Will Simon Bridges also dismiss ol' Chester as a "wokester"
"While it is politically attractive to pretend we can arrest our way to success with methamphetamine, we need to see the same passion for providing rehabilitation, understanding, and pre-emptive strategies across society to try and turn the tap off in this burgeoning trade.
Chester Borrows is a former police officer, and served as Courts Minister in the Key government. He currently sits on the Parole Board."
Good to see something is being done. In particular I would like attention on how the changes to welfare either completely skipped disabled, or in many cases made their situation worse (remember the PM saying that nobody would be worse off? Not true).
I wish them well, I truly do, but I fear it will be a waste of time and effort.
No government in NZ has ever committed to addressing inequities and inequalities for disabled people. Neither of the Big Two give a shit, and minor parties lack the power and influence to move the mountains more than a few millimetres.
The single digit salute given to the advice from the Welfare Expert Advisory Group by this Current Mob is a dead giveaway…
And speaking about death…and because NZ tends to trot behind the Motherland in social policy…pesky disabled are going to be less of a drain on the UK economy by virtue if the fact that Te Virus kills them off at a horrifyingly higher rate than the rest of the population.
(Cue the resident euthanasia promoters here on TS…just what is needed is another lecture about the ethics of spending more $$$ on disabled people at the expense of the poor.)
I saw on Aljazeera TV a few weeks back that 3 out of 5 in the UK who died were disabled. It was confronting that many in the disabled group had a do not resuscitate on their medical file which they were not aware of.
We could put this simply: Humans are animals and resources on this planet are finite.
Reaction: aggression, defensiveness, me me me, no compassion. its is the same story since the ape started to stand upright. Very, very few will raise above that. NZ is no different. With Euthanasia a door has opened to justify to end the suffering…. this, not even animals do.
From day 1 the classification of contacts at Papatoetoe College gave the wrong impression of who was more at risk. Being in the same year class or travelling on a school bus with a student who was infectious without knowing.
I would like to know the failure rate for a nasal swab not picking up Covid-19 when it is in the lungs?
Were it known where the first community case of this outbreak became infected this would have been an advantage.
It is about dealing with the situation as it is at this time and the required information being given clearly so it understood and followed.
Hi Treetop, I looked that up ie the failure rate of the nasal swab. It’s 96% accurate, which is great, but when you think of that every four in 100 are false negatives.
I am no expert but it would seem the most obvious explanation is case M and N caught it off their family member who was at PapatoetoeHS and she returned three negative tests.
the geonome is the same in case m and n as the papatoetoe cluster
Unlikely to be 3 false positives on all of the nasal swabs so other reasons for not showing a positive. Could be a combination, not infectious yet, in the lung (not sure if would show being symtomatic), or a case outside the home is the likely source of contact for the older sibling and his mother and nothing to do with the household.
Genome sequencing is helpful to tie it to a cluster.
Unlikely to be 3 false positives on all of the nasal swabs …
Well, just on the straight numbers of 1 in every 25 tests of a positive person returning a false negative test result, that would be one in every roughly 15,000 covid-positive people returning 3 false negative results.
Given that our total case count is now up to around 2400, it's not wildly implausible that we have had enough instances of infection for the very rare event of repeated false negatives to have actually occurred. Just like your individual chance of winning Powerball is almost indistinguishable from zero, yet someone in New Zealand does in fact win Powerball every few weeks.
That's without considering the nuances of what conditions make false negatives more likely, or the possibility of timing issues that the first negative test might have been so early in the infection that it would be very unlikely to produce a positive, and so on.
All of which highlights that it's a very complex business. And that's without getting into the intricacies of what the virus does in bodies or the involved, problematic things around communities and transmission.
Wasn't it brilliant a year ago that overnight we developed a couple of million microbiologists and epidemiologists who could tell everyone what could and should be done.
The theme today in some places is more base of course. Ardern resigning, (and Hipkins and Bloomfield,) seems the minimum. Funny how those who so rapidly advanced through the ranks of the scientifically knowledgeable and qualified could just as instantly turn into lynch mob morons.
14 day isolation and retesting in that time prevents a community outbreak and ensures more accurate results when it comes to a series of swabs in an individual.
Agreed, but short of putting all contacts irrespective into MIQ we will never have 100% safety and even MIQ is not watertight. However, this is neither necessary nor desirable nor realistic.
I think the system is now reasonably robust although they keep on improving things, as they should. The new contact categories is a recent change and I think it is a sensible one.
I think that more improvements can be made in the messaging & communication, or education, if you prefer. They need to consider and apply psychology more. Poission just gave an informative link with a wealth of data: https://thestandard.org.nz/level-3-again-be-kind/#comment-1781177.
I didn’t mean you to read it all, just to be aware that there is a lot more data & info out there that Government could use to improve its handling of the pandemic 🙂
I don’t get your point. Depending on the type of contact AKA Contact Category, this is exactly what is expected and happening. Unless somebody does not follow the rules such as this Casual Plus Contact.
Any person who receives a yellow QR notification for a location of interest via the NZ COVID Tracer app where the notification says ‘Casual Plus Contact’. The notification will provide brief advice and a link for more information.
Personally, this omnishambles adds another major point of evidence discrediting Amnesty International's judgement, along with their really clueless adoption of Mumia Abu-Jamal as a poster boy.
Along with how it highlights how readily convergence moonbats happily amplify Kremlin propaganda without any attempt at critical examination, or consideration of nuance of the big picture.
As Martin Luther King once observed, ‘Though it may take a long time, the arc of history bends towards justice’
Despite all the lies and propaganda it is only a matter of time before Russian officers and soldiers in Syria complicit in aiding and abetting the Assad regime to carry out atrocities against the Syrian people will also brought to justice.
Navalny is by no means a simple criminal – and reinstating a suspended sentence because the convict could not meet contact requirements while recovering from novichok poisoning is a pretty sketchy basis for reimprisonment.
@ Brigid, these guys are so malleable I seriously believe if we were living in 1941 they would get in behind the Nazi invasion of Russia in a flash if they were told too, they seem to have absolutely no critical thinking facility for processing any new incoming information whatsoever.
Of course they will willfully either ignore or justify this…
I don’t believe there has been a bombing, a sanction, an assassination, a droning, or in fact any sort of aggressive foreign action from western countries directed outwardly across the planet, that you bunch of mindless fucking maniacs haven’t supported if told it’s OK by Liberal media…and that is why I often compare you to camp guards, because there is a long sad history of people like you lot of brainless arse lickers who end up being actually really dangerous to fellow citizens when/if shit ever hits the fan.
Like I said a couple of weeks ago, when someone comes along, who you guys think is the right authority, and that authority says jump, and you lot instantly yell back…HOW HIGH SIR…..no questions asked, ever…it’s really quite scary and unsettling to watch in real time.
And BTW, you have proved time and again here on this site, that if they told you dog shit was chocolate ice cream, you would shovel that down your throat as quick as you could. of that I am sure.
Yes, you are sure of many scary and unsettling things.
The relationship of those things to reality, however, seems tenuous and ephemeral. If only you could form a coherent, rational argument to support the reality of those things, rather than merely producing flecks of froth around the mouth.
I don’t believe there has been a bombing, a sanction, an assassination, a droning, or in fact any sort of aggressive foreign action from western countries directed outwardly across the planet, that you bunch of mindless fucking maniacs haven’t supported if told it’s OK by Liberal media
With that statement you not only show you haven't read what people have posted in opposition to some western military actions, you admit to having no real clue about politics – especially global insight, and then self confess to being the sort of moron wiser heads think you are. Well played.
when someone comes along, who you guys think is the right authority, and that authority says jump, and you lot instantly yell back…HOW HIGH SIR
That’s exactly what you do.
You’re like one of those Trump supporters who believes the voting machines were hacked because the my pillow guy told you.
Could you please do all of us here on TS a favour and rinse your mouth out with soap and tone it down, thanks. The three of you love to fight here, and who am I to judge, but your personal insults keep crossing the admittedly fuzzy boundaries of robust debate and it is a tad embarrassing.
I am not the least bit embarrassed, why should I be, I stand behind everything I said today, and say whenever I am on The Standard.
As I have always said, I am very easy to find, so if anyone wants this debate face to face, that’s fine with me.
Will try and tone the swearing down a bit though if that is a problem.
Adrian doesn’t like me “micro managing” you (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25-01-2021/#comment-1776224 and https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25-01-2021/#comment-1776230), which I think is fair enough and I rely on you self-moderating. However, that doesn’t seem to be working so well for so long so soon I will resort to ‘macro managing’ and I personally don’t give a toss who are going to be caught in that when it happens. When you treat other commenters with obvious disdain, you severely diminish your demands to and of Moderators.
Trouble was, when I tried ignoring most commenters I have disdain for, it's fine. But with one or two, sooner or later they drop something along the lines of the lack of response "speaks volumes", which is a flat-out lie.
So sometimes it feels like the old rock and hard place.
It's not the morbid drunks who are a problem for other people – it's the one who's taking swings at random folk and calling them the c-word in lieu of being able to form a rational position.
By the way, he’s been doing it for over a year now so yeah, I’m getting tired of it.
Indeed, it is frustrating when people offer no argument or (political) analysis but only ad homs and cheap labels ‘supported’ with meaningless and distracting YT clips.
With respect, Incognito, my choice of that Keith Olbermann montage was hardly meaningless. All of the ad homs and cheap labels in this thread come from Andre; I placed them in context.
It has been a while since anybody here received a ban. You’re currently in pole position and the nearest competition is not even in sight, I’m pleased to say.
They're not any good as insults because they are either worn out or they have no basis in reality.
Worn out insults: 1) Stalin's "useful idiots" crack. This is no more than a cliché and it has no power at all; Andre and a few others use it on this forum quite a bit. It usually says nothing about the target, but a great deal about the attacker.
2) "clueless"–same as for "useful idiots."
Insults with no basis in reality: 1) The flaccid "convergence moonbat" slur is an invention of one of the beleaguered propagandists who churns out copy for the faux-liberal Clintonista rump of the tedia, AKA “the blogosphere” (Daily Kos, Daily Beast, Vox, Huff Po). It is predicated on the nonsensical idea that, since principled people on the left criticised the Democratic Party's "leadership" and right wingers from Fox News railed, often incoherently, against Democratic "leaders", then both left and right must be the same. They converge, in other words. To quote Noam Chomsky, in order to accept that theory, you need a very expensive education.
2) "Kremlin propaganda"—sane and reasonable people will of course realize that if the Russian government happens to agree with one on a point of principle—for example, that supporting the Al-Nusra Front in Syria is not a good idea—that does not necessarily mean that one is a supporter of the Russian government.
,,, without any attempt at critical examination, or consideration of nuance of the big picture."
…here is some of the 'critical examination' you so rightly point out is sorely missing in coverage of this topic, and from actual Russians on the ground in Russia, who would ever have thought actual Russian citizens might have their own diverse opinions about their own affairs?
For Russian leftists, Western favorite Navalny represents same corrupt elitism
" Two Russian leftists, Katya Kazbek and Alexey Sakhnin discuss why they don't see Navalny as a genuine alternative to Vladimir Putin, and instead as a representative of a different faction of the ruling Russian elite — one more willing to cater to Western counterparts."
In Navalny poisoning, rush to judgment threatens new Russia-NATO crisis
Guest: Fred Weir, veteran Moscow correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.
The thing is Adrian, all you do is repost trash like this.
You never entertain the obvious questions – like, "How legitimate can a person who declares himself president for life be?" – a question Xi also needs to answer.
The lack of critical thinking lies with you Putin dupes.
Find yourself a few primary sources on Russia instead of what Putin's PR machine spoonfeeds you, and you'll be less of a public embarrassment.
The second fellow is a very poor commentator also. You should be aware that Russia has a significant intellectual culture – these people wanted, in the post Gorbachov era, to have an actual democracy.
They are absolutely furious with Putin reverting to the corruption that characterized the late Soviet era. When that autocrat took power, Russian presidential terms were limited to five years – specifically to keep scoundrels like Putin out. He has betrayed the reform of the post-Soviet era – and his management has been economically disastrous as well as deadly to journalists and industrialists that were not part of his clique.
And of course you have not answered the question. How can a leader who pretends to be a democratic president declare himself president for life? This is the act of an autocrat – and autocrats are not legitimate.
“You have selected them for their subservience to the corrupt Putin regime. You need to balance such perspectives” FFS!!!
I don't want to be rude here Stuart, but it really looks like you are either being willfully stupid or are desperately trying to just remain ignorant of other facts around this issue, so you can, for some unknown reason, only ever talk or comment on it in half truths and rhetoric….try actually putting a pin into that bubble of yours once and awhile, the fresh air might do you some good my friend.
Aaronn Mate' interviews from the above clips…
Interviewee 1; Alexey Sakhnin is a Russian activist and a member of the Left Front. He was one of the leaders of the anti-Putin protest movement from 2011 to 2013. He later emigrated to Sweden and lived as an exile there, before returning to Russia to continue his work as a left oppositional activist and journalist. He is also a member of the Progressive International Council. https://jacobinmag.com/author/alexey-sakhnin
Interviewee 2: Katya Kazbek is originally from Russia. She is a feminist and an LGBTIQ issues freelance writer. Her work has been published in Creative Times Report, Russian GQ and Vogue. Katya’s main fields of interest include the post-colonial struggle in the ex-USSR territories, race, migration, class, sexual violence and queer identities https://www.guernicamag.com/katya-kazbek-discourse-in-danger/
Interviewee 3; Fred Weir has been the Monitor's Moscow correspondent, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, since 1998. He's traveled over much of that vast territory, reporting on stories ranging from Russia's financial crash to the war in Chechnya, creeping Islamization in central Asia, Russia's demographic crisis, the rise of Vladimir Putin and his repeated returns to the Kremlin, and the ups and downs of US-Russia relations.
Fred is the co-author of Revolution from Above: Russia's Path from Gorbachev to Putin, Routledge, 2007. https://www.csmonitor.com/About/People/Fred-Weir
Then don't. Go and find yourself some credible Russian sources (you'll recognize them easily enough – they won't have a bar of RT) or stop flaunting your ignorance.
I have no problem with listening to and gathering perspectives and opinion from people like Galina Timchenko, even if it is from the BBC who are far from impartial, in fact the BBC have just been proved through leaked documents to be actively impartial, and ironically….
“These revelations show that when MPs were railing about Russia, British agents were using the BBC and Reuters to deploy precisely the same tactics that politicians and media commentators were accusing Russia of using,”
From NZ Herald: "The new case – "Case M" – attends the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) and is the older brother of a Papatoetoe High School student. The man, who also works at Kerry Logistics (Oceania) Limited, went to MIT for three days and to the gym twice – including once after taking a Covid test – when he should have been isolating at home".
He is not going to be popular with his work mates at Kerry Logistics or MIT!
Some months ago on the radio I heard the account of a bloke who was feeling unwell and thought he might have covid, that chap got a test and immediately voluntary self isolated. I felt gratitude toward him for doing the right thing and helping ensure the virus remained under control.
We have heard similar a number of times since. So and so recorded a positive test however the risk is low as they person had been self isolating for so many days before infection.
Fest forward to this past week. Ardern has said it was right to drop levels last week as those who posed a risk had been identified and had been told to isolate. If people had done the right thing we would have a firewall around the virus.
The problem of course if that some people DIDN'T do the right thing. And for all the reasons they might have felt 'compelled' or 'needed' to go out, there was an element of choice in them not doing the right thing, they chose so. Now thousands of people are at risk; at risk of contracting covid19, at risk of seeing a precarious business going under, at risk of missing a mortgage payment, at risk of missing bills, at risk of losing a job.
Most people will do the right thing. With those who choose not to the question that came to my mind is – do we from now on have to go to a level 3 or similar each and every time, rather than rely in contact tracing and isolation for some, to give no option to those who cannot make the right choice. Everyone goes to level 3 because some people cannot do as asked an cannot do the right thing. Due to a few placing us all at risk, we take away the option of doing the right thing, and automatically apply a blanket level 3 across everyone
In terms of covid and employers, have been musing on the "not being popular with workmates" bit. Someone may have been exposed to covid and was instructed to self isolate. They however chose to go to work (as opposed to the employer demanding they go to work). So the person goes to work and is then confirmed as having covid. The employer is required to close their business, clean it, and send a number of staff home to isolate and get a test. The risk the employee created might lead to discipline action. I am not saying it will automatically lead to punitive action however I think the employer has open to them initiating discipline action on the employee for the chaos created by not self isolating.
Fear of losing your job if you do not go to work is a concern. This also applies if you told your employer you had been tested and the employer said you had to come to work.
It needs to be made an offence if an employee is being coerced.
indeed, workers AND businesses need to do the right thing. Coercion to come to work is as equally bad as someone deciding the self isolate rules don't apply to them. The cost to the employer is such a case as you mention is closure, loss of income and the need for a deep clean. Plus paying staff full pay due to the employers stupidity.
That said, I am not aware how a gym can coerce someone to go in for a workout after getting a covid test.
As I recall the outcome of this case was not clear. I do not know what the final decision was. Possibly it was miscommunication with both the employer and the employee.
Even the writer of that soppy article agreed that gang numbers and confidence and visibility were increasing. Check out multiple hundreds of gang bikes rolling through Auckland yesterday. You could hear them for miles. I've not seen that done on that scale for many years.
As for last week, the Commissioner did ok, but Bridges is onto a total winner.
Covid won't camouflage this government forever, and the weaker ministers like Williams who haven't played defence well will be the most vulnerable.
I'm sure it's much smaller for regular users. But the relationship between gangs growing in smaller towns and regions of New Zealand, and massive rises in meth use, is pretty clear.
"Kawerau is a small town with a population of around 7000 people. Locals Newshub spoke to said you could find P in one in every two homes here, and if you don't already have it, your next hit is only a phone call away. "
In the 8 years we've lived in Australia I cannot recall the last time we saw a gang presence in public. I know they exist, but to suggest they enjoy any kind of extra legitimacy here strikes me as implausible.
"Right now this Government and the Police aren't convincing anyone that they're taking gangs seriously, and it will cost both of them in popularity and respect."
One could argue that Bridges is something of an expert when it comes to losing popularity and respect, but that's yesterday's news. Just when it seemed the former National party leader couldn't go any lower, he plumbs new depths. Whatever next?
With schools unable to have galas and other fund raising since late 2019, the drop off of international students and a dramatic reduction in school donations being received for those schools D7+, (that the labour govt decided not to keep its promise to fund ALL schools in lieu of dropping donations). Just listen out to schools following Heath boards with deficits and boards under severe pressure (like Health Boards) to work within inadequate funding levels.
I see, take a scattergun, shoot at something, then connect the thousands of dots into a coherent self-consistent narrative to discern and communicate ‘the truth’, and come up with ‘solutions’. That’s called constructive criticism and rational debate. It is in short supply, here and everywhere else.
I see continual under funding by ALL governments creating stress at a local level and the acceptance that under funding is to be compensated by the goodwill of teachers, nurses etc fund raising, parking fees, with anything that can makeup shortfalls any options to source funds. With covid many areas of alternative funding has greatly diminished or disappeared, and my comment was directed to Schools experiencing this so early on in the year. Other examples St Johns.
All policies are human constructs and not set in stone, follow natural laws etc. This can be changed. It takes a strong willed government and enough people fed up with all that BS we are being fed daily to act.
I would have thought if there is a provable drop in revenue, in this case through fundraising, the schools can apply for Covid-19 subsidy assistance just like anyone else?
As we have had Covid 19 schools that declined the option (Decile 1-7) in some cases are now worse off. I know that local primary schools are already having to operate under restricted budgets and asking teachers to teach with reduced resources e.g. art supplies.
I don't know when they first started telling people about the shutdown but they were certainly doing so last Wednesday, 24 Feb. It never rains but it pours.
Of course the iwi themselves have signed on to it.
I'm just marking that this is a damnably small settlement for the scale of injustice perpetrated against them by the Crown.
In 1865 this iwi had control of about 220,000 hectares, from the sources of the Waitakere to Stratford and to Whanganui.
As always the Crown's reps recognise it's not enough …. "While no redress can ever fully compensate for the destructive and demoralising effects of Crown actions, I hope this settlement will allow Ngāti Maru to realise their aspirations for a vibrant economic and cultural future, and restores a relationship based on mutual trust, respect, and cooperation." – Minister Little
But TBH if that had happened to my family I wouldn't be letting Minister Little off with it. I'd just keep fighting until I was good and done.
If they manage to acquire any cutting rights, I sure hope they cut them fast before the Chinese locally-grown glut collapses our log prices. Because if they don't they won't be worth much.
Looking forward to the post-settlement entity going from strength to strength.
Also looking forward to visiting the Parihaka village upgrade once it's all done.
This seems to be a very quick turnaround by the PM.
On Tuesday last she seemed to be saying she was in no hurry to get vaccinated.
"Asked whether she is willing to be vaccinated publicly, Ardern said she will, when it's her turn." ….. "Ardern's decision is a move away from other world leaders who have chosen to receive the vaccination early and in public, in the hopes of inspiring confidence in the vaccine."
"However, she told the Weekend Herald that she would not wait until the middle of the year, when the wider public rollout begins." …. " However, a vaccine will potentially allow Ardern to travel overseas again in the near future, and try to reinvigorate trade talks." …. "The timing and order of any trips would depend on how easy it was to travel. However, global leaders are working on a "vaccine passport" to try to open up travel again."
Given that she generally travels on an Air Force jet the only inconvenience would seem to be the need to quarantine. Does she know that a vaccination provides immunity from carrying the disease or do our leaders plan to excuse themselves from obligations we have to bear?
If it is the former it would seem to me that the first group to be vaccinated should be anyone planning to come to this country. After all, if the vaccination is fully effective we could wipe quarantine for anyone who is fully vaccinated. If it doesn't work that way is out PM planning to bypass quarantine for herself but keep it on for everyone else?
[lprent: Would you care to substantiate “Given that she generally travels on an Air Force jet…” since you have made it as an assertion of fact. However I strongly suspect that you are merely lying (again) for effect. But hey, if you make the assertion, then you own it and are expected to substantiate it. Or you could apologise to the people reading this site for making up false facts?
Substantive links only please. Possibly comparing it with John Key and/or Bill English broken down by roles.
Incidentally, as far as I am aware, the most common reason for her (like all previous prime ministers, MFAT ministers, and trade ministers) to use a Air Force 757 jet is to carry trade or diplomatic missions – not specifically for her own travel. If you were being rigorous, then you’d exclude those when they are far larger than her and assisting staff members – but I suspect you might have data issues.
The nearest viable alternative for the numbers of people on those trips especially to low traffic destinations in the pacific, would be to charter a plane for the people invited or required for those missions. Even then I vaguely remember comments in Hansard by the head of the AF, that it was usually an opportunity to send aid and diplomatic freight as well.
I’ll put you on auto-moderation for a day or two until you assemble your facts and/or apology. If I don’t hear back from you then I’ll make a sentencing decision. ]
I don't have any opinion on whether she travels on an Air Force plane. It is normally the most convenient way to do it, particularly when there is a large group of people going to some out of the way place.
[Irrelevant twaddle deleted. ]
[lprent: Read my note again and stop wasting my time. Doing searches isn’t a rare skill these days. I did that in the couple of minutes after I read your assertion.
But that wasn’t what I moderated on. You didn’t state your sentence as an opinion – you stated it in a way that claimed it to be a fact. I wouldn’t have bothered to moderate on an opinion expressed as an opinion.
What you said about Ardern was that “Given that she generally travels on an Air Force jet the only inconvenience would seem to be the need to quarantine.”. Showing that she sometimes flies on air force planes or jets isn’t ‘generally’. By your apparent definition of ‘generally’, my few flights on air force planes and helicopters decades ago could be expressed that the air force are my personal airline that I generally use. Something that is false to fact.
There was no ‘opinion’ in the first part of that sentence, the second part was opinion – and ludicrously false if the fact it was based on was false. It was also the kind of ‘fact’ that some moronic trolls would repeat like parrots for ever after. That irritates me.
If you claim a fact as part of a debate here, then the responsibility is yours to prove it or even have a decent argument for saying it was correct. That is the core of having a robust debate. Now you appear to be now attempting weasel it down a mere opinion. Doesn’t work.
You will either prove your assertion was at the very least to be something that can be argued about on the basis of verifiable facts, apologise to readers, or get a long arbitrary ban (that goes up each time that you waste my time). Which as a matter of fact becomes your choices because I won’t tolerate any others.
I really don’t like people making claims of fact that are extremely unlikely. You can’t throw opinion off as being fact here without challenge and without sanction if you can’t support it. This is a place for robust debate and expressing peoples own opinions. It is not maintained for inventing magic ‘facts’ for political advantage and payment. In NZ that was known as the departed whaleoil site. ]
I am very impressed. I certainly wasn't capable of coming up with all the information you ask of me. To find that you are capable of, in just a few minutes, coming up with details of all the trips on Air Force planes taken by Key, English and Ardern was beyond my skills.
That was even more beyond my meagre skills when you appear to have wanted me to break them down by type of trip and to be able to identify, at least by role, all the people who went on the trip including, I suppose, whether they were part of the PM's department, another department, the Press or private organisations. Even if you didn't want to know who they were you would seem to be capable of coming up with the number who were in each classification
Is this really what you managed to do in a few minutes? How do you do it? Enlightenment would be much appreciated. What were the queries that you used?
[lprent: Pointless diversion that doesn’t address the question of how you can show that your assertion of fact was in any way correct or arguable. My task was way simpler than your one because all I had to do was to seek any information that vaguely supported your made up garbage. Where as you appear to have to manufacture more idiotic bullshit arguments. I guess another day before I deal with you.
BTW: I just scanned the first 4 pages of google on RNAF 757 and 40 squadron, had a quick search at Wikipedia site, a read through the 2019 NZDF report, and a search of Hansard on the parliamentary site.
Plus of course I’ve been reading about the search for a replacement for the 757 and C-130s for quite a few years now in general background reading on the maintenance issues like this. ]
Watched tovid obrine alternatively trying to skewer the PM and then playing gossip columnist on newshub nationals yesterday. groomed to the max in black and red lippy. this morning she back on the telly trying to make out that her opinion on covid lockdowns carries more weight than the pm and the director of health. this time dressed in white no lippy and against a black backdrop so last nights excesses were not so obvious. my apologies for being so petty but if she wants to put herself up as a model of virtue and probity then it works both ways
Republican have regularly been breaking rules 3 to 10 of the 10 commandments;
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy, Honour thy father and thy mother, Thou shalt not murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, Thou shalt not covet
But now it looks like they have found a way to get a full bingo of breaking all the10 Commandments by treating Trump as their god and worshiping idols of him.
I think someone might have sent this as a joke, but those who claim to be Christians missed the fact they where breaking Rules 1 and 2 with it because most of them have never actually really read the bible, they just quote parts of it they have been told justify their bigotry.
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Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
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Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
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Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
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Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Will Simon Bridges also dismiss ol' Chester as a "wokester"
"While it is politically attractive to pretend we can arrest our way to success with methamphetamine, we need to see the same passion for providing rehabilitation, understanding, and pre-emptive strategies across society to try and turn the tap off in this burgeoning trade.
Chester Borrows is a former police officer, and served as Courts Minister in the Key government. He currently sits on the Parole Board."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/124369962/we-cant-pretend-that-we-can-arrest-our-way-to-success-with-methamphetamine
Good to see something is being done. In particular I would like attention on how the changes to welfare either completely skipped disabled, or in many cases made their situation worse (remember the PM saying that nobody would be worse off? Not true).
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300238233/disabled-kiwis-plan-hikoi-of-hope-to-parliament
I wish them well, I truly do, but I fear it will be a waste of time and effort.
No government in NZ has ever committed to addressing inequities and inequalities for disabled people. Neither of the Big Two give a shit, and minor parties lack the power and influence to move the mountains more than a few millimetres.
The single digit salute given to the advice from the Welfare Expert Advisory Group by this Current Mob is a dead giveaway…
And speaking about death…and because NZ tends to trot behind the Motherland in social policy…pesky disabled are going to be less of a drain on the UK economy by virtue if the fact that Te Virus kills them off at a horrifyingly higher rate than the rest of the population.
https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/news/6-out-of-10-people-who-have-died-from-covid-19-are-disabled
Of course that article fails to mention this quiet little initiative that has been going on for some time…
https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2020/april/fury-over-do-not-resuscitate-notices
(Cue the resident euthanasia promoters here on TS…just what is needed is another lecture about the ethics of spending more $$$ on disabled people at the expense of the poor.)
I saw on Aljazeera TV a few weeks back that 3 out of 5 in the UK who died were disabled. It was confronting that many in the disabled group had a do not resuscitate on their medical file which they were not aware of.
Point well made Rosemary.
We could put this simply: Humans are animals and resources on this planet are finite.
Reaction: aggression, defensiveness, me me me, no compassion. its is the same story since the ape started to stand upright. Very, very few will raise above that. NZ is no different. With Euthanasia a door has opened to justify to end the suffering…. this, not even animals do.
Whats the difference between nipping down to the vape store during isolation and loading up the car and heading to Coromandel to avoid lockdown?
Or bailing Auckland midday two weekends in a fortnight to make a late evening lock down announcement for Auckland from Wellington.
From day 1 the classification of contacts at Papatoetoe College gave the wrong impression of who was more at risk. Being in the same year class or travelling on a school bus with a student who was infectious without knowing.
I would like to know the failure rate for a nasal swab not picking up Covid-19 when it is in the lungs?
Were it known where the first community case of this outbreak became infected this would have been an advantage.
It is about dealing with the situation as it is at this time and the required information being given clearly so it understood and followed.
I am no expert but it would seem the most obvious explanation is case M and N caught it off their family member who was at PapatoetoeHS and she returned three negative tests.
the geonome is the same in case m and n as the papatoetoe cluster
Thanks for that.
Unlikely to be 3 false positives on all of the nasal swabs so other reasons for not showing a positive. Could be a combination, not infectious yet, in the lung (not sure if would show being symtomatic), or a case outside the home is the likely source of contact for the older sibling and his mother and nothing to do with the household.
Genome sequencing is helpful to tie it to a cluster.
Unlikely to be 3 false positives on all of the nasal swabs …
Well, just on the straight numbers of 1 in every 25 tests of a positive person returning a false negative test result, that would be one in every roughly 15,000 covid-positive people returning 3 false negative results.
Given that our total case count is now up to around 2400, it's not wildly implausible that we have had enough instances of infection for the very rare event of repeated false negatives to have actually occurred. Just like your individual chance of winning Powerball is almost indistinguishable from zero, yet someone in New Zealand does in fact win Powerball every few weeks.
That's without considering the nuances of what conditions make false negatives more likely, or the possibility of timing issues that the first negative test might have been so early in the infection that it would be very unlikely to produce a positive, and so on.
All of which highlights that it's a very complex business. And that's without getting into the intricacies of what the virus does in bodies or the involved, problematic things around communities and transmission.
Wasn't it brilliant a year ago that overnight we developed a couple of million microbiologists and epidemiologists who could tell everyone what could and should be done.
The theme today in some places is more base of course. Ardern resigning, (and Hipkins and Bloomfield,) seems the minimum. Funny how those who so rapidly advanced through the ranks of the scientifically knowledgeable and qualified could just as instantly turn into lynch mob morons.
I still love the if these trends continue comments from some of the ebola-era google-trained epidemiologists. Total zombie apocalypse territory.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/assessment-and-testing-covid-19/covid-19-test-results-and-their-accuracy
14 day isolation and retesting in that time prevents a community outbreak and ensures more accurate results when it comes to a series of swabs in an individual.
This is not fail safe.
Again, what do you mean? Do you want a system that is 100% safe?
No system can be a 100% safe.
When it comes to the 14 day isolation and retesting can this be improved?
The same can be said for the classification of contact people fall into.
Agreed, but short of putting all contacts irrespective into MIQ we will never have 100% safety and even MIQ is not watertight. However, this is neither necessary nor desirable nor realistic.
I think the system is now reasonably robust although they keep on improving things, as they should. The new contact categories is a recent change and I think it is a sensible one.
I think that more improvements can be made in the messaging & communication, or education, if you prefer. They need to consider and apply psychology more. Poission just gave an informative link with a wealth of data: https://thestandard.org.nz/level-3-again-be-kind/#comment-1781177.
I did open the link, a lot of reading is required.
I didn’t mean you to read it all, just to be aware that there is a lot more data & info out there that Government could use to improve its handling of the pandemic 🙂
I don’t get your point. Depending on the type of contact AKA Contact Category, this is exactly what is expected and happening. Unless somebody does not follow the rules such as this Casual Plus Contact.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/contact-tracing-covid-19#casual-plus
A Casual Plus Contact is not required to isolate for 14 days and to undergo a re-test.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/contact-tracing-covid-19#actions
On the topic of Navalny, Kremlin propaganda campaigns, western useful idiots, Amnesty International:
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/540815-wests-wokeness-helped-russia-to-redefine-a-prisoner-of-conscience
Personally, this omnishambles adds another major point of evidence discrediting Amnesty International's judgement, along with their really clueless adoption of Mumia Abu-Jamal as a poster boy.
Along with how it highlights how readily convergence moonbats happily amplify Kremlin propaganda without any attempt at critical examination, or consideration of nuance of the big picture.
Same sort of thing happened to James Le Mesurier
As Martin Luther King once observed, ‘Though it may take a long time, the arc of history bends towards justice’
Despite all the lies and propaganda it is only a matter of time before Russian officers and soldiers in Syria complicit in aiding and abetting the Assad regime to carry out atrocities against the Syrian people will also brought to justice.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/24/first-verdict-expected-in-germanys-landmark-syria-torture-trial
Prisoner of conscience?
Jesus Andre do get a grip.
Navalny is a simple criminal who is now serving jail time for numerous violations of his suspended sentence.
And you talk of propaganda.
fuksake
The original charges do seem pretty sketchy.
Navalny is by no means a simple criminal – and reinstating a suspended sentence because the convict could not meet contact requirements while recovering from novichok poisoning is a pretty sketchy basis for reimprisonment.
But since you are repeating Putinist propaganda, it seems only fair that the other side of the story be put. (1) Why Putin wants Alexei Navalny dead – YouTube
Andre did not coin the term “prisoner of conscience”; you are taking aim at the messenger.
No. The article did.
\shrug
ditto shrug
Did you do a left or a right semi-shrug or a full shrug? I reckon my shrug was bigger and better than yours
"Did you do a left or a right semi-shrug or a full shrug"
Not telling
" I reckon my shrug was bigger and better than yours "
Not even
@ Brigid, these guys are so malleable I seriously believe if we were living in 1941 they would get in behind the Nazi invasion of Russia in a flash if they were told too, they seem to have absolutely no critical thinking facility for processing any new incoming information whatsoever.
Of course they will willfully either ignore or justify this…
Reuters, BBC in Covert UK Program to Push Western Agenda
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/02/22/reuters-bbc-in-covert-uk-program-to-push-western-agenda/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHaSQU-4wss
Godwin.
meh. He's not usually so explicit in his accusations about which camps commenters he doesn't agree with would willingly staff.
Just because they [checks notes] think Putin is a totalitarian, murdering, kleptocrat.
I'd be offended, but only if I thought Adrian's opinion was worth more than dogshit.
You have to wonder about someone who repeatedly refers to concentration camps to defend a losing point of view.
Now if camp guard meant Charles Hawtrey or Kenneth Williams in carry on sergeant, that would be much less barking and, of course, somewhat amusing.
OMG it's an ancestor of Police Academy!
No oral under the lectern though, it was 1958 after all, and that didn't arrive in the UK until 1974.
I don’t believe there has been a bombing, a sanction, an assassination, a droning, or in fact any sort of aggressive foreign action from western countries directed outwardly across the planet, that you bunch of mindless fucking maniacs haven’t supported if told it’s OK by Liberal media…and that is why I often compare you to camp guards, because there is a long sad history of people like you lot of brainless arse lickers who end up being actually really dangerous to fellow citizens when/if shit ever hits the fan.
Like I said a couple of weeks ago, when someone comes along, who you guys think is the right authority, and that authority says jump, and you lot instantly yell back…HOW HIGH SIR…..no questions asked, ever…it’s really quite scary and unsettling to watch in real time.
And BTW, you have proved time and again here on this site, that if they told you dog shit was chocolate ice cream, you would shovel that down your throat as quick as you could. of that I am sure.
Thank you.
Also note they won't/can't counter the reasonable content you provide that falls outside the establishment narrative they vehemently hold on to.
Yes, you are sure of many scary and unsettling things.
The relationship of those things to reality, however, seems tenuous and ephemeral. If only you could form a coherent, rational argument to support the reality of those things, rather than merely producing flecks of froth around the mouth.
With that statement you not only show you haven't read what people have posted in opposition to some western military actions, you admit to having no real clue about politics – especially global insight, and then self confess to being the sort of moron wiser heads think you are. Well played.
That’s exactly what you do.
You’re like one of those Trump supporters who believes the voting machines were hacked because the my pillow guy told you.
Could you please do all of us here on TS a favour and rinse your mouth out with soap and tone it down, thanks. The three of you love to fight here, and who am I to judge, but your personal insults keep crossing the admittedly fuzzy boundaries of robust debate and it is a tad embarrassing.
I am not the least bit embarrassed, why should I be, I stand behind everything I said today, and say whenever I am on The Standard.
As I have always said, I am very easy to find, so if anyone wants this debate face to face, that’s fine with me.
Will try and tone the swearing down a bit though if that is a problem.
Yes, I think that would be appreciated all around, thank you.
Because it's the naughty words that are a problem, not calling people "camp guards"? Especially now he's made it clear precisely which camps he means?
It’s all of it.
Adrian doesn’t like me “micro managing” you (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25-01-2021/#comment-1776224 and https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25-01-2021/#comment-1776230), which I think is fair enough and I rely on you self-moderating. However, that doesn’t seem to be working so well for so long so soon I will resort to ‘macro managing’ and I personally don’t give a toss who are going to be caught in that when it happens. When you treat other commenters with obvious disdain, you severely diminish your demands to and of Moderators.
Fair call.
Trouble was, when I tried ignoring most commenters I have disdain for, it's fine. But with one or two, sooner or later they drop something along the lines of the lack of response "speaks volumes", which is a flat-out lie.
So sometimes it feels like the old rock and hard place.
When your drunk uncle at a party starts whaling that nobody loves him it is better to call a taxi for him than to beat him even more senseless.
It's not the morbid drunks who are a problem for other people – it's the one who's taking swings at random folk and calling them the c-word in lieu of being able to form a rational position.
By the way, he’s been doing it for over a year now so yeah, I’m getting tired of it.
Noted, thanks.
"Useful idiots", "Convergence moonbats", "Kremlin propaganda", "clueless". Lots of epithets, zero argument. Reminds one of this thoughtful analyst:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIhvUVuSvWk
Indeed, it is frustrating when people offer no argument or (political) analysis but only ad homs and cheap labels ‘supported’ with meaningless and distracting YT clips.
With respect, Incognito, my choice of that Keith Olbermann montage was hardly meaningless. All of the ad homs and cheap labels in this thread come from Andre; I placed them in context.
When I limit myself to one thread I generally state that
You upset cos the best insults have been used already?
It has been a while since anybody here received a ban. You’re currently in pole position and the nearest competition is not even in sight, I’m pleased to say.
They're not any good as insults because they are either worn out or they have no basis in reality.
Worn out insults: 1) Stalin's "useful idiots" crack. This is no more than a cliché and it has no power at all; Andre and a few others use it on this forum quite a bit. It usually says nothing about the target, but a great deal about the attacker.
2) "clueless"–same as for "useful idiots."
Insults with no basis in reality: 1) The flaccid "convergence moonbat" slur is an invention of one of the beleaguered propagandists who churns out copy for the faux-liberal Clintonista rump of the tedia, AKA “the blogosphere” (Daily Kos, Daily Beast, Vox, Huff Po). It is predicated on the nonsensical idea that, since principled people on the left criticised the Democratic Party's "leadership" and right wingers from Fox News railed, often incoherently, against Democratic "leaders", then both left and right must be the same. They converge, in other words. To quote Noam Chomsky, in order to accept that theory, you need a very expensive education.
2) "Kremlin propaganda"—sane and reasonable people will of course realize that if the Russian government happens to agree with one on a point of principle—for example, that supporting the Al-Nusra Front in Syria is not a good idea—that does not necessarily mean that one is a supporter of the Russian government.
Chomsky inspired me to use 'useful idiots' without even making the Stalin connection. I'm sure that says lots about me.
,,, without any attempt at critical examination, or consideration of nuance of the big picture."
…here is some of the 'critical examination' you so rightly point out is sorely missing in coverage of this topic, and from actual Russians on the ground in Russia, who would ever have thought actual Russian citizens might have their own diverse opinions about their own affairs?
For Russian leftists, Western favorite Navalny represents same corrupt elitism
" Two Russian leftists, Katya Kazbek and Alexey Sakhnin discuss why they don't see Navalny as a genuine alternative to Vladimir Putin, and instead as a representative of a different faction of the ruling Russian elite — one more willing to cater to Western counterparts."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJX9pmr1I3E
In Navalny poisoning, rush to judgment threatens new Russia-NATO crisis
Guest: Fred Weir, veteran Moscow correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTWcVOHEQTo&t=2s
The thing is Adrian, all you do is repost trash like this.
You never entertain the obvious questions – like, "How legitimate can a person who declares himself president for life be?" – a question Xi also needs to answer.
The lack of critical thinking lies with you Putin dupes.
Find yourself a few primary sources on Russia instead of what Putin's PR machine spoonfeeds you, and you'll be less of a public embarrassment.
And what is your problem with the people that Aron Mate' interviews in those two clips exactly?
It's not obvious to you?
You have selected them for their subservience to the corrupt Putin regime. You need to balance such perspectives – you might start here: Blowing up Russia: the secret plot to bring back KGB power Download (236 Pages) (pdfdrive.com)
The second fellow is a very poor commentator also. You should be aware that Russia has a significant intellectual culture – these people wanted, in the post Gorbachov era, to have an actual democracy.
They are absolutely furious with Putin reverting to the corruption that characterized the late Soviet era. When that autocrat took power, Russian presidential terms were limited to five years – specifically to keep scoundrels like Putin out. He has betrayed the reform of the post-Soviet era – and his management has been economically disastrous as well as deadly to journalists and industrialists that were not part of his clique.
And of course you have not answered the question. How can a leader who pretends to be a democratic president declare himself president for life? This is the act of an autocrat – and autocrats are not legitimate.
“You have selected them for their subservience to the corrupt Putin regime. You need to balance such perspectives” FFS!!!
I don't want to be rude here Stuart, but it really looks like you are either being willfully stupid or are desperately trying to just remain ignorant of other facts around this issue, so you can, for some unknown reason, only ever talk or comment on it in half truths and rhetoric….try actually putting a pin into that bubble of yours once and awhile, the fresh air might do you some good my friend.
Aaronn Mate' interviews from the above clips…
Interviewee 1;
Alexey Sakhnin is a Russian activist and a member of the Left Front. He was one of the leaders of the anti-Putin protest movement from 2011 to 2013. He later emigrated to Sweden and lived as an exile there, before returning to Russia to continue his work as a left oppositional activist and journalist. He is also a member of the Progressive International Council.
https://jacobinmag.com/author/alexey-sakhnin
Interviewee 2:
Katya Kazbek is originally from Russia. She is a feminist and an LGBTIQ issues freelance writer. Her work has been published in Creative Times Report, Russian GQ and Vogue. Katya’s main fields of interest include the post-colonial struggle in the ex-USSR territories, race, migration, class, sexual violence and queer identities
https://www.guernicamag.com/katya-kazbek-discourse-in-danger/
Interviewee 3;
Fred Weir has been the Monitor's Moscow correspondent, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, since 1998. He's traveled over much of that vast territory, reporting on stories ranging from Russia's financial crash to the war in Chechnya, creeping Islamization in central Asia, Russia's demographic crisis, the rise of Vladimir Putin and his repeated returns to the Kremlin, and the ups and downs of US-Russia relations.
Fred is the co-author of Revolution from Above: Russia's Path from Gorbachev to Putin, Routledge, 2007.
https://www.csmonitor.com/About/People/Fred-Weir
I don't want to be rude here
Then don't. Go and find yourself some credible Russian sources (you'll recognize them easily enough – they won't have a bar of RT) or stop flaunting your ignorance.
Politkovskaya had many friends you know – and the survivors still work to bring the truth out. This lady seems promising for example. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/russian-journalist-galina-timchenko/id494517111?i=1000430864222
I have no problem with listening to and gathering perspectives and opinion from people like Galina Timchenko, even if it is from the BBC who are far from impartial, in fact the BBC have just been proved through leaked documents to be actively impartial, and ironically….
“These revelations show that when MPs were railing about Russia, British agents were using the BBC and Reuters to deploy precisely the same tactics that politicians and media commentators were accusing Russia of using,”
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/02/22/reuters-bbc-in-covert-uk-program-to-push-western-agenda/
Well it's a start.
But to understand Putin, one does well to look at the beginning of his political career. Two Decades On, Smoldering Questions About The Russian President's Vault To Power (rferl.org)
From NZ Herald: "The new case – "Case M" – attends the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) and is the older brother of a Papatoetoe High School student. The man, who also works at Kerry Logistics (Oceania) Limited, went to MIT for three days and to the gym twice – including once after taking a Covid test – when he should have been isolating at home".
He is not going to be popular with his work mates at Kerry Logistics or MIT!
Its all very well for Seymour to blame Ardern for this lock down, but how the hell do you stop idiots like this! (other than locking them up or something).
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-auckland-in-level-3-lockdown-rest-of-new-zealand-at-level-2-latest-developments/KQD6V5VYWFFYSJUNAAZNI4K2LU/
If Seymour was our leader he would be like Trump no masks no lock down.
The UK variant is much more easily spread we need to be much more careful and be prepared for sudden lockdown.
If Seymour was our leader…
Now there's a dystopian vision, if ever there was one.
Some months ago on the radio I heard the account of a bloke who was feeling unwell and thought he might have covid, that chap got a test and immediately voluntary self isolated. I felt gratitude toward him for doing the right thing and helping ensure the virus remained under control.
We have heard similar a number of times since. So and so recorded a positive test however the risk is low as they person had been self isolating for so many days before infection.
Fest forward to this past week. Ardern has said it was right to drop levels last week as those who posed a risk had been identified and had been told to isolate. If people had done the right thing we would have a firewall around the virus.
The problem of course if that some people DIDN'T do the right thing. And for all the reasons they might have felt 'compelled' or 'needed' to go out, there was an element of choice in them not doing the right thing, they chose so. Now thousands of people are at risk; at risk of contracting covid19, at risk of seeing a precarious business going under, at risk of missing a mortgage payment, at risk of missing bills, at risk of losing a job.
Most people will do the right thing. With those who choose not to the question that came to my mind is – do we from now on have to go to a level 3 or similar each and every time, rather than rely in contact tracing and isolation for some, to give no option to those who cannot make the right choice. Everyone goes to level 3 because some people cannot do as asked an cannot do the right thing. Due to a few placing us all at risk, we take away the option of doing the right thing, and automatically apply a blanket level 3 across everyone
I sent someone a text this morning to say that MPs need to be tested. An hour later on Q+A Collins was on, she attended the Joseph Parker fight.
At some point an MP is going to test positive.
Seymour now wants a police state?
In terms of covid and employers, have been musing on the "not being popular with workmates" bit. Someone may have been exposed to covid and was instructed to self isolate. They however chose to go to work (as opposed to the employer demanding they go to work). So the person goes to work and is then confirmed as having covid. The employer is required to close their business, clean it, and send a number of staff home to isolate and get a test. The risk the employee created might lead to discipline action. I am not saying it will automatically lead to punitive action however I think the employer has open to them initiating discipline action on the employee for the chaos created by not self isolating.
Fear of losing your job if you do not go to work is a concern. This also applies if you told your employer you had been tested and the employer said you had to come to work.
It needs to be made an offence if an employee is being coerced.
indeed, workers AND businesses need to do the right thing. Coercion to come to work is as equally bad as someone deciding the self isolate rules don't apply to them. The cost to the employer is such a case as you mention is closure, loss of income and the need for a deep clean. Plus paying staff full pay due to the employers stupidity.
That said, I am not aware how a gym can coerce someone to go in for a workout after getting a covid test.
It already is.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/123382917/worksafe-notified-over-auckland-covid19-case-who-went-to-work-after-being-tested-and-advised-to-selfisolate
As I recall the outcome of this case was not clear. I do not know what the final decision was. Possibly it was miscommunication with both the employer and the employee.
Well, that wasn’t quite the point of this thread but anyway: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300226268/covid19-worksafe-wont-investigate-shop-linked-to-auckland-november-cluster
On the plus side, thanks to case M, the traffic around Saint Heliers and Mission Bay should be fine due to no Round the bays!
I'm off to YouTube to watch the Monty Python Life of Brian tune "Always look on the bright side of life"
You really are a little ray of sunshine, aren't you?
QFT
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/300240628/poverty-desperation-social-exclusion-this-is-the-soil-in-which-gangs-grow
The silence of Minister Poto Williams when her own Commissioner was attacked this week was reprehensible. She's just weak.
Bridges should be able to make good inroads with gang issues this year.
I think he handled Bridges fine on his own and in fact made him look even more reactionary and stupid.
She probably felt it was best to stand back and let Simon damage himself.
Even the writer of that soppy article agreed that gang numbers and confidence and visibility were increasing. Check out multiple hundreds of gang bikes rolling through Auckland yesterday. You could hear them for miles. I've not seen that done on that scale for many years.
As for last week, the Commissioner did ok, but Bridges is onto a total winner.
Covid won't camouflage this government forever, and the weaker ministers like Williams who haven't played defence well will be the most vulnerable.
I live near Headhunters HQ in Auckland. The road is permanently deep carbon black with burnout marks.
Gangs are trying to mimic here the higher profile and greater legitimacy they enjoy in Australia.
It's all about marketing.
That marketing is effective and goes hand in hand with actual market control.
From the Otago Uni study last year, 28% of middle aged New Zealanders have tried methamphetamine
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/409889/study-finds-28-percent-of-middle-aged-kiwis-have-tried-meth-and-reveals-the-drug-s-links-with-violence
I'm sure it's much smaller for regular users. But the relationship between gangs growing in smaller towns and regions of New Zealand, and massive rises in meth use, is pretty clear.
"Kawerau is a small town with a population of around 7000 people. Locals Newshub spoke to said you could find P in one in every two homes here, and if you don't already have it, your next hit is only a phone call away. "
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/11/new-zealand-s-growing-meth-crisis-ruining-people-s-lives-frontline-staff.html
NZPolice track this meth+dealer+violence growth relationship (among other ways) by trend-line responses from their informants:
https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publication/online-version/recent-changes-methamphetamine-scene-new-zealand-page-4
In the 8 years we've lived in Australia I cannot recall the last time we saw a gang presence in public. I know they exist, but to suggest they enjoy any kind of extra legitimacy here strikes me as implausible.
I have noticed some bikie gangs cover their patches with a vest when on their bikes.
Lead by invisible hand or not lead at all?
One could argue that Bridges is something of an expert when it comes to losing popularity and respect, but that's yesterday's news. Just when it seemed the former National party leader couldn't go any lower, he plumbs new depths. Whatever next?
With schools unable to have galas and other fund raising since late 2019, the drop off of international students and a dramatic reduction in school donations being received for those schools D7+, (that the labour govt decided not to keep its promise to fund ALL schools in lieu of dropping donations). Just listen out to schools following Heath boards with deficits and boards under severe pressure (like Health Boards) to work within inadequate funding levels.
https://www.education.govt.nz/school/funding-and-financials/fees-charges-and-donations/#what
So in other words schools can only survive with donations and foreign students. This means NZ has no functioning school system in place.
Similar situation for the Health system. Not far off for the vulnerable in society.
But millionaires and billionaires made a bundle, some with the money that should be going to the need of the community. How telling.
I see, take a scattergun, shoot at something, then connect the thousands of dots into a coherent self-consistent narrative to discern and communicate ‘the truth’, and come up with ‘solutions’. That’s called constructive criticism and rational debate. It is in short supply, here and everywhere else.
I see continual under funding by ALL governments creating stress at a local level and the acceptance that under funding is to be compensated by the goodwill of teachers, nurses etc fund raising, parking fees, with anything that can makeup shortfalls any options to source funds. With covid many areas of alternative funding has greatly diminished or disappeared, and my comment was directed to Schools experiencing this so early on in the year. Other examples St Johns.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/121808945/ambulance-service-should-not-be-dependent-on-charity
All policies are human constructs and not set in stone, follow natural laws etc. This can be changed. It takes a strong willed government and enough people fed up with all that BS we are being fed daily to act.
I am for one not optimistic.
I would have thought if there is a provable drop in revenue, in this case through fundraising, the schools can apply for Covid-19 subsidy assistance just like anyone else?
That unfilled promise means that 30% of schools were not covered, and most schools have galas etc to top up shortfalls Not happening.
Do you have a link to that “promise” so that we know what you’re talking about?
Of course, not many did foresee this pandemic.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/113426993/decile-810-schools-to-wait-for-another-day-for-shift-in-governments-150-voluntary-donations-scheme
As we have had Covid 19 schools that declined the option (Decile 1-7) in some cases are now worse off. I know that local primary schools are already having to operate under restricted budgets and asking teachers to teach with reduced resources e.g. art supplies.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/07/20/39419/school-donations
"Part of that funding would go toward giving schools that don't ask for donations $150 per student"
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/10/what-labour-promised.html
Oh yeah. I knew this was coming because I saw the alert when paying GST on Friday (forgive me a little indulgent virtue signalling there).
But, perfect timing, right?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/covid-19-coronavirus-ird-website-down-businesses-cant-apply-for-support-payment/ZCN3DBXBPBHQFC7JLY7P3PHRGA/
On this one I really feel sorry for the IRD.
I don't know when they first started telling people about the shutdown but they were certainly doing so last Wednesday, 24 Feb. It never rains but it pours.
https://media.ird.govt.nz/articles/ir-online-services-and-phone-lines-closed-during-this-weekend/
If they have planned ahead for a weekend outage it is likely that they can’t bring anything up until they have done the lot.
This Ngati Maru settlement seems pretty small for all the Waitara wrongs of the 1860s and Parihaka on top of that.
$30m plus a few reserves, and rights to buy a bit more: the full set of settlement documents is here:
https://www.govt.nz/browse/history-culture-and-heritage/treaty-settlements/find-a-treaty-settlement/ngati-maru-taranaki/
Of course the iwi themselves have signed on to it.
I'm just marking that this is a damnably small settlement for the scale of injustice perpetrated against them by the Crown.
In 1865 this iwi had control of about 220,000 hectares, from the sources of the Waitakere to Stratford and to Whanganui.
As always the Crown's reps recognise it's not enough …. "While no redress can ever fully compensate for the destructive and demoralising effects of Crown actions, I hope this settlement will allow Ngāti Maru to realise their aspirations for a vibrant economic and cultural future, and restores a relationship based on mutual trust, respect, and cooperation." – Minister Little
But TBH if that had happened to my family I wouldn't be letting Minister Little off with it. I'd just keep fighting until I was good and done.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/crown-apologises-leaving-ng-ti-maru-virtually-landless-30m-settlement-signed
If they manage to acquire any cutting rights, I sure hope they cut them fast before the Chinese locally-grown glut collapses our log prices. Because if they don't they won't be worth much.
Looking forward to the post-settlement entity going from strength to strength.
Also looking forward to visiting the Parihaka village upgrade once it's all done.
This is just the first bite, as I am sure you are aware.
"Full and final settlements" are no such thing.
It is unavoidable.
Great to see a 'funeral for a river' done with such panache and also with lots of local farmer support.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/feb/28/its-a-funeral-march-french-artist-jrs-powerful-homily-for-australias-murray-darling
It's one of the first times in a long time I've seen art and activism intersect really well.
Maybe those artists can come over here and do the same.
Good to see there are some farmers who actually care about water quality.
This seems to be a very quick turnaround by the PM.
On Tuesday last she seemed to be saying she was in no hurry to get vaccinated.
"Asked whether she is willing to be vaccinated publicly, Ardern said she will, when it's her turn." ….. "Ardern's decision is a move away from other world leaders who have chosen to receive the vaccination early and in public, in the hopes of inspiring confidence in the vaccine."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-jacinda-ardern-says-she-will-be-publicly-vaccinated-but-not-yet/K7LDPTQCUTD2YW65D5TKYQJUDA/
By Saturday she was saying
"However, she told the Weekend Herald that she would not wait until the middle of the year, when the wider public rollout begins." …. " However, a vaccine will potentially allow Ardern to travel overseas again in the near future, and try to reinvigorate trade talks." …. "The timing and order of any trips would depend on how easy it was to travel. However, global leaders are working on a "vaccine passport" to try to open up travel again."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/coronavirus-covid-19-pm-jacinda-ardern-plans-to-get-vaccinated-before-public/R4DTBWN3Q5QUQZ634O3XHNBBMQ/
Given that she generally travels on an Air Force jet the only inconvenience would seem to be the need to quarantine. Does she know that a vaccination provides immunity from carrying the disease or do our leaders plan to excuse themselves from obligations we have to bear?
If it is the former it would seem to me that the first group to be vaccinated should be anyone planning to come to this country. After all, if the vaccination is fully effective we could wipe quarantine for anyone who is fully vaccinated. If it doesn't work that way is out PM planning to bypass quarantine for herself but keep it on for everyone else?
[lprent: Would you care to substantiate “Given that she generally travels on an Air Force jet…” since you have made it as an assertion of fact. However I strongly suspect that you are merely lying (again) for effect. But hey, if you make the assertion, then you own it and are expected to substantiate it. Or you could apologise to the people reading this site for making up false facts?
Substantive links only please. Possibly comparing it with John Key and/or Bill English broken down by roles.
Incidentally, as far as I am aware, the most common reason for her (like all previous prime ministers, MFAT ministers, and trade ministers) to use a Air Force 757 jet is to carry trade or diplomatic missions – not specifically for her own travel. If you were being rigorous, then you’d exclude those when they are far larger than her and assisting staff members – but I suspect you might have data issues.
The nearest viable alternative for the numbers of people on those trips especially to low traffic destinations in the pacific, would be to charter a plane for the people invited or required for those missions. Even then I vaguely remember comments in Hansard by the head of the AF, that it was usually an opportunity to send aid and diplomatic freight as well.
I’ll put you on auto-moderation for a day or two until you assemble your facts and/or apology. If I don’t hear back from you then I’ll make a sentencing decision. ]
Well she's probably planning to come back into this country after leaving it.
Do you know how long it takes after the first and second shot of vaccine to achieve full immunity?
Do you know how many days between the two shots?
Do you know how long new arrivals are mandated to stay in MIQ?
see my moderating note.
Travel on an Air Force plane.
I don't have any opinion on whether she travels on an Air Force plane. It is normally the most convenient way to do it, particularly when there is a large group of people going to some out of the way place.
[Irrelevant twaddle deleted. ]
[lprent: Read my note again and stop wasting my time. Doing searches isn’t a rare skill these days. I did that in the couple of minutes after I read your assertion.
But that wasn’t what I moderated on. You didn’t state your sentence as an opinion – you stated it in a way that claimed it to be a fact. I wouldn’t have bothered to moderate on an opinion expressed as an opinion.
What you said about Ardern was that “Given that she generally travels on an Air Force jet the only inconvenience would seem to be the need to quarantine.”. Showing that she sometimes flies on air force planes or jets isn’t ‘generally’. By your apparent definition of ‘generally’, my few flights on air force planes and helicopters decades ago could be expressed that the air force are my personal airline that I generally use. Something that is false to fact.
There was no ‘opinion’ in the first part of that sentence, the second part was opinion – and ludicrously false if the fact it was based on was false. It was also the kind of ‘fact’ that some moronic trolls would repeat like parrots for ever after. That irritates me.
If you claim a fact as part of a debate here, then the responsibility is yours to prove it or even have a decent argument for saying it was correct. That is the core of having a robust debate. Now you appear to be now attempting weasel it down a mere opinion. Doesn’t work.
You will either prove your assertion was at the very least to be something that can be argued about on the basis of verifiable facts, apologise to readers, or get a long arbitrary ban (that goes up each time that you waste my time). Which as a matter of fact becomes your choices because I won’t tolerate any others.
I really don’t like people making claims of fact that are extremely unlikely. You can’t throw opinion off as being fact here without challenge and without sanction if you can’t support it. This is a place for robust debate and expressing peoples own opinions. It is not maintained for inventing magic ‘facts’ for political advantage and payment. In NZ that was known as the departed whaleoil site. ]
I am very impressed. I certainly wasn't capable of coming up with all the information you ask of me. To find that you are capable of, in just a few minutes, coming up with details of all the trips on Air Force planes taken by Key, English and Ardern was beyond my skills.
That was even more beyond my meagre skills when you appear to have wanted me to break them down by type of trip and to be able to identify, at least by role, all the people who went on the trip including, I suppose, whether they were part of the PM's department, another department, the Press or private organisations. Even if you didn't want to know who they were you would seem to be capable of coming up with the number who were in each classification
Is this really what you managed to do in a few minutes? How do you do it? Enlightenment would be much appreciated. What were the queries that you used?
[lprent: Pointless diversion that doesn’t address the question of how you can show that your assertion of fact was in any way correct or arguable. My task was way simpler than your one because all I had to do was to seek any information that vaguely supported your made up garbage. Where as you appear to have to manufacture more idiotic bullshit arguments. I guess another day before I deal with you.
BTW: I just scanned the first 4 pages of google on RNAF 757 and 40 squadron, had a quick search at Wikipedia site, a read through the 2019 NZDF report, and a search of Hansard on the parliamentary site.
Plus of course I’ve been reading about the search for a replacement for the 757 and C-130s for quite a few years now in general background reading on the maintenance issues like this. ]
Watched tovid obrine alternatively trying to skewer the PM and then playing gossip columnist on newshub nationals yesterday. groomed to the max in black and red lippy. this morning she back on the telly trying to make out that her opinion on covid lockdowns carries more weight than the pm and the director of health. this time dressed in white no lippy and against a black backdrop so last nights excesses were not so obvious. my apologies for being so petty but if she wants to put herself up as a model of virtue and probity then it works both ways
If you don't like what someone does, why even bring her appearance into it?
Republican have regularly been breaking rules 3 to 10 of the 10 commandments;
But now it looks like they have found a way to get a full bingo of breaking all the10 Commandments by treating Trump as their god and worshiping idols of him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8TZa3ITYFY
I think someone might have sent this as a joke, but those who claim to be Christians missed the fact they where breaking Rules 1 and 2 with it because most of them have never actually really read the bible, they just quote parts of it they have been told justify their bigotry.
22,000 seasonal workers needed within days in By of Plenty.
Minimum picking wage for Kiwifruit is now $22.10.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/kiwi-fruit-pickers-have-simple-message-growers-cry-labour-pay-us-more
Sometimes markets work ok. The pressure on this rate can only go up now.
This is what is stipulated by government as the living wage hrl. rate.
That would be the full time rate which would also have annual leave and sick days.
I assume the kiwifruit picking is a casual contract. This hourly rate should be higher.