Ian threatens to become worst hurricane to hit Tampa in century
Brian K. Sullivan, Bloomberg News
….Ian will ride up Florida’s west coast, dragging its most powerful side along the coastline before making landfall by the end of the week. The state will very likely see widespread surge, wave and rain impacts no matter where it hits, Ryan Truchelut, president of WeatherTiger, said in an email.
….. Hurricane Ian could be the worst storm to hit Tampa in 101 years, according to Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Enki Research. The area has had many close calls in recent years, but the last devastating strike on the Tampa-St. Petersburg area was a 1921 storm that would have caused US$30 billion today.
I know I should have sympathy those who'll suffer the losses but part of me says nah, let it burn. And then perhaps the pain caused will be enough to see the end of the low tax, hands off magic peddled by these clowns.
Your Kiwi Saver will have exposure to the Gilts,as does the life insurance underwriters,As does the NZ super fund.
Robertson went to the UK to make arrangements for NZ Gilts to be listed on the UK FTSE, in November,a position that does not need to be exercised at the moment.
This sounds very like what has been going on in New Zealand with the things Robertson and Orr have been up to.
Still, what is a $9 billion loss between friends?
What odds are you offering on Robertson re-appointing Orr as the Governor of the RBNZ? The man who failed abysmally at his job of controlling inflation but instead managed to lose $9 billion of our money.
Very miss-leading narrative and he should frankly know better. The RBNZ doesn't have any possible concern about making losses. Same thing has been happened in Australia.
The losses mean nothing to the RBNZ because,
"Central banks can operate with negative equity forever"
That Robert Peston thread starts to go wrong where it claims tax payers are ultimately paying for this. The BoE may even believe it but will never the less be able to make the same intervention as necessary to raise bond prices and regardless of any loss recorded on their balance sheet, as they just did.
Given the debacle now unfolding in the UK, our MSM is strangley uncurious as to the link between Chris Luxon and the "highly opaque" extreme neoliberal UK think tank the Policy Exchange:
Liz Truss "…then became head of economic and social policy at Policy Exchange, which was also listed by Transparify as “highly opaque”. Policy Exchange is the group that (after Porter left) called for a new law against Extinction Rebellion, which became, in former home secretary Priti Patel’s hands, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act. We later discovered it had received $30,000 from the US oil company Exxon…"
IMHO, it no coincidence that Luxon came back from the UK, where he was a "keynote speaker" at the policy exchange, spouting an incredibly hardline and extreme neoliberal policy agenda. The intellectual influence on Luxon since his return from the UK are clear, and the media owe it to NZ voters to inform them of the sort of faith based, neoliberal double down, policies the Policy Exchange advocates and appear to have been taken up bu the LOTO – and by extension, the National party.
Make no mistake – the economic magical thinking that is tanking the UK at the moment is EXACTLY what Luxon has been proposing to anyone who will listen since his return from the UK – which isn't surprising, given the company he chose to keep while he was there.
"Given the debacle now unfolding in the UK, our MSM is strangley uncurious as to the link between Chris Luxon and the "highly opaque" extreme neoliberal UK think tank the Policy Exchange:"….my thoughts exactly..
..but then our MSM, and without the slightest hesitation, would like all it's consumers to turn off any and all critical thinking capacity that they might have, and believe that the Russians have just sabotaged their own Nord Stream pipe lines….the only good thing about the way they torture logic so brutally, is that the screams of it on the rack, most days on the morning radio, makes getting out of bed very easy for me.
It is amazing that theres been next to no discussion in our msm of the possibility that the sabotage was done to remove negotiations based on renewed gas flows from the table.
The only half-decent reason I have read so far for this sabotage is the Russians are demonstrating their ability to attack underwater energy pipelines to and from Norway and the UK to mainland Europe to up the ante. Remember, Putin has the unshakeable belief common to all Fascists that the west is weak and it will eventually cave if he makes life hard enough. This also chimes with recent reports from Norway of all sorts of odd shenanagins occurring around their oil and facilities in the North Sea. They've upped the protection of their facilities, and you can have zero doubt that Russian surface and sub-surface activity is now under close watch by NATO submarines and other forces.
Think about it – an attack by Russia on key underwater infrastructure would be difficult to prove (thus preventing NATO invoking Article 5) and would be calculated to upset the fine margins that Western European countried are working to to prevent major energy issues this northern winter.
However, it is also upping the tension in what is becoming an increasingly tense just-short-of-war confrontation between NATO and Russia, where we are rapidly approaching a situation analogous to the situation between the supposedly neutral United States and Germany in the North Atlantic between April and December 1941 – a full on unofficial shooting war in all but name in a certain theatre. All pretence was dropped when Germany declared war on the United States in December 1941, which is where this war is heading – a full on NATO/Russia confrontation.
I get that part, just the other side seems also plausible. Once winter hits in earnest and people really start to struggle to stay warm in the face of high energy costs there is potential for civil unrest which would put plenty of pressure on politicians to go back to the table (appeasement) to get gas flows moving. Refusal to do so creates space for more pro Russian political groups to gain support that potentially drives a great big wedge in Nato.
“because it is uninformed speculation”…that is what the MSM is in the bussiness of doing…and on this very subject..today, as we speak.
Why would anyone destroy their own infrastructure that they have just finishing spending the last few years building and not just take out someone else's pipe line…?
Pres. Biden: "If Russia invades…then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it."
Reporter: "But how will you do that, exactly, since…the project is in Germany's control?"
Biden: "I promise you, we will be able to do that." abcn.ws/3B5SScx
End of quote. Personally, I cannot remember Putin threatening specifically any action like this…
What is salient is not important. What is important is not salient. Most of the time, most of the media obsess over issues of mind-numbing triviality. Much of the world’s political journalism is little more than court gossip: who’s in, who’s out, who said what to whom. At the same time, issues of immense, even existential importance are largely or entirely ignored.
With the exception of all-out nuclear war, all the most important problems that confront us are environmental. None of our hopes, none of our dreams, none of our plans and expectations can survive the loss of a habitable planet. And there is scarcely an Earth system that is not now threatened with collapse.
The challenges of life on spaceship Earth have become too big too quickly – examples of localised collapse occur daily now. Local action will be where it's at, trying to roll with the global warming punches; to adapt so that as many as possible are 'comfortable', for now.
Space ship Earth….or as has been said, a Blue Marble..or I think, a precious Jewel 🌍 ..surrounded by deep black space.
The early 1970s marked the beginning of an era of environmental activism in the US, and the blue marble Earth photo, being the first ever taken of an illuminated face of the entire planet, rapidly became a symbol of the movement.
Average COVID-19 mortality per million was 288.54 in countries without face mask policies and 48.40 in countries with face mask policies. In no mask countries, adjusted average daily increase was 0.1553 − 0.0017 X (days since the first case) log deaths per million, compared with 0.0900 − 0.0009 X (days since the first case) log deaths per million in the countries with a mandate. A total of 60 days into the pandemic, countries without face mask mandates had an average daily increase of 0.0533 deaths per million, compared with the average daily increase of 0.0360 deaths per million for countries with face mask mandates.
Conclusions
This study's significant results show that face mask mandates were associated with lower COVID-19 deaths rates than the rates in countries without mandates. These findings support the use of face masks to prevent excess COVID-19 deaths and should be advised during airborne disease epidemics.
Politics Spread COVID: Developing a Public Health Response [22 Aug 2022]
The circumstances leading to one million American deaths from COVID-19 are familiar to health educators: The pandemic was politicized from the outset; public health professionals were pushed aside and sometimes attacked; in many areas, compliance with public health recommendations was low, and vaccine uptake was much less than required to meet the threat; the public health community tied itself in knots trying to figure out how to cut through the plethora of misinformation; people in marginalized populations died in vastly disproportionate numbers in spite of years of preparation to prevent just that outcome. Cumulative mortality is equivalent to some of the “worst case” scenarios put forth by U.S. public health experts at the beginning of the pandemic even though we’ve worked so hard to prepare for this type of global pandemic, so what went wrong? Profound changes in American politics have led to a relationship between public health and swaths of society that is quite unlike what previously was assumed in the dominant models of public health; it was believed that public health experts would be treated as and listened to as the experts they are in the field. As the politicization of the pandemic and subsequent deaths show, these assumptions are no longer valid and we cannot assure the health of the public as we are required to do. The assumptions that we have operated under for so long in public health now must be deconstructed and revisited in order to move forward and prevent unnecessary future deaths. To do this, we must better understand the influence of American politics and we must more effectively engage in politics at all levels.
I wouldn't call what Kelvin said racist, but it is ideologically driven ie if you are Maori (or even Pakeha) you have to think a certain way otherwise you are wrong.
So Maori who don't go along with what the Maori Party or Labour are saying about colonization and culture don't have right think. They need to change their thinking.
BTW apparently Te Party Moari have something on their website saying that Maori are genetically stronger than other races. Even the Race Relations Concilliator is calling this racist. I think if they have no scientific evidence for this it is just dumb and part of the elevating of one race above others.
Even the Race Relations Concilliator is calling this racist.
This claim isn't true at all. Here is a link to the ACT party press release that claims racism from TPM:
“Te Pāti Māori has been engaging in racial discrimination on its website with claims of genetic superiority, but when notified, New Zealand’s Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon refused to publicly stand up to it,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
I can't find anything linkable sorry, it was a opposition in the house , querying him about child welfate, (minds gone blank on the name) he told her she needed to cross the bridge in to maoridom and stop thinking vanilla!
This is a Maori woman raised in tough conditions being attacked by a minister of government.
My view is maori culture is becoming the dominant religion in this country and if ypu don't jump in line your out.
"What the Member needs to do is cross the bridge that is Te Tiriti o Waitangi from her Pākehā world into the Māori world and understand exactly why, how the Māori world operates," Davis said.
"It's no good looking at the world through a vanilla lens," he added.
Well the woke left will have us believe that a man can identify as a woman and therefore actually be a woman, so unless you are up in arms about this then you can't really complain about Judith identifying as a 27 year old Slovakian model
It was Collins’ colleague Michael ‘homeless‘ Woodhouse who labelled her comment “flippant” – “27-year-old Slovakian models” all look alike to me, and those with a sensitive 'nose' can smell 'woke' left, right and centre.
The guys a real piece of work, he makes his comments then hides behind "Davis told her he did not intend to cause personal offence, but understands that his comments could have."
COULD HAVE That is really taking responsibility and ownership for his words and that they were offensive not COULD HAVE !!! I wonder what internal ramifications there are ??? Not many here principled enough to call him out.
So where is this test I can take to find out how Māori I or anyone else is ???
Yeah, so I [Chhour] received a phone call just before 12, um, to apologise, um – he [Davis] was apologising for the statements he made and if I, if I felt personally upset by those statements, and I’ve accepted that apology as genuine, and I hope that we can have more constructive debates within the house from now on, um, without personal attacks. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/middayreport/audio/2018860658/act-party-on-whakapapa-and-oranga-tamariki
The guys [sic] a real piece of work…
!!! ??? ??? Outrageous “piece of work“. Mind you, anyone can make a mistake
Davis was wrong to say it and he apologised, rightly so.
ACT demanding apologies for offence caused is a surprising but welcome turn of events. They throw much worse insults around all the time, and anyone who suggests an apology is often dismissed. If Davis had called for the execution of an ACT MP, that would be fine with Seymour … apparently. Good to know ACT won't be doing that any more, right?
I am not sure I am advocating for Maori as such (even though my spouse is Maori).
I am advocating for people being able to express their opinion. Because that is what Willie and Kelvin seem to be saying that you have to have a certain ideological perspective otherwise your thinking is wrong and if you are Maori and have "wrong think" then we wll patronize and demean you.
Maori don't just have one perspective. Funny that.
In recent years, all and sundry, with or without reason, have used the popular formula that "we woke up in another country." The resetting of the terms of the Kremlin usurper, the arrest of Alexei Navalny, the recognition of the "independence" of the DPR and LPR, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine – all these events received the same similar response. Today, however, it is probably worth recognizing that none of them deserved such an assessment: the mobilization announced on September 21 became a milestone that truly divided modern Russian history into “before” and “after”, an event that began the final countdown of the Putin era.
[…]
With his decision to mobilize (and not at all about a “special military operation”), Putin announced the termination of the existing contract with the country. Today it has become clear that, on the one hand, the population no longer has personal freedoms, which for more than twenty years the Kremlin has guaranteed with a reduction or even absence of political ones; and, on the other hand, slavish obedience to power and non-interference in politics does not provide any economic growth.
It must be understood that the redistribution of national wealth through theft and corruption of the last twenty years cannot be compared with its destruction in the aggressive war waged by Russia today. The largest amount confiscated from an official or security official (the case of Colonel Zakharchenko), which once shocked Russia, corresponds to spending 6 hours, and the cost of “Putin’s palace” mentioned in Navalny’s investigation corresponds to 2 days of continuation of the Ukrainian adventure (which, as now Obviously, it will only get more expensive over time.
Two years ago, I spoke of how the 2020s would be “a time of terror and pure authoritarianism” for Russian power, suggesting that such tools of dominance could help Putin rule throughout the decade. Today, this forecast has to be changed: madness has reached a scale that cannot be maintained even for several years.
For the first time in years I stopped off online to ZB news. Never again.
Saw this from Kate Hawkesby – the other half of the Hosk.
Pot calling kettle black? You bet.
I haven't been following the case of the Davis/Chhour row, so it may well be he went too far. But anyone who knows Kelvin or had a conversation with him will be able to tell you he is one straight-up guy. If he lost it you can be sure he had grounds for doing so:
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Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
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 ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
Very old joke. circa 1930s
A woman greets a business man in a nightclub, and says, "Sorry to hear about the fire at your business"
The business man replies "Shhh! tomorrow"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300700362/multiple-fires-in-central-auckland-offices-being-treated-as-suspicious
Excoriating Liz Truss is like shooting fish in a barrel. Even the IMF has said that her tax cuts/austerity/cruelty plan is shite. Here's Jonathan Pie.
Bomber Bradbury splurged a (well referenced) rant:
Lis Truss destroys UK economy with far right economic mythology | The Daily Blog
I wonder how long will it be, before 'disaster modelers' are describing the ‘worst storm’ to hit a community, as the worst storm in a millennium?
And what will that storm be like?
Will it be in our children's lifetimes?
'
@0:47 minutes
….we are not there yet
Huge Bank of a England intervention to try and head off a potential financial catastrophe of Truss and Kwartang's making.
https://twitter.com/EdConwaySky/status/1575128310740389889
https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1575160338248761344
the long gilt depreciation removed 1 trillion in value from pension funds and Insurance companies.
It was an own goal by the gang of 4 as the financial markets did not like the mini budget.
I know I should have sympathy those who'll suffer the losses but part of me says nah, let it burn. And then perhaps the pain caused will be enough to see the end of the low tax, hands off magic peddled by these clowns.
Your Kiwi Saver will have exposure to the Gilts,as does the life insurance underwriters,As does the NZ super fund.
Robertson went to the UK to make arrangements for NZ Gilts to be listed on the UK FTSE, in November,a position that does not need to be exercised at the moment.
This sounds very like what has been going on in New Zealand with the things Robertson and Orr have been up to.
Still, what is a $9 billion loss between friends?
What odds are you offering on Robertson re-appointing Orr as the Governor of the RBNZ? The man who failed abysmally at his job of controlling inflation but instead managed to lose $9 billion of our money.
https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/09/15/the-9-billion-dollar-man/
Very miss-leading narrative and he should frankly know better. The RBNZ doesn't have any possible concern about making losses. Same thing has been happened in Australia.
The losses mean nothing to the RBNZ because,
"Central banks can operate with negative equity forever"
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=50504
Blame it on the Pandemic ,an unexpected event that chartered new territory in its effects.
That Robert Peston thread starts to go wrong where it claims tax payers are ultimately paying for this. The BoE may even believe it but will never the less be able to make the same intervention as necessary to raise bond prices and regardless of any loss recorded on their balance sheet, as they just did.
Given the debacle now unfolding in the UK, our MSM is strangley uncurious as to the link between Chris Luxon and the "highly opaque" extreme neoliberal UK think tank the Policy Exchange:
Liz Truss "…then became head of economic and social policy at Policy Exchange, which was also listed by Transparify as “highly opaque”. Policy Exchange is the group that (after Porter left) called for a new law against Extinction Rebellion, which became, in former home secretary Priti Patel’s hands, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act. We later discovered it had received $30,000 from the US oil company Exxon…"
IMHO, it no coincidence that Luxon came back from the UK, where he was a "keynote speaker" at the policy exchange, spouting an incredibly hardline and extreme neoliberal policy agenda. The intellectual influence on Luxon since his return from the UK are clear, and the media owe it to NZ voters to inform them of the sort of faith based, neoliberal double down, policies the Policy Exchange advocates and appear to have been taken up bu the LOTO – and by extension, the National party.
Make no mistake – the economic magical thinking that is tanking the UK at the moment is EXACTLY what Luxon has been proposing to anyone who will listen since his return from the UK – which isn't surprising, given the company he chose to keep while he was there.
"Given the debacle now unfolding in the UK, our MSM is strangley uncurious as to the link between Chris Luxon and the "highly opaque" extreme neoliberal UK think tank the Policy Exchange:"….my thoughts exactly..
..but then our MSM, and without the slightest hesitation, would like all it's consumers to turn off any and all critical thinking capacity that they might have, and believe that the Russians have just sabotaged their own Nord Stream pipe lines….the only good thing about the way they torture logic so brutally, is that the screams of it on the rack, most days on the morning radio, makes getting out of bed very easy for me.
It is amazing that theres been next to no discussion in our msm of the possibility that the sabotage was done to remove negotiations based on renewed gas flows from the table.
…exactly right, wonder why that is?
because it is uninformed speculation, that's why.
The only half-decent reason I have read so far for this sabotage is the Russians are demonstrating their ability to attack underwater energy pipelines to and from Norway and the UK to mainland Europe to up the ante. Remember, Putin has the unshakeable belief common to all Fascists that the west is weak and it will eventually cave if he makes life hard enough. This also chimes with recent reports from Norway of all sorts of odd shenanagins occurring around their oil and facilities in the North Sea. They've upped the protection of their facilities, and you can have zero doubt that Russian surface and sub-surface activity is now under close watch by NATO submarines and other forces.
Think about it – an attack by Russia on key underwater infrastructure would be difficult to prove (thus preventing NATO invoking Article 5) and would be calculated to upset the fine margins that Western European countried are working to to prevent major energy issues this northern winter.
However, it is also upping the tension in what is becoming an increasingly tense just-short-of-war confrontation between NATO and Russia, where we are rapidly approaching a situation analogous to the situation between the supposedly neutral United States and Germany in the North Atlantic between April and December 1941 – a full on unofficial shooting war in all but name in a certain theatre. All pretence was dropped when Germany declared war on the United States in December 1941, which is where this war is heading – a full on NATO/Russia confrontation.
I get that part, just the other side seems also plausible. Once winter hits in earnest and people really start to struggle to stay warm in the face of high energy costs there is potential for civil unrest which would put plenty of pressure on politicians to go back to the table (appeasement) to get gas flows moving. Refusal to do so creates space for more pro Russian political groups to gain support that potentially drives a great big wedge in Nato.
A destroyed pipeline removes that possibility.
“because it is uninformed speculation”…that is what the MSM is in the bussiness of doing…and on this very subject..today, as we speak.
Why would anyone destroy their own infrastructure that they have just finishing spending the last few years building and not just take out someone else's pipe line…?
Sanctuary – Could the following possibly help you in your ruminations?
ABC News @ABC – 9:59pm · 7 Feb 2022
Pres. Biden: "If Russia invades…then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it."
Reporter: "But how will you do that, exactly, since…the project is in Germany's control?"
Biden: "I promise you, we will be able to do that."
abcn.ws/3B5SScx
End of quote. Personally, I cannot remember Putin threatening specifically any action like this…
Stern words from Monbiot in The Guardian, but the UK has more pressing concerns.
The challenges of life on spaceship Earth have become too big too quickly – examples of localised collapse occur daily now. Local action will be where it's at, trying to roll with the global warming punches; to adapt so that as many as possible are 'comfortable', for now.
It tends to make Guy McPherson's 'all gone by 2026' frightening real!
Space ship Earth….or as has been said, a Blue Marble..or I think, a precious Jewel 🌍 ..surrounded by deep black space.
90 Years ! And they still dont get the enormity of climate change.
That Blue Marble photo had an enormous impact on me. Maybe it should be again put up as a reminder. There is NO Planet B
"…to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot – the only home we've ever known."
"the Momentary masters"….. Carl Sagan. Thankyou DMK. This should be required viewing.
To the planet Earth.
So things that don't work actually work.
/
https://twitter.com/DFisman/status/1574922349345898496
Results
Average COVID-19 mortality per million was 288.54 in countries without face mask policies and 48.40 in countries with face mask policies. In no mask countries, adjusted average daily increase was 0.1553 − 0.0017 X (days since the first case) log deaths per million, compared with 0.0900 − 0.0009 X (days since the first case) log deaths per million in the countries with a mandate. A total of 60 days into the pandemic, countries without face mask mandates had an average daily increase of 0.0533 deaths per million, compared with the average daily increase of 0.0360 deaths per million for countries with face mask mandates.
Conclusions
This study's significant results show that face mask mandates were associated with lower COVID-19 deaths rates than the rates in countries without mandates. These findings support the use of face masks to prevent excess COVID-19 deaths and should be advised during airborne disease epidemics.
https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(21)00557-2/fulltext#%20
And pity the public health leaders (Bloomfield, Fauci et al.)
It might be that not having mask policies was a sign that governments didn't give much of a sht in other ways as well. Not the masks per se?
Good point.
Well haven't we done well with the removal of masks in enclosed settings with inadequate ventilation,.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/475716/high-demand-at-christchurch-hospital-sees-surgeries-rescheduled
Kinda gob smacked that it's lunchtime and the fact Kelvin Davis told a Maori woman she ain't moari enough hasn't been discussed her, dude needs to go.
This seems very uncharacteristic for Davis.
Maybe worth looking at the latest Al Jazeera documentary discussing alleged systematic racism inside the UK Labour Party.
Maybe this kind of attitude is more common than assumed.
Can one be racist against one's own race.?
Its possible.
Maybe the previous episode then. Many of the UK Labour party members expelled for Anti-Semitism are Jewish.
I wouldn't call what Kelvin said racist, but it is ideologically driven ie if you are Maori (or even Pakeha) you have to think a certain way otherwise you are wrong.
So Maori who don't go along with what the Maori Party or Labour are saying about colonization and culture don't have right think. They need to change their thinking.
BTW apparently Te Party Moari have something on their website saying that Maori are genetically stronger than other races. Even the Race Relations Concilliator is calling this racist. I think if they have no scientific evidence for this it is just dumb and part of the elevating of one race above others.
Even the Race Relations Concilliator is calling this racist.
This claim isn't true at all. Here is a link to the ACT party press release that claims racism from TPM:
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2209/S00157/racial-discrimination-by-te-pati-maori-must-stop.htm
https://theplatform.kiwi/podcasts/episode/meng-foon-calls-the-maori-party-racist
Actually although he was slow to respond to Seymour, Meng Foon has stated he thinks it is racist.
But these are now the silly scraps that focussing on race leads to us having.
I don't think it racist, but its possibly incorrect which is dumb of Te Party Maori to make such as statement. It then becomes a race to the bottom.
And by the way, who discovered and decoded our genetic make up? Western Science. Irony much.
Thanks for providing a link.
Yes, it's an incorrect statement as it doesn't actually mean anything scientific; genetic 'makeup' isn't 'strong' or 'weak,' it just is.
What exactly did he say? What is the context?
I can't find anything linkable sorry, it was a opposition in the house , querying him about child welfate, (minds gone blank on the name) he told her she needed to cross the bridge in to maoridom and stop thinking vanilla!
This is a Maori woman raised in tough conditions being attacked by a minister of government.
My view is maori culture is becoming the dominant religion in this country and if ypu don't jump in line your out.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/09/oriini-kaipara-says-labour-s-kelvin-davis-owes-act-s-karen-chhour-an-apology-after-degrading-comments.html
Davis has apologised personally to Chhour, who accepted the apology as genuine.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/middayreport/audio/2018860658/act-party-on-whakapapa-and-oranga-tamariki
This is why Kelvin is not allowed out often.
Is that right?
Well the woke left will have us believe that a man can identify as a woman and therefore actually be a woman, so unless you are up in arms about this then you can't really complain about Judith identifying as a 27 year old Slovakian model
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018758973/woodhouse-s-isolation-homeless-mystery-man-claim-debunked
It was Collins’ colleague Michael ‘homeless‘ Woodhouse who labelled her comment “flippant” – “27-year-old Slovakian models” all look alike to me, and those with a sensitive 'nose' can smell 'woke' left, right and centre.
Yip mostly I can't stand the woman(collins) but that was some cracking good humor
When he is 'allowed out' Kelvin opens his mouth and keeps his boss in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Davis won't be suspended from Labour after Māori ACT MP comment, PM says deputy was 'too personal' (msn.com)
Watch: PM Ardern faces media after Davis 'Pākehā world' comment (msn.com)
The guys a real piece of work, he makes his comments then hides behind "Davis told her he did not intend to cause personal offence, but understands that his comments could have."
COULD HAVE That is really taking responsibility and ownership for his words and that they were offensive not COULD HAVE !!! I wonder what internal ramifications there are ??? Not many here principled enough to call him out.
So where is this test I can take to find out how Māori I or anyone else is ???
!!! ??? ??? Outrageous “piece of work“. Mind you, anyone can make a mistake
Davis was wrong to say it and he apologised, rightly so.
ACT demanding apologies for offence caused is a surprising but welcome turn of events. They throw much worse insults around all the time, and anyone who suggests an apology is often dismissed. If Davis had called for the execution of an ACT MP, that would be fine with Seymour … apparently. Good to know ACT won't be doing that any more, right?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/bay-of-plenty/128699219/act-defend-tauranga-candidate-after-off-with-her-head-comment-aimed-at-tolley
But to be fair, sometimes they do apologise for their nastiness …
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/11/act-mp-mark-cameron-regrets-flippant-remarks-about-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern.html
There’s heaps more, we could do this all day.
Its just part of the new ideology, if you don't agree with them, then they denigrate you. Thus Willie calling David Seymour a "uselss Maori"
Good for you Anker, advocating for Māori.
I am not sure I am advocating for Maori as such (even though my spouse is Maori).
I am advocating for people being able to express their opinion. Because that is what Willie and Kelvin seem to be saying that you have to have a certain ideological perspective otherwise your thinking is wrong and if you are Maori and have "wrong think" then we wll patronize and demean you.
Maori don't just have one perspective. Funny that.
I've often wondered if the large Maori flight to aussie is because in part they can't be bothered proving they are Maori enough.
Apologies if my inference was wrong, and/or you’re not comfortable with it.
No problem Drowsy.
To be honest I wondered if you were being sacastic. Always to good to clear things up.
Not my job to advocate for Maori as such. Husband who is Maori shares many of my views about culture and the Treaty.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/09/29/reality-bites/
Chris Trotter has written a very good article about this on TDB (see above link)
Ripley's…believe it or…not!
'Kiwibank believed inflation had peaked at 7.3%, and should fall back to within the Reserve Bank's target band of 1% to 3% in 2023.'
BNZ and Kiwibank lift mortgage rates: 'It can be daunting to see mortgage rates increase', economist says | Stuff.co.nz
Pessimism from economist and Putin opponent Vladislav Inozemtsev.
In recent years, all and sundry, with or without reason, have used the popular formula that "we woke up in another country." The resetting of the terms of the Kremlin usurper, the arrest of Alexei Navalny, the recognition of the "independence" of the DPR and LPR, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine – all these events received the same similar response. Today, however, it is probably worth recognizing that none of them deserved such an assessment: the mobilization announced on September 21 became a milestone that truly divided modern Russian history into “before” and “after”, an event that began the final countdown of the Putin era.
[…]
With his decision to mobilize (and not at all about a “special military operation”), Putin announced the termination of the existing contract with the country. Today it has become clear that, on the one hand, the population no longer has personal freedoms, which for more than twenty years the Kremlin has guaranteed with a reduction or even absence of political ones; and, on the other hand, slavish obedience to power and non-interference in politics does not provide any economic growth.
It must be understood that the redistribution of national wealth through theft and corruption of the last twenty years cannot be compared with its destruction in the aggressive war waged by Russia today. The largest amount confiscated from an official or security official (the case of Colonel Zakharchenko), which once shocked Russia, corresponds to spending 6 hours, and the cost of “Putin’s palace” mentioned in Navalny’s investigation corresponds to 2 days of continuation of the Ukrainian adventure (which, as now Obviously, it will only get more expensive over time.
Two years ago, I spoke of how the 2020s would be “a time of terror and pure authoritarianism” for Russian power, suggesting that such tools of dominance could help Putin rule throughout the decade. Today, this forecast has to be changed: madness has reached a scale that cannot be maintained even for several years.
“The Russian economy,” I wrote in early March, “will die by winter ,” and now I think I was right…
https://theins.ru/opinions/inozemtsev/255405?fbclid=IwAR0vn8qQpDdG5-gkETY5n-2kJ8Vwomu8XCf6ZkHDj6ZReEwVLICD7tXTupc
google translate
How are we all feeling about the new normal?
https://twitter.com/wxkaitlin/status/1575188234010705920?
Juice Media talks to an eco-socialist Sabrina Fernandes about the Brazilian election.
And why …
For the first time in years I stopped off online to ZB news. Never again.
Saw this from Kate Hawkesby – the other half of the Hosk.
Pot calling kettle black? You bet.
I haven't been following the case of the Davis/Chhour row, so it may well be he went too far. But anyone who knows Kelvin or had a conversation with him will be able to tell you he is one straight-up guy. If he lost it you can be sure he had grounds for doing so:
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/early-edition/opinion/kate-hawkesby-kelvin-davis-how-maori-are-you-routine-yesterday-was-a-disturbing-trip-backwards/?dicbo=v2-23285ec58ee70d7a2d7b42daf6772842
Nope. I haven't listened to the audio. That would be too stressful. I'm just going on the written word.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nurses-warned-plan-to-turn-down-extra-shifts-next-week-likely-illegal/QIGZ355EZM6DCOQM2YCKOZHXKU/
Boy they Health NZ sure no how to keep their staff happy.
What the hell are these over payed bureaucrats playing at?
Well it's about time! Pity it took the public backlash of marches and protests to finally get some action against a ridiculous sentence.
Crown appeals teen rapist Jayden Meyer's home detention sentence – NZ Herald
Appeal launched against nine-month 'Home D' sentence for teen rapist | Stuff.co.nz
Tis almost as if marches and protests worked ……
Yep, otherwise this sort of thing happens.
Corrections reviewing notification policy after neighbour on parole commits murder | Stuff.co.nz