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Open mike 28/09/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 28th, 2012 - 171 comments
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step right up to the mike…

171 comments on “Open mike 28/09/2012 ”

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  1. mickysavage 1
    28 September 2012 at 7:22 am

    I thought a note of thanks should be posted to lprent and the authors for the Standard.

    It provides a number of us the opportunity to put news items up for discussion and the subsequent nuanced analysis and contributions of knowledge and experience that occurs certainly helps my thinking on issues.

    Some, repeat some, efforts by RWNJs helps to challenge, although normally reinforce my thoughts.

    It is surprising how the collective thoughts that result then seeps out into Parliament and into the media.

    Long live the Standard! 

    • deuto 1.1
      28 September 2012 at 7:47 am

      I totally agree with your comments, ms, and add my thanks. The Standard has been and remains a ‘lifeline’ to me over some torrid times in recent years. Reading it and occasionally commenting has become a part of daily life.

    • marsman 1.2
      28 September 2012 at 8:04 am

      Hear hear micky. Like deuto, for me The Standard is what keeps me sane during this nasty patch of governmentitis. The Shipley years made me utterly depressed but with this identikit Shonkey plunderfest I feel strengthened by like-minded people on this site. Well done The Standard!!!

    • LynW 1.3
      28 September 2012 at 8:45 am

      The Standard has certainly been my sanctuary in disillusioned times. I wholeheartedly agree with ms and also offer my gratitude to those who contribute ensuring healthy, well informed and sourced debate on critical issues. Most encouraging of all for me is knowing there is a collective social conscience with NZ’s best interests at heart. Thank you.

      • ianmac 1.3.1
        28 September 2012 at 8:55 am

        Me too. As I live a long way away from big cities the Standard is an important link with the real world. Some of the opposing views are also important. Don’t want to become as one eyed as the wrong Right team!

    • r0b 1.4
      28 September 2012 at 11:05 am

      Thanks all – comments both above and below – we’re feeling the love!

    • BloodyOrphan 1.5
      28 September 2012 at 11:09 am

      Bloody well said M8!, good people.

  2. Chris 2
    28 September 2012 at 8:25 am

    I too would like to thank The Standard.It is only recently that I have decided to try to become more politically aware in order to make sense of the insidious rot that is eroding our country. I have found The Standard to be invaluable with its(mostly) impartial commentary and breaking down of information to people like myself who get bogged down with the whys and wherefores,so that we can get a glimmer of true understanding of Parliament and its workings.I hope to be able to come to unbiased opinions instead of only dislke of personalities, through logical thinking.However it will take me some time to be able to look at key and cronies without wanting to slap the lot of them!I am deeply saddened at the state of our beautiful country and its more vulnerable citizens.

  3. kiwi_prometheus 3
    28 September 2012 at 8:46 am

    Otago Daily Times >

    The Family Violence Death Review:

    “New Zealand mothers kill more children than any other group in society and men are victims of domestic violence as often as women, a police investigation has found.

    University of Otago Professor David Fergusson, an expert on domestic violence, said the public perception that men were the perpetrators of most domestic violence was the result of biased publicity.

    “The proper message is that both gender groups have a capacity for domestic violence [and] women probably perpetrate more assaults on children then men do,” Mr Fergusson said. ”

    Well, well, well. So much for the feminist propaganda meme “Men are the problem”. No doubt they will be working over time to bury this one or twist it to fit their feminist orthodoxy.

    • BloodyOrphan 3.1
      28 September 2012 at 9:00 am

      Any thought on why? , how can we as a civilised people build a system that will stop these events from happening?

      Or would you prefer too bitch some more

      • kiwi_prometheus 3.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 9:13 am

        “Or would you prefer too bitch some more”

        I believe neo classical economics is a failed ideology that has exacerbated the divide between rich and poor. Every time the reports/stats come out showing increasing poverty and accumulation of even more wealth by the ultra rich, the Free marketers work over time to bury it.

        You going to accuse me of bitching again, BloodyOrphan?

    • karol 3.2
      28 September 2012 at 9:10 am

      And let’s look behind the headlines to some of the facts, which show some gender differences;

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7726347/Family-violence-death-toll-revealed

      The report, which did not include all deaths that occurred during that period, found 15 out of 33 child victims were killed by their mums.

      Five newborn babies were killed by women who concealed their pregnancies, while six children were killed by their mothers prior to them committing suicide.
      …
      More than 80 per cent of women’s deaths were a result of partner violence – compared to 29 per cent of men – representing 57 per cent of all adult family violence deaths.

      Women (65 per cent) and children (91 per cent) were commonly killed by people who lived in the same house.

      While men (48 per cent) were mostly killed by people outside their immediate family.

      Yes, women can be violent, but women are still more often victims of male violence than vice versa. And much of the female violence is by mothers against children. It looks like the result of women in positions where they feel unable to live up to the pressures on them to care for children in circumstances which make that difficult.

      • kiwi_prometheus 3.2.1
        28 September 2012 at 9:27 am

        I think the professor put it best:

        “The proper message is that both gender groups have a capacity for domestic violence [and] women probably perpetrate more assaults on children then men do”

        That message is not in keeping with feminist orthodoxy.

        “It looks like the result of women in positions where they feel unable to live up to the pressures on them to care for children in circumstances which make that difficult.”

        There you go, a very sympathetic treatment you give there to women offenders – after insisting men are more violent than women.

        Are you a feminist, karol?

        • karol 3.2.1.1
          28 September 2012 at 11:12 am

          Yes, I’m a feminist, KP. We come in different varieties. I never say “men are the problem”. Many men work to change things for the better. But we still live in a predominantly patriarchal society, in which the balance of power in most situations benefits a lot of men.

          Society is the problem.

          I’m also left wing, and there are some women, in various contexts, who have more power than some men.

          It’s not a straightforward situation where any one demographic group are responsible for all our problems.

          But you seem to want to oversimplify things…. and you seem to like to attack feminists/feminism.

        • QoT 3.2.1.2
          28 September 2012 at 6:34 pm

          probably perpetrate more assaults

          probably pepetrate more assaults

          [citation needed]

      • Bored 3.2.2
        28 September 2012 at 9:59 am

        Karol, something I did not mention below was that we also mapped out assaults by people unknown to each other prior to the assault…almost exclusively male.

        I suspect the figures for womens assaults of relatives / family etc are highly biased by their predominance in roles as the domestic caregivers etc, along with the resultant proximity and stresses. In our current version of society / economy men don’t get so exposed to this.

    • Bored 3.3
      28 September 2012 at 9:16 am

      KP, some comments:

      Years back I was research assistant with open access to Police files mapping acts of violence reported to the Police, and transposing the addresses of the assaulted and assailant, and gathering data etc. From memory we recorded:
      * there was no socio economic bias on location of domestic assaults.
      * the vast majority of domestic assaults reported were by males.
      * women often assaulted their partners BUT these cases rarely went to court.
      * assaults with significant injury were almost exclusively perpetrated by males.

      From the Police notes we surmised that there was a high bias amongst males to not report or want to pursue acts of violence by females: they were often reported by third parties. So yes women assaulted men. Remembering this was years ago but I do not recall significant reports of assaults against children or seniors. What I suspect this represents is a different attitude at the time which thankfully has changed.

      On the type of violence in domestic disputes the significant things I recall recording were the capacity of males for extreme violence (no female equivalence), and the amount of (female) verbal abuse from partners that these men blamed for their offending. (Before anybody objects to me saying this remember we were researching, not drawing conclusions.., that was not our job).

      So to your comment about feminist propaganda: women have every reason to fear male violence, we males have a good track record as offenders. The significant difference is that we males are usually far better at dishing out the rough stuff than women. The absolute necessity for safe places like Womens Refuges for victims of male violence attests to this.

      If feminists have made a big issue of male violence it is because they need to: there is an easy way to shut them up….we males should stop doing the violence.

      • BloodyOrphan 3.3.1
        28 September 2012 at 9:21 am

        Well said Bored, I myself could sit there all day while they wail away on me wouldn’t even blink.
        If I on the other hand threw one punch, they’d likely be in hospital or dead.

      • kiwi_prometheus 3.3.2
        28 September 2012 at 9:34 am

        Like the professor said:

        “The proper message is that both gender groups have a capacity for domestic violence [and] women probably perpetrate more assaults on children then men do,”

        Not exactly in keeping with the feminist meme – ‘men are the problem’.

        • Bored 3.3.2.1
          28 September 2012 at 9:51 am

          KP the reason I went to some length to reply was your final line: So much for the feminist propaganda meme “Men are the problem”. No doubt they will be working over time to bury this one or twist it to fit their feminist orthodoxy.

          You may wish to consider that that particular meme being fronted by a particularly vociferous group is very necessary. Feminists have called a spade a spade. They should be applauded for this. They have the bravery to face mens reaction to force the change.

          If you have a positive meme on this violence issue (i.e. any substantive female violence against men and children) I will support you: I suspect feminists would do the same.

          • kiwi_prometheus 3.3.2.1.1
            28 September 2012 at 10:16 am

            “Feminists have called a spade a spade…They should be applauded for this.”

            No, they have distorted the issue to fit their extremist ideology.

            Here’s just one small snippet from a leading feminist luminary ->

            “The newest variations on this distressingly ancient theme center on hormones and DNA: men are biologically aggressive; their fetal brains were awash in androgen; their DNA, in order to perpetuate itself, hurls them into murder and rape.” (Andrea Dworkin, Letters >From a War Zone, Dutton Publishing, 1989, p. 114)”

            Is that your idea of calling a spade a spade is it? Is that part of the feminist ” positive meme ” to use your words?

            You are looking like another fembot to me, bored.

            • Bored 3.3.2.1.1.1
              28 September 2012 at 10:26 am

              Me a fembot? Thats very amusing. You need to read some rather robust exchanges I have had recently with QOT etc. Hope she is having a laugh at this.

              • kiwi_prometheus …
                28 September 2012 at 10:34 am

                Well QoT is a Category 5 manhater, lol.

                I certainly have been laughing at her fantasy fiction graphic design – seems she’s trying to style herself as a tough girl lesbian with a “Girl With The Dragoon Tattoo” attitude.

                You’re what’s called a “useful idiot”, bored.

                • alex …
                  28 September 2012 at 12:12 pm

                  @KP – Calling Bored a useful idiot eh? Well, at least he is useful. You on the other hand…

                  • Me …
                    28 September 2012 at 12:20 pm

                    Me- is drained, tired, sad, depressed, ill, fed up, lonely, miserable, beaten up, abused, lied too, hated, fat, lethargic and bullied.

                    That is Me.

                    Sorry I aint 100%.

                    It is kind of hard to be 100% when your body is ill and your mentally exhausted.

            • Jokerman 3.3.2.1.1.2
              28 September 2012 at 11:24 am

              ignore extremists like Dworkin, imo

              • kiwi_prometheus …
                28 September 2012 at 11:32 am

                To ignore Dworkin is to ignore Feminism, numbers like her are the Godmothers of the movement.

                You can’t separate out the ideology from the protagonists.

                Its like saying I ignore Friedman, but I’m a believer in neo classical economics.

                • Pascal's bookie …
                  28 September 2012 at 11:48 am

                  Its like saying I ignore Friedman, but I’m a believer in neo classical economics.

                  Leaving aside the lulz contained in you lecturing people about What A Proper Feminist Thinks, (which is a big deal because those lulz are epic in nature), your analogy is pretty whack.

                  First up, ‘neo classical economics’ is to ‘economics’ as ‘feminism’ is to ?

                  Looks like a category error could be in play there.

                  Second up, by way of labouring the point;

                  ‘It’s like saying I ignore the Pope even though I’m a christian’

                  or

                  ‘I ignore Friedman even though I don’t believe in a command economy’

                  or

                  ‘I ignore Sta1in even though I’m an atheist’

                  ad infinitum

              • Bored …
                28 September 2012 at 4:33 pm

                Never heard of Dworkin before. Just read the wiki, did she have a rough time! Her life experiences would really have politicised her. Some would call it choices, others circumstance but when you read of her experiences you understand the reaction. Extreme perhaps, but hell what a response.

            • Draco T Bastard 3.3.2.1.1.3
              28 September 2012 at 11:54 am

              No, they have distorted the issue to fit their extremist ideology.

              No they haven’t. The research has consistently shown that men do more and worse violence than women.

              • KJT …
                28 September 2012 at 12:26 pm

                No it doesn’t. It shows that domestic violence is more often from women.

                Violence outside the home is, mostly, young males attacking each other. Crimes such as rape by strangers are, actually, not that common.

                Violence committed by males is often worse because of , generally, greater strength.

                Which means that males have a duty to make sure they do not harm people with that strength. There I agree with the feminists.

                However I suspect a lot of domestic violence is because of stress, which affects women carers more, because they are more overworked and involved in family/childcare.

                Rather than fighting about who does what, it would be better to try and find ways of reducing the causes, and stresses which lead to violence.

                Taking steps to stop many people becoming poorer and more powerless would help.

            • QoT 3.3.2.1.1.4
              28 September 2012 at 6:37 pm

              leading feminist luminary … Andrea Dworkin

              Oh believe me, Bored, I am pissing myself laughing.

              Take it away, manboobz.

        • BloodyOrphan 3.3.2.2
          28 September 2012 at 10:08 am

          What is the masculin personality and does it live in Men exclusively?

          Is that what you’re asking KP? , and “Men are the problem” make any more sense ?

          You’re right it’s not about gender it’s about peronality, and how would you describe a “Feminist” personality. If you break the word down it means Activist Women.

          Activism is an aggressive form of communication, and aggression is in the definition sense of the word more “Masculin”

          So the real statement should read “Violent People are the problem” and a Feminist wouldn’t usually argue that.

          • kiwi_prometheus 3.3.2.2.1
            28 September 2012 at 10:28 am

            “how would you describe a “Feminist” personality. If you break the word down it means Activist Women.”

            Your “Activist Women” are gender bigots. Here’s some more hate speech from their movements top dogs:

            “[Rape] is nothing more or less than a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear.” (Susan Brownmiller, Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, Secker & Warburg, 1975, p. 6) ”

            “If life is to survive on this planet, there must be a decontamination of the Earth. I think this will be accompanied by an evolutionary process that will result in a drastic reduction of the population of males. People are afraid to say that kind of stuff anymore.” (from a 2001 interview with What Is Enlightenment magazine [referencing] Mary Daly, Quintessence…Realizing the Archaic Future: A Radical Elemental Feminist Manifesto, Beacon Press, 1998)”

            “Heterosexual intercourse is the pure, formalized expression of contempt for women’s bodies.” (Andrea Dworkin, Letters From a War Zone, Dutton Publishing, 1989)”

            “Whatever they may be in public life, whatever their relations with men, in their relations with women, all men are rapists and that’s all they are. They rape us with their eyes, their laws, their codes.” (Marilyn French, The Women’s Room, Summit Books, 1977)”

            “Some women today believe that men are well on their way to exterminating women from the world through violent behavior and oppressive policies.” (Marilyn French, The War Against Women, Ballantine Books, 1992, p. 200)”

            “The proportion of men must be reduced to and maintained at approximately 10% of the human race.” (The Future–If There Is One–Is Female, 1982) – Gearhart, Sally Miller

            • BloodyOrphan 3.3.2.2.1.1
              28 September 2012 at 10:33 am

              Well said bud, welcome to the world of “Denial”
              Those women are expressing what they experience every day, a personal perpective if you like.
              And yes their chosen perspective forces them to see those things everyday.
              So what are you trying to say about them bud?
              At least they are transparent in their aggression.
              (i.e. We can see them coming)

              • kiwi_prometheus …
                28 September 2012 at 10:37 am

                You’re obviously in denial about Feminist ideology.

                Why don’t want to state your position on any of those statements above by leading feminists?

                • BloodyOrphan …
                  28 September 2012 at 10:40 am

                  Na bud, like I said “Well said”, they are Bigots.

                  And my position is they are in denial about their perspective in life.

                  They say they are fighting for equality and then want to decimate the numbers of men, obviously not civilised. They are just more power trippin humans.

                  Many Many people are like that.

                  And ya can just leave it at “They’re a bunch of biggots”, we dont need proof of an everyday thing bud.

                  And yes I do support the Feminist activism, why?,
                  Because innocent people who are feminine, need to be aware of the dangers, which are many.

                  • kiwi_prometheus …
                    28 September 2012 at 11:29 am

                    You’re making out that they are just an isolated group of discredited nobodies.

                    Wrong.

                    They are leading feminist intellectuals and activists.

                    Because of their gender bigotry efforts, men are perceived constantly as violent and dangerous perpetrators against women and children.

                    But as the professor pointed out:

                    “the public perception that men were the perpetrators of most domestic violence was the result of biased publicity.”

                    • BloodyOrphan …
                      28 September 2012 at 12:11 pm

                      “result of biased publicity”
                      I’d say it was the result of the ambigous meaning of the word “Man”, it’s based on Observational statistics and real life interpretation after all.

                      “You’re making out that they are just an isolated group of discredited nobodies”
                      The size of the group is irrelevant, it’s about impact on civilisation, more “Reactionary” than anything.
                      And no these r my observed opinions of the world, im a bit of a minimalist.

            • BLiP 3.3.2.2.1.2
              28 September 2012 at 10:38 am

              .

              Pat . . . Pat . . . is that you?

            • Draco T Bastard 3.3.2.2.1.3
              28 September 2012 at 12:05 pm

              You’ve gone out and picked up the most extreme examples that could find haven’t you? (Or, I suspect, are repeating what you’ve found on feminist hating blogs) Here, try this post on (T/W). I think you’ll find that most feminists don’t match what you believe.

            • QoT 3.3.2.2.1.4
              28 September 2012 at 8:37 pm

              Hey folks, you know what’s hilarious? Entirely without meaning to, in my comment above this one I linked to a Manboobz post which debunks almost every single one of these “quotes” k_p has provided!

              I know, it’s a shock to all of us that k_p is mindlessly copy-pasting misogynist sp*m, but I’m sure in time, with sufficient grief counselling, we’ll get over it.

    • Dr Terry 3.4
      28 September 2012 at 11:00 am

      Alright, kp, just let us recogise that ALL VIOLENCE is not a good thing!

    • Draco T Bastard 3.5
      28 September 2012 at 11:34 am

      I have NFI how the ODT got a headline of Children most often killed by mothers (ScreenShot) when their second sentence says:

      The Family Violence Death Review, released today by police, found mothers were responsible for 45 per cent of children killed by domestic violence.

      Last time I looked 45% was less than half and is thus not “most”. What the report says is:

      Martin and Pritchard found that children in their first year of life were most likely to be killed by a natural parent, with mothers frequently suspected of killing a baby in the first four weeks of life and fathers frequently suspected of killing an older baby in the 1-12 month age group (2010: 49). Fathers and stepfathers were more often the perpetrator as the child grew older (Ibid).

      Labour’s women’s affairs spokeswoman Sue Moroney said the report showed “police must resume reporting full family violence statistics so we can get the full picture”.

      That bit I agree with. Full recording and reporting is always needed.

      Of course, if you want to get a better idea of what the report says then I suggest you read it (PDF). A quick skim is telling me the facts are completely different from anything actually reported. The MSM and Family First seem to be going for a sensationalist approach.

      • McFlock 3.5.1
        28 September 2012 at 12:06 pm

        I think that the ODT editors go to the same Misogynists’ Anonymous meetings as KP.

        • Bored 3.5.1.1
          28 September 2012 at 2:09 pm

          McF, I could not possibly comment as I am now (courtesy of KP) a “fembot”. Its been quite fun, gives me a very different perspective. I am thinking of sending my mother along to the M Anon meeting, a voice so soft, a tongue like a razor.

          Having read the report (thanks Draco) I think we need to send the ODT and KP of to a remedial reading course.

      • insider 3.5.3
        28 September 2012 at 2:24 pm

        You’ve never heard of brothers, sisters, grandparents and the ubiquitous ‘partners’ Draco? I’d never have seen you as the archetype nuclear family proponent 🙂

      • QoT 3.5.4
        28 September 2012 at 6:38 pm

        Easy, they’re going from a simple majority basis, not a plurality. Makes for saucier headlines.

      • weka 3.5.5
        28 September 2012 at 7:43 pm

        Looks like there is an attempt to redefine domestic violence. I’m not sure that women who have hidden a pregnancy killing their new born babies should be viewed in the same category as a man who habitually beats his wife, and controls her behaviour so she cannot leave him. If we want solutions, then those two things need to be understood and dealt with differently.

        Likewise, from what I remember of the international research, stats showing men are just as likely to experience domestic violence as women used definitions of violence much broader than what we are used to, so that lesser violence was included alongside full out physical violence and hyper control (death threats etc). 

        • rosy 3.5.5.1
          28 September 2012 at 8:54 pm

          Agree, Weka. It is redefining domestic violence. And there is no way the tragedy of a hidden pregnancy can be considered in this redefining. Defining crime or even accident by outcome is almost always ridiculous (e.g. theft s theft whether it be $5 or $5,000 and a drink driving death is different to badly maintained car causing death), it needs to be defined more (but not exclusively) by cause.

          Of course there are huge problems in how people handle relationships and this is way beyond urgently needing to be addressed – for both women and men. Men do have a responsibility to control their violence, especially against those smaller and weaker than they are, because they cause vastly more physical damage. I suggest that women made powerless through domestic violence are more likely to transfer that powerlessness and violence to their children, and children to each other, and clearly they can carry that through to their own adult behaviour. It has been argued

          that for men aggression is `a means of exerting control over other people when they feel the need to reclaim power or self-esteem’. For women it is `a temporary loss of control caused by overwhelming pressure and resulting in guilt’… For women it is a failure of self-control, for men a means of imposing control and one which rarely results in guilt.

          Also, research shows [pdf] up to 35% of children who witness or experience violence suffer from diminished aspirations – their world view narrows as does their hopes for their future – depression, self harm and suicidal thoughts, dissociation, withdrawal, truancy, inability to be happy, helplessness and hopelessness, sleep disorders, skin disorders and other stress related illnesses. This can be worse for children who witness domestic violence than for children who are beaten themselves. Adolescents who witness domestic violence are more likely to drop out of school, exhibit deviant and anti-social behaviour, abuse alcohol and drugs, and imitate the relationships they were exposed to (although this is not inevitable).

          IMO, until the scourge of domestic violence is addressed by cause, statistics like this cannot stand alone as a snapshot of violent and tragic family behaviour.

    • Jokerman 3.6
      28 September 2012 at 11:39 am

      well, here is a personal anecdote for ya’s.

      -When we were primary-school age, our “mother” would “punish” us (read project, and discharge all her anger and “disgust”) upon us by regularly holding an arm so we could not escape and beating us all over our bodies with a hearth-brush or leather strap)
      -i still have the scar-tissue on the back of my head where she broke a Temuka plate over it as a teenager
      -she regularly verbalised “she wished she never bloody had us” and “wished we were dead”
      -she maintained the authority of fear by threatening placement in Social Welfare home
      -i could go on, and on, and on, but i have chosen to forget now, most of the time, Forgive, and i am hungry for some Fish and Chips.

      I have studied childhood physical, emotional and psychological Abuse, and it is a rabid cancer upon our society, increasing every day under the pressures of poverty and poor education in what it is to be human Being.

      • Bored 3.6.1
        28 September 2012 at 2:35 pm

        The mention of being scarred by a “Temuka plate”…sent a shiver of deep seated pleasure up my spine. A true NZ bludgeon, home made plates and weaponry. South Canterbury no less, pre finance types. Our plates and bowls, not some imported stuff but true NZ made tableware…those were the days. Must say your mother sounded like she creatively wielded it in the true international human style, but you possess a true NZ generated scar. Might we preserve you as a living exhibit to the benefits of import control.

        PS She should not have done it.

      • prism 3.6.2
        28 September 2012 at 3:33 pm

        What would help in times of parental depression and/or rage is for parenthood to have a high standing in the community, along with realistic understanding of the ongoing demands on parents that can play havoc with kindly feelings. And with more friendly understanding to parents, a helpline where stressed parents could ring and get practical kindly help not the sort of command and control that some nurses and judgmental social workers give. A great way to relieve parents’ stress, get a new approach and feel affirmed.

        Plus, let’s go wild, the chance for parents to put their name down for a day out with their kids in a very cheap $1 and perhaps free, organised outing if they are poor and on their own. It’s very different from that now. Not every parent would need or want this but it would be there for emergencies at no cost. The cost is a substitution for the bypassed later problems at school etc which would be much more costly.

        The leather strap, the hairbrush, the temuka plate (ooh they are as sturdy as railway cups) they all hurt and better ways need to be found.

        • Anne 3.6.2.1
          28 September 2012 at 8:20 pm

          urggh… don’t remind me of the old railway cups and the ghastly tea/coffee that swilled around inside them. Add to that the cold meat pie and the stale piece of fruitcake and I’ve suddenly lost my appetite.

          • prism 3.6.2.1.1
            28 September 2012 at 8:51 pm

            Anne
            Hey hey there. Those pieces of kiwiana probably formed the foundations for many a small country town and provided inspiration for one of our folk songs Taumarunui on the main trunk line by Peter Cape. See Friday social and link to some good versions.

      • rosy 3.6.3
        28 September 2012 at 8:58 pm

        Yeah, Jokerman – sometimes you’ve got to choose to forget just to get by, and if something triggers a return of the memories, to just let them flow through and then forget again. I know I can’t go through life letting those who did harm control my memories as well.

    • weka 3.7
      28 September 2012 at 11:00 pm

      “So much for the feminist propaganda meme “Men are the problem”.”

      Dude, you’re the only one pushing that meme, which of course is really nothing more than an anti-feminist agenda – ooh look, all feminists hate men so nothing they say or do has any value.

      Yawn. 

  4. Stephen Doyle 4
    28 September 2012 at 8:52 am

    As an avid Standard lurker and occasional poster, I am impressed by the quality of most of the postings. My only caveat would be that we all complain, but rarely offer an alternative solution.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      28 September 2012 at 12:13 pm

      True but coming up with a solution does take a long time and, most importantly, needs some idea as to what the problem is – i.e, the complaining.

      Knee-jerk reaction, which is what we get from some people, often leaves things worse off. It’s a solution but one that often only addresses one part of the problem and doesn’t take into account anything else and thus is something that we don’t want.

  5. ianmac 5
    28 September 2012 at 9:01 am

    Interesting to hear a Minister (Williamson)on Morning Report with a full head of steam letting strip about the failings of Mr Shirtcliffe in regards to the failed Christchurch building, yet there is a deafening silence about the Spying (Kimgate?) failures. From the Government at least.
    Good to hear the MSM echoing the need for a full enquiry. (Wonder if the Report released by the PM was the entire report?)

    • BloodyOrphan 5.1
      28 September 2012 at 9:07 am

      “Wonder if the Report released by the PM was the entire report?)”

      It probably was, these people live on undisclosed info, they write reports too cover their arses, NO OTHER REASON, they don’t give a shit about NZers and New Zealand Law.

      They were born and bred by the likes of ShonKey to do their bidding, nothing else.

    • Armchair Critic 5.2
      28 September 2012 at 9:20 am

      I wonder if this is the distraction from the Banks/dotcom/school closure/redundancies snafu?
      When I heard that the police were investigating further I assumed, incorrectly, that they would investigate the designers, because they had been found to be primarily responsible for the collapse. But this is not the case.
      Mr Shirtcliff, who seems to be very economical with the truth, seems from the evidence to have had only a minor part, at worst, in the collapse. while I have no problem with him being investigated, it seems to me that it is a poor way of solving the question of who was actually responsible for the collapse of the CTV building.

    • prism 5.3
      28 September 2012 at 10:08 am

      ianmac 5
      Are you thinking that we are likely to find that Shirtcliffe is dealt to as a way of attracting attention from the spying debacle?

      • ianmac 5.3.1
        28 September 2012 at 11:07 am

        Hadn’t really thought of that. Just that Government Ministers are often silent even when matters are pressing, like the Spy thing, but eloquent over some miserable wretch alleged cheat. Perhaps Williamson or other Minister should be shouting the need to bring Spy cheats to justice?
        You and Armchair might be right about the distraction though as it has become the ritual for Government these days.

  6. Blue 6
    28 September 2012 at 9:17 am

    Is it just me, or is the Herald’s shilling for National becoming more and more blatant?

    I first noticed it when that stupid story about ‘bigger classes shown to be better’ article popped up over the weekend, and now the Herald has run two prominent beneficiary bashing stories that I’ve noticed this week about people who live in ‘million dollar state houses’.

    So much for not becoming a trashy tabloid. ‘It’s only a format change’ should be the next Tui billboard.

    • alwyn 6.1
      28 September 2012 at 12:27 pm

      If you read the story about the very valuable houses you would have seen that it was Annette King who was calling for the houses to be sold.
      Surely she isn’t asking for State assets to be sold? Has David whatever approved the change in policy?
      Surely, also, it cannot be a Labour MP who is indulging in what you would define as “beneficiary bashing”?

      • BloodyOrphan 6.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 12:44 pm

        BANANA Republic, they’re trying to incease a transaction accounts value, and won’t regulate because of treaties with foreign governments.

      • Te Reo Putake 6.1.2
        28 September 2012 at 12:46 pm

        Oh, dear, Alwyn, that’s not up to your usual standard. Housing NZ selling one house to buy or build 3 or 4 more is nothing unusual. However, if they sold off half the house to people resident overseas who will never live in it but who demand half the rental income, then there would be a useful corrollory with the Asset Theft program.

    • Draco T Bastard 6.2
      28 September 2012 at 12:29 pm

      The NZHerald was a trashy tabloid before the format change.

  7. framu 7
    28 September 2012 at 9:23 am

    just a question here – does anyone else keep getting a failed load on the standard using google chrome?

    happens on a regular basis to me (kind of one day per week or there abouts) – main page loads (whether thats a cached version or not im not sure) – but a post wont load once clicked on.

    Firefox works everytime

    using win7, latest version of chrome and firefox

  8. captain hook 8
    28 September 2012 at 9:35 am

    haS LEN BROWN MADE ANY MOVES TO FIRE THE MANAGeMENT of POAL yet.

    • muzza 8.1
      28 September 2012 at 9:58 am

      No, and he won’t because he can’t!

      Welcome to democracy NZ style!

    • The Voice of Reason 8.2
      28 September 2012 at 10:59 am

      Asking the same question in Open Mike every day and ignoring the answer makes you look like a particularly stupid troll, captain hook. Time to move on, eh?

  9. Penny Bright 9
    28 September 2012 at 10:18 am

    PROTEST AGAINST JOHN KEY!!
    TODAY! Friday 28 September 2012 (from 11am?)
    Lincoln Green, 159 Lincoln Rd, Henderson

    Auckland Action Against Poverty is calling supporters to participate in a picket of an upcoming charity lunch that John Key will be attending. The lunch aims to raise money for a new children’s ward at Waitakere hospital.

    We think it is highly ironic that John Key is raising money for kids when Govt welfare changes will play a huge factor in creating even more child poverty, ill health and homelessness.

    This picket will be child/family friendly.
    For more information you can get in touch at;

    contact@aaap.nz
    chris.zack@aaap.org.nz
    sarah.thompson@aaap.org.nz
    http://www.aaap.org.nz

    Google map of the location here: http://tinyurl.com/9yljmaj

    • mike e 10.1
      28 September 2012 at 2:53 pm

      Also Spain’s agriculture sector is in deep trouble drought!

      • Bored 10.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 4:37 pm

        You will also find that the agricultural trouble has to do with the cost of energy: they have vast areas of glasshouses that need heating and transport fuel to get tomatoes to Oslo mid winter.

  11. Dr Terry 11
    28 September 2012 at 11:09 am

    Key apologising over Dotcom mess-up. He is apologising for the conduct of others (who surely act under his oversight). When did he last apologise for his own misconduct? He slides out from under by scapegoating his “friends”. Am a little disappointed that Dotcom readily accepted this kind of an apology.

  12. ianmac 12
    28 September 2012 at 11:16 am

    I was in Spain recently and although there were few signs of disaster the people we met were friendly ordinary folk with the same needs as anyone anywhere. The police presence in Madrid was phenomenal. We timed the frequency as being no more than 4 minutes before another policeman or police car was visible in the city streets.
    The prospects for the people are pretty awful, but locals in the South believed that the local Governance was rife with graft and bribery and corruption. A massive rethink of official integrity was desperately needed they said. Just sad.

    • ianmac 12.1
      28 September 2012 at 11:19 am

      Oops Spain was for Jokerman @10

    • BloodyOrphan 12.2
      28 September 2012 at 11:43 am

      They need too regulate as well, welcome to the BANANA republic spain and greece and everyone else who signed that freakin thing, when’s the next round of sanctions on IRAN gonna hit?,
      How many months do we have before our exchange rate permanently goes down 2%?
      Maybe they didn’t read it M8!,
      They shoulda had a HUI about it M8!
      Is that Civilised BILL ENGLISH?!

  13. ianmac 13
    28 September 2012 at 12:39 pm

    The Green Party has asked the police to investigate the GCSB’s illegal spying on Kim Dotcom saying the agency appears to have broken the same law under which Prime Minister John Key laid his “Teapot Tapes” complaint.

    Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said yesterday’s report into the incident by Inspector General of Intelligence and Security Paul Neazor clearly concluded that the Government Communications Security Bureau’s (GCSB) actions in the case were illegal. Mr Key has also publicly acknowledged that too.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10837132

  14. Jackal 14
    28 September 2012 at 12:45 pm

    Dotcom spy debacle timeline

    It would be good to see the GCSB, the Prime Minister and his deputy held to account for what is at least gross incompetence, if not a conspiracy to breach the law…

    • Mary 14.1
      28 September 2012 at 1:04 pm

      Yes, but how? The Greens have just made a complaint to the police but I don’t think the cops will be very happy about investigating the GCSB, let alone prosecuting them. In any case breaking the law, as we all know, means nothing.

      What we really want to show is that Key has lied. That’s the golden egg that we should be looking for.

      • BloodyOrphan 14.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 1:26 pm

        I think the answer is those reports are biased in a way that they can’t interpret, and for the sake of lives have stepped back.

        It’s a new organisation only been in existence for a couple of years.
        They need qualified people to think it through for them, but as always they refuse to pay the ones that do the real work, and compensate secretaries doing the minutes because they’re as corrupt of soul, and thieving as they are
        (no offense David Shearer it’s not a universal thing I’m sure).

      • Jackal 14.1.2
        28 September 2012 at 1:36 pm

        The cops won’t be very happy with the Prime Minister trying to blame them for the “mistake” either. In fact I think Police commissioner Peter Marshall will look very unfavorably on that. The courts will in most cases uphold the law, which incidentally is why much of the information has been released so far. Even some of the crowns pet judges are starting to question the excuses Key has been making.

        I do point out a number of inconsistencies that show Key has lied, but unfortunately the only way to categorically show there’s been a breach of law by Key is if the warrant he undoubtedly signed to allow the GCSB to spy on New Zealand resident’s surfaces. This is unlikely because it isn’t subject to any government act to make it public. Without that, Key can continue to obfuscate and hide behind feigned ignorance.

        • insider 14.1.2.1
          28 September 2012 at 1:58 pm

          The Police were running the KDC show. They had been working on it for months and provided the advice that he was a non resident and so able to be surveilled by GCSB. Why would Marshall be upset at that being pointed out (apart from general embarassment that they got it wrong again)? He should be angry with his senior managment.

          None of this information has come out because of courts ‘upholding the law’ in any special or unusual way. Did the court reject the English certificate? Did it question the status of the surveillance? Did it instigate Neazor report?

          • BloodyOrphan 14.1.2.1.1
            28 September 2012 at 2:09 pm

            It’s gauranteed he questioned it, but it would be based on gut reactions from Newbies.
            “He has something to hide” would’ve been the only real fact.
            They should’ve said he has a guilty conscience.

          • Jackal 14.1.2.1.2
            28 September 2012 at 2:39 pm

            I would say that a Lawyer specifically appointed by Judge Winkleman to look into the matter and the resulting documents that have been made public despite Bill English trying to suppress that information is something special. Paul Davison QC is obviously earning his bread and butter.

            If you accept that OFCANZ gave GCSB an assurance that Dotcom and Bram van der Kolk were not NZ residents, then you have a point. However no document I’ve seen confirms this? In contrast, the police planning document clearly outlines that Dotcom was a NZ resident. That document would have been available at the briefing held on 19 January 2012 at Police National Headquarters, 180 Molesworth Street Wellington, which GCSB operatives attended.

            You’re saying that OFCANZ informed GCSB that they were not NZ residents after GCSB operatives had already received information to show they were residents? That contradiction should have made them double check the status of their targets.

            Passing the buck down the chain of command is an age old practice.

            • insider 14.1.2.1.2.1
              28 September 2012 at 6:21 pm

              Judges don’t appoint defence lawyers. Davison works for kdc. But I agree that it probably was his questioning that got the thought juices going somewhere in govt about the legality of the surveillance.

              Neazor said police told gcsb. If he is wrong take it up with him.

              Resident has the common and legal angles. There are plenty of people living and working nz without resident status. Neazor clearly says they knew he was resident (ie living in nz) and had some form of visa but not that he was a permanent resident, and so protected. They were wrong in their understanding of his status.

          • McFlock 14.1.2.1.3
            28 September 2012 at 2:47 pm

            Why were the GCSB content to take immigration status advice from the police? Surely it’s the GCSB’s job to ensure they comply with the law?  
                 
            The police made a cockup in establishing the status, sure. Or probably just hadn’t updated their files, depending on how long the investigation had gone on for/the file was open. But it was the GCSB’s job to check for themselves, not assume that it was okay.
               
            This is a check that’s a fundamental part of preserving our freedom as citizens and residents of NZ. That means it’s shit you check yourself, rather than hoping that other people have done it properly for you.

            • BloodyOrphan 14.1.2.1.3.1
              28 September 2012 at 2:54 pm

              All the “Word of mouths” and “Off the Records” added up to them acting outside the law.

              It’s a misdmeanor offense for an unqualified person, which can have a critical, life altering repercussion on the people involved (that they have no comprehension of, because it’s “Not Their Job” to judge.)

              • Jackal …
                28 September 2012 at 3:04 pm

                But they (hopefully qualified GCSB agents) are judging all the time in choosing who to spy on. Your other point I agree with… The penalties involved in a breach of the Government Communications Security Bureau Act 2003 (PDF) are quite simply pathetic!

                • BloodyOrphan …
                  28 September 2012 at 3:07 pm

                  It’s the coal face “Trying to hide that judgement” that screws it up, the opperative loses perspective.
                  Why’d they start going on about Guns for instance?
                  I’d expect that ACT had as much thought as a “Free Lunch” it’ll be completely unqualified, which means it doesn’t allow for the above reactions, and having people (Captains) in place to deal with them, this organisation appears to be based on a clerical office and it should be based on “Real Life” police work.

              • McFlock …
                28 September 2012 at 3:20 pm

                It’s not a misdemeanor offence to unlawfully intercept communications – up to 2 years imprisonment.
                     
                 

                • BloodyOrphan …
                  28 September 2012 at 3:22 pm

                  Fair enough, but it’s an offence you can virtualy expect from a “NewBie” everytime.
                  They obviously didn’t read that .pdf either.

                  • McFlock …
                    28 September 2012 at 3:27 pm

                    I work with confidential data.
                    From day one of employment we reinforce the mantra of confidentiality. And in some areas sign documentation to that effect. We have statutory obligations (well, everyone does to greater or lesser degrees). And we consistently manage to work within those restrictions.  
                               
                    If we can manage it, the GCSB should be able to manage it, too. This case points to a lack of responsibility at every level of the organisation, minister down.

        • Bored 14.1.2.2
          28 September 2012 at 2:39 pm

          Under the Westminster system there is a well established tradition of Ministerial Responsibility with attendant resignations…..

          • BloodyOrphan 14.1.2.2.1
            28 September 2012 at 2:42 pm

            Those come down the the Individual understandings of the MP’s themselves.
            Some indeed needed to be “Thrown Out”, denial is not an acceptable answer at some point.
            What does “Honourable” mean to these denialists?

      • Dr Terry 14.1.3
        28 September 2012 at 7:46 pm

        Mary – Has he ever stopped lying? Problem is that people are now so accustomed to it. “What’s new?”

      • OneTrack 14.1.4
        28 September 2012 at 11:37 pm

        So, you dont care that a government department may have broken the law, you just want to “get key”. ok.

        • McFlock 14.1.4.1
          28 September 2012 at 11:57 pm

          You mean the government department that key directly controls broke the law, yet he claims he had no knowledge of what they were doing when they did it? 
                
           

  15. BloodyOrphan 15
    28 September 2012 at 12:50 pm

    Blatant Hyprocisy and the outcome is starving children and bene bashing.
    Nothing civilised there.
    Why?, some freakin contract they signed whilst wearing a freakin blindflold M8!
    And the Stupid thing?, those countries would probably laugh at them and say “Do it b4 it’s 2 L8! M8!”
    They wont even petition the UN to stop the embargoes for crying out load …. spineless.

  16. Draco T Bastard 16
    28 September 2012 at 2:17 pm

    At least the Australian government seems to be beginning to understand the limits of the “free-market”:

    Communications minister Stephen Conroy has threatened to fund a new submarine link between Australia and the US out of the National Broadband Network budget if international pricing does not fall to reasonable levels.

    Meanwhile, in NZ, private enterprise failed to bring about a new cable:

    A proposal to build a new submarine cable system linking Australia and New Zealand with the United States has folded after failing to reach the $US400 million in funding required to build the cable.

    Pacific Fibre, a New Zealand-based venture from three entrepreneurs, confirmed plans to close its doors, scrapping plans to build the 13,000-kilometre, 5.1 terabit per second cable between Sydney, Auckland and Los Angeles.

    If we want to get what we need then we can’t leave it to the private profiteers as doing so will ensure that we won’t get it.

    • insider 16.1
      28 September 2012 at 2:21 pm

      Pacific Fibre failed because prices were too low and excess capacity too high for them to make money…Would you like prices to rise and volumes to be restricted to subsidise them Draco?

      • mike e 16.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 2:43 pm

        Outsider bullshit that was their excuse The US government was making it to expensive to bring the cable ashore in California !
        The regulatory authorities wanted to charge a $ 140 million a year just to link into existing networks

        • Draco T Bastard 16.1.1.1
          28 September 2012 at 3:18 pm

          The regulatory authorities wanted to charge a $ 140 million a year just to link into existing networks

          Got a link for that?

      • Draco T Bastard 16.1.2
        28 September 2012 at 3:21 pm

        Actually, I’d like good international bandwidth at good prices which can only be supplied through government ownership. You may not have noticed but the restrictions are coming due to private ownership and reliance upon profiteering.

    • BloodyOrphan 16.2
      28 September 2012 at 2:28 pm

      The ultimate end result of the “Internet” boom,
      Those $ values get reclaimed from the only real thing involved, in this case a opticle cable.
      People will always look for the reality of somethings’ existence if they indeed intend to profit or control it.

      One of the adavantages of the current “Open Market” approach to our broadband is that it minimises the impact of this “The Telcos Own It” reality.

      But it would limit the R&D and growth budgets.

      • mike e 16.2.1
        28 September 2012 at 2:46 pm

        Bloody Orphin Stephen Joyce has just handed Vodafone and Telecom the only UFB contracts taking our telco’s straight back to monopoly status after labour cracked the previous cartel!

        • BloodyOrphan 16.2.1.1
          28 September 2012 at 2:49 pm

          Yeah true, but if you approach those Telcos in a certain context (i.e “Ownership”), they are oblidged to give you a wholesale rate, it’s just another link in the chain, but it’s a gauranteed one that small business can use to get a leg up.

        • Draco T Bastard 16.2.1.2
          28 September 2012 at 3:19 pm

          Telecommunications is a natural monopoly and as such should be one – a state owned one. It’s how you keep prices down.

          • BloodyOrphan 16.2.1.2.1
            28 September 2012 at 4:02 pm

            Assuming the state is civilised and transparently accountable, I’d agree with that.

            But utlimately there is no difference, and what you are talking about is enforcement, which can happen in the private sector just as easily, if thought through and applied appropriately.

            • Colonial Viper 16.2.1.2.1.1
              28 September 2012 at 4:07 pm

              Of course there is a difference: where do the profits flow? To the people of NZ, or to overseas shareholders?

              And enforcement is far easier if the Board and senior management act according to the priorities of the nation, not according to the priorities of private equity.

              Assuming the state is civilised and transparently accountable, I’d agree with that.

              Which private corporations are civilised and transparently accountable? Perhaps they should be held to the same standard as the state?

              • BloodyOrphan …
                28 September 2012 at 4:09 pm

                True, but Taxes will theoretically offset that, if they are profitable and operating within civilised boundries.
                Yes they should be held to those standards, which is why I say it’s about enforcement/ethic.

                • Colonial Viper …
                  28 September 2012 at 4:15 pm

                  Taxes will recover less than 30% of their profits! What are you talking about?

                  That infrastructure should be publicly owned so that 100% of the monies return to our citizens.

                  Yes they should be held to those standards, which is why I say it’s about enforcement/ethic.

                  Please tell me the enforcement mechanisms and bodies you propose to effectively do this.

                  • BloodyOrphan …
                    28 September 2012 at 4:17 pm

                    Ya still have too run the company bud, in the end, it’s actually the same fiscal balance, usually painfully reached I might add.

                    Why should I think it through for those maggots M8!, unless you cats pay me, no way, think it through for yourselves.

                    Fiscally equivalent On the books is what I mean. all we need to do is increase the Tax rate.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      28 September 2012 at 4:18 pm

                      How can it be the “same fiscal balance” when the economic surplus generated gets pumped off to overseas owners, instead of remaining in NZ?

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  28 September 2012 at 5:37 pm

                  Yes they should be held to those standards, which is why I say it’s about enforcement/ethic.

                  It’s harder to enforce those standards on a private firm because of the privacy that the firm has which the state service doesn’t.

          • Bored 16.2.1.2.2
            28 September 2012 at 4:26 pm

            Draco, be very very careful re natural monopoly…..trust me, I understand telco networks end to end, have done since before TCPIP was in underpants. The natural monopoly bit refers to the ability to deliver to the users home / work etc…the capital cost is very high….we refer to that bit as the local loop (currently copper, soon to be fibre). That’s where the capital cost is biggest so if it is a natural monopoly it has more to do with economies of scale and who can afford to build it….hence the government here being asked to fork out.

            In the network itself where natural monopolies may not exist. You can build multiple layers of service provision with different price points all dependent on the delivery type, pricing model (and cost of billing). Yes you could run this part as a monopoly but it does not need to be a natural one.

            • Draco T Bastard 16.2.1.2.2.1
              28 September 2012 at 5:47 pm

              In the network itself where natural monopolies may not exist.

              You can have multiple backbones but there’s no point as doing so just adds complexity, the expense that comes with it and unnecessarily uses more of the limited resources.

              That’s where the capital cost is biggest so if it is a natural monopoly it has more to do with economies of scale and who can afford to build it….hence the government here being asked to fork out.

              And if Telecom hadn’t been sold off the surplus that Telecom would have generated could have been put into the network and thus the government wouldn’t now be having to pay up for the FttH network.

              • insider …
                28 September 2012 at 5:59 pm

                .if you can (and we doe) have multiple backbones its hardly a natural monopoly is it? And wireless adds to that.

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  28 September 2012 at 10:17 pm

                  Did you note the extra expense that having competition adds? Did you notice the added use of limited resources?

                  This is basic infrastructure that we’re talking about and so having competition in it doesn’t actually provide any benefit – it just adds to the costs. And that’s what makes it a natural monopoly.

              • Colonial Viper …
                28 September 2012 at 6:00 pm

                Basically, core social and economic infrastructure needs to be publicly owned and operated in the public good.

                Every business and every house hold needs internet. Therefore internet supply should be considered a utility for the social good.

                • insider …
                  28 September 2012 at 6:08 pm

                  All it takes is a mobile phone to access the net. This is not a major social policy issue in the days of $29 browser enabled phones.

                  • weka …
                    28 September 2012 at 10:54 pm

                    Mobile phone coverage isn’t universal. 

                    Mobile data rates are prohibitive for many people.

                    Lots of internet can’t be done easily or effectively on a mobile phone.

                    etc. 

    • karol 17.1
      28 September 2012 at 4:49 pm

      Good post, gr, and one which I largely agree with. I’m for the integration of emotion and political perspectives, with well reasoned arguments based on verifiable evidence. It’s a fine line to tread.

      Also, I think Unforgettable is disappointing. I have a long relationship with detective fiction in book and on screen, and appreciate a good story centred on a female detective. But Unforgettable really does lack heart.

      I miss those pre-neoliberal, down-at-heel, rough-edged gumshoes, often in conflict with the establishment. Southland is good though.

      • Reagan Cline 17.1.1
        28 September 2012 at 6:19 pm

        “verifiable evidence” like distinctive skull shape, facial appearance and eye colour are associated with uber und untermenschen ?

      • Dr Terry 17.1.2
        28 September 2012 at 7:55 pm

        SIR Peter Gluckman, please! He is favoured by Key (an adviser) – of course he is dangerous!

        • karol 17.1.2.1
          28 September 2012 at 8:08 pm

          Well the blog post linked to is not flattering about Gluckman. I have no idea why RC replied to me in that way.

    • Reagan Cline 17.2
      28 September 2012 at 6:26 pm

      Prof Gluckman probably finds good evidence in his own work and others that how we are as we are can be modified by altering our genetic material.
      Nothing too dangerous here surely ?

    • Draco T Bastard 17.3
      28 September 2012 at 6:46 pm

      Richard Taylor and Len Richards have described the way that the Otahuhu Railway Workshops became, in the sixties and seventies, the ‘working class university of New Zealand’, as mechanics and sparkies formed study groups and held constant debates about social and political issues.

      And that is the type of thing that I’m thinking about here.

      Some things though, need more than a single person and the resources that that person has to create and so we also need to encourage and broaden peoples networking which is another use for having a PC and internet connection in every house that will allow people of the same interests to connect with each other and thus take a cooperative and creative approach to researching and producing what they want to produce.

      Larger capital expenditure such as research facilities/libraries would be community based.

      Modernised somewhat but it’s what I envision should be happening in an engaged society. People getting together to brainstorm rather than leaving it to faceless corporations.

    • Jokerman 17.4
      28 September 2012 at 10:04 pm

      Very Good 🙂

  18. captain hook 18
    28 September 2012 at 3:59 pm

    yep.

  19. Rosie 19
    28 September 2012 at 4:39 pm

    Sadly, yet another “Are you serious ?” moment from our wise and benevolent (not) govt:

    NZ is the only country inlcuded on an international panel to vote against saving endangered dolphins, including our very own Maui’s dolphin………Go figure……..

    http://www.greens.org.nz/newsletters/greenweek/greenweek-dolphin-watch-paid-parental-leave-and-tim-burton-caterpillars

  20. captain hook 20
    28 September 2012 at 4:58 pm

    listning to Jim Mora now and Jane Clifton is using an interrogative at the end of every sentence.
    Just like Mark Sainsbury on Close up.
    this is a form of bullying that has gone on for far too long and it is about time for all the crusty old hacks (and the POAL managment) to get the boot and some sort of integrity and service re- introduced.

  21. Jokerman 21
    28 September 2012 at 5:32 pm

    ewe know where these are going!
    http://www.oamarumail.co.nz/news/big-mobs-go-missing/1561965/
    yippee yi aye..yippie yi oh…

    (been appearing like N.Z’s going all Wild, Wild West fer some time pa….)

  22. McFlock 22
    28 September 2012 at 5:55 pm

    Cracked has a handy list for rich people. Some of the tories here might find it helps them win friends and influence people…

  23. jimgreen 23
    28 September 2012 at 8:20 pm

    I saw this the other day and wanted to barf.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/7726694/Schwarzenegger-backs-new-politics

    Arnie is about as non-partisan as the smug business analysts we have to sit through on th 6 o’clock news. Check him out providing an introduction to a series on Milton Friedman

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM0MwN8BQbg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

  24. Dv 24
    28 September 2012 at 10:09 pm

    John Key says people need to be held to account for the collapse of the CTV building,

    Held to account
    O really

  25. Draco T Bastard 25
    28 September 2012 at 10:22 pm

    Missed this:

    Meanwhile, in the real world, they’re unlawfully arresting teenagers and denying them their basic rights:

    Two Upper Hutt teenagers have told of their humiliating and traumatising ordeal at the hands of police, who arrested and strip-searched the pair before locking them up for 36 hours.

    And, no, the pair weren’t the people the police were looking for.

    • fatty 25.1
      28 September 2012 at 10:36 pm

      I’m sure those cops were just doing their job.
      They were probably the wrong people, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
      (non-Pakeha, in a poor area, in 2012)

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  • Small asteroid to make near-miss of Earth in NZ skies tonight
    Sorry for the late notice on this one, but I only just heard myself, in common with most of the human race. A small asteroid, somewhere between the size of a truck and the size of a house in dimensions, will hurtle past the Earth tonight, dipping closer to ...
    SciBlogsBy Duncan Steel
    6 hours ago

  • This is not what accountability looks like
    When someone commits trespass, assault with a weapon, and kidnapping, you'd expect them to be prosecuted, right? But apparently the rules are different if you wear a blue uniform: A police investigation has found officers in Northland trespassed on a man's property, then unlawfully pepper sprayed him and arrested ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 hours ago

  • Cycling: head injuries ignored because of entrenched macho culture
    Howard Hurst, University of Central Lancashire and Jack Hardwicke, University of Winchester Competitive road cycling is a demanding and unique sport. One where crashing is inevitable – especially at the professional level. While the risk of head injury is relatively low in cycling – approximately 5-13% – compared to contact ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    8 hours ago

  • The coming US shitshow
    Today President Trump once again refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the US election. Coincidentally, The Atlantic has a long article on exactly what that means, from voter suppression by armed thugs in the name of "ballot security", to refusing to allow the vote ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    8 hours ago

  • A moral void
    That's the only way to describe the SIS, who - like their British counterparts - decided to look the other way on child abuse: The SIS knew a young woman was being sexually abused by her father but failed to lodge a complaint with the police, effectively allowing the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    8 hours ago

  • When will Goldsmith resign?
    The National Party’s campaign has gone from bad to worse with a further two large miscalculations being uncovered in their alternative fiscal plan. Firstly, National’s economic spokesperson and list MP, Paul Goldsmith, used May's Budget figures instead of last week's PREFU numbers, and came up with a whopping $4.3 billion ...
    The Jackal
    9 hours ago

  • The Adventures of Annalax: Part IX
    The initial session was a struggle. Annalax and Magni tried sorting out the details with the Isaac twins (the people pursuing the mountain trip). Annalax happened to mention his devotion to Lolth… whom the Isaacs, being ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    11 hours ago

  • This is bullshit
    On March 13, three plainclothes police officers kicked in Breonna Taylor's door under a no-knock warrant targeting another person. When a person inside reasonably assumed they were home invaders and (this being America) started shooting, they shot up the place and everyone around them - killing Taylor. Today, one of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    11 hours ago

  • Arctic sea ice is being increasingly melted from below by warming Atlantic water
    Tom Rippeth, Bangor University Arctic sea ice today (white) is covering a much smaller area than in 1980-2010 (orange line). National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, CC BY-SA Each September, scientists like me look out for the point when the Arctic’s meagre summer fizzles out and ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    13 hours ago

  • The long-term health burden of COVID-19: further justification for NZ’s elimination strategy
    Prof John D. Potter* This blog briefly surveys the emerging scientific evidence on the longer-term burden of symptoms and disease in survivors of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these symptoms point to damage in the brain and heart. These long-term harms add to the wide range of other reasons for ...
    SciBlogsBy Public Health Expert
    14 hours ago

  • Going High, Going Low: An Assessment Of The First Leaders’ Debate.
    Uncrushed: Jacinda Ardern knew exactly what was expected of her in the first Leaders' Debate. Labour’s dominant position, three weeks out from the general election, is constructed out of the admiration and gratitude of hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who, more often than not, vote National.  Nothing she said ...
    Bowalley Road
    15 hours ago

  • The smokefree policies of political parties: Do they care about people who smoke?
    George Thomson*, Nick Wilson, Janet Hoek, Andrew Waa, Richard Edwards In this time of Covid-19, helping people who smoke to quit their addiction has an even greater importance. Smokers are more vulnerable to many harmful health effects, including severe effects from the virus. Policies that support people who smoke to ...
    SciBlogsBy Public Health Expert
    15 hours ago

  • The Fog Of Economic Policy Is Starting To Clear…
    Bryan Bruce, https://www.facebook.com/www.redsky.tv, 19 September 2020 National’s economic policy of temporary tax cuts yesterday proved, if proof be needed, that they are unapologetic neoliberals. While their claim that with more money in their pockets people will spend more might sound attractive, the reality is that tax cuts always benefit the ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    24 hours ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #38, 2020
    Highlighted article: Carbon pricing and planetary boundaries  Engström et al take what might be called a systems approach to evaluating carbon pricing, taking into a account various economic sectors affected by and affecting paying for emissions. The conclusions are overall a rare pleasant surprise— a feature predicated on cooperation.  Abstract: ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Humans ignite almost every wildfire that threatens homes
    Nathan Mietkiewicz, National Ecological Observatory Network and Jennifer Balch, University of Colorado Boulder CC BY-ND Summer and fall are wildfire season across the western U.S. In recent years, wildfires have destroyed thousands of homes, forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate and exposed tens of millions to harmful ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 day ago

  • Climate Change: China steps up
    China has increased its climate change ambition, and set a target to be carbon-neutral by 2060: China will reach carbon neutrality before 2060 and ensure its greenhouse gas emissions peak in the next decade, Xi Jinping has told the UN general assembly. “China will scale up its intended nationally ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago

  • Humans have dealt with plenty of climate variability
    Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz How much climate variability have humans dealt with since we ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 day ago

  • Indigenous perspectives on unrestricted access to genomic data
    By Genomics Aotearoa researcher Maui Hudson, University of Waikato It is vital that genomics research respects genomic data and genetic heritage from indigenous communities. Genomics research is a rapidly growing field of study, and there is a strong push to make the huge amount of data being produced open ...
    SciBlogsBy Genomics Aotearoa
    1 day ago

  • Terrible luck: lockdowns on learning and youth job prospects
    What is bad luck? Bad luck is spilling spaghetti sauce down your shirt right before an important meeting. When the person in front of you gets the last seat on the bus, that’s bad luck. Bad luck is when it’s sunny outside, so you leave the house without a coat, ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 day ago

  • Ian Powell: Does private healthcare threaten public healthcare in New Zealand?
    Is the private health system impacting negatively on the public health system? Health commentator Ian Powell evaluates a recent NZ Herald article by Natalie Akoorie (“Public v private healthcare: Moonlighting, skimming, duplication – should NZ do better”), and looks at how the dual system works, and concludes that the answer ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • A rabbit-hole election debate: So do you want more avocado orchards?
    We live in strange and unusual times. It’s been a century since we’ve endured a global pandemic like this, more than half a century since we’ve had economic woes like this. So maybe we got an opening election debate for the times - because that was a strange and unusual ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    2 days ago

  • LIVE: Jacinda Ardern vs. Judith Collins, First Debate
    Tonight, The Civilian will be live-blogging the first of too many debates between Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and National Party leader Judith Collins, and also the last fifteen minutes of the news. Be sure to tune in from 6:45pm for regular updates, which can be accessed by refreshing this page ...
    The CivilianBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Hundreds of Aucklanders arrested after illegal mass gathering on Harbour Bridge
    An enormous drive-in party, shown here, was held this morning on Auckland’s Harbour Bridge, where police were forced to intervene. Hundreds of Aucklanders were arrested this morning on public health grounds, after an apparent illegal mass gathering on the city’s Harbour Bridge. Police say hundreds of Aucklanders gathered in their ...
    The CivilianBy admin
    2 days ago

  • The Looming Fight.
    Social Distancing Be Damned - It's Jacinda! Shortly after ascending to Labour’s leadership, Jacinda described herself as a “pragmatic idealist”. It was an inspired oxymoron – packing into just two words the essence of the social-democrat’s dilemma. It was good to know that she knew what lay ahead of her. ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Climate Change: Moving faster
    Back in 2017, the UK announced that it would ban the sale of new fossil fuel vehicles by 2040. Its a basic climate change measure, aimed at reducing emissions by shifting the vehicle fleet to cleaner technologies. Now, in the wake of the pandemic, they're planning to bring it forward ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • The Australian courts have had enough of refugee detention
    For the past decade, Australia has had a racist, anti-refugee policy. Those claiming refugee status are imprisoned without trial and left to rot in the hope they would "voluntarily" return to be tortured and murdered. When the courts have granted them visas, the government has immediately revoked them on racial ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Friction and the Anti-lock Braking System
    Yesterday afternoon I had to call on my car’s anti-lock braking system (ABS). For reasons best known to its driver, a car pulled out of a side road right in front of me while I was driving home after work, and I needed to stop in a hurry. I rather ...
    SciBlogsBy Marcus Wilson
    2 days ago

  • The Inside Word: New Zealand Quarantine
    There are a fair few misconceptions about conditions within New Zealand’s Quarantine Hotels. Madeline Grant’s misplaced accusations being one prominent example, though she is not alone. Today, I thought I’d share the inside word, so to speak. A friend of mine has recently returned to New Zealand from overseas, and ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • Hard News: ASA: Let’s not talk about this
    Last week, major newspapers carried a full-page ad as part of the campaign for a "No" vote to the referendum question about supporting the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill. The ad was authorised by the SAM NZ Coalition, which takes its name from a controversial American anti-cannabis group and includes ...
    Public Address
    2 days ago

  • This is not kind
    New Zealand has a serious homelessness problem, due to skyrocketing rents and a lack of state houses. One of the ways we stick a band-aid on it is to put people up in motels. Previously, they were charged full commercial rates, saddled with odious debt due to the government's failure ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Wokies are the establishment
    by Ani O’Brien In the absence of a better word with which to refer to the rabid activists who claim progressivism while demanding adherence to an increasingly prescriptive set of political beliefs, I call them “woke”. With its roots in Black American slang, the term originally denoted a person or ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    3 days ago

  • How to strengthen the post-isolation Covid rules
    Over the weekend, the Ministry of Health reported a case of Covid-19 in Auckland that is not related to the current Auckland cluster. Before we start to panic, here’s how I think the case happened and how we can strengthen our current border controls. The new Covid-19 case is someone ...
    SciBlogsBy Siouxsie Wiles
    3 days ago

  • Neuralink and You: A Human-AI Symbiosis
    Becky Casale Elon Musk reckons his Neuralink brain implant is much more than a medical device–that one day it will drive a symbiosis between humans and artificial intelligence. “Good morning! I’m Dr Benedict Egg and I’ll be supervising your Neuralink insertion today. Do you have any questions?” “Yes, Doc. ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    3 days ago

  • Liam Hehir: Our obsession with American politics
    Many New Zealanders take a strong interest in US politics, with the death of Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg being the latest example. Liam Hehir wonders if it very wise for New Zealanders to get so worked about it.   Many politically engaged New Zealanders are now furiously ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • COVID: Back to Level 1
    After stamping the Coronavirus out via strict lockdown between March and May, New Zealand went through a good three months without any community cases. Then a local outbreak in Auckland rather buggered things up last month. Auckland’s been in level 3 and level 2.5 for the past six weeks. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Climate injustice
    Who's causing our skyrocketing emissions? As with most of our other problems, It's the rich: The wealthiest 1% of the world’s population were responsible for the emission of more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the poorer half of the world from 1990 to 2015, according to new ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Good riddance
    The border closure and resulting lack of foreign slave-workers is driving the fishing industry out of business: One fishing company is effectively out of business while others are bracing for large financial hits as the deepwater New Zealand industry, unable to get skilled foreign workers into the country, have ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #38
    Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... The tipping points at the heart of the climate crisis Many parts of the Earth’s climate system have been destabilised by ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Anyone for Collins?
    In the absence of national public opinion polls, we have had to make do in recent weeks with other guides to voter intentions. Those guides, such as the Auckland Central poll, the incidence of google enquiries and the responses to Vote Compass questions, have suggested, not unexpectedly, that Labour is ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    4 days ago

  • Crusher’s fiscal malfunction
    Crusher Collins - National Party leaderWe all know that the National Party is desperate to gain some traction during this election campaign and have been throwing pretty much everything at the Labour Party in order to try and undermine Jacinda Ardern and what the Coalition Government has achieved. But unfortunately ...
    The Jackal
    4 days ago

  • Much of the commentariat’s reporting of the most recent GDP figure was misleading and unhelpful. The prize for the stupidest remark about the GDP figure for second quarter 2020 (2020Q2) released on Thursday (17 Sept) goes to Judith Collins, whose response to Grant Robertson’s comments indicated she did not ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago

  • Love and Hate as Complementary Revolutionary Acts
    by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh goloing@gmail.com (19/09/2020) Che Guevara said that a true revolutionary is motivated by love i.e. love of the oppressed, the poor, the children dying from preventable illnesses. This phrase of his is true but has been used by reformists and their more hippy wing have taken advantage ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    5 days ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
    A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 13, 2020 through Sat, Sep 19, 2020 Editor's Choice Get to Net-Zero by Mid-Century? Even Some Global Oil and Gas Giants Think it Can Be Done A report by a ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Tax cuts for all!!! (except you, you, and you)
    With the National Party this week announcing a new policy of tax cuts to spice up the election campagin. MyThinks went along to the launch and afterwards we spoke to the party’s finance spokesperson Paul “Golden Touch” Goldsmith. MT: Thanks for speaking to us Mr Goldsmith. PG: No. Thank you. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    6 days ago

  • Great Waves Washing Over New Zealand
    Always to islanders danger Is what comes over the seas ‘Landfall in Unknown Seas’ (Allen Curnow)Six economic issues external to New Zealand, which will greatly impact upon us. 1.         The Diminishing Global Dominance of the US. Since 1941 America has dominated the world economically and politically. Probably it could ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • New Zealand has role to play in resolving crisis on ‘geopolitical fault line’, Helen Clark says
    By Geoffrey Miller New Zealand should continue to champion human rights in Belarus amidst an ongoing crackdown on protests by the country’s regime, former Prime Minister Helen Clark says. Protests in the country often referred to as ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’ erupted after the country’s disputed presidential elections on August 9 ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    6 days ago

  • Euthanasia referendum: How to cut through the emotions
    Jacqui Maguire, registered clinical psychologist This podcast episode highlights how difficult it is to have effective conversations about euthanasia due to how polarised people’s views are. I’m a clinical psychologist, with a passion for science communication. In early 2020 I founded the podcast Mind Brew, with an aim to make psychological ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    6 days ago

  • Why we need cameras on boats
    In case anyone needed further convincing, there's another example today of why we need cameras on fishing boats: reported seabird bycatch doubled during a camera trial: Commercial fishers operating off Auckland's coast around vulnerable seabirds are twice as likely to report accidentally capturing them when cameras are on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Graham Adams: The religious right’s campaign to spike the euthanasia referendum
    In the leadup to the euthanasia referendum, an array of conservative Christian political organisations is running an expensive campaign to sow doubt about the safety of assisted dying. Graham Adams argues that these religious forces know that Christian arguments aren’t convincing the public, but that it is in the public ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 days ago

  • Opportunistic looting
    The National Party has spent the last six months acting horrified at the cost of supporting people through the pandemic and banging on about how the debt must be repaid. So what was their economic policy released today? Massive tax-cuts for the rich, of course! National has walked back ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Uncomfortable Choices.
    Dangerous Times: This will be the choice confronting those coming of age in the 2020s. Embrace Neoliberalism’s belief in racial and sexual equality; adopt its secular and scientific world view; and cultivate the technocratic, multicultural, global outlook required of those who keep the machinery of hyper-capitalism humming. Or, throw your ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Tony Burton: Covid and benefit payments
    It would be a great time to reform the benefit system, according to former Deputy Chief Economic Advisor at the Treasury, Tony Burton. He argues the complexity of benefit system means that it’s failing to achieve its difficult three core objectives, which form an “iron triangle”.   New Zealand’s benefit ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 days ago

  • Talking tax: How to win support for taxing wealth
    Tax Justice UK, September 2020 Serious tax reform is on the political agenda for the first time in decades due to the coronavirus crisis. As this debate hots up it is important to understand what people think about public spending, wealth and tax. Tax Justice UK, along with Survation and ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    7 days ago

  • Getting Tough.
    Not Mucking Around: With upwards of 800 dead from the virus’s resurgence in the Australian state of Victoria, leniency is not on Premier Daniel Andrews’ agenda. The Victorian Police are cracking down hard on the protesters the Australian press has labelled "Covidiots".IMAGES OF POLICE, some in riot gear, others on ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • Media Link: Nuclear strategy, then and now.
    Although I had the fortune of being a graduate student of some of the foremost US nuclear strategists of the day (1970s) and later rubbed shoulders with Air Force and Naval officers who were entrusted with parts of the US nuclear arsenal, I seldom get to write or speak about ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago

  • The Chinese List.
    News that Zhenhua Data, an arm of China Zhenhua Electronics Group, a subsidiary of the military-connected China Electronic Information Industry Group (CETC), maintains a list of 800 New Zealanders on a “Overseas Key Information Database” that contains personal information on more than 2.4 million foreign individuals, has caused some consternation ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago

  • Things that grow fast, and things that surprise us
    Marie Becdelievre January 2020. The number of news article mentioning coronavirus exploded and anxious voices whispered about a global pandemic. Whisper? To me, it was only a whisper. I tend to learn about the world through non-fiction books, conferences, and academic research rather than news and social media, so ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 week ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37, 2020
    2,082,476,000,000,000 Viability of greenhouse gas removal via the artificial addition of volcanic ash to the ocean  (not open access, unfortunately) walks us through the numbers on a particular means of CO2 removal, addition of volcanic tephra to the ocean. The mechanism is straight chemistry and the cost is fully an order of ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Barbados to become a republic
    Barbados is planning to remove the queen as head of state and become a republic in time for the 55th anniversary of its independence in 2021: Barbados has announced its intention to remove the Queen as its head of state and become a republic by November 2021. [...] Reading ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Party Like It’s 1989: Bait and Switch is a Bad Look, Mr Hipkins
    At the 2017 election, the New Zealand Labour Party promised a Fees Free Policy for tertiary students. Basically, it would make the first year of university education free in 2018, with a second year in 2021, and a third in 2024. It also promised to restore Post-Graduate access to the ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago

  • Will the tropics eventually become uninhabitable?
    Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz What is the impact of temperature increases in the tropics? ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 week ago

  • A first-hand look: What it’s like to live in a 2020 California wildfire evacuation zone
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons It felt like 100 degrees in my in-laws’ Grass Valley, California, kitchen, but at least the lights were on and for the moment we were safely “distanced” from the Jones Fire. We’d just finished dessert, after pizza and a movie ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • COVID-19 is not the only infectious disease New Zealand wants to eliminate, and genome sequencing is...
    Nigel French, Massey University Genome sequencing — the mapping of the genetic sequences of an organism — has helped track the spread of COVID-19 cases in Auckland, but it also plays an important role in the control of other infectious diseases in New Zealand. One example is Mycoplasma bovis, a ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 week ago

  • A flaw in our electoral transparency regime
    A key part of our electoral funding regime is a requirement for some transparency around donations, on the basis that if we can find out who has bought our politicians (typically after we have voted for them) then everything is alright. There are a lot of problems with that regime ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Don’t Steal This Book
    On “In Defense of Looting” Matt Taibibi takes an entertaining look at this generation of woke activists and how they compare with Abbie Hoffman the iconic anti-Vietnam war counter-culture figure of the 1960s On Thursday, August 27th, the same day Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination, National Public Radio ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Carbon prices must rise
    When Parliament introduced the Emissions Trading Scheme, it was worried that carbon prices might get too high. So it introduced a "fixed price option", allowing polluters to pay the government $25 in the place of surrendering credits. The result was predictable: after we were thrown out of international carbon markets ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Disclosure
    The government will finally be requiring large New Zealand companies to disclose their climate change risks: New Zealand finance companies will be made to report on climate change risk, Climate Change Minister James Shaw has announced. The policy will force around 200 large financial organisations in New Zealand to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Tackling the hard issues – trust and relationships
    By Claire Grant, Genomics Aotearoa Communications Manager Community consultation is becoming an increasingly important aspect of research programmes in New Zealand, and with that comes the art of relationship building. Engagement between scientists and user-groups is certainly nothing new. But as stakeholder involvement becomes more of a requirement for science, ...
    SciBlogsBy Genomics Aotearoa
    1 week ago

  • Equality Network – September Newsletter
    Read the Equality Network newsletter here ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    1 week ago

  • The Left’s Lost Allies.
    Rebels In A Wrong Cause: The truly frightening thing about Jami-Lee Ross’s and Billy Te Kahika’s success in persuading thousands of New Zealanders that Covid-19 is just another trick, just another way of stealing away their power, is realising just how many of them once marched at the Left’s side. ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • Legal Beagle: Low-Hanging Fruit
    In a couple of months, the 53rd Parliament will meet in Wellington, and approximately 120 MPs will be sworn in, many of them for the first time.They will all have political goals, some aligning with their party platforms, some not, some complex, and some simple, but they will gain one ...
    Public Address
    1 week ago

  • Closing the Gap thinks that Labour’s proposal to raise the top tax rate is great but………
    Media Statement For Immediate Release 10th September 2020 The income and wealth inequality lobby group, “Closing the Gap” thinks the Labour proposal a great start says Peter Malcolm, a spokesperson for the group. But they need to be aware of what many of the rich do and of what do ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: No nonsense
    ACT is pushing a "no-nonsense climate change plan". What does it involve? Repealing the Zero Carbon Act and Emissions Trading Scheme, reversing the fossil-fuel exploration ban, and allowing mining on conservation land. In other words, repealing any policy which might actually reduce emissions. Which is the very definition of nonsensical. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • My Climate Story: Coming full Circle
    This blog post is a follow up to my recap of Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Training I recently participated in. One of the exercises we were asked to complete was to write about our respective "Climate Story". This is a slightly updated version to the one I had submitted during ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • A bill to criminalise wage theft
    Wage theft is a problem in New Zealand, with a widespread practice of forcing employees to work without pay, and regular cases of underpayment and exploitation. One reason why its such a widespread problem is impunity: rather than a crime, wage theft is merely a tort, dealt with by the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

Older posts

  • Primary sector exports and jobs up again
    Primary sector exports and jobs are up again, demonstrating the sector’s underlying strength amid the COVID-19 global pandemic and US-China trade war, and supporting New Zealand’s economic recovery. Stats NZ today reported New Zealand’s merchandise exports in August were up 8.6% on a year ago, driven by an increase in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago

  • Clean energy future for more schools
    Schools across Aotearoa New Zealand will be supported by the Government to upgrade to run on clean energy, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. The Minister has allocated $50 million from the Clean Powered Public Service Fund to replace, or convert, coal boilers in schools with clean ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago

  • Building business strength with digital tools
    New training and tools for digital commerce will give small businesses, especially in the tourism sector, the support they need to adapt and innovate in a COVID world. Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash have announced details of how $20 million digital capability funding set aside ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago

  • New pest lures to protect nature
    The Department of Conservation (DOC) is investing $1.4 million to develop new predator lures that would be game-changers for trapping and surveillance towards a predator-free Aotearoa, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage, announced in Christchurch today. The proposal is to develop long-life lures attractive to a range of predators—rats, mustelids ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago

  • Support for innovative Pacific education responses to COVID-19 needs
    Supporting new and creative Pacific education practices as part of our COVID-19 response and recovery is the focus of a new $28.5 million Pacific Education Innovation Fund announced today by Associate Minister of Education Jenny Salesa.  “There is already an incredible amount of innovative and creative work going on in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Eligibility expanded for COVID-19 leave support
    The expanded scheme will cover: People who have COVID-19 like symptoms and meet the Ministry of Health’s criteria, and need to self-isolate while awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test. People who are directed to self-isolate by a Medical Officer of Health or their delegate or on advice of their ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Seasonal work visa available to more people
    The Government is putting in place a range of immigration policy changes to help fill labour shortages in key industries while ensuring New Zealanders, who have lost jobs due to COVID-19, have the chance to find new employment. “Two key sectors we are moving to help are horticulture and wine ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • More border exceptions for critical roles
    The Government has established class exceptions for border entry for a limited number of veterinarians, deep sea fishing crew, as well as agricultural and horticultural machinery operators. “Tight border restrictions remain the backbone of the Government’s border strategy to protect New Zealand against COVID-19 and ensure New Zealand citizens and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Crown will not appeal Dodds v Southern Response decision
    The Crown will not appeal the Court of Appeal decision in the Dodds v Southern Response case, Grant Robertson announced today. “Southern Response will be paying the damages awarded by the Court to Mr and Mrs Dodds shortly. The Crown was already meeting their legal costs for this appeal. “The ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Crucial PGF investments for Northland
    The Provincial Growth Fund is investing nearly $30 million in a diverse range of projects that will create immediate and long-term jobs and lift economic and social outcomes for Northland and its people. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones made the announcement today in ...
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    3 days ago

  • $27million investment in global vaccine facility
    The Coalition Government has committed to invest $27 million in COVID-19 vaccine development through the global COVAX Facility, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced today. “The COVAX Facility is a key part of our COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy to obtain safe and effective vaccines. It allows us to invest in a high-quality, ...
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    3 days ago

  • Government backing Māori landowners
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    6 days ago

  • New tools to make nature more accessible
    People planning to head outdoors now have a resource that lets them know how accessible an area is for people with varying levels of mobility, Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today. The Halberg Foundation, Sensibel, and the Department of Conservation (DOC) have launched Accessibel, a new tool which helps ...
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  • PGF makes Māori history more accessible
    One of the most significant battle sites of the 1860s Land Wars will receive $2.96 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to improve the site and help tell the New Zealand story to visitors, Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. Nanaia Mahuta ...
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  • Making it official: The journey of te reo Māori | Kia whakapūmautia: Ngā piki me ngā heke o te r...
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    1 week ago

  • Better-than-forecast GDP reflects decision to protect New Zealand
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    1 week ago

  • Boost for COVID-19 related Pacific education needs
    The Government is investing $39.7 Million over four years to support the educational needs of Pacific learners and families in the regions hardest hit by COVID-19, with Auckland getting an immediate boost, Associate Minister of Education Jenny Salesa says.   “Like all New Zealanders Pacific families want learners to do well ...
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    1 week ago

  • More resources for kiwi conservation
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    1 week ago

  • Improving access to affordable electricity
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    1 week ago

  • Government achieves 50 percent women on state boards
    Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter announced today that the Government has reached its target of 50 percent on women on state sector board and committees – setting a new record level of women on state sector boards. “This Government is committed to having more women in leadership roles - ...
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    1 week ago

  • Record transport investment to help economic recovery and save lives
    Transport Minister Phil Twyford released today the final Government Policy Statement on land transport (GPS) 2021 which outlines the planned $48 billion investment in services and infrastructure over the next decade. “The final GPS supports our Government’s five-point plan for economic recovery by confirming our record investments in transport infrastructure ...
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    1 week ago

  • Advancing clean energy technology
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    1 week ago

  • Major milestone reached in Pike River Re-entry
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    1 week ago

  • Economic recovery guides Govt response to retirement income policy review
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    1 week ago

  • Iwi community hub opens in Murupara
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    1 week ago

  • PREFU shows economy doing better than forecast
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    1 week ago

  • Spruce-up for Ōtaki community facilities
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    1 week ago

  • PGF funding for Jobs for Nature programme
    The Provincial Growth Fund will provide $11.88 million to fund fencing and waterway projects nationwide that will improve the environment and create jobs in their communities, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. “These projects will create more than 100 jobs nationwide with work starting within the next couple ...
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    1 week ago

  • Procurement to promote jobs, Māori and Pasifika businesses and sustainability
    As part of the COVID-19 recovery, the Government has strengthened its procurement rules to ensure its annual $42 billion spend creates more jobs, uses more sustainable construction practices and results in better outcomes for Māori and Pasifika, Government Ministers announced today.   Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says the $42 ...
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    1 week ago

  • Timaru’s Theatre Royal to be upgraded and new heritage facility built
    The Government is supporting a major upgrade of Timaru’s iconic Theatre Royal and the construction of a new connected Heritage Facility museum and exhibition space with $11.6 million from the Government’s Infrastructure Fund, Jacinda Ardern announced today. “We heard the call from the community and the council. The Theatre Royal ...
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    1 week ago

  • District Court judge appointed
    Chrissy Montague (formerly Armstrong), barrister of Auckland has been appointed as a District Court Judge with Family Court jurisdiction to be based in Wellington, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. Ms Montague commenced practice in Auckland in 1987 and went into general practice dealing with Wills, Estates, Trusts, Conveyancing, Relationship Property ...
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    1 week ago

  • Approval given to Commercial Film and Video Production Proposal
      A Proposal to provide for the development and operation of commercial film and video production facilities in areas of Christchurch has been given the go ahead. Hon Poto Williams, Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, has approved the Proposal, which was prepared and submitted by Regenerate Christchurch. Minister Williams ...
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    1 week ago

  • Supporting a thriving wānanga sector to benefit Māori learners
    As part of the Government’s focus on building closer partnerships with Māori and enhancing the quality of, and access to, Māori medium education, a payment of $8 million will be made to Te Wānanga o Raukawa in partial recognition of its Waitangi Tribunal claim (WAI 2698), Associate Education Minister Kelvin ...
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    1 week ago

  • Jobs for Nature boosts efforts to restore Kaimai-Mamaku
    The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage has announced a $19 million investment over four years in an important forest restoration project involving a partnership between the Department of Conservation, iwi/hapū, the Bay of Plenty and Waikato Regional Councils, community conservation groups and organisations such as Forest and Bird across the ...
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    1 week ago

  • New Zealand first in the world to require climate risk reporting
    New Zealand will be the first country in the world to require the financial sector to report on climate risks, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. The changes build on the huge progress this Government has made to tackle the climate crisis. “Today is another step on ...
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    1 week ago

  • Economic data highlights impact of Auckland moving out of Level 3
    Economic activity across the Auckland region and the country bounced back to levels experienced under Alert Level 1 following Auckland’s move out of Alert Level 3, analysis in the Treasury’s latest Weekly Economic Update shows. The analysis of economic data since Auckland’s move out of Level 3 shows: Auckland card ...
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    1 week ago

  • PM statement on Cabinet COVID-19 Alert Level review
    Takiri mai te ata, ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea, tihei mauriora! Tātou katoa ngā iwi o Aotearoa, tēnā koutou! Tēnā tātou e whakanuia ana i te wiki nei, te wiki o te reo Māori Greeting to you all from Otepoti, Dunedin.  This week is the Māori Language week and ...
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    1 week ago

  • More mental wellbeing services for young people in regions
    More mental health and addiction services are available for young New Zealanders in Rotorua and Taupō, Wairarapa, South Canterbury, Dunedin and Southland from next month, Health Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter say. “The Government is serious about making sure New Zealanders struggling with mental health ...
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    1 week ago

  • Government joins forces with Central Otago communities to clean up waterways
    The Manuherekia catchment in Central Otago is the third exemplar catchment to be targeted as part of the Government’s plan to clean up waterways by supporting community-led programmes.   Environment Minister David Parker said the Manuherekia catchment is vitally important to the people of Central Otago.  “The Manuherekia rises in the ...
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    1 week ago

  • Government confirms new Dunedin Hospital design
    The Government has agreed on a preferred design for the new Dunedin Hospital featuring two separate buildings, and has provided funding for the next stages of work.   Minister of Health Chris Hipkins says Cabinet has approved in principle the detailed business case for the new hospital, giving people in ...
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    2 weeks ago

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