The Canadian team is said to have played a key role in the negotiations that led to the adoption of the rulebook that will govern how the Paris Accord will cut emissions and curb global warming. “Our team worked hard throughout the negotiations to find common ground between developed and developing countries,” said Catherine McKenna (Minister of the Environment and Climate Change)…..
……Canada’s behaviour at COP conferences is not the problem. We behave as a good climate leader should. We play that role quite well.
The Canadian government has just announced a new handout of $1.6 billion to the Alberta oilsands despite already purchasing the Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion earlier in 2018.
In November, Canada posted the G20’s highest per capita GHG emissions
In Ottawa the Doug Ford government dismantled the province’s successful carbon cap-and-trade program, cancelled 758 renewable energy contracts, and stopped construction of the White Pines wind farm as it neared completion.
But the harshest attacks were reserved for campaigners on the front lines of the Trans Mountain fight.
Former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge casually and chillingly suggested that “people will die” on the protest lines at Burnaby Mountain, asserting that killing off a few “extremists” might be the price Canada would have to pay to get the Trans Mountain expansion built.
*sigh* turned on the radio and remembered that RNZ like to use January to save money by pretending that nothing is happening and we all love hearing their back catalogue of shit music from anodyne presenters.
Ouch. The RNZ director of music is a personal friend. Is there something in particular you’d like me to pass on? What in particular do you feel is “shit” about the music presented?
I am a big fan of music 101.
Although I realise it is a team that puts the show together, Alex Behan was an ideal presenter for the format. Inclusive, humble, amiable.
I will miss his vibe.
As for matinee idol, as others have said more eloquently down thread, great for a while, but can become too much of a good thing.
The one thing wrong about Matinee Idle is Simon Morris. Not only is everything that comes out of his mouth complete and utter drivel, his voice is one that should never be allowed on radio. The show was great when it began a number of years ago because Phil O’Brien did it on his own.
Agreed Ad, Matinee Idle is great fun and how radio should be used. Endless carping on about how unfair life is to some and regurgitated non-news may maintain the dreary angst of the Woe Is Us Tragics but January is time for some fun.
There are eleven other months for the The World Is Fucked depressives to get their fix.
agree +1000 Sanctuary…..why oh why should RNZ foist this rubbish on us…the BBC keeps broadcasting as usual and the news never stops..tsunamis….stock market plunges….Trump…always Trump
RNZ basically only operate for 47 weeks of the year.
Taking Xmas week plus a month off might be great for saving a few pingers and and as well I guess it suits the disconnected life style of the Wellington political/media elites. They live in a world where all the pollies and the journos bugger off to a flash bach for a month. Meanwhile, truck drivers, hair dressers, shop owners, retail workers and all the rest get the stats and the bit in between if they are lucky.
Public radio not serving the public for 5 weeks every year while the skeleton staff left to keep the place running indulge in the pernicious fantasy that Kiwis all live in an upper-middle class white collar utopia of a month of beach life at the bach simply makes me think they are disconnected from reality.
Sure, shut down for two weeks. But five? That’s taking the piss. By the time Morning Report starts up again 90% of the population has been back at work for at least two weeks.
I agree that RNZ was highjacked by the larte set for their interest not our and has become now a meaning less copy of BBC broadcasting.
We in Gisborne.HB have no real interested RNZ reporter anywhere here now to meet the public on climate change transport or environmental issues,
So RNZ needs to be scrapped; – and Government needs to produce a fresh “voice of the people” TV channel, as ‘channel 7’ was before ‘Johnny key’ closed it down.
“In 2008 the Government announced that the broadcaster was to become “more public-service” like. TVNZ responded by launching two commercial free channels; TVNZ 6 and TVNZ 7. By 2011 Prime Minister John Key announced the closure of these channels.”
Well let’s hope (as I mentioned the other day on another thread that @VV thought was brutal), the board and CEO of RNZ’s new charge to be relevant and become good media citizen’s in the digital age, DON’T preoccupy themselves with demographics and The Market The Market share.
If they are to remain, or at least pretend interest as a Public Service broadcaster, it’ll be less about demographics and The Market The Market as it’s drivers, and more about Genre and Diversity.
Concentration on Demographics – especially when focused on age, assumes the yoof of today has no interest in classical music or jazz, and the geriatric has no interest in rap or whatever passes as rythm and blues these days.
They shouldn’t even be trying to compete with the commercial alternatives – they’re perfectly capable of self flagellation beating each other to death all on their own.
OwT
It seems to me that radionz are trying to compete with commercial radio’s listings, wanting to be in the top. That is not why we have public broadcasting. While it is important to stay in the public eye, PB doesn’t need to crawl to every new whim but just stay current, being aware of what interests people, and what is coming forward in the arts and literature and critique etc. And be thinking and choosing presentation of what a well and widely informed person would want, or need, to know and understand the wider issues.
Now we have video killing the radio star; pictures that don’t tell 1,000 words because the images are so easy to slant. I refer ito it still as Radionz because that honestly states its purpose and importance. Television, videos etc are adjuncts. Reading the article is the base from which viewing the images reinforces and illustrates the subject, points, line on which the news is written; it backgrounds and shows faces, detail.
Encouraging people listening to radio, to communicate and present a range of views and anecdotes relating to the item is good. Not good is to then choose some dinosaur example of negative or fairy godmotherish or religious fundamentalist comment to read out; which happens too often. This being aired on the wider broadcasting medium just reinforces those who are uninformed and living in their own bubble of certainties and limited learning.
The Standard is good because people can be informed of links giving a wider comparative news outlets. Regular commenters may be reliable for one particular view and be trusted to give reasoned comment from that bent and be interested in justifying it when questioned. I often put up Radionz links to matters that raise new points or examples and that could pass by unnoticed that day. Radionzthey are pretty good but have to watched for a tendency to gloss over the pressing problems to concentrate on the views and wants of the chattering classes.
Indeed @ grey….. there’s nothing in that comment I disagree with.
Don’t really have time to reply properly now, but I’m both worried and hopeful about the future of PSB in this country.
There are things RNZ management are doing that lead me to believe they’re a little too concerned with “the Market The Market’ and demographics on the one hand, while on the other Chris F-F-F-Faa-F-F-FFoi is genuinely considering various options (but bearing in mind he’s only ever experienced a life, and broadcasting experience in a neo-liberal environment). Plus of course he’s got all that fiscal responsibility shit going on around him.
And somewhere back in the never-never I made another comment on PSB – several actually. One on the fact that the Coalaition for Better Broadcasting, (or whatever they call themsleves these days) isn’t actually being ambitious enough (perhaps because the shit about we’re a nation of only 4.5 mill and can’t afford stuff, and more).
Another, on the fact that we effectively have a model that isn’t too unlike all that funder-provider shit that went with health care provision in the Ruthenasia era.
Another that we have a rather huge bureaucracy with some rather large salaries that sap a lot of that money the 4.5 million supposedly can’t afford, and its all glued together -primarily due to self interest and preservation
We have:
RNZ ………. CEO and Board
TVNZ ditto
NZoA dittto
Kordia ditto
TMP ditto
MTS ditto
…….oh, and then there’s that Freeview thing
Shit……….sorry, beginning to rave, but hopefully you might be getting to understand where I’m coming from – but basically
we CAN afford 2, and probably 3 radio networks, and at least 2 TV networks that include children (Oh!!! won’t you PLEASE PLEASE think of the children)
AND we have a shitload of sources where content can come.
OwT
I love your brimming-over interest in our PBS.
Keep at it won’t you.
And PLEASE think of the childrens’ tv. It’s awful watching the c r a p with coloured morals (the colours referring to purple and hot pink rather than various shades of gold or dark skin as opposed to deadfish white or spotty pink).
I think of children’s TV quite often. I think of its potential for education as well as its entertainment value.
I also think of things like public service broadcasting’s responsibilities towards the arts and sport, and the amount of corporate welfare that goes into propping up commercial operators that have competed themselves almost to death, and now expect (as of some sort of right) to more handouts.
I think of the way public assets have been used to give commercial interests preferential treatment over time (such as transmission facilities that were once an inherent part in providing all that Reithian educate, inform and entertain stuff).
I think of the supposed efficiencies promised by all the tinkering and interference that’s gone on over decades.
There’s a lot to it all, but what worries me most is that if we ever do get to a PSB Nirvana, it will need to be protected from further political interference and viewed in the same way we see the independence of the Judiciary as being important ( if we’re ever going to be a fully functioning democracy).
But right now, (to use the neo-lib’s own language), we have a pretty inefficient system of delivering PSB and it’s overburdened with quite a few ticket clippers
“… I mentioned the other day on another thread that @VV thought was brutal…”
I have my worried face on now, OWT, as I am having a ‘senior moment’ as I cannot recall this exchange. Grateful for some clues as to when (approx) this was, and any other (gentle) clues to help my memory. LOL
mmmm – maybe it was the greywarshark I had a response from.
But…..stuff is underway at RNZ (as you’ll no doubt be aware of) – and its not necessarily for the better, but more about shuffling a few chairs about.
From Guyon to Mora/Chapman to an Alex Behan being dumped.
Yep I was thinking of this and confused you with @ Greywarshark;
Knew a person who worked at Chapman Tripp and was expected to work excessive hours well over the 40 hours a week of salary that they were paid for. The labour inspectorate should be investigating a lot more of this practise as this person actually worked over 100 hours in one week at one point and everyone was telling them, leave the firm!! They also got paid a salary lower than the person was worth, even without considering the extra hours! So no surprises that a firm like that with their own staff is keen to ‘help’ migrant labour.
Would be interesting to find out with the amount of qualifications the women had, what the salary was, $100k, $80k, surely not lower than that with masters in International Studies from IPU in Palmerston North?? and supermarket experience to boot!!! Lucky then, that Burger King can qualify and so can every other food business as importing in food is now being touted as international trade by lawyers!!!
Don’t forget many of these law firms are also sexually harassing their staff…
Bear in mind international fees are $19,000 per year, and around $15,000 per year for accomodation plus other fees so you are up for $35k+per year, not sure what their ‘international’ ranking is for a masters, but I’m not sure they are in the top 100 universities even Auckland university these days is struggling to stay on international rankings lists for education…. but here in NZ we just don’t worry about quality, as long as the fees are paid!
IPU doesn’t exactly have an international reputation like Harvard, but I guess you can then get a job in a food import business and residency on the basis of it so money well spent especially when NZ law firms are so supportive of the process!
Knew a person who worked at Chapman Tripp and was expected to work excessive hours well over the 40 hours a week of salary that they were paid for. The labour inspectorate should be investigating a lot more of this practise as this person actually worked over 100 hours in one week at one point and everyone was telling them, leave the firm!!
This is why we had penal rates and need to bring them back. If there’s enough work for two people then two people need to be employed. And 100 hour weeks is enough for three people to be employed.
Would be interesting to find out with the amount of qualifications the women had, what the salary was, $100k, $80k, surely not lower than that with masters in International Studies from IPU in Palmerston North?
I’m seeing a restaurant and bakery that serves NZ. Probably doesn’t need the degree at all.
So, the degree would be just another back door for immigrant labour. For her and her husband.
A mobile phone traced to President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say.
Reading between the lines, I doubt the world is ready for these particular selfies.
Concord Management, the Russian company charged by Mueller for funding internet trolling, is asking the judge to force prosecutors to let the company's employees see "sensitive" discovery, in a filing that's a little TMI pic.twitter.com/8e7n6ANsQM— Tierney Sneed (@Tierney_Megan) December 20, 2018
Also, apparently, among the millions of pages of records Mueller's has collected on Russian election interference is a "nude selfie." pic.twitter.com/E8eh3i0jxV— Brad Heath (@bradheath) December 27, 2018
a previous Concord filing suggested that there were multiple "personal selfie naked photographs" https://t.co/jTZ7tKYiO8— Tierney Sneed (@Tierney_Megan) December 27, 2018
Caught red handed in scamming the American people.
LinkedIn founder admits to funding a Democrat Cyber Security entity to the tune of $100,000. It created Russian Bots. IE it created fake Russian internet entities supporting Republican candidates with comments to make those Republican candidates look bad.
Trump did it. LOL.
Meanwhile the MSNBC ran of story of boarder guards destroying water stashes left by illegal immigration cartels, or good Samaritans? Then did there Hate Trump opinion panel fake news rubbish. The video is from 2011, slightly Obama era.
I looked up this Dunning-Kruger effect – it applies a lot on the blog. A certain number of people think ‘I can Write my Ideas, and being mine, I Consider Them Awfully Good’. (And that will always be true, as ‘awfully’ has a number of meanings, some of them contradictory!)
catalogofbias.org
In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people of low ability have illusory superiority and mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is.
Dunning–Kruger effect – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect
“The flyby technically began on Christmas. Unlike Pluto, whose orbit has been precisely charted for a long time, MU69 was only discovered 4 years ago and its trajectory is not perfectly known. Because of this, the team has to rely on direct observation of the body, which for now still appears as little more than a pixel in its telescope, to understand its location relative to New Horizons.
Until this weekend, the team is using the probe’s telescope to get a handle on the uncertainty of MU69’s location. Although it will be too late to tweak the spacecraft’s trajectory, the team will be able to rework the script of its high-resolution camera so that it can be certain of imaging MU69. This final update will then be relayed to New Horizons on 30 December.
I love it for what it is. Imo purity. A purity of vision and skill.
Also if we can do this we CAN make the changes as a species that we need to do
Funnily enough Imo space and everything external to earth actually helps us connect to earth, to nature. This is why we have fucked up imo – we have tried to forget that we are nature and nature is us as it is for all life – animate and inanimate.
Blessings of the festive season to you and your loved ones.
lso if we can do this we CAN make the changes as a species that we need to do
We can but there’s our ‘leaders’ preventing us.
This is why we have fucked up imo – we have tried to forget that we are nature and nature is us as it is for all life – animate and inanimate.
IMO, we’ve spent so much of our time fighting nature just to live that we’ve forgotten that we’re part of it. It’s in living memory that one in four children were dying before they were five.
We’re well beyond those times now but now we need to journey back to living with nature rather than fighting her.
Labour is sickeningly astonishingly very slow at giving us the “long promised “non commercial channel with more investigative journalism context” as ‘TVNZ 7 was when they began that one in 2008 and Johnny Key closed it down in 2011?
Quote from Wikipedia;
“In 2008 the Government announced that the broadcaster was to become “more public-service” like. TVNZ responded by launching two commercial free channels; TVNZ 6 and TVNZ 7. By 2011 Prime Minister John Key announced the closure of these channels.”
Conducted by the National Māori Authority, a survey found the top three concerns for Māori included financial insecurity, homelessness and the state of New Zealand’s rivers and lakes.
Next on the list was the number of Māori children in state care, the number of Māori in prison and the rising suicide rates.
I am leaving the IEA as of 1 Jan 2019. I will miss it. But I won't miss the endless "who funds you?" tweets. They reveal a profound misunderstanding of the kind of people who work at think tanks and what motivates them. And always irrelevant to the issue at hand. So stupid.— Jamie Whyte (@_JamieWhyte) December 27, 2018
I am leaving the IEA as of 1 Jan 2019. I will miss it. But I won't miss the endless "who funds you?" tweets. They reveal a profound misunderstanding of the kind of people who work at think tanks and what motivates them. And always irrelevant to the issue at hand. So stupid.
This is a very fine NZ cricket team. The Sri Lankan team by contrast is one of their weaker line ups – not surprising when they’ve lost so many fine players over the last few years.
I tau toko/ support these people words the fossil fuel industry pushed plastic and are still pushing it on us why did we switch from glass milk bottles to plastic because of money being used to influnce our reality making us believe that plastic was better than glass laws need to be passed to make manufactures make enviromently safe packging
Stemming plastic production should be focus, says researcher
Recycling will not be enough to dig the world out of the dangerous mountain of plastic it is drowning in, a leading plastic pollution researcher says.
Massey University’s Dr Trisia Farrelly is part of an expert group advising the United Nations.
Globally as little as 5 percent of plastic was ever recycled, meaning recycling would never address the problem, she said.
Instead an effort must be made to turn off the tap on the amount of plastic being produced.
“The plastics industry is driven by the fossil fuel industry and if they have their way, these figures are going to grow exponentially. In fact there is predicted to be a 33 percent increase in fossil fuel based plastic production in the next five years. So it’s not slowing down, it’s increasing.”
Dr Farrelly said a legally binding global treaty was needed to force producers to stop the supply of plastic. Ka kite ano links below.
I can not even leave my house for 5 minutes with out the sandflys breaking into my house to try and intimadate Eco Maori. The big picture is that the policeforce of all the countrys of Papatuanuku are corrupt if these muppets had anything except lies well they would have locked me up but know they have nothing .Some one makes a excuse that they cannot interfare when they know the state is breaking my human rights right under there noses
New GCSB bill allows spying on Kiwis
A new bill which gives New Zealand’s security and intelligence agencies more power to spy on Kiwis is likely to be introduced this week.
Prime Minister John Key said the expansion of powers of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) was for good reason.
“If you wanted to allow GCSB to spy against a New Zealander, at the moment they can’t do that,” Key said on Breakfast link below ka kite ano . P.S thanks for the mana sandflys
We are the Guardian of all the creatures on Papatuanuku we need to use all the tools we have to protect the precious wildlife from extinction. This story about the northern white rhino is sad and a catastrophe on a world scale all the creatures going extint in 2018
‘We held a memorial service’: the keeper of the last male northern white rhino
The head keeper at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya remembers Sudan We really cried, all the keepers. We held a memorial service for him, which helped. He was a great ambassador for all rhinos, not just his own kind.
I’m still working hard to ensure the two remaining northern white rhinos are content and in good condition for the rest of their lives. They continue to help raise awareness of rhino conservation. If there was no poaching, there would still be good wild populations of northern white rhinos. We are trying to tell everyone that rhino horn does not possess any medicinal value.
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This may not be the end of Sudan’s story. Semen was collected from him, and from other captive males, before they died. Scientists now plan to harvest eggs from our two remaining females, create more than one embryo and implant them in surrogate female southern white rhinos. In Berlin, scientists have managed to create an embryo using northern white rhino semen and southern white rhino eggs. Using IVF to try to save rhinos has never been done before. I keep my fingers crossed. I still hope we can save these magnificent creatures. links below ka kite ano P.S I smell some thing its a puppet.
This is like a story from a film. A businessman masquerading as a farmer, called Randy Constant! has been selling ordinary grains as organic for a nice mark-up for all concerned. Anyone who bought from him didn’t have the necessary wry sense of humour one needs to survive along with a smart brain these days.l
Constant, of Chillicothe, Missouri, and three others have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Constant, who owned an Iowa grain brokerage, acknowledged that he sold $142 million worth of corn, soybeans and wheat over a 7½-year period that wasn’t organic despite his representations.
So he grew stuff, bought off others to add to his, put it through his grain broker business, and the greedy shit clipped tickets all the way on this fraudulent scheme.l Bet they don’t have the guts to go through with it; the fairground hucksters who run things over in the good ole USA.
This sort of rip-off is what you get when you have an amoral and wilfully neglectful regulation scheme for quality in anything , which is what we have under the enforced neo-liberal free market scheme. Coupled with poor regulations and lax policing of them, is the belief in the ‘free fairy’ which is that in the free market things are so much better than if government is fully involved, and that you can trust business. People made gullible by anti-government propaganda. 👿
Kia ora Te kaea tepuia marae is getting swomped with people in need of food and housing ka pai Dennis.
It must be hard living in Tamikimakau
That is a good deed Jacinda giving aid to Indonesia to help with there recovery from the tsunami .
That’s a good sign that our government is making the correct moves with spending on boxing day up more than 10% that shows me that some business leaders are putting a negative spin on Aotearoa economy
It’s cool Te tangata whenua are celebrating the spring equinox I was researching that yesterday.
I alcohol is a big for our younger maori tane they have to learn that drink driving is not cool.ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub One has to show respect for te awa and tangaroa and be careful it is to easy to drown .
Some people do dumb stuff blowing up a shop to get insurance in Britain.
That elephantseal in Whakatane is a awsome sight they are huge creatures and one has to be very carefull around them good to see the wild creatures around Aotearoa are doing ok but we must do more to protect them.
Its good to see the south island council looking after our guest freedoom campers with showers wifi and a loo dump.
Brixit has put a lot of unneeded presure on busness and people in Britain .
Thats sad that the Bushman center is closing.
That show how a big surge in elitricty can make a strange glow that was freaky.
Kate instant family is a cool movie its all about the family. I see Aquaman has broken movie release sales records in Aotearoa biggest sales Ka pai I seen Tofiga from Laughing Samoans interview Jason Momoa so funny .
Ka kite ano
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What Were They Thinking? RNZ's CEO Paul Thompson (left) and Jim Mather, Chairman of the RNZ Board of Governors, attempt to justify the debacle arising out of their attempt to downgrade RNZ Concert to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Select Committee at Parliament on Thursday, 13 February 2020.WHAT IS ...
Dame Tariana Turia with former PM John KeyWhat is it about Tariana Turia’s grudge against the Labour Party? Not content with attacking the Government over Whānau Ora funding, which was increased by $80 million in 2019, she has now made it personal by saying that Jacinda Ardern is out of her ...
Back in 2017, right after being elected, Jacinda Ardern promised that there would be no new mines on conservation land. Since then, her government has done nothing to make that happen, and now the policy has been officially "parked" for the election:West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor says the "no new ...
So the guy who advocated for public burning and beheading feels offended because someone called him a racist!Perhaps Bob Jones hasn't heard of the very old saying; Live by the sword, die by the sword?I mean for someone who often writes opinionated nonsense about Maori; this is a ridiculous case ...
The government today announced a major support package aimed at reducing homelessness. A thousand new transitional housing places, more support for people to find homes (or not lose them in the first place), all good stuff. The one problem with it is that they're going to start charging people in ...
Courtroom Drama: There is no off-switch in a courtroom. Neither is it possible to turn the page in disgust. Ill-formed and ill-defended opinions will be exposed ruthlessly and unapologetically. As Shakespeare put it: “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.” Sometimes the ...
As of today, the novel coronavirus spreading in China is called COVID-19. Why does it matter? Around the office, we’ve had several conversations over the past few weeks about how 2019-nCoV needed its own name. First, it was getting annoying calling it by the above designation, and ‘novel coronavirus’ doesn’t ...
by Philip Ferguson Last month B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported: “In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Arms (Firearms Prohibition Orders) Amendment Bill (No 2) (Brett Hudson)Its basicly more "tough on crime" nonsense (its already illegal for unlicensed people to own guns) designed to wedge NZ First against its arsehole base. ...
In 2015 the world agreed to the Paris Agreement to fight climate change. Each country would offer a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) "that it intends to achieve", and "pursue domestic mitigation measures, with the aim of achieving [it]". And every five years, they'd improve on it, ratcheting up ambition until ...
In theory, the emissions trading scheme should reduce emissions. Making polluters pay for permits to pollute lets them save money by reducing pollution, giving them a financial incentive to do the right thing. But right from the start the ETS was broken with a system of free allocation, so polluters ...
Irish voters went to the polls on Saturday in parliamentary elections, and perhaps delivered a political revolution. Since independence, Irish politics has been dominated by two parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Basicly patronage networks with indistinguishable policies, their cleavage isn't ideology, but who killed whose father or grandfather in ...
Once again the Aotearoa Bike Challenge is on us, and once again I’m participating. In principle this is not hard because it does not represent a significant switch in behavior for me. I already bike nearly every day. The Bicycle The fascinating thing about cycling is the realisation that this ...
Lately there has been a great deal of misinformation regarding the origins and purpose of Skeptical Science. As John Cook wrote nearly a decade ago, Skeptical Science is primarily a website that debunks climate misinformation with peer-reviewed science. Despite the ever-worsening impacts from climate change, with record after record being broken in ...
Under Attack: By sacking not only RNZ Concert’s presenters, but also its producers and librarians, and reducing the station to an automated purveyor of classical music in-between parliamentary broadcasts, RNZ’s CEO, Paul Thompson, wasn’t simply announcing an operational shake-up, he was declaring war on one of the most important guardians of ...
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Australian smoke plume sets recordsThe recent wildfires in Australia sent one of ...
The Global Protest to #FightInequality was powerful – thankyou and what next? Dear allies, We started the decade with a huge protest to #FightInequality that was heard around the world, including the 1% at Davos. Watch and share the highlights on facebook and twitter. A huge thank you. Together we ...
The Ministry of Health have announced a package that might ensure NZ will never experience another measles epidemic. While at the time of writing the details are still limited it appears that the important limitations in our current programme have been acknowledged and the intent is to address them. Great ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael BakerIn this blog we briefly summarise our assessment of the highly uncertain new coronavirus threat. Given its potential to become a severe and prolonged global pandemic, a precautionary response now means activating all components of our pandemic plan, with a particular focus on ‘keep ...
When Labour was running for election, Jacinda Ardern famously said that climate change was "my generation's nuclear free moment". The implication was that her government would take the problem seriously, and act swiftly to reduce emissions. The reality:New Zealand will emit a million more tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2020 ...
James Renwick is Professor of Physical Geography at Victoria University of Wellington. He studied at Canterbury and the University of Washington and has worked on diverse aspects of climate science, including global atmospheric circulation and Antarctic sea ice. In December 2019 he was appointed to the New Zealand Climate Change ...
by Philip Ferguson Exit polls are showing a three-way virtual tie between the main parties in the south of Ireland. Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are all on just over 22%. FG on 22.4, SF on 22.3, FF on 22.2. Exit polls indicate that over 30% of 18-24 ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 2, 2020 through Sat, Feb 8, 2020 Editor's Pick New Report Details How Fossil Fuel Industry's Climate Destruction Also Exacerbates Human Rights Abuses"Even in the face of the ...
In a previous post I described briefly when and how the Starlink satellite chains – recent launches by Space-X in a scheme to bring 5G internet connectivity to the whole globe – could be seen from New Zealand with the naked eye. Here I provide an update and predictions for ...
Keeping The Faith: This Government’s broad, new, heavily moderated, progressive faith does not require a prime minister with the powers of a medieval pope. Jacinda’s regime has no need of subterranean torture chambers to ensure compliance. A gift for diplomacy and the ability to inspire her fellow human-beings is all ...
Jonathan Freedland of the Guardian has penned a column which chastises the left wing of the Labour party for daring to retain principles and ideals, qualities - it seems - that should be jettisoned in pursuit of power.Never mind that Freedland was an ardent Remainer, that is to say, one ...
Tonight’s news suggests the coronavirus outbreak may have originated from pangolins. Details are very sketchy, almost nothing at all beyond a claim of high similarity. My impression is this claim comes from a press release by South China Agricultural University. Initial discussion online suggests this is a more likely candidate ...
by Susanne Kemp The Fire and Emergency service (FENZ) has recently asked firefighters in Auckland Areas 3, 4 and 5 to take on an additional duty that has rather ominous implications. Namely, to collect names and addresses of everyone on the premises of fires they attend. The firefighters’ union, the ...
Part of the story of the Nazis' rise to power in Germany was the willingness of mainstream right-wing parties to work with them to keep out the left. Because of this, one of the fundamental rules of postwar German politics has been "do not work with Nazis". As a result, ...
There has long been a truism in public broadcasting: don't mess with Concert FM. The theory was that although the station has been in a long-term audience decline, and that audience is steadily ageing out, it has powerful establishment support – and any threat to it would provoke a fury.As ...
This is a re-post from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists The heat absorbed in Earth’s oceans reached a new record in 2019, found a recent study published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. Despite the fact that this has been the case for almost every year over the past decade, this information ...
We are confronted with the spectre of Simon Bridges making clear he cannot, will not, trust Winston Peters – the oft-cited “King Maker” in New Zealand politics.Supporters are lauding it as a master stroke, naturally, because in their eyes, it prevents him being the tail that wags the dog. ...
by Don Franks Under a government claiming empathy with the fine arts, Radio New Zealand ( RNZ) is poised to cut back its classical music station, RNZ Concert. The plan is replacing it on FM radio with music “for a younger audience” as part of a new multimedia music brand. ...
More Thwaites This past week we heard disturbing news about Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier. Helping to fill in the longer term history of Thwaites' behavior and especially helpful in interpreting results of the recent drilling project and what it may say about the future of this unstable mass of ice is Revealing the ...
Inaccuracies are very common in scientific paper abstracts. Image credit:Science in the Abstract: Don’t Judge a Study by its Cover I have come to accept anti-fluoride campaigners will never stop cherry-picking research and findings ...
“The scene is set, the players met…”. And what players they are in this farce of an Election coming up in the United States this year. There is a multi-faceted anger in the broader situation the world finds itself in, in which the false promises of so-called “moderates” find themselves ...
A few years ago, a company lowballed a contract to dispose of toxic waste from the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. So, they dumped it in a disused paper mill in Mataura, then went into liquidation - effectively dumping the problem on local councils. The waste is dangerous - it releases ...
Unhappy with the demonisation of Iran in Western media, I was fortunate to have the Australian Institute of International Affairs invite me to write an alternative analysis for their on-line journal Australian Outlook. I did, and they serialised it into two parts. The essays are short, so I did not ...
Over on The Good Society, Max Rashbrooke suggests that its time to start directly taxing wealth:A wealth tax would be levied on net wealth – that is, the value of people’s assets once their debts have been subtracted. Such a tax would be highly redistributive. Levied at 1% on wealth ...
The quarterly labour market statistics have been released, and unemployment has dropped to 4%. There are now 111,000 unemployed - 15,000 fewer than when Labour took office. Its not the performance we had under Clark (when unemployment was ~3.3%), but its still a reasonable improvement over prevailing conditions under National. ...
Prof Michael Baker, Prof Nick Wilson, Louise Delany, Prof Richard Edwards, Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanThe current national measles epidemic in New Zealand is amongst the largest we have experienced in the last 40 years. It can be linked to the problems created by long-term erosion and fragmentation of national public health ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Broadcasting New Zealand First supports the commissioning of a business case to assess the viability of a new public media entity. “A strong media environment is critical for a healthy democracy. New Zealand First is a strong supporter of a diverse, independent media,” New Zealand First broadcasting spokesperson ...
Pounamou and technology industries in the West Coast region are set to receive more than $2 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding. This was announced by the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau during Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika. He said $800,000 would be given to Development West ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First spokesperson for Labour and Industrial Relations Unemployment and wage growth numbers released by Stats NZ today demonstrate a labour market in good shape with unemployment falling to 4.0%, the underutilisation rate falling to an 11 year low, and wage growth at a 10-year high ...
Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence Ron Mark, welcomes the official opening of Te Rau Aroha, a new museum at Waitangi Treaty Grounds as part of our Coalition Agreement. “It is a great honour to be part of an effective Government ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterGood morning,Let us start with important acknowledgements.First, this special day, in remembrance of the 28th Maori Battalion, is also to honour all those men and women who have risked their lives in the service of our country.Second, special guest Robert ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand will look to build on its relationship with the United Kingdom and recommit to the European Union, after the country officially left the continental union recently. The Minister said New Zealand already cooperates closely with Britain on defence and security issues and has ...
Up to 110 new EV chargers nationwide in cities and regions 50 electric vehicles for ride-sharing The Government is helping deliver more infrastructure and options for low emissions transport through new projects, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. Tauranga, Nelson, Levin, New Plymouth and Oamaru are just some ...
New Zealanders are increasingly better off under this Government as wages rise and families have more disposable income, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ reported today that average household disposable incomes after housing costs rose 4.9% in 2019. This was the highest rise in four years and came as ...
All New Zealanders need to have their voices heard at work to ensure we have an inclusive and productive economy. Today we introduce a Bill to do this for workers in the New Zealand screen industry, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “The Screen Industry Workers Bill will ...
The Government has announced further help for the Southland and Otago regions to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. “I’ve approved Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG), making $500,000 available to help with the clean-up in Fiordland, Southland, and the Clutha district in Otago,” Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
Following the announcement that more than 340 schools will be funded to run events promoting vocational education, the Government has announced it will fund a further 257 events to be run by employers and industry. “These industry-run events will allow more than 30,000 students to connect with more than 2,000 ...
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...
A Government programme to wipe out pea weevil has achieved a world first, with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor today announcing the successful eradication of the noxious pest from Wairarapa. This means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today. Commercial and home gardeners can again grow ...
Southland residents hit by flooding caused by heavy rainfall can now access help finding temporary accommodation with the Government activating the Temporary Accommodation Service, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare announced today. “The Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help ...
“Is that it?” That’s Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s response to Simon Bridges’ much-hyped economic speech today. “Simon Bridges just gave the most over-hyped and under-delivered speech that I can remember during my time in politics,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s not surprising. Simon Bridges literally said on the radio this morning ...
A trial deployment of the Police Eagle helicopter in Christchurch will test whether the aircraft would make a significant difference to crime prevention and community safety. “The Bell 429 helicopter will be based in Christchurch for five weeks, from 17 February to 20 March,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The ...
The Government has kept up the pace of its work to promote New Zealand’s trade interests and diversify our export markets, with visits to Fiji and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker. Building momentum to bring the PACER Plus trade and development agreement ...
The Coalition Government’s investment in a strong border and disrupting transnational organised crime produced record results for stopping drugs in 2019, says Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. The illegal drugs were seized at the New Zealand border by Customs, and overseas by Customs’ international border partners before the drugs could ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off construction of a separated cycleway alongside Tamaki Drive. A two-way separated cycleway will be built along the northern side of Tamaki Drive, between the Quay Street Cycleway extension and Ngapipi Road. There will be a separate walking path alongside. Phil Twyford said giving ...
Owner-occupiers of unit and apartments living in earthquake-prone buildings will have certainty about the financial support they’ll be eligible for with the release of criteria for an upcoming assistance scheme, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. The Residential Earthquake-Prone Building Financial Assistance Scheme will help unit owners facing ...
Temporary restrictions on travel from China will remain in place as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The restrictions which prevent foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through, mainland China from entering New Zealand have been extended for a further 8 days. This position ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today that Tairāwhiti rangatahi will benefit from an investment made by the Government’s He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) scheme. The funding will go to the Tautua Village, Kauneke programme and the Matapuna Supported Employment Programme which will fund 120 rangatahi over two years. “Both programmes work ...
All parents and caregivers need to ensure that their children go to school unless they are sick, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin said today. “The school attendance results for 2019 show, across the board, a drop in the number of students going to school regularly,” the Minister says. “Apart from ...
A Deed of Settlement agreeing redress for historical Treaty claims has been signed by the Crown and Moriori at Kōpinga Marae on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) today, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little has announced. Moriori have a tradition of peace that extends back over 600 years. This settlement ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today with Māori King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII officially opened the country’s newest road, the $384 million Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway. The 15km four-lane highway with side and central safety barriers takes State Highway 1 east of Huntly town, across lowlands and streams ...
The rapid uptake of life-saving new hepatitis C medicine Maviret since it was funded by PHARMAC a year ago means the elimination of the deadly disease from this country is a realistic goal, Health Minister David Clark says. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus which attacks the liver, proving fatal ...
Kaupapa Māori will underpin the Government’s new plan to deal with homelessness announced by the Prime Minister in Auckland this morning. “Māori are massively overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness, so, to achieve different outcomes for Māori, we have to do things very differently,” says the Minister of Māori Development ...
1000 new transitional housing places delivered by end of year to reduce demand for emergency motel accommodation. Introduce 25% of income payment, after 7 days, for those in emergency motel accommodation to bring in line with other forms of accommodation support. Over $70m extra to programmes that prevents those at ...
Clear requirements for ensuring customers are treated fairly by banks, insurers and other financial service providers are included in new financial conduct legislation that passed its first reading today. “The recent reviews, by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) and Reserve Bank of New Zealand, into the conduct of banks and ...
Applications are now open for the fifth round of the Regional Culture and Heritage Fund Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Grant Robertson announced today. “I am delighted to open this year’s fund which has some $7 million available to support performing arts venues, galleries, museums and whare ...
The Minister of Māori Development, Hon Nanaia Mahuta today congratulated Associate Professor Amokura Kawharu on her appointment as the next President of the Law Commission. “Amokura Kawharu will be a standout in her new role, leading in an innovative and forward looking approach to the law reform process. She will ...
Auckland University legal academic Amokura Kawharu has been appointed as the next President of the Law Commission, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Associate Professor Kawharu will take up her new appointment on 11 May 2020. “I would like to congratulate Associate Professor Kawharu on her appointment,” Andrew ...
A programme for employers to help them engage effectively with younger employees was launched today by Minister of Employment, Willie Jackson. The Youth Ready Employer Programme contains a range of on-line templates that employers can easily access to help with employing and retaining young people in their businesses. The programme ...
Budget 2020 will be delivered on Thursday 14 May, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “This year’s Budget will continue the Coalition Government’s focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also preparing the economy for the future. “Those challenges and opportunities cannot be resolved in one budget, ...
I move, That this House place on record its appreciation and thanks for the devoted and distinguished service to New Zealand by the late Rt Hon Michael Kenneth Moore, member of the Order of New Zealand, a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, an Honorary Member of the ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has today classified the drought conditions in Northland as an adverse event for the primary sector, unlocking $80,000 in Government support. “This is recognition that the extreme and prolonged nature of this dry spell is taking its toll on our farmers and growers and additional support ...
The Minister of Police says an operation to smash a trans national drug smuggling ring today will make a significant impact on the methamphetamine trade fuelling harm in our communities. Police have announced 10 arrests and the seizure of up to five million dollars’ worth of illicit drugs after an ...
The Government’s books are in a strong position to withstand global headwinds, with the accounts in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the six months to December. The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was above ...
Race courses can improve safety with this year’s second round of funding from the Racing Safety Development Fund. Minister for Racing Winston Peters has announced the second funding round of 2019/20 is open with $347,875 available for distribution. “The racing industry is integral to the economic and social fabric of ...
Hundreds of thousands of young adults will be offered measles vaccinations in a new campaign to strengthen New Zealand’s immunisation system, Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter said at its launch in Auckland today. “About 300,000 young adults aged between 15 and 29 are not fully protected against measles, and ...
The Government is committing $300,000 to fund research to update behavioural information to make sure HIV and STI prevention services are targeted appropriately in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson made the announcement at today’s Big Gay Out in Auckland. “There is much talk about ...
The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media has announced work will begin on a business case to assess the viability of forming a new public media entity. “The Government must ensure New Zealanders have a strong independent public media service for decades to come, which means ensuring public ...
Minister of Civil Defence Hon Peeni Henare announced today that the Government will contribute $100,000 to the Southland regional Mayoral Relief Fund, to support communities impacted by the recent flooding in Southland. Mr Henare says this week’s flooding has caused significant disruption to communities in the lower South Island. ...
Heritage buildings throughout New Zealand will benefit from the $1.1 million in Heritage EQUIP funding grants announced today. “These grants for seismic strengthening projects help private building owners get the advice they need to start building work or to get the work completed,” Grant Robertson says. “Timaru’s Grosvenor Hotel has ...
A new survey has found New Zealand’s game development sector has grown beyond expectations and is on track to becoming a billion dollar industry in 2025, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says. “New Zealand’s interactive media sector grew by 42 per cent in last financial year to $203.4 million, according ...
Te Tii, the lower marae at Waitangi, is among more than 70 marae now connected to broadband internet thanks to the Provincial Growth Fund’s marae connectivity scheme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said today. In February 2019, the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) allocated $21 million to connect rural towns ...
Netflix’s new release Horse Girl promised a quirky indie dramedy from its trailer. In reality, it’s a nightmarish time-warped look into the mind of a mental illness sufferer, writes Alice Webb-Liddall.There was a horse girl in every primary school classroom. The one with ballet flats and low ponytails and books ...
You may not be punching strangers’ seats, but there’s plenty of other behaviour that is guaranteed to make your fellow passengers seethe with rage. Here’s how to travel by plane without making people hate you.You’ve probably seen the video: a woman leans back in her reclined seat as a man ...
Earmarked for big things since she left high school, the ‘Nothing to Regret’ singer has been dealing with the weight of expectations for a while now. With her debut EP just released, she’s OK with where she’s at.Given the circumstances, Robinson is surprisingly relaxed. It’s early afternoon on a swelteringly ...
By Meriba Tulo in Port Moresby Over the past month, the Autonomous Bougainville Government has made known its intention to put forward several proposed amendments to the Bougainville House of Representatives. These amendments include a provision to allow for a president to serve for more than two terms – ...
New Zealand’s Catholic bishops are concerned that unborn babies will lose their existing tenuous legal rights if Parliament passes the Abortion Legislation Bill in the form proposed by a select committee. And unborn babies with a fetal disability ...
Younger voters are being encouraged to take time now to make sure they are enrolled and ready to vote in this year’s election and referendums. The Electoral Commission’s enrolment teams will be at orientation events at universities, polytechnics and wānanga ...
FIRST Union’s Real Work Real Jobs campaign is expanding its focus to include ‘gig economy’ workers like Uber drivers and dependent contractors, with the public release of the union’s submission on the Government’s Better Protections for Contractors ...
Linda Burgess climbs the eternal staircase at the Opera House in Wellington to watch the virtuoso actor. At the interval her legs are aching. But in the second half, magic happens.There’s one person wearing a face mask, just the one, and it turns his face into a disposable nappy with ...
National Party leader Simon Bridges says the Serious Fraud Office investigation into the New Zealand First Foundation adds weight to calls for Winston Peters to be stood down. ...
Tutors at Northtec have begun strike action this week, action that will be disruptive for the institution and students. “Tutors never want to affect their students in negative ways, but they want their employer to show respect and put a decent pay ...
Dairy prices have fallen again in the latest global dairy auction, as the coronavirus outbreak takes its toll on trade. The average price at the overnight auction fell by almost 3 percent to $US3176 a tonne. Following a 4.7 percent fall at the previous auction two weeks ago, it was ...
Motorists are now able to offset their carbon emissions when they fuel up at Z Energy stations. A new feature in the Z app called Carbon Count will show drivers the carbon impact of each fill, then give them the option to offset that. There will be a per-fill option ...
Growth in bank sector profits stalled last year after years of seemingly unstoppable development. Business advisory firm KPMG's annual sector report showed the industry's collective profits fell just under 1 percent to $5.7 billion, with a growth in lending, while margins were squeezed slightly, costs rose markedly, and bad debts ...
After years of swearword-emblazoned book covers, are readers all out of fucks to give about bad language?Since Adam Mansbuch’s 2011 bestseller, Go the Fuck to Sleep, book titles have been swearing profusely to grab audience attention. The author followed up on the winning formula with You Have to Fucking Eat ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will keep his Ministerial portfolios as the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigates the New Zealand First Foundation. ...
Here's how the Government could force you to sell your house for state housing; and impact of drought, coronavirus could lead to recession - economist. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentNZ First donations scandal Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern right to let Winston Peters’ keep his head over donations ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners is calling on Police Minister Stuart Nash to front up and explain, after releasing new figures showing that since 2011, Police employees have been caught 244 times for unauthorised use of confidential and sensitive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Director, Health Program, Grattan Institute Young Australians are abandoning private health insurance in droves. And the overall decline in the percentage of the population with private coverage is continuing. New data for the three months to the end of 2019, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne As the brutal reality of climate change dawned this summer, you may have asked yourself a hard question: am I well-prepared to live in a warmer world? There are many ways we can ready ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eva Plaganyi, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Currents are strong around the Torres Strait Islands, lying between Australia’s northern-most tip and Papua New Guinea. When the tidal conditions are right and the waters relatively still, though, up to 230 islanders – a sizeable ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Fahey, PhD Candidate, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University General Motors has announced the Holden brand will be “retired” in 2021. This week’s announcement has been a long time coming. The Holden brand has been in a state of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra An “unholy coalition” is attacking the planned increase in the superannuation guarantee, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says in his latest “vision statement”, pledging to resist any attempt to stop the legislated rise to 12% going ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University China’s ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, let the cat out of the bag this week when he lambasted Canberra over its decision to exclude Huawei from the build-out of Australia’s 5G network. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thami Croeser, Research Officer, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University The idea that we should decentralise our population has come up many times in Australia. Recently, the National Farmers’ Federation president pushed the notion, calling for a shift to the regions. And ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fresh developments around in the political donations saga, the Chinese ambassador speaks out, and some troubling poll numbers for advocates of cannabis law reform.The Serious Fraud Office is formally investigating the operations of the NZ First Foundation. The confirmation came in ...
ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias interviews Dr Gwendoline Smith about how terrible it is to think too much.Certainly I overthink things, in the sense that I worry and fret and angst, but not in the sense that I actually think very deeply or intelligently. It’s more ...
A major report by the Auditor-General on how New Zealand's drinking, storm and waste waters are managed finds a conflicting, disorganised and stagnant system ill-prepared for climate change. Dileepa Fonseka reports. ...
Manchester City and the Houston Astros are latest inductees into the sports hall of shame. Dirty, rotten cheats. Calculated, cynical, premeditated, habitual, recidivist, despicable cheats. Committed cheats. Add Manchester City and the Houston Astros to a gallery of shame occupied for all eternity by Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, Ben Johnson, ...
The 10-year-old girl from Tawa who cherished a cricket bat signed by her 2000 World Cup heroes, now wants to spur a new crop of cricketers through her own swashbuckling deeds. In a recent column looking ahead to the T20 World Cup starting in Australia this week, Sophie Devine wrote that she “hoped to inspire ...
Transforming diseases into foes and therapies into battles isn’t the best way to face contagion. Annemarie Jutel asks: When did panic and catastrophe help anyone organise anything? Public anxiety and nations’ responses to coronavirus (COVID-19) have been shaped by the hyperbolic metaphors surrounding its discussion. Even the usually sedate and measured ...
Overworked and stressed teachers, overcrowded classrooms and substandard nutrition have ECE at crisis point. ECE teacher Susan Bates explains why everyone should care. If you want to know what NZ society might look like in the future, look into the eyes of the young children in your neighbourhood. Ask yourself ...
The pressures on the state budget of a rapidly ageing population must be acknowledged, and treated holistically and with nuance, write Susan St John and Dr Claire Dale The latest three-yearly 2019 Retirement Incomes Review takes a refreshingly holistic view of retirement policy and is welcomed by the Retirement Policy and ...
The dreaded pea weevil is no more in the Wairarapa, after a successful eradication effort. So why does this matter? OK, what on earth is a pea weevil?It’s a type of leaf beetle, so not actually a weevil after all, but the name is the name. Basically it gets into pea ...
Controversial Australian philosopher Peter Singer is coming to New Zealand in June. While he believes in reducing suffering for all humans and animals, his views on disability have sparked widespread alarm and condemnation.Utilitarian and moral philosopher Peter Singer is best known by many for the parable of the drowning child, ...
Sharon Brettkelly gets a rare look at the internal workings of Immigration New Zealand - and we look at what's holding up visa applications. Immigration New Zealand's Henderson office is like any other, with rows of workers at their computers. But in this workplace the lives of tens of thousands ...
Alex Casey delivers her seventh power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where a group of intruders have herniated the competition’s intestines forever. Click here for previous instalments. Welcome back to The Bachelorette NZ, where everything is made up and every man is suddenly named Mike. Intruders! Five of them! A whole ...
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila Solicitor-General Jose Calida asked the Supreme Court today to issue a gag order against ABS-CBN, claiming the Philippines’ largest television network was engaging in “propaganda” to sway the justices in the quo warranto case seeking to void its franchise. Calida filed the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen R Fisher, Professor, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for young children with disability is not equal across Australia. Where you live can hinder access to information about disability support, assistance to apply for ...
The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations applauds the changes to the Residential Tenancies Act released by the government yesterday but does not believe that they go far enough to improving the rights of renters. The power imbalance in the current ...
The Prime Minister will take no action against Deputy Prime Minister and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, after confirmation of a Serious Fraud Office investigation. ...
Eamonn Marra’s debut novel makes a study of the mundane: sanding a fence, heating baked beans, three pizzas for $29.99 delivered. Alie Benge reckons it belongs somewhere between Sally Rooney and Elena Ferrante. It was about page three of 2000ft Above Worry Level. A feeling burst inside me: the joy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzie Gibson, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Charles Sturt University The gothic developed as a European architectural phenomenon in 12th-century France, where awe-inspiring cathedrals reflected a world drenched in religious piety and superstition. Its veneration was revisited in 18th-century English literature, when ...
Financial services company Heartland Bank has reported a solid lift in its first-half profit driven by increased lending despite a squeeze on margins and rising costs. ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, e-bikes are now just a tap away! Josie Adams reviews the latest disruption in transport culture.When Lime launched in 2018, New Zealand’s transport culture got the electric shock it needed. For too long we’d ...
Ministers love to bray about the seizing of illegal drugs. Customs statistics on seizures last year – albeit “preliminary” statistics – therefore were irresistible to Customs Minister Jenny Salesa. They gave her a platform to remind us of her existence as a Minister while acknowledging the work of her officials. ...
The rise of ‘plant-based’ diets seems like a win for those who decry eating meat. But some vegan groups claim the halfway step of vegetarianism is ineffectual if you really care about animal cruelty, climate change, or your own personal health.An article in the Guardian last year asked “Why do ...
FIRST Union General Secretary Dennis Maga says that this morning’s comments from National Party Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith that the party would consider scrapping the Government’s proposed minimum wage increases if elected ...
The State Housing Action Network (SHAN) is deeply disappointed that the Government’s recently announced Aotearoa Homelessness Action Plan fails to provide for increases in the state housing stock which are essential for addressing the homelessness crisis. ...
Electricity retailers will no longer be able to entice former customers with steep and exclusive discounts, the Electricity Authority has announced. ...
The National Party leader Simon Bridges says it came as a surprise to him that the Serious Fraud Office prosecution relates to two $100,000 donations to the party. ...
National Party leader Simon Bridges says it came as a surprise to him that a Serious Fraud Office prosecution relates to two $100,000 donations to the party. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne The federal court’s rejection of the ABC case against the Australian Federal Police raid on its Sydney headquarters in June 2019 reveals two issues of great importance to ...
Zero waste campaigners are petitioning the Government to take a more active stance in tackling Aotearoa New Zealand’s waste crisis, with a comprehensive ban on single-use disposable plastic food and drink serviceware, and a phasing in of accessible, reusable ...
“Callaghan Innovation’s $440,000 grant for an electric ferry design is pure corporate welfare,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “If EV Maritime’s ferries present such good value, then why didn’t it get private ...
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Pacific Media Centre Papua New Guinea’s Minister for State Enterprises Sasindran Muthuvel has reassured the nation that Air Niugini is taking all necessary steps to protect the country against the spread of coronavirus, reports EMTV News. “The airline has instituted a wide range of measures to minimise the risk ...
Our writers celebrate the best performances you can watch right now on NEON. Basically? They’re iconic.We all love a good story, and a great plot twist can turn a mediocre TV show into addictive weekly viewing. But what really keeps us coming back are the characters, and seeing actors at ...
National finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith has refused to give details on the party's planned tax cut policy announced in a speech by leader Simon Bridges yesterday. ...
The owners of three properties in Twizel will have to sell-up after they failed to seek consent from the Overseas Investment Office (OIO). Vanessa Horne, Group Manager for the OIO, says a group of overseas investors bought the three properties, which ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentNZ First donations scandal Guyon Espiner and Kate Newton (RNZ): NZ First Foundation trustee was lobbying for donor Bryce ...
Open Mike 28/12/2018 
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‘
Canada’s climate policy rotting corpse puts on a clean shirt and a nice tie to attend COP 24
The Canadian government has just announced a new handout of $1.6 billion to the Alberta oilsands despite already purchasing the Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion earlier in 2018.
In November, Canada posted the G20’s highest per capita GHG emissions
In Ottawa the Doug Ford government dismantled the province’s successful carbon cap-and-trade program, cancelled 758 renewable energy contracts, and stopped construction of the White Pines wind farm as it neared completion.
But the harshest attacks were reserved for campaigners on the front lines of the Trans Mountain fight.
Former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge casually and chillingly suggested that “people will die” on the protest lines at Burnaby Mountain, asserting that killing off a few “extremists” might be the price Canada would have to pay to get the Trans Mountain expansion built.
*sigh* turned on the radio and remembered that RNZ like to use January to save money by pretending that nothing is happening and we all love hearing their back catalogue of shit music from anodyne presenters.
Ouch. The RNZ director of music is a personal friend. Is there something in particular you’d like me to pass on? What in particular do you feel is “shit” about the music presented?
Print more t shirts you idiots
‘Scuse me for butting in here riffer.
I am a big fan of music 101.
Although I realise it is a team that puts the show together, Alex Behan was an ideal presenter for the format. Inclusive, humble, amiable.
I will miss his vibe.
As for matinee idol, as others have said more eloquently down thread, great for a while, but can become too much of a good thing.
The one thing wrong about Matinee Idle is Simon Morris. Not only is everything that comes out of his mouth complete and utter drivel, his voice is one that should never be allowed on radio. The show was great when it began a number of years ago because Phil O’Brien did it on his own.
I find it a relief, the presenters quirky, and the music both avoids pop hits and is stupid enough to laugh at.
We don’t need no education.
Agreed Ad, Matinee Idle is great fun and how radio should be used. Endless carping on about how unfair life is to some and regurgitated non-news may maintain the dreary angst of the Woe Is Us Tragics but January is time for some fun.
There are eleven other months for the The World Is Fucked depressives to get their fix.
AD
+1
It’s only occasionally. There is no intention of having it each week. A very well done thing – even the drivel is okay.
agree +1000 Sanctuary…..why oh why should RNZ foist this rubbish on us…the BBC keeps broadcasting as usual and the news never stops..tsunamis….stock market plunges….Trump…always Trump
RNZ basically only operate for 47 weeks of the year.
Taking Xmas week plus a month off might be great for saving a few pingers and and as well I guess it suits the disconnected life style of the Wellington political/media elites. They live in a world where all the pollies and the journos bugger off to a flash bach for a month. Meanwhile, truck drivers, hair dressers, shop owners, retail workers and all the rest get the stats and the bit in between if they are lucky.
Public radio not serving the public for 5 weeks every year while the skeleton staff left to keep the place running indulge in the pernicious fantasy that Kiwis all live in an upper-middle class white collar utopia of a month of beach life at the bach simply makes me think they are disconnected from reality.
Sure, shut down for two weeks. But five? That’s taking the piss. By the time Morning Report starts up again 90% of the population has been back at work for at least two weeks.
100% sancuary.
I agree that RNZ was highjacked by the larte set for their interest not our and has become now a meaning less copy of BBC broadcasting.
We in Gisborne.HB have no real interested RNZ reporter anywhere here now to meet the public on climate change transport or environmental issues,
So RNZ needs to be scrapped; – and Government needs to produce a fresh “voice of the people” TV channel, as ‘channel 7’ was before ‘Johnny key’ closed it down.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TVNZ
“In 2008 the Government announced that the broadcaster was to become “more public-service” like. TVNZ responded by launching two commercial free channels; TVNZ 6 and TVNZ 7. By 2011 Prime Minister John Key announced the closure of these channels.”
Perhaps you’re not worth the bother.
/
Anusha Bradley
Senior journalist Hawke’s Bay / Gisborne Reporter – anusha.bradley@radionz.co.nz
Napier City, New Zealand
radionz.co.nz
Well let’s hope (as I mentioned the other day on another thread that @VV thought was brutal), the board and CEO of RNZ’s new charge to be relevant and become good media citizen’s in the digital age, DON’T preoccupy themselves with demographics and The Market The Market share.
If they are to remain, or at least pretend interest as a Public Service broadcaster, it’ll be less about demographics and The Market The Market as it’s drivers, and more about Genre and Diversity.
Concentration on Demographics – especially when focused on age, assumes the yoof of today has no interest in classical music or jazz, and the geriatric has no interest in rap or whatever passes as rythm and blues these days.
They shouldn’t even be trying to compete with the commercial alternatives – they’re perfectly capable of self flagellation beating each other to death all on their own.
OwT
It seems to me that radionz are trying to compete with commercial radio’s listings, wanting to be in the top. That is not why we have public broadcasting. While it is important to stay in the public eye, PB doesn’t need to crawl to every new whim but just stay current, being aware of what interests people, and what is coming forward in the arts and literature and critique etc. And be thinking and choosing presentation of what a well and widely informed person would want, or need, to know and understand the wider issues.
Now we have video killing the radio star; pictures that don’t tell 1,000 words because the images are so easy to slant. I refer ito it still as Radionz because that honestly states its purpose and importance. Television, videos etc are adjuncts. Reading the article is the base from which viewing the images reinforces and illustrates the subject, points, line on which the news is written; it backgrounds and shows faces, detail.
Encouraging people listening to radio, to communicate and present a range of views and anecdotes relating to the item is good. Not good is to then choose some dinosaur example of negative or fairy godmotherish or religious fundamentalist comment to read out; which happens too often. This being aired on the wider broadcasting medium just reinforces those who are uninformed and living in their own bubble of certainties and limited learning.
The Standard is good because people can be informed of links giving a wider comparative news outlets. Regular commenters may be reliable for one particular view and be trusted to give reasoned comment from that bent and be interested in justifying it when questioned. I often put up Radionz links to matters that raise new points or examples and that could pass by unnoticed that day. Radionzthey are pretty good but have to watched for a tendency to gloss over the pressing problems to concentrate on the views and wants of the chattering classes.
Indeed @ grey….. there’s nothing in that comment I disagree with.
Don’t really have time to reply properly now, but I’m both worried and hopeful about the future of PSB in this country.
There are things RNZ management are doing that lead me to believe they’re a little too concerned with “the Market The Market’ and demographics on the one hand, while on the other Chris F-F-F-Faa-F-F-FFoi is genuinely considering various options (but bearing in mind he’s only ever experienced a life, and broadcasting experience in a neo-liberal environment). Plus of course he’s got all that fiscal responsibility shit going on around him.
And somewhere back in the never-never I made another comment on PSB – several actually. One on the fact that the Coalaition for Better Broadcasting, (or whatever they call themsleves these days) isn’t actually being ambitious enough (perhaps because the shit about we’re a nation of only 4.5 mill and can’t afford stuff, and more).
Another, on the fact that we effectively have a model that isn’t too unlike all that funder-provider shit that went with health care provision in the Ruthenasia era.
Another that we have a rather huge bureaucracy with some rather large salaries that sap a lot of that money the 4.5 million supposedly can’t afford, and its all glued together -primarily due to self interest and preservation
We have:
RNZ ………. CEO and Board
TVNZ ditto
NZoA dittto
Kordia ditto
TMP ditto
MTS ditto
…….oh, and then there’s that Freeview thing
Shit……….sorry, beginning to rave, but hopefully you might be getting to understand where I’m coming from – but basically
we CAN afford 2, and probably 3 radio networks, and at least 2 TV networks that include children (Oh!!! won’t you PLEASE PLEASE think of the children)
AND we have a shitload of sources where content can come.
Anyway……duties call
OwT
I love your brimming-over interest in our PBS.
Keep at it won’t you.
And PLEASE think of the childrens’ tv. It’s awful watching the c r a p with coloured morals (the colours referring to purple and hot pink rather than various shades of gold or dark skin as opposed to deadfish white or spotty pink).
I think of children’s TV quite often. I think of its potential for education as well as its entertainment value.
I also think of things like public service broadcasting’s responsibilities towards the arts and sport, and the amount of corporate welfare that goes into propping up commercial operators that have competed themselves almost to death, and now expect (as of some sort of right) to more handouts.
I think of the way public assets have been used to give commercial interests preferential treatment over time (such as transmission facilities that were once an inherent part in providing all that Reithian educate, inform and entertain stuff).
I think of the supposed efficiencies promised by all the tinkering and interference that’s gone on over decades.
There’s a lot to it all, but what worries me most is that if we ever do get to a PSB Nirvana, it will need to be protected from further political interference and viewed in the same way we see the independence of the Judiciary as being important ( if we’re ever going to be a fully functioning democracy).
But right now, (to use the neo-lib’s own language), we have a pretty inefficient system of delivering PSB and it’s overburdened with quite a few ticket clippers
….a nation of 5 million now
actually
“… I mentioned the other day on another thread that @VV thought was brutal…”
I have my worried face on now, OWT, as I am having a ‘senior moment’ as I cannot recall this exchange. Grateful for some clues as to when (approx) this was, and any other (gentle) clues to help my memory. LOL
mmmm – maybe it was the greywarshark I had a response from.
But…..stuff is underway at RNZ (as you’ll no doubt be aware of) – and its not necessarily for the better, but more about shuffling a few chairs about.
From Guyon to Mora/Chapman to an Alex Behan being dumped.
Yep I was thinking of this and confused you with @ Greywarshark;
Back l8r
Knew a person who worked at Chapman Tripp and was expected to work excessive hours well over the 40 hours a week of salary that they were paid for. The labour inspectorate should be investigating a lot more of this practise as this person actually worked over 100 hours in one week at one point and everyone was telling them, leave the firm!! They also got paid a salary lower than the person was worth, even without considering the extra hours! So no surprises that a firm like that with their own staff is keen to ‘help’ migrant labour.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/379077/christmas-joy-for-woman-previously-denied-visa-to-stay-in-nz
Would be interesting to find out with the amount of qualifications the women had, what the salary was, $100k, $80k, surely not lower than that with masters in International Studies from IPU in Palmerston North?? and supermarket experience to boot!!! Lucky then, that Burger King can qualify and so can every other food business as importing in food is now being touted as international trade by lawyers!!!
Don’t forget many of these law firms are also sexually harassing their staff…
One in five NZ lawyers sexually harassed, Law Society survey finds
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12061142
About IPU
http://www.ipu.ac.nz
Bear in mind international fees are $19,000 per year, and around $15,000 per year for accomodation plus other fees so you are up for $35k+per year, not sure what their ‘international’ ranking is for a masters, but I’m not sure they are in the top 100 universities even Auckland university these days is struggling to stay on international rankings lists for education…. but here in NZ we just don’t worry about quality, as long as the fees are paid!
http://www.ipu.ac.nz/tuition-accommodation-fees.html
IPU doesn’t exactly have an international reputation like Harvard, but I guess you can then get a job in a food import business and residency on the basis of it so money well spent especially when NZ law firms are so supportive of the process!
Cheap for an entire family to get residency, super and healthcare, for the rest of their lives.
Which is why our education scam, works so well.
It is certainly not for the quality of education. Which has been dumbed down, so foreign students always pass.
Many of these courses are, frankly, crap. Relying in the carrot of residence to gain students.
/agreed
Need a serious review into this and to put a stop to an obviously corrupt practice.
I passed university history attending one lecture and then reading a book. Not proud but it was that easy. The science subjects required hard work.
This is why we had penal rates and need to bring them back. If there’s enough work for two people then two people need to be employed. And 100 hour weeks is enough for three people to be employed.
I’m seeing a restaurant and bakery that serves NZ. Probably doesn’t need the degree at all.
So, the degree would be just another back door for immigrant labour. For her and her husband.
A job where you end up working more hours than you are paid for?
Shocking stuff…..Quick some one call the human rights commission!
I think a royal commission of enquirey is required here HRC just won’t cut it
That’s called slavery Chris.
Glad to see you announce that you’re clearly in favour of it.
“There was no collusion…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DatXfA3UMAAuYK2.jpg
A mobile phone traced to President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say.
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/investigations/article219016820.html
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/watch/re-examining-the-dossier-after-a-year-of-indictments-guilty-pleas-1407774787776
Reading between the lines, I doubt the world is ready for these particular selfies.
Coming soon for the space tragics, New Horizons’Ultima Thule flyby at sparrow fart, January 2nd NZDT.
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/
https://twitter.com/hashtag/UltimaThule
Tweets by NewHorizons2015
Oh my, the poor Dems.
Caught red handed in scamming the American people.
LinkedIn founder admits to funding a Democrat Cyber Security entity to the tune of $100,000. It created Russian Bots. IE it created fake Russian internet entities supporting Republican candidates with comments to make those Republican candidates look bad.
Trump did it. LOL.
Meanwhile the MSNBC ran of story of boarder guards destroying water stashes left by illegal immigration cartels, or good Samaritans? Then did there Hate Trump opinion panel fake news rubbish. The video is from 2011, slightly Obama era.
Fake News, more soon.
You really are a walking example of Dunning-Krueger.
I looked up this Dunning-Kruger effect – it applies a lot on the blog. A certain number of people think ‘I can Write my Ideas, and being mine, I Consider Them Awfully Good’. (And that will always be true, as ‘awfully’ has a number of meanings, some of them contradictory!)
catalogofbias.org
In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people of low ability have illusory superiority and mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is.
Dunning–Kruger effect – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect
I made a mistake. Was meant to be No 6. Was expecting a similar response.
I think everybody suffers from that disorder, Dunning-Krueger occasionally.
Thanks Joe90. I didn’t know about this flyby.
Great bonus for the mission.
Awesome
“The flyby technically began on Christmas. Unlike Pluto, whose orbit has been precisely charted for a long time, MU69 was only discovered 4 years ago and its trajectory is not perfectly known. Because of this, the team has to rely on direct observation of the body, which for now still appears as little more than a pixel in its telescope, to understand its location relative to New Horizons.
Until this weekend, the team is using the probe’s telescope to get a handle on the uncertainty of MU69’s location. Although it will be too late to tweak the spacecraft’s trajectory, the team will be able to rework the script of its high-resolution camera so that it can be certain of imaging MU69. This final update will then be relayed to New Horizons on 30 December.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/12/nasa-spacecraft-readies-new-years-rendezvous-primordial-object-far-beyond-pluto
I particularly like that we didn’t know it was there when the probe was launched.
Can’t help but think there’s a metaphor in there, somewhere.
Thanks to you – and marty mars – for the links. Really excited about this !!!!!
I love it for what it is. Imo purity. A purity of vision and skill.
Also if we can do this we CAN make the changes as a species that we need to do
Funnily enough Imo space and everything external to earth actually helps us connect to earth, to nature. This is why we have fucked up imo – we have tried to forget that we are nature and nature is us as it is for all life – animate and inanimate.
Blessings of the festive season to you and your loved ones.
We can but there’s our ‘leaders’ preventing us.
IMO, we’ve spent so much of our time fighting nature just to live that we’ve forgotten that we’re part of it. It’s in living memory that one in four children were dying before they were five.
We’re well beyond those times now but now we need to journey back to living with nature rather than fighting her.
yes all true this is.
Labour is sickeningly astonishingly very slow at giving us the “long promised “non commercial channel with more investigative journalism context” as ‘TVNZ 7 was when they began that one in 2008 and Johnny Key closed it down in 2011?
Quote from Wikipedia;
“In 2008 the Government announced that the broadcaster was to become “more public-service” like. TVNZ responded by launching two commercial free channels; TVNZ 6 and TVNZ 7. By 2011 Prime Minister John Key announced the closure of these channels.”
Time to act Jacinda. “Lets do this” !!!!!
Broadcast TV is dead.
But streaming TV isn’t.
Yes I also have have these concerns.
https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/national/top-five-concerns-among-maori-2018
Jamie incest Whyte doesn’t do honesty.
Just another empty vassal.
We know exactly the type of people who fund such ‘think’ tanks – people who desire power and control over others.
OMG the cricket.
Best we’ve been in decades.
The Hadlee-Crowe era wasn’t as good as this.
This is a very fine NZ cricket team. The Sri Lankan team by contrast is one of their weaker line ups – not surprising when they’ve lost so many fine players over the last few years.
I tau toko/ support these people words the fossil fuel industry pushed plastic and are still pushing it on us why did we switch from glass milk bottles to plastic because of money being used to influnce our reality making us believe that plastic was better than glass laws need to be passed to make manufactures make enviromently safe packging
Stemming plastic production should be focus, says researcher
Recycling will not be enough to dig the world out of the dangerous mountain of plastic it is drowning in, a leading plastic pollution researcher says.
Massey University’s Dr Trisia Farrelly is part of an expert group advising the United Nations.
Globally as little as 5 percent of plastic was ever recycled, meaning recycling would never address the problem, she said.
Instead an effort must be made to turn off the tap on the amount of plastic being produced.
“The plastics industry is driven by the fossil fuel industry and if they have their way, these figures are going to grow exponentially. In fact there is predicted to be a 33 percent increase in fossil fuel based plastic production in the next five years. So it’s not slowing down, it’s increasing.”
Dr Farrelly said a legally binding global treaty was needed to force producers to stop the supply of plastic. Ka kite ano links below.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/379167/stemming-plastic-production-should-be-focus-says-researcher
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute
I can not even leave my house for 5 minutes with out the sandflys breaking into my house to try and intimadate Eco Maori. The big picture is that the policeforce of all the countrys of Papatuanuku are corrupt if these muppets had anything except lies well they would have locked me up but know they have nothing .Some one makes a excuse that they cannot interfare when they know the state is breaking my human rights right under there noses
New GCSB bill allows spying on Kiwis
A new bill which gives New Zealand’s security and intelligence agencies more power to spy on Kiwis is likely to be introduced this week.
Prime Minister John Key said the expansion of powers of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) was for good reason.
“If you wanted to allow GCSB to spy against a New Zealander, at the moment they can’t do that,” Key said on Breakfast link below ka kite ano . P.S thanks for the mana sandflys
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/83160725/new-gcsb-bill-allows-spying-on-kiwis
Hope you had a good Christmas eco Maori. We can only guess why the ‘sandflys’ are stressing you out. Thanks for the links.
We are the Guardian of all the creatures on Papatuanuku we need to use all the tools we have to protect the precious wildlife from extinction. This story about the northern white rhino is sad and a catastrophe on a world scale all the creatures going extint in 2018
‘We held a memorial service’: the keeper of the last male northern white rhino
The head keeper at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya remembers Sudan We really cried, all the keepers. We held a memorial service for him, which helped. He was a great ambassador for all rhinos, not just his own kind.
I’m still working hard to ensure the two remaining northern white rhinos are content and in good condition for the rest of their lives. They continue to help raise awareness of rhino conservation. If there was no poaching, there would still be good wild populations of northern white rhinos. We are trying to tell everyone that rhino horn does not possess any medicinal value.
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This may not be the end of Sudan’s story. Semen was collected from him, and from other captive males, before they died. Scientists now plan to harvest eggs from our two remaining females, create more than one embryo and implant them in surrogate female southern white rhinos. In Berlin, scientists have managed to create an embryo using northern white rhino semen and southern white rhino eggs. Using IVF to try to save rhinos has never been done before. I keep my fingers crossed. I still hope we can save these magnificent creatures. links below ka kite ano P.S I smell some thing its a puppet.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/dec/24/people-of-2018-head-keeper-last-male-northern-white-rhino-dies
This is like a story from a film. A businessman masquerading as a farmer, called Randy Constant! has been selling ordinary grains as organic for a nice mark-up for all concerned. Anyone who bought from him didn’t have the necessary wry sense of humour one needs to survive along with a smart brain these days.l
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2018/12/26/organic-grain-fraud-scheme-u-s-says-thousands-were-victims/2418272002/
Constant, of Chillicothe, Missouri, and three others have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Constant, who owned an Iowa grain brokerage, acknowledged that he sold $142 million worth of corn, soybeans and wheat over a 7½-year period that wasn’t organic despite his representations.
So he grew stuff, bought off others to add to his, put it through his grain broker business, and the greedy shit clipped tickets all the way on this fraudulent scheme.l Bet they don’t have the guts to go through with it; the fairground hucksters who run things over in the good ole USA.
This sort of rip-off is what you get when you have an amoral and wilfully neglectful regulation scheme for quality in anything , which is what we have under the enforced neo-liberal free market scheme. Coupled with poor regulations and lax policing of them, is the belief in the ‘free fairy’ which is that in the free market things are so much better than if government is fully involved, and that you can trust business. People made gullible by anti-government propaganda. 👿
Kia ora Te kaea tepuia marae is getting swomped with people in need of food and housing ka pai Dennis.
It must be hard living in Tamikimakau
That is a good deed Jacinda giving aid to Indonesia to help with there recovery from the tsunami .
That’s a good sign that our government is making the correct moves with spending on boxing day up more than 10% that shows me that some business leaders are putting a negative spin on Aotearoa economy
It’s cool Te tangata whenua are celebrating the spring equinox I was researching that yesterday.
I alcohol is a big for our younger maori tane they have to learn that drink driving is not cool.ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub One has to show respect for te awa and tangaroa and be careful it is to easy to drown .
Some people do dumb stuff blowing up a shop to get insurance in Britain.
That elephantseal in Whakatane is a awsome sight they are huge creatures and one has to be very carefull around them good to see the wild creatures around Aotearoa are doing ok but we must do more to protect them.
Its good to see the south island council looking after our guest freedoom campers with showers wifi and a loo dump.
Brixit has put a lot of unneeded presure on busness and people in Britain .
Thats sad that the Bushman center is closing.
That show how a big surge in elitricty can make a strange glow that was freaky.
Kate instant family is a cool movie its all about the family. I see Aquaman has broken movie release sales records in Aotearoa biggest sales Ka pai I seen Tofiga from Laughing Samoans interview Jason Momoa so funny .
Ka kite ano
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute