Modern industrial soy is a blight on the planet. Look it up.
“..how much more proof do you need..?”
Yeah, nah.
Animal Products Linked to Cancer
December 27, 2013
Consumption of meat and other animal products is strongly linked to several types of cancer, according to an article published in the journal Nutrients. The author analyzed data on 21 different cancers in 157 countries and found that certain factors, especially diet, were associated with risk for developing specific cancers. Specifically, the association between animal product consumption and cancer was as strong as that linking tobacco and cancer. Possible mechanisms for risk include animal products’ promotion of growth and high iron and fat content. The author notes that while detection and treatment are important, animal product consumption has been recognized as a cancer risk for more than a century and needs to be addressed in order to prevent the deadly disease.
How come non-Western cultures with high meat protein diets don’t have high rates of cancer (quite the opposite)? It’s not meat eating per se, it’s how we do it. Can’t comment futher on that research until I see whether they controlled for things like refined carb intake, lifestyle, modern pollutants etc which tend to go hand in hand with meat consumption. Would also want to know if they differentiated between grass-fed meat vs feed-lot, pumped full of chemicals meat.
I said that because there is lots of dodgy research being done in the world and I’d want to see a better analysis of the reasearch than was on the page you linked to before I commented further.
to equate to proof, without any fact checking or analysis at all. Don’t worry, I see meat eaters making the same kinds of mistakes.
Do you understand how things like overall diet, lifestyle, environment could affect the outcome of research into on the health effects of a specific food? I suspect you don’t. I know I’ve asked you these kinds of questions before that you just ignore. It’s the worst kind of intellectual argument (quoting a useless source and then refusing to back it up) and I’m surprised that its tolerated by the general commentariat here. If you were making a more conventional political statement people would be all over you.
“..that has been written up in a scientific-journal..called ‘nutrition’..(with all the checks and balances that entails..)..”
Alot of medical research is done poorly and/or has been co-opted by various special interest groups. This is a well known phenomenon and is acknowleged within science and medicine.
I don’t know the Nutrition journal so am in no position to judge the value of its peer review (assuming it did peer review the research). I haven’t seen the research published. That’s all I said – that there wasn’t enough information to judge the value of it. You are quite welcome to trust it, but if you post it in a public forum then expect some analysis.
So, it’s not strawman argument. It’s based on experience and understanding. I note that yet again you fail to answer my questions and just call them horseshit, and so have just reinforced my opinion of you that you don’t really understand how scientific research works and how to evaluate it.
correction:..the scientific journal is called ‘nutrients’..
..and is described in wikipedia as thus:
“..Nutrients is an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing reviews, regular research papers, and short communications on all aspects of nutrition..”
..(hope that helps..)
..and once again i have to return to the fact you seem unable to grasp..
..this is a meta-study..looking at 151 other scientific-studies..over 21 countries..
..so yr paranoias detailed in yr second paragraph ..do not/cannot apply to that..
..it is a different discipline…mainly number/stat-crunching..
..no actual on lab-table research/study..
..get that..?
..and if you can’t ‘trust’ a study/evidence of such magnitude/scope..
..and if you think that ‘vested-interests’..(who..?..the all-powerful vegan-lobby?..) have twisted this research somehow..
..best you go and stand over there with the tobacco-doesn’t-cause-cancer/the-moon-landings-didn’t-happen crew..eh..?
..and you still haven’t answered that simple straightforward question:
..do you receive/derive yr monies from the animal-flesh-trade industries..?
..and what questions of yours do you feel i have not answered..?
How come non-Western cultures with high meat protein diets don’t have high rates of cancer (quite the opposite)? It’s not meat eating per se, it’s how we do it. Can’t comment futher on that research until I see whether they controlled for things like refined carb intake, lifestyle, modern pollutants etc which tend to go hand in hand with meat consumption. Would also want to know if they differentiated between grass-fed meat vs feed-lot, pumped full of chemicals meat.
“..eating cheese/milk/meat will likely give you cancer/premature-death..”
Citation needed. And what’s with the ‘likely’ bit?
You still haven’t responded to my substantive points (not really surprised, you strike me as very dogmatic on this, so why bother with reality).
I was vegetarian for a long time (a very nutritionally well-informed vegetarian), and part of that time I was virtually vegan. My health improved substantially when I started eating meat again. I know many other people that this is true for. I also know people that do well on vege diets. One size doesn’t fit all.
How come non-Western cultures with high meat protein diets don’t have high rates of cancer (quite the opposite)? It’s not meat eating per se, it’s how we do it.
Paleo. Been holding my body together now 3 years. No sugar, no fructose, no hydrogenated oils, minimal wheat and dairy.
Lots of vegetable carbs, fermented foods, protein and saturated fats. Recent cardio test was perfect.
The big problem I’m not properly managing in my life at the moment is correct exercise, stress and inflammation.
Nice one RL. I know other people who paleo works very well for too. There are other traditional diets that have good health outcomes too. I don’t even object to people being vegan, it just irks when some claim that their way is best and that everyone else would be better off doing what they do (demonstrably false), and anyone who doesn’t is somehow bad or wrong. Veganism, as practiced by most in the West, is also pretty high in terms of environmental damage, so pah to their moral high ground.
“..do you derive your income from the income generated by the animal-flesh-trade..?”
No, I have nothing to do with the meat industry.
“..and the rage/irrationality/tone/timbre of yr responses on this subject..”
Ha, ha, I’m actually not eating meat at all at the moment. There is nothing wrong with appropriately placed anger (ts is full of it, as is the vegan movement). But by all means point out some specific examples of where I am being irrational. Things you merely don’t like don’t count.
RL I got the idea you were on a mountain somewhere. So either you are overdoing the exercise or setting a very demanding schedule. And stress, I think that a bit of meditation in a quiet safe place rests all the body, even a change, another page in the book you have chosen to read. Also a lie down where you start relaxing your whole body from your toes up. We are holding ourselves in readiness for action all the time and don’t realise it till we deliberately shed it.
Don’t the Nats have a major trust through which their campaign funds are filtered?
Yes, the Waitemata Trust. Been going for years and in that time millions of anonymous dollars have been transferred through it and used in successive election campaigns. Add to that the other ‘private’ trusts where money is deposited for special purposes, and it’s obvious to anyone with half a brain that the NZ Herald is party to a dirty tricks campaign aimed at destroying public profile figures associated with Labour and/or the Greens. All of it designed to peak just before the general election which might only be six months away.
Add to that the latest delay in the Dotcom extradition case from March to July (and if things don’t go according to plan no doubt the FBI will be willing to have it further delayed) then it will likely mean the ‘dirt and filth’ will hit their targets at the right time, leading to another election win for the Nats.
Well-put. Election anouncement shortly after a wildly-optimistic Budget sounds about right – before rising interest rates start clobbering voters with mortgages later in the year. Opposition needs to be forcefully and continually joining those dots for people and offering a credible alternative.
I am also of the opinion that the general election will be called early, Anne – probably in mid-winter from about early July (with hopes of a low voter turnout due to weather).
In terms of timelines next year:
Early April 3014- Royal visit with lots of photo-ops for Key, and warm afterglow
14 April 2014 – current scheduled date for the start of the Dotcom extradition hearing forecast to take several weeks: but expected to be further delayed again until at least July 2014 *
* Anne, I note you suggest “Add to that the latest delay in the Dotcom extradition case from March to July” . I checked Google, and the current date is 14 April 2014, and there does not appear to have been an formal decision as yet to delay until July although speculation is that this will happen.
May 2014 – Banks court case
Mid to late May 2014 – Budget.
IIRC, an election can be called on as little as six weeks’ notice, so my thinking is that Key will go for an announcement either just after the royal visit, or around Budget day to get the best PR from these two events – and to overshadow the Banks trial and any Dotcom ongoing court hearings on release of property taken (eg electronic records etc), compensation etc; and to get the election over before the Dotcom extradition hearing itself.
I don’t believe that Key will hold out for a November election for the above reasons and also because IIRC there are one or two big international conferences/events in Nov 2014 that Key would want to attend which he couldn’t go to if the election was in Nov. I recall some discussion in the media a few months ago about these events – but cannot remember what they are. It is now bugging me, so will do some research.
@ veutoviper
Yes. I was aware the the FBI have only requested a delay until July, but they’re likely to get what they want. Then, if it suits Key and co., they will go for a further delay so that Dotcom’s info. on Key doesn’t hit the air-waves until after the election. I’m sure the FBI operatives on the Dotcom case don’t want to see a change in government!
For the reasons you mention above – and others – the situation is fluid, so Key could end up out of luck. Fingers firmly crossed…
Funding is a crucial issue. Look at the mess of the USA where money literally enables the rich to buy laws. I’ve seen suggestions on this site in the past of how to fix this issue but until the general public understand what a problem it is nothing will be done. It’s not a vote getter and, in fact, as the electoral finance mess showed, it can be spun as a vote loser.
“what a corrupt little third world pacific island nation we really are..eh..?”
A sad, but true analysis. We sure have become leaner and meaner. The quick and the dead. Welcome to the future.
+1
There’s a simple measurement I usually apply – the simple and uncomplicated is usually the best
IF we wish to be included in 1st world status, but can only do so by paying slave wages; minimising long fought-for benefits in order to remain viable
THEN we aren’t and we’re only fooling ourselves. (see the other post on America)
Problem is though that the race to the bottom for the many in order for a scared few to maintain their lifestyles is not necessary – it’s only their ideologically-driven and egotistical bullshit that makes it so.
And if because of their short term view, they feel an increasing need to live behind PIN-only accessible gated communities, then more fool them.
The tragedy is that the longer it’s all propped up on a firm foundation of solid bullshit and jellybeams, the more violent the outcome is likely to be.
As the 70% or so versus the 30% moves more and more towards the 99.9 versus the 0.01% – I know where I’m putting my fiat currency. (Some smart smarmy cnut is probably already inventing some derivative in order to have a bob each way!!)
….. probably also why there are a few in the Labour Party who are desperately trying to delay the inevitable (i.e. kicking cans down roadways).
…… my suggestion to them is to just double up on your security, engage another risk management consultant, pay ’em a bundle, see a touchy feely, drop a prozac or two (up the dose if necessary), and life will remain just peachy keen,
I’ve never actually seen a time (in my lifetime) where the neo-liberal driven ideology means that the masses are ‘comfortable’ with ever-increasing disparity.
BUT just imagine how angry they’ll be when the inevitable shit hits the fan, mortgagee sales become a reality, offspring have gone all feral, and they’re all looking for someone to blame.
(There are some natural targets, and you can be sure they’ll be in that ‘economic minority’ of a 1 or possible 0.1%)
Snot Rok Soince is it?
In São Paulo, the rich live in gated condominiums with armed guards. True to form, they pay their guards a pittance so that when a building is attacked by criminals, the guards put up minimal resistance. The crims then get up to 20 filthy rich households to empty out, all at once. They usually drive off with trucks full of expensive possessions. This seems to be what the stupidly rich want for this part of the world as well.
Yesterday I drove on the brand new highway between Taupiri to central Hamilton. why was this highway built? It must have cost well over a billion dollars (at a guess).
How does the National government get so much credit for its economic management when it has built these roads at a huge cost, all of it increasing our huge debt burden…I don’t see our MSM attacking National for its inept economic management on this. The huge expenditure on roads in the Waikato and BOP I reckon will in the long term actually reduce GDP (but will improve the profit of some large trucking companies and Fonterra), I challenge any economist/anyone to prove otherwise.
National have done a tremendous job, just goes to show what can be achieved when we get some decent people at the helm, people with skill and talent.
Only a complete idiot would want labour in power, you’d struggle to find a bigger pile of know nothing, pie in the sky numpties than the current labour line up.
Skill and Talent? Really? Are you sure? Who are we talking about? Mr Brownlee, whose “political clout” has prevented countless people in Christchurch to have a roof over their heads after 3 (!) years? This is by the way inexcusable and one wonders whether we see in the run up to the election a sudden increase in Insurance payouts. Just do be clear, commercial law is passed in parliament and not by Insurance companies – or is it?
Or is it Mrs Bennett who had the benefit of the social system when it was available and used it to the full extent only to deny it everybody else since she has the portfolio? Has she found in her heart that all of her “success” is wrong?
Or lets go to Mr Bridges, who supports deep see drilling and fracking. Interesting though, I was not aware that a lawyer has such extended education to understand the issues of engineering and biology so to be able to make such decisions. Furthermore, being able to override any sovereign interest amid many documented disadvantages and just unilateral make the call?
Yes, lets keep some hope alive. I will vote green as this hopefully gives the next generation a voice.
“National have done a tremendous job, just goes to show what can be achieved when we get some decent people at the helm, people with skill and talent.”
Having lived in the Far North for years I am always in awe of Waikato roads when travelling there, even the secondary routes beautifully sealed and cambered. People who travel the South Island regularly tell a similar story of great roads in a sparsely populated landscape.
according to the Northland Regional Council…
“Of the 6,530 kilometres of road in Northland, 753 kilometres are State Highway with the remaining being local roads. Approximately 65% of these local roads are unsealed, compared to the national average of 40%. The proportion of unsealed roads, many of which have poor foundation conditions and alignments, is one of the highest in the country”.
One could make a case for Waikato and South Island as major tory voters getting special ‘two lane blacktop’ treatment. So what about the Far North? also consistent tory electorate voters (though when you add in the Te Tai Tokerau and the non national general electorate vote the numbers don’t look so good for the torys)–just the land that time forgot? The North has high suicide rates and lots of car crashes and little economic development for decades.
One could make a case for Waikato and South Island as major tory voters getting special ‘two lane blacktop’ treatment.
Not so sure about that. I live in the Waitaki electorate and our road is so bad it’s a favourite with rally car drivers. We’ve had the Rally of Otago blatt past on numerous occasions, except only from one direction. It’s too dangerous going the other. Too many cars went over banks. Bloody good job. The environment bit back.
TM, quite a few people I know in the North don’t want the sort of roads they have in the Waikato. They see one great benefit of gravel roads – they scare the Jafas into keeping their Remuera tractors south of Wellsford. On the other hand, quite a few of them would like to see decent train and bus services.
Don’t forget the North Shore tractors MO. Arrogant drivers who think they own the road and it’s the women who are the worst. One of them screamed abuse at me once for driving up to an intersection on the inside of her. Plenty of room for me to turn left and she to the right. Told her after the screaming match subsided that she was a stupid bitch. She then tried to ram me but I was too quick for her. Contemplated carrying a bag of stones in my glove box in case it happened again. A smashed rear window would have been a satisfactory outcome but decided it was too risky. It would be my luck to have a cop car come ambling past at the moment of impact.
I was out fishing with a mate once and some stupid yuppie in his 15m gin palace managed to catch a few snapper. He promptly filleted them and threw the remains overboard, which every snapper fisher knows is just not on. It puts the rest right off the bite. My mate started throwing sinkers at him, which worried me a bit, since my tinny was only 4.4m. Luckily the idiot wasn’t the aggressive type and left rather than run us over.
“just who it is who ‘owns’/’bought’ influence”. Perfectly said PU.
Without legislation along the lines you suggest we facilitate the availability of massive corruption to the often mutually inclusive wealthy and the holders of power, derived from democratic process, ironically.
Start with strict liability from the top dog down in both the donor and donee camps. Make glib lies like “the law is unclear” and “I’m a busy person I relied on assurances from my trusted minions” and “Oh I forgot” unavailable to the wealthy and the holders of power.
Deploy demonstrably heavy penalties directed according to statutory presumption in favour of imprisonment topped off with additional truly massive financial penalties for donor and donee and permanent disqualification for both from the electoral process at any level.
In cases of political and electoral corruption let judges’ sentencing notes contain stern denunciation of offending which “sheets to the core of justice and democracy”. As presently occurs in obviously far less-reaching cases of attempting to/perverting the course of justice where some fool engages falsehood given on oath to protect a family member or mate charged with an offence.
Acknowledging that for the sake of brevity I overlook Brown, why please did Mediaworks pay for the witheringly castigating holier-than-thou Cameron Brewer’s holiday on the Gold Coast ? If the motivation were truly impeccable there would be more bang-for-the-buck in widely vaunted donation to The Auckland City Mission.
That’s a risibly inadequate response/rationalisation BM.
How possibly can you distinguish between favours given after the event and favours given before the event ? The ‘distinction’ is facile and meaningless especially in the context of a course of conduct dynamic.
You’re a supporter of corruption clearly. It’s what makes the world of the wealthy and the powerful go round what ? Such a democrat you BM.
Thinking about the traditional story of Christmas and all, my pick for the Three Wise Men:
the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Pope Francis. I’m sure they’d have a lot of fun riding across the desert together on camels.
‘What Cunliffe will be seeking this year is to capitalise on the sense rolling through the country that the National-led administration is arrogant and indifferent to the beliefs and needs of ordinary New Zealanders. But what he and the rest of us need to keep front of mind is the plight of those who cannot even aspire to ordinariness.
The Child Poverty Monitor report, released three weeks ago by Children’s Commissioner Russell Wills, shows that a quarter of our children are living in poverty, some of it severe and persistent. Poverty-related illness, such as asthma and bronchitis, reached record highs.
With every passing year, it becomes harder to be proud of a country that was once a world-leading social democracy. The small Scandinavian countries we used to rub shoulders with at the top of the league tables have maintained their positions as we have plummeted.
It is not about resources, but about political will. It’s something that politicians and voters should devote thought to as another year dawns.’
Ark! That is so annoying. Looking at the feed and considering why the Feeds (now with the bulk feeders TDB and Scoop politics separated so the smaller blogs get front billing) are duplicating.
Obvious. There are 3 web servers running (two front and one backup) all looking at the same database and set of files. It has the same problem as sphinx search had – they’re ALL updating the feed database. When they happen to coincide, I get up to three copies of the same RSS record.
Should be fixable by checking for duplicates when updating the database like the duplicate comment fix. But a better idea will be to do that update from a single server.
Will anyone in greens or labour begin to respond to this economic “good” news with
for whom. How long will ordinary nzers continue to believe and vote for the myth begun in the 80s by douglas’ mythical good news. The richardsons mother of all bad news… and so on until today. There is no evidence that this type of good news is actually good for anyone but those trumpetting the good news. The banks. The stock market. The reps of big business and politicians.
theres a reason simon power went from justice minister to westpac millionaire and it has nothing to do with wealth trickling down.
Simon Power
Realised his chance to become leader PM was gone so what’s the point of hanging round doing long hours for a relative pittance when you can get millions instead of thousands.
More liars….
No. 38 Jeremy Hansen: “I read a great column by Paul Thomas in the Herald….”
No. 37 Alan Seay: “You know, we respect the rights of people to protest….”
No. 36 Paul Dykzeul: “No we won’t be changing the Listener; it’s got a terrific editor….”
No. 35 Mark Jennings: “I think Paul’s a bright guy and he will be able to bring a discipline to his performance….”
No. 34 Willie Jackson: “I thought we’d been sensitive with her yesterday….”
No. 33 Supt. Bill Searle: “I think what’s happened here is the police officers have done their very best….”
No. 32 Sonny-Bill Williams: “It’s good to get the win over Papua-New Guinea, a strong Papua-New Guinea side, aahhhh….”
No. 31 John Palino: “Suggestions that I am somehow orchestrating some grand right-wing conspiracy to unseat Len after the election are so wrong…”
No. 30 Alan Dershowitz: “I will give $10,000 to the PLO if you can find a historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false.”
No. 29 John Banks: “I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. And never, ever would I ever knowingly sign a false electoral return. Never ever would I ever.”
No. 28 John Kerry: “…we are especially sensitive, Chuck and I, to never again asking any member of Congress to take a vote on faulty intelligence.”
No. 27 Lyse Doucet: “I am there for those without a voice.”
No. 26 Sam Wallace: “So here we are—Otahuhu. It’s just a great place to be, really.”
No. 25 Margaret Thatcher: “…no British government involvement of any kind…with Khmer Rouge…”
No. 24 John Key: “…at the end of the day I, like most New Zealanders, value the role of the fourth estate…”
No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”
No. 22 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.”
No. 21 Tim Groser: “I think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.”
No. 20 John Key: “But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”
No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No. 13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
No. 6 Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
No. 4 Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
No. 29 John Banks: “I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. And never, ever would I ever knowingly sign a false electoral return. Never ever would I ever.”
and the best way to ensure this would be to never ever sign something without reading it first.
No. I am saying if he truly wanted to never ever make a false return he would fucking read everything before he signed otherwise he is displaying wilful ignorance which is not the same as honest mistake.
No. I am saying if he truly wanted to never ever make a false return he would fucking read everything before he signed otherwise he is displaying wilful ignorance which is not the same as honest mistake.
Fair comment.
is english gour [sic] second language Morrisey
I accept your point, Tracey.
TRACEY: Is english your second language Morrisey?
MORRISSEY: [conciliatorily] I accept your point, Tracey.
TRACEY: [earnestly It was a genuine question morrisey. Not sarcastic. Didn’t know how else to ask. McFLOCK:[sardonically] I suspect that this universe is his second reality.
……Long pause. Silence, then a mocking slow clap can be heard……
MORRISSEY: Oh dear. Looks like we’ve just unearthed another one of the Melody Rules scriptwriters.
The WAR on WELFARE will continue in 2014, but like she did for those parents or grand-parents looking after a child (other than a foster child), Paula Bennett will try to manipulate the media and the wider public, into believing that actually “more” is being done to “support” those in need. The truth is kept from the wider public, while a nasty agenda, all based on nothing but “cost saving” and “cutting back” of services, is followed.
What does a few hundred dollars a year achieve and change, I ask? Yes, every bit of help should be appreciated, I agree. But this is “help” that patches up gaps and cracks in the income situation of many, that have been caused in another places, where households face pressures.
“Sip It Sweetie”, that is her motto now. Thank you Paula, we know it was all about YOURSELF after all.
As for the “help” for sick and disabled on benefits, we will watch with great concern how the new outsourced work capability testing will be implemented from February 2014.
For all those, that actually care to learn a bit more about all this stuff, and what is behind the “welfare reforms”, that are now affecting thousands in a very bad way, have a study of information that can be found on this small website:
That site is still a bit new and under (experiemental) construction, but accessing and using the many resources and links offered there should assist many to see, assess and understand what is really going on under this hideous government, with nothing but contempt for those at the bottom of the heap! Putting pressures, fears and expectations on sick and disabled to compete for work, and dressing this up as “caring for” and “assisting” them, that is worse than being mean spirited. It is disgustingly dishonest and criminal.
For instance mental health funding has been capped or cut for many services here in Auckland. So where is the extra “help” and “treatment” coming from? It will be GPs prescribing generic and non generic psychiatric drugs, and others sent to self help “coping groups”, to live with pain and impairments. Most extra funding has gone straight to MSD and WINZ, for more case management, none else.
Best wishes for 2014, keep up the FIGHT for JUSTICE!
I thought that Bill English has been announcing the end of the following year return to higher interest rates (as a result of his governments disinterested neglect of the economy) ever since 2009? He has built it into every budget up until 2012 when he finally became aware after the election that making a foolish prophecy wasn’t the same as making it happen.
Or have you forgotten?
I suspect there will be a slight interest rate rise next year, which will immediately stall the retail economy again. It will then stagnate for another year or so. I think that the same thing will happen offshore.
Having a jobless ‘recovery’ is a completely fragile and essentially useless recovery. Thought people would have realised this over the last couple of hundred years.
I suspect there will be a slight interest rate rise next year, which will immediately stall the retail economy again.
Which is, of course, exactly what it’s supposed to do. Raising interest rates is done to cool down an over-heating economy but, for some strange reason, it only ever seems to initiate housing bubbles as the hot money from other countries floods in fueling the money creation process by local banks.
Having a jobless ‘recovery’ is a completely fragile and essentially useless recovery. Thought people would have realised this over the last couple of hundred years.
I think you’ll find that economists and RWNJs really like jobless recoveries because it indicates an increase in profit while wages are kept down thus preventing a wage/price inflation spiral.
Yeah, causes short-term profit taking. The problem is that they run out of steam, fall back to a lower level, then repeat as a lower amplitude.
Ask the Japanese. They have had them for nearly two decades now. I’m also pretty sure that Europe would be in that state as well if they hadn’t kept expanding the size of the EU.
Yeah. Been meaning to separate the larger feed suppliers from the smaller (and often more interesting) blogs. Took the opportunity to do some upgrades to the other tabbed dialog as well – and it allowed me to dispose of some old residual jquery.
edit: opps – meant to have been a reply to weka at 21.1..
17 April. Shots of the cabinet and the ex-cabinet at Lady Thatcher’s funeral in St Paul’s just emphasise how consistently cowardly most of them were, the only time they dared to stand up to her when eventually they kicked her out. What also galls is the notion that Tory MPs throw in almost as an afterthought, namely that her lack of a sense of humour was just a minor failing, of no more significance than being colourblind, say, or mildly short-sighted. In fact to have no sense of humour is to be a seriously flawed human being. It’s not a minor shortcoming; it shuts you off from humanity. Mrs Thatcher was a mirthless bully and should have been buried, as once upon a time monarchs used to be, in the depths of the night.
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by Daphna Whitmore It is surprising how rarely the authorities take an evolutionary perspective when dealing with health crises, such as the latest coronavirus spread. They talk about viruses mutating but that is a frequent occurrence, and they treat mutation as though it were equivalent to evolution. A mutation is ...
For over a decade, Heathrow airport has been wanting to add a third runway, to increase air traffic. Its been vigorously opposed by people concerned about the environmental impact. And now, its been ruled illegal on climate change grounds:Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been ruled illegal ...
Many readers will probably have read this RNZ article (or heard the related interview), or seen calls for consultation on the Ministry of Education’s suggested changes to the number of subjects – and achievement standards – on offer to year 11 students. I’ve been following (& participating, where I ...
Method In Our Madness? When a liberal-democratic society encounters racism its first impulse is to shut it down – not interrogate it. But, is this wise? Is it reasonable to assume that a phenomenon as powerful, pernicious and persistent as racism is entirely without purpose? Surely, there must be, as Shakespeare puts it: ...
Here is the speech that Maya Forstater gave at the Woman’s Place UK Women’s Liberation 2020 conference at UCL on February 1st In a recent newsletter she wrote: it was an amazing day (and brilliant to meet so many people in real life). I talked about what makes people and ...
NZ First portrays itself as an anti-establishment party, standing up for "the little guy" (always a guy) against Big Auckland Money and its tool-parties. But it turns out that its secret slush fund is funded by the very people it claims to oppose:Stuff can reveal a longer list of donors ...
Peter TalleyI really don’t envy Jacinda Ardern’s position as Prime Minister of New Zealand. She’s probably got the hardest job in the country. Not only does she have to ensure her own MPs are behaving properly, she has to negotiate with Winston Peters and other NZ First MPs who seem ...
Will She, Or Won't She? Jacinda’s white vestments may look impressive on the cover of the international edition of TIME magazine, but every day Labour’s relationship with Winston Peters and NZ First continues, her ability to go on wearing them back home in New Zealand – without exciting derision – diminishes.IT WAS ...
BAMS survey of 2018 extreme weather The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society has published a collection of articles examining unusually extreme weather events of 2018 and connections of those to climate change. These investigations are listed separately below but thanks to the generosity of AMS appear free for ...
Less than two months after China told the WHO there was a problem, a lot has happened. Sadly, deaths, confirmed cases and countries affected are increasing every day. However, on a scientific and medical level, what is going on to contain, cure and prevent this new disease is truly inspirational. ...
From 2015 to 2019 the NSA ran a program of mass surveillance of Americans' domestic communications. It was intrusive, totalitarian, and a collosal waste of money:A National Security Agency system that analyzed logs of Americans’ domestic phone calls and text messages cost $100 million from 2015 to 2019, but yielded ...
I must say that it’s at loggerheads with the inclusive and free society we want to create in New Zealand that one of our largest media outlets, MediaWorks, would allow Hannah Tamaki to perform on their show, Dancing With The Stars.Hannah Tamaki and her husband Brian are after all well-known ...
The media is reporting that an Auckland man has been charged with terrorism. Unfortunately, that's all we know, because all details have been suppressed. Who are they? What are they alleged to have done? Its all secret. There may be good reason for some of this (e.g. protection of the ...
Dr David ChagnéNew Zealand is involved in a US$12.8 million USDA grant to improve the quality of blueberry and cranberry. The four-year project, led by North Carolina State University, is part of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative, which funds multi-year, multi-institutional collaborative ...
The Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change book is now available! The book uses cartoons, humor, and critical thinking to expose how and why some people reject climate science. It's now available for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book outlets. If you're near the DC area, you're very welcome to ...
by the Council of Disobedient Women When Moana Maniapoto recently lamented that Rachel Stewart was no longer writing for the Herald, political commentator Morgan Godfery was quick to brag on Twitter, like a schoolyard bully, how proud he was of “driving Rachel Stewart from the Herald”. What a contrast Morgan ...
You’re probably aware that the Achievement Standards used to assess senior school students’ learning are being reviewed. Science is one of the ‘pilot’ subjects in this process, where a ‘Subject Expert Group’ has developed 4 draft Science standards¹ (a significant step away from the current 30+, and a response to ...
John MacCormickTo succeed in an unpredictable and changing world, adaptability is the key. Let’s be chameleons. Technology continues to change people’s jobs and work environments. But change so far is not as fast and extensive as some pundits claim. Nor is it as fast and extensive as it needs ...
It seems we can’t even get through a week these days without the National Party's leader, Simon Bridges, making some sort of silly announcement about a policy that doesn’t actually exist.Usually concerning Bridges’ gut instinct and the undoing of whatever the Government has recently announced, National’s reactionary opinions and uncosted ...
Oh look! NZ First's secret slush fund was laundering donations from Talley's:One of the country's biggest fishing companies, Talley's, and its managing director donated nearly $27,000 to the New Zealand First Foundation, which has been bankrolling the New Zealand First Party. The foundation received $26,950 from seafood giant Talley's and ...
Janet Hoek, Richard Edwards, Andrew Waa, Nick Wilson, George ThomsonMinister Jenny Salesa announced the Government’s long-awaited Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill on Sunday 23 February. The Bill contains some important provisions as it works to strike a balance between ensuring regulated products are available to ...
Surprisingly enough, one could argue (as I often do) that the day inserted into a leap year is not that we label 29th February, but actually the 24th of February. Here I explain why, briefly. Almost everyone assumes that the day added into February in a leap year is the ...
If you haven’t watched Newsroom’s video showing Oranga Tamariki staff attempting to uplift a newborn baby yet you should do so. Although it's not the worst case as far as interventions go, it’s certainly not a good look for the Government. Because of this controversy there’s been a plethora of ...
Genesis Energy is planning to build the country's biggest PV solar farm:Power generator and retailer Genesis Energy says it is in advanced discussions to build New Zealand's biggest solar farm in northern Waikato. The company, which earlier reported a 15 per cent decline in operating earnings to $167.2 million, said ...
Transport is our second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Any credible effort to reduce emissions to net-zero has to target it. So what is the government doing? Subsidising some of the dirtiest, most inefficient vehicles on the roads:New Zealand's favourite cars - double cab utes - are largely exempt ...
You’ve really got to wonder what the NZ First Party was thinking and drinking last Friday? Not only did they hamstring the Greens by halting one of their main environmental policies, the electric vehicle fee-bate scheme, a policy that the public was led to believe was a done deal…but they ...
High Risk Call: Insensitive though it may seem to even pose the question: how will the electorate respond to what the Prime Minister’s opponents will undoubtedly characterise as an attack on New Zealanders’ freedom of speech? At more than twelve month’s remove from the terrible events of 15 March 2019, ...
Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Climate change leads to more violence against women, girlsRape, domestic violence, forced marriages: A new ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 16, 2020 through Sat, Feb 22, 2020 Editor's Pick JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is threat to human raceLeaked report for world’s major fossil fuel financier says ...
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...
Winston Peters - Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the NZ First PartyWe all know that politics can be pretty messy at times. Just look at the Dirty Politics saga in New Zealand, the misgovernment of the Australian bushfires or the recent Trump impeachment debacle in the US. In a ...
Last Monday SpaceX launched another clutch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, bringing up to 300 the number of these units intended to bring 5G internet to the whole globe. In this post I present a movie showing how all 300 such satellites will be zipping around our planet over ...
The recent floods in Southland have highlighted the issue of Rio Tinto's illegal toxic waste dump in Mataura. But according to Newsroom, there's an even worse mess in Ruakaka near Whangarei:A Northland property stockpiled one million litres of flammable and toxic chemicals. Almost two years since the situation came to ...
It’s amazing just how many attack ads $100,000 buys you these days. The National Party has really been going to town lately, with their latest Twitter campaign making a number of questionable and blatantly false assertions, one being that poverty has worsened under the Labour led Government.The National Party's claim ...
OMV's exploratory drilling in the Great South Basin has failed to find oil. Good. Firstly, because we can't afford to burn the oil and gas we've already found, so there's just no point looking for more. And secondly, because offshore, deep-water drilling poses a risk of an environmental catastrophe, which ...
The government has announced it will strengthen whistleblower protections. The major change is "allowing people to report serious wrongdoing direct to an external authority if they wish", which fixes one of the big flaws in the Act. At present, whistleblowers must generally make their disclosure direct to the body they ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bruce Lieberman CARLSBAD, CA. – When it comes to paying the electric bill, most people don’t give it a second thought – it’s something that in effect is “baked in.” But across California and several other states, local governments increasingly are ...
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Spinifex Press, 2013. Part 4 Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the fourth part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
The Democracy Virus: China’s authoritarian political system enables a level of social surveillance and control that liberal democratic societies cannot match. The Chinese Government makes full use of the latest digital technology to both punish – and reward – its citizens. The plans it formulates cannot be challenged, or hindered. Where ...
Another day, another IPCA report on criminal conduct by policy. This time they kicked a child in the head when he was handcuffed:Police chased him and yelled out for him to stop. When he turned to face the police, he threatened them with a hammer. That's when the officers tasered ...
The investigation of two of the five parties in Parliament for fraud around their election donations has pushed the issue of party funding back into the spotlight. And while there are obvious things we can do to tighten up the donations regime - a much lower declaration threshold, realtime disclosure ...
While the south of New Zealand has been struggling with too much rain in recent days, here in the north we are so very short of it (though Saturday’s forecast looks promising). Basically, we have had almost none since Christmas.As someone who relies on rain to wash the car, ...
Former National Party MP Jami-Lee RossIt comes as no surprise that Jami-Lee Ross has been named as one of the defendants in the X2 $100,000 National Party donations case currently before the courts. Click bait journalists who were chaffing at the bit to discredit the former senior whip had already ...
Stand Clear! Winston Peters is encouraging voters to think of RNZ as belonging to “The Media Party”. He wants them to see it as a politically partisan institution with its own, vicious attack-dogs in the electoral fight. If he succeeds, it will be, and probably should be, the end of ...
"You're going to need a longer runway" Gratton et al explore the ongoing effects of upward-creeping temperatures on aviation in Greece in the period since 1955 at a range of airports in that country. For longer runways impacts are measurable but with little impact on operations. For airports with shorter runways, ...
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...
Former National Party chief whip Jami-Lee Ross is one of the four people charged over National's multiple fraudulent donations. How unsurprising. Meanwhile, just days ago National leader Simon Bridges was trying to pretend the charges were nothing to do with his party. Yeah, right. When your chief whip effectively publicly ...
If you've been watching FYI for a while, you'll have noticed that the police have a bad habit of demanding ID from requesters. They have apparently been repeatedly told to stop doing this by the Ombudsman, but we all know what law enforcement thinks of the law, so thye keep ...
Collateral Damage: For the Green Phoenix to be reborn, the funeral pyre so patiently assembled by its identity politicians over the course of many fractious years – but with growing intensity over the past three – first has to be ignited. The terrible probability, of course, is that, in setting ...
If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...
The Herald reported over the weekend that an Auckland business owner is being targeted with asset forfeiture laws over a workplace death:A workplace fatality has seen police use a law usually associated with drugs and organised crime to seize millions of dollars in assets from a business owner because of ...
Just days after talking about how people feel "squeezed" and promising tax and service cuts as a "solution", National is talking about cancelling a rise in the minimum wage if elected: National is considering scrapping the Government's planned minimum wage increase if it wins this year's election, the party's finance ...
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...
A Labour government desperate for the numbers crawls into bed with Winston Peters. Winston ignores the law and secretly takes money under the table from someone. When it is exposed just months out from an election, he is investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. That's what happened back in 2008. ...
So the Serious Fraud Office has another secret $100,050 National Party donation before the Courts in a major scandal that looks set to quash any chances Simon Bridges had of winning the 2020 election.Yesterday, Newsroom reported:The Serious Fraud Office prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica Story Highlights: The Pine Island ...
Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanHousing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...
Stuff today has a piece about the government discovering it has been oversubsidising polluters for a decade under the Emissions Trading scheme:The Government is pledging to urgently fix an issue within the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), after it emerged some polluters are likely being over-compensated with taxpayer-funded carbon credits. [...] ...
The Marlborough District Council, tired of public scrutiny, wants to increase the amount it charges for LGOIMA requests:The cost of requesting official information from Marlborough's government agency could almost double after a jump in "fishing expeditions". Charges could be raised from $60 to $100 an hour for information supplied by ...
When Winston Peters was caught money laundering donations and stalking journalists, the Greens were conspicuous by their silence. It was another example of how getting along with their government partners was eroding their values and their own reputation. It was obviously unsustainable, and so now James Shaw has finally spoken ...
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...
With over 69,000 confirmed cases and 1,600 deaths, here’s your round-up of the latest coronavirus news. New disease and virus have now officially been named On the 11th February, the WHO Director General announced a new name for the disease: COVID-19 which is short for coronavirus disease 2019. The naming ...
The eastern Bay of Plenty town of Ōpōtiki is getting a new harbour, which will create 1,850 new jobs in the region, in a new round of regional services funding announced by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones. Ōpōtiki's harbour is currently unusable by most ships, but it will receive ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First Law and Order spokesman Darroch Ball has submitted the ‘Sentencing (Priority of Interests in Sentencing) Amendment Bill’ – a Members Bill which introduces a new overarching ‘priority and weighting provision’ that courts must follow when sentencing ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, New Zealand First Deputy Leader A total delivery of 2,000 new Police Officers has been achieved. New Zealand First Deputy Leader, Fletcher Tabuteau attended the latest police graduation of Recruit Wing 335 in Porirua today. Mr Tabuteau said, “Increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one of ...
Taupō District mayor David Trewavas has welcomed today’s announcement from regional economic development minister Shane Jones outlining $5.87m of funding for the re-development of the Taupō Airport. The bulk of the investment ($5 million) will come from the Provincial Growth Fund, while the rest will be from the New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has defended multi-million dollar provincial growth fund money for Northland water storage. The New Zealand First leader, along with Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, were recently in Dargaville to announce up to $12.745 million PGF funding top-up for water storage initiatives in the ...
One of our most immediate priorities upon forming Government was to get people out of sleeping in cars, garages, or on the street and into safe and warm housing. Since then, we've made major progress towards breaking the cycle of homelessness, including expanding Housing First, building more state houses, and ...
Kids learn better with a full stomach. That's why we launched our Lunches in Schools programme, which is already providing free and healthy school lunches to thousands of children so they can focus on what's important - learning. ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland This afternoon to a crowd of over 100 people in Mataura -- Mark Patterson, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland launched a parliamentary petition regarding the aluminium dross issue in Mataura, Southland. The petition asks that the ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Finance, Fletcher Tabuteau has welcomed Statistics New Zealand’s latest report as a timely reminder of the value that this Coalition Government brings to every day New Zealanders: “This Coalition Government has meant a ...
Today New Zealand First made a pledge to campaign at the election to fund St John Ambulance the 90 per cent it has asked for. Government funding would allow St. John’s to achieve fully funded status. Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters publicly declared his determination to deliver ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order Newly released Police data shows once again the number of fleeing drivers have continued to skyrocket with a record 512 incidents occurring in December – almost tripling the number of incidents occurring just ten years ago, says New Zealand First Law and ...
While the Provincial Growth Fund has provided $2 million to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia, Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones said he is greatly concerned that there are “issues” in implementing the projects. The Minister said the immediate solution was to pipe water from a bore ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland NZ First is calling on Rio Tinto to accept its responsibilities to the Southland community and enable the immediate removal of the toxic Aluminium Dross from the Mataura Paper Mill site. New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland, Mark Patterson ...
The Coalition Government has announced that a further $500,000 will be given to help residents in Southland and Otago to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. It follows prior government assistance of $200,000 earlier this month where the Southland Mayoral Relief Fund received $100,000 to support communities impacted by ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
It’s my pleasure to be in Sydney today for our annual meeting, Prime Minister. It’s fair to say that since we last met, tragedy and disaster have befallen our two countries. They say that in moments of that nature, the true character of an individual comes to the fore. I ...
Travel restrictions introduced for Iran from today No exemptions for students from China to enter the country Increased health staff presence at international airports The Government has announced a suite of new actions as it steps up its response to the rapidly changing global spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. This ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has today classified the drought conditions in Waikato and South Auckland as an adverse event for the primary sector, unlocking $80,000 in Government support for farmers and growers. “This is recognition that the extreme and prolonged nature of this dry spell is taking its toll on ...
The Crown accounts are in a strong position to weather any economic uncertainty as a result of coronavirus, with the books in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the seven months to January. The operating balance before ...
Supporting New Zealand to make most of digital and data driven technologies will be the focus of a new Digital Council that begins its work today. Minister for Government Digital Services, Kris Faafoi, and Minister of Statistics, James Shaw, have confirmed the group of experts chosen to advise the Government ...
Safety and climate change resilience are behind South Island regional roading projects that are being brought forward as part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the NZ Upgrade, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities. “I’m pleased to ...
Digital and air connectivity in Fiordland are getting a big boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme announced in January, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities, to be administered by the Provincial Development Unit. “I’m pleased ...
West Coast ports and roads will benefit from an investment of $18.6 million to improve safety and resilience and enable future economic growth, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. The $12 billion NZ Upgrade Programme announced last month allocated $300 million for regional investment opportunities, to be administered ...
Regional roading projects that will improve safety and resilience are being brought forward as part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the NZ Upgrade, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities. “I spend a lot of time in ...
The Eastern Bay of Plenty will finally get the harbour development it has wanted for decades, thanks to a $79.4 million central Government investment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. This game-changing project will revitalise the township of Ōpōtiki and the wider Eastern Bay of Plenty, creating hundreds ...
Regional New Zealand will be a hive of activity in the coming months as the New Zealand Upgrade Programme delivers on its promise to modernise our infrastructure, prepare for climate change and help grow our economy. As part of the $12 billion NZ Upgrade Programme announced by the Government last ...
A milestone has been reached with the graduation of more than 2,000 new Police officers since the Coalition Government took office in October 2017. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation today of Wing 335 marks a surge of 2,023 new officers, and coincides with some significant breakthroughs against organised ...
Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister, Kris Faafoi, and the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, have welcomed a new cyber security qualification as a step towards countering cyber threats and keeping New Zealanders safe. Attending the launch of the new Level 6 Diploma of Cyber Security at Auckland’s Unitec Institute ...
Government Ministers today celebrated 20 years of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park/ Ko te Pataka kai o Tikapa Moana/ Te Moananui a Toi, and recognise there is much to celebrate and so much more to do to give nature a helping hand. Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said “New Zealanders care deeply about nature.I want to ...
Prepared remarks on coronavirus by Finance Minister Grant Robertson to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and Massey University. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, The topic of this speech is the Budget 2020 priorities. But, given the considerable interest that I imagine is in the room about COVID-19 coronavirus, I do ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Ni sa bula vinaka. Namaste Thank you Shamima, Hon. Minister Vuniwaqa, community leaders and Women’s Crisis Centre staff for your warm welcome. It’s an honour and privilege to officially ...
The Government has released a comprehensive response to ensuring New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump. This follows the Commerce Commission fuel market study which found motorists were paying more than they should for petrol and includes: Fuel Market Bill drafting, to pass mid-year Industry consultation in ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma Tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula vinaka As-salaam alaikum It is a privilege to be here today. Thank you for welcoming us to your house of prayer. Thank you for your warmth. Thank you for greeting ...
Taupō Airport is to be upgraded and expanded through a $5.9 million Government funding boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. “Taupō Airport is the gateway to the Central North Island. It is essential for both keeping local people and businesses connected, but also to bring more people ...
The Minister of Housing Megan Woods has confirmed the Government is working with Rotorua Lakes District Council and Te Arawa for the second place-based assessment to better understand the housing and urban issues affecting the city. “Every New Zealander has a right to a warm, safe and secure place to ...
19 new community homes (in addition to 14 opened in December) delivered in Takanini, Auckland 500 people housed by CORT Housing Trust by end of March 2,290 new public housing homes delivered in Auckland (November 2017 – December 2019). Another nineteen new public housing homes are being delivered in Auckland, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker met today with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to discuss ways to strengthen ties between New Zealand and India. “India is a priority relationship for New Zealand. We share common democratic traditions, growing two-way trade, extensive people-to-people links, ...
Speech to the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) Delhi, India Wednesday 26 February 2020 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] The Indo-Pacific: from principles to partnerships Distinguished guests, good afternoon and thank you for your invitation. It is good to be here at a time where New Zealand needs less of an introduction than ...
Tihei mauri ora Te Whare e tu nei Te Papa e takoto Tēnā korua No reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula Vinaka It is a real pleasure to be here today, and to have the honour of addressing you all. If you’ll indulge me I’m ...
Improved air quality to support better health and environmental wellbeing is the focus of proposed amendments to air quality regulations, says the Associate Minister for the Environment, Hon Nanaia Mahuta. “Although our air quality is good in most places, during winter certain places have spikes in air pollution, mainly from ...
The remote eastern Bay of Plenty community of Raukokere will receive a Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $10.6 million for a water storage facility, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “This is great news for the rural community. The landowner, Te Whānau a Maruhaeremuri Hapū Trust, will use ...
The Lake Ōkaro lakebed has transferred to Te Arawa Lakes Trust, Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis joined Te Arawa at Te Papaiōuru Marae in Rotorua to celebrate the reinstatement of Te Arawa Lakes Trust as a key decision maker over the bed ...
New legislation is being proposed which aims to reduce the stress and financial hardship caused by late payments to small businesses. The Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash is considering stricter rules around payment practices between businesses. “Late payments from large organisations to smaller suppliers can be crippling for these ...
A new partnership programme between the New Zealand Police and Fiji Police will focus on combatting transnational organised crime and enhancing investigative skills, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on the first day of her visit to Fiji. The programme will see: · New Zealand Institute of Environmental Science and Research ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama met today in Suva, and renewed their commitment to continue to strengthen Fiji-New Zealand relations on a foundation of shared values and equal partnership. The Prime Ministers acknowledged the kinship between Fijians and New Zealanders, one that has endured over ...
A $19.9 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund will help develop essential infrastructure for an industrial hub in the Bay of Plenty town of Kawerau, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “The funding will go to three projects to further develop the Putauaki Trust Industrial Hub, an industrial ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $8.3 million on a roading package for Mahia that will lead to greater and wider economic benefits for the region and beyond, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at an event in Mahia today. The $8.3 million announced consists of: $7 ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed new reporting showing the Coalition Government is on track to meet its child poverty targets, with 18,400 children lifted out of poverty as a result of the Families Package. Stats NZ has released the first set of comprehensive child poverty statistics since the Government ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today announced that Bikes in Schools facilities have been rolled out to 20,000 more kiwi kids under this Government. She made the announcement at the opening of a new bike track at Henderson North School in Auckland. “Bikes in Schools facilities give kids ...
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...
Strengthening New Zealand’s political and business ties with India will be the focus of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker’s visit to India this week. The Ministers are co-leading a high level business delegation to India to support increased people and economic engagement ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio continues to champion for greater Pacific participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers with the announcement of the Toloa Awards, with 8 recipients of the Toloa Community Fund and 13 Toloa Tertiary Scholarships. “The Toloa Programme encourages more Pacific peoples ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has extended the date for people to have their say on proposed changes to improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. Submissions were due to close on 2 March 2020 but will now remain open until 9am on Monday 16 March 2020. “I have ...
The endangered toroa/Antipodean albatross has new international protection for its 100,000km annual migration, thanks to collaborative efforts led by New Zealand, Australia and Chile. Today, 130 countries agreed to strictly protect Antipodean albatross at the Conference of Parties on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild ...
No sales to under-18-year-olds No advertising and sponsorship of vaping products and e-cigarettes No vaping or smokeless tobacco in smokefree areas Regulates vaping product safety comprehensively, - including devices, flavours and ingredients Ensure vaping products are available for those who want to quit smoking Vaping regulation that balances ...
Yesterday New Zealand confirmed the first known case of Covid-19 in the country. As the virus approaches global pandemic status, what progress is being made in developing a vaccine? Siouxsie Wiles explains where we’re at, and how the vaccines work.The race to find a vaccine for Covid-19 is under way, ...
By RNZ News Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed today that a suspected case of Covid-19 coronavirus has tested positive in New Zealand. Ardern said the person was in their 60s, and was a citizen of New Zealand who had recently travelled from Iran via Bali. The person had previously ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Happy February 29! It doesn’t come round very often, so make sure you enjoy it. But why do we have these extra days? Well, if we didn’t, the seasons would gradually move around the ...
New Zealand Pompe Network Allyson Lock, MNZM An open letter to New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern “Know us by our deeds”. This was the headline next to your picture on the cover of Time Magazine, for all the world to see. I saw it. I’m ...
Analysis: The government faces economic strife and uncertainty as the coronavirus continues to spread, four men charged in National's donations case plead not guilty, and more revelations about NZ First's "slush fund". ...
New Zealand’s first case of COVID-19 has just been confirmed. Here’s what we know so far.What’s the latest?Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed New Zealand’s first case of COVID-19 coronavirus. New Zealand is the 48th country to have a confirmed case of the virus. What do we know about the patient?The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Mercer, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts, Curtin University Review: Leviathan, directed by Yaron Lifschitz. Circa in collaboration with Co:3 Australia, MAXIMA Circus and CircusWA for Perth Festival. As the audience takes their seats, two feet poke out from beneath the curtain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Bailey, Research Fellow, The University of Queensland If you’re hot and sticky even before your daily commute, you might ask why you sweat so much. Sweating is usually the body’s way of stopping you overheating. But for some people, sweating becomes ...
At a tense press conference in Sydney, the New Zealand prime minister has just issued a stark challenge to Australia over its treatment of NZ citizens. Here’s what she said. We appreciate that many Kiwis have taken up the opportunity to live and work in Australia – many more than has ...
New Zealand has widened, not narrowed, its coronavirus travel ban despite universities pleading for an exemption for international students The Government has extended its coronavirus-related travel restrictions to include Iran, while resisting calls from universities to provide an exemption for international students from China. Health officials will also monitor an ...
The Serious Fraud Office has today received a referral from NZ Police in relation to Phil Goff’s election expenses. The SFO will be assessing the matter and has no further comment at this time. ...
The series, a collaboration between Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington, kicks off with a discussion on politics and the media. As all right thinking people know, there are a mere 204 days until the general election. To get in the mood, we’re launching a new series of live events. And not ...
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 Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Picador, $20)What are you even up to, Auckland.2 Eleanor ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson insists NZ is in a strong position to weather the fallout from coronavirus, even though Australia has declared it a pandemic. He underlines the Crown accounts are buoyant, the fundamentals of the economy are strong and careful management has seen the economy continue to grow in ...
On the heels of the arrival of The Outsider on NEON, Jean Sergent explores how screen adaptations of Stephen King’s work are able to take on a life of their own. Stephen King, the 72 year old horror author from Portland, has a better work ethic than you or I and ...
Iwi are too reliant on investments in property and primary industries, restricting returns for their members, according to a new report. The annual Iwi Investment Report by consulting firm TDB Advisory, showed the country's eight largest iwi with a collective $9 billion worth of assets, had weak growth in the ...
Announcing a package of regional capital projects worth about $190 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones mentioned climate change. He said Regional New Zealand “will be a hive of activity in the coming months as the New Zealand Upgrade Programme delivers on its promise to modernise our infrastructure, prepare ...
The people of India have been holding mass protests all over India ever since the anti Muslim and anti working class Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was enacted into law on 12 December 2019. The state has made many attempts to suppress the rising ...
New Zealand consumer confidence remains high, according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index. The index was down just one point on last month to 122. "Consumers are feeling pretty happy with their lot at the moment - the lifting housing market is making homeowners feel richer, job opportunities are ...
Jacinda Ardern has described difficult conversations with Australia as being "gnarly'' - but says the trans-Tasman relationship is strong enough to get through them. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentPolitical donations Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Transparency International warns need for political funding reform is urgent Gordon Campbell: On where the ...
Continued strong demand for chicken, burgers and tacos has resulted in another strong year for Restaurant Brands. The fast food operator's net profit for the year ended December fell nearly 16 percent to $30.1m, but that was for a 44-week period, versus the year earlier's 52-week period. That company changed ...
The New Zealand share market opened lower on Friday, following a sixth day of world market losses as investors respond to the economic threat of coronavirus. The NZX benchmark top 50 index opened down 1.5 percent, after last night's 0.9 percent fall. The benchmark top 50 Index has fallen more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maggie Tonkin, Senior Lecturer, English and Creative Writing, University of Adelaide Review: Dance Nation, directed by Imara Savage. State Theatre Company South Australia and Belvoir for the Adelaide Festival Dance is at the heart of playwright Clare Barron’s Dance Nation, from the ...
The Government’s response to new revelations that one of the country’s biggest fishing companies, Talley’s, and its managing director has donated tens of thousands of undisclosed dollars to the New Zealand First Foundation is unacceptable. “The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Michelle Grattan talks with Assistant Professor Caroline Fisher about the week in politics, including the implementation of an emergency plan to tackle the spread of coronavirus, the major parties’ policies on climate change, national security ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University On Churchill Island, southeast of Melbourne, small cone-shaped, shallow holes (digs) puncture the grass. They’re widespread, and reveal moist soil below ...
The University of Auckland's Tim Dare examines what SkyCity's 'de-platforming' of controversial speaker Peter Singer might mean for free speech In work first appearing in the late 1970s, Princeton Philosophy Professor Peter Singer argued that in a limited range of circumstances parents ought to be able to ask doctors to end ...
By Stefan Armbruster of SBS News in Brisbane Thousands of New Zealanders who are denied disability support are hoping Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will take the issue up with her counterpart Scott Morrison when they meet today. Despite paying taxes and the NDIS levy, New Zealanders who have come ...
The Maori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and her Australian counterpart have met in Sydney and formally agreed to share ideas on how to better support each country's indegineous people ...
Apparently you have a vacancy on your programme after Kanoa Lloyd decided she didn’t “need to see a homophobic Pasodoble or a xenophobic Cha Cha.” Now, we have to admit we don’t know what a Pasodoble is. But we do know xenophobia when we see ...
Public services are increasingly migrating to the internet, but as the government prioritises digital interaction many of the people who need those services the most are left behind, according to a new report. Pita, an elderly gentleman, received a letter from the IRD that claimed he hadn’t paid his tax obligations ...
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila Philippines Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has dismissed comments by Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go that “politics” is behind the filing of a proposed concurrent resolution calling on regulators to temporarily allow television giant ABS-CBN to operate as Congress deliberates on its ...
The Serious Fraud Office has received a referral from NZ Police in relation to Lianne Dalziel’s election expenses. The SFO will be assessing the matter and has no further comment at this time. ...
Employers are encouraged to sign up for Road Safety Week 2020 (4-10 May), and join hundreds of communities, schools and organisations running activities to raise awareness of road safety issues. Brake, the road safety charity, which coordinates the event, ...
A poem by US National Youth Poet Laureate Kara Jackson.i woke up and the day caught me in its mouth like a strand of yarni am usefulthe motivation for a scarf, maybe some stitch started to be finishedi will make up someone’sheat i will be a fireso intricate it can be worn i ...
The euthanasia debate took an unusual turn this week when Vision NZ, the political party associated with the Destiny Church, made an unexpected policy announcement. It appeared that Vision NZ supported voluntary euthanasia, but just for one person, co-host of TV3’s The Project, Kanoa Lloyd. The now former campaign manager ...
State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes has today announced the findings of an inquiry into how Budget-sensitive material was accessed at the Treasury. The inquiry, led by Ms Jenn Bestwick, was launched by the Commission at the request of the Treasury ...
A scathing report into the accidental release of sensitive Budget 2019 information by the Treasury has found poor procurement processes and governance failures by senior leadership were to blame for security flaws in its website not being identified earlier The inquiry into the accidental release of Budget 2019 information prior ...
The Port of Tauranga's first half result is flat, despite a drop in cargo handled through the country's biggest port. The port company's net profit dropped 1.4 percent to $48.3 million in the six months to December, but was otherwise flat after accounting for a tax adjustment of $0.6m. Revenue ...
For those mothers who gave birth by non-elective Caesarean section, feelings of sadness – even of failure – can be overwhelming, writes Janice Sharan.I’m sitting next to my 15-month-old. He’s sleeping peacefully, his mop of dark hair damp with sweat, lips pursed and his chest rising and falling as he ...
Today is the last day Kiwibank will accept cheques, and its customers will no longer be able to make a payment by cheque. Inland Revenue and ACC will also follow suit on 1 March. The number of cheques has been going down by about 20 percent year-on-year and last year ...
Television New Zealand has reported a strong increase in first half profit, driven up by an increase in advertising revenue. The state-owned broadcaster made a net profit of $15.8 million in the six months to December, beating the year earlier by $5m or 47 percent. "Strong ratings performance for our ...
Air New Zealand has launched its latest safety video that moves away from celebrity appearances to push an environmental message on New Zealand's endangered native birds. The video A Journey to Safety takes a different approach from the widely criticised video of two years ago - called a 'weird mish-mash' ...
A report into how sensitive documents were accessed by the National Party before last year's Budget has found Treasury governance, oversight and risk management processes fell short. ...
In the lead up to Children’s Day in New Zealand on Sunday 1 March, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) Aotearoa NZ President Dr Jeff Brown says the wellbeing of children and their whānau must remain a priority for all of society, not only ...
A Kiwi firm is trialling a mobile device and app that could test for Covid-19 in hospitals, schools, factories and homes anywhere in the world within 40 minutes No-one wishes harm on anyone, but sometimes a crisis is also an opportunity to quickly develop new technologies and systems to solve ...
Ahead of the forthcoming public meeting on Monday 2 March regarding the Newlands Volunteer Fire Brigade former Ohariu MP Hon Peter Dunne is extending his best wishes to all those involved in the current campaign to keep the station open. "Although ...
Sure, the new wave of RTDs might have cool labels and no carbs or whatever, but for Sam Brooks, none come close to the perfection held within that little yellow can.RTDs are coming back, if they were ever really gone. I remember the halcyon days of getting drunk off Purple ...
The ongoing strike by NorthTec tutors steps up a notch today with a public rally. For two weeks the members of Te Hautū Kahurangi | New Zealand Tertiary Education Union have been on strike. The action has meant not completing attendance registers; ...
The cut price fuel retailer, Waitomo says the Government’s proposed changes to the fuel market will mean customers will be able to see if they are getting fleeced. ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will use today’s meeting with counterpart Scott Morrison in Sydney to tell him his Government is deporting Australian criminals to New Zealand. ...
Coronavirus: Finance Minister Grant Robertson - NZ in shadow of the biggest economic uncertainty in recent times; and A2 Milk result: Net profit leaps 21% on China sales. ...
Thousands of Kiwis are expected to attend the March for Life in Auckland this Saturday (29 February). With Parliament just days away from voting on a Bill to liberalise abortion-up-to-birth in New Zealand those marching will be making a public stand ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Tormey, Professor of Politics, University of Bristol Of the many issues thrown up by Brexit, one of the most pressing is the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom. Brexit was in large measure a revolt by a certain section of English ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katherine Gibney, NHMRC early career fellow, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity While countries around the globe have been taking precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, it has now been reported in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Baumgartner, Professor of Fisheries and River Management, Institute for Land, Water, and Society, Charles Sturt University As this summer draws to a close, it marks just over a year since successive fish death events at Menindee in Lower Darling River made ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW Every January Larry Fink, the head of the world’s largest funds manager, BlackRock, sends a letter to the chief executives of major public companies. This year’s letter focused on climate risk. “Climate change has become a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Davis, Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne The government’s financial system inquiry, on which I sat, reported five years ago. It recommended that the creators of financial products be subject to a design and distribution obligation (DDO), which would mean the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy Simionato, Lecturer, RMIT University Books are always transforming. The book we hold today has arrived through a number of materials (clay, papyrus, parchment, paper, pixels) and forms (tablet, scroll, codex, kindle). The book can be a tool for communication, reading, entertainment, ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Ardern gets diplomatic, fuel market legislation released, and police pinged over employment records breach.There hasn’t really been much coverage of it in The Bulletin, but it’s worth looking back at quite an important diplomatic week for the PM. She has been ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias.Fiction 1 The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox (Victoria University Press, $35) ReadingRoom broke the storydetailing how Knox’s novel was fought over by US publishers in a ...
Sky Sport News presenters Kate King and Goran Paladin deliver the latest news of Kiwi sporting women at home and around the globe. *WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE* Hurdler Portia Bing has reinvented herself in a bid to make the Tokyo Olympics and take another step towards putting last year's disqualification at ...
Embarrassingly for the Department of Conservation, a scheduled ministerial announcement last year was postponed. David Williams reports A much-delayed project to better protect the Mackenzie Basin’s stunning landscapes and bolster biodiversity has a new boss. In the 2018 Budget, Conservation and Lands Minister Eugenie Sage announced $2.6 million to find ...
Trying to reduce drownings - and bring on a new generation of surfers - the Wave Warriors teach kids from low-decile schools water safety wrapped in a surf lesson. Eight-year-old Athena Talavai is less than half the height of the surfboard she’s expected to stand on, and probably only a quarter of the weight. She ...
The decision to give Ihumātao the highest heritage listing available sends a strong signal to the Government and Auckland Council, write Dr Frances Hancock and Nicola Short Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (HNZPT) has upgraded the heritage listing of the Ōtuataua Stonefields Reserve and included adjacent and long-contested land at ...
If Simon Bridges manages to pull off an election victory, his next headache will be choosing his Cabinet from a somewhat uninspiring line-up, writes Peter Dunne Every election year there is a call to use the election as a chance to refresh Parliament and get rid of at least some ...
An anonymous Department of Conservation staff member, who wishes to be known only as the Carefree Vigilante, provides a handy guide to dealing with menstruation, and menstrual products, in the wild.This post was first published on the Department of Conservation blog.I’ve got six or seven rational fears and about 900 ...
Open mike 29/12/2013 
What can we make of where National’s current leader Simon Bridges and the Party’s reliable water carrier Paula Bennett are taking their campaign to “win back the Treasury benches”? Going by the often petulant tone he has adopted, and the frequent histrionics of the most ardent supporters: going nowhere, and ...8 hours ago
by Daphna Whitmore It is surprising how rarely the authorities take an evolutionary perspective when dealing with health crises, such as the latest coronavirus spread. They talk about viruses mutating but that is a frequent occurrence, and they treat mutation as though it were equivalent to evolution. A mutation is ...9 hours ago
With sincere apologies to Martin Niemöller ...11 hours ago
For over a decade, Heathrow airport has been wanting to add a third runway, to increase air traffic. Its been vigorously opposed by people concerned about the environmental impact. And now, its been ruled illegal on climate change grounds:Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been ruled illegal ...12 hours ago
Many readers will probably have read this RNZ article (or heard the related interview), or seen calls for consultation on the Ministry of Education’s suggested changes to the number of subjects – and achievement standards – on offer to year 11 students. I’ve been following (& participating, where I ...17 hours ago
Method In Our Madness? When a liberal-democratic society encounters racism its first impulse is to shut it down – not interrogate it. But, is this wise? Is it reasonable to assume that a phenomenon as powerful, pernicious and persistent as racism is entirely without purpose? Surely, there must be, as Shakespeare puts it: ...19 hours ago
A New Hope from the National Party leader ...2 days ago
2 days ago
BAMS survey of 2018 extreme weather The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society has published a collection of articles examining unusually extreme weather events of 2018 and connections of those to climate change. These investigations are listed separately below but thanks to the generosity of AMS appear free for ...2 days ago
Fans are outraged at the prospect of Destiny Church pastor Hannah Tamaki joining the Black Caps ...2 days ago
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...6 days ago
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...1 week ago
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...2 weeks ago
The eastern Bay of Plenty town of Ōpōtiki is getting a new harbour, which will create 1,850 new jobs in the region, in a new round of regional services funding announced by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones. Ōpōtiki's harbour is currently unusable by most ships, but it will receive ...16 hours ago
One of our most immediate priorities upon forming Government was to get people out of sleeping in cars, garages, or on the street and into safe and warm housing. Since then, we've made major progress towards breaking the cycle of homelessness, including expanding Housing First, building more state houses, and ...3 days ago
It’s my pleasure to be in Sydney today for our annual meeting, Prime Minister. It’s fair to say that since we last met, tragedy and disaster have befallen our two countries. They say that in moments of that nature, the true character of an individual comes to the fore. I ...11 hours ago
Yesterday New Zealand confirmed the first known case of Covid-19 in the country. As the virus approaches global pandemic status, what progress is being made in developing a vaccine? Siouxsie Wiles explains where we’re at, and how the vaccines work.The race to find a vaccine for Covid-19 is under way, ...3 hours ago
By RNZ News Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed today that a suspected case of Covid-19 coronavirus has tested positive in New Zealand. Ardern said the person was in their 60s, and was a citizen of New Zealand who had recently travelled from Iran via Bali. The person had previously ...7 hours ago
New Zealand Pompe Network Allyson Lock, MNZM An open letter to New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern “Know us by our deeds”. This was the headline next to your picture on the cover of Time Magazine, for all the world to see. I saw it. I’m ...8 hours ago
Analysis: The government faces economic strife and uncertainty as the coronavirus continues to spread, four men charged in National's donations case plead not guilty, and more revelations about NZ First's "slush fund". ...8 hours ago
A gun safety expert says a firearm registry is the most important gun control measure NZ does not yet have. ...10 hours ago
New Zealand has widened, not narrowed, its coronavirus travel ban despite universities pleading for an exemption for international students The Government has extended its coronavirus-related travel restrictions to include Iran, while resisting calls from universities to provide an exemption for international students from China. Health officials will also monitor an ...11 hours ago
How clever technology that gives people access to their wages every day might help keep people from out-of-control debt. ...12 hours ago
Finance Minister Grant Robertson insists NZ is in a strong position to weather the fallout from coronavirus, even though Australia has declared it a pandemic. He underlines the Crown accounts are buoyant, the fundamentals of the economy are strong and careful management has seen the economy continue to grow in ...13 hours ago
Iwi are too reliant on investments in property and primary industries, restricting returns for their members, according to a new report. The annual Iwi Investment Report by consulting firm TDB Advisory, showed the country's eight largest iwi with a collective $9 billion worth of assets, had weak growth in the ...13 hours ago
Announcing a package of regional capital projects worth about $190 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones mentioned climate change. He said Regional New Zealand “will be a hive of activity in the coming months as the New Zealand Upgrade Programme delivers on its promise to modernise our infrastructure, prepare ...13 hours ago
New Zealand consumer confidence remains high, according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index. The index was down just one point on last month to 122. "Consumers are feeling pretty happy with their lot at the moment - the lifting housing market is making homeowners feel richer, job opportunities are ...13 hours ago
Continued strong demand for chicken, burgers and tacos has resulted in another strong year for Restaurant Brands. The fast food operator's net profit for the year ended December fell nearly 16 percent to $30.1m, but that was for a 44-week period, versus the year earlier's 52-week period. That company changed ...13 hours ago
The New Zealand share market opened lower on Friday, following a sixth day of world market losses as investors respond to the economic threat of coronavirus. The NZX benchmark top 50 index opened down 1.5 percent, after last night's 0.9 percent fall. The benchmark top 50 Index has fallen more ...13 hours ago
The University of Auckland's Tim Dare examines what SkyCity's 'de-platforming' of controversial speaker Peter Singer might mean for free speech In work first appearing in the late 1970s, Princeton Philosophy Professor Peter Singer argued that in a limited range of circumstances parents ought to be able to ask doctors to end ...14 hours ago
Dr Eric Crampton worries we may be thinking about the coronavirus outbreak as a one-off when it could be a new normal. ...14 hours ago
The Maori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and her Australian counterpart have met in Sydney and formally agreed to share ideas on how to better support each country's indegineous people ...14 hours ago
The euthanasia debate took an unusual turn this week when Vision NZ, the political party associated with the Destiny Church, made an unexpected policy announcement. It appeared that Vision NZ supported voluntary euthanasia, but just for one person, co-host of TV3’s The Project, Kanoa Lloyd. The now former campaign manager ...16 hours ago
A scathing report into the accidental release of sensitive Budget 2019 information by the Treasury has found poor procurement processes and governance failures by senior leadership were to blame for security flaws in its website not being identified earlier The inquiry into the accidental release of Budget 2019 information prior ...16 hours ago
The Port of Tauranga's first half result is flat, despite a drop in cargo handled through the country's biggest port. The port company's net profit dropped 1.4 percent to $48.3 million in the six months to December, but was otherwise flat after accounting for a tax adjustment of $0.6m. Revenue ...16 hours ago
Today is the last day Kiwibank will accept cheques, and its customers will no longer be able to make a payment by cheque. Inland Revenue and ACC will also follow suit on 1 March. The number of cheques has been going down by about 20 percent year-on-year and last year ...16 hours ago
Television New Zealand has reported a strong increase in first half profit, driven up by an increase in advertising revenue. The state-owned broadcaster made a net profit of $15.8 million in the six months to December, beating the year earlier by $5m or 47 percent. "Strong ratings performance for our ...16 hours ago
Air New Zealand has launched its latest safety video that moves away from celebrity appearances to push an environmental message on New Zealand's endangered native birds. The video A Journey to Safety takes a different approach from the widely criticised video of two years ago - called a 'weird mish-mash' ...16 hours ago
A Kiwi firm is trialling a mobile device and app that could test for Covid-19 in hospitals, schools, factories and homes anywhere in the world within 40 minutes No-one wishes harm on anyone, but sometimes a crisis is also an opportunity to quickly develop new technologies and systems to solve ...17 hours ago
The cut price fuel retailer, Waitomo says the Government’s proposed changes to the fuel market will mean customers will be able to see if they are getting fleeced. ...18 hours ago
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will use today’s meeting with counterpart Scott Morrison in Sydney to tell him his Government is deporting Australian criminals to New Zealand. ...18 hours ago
Coronavirus: Finance Minister Grant Robertson - NZ in shadow of the biggest economic uncertainty in recent times; and A2 Milk result: Net profit leaps 21% on China sales. ...19 hours ago
Cycling the length of NZ has got Rod Oram thinking about farming in the climate change era ...20 hours ago
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias. Fiction 1 The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox (Victoria University Press, $35) ReadingRoom broke the story detailing how Knox’s novel was fought over by US publishers in a ...21 hours ago
Sky Sport News presenters Kate King and Goran Paladin deliver the latest news of Kiwi sporting women at home and around the globe. *WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE* Hurdler Portia Bing has reinvented herself in a bid to make the Tokyo Olympics and take another step towards putting last year's disqualification at ...22 hours ago
Embarrassingly for the Department of Conservation, a scheduled ministerial announcement last year was postponed. David Williams reports A much-delayed project to better protect the Mackenzie Basin’s stunning landscapes and bolster biodiversity has a new boss. In the 2018 Budget, Conservation and Lands Minister Eugenie Sage announced $2.6 million to find ...22 hours ago
Trying to reduce drownings - and bring on a new generation of surfers - the Wave Warriors teach kids from low-decile schools water safety wrapped in a surf lesson. Eight-year-old Athena Talavai is less than half the height of the surfboard she’s expected to stand on, and probably only a quarter of the weight. She ...22 hours ago
The decision to give Ihumātao the highest heritage listing available sends a strong signal to the Government and Auckland Council, write Dr Frances Hancock and Nicola Short Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (HNZPT) has upgraded the heritage listing of the Ōtuataua Stonefields Reserve and included adjacent and long-contested land at ...22 hours ago
If Simon Bridges manages to pull off an election victory, his next headache will be choosing his Cabinet from a somewhat uninspiring line-up, writes Peter Dunne Every election year there is a call to use the election as a chance to refresh Parliament and get rid of at least some ...22 hours ago
proof of meat/dairy-bye-product consumption having as strong a link to cancer..
..as tobacco..
(the results of this new research was just released on december 27th..
“..Consumption of meat and other animal products is strongly linked to several types of cancer –
– according to an article published in the journal Nutrients.
The author analyzed data on 21 different cancers in 157 countries –
– and found that certain factors – especially diet –
– were associated with risk for developing specific cancers.
Specifically – the association between animal product consumption and cancer –
– was as strong as that linking tobacco and cancer..”
(cont..)
..ed:..and funny story!!
..those types of cancers linked to meat/dairy consumption are cancers of which we in new zealand.have some of the highest rates in the world..
..and of course that fits in tidily with our world-beating rates of consumption of that meat/dairy..eh..?
..it’s kinda like join-the-dots..but at a pre-school level..eh..?
http://www.pcrm.org/health/medNews/
..now..how can that not be a wake-up all..?
..how much more proof do you need..?
..when you are told the risks of cancer/premature-death are as high as from smoking tobacco..
..whoar..!..eh..?
‘waiter..!..hold that bacon ‘n cheese sarnie..!..i’ll have the porridge instead..!..’
eh..?
phillip ure..
Doesn’t porridge have milk with it? As I recall it’s the reason I could never stomach porridge as a child.
@ karol..good point..
..but soy/rice/almond etc.- milk is the answer..
..vanilla-flavoured soy goes particularly well with a fruit-packed-porridge..(mmm!!!..)
..(and of course those big/fat wholemeal porridge whole-flakes..
..not that powdered muck..that just turns into wallpaper-paste..
..and if you pack enough fruit into it..(raisins/banana/apple/pear..a good porridge is just as edible sans milk…)
..i also recommend a layer of frozen/fresh-berries in the bottom of the bowl..
..a ‘surprise’…that lifts the porridge-experience to a whole new level..
..and leaves you sneering in disdain at yr bog-standard fat-soaked/greasy/slimy bacon ‘n cheese sarnie..that just leaves you feeling ‘blagh!’…
..eh..?
phillip ure..
Modern industrial soy is a blight on the planet. Look it up.
“..how much more proof do you need..?”
Yeah, nah.
Animal Products Linked to Cancer
December 27, 2013
Consumption of meat and other animal products is strongly linked to several types of cancer, according to an article published in the journal Nutrients. The author analyzed data on 21 different cancers in 157 countries and found that certain factors, especially diet, were associated with risk for developing specific cancers. Specifically, the association between animal product consumption and cancer was as strong as that linking tobacco and cancer. Possible mechanisms for risk include animal products’ promotion of growth and high iron and fat content. The author notes that while detection and treatment are important, animal product consumption has been recognized as a cancer risk for more than a century and needs to be addressed in order to prevent the deadly disease.
How come non-Western cultures with high meat protein diets don’t have high rates of cancer (quite the opposite)? It’s not meat eating per se, it’s how we do it. Can’t comment futher on that research until I see whether they controlled for things like refined carb intake, lifestyle, modern pollutants etc which tend to go hand in hand with meat consumption. Would also want to know if they differentiated between grass-fed meat vs feed-lot, pumped full of chemicals meat.
@ weka..
did you not even read what you posted..?
“..The author analyzed data on 21 different cancers in 157 countries..”
..if you claim you did..then why did you say:
“..Can’t comment futher on that research until I see whether they controlled for things like refined carb intake, lifestyle, modern pollutants etc..”
just obfuscating-bullshit on yr part..eh..?..really..
..phillip ure..
I said that because there is lots of dodgy research being done in the world and I’d want to see a better analysis of the reasearch than was on the page you linked to before I commented further.
What concerns me is that you consider this
http://www.pcrm.org/health/medNews/
to equate to proof, without any fact checking or analysis at all. Don’t worry, I see meat eaters making the same kinds of mistakes.
Do you understand how things like overall diet, lifestyle, environment could affect the outcome of research into on the health effects of a specific food? I suspect you don’t. I know I’ve asked you these kinds of questions before that you just ignore. It’s the worst kind of intellectual argument (quoting a useless source and then refusing to back it up) and I’m surprised that its tolerated by the general commentariat here. If you were making a more conventional political statement people would be all over you.
@ weka..
“..the page you linked to ..”
the page i linked to..(that you sneer at/use to dismiss the whole argument).. is a report from a physicians-group….
..alerting readers to a new/groundbreaking study..
..that has been written up in a scientific-journal..called ‘nutrition’..(with all the checks and balances that entails..)..
..so no..weka..it isn’t an article in fucken usa-today..eh..?
..it is the results of meta-research of 151 other studies..comparing cancers in 21 different countries..
..so yr..’i need more details!’..
..is just strawman-argument bullshit..eh..?
..and as for yr final paragraph..
..once again..utter horseshit..
..of course there are variables in every study..
..but once again..a strawman-argument from you..
..as this is a study of other studies..
..what are you finding so hard to grasp about that simple fact..?
..phillip ure..
“..that has been written up in a scientific-journal..called ‘nutrition’..(with all the checks and balances that entails..)..”
Alot of medical research is done poorly and/or has been co-opted by various special interest groups. This is a well known phenomenon and is acknowleged within science and medicine.
I don’t know the Nutrition journal so am in no position to judge the value of its peer review (assuming it did peer review the research). I haven’t seen the research published. That’s all I said – that there wasn’t enough information to judge the value of it. You are quite welcome to trust it, but if you post it in a public forum then expect some analysis.
So, it’s not strawman argument. It’s based on experience and understanding. I note that yet again you fail to answer my questions and just call them horseshit, and so have just reinforced my opinion of you that you don’t really understand how scientific research works and how to evaluate it.
correction:..the scientific journal is called ‘nutrients’..
..and is described in wikipedia as thus:
“..Nutrients is an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing reviews, regular research papers, and short communications on all aspects of nutrition..”
..(hope that helps..)
..and once again i have to return to the fact you seem unable to grasp..
..this is a meta-study..looking at 151 other scientific-studies..over 21 countries..
..so yr paranoias detailed in yr second paragraph ..do not/cannot apply to that..
..it is a different discipline…mainly number/stat-crunching..
..no actual on lab-table research/study..
..get that..?
..and if you can’t ‘trust’ a study/evidence of such magnitude/scope..
..and if you think that ‘vested-interests’..(who..?..the all-powerful vegan-lobby?..) have twisted this research somehow..
..best you go and stand over there with the tobacco-doesn’t-cause-cancer/the-moon-landings-didn’t-happen crew..eh..?
..and you still haven’t answered that simple straightforward question:
..do you receive/derive yr monies from the animal-flesh-trade industries..?
..and what questions of yours do you feel i have not answered..?
..phillip ure..
But none of that was in the original link was it.
Here’s the full article. How about you read it and then respond to the points I raised in my first comment.
http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/6/1/163
How come non-Western cultures with high meat protein diets don’t have high rates of cancer (quite the opposite)? It’s not meat eating per se, it’s how we do it. Can’t comment futher on that research until I see whether they controlled for things like refined carb intake, lifestyle, modern pollutants etc which tend to go hand in hand with meat consumption. Would also want to know if they differentiated between grass-fed meat vs feed-lot, pumped full of chemicals meat.
i think i’ll just leave you to dance on the head of yr pin there..weka..
..but the basic message still stands..
..eating cheese/milk/meat will likely give you cancer/premature-death..
..and..as with the ciggy-smokers of yore.. it’s over to you now..
..what you (and other readers) do with that new information/knowledge/awareness..eh..?
..you have two choices..(as did the ciggy-smokers when they first got the news..)
..denial..and continuing to consume/feed yr children this proven carcinogen..
..or acceptance of the science/facts..
..and a lifestyle adjustment to take that new information into account..
..as i said..it’s up/over to you..
..i’ve delivered the message..
..that’s all i can do..
phillip ure
and as a p.s..
..all the info/recipies etc. you will need to shed the carcinogenic-diet can be found here..
http://whoar.co.nz/category/vegan-stuff/
and as an aside..there is a ‘high’ to be had from being vegan..
..a ongoing ‘high’ that not even vegetarians are aware of/experience..
..tho’ vegetarians have had a taste of it from dropping the meat..
..but the high-payoff from going vegan is much more pronounced than if dairy is still consumed..
..(i was vegetarian for 15 yrs..(and thought vegans were ‘a bit weird’..wot…?..no cheese..?..geddouttahere..!..)
..)and have been vegan for 15 yrs..
..and i mean it most sincerely when i tell you that you will feel much better..
..when you stop eating animals..
..and things processed from them..
..(and did i mention ‘the cancer’..?..)
..there is both a (high) carrot..and a (cancer) stick..
..with this one..
..phillip ure..
“..eating cheese/milk/meat will likely give you cancer/premature-death..”
Citation needed. And what’s with the ‘likely’ bit?
You still haven’t responded to my substantive points (not really surprised, you strike me as very dogmatic on this, so why bother with reality).
I was vegetarian for a long time (a very nutritionally well-informed vegetarian), and part of that time I was virtually vegan. My health improved substantially when I started eating meat again. I know many other people that this is true for. I also know people that do well on vege diets. One size doesn’t fit all.
you are attempting to complicate what is simple..
..the message is as ‘simple’ and straightforward as the ‘tobacco causes cancer’ one..
..and all the twisting/twirling in the world from you won’t change that..
..and yes..this may be called heralding a seachange in global dietary-patterns..
..and yes..it also heralds a seachange for the new zealand economy..
..we had all better crack on and copy james cameron..
..he is converting the large dairy-holdings he pruchased in the wairarapa..
..back into producing real food/crops..
..he is just being a pioneer in what the rest of the country will have to do..
..eventually..
..(and as a comparison/example of other cancer-causing info radically changing society..
..how long ago was it that everyone smoked cigarettes..?..)
..i remember that/those times..
..and how the smokers scoffed when the scientists first started going:..’um..!..hang on..!..cancer..?’..
..it may seem hard for many to grasp here/now/today..
..but the cheese-block is due to go the way of the packet of ciggies..
..it will no longer be an essential of our daily life..
..and will assume the odium of the full-ashtray..
..phillip ure..
How come non-Western cultures with high meat protein diets don’t have high rates of cancer (quite the opposite)? It’s not meat eating per se, it’s how we do it.
Paleo. Been holding my body together now 3 years. No sugar, no fructose, no hydrogenated oils, minimal wheat and dairy.
Lots of vegetable carbs, fermented foods, protein and saturated fats. Recent cardio test was perfect.
The big problem I’m not properly managing in my life at the moment is correct exercise, stress and inflammation.
Nice one RL. I know other people who paleo works very well for too. There are other traditional diets that have good health outcomes too. I don’t even object to people being vegan, it just irks when some claim that their way is best and that everyone else would be better off doing what they do (demonstrably false), and anyone who doesn’t is somehow bad or wrong. Veganism, as practiced by most in the West, is also pretty high in terms of environmental damage, so pah to their moral high ground.
sheesh weka..i’m just the messanger..eh..?
..and ..could you plse answer the question..
..do you derive your income from the income generated by the animal-flesh-trade..?
..what else to explain yr choleric-tone..?
..you aren’t eating too much meat..are you..?
..i’ve heard it’s not good for ya..eh..?
..and the rage/irrationality/tone/timbre of yr responses on this subject..likely echo the responses to those first reports of cigs causing cancer..
..for smokers..amongst smokers..eh..?
..phillip ure..
“..do you derive your income from the income generated by the animal-flesh-trade..?”
No, I have nothing to do with the meat industry.
“..and the rage/irrationality/tone/timbre of yr responses on this subject..”
Ha, ha, I’m actually not eating meat at all at the moment. There is nothing wrong with appropriately placed anger (ts is full of it, as is the vegan movement). But by all means point out some specific examples of where I am being irrational. Things you merely don’t like don’t count.
RL I got the idea you were on a mountain somewhere. So either you are overdoing the exercise or setting a very demanding schedule. And stress, I think that a bit of meditation in a quiet safe place rests all the body, even a change, another page in the book you have chosen to read. Also a lie down where you start relaxing your whole body from your toes up. We are holding ourselves in readiness for action all the time and don’t realise it till we deliberately shed it.
I know, phillip.
My breakfast is usually some fruit, nuts, seeds – blender & almond milk + a bit of plain unsweetened yogurt.
My childhood, wretching experiences of porridge have put me off it for life.
Easily edible without any milk whatsoever
It’s the morning staple in my household where no-one is able to have milk
eat it without milk… doesn’t need it.
.. oh my god …
…saw this terrifying study….
..might be a wake up call!!!..
…100% of vegans will eventually die…
..just like everyone else…
eh?..
that’s all you’ve got there as rebuttal..?..qot..?
..that’s it..?
..so we can take the info/report as q.e.d..?..then..?
..phillip ure..
But did you know….
and that’s all you’ve got there..?..joe..?..a butchers’ blackboard..?
once again..the facts of the matter are clearly q.e.d…eh..?
..now its’ just a matter of ‘your call’..eh..?
phillip ure..
Without citing previous work on the same topic, QOT, what you have published above qualifies as plagiarism.
eh?..[1]
[1] phillip ure, various.
heh..!
phillip ure..
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11178968
The Herald’s hypocrisy over Brown is breathtaking.
“Many believe he will not see out his term at the helm of the Super City.”
Rather ironic since it’s this newspaper leading the campaign to have him resign.
Don’t the Nats have a major trust through which their campaign funds are filtered?
My thoughts also, K.
Yes. I reckon it’s time to put a cap on all campaign spending – the whole system of funding campaigns corrupts democracy.
And it’s why there’s no truly left wing viable candidate for mayor of Auckland. It all aid the interests of the wealthy ad the powerful corporates.
they all do..it is an area screaming for urgent-reform..
..when 446 grand of the seven hundred something grand brown spent on his campaign..
..came from that donor-secret slush-fund..it is clear something stinks..
..and going on browns’ actions to date..i think we all really need to know just who it is who ‘owns’/’bought’ influence with him..
..(and how that buying dictates his actions/inactions in office..)
..all political donations above a miserly small figure must be made public..
..not hidden in secret slush-funds..
..(oh..!..how the top end of town must laugh..eh..?..having all the politicians..labour..national..and the mayor of nzs’ biggest city..
..in their pockets..)
..what a corrupt little third world pacific island nation we really are..eh..?
..and i haven’t even gone near our role as a money-laundering destination/favourite..eh..?..)
phillip ure..
and i loved the rejoinder from browns’ campaign-manager..
..and that response couldn’t be a clearer clarion call for reform..
..he whined a twofer-response/excuse..
..that:..’it’s legal’..and ‘everyone else does it’…
..not really/quite enough of a reason/excuse…eh..?
phillip ure..
until we get real campaign-finance reform..this corruption/subversion of the democratic process..at all levels…will continue..
..with the interests of the people..
..continuing to be at the end of a very long queue..
..it’s as simple as that..really..
..eh..?
..we need to ‘own’ our politicians…
..at all levels..
..not have them in thrall to that top end of town..
..as is the case now..
..doing their ‘business’..for them..
phillip ure..
Yes, the Waitemata Trust. Been going for years and in that time millions of anonymous dollars have been transferred through it and used in successive election campaigns. Add to that the other ‘private’ trusts where money is deposited for special purposes, and it’s obvious to anyone with half a brain that the NZ Herald is party to a dirty tricks campaign aimed at destroying public profile figures associated with Labour and/or the Greens. All of it designed to peak just before the general election which might only be six months away.
Add to that the latest delay in the Dotcom extradition case from March to July (and if things don’t go according to plan no doubt the FBI will be willing to have it further delayed) then it will likely mean the ‘dirt and filth’ will hit their targets at the right time, leading to another election win for the Nats.
May not be bang on, but a plausible theory…
Well-put. Election anouncement shortly after a wildly-optimistic Budget sounds about right – before rising interest rates start clobbering voters with mortgages later in the year. Opposition needs to be forcefully and continually joining those dots for people and offering a credible alternative.
to give credit where credit is due..the herald on sunday today has a powerful clarion-call of its’ very own..
..(that will have national/the top end of town sweating..and should empower the labour party policy-makers/leadership..you’d think..?)
..they present a powerful/pungent call for meaningful political/policy-action to end child-poverty..
..lamenting how we are no longer like those scandanavian nations we used to be neck and neck with..
..in the ‘good-country’-stakes/rankings..
..and unequivocal in their call for us to get back there..again..
..so..a tip of the hat to them..for that..
..and let’s hope labour (finally?) realise they really have nothing to be scared of…eh..?
..that the ‘time’ for real and meaningful change…
..is now..
..phillip ure..
The HOS has a different editorial team to the weekly Herald.
I am also of the opinion that the general election will be called early, Anne – probably in mid-winter from about early July (with hopes of a low voter turnout due to weather).
In terms of timelines next year:
Early April 3014- Royal visit with lots of photo-ops for Key, and warm afterglow
14 April 2014 – current scheduled date for the start of the Dotcom extradition hearing forecast to take several weeks: but expected to be further delayed again until at least July 2014 *
* Anne, I note you suggest “Add to that the latest delay in the Dotcom extradition case from March to July” . I checked Google, and the current date is 14 April 2014, and there does not appear to have been an formal decision as yet to delay until July although speculation is that this will happen.
May 2014 – Banks court case
Mid to late May 2014 – Budget.
IIRC, an election can be called on as little as six weeks’ notice, so my thinking is that Key will go for an announcement either just after the royal visit, or around Budget day to get the best PR from these two events – and to overshadow the Banks trial and any Dotcom ongoing court hearings on release of property taken (eg electronic records etc), compensation etc; and to get the election over before the Dotcom extradition hearing itself.
I don’t believe that Key will hold out for a November election for the above reasons and also because IIRC there are one or two big international conferences/events in Nov 2014 that Key would want to attend which he couldn’t go to if the election was in Nov. I recall some discussion in the media a few months ago about these events – but cannot remember what they are. It is now bugging me, so will do some research.
@ veutoviper
Yes. I was aware the the FBI have only requested a delay until July, but they’re likely to get what they want. Then, if it suits Key and co., they will go for a further delay so that Dotcom’s info. on Key doesn’t hit the air-waves until after the election. I’m sure the FBI operatives on the Dotcom case don’t want to see a change in government!
For the reasons you mention above – and others – the situation is fluid, so Key could end up out of luck. Fingers firmly crossed…
Funding is a crucial issue. Look at the mess of the USA where money literally enables the rich to buy laws. I’ve seen suggestions on this site in the past of how to fix this issue but until the general public understand what a problem it is nothing will be done. It’s not a vote getter and, in fact, as the electoral finance mess showed, it can be spun as a vote loser.
“what a corrupt little third world pacific island nation we really are..eh..?”
A sad, but true analysis. We sure have become leaner and meaner. The quick and the dead. Welcome to the future.
+1
There’s a simple measurement I usually apply – the simple and uncomplicated is usually the best
IF we wish to be included in 1st world status, but can only do so by paying slave wages; minimising long fought-for benefits in order to remain viable
THEN we aren’t and we’re only fooling ourselves. (see the other post on America)
Problem is though that the race to the bottom for the many in order for a scared few to maintain their lifestyles is not necessary – it’s only their ideologically-driven and egotistical bullshit that makes it so.
And if because of their short term view, they feel an increasing need to live behind PIN-only accessible gated communities, then more fool them.
The tragedy is that the longer it’s all propped up on a firm foundation of solid bullshit and jellybeams, the more violent the outcome is likely to be.
As the 70% or so versus the 30% moves more and more towards the 99.9 versus the 0.01% – I know where I’m putting my fiat currency. (Some smart smarmy cnut is probably already inventing some derivative in order to have a bob each way!!)
….. probably also why there are a few in the Labour Party who are desperately trying to delay the inevitable (i.e. kicking cans down roadways).
…… my suggestion to them is to just double up on your security, engage another risk management consultant, pay ’em a bundle, see a touchy feely, drop a prozac or two (up the dose if necessary), and life will remain just peachy keen,
I’ve never actually seen a time (in my lifetime) where the neo-liberal driven ideology means that the masses are ‘comfortable’ with ever-increasing disparity.
BUT just imagine how angry they’ll be when the inevitable shit hits the fan, mortgagee sales become a reality, offspring have gone all feral, and they’re all looking for someone to blame.
(There are some natural targets, and you can be sure they’ll be in that ‘economic minority’ of a 1 or possible 0.1%)
Snot Rok Soince is it?
In São Paulo, the rich live in gated condominiums with armed guards. True to form, they pay their guards a pittance so that when a building is attacked by criminals, the guards put up minimal resistance. The crims then get up to 20 filthy rich households to empty out, all at once. They usually drive off with trucks full of expensive possessions. This seems to be what the stupidly rich want for this part of the world as well.
The land of the free.
//
http://philebersole.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/one-in-four-us-workers-are-guard-labor/
Yesterday I drove on the brand new highway between Taupiri to central Hamilton. why was this highway built? It must have cost well over a billion dollars (at a guess).
How does the National government get so much credit for its economic management when it has built these roads at a huge cost, all of it increasing our huge debt burden…I don’t see our MSM attacking National for its inept economic management on this. The huge expenditure on roads in the Waikato and BOP I reckon will in the long term actually reduce GDP (but will improve the profit of some large trucking companies and Fonterra), I challenge any economist/anyone to prove otherwise.
http://www.nzta.govt.nz/network/projects/project.html?ID=63
All this new roading development is brilliant.
For me it one of the best things National has done.
Spending billions on roads when we are so deeply in debt is NOT good economic management…clearly this proves that you are a fuckwit BM.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9560760/Welcome-to-the-boom-of-2014
National have done a tremendous job, just goes to show what can be achieved when we get some decent people at the helm, people with skill and talent.
Only a complete idiot would want labour in power, you’d struggle to find a bigger pile of know nothing, pie in the sky numpties than the current labour line up.
Compete dross.
“Compete” dross BM ? You’re doing fabulously well BM.
I guess you add a bit of colour BM…but you are as thick as pig shit (or is that Bat Shit).
Skill and Talent? Really? Are you sure? Who are we talking about? Mr Brownlee, whose “political clout” has prevented countless people in Christchurch to have a roof over their heads after 3 (!) years? This is by the way inexcusable and one wonders whether we see in the run up to the election a sudden increase in Insurance payouts. Just do be clear, commercial law is passed in parliament and not by Insurance companies – or is it?
Or is it Mrs Bennett who had the benefit of the social system when it was available and used it to the full extent only to deny it everybody else since she has the portfolio? Has she found in her heart that all of her “success” is wrong?
Or lets go to Mr Bridges, who supports deep see drilling and fracking. Interesting though, I was not aware that a lawyer has such extended education to understand the issues of engineering and biology so to be able to make such decisions. Furthermore, being able to override any sovereign interest amid many documented disadvantages and just unilateral make the call?
Yes, lets keep some hope alive. I will vote green as this hopefully gives the next generation a voice.
I suspect that boom will last until the prediction wears off – sometime in January.
“National have done a tremendous job, just goes to show what can be achieved when we get some decent people at the helm, people with skill and talent.”
Stop taking the piss BM
And here in Hawke Bay, we all love the new Rail Line to Gisborne.
Or is that Gisbin (TV weather).
YEAH RITE.
Having lived in the Far North for years I am always in awe of Waikato roads when travelling there, even the secondary routes beautifully sealed and cambered. People who travel the South Island regularly tell a similar story of great roads in a sparsely populated landscape.
according to the Northland Regional Council…
“Of the 6,530 kilometres of road in Northland, 753 kilometres are State Highway with the remaining being local roads. Approximately 65% of these local roads are unsealed, compared to the national average of 40%. The proportion of unsealed roads, many of which have poor foundation conditions and alignments, is one of the highest in the country”.
One could make a case for Waikato and South Island as major tory voters getting special ‘two lane blacktop’ treatment. So what about the Far North? also consistent tory electorate voters (though when you add in the Te Tai Tokerau and the non national general electorate vote the numbers don’t look so good for the torys)–just the land that time forgot? The North has high suicide rates and lots of car crashes and little economic development for decades.
How about the puhoi-wellsford route
http://www.nzta.govt.nz/consultation/puhoi-wellsford-2/index.html
That’s got to help speed things up.
That would be another loss making Road of National(s) Significance.
You might also find this interesting.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11096356
With the Norwegians currently looking for oil off the Northland coast, could be boom times ahead for those up North.
One could make a case for Waikato and South Island as major tory voters getting special ‘two lane blacktop’ treatment.
Not so sure about that. I live in the Waitaki electorate and our road is so bad it’s a favourite with rally car drivers. We’ve had the Rally of Otago blatt past on numerous occasions, except only from one direction. It’s too dangerous going the other. Too many cars went over banks. Bloody good job. The environment bit back.
On a positive note its a awesome part of the country to live in
TM, quite a few people I know in the North don’t want the sort of roads they have in the Waikato. They see one great benefit of gravel roads – they scare the Jafas into keeping their Remuera tractors south of Wellsford. On the other hand, quite a few of them would like to see decent train and bus services.
Don’t forget the North Shore tractors MO. Arrogant drivers who think they own the road and it’s the women who are the worst. One of them screamed abuse at me once for driving up to an intersection on the inside of her. Plenty of room for me to turn left and she to the right. Told her after the screaming match subsided that she was a stupid bitch. She then tried to ram me but I was too quick for her. Contemplated carrying a bag of stones in my glove box in case it happened again. A smashed rear window would have been a satisfactory outcome but decided it was too risky. It would be my luck to have a cop car come ambling past at the moment of impact.
I was out fishing with a mate once and some stupid yuppie in his 15m gin palace managed to catch a few snapper. He promptly filleted them and threw the remains overboard, which every snapper fisher knows is just not on. It puts the rest right off the bite. My mate started throwing sinkers at him, which worried me a bit, since my tinny was only 4.4m. Luckily the idiot wasn’t the aggressive type and left rather than run us over.
Same.
“just who it is who ‘owns’/’bought’ influence”. Perfectly said PU.
Without legislation along the lines you suggest we facilitate the availability of massive corruption to the often mutually inclusive wealthy and the holders of power, derived from democratic process, ironically.
Start with strict liability from the top dog down in both the donor and donee camps. Make glib lies like “the law is unclear” and “I’m a busy person I relied on assurances from my trusted minions” and “Oh I forgot” unavailable to the wealthy and the holders of power.
Deploy demonstrably heavy penalties directed according to statutory presumption in favour of imprisonment topped off with additional truly massive financial penalties for donor and donee and permanent disqualification for both from the electoral process at any level.
In cases of political and electoral corruption let judges’ sentencing notes contain stern denunciation of offending which “sheets to the core of justice and democracy”. As presently occurs in obviously far less-reaching cases of attempting to/perverting the course of justice where some fool engages falsehood given on oath to protect a family member or mate charged with an offence.
Acknowledging that for the sake of brevity I overlook Brown, why please did Mediaworks pay for the witheringly castigating holier-than-thou Cameron Brewer’s holiday on the Gold Coast ? If the motivation were truly impeccable there would be more bang-for-the-buck in widely vaunted donation to The Auckland City Mission.
He was chief executive of the Newmarket Business Association for a long time.
The trip was probably a thanks from media works for Brewer pushing work their way.
That’s a risibly inadequate response/rationalisation BM.
How possibly can you distinguish between favours given after the event and favours given before the event ? The ‘distinction’ is facile and meaningless especially in the context of a course of conduct dynamic.
You’re a supporter of corruption clearly. It’s what makes the world of the wealthy and the powerful go round what ? Such a democrat you BM.
No…….piss off with your moral bankruptcy.
++ @ North
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9560760/Welcome-to-the-boom-of-2014
– Well thats a positive headline from the Herald for a change
isn’t that great..!..chris 73..!
..no more excuses now not to declare war on poverty..eh..?
..no more ‘but we can’t afford it’-whines/excuses..eh..?
..that is ‘positive’..
..those ‘boom-times’..and a financial-transaction-tax on the banksters..
..should just about get it sorted..eh..?
..no more poverty..no more third world diseases..eh..?
..gee..!..chris 73..and maybe we can start to bay back some of the $60+ billio nthis bunch of tory/clowns/fuckwits have run up..eh..?
..with their borrow and givre to the rich policies/..
phillip ure..
Its positive from the point of re-electing the National government
Ah…thought you might care about the increasing inequality.
But you don’t.
It’s all just a game to C73.
He doesn’t give a shit about people.
Kickbacks from Nactionals slush fund.
pay back to National party for bailout or was it to organize the bailout.
Mc Cready will sort it out.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9560681/Banks-nemesis-looks-for-others-to-put-in-dock
– Hes gotta pay his bills somehow I guess
Thinking about the traditional story of Christmas and all, my pick for the Three Wise Men:
the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Pope Francis. I’m sure they’d have a lot of fun riding across the desert together on camels.
Mildly surprised by a NZ Herald editorial today:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11178946
‘What Cunliffe will be seeking this year is to capitalise on the sense rolling through the country that the National-led administration is arrogant and indifferent to the beliefs and needs of ordinary New Zealanders. But what he and the rest of us need to keep front of mind is the plight of those who cannot even aspire to ordinariness.
The Child Poverty Monitor report, released three weeks ago by Children’s Commissioner Russell Wills, shows that a quarter of our children are living in poverty, some of it severe and persistent. Poverty-related illness, such as asthma and bronchitis, reached record highs.
With every passing year, it becomes harder to be proud of a country that was once a world-leading social democracy. The small Scandinavian countries we used to rub shoulders with at the top of the league tables have maintained their positions as we have plummeted.
It is not about resources, but about political will. It’s something that politicians and voters should devote thought to as another year dawns.’
For once, they got it right.
Boringly Myopic.
No rest for the wicked.
I thought you’d be off to HawaiiKey or pukett slinking down cool drinks with Cactus Kate.
Ark! That is so annoying. Looking at the feed and considering why the Feeds (now with the bulk feeders TDB and Scoop politics separated so the smaller blogs get front billing) are duplicating.
Obvious. There are 3 web servers running (two front and one backup) all looking at the same database and set of files. It has the same problem as sphinx search had – they’re ALL updating the feed database. When they happen to coincide, I get up to three copies of the same RSS record.
Should be fixable by checking for duplicates when updating the database like the duplicate comment fix. But a better idea will be to do that update from a single server.
Will anyone in greens or labour begin to respond to this economic “good” news with
for whom. How long will ordinary nzers continue to believe and vote for the myth begun in the 80s by douglas’ mythical good news. The richardsons mother of all bad news… and so on until today. There is no evidence that this type of good news is actually good for anyone but those trumpetting the good news. The banks. The stock market. The reps of big business and politicians.
theres a reason simon power went from justice minister to westpac millionaire and it has nothing to do with wealth trickling down.
Simon Power
Realised his chance to become leader PM was gone so what’s the point of hanging round doing long hours for a relative pittance when you can get millions instead of thousands.
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 39: George W. Bush
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“We will be standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes for freedom and liberty are fulfilled.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—President George W. Bush, 21 September 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38139-2004Sep21_2.html
More liars….
No. 38 Jeremy Hansen: “I read a great column by Paul Thomas in the Herald….”
No. 37 Alan Seay: “You know, we respect the rights of people to protest….”
No. 36 Paul Dykzeul: “No we won’t be changing the Listener; it’s got a terrific editor….”
No. 35 Mark Jennings: “I think Paul’s a bright guy and he will be able to bring a discipline to his performance….”
No. 34 Willie Jackson: “I thought we’d been sensitive with her yesterday….”
No. 33 Supt. Bill Searle: “I think what’s happened here is the police officers have done their very best….”
No. 32 Sonny-Bill Williams: “It’s good to get the win over Papua-New Guinea, a strong Papua-New Guinea side, aahhhh….”
No. 31 John Palino: “Suggestions that I am somehow orchestrating some grand right-wing conspiracy to unseat Len after the election are so wrong…”
No. 30 Alan Dershowitz: “I will give $10,000 to the PLO if you can find a historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false.”
No. 29 John Banks: “I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. And never, ever would I ever knowingly sign a false electoral return. Never ever would I ever.”
No. 28 John Kerry: “…we are especially sensitive, Chuck and I, to never again asking any member of Congress to take a vote on faulty intelligence.”
No. 27 Lyse Doucet: “I am there for those without a voice.”
No. 26 Sam Wallace: “So here we are—Otahuhu. It’s just a great place to be, really.”
No. 25 Margaret Thatcher: “…no British government involvement of any kind…with Khmer Rouge…”
No. 24 John Key: “…at the end of the day I, like most New Zealanders, value the role of the fourth estate…”
No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”
No. 22 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.”
No. 21 Tim Groser: “I think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.”
No. 20 John Key: “But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”
No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No. 13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
No. 6 Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
No. 4 Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
No. 29 John Banks: “I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. And never, ever would I ever knowingly sign a false electoral return. Never ever would I ever.”
and the best way to ensure this would be to never ever sign something without reading it first.
…and the best way to ensure this would be to never ever sign something without reading it first.
Are you trying to suggest that Banks made an honest mistake?
No. I am saying if he truly wanted to never ever make a false return he would fucking read everything before he signed otherwise he is displaying wilful ignorance which is not the same as honest mistake.
is english gour second language Morrisey
No. I am saying if he truly wanted to never ever make a false return he would fucking read everything before he signed otherwise he is displaying wilful ignorance which is not the same as honest mistake.
Fair comment.
is english gour [sic] second language Morrisey
I accept your point, Tracey.
It was a genuine question morrisey. Not sarcastic. Didnt know how else to ask
I suspect that this universe is his second reality.
TRACEY: Is english your second language Morrisey?
MORRISSEY: [conciliatorily] I accept your point, Tracey.
TRACEY: [earnestly It was a genuine question morrisey. Not sarcastic. Didn’t know how else to ask.
McFLOCK: [sardonically] I suspect that this universe is his second reality.
……Long pause. Silence, then a mocking slow clap can be heard……
MORRISSEY: Oh dear. Looks like we’ve just unearthed another one of the Melody Rules scriptwriters.
🙄
Thanks, buddy. I hope you’re having a good Christmas break.
The WAR on WELFARE will continue in 2014, but like she did for those parents or grand-parents looking after a child (other than a foster child), Paula Bennett will try to manipulate the media and the wider public, into believing that actually “more” is being done to “support” those in need. The truth is kept from the wider public, while a nasty agenda, all based on nothing but “cost saving” and “cutting back” of services, is followed.
See this pre-Christmas sweetener Bennett released smartly just over a week before the holidays:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11172923
What does a few hundred dollars a year achieve and change, I ask? Yes, every bit of help should be appreciated, I agree. But this is “help” that patches up gaps and cracks in the income situation of many, that have been caused in another places, where households face pressures.
And then it comes from one with this bizarre sense of opportunism mixed with “humour”:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11176800
“Sip It Sweetie”, that is her motto now. Thank you Paula, we know it was all about YOURSELF after all.
As for the “help” for sick and disabled on benefits, we will watch with great concern how the new outsourced work capability testing will be implemented from February 2014.
Remember this:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9356043/Contractors-to-assess-sick-and-disabled-for-work
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/278489/tests-disabled-flawed-model
For all those, that actually care to learn a bit more about all this stuff, and what is behind the “welfare reforms”, that are now affecting thousands in a very bad way, have a study of information that can be found on this small website:
http://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2013/12/28/designated-doctors-used-by-work-and-income-some-also-used-by-acc-the-truth-about-them/
http://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/the-health-and-disability-panel-and-its-hand-picked-members/
http://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/medical-and-work-capability-assessments-based-on-the-controversial-bio-psycho-social-model/
That site is still a bit new and under (experiemental) construction, but accessing and using the many resources and links offered there should assist many to see, assess and understand what is really going on under this hideous government, with nothing but contempt for those at the bottom of the heap! Putting pressures, fears and expectations on sick and disabled to compete for work, and dressing this up as “caring for” and “assisting” them, that is worse than being mean spirited. It is disgustingly dishonest and criminal.
For instance mental health funding has been capped or cut for many services here in Auckland. So where is the extra “help” and “treatment” coming from? It will be GPs prescribing generic and non generic psychiatric drugs, and others sent to self help “coping groups”, to live with pain and impairments. Most extra funding has gone straight to MSD and WINZ, for more case management, none else.
Best wishes for 2014, keep up the FIGHT for JUSTICE!
chrs 4 keeping on top of all that..xtasy..
..regular updates thru the year will be appreciated..
..phillip ure..
I see parallels happening in New Zealand.
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/dec/28/mortgage-rise-homeowners-perilous-debt
Too bad that hasn’t been announced for the last two years… oh wait…
I thought that Bill English has been announcing the end of the following year return to higher interest rates (as a result of his governments disinterested neglect of the economy) ever since 2009? He has built it into every budget up until 2012 when he finally became aware after the election that making a foolish prophecy wasn’t the same as making it happen.
Or have you forgotten?
I suspect there will be a slight interest rate rise next year, which will immediately stall the retail economy again. It will then stagnate for another year or so. I think that the same thing will happen offshore.
Having a jobless ‘recovery’ is a completely fragile and essentially useless recovery. Thought people would have realised this over the last couple of hundred years.
Which is, of course, exactly what it’s supposed to do. Raising interest rates is done to cool down an over-heating economy but, for some strange reason, it only ever seems to initiate housing bubbles as the hot money from other countries floods in fueling the money creation process by local banks.
I think you’ll find that economists and RWNJs really like jobless recoveries because it indicates an increase in profit while wages are kept down thus preventing a wage/price inflation spiral.
Yeah, causes short-term profit taking. The problem is that they run out of steam, fall back to a lower level, then repeat as a lower amplitude.
Ask the Japanese. They have had them for nearly two decades now. I’m also pretty sure that Europe would be in that state as well if they hadn’t kept expanding the size of the EU.
Damn – sorry about that. Some code didn’t copy over properly.
nice upgrade though. Looks good now.
Yeah. Been meaning to separate the larger feed suppliers from the smaller (and often more interesting) blogs. Took the opportunity to do some upgrades to the other tabbed dialog as well – and it allowed me to dispose of some old residual jquery.
edit: opps – meant to have been a reply to weka at 21.1..
heh
17 April. Shots of the cabinet and the ex-cabinet at Lady Thatcher’s funeral in St Paul’s just emphasise how consistently cowardly most of them were, the only time they dared to stand up to her when eventually they kicked her out. What also galls is the notion that Tory MPs throw in almost as an afterthought, namely that her lack of a sense of humour was just a minor failing, of no more significance than being colourblind, say, or mildly short-sighted. In fact to have no sense of humour is to be a seriously flawed human being. It’s not a minor shortcoming; it shuts you off from humanity. Mrs Thatcher was a mirthless bully and should have been buried, as once upon a time monarchs used to be, in the depths of the night.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n01/alan-bennett/diary