Fabio Vighi is Professor of Critical Theory at Cardiff University, and author of Critical Theory and the Crisis of Contemporary Capitalism.
He reckons it's "time to take the red pill and face reality: since the start of 2020, a macroeconomic virus disguised as a pandemic virus has taken possession of our lives, causing widespread depression and consigning entire populations to often extreme forms of legalized discrimination."
I found no evidence he's a denier of microbiology and his thesis that the control system is using the pandemic as a tool rings true. Folks who prefer to form an overview of situations ought to give his reasoning an appraisal. I'll quote a few interesting parts…
In August 2019, a white paper issued by BlackRock (the all-powerful investment fund already known as the “fourth branch of government”) had shown the Federal Reserve the way out of the coming “dramatic downturn,” urging the US Central Bank to implement an “unprecedented” monetary policy whereby large masses of money created out of thin air were to be delivered “directly into the hands of public and private spenders.” This “going direct” scheme, which according to BlackRock had to be made “permanent,” was promptly inaugurated a month later in response to the repo market crisis.
Since then, and especially after the arrival of Virus, the Fed’s balance sheet has grown by nearly 5 trillion dollars, an absolutely extraordinary expansion even when compared with the QE bailouts started at the end of 2008. And to get an idea of the global dimension of this expansion, we need to add the trillions created by other central banks around the world, as well as programs of fiscal stimulus such as ‘helicopter money.’
…the perverse logic of ‘pandemic capitalism,’ which allowed the top 1% to increase their wealth at record speed, while the middle classes are going missing… Currency depreciation appears to be a feature, not a bug, of central banking. Remember the World Economic Forum’s slogan? You will own nothing, and you will be happy! In short, it is not happening by accident but by design.
What does our macroeconomic environment look like? Its basic features are summarised below:
– Global debt of $300 trillion, growing exponentially
– Rapidly increasing deficits in most advanced and developing economies
– Colossal bubbles in the stock, bond (debt), and real estate markets
– Astronomical bubble in the derivatives market
– Surging inflation with potential for hyperinflation.
Within this explosive context, Virus and variants work as cynical cover stories whose aim is to expedite the authoritarian management of the implosive trajectory of contemporary capitalism, which cannot be contained through economic policy alone. The unrelenting manufacturing of ‘pandemic emergency’ is both a defensive strategy against collapse, and an aggressive attack on what is left of the ‘work society,’ for it allows the elites to use inflation as a means to impoverishment and domination.
The political left has opted to take the blue pill, and, as summarized by Franco Berardi (Bifo), it can only offer false perspectives: “There is no political way out of the apocalypse. For thirty years the left has been the main political instrument of the ultra-capitalist offensive, and whoever invests their hopes in the left is an imbecile who deserves to be betrayed, since betraying is the only activity that the left is capable of performing competently.”
If we want to avoid the coming tsunami of social barbarism we will need, at some point soon, to redefine the relationship between work, community and social wealth beyond its capitalist meaning. To do this we will need to take a third pill, which however will only become available after we organise meaningful popular resistance against socioeconomic tyranny legitimised by ‘emergency capitalism.’
I'm intrigued by his notion of a third pill. He doesn't explain it – and Matrix theory provides just the red/blue binary – but a green pill has aesthetic appeal…
Cheers Dennis for perusing these articles and books and passing on what you find.
I certainly can get put off by sentences with lots of big words but the bite size chunks you share give a lot of food for thought.
This virus has changed folks thinking and not in a good way by my reckoning. If we want to mitigate and adapt to CC challenges then BAU will not suffice. A simpler, humbler way of life, with sharing at the heart of it is what is needed.
5.9% inflation what does that mean ? Someone on $50k last year now in real terms will have had to have spent $3,000 less than in 2020 or obtained an increase of the same, not likely especially as many in the public sector were put on a “pay freeze”. How long can anyone substain such loss in spending power, especially as many of the essential items: rent, petroleum, food etc costs have increased at a higher rate and are inescapable to avoid?
National leader Christopher Luxon says the Government needs to stop spending money on “dumb stuff” in order to arrest rising inflation rates.
Asked for examples of wasteful spending to cut, Luxon pointed to cameras on fishing boats and consultant fees for the Three Waters reform coming out of the Covid-19 budget, and the $51m spent on the cancelled Auckland Harbour cycle bridge.
Cameras on fishing boats are estimated to cost $68m, while the policy costs from the Three Waters programme sit at around $20m. All up these costs make up about 0.1 per cent of the annual Government budget.
Spotify has begun removing Young’s music from its platform after an ultimatum issued by the star earlier this week to the company. Referring to controversial podcasts by Joe Rogan hosted by Spotify, Young said: “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
Many of Young’s fans and supporters of his stance called for a boycott of the streaming platform, and for other artists to follow his lead. “I stand with Neil Young” and “#CancelSpotify” became rallying calls on social media on Thursday.
The actor and activist Mia Farrow tweeted: “Wow @Spotify you chose to keep creepy, dangerous liar Joe Rodan over the magnificent Neil Young?” There was no immediate sign of other big names in the music industry siding with Young against Spotify – an indication perhaps of its market dominance. Between 2010 and 2020, Spotify’s share of the US music market rose from 7% to 83%.
He went to visit Lynyrd Skynyrd after that was a hit & according to the report I read in RS it went okay. I also read the southern dudes got inappropriate feedback from their fans along redneck lines & the songwriter complained that "in Birmingham they love the governor, we all did what we could do" was too subtle for them…
Young’s anti-GMO rhetoric helped fuel a narrative that made it easy to spread fear and distrust about COVID vaccines, most of which used novel biotechnology methods and some of which use genetic engineering.
Foreign policy wonks have their work cut out. The international rules a small country like Aotearoa rely on are going to stretched, hopefully not beyond breaking point.
”With With this in mind I believe that 2022 will be a year where the transition from the liberal international order to something else will begin to pick up speed and as a result lead to various types of conflict between the old and new guards. What with hybrid or grey area conflict, disinformation campaigns, electoral meddling and cyberwarfare all now part of the psychological operations mix along with conventional air, land, sea and space-based kinetic military operations involving multi-domain command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and robotics (C4ISR2) systems, the ways in which conflict can be engaged covertly or overtly have multiplied. That technological fact means that it is easier for international actors, or at least some of them, to act as disruptors of the global status quo by using conflict as a systemic re-alignment vehicle“
Causes of inflation? When nobody was going anywhere two years ago except in ambulances, fuel prices plummeted. Great! Now with Putin manipulating a big war scare in Eastern Europe, fuel prices have surged. Arguably without covid, fuel may well have been in the 2.75-3.00 dollar a litre by now anyway. Most likely Russia is not invading anyone but it’s return on elevated fuel prices suits it perfectly for very little cost. Hence rapid fuel inflation which feeds on to everything else. But wait, there is a silver lining at least for us with our locally produced electricity, how much more encouragement do you need to go electric?
The other big inflation mover is the huge increase in house building big booms always raise prices, so what do you want, low inflation or not enough houses?
The other big inflation pusher that Hickey does not seem to take into account is that with 2 years of no international holiday travel Kiwis have a shitload ( proper economic term that, when you don’t know the real numbers ) of money lying around going “ spend me, spend me “. The possible real number may be close to his extra 21 billion that he says private NZers have squirrelled away or have spent it at home. How can any of these have been avoided? Almost certainly not, we didn’t get more money from wage subsidies almost certainly less, but we saved a lot of it.
The biggest single factor causing inflation is a 30% rise in fuel prices which has a huge knock on effect.
His claim people are hoarding $21 billion from cancelled overseas trips maybe true but we lost that from tourism as well.
Hickey has overlooked the number of houses being constructed is at record levels 2yrs in a row.
That has helped keep the economy ticking over nicely.
Keeping unemployment down.
Numbers on benefits are up I would say that is because of a reset during covid Nationals nasty attitude to the homeless people not able to access benefits to make their figures look good.That was changed by labour during covid.
This govt made sure homeless had accomodation,healthcare money so they didn't spread covid.
National would have left homeless to their own devices.
What role does OPEC play these days regarding fuel prices then?
We've had low inflation and 'not enough houses for years'.
Low interest rates and a lack of any other appealing asset class are 2 factors that ramped up housing prices.
Whatever the triggers, Hickey is laying out the real facts.
Tourism was supposedly NZ's biggest earner….the economy has survived that becoming irelevant ,no trouble at all.
Hickey appears to be saying the Govt did not assess the economic ramifications of Covid quickly enough.
It looks to me that it became policy to fuel the property ponzi to make GDP look good and compensate for any austerity measures(less spending/more saving)that people may have imposed on…themselves.
The next 18 months will be very interesting…indeed.
Any political theory advocating the weaponising of culture ought to cite as evidence the cultural operations of the CIA throughout history. Spooks doing cultural analysis? Who knew? Fortunately the history is becoming available via declassification:
Thomas W. Braden, the former supervisor of cultural activities at the CIA, explained the power of the Agency’s cultural assault in a frank insider’s account published in 1967: “I remember the enormous joy I got when the Boston Symphony Orchestra [which was supported by the CIA] won more acclaim for the U.S. in Paris than John Foster Dulles or Dwight D. Eisenhower could have bought with a hundred speeches.”
Perched in a privileged ivory tower, disconnected from the real world, embroiled in meaningless academic debates over specialized minutia, or floating in the abstruse clouds of high-minded theory, intellectuals are frequently portrayed as not only cut off from political reality but as incapable of having any meaningful impact on it. The Central Intelligence Agency thinks otherwise… For in an intriguing research paper written in 1985, and recently released with minor redactions through the Freedom of Information Act, the CIA reveals that its operatives have been studying the complex, international trend-setting French theory affiliated with the names of Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan and Roland Barthes.
The intelligence agency understands culture and theory to be crucial weapons in the overall arsenal it deploys to perpetuate US interests around the world. The recently released research paper from 1985, entitled “France: Defection of the Leftist Intellectuals,” examines—undoubtedly in order to manipulate—the French intelligentsia and its fundamental role in shaping the trends that generate political policy.
So to the historical origin of the triangulation adopted by the Greens towards the twin evils of the left and right:
Greg Grandin, one of the leading historians of Latin America, perfectly summarized this situation in The Last Colonial Massacre: “Aside from making visibly disastrous and deadly interventions in Guatemala in 1954, the Dominican Republic in 1965, Chile in 1973, and El Salvador and Nicaragua during the 1980s, the United States has lent quiet and steady financial, material, and moral support for murderous counterinsurgent terror states. […] But the enormity of Stalin’s crimes ensures that such sordid histories, no matter how compelling, thorough, or damning, do not disturb the foundation of a worldview committed to the exemplary role of the United States in defending what we now know as democracy.”
The author examines how the control system uses the left as dupes:
As we know from the research on the CIA’s program of psychological warfare, the organization has not only tracked and sought to coerce individuals, but it has always been keen on understanding and transforming institutions of cultural production and distribution.
Indeed, its study on French theory points to the structural role universities, publishing houses and the media play in the formation and consolidation of a collective political ethos.
In descriptions that, like the rest of the document, should invite us to think critically about the current academic situation in the Anglophone world and beyond, the authors of the report foreground the ways in which the precarization of academic labor contributes to the demolition of radical leftism. If strong leftists cannot secure the material means necessary to carry out our work, or if we are more or less subtly forced to conform in order to find employment, publish our writings or have an audience, then the structural conditions for a resolute leftist community are weakened. The vocationalization of higher education is another tool used for this end since it aims at transforming people into techno-scientific cogs in the capitalist apparatus rather than autonomous citizens with reliable tools for social critique. The theory mandarins of the CIA therefore praise the efforts on the part of the French government to “push students into business and technical courses.”
So what to do about that? Unusually for a leftist intellectual, he sees a way forward.
develop systemic and radical critique that is as egalitarian and ecological as it is anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist… In direct opposition to the spy agency’s cultural strategy of fragment and polarize, by which it has sought to sever and isolate the anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist left, while opposing it to reformist positions, we should federate and mobilize by recognizing the importance of working together—across the entire left… by working together and mobilizing our capacity to collectively create the institutions necessary for a world of cultural leftism.
For the left, the road to hell has always been paved by such good intentions. Translating them into effective action requires praxis (something leftists don't like even thinking about let alone doing) in which individual talent & flair gets synthesised in group contexts to produce collaboration.
Group-think in these contexts can be defeated by intelligent design. Principles and incentives that balance diversity of opinion with mutual commitments and agreed tasks and goals usually achieve likeminded output without infighting. Leadership to steer process towards destination can be both individual & collective. However, in our current context political activists must adapt by leaving the past failures behind them if they are serious about becoming successful…
As an old stale pale male Efeso certainly has my vote. He is a breath of fresh air. The rest of the candidates from both sides of the political divide will, in my view, be mayor of the CBD only, as Goff has proven to be. The rest of the peasantry will be ignored
It maybe a problem for Labour but I suspect they're going to have to suck it up.
Nice bloke though he is, one thing Richard Hill does not have is charisma. Efeso Collins on the other hand has it in spades. Add that to his impressive and rational thinking processes, he should be a shoo-in for the mayoralty. I believe his popularity would also transcend the Labour Party and if Labour tries to undermine him then it would likely be to their detriment.
So, the government planned to have the RAT tests available for sale in New Zealand weeks ago.
And, as the article points out, the MOH has been far too slow on approving test suppliers. Absolutely unacceptable:
"Wallis Keiller's Invitrocue rapid antigen test is banned in New Zealand – it doesn't have Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield's blessing, and very few do. It's a saliva rapid antigen test that links up to an app for a result. While approved by Germany's tough medical regulator, it's not approved here…..Keiller says his tests have a 97 percent accuracy and as soon as he gets signoff he can get loads here quickly."
Yes and they also planned to build 10,000 Kiwibuild houses a year and fix homeless and poverty and a few other things. They can't do everything at once, although they have banned plastic bags from supermarkets.
So our govt has indexed benefits to wage growth. Wage growth last year was 2.4% inflation 5.9% . Everyone faces the same struggle how to survive on less. And this decrease in spending power applies for every year that wages growth is less than inflation. But Grant Robertson said this morning “It’s really challenging people, but an awful lot of it relates to Covid, supply chain and things that unfortunately will work their way through the system this year.” Grant you and your fellow ministers are disconnected with the day to day world the rest of us live in, and our pain is due to YOUR policies.
probably, but people, the country and the health system being in the best possible position is better than letting covid run free (aka not resisting community spread). We also learn more as time goes on. At some point we may well have to make a different set of decisions, but by mid year we will have actual data on omicron and long covid.
yes, what's your point? We're in the process of developing the skills of slowing viruses that are highly contagious. That wills serve us with any new variants that are more infectious (or spread faster).
Further, it appears that there are significant numbers of people getting omicron who have already had covid. There is so much to learn yet about human immunity in response to covid, across a number of areas.
You still aren't addressing long covid, so I will assume it's a case of collateral damage in a strategy of not resisting community spread.
All of which is to say that we don't actually know what the frying pan and the fire are yet.
If "best possible position" had been a serious consideration, then there would have been over two years worth of effective public health policy, and public health messaging on what people might do to optimise their immune system. Instead we got Big Pharma's vaccinate or bust strategy that cleared the table of anything and everything that might hamper 'vaccination for all' while introducing deleterious measures that had scant regard for actual health. It has been 100% medical maleficence.
By mid- year Omicron will have washed through and the acute phase abated because people will have acquired natural immunity from infection. Covid will be endemic because it has multiple reservoirs in mammalian populations.
I'm curious as to what these imaginary skills might be (the stopping or slowing spread ones) – because we already have effective anti-virals that kill the virus (and therefor stop the spread). But they've been variously banned or not publicised. Hell. On an individual level Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo solution is a hugely effective preventative measure if used as a nasal rinse. Listerine is another effective measure if gargled. And yes. The studies have been done and were published over a year ago. And then of course, there's naturally acquired immunity from previous infection…though that was rubbished and discounted by government health agencies "everywhere" until very recently for some reason that had, honest Joe, nothing to do with any crusade.
Have you read up on the decades long health tail off from the Spanish Flu I alerted you to previously? Long Covid isn't a thing – it's Covid. Covid might have multiple health effects that will ripple for decades and that will, for some part, only ever be recognised in retrospect.
Anyway. Enough of combating denial, avoidance and fear for one day.
If Omicron BA.2 gets into the community, in lieu of Omicron BA.1 that it appears to be supplanting, the spread of Covid will be faster than it would have been, and so whatever stresses and strains on infrastructure Omicron BA.1 might have presented will be exacerbated. That was essentially all I was remarking on. Chow.
Seems NZ might have foregone the frying pan for the fire (in terms of health system capacity) by resisting community spread of Omicron BA.1.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion? Still, it will be spreading fast enough within a week or two – no hurry, eh?
Most people infected with COVID-19 will be fine, but some will suffer from various long COVID symptoms, and unvaccinated people are over-represented among the unfortunate few who are hospitalised and/or die with COVID infections. The 7-day moving average for COVID deaths in Australia is ~70 per day.
Not too late to get your booster if you're eligible, and let your immune system bank a little extra protection ahead of the Omicron surge – a prudent precaution, imho.
All of New Zealand is now at Red
Protect yourself and our community by getting boosted, wearing a face mask when out and about and reducing contact with others.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion?
No.
I've merely observed government policy was to keep one variant at bay "because highly transmissible), and we're possibly going to be hit by more transmissible one.
Isn't it NZ government policy (and MoH strategy) to keep all COVID variants at bay? Just thinking how the Team’s successful 'elimination strategy' shifted to a suppression strategy as the virus evolved – adapt or die!
Both the virus and civiisation are in uncharted waters – what next?
The much spruiked income from tourism is bullshit, figures from 10 to 40 billion were being talked about at the start of covid with sensible critics saying maybe 8 to 14. Covid proved them all wrong. A large number of Aussie visitors are kiwis visiting family and they don’t spend that much, the balance particularly from Asia are bought here in vertically integrated systems where pretty much all the trip costs are bought and paid for in their home countries and are to pay for services mostly owned by Asian entities, airlines, buses, accomodation etc and this money doesn’t get banked in NZ , they probably spend far less a day than than ordinary Kiwis on a tiki tour. Also most tourists don’t spend long in NZ, a matter of a few weeks or less, whereas Kiwis travelling take a lot longer on their overseas holidays.
It is not in the industry’s interest in the slightest to have the real numbers revealed, even cruise ship visits are counted as ‘ visitor nights’ when some passengers don’t even get off the boat let alone sleep ashore. This is deceitful accounting and the
reason is the leveraging power of the mythical value to the country. Just listen to the bleating over every little sensible public safety advice or instruction, and the self importance is plain to see. The economy did far better with Kiwis spending their own thwarted trip money locally on having a look around here and then putting the balance in the bank or a bit of a tart-up at home.
Looks good though, as grade separation via tunnelling along half of it works pretty well, and can always redo the southern section later on if need be. Though still need to get the North Shore section nailed down to get the full benefit and get this all started before Labour looses power. So then National can't cancel it as easily due to all the contracts involved :3
But I can sense a mighty whinge arising from National and ACT over this, partly on cost, mainly on "public transport is evils whaaaaaa!". Along with usual moaning about the time it'll take, but given how long certain National done projects (Transmission Gully, Christchurch Rebuild and Northern Motorway, etc) took or are still in progress, despite National's claims about their competency, they don't have a foot to stand on.
Now if only Labour would do the same for Public Housing already… Figure that may happen after the next election, as a Labour-Greens government is highly likely, but we shall see.
Also, I'm rather jealous Auckland's finally getting it's public transport network sorted, because Christchurch's is still kind of shit. Sure, the new bike corridors are nice and more bus lanes have helped, but the bike corridors don't have anywhere near enough reach and buses still get snarled up in rush hour traffic at chokepoints like Riccarton Road etc. But it'll be forever at this rate before heavy and light rail are accepted by ECan.
[your pre-approved user name appears to be […], so please stick with that – Incognito]
[name removed while we discuss this in the back end – weka]
I used to post here years ago, probably under TheMess or The_Mess with the same email address lawl. But depression kicked my arse so I haven't had the energy to engage here in ages…
The Mess, can you please let us know if you want to use The Mess as your username going forward, or if you want to revert back to the one you have used on TS in the past?
No idea sadly, it's mainly been Christchurch City Council pushing for it to become government policy. I probably should go read up the policy, since I now party vote Greens instead of Labour. Because despite their anti-GMO stance, they hit the mark mostly on the other social welfare and climate change stuff.
Our Future of Transport plan would set Aotearoa up for the future by:
Investing in large scale rapid rail to reboot the regions between major cities
Accelerating transformational public transportnetworks within our major cities, including busways, light rail, and rail
Setting up a $1.5 billion Cycle Superhighwayfund to provide safe, separated cycleways, with the capacity to be used by thousands of people each day
Introducing a target date for only zero emission light vehicles to be able to be imported to Aotearoa, and linking this to the date set by the UK, likely to be 2030
Incentivise heavy freight to transition to zero emissions vehicles and be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2050
Setting up a nationwide Go Anywhere transport pass that works on all public transport, and provides access to electric car share, e-bike subscriptions and e-scooters in the main cities across the country
Reducing the cost of public transport by making it free for people over 65, under 18 and community services holders, by reducing the cost by 50% for students, and by setting up weekly payment limits – so no one pays for more than eight rides a week.
National and ACT's response is at the end, and it's just as sad and useless as I suspected:
The National Party has called the plan “a dream.”
“If it ever goes ahead it will be at least $15 billion of wasted spending,” said Simeon Brown, National's transport spokesman.
Brown said, “the number one priority for Aucklanders is a second Harbour Crossing for both public transport and private vehicles.”
The ACT party said it was not opposed to light rail, but disagreed with the approach being taken by the government.
“Auckland is staring down a decade of disruption,” said ACT’s transport spokesman Simon Court.
“Questions need to be asked about whether we could be taking actions today at less cost to deliver light rail in the future. For example, options like investing in the bus network and repurposing it for light rail later could be reconsidered.”
One wonder's how it'll be wasteful Simon, when the return on investment for rail public transit systems in cities is historically very positive. It's also somewhat cheaper than filling Auckland with more highways when Auckland's running out of room for them with out very, very expensive mass buyouts of property for the space. Oh and a 2nd car bridge would result in more congestion due to pumping more cars into the network.
As for ACT, lolwut? Put light rail on bus lanes? Pray tell, how exactly is that meant to work with the sort of infrastructure light rail needs + the problems with high frequency runs vis the lack of grade separation and stations? Never mind the disruption that would entail trying to do.
Oh right, under ACT it would never happen, and instead the bus service would be entirely profit driven and thus stop serving much of Auckland bar the highest usage areas. Because Uber exists and 1 person per car/SUV is oh so much more "freedom" and everyone can totally afford it and to pay Auckland private market rents.
Xiomara Castro was sworn in as Honduras' first female president Thursday in the capital, Tegucigalpa.
Castro, a democratic socialist, won a landslide victory in last year's presidential election after campaigning on a radical agenda to counter years of governance plagued by corruption and scandal. She promised to alleviate poverty and liberalize abortion laws.
Castro's party, the Freedom and Refoundation Party (Libre) won the November 2021 vote with a lead of more than 14 points over her nearest opponent, Nasry Asfura, the capital's mayor and candidate for outgoing President Juan Orlando Hernández's National Party.
Winning 51% of the vote share and 1.7 million votes, Castro garnered the largest number of votes in the country's history, underscoring the public's appetite for change.
Castro's promise to stamp out the systemic problems behind poverty, including economic insecurity, inequality, corruption and violence — some of the root causes of migration to the north — is not only popular with the electorate, but has made her an attractive ally for US President Joe Biden's administration. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is overseeing the White House's efforts to stem the flow of migrants to the US southern border, was among those in attendance for the inauguration.
Her ascendancy is interesting for several reasons. Her husband was president – ousted by a coup in 2009 – for an establishment party (the liberals).
The party system is dominated by the conservative National Party of Honduras and the Liberal Party of Honduras.
This establishment duopoly prevailed for over a century!
In January 2021, Honduras changed the country's constitution to make it almost impossible to legalize abortion in the future. Before that, Honduras was already one of few countries with a complete ban on abortion. The constitutional reform was supported by Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez's ruling National Party.
She defeated the Nationals decisively – therefore has a mandate to alter that constitutional roadblock to abortion! Imagine the conservative consternation.
'made her an attractive ally for US President Joe Biden's administration. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is overseeing the White House's efforts to stem the flow of migrants to the US southern border, was among those in attendance for the inauguration.'
BIG…surprise.
'Honduras, where the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company dominated the country's key banana export sector and associated land holdings and railways, saw insertion of American troops in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924 and 1925. The writer O. Henry coined the term "Banana republic" in 1904 to describe Honduras.'-wiki
'The US intervened in numerous military coups to protect its commercial interests, embedding a conservative, Americanised elite. Contra guerrillas backed by President Ronald Reagan used Honduras as a base to attack Nicaragua's Sandinista government in the 1980s.'-Guardian.
Well the Labour Party have found a way to introduce a Capital Gains Tax without calling it that. They are also going to put it on the family home. While they are about it they are going to claim that they are also providing you with the Capital Gain so it won't actually cost you anything.
How do they do it? Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. Aren't you going to be grateful? They will ignore the fact that thanks to their crazy policies the price of all Auckland homes has risen.
Then they will tax you some percentage of this supposed gain because the increase is all due to the tram line. It isn't a capital gain of course. It is a windfall profit according to Robbo. This "windfall' they will tax. They won't even wait till you get it of course. They will tax you…heavily….every year….even if you never use the damn tram.
What is near the line? Well all of New Zealand actually. After all. If you were ever allowed to visit Auckland the tram line would be a sight for you, a tourist, to swoon over. I'm sure you will love to contribute to Robbo's coffers.
There. Simple wasn't it. All we have to do is get it in quickly and line up all the Labour MPs to recite, in unison, and over and over again.
"This is a windfall, it is not a Capital Gain". Repeat this line over and over while interposing at intervals "Thank you Saint Jacinda for the bounty of your windfall".
You obviously haven't read what the Minister concerned has been saying. The "he" in the quote is Michael Wood.
'“It is fair and equitable that those who receive a financial windfall from significant public investment make a contribution to the project. We are clearly signalling that will happen, and that is a live prospect from today,” he said.
Levying properties to fund new infrastructure has already occurred, with new homes in the Milldale Development north of Auckland, paying an extra charge.
.A regime for light rail would be different in that it would apply to existing properties.'
So what are the homes he talks about if they do not include family homes?
"Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. "
A correction:
Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram, that will be patronised by only a handful of people because the public transport system is shit, somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home.
The N95 etc don't seem to take a dye even if dyeing doesn't screw them up. That leaves overmasks, or possibly masquerade masks over the top of the face, lol
Australia is nearly as useless as us so far as RATs are concerned. Pity we didn't hadn't learnt from what they are doing in the UK now, where they have lots of experience with Covid.
"Rapid antigen tests in the UK have individual bar codes which people photograph after taking their free test and upload the result to the NHS website, whether they are negative or positive. This means the health authorities have a clearer idea of the spread of COVID in the community."
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The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
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Fabio Vighi is Professor of Critical Theory at Cardiff University, and author of Critical Theory and the Crisis of Contemporary Capitalism.
He reckons it's "time to take the red pill and face reality: since the start of 2020, a macroeconomic virus disguised as a pandemic virus has taken possession of our lives, causing widespread depression and consigning entire populations to often extreme forms of legalized discrimination."
I found no evidence he's a denier of microbiology and his thesis that the control system is using the pandemic as a tool rings true. Folks who prefer to form an overview of situations ought to give his reasoning an appraisal. I'll quote a few interesting parts…
I'm intrigued by his notion of a third pill. He doesn't explain it – and Matrix theory provides just the red/blue binary – but a green pill has aesthetic appeal…
https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/red-pill-or-blue-pill-variants-inflation-and-the-controlled-demolition-of-society/
When you look at the accelerated scale of Q.E I have no problem entertaining this..theory.
1Trillion dollars=spent @$40 a second,takes 792 years to…spend…!
Cheers Dennis for perusing these articles and books and passing on what you find.
I certainly can get put off by sentences with lots of big words but the bite size chunks you share give a lot of food for thought.
This virus has changed folks thinking and not in a good way by my reckoning. If we want to mitigate and adapt to CC challenges then BAU will not suffice. A simpler, humbler way of life, with sharing at the heart of it is what is needed.
5.9% inflation what does that mean ? Someone on $50k last year now in real terms will have had to have spent $3,000 less than in 2020 or obtained an increase of the same, not likely especially as many in the public sector were put on a “pay freeze”. How long can anyone substain such loss in spending power, especially as many of the essential items: rent, petroleum, food etc costs have increased at a higher rate and are inescapable to avoid?
I refute that!
Are you training to be a Labour candidate??
So all he needs to make his rationale compelling is a top economist agreeing that inflation is caused by 0.1% of the annual govt budget being dumb.
Unfortunately he forgot to call for volunteers to do so. Will they come to his rescue regardless? Watch this space…
Who approved transmission gully ?
You want an example of waste start there….or a vanity flag project.
From stuff — 15% expenditure was for the wage subsidy (which Luxon approved).
That is 150 x the amt that Luxon deems as dumb cause of the inflation.
So really much of the inflation probably comes from the response to covid.
WHO chief backs Neil Young over Covid misinformation row with Spotify: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/27/who-chief-backs-neil-young-over-covid-misinformation-row-with-spotify-joe-rogan
Southern man don't need him around anyhow.
Thanks that's interesting. I will have to do some Googling.
I wonder if Mia Farrow remembers that Neil Young used to be considered dangerous?
I don't, but there is this…
https://www.thedailybeast.com/neil-youngs-long-record-of-spreading-scientific-misinformation
The new international order in 2022.
Foreign policy wonks have their work cut out. The international rules a small country like Aotearoa rely on are going to stretched, hopefully not beyond breaking point.
”With With this in mind I believe that 2022 will be a year where the transition from the liberal international order to something else will begin to pick up speed and as a result lead to various types of conflict between the old and new guards. What with hybrid or grey area conflict, disinformation campaigns, electoral meddling and cyberwarfare all now part of the psychological operations mix along with conventional air, land, sea and space-based kinetic military operations involving multi-domain command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and robotics (C4ISR2) systems, the ways in which conflict can be engaged covertly or overtly have multiplied. That technological fact means that it is easier for international actors, or at least some of them, to act as disruptors of the global status quo by using conflict as a systemic re-alignment vehicle“
http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2022/01/redrawing-the-lines/
Causes of inflation? When nobody was going anywhere two years ago except in ambulances, fuel prices plummeted. Great! Now with Putin manipulating a big war scare in Eastern Europe, fuel prices have surged. Arguably without covid, fuel may well have been in the 2.75-3.00 dollar a litre by now anyway. Most likely Russia is not invading anyone but it’s return on elevated fuel prices suits it perfectly for very little cost. Hence rapid fuel inflation which feeds on to everything else. But wait, there is a silver lining at least for us with our locally produced electricity, how much more encouragement do you need to go electric?
The other big inflation mover is the huge increase in house building big booms always raise prices, so what do you want, low inflation or not enough houses?
The other big inflation pusher that Hickey does not seem to take into account is that with 2 years of no international holiday travel Kiwis have a shitload ( proper economic term that, when you don’t know the real numbers ) of money lying around going “ spend me, spend me “. The possible real number may be close to his extra 21 billion that he says private NZers have squirrelled away or have spent it at home. How can any of these have been avoided? Almost certainly not, we didn’t get more money from wage subsidies almost certainly less, but we saved a lot of it.
The biggest single factor causing inflation is a 30% rise in fuel prices which has a huge knock on effect.
His claim people are hoarding $21 billion from cancelled overseas trips maybe true but we lost that from tourism as well.
Hickey has overlooked the number of houses being constructed is at record levels 2yrs in a row.
That has helped keep the economy ticking over nicely.
Keeping unemployment down.
Numbers on benefits are up I would say that is because of a reset during covid Nationals nasty attitude to the homeless people not able to access benefits to make their figures look good.That was changed by labour during covid.
This govt made sure homeless had accomodation,healthcare money so they didn't spread covid.
National would have left homeless to their own devices.
What role does OPEC play these days regarding fuel prices then?
We've had low inflation and 'not enough houses for years'.
Low interest rates and a lack of any other appealing asset class are 2 factors that ramped up housing prices.
Whatever the triggers, Hickey is laying out the real facts.
Tourism was supposedly NZ's biggest earner….the economy has survived that becoming irelevant ,no trouble at all.
Hickey appears to be saying the Govt did not assess the economic ramifications of Covid quickly enough.
It looks to me that it became policy to fuel the property ponzi to make GDP look good and compensate for any austerity measures(less spending/more saving)that people may have imposed on…themselves.
The next 18 months will be very interesting…indeed.
Any political theory advocating the weaponising of culture ought to cite as evidence the cultural operations of the CIA throughout history. Spooks doing cultural analysis? Who knew? Fortunately the history is becoming available via declassification:
So to the historical origin of the triangulation adopted by the Greens towards the twin evils of the left and right:
'defending democracy'..American style….we have to destroy the 'country' to…save it.
The author examines how the control system uses the left as dupes:
So what to do about that? Unusually for a leftist intellectual, he sees a way forward.
For the left, the road to hell has always been paved by such good intentions. Translating them into effective action requires praxis (something leftists don't like even thinking about let alone doing) in which individual talent & flair gets synthesised in group contexts to produce collaboration.
Group-think in these contexts can be defeated by intelligent design. Principles and incentives that balance diversity of opinion with mutual commitments and agreed tasks and goals usually achieve likeminded output without infighting. Leadership to steer process towards destination can be both individual & collective. However, in our current context political activists must adapt by leaving the past failures behind them if they are serious about becoming successful…
The born to rule, rich go to great lengths to maintain the status quo and their….authority.
All the Congress and Senate members being millionaires…helps too.
Two Auckland stories to follow.
The debate for the “Labour” candidate for the mayoralty.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2022/01/efeso-yeah-yeah.html
Light rail for the isthmus.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/127610200/watch-live-auckland-light-rail-goes-for-tunnel-option-with-harbour-crossing
As an old stale pale male Efeso certainly has my vote. He is a breath of fresh air. The rest of the candidates from both sides of the political divide will, in my view, be mayor of the CBD only, as Goff has proven to be. The rest of the peasantry will be ignored
Re – the first link:
It maybe a problem for Labour but I suspect they're going to have to suck it up.
Nice bloke though he is, one thing Richard Hill does not have is charisma. Efeso Collins on the other hand has it in spades. Add that to his impressive and rational thinking processes, he should be a shoo-in for the mayoralty. I believe his popularity would also transcend the Labour Party and if Labour tries to undermine him then it would likely be to their detriment.
So, the government planned to have the RAT tests available for sale in New Zealand weeks ago.
And, as the article points out, the MOH has been far too slow on approving test suppliers. Absolutely unacceptable:
"Wallis Keiller's Invitrocue rapid antigen test is banned in New Zealand – it doesn't have Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield's blessing, and very few do. It's a saliva rapid antigen test that links up to an app for a result. While approved by Germany's tough medical regulator, it's not approved here…..Keiller says his tests have a 97 percent accuracy and as soon as he gets signoff he can get loads here quickly."
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/01/omicron-government-planned-to-have-covid-19-rapid-antigen-tests-for-sale-weeks-ago.html
Yes and they also planned to build 10,000 Kiwibuild houses a year and fix homeless and poverty and a few other things. They can't do everything at once, although they have banned plastic bags from supermarkets.
Snark!
🙂
That was more opinion than fact with much loaded and (mis)leading language.
I could not find the Invitrocue rapid antigen test on the list of approved antigen tests in Germany (https://www.bfarm.de/EN/Medical-devices/Tasks/Special-topics/Antigen-tests/_node.html), so that assertion with claimed performance cannot be verified there.
Currently, there are 9 approved RATs in NZ, but none yet for saliva samples (https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/assessment-and-testing-covid-19/rapid-antigen-testing#business).
So our govt has indexed benefits to wage growth. Wage growth last year was 2.4% inflation 5.9% . Everyone faces the same struggle how to survive on less. And this decrease in spending power applies for every year that wages growth is less than inflation. But Grant Robertson said this morning “It’s really challenging people, but an awful lot of it relates to Covid, supply chain and things that unfortunately will work their way through the system this year.” Grant you and your fellow ministers are disconnected with the day to day world the rest of us live in, and our pain is due to YOUR policies.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/newsroom/factsheets/budget/factsheet-benefit-indexation-2019.pdf
http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/5/397995#:~:text=%22At%205.9%25%20for%202021%2C,has%20been%20in%20three%20decades.&text=%22With%20wage%20growth%20of%20only,record%20amounts%20of%20government%20spending.
So you pretty much need a 9% wage rise (before tax) to just keep 'treading water'
Hmm. Omicron BA.2 is apparently 50% more infectious than Omicron BA.1 (the original from S.A.).
Seems NZ might have foregone the frying pan for the fire (in terms of health system capacity) by resisting community spread of Omicron BA.1.
meanwhile, long covid, and there's been recent more concern about the impacts of any covid infection on human anatomy and physiology.
You're very sure of yourself on omicron being relatively harmless, but I've yet to see you address the long covid and other issues arising.
You are likely going to catch Covid. – end –
Meanwhile, were you not one of the people expressing terrible concern over NZ health care system's capacity to cope with a rapid spread of Covid?
Further, it appears that there are significant numbers of people getting omicron who have already had covid. There is so much to learn yet about human immunity in response to covid, across a number of areas.
You still aren't addressing long covid, so I will assume it's a case of collateral damage in a strategy of not resisting community spread.
All of which is to say that we don't actually know what the frying pan and the fire are yet.
If "best possible position" had been a serious consideration, then there would have been over two years worth of effective public health policy, and public health messaging on what people might do to optimise their immune system. Instead we got Big Pharma's vaccinate or bust strategy that cleared the table of anything and everything that might hamper 'vaccination for all' while introducing deleterious measures that had scant regard for actual health. It has been 100% medical maleficence.
By mid- year Omicron will have washed through and the acute phase abated because people will have acquired natural immunity from infection. Covid will be endemic because it has multiple reservoirs in mammalian populations.
I'm curious as to what these imaginary skills might be (the stopping or slowing spread ones) – because we already have effective anti-virals that kill the virus (and therefor stop the spread). But they've been variously banned or not publicised. Hell. On an individual level Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo solution is a hugely effective preventative measure if used as a nasal rinse. Listerine is another effective measure if gargled. And yes. The studies have been done and were published over a year ago. And then of course, there's naturally acquired immunity from previous infection…though that was rubbished and discounted by government health agencies "everywhere" until very recently for some reason that had, honest Joe, nothing to do with any crusade.
Have you read up on the decades long health tail off from the Spanish Flu I alerted you to previously? Long Covid isn't a thing – it's Covid. Covid might have multiple health effects that will ripple for decades and that will, for some part, only ever be recognised in retrospect.
Anyway. Enough of combating denial, avoidance and fear for one day.
If Omicron BA.2 gets into the community, in lieu of Omicron BA.1 that it appears to be supplanting, the spread of Covid will be faster than it would have been, and so whatever stresses and strains on infrastructure Omicron BA.1 might have presented will be exacerbated. That was essentially all I was remarking on. Chow.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion? Still, it will be spreading fast enough within a week or two – no hurry, eh?
Most people infected with COVID-19 will be fine, but some will suffer from various long COVID symptoms, and unvaccinated people are over-represented among the unfortunate few who are hospitalised and/or die with COVID infections. The 7-day moving average for COVID deaths in Australia is ~70 per day.
Not too late to get your booster if you're eligible, and let your immune system bank a little extra protection ahead of the Omicron surge – a prudent precaution, imho.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion?
No.
I've merely observed government policy was to keep one variant at bay "because highly transmissible), and we're possibly going to be hit by more transmissible one.
So far government policy has been to keep every variant at bay, because covid kills people.
Isn't it NZ government policy (and MoH strategy) to keep all COVID variants at bay? Just thinking how the Team’s successful 'elimination strategy' shifted to a suppression strategy as the virus evolved – adapt or die!
Both the virus and civiisation are in uncharted waters – what next?
The much spruiked income from tourism is bullshit, figures from 10 to 40 billion were being talked about at the start of covid with sensible critics saying maybe 8 to 14. Covid proved them all wrong. A large number of Aussie visitors are kiwis visiting family and they don’t spend that much, the balance particularly from Asia are bought here in vertically integrated systems where pretty much all the trip costs are bought and paid for in their home countries and are to pay for services mostly owned by Asian entities, airlines, buses, accomodation etc and this money doesn’t get banked in NZ , they probably spend far less a day than than ordinary Kiwis on a tiki tour. Also most tourists don’t spend long in NZ, a matter of a few weeks or less, whereas Kiwis travelling take a lot longer on their overseas holidays.
It is not in the industry’s interest in the slightest to have the real numbers revealed, even cruise ship visits are counted as ‘ visitor nights’ when some passengers don’t even get off the boat let alone sleep ashore. This is deceitful accounting and the
reason is the leveraging power of the mythical value to the country. Just listen to the bleating over every little sensible public safety advice or instruction, and the self importance is plain to see. The economy did far better with Kiwis spending their own thwarted trip money locally on having a look around here and then putting the balance in the bank or a bit of a tart-up at home.
Makes sense.
No wonder the effect of nearly zero international tourists was negiligble.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/460377/auckland-light-rail-tunnel-to-run-to-mt-roskill-before-following-sh20-to-the-airport
So much shade thrown, so much shade.
Looks good though, as grade separation via tunnelling along half of it works pretty well, and can always redo the southern section later on if need be. Though still need to get the North Shore section nailed down to get the full benefit and get this all started before Labour looses power. So then National can't cancel it as easily due to all the contracts involved :3
But I can sense a mighty whinge arising from National and ACT over this, partly on cost, mainly on "public transport is evils whaaaaaa!". Along with usual moaning about the time it'll take, but given how long certain National done projects (Transmission Gully, Christchurch Rebuild and Northern Motorway, etc) took or are still in progress, despite National's claims about their competency, they don't have a foot to stand on.
Now if only Labour would do the same for Public Housing already… Figure that may happen after the next election, as a Labour-Greens government is highly likely, but we shall see.
Also, I'm rather jealous Auckland's finally getting it's public transport network sorted, because Christchurch's is still kind of shit. Sure, the new bike corridors are nice and more bus lanes have helped, but the bike corridors don't have anywhere near enough reach and buses still get snarled up in rush hour traffic at chokepoints like Riccarton Road etc. But it'll be forever at this rate before heavy and light rail are accepted by ECan.
[your pre-approved user name appears to be […], so please stick with that – Incognito]
[name removed while we discuss this in the back end – weka]
Moderation note for you.
Bah, let my name be >_<
I used to post here years ago, probably under TheMess or The_Mess with the same email address lawl. But depression kicked my arse so I haven't had the energy to engage here in ages…
I take that as you wanting The Mess. Just check the name field next time you comment, you will probably have to retype it. Cheers.
The Mess, Glad you are beating The Black Dog. Enjoyed your comments. I agree that National say they are good managers, but facts say otherwise.
The Mess, can you please let us know if you want to use The Mess as your username going forward, or if you want to revert back to the one you have used on TS in the past?
Yeah, I'll take it 😛
I've got my gravatar so it'll work well enough for my purposes.
😎
Nice to have you back.
Good name too. I like it. Wish I'd thought of it.
did the Greens have a plan for Christchurch rail?
No idea sadly, it's mainly been Christchurch City Council pushing for it to become government policy. I probably should go read up the policy, since I now party vote Greens instead of Labour. Because despite their anti-GMO stance, they hit the mark mostly on the other social welfare and climate change stuff.
As part of the 2020 election they announced this plan:
Also connected to the 2020 Future of Transport election priority:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/127610200/auckland-light-rail-goes-for-tunnel-option-with-harbour-crossing
National and ACT's response is at the end, and it's just as sad and useless as I suspected:
One wonder's how it'll be wasteful Simon, when the return on investment for rail public transit systems in cities is historically very positive. It's also somewhat cheaper than filling Auckland with more highways when Auckland's running out of room for them with out very, very expensive mass buyouts of property for the space. Oh and a 2nd car bridge would result in more congestion due to pumping more cars into the network.
As for ACT, lolwut? Put light rail on bus lanes? Pray tell, how exactly is that meant to work with the sort of infrastructure light rail needs + the problems with high frequency runs vis the lack of grade separation and stations? Never mind the disruption that would entail trying to do.
Oh right, under ACT it would never happen, and instead the bus service would be entirely profit driven and thus stop serving much of Auckland bar the highest usage areas. Because Uber exists and 1 person per car/SUV is oh so much more "freedom" and everyone can totally afford it and to pay Auckland private market rents.
Right, lunch calls, finally…
Her ascendancy is interesting for several reasons. Her husband was president – ousted by a coup in 2009 – for an establishment party (the liberals).
This establishment duopoly prevailed for over a century!
She defeated the Nationals decisively – therefore has a mandate to alter that constitutional roadblock to abortion! Imagine the conservative consternation.
'made her an attractive ally for US President Joe Biden's administration. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is overseeing the White House's efforts to stem the flow of migrants to the US southern border, was among those in attendance for the inauguration.'
BIG…surprise.
'Honduras, where the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company dominated the country's key banana export sector and associated land holdings and railways, saw insertion of American troops in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924 and 1925. The writer O. Henry coined the term "Banana republic" in 1904 to describe Honduras.'-wiki
'The US intervened in numerous military coups to protect its commercial interests, embedding a conservative, Americanised elite. Contra guerrillas backed by President Ronald Reagan used Honduras as a base to attack Nicaragua's Sandinista government in the 1980s.'-Guardian.
I wonder if they shared a banana at the civic reception later? In honour of the grand tradition I mean…
Xiomara: "Did you know your country invaded mine seven times a century ago?"
Kamala: (gulp) "Yes, I got a briefing on the history before I left."
Xiomara: "Seven is the magic number. It cast a godalmighty spell on us. We've been spell-bound ever since."
Kamala: "Well, my president is a wizard with words. He trumped Trump!"
Xiomara: "You think he could do a counter-spell for us?"
Kamala: "You need help with abortion rights. He could talk to the Pope."
Well the Labour Party have found a way to introduce a Capital Gains Tax without calling it that. They are also going to put it on the family home. While they are about it they are going to claim that they are also providing you with the Capital Gain so it won't actually cost you anything.
How do they do it? Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. Aren't you going to be grateful? They will ignore the fact that thanks to their crazy policies the price of all Auckland homes has risen.
Then they will tax you some percentage of this supposed gain because the increase is all due to the tram line. It isn't a capital gain of course. It is a windfall profit according to Robbo. This "windfall' they will tax. They won't even wait till you get it of course. They will tax you…heavily….every year….even if you never use the damn tram.
What is near the line? Well all of New Zealand actually. After all. If you were ever allowed to visit Auckland the tram line would be a sight for you, a tourist, to swoon over. I'm sure you will love to contribute to Robbo's coffers.
There. Simple wasn't it. All we have to do is get it in quickly and line up all the Labour MPs to recite, in unison, and over and over again.
"This is a windfall, it is not a Capital Gain". Repeat this line over and over while interposing at intervals "Thank you Saint Jacinda for the bounty of your windfall".
There, done.
'They are also going to put it on the family home. '
Alwyn,I say alwyn…are you feeling…alright!
You obviously haven't read what the Minister concerned has been saying. The "he" in the quote is Michael Wood.
'“It is fair and equitable that those who receive a financial windfall from significant public investment make a contribution to the project. We are clearly signalling that will happen, and that is a live prospect from today,” he said.
Levying properties to fund new infrastructure has already occurred, with new homes in the Milldale Development north of Auckland, paying an extra charge.
.A regime for light rail would be different in that it would apply to existing properties.'
So what are the homes he talks about if they do not include family homes?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300505493/properties-around-aucklands-light-rail-likely-to-face-value-capture-tax
You've gone very quiet Blazer? Have your mates embarrassed you? When do you think the PM will quit, or veto Robertson and Wood's little ploy?
Or do you think she will behave like a typical politician and just deny she said it?
It was a revelation alwyn…I would actually like 'Tony Blair ' in high heels to quit.
This 'transformational' Govt is almost as disappointing as the Natz.
"Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. "
A correction:
Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram, that will be patronised by only a handful of people because the public transport system is shit, somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home.
If it moves (a train moves) tax it! If it doesn't move (like your house) tax it anyway!
Any thoughts on personalising masks?
The N95 etc don't seem to take a dye even if dyeing doesn't screw them up. That leaves overmasks, or possibly masquerade masks over the top of the face, lol
Australia is nearly as useless as us so far as RATs are concerned. Pity we didn't hadn't learnt from what they are doing in the UK now, where they have lots of experience with Covid.
"Rapid antigen tests in the UK have individual bar codes which people photograph after taking their free test and upload the result to the NHS website, whether they are negative or positive. This means the health authorities have a clearer idea of the spread of COVID in the community."
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-government-has-been-found-wanting-once-again-20220104-p59ltc.html
But we are so woefully unprepared so far as RATs go that our government has hit the panic button by diverting supplies away from the private sector.