Good quality info from Chris Martenson on the Coronavirus…time to be alert and aware and start making basic preps (collect any prescription meds you may need, add a bit of extra rice/tuna/long term vege type things/seeds to sprouts to the shopping(. To understand that please watch this video where Chris breaks down what is actually happening.
Most importantly note the 5 day latency period…so those boarder checks for high temperatures are pointless….those who have contracted it are already contagious but will not show any symptoms.
Who is Martenson and why should we trust him? I'm asking because I'm researching for a post on nCoV and seeing a massive amount of information that is imo untrustworthy. Social media at its worst.
Conclusion: The mean estimate of R0 for the 2019-nCoV ranges from 3.30 (95%CI: 2.73-3.96) to 5.47 (95%CI: 4.16-7.10), and significantly larger than 1. Our findings indicate the potential of 2019-nCoV to cause outbreaks.
It has a fat tail,hence as more data and mortality becomes apparent the infection rate increases. This is an increase on the model used yesterday but both are dynamic.The obvious apparent problem would be downplaying of statistics by PRC.
All the world needed right now is for Trump to get extraordinarily lucky.
A major disease outbreak is about as good an extended metaphor as one could wish for to explain the rise of Donald Trump against the Democrats.
The U.S. Constitution is supposed to be the built-in hygiene mechanism that controls the level of filth that rise through democratic contest. The Democrats have faithfully used the United States Constitution to hold this damaging President to account. They assemble all the evidence into a good case, orchestrate the media into a fully focused antiseptic froth, get ready to take a few further points off his popularity and electability …
.. and then there's a massive disease outbreak in China that obliterates the careful media messaging. Donald Trump is given a most massive gift by fate.
He told us China was the enemy. He told us we had to put up barriers against them. He told us that even against China he would Make America Great Again … because this foreign eastern behemoth was a disease to protect us from.
Whether true or not, the Chinese government can be framed up as lying, corrupt, incompetent, and unable to control the infectious idea of Being Chinese. They've got perhaps just the next 24 hours to prove him wrong.
Trump will come out of this not only unbowed and unpunished, but vindicated.
It won't win him the election, but it will underline that he was right all along: globalism and multiculturalism are disease vectors of cultural, ethnic, and economic weakness. They shall not pass.
The effects of this Chinese infection will both blunt and reverse the Democratic effort to hold him to account through Constitutional means. It may even help re-elect him.
It is the biggest piece of luck I've seen in modern political history.
People who are more avoidant of pathogens are more politically conservative, as are nations with greater parasite stress. In the current research, we test two prominent hypotheses that have been proposed as explanations for these relationships. The first, which is an intragroup account, holds that these relationships between pathogens and politics are based on motivations to adhere to local norms, which are sometimes shaped by cultural evolution to have pathogen-neutralizing properties. The second, which is an intergroup account, holds that these same relationships are based on motivations to avoid contact with outgroups, who might pose greater infectious disease threats than ingroup members. Results from a study surveying 11,501 participants across 30 nations are more consistent with the intragroup account than with the intergroup account. National parasite stress relates to traditionalism (an aspect of conservatism especially related to adherence to group norms) but not to social dominance orientation (SDO; an aspect of conservatism especially related to endorsements of intergroup barriers and negativity toward ethnic and racial outgroups). Further, individual differences in pathogen-avoidance motives (i.e., disgust sensitivity) relate more strongly to traditionalism than to SDO within the 30 nations.
Or put in simple terms, countries where there is a high disease and parasite load push the population toward more conservative, closed attitudes. It's an entirely legitimate survival strategy. Disgust sensitivity is tied into this as well. (Interestingly the Nazi's are well understood to have exploited this in their imagery, describing Jews in pathological or parasitic terms.)
But in essence you are right, disease is our ancient enemy and it evokes strong emotions that won't make for rational politics.
Well, somebody has to cut the Gordian knot to end the gridlock. Whether this creates a precedent (i.e. opens the proverbial can of worms) remains to be seen. Future Governments have no real (legal) obligation AFAIK to follow in the footsteps of the current Government.
attacking the messenger – not the story. How typical.
How about trying to discuss the point. Like $45million of taxpayer money going to fletchers – and jacinda opening up the issue of maori claims on private land
If that is your solution, then it shows you are probably unaware of the back history to this land. Including recent promises by Manukau District Council that were supposed to be part of the legacy package to Auckland Council. Also, the use of SHA legislation to bypass any reference to historical or tangata whenua concerns.
What has happened is a foreseeable and rational response to the failures of authorities at both local and national levels to follow procedures set in place to avoid this kind of conflict. (The land has significantly increased in value because of the SHA zoning to residential. A benefit gained solely by the landowner, by a designation change from council and not shared in any way by the community. A failure to implement a capital-uplift tax by Auckland Council.)
Good post Molly. In the current environment of pretty poor reporting it has been lost that the SHAs set up by Nick Smith overrode many concerns about the development of that land.
Particularly dense people who look to Duncan Garner for their opinions will actively ignore the recent and not so recent history of the place if it serves to bash Maori protestors.
The same people are incapable of realising the historical value of such areas, largely because it is not white historical value.
To me, the current government buying the land off Feltchers is the price to pay for the last government’s naked recolonisation of Ihumatao.
I would Have had the protesters moved off the land legally sold to fletchers.
if they didn’t go – arrest them.
That'll work! That'll really work! After all, who remembers Parihaka or Bastion Point these days? Hardly anyone who isn't Māori, right? If only the current government's leadership had James' wisdom and previous governments' disdain for Māori, this could all have been sorted very easily…
Attacking the messenger??? More like a disingenuous message that needs to be dispelled. How about the line that Fletcher's had the taxpayers over a barrel and did what predators do? It would have been more helpful if the history, reasons and motivations behind the Ihumatao resolution had been explored buy someone with investigative and reporting skills. This would have been more appropriate than a political hit-job by a foam-mouthed, self-opinionated lightweight.
I am just glad that we have a government with the ethics and courage to right this wrong. Talk of 'taxpayers money' is very immature – the government is buying back what it stole. Not only did it steal the land it sold it to private interests so the debt is theirs to repay. Fletchers seem to have behaved with integrity and have probably spent a lot negotiating this issue. Add that to the increase in the value of the land over the 4 years that they have owned it and what they are being offered is probably fair.
Personally I think this settlement was a reasonable compromise in this specific case. But the word 'stole' could have a very flexible meaning; there are plenty of people who'd cheerfully stretch it out to cover the whole of NZ.
Not all – some land was sold and some given. This agreement does open up new possibilities for negotiation and having now the possibilities of a 'case by case' scenario is going to make it a lot more complicated but fairer.
If the messenger's an ignorant, racist blowhard peddling misinformation with a poisonous agenda, attacking the messenger sounds entirely reasonable. More to the point would be, how much of a sucker would someone have to be to lend credence to Duncan Garner's messages.
Certainly not, especially while overlooking the fact that his contemplation of this (oh shit, I looked it up again and he actually called it "a nightmarish glimpse into our future") took place in an aussie-owned store with a US brand.
After all, he explicitly said that nothing in his column was intended to be racist. So that's alright, then.
A minority of the Press Council only thought his expressed views had an "unpleasant "dogwhistle" odour" but were not racist in a way that broke the rules, so yes you must be right.
Too many assumptions there, numpty. Actually had a great luncheon with friends. And Jimmy's comment was at 5 pm. Your day on the water started then, did it? Try harder.
[It was just a matter of time before someone would cross the line and resort to stupid insults aimed at James. Like it or leave it, James is free to comment here as long as he adheres to the site’s policy and rules. Please don’t do this (again) or next time you throw insults at him for no direct reason you will be receiving gardening leave – Incognito]
As it turns out, you also have a bit of history here with flaming and insults. Coincidentally, your last ban (last year, 3 days only) was for insulting James!
As I said, like it or leave it, but please stop wasting my time. Thanks in advance.
The one you mentioned which was in fact because of impudence shown towards a moderator (trivialising Weka's authority rather than insulting James), and another by Weka for directly questioning James' sincerity on the case of the man who set himself on fire before parliament.
I guess the price of having a forum that is not an echo chamber is the moderators must protect stirrers in your words, or trolls in mine.
[please correct the error in your user handle; it has happened twice now. Thanks]
You have had more than two bans here and quite a few moderator warnings.
Given your recalcitrant behaviour, I think that is low.
I am calling you out on your insulting behaviour and I am not protecting anybody. Moderators are not bodyguards but more like cleaners who clear up the mess made and left behind by others on this site.
Like it or leave it; this is my final word on this and I kindly suggest taking heed.
Take it up with the SYSOP. Most seem to manage here most of the time but the mistake you made is quite common and often goes unnoticed for a (little) while, which wastes Moderator time.
You have had more than two bans here and quite a few moderator warnings.
Given your recalcitrant behaviour, I think that is low.
I am calling you out on your insulting behaviour and I am not protecting anybody. Moderators are not bodyguards but more like cleaners who clear up the mess made and left behind by others on this site.
Like it or leave it; this is my final word on this and I kindly suggest taking heed.
I think I've had two bans.
So I have a problem with authority. What is a simple activist to do? Lie down and take it, I suppose? Where on earth would that end, George Orwell?
You can either accept my contribution to The Standard, or not. I think I make a decent effort in most of my comments but am called out on a few and that seems to define me according to yourself and Weka.
I'll work hard to conform to your definition of “smart-arse reply” which you seem to accept, and stick to that.
This grovelling approach works for some – I might try it! 😀
Your “grovelling approach works” but only just because it’s a lovely morning and I had a decent sleep last night.
You’ve had more than two bans but this is not important (I can provide the links, with time-stamps for your personal archive or trophy cabinet, but why waste more time on this?).
You have an occasional problem with your attitude and language when you resort to flaming and insulting, which has led to moderation and a few (>2) bans.
You also seem to have a problem with listening, simple explanations, simple instructions, and following clear and simple rules. I’d use a different word for that than “activist” and “recalcitrant” was possibly too mild.
Whether you continue making valuable contributions here or smart arse replies is neither here nor there for me. It’s up to commenters to make this a better site or turn it into sandpit full of petulant smart arses or foul-mouthed morons. The choice is yours; like it or leave it.
It's a WordPress thing I think where a mistake in the username is repeated ad infinitum.
A few months back I had a plugin in FF that screwed with any website that needed a form, even though it did what it was supposed to do (text substitution).
Additionally some browsers on some operating systems can be tempramental.
Newer browsers often have a "safe" mode, where all plugins or add-ons are disabled. Try TS in safe mode, and if it works then some plugin is arguing with your browser.
The initial comment @ 4 was about a potentially imminent breakthrough in the Ihumātao dispute.
I think it is worth noting that many comments in this thread did not discuss the topic at all but were diversions about Duncan Garner being an alleged racist, about James, about the flag referendum and other unrelated and thus irrelevant things.
Inevitably, it ended up with blatant insults with no constructive content whatsoever and almost led to a ban 🙁
Somehow I can't get terribly worked up about that virus outbreak. Its place of origin is one that winks at the sort of unhygenic practices around rearing animals, and selling them or their products, that we outlawed decades ago. They're reaping what they've sown. Yes, there might be a few deaths here to begin with, but we'll contain the spread all right.
Orwell wrote his best-known novel in 1948. Thirty-six years later, That Date actually arrived, but seemingly not its accompanying dystopia. The seeds, however, were already being sown. On by a similar length of time, and we arrive at the present day, where those seeds have germinated and are growing fast.
It's my wild-arsed guess there is a 90% chance this new bug will mutate into something less dangerous fairly quickly. However there is a small but non-zero chance it could go badly pear shaped like the 1918 Spanish Flu.
It's the Chinese Medical authorities, WHO and CDC who will do all the heavy lifting here. If Angola can contain Ebola, there is every chance China will get on top of this.
But in a weeks time we'll know more about this virus, it's incubation time, it's infectivity and it's lethality. In the meantime don't get worked up, but don't ignore basic precautions either.
Hope so. In 1918 we didn't have gene sequencing to identify exactly where it came from, either the Krait or Chinese Cobra apparently,and effective isolation and containment systems and back then it was some months before they even knew there was a problem.
A mate who has visited the sort of food market to the Wuhan one has said the bloody places are unbelievable, they have no place in the 21st century.
here is a list of ecoli break outs in the western world due to lax business rules – i.e. self certifying. Just in case you like your romaine and lettuce and ground beef.
Funnily enough, i have always eaten in food courts in asia when i travel and i never even had as much as a stomach bugling, however friends of mine who insisted in MacDo and the likes often came down with the runs. Go figure.
Funny that. I reckon it sometimes may be just a change in the ecology in the gut, or something similar. About a month ago I spent time both in Japan and Thailand. In Thailand I ate from street vendors, in dirt floor restaurants with no running water, and other meals from questionable sources. Not a problem except for tender tushie from all the chili-laced meals I scarfed.
Japan was great, but I did have one afternoon with a case of runny bum.
The point is that even in ultra-hygeinic locations one can get a tummy rumbler. Although, to be honest getting a case of the Aztec Two-step is more likely in the less developed more free wheeling regions. Sometimes it's just luck.
If I understood the news correctly this morning, the Chinese have warned that the infectious period starts 2 weeks before any symptoms show in the infectious person.
If this is true, I think it is the first time we have struck such a virus, and with two weeks before the infectious person can be detected, we have absolutely no hope of stopping the spread.
But – the second part is better: the virus causes fewer deaths proportionately than SARS did, and as viruses get better at spreading they tend to get milder in effect.
So a pandemic will mean quite a lot of us will recover from an annoying mild pneumonia, but there will not be billions of dead.
But did I hear that news correctly, and is the report true?
Not to mention it got called "Spanish Flu" because the Spaniards were neutral and none of the warring nations wanted to disclose how many of their troops were ill.
So they knew they had a problem, but it was a military secret and then everyone got shipped home around the world…
and then there is the sars research at the wuhan bio research facility.
But worries surround the Chinese lab, too. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times, notes Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Tim Trevan, founder of CHROME Biosafety and Biosecurity Consulting in Damascus, Maryland, says that an open culture is important to keeping BSL-4 labs safe, and he questions how easy this will be in China, where society emphasizes hierarchy. “Diversity of viewpoint, flat structures where everyone feels free to speak up and openness of information are important,” he says.
Yes I've witnessed that extreme authoritarian hierarchy in action in the workplace. It's quite spooky when you first see it, for a few moments I felt I'd been transported to a Nazi concentration camp movie.
Maybe that's why I'm so much less sanguine about the CCP's regime than Ad is.
Some background on Bernie Sanders and what he has achieved in Burlington Vermont.
" One of his main goals was to rein in real estate speculation and gentrification, to keep the tenants in their homes. In 1984, he established the Burlington Community Land Trust, which started buying and renovating rundown rental properties on the Old North End. The model was to rent them at fixed rates or sell them at low prices, while retaining ownership of the land and sharing in any value appreciation. Now called the Champlain Housing Trust, it is the largest such nonprofit in the nation and has 8% of the city’s housing units "
Not afraid too confront the issues in his home town.
"While he brought free public concerts to Battery Park on the bluff, Sanders also went on a campaign to stop noisy late-night college parties, even accompanying police to dress down the revelers "
Wait a minute, we are supposed to give this guy Presidential credibility because a trust he started three decades ago has been doing up a few houses in a town about the same size and global importance as Gisborne?
Donald Trump and his dad were doing that for about the same time and instead of a few hundred houses, have turned it into a world-conquering hotel and resort brand.
Seriously if real estate is touted as the killer move for Sanders, someone needs a strategy refresh.
Now called the Champlain Housing Trust, it is the largest such nonprofit in the nation and has 8% of the city’s housing units "
1. Burlington, Vermont Population 2019. Burlington, Vermont's estimated population is 42,899
2.The ethnic composition of the population of Burlington, VT is composed of 35.1k White Alone residents (82.7%), 2.65k Asian Alone residents (6.25%), 2.32k Black or African American Alone residents (5.47%), 1.21k Hispanic or Latino residents (2.86%), 964 Two or More Races residents (2.27%), 109 American Indian & Alaska
3. The Champlain Housing Trust, founded in 1984, is the largest community land trust in the country. Throughout Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties, CHT manages 2,300 apartments, stewards 620 owner-occupied homes in its signature shared-equity program, offers homebuyer education and financial fitness counseling, provides services to five housing cooperatives, and offers affordable energy efficiency and rehab loans. In 2008, CHT won the prestigious United Nations World Habitat Award, recognizing its innovative, sustainable programs.
While a nice thing for the residence of the City of Burlington Vermont, its a sad indictment of the state of USA's housing policies.
At some point we're going to have to clear away this film-flam of the always-never-made-its and get to the main guy: What will Joe Biden Do as President?
it shows that a tiny wee little town has the largest housing charity.
that is the sadness about it all.
I don't know what Jo biden will do as president. Kidnap babies at the frontiers and then loose them in the system to god knows whom? Install a global gag rule on abortion, birth controll, and such to please forced birther crowd? Remove any and all regulations on the environment to drill baby drill and mine mine mine? Play golf every third day on the tax payers dime? Start world war three?
Honestly i have no fucking idea what Jo Biden would do, nor do i care.
But if this is an example of Bernie Sanders will do, then he will have put his name to a charity that has 2300 apartments under its umbrella and it stewards som 630 occupied owner houses, in a town of 43.000 people. And the sad thing about this charity is that it is the "Largest Charity of its kind in the US of A'. Go figure.
Meanwhile Here is what one editor of The Nation has to say on Elizabeth Warren:
Her opposition to Wall Street’s endless predations has also been consistent, courageous, and persuasive—and tied directly to her recognition that 40 years of growing income and wealth inequality won’t be reversed without the reregulation of finance. She has taken on not just bankers but also fellow Democrats, including Larry Summers, Tim Geithner, and, by implication, President Obama himself when he prioritized saving too-big-to-fail banks rather than stopping foreclosures on the homes of 10 million families. She played public and behind-the-scenes roles in crafting the still-unused powers of the Dodd-Frank Act to tame Wall Street and in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Washington’s first new (and under the Democrats, demonstrably effective) regulator since the New Deal.
In her skill and dedication campaigning for other candidates; in doggedly shepherding tough, controversial bills through Congress; and in constructing a significant federal agency from scratch, Warren has demonstrated her ability to both win elections and govern.
“This poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone Jan. 20–23 among a random national sample of 1,004 adults. It has a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points”:
Seems to depend how they ask the question: "The Suffolk poll showed nearly a quarter of Democratic primary voters, 24 percent, are undecided. But the WBUR survey, which included so-called “leaners” — voters who initially say they are undecided but, when asked, say they are leaning toward one candidate — pegged the “undecided” number at just 5 percent." https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/23/sanders-polls-2020-103084
Definite age variation happening, and it's big: "Age has become one of the defining cleavages of the 2020 Democratic race. In the CNN/SSRS national poll — in which Sanders has a slim, 3-point lead over Biden overall — Sanders is the top choice of 39 percent of Democrats under the age of 45. That’s 21 points ahead of the next closest Democrat, Warren,another septuagenarian who appeals to younger voters."
"On the other side of the ledger, Sanders is the first choice of only 16 percent of Democrats 45 and older. His strength halves again, to 8 percent, among those 65 and older. Biden, meanwhile, wins 33 percent of 45-and-older Democrats, and 37 percent of the 65-plus set."
Those with a memory of how socialism operated tend to be biased against it. Those who like the aspirations in the mix tend to go for it…
Five-percent (5%) Biden supporters say they will not vote for someone else as the Democratic nominee, while 9% say it would depend on who the nominee is.
Among Sanders supporters, 16% will not vote for the nominee if Sanders doesn’t win, while 30% say it depends on the nominee.
No Warren supporters say they will definitely not vote for the nominee if she does not win the nomination, but 10% say it will depend on who the nominee is.
Forty-two percent (42%) of Yang supporters say they will not vote for anyone else as the Democratic nominee, while 9% say it depends on the nominee.
oh well. Its gonna be a shit show anyways. Why not start flinging it early?
Seems to be a link between perceptions a candidate is (or has been) discriminated against in the primary and support for an unknown candidate put forward by the democrats.
If these polls are indicative of couse than the rational choice is Bernie due to his supporters relative obstinance. Though I doubt US centrist pundits can draw the obvious conclusion.
19% of Bernie supporters stating that they will NOT support the democratic nominee is ……….(insert what ever suits you).
vs, no one from the warren supporters saying that they will NOT support the democratic nominee should she not get the tick.
should be real easy for bernie to pick up warren supporters should he get the tick, but should it not be bernie we can expect 19% of his supporters to vote for the incumbent or humpty dumpty.
Its gonna be a delightful shitshow just like the last time around. And we all know who won. So yeah, they better give it to bernie or else…..:)
It's revolting how some people treat animals. National MP barbara kuriger should be ashamed of her husband and her son. If she did nothing to prevent them from treating animals so cruelly, she should also be ashamed of herself. And to think she is their spokesperson for Rural Communities. Taranaki-King Country deserves better.
May the full arm of the law come down on them.
In total, 74 cows were treated for lameness and 25 were euthanised.
Infections in some cows were so severe they had spread to the joints, causing chronic septic arthritis.
Gibson estimated the cows were lame for up to two months before receiving treatment, but others could have been injured longer.
Veterinarians handed the Kurigers a plan to stop the injured cows from being milked. But, despite their injuries, many were still forced to endure the arduous walk to the dairy shed to be milked each day.
“They were supposed to be in the paddock where… grass is softer. All this is unnecessary pain the animal has to go through.”
According to court documents, when approached by officials, Tony Kuriger declined to be interviewed. Louis did not respond to requests for comment.
treating these cows would cut into the profit. And yes, she is the spokes person for 'rural communities' and it says a lot about The NoMates Party that would nominate someone like her to be a spokesperson for rural communities.
Hope the rural communties will wake up and tell her to get a job elsewhere.
I recall one of his amusing anecdotes from his early journalistic days. He was approached by the SIS who "wanted to talk to him". Curious to know what they wanted to talk to him about, he agreed to meet them. He was told to go to a Wellington hotel and knock on the door of Room 60. (I've forgotten the number so 60 will do.) He found Room 60 and knocked on the door. No reply. He was about to leave when a voice from behind said "come in". He swung around and a man was standing in the open door of the room on the opposite side.
I wondered how he managed to open the door and check it was McLaughlan without making a sound. Maybe there was a secret peep-hole in the door that only the SIS knew about. 👿 Whatever, McLauchlan wouldn't do what they wanted him to do.
Well, artifacts are constantly left and repeated in the username section which is, for some reason, not independent from the comments section.
Because I wanted the site to be as open as possible and because I didn't want to spend time endlessly fixing logins or dealing with robots, I disabled them back in about 2009. Instead I put in a system to allow anyone to leave comments and maintained the logins for authors, moderators and the lucky few who already had them.
However that meant that with every comment, the non-login author had to put put in their details on each comment – which slowed the commenting process. So I used cookies. Once you leave a comment on a particular browser on a particular system, I told your browser to remember those details on your client machine login, and to fill in the fields for you on that browser and machine whenever a comment was presented to fill in.
Works well until the details get mucked up at the client side. Typically when pasting into the wrong field, which causes the mistake to reproduced.
The issue seems to be that, of late, occasionally when I am merrily typing away in the comment box the cursor will flip to the name box without warning. I continue to type until I need to look at the screen again and find no words added to the comment box, but they have been added to the name box which I didn't think to check.
I then re-type what got 'lost' in the comment box and hit 'Submit Comment'. The comment then goes out with extra words added to my username in the name box.
Is it one of those laptops with a touchpad below the keyboard? I always switch that off if I have a corded mouse – my hands hovering over the touch pad sometimes tap it and send the cursor funny places.
ALTHOUGH:
a good trick in a shared office is to put a cordless mouse usb in the back of a colleagues machine. Then as they're typing away just randomly point and click from your desk. drives 'em crazy if you do it subtly enough 😉
McFlock is probably right. Mousepads are a nuisance when you're typing. Mine is turned off whenever I have a external keyboard/mouse talking to it. Which is most of the time.
I usually do have a wireless K750 keyboard + a MX Anywhere in my pack or where I work. I have 3 of them – work, home, and pack. Solar powered keyboards are *thin* – sneak in the pack very nicely.
Try the right side of the mouse pad. That is usually where they have the scroller option turned on. The option is often set to move fields when you use it vertically.
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Michelle Boag - Former National Party PresidentWhen Todd Muller decided not to discipline Hamish Walker for his horribly racist press release last week, you had to wonder if his lack of proper leadership had something to do with a shared belief system? After all, the whiteness of the blue “team” ...
On Twitter today, lawyer Felix Geiringer asked a good question: why are MP's exempt from the Privacy Act? The Act imposes its obligations on "agencies", and s8 of the 2020 Act states that this term does not include... a member of Parliament in their official capacity The 1993 Act, ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhat was the climate and sea level like at times ...
So now we know, beyond all doubt. The National party has no interest in joining the “team of five million” in our fight against the pandemic but its priority is to take every opportunity it can to damage the government. The cynicism is breathtaking. It was prepared to leak the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters The massive dust storm that formed over the Sahara Desert in mid-June invaded the southeastern U.S. June 25-28, bringing dangerous levels of air pollution, low visibility, and colorful sunsets. The air pollution event over parts of Texas and the Gulf ...
In 1987, as a British Labour MP, I was elected to the Shadow Cabinet by my colleagues and was asked by the party leader to direct Labour’s campaign in the general election of that year. The election was to take place at the height of Mrs Thatcher’s dominance and we ...
National MP Nicola WillisHousing, which I would argue is a fundamental human right, has long been a problem in New Zealand. Not only do we have some of the most overpriced houses in the entire world, much of the housing stock is substandard and therefore affects not just people’s health ...
If the government has not lined up behind a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum the way some reformers would have liked, one entirely laudable thing it did do was commission some science around the public's choice.That science landed today, in the form of the report from an expert ...
Associate Professor Sara WaltonAt the heart of the discussion on opening up our borders is the dichotomy of health and the economy – both of which are actually intertwined, like many things with our economy, as this epidemic has shown.If we think about our country as a system, ...
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Josh Gabbatiss This year will see the largest ever drop globally in both investment and consumer spending on energy as the coronavirus pandemic hits every major sector, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The crisis is accelerating the shutdown of older fossil-fuelled ...
A short opinion piece – Friday 26th June 2020 Whilst our Government has treated many financial victims of the current Covid-19 virus with appropriate generosity, the same cannot be said for those of the two earlier “epidemics” in NZ. The “Covid-84” virus (also called “Rogernomics”) spread systemic greed, with the ...
Everyone deserves a a decent life. We know this is possible with a fairer approach to income support and tax Read the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Poverty Action Plan here ...
After a long break, the government is back inserting secrecy clauses in legislation. This time its the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill (No 3), which in its clause allowing Ministers to exempt purchasers of farm land from the usual rules also allows them to exempt an exemption from the publication requirement: ...
Over the past two years the government has repeatedly delayed a scheme to put cameras on boats to monitor Mew Zealand's pervasively criminal fishing industry. But it turns out that the industry actually wants cameras: Three of the country's biggest seafood companies have broken ranks with the rest of the ...
Louise Delany (public health lawyer)Health and emergency laws have played a critical role in this country’s successful elimination of community transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic. This blog details key aspects of the legislation and comments on issues around testing, payments by incoming travellers for quarantine costs, and mask use. ...
I like Andrew Curry’s succinct and insightful futures blog The Next Wave. His most recent post is about social change. In particular, the decadal-long periods usually required for changes in values. He highlights a 2016 paper by Inglehart and Norris, who examined whether economic insecurity or a “cultural backlash” ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Stop making sense: why it's time to get emotional about climate changeThe science has been settled to the highest degree, so now ...
MONDAY JULY 6Washington (History, Sky 073, 7.30pm). The brilliant Doris Kearns Goodwin is the executive producer of this six-part series about America's first president. It combines interviews with live action and is narrated by Jeff Daniels. It's engaging, said Salon.TUESDAY JULY 7The ABC Murders (Prime, 8.30pm). Sarah Phelps has done incredible things with ...
I think we can all agree that the mainstream media in New Zealand has a very different set of rules for the right wing compared to the left. While Labour and Green Party politicians don’t seem to be able to fart without it becoming a sackable offence, National and Act ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, June 28 through Sat, July 4, 2020Editor's Choice'2040': A funny, entertaining, upbeat climate documentaryA timely Australian documentary takes a 'solutions' approach, with the filmmaker inspired by visions of ...
Racist National MP Hamish WalkerEven before Todd Muller's coup ousted Simon Bridges by a single vote, it was patently obvious that the National Party promotes and stands for white privilege. In fact they’ve always worked to ensure the discriminatory status quo in New Zealand doesn’t change.So it’s no surprise that ...
Dave HeatleyZero community transmission. Just a handful of active cases, all in quarantine. New Zealand is in an attractive situation, at least compared to much of the world. The situation could be robust and enduring – or it might be fragile, just one border incursion away from a “second ...
Is the consequence of the Simpson Report proposals for restructuring the health system poorer accountability to people? When in doubt, centralise‘ has been a persistent theme in New Zealand public policy throughout our history. The current government is no exception. Here are some examples. - The regional polytechs have been ...
I wrote earlier in the week about the Scientology front organisations Drug Free World and Drug Free Ambassadors and their quite prominent role in anti-cannabis reform "coalition" assembled by Family First and a newloca branch of the American prohibitionist organisation SAM.It turns out Family First aren't the only ones helping ...
Nik GreenMuch of the public debate about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has focused on the extent to which government regulations have restricted personal and business activity.Oxford University Blavatnik School of Government Here in New Zealand, the question of when to change Alert Levels dominated the ...
James Higham, University of OtagoUnprecedented border closures and the domestic lockdown have paralysed New Zealand’s $40.9 billion a year tourism industry. In the process, the vulnerability of the sector to external shocks and the tenuous nature of tourism employment have been exposed. While New Zealand’s handling of the pandemic ...
Raising The Bar: Would that the Prime Minister and her colleagues would listen as intently to what the people – as opposed to the power elites – are saying as the Greens. Were they so disposed, the popular clamour for a transformational post-Covid reset would be loud in their ears. ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzDo you think the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown will slow or ...
A bit like a letter home. I have now been full-time at the University of Melbourne since 2019. Before that, I was 20 years at the University of Otago, Wellington. Indeed, I set up this very Public Health Expert Blog with Nick Wilson ten years ago. Now I am your ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections House Democrats have released a comprehensive report showing how – if they control the White House and both the Senate and the House of Representatives – they might move forward on climate change. Their “Climate Crisis Action Plan,” released June 30 by the ...
A ballot for three Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Electoral (Integrity Repeal) Amendment Bill (David Carter) Harmful Digital Communications (Unauthorised Posting of Intimate Visual Recording) Amendment Bill (Louisa wall) Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Bill (Judith ...
Not Ready: Todd Muller’s lack-lustre and self-contradictory performances offer conclusive proof that a political leader cannot be managed into competence. National’s new boss has Janet Wilson handling his media and Matthew Hooton writing his speeches. Both are highly professional political and public relations specialists, and Muller is lucky to have ...
Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...
It started as a family story, about a step-father who went out one night to break into an embassy in Wadestown, Wellington. John Daniell wanted to understand what his family had been part of when his mother and then step-father work for New Zealand’s Security Intelligence. He wanted to know ...
The Greens have shaken up the election campaign with the announcement of their radical poverty and action plan to reform welfare provision and introduce a new wealth tax for millionaires. It’s a big-thinking, controversial policy and has generated a lot of disagreement over how radical it is, whether it could ...
My house is currently supplied electricity by Meridian. As soon as I can change I will because Meridian spilled water to hike electricity prices. They got consumers to spend an extra $80 million on power unnecessarily. Clever them. The Electricity Authority has called their behaviour an “undesirable trading situation”, or ...
When Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly became the Labour Party leader shortly before the 2017 general election, she promised to lead a government of transformation. After nearly three years occupying the Treasury benches, health professionals working in public hospitals have been keenly waiting for transformational progress, including in the capacity and quality ...
Last night, One News ran a follow-up story to its Colmar Brunton poll results on the cannabis referendum, headed here as Government accuses big American anti-cannabis group of interfering in NZ politics.In truth it wasn't just the government: Justice minister Andrew Little, National's Shane Reti and the Greens' Chloe Swarbrick ...
When the government refused to put cameras on fishing boats to ensure fishers obeyed the law, Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash claimed that coalition partner NZ First (which has received large donations from the fishing industry) was not responsible for the decision. He has repeated that claim repeatedly since then. But ...
Heroic Evasions: Labour needs to be unequivocal in its communications with the electorate. Either it has a plan to prevent their fellow New Zealanders from falling off the economic cliff, or it doesn’t. Either it has a fiscal policy equal to the task of funding that plan, or it hasn’t. ...
Prof John Potter*Elimination has been an effective strategy for New Zealand in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic virus (SARS-CoV-2). Most other countries have not pursued this goal and are ignoring the opportunity even now. SARS-CoV-2 is not manageable by the influenza playbook; its longer incubation period makes tracing ...
This is a re-post from Weather Underground by Bob HensonAbove: This rainbow appears unusually low in the sky because it has formed early in the afternoon, rather than toward sunset. For a rainbow to form, water droplets must be present in the air in front of an observer ...
On Monday, Todd Muller gave an important speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, He spoke firmly about his belief in the need for foreign investment, for the public sector to partner with the private sector rather than boss it around and, crucially, demanded the government deliver a clear strategy ...
Todd Muller's first act on become party leader was to appoint an all-white front bench. This understandably raised eyebrows, so he is now apparently reconsidering caucus and list rankings. Which is obviously necessary, but there's still the underlying problem: National doesn't have a lot of Māori MP's. And the reason ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First leader Winston Peters today scoffed at suggestions that a team of six political operatives have been dispatched to New Zealand to assist his campaign. ‘As President Ronald Reagan once said, ‘there they go again.’ ‘The clickbait journos can’t ...
New Zealand First is pleased to announce Jenny Marcroft as the party’s election 2020 candidate for the Auckland Central electorate. Jenny spent years working in Auckland Central, having spent a vast proportion of her broadcasting career there. She says she, "knows the place and knows the people." Ms Marcroft says ...
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...
This week we moved into the second half of 2020 - and our Government delivered another week of big changes and major progress for New Zealanders. Read below for a wrap of the key things moments from the week - from extending paid parental leave, to making major investments in ...
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
Hon Shane Jones, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises A new ‘super depot’ to be built for NZ Post in Wellington will create around 350 jobs during construction, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises Shane Jones says. Shane Jones today attended a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony for the parcel-processing depot ...
Our strong economic management prior to COVID-19 - with surpluses, low debt and near-record-low unemployment - put us in a good position to weather the impact of the virus and start to rebuild our economy much earlier than many other countries.Now we're putting our plan to recover and rebuild ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order Recently released Police fleeing driver statistics have shown yet another increase in incidents with another record-high in the latest quarter. “This new quarterly record-high is the latest in a string of record-high numbers since 2014. The data shows incidents ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter today announced that funding for the COVID-19 Community Fund for women and girls will be doubled, as the first successful funding applications for the initial $1million were revealed. “Women and girls across the country have suffered because of the effects of COVID-19, and I ...
The Government’s books were better than forecast with a higher GST take as the economy got moving again after lockdown, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Crown Accounts for the 11 months to the end of May indicate the year end results for tax revenue will be stronger than forecast. ...
A plan to revitalise New Zealand’s strong wool sector and set it on a new, more sustainable and profitable path was unveiled today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The newly-released report - Vision and Action for New Zealand’s Wool Sector - was developed by the Wool Industry Project Action Group ...
Community efforts to create a Predator Free Whangārei will receive a $6 million boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The new funding, through Government company Predator Free 2050 Ltd, will create around 12 jobs while enabling the complete removal of possums over ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced that the New Zealand Government is reviewing the settings of its relationship with Hong Kong. “China’s decision to pass a new national security law for Hong Kong has fundamentally changed the environment for international engagement there,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand remains deeply ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced details of a multimillion-dollar investment in Whangārei for infrastructure projects that will help it recover from the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200 jobs are expected to be created through the $26 million investment from the Government’s rejuvenation package ...
Following a second incident in which a person escaped from a managed isolation facility, security is being enhanced, including more police presence onsite, Minister Megan Woods said. “The actions of some individuals who choose to break the very clear rules to stay within the facilities means that more resourcing is ...
Waste reduction and recycling programmes in Kaipara are set to get a boost with Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today announcing a $361,447 grant from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) Sustainable Kaipara. “The new funding will allow Sustainable Kaipara to partner with local schools, kura, community ...
The Government will support the Southland economy in the wake of multinational mining company Rio Tinto’s decision to follow through with its long signalled closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. “This day has unfortunately been on the cards for some time now, but nevertheless the final decision is a ...
New tools being developed to help boost Aotearoa’s Predator Free 2050 effort were unveiled today by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. A new rat poison, a camera with predator recognition software to detect and report predators, a new predator lure and a ...
The Coalition Government has approved the purchase of a fleet of Bushmaster vehicles to replace the New Zealand Army’s armoured Pinzgauers, Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced today. The new fleet of 43 Australian-designed and built Bushmaster NZ5.5 will provide better protection for personnel and improved carrying capacity. “The age ...
The Government’s three prevention frameworks to reduce family violence in Aotearoa were launched this week by Associate Minister for Social Development Poto Williams. The frameworks were developed in partnership with communities around New Zealand, and build on the work the Government has already begun with its new family violence prevention ...
The Government is pleased to confirm funding for improvements to radiology and surgical services at Hawke's Bay DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. "The Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and former Health Minister Dr David Clark approved funding for Hawke's Bay DHB’s redevelopment of their radiology facilities ...
• New funding for four beds at Napier’s Springhill Residential Addiction Centre • A new managed withdrawal home and community service, and peer support before and after residential care at Tairāwhiti DHB • A co-ordinated network of withdrawal management services throughout the South Island • Peer support in Rotorua and ...
Introduction, seafarers and POAL Good morning everyone, I am delighted to be online with you all today. Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that COVID-19 has disrupted the maritime sector on an unprecedented scale. The work of seafarers and the maritime industry is keeping many economies around the world ...
A $13 million investment from Government will create jobs and improve the resilience of the rail connection between Christchurch and the West Coast, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones and Regional Economic Development Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau say. The funding comes from the tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure projects ...
The Government is investing $761 million to assist local government upgrade under-pressure water services across the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The announcement was made at the site of the water bore that was found to be the source of the fatal ...
Recognised Seasonal Employers and migrant seasonal workers stranded in New Zealand will be able to continue working and supporting themselves with more flexible hours and roles, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. The time-limited visa changes are: Stranded RSE workers will be able to work part-time (a minimum of 15 hours ...
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...
Professor Peter Skelton CNZM has been appointed as Chief Freshwater Commissioner and Alternate Environment Court Judge Craig James Thompson as Deputy Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the newly established Freshwater Planning Process (FPP). Environment Minister David Parker today also announced the appointment of Chief Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook as the ...
Auckland Queen’s Counsel Neil Campbell has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United ...
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to better enable the development and operation of commercial film and video facilities in Christchurch. The Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch in response to a request from Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section ...
The Government has launched a bold plan to boost primary sector export earnings by $44 billion over the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today released Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential, a 10-year roadmap to unlock greater value ...
A new approach to prevent family harm that encourages greater collaboration across government and community groups is being celebrated at the opening of a new facility in Auckland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today opened the Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm Prevention Hub Te Taanga Manawa in Lambie Road in Manukau. The facility ...
The Government has released a major new report on the options for relocating the Port of Auckland’s freight operations while deferring any decision on the issue. “That decision needs to be informed by policy analysis that is still to be completed. As a result it will be up to a ...
The history of Rāpaki is being restored through the inclusion of te reo in thirteen official place names on Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula and around Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō, the Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage, announced today. “I am pleased to approve the proposals from Te Hapū o Ngāti ...
Bookings for seats on Air New Zealand flights into New Zealand will be managed in the short term to ensure the Government is able to safely place New Zealanders arriving home into a managed isolation or quarantine facility, says Housing Minister Megan Woods. “Last week Air Commodore Darryn Webb and I ...
Grant Robertson has today announced the first major release of funding from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced at Budget 2020. “Today we’re setting out how $80 million will be invested, with $54 million of that over the 2020/2021 financial year for organisations from community level through to elite ...
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $1.5 million to ensure QE Health in Rotorua can proceed with its world class health service and save 75 existing jobs, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF funding announced today is in addition to the $8 million ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing more than $7.5 million in Northland ventures to combat the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment is going to the Northern Adventure Experience and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced significant funding for Auckland’s Northcote College as part of the first wave of a new nationwide school redevelopment programme to upgrade schools over the next 10 years. The $48.5 million project brings the total investment in Northcote College to ...
The Government has opened an urgent response fund to support schools and early learning services to get children and young people back on track after the Covid-19 lockdown. “While we are seeing improvements in attendance under Alert Level 1 Ministry of Education data shows that attendance rates in our schools ...
The law to boost the economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19 by speeding up resource consenting on selected projects has passed its second and third readings in the House today. “Accelerating nationwide projects and activities by government, iwi and the private sector will help deliver faster economic recovery and ...
Five port-related projects in Whanganui will receive a $26.75 million Provincial Growth Fund investment to support local economic recovery and create new opportunities for growth, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This is a significant investment that will support the redevelopment of the Whanganui Port, a project governed ...
Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery will receive an investment of up to $12 million administered by the Provincial Growth Fund to support its redevelopment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. The project is included in a $3 billion infrastructure pipeline announced by Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Shane Jones yesterday. ...
Bayer-Monsanto's June 24 announcement of a US$10.9 billion pay out (1) to people who have been harmed by Glyphosate, is effectively an admission of guilt. Spokesperson for The People’s Inquiry 2020 Asha Andersen says, “The Ministry of Health, The ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has filed a complaint with the Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary Speaker’s Office over Lawrence Yule’s new taxpayer funded billboards promoting Mr Yule as the ‘Voice in Tukituki’. Union spokesman, Louis Houlbrooke ...
Ten points, two plans. Which points are whose? With an election within spitting distance, Aotearoa’s two biggest political parties are all about the plans. “You don’t have a plan!” says one party to the other. “Yes we have a plan, or certainly a plan to have a plan, or a plan ...
Four months after he announced his re-selection, a National Party MP whose links to Chinese spy agencies attracted the interest of New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service has announced he will not stand in the next election A three-term National Party MP who studied at an elite Chinese spy school before moving to ...
National list MP Dr Jian Yang announced his retirement from politics and said he would not stand in the 2020 general election after three terms in the party caucus. ...
A new political party, the New Zealand TEA Party, with headquarters in Auckland, has been established. The party aims to contest the queen- or kingmaker position to form a coalition with the largest parliamentary party as part of the general elections ...
A review has determined fish oils are non-hazardous and no longer require oversight by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). We regulate pesticides, household chemicals and other dangerous goods and substances under the Hazardous Substances ...
New Conservative calls on the government to join with our Five Eyes allies and add New Zealand's signature to a joint statement condemning the continued removal of freedoms in Hong Kong. New Conservative also calls on the government to give safe-haven ...
Latest from the Beehive – Hard on the heels of the government promising help for the Southland economy in the wake of Rio Tinto’s decision to close the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, it was announcing the delivery of more money to the North, at the other end of the country. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luciano Beheregaray, Professor in Biodiversity Genomics, Flinders University As the global climate shifts, it’s important to know which species have adaptations to survive. Our research published today in PNAS found it largely depends on where they evolved. We looked at the capacity ...
From eggplant emojis and twerking llamas to sweaty anthropomorphic butts, we present some of the most fascinating, hilarious and outrageous complaints dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) from 2019 to now.Avocadon’t (January 2019)The ad: In this ad from Specsavers, a man gets ready to join a cricket match, but ...
They might sound like the same thing, but light rail is quite different from light metro – the system that transport minister Phil Twyford now favours for Auckland. Katy Wakefield and Jessica Rose of Women in Urbanism explain why the metro option is a poor substitute for LRT. Transport is ...
Why isn't the Government spending $30m to extend Tiwai Point's 2,600 jobs until after the Covid-19 recession, after Manapouri's power can be transmitted elsewhere, and after there's a hydrogen plan for the smelter site, Bernard Hickey asks. The sense of shock and foreboding about the future was clear in Invercargill Mayor ...
An intensive care doctor is outraged health officials are giving helicopter rescue trusts a daily list of Covid-19 patients, saying it's completely unnecessary. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Seth Lazar, Professor, Australian National University In the US, tireless opposition to state use of facial recognition algorithms has recently won some victories. Some progressive cities have banned some uses of the technology. Threetechcompanies have pulled facial recognition products from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia Facial recognition technology is increasingly being trialled and deployed around Australia. Queensland and Western Australia are reportedly already using real-time facial recognition through CCTV cameras. 7-Eleven Australia is also ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor of Human Resource Management, University of South Australia The coronavirus pandemic has forced many of us to work from home, often in less than ideal circumstances. Many employees had little choice in the decision, limited time to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katja Hogendoorn, University of Adelaide This article is a preview of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a multimedia project launching on Monday July 13. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native plants and animals after last summer’s bushfire tragedy. Sign up to The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By SriPallavi Nadimpalli, PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne Women manage many overlapping responsibilities in both public and private spheres. Their busy routines leave them with just a little time to take a break or a pause in their activity. These pauses are a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naoise McDonagh, Lecturer in Political Economy, University of Adelaide The pandemic has changed the way we think about supply chains, in particular the chains that feed our need for food, medical supplies, and defence equipment. It has led Prime Minister Scott Morrison ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW As Victoria grapples with a second-wave outbreak of COVID-19, the importance of large-scale testing has again been highlighted. Without its “testing blitz” aiming at 10,000 tests a day, the extent of the outbreak would have been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jean Burgess, Professor and Director, Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology Perhaps no single character has been as iconic a symbol of Twitter as the now-ubiquitous hashtag. The syntax of the hashtag has a few simple rules: it consists of ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Major implications from Tiwai Pt closure, diplomatic rift over Hong Kong deepens, and grim new approach to managed isolation.The story of Rio Tinto pulling out of the Tiwai Point smelter is one that shows the deep connections between regional stories ...
How can Southland cope without its engine and biggest employer, the Tiwai Point smelter? Invercargill's deputy mayor Toni Biddle and Dee St businesswoman Anne Marie Thomas on what happens nowToni Biddle: "We've always known this could potentially happen. So, therefore, there has been a huge amount of work done in the background ...
In theory, the closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter should bring down electricity prices and help get New Zealand closer to its Carbon Zero 2050 goal. In practice, that isn’t so easy. The announcement Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will close by August next year is a massive blow for the ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias.NON-FICTION 1 Pull No Punches by Judith Collins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) Junk. 2 Vegful by Nadia Lim (Nude Food, $55) 3 The Book of Overthinking by Gwendoline ...
Most Kiwis aren't aware that the end of life choice act is not a concept they'll be voting for, but specific, unmovable legislation. And if we make a mistake, death is a heavy penalty, writes Caralise Trayes. A new Colmar Brunton poll revealed last weekend doesn’t do any favours in helping people ...
Talented teenage shooter Khiarna Williams is committed to travelling 18 hours a week - after school - to realise her netball dreams. Three times a week, 17-year-old Khiarna Williams gets picked up from school to make a six-hour round trip, from Whakatāne to Hamilton, to train with the Magic. Her designated driver ...
Dr Michael SW Lee uses an Easter egg hunt analogy to explain wealth distribution and our innate sense of fairness Ten kids are at an Easter egg hunt searching for 100 eggs. Donald was fortunate, he inherited an Easter egg detector. He spends four hours looking and collects 40 eggs. Steve is a ...
Today The Beths release Jump Rope Gazers, the follow-up to their beloved and acclaimed debut album Future Me Hates Me. Back in December, Side Eye cartoonist Toby Morris joined the band in the studio while they recorded ‘Just Shy of Sure’, which you can listen to here: ...
Three big announcements this week heralded our healthy and profitable future. Those standing in the way, argues Rod Oram, are as out of step as the Think Big world from which they hail. ...
Making the capital earthquake resilient involves billions of dollars, a tonne of anxiety and apartment owners who've had enough of the yellow-sticker nightmare. Time is running out for hundreds of apartment owners in Wellington who face big bills to fix their earthquake-risk buildings. About 1000 buildings in the capital ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By David Robie, who sailed on the original Rainbow Warrior to Rongelap and is author of the bookEyes of Fire. Thirty five years ago today the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour by French secret agents in a blatant act of state terrorism, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison summoned his self-restraint and resisted temptation. Invited on Thursday to attack the Victorian government over its disastrous decision to use private security guards to monitor people in hotel quarantine, the prime minister was ...
A new EP from an unknown Auckland singer ignited a bidding war before she’d released a single. Today ‘Call You Out’ is released, with eerie parallels to Lorde’s rise. Duncan Greive meets the artist known as Deryk.Madeline Bradley wasn’t expecting a lot. She’d been to dozens of these meetings over ...
Editorial by Selwyn Manning. Selwyn Manning, editor of EveningReport.nz. New National Party leader Todd Muller has presented his party’s vision for New Zealand as it grapples with the economic cost of the Covid-19 pandemic. But Muller’s vision was unsurprisingly National while surprisingly short on economic detail. And, after a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Former Liberal Minister Christopher Pyne attracted critics for his political front. But he always had plenty of friends and networks, enabling him often to be a player, if not always a “fixer”. After his election ...
Power Play - It's only been three weeks since Minister Megan Woods and Air Commodore Darryn Webb brought fresh eyes to the country's isolation and quarantine facilities, yet cracks in operating procedures are already being conceded. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Reilly, Professor, University of Adelaide Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced new visa arrangements to help Hong Kong passport holders stay in Australia. This has the potential to impact thousands of Hong Kong visa holders, either already in Australia or overseas. ...
Power Play - It's only been three weeks since Minister Megan Woods and Air Commodore Darryn Webb brought fresh eyes to the country's isolation and quarantine facilities, yet the blinkers are already coming on. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery, Associate Dean Research and HDR, Midwifery Discipline Leader, Western Sydney University The pandemic is prompting some Australian pregnant women to give birth at home without a midwife or registered health provider, according to a survey out this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Stone, General practitioner; Clinical Associate Professor, ANU Medical School, Australian National University Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire are beginning another six weeks of lockdown due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. While this second round of lockdown may bring the case ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Bargallie, Postdoctoral Senior Research Fellow, Griffith University The Morrison government has just announced a plan to boost the number of Indigenous Australians in the top ranks of the Australian Public Service. The plan may be well-intentioned, but it is also one ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New England If you ventured to the New York seaside in summer, you might see a large dome-shaped animal with a spiky tail, slowly moving towards the water. These are horseshoe ...
Wellington, July 8th 2020 – The Opportunities Party (TOP) today announces a new tranche of candidates for the 2020 election with leader Geoff Simmons standing for Rongotai, south Wellington. Simmons, longstanding Rongotai resident and former Treasury ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union is welcoming National Party Leader Todd Muller's commitment to limiting Crown debt incurred in the COVID-19 recovery and targeting infrastructure investment, should he be elected in September. Taxpayers' Union spokesperson ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Lovina McMurchy from Movac.If you think about how central to life Starbucks wifi ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (Penguin Classics, $24)Joint winner of the 2019 Booker prize. That was ...
Latest from the Beehive – Northland was missing from the regions to benefit from government announcements in the past 24 or so hours. Southland, on the other hand, is being promised government support for its economy in the aftermath of Rio Tinto’s decision to close its operations at Tiwai ...
E tū union is calling for a ‘Just Transition’ for workers in the wake of Rio Tinto’s announcement it will be closing its smelter at Tiwai Point. Around 1000 workers directly employed by the smelter will be affected, as well as at least a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Kamradt-Scott, Associate professor, University of Sydney This week US President Donald Trump made good on his threat to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organisation (WHO) by sending a formal letter of withdrawal to the UN Secretary-General. In so ...
At midnight last night, metropolitan Melbourne returned to lockdown and is scheduled to stay there until late August. Melbourne-based New Zealander Joe Nunweek reports from a city finding itself once more in the grip of Covid-19.On Monday morning I got a parking ticket. Previously I only used to use my ...
The Chief Ombudsman has identified significant gaps in the Ministry of Health’s collection and use of information about the deaths of people with intellectual disabilities receiving full-time residential support. The report Off the record examines the data ...
The announced closure of Tiwai Point is welcome news for the clean energy future of New Zealand, and presents huge opportunities in areas such as electrifying transport and developing new, high-tech industries, Coal Action Network Aotearoa said today. ...
National leader Todd Muller has given a speech at a business luncheon in Christchurch outlining what he says is his party's first big announcement on its economic plan for New Zealand. ...
The team of five million successful in beating Covid-19 also consists of about 350,000 temporary visa holding migrants. About 42,000 temporary visa workers are stranded overseas due to Aotearoa's border closure. Many have NZ born children and all of ...
The government says there will be a permanent police presence at every managed isolation and quarantine facility in New Zealand from today, following this week's breach in central Auckland. ...
The government says there will be a permanent police presence at every managed isolation and quarantine facility in New Zealand from today, following this week's breach in central Auckland. ...
After almost 50 years, New Zealand’s only aluminium smelter is due to close next August. We take a look at what it means for the economy and the environment.What’s all this then?Multinational metal and mining corporation Rio Tinto has today announced it is planning to close the Tiwai Point aluminium ...
The government is providing an update on its response to the Covid-19 epidemic and the management of isolation facilities, as well as comments on the closure of the Tiwai Point smelter. ...
By Barrie Saunders (who chaired the Port CEO Group from 2002-2015, and has his own blogsite www.barriesaunders.wordpress.com ) The most interesting thing about the Ministry of Transport-commissioned Sapere report on the future of POAL’s freight operations is that, compared with the status quo, all options will add costs to the ...
COMMENT:By Benny Wenda, chair of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua For over 50 years, Indonesia has been promising West Papua “autonomy”. Each time, underneath autonomy lies only bullets and killings. As the 2001 Special Autonomy law expires this year, the United Liberation Movement (ULMWP) and all the ...
Fonterra’s boss might have been ultra-cautious but out on the country’s dairy farms there was a subdued cheer at the news that the wholemilk powder price had leapt 14% at the latest GDT auction.. The GDT index rose 8.3%, the biggest rise since November 2016, and the fourth successive ...
Open mike 27/01/2020 
Transcript: National Party policy announcement on roads – 8 July, 2020 Muller: Good afternoon everybody. Thank you for coming. Reporter 1: Is Hamish Walker a racist? Muller: Hang on… you haven’t even said good afternoon to me yet. Reporter 1: Good afternoon Mr Muller. Is Hamish Walker a racist? ...2 hours ago
Back in April, I wrote about trials in Iran of a fixed-dose combination of two existing anti-viral drugs used to treat hepatitis C – sofosbuvir and daclatasvir – that could point to an effective treatment for Covid-19 symptoms.At the time, data from those trials was not available outside the hospitals ...2 hours ago
Today’s content Tiwai Point to close Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Government subsidising practically everything plays hardball with Rio Tinto (paywalled) Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Sudden closure of aluminium smelter worst outcome for jobs, consumers and the environment Brian Fallow (Herald): Tiwai closure sad news – and an opportunity for the environment (paywalled) Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Rio ...3 hours ago
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Anja Mizdrak, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael Baker The pandemic-related lockdown is possibly the most dramatic public health intervention in NZ history. It helped achieve the elimination of community transmission of the COVID-19 virus in NZ. But it was also associated with 548 fewer total ...3 hours ago
Reprehensible: There is much that could be said about Michael Woodhouse, but what would be the point? Any man who willingly involves himself in a situation as reprehensible as the one depicted in the above photograph has already vouchsafed all that decent people need to know about his character. That there have ...5 hours ago
Remember the government's tyrannical Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill? Remember how it was rammed through Parliament, with a four-day submission period and a select committee process that was a democratic fraud? At the time, the government gave the impression that there was an urgent need for this legislation, that a ...22 hours ago
Attack journalist - Tova O'BrienWe all know that much of the mainstream media in New Zealand is terribly biased. They are in effect another branch of the National Party, and can often be even more prejudiced than their right wing bosses.In fact many right wing politicians moonlight as journalists and ...23 hours ago
79 Articles Observations & observational methods of global warming & effects Six hundred years of South American tree rings reveal an increase in severe hydroclimatic events since mid-20th century (open access) Late summer temperature variability for the Southern Rocky Mountains (USA) since 1735 CE: applying blue light intensity to low-latitude ...2 days ago
Some are surprised at this sudden brain implosion on the part of both Michelle Boag, former National Party President, and the National Party in general, in exposing the private, confidential details of COVID patients. Others…? Let’s be blunt: not so much. Too many of that Party have long operated with ...2 days ago
So now we know, beyond all doubt. The National party has no interest in joining the “team of five million” in our fight against the pandemic but its priority is to take every opportunity it can to damage the government. The cynicism is breathtaking. It was prepared to leak the ...2 days ago
...4 days ago
Is the consequence of the Simpson Report proposals for restructuring the health system poorer accountability to people? When in doubt, centralise‘ has been a persistent theme in New Zealand public policy throughout our history. The current government is no exception. Here are some examples. - The regional polytechs have been ...7 days ago
Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...1 week ago
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...3 days ago
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...5 days ago
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...1 week ago
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter today announced that funding for the COVID-19 Community Fund for women and girls will be doubled, as the first successful funding applications for the initial $1million were revealed. “Women and girls across the country have suffered because of the effects of COVID-19, and I ...24 mins ago
National MP Michael Woodhouse says he deleted emails from Michelle Boag and told Todd Muller about them on Tuesday. ...20 mins ago
Alan Brent looks at how NZ's solar resources can be used more effectively to address energy demand in our transitioning economy. ...26 mins ago
Bayer-Monsanto's June 24 announcement of a US$10.9 billion pay out (1) to people who have been harmed by Glyphosate, is effectively an admission of guilt. Spokesperson for The People’s Inquiry 2020 Asha Andersen says, “The Ministry of Health, The ...31 mins ago
Ten points, two plans. Which points are whose? With an election within spitting distance, Aotearoa’s two biggest political parties are all about the plans. “You don’t have a plan!” says one party to the other. “Yes we have a plan, or certainly a plan to have a plan, or a plan ...58 mins ago
Four months after he announced his re-selection, a National Party MP whose links to Chinese spy agencies attracted the interest of New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service has announced he will not stand in the next election A three-term National Party MP who studied at an elite Chinese spy school before moving to ...59 mins ago
Latest from the Beehive – Hard on the heels of the government promising help for the Southland economy in the wake of Rio Tinto’s decision to close the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, it was announcing the delivery of more money to the North, at the other end of the country. ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luciano Beheregaray, Professor in Biodiversity Genomics, Flinders University As the global climate shifts, it’s important to know which species have adaptations to survive. Our research published today in PNAS found it largely depends on where they evolved. We looked at the capacity ...2 hours ago
Why isn't the Government spending $30m to extend Tiwai Point's 2,600 jobs until after the Covid-19 recession, after Manapouri's power can be transmitted elsewhere, and after there's a hydrogen plan for the smelter site, Bernard Hickey asks. The sense of shock and foreboding about the future was clear in Invercargill Mayor ...3 hours ago
Tiwai Point closure decision hammers Meridian, Contact and Genesis shares on fears wholesale power prices could drop ...4 hours ago
Experts say ECE staff ratios are not fit for purpose, and the ministry has no record of how they were set in the first place. ...5 hours ago
How can Southland cope without its engine and biggest employer, the Tiwai Point smelter? Invercargill's deputy mayor Toni Biddle and Dee St businesswoman Anne Marie Thomas on what happens now Toni Biddle: "We've always known this could potentially happen. So, therefore, there has been a huge amount of work done in the background ...6 hours ago
In theory, the closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter should bring down electricity prices and help get New Zealand closer to its Carbon Zero 2050 goal. In practice, that isn’t so easy. The announcement Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will close by August next year is a massive blow for the ...7 hours ago
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias. NON-FICTION 1 Pull No Punches by Judith Collins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) Junk. 2 Vegful by Nadia Lim (Nude Food, $55) 3 The Book of Overthinking by Gwendoline ...7 hours ago
Most Kiwis aren't aware that the end of life choice act is not a concept they'll be voting for, but specific, unmovable legislation. And if we make a mistake, death is a heavy penalty, writes Caralise Trayes. A new Colmar Brunton poll revealed last weekend doesn’t do any favours in helping people ...7 hours ago
Talented teenage shooter Khiarna Williams is committed to travelling 18 hours a week - after school - to realise her netball dreams. Three times a week, 17-year-old Khiarna Williams gets picked up from school to make a six-hour round trip, from Whakatāne to Hamilton, to train with the Magic. Her designated driver ...7 hours ago
Dr Michael SW Lee uses an Easter egg hunt analogy to explain wealth distribution and our innate sense of fairness Ten kids are at an Easter egg hunt searching for 100 eggs. Donald was fortunate, he inherited an Easter egg detector. He spends four hours looking and collects 40 eggs. Steve is a ...7 hours ago
Three big announcements this week heralded our healthy and profitable future. Those standing in the way, argues Rod Oram, are as out of step as the Think Big world from which they hail. ...7 hours ago
Making the capital earthquake resilient involves billions of dollars, a tonne of anxiety and apartment owners who've had enough of the yellow-sticker nightmare. Time is running out for hundreds of apartment owners in Wellington who face big bills to fix their earthquake-risk buildings. About 1000 buildings in the capital ...7 hours ago
Latest from the Beehive – Northland was missing from the regions to benefit from government announcements in the past 24 or so hours. Southland, on the other hand, is being promised government support for its economy in the aftermath of Rio Tinto’s decision to close its operations at Tiwai ...21 hours ago
Fonterra’s boss might have been ultra-cautious but out on the country’s dairy farms there was a subdued cheer at the news that the wholemilk powder price had leapt 14% at the latest GDT auction.. The GDT index rose 8.3%, the biggest rise since November 2016, and the fourth successive ...1 day ago
Good quality info from Chris Martenson on the Coronavirus…time to be alert and aware and start making basic preps (collect any prescription meds you may need, add a bit of extra rice/tuna/long term vege type things/seeds to sprouts to the shopping(. To understand that please watch this video where Chris breaks down what is actually happening.
Most importantly note the 5 day latency period…so those boarder checks for high temperatures are pointless….those who have contracted it are already contagious but will not show any symptoms.
Who is Martenson and why should we trust him? I'm asking because I'm researching for a post on nCoV and seeing a massive amount of information that is imo untrustworthy. Social media at its worst.
Conclusion: The mean estimate of R0 for the 2019-nCoV ranges from 3.30 (95%CI: 2.73-3.96) to 5.47 (95%CI: 4.16-7.10), and significantly larger than 1. Our findings indicate the potential of 2019-nCoV to cause outbreaks.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.23.916395v1
In simplistic words it has an infection rate 4-5x that of influenza.
How does that compare to your eyes with the scientific source reported in media yesterday (did not catch name) downgrading R0 to 2.5?
Trawling through this:
https://twitter.com/search?q=2019-nCov%20R0&src=typeahead_click
It has a fat tail,hence as more data and mortality becomes apparent the infection rate increases. This is an increase on the model used yesterday but both are dynamic.The obvious apparent problem would be downplaying of statistics by PRC.
Mortality rate seems untrustworthy, for sure.
Ah, here's what I saw:
https://twitter.com/JonRead15/status/1220749549318430721
Here is a paper on the risks associated with fat tails (on cv) and how standard decision making needs a little paranoia.
https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1221486205847646208/photo/1
Thank you.
All the world needed right now is for Trump to get extraordinarily lucky.
A major disease outbreak is about as good an extended metaphor as one could wish for to explain the rise of Donald Trump against the Democrats.
The U.S. Constitution is supposed to be the built-in hygiene mechanism that controls the level of filth that rise through democratic contest. The Democrats have faithfully used the United States Constitution to hold this damaging President to account. They assemble all the evidence into a good case, orchestrate the media into a fully focused antiseptic froth, get ready to take a few further points off his popularity and electability …
.. and then there's a massive disease outbreak in China that obliterates the careful media messaging. Donald Trump is given a most massive gift by fate.
He told us China was the enemy. He told us we had to put up barriers against them. He told us that even against China he would Make America Great Again … because this foreign eastern behemoth was a disease to protect us from.
Whether true or not, the Chinese government can be framed up as lying, corrupt, incompetent, and unable to control the infectious idea of Being Chinese. They've got perhaps just the next 24 hours to prove him wrong.
Trump will come out of this not only unbowed and unpunished, but vindicated.
It won't win him the election, but it will underline that he was right all along: globalism and multiculturalism are disease vectors of cultural, ethnic, and economic weakness. They shall not pass.
The effects of this Chinese infection will both blunt and reverse the Democratic effort to hold him to account through Constitutional means. It may even help re-elect him.
It is the biggest piece of luck I've seen in modern political history.
@ Ad
More work along the same theme from PNAS:
Or put in simple terms, countries where there is a high disease and parasite load push the population toward more conservative, closed attitudes. It's an entirely legitimate survival strategy. Disgust sensitivity is tied into this as well. (Interestingly the Nazi's are well understood to have exploited this in their imagery, describing Jews in pathological or parasitic terms.)
But in essence you are right, disease is our ancient enemy and it evokes strong emotions that won't make for rational politics.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/01/duncan-garner-ihumatao-deal-to-be-struck-this-week-sources.html
if this is the ihumatao deal – labour will pay for it in the polls.
Jacinda is opened a Pandora’s box with taxpayers money on this one.
Well, somebody has to cut the Gordian knot to end the gridlock. Whether this creates a precedent (i.e. opens the proverbial can of worms) remains to be seen. Future Governments have no real (legal) obligation AFAIK to follow in the footsteps of the current Government.
If they can get it past Winston it will make for an impressive Waitangi Day speech.
I wonder if Duncan ever takes a break to clear the foam from around his mouth.
attacking the messenger – not the story. How typical.
How about trying to discuss the point. Like $45million of taxpayer money going to fletchers – and jacinda opening up the issue of maori claims on private land
OK James. How would you resolve this particular issue bearing in mind the factors peculiar to this case?
I would Have had the protesters moved off the land legally sold to fletchers.
if they didn’t go – arrest them.
🙄
yeah that sounds like it would solve a lot.
Would win all those votes from the right! Hang on, they'll vote Nat won't they?
Yep! And piss off all those who actually wanted a fair settlement. But James and his mates would be happy – so that's alright then.
If that is your solution, then it shows you are probably unaware of the back history to this land. Including recent promises by Manukau District Council that were supposed to be part of the legacy package to Auckland Council. Also, the use of SHA legislation to bypass any reference to historical or tangata whenua concerns.
What has happened is a foreseeable and rational response to the failures of authorities at both local and national levels to follow procedures set in place to avoid this kind of conflict. (The land has significantly increased in value because of the SHA zoning to residential. A benefit gained solely by the landowner, by a designation change from council and not shared in any way by the community. A failure to implement a capital-uplift tax by Auckland Council.)
Good post Molly. In the current environment of pretty poor reporting it has been lost that the SHAs set up by Nick Smith overrode many concerns about the development of that land.
Particularly dense people who look to Duncan Garner for their opinions will actively ignore the recent and not so recent history of the place if it serves to bash Maori protestors.
The same people are incapable of realising the historical value of such areas, largely because it is not white historical value.
To me, the current government buying the land off Feltchers is the price to pay for the last government’s naked recolonisation of Ihumatao.
I would Have had the protesters moved off the land legally sold to fletchers.
if they didn’t go – arrest them.
That'll work! That'll really work! After all, who remembers Parihaka or Bastion Point these days? Hardly anyone who isn't Māori, right? If only the current government's leadership had James' wisdom and previous governments' disdain for Māori, this could all have been sorted very easily…
Attacking the messenger??? More like a disingenuous message that needs to be dispelled. How about the line that Fletcher's had the taxpayers over a barrel and did what predators do? It would have been more helpful if the history, reasons and motivations behind the Ihumatao resolution had been explored buy someone with investigative and reporting skills. This would have been more appropriate than a political hit-job by a foam-mouthed, self-opinionated lightweight.
I am just glad that we have a government with the ethics and courage to right this wrong. Talk of 'taxpayers money' is very immature – the government is buying back what it stole. Not only did it steal the land it sold it to private interests so the debt is theirs to repay. Fletchers seem to have behaved with integrity and have probably spent a lot negotiating this issue. Add that to the increase in the value of the land over the 4 years that they have owned it and what they are being offered is probably fair.
Personally I think this settlement was a reasonable compromise in this specific case. But the word 'stole' could have a very flexible meaning; there are plenty of people who'd cheerfully stretch it out to cover the whole of NZ.
Not all – some land was sold and some given. This agreement does open up new possibilities for negotiation and having now the possibilities of a 'case by case' scenario is going to make it a lot more complicated but fairer.
We wasted $30 million on a referendum only one person wanted.
I think this is good value for money.
That can easily be disproven.
The referendum or the money?
Go on then, James, disprove it!
I wanted the flag referendum also. So that was at least two of us.
This sounds like a wild goose chasing a red herring down the garden path about a false flag operation.
I'm picking you voted Black and Blue tea-towel and Black and Blue tea-towel just like John Key.
Just imagine if it had won. A dingy, dull black and blue. So much for "the brighter future" Key was promising.
Incredible a flag of such poor design was voted for by so many dense RWNJs who did so simply because they adored the corrupt John Key.
Lucky for New Zealand they were beaten in the end.
"attacking the messenger – not the story. How typical."
Hilarious, James!
Haven't you just attacked the messenger?
James made a valid point even though it might be hard to swallow for some …
Yep. And some messengers come with EXCEPTIONALLY large egos.
(I just broke a New Year's resolution. I'm now going to go flog myself)
attacking the messenger – not the story.
If the messenger's an ignorant, racist blowhard peddling misinformation with a poisonous agenda, attacking the messenger sounds entirely reasonable. More to the point would be, how much of a sucker would someone have to be to lend credence to Duncan Garner's messages.
Along Garner racist just shows how stupid and I’ll informed you are.
just because you disagree with him – doesn’t make him racist.
Isn't Garner the dude who went to kmart for undies and got contemplative about the "changing face of New Zealand"?
Yep, that's the guy. Nothing racist about bemoaning all the coloured people you have to hang out with, right?
Certainly not, especially while overlooking the fact that his contemplation of this (oh shit, I looked it up again and he actually called it "a nightmarish glimpse into our future") took place in an aussie-owned store with a US brand.
After all, he explicitly said that nothing in his column was intended to be racist. So that's alright, then.
A minority of the Press Council only thought his expressed views had an "unpleasant "dogwhistle" odour" but were not racist in a way that broke the rules, so yes you must be right.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99998249/majority-of-press-council-rules-duncan-garner-column-in-breach
(ie the majority of the Council thought his views were "gratuitous racism")
ooo I either missed or forgot that ending to the story.
That'll be on his permanent record.
What makes Garner racist?
2 hours after you commented Jimmy, and now your question is answered before you asked it, if one just runs down the thread… Tricky business, isn't it?
Might be a shock for people like you – but some of us had better things to do today than sit online waiting for replies.
Beautiful day on the water today. Pity you missed it.
Too many assumptions there, numpty. Actually had a great luncheon with friends. And Jimmy's comment was at 5 pm. Your day on the water started then, did it? Try harder.
James left school at 15 so is not too clever.
[It was just a matter of time before someone would cross the line and resort to stupid insults aimed at James. Like it or leave it, James is free to comment here as long as he adheres to the site’s policy and rules. Please don’t do this (again) or next time you throw insults at him for no direct reason you will be receiving gardening leave – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 10:17 PM.
He can comment. I'm not the one who bans him…
No, you were the one who insults him …
And? He does the same with his soft trolling of In Vino at 5.1.6.2.1.1
James freely offered his unlikely past in a series of posts on 21 January 2018 when he was trying to railroad Ed off the board.
You are defending the wrong people I think.
You are conflating two things here: me warning you about making insults and James giving a smart arse reply.
James has a reputation of being a stirrer and he has form. In fact, I left James a long comment about that yesterday, which you might want to read too (https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-24-01-2020/#comment-1681008).
As it turns out, you also have a bit of history here with flaming and insults. Coincidentally, your last ban (last year, 3 days only) was for insulting James!
As I said, like it or leave it, but please stop wasting my time. Thanks in advance.
I've had two bans here.
The one you mentioned which was in fact because of impudence shown towards a moderator (trivialising Weka's authority rather than insulting James), and another by Weka for directly questioning James' sincerity on the case of the man who set himself on fire before parliament.
I guess the price of having a forum that is not an echo chamber is the moderators must protect stirrers in your words, or trolls in mine.
[please correct the error in your user handle; it has happened twice now. Thanks]
You have had more than two bans here and quite a few moderator warnings.
Given your recalcitrant behaviour, I think that is low.
I am calling you out on your insulting behaviour and I am not protecting anybody. Moderators are not bodyguards but more like cleaners who clear up the mess made and left behind by others on this site.
Like it or leave it; this is my final word on this and I kindly suggest taking heed.
I have corrected the error which was at your end.
It's a glitchy site.
Uhuh
Well, artifacts are constantly left and repeated in the username section which is, for some reason, not independent from the comments section.
But what do I know?
Take it up with the SYSOP. Most seem to manage here most of the time but the mistake you made is quite common and often goes unnoticed for a (little) while, which wastes Moderator time.
I know what this forum is run on…
You might like to correct system caused username mistakes without fanfare in future.
Volunteers
Talk to the SYSOP
Me too.
Seems to work fine with firefox. What browser are you using, Muttonbird?
Thanks McFlock. It's a WordPress thing I think where a mistake in the username is repeated ad infinitum.
@ Incognito's oddly timestamped comment:
I think I've had two bans.
So I have a problem with authority. What is a simple activist to do? Lie down and take it, I suppose? Where on earth would that end, George Orwell?
You can either accept my contribution to The Standard, or not. I think I make a decent effort in most of my comments but am called out on a few and that seems to define me according to yourself and Weka.
I'll work hard to conform to your definition of “smart-arse reply” which you seem to accept, and stick to that.
This grovelling approach works for some – I might try it! 😀
Your “grovelling approach works” but only just because it’s a lovely morning and I had a decent sleep last night.
You’ve had more than two bans but this is not important (I can provide the links, with time-stamps for your personal archive or trophy cabinet, but why waste more time on this?).
You have an occasional problem with your attitude and language when you resort to flaming and insulting, which has led to moderation and a few (>2) bans.
You also seem to have a problem with listening, simple explanations, simple instructions, and following clear and simple rules. I’d use a different word for that than “activist” and “recalcitrant” was possibly too mild.
Whether you continue making valuable contributions here or smart arse replies is neither here nor there for me. It’s up to commenters to make this a better site or turn it into sandpit full of petulant smart arses or foul-mouthed morons. The choice is yours; like it or leave it.
A few months back I had a plugin in FF that screwed with any website that needed a form, even though it did what it was supposed to do (text substitution).
Additionally some browsers on some operating systems can be tempramental.
Newer browsers often have a "safe" mode, where all plugins or add-ons are disabled. Try TS in safe mode, and if it works then some plugin is arguing with your browser.
Forms all work ok on other websites?
I don't think Garner is racist. Wasn't his partner(s) a part Maori woman?
No idea on whomever he shags.
But the media council sure thought he'd expressed a racist opinion. Many people have their reckons, not many people have their reckons determined to be "gratuitous racism" by an independent panel that oversees their industry.
The only other one who comes to mind for that sort of thing is David Irving.
unless he is foaming at the mouth he ain't gonna get paid.
so yeah, he be foaming.
Unless he’s lathering up generously in the shower and eating or licking the soap, he’ll be frothing at the mouth, not foaming.
Who knows what that guy has swallowed, really.
So it's about 50/50 on foaming vs frothing?
Probably a cake of Grandma Lye Soap..
The initial comment @ 4 was about a potentially imminent breakthrough in the Ihumātao dispute.
I think it is worth noting that many comments in this thread did not discuss the topic at all but were diversions about Duncan Garner being an alleged racist, about James, about the flag referendum and other unrelated and thus irrelevant things.
Inevitably, it ended up with blatant insults with no constructive content whatsoever and almost led to a ban 🙁
Somehow I can't get terribly worked up about that virus outbreak. Its place of origin is one that winks at the sort of unhygenic practices around rearing animals, and selling them or their products, that we outlawed decades ago. They're reaping what they've sown. Yes, there might be a few deaths here to begin with, but we'll contain the spread all right.
Personally, I find this more disturbing:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/25/trump-legacy-end-of-trust-in-democracy-simon-tisdall
Orwell wrote his best-known novel in 1948. Thirty-six years later, That Date actually arrived, but seemingly not its accompanying dystopia. The seeds, however, were already being sown. On by a similar length of time, and we arrive at the present day, where those seeds have germinated and are growing fast.
It's my wild-arsed guess there is a 90% chance this new bug will mutate into something less dangerous fairly quickly. However there is a small but non-zero chance it could go badly pear shaped like the 1918 Spanish Flu.
It's the Chinese Medical authorities, WHO and CDC who will do all the heavy lifting here. If Angola can contain Ebola, there is every chance China will get on top of this.
But in a weeks time we'll know more about this virus, it's incubation time, it's infectivity and it's lethality. In the meantime don't get worked up, but don't ignore basic precautions either.
Hope so. In 1918 we didn't have gene sequencing to identify exactly where it came from, either the Krait or Chinese Cobra apparently,and effective isolation and containment systems and back then it was some months before they even knew there was a problem.
A mate who has visited the sort of food market to the Wuhan one has said the bloody places are unbelievable, they have no place in the 21st century.
just for some balance
here is a list of ecoli break outs in the western world due to lax business rules – i.e. self certifying. Just in case you like your romaine and lettuce and ground beef.
https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/outbreaks.html
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/5/5/99-0502_article
Funnily enough, i have always eaten in food courts in asia when i travel and i never even had as much as a stomach bugling, however friends of mine who insisted in MacDo and the likes often came down with the runs. Go figure.
Funny that. I reckon it sometimes may be just a change in the ecology in the gut, or something similar. About a month ago I spent time both in Japan and Thailand. In Thailand I ate from street vendors, in dirt floor restaurants with no running water, and other meals from questionable sources. Not a problem except for tender tushie from all the chili-laced meals I scarfed.
Japan was great, but I did have one afternoon with a case of runny bum.
The point is that even in ultra-hygeinic locations one can get a tummy rumbler. Although, to be honest getting a case of the Aztec Two-step is more likely in the less developed more free wheeling regions. Sometimes it's just luck.
If I understood the news correctly this morning, the Chinese have warned that the infectious period starts 2 weeks before any symptoms show in the infectious person.
If this is true, I think it is the first time we have struck such a virus, and with two weeks before the infectious person can be detected, we have absolutely no hope of stopping the spread.
But – the second part is better: the virus causes fewer deaths proportionately than SARS did, and as viruses get better at spreading they tend to get milder in effect.
So a pandemic will mean quite a lot of us will recover from an annoying mild pneumonia, but there will not be billions of dead.
But did I hear that news correctly, and is the report true?
Not to mention it got called "Spanish Flu" because the Spaniards were neutral and none of the warring nations wanted to disclose how many of their troops were ill.
So they knew they had a problem, but it was a military secret and then everyone got shipped home around the world…
Yes, and people in Spain called it the Russian flu. Maybe we can call it that from here on in and everyone will be like totally impressed at how woke we are eh?
and then there is the sars research at the wuhan bio research facility.
But worries surround the Chinese lab, too. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times, notes Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Tim Trevan, founder of CHROME Biosafety and Biosecurity Consulting in Damascus, Maryland, says that an open culture is important to keeping BSL-4 labs safe, and he questions how easy this will be in China, where society emphasizes hierarchy. “Diversity of viewpoint, flat structures where everyone feels free to speak up and openness of information are important,” he says.
https://www.nature.com/news/inside-the-chinese-lab-poised-to-study-world-s-most-dangerous-pathogens-1.21487
Yes I've witnessed that extreme authoritarian hierarchy in action in the workplace. It's quite spooky when you first see it, for a few moments I felt I'd been transported to a Nazi concentration camp movie.
Maybe that's why I'm so much less sanguine about the CCP's regime than Ad is.
If only they lived like us.
Cos west is the best, eh.
/
Some background on Bernie Sanders and what he has achieved in Burlington Vermont.
" One of his main goals was to rein in real estate speculation and gentrification, to keep the tenants in their homes. In 1984, he established the Burlington Community Land Trust, which started buying and renovating rundown rental properties on the Old North End. The model was to rent them at fixed rates or sell them at low prices, while retaining ownership of the land and sharing in any value appreciation. Now called the Champlain Housing Trust, it is the largest such nonprofit in the nation and has 8% of the city’s housing units "
Not afraid too confront the issues in his home town.
"While he brought free public concerts to Battery Park on the bluff, Sanders also went on a campaign to stop noisy late-night college parties, even accompanying police to dress down the revelers "
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-01-26/presidential-candidate-bernie-sanders-burlington-vermont-hometown
Wait a minute, we are supposed to give this guy Presidential credibility because a trust he started three decades ago has been doing up a few houses in a town about the same size and global importance as Gisborne?
Donald Trump and his dad were doing that for about the same time and instead of a few hundred houses, have turned it into a world-conquering hotel and resort brand.
Seriously if real estate is touted as the killer move for Sanders, someone needs a strategy refresh.
leave all that aside and take in this
1. Burlington, Vermont Population 2019. Burlington, Vermont's estimated population is 42,899
2.The ethnic composition of the population of Burlington, VT is composed of 35.1k White Alone residents (82.7%), 2.65k Asian Alone residents (6.25%), 2.32k Black or African American Alone residents (5.47%), 1.21k Hispanic or Latino residents (2.86%), 964 Two or More Races residents (2.27%), 109 American Indian & Alaska
3. The Champlain Housing Trust, founded in 1984, is the largest community land trust in the country. Throughout Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties, CHT manages 2,300 apartments, stewards 620 owner-occupied homes in its signature shared-equity program, offers homebuyer education and financial fitness counseling, provides services to five housing cooperatives, and offers affordable energy efficiency and rehab loans. In 2008, CHT won the prestigious United Nations World Habitat Award, recognizing its innovative, sustainable programs.
While a nice thing for the residence of the City of Burlington Vermont, its a sad indictment of the state of USA's housing policies.
I'm not sure how it indicts anything.
At some point we're going to have to clear away this film-flam of the always-never-made-its and get to the main guy: What will Joe Biden Do as President?
it shows that a tiny wee little town has the largest housing charity.
that is the sadness about it all.
I don't know what Jo biden will do as president. Kidnap babies at the frontiers and then loose them in the system to god knows whom? Install a global gag rule on abortion, birth controll, and such to please forced birther crowd? Remove any and all regulations on the environment to drill baby drill and mine mine mine? Play golf every third day on the tax payers dime? Start world war three?
Honestly i have no fucking idea what Jo Biden would do, nor do i care.
But if this is an example of Bernie Sanders will do, then he will have put his name to a charity that has 2300 apartments under its umbrella and it stewards som 630 occupied owner houses, in a town of 43.000 people. And the sad thing about this charity is that it is the "Largest Charity of its kind in the US of A'. Go figure.
Meanwhile Here is what one editor of The Nation has to say on Elizabeth Warren:
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/warren-president-endorsement-2020/
"Nine days before the Iowa caucuses, Elizabeth Warren’s support among polled Democrats has declined from 21% to 11% since an ABC News/WashPost poll in October." https://www.axios.com/2020-presidential-election-poll-biden-warren-7dce6f94-7d30-4a5c-bab1-32dd15b8e09b.html
“This poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone Jan. 20–23 among a random national sample of 1,004 adults. It has a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points”:
I always liked the brainy chick. Sigh.
Brokered convention anyone?
Focusing: "Ahead of the Iowa caucuses eight days from now, the NY Times says Sen. Bernie Sanders is "consolidating support from liberals and benefiting from divisions among more moderate" candidates, per the Times/Siena College poll." https://www.axios.com/2020-presidential-election-bernie-sanders-iowa-3a4357fb-5bae-4669-b885-6141e576823b.html
"Why it matters: Sanders gained 6 points since the last Times-Siena survey in late October and now has 25% of the vote in Iowa."
By the numbers:
What's the percent of undecideds? Still around 2/3?
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/1/11/21057416/iowa-and-new-hampshire-voters-undecided-2020-election
Seems to depend how they ask the question: "The Suffolk poll showed nearly a quarter of Democratic primary voters, 24 percent, are undecided. But the WBUR survey, which included so-called “leaners” — voters who initially say they are undecided but, when asked, say they are leaning toward one candidate — pegged the “undecided” number at just 5 percent." https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/23/sanders-polls-2020-103084
Definite age variation happening, and it's big: "Age has become one of the defining cleavages of the 2020 Democratic race. In the CNN/SSRS national poll — in which Sanders has a slim, 3-point lead over Biden overall — Sanders is the top choice of 39 percent of Democrats under the age of 45. That’s 21 points ahead of the next closest Democrat, Warren, another septuagenarian who appeals to younger voters."
"On the other side of the ledger, Sanders is the first choice of only 16 percent of Democrats 45 and older. His strength halves again, to 8 percent, among those 65 and older. Biden, meanwhile, wins 33 percent of 45-and-older Democrats, and 37 percent of the 65-plus set."
Those with a memory of how socialism operated tend to be biased against it. Those who like the aspirations in the mix tend to go for it…
Bit of a shame but lets hope Bernie picks up Warrens 11%
i don't think that the Warrens supporters are the issue in supporting whomever is the democractic nominee.
How ever the same can not be said about Sanders supporters
https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-poll-warren-biden-2020-nominee-emerson-college-1483831
poll to be found here
https://emersonpolling.reportablenews.com/pr/national-2020-biden-and-sanders-battle-in-two-way-race-for-democratic-nomination
oh well. Its gonna be a shit show anyways. Why not start flinging it early?
Seems to be a link between perceptions a candidate is (or has been) discriminated against in the primary and support for an unknown candidate put forward by the democrats.
If these polls are indicative of couse than the rational choice is Bernie due to his supporters relative obstinance. Though I doubt US centrist pundits can draw the obvious conclusion.
yeah,
19% of Bernie supporters stating that they will NOT support the democratic nominee is ……….(insert what ever suits you).
vs, no one from the warren supporters saying that they will NOT support the democratic nominee should she not get the tick.
should be real easy for bernie to pick up warren supporters should he get the tick, but should it not be bernie we can expect 19% of his supporters to vote for the incumbent or humpty dumpty.
Its gonna be a delightful shitshow just like the last time around. And we all know who won. So yeah, they better give it to bernie or else…..:)
At least if Biden wins the nomination, you cannot blame the Democrats for moving too fast to the left.
Yeah. It'll be Democrats being pragmatic. A vote of confidence in the liberal establishment. Biden the grinner, face of BAU.
Katyusha rockets have hit the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad causing multiple casualties.
Astounding, wealthy, intelligent, privileged people can treat animals like this, the National Party link is neither here or there (other than a horrendous irony), & read how many chances the vets gave these guys!!! https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/119011628/national-mps-husband-son-face-trial-for-alleged-animal-cruelty-against-cows
It's revolting how some people treat animals. National MP barbara kuriger should be ashamed of her husband and her son. If she did nothing to prevent them from treating animals so cruelly, she should also be ashamed of herself. And to think she is their spokesperson for Rural Communities. Taranaki-King Country deserves better.
May the full arm of the law come down on them.
treating these cows would cut into the profit. And yes, she is the spokes person for 'rural communities' and it says a lot about The NoMates Party that would nominate someone like her to be a spokesperson for rural communities.
Hope the rural communties will wake up and tell her to get a job elsewhere.
You may want to re-read the link in I Feel Love’s comment 😉
His defence for the alleged crime is pretty weak IMHO. Will await the verdict with great interest.
Virus update by NZ scientist: https://sciblogs.co.nz/infectious-thoughts/2020/01/27/the-coronavirus-outbreak-in-china-what-a-difference-a-week-makes/
The inimitable Gordon McLaughlan has died.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/author-and-media-personality-gordon-mclaughlan-dies-aged-89
I recall one of his amusing anecdotes from his early journalistic days. He was approached by the SIS who "wanted to talk to him". Curious to know what they wanted to talk to him about, he agreed to meet them. He was told to go to a Wellington hotel and knock on the door of Room 60. (I've forgotten the number so 60 will do.) He found Room 60 and knocked on the door. No reply. He was about to leave when a voice from behind said "come in". He swung around and a man was standing in the open door of the room on the opposite side.
I wondered how he managed to open the door and check it was McLaughlan without making a sound. Maybe there was a secret peep-hole in the door that only the SIS knew about. 👿 Whatever, McLauchlan wouldn't do what they wanted him to do.
Muttonbird said…
Because I wanted the site to be as open as possible and because I didn't want to spend time endlessly fixing logins or dealing with robots, I disabled them back in about 2009. Instead I put in a system to allow anyone to leave comments and maintained the logins for authors, moderators and the lucky few who already had them.
However that meant that with every comment, the non-login author had to put put in their details on each comment – which slowed the commenting process. So I used cookies. Once you leave a comment on a particular browser on a particular system, I told your browser to remember those details on your client machine login, and to fill in the fields for you on that browser and machine whenever a comment was presented to fill in.
Works well until the details get mucked up at the client side. Typically when pasting into the wrong field, which causes the mistake to reproduced.
Thanks for that explanation.
The issue seems to be that, of late, occasionally when I am merrily typing away in the comment box the cursor will flip to the name box without warning. I continue to type until I need to look at the screen again and find no words added to the comment box, but they have been added to the name box which I didn't think to check.
I then re-type what got 'lost' in the comment box and hit 'Submit Comment'. The comment then goes out with extra words added to my username in the name box.
Not sure if it's an issue with my machine.
Is it one of those laptops with a touchpad below the keyboard? I always switch that off if I have a corded mouse – my hands hovering over the touch pad sometimes tap it and send the cursor funny places.
ALTHOUGH:
a good trick in a shared office is to put a cordless mouse usb in the back of a colleagues machine. Then as they're typing away just randomly point and click from your desk. drives 'em crazy if you do it subtly enough 😉
Yes, but the mousepad requires a definite push.
I've not been able to repeat the fault today – it's random.
McFlock is probably right. Mousepads are a nuisance when you're typing. Mine is turned off whenever I have a external keyboard/mouse talking to it. Which is most of the time.
I usually do have a wireless K750 keyboard + a MX Anywhere in my pack or where I work. I have 3 of them – work, home, and pack. Solar powered keyboards are *thin* – sneak in the pack very nicely.
Try the right side of the mouse pad. That is usually where they have the scroller option turned on. The option is often set to move fields when you use it vertically.