More liars…
No. 53 Richie McCaw: “The win over France in the quarter-final put some demons to bed.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19112015/#comment-1098032
No. 52 Michael Cheika: “I genuinely feel for Craig Joubert. It’s so unfair. No other referee has had this stuff put out there like that and he’s a very good referee.”
Browsing online on the Herald, though God knows why I do, I see where a woman, Australian born, who has lived here since she was 4 years old, 38 years old now, has been diagnosed with terminal melanoma. She does not qualify for free treatment here and although 31 weeks pregnant, she has to return to Australia for her treatment and early birth of her baby.
With all our disgust of how New Zealanders are treated over the ditch in not being able to receive help, even when they pay taxes to provide for such help, isn’t it a bit rich of us when we are doing the same thing to fellow neighbours from over the ditch who have lived here for many years. I understand that recent arrivals have to pay for their medical help but isn’t this going a bit too far for this woman who has lived here for years. What a nasty old world we live in.
This is exactly the same secretive administrative regime that is detaining and deporting New Zealanders.
The point so many people fail to understand, is that the rule changes Abbott passed early this year mean that:
1. If you are deemed to have failed the new retrospective rules then arrest is mandatory.
2. Indefinite detention is mandatory
3. You do not have to be told why you have been detained or on what grounds
4. There is NO legal appeal
5. The Minister of Immigration has sole discretion
The UN has condemned this regime, and there was real disquiet when Abbott rammed these changes through under the guise of ‘fighting terrorism’. It’s application to New Zealanders who have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism is obnoxious and wrong.
Kind of like their cricket team now I come to think of it.
Here is some interesting new OIA information that was released by MSD on 19 Nov. 2015 (see also questions/answers 18 and 19 re Mental Health Employment Service and Sole Parent Employment Service outcomes). As usual, the response has raised more questions than answers, and some info has been withheld (some without any reason), other info appears to have selectively been made available.
Now why can our MSM not deliver any such information? Sorry, they do mostly seem to be under-resourced, unable to do a proper job, or are indifferent and rather spend time on discussing different flags and help the government stir up yet more fear about possible terror attacks in NZ. And lest we forget, there is always the weather, crime, lots of sports and celebrity news to report on. And who and what is “trending” on Twitt-err?
So most on “the left” do not seem to give much of a shit about this kind of info, but rather follow with obsession whatever MSM report, so they can then hit out at them? FFS if that is the state of affairs in this crap country, I have NO more hope for it!!!
Quote: The expert noted that the Doce River, one of Brazil’s great water sheds, “is now considered by scientists to be dead and the toxic sludge is slowly working its way downstream towards the Abrolhos National Marine Park where it threatens protected forest and habitat. Sadly the mud has already entered the sea at Regencia beach a sanctuary for endangered turtles and a rich source of nutrients that the local fishing community relies upon.”
We are killing this planet one river at a time….and nothing will be done about it, lest we hinder progress and growth and export n shite.
Hey! This sounds very brave, very exciting and innovative. Great leadership! “An Auckland high school is skipping NCEA Level 1 to reduce assessment stress for its students, giving the teenagers an extra year before facing exams.
Hobsonville Point Secondary School says the first year of the NCEA qualification is unnecessary as it doesn’t lead to anywhere except further schooling……
The school, which opened last year, said it made the decision to switch to a two-year NCEA Level 2 programme after reviewing a national report on student wellbeing which found schools were over-assessing children, leading to anxiety, depression and eating disorders.
“Why would we do that to them?” said principal Maurie Abraham. “We found the kids weren’t enjoying learning, and were instead ticking boxes. Our approach changes the focus to deep learning, rather than chasing credits.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11552492
This is an interesting step. But the gap between Level 1 NCEA and Level 2 is huge. A lot will not be able to cope with it. Those are the ones who need Level 1 – it shows basic literacy, numeracy and general understanding of subjects studied. That’s may be all some students are capable of, but that capacity should be acknowledged.
Of more concern is the hothousing and credit farming that is becoming endemic in schools. This is not a problem with NCEA as such (scaling exams so 50% passed and 50% failed was just as bad) but is a result of the pressure on schools to improve on results. The Ministry target for NCEA Level 1 is 85% pass rate (Which makes it pretty meaningless as a qualification). In a lot of cases, this can only be achieved by hothousing and downright cheating at an institutional level, because 85% of students are not capable of passing NCEA Level 1, at least not over the course of a single year.
But no school wants to be identified as a failing school, because then Bright Flight happens – the capable students are sent to other schools and the cycle is confirmed.
I wish we could move away from this continual cycle of assessment. A useful analogy is that weighing the pig all the time does not increase its weight. Have just observed my youngest child’s NCEA level one year. Start school in February. Practice exams in September, more revision then NCEA exams November to December. She is currently on holiday until the start of next year. So effectively only seven months when they learn new stuff. Just imagine what they could learn and discover if it wasn’t for all these pesky assessments.
Not to mention that huge slabs of the so-called ‘curricula’ consist of doing assigned work for internal assessment anyway and chunks of the week to week programme are reserved for this. For a bright or more widely interested students things can be pretty tedious.
Not to mention that huge slabs of the so-called ‘curricula’ consist of doing assigned work for internal assessment anyway and chunks of the week to week programme are reserved for this. For bright or more widely interested students things can be pretty tedious.
Another analogy. A watched pot doesn’t boil! Give the kids a break. Strange that our pollies and advisors seem to be leaning towards Chinese rote learning after our style had been lauded for years.
It fits the new political agenda. Our previous style involved thinking and creativity. This is probably a bit inconvenient now and tick boxes are far better training for people who will live in a bureaucratic fascist state.
It fits the new political agenda. Our previous style involved thinking and creativity. This is probably a bit inconvenient now and tick boxes are far better training for people who will live in a bureaucratic fascist state.
The changes proposed to S.95A of the Act mean that NO residential subdivision and/or development will be able to be publicly notified regardless of adverse effects. This means that the checks and balances of public submission and the ability to appeal to the Environment Court will be removed completely from ALL residential subdivisions and developments.
The result will be that in places such as Queenstown or Wanaka visually intrusive residential developments promoted by well-resourced developers will inevitably gain consent from (specially chosen, often poorly trained) commissioners without any public input. This is a disaster for NZ’s landscapes in the making.
Why on earth have the Maori Party signed up to this?
S.95A should be kept as it it is. In its current form it does not hold back residential development. The Nats are simply using this as an excuse to change it.
One can only hope that Dunne and the Maori Party realise the the disastrous effects of this change before it is too late.
The change also flies in the face of a central tenet of the RMA-public involvement.
The Maori Party have only promised support up to Select Committee stage. They presumably have not the manpower to examine the implications and hope that a wider view will help illuminate.
There seems to be a wish to fast track things behind tis RMA overturning. This is in my opinion, one of the main factors that influenced the Christchurch City Council building management section to be so careless with the controls and demands on the building that went down in the earthquake. The hegemony at that time was the same careless, feckless one presently coming from government.
We should take this gummint before the Trade Practices tribunal or whatever decides that the public has been sold a sick pup and left with an article that is not fit for purpose. I want an intelligent government that acts carefully and effectively not a bunch of buccaneer cowboys knocking down fences meant to offer protection from danger and reliable stability.
Yeah indeed North. Wonder if that level of support was Government funded? Should be.
Edit:Mr Backhouse and trust founder Scott Gilmour worked for more than two years to raise money for the Whangarei programme, which costs about $1000 per student per year.
The men had joined forces with the Ngatahi Education Initiative ….”
This morning on RADIONZ Kim Hill interviewed Nick Tyler, a very interesting and knowledgable searcher for practical application of good ideas. The sort of person that gives my heart oxygen! His interview would have something in it for everyone who comes here and like heartening news, positive and factual and helpful stuff that will aid us for coping even improving our situation.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201780651
05 Nick Tyler: rethinking urban movement
Nick Tyler is Chadwick Professor of Civil Engineering at University College London, and investigates the ways in which people interact with their immediate environments. He set up the Accessibility Research Group within the Centre for Transport Studies, with a team of researchers investigating many aspects of accessibility and public transport.
Professor Tyler is also the Director of the UCL CRUCIBLE Centre, which conducts interdisciplinary research on lifelong health and wellbeing. He visited New Zealand as a guest of the University of Auckland, New Zealand Transport Agency, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Wellington City Council, for public meetings and talks.
Much of what he was saying was very good…but the bit about making bus shelters into something that sounded like entertainment zones threw me.( As Kim pointed out…everyone has devices!) And the one meter square of grass needed to supply the urban dwellers with the required amount of aerial gut biota was a bit woowooish!
I would have though grass verges and urban green spaces would have provided enough bug populated turf.
The USA seems to be quite a violent, lawless place. And of course they assassinate their leaders from time to time. On top of that they have a religious fundamentalist group that thinks nothing of preventing people having human rights and freedom.
It is not surprising that we hear so much bad stuff about the USA. Any place where people feel they have to have a gun to protect themselves against lurking dangers, (mostly their family or neighbours), must be a country not yet civilised, or one on the way down.
Oh I love these theories. I hardly have to watch films for intriguing plots and scenarios now. And with the emerging stories that leak out from the past – ones about killing Castro come to mind, they can’t be dismissed as drivel.
I’ve put this up once and it seems to have vanished. I think it is interesting so here goes again. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201780648
On antiobiotics which the news about has lately been negative. They are becoming ineffective because they have been used profligately as prophylactics and because they seem to promote growth by the food industry. Now some boffin is sounding hopeful about fighting the little bacteria b..gers.
This from RADIONZ. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201780533
Last year the World Health Organisation warned that the world was heading towards a “…post-antibiotic era”.
Meanwhile, a study published in The Lancet last week described the discovery in China of a bug resistant to the polymyxins, the last class of fully effective antibiotics. More worryingly, this resistance can pass between bacteria, raising the prospect that polymyxin-resistant bugs could spread worldwide over the next few years.
So far, so gloomy…but is antibiotic resistance a problem that we can solve?
Bacteria have been around for billions of years, and in that time they’ve worked out how to fight off and kill other bugs muscling in on their turf.
They do this using a bacteriocin, a toxic protein that can target a specific species of bacteria; think sniper fire as opposed to the hand grenade approach employed today with broad spectrum antibiotics.
Professor Richard James of the University of Nottingham and other teams around the world are hoping that these bacteriocins will help us win the war against infection.
[lprent: Some of your comments have been going into autospam. Haven’t looked to see why yet. ]
lprent
Running my mouse over parts of the TS page bring up a warning that –
‘Firefox has prevented the outdated plugin “Adobe Flash” from running on thestandard.org.nz.
And this is without my presenting anything. Then it happened when I was testing to see what brought up the message and ran the mouse down the comments list on the right.
I had tried to put up a comment with two links to audio on Radionz but it wouldn’t accept them on the two times that I tried. While I have been refreshing to see where the comment has gone, I have had that message about taking up too much time and been locked out.
lprent
Further to before – I see that I had some options to get rid of the blocker – Allow now and allow and remember, so I have pressed the remember one. It has gone. Don’t know any more but hope that’s it.
Still having trouble. I am trying to put up a summary from RADIONZ plus their audio for one of their features. It has gone up in the cloud but not come down again.
Need some heavenly guidance. Had four or five goes now in total.
You have to wonder whether the man is just completely oblivious to the effects of his government on ordinary people, or if he is taking the piss monumentally.
Antibiotics: http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201780648
On antiobiotics which the news about has lately been negative. They are becoming ineffective because they have been used profligately as prophylactics and because they seem to promote growth by the food industry. Now some boffin is sounding hopeful about fighting the little bacteria b..gers.
This from RADIONZ. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201780533
Last year the World Health Organisation warned that the world was heading towards a “…post-antibiotic era”.
Meanwhile, a study published in The Lancet last week described the discovery in China of a bug resistant to the polymyxins, the last class of fully effective antibiotics. More worryingly, this resistance can pass between bacteria, raising the prospect that polymyxin-resistant bugs could spread worldwide over the next few years.
So far, so gloomy…but is antibiotic resistance a problem that we can solve?
Bacteria have been around for billions of years, and in that time they’ve worked out how to fight off and kill other bugs muscling in on their turf.
They do this using a bacteriocin, a toxic protein that can target a specific species of bacteria; think sniper fire as opposed to the hand grenade approach employed today with broad spectrum antibiotics.
Professor Richard James of the University of Nottingham and other teams around the world are hoping that these bacteriocins will help us win the war against infection.
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Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
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Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The “financial sustainability target”, which was “allocated” to Waitaha, is consistent with what’s happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
As reported by CNN http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/26/asia/new-zealand-academic-research-police-veto/index.html
Liars of Our Time
No. 54: RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN
“The greatest supporter of ISIL is the Assad regime.”
—-ISIL’s greatest supporter Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey
Al Jazeera News, Saturday 28 November 2015
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-25/meet-man-who-funds-isis-bilal-erdogan-son-turkeys-president
More liars…
No. 53 Richie McCaw: “The win over France in the quarter-final put some demons to bed.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19112015/#comment-1098032
No. 52 Michael Cheika: “I genuinely feel for Craig Joubert. It’s so unfair. No other referee has had this stuff put out there like that and he’s a very good referee.”
Even more liars…
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20102015/#comment-1084864
Browsing online on the Herald, though God knows why I do, I see where a woman, Australian born, who has lived here since she was 4 years old, 38 years old now, has been diagnosed with terminal melanoma. She does not qualify for free treatment here and although 31 weeks pregnant, she has to return to Australia for her treatment and early birth of her baby.
With all our disgust of how New Zealanders are treated over the ditch in not being able to receive help, even when they pay taxes to provide for such help, isn’t it a bit rich of us when we are doing the same thing to fellow neighbours from over the ditch who have lived here for many years. I understand that recent arrivals have to pay for their medical help but isn’t this going a bit too far for this woman who has lived here for years. What a nasty old world we live in.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11552650
Read this and be appalled:
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/28/a-phonecall-a-meeting-then-indefinite-detention-the-refugees-at-the-mercy-of-asio
This is exactly the same secretive administrative regime that is detaining and deporting New Zealanders.
The point so many people fail to understand, is that the rule changes Abbott passed early this year mean that:
1. If you are deemed to have failed the new retrospective rules then arrest is mandatory.
2. Indefinite detention is mandatory
3. You do not have to be told why you have been detained or on what grounds
4. There is NO legal appeal
5. The Minister of Immigration has sole discretion
The UN has condemned this regime, and there was real disquiet when Abbott rammed these changes through under the guise of ‘fighting terrorism’. It’s application to New Zealanders who have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism is obnoxious and wrong.
Kind of like their cricket team now I come to think of it.
What’s the French word for poodle?
http://iran-times.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ObamaHollandeWHU.jpg
I believe one option is “Morrissey”.
There is another, more polite, alternative “caniche”.
Does that help you?
https://cdn-webimages.wimages.net/0517659d3063398830657bef90013f7ef41aa7-wm.jpg
It must be hard being alwyn and always supporting reactionary people and policies. Understandable he gets grumpy ever so often.
Was that you out on your stag do, or is it just after you were nicked for rioting with your Millwall mates at a Football game?
http://static.commentcamarche.net/es.ccm.net/pictures/Ud6krzOUaQiVrbx4IWkuzUrMD8vWr4qbG1wMtmWKQ94r7Doi6fybXXnACJoLFtKR-lol.png
Here is some interesting new OIA information that was released by MSD on 19 Nov. 2015 (see also questions/answers 18 and 19 re Mental Health Employment Service and Sole Parent Employment Service outcomes). As usual, the response has raised more questions than answers, and some info has been withheld (some without any reason), other info appears to have selectively been made available.
A post on another blog covers all this:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/11/27/msds-selective-and-poor-responses-to-new-oia-requests-on-benefits-advisors-reports-mental-health-and-sole-parent-employment-services/
An earlier post that also contained OIA data on MHES and SPES and much more:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/mental-health-and-sole-parent-employment-services-msd-withholds-o-i-a-information-that-may-prove-their-trials-a-failure/
And here is a post showing how MSD and their Principal Advisor on Health selectively use statistical and other information, and misrepresent it to push their agendas:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/msd-and-dr-david-bratt-present-misleading-evidence-claiming-worklessness-causes-poor-health/
PDFs with the new OIA response from MSD, and also with the sets of questions that were asked:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/msd-oia-rqst-dr-bratt-mhes-spes-waa-reports-winz-sundry-data-08-07-reply-anon-19-11-15.pdf
High-lit version:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/msd-oia-rqst-dr-bratt-hd-panel-mhes-spes-waa-reports-reply-hi-lit-19-11-15.pdf
Questions put to MSD:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/msd-o-i-a-request-to-c-e-of-m-s-d-base-benefit-break-down-anon-08-07-15.pdf
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/msd-o-i-a-request-to-c-e-of-msd-bratt-hd-panel-reforms-anon-08-07-15.pdf
Now why can our MSM not deliver any such information? Sorry, they do mostly seem to be under-resourced, unable to do a proper job, or are indifferent and rather spend time on discussing different flags and help the government stir up yet more fear about possible terror attacks in NZ. And lest we forget, there is always the weather, crime, lots of sports and celebrity news to report on. And who and what is “trending” on Twitt-err?
So most on “the left” do not seem to give much of a shit about this kind of info, but rather follow with obsession whatever MSM report, so they can then hit out at them? FFS if that is the state of affairs in this crap country, I have NO more hope for it!!!
nope, your comment was just tl;dr
there’s plenty of OIA outrage round these parts already
François Hollande’s French civilization
No. 1: Pâté de Foie Gras
http://www.lamontagne.fr/photoSRC/bqUyVelNbWe1aAxBwXruFG8LIKncgI5EqzxysNngmzhLQqc95EY68d5L1WxH7gOSe4AgvLt9FhffSVHCrA9xuoG6bA–_/gavage-de-canards-a-buisson_542611.jpeg
Brazil and the mining ‘tragedy’ no one really wants to speak about.
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16803&LangID=E
Quote: The expert noted that the Doce River, one of Brazil’s great water sheds, “is now considered by scientists to be dead and the toxic sludge is slowly working its way downstream towards the Abrolhos National Marine Park where it threatens protected forest and habitat. Sadly the mud has already entered the sea at Regencia beach a sanctuary for endangered turtles and a rich source of nutrients that the local fishing community relies upon.”
We are killing this planet one river at a time….and nothing will be done about it, lest we hinder progress and growth and export n shite.
Hey! This sounds very brave, very exciting and innovative. Great leadership!
“An Auckland high school is skipping NCEA Level 1 to reduce assessment stress for its students, giving the teenagers an extra year before facing exams.
Hobsonville Point Secondary School says the first year of the NCEA qualification is unnecessary as it doesn’t lead to anywhere except further schooling……
The school, which opened last year, said it made the decision to switch to a two-year NCEA Level 2 programme after reviewing a national report on student wellbeing which found schools were over-assessing children, leading to anxiety, depression and eating disorders.
“Why would we do that to them?” said principal Maurie Abraham. “We found the kids weren’t enjoying learning, and were instead ticking boxes. Our approach changes the focus to deep learning, rather than chasing credits.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11552492
This is an interesting step. But the gap between Level 1 NCEA and Level 2 is huge. A lot will not be able to cope with it. Those are the ones who need Level 1 – it shows basic literacy, numeracy and general understanding of subjects studied. That’s may be all some students are capable of, but that capacity should be acknowledged.
Of more concern is the hothousing and credit farming that is becoming endemic in schools. This is not a problem with NCEA as such (scaling exams so 50% passed and 50% failed was just as bad) but is a result of the pressure on schools to improve on results. The Ministry target for NCEA Level 1 is 85% pass rate (Which makes it pretty meaningless as a qualification). In a lot of cases, this can only be achieved by hothousing and downright cheating at an institutional level, because 85% of students are not capable of passing NCEA Level 1, at least not over the course of a single year.
But no school wants to be identified as a failing school, because then Bright Flight happens – the capable students are sent to other schools and the cycle is confirmed.
I wish we could move away from this continual cycle of assessment. A useful analogy is that weighing the pig all the time does not increase its weight. Have just observed my youngest child’s NCEA level one year. Start school in February. Practice exams in September, more revision then NCEA exams November to December. She is currently on holiday until the start of next year. So effectively only seven months when they learn new stuff. Just imagine what they could learn and discover if it wasn’t for all these pesky assessments.
Not to mention that huge slabs of the so-called ‘curricula’ consist of doing assigned work for internal assessment anyway and chunks of the week to week programme are reserved for this. For a bright or more widely interested students things can be pretty tedious.
Not to mention that huge slabs of the so-called ‘curricula’ consist of doing assigned work for internal assessment anyway and chunks of the week to week programme are reserved for this. For bright or more widely interested students things can be pretty tedious.
Another analogy. A watched pot doesn’t boil! Give the kids a break. Strange that our pollies and advisors seem to be leaning towards Chinese rote learning after our style had been lauded for years.
It fits the new political agenda. Our previous style involved thinking and creativity. This is probably a bit inconvenient now and tick boxes are far better training for people who will live in a bureaucratic fascist state.
It fits the new political agenda. Our previous style involved thinking and creativity. This is probably a bit inconvenient now and tick boxes are far better training for people who will live in a bureaucratic fascist state.
Fairy Godmother. You can say that again!
The Nats and there friends at the Herald are spinning the line that there are only minor changes to the RMA proposed. See here:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11552680
This is NOT true. Let me repeat; NOT true.
The changes proposed to S.95A of the Act mean that NO residential subdivision and/or development will be able to be publicly notified regardless of adverse effects. This means that the checks and balances of public submission and the ability to appeal to the Environment Court will be removed completely from ALL residential subdivisions and developments.
The result will be that in places such as Queenstown or Wanaka visually intrusive residential developments promoted by well-resourced developers will inevitably gain consent from (specially chosen, often poorly trained) commissioners without any public input. This is a disaster for NZ’s landscapes in the making.
Why on earth have the Maori Party signed up to this?
S.95A should be kept as it it is. In its current form it does not hold back residential development. The Nats are simply using this as an excuse to change it.
One can only hope that Dunne and the Maori Party realise the the disastrous effects of this change before it is too late.
The change also flies in the face of a central tenet of the RMA-public involvement.
The Maori Party have only promised support up to Select Committee stage. They presumably have not the manpower to examine the implications and hope that a wider view will help illuminate.
There seems to be a wish to fast track things behind tis RMA overturning. This is in my opinion, one of the main factors that influenced the Christchurch City Council building management section to be so careless with the controls and demands on the building that went down in the earthquake. The hegemony at that time was the same careless, feckless one presently coming from government.
We should take this gummint before the Trade Practices tribunal or whatever decides that the public has been sold a sick pup and left with an article that is not fit for purpose. I want an intelligent government that acts carefully and effectively not a bunch of buccaneer cowboys knocking down fences meant to offer protection from danger and reliable stability.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11552466
Yeah !
Yeah indeed North. Wonder if that level of support was Government funded? Should be.
Edit:Mr Backhouse and trust founder Scott Gilmour worked for more than two years to raise money for the Whangarei programme, which costs about $1000 per student per year.
The men had joined forces with the Ngatahi Education Initiative ….”
This morning on RADIONZ Kim Hill interviewed Nick Tyler, a very interesting and knowledgable searcher for practical application of good ideas. The sort of person that gives my heart oxygen! His interview would have something in it for everyone who comes here and like heartening news, positive and factual and helpful stuff that will aid us for coping even improving our situation.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201780651
05 Nick Tyler: rethinking urban movement
Nick Tyler is Chadwick Professor of Civil Engineering at University College London, and investigates the ways in which people interact with their immediate environments. He set up the Accessibility Research Group within the Centre for Transport Studies, with a team of researchers investigating many aspects of accessibility and public transport.
Professor Tyler is also the Director of the UCL CRUCIBLE Centre, which conducts interdisciplinary research on lifelong health and wellbeing. He visited New Zealand as a guest of the University of Auckland, New Zealand Transport Agency, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Wellington City Council, for public meetings and talks.
I was peripherally listening to that.
Much of what he was saying was very good…but the bit about making bus shelters into something that sounded like entertainment zones threw me.( As Kim pointed out…everyone has devices!) And the one meter square of grass needed to supply the urban dwellers with the required amount of aerial gut biota was a bit woowooish!
I would have though grass verges and urban green spaces would have provided enough bug populated turf.
I’ll listen again later…
Rosemary
These are generalised ideas and particularly aimed at sterile spaces, not like our green and pleasant neighbourhoods?
Promoters of anti-choice terrorist propaganda are culpable.
.
Michael Skolnik Verified account
@MichaelSkolnik
Suspect in #PlannedParenthood shooting is a white male in his 40’s.
(via police scanner)
https://twitter.com/MichaelSkolnik/status/670326090699796480
Lisa @notmuchelse 9m9 minutes ago
Daleiden and his buddy Troy Newman knew exactly what they were doing w/ their dishonest propaganda videos. Newman’s done it before!
3 retweets 2 likes
Lisa
@notmuchelse
Troy Newman spent years demonizing Dr. Tiller, until he was murdered. Then he joined up w/ Daleiden for these videos.
https://twitter.com/notmuchelse/status/670382764286349312
Alexandra
@aliemalie
A clinic needs bulletproof vests. Let that sink in. “Clinic has a… supply of bulletproof vests.” #ColoradoSprings http://nyti.ms/1InJgGU
https://twitter.com/aliemalie/status/670362047834558468
The USA seems to be quite a violent, lawless place. And of course they assassinate their leaders from time to time. On top of that they have a religious fundamentalist group that thinks nothing of preventing people having human rights and freedom.
It is not surprising that we hear so much bad stuff about the USA. Any place where people feel they have to have a gun to protect themselves against lurking dangers, (mostly their family or neighbours), must be a country not yet civilised, or one on the way down.
Rumour had it, it was the CIA that nailed JFK Kennedy?
Oh I love these theories. I hardly have to watch films for intriguing plots and scenarios now. And with the emerging stories that leak out from the past – ones about killing Castro come to mind, they can’t be dismissed as drivel.
These guys want a blanket ban on abortion, and are prepared to kill in order to acheive that goal.
I’ve put this up once and it seems to have vanished. I think it is interesting so here goes again.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201780648
On antiobiotics which the news about has lately been negative. They are becoming ineffective because they have been used profligately as prophylactics and because they seem to promote growth by the food industry. Now some boffin is sounding hopeful about fighting the little bacteria b..gers.
This from RADIONZ. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201780533
Last year the World Health Organisation warned that the world was heading towards a “…post-antibiotic era”.
Meanwhile, a study published in The Lancet last week described the discovery in China of a bug resistant to the polymyxins, the last class of fully effective antibiotics. More worryingly, this resistance can pass between bacteria, raising the prospect that polymyxin-resistant bugs could spread worldwide over the next few years.
So far, so gloomy…but is antibiotic resistance a problem that we can solve?
Bacteria have been around for billions of years, and in that time they’ve worked out how to fight off and kill other bugs muscling in on their turf.
They do this using a bacteriocin, a toxic protein that can target a specific species of bacteria; think sniper fire as opposed to the hand grenade approach employed today with broad spectrum antibiotics.
Professor Richard James of the University of Nottingham and other teams around the world are hoping that these bacteriocins will help us win the war against infection.
[lprent: Some of your comments have been going into autospam. Haven’t looked to see why yet. ]
lprent
Running my mouse over parts of the TS page bring up a warning that –
‘Firefox has prevented the outdated plugin “Adobe Flash” from running on thestandard.org.nz.
And this is without my presenting anything. Then it happened when I was testing to see what brought up the message and ran the mouse down the comments list on the right.
I had tried to put up a comment with two links to audio on Radionz but it wouldn’t accept them on the two times that I tried. While I have been refreshing to see where the comment has gone, I have had that message about taking up too much time and been locked out.
I’m not sure what’s going on.
lprent
Further to before – I see that I had some options to get rid of the blocker – Allow now and allow and remember, so I have pressed the remember one. It has gone. Don’t know any more but hope that’s it.
Still having trouble. I am trying to put up a summary from RADIONZ plus their audio for one of their features. It has gone up in the cloud but not come down again.
Need some heavenly guidance. Had four or five goes now in total.
Just use chrome, firefox is a dog.
We have always used linux so want to continue if possible.
This may be of interest
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95346?hl=en
I’ve seen the same issue in Chrome. It seems to happen when Flash hasn’t been properly updated.
firefox is ok on windows, if you don’t add too many extensions, but it’s a total memory hog. better than IE11 at least (the default at work)
Firefox is single process, one tab doesn’t load correctly and the whole thing locks up.
If you’ve got multiple cores it ‘s pretty much unusable, especially if you’re running any thing containing webgl, the performance is glacial.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/11/david-cameron-letter-cuts-oxfordshire
insert National Party Ministers name of your choice and this would be here
You have to wonder whether the man is just completely oblivious to the effects of his government on ordinary people, or if he is taking the piss monumentally.
National have pricked the Auckland real estate bubble with the 1st October changes!
says who?
Antibiotics:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201780648
On antiobiotics which the news about has lately been negative. They are becoming ineffective because they have been used profligately as prophylactics and because they seem to promote growth by the food industry. Now some boffin is sounding hopeful about fighting the little bacteria b..gers.
This from RADIONZ. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201780533
Last year the World Health Organisation warned that the world was heading towards a “…post-antibiotic era”.
Meanwhile, a study published in The Lancet last week described the discovery in China of a bug resistant to the polymyxins, the last class of fully effective antibiotics. More worryingly, this resistance can pass between bacteria, raising the prospect that polymyxin-resistant bugs could spread worldwide over the next few years.
So far, so gloomy…but is antibiotic resistance a problem that we can solve?
Bacteria have been around for billions of years, and in that time they’ve worked out how to fight off and kill other bugs muscling in on their turf.
They do this using a bacteriocin, a toxic protein that can target a specific species of bacteria; think sniper fire as opposed to the hand grenade approach employed today with broad spectrum antibiotics.
Professor Richard James of the University of Nottingham and other teams around the world are hoping that these bacteriocins will help us win the war against infection.
This is really good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrH6UMYAVsk
David Graeber: debt and what the government doesn’t want you to know – video
one must not mention such things as the whole system runs on confidence….a confidence trick as it were
Jihad and more in Syria, and what is behind it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sPY0X8SrLo
Most keep dreaming and getting no real info, that is the west.