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:
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
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Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
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Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
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New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
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Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
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 Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
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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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-V5FVludFk
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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfxENCTt3ZI
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."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO5FwsblpT8
"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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-cHBQf5z_M
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elp18OvnNV0
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd1sxX2L6tE
And why …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIdwf717p0w
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