know, whether it’s gender, whether it’s ethnicity,” said Mr Bridges.
“But I think the truth is on Santa, this is a traditional thing. Mary Poppins is a woman, Santa Claus is a man. That’s how it should be……”
My point is that you begin by a personal attack on AM Brady, with the intention of diminishing her credibility, as a preamble to dismissing whatever she has to say.
It seems like a shabby way to argue.
A.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
No Antione. You don’t have a point. I was quite explicit in saying “some may”, and gave another possibility too before writing that I wasn’t offering an opinion on either or either way.
I listened to what she said. Have you? I put up opinion and thoughts you could have engaged with.
You’ve chosen not to engage and to splatter a post with bullshit. So your comment’s now over here on Open Mike.
If I say “some may say X is a swivel-eyed loon but I couldn’t possibly comment”, then everyone will understand this as a coy way of saying “X is a swivel-eyed loon”.
Well, comport yourself as you like but don’t expect the rest of us to be impressed.
Sure. My bias was stated. And then there was substantive opinion and thought to read and commented on in light of that bias.
You want to spend a day engaged in stirring up vacuous personal bullshit in lieu of engaging with substantive content? That’s what bullshit message boards and facebook are for.
Hospital Workers get rises of 24% to 40% on their hourly rate, some back dated 6 mths and this over 2 and a half years. A piece of good news in the Herald today.
Thousands of hospital service workers will get pay rises of up to 40 per cent over the next three years.
The pay rises, of between 24 and 40 per cent on workers’ current rates will affect 3500 service workers, including cleaners, laundry workers, orderlies, catering and security staff across the 20 District Health Boards.
The immediate increase could be as high as 10 per cent for some and is backdated till June 25 this year.
Christmas Customs: St. Nicholas – der Heilige Nikolaus
Wer ist Sankt Nikolaus?
– Who is Saint Nicholas?
For a long time in Austria and some regions of Germany, particularly in Bavaria, St. Nicholas was the main character in the Christmas celebration.
But he was not Santa Claus, and he arrived earlier – on the 6th of December. His usual, less friendly escort went by different names in different places: “Belsnickle,” “Niglo,” “Pelznickel,” and others. Santa Claus or Father Christmas is a more recent tradition. Since the Germans (and the Dutch) brought many of their customs to America directly or indirectly, we need to look first at Europe in order to understand the American and worldwide Christmas celebration of today.
I am german, i am bavarian. Thanks for the history lesson. We only have St. Nicolaus on the 6th of December, on the eve of the 24th we give pressies, go to midnight mess if so inclined, and that was that. No one crawling through the chimney or anything. 25th and 26th are Christmas Holidays without any importance other then visiting family and eating way to much food, and drinking way to much booze.
Santa Claus is if anything dutch in nature, and then co-opted by Coca Cola. The dutch would have called him Sinter Claas, and his helper is generally refered to as het swarte piet. The black pete.
Hence my comment in the first place about the gender and the reality of Saint Nicolaus, Bishop of Bari whom the legend says went out during a particular hard winter and left overings of food, clothes and toys for the children in front of the houses of the poor.
He should not be ‘played by a women’ cause he was a man, in saying that in the convent that i grew up and lived in for many years it was Nuns who played the part of St. Nicolaus and Kramperl (his helper) was also played by a Nun. They came with the book of good deeds and bad deeds, scared the small children witless and us older ones running down the halls of the convent screeching trying to figure out who played whom. However we never did. The Nuns always outsmarted us. Such are nuns, what can i say.
However, fat Coca Cola Santa can and should be played by whomever applies for hte role and is best suited.
That is what my comment relates too.
As for those that like this bit, St. Barbara is held on the fourth of December, Patron Saint of miners. I have her in mind, while the bodies of the pike river miners are recovered. She is often depicted with a lantern in her hand, surrounded by praying/crying women and children at the entrance of a mining shaft.
yeah, i am very bavarian, and i like my little customs. So light a candle on the 4th Dec, for all the miners everywhere. And give sweets to the kids on the 6th of december thanks to Saint Nicolaus.
I’m not so interested in who “Father Christmas” was . I like to think about who he can be, from this moment on. This year, courtesy of my now-convincingly festive white beard, I’m going to play “Father Christmas’s ” dad, Grandfather Christmas and give out to children, hope and encouragement along with packets of vegetable seeds 🙂
Natioal Party may be behind these sudden vehicle liciencing issues being stirred up tas both Davaville and westland are both Labour strongholds we now await to see if a “Garage in a National stronghold is also pulled up” as the whole NZTA handling of vehicle licieces debate hots up.
Seocond garage found is “Westland tyre and Autos” is clearly a laour strondhold whom the NZTA agency has targetted now who has had that garage in Westland WoF licience evoked.
Will NZTA now target the National strongholds of West and north Auckland,,hamiton, Tauranga, Otago, and Southland?
We await for this with interest.
National Party seems to be causing trouble and friction among communities, only in labour held areas. it seems to be the new game of National politics.
So watch their ‘dark ops’ of “dirty politics” as time goes by.
Quote;
“It’s a reasonable bet that when Simon Bridges took on the job as leader in February he didn’t expect it would mostly involve wall-to-wall disaster management of National’s problems that would overshadow his attempts to harass the coalition government for its failings.”
As my bolg suggested; – National is trying now quietly to find as your article says; –
“problems that would overshadow his attempts to harass the coalition government for its failings.”
The Wof issue is one of those I suggest, as we already had this over the truck trailer issue last wanter when a Nelson enginerering shop signed off many truck trailers with false certificates, so now Bridges is causing further unrest amost the private vehicle liciencing now too.
Watch for this slimy Bridges character as he is a very slippery character.
So we do womder if he can dinger a Garage in his seat of Tauranga now for licience breaches of Wof’s?
Border Patrol fired off shots at a group trying to go through the fence. We ran and hid under train. They sent in CS gas. Babies are scared and crying. pic.twitter.com/FCM1DcG2o8— WendyFry (@WendyFry_) November 25, 2018
Shocking. What is the international game plan as signed up with UN about this?
Or has USA lost every sense of appropriate behaviour, decency, respect for humanity? Time for a Billy Graham mass Christian campaign calling all the sinners back to the fold, and also making America great again in one package. At present there is an evil message being absorbed under a false flag.
I was short of anybody with that pulling power to ‘USA Christians’. So I picked the wrong guy did I. But is there a new, better sort of preacher that would turn this tide of negativity, racism, hate and bellicose scapegoating that mixed together looks nasty.
You came up with a doozy of a link. So interesting and relevant to the voting for the Republicans and the connection with religion.
Also this on North Korea. I didn’t know the history and see why they have ‘ambivalent’ attitudes to the USA.
Graham lent his imprimatur to this recommendation. Thus Graham was advocating a policy to the U.S. Commander-in-Chief that on Nixon’s own estimate would have killed a million people.
The German High Commissioner Seyss-Inquart was sentenced to death at Nuremberg for breaching dikes and other crimes in Holland in World War II.
(His execution did not deter the USAF from destroying the Toksan dam in North Korea, in 1953, thus deliberately wrecking the system that irrigated 75 percent of North Korea’s rice farms.)
You came up with a doozy of a link with that nypress one. So interesting and relevant to Republicans and voting and religion; this time anti-Jewish. And Billy Graham is very anti – doesn’t come across as a decent Christian for sure.
Also this on North Korea. I didn’t know the history and see why they have ‘ambivalent’ attitudes to the USA.
Graham lent his imprimatur to this recommendation. Thus Graham was advocating a policy to the U.S. Commander-in-Chief that on Nixon’s own estimate would have killed a million people.
The German High Commissioner Seyss-Inquart was sentenced to death at Nuremberg for breaching dikes and other crimes in Holland in World War II.
(His execution did not deter the USAF from destroying the Toksan dam in North Korea, in 1953, thus deliberately wrecking the system that irrigated 75 percent of North Korea’s rice farms.)
and a useless fat ugly man is feeling all powerful, probably sexually aroused by the fear he creates and while watching fox news, eating literal shit sandwiches from MacDo gets off every time another canister gets shot across the border.
Cause nothing says powerful man more then crying mothers and children.
And this is how it starts. And this is how it always started. Some useless sadistic piece of shit supported by people cause……economic anxiety. T’was thus in Germany, and now we get to watch the sequel.
Holy shit I just got all the way to the bottom of open mic. And not a single thread was a complete waste of time scrolling paste petty bullshit. . I don’t even think I read a single pointless slogan.
Take bow people. 😏
Can we step back from little comments that add nothing. I did one yesterday and I promise not to do it again for a while. Could we all step back and let it go, unless having a rare poke whn the time is appropriate.
Jacinda dismantled him at her post-cabinet presser today. He’s desperate. And National are trying to get their polling back above 40% before it becomes a downward spiral.
Quite like the idea of referendums being included in the election. Cheaper than doing them separately. And possibly will make for a greater turn out of voters.
I don’t mind a referendum but the binding bit sticks in the craw.
It all depends on the wording of the question.
E.g. marijuana. I am all for decriminilising the weed.
That would also go hand in hand with restrictions and decent education.
Not the DARE type, Mr Mackey “drugs are bad mmkay?”
I have no care for legalisation, i.e. handing pot over to big business a la alcohol.
Plus it might mean celebrity survivor fans have a large influence.
Kia ora Newshub These helicopter are crashing often.
The virus outbreak up In North Land condolences to anyone who has lost love ones.
It a big mystery around Whale stranding 145 stranded down South have died that’s sad. The worst thing one can do is give the issue publicity
The NZ CEO over half don’t use twitter ???????? Equality half Wahine CEO is needed to fix most of our problems.
I agree the addiction needs to be treated so the people doing dump things will be able to straighten up there act that’s a smart way to a positive solution to a bad problem.
I back welcoming Refugees they are people in need we can not ignore there suffering
and ha the west has cause most of these Refugee problems.
With the Smoking tax debate its a addiction tax’s don’t treat the addiction they just rake money from poor people who can’t beat the addiction billions should be invested to find better treatments for the smokers addiction not higher TAX.
Ka kite ano
Eco Maori encourages all the WORLDS CHILDREN to protest about the inaction of the
Worlds Governments to do everything in there POWER’S to mitigate Climate Change as it is there FUTURE we are poisoning and turning into hell for all as it is our children who have to clean up there MESS.
And if teachers really care about there children they will tau toko/support there STAND.
Scott Morrison has been labelled “out of touch” for angrily condemning a national student strike to protest government inaction on climate change.
The prime minister implored children to stay in class rather than protesting things that “can be dealt with outside of school”.
Everything you want to know about climate change in #MyClimateQuestions
Read more
“Each day I send my kids to school and I know other members’ kids should also go to school but we do not support our schools being turned into parliaments,” Morrison told parliament on Monday. Ka kite ano Links Below
When school started in August this year, I decided enough was enough. Sweden had just experienced its hottest summer ever. The election was coming up. No one was talking about climate change as a crisis.
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So I decided to walk out of school and sit on the ground outside the Swedish parliament to demand our politicians treat climate change for what it is: the biggest issue we have ever faced.
Because if climate change has to stop, then we must stop it. It is black and white. There are no grey areas when it comes to survival. Either we continue as a civilisation or we don’t. One way or another, we have to change. Countries like mine and Australia must start reducing our emissions dramatically if we believe in equality and climate justice.Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coal, one of the leading cause of climate change. Your politicians want to help Adani build one of the biggest coal mines in the world. Right now, there are no policies to change this. There are no rules to keep coal in the ground. We can no longer save the world by playing by the rules because the rules have to be changed
Here you go he does not care about the billions of lives his ignorance is going to harm
donald trump has told reporters he doesn’t believe his own government’s climate change findings that the US economy will suffer substantially with continued warming from greenhouse gas pollution.
“I’ve seen it, I’ve read some of it, and it’s fine,” he said outside the White House on Monday. “I don’t believe it.”
From Facebook to climate change: how to bury bad news
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The report, called the National Climate Assessment, was quietly released the day after Thanksgiving. Also last Friday, the government slipped out another environment internal report with bad news about emissions from oil and gas drilling on federal lands. Link below ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub Tova Bulling is not acceptable and should be stamped out of all organizations.
That virus in North Land is shocking and in a place with high Maori population this tell me that we are a second class people .
The closing off Queen’s st to all but the essential vehicles is a really good move there are quite a few city’s around the world doing this with big success clean air.
Our children always have there faces in there Ph not I . I just do a lot of research for my mission I will be doing Eco Maori influencing for a long time.
The health supplements is not regulated.
Condolences to all the people who lost there houses in the big fire in Australia .
Everyone is buying Tesla cars A with GM lay off and some ones trade war is hurting the poor.
I have a consumers complaint every time I go to buy some thing some how they have not got the product I want so they say they will ring back but know O that’s just the bulling sandfly being muppets trying there best to try and upset me but no they are just small fry in Eco Maoris Papatuanuku.
Ka kite ano P.S some people think they know my whapapa but there is one line no one knows about.
Kia ora The Crowd Goes Mulls James & Wairangi Wild fingers crossed for the Black Caps.
The League dramas that move will get the punters out.
Yes Its cool that Joe Schmidts is stepping aside for his whano .
At the Bowls guys the Crowd is growing thats the way Tau toko them not to much cups of teas tho A.
That Hand glider person was lucky he only broke his wrist he would have had to change his ——
That was a good UFC KO kick the ref in the teeth lol we no what’s really in the water bottle mulls Ka kite ano
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 19, 2025 thru Sat, January 25, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Sooner or later, like a gym bro flexing in the mirror, like a teen rolling their eyes, like a mansplainer patronisingly clearing his throat, the ACT party will start talking about privatisation.In the eyes of David Seymour and his LinkedIn ACTolytes, there's not a thing in this world that cannot ...
Confession: I used to follow US politics and UK politics - never as closely as this - but enough to identify the broad themes.I stopped following US politics after I came to the somewhat painful realisation that my perception was simply that - a perception. Mountain Tui is a reader-supported ...
Life is cruel, life is toughLife is crazy, then it all turns to dustWe let 'em out, we let 'em inWe'll let 'em know when it's the tipping point. The tipping point.Songwriters: Roland Orzabal / Charlton PettusYesterday, we saw the annual pilgrimage to Rātana, traditionally the first event in our ...
The invitation to comment on the proposed Regulatory Standards Bill opens with Minister David Seymour stating ‘[m]ost of New Zealand's problems can be traced to poor productivity, and poor productivity can be traced to poor regulations’. I shall have little to say about the first proposition except I can think ...
My friend Selwyn Manning and I are wondering what to do with our podcast “A View from Afar.” Some readers will also have tuned into the podcast, which I regularly feature on KP as a media link. But we have some thinking to do about how to proceed, and it ...
Don't try to hide it; love wears no disguiseI see the fire burning in your eyesSong: Madonna and Stephen BrayThis week, the National Party held its annual retreat to devise new slogans, impressing the people who voted for them and making the rest of us cringe at the hollow words, ...
Support my work through a paid subscription, a coffee or reading and sharing. Thank you - I appreciate you all.Luxon’s penchant for “economic growth”Yesterday morning, I warned libertarianism had penetrated the marrow of the NZ Coalition agenda, and highlighted libertarian Peter Thiel’s comments that democracy and freedom are unable to ...
A couple of recent cases suggest that the courts are awarding significant sums for defamation even where the publication is very small. This is despite the new rule that says plaintiffs, if challenged, have to show that the publication they are complaining about has caused them “more then minor harm.” ...
Damages for breaches of the Privacy Act used to be laughable. The very top award was $40,000 to someone whose treatment in an addiction facility was revealed to the media. Not only was it taking an age for the Human Rights Review Tribunal to resolve cases, the awards made it ...
It’s Friday and we’ve got Auckland Anniversary weekend ahead of us so we’ve pulled together a bumper crop of things that caught our attention this week. This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers ...
Long stories short, the six things of interest in the political economy in Aotearoa around housing, climate and poverty on Friday January 24 are:PM Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nationspeech in Auckland yesterday, in which he pledged a renewed economic growth focus;Luxon’s focused on a push to bring in ...
Hi,It’s been ages since I’ve done an AMA on Webworm — and so, as per usual, ask me what you want in the comments section, and over the next few days I’ll dive in and answer things. This is a lil’ perk for paying Webworm members that keep this place ...
I’m trying a new way to do a more regular and timely daily Dawn Choruses for paying subscribers through a live video chat about the day’s key six things @ 6.30 am lasting about 10 minues. This email is the invite to that chat on the substack app on your ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on Donald Trump’s first executive orders to reverse Joe Biden’s emissions reductions policies and pull the United States out of ...
The Prime Minister’s State of the Nation speech yesterday was the kind of speech he should have given a year ago.Finally, we found out why he is involved in politics.Last year, all we heard from him was a catalogue of complaints about Labour.But now, he is redefining National with its ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and ...
Aotearoa's science sector is broken. For 35 years it has been run on a commercial, competitive model, while being systematically underfunded. Which means we have seven different crown research institutes and eight different universities - all publicly owned and nominally working for the public good - fighting over the same ...
One of the best speakers I ever saw was Sir Paul Callaghan.One of the most enthusiastic receptions I have ever, ever seen for a speaker was for Sir Paul Callaghan.His favourite topic was: Aotearoa and what we were doing with it.He did not come to bury tourism and agriculture but ...
The Tertiary Education Union is predicting a “brutal year” for the tertiary sector as 240,000 students and teachers at Te Pūkenga face another year of uncertainty. The Labour Party are holding their caucus retreat, with Chris Hipkins still reflecting on their 2023 election loss and signalling to media that new ...
The Prime Minister’s State of the Nation speech is an exercise in smoke and mirrors which deflects from the reality that he has overseen the worst economic growth in 30 years, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. “Luxon wants to “go for growth” but since he and Nicola ...
People get readyThere's a train a-comingYou don't need no baggageYou just get on boardAll you need is faithTo hear the diesels hummingDon't need no ticketYou just thank the LordSongwriter: Curtis MayfieldYou might have seen Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde's speech at the National Prayer Service in the US following Trump’s elevation ...
Long stories short, the six things of interest in the political economy in Aotearoa around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday January 23 are:PM Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech after midday today, which I’ll attend and ask questions at;Luxon is expected to announce “new changes to incentivise research ...
I’m trying a new way to do a more regular and timely daily Dawn Choruses for paying subscribers through a live video chat about the day’s key six things @ 6.30 am lasting about 10 minues. This email is the invite to that chat on the substack app on your ...
Yesterday, Trump pardoned the founder of Silk Road - a criminal website designed to anonymously trade illicit drugs, weapons and services. The individual had been jailed for life in 2015 after an FBI sting.But libertarian interest groups had lobbied Donald Trump, saying it was “government overreach” to imprison the man, ...
The Prime Minister will unveil more of his economic growth plan today as it becomes clear that the plan is central to National’s election pitch in 2026. Christopher Luxon will address an Auckland Chamber of Commerce meeting with what is being billed a “State of the Nation” speech. Ironically, after ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). 2025 has only just begun, but already climate scientists are working hard to unpick what could be in ...
The NZCTU’s view is that “New Zealand’s future productivity to 2050” is a worthwhile topic for the upcoming long-term insights briefing. It is important that Ministers, social partners, and the New Zealand public are aware of the current and potential productivity challenges and opportunities we face and the potential ...
The NZCTU supports a strengthening of the Commerce Act 1986. We have seen a general trend of market consolidation across multiple sectors of the New Zealand economy. Concentrated market power is evident across sectors such as banking, energy generation and supply, groceries, telecommunications, building materials, fuel retail, and some digital ...
The maxim is as true as it ever was: give a small boy and a pig everything they want, and you will get a good pig and a terrible boy.Elon Musk the child was given everything he could ever want. He has more than any one person or for that ...
A food rescue organisation has had to resort to an emergency plea for donations via givealittle because of uncertainty about whether Government funding will continue after the end of June. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Wednesday, January 22: Kairos Food ...
Leo Molloy's recent "shoplifting" smear against former MP Golriz Ghahraman has finally drawn public attention to Auror and its database. And from what's been disclosed so far, it does not look good: The massive privately-owned retail surveillance network which recorded the shopping incident involving former MP Golriz Ghahraman is ...
The defence of common law qualified privilege applies (to cut short a lot of legal jargon) when someone tells someone something in good faith, believing they need to know it. Think: telling the police that the neighbour is running methlab or dobbing in a colleague to the boss for stealing. ...
NZME plans to cut 38 jobs as it reorganises its news operations, including the NZ Herald, BusinessDesk, and Newstalk ZB. It said it planned to publish and produce fewer stories, to focus on those that engage audience. E tū are calling on the Government to step in and support the ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed that inflation remains unchanged at 2.2%, defying expectations of further declines, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “While inflation holding steady might sound like good news, the reality is that prices for the basics—like rent, energy, and insurance—are still rising. ...
I never mentioned anythingAbout the songs that I would singOver the summer, when we'd go on tourAnd sleep on floors and drink the bad beerI think I left it unclearSong: Bad Beer.Songwriter: Jacob Starnes Ewald.Last night, I was watching a movie with Fi and the kids when I glanced ...
Last night I spoke about the second inauguration of Donald Trump with in a ‘pop-up’ Hoon live video chat on the Substack app on phones.Here’s the summary of the lightly edited video above:Trump's actions signify a shift away from international law.The imposition of tariffs could lead to increased inflation ...
An interesting article in Stuff a few weeks ago asked a couple of interesting questions in it’s headline, “How big can Auckland get? And how big is too big?“. Unfortunately, the article doesn’t really answer those questions, instead focusing on current growth projections, but there were a few aspects to ...
Today is Donald J Trump’s second inauguration ceremony.I try not to follow too much US news, and yet these developments are noteworthy and somehow relevant to us here.Only hours in, parts of their Project 2025 ‘think/junk tank’ policies — long planned and signalled — are already live:And Elon Musk, who ...
How long is it going to take for the MAGA faithful to realise that those titans of Big Tech and venture capital sitting up close to Donald Trump this week are not their allies, but The Enemy? After all, the MAGA crowd are the angry victims left behind by the ...
California Burning: The veteran firefighters of California and Los Angeles called it “a perfect storm”. The hillsides and canyons were full of “fuel”. The LA Fire Department was underfunded, below-strength, and inadequately-equipped. A key reservoir was empty, leaving fire-hydrants without the water pressure needed for fire hoses. The power companies had ...
The Waitangi Tribunal has been one of the most effective critics of the government, pointing out repeatedly that its racist, colonialist policies breach te Tiriti o Waitangi. While it has no powers beyond those of recommendation, its truth-telling has clearly gotten under the government's skin. They had already begun to ...
I don't mind where you come fromAs long as you come to meBut I don't like illusionsI can't see them clearlyI don't care, no I wouldn't dareTo fix the twist in youYou've shown me eventually what you'll doSong: Shimon Moore, Emma Anzai, Antonina Armato, and Tim James.National Hugging Day.Today, January ...
Is Rwanda turning into a country that seeks regional dominance and exterminates its rivals? This is a contention examined by Dr Michela Wrong, and Dr Maria Armoudian. Dr Wrong is a journalist who has written best-selling books on Africa. Her latest, Do Not Disturb. The story of a political murder ...
The economy isn’t cooperating with the Government’s bet that lower interest rates will solve everything, with most metrics indicating per-capita GDP is still contracting faster and further than at any time since the 1990-96 series of government spending and welfare cuts. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short in ...
Hi,Today is the day sexual assaulter and alleged rapist Donald Trump officially became president (again).I was in a meeting for three hours this morning, so I am going to summarise what happened by sharing my friend’s text messages:So there you go.Welcome to American hell — which includes all of America’s ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkI have a new paper out today in the journal Dialogues on Climate Change exploring both the range of end-of-century climate outcomes in the literature under current policies and the broader move away from high-end emissions scenarios. Current policies are defined broadly as policies in ...
Long story short: I chatted last night with ’s on the substack app about the appointment of Chris Bishop to replace Simeon Brown as Transport Minister. We talked through their different approaches and whether there’s much room for Bishop to reverse many of the anti-cycling measures Brown adopted.Our chat ...
Last night I chatted with Northland emergency doctor on the substack app for subscribers about whether the appointment of Simeon Brown to replace Shane Reti as Health Minister. We discussed whether the new minister can turn around decades of under-funding in real and per-capita terms. Our chat followed his ...
Christopher Luxon is every dismal boss who ever made you wince, or roll your eyes, or think to yourself I have absolutely got to get the hell out of this place.Get a load of what he shared with us at his cabinet reshuffle, trying to be all sensitive and gracious.Dr ...
The text of my submission to the Ministry of Health's unnecessary and politicised review of the use of puberty blockers for young trans and nonbinary people in Aotearoa. ...
Hi,Last night one of the world’s biggest social media platforms, TikTok, became inaccessible in the United States.Then, today, it came back online.Why should we care about a social network that deals in dance trends and cute babies? Well — TikTok represents a lot more than that.And its ban and subsequent ...
Sometimes I wake in the middle of the nightAnd rub my achin' old eyesIs that a voice from inside-a my headOr does it come down from the skies?"There's a time to laugh butThere's a time to weepAnd a time to make a big change"Wake-up you-bum-the-time has-comeTo arrange and re-arrange and ...
Former Health Minister Shane Reti was the main target of Luxon’s reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short to start the year in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate: Christopher Luxon fired Shane Reti as Health Minister and replaced him with Simeon Brown, who Luxon sees ...
Yesterday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a cabinet reshuffle, which saw Simeon Brown picking up the Health portfolio as it’s been taken off Dr Shane Reti, and Transport has been given to Chris Bishop. Additionally, Simeon’s energy and local government portfolios now sit with Simon Watts. This is very good ...
The sacking of Health Minister Shane Reti yesterday had an air of panic about it. A media advisory inviting journalists to a Sunday afternoon press conference at Premier House went out on Saturday night. Caucus members did not learn that even that was happening until yesterday morning. Reti’s fate was ...
Yesterday’s demotion of Shane Reti was inevitable. Reti’s attempt at a re-assuring bedside manner always did have a limited shelf life, and he would have been a poor and apologetic salesman on the campaign trail next year. As a trained doctor, he had every reason to be looking embarrassed about ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 12, 2025 thru Sat, January 18, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
After another substantial hiatus from online Chess, I’ve been taking it up again. I am genuinely terrible at five-minute Blitz, what with the tight time constraints, though I periodically con myself into thinking that I have been improving. But seeing as my past foray into Chess led to me having ...
Rise up o children wont you dance with meRise up little children come and set me freeRise little ones riseNo shame no fearDon't you know who I amSongwriter: Rebecca Laurel FountainI’m sure you know the go with this format. Some memories, some questions, letsss go…2015A decade ago, I made the ...
In 2017, when Ghahraman was elected to Parliament as a Green MP, she recounted both the highlights and challenges of her role -There was love, support, and encouragement.And on the flipside, there was intense, visceral and unchecked hate.That came with violent threats - many of them. More on that later.People ...
It gives me the biggest kick to learn that something I’ve enthused about has been enough to make you say Go on then, I'm going to do it. The e-bikes, the hearing aids, the prostate health, the cheese puffs. And now the solar power. Yes! Happy to share the details.We ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Can CO2 be ...
The old bastard left his ties and his suitA brown box, mothballs and bowling shoesAnd his opinion so you'd never have to choosePretty soon, you'll be an old bastard tooYou get smaller as the world gets bigThe more you know you know you don't know shit"The whiz man" will never ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Numbers2024 could easily have been National’s “Annus Horribilis” and 2025 shows no signs of a reprieve for our Landlord PM Chris Luxon and his inept Finance Minister Nikki “Noboats” Willis.Several polls last year ...
This Friday afternoon, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced an overhaul of the Waitangi Tribunal.The government has effectively cleared house - appointing 8 new members - and combined with October’s appointment of former ACT leader Richard Prebble, that’s 9 appointees.[I am not certain, but can only presume, Prebble went in ...
The state of the current economy may be similar to when National left office in 2017.In December, a couple of days after the Treasury released its 2024 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HEYFU24), Statistics New Zealand reported its estimate for volume GDP for the previous September 24 quarter. Instead ...
So what becomes of you, my love?When they have finally stripped you ofThe handbags and the gladragsThat your poor old granddadHad to sweat to buy you, babySongwriter: Mike D'aboIn yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed sadness at seeing Golriz Ghahraman back on the front pages for shoplifting. As someone who is no ...
It’s Friday and time for another roundup of things that caught our attention this week. This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans. If you’d like to support our work, you can join ...
Note: This Webworm discusses sexual assault and rape. Please read with care.Hi,A few weeks ago I reported on how one of New Zealand’s richest men, Nick Mowbray (he and his brother own Zuru and are worth an estimated $20 billion), had taken to sharing posts by a British man called ...
The final Atlas Network playbook puzzle piece is here, and it slipped in to Aotearoa New Zealand with little fan fare or attention. The implications are stark.Today, writes Dr Bex, the submission for the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill closes: 11:59pm January 16, 2025.As usual, the language of the ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has delivered a refreshed team focused on unleashing economic growth to make people better off, create more opportunities for business and help us afford the world-class health and education Kiwis deserve. “Last year, we made solid progress on the economy. Inflation has fallen significantly and now ...
Veterans’ Affairs and a pan-iwi charitable trust have teamed up to extend the reach and range of support available to veterans in the Bay of Plenty, Veterans Minister Chris Penk says. “A major issue we face is identifying veterans who are eligible for support,” Mr Penk says. “Incredibly, we do ...
A host of new appointments will strengthen the Waitangi Tribunal and help ensure it remains fit for purpose, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka says. “As the Tribunal nears its fiftieth anniversary, the appointments coming on board will give it the right balance of skills to continue its important mahi hearing ...
Almost 22,000 FamilyBoost claims have been paid in the first 15 days of the year, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The ability to claim for FamilyBoost’s second quarter opened on January 1, and since then 21,936 claims have been paid. “I’m delighted people have made claiming FamilyBoost a priority on ...
The Government has delivered a funding boost to upgrade critical communication networks for Maritime New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand, ensuring frontline search and rescue services can save lives and keep Kiwis safe on the water, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand has ...
Mahi has begun that will see dozens of affordable rental homes developed in Gisborne - a sign the Government’s partnership with Iwi is enabling more homes where they’re needed most, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. Mr Potaka attended a sod-turning ceremony to mark the start of earthworks for 48 ...
New Zealand welcomes the ceasefire deal to end hostilities in Gaza, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Over the past 15 months, this conflict has caused incomprehensible human suffering. We acknowledge the efforts of all those involved in the negotiations to bring an end to the misery, particularly the US, Qatar ...
The Associate Minster of Transport has this week told the community that work is progressing to ensure they have a secure and suitable shipping solution in place to give the Island certainty for its future. “I was pleased with the level of engagement the Request for Information process the Ministry ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he is proud of the Government’s commitment to increasing medicines access for New Zealanders, resulting in a big uptick in the number of medicines being funded. “The Government is putting patients first. In the first half of the current financial year there were more ...
New Zealand's first-class free trade deal and investment treaty with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been signed. In Abu Dhabi, together with UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, New Zealand Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, witnessed the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and accompanying investment treaty ...
The latest NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion, which shows the highest level of general business confidence since 2021, is a sign the economy is moving in the right direction, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “When businesses have the confidence to invest and grow, it means more jobs and higher ...
Events over the last few weeks have highlighted the importance of strong biosecurity to New Zealand. Our staff at the border are increasingly vigilant after German authorities confirmed the country's first outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in nearly 40 years on Friday in a herd of water buffalo ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee reminds the public that they now have an opportunity to have their say on the rewrite of the Arms Act 1983. “As flagged prior to Christmas, the consultation period for the Arms Act rewrite has opened today and will run through until 28 February 2025,” ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Pacific Media Watch Among his first official acts on returning to the White House, President Donald Trump issued an executive order “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship”. Implicit in this vaguely written document: the United States is done fighting mis- and disinformation online, reports the Paris-based global media ...
At Rātana commemorations on Friday Christopher Luxon repeated his mantra that National would vote down the Act-authored Government Bill at its second reading. ...
The prime minister says he can mend the relationship with Māori after the bill is voted down, and he would refuse a future referendum in the next election's coalition negotiations. ...
By Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson For Doddy Morris, a journalist with the Vanuatu Daily Post, the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Vanuatu last month on December 17, 2024, was more than just a story — it was a personal tragedy. Amid the chaos, Morris learned his brother, an Anglican priest, had ...
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has misled the Australian Parliament and is liable to prosecution — not that government will lift a finger to enforce the law, reports Michael West Media.SPECIAL REPORT:By Michael West Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has misled the Australian Parliament. In a submission to the Senate, ...
Opinion: Architecture has the power to shape our lives, not only in our homes and workplaces but in the public spaces that we all share. Civic architecture – our public libraries, train stations, swimming pools, schools, and other community facilities – is more than just functional infrastructure.These buildings are the ...
Asia Pacific Report A co-founder of a national Palestinian solidarity network in Aotearoa New Zealand today praised the “heroic” resilience and sacrifice of the people of Gaza in the face of Israel’s ruthless attempt to destroy the besieged enclave of more than 2 million people. Speaking at the first solidarity ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Neale Daniher, a campaigner in the fight against motor neurone disease and a former champion Essendon footballer, is the 2025 Australian of the Year, Himself a sufferer from the deadly disease Daniher, 63, who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Peter Dutton has chosen a dark horse in naming David Coleman for the key shadow foreign affairs portfolio, in a reshuffle that also seeks to boost the opposition’s credentials with women. Coleman has been ...
By Harry Pearl of BenarNews Vanuatu’s top lawyer has called out the United States for “bad behavior” after newly inaugurated President Donald Trump withdrew the world’s biggest historic emitter of greenhouse gasses from the Paris Agreement for a second time. The Pacific nation’s Attorney-General Arnold Loughman, who led Vanuatu’s landmark ...
ACT leader David Seymour is being slammed for his "extreme right-wing policies" after saying Aotearoa needs to get past its "squeamishness" about privatisation. ...
By Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor, RNZ Pacific manager RNZ International (RNZI) began broadcasting to the Pacific region 35 years ago — on 24 January 1990, the same day the Auckland Commonwealth Games opened. Its news bulletins and programmes were carried by a brand new 100kW transmitter. The service was rebranded as RNZ ...
If you believe Prime Minister Chris Luxon economic growth will solve our problems and, if this is not just around the corner, it is at least on the horizon. It won’t be too long before things are “awesome” again. If you believe David Seymour the country is beset by much greater ...
Opinion: New Zealand’s universities are failing to prepare students for the entrepreneurial realities of the modern economy. That is a key finding of the Science System Advisory Group report released Thursday as part of the Government’s major science sector overhaul.The report highlights major gaps in entrepreneurship and industry-focused training. PhD ...
I first met Neve at a house party in Mount Maunganui. She was tall, blonde and tanned. An influencer typecast. She wore a string of pearls and a shell necklace that sat around her collarbones, and a silk dress that barely passed her crotch. Her hair was in tight curls—I ...
The Angry LeftSummer in New Zealand, and what does Christopher Luxon do about it? He goes fishing. Unbelievable.And worse, he does it in a boat. How tone-deaf is that? There he is, fishing, at sea, in a boat that would be better put to some practical use, like housing. How ...
A Complete Unknown may be fictionalised but it gets the key parts right. What is biography for? Especially the biopic, in which years and people and facts must be compressed into a mass-audience-friendly, sub-three-hour format. And what does biography do with an artist as immortal, inimitable and unwilling as Bob ...
The pool is a summery delight for swimmers and a smart move from the mayor. Last week I walked through Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter, commando and braless. After smugly setting off that morning for my second swim at the Karanga Plaza pool, dubbed Browny’s Pool by mayor Wayne Brown, I realised ...
Following his headline act in the Christchurch Buskers Festival, Alex Casey chats to Sam Wills about spending two decades as the elusive Tape Face. It’s a Thursday night at The Isaac Theatre Royal in Ōtautahi, and the fly swats, rubbish bags, and coat hangers littered across the stage make it ...
In my late 50s, I discovered long-distance hiking – and woke up to a new life infused with the rhythms of nature. The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members.It began innocuously, just before my ...
The comedian and actor takes us through his life in television, including the British sitcom that changed his life and the trauma of 80s Telethons. You may know him best as Murray from Flight of the Conchords, or Stede Bonnet from Our Flag Means Death, but Rhys Darby is taking ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. Nearly every piece of advice or social trend can be boiled down to encouraging people to say “yes” more or “no” more. Dating advice has a foundation of saying yes, putting yourself out there, being open to new people and possibilities. The ...
Asia Pacific Report The Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network (FPSN) and its allies have called for “justice and accountability” over Israel’s 15 months of genocide and war crimes. The Pacific-based network met in a solidarity gathering last night in the capital Suva hosted by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and ...
Analysis - There needs to be recognition of the significant risks associated with focusing on mining and tourism, Glenn Banks and Regina Scheyvens write. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Andriana Syvanych/Shutterstock Most of us are fortunate that, when we turn on the tap, clean, safe and high-quality water comes out. But a senate inquiry ...
Analysis: Try as they might, Christopher Luxon and his partners in NZ First have been unable to distance themselves from the division caused by the Treaty Principles Bill, hampering the potential for further progress in areas where the Prime Minister believes the Crown and tangata whenua can collaborate.While the celebration ...
The Treaty Principles Bill continues to dog the National Party despite Luxon's repeated efforts to communicate the legislation will not go beyond second reading. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julia Richardson, Professor of Human Resource Management, Head of School of Management, Curtin University Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock US President Donald Trump has called time on working from home. An executive order signed on the first day of his presidency this week requires all ...
The prime minister says he can mend the relationship with Māori after the bill is voted down, and he would refuse a future referendum in the next election's coalition negotiations. ...
Forest & Bird will continue to support New Zealanders to oppose these destructive activities and reminds the Prime Minister that in 2010, 40,000 people marched down Queen Street, demanding that high-value conservation land be protected from mining. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Glenn Banks, Professor of Geography, School of People, Environment and Planning, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University Getty Images Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s state-of-the-nation address yesterday focused on growth above all else. We shouldn’t rush to judgement, but at least ...
Time for New Zealand to assert its independence from foreign superpowers.
“Twenty-nine academics, researchers and human rights advocates have written an open letter to Jacinda Ardern in support of China critic and Canterbury University politics professor Anne-Marie Brady.
“We have been shocked and disturbed by the reports of intimidation and harassment suffered by Professor Anne-Marie Brady,” the letter said.
“Attempts to intimidate and harass one academic in New Zealand have implications for freedoms of all the others – and indeed, for the freedoms of all who live here.”
The group also urged the prime minister to “make a clear statement in defence of academic freedom” in light of the case and to be “very clear that any intimidation and threats aimed at silencing academic voices in this country will not be tolerated”.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/376782/shocked-and-disturbed-by-alleged-chinese-govt-intimidaiton
Damn right. Prof Brady: “The Education Act requires all political leaders and government agencies to protect and defend our academic freedom and uphold the critic and conscience role of the academic. So I do my job, and I expect the government to do their job.”
A spokesperson for the prime minister said she supported and defended the legal right to academic freedom, as set out in law. “The matters contained in this letter are under investigation by the police and it is not appropriate to comment on them before the investigation is finished.” But Prof Brady said the investigation was over, and the issue was now in the government’s hands. [RNZ]
So another Schrodinger’s Cat situation. The police investigation is over and is not over simultaneously. Truth lies somewhere between the two? Could be the PM’s spokesperson is misrepresenting the situation?
Perhaps someone will open the box and report whether the Cat is really alive or dead. And if the truth is that a police report must be written and obtained by the PM before the truth can be ascertained by her, the slowly-grinding wheels of public service bureaucracy will probably ensure that she goes to the xmas break none the wiser. Her relief at not having to do her job will probably be considerable! Will Chinese agents successfully eliminate Professor Brady while we wait?
Yes I agree Parliament needs to be cleanned up pronto!!!!!
Fix the beehive and get rid of the National party clingon’s Jacinda Ardern firstly please.
These “anti-Government sypathisers are stopping your voters from communication with your Government ministers.
This we have discovered during our research.
So if you want “inclusion” in your Government please remove all National Party sympathizers from being in MP,s offices and in Government agencies.
Great to see Labor absolutely creaming the Liberals in Victoria on the weekend.
Not long before they clean them out in next years Federal elections.
Good news Ad.
Andrews actually went into the campaign beset by a number of controversies in his Victorian Labor Party but voters seem to have responded to his plans for major infrastructure spending across the state. And of course, all those Labor campaign billboards of state Liberal leader Guy hanging out with Peter Dutton, Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison helped.
Wastewater being dumped in the ocean is still an issue, and now AK’s richer tenants are making noise, something might get done.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12165591
There is a new game in town. Well, in America. Combining both waste and storm water for treatment, treated waters are redirected to spreading basins where they can percolate into the land and recharge aquifers.
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-tool-parched-regions-replenish-aquifers.html
While these methods are land intensive, they bring up some points worth noting.
We have done nothing towards recharging aquifers, despite corporate entities showing it is liquid gold.
2. We have significant wastewater resources in both rural and urban settings that contain revenue streams, we have not tapped these, namely: water for irrigation, composts for agriculture, biogas for power.
The resources are right there waiting for some government body to wake up. NZ water revenue should be returned, 100%, to NZ. The revenue generated can pay for improvements to water treatment and storm water diversion. Here we need to think big, but on a catchment by catchment basis.
In 2017 391 billion litres of bottled water were sold.
Billions, that’s what we are giving away. Take it back and get NZ on track.
There is an aquifer-recharge project being “scoped” in Southland, at Five Rivers, where it is proposed river water be “directed” into a depleted aquifer. In theory, the water will be taken at high flow, but I’ve concerns about the mixing of previously seperate “waters”, especially in light of their bacterial (and nitrogenous) make-up; natural filtering and time can clean surface water before it gets into an aquifer and this “direct injection” through reverse bore, will result in an “unnatural” introduction of pathogens, potentially. Of course, it may be that there’s no problem, but if successful there, other farming operations might see potential to fill their own aquifers with flood water, say, and be able to irrigate at a greater rate and thereby, intensify their farming operations. Mike Joy wouldn’t be a supporter, I’m guessing. I know there’s a lot of natural river/aquifer interaction in many cases, but it seems to me these geo-engineering jobs don’t always pan out well (if ever). All in my opinion, naturally 🙂
Seems like insanity to me Robert.
Aquifers are generally pristine for the very reason that it takes a very long time for water to filter down to them.
“Spreading basins” could be elegant…or revolting. The American feed lots for cattle show how appalling some of their “great ideas” can be.
Wetlands are spreading basins. They could also be for tourism, aquaculture, ornithology, duck season, boating, walking, education…
The idea of topping aquifers from river flow is insane. We get our highly polluted shit and run it into our pristine sources. Then our potential for $ per litre goes down to parts of a cent per litre for shitty irrigation. How is that a good thing?
We need to stop falling over ourselves to accommodate farmers. Why build such an obviously shitty system? Farmers… that’s all.
Farmers should be playing a large part in recharging groundwater, but no, they merely take it. Imagine if we were to do something as simple as put floodgates at storm culverts letting the drainage systems of the country fill before overflowing (same flow capacity as it is governed by diameter of pipes under roads). All of a sudden the entire countryside is holding and percolating water after storm events. And that’s just getting started. Add swales and ponds…
Those stormwater drains, it makes no difference if they’re full or empty, except, when full they replenish the land, and are vast potential aquaculture infrastructure.
Who is it ‘scoping’ five rivers? They need a boot up the ass.
Well now, I couldn’t have said it like that, could I 🙂
Because there was such a hue and cry about “visible” dammed/damned water storage proposed by farmers in, especially North Canterbury, the industry has looked for hidden opportunities and aquifer recharge occurred to them. Have you done any work on the biology of aquifers? There’s living creatures down in them cold, dark waters! They probably won’t enjoy a dose of what their surface-dwelling cousins have to put up with .
A subterranean cave was explored by Charles Mitchell and some peers. They discovered sixty year old kokopu that had no food source. They’d lived purely through minerals ingested from water. Blind, albino kokopu.
One ‘silly idea’ I’ve had for Canterbury is to follow the Hawaiian example and run a tunnel through the mountain range taking west coast excess water to Canterbury.
Who was opposed to water bodies in Canterbury? Was it a large dam, or on farm ponds? I reckon turning the region into a monoculture desert is ugly enough, and ponds and plantings would improve the place. But what do I know.
Ponds and plantings, yes, but the driver was increased intensification of dairying. Jaded greenies kicked up a stink 🙂
You have pretty much covered the solution.
Years ago “think big style” with electricity it was decided to redirect high flow water going into other waterway systems into the Taupo water system. So it’s gravitational potential energy could best be utilised.
There is no reason why your idea, that has been proposed for many rears, cannot be a reality.
Tunnel boring machines in the 1meter diameter range are cheap and you could create a little team of people running a site, creating a tube from one side to the other. The rock waste can be used in civil engineering.
If a big earthquake happens and the tube gets ruined, you accept it as part of reality, you then go in and fix it.
Making farms more productive because of water supply, because they become more drought resistant, or crops get water at the correct time of their life cycle. When farmland produces more from increasing the efficient use of sunlight everything is a benifit.
They absorb more CO2.
The farms Eco systems benifit.
If the farm is more efficient, profitable, it can invest in projects were fence to drain distances increase, a small area of trees and a wetland can be added, etc.
They can invest in environmental solutions. A farm of 100Ha doing mainstream farming can decide to try a few Ha in some radical new way, with the intent of lowering urea use, or improving production due to animal health benifits rather than off farm inputs. Diets creating less methane, plants that result in less nitrate leaching, etc etc.
The no to everything for farming is the wrong approach, and bringing water from the west coast as part of solving water issues should have happened decades ago.
Auckland city steals the Wiakato systems water for example. That happened because it was a good idea.
Are you on the turn @DJ?
Not too many days/weeks ago, you were coming in here as just another pompous trolling git.
These days……reading your thoughts and contributions is worthwhile
I saw something interesting by DJ the other day. Looked like real thought and not knee jerk stuff. Mmmm. You can’t be sure about anything these days. Grizzle.
That’s too far-fetched for me to believe 🙂
That said, we discovered a dog who’d been trapped in a glasshouse for 6 weeks over winter (hail and snow) without food, seemingly, who lived, though very thin (she went in plump). Curiously, there was no dog poo on the ground 🙂
6 weeks and nobody noticed? Bloody hell.
100% WeTheBleeple
Labour promised to stop water bottling before the election remember that!
How quickly people forget?
Labour need to review their broken promises and explain why these promises have not been kept here before the end of this year.
As a careful thought review of their performance in their first year of service to the community.
Those promises all need to be kept.
Obscene profits being made (taken off NZ for private concerns).
A rich asshole I know was jizzing over these profits a decade ago as National came in. The Nats and their donors were in there like a shark feeding frenzy.
Yes wethebleeple
“Money talks truth walks” is these rich lazy pricks only thought.
No care for well being of the community.
Toxic Leeches they all are.
Yes wethebleeple
“Money talks truth walks” is these rich lazy pricks only thought.
No care for well being of the community.
Toxic Leeches they all are.
Labour had better send them away in a leaky boat.
Nope.
I do remember a policy to do a commercial water levy. NZ1 scotched that.
We have the Central Inceptor at a cost of $1.2b
Yet in a time of where “user Pays” still exists where greenfield developments have to provide infrastructure at the cost of the new locals and when these developments will have additional rates applied to pay for their infrastructure https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12159099
https://www.watercare.co.nz/About-us/News-media/Central-Interceptor-one-step-closer-to-start-date
Why do these wealthy inner city areas expect the rest of Auckland to pay for solutions to THEIR waste water issues ?
They already have the best public transport service available, subsidised by all rate payers. And as they are increasingly serviced e.g. new rail link, the value of their properties increase, yet they make no additional contributions for this.
Thanks for that heads up.
“During wet weather the central wastewater network currently overflows to local waterways and the Waitematā Harbour at more than 100 locations and to the north-eastern Manukau Harbour at 14 locations. The Central Interceptor is expected to reduce the volume of overflows by over 80 per cent.”
Sounds really good. Not comprehensive but it is a large improvement.
I’m guessing actinobacteria are still the major issue in biological treatment (clumping), however, am very pleased they’ve not gone the silly chemical sanitation route, which produces treated yet unusable water. The clumping could be used for solids removal and processing as solid compost making the water treatment a lot easier. I’ve seen similar on a farm where solids were taken out before effluent ponding, the solids becoming compost. The Farmer could not get enough of the compost though it sat for a year and let the worms have at it to finish.
The composts from these processes can then feed non-edible crops to make them removed from human consumption/western sensibilities e.g. timber crops.
Exactly Herodotus, are the developers in particular those that are contributing the most to wastewater pollution with large high rises, are not being charged a new levy for ‘user pays’ with new builds for pollution and wastewater, as because as you rightly say, they are also getting the cream of public transport money too.
And often the inner city apartments are not good options for Kiwi families who sound like they are one of the poorest demographics now. But new builds and in particular apartments are open to be speculated on by the world’s wealthy as they are exempt from the OIA.
Meanwhile the poor on the outer city limits with no or few public transport options are forced to pay the petrol tax that the mostly inner/central city folks are largely exempted from for commuting to work or university.
Of course getting to the airport is a priority for work and holidays which is why that is PRIORITY number one for public transport. We can’t let the politicians get stuck in traffic going to Wellington or Phil Goff’s trip to China or expect them to pay an airline levy for the public transport link that Auckland ratepayers are expected to pay for.
Rampant development around beaches and more and more run off from roads are having a horrible effect.
Long Bay (rampant development) was the only beach to experience a more extreme red alert last summer with a reading of 810 enterococci/100ml taken on New Year’s Day after heavy rainfall.
Apparently…
“Recent historical data for the water quality of our swimming beaches is not available for comparison.
North Shore City Council stopped routine monitoring in 2008 because it was confident of its ability to identify water quality issues after analysing the previous 10 years worth of data.
Auckland Council resumed water quality testing on the North Shore last November because it felt there was an inconsistent approach to water safety across the city.”
I think the shell fish has also been effected around Long Bay regional park area, but any media about the pollution is quickly pulled. The developer seems to be able to keep it out of the media, surprise surprise.
Dirty water: Raw sewage flowing into Auckland Harbour will increase with new housing projects
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11785299
P>S> hope those that once believed that the new housing was necessary for affordable housing for Kiwis, are now able to comprehend that allowing new builds to be sold and speculated around the world, firmly puts a stop to that idea and they are instead a way to do a Natz and keep the lazy economy moving within the Ponzi, while making the Kiwis who are rate payers pay for it and the residents and future generations pay for it with increased pollution and loss of quality of life, and new charges being dreamed up, for anything from petrol to wastewater around the city .
I can affirm that (Long Bay) having heard it directly from a marine biologist investigating the site.
If we use this new diversion drain (central interceptor), AND capture roof water for gardens, we might actually cope in Auckland. Road runoff could be diverted more creatively too. Some to wetlands, some to industry…
Took the girls to the Santa Parade over in Richmond yesterday.
What kind of flag is that mum? They asked as a ‘redneck’ float went past.
That’s the confederate flag, it’s a symbol of white people using black people for slaves in the USA.
Woah, why is it in the parade mum?
Because, it was on the roof of a popular ‘redneck’ race car in a 1980’s TV series, which made a whole generation relate that flag to nothing else but two men and a Chrysler.
Some might say people are going PC mad, others might say we need to learn about real history rather than the Dukes of Hazard.
Was wondering if anyone else noticed….. looks like they did…PS the beer cans were tacky as.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/108856953/richmond-santa-parade-features-redneck-xmas-float-sporting-confederate-flag
That is so bad, its supposed to be about the kids!
What idiot would think, I know let’s advertise alcohol and bring in some racist overtones for the kids this year.
“Because, it was on the roof of a popular ‘redneck’ race car in a 1980’s TV series, which made a whole generation relate that flag to nothing else but two men and a Chrysler.”
I think you kind of nailed it on the head here
I would think there are quite a lot of people who just aren’t aware of the fairly recent controversy around it, as they just don’t take a huge amount of interest in current US cultural issues.
They do just associate it with TDoH and that is what they got brought up as to what the flag represents. Personally I don’t actually put any blame on them, US events can sometimes be exceedingly dull and have zero relevance to NZ
Slight side point
Pretty sure the car was a Dodge Charger. Chrysler was the Aussie version.
Chrysler was owned by Dodge and the Dodge shared some structure, but it was a different shape etc.
Yes that’s the one, a Dodge Charger, you are correct, Chrysler was the Aussie version. Is Mopar the umbrella for all of them?
I think you are correct in saying that many don’t pay much attention to current events in the USA, and as a result may not know any better.
The parent company was Chrysler right from the beginning in the 1920s up until the merger/bailout/buyout by Fiat a few years ago. The Dodge name was acquired not long after startup, and a bunch of other brands like De Soto, Plymouth, Imperial etc were acquired/created, used for a while, then killed/sold. Chrysler also got involved in various games of Big Boy’s Monopoly in buying and selling other car companies around the the world, such as the Rooted Group that was responsible for atrocities such as the Hillman Scavenger …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler
Thanks Andre 🙂
The Hillman Scavenger?
I’ve heard of a Hillman Avenger and Hillman Hunter, but not a Hillman Scavenger.
And what about the Hillman Shrimp?
I learned to drive in a Humbug 80 (along with a left hand drive series2 Landy that I took my license test in).
But I always figured the Hillman Minx couldn’t become a bigger object of derision no matter what you did to the name.
Yep, Minx is hard to ‘upgrade’..
mmmm @ Andre.
I saw you more in a black Super Snipe.
It had that really really huge bonnet ahead of its steering wheel and some serious straight in-line cylinders. It was mainly driven by those that had reason (such as a J Toebes – gone but not forgotten).
But then it had many others who could only pretend and tryhard jobbie jobbie to emulate
Aah
Wrong way round, sorry
Cheers for that info’
Chris T is correct, and to give some context to the Dukes Of Hazard the car was named the General Lee and the thing they were celebrating was Lee being a “rebel”, and so were the Dukes. There’s also Billy Idols song Rebel Yell which refers to the shouts of the confederate army when going into battle. Of course we know better now, I see trucks with the flag all the time, either that or a Jim Beam flag, I doubt they put much thought into it other than it “looks cool”. Watch the TV series Atlanta which cleverly takes the piss out of southern racists.
I don’t think there is a “fairly recent controversy” over it. There’s been negative connotations surrounding that flag for decades.
I also find it difficult to reconcile that a bunch of people would openly parade around with that flag looking nothing like DoH and not have a second thought about how they come across.
Yes there have been connections to slavery etc for decades, but the flag was largely put up with.
They even had it on the car in that dire movie version in 2005 with no controversy
It has only really got as massive as it is now since Charleston in 2015.
It fact they actually removed production and sales of their General Lee toys straight after because of this.
https://ew.com/article/2015/06/24/dukes-hazzard-general-lee-confederate-flag/
Maybe there was little controversy because the movie makers saw it as a significant issue back in 2005, and they had to address it within the script.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us7v8vQpmZg
The trailer also does it’s best to show the car lots and lots and obscure the flag.
It wasn’t just the flag. Within months after Charleston the flag was banned from most shops, was being removed from display every where.
As I say, before the Charleston event it was largely just put up with.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_display_of_the_Confederate_flag#Reactions_to_2015_Charleston_church_shooting
It is also what kicked off the demolition and/or removal of statues and monuments.
The USA is our default godfather don’t you know, just listen to the news from RadioNZ every day, what other country gets the same coverage? And their citizens are a dime a dozen around the country. Free to enter almost at will and probably easy residency though few would give up their own States citizenship. They like having the best of both worlds, maybe ‘to have their cake and eat it too’.
Ain’t that the truth @ Greywarshark.
They’re probably the lowest of the low on that demographic immigration spreadsheet – oops, I meant ‘best practiced risk analysis’ immigration criteria reference’, just next to mother Britain and slightly above a Canadian.
I’m not exactly sure of the weightings or where the Okkers rank.
As for giving up their own States citizenship, I have a close relative who has now lived far more of his life in NuZull than the Greatest Nation on Earth. He even has one of those ONZ or Merity trinkets. Trying to renounce US citizenship was like being placed on a charge of treason.
Are you saying he wanted to give up USA citizenship, or can you become dual under NZ law? And they didn’t like him wanting to be in Godzone??
I’m saying yes, he wanted to renounce his US citizenship. He no longer felt any sort of affinity with the place and had become more than disillusioned with its policies overseas (not that he ever publicly stated them). Most of his US based relatives had already karked it.
I think he retains dual citizenship to this day – the threats of tax audits and various other hurdles meant renouncing it just wasn’t worth it.
Oh, and to clarify…..I meant that non-US, non-Canadian, non-Brit dontcha know immigrants figure on the best practice risk analysis reference crib sheet whilst, as you suggest, the US citizen is automatically an asset and due for a rubber stamp on the PR application.
Were their any float’s from Hawera?
Anyway if you want people not fly those flags then a start, is to get people of NZ to understand history.
Because at present there is a dumbing down the NZ education system for arts and reducing tertiary departments for the arts, discouraging people to study the arts in NZ (apart from Law of course when we have all manner of fascists operating because they have no understanding of history, let alone morals), removing resources for the arts aka libraries, undermining history of western and local history at government and council level in real terms apart from surface representation with no real deep understanding of history, art and culture from different view points.
If this is the standard https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/11/students-launch-petition-after-confusion-by-word-trivial-in-nzqa-exam.html we might have a lot more flags flying whether confederate or CCP or who know who else we can sell out to or start a race war over.
No floats from Hawera, far out those ‘lions’ really did my head in.
Am pretty sure both of those float theme’s came from similar generations.
There is a lack of diversity in Richmond, which results in a lack of understanding especially when it comes to different cultures. Tunnel vision as. Spot the brown person. You get the picture.
I know at the local school here in Motueka, they do learn about many different cultures. This is in part due to such diversity within the students and families here. And it’s awesome. It makes a huge difference, it really does, one of the reasons this white girl moved her little family here.
Absolutely get where you are coming from SaveNZ re history/culture/arts knowledge of different view points etc.
Western MSM expose their own total lack of integrity and pretense of being institutions of fair and balanced reporting through their own deafening silence in the defense of the creator of the most effective whistle blower delivery system the world has ever seen..
ON CONTACT: CRUCIFYING JULIAN ASSANGE
Chris Hedges and Joe Lauria, journalist and editor-in-chief, Consortium, discuss efforts to force WikiLeaks publisher, Julian Assange, out of the Ecuador Embassy in London and extradite him to the USA to stand trial.
Chris Hedges discussed the Death of the Liberal Class back in 2011.
Very prescient of him as it is only now that most commentators have noticed this.
Yes it is a very sad indictment on western ‘liberial’ media including our own RNZ that nearly all the (now former) heroes of western reportage Robert Fisk, John Pilger, Seymour Hersh, Glenn Greenwald etc are all now effectively barred from having a voice on any of the outlets that used to champion them, we really are living is a Orwellian period of, half truths and out right lies.
love him or not, bomber bradbury being banned (alliteration!), from rnz the panel is another example.
i heard the segment when it was broadcast, and yes, twas bombastic.
i couldn’t disagree with him and found it refreshing to hear that attitude put so forthrightly.
Evidence-based public policy often uses science as basis, and science often uses stats. Don’t assume stats are reliable. Those commissioning research are inclined to try to leverage the outcome:
“A stunning report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concludes that researchers often make “inappropriate requests” to statisticians. And by “inappropriate,” the authors aren’t referring to accidental requests for incorrect statistical analyses; instead, they’re referring to requests for unscrupulous data manipulation or even fraud.”
“The authors surveyed 522 consulting biostatisticians and received sufficient responses from 390. Then, they constructed a table (shown below) that ranks requests by level of inappropriateness. For instance, at the very top is “falsify the statistical significance to support a desired result,” which is outright fraud. At the bottom is “do not show plot because it did not show as strong an effect as you had hoped,” which is only slightly naughty.”
How prevalent is the coercion? Quite prevalent: “a whopping 24% — nearly 1 in 4 — said they were asked to remove or alter data. Unequivocally, that is a request to commit scientific fraud.” https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/10/30/1-4-statisticians-say-they-were-asked-commit-scientific-fraud-13554?fbclid=IwAR2K2vQwDeiso_lEA5U3Z_G3b3nh7E2mI62n-LcTlk5_ouSVikR9tqjpm0Y
My supervisor was dead set against me removing data that could be dubious in case it also removed the result. I did it anyway as science idealistically is about getting to the truth of a thing, not a convenience. Had to argue black and blue to get things done ‘properly.’
This was UoA, 2016.
The result was that my result was that much stronger, even with a smaller data set. It really annoyed me when he tried to stifle my enthusiasm for getting to the crux of things. I’d prefer no result to a BS result, any day.
Yeah, me too. Doing college science in the sixties, we were taught never to eliminate anomalous data points, always put them on the graph even if miles away from the trend line makes them look wacky. Authenticity.
So you can imagine how I felt when reading the Climategate emails, seeing actual professors agreeing to remove outliers so they could defeat climate deniers more convincingly!! They say the end justifies the means. History shows that everyone slides down a slippery slope into evil if they use that attitude.
The most interesting discoveries are often the outliers.
One salt tolerant species of Taro – do not report Taro are not salt tolerant – cultivate that superstar!
Sometimes outliers should be clearly taken out (a female in an all male dataset on muscle power) and some should be left in (Bill Gate’s income clearly belongs to a dataset about American incomes) … or not, depending on the point of the analysis.
Sometimes the answer is clear about what to do and sometimes it’s not clear which way to go (Does Peter Thiel’s income belong in a dataset about NZer’s incomes?). Usually, if you’re stuck not knowing what to do then analyse with and without outliers and see what difference it makes (and present both answers if there are clear differences).
Unfortunately, people want clear cut answers and sound nibbles – equivocation is taken as a weakness.
Very pleased to hear/see you stood your ground!
Reminds me of the Stanford prison experiment, which as far as I can see had no real concret ‘scientific’ results to speak of , but nonetheless was ( and probably still is) used as some sort of meaningful insight to human behaviour under certain conditions.
That was a doozy, indeed. They even made a movie about it: “The 2015 film The Stanford Prison Experiment is based on the experiment.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment
I just went to remind myself, and the wiki account has a bunch of interesting nuances. Critics make valid points, but I still agree with Zimbardo’s thesis. Human nature is indeed context-driven. Warping via context can be designed.
” but I still agree with Zimbardo’s thesis. Human nature is indeed context-driven. ”
I too agree completely with that thesis, this was the point I was trying to make with a producer from RNZ during an email exchange earlier in the year, her position was, we give people the stories they want to hear, so (according to her) people are more interested in peoples stories/lives from France or the USA than they are of people in Africa/Asia or the Middle East, to which I responded, people would be concerned or interested in other peoples lives and interests of any country in the World if those peoples lives were contextualised, given form and substance, a privilege that RNZ rarely gives to these ‘other’ people…so in fact the editorial decisions of RNZ becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
Stanford been debunked according to a report I heard recently.
And Bertrand Russell (I think) comes to mind on fools being quick in decision making while wisdom takes longer.
Russell was the first thinker I stumbled across and liked ( probably because of his support of Muhammad Ali ) when I was a angry young 14 or 15 yo punk, I somehow found an audio of his debate with Father Frederick C. Copleston, it was a pivotal moment for me, there was something about the way these two thinkers with completely opposing concepts of reality sparred with an intellectual grace that greatly impressed me at the time, and still does.
Oh for intellectual grace Oh Lord.
not quite sure what the problem with good manners and a bit of grace in a debate is…
I think Grey’s point was that good manners and a bit of grace in a genuine debate between intellectually mature people is as rare as a flying Dodo and a flying Moa doing air-acrobatics in your backyard.
That remark wasn’t being sarcastic or pointed at you Adrian – it was a great phrase that I liked the sound of and would like to aspire to. So there is no problem at all. We have enough already without misunderstanding each other. Sorry about that.
And ianmac you have also expressed yourself well. Very funny. The blog has been very interesting lately.
The data are unreliable, the stats are unreliable, the scientists are unreliable and thus so-called evidence-based public policy is unreliable? Is that your message, Dennis? So, we might as well flick a coin to make important decisions? An almost 50% chance of getting it right?
Things aren’t that bad. Yet. I think it signals a trend that has serious implications for public policy formulation. Reliance on stats is no longer a good idea. There’s still quite a prevalent tendency for folks to have blind faith in scientists. Sceptical appraisal makes more sense now.
The other thing to learn from this study is the extent to which motivation is likely to warp the findings of scientists. Climate science has exposed that too, but admissions from so many researchers that they had been offered inducements to produce suitable results indicates the likelihood of a proportion of acceptance.
Since those who take the money are unlikely to admit doing so, we can only speculate on that proportion. The bottom line is that truth and reality are not the only factors incentivising scientific discoveries: we now have good reason to suspect that some such are fake news. Which is where the scientific discipline of replication comes in. Such discoveries become reliable when confirmed by other researchers operating independently. Initial discoveries ought to be regarded as provisional. Of course, the media will ignore that need for caution.
Good reply, thanks.
I do struggle a little with the ambiguous term “scientific discovery” but can’t formulate a decent argument for discussion right now except to say that provisional findings make for poor public policy or (better) not at all. Maybe another time.
White women are a conservative force in the USA: “white women voters overwhelmingly threw their support behind conservative Republican male candidates. Again. They did it for President Trump, who won an estimated 53 percent of the white female vote in 2016. And they did it with Roy Moore, accused of sexually predatory behavior, in Alabama’s special Senate election last year.” https://www.vogue.com/article/white-women-voters-conservative-trump-gop-problem
““Our perception that white women are going to vote the way ‘we’ think they should has been proven false over and over again,” Elizabeth Gillespie McRae, historian and author of Mothers of Massive Resistance: White Women and the Politics of White Supremacy, tells Vogue. She points to white women’s historic role in upholding racial segregation, from campaigning against the United Nations (on the grounds that it would upend the racial divide) to rallying against school integration after Brown v. Board of Education, including leading the charge against busing black students to new districts. The Confederate monuments that have caused so much modern-day controversy, McRae adds, were often funded by white women’s organizations, prior to the 19th Amendment.”
“The latest gut punches, courtesy of CNN polling: In the Georgia governor’s race, an estimated 75 percent of white women—more even than white men!—voted for Republican Brian Kemp, who is passionately pro-life, over Stacey Abrams, a staunch protector of women’s reproductive rights, while 97 percent of black women supported her. In Texas, 60 percent of white women cast their ballots for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a supporter of alleged assaulters President Trump and Brett Kavanaugh, over Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who is dedicated to improving women’s health care. (Ninety-four percent of black women backed O’Rourke.)”
@ Dennis Frank. Interesting juxtaposition between your post on 6, showing how statistics are being manipulated with your post 7 suggesting that an estimated white women voted 53% in 2016 for Trump (also suggests that estimated 47% white women did not vote for Trump). Then add in voters who did not vote, any statistical error and based on who identifies as ‘white’ and who identifies as a ‘women’. Not sure what the point of your post of 7 is, actually? would be more interesting if you had the entire estimated voting gender/ethnicity.. otherwise what is the point of it especially as it seems like your selected demographic of ‘white women’ is actually pretty even between Trump and not voting for Trump (if that was the point of the statistic).
It actually shows that relying on identity politics in politics is probably not a good idea.. people are voting on their perception of who they think is the better candidate.. and going on about reproductive rights aka abortion, to christians might not be a good idea..
Is there a correlation between white women’s numbers who are linked to religious groups and churches with a patriarchal bias, and Republican voting?
75% identified as Christian in US in 2015. But the number is dropping fast.
107:100 boys:girls, so close to half of them female.
> 60% white.
> 325 million Americans.
325 x 0.6 x 0.5 x 0.75 = approx 73 125 000 white christian women voters in US.
Churches with patriarchal bias = pretty much all of them.
1 Timothy 2:12 “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, she must be silent.”
Or this gem
Ephesians 5:22 “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.”
Anyone with half a heart only has to read that cursed book to reject it.
Brainwashing in US however, runs very deep. All that patriotism doesn’t leave much room for grey matter. Republicans, like our own right w(h)ingers, love repugnant rhetoric espousing them as natural leaders. Here’s another pearl of wisdom from the ‘good book’.
1 Peter 2:18 “Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel.”
Here’s some breakdown of beliefs and political affiliation. Actual proportions of each religion would be nice to have as well.
http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/party-affiliation/
the scary one is “Sources of guidance on right and wrong”
Republicans use religion to guide them 44% of the time, science 6%. Religion to guide them in their sexist racist homophobic genocidal ways. Science because Space Force!
Thanks WtB. I thought you were green, but you come in many colours like Josephs coat I see. The saying religiously-related applying to me:
‘The Lord loves a tryer’. Thanks for the help with the maths.
I was just reporting the Vogue writer’s framing (women voting against their common interests) but I agree with you that identity politics is unreliable. Stats are equally so. One could likewise argue that the conservative women identify with their husbands, their class interests, their skin colour etc…
Nice poem by poet Essa May Ranapiri
HOW COULD I MISS YOU WITH KUMARA IN THE OVEN
started reading the book backwards
to get through the 25 minutes
from notes to final section
to the middle to first line of first
poem to
acknowledgements to
isbn
every last word so brand new
i don’t need to be afraid of what comes next
if i’ve already looked at where the monster ends up
splotching plate with aioli
spearing each chip with the fork
i rinsed clean in the sink
after it lay in the sink
for about a week
i’m reminded our people travelled so far
and how far we’ve come coz
i’m scared to leave the couch
https://www.maoriart.org.nz/blog/how-could-i-miss-you-with-kumara-in-the-oven-a-poem-by-essa-may-ranapiri?fbclid=IwAR2KuVmSxqtrMzvrFLWzLHNM39i9XsOoxxRLYXMqwcMPQnqPOtKph2L_rI4
Very good poem. Thank you.
Next May’s European elections will be pretty interesting as a real stress test for anti-immigration populism.
Here comes Yanis Varoufakis for EU Parliament, proposing to represent …………. Germany.
Yesterday he accepted the nomination on behalf of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), which he launched in 2016 to “democratize” the continent. He calls it the European Spring, after the Arab Spring.
Ha, that’s funny, wonder what those gangsters at Deutsche Bank make of that?
Ad,
My son is leaving to work again in Germany so I will report to you what the mood is over there now as when Sam (my Son) was in Germany working last during 2005 to 2006 he said then that Arabs/Turks and others were coming in and locals were fearful then to walk the streets at night so interesting times indeed.
BTW @ CG – what happened with that visa situation you mentioned a few days ago?
Not unusual or recent my wife and I took a stroll in Southern French city in early 90s and began to notice we were in an area of group’s of men standing about, a lady pulled over in her car and suggested we hop in as the area was not safe for us and as we were feeling intimidated by the looks we were recieving we did.
That’s interesting. A boy on a bicycle in some USA city suburb was stopped by a large man with the Orthodox Jew hat and curl on. He was refused entry.
He felt quite uneasy.
nd who were afraid? It can be important for women in any town and city to know they will be safe at night, and if they have fears, they may hesitate to try but the fear may be unjustified.
I can’t say who we we afraid of but the looks we recieved from these men was not of welcome and the feeling was not good. On the same trip we arrived early in the morning from an overnight train and found ourselves in the midst of many homeless and rough sleepers with smiles we felt quite comfortable to sit take coffee and a bun. As a traveller I find it’s best to trust your feelings. In Sth East Asia I poke my nose into most situations but found in Cambodia stepping outside the tourist areas was quite uncomfortable. But seeing the horror museums and reading that to survive meant being able to smash your mother’s skull with a hoe I understand how the locals might feel less socially inclusive.
comments from friends in the US, Mexico closed its side of the border, and the US are firing tear gas into Mexico?
still waiting for something official well at least more then twitter,
https://twitter.com/annie_rose23/status/1066782639007232001?s=21
oh well, surely he is gonna make America great again, and bring freedoms and peace to some if not many, or something something something,
totally unrelated of course,
https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/world/the-latest-ukraine-russia-opens-fire-on-ukrainian-vessels/878291999
“The European Union has called on Russia and Ukraine to “act with utmost restraint to de-escalate” the situation in the Black Sea.
Ukraine says that three of its ships have been seized by the Russian coast guard, including two that were fired upon, and two crew members were wounded. Russia has blamed Ukraine for preparing and orchestrating “provocations.”
The EU, in a statement from foreign affairs spokeswoman Maja Kocijanic, also said that it expected Russia to “restore freedom of passage” through the Kerch Strait after Moscow blockaded it.”
nothing happened, nothing to see, move along citizen
Hmmm
Interesting timing, just as Kiev launches a move occupying village in buffer area between the front lines in Eastern Ukraine. , and as Poroshenkos ratings hit an all time low(7.8%) with elections coming up and Yulia Tymoshenko looking set to win
Poroshenko now has the consent of his national defence and security council to declare martial law , which would suspend parliament and elections , can be used to ban protests and activities by political parties, and allows for media, TV stations and newspapers to be shut down.
Russia has called for an emergency meeting of theUN SC scheduled in about 9 hours.
Poroshenko has scheduled a meeting with Stoltenberg.
Basically a squabble over whether Ukraine gave advance notice of intention to move through that Kerch area, which they say they did. The Russian coastguard says they didn’t.
Previously Ukraine has obeyed that protocol
poor russia, so hard done buy the big angry heavily armed superpower Ukraine, who always goes walkabouts invading in Russia, seizing Russian ships n just. Luckily Russia is calling for the help of the UN. Cause what would Russia do otherwise. Cry a bucket?
TBF, poor Russia has a few problems of her own.
A day after Russia’s massive PD-50 drydock suddenly sank underneath the country’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, as it was receiving a long-awaited overhaul in frigid Murmansk, just how big a deal this may end up being for the Russian Navy is becoming clearer. The dry dock, which is the largest of its kind in Russian hands, appears to have sunk at first on a steep incline before it disappeared totally beneath the water’s surface. Russian officials are now saying that it could be many months before it is raised from the seabed 160 feet below and that doing so would be a very tedious and delicate operation. That’s if they decide to salvage it at all.
Regardless, PD-50 services all types of vessels that make up Russia’s most powerful fleet, including its largest submarines. So leaving it out of action for years, or even losing it altogether, would be a major hit for the Northern Fleet and the Russian Navy’s overall readiness.
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/24572/russias-dry-dock-accident-could-have-far-larger-repercussions-than-a-damaged-carrier
I wonder if that is connected to climate change. Less ice in Murmansk, was it set on an ice plateau?
Whooosh!
Such malice Sabine and Joe90, aint good for your liver.
Ukraine is seen as in the USA oriented nations, and which country knows what they will do next. White the USA surrounds itself with defensive sites. Didn’t help with September 2001 though.
malcolm gladwell has a great podcast series.
one of the episodes was looking at the movement of people across the mexican/u.s. border over 40 or so years.
the surprising conclusion was that when movement was less stringently controlled (up till the last 10 years), mexicans were far more likely to return and stay home, (not be aliens/illegal), than when the border got tightly controlled.
i thoroughly recommend revisionist history podcast.
i am not sure what this episode was.
another goodie was looking at french fries and how much better they tasted when they were cooked in beef fat compared to vege oils.
vege oils that are not good for you…
there are whole familys that are almost nomadic, they travel the various states for the harvest seasons and once done go back home. Rinse repeat every year.
but hey, what ever gets one elected as the candidate not beholden to corporate interest, self funded, and only worried about the economic anxiety of the white male working class.
After all, all mexicans are rapists and drug peddler. So said the Orange Saviour in 2015. In front of a camera and people and everyone just nodded and said: It is good.
This happens in Queensland too. I met a few Thai couples who came over each year to pick tomatoes then went back.
Bridges weighs in on the great 2018 Santagate controversy.
Good to see him talking about the “important” issues
https://en.brinkwire.com/news/santa-claus-is-a-man-and-thats-how-it-should-be-simon-bridges/
“I think it’s just PC gone – I don’t know if it’s mad, but too far. You guys this morning are telling me that man didn’t walk on the moon, now you’re telling me Santa’s a woman – I just want a few things I can believe in.”
“…….We’ve got discrimination rules and they’re absolutely right, you know, whether it’s gender, whether it’s ethnicity,” said Mr Bridges.
“But I think the truth is on Santa, this is a traditional thing. Mary Poppins is a woman, Santa Claus is a man. That’s how it should be……”
Saint Nicolaus was a man, Santa Claus is a fat made up american bloke in costume created to sell coca cola.
gosh that man is tedious.
My point is that you begin by a personal attack on AM Brady, with the intention of diminishing her credibility, as a preamble to dismissing whatever she has to say.
It seems like a shabby way to argue.
A.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
No Antione. You don’t have a point. I was quite explicit in saying “some may”, and gave another possibility too before writing that I wasn’t offering an opinion on either or either way.
I listened to what she said. Have you? I put up opinion and thoughts you could have engaged with.
You’ve chosen not to engage and to splatter a post with bullshit. So your comment’s now over here on Open Mike.
Oh, come on.
If I say “some may say X is a swivel-eyed loon but I couldn’t possibly comment”, then everyone will understand this as a coy way of saying “X is a swivel-eyed loon”.
Well, comport yourself as you like but don’t expect the rest of us to be impressed.
A.
Sure. My bias was stated. And then there was substantive opinion and thought to read and commented on in light of that bias.
You want to spend a day engaged in stirring up vacuous personal bullshit in lieu of engaging with substantive content? That’s what bullshit message boards and facebook are for.
I don’t have a response to the remainder of your comment. Don’t know enough about the case and wouldn’t comment on here if I did.
A.
Hospital Workers get rises of 24% to 40% on their hourly rate, some back dated 6 mths and this over 2 and a half years. A piece of good news in the Herald today.
Which ‘hospital workers’ if I may ask? Everyone??
A.
Antoine, good point. Orderlies, laundry workers, cleaners, kitchen workers and attendants. Cheers.
Thank you, and good news. (It was nationwide?)
A.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/108861000/pay-rise-of-up-to-40-per-cent-for-thousands-of-hospital-services-workers
Very surprising that this didn’t get more attention here today …
Antione, yes MECA Multi Employer Collective Agreement.
Sabine at 11.1
“Saint Nicolaus was a man,Santa Claus is a fat made up american bloke in costume”
He was a man; – yes – and Saint Nicholas was not Santa Claus either!
According to this German historical record of the two men, known as “Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas.. – No mention of Coca cola though, sarc’.
https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/christmas/saint-nicholas/
Christmas Customs: St. Nicholas – der Heilige Nikolaus
Wer ist Sankt Nikolaus?
– Who is Saint Nicholas?
For a long time in Austria and some regions of Germany, particularly in Bavaria, St. Nicholas was the main character in the Christmas celebration.
But he was not Santa Claus, and he arrived earlier – on the 6th of December. His usual, less friendly escort went by different names in different places: “Belsnickle,” “Niglo,” “Pelznickel,” and others. Santa Claus or Father Christmas is a more recent tradition. Since the Germans (and the Dutch) brought many of their customs to America directly or indirectly, we need to look first at Europe in order to understand the American and worldwide Christmas celebration of today.
I am german, i am bavarian. Thanks for the history lesson. We only have St. Nicolaus on the 6th of December, on the eve of the 24th we give pressies, go to midnight mess if so inclined, and that was that. No one crawling through the chimney or anything. 25th and 26th are Christmas Holidays without any importance other then visiting family and eating way to much food, and drinking way to much booze.
Santa Claus is if anything dutch in nature, and then co-opted by Coca Cola. The dutch would have called him Sinter Claas, and his helper is generally refered to as het swarte piet. The black pete.
Hence my comment in the first place about the gender and the reality of Saint Nicolaus, Bishop of Bari whom the legend says went out during a particular hard winter and left overings of food, clothes and toys for the children in front of the houses of the poor.
He should not be ‘played by a women’ cause he was a man, in saying that in the convent that i grew up and lived in for many years it was Nuns who played the part of St. Nicolaus and Kramperl (his helper) was also played by a Nun. They came with the book of good deeds and bad deeds, scared the small children witless and us older ones running down the halls of the convent screeching trying to figure out who played whom. However we never did. The Nuns always outsmarted us. Such are nuns, what can i say.
However, fat Coca Cola Santa can and should be played by whomever applies for hte role and is best suited.
That is what my comment relates too.
As for those that like this bit, St. Barbara is held on the fourth of December, Patron Saint of miners. I have her in mind, while the bodies of the pike river miners are recovered. She is often depicted with a lantern in her hand, surrounded by praying/crying women and children at the entrance of a mining shaft.
yeah, i am very bavarian, and i like my little customs. So light a candle on the 4th Dec, for all the miners everywhere. And give sweets to the kids on the 6th of december thanks to Saint Nicolaus.
I’m not so interested in who “Father Christmas” was . I like to think about who he can be, from this moment on. This year, courtesy of my now-convincingly festive white beard, I’m going to play “Father Christmas’s ” dad, Grandfather Christmas and give out to children, hope and encouragement along with packets of vegetable seeds 🙂
I found an educational video on Santa that might give you some ideas
Mihingarangi Forbes had a good idea on RNZ this arvo.
Having a kiwi character be the equivalent.
I think her suggestion was Rongo Ma Tane, God of cultivated plants and food.
How to make Auckland a city of the future? Give it back to the artists
https://www.noted.co.nz/culture/arts/how-to-make-auckland-city-of-the-future-give-it-back-to-artists/?fbclid=IwAR1PAjjOSuzW2bEys2T–1zb7PgQfkAppDMf6rZiEafZUHSstTi01Mgx8iI
Natioal Party may be behind these sudden vehicle liciencing issues being stirred up tas both Davaville and westland are both Labour strongholds we now await to see if a “Garage in a National stronghold is also pulled up” as the whole NZTA handling of vehicle licieces debate hots up.
Seocond garage found is “Westland tyre and Autos” is clearly a laour strondhold whom the NZTA agency has targetted now who has had that garage in Westland WoF licience evoked.
Will NZTA now target the National strongholds of West and north Auckland,,hamiton, Tauranga, Otago, and Southland?
We await for this with interest.
National Party seems to be causing trouble and friction among communities, only in labour held areas. it seems to be the new game of National politics.
So watch their ‘dark ops’ of “dirty politics” as time goes by.
Yes SaveNZ
you hit the mark there with the ‘Bridges issue’ here in your article see this statement made in the article https://www.noted.co.nz/culture/arts/how-to-make-auckland-city-of-the-future-give-it-back-to-artists/?fbclid=IwAR1PAjjOSuzW2bEys2T–1zb7PgQfkAppDMf6rZiEafZUHSstTi01Mgx8iI
Go to this site inside your article,
https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/politics/simon-bridges-9-months-of-disaster-management/
Quote;
“It’s a reasonable bet that when Simon Bridges took on the job as leader in February he didn’t expect it would mostly involve wall-to-wall disaster management of National’s problems that would overshadow his attempts to harass the coalition government for its failings.”
As my bolg suggested; – National is trying now quietly to find as your article says; –
“problems that would overshadow his attempts to harass the coalition government for its failings.”
The Wof issue is one of those I suggest, as we already had this over the truck trailer issue last wanter when a Nelson enginerering shop signed off many truck trailers with false certificates, so now Bridges is causing further unrest amost the private vehicle liciencing now too.
Watch for this slimy Bridges character as he is a very slippery character.
So we do womder if he can dinger a Garage in his seat of Tauranga now for licience breaches of Wof’s?
The United States of America is firing chemical agents at women and children.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ds4MbkzU4AENr_m.jpg
Shocking. What is the international game plan as signed up with UN about this?
Or has USA lost every sense of appropriate behaviour, decency, respect for humanity? Time for a Billy Graham mass Christian campaign calling all the sinners back to the fold, and also making America great again in one package. At present there is an evil message being absorbed under a false flag.
The warmongering, anti-Semitic piece of shit’s memory should be rendered damnatio memoriae.
http://www.nypress.com/billy-graham-war-criminal/
I was short of anybody with that pulling power to ‘USA Christians’. So I picked the wrong guy did I. But is there a new, better sort of preacher that would turn this tide of negativity, racism, hate and bellicose scapegoating that mixed together looks nasty.
Anyone, as long as they take their damn fool book seriously.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A13-21&version=NIV
You came up with a doozy of a link. So interesting and relevant to the voting for the Republicans and the connection with religion.
Also this on North Korea. I didn’t know the history and see why they have ‘ambivalent’ attitudes to the USA.
Graham lent his imprimatur to this recommendation. Thus Graham was advocating a policy to the U.S. Commander-in-Chief that on Nixon’s own estimate would have killed a million people.
The German High Commissioner Seyss-Inquart was sentenced to death at Nuremberg for breaching dikes and other crimes in Holland in World War II.
(His execution did not deter the USAF from destroying the Toksan dam in North Korea, in 1953, thus deliberately wrecking the system that irrigated 75 percent of North Korea’s rice farms.)
You came up with a doozy of a link with that nypress one. So interesting and relevant to Republicans and voting and religion; this time anti-Jewish. And Billy Graham is very anti – doesn’t come across as a decent Christian for sure.
Also this on North Korea. I didn’t know the history and see why they have ‘ambivalent’ attitudes to the USA.
Graham lent his imprimatur to this recommendation. Thus Graham was advocating a policy to the U.S. Commander-in-Chief that on Nixon’s own estimate would have killed a million people.
The German High Commissioner Seyss-Inquart was sentenced to death at Nuremberg for breaching dikes and other crimes in Holland in World War II.
(His execution did not deter the USAF from destroying the Toksan dam in North Korea, in 1953, thus deliberately wrecking the system that irrigated 75 percent of North Korea’s rice farms.)
and a useless fat ugly man is feeling all powerful, probably sexually aroused by the fear he creates and while watching fox news, eating literal shit sandwiches from MacDo gets off every time another canister gets shot across the border.
Cause nothing says powerful man more then crying mothers and children.
And this is how it starts. And this is how it always started. Some useless sadistic piece of shit supported by people cause……economic anxiety. T’was thus in Germany, and now we get to watch the sequel.
Seems good coverage of the Russian Ukraine matter with good accessabile map.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russia-closes-water-route-in-fresh-confrontation-with-ukraine/2018/11/25/a57adc3e-f0c1-11e8-99c2-cfca6fcf610c_story.html?utm_term=.c23cd49b3969
A Daily Mail version of the Russia Ukraine interaction.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6427285/Russian-Navy-opens-fire-Ukrainian-navy-boat-blocking-key-shipping-route-Crimea.html
Holy shit I just got all the way to the bottom of open mic. And not a single thread was a complete waste of time scrolling paste petty bullshit. . I don’t even think I read a single pointless slogan.
Take bow people. 😏
and you came along, and said nothing much of importance.
Take a bow. 🙂
Can we step back from little comments that add nothing. I did one yesterday and I promise not to do it again for a while. Could we all step back and let it go, unless having a rare poke whn the time is appropriate.
True
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has started trolling Fox News in Spanish…
https://mashable.com/article/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-fox-news-shoes/#pnwtiu3sCqqf
Anyone else splitting their sides laughing with simon bridges and nationals…. no new taxes announcement?
Was simon asleep during the johnkey years of government?
I’m pretty sure key promised the same then nek minute….. it’s a levy, it’s a fee, it’s not a tax, don’t forget raising gst.
No new taxes…. dosen’t mean we can’t increase the current ones.
Oh and if a CGT is introduced he is going to get rid of it, to help the poor (sarc)
Jacinda dismantled him at her post-cabinet presser today. He’s desperate. And National are trying to get their polling back above 40% before it becomes a downward spiral.
Hehehe nice.
Simon must be having a panic attack. I count 10 separate tweets and 2 retweets today.
https://mobile.twitter.com/simonjbridges?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
lmao the comments on his twitter.
It’s almost like he sends a tweet, bums out re the response, then decides to try again in desperation that someone, anyone will show him some support.
Freaking funny as, cheers for that Fireblade.
Possibly as many as 3 binding referendums at the next election? Our ballot papers will look like those enormous long ones they have in America.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/11/triple-header-referendum-looms-for-2020.html
Quite like the idea of referendums being included in the election. Cheaper than doing them separately. And possibly will make for a greater turn out of voters.
Agreed Cinny
I don’t mind a referendum but the binding bit sticks in the craw.
It all depends on the wording of the question.
E.g. marijuana. I am all for decriminilising the weed.
That would also go hand in hand with restrictions and decent education.
Not the DARE type, Mr Mackey “drugs are bad mmkay?”
I have no care for legalisation, i.e. handing pot over to big business a la alcohol.
Plus it might mean celebrity survivor fans have a large influence.
Kia ora Newshub These helicopter are crashing often.
The virus outbreak up In North Land condolences to anyone who has lost love ones.
It a big mystery around Whale stranding 145 stranded down South have died that’s sad. The worst thing one can do is give the issue publicity
The NZ CEO over half don’t use twitter ???????? Equality half Wahine CEO is needed to fix most of our problems.
I agree the addiction needs to be treated so the people doing dump things will be able to straighten up there act that’s a smart way to a positive solution to a bad problem.
I back welcoming Refugees they are people in need we can not ignore there suffering
and ha the west has cause most of these Refugee problems.
With the Smoking tax debate its a addiction tax’s don’t treat the addiction they just rake money from poor people who can’t beat the addiction billions should be invested to find better treatments for the smokers addiction not higher TAX.
Ka kite ano
Eco Maori encourages all the WORLDS CHILDREN to protest about the inaction of the
Worlds Governments to do everything in there POWER’S to mitigate Climate Change as it is there FUTURE we are poisoning and turning into hell for all as it is our children who have to clean up there MESS.
And if teachers really care about there children they will tau toko/support there STAND.
Scott Morrison has been labelled “out of touch” for angrily condemning a national student strike to protest government inaction on climate change.
The prime minister implored children to stay in class rather than protesting things that “can be dealt with outside of school”.
Everything you want to know about climate change in #MyClimateQuestions
Read more
“Each day I send my kids to school and I know other members’ kids should also go to school but we do not support our schools being turned into parliaments,” Morrison told parliament on Monday. Ka kite ano Links Below
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/26/scott-morrison-tells-students-striking-over-climate-change-to-be-less-activist
This Swedish girl is protesting about the MESS the WORLD GOVERNMENTS are making of her future KA PAI /GOOD
When school started in August this year, I decided enough was enough. Sweden had just experienced its hottest summer ever. The election was coming up. No one was talking about climate change as a crisis.
Advertisement
So I decided to walk out of school and sit on the ground outside the Swedish parliament to demand our politicians treat climate change for what it is: the biggest issue we have ever faced.
Because if climate change has to stop, then we must stop it. It is black and white. There are no grey areas when it comes to survival. Either we continue as a civilisation or we don’t. One way or another, we have to change. Countries like mine and Australia must start reducing our emissions dramatically if we believe in equality and climate justice.Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coal, one of the leading cause of climate change. Your politicians want to help Adani build one of the biggest coal mines in the world. Right now, there are no policies to change this. There are no rules to keep coal in the ground. We can no longer save the world by playing by the rules because the rules have to be changed
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/26/im-striking-from-school-for-climate-change-too-save-the-world-australians-students-should-too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YQIaOldDU8
P.S I was just thinking that I did not see Paddy on the show Maui Dolphins are my favorites Tangaroa Mammal
Video for the above post
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute
Here you go he does not care about the billions of lives his ignorance is going to harm
donald trump has told reporters he doesn’t believe his own government’s climate change findings that the US economy will suffer substantially with continued warming from greenhouse gas pollution.
“I’ve seen it, I’ve read some of it, and it’s fine,” he said outside the White House on Monday. “I don’t believe it.”
From Facebook to climate change: how to bury bad news
Read more
The report, called the National Climate Assessment, was quietly released the day after Thanksgiving. Also last Friday, the government slipped out another environment internal report with bad news about emissions from oil and gas drilling on federal lands. Link below ka kite ano
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/26/trump-national-climate-assessment-dont-believe
Eco Maori music
Kia ora Newshub Tova Bulling is not acceptable and should be stamped out of all organizations.
That virus in North Land is shocking and in a place with high Maori population this tell me that we are a second class people .
The closing off Queen’s st to all but the essential vehicles is a really good move there are quite a few city’s around the world doing this with big success clean air.
Our children always have there faces in there Ph not I . I just do a lot of research for my mission I will be doing Eco Maori influencing for a long time.
The health supplements is not regulated.
Condolences to all the people who lost there houses in the big fire in Australia .
Everyone is buying Tesla cars A with GM lay off and some ones trade war is hurting the poor.
I have a consumers complaint every time I go to buy some thing some how they have not got the product I want so they say they will ring back but know O that’s just the bulling sandfly being muppets trying there best to try and upset me but no they are just small fry in Eco Maoris Papatuanuku.
Ka kite ano P.S some people think they know my whapapa but there is one line no one knows about.
Kia ora The Crowd Goes Mulls James & Wairangi Wild fingers crossed for the Black Caps.
The League dramas that move will get the punters out.
Yes Its cool that Joe Schmidts is stepping aside for his whano .
At the Bowls guys the Crowd is growing thats the way Tau toko them not to much cups of teas tho A.
That Hand glider person was lucky he only broke his wrist he would have had to change his ——
That was a good UFC KO kick the ref in the teeth lol we no what’s really in the water bottle mulls Ka kite ano