Hipkins is announcing the new Auckland harbour crossing this afternoon. There's been over 7 years worth of modelling and testing for it to be a tunnel.
The problem for this government is that it is now beset by long term announcements – either in infrastructure or in governance and systems – that either don't arrive or have negligible palpable difference to any citizen. Announcements just don't have political effect.
Great that he's trying to bring some momentum back from an utter political disaster week. But as an election year political tactic it isn't going to work.
Under Ardern we had 5 years of managerial bullshit and crisis cash redistribution. As a result of this 'long term good' does anyone here feel any improvement in the health system, road and rail transport system, education system, poverty alleviation system, public housing system, immigration system, justice system, or any other part of New Zealand public services?
No we don't.
This is what you get with really bad policy delivery over 2 terms, and it is Hipkins' core political headwind.
Labour under Ardern rebuilt hospitals, made huge inroads into the housing crisis, and put a ton of work into water reform. They also stated plans for fixing rail infra and set the goal of "Road to Zero" for the NZTA
It sucks that those plans were derailed by an apocalyptic pandemic that's still claiming more lives than the road toll and wrecking the health system. The media is bored with that story though.
Orr created the 2021 bubble and the 2022 correction began before the OCR rise reaction to inflation, which will be confimed as leading to recession (official once the March quarter figures are released).
Orr created the conditions that enabled the (extension of) the bubble….there is a subtle difference, one that allows the RBNZ to disclaim responsibility to a degree.
Yes, but could have installed tighter lending conditions for investors once it was clear that the pandemic monetary policy and government wage subsidy had secured the economy (rather than let them speculate by buying up existing property assets).
Yes they could (should) have…but the increased borrowing (credit creation) was determined by the banks and individuals…in many cases to their detriment.
They can claim they wernt responsible for banks lending (risk) criteria.
Greed (or easy money) makes for poor decision making
One aging useless right wing minister got rid of. I have never forgotten Nash attacking the two billion dollar backpacker industry…stuck up idiot stuck in the past.
Yes this would be a decade of work worth putting ones' shoulder to.
Seriously needs a tunnel congestion charge just like Sydney does for all of its tunnels.
The extensive spread of Auckland Warkworth to Pokeno is 110 kilometers and is accelerating with more development, requiring more people living on the periphery and travelling longer and longer across the isthmus.
No, there will never be a public transport alternative to most of this.
Feels like the last few days on twitter has been full of performative heteros telling the “other” queers who voice dissenting views as to the abhorrent way that the TRAs acted on 25 March. Its notable that the performative heteros tend to say how they expect the “rainbow” community to be, and can’t engage in debate except to say there is no debate. When (typically the performative straight male “allies”) are asked if they would sleep with a self identified woman with a penis, they tend to prevaricate saying it isn’t about them, or they block. Seems to me a lot of straight people are just performative fuckwits demanding acceptance & unable to listen to those with concerns.
If you are referring to me Robert – and apologies if you are not – it was reading comprehension that you appeared to be having trouble with.
No point in going for quantity if the quality of comprehension is still poor.
After making it past the opening sentence, "Transphobes are having a moment in Aotearoa" it seemed to get progressively worse.
TBH the reasoning is best expressed by this:
It may be a good time, then, to examine what being ‘gender critical’ actually means.
At first blush, the phrase ‘gender critical feminist’ is essentially meaningless: all feminism is ‘gender critical’ by definition. The TERF label is at least partially descriptive, since exponents of this ideology are certainly trans-exclusionary, but it may be too generous to suggest that they are either radical or feminists. Feminism is a big tent, but it is hard to welcome into it a group so dedicated to returning us to the values of the Victorians.
At this point I realised I'd read this before and decided not to waste more of my life continuing.
I will say that the closing paragraph does not express the concerns of many who are called TERFs at all:
"TERFs ultimately tie rights to body parts. Their approach seems to be that, because women were originally oppressed to some extent because of their bodies, their rights should be forever tied to qualities within those bodies, when in fact the precise opposite is true. Their reactionary ideology, with its obsession with binary gender essentialism, is actively harmful to all genders. TERFs aren’t even calling back to the second wave – they’re calling back to the first wave. Their ideas are over one hundred years old, and they aren’t good ones."
Still curious as to the personal attacks you're indulging in. Not sure why you believe I'm a poor reader and have comprehension problems or why you feel you should broadcast your opinion about that.
Basically, because it doesn't appear that you read comments before responding.
For example, you've posted a link and I have commented on that link, and your response is limited to your acceptance of my apology and a query about how I see your contributions.
The article you posted, is written by someone who assumes they know what concerns many women hold. If they had had the opportunity to listen to some of the NZ women speak on the weekend, they may have realised that their assumptions were wrong. But that opportunity for clarity didn't happen.
Your responses, often show another version of this lack of listening and comprehension. No matter what people write you either ignore it, redirect, or take a really strange interpretation of it to run with.
It's a form of silencing, in that words exchanged with you are lost somewhere in between the writing and the reading.
You indicated that reading the material I had linked-to was a waste of your life.
I'm not sure why you'd want to waste any more of it engaging in discussion about it.
Perhaps, if you'd like an answer from me about any particular matter, you could ask a question, rather than cast a vague net of words. That would make it easier to know where your interest lies.
"Still curious as to the personal attacks you're indulging in. Not sure why you believe I'm a poor reader and have comprehension problems or why you feel you should broadcast your opinion about that."
Don't put forth a query if you don't want an answer.
"Perhaps, if you'd like an answer from me about any particular matter, you could ask a question, rather than cast a vague net of words. That would make it easier to know where your interest lies."
Experience has shown this makes little difference.
I don't believe in gender woo woo though if someone wants to describe themselves as a cat or a cabbage or a 'lesbian transwoman' then I'll laugh or go OMG or say 'contradiction in terms' along with the rest.
Lesbians are women who love other women.
I believe in the male sex and the female sex. Of course there are Intersex but the small in proportion to the huge numbers of babies born.
I don't believe in gender woo woo though if someone wants to describe themselves as a cat or a cabbage or a 'lesbian transwoman' then I'll laugh or go OMG or say 'contradiction in terms' along with the rest.
Or be my usual respectful self even though some of the ideas are wacky.
Until they come for my rights or the rights of the females/female children in my family.
Gender essentialism is the idea that there is an innate, immutable ‘womanness’ or ‘manness’ which expresses itself in what we consider ‘femininity’ or ‘masculinity’.
If you now add TRANS – in front gender essentialism than the article makes sense. Otherwise the article is: just throw it in the bin.
The Paradox Institute, science based educational videos, could help to bring you up to speed with this kind of falsehood. Because there is more than one way to be a women or to be a man. https://www.theparadoxinstitute.com/watch/is-sex-bimodal
Full of assumptions and inaccuracies, peppered with assertions.
eg: "The rights of people to be themselves, love who they love and not be targeted by misguided, hate-fueled anger and abuse"
"I was there for a shared kaupapa that says no to stirring up fear and hysteria designed to marginalise a group of people."
"And like Posie Parker doesn’t publicly defend the neo nazis who always rock up to support her rallies. "
ecetera…
I think it is a piece written by someone uninformed of the concerns women hold, that she was given the opportunity to hear by being present at a #LetWomenSpeak event.
Yet she doesn't recognise her part in supporting a #DoNotLetWomenSpeak kaupapa.
"Interpreting those statements depends on one's point of view, doesn't it. No wonder the matter is confused!"
Actually interpreting these statements depends on ones level of knowledge to quite a significant degree. The fallacies are easier to spot for those who know more.
"The rights of people to be themselves, love who they love and not be targeted by misguided, hate-fueled anger and abuse."
Some people appear to fervently believe that Posie threatens the rights of people to be themselves, love who they loveand not be targeted by misguided, hate-fueled anger and abuse.
and not be targeted by misguided, hate-fueled anger and abuse."
If you answer Terfs or women you, and they, are wrong.
This has been a whole lot of what I call bullkaka or woo. You ask to find out, for people to give examples and no-one can tell you, Their propagandists have told them.
If you are lucky they might tell you that their mother's aunty's friend's cousin's partner heard someone say something derogatory in the pub but as they were a bit under the weather they may have misunderstood.
Tova O'Brien is a journalist. What's your point Robert? Because it looks like you wanted to post an anti-terf opinion piece and then when I pointed out that she is anti-terf, you bring in TO so say what exactly? Here is another woman how has a belief about something?
Dimsie uses anti-terf rhetoric. I'll just keep pointing out the context of the links you are posting. Any time you want to step out of the culture war and engage meaningfully, let me know.
Tova is pro-trans-rights, I suppose. The images/messages you posted, weka, do you mean them to shock? It seems you've picked extremely violent examples in order to shock. It seems unusual for you to do that.
weka – does it come down to this: many people fervently believe that Posie was promoting ideas that caused many in the trans community to fear for their well-being?
only if you want to render invisible thousands of women who've been working on women's sexed based rights for nearly a decade. And ignore the serious levels of abuse that have been aimed at women in that time. And if you want to support No Debate. And if you want to ignore child safeguarding and the fact that many countries, including now NZ's own MoH are starting to review transitioning on of children thanks to the efforts of GCFs and other GC people.
Not picked to exaggerate Robert. You saw the posters on 25/3. C**t, suck my girl dick etc. They reached a crescendo ove rthe weekend after a week of building up. people like katherine stock and others from the UK have been harassed, even to the point of having to go to safe houses, withdraw from public life for periods.
I have muted many of them & v blocked others as my desire to learn did not go that far.
I had someone tried to hack my twitter handle to include 'is a nazi' in it.
Even on the few relatively mild trans supporters I am following women are universally regarded at Nazis.
It is hard to maintain a level of good will in their cause, when the purpose in life of some is to violently attack women with words, and with just plain violence as they did to the 70 year in Auckland with a fractured skull.
I am pretty sure that woman's rights to safe spaces without intact males will be able to be met somehow if people can find level headed people to talk to.
I am finding gt support ie realism from the LGB lobby particularly a Gay lobby group in the UK
Trans lobby has been very intolerant of Lesbians. We have a knowledgeable poster here, Visubversa, who knows how extreme the ant Lesbian actions and words have been. Read her posts.
'It has been revealed that the 70yr old woman who was brutally assaulted in Auckland on Sat, has a fractured skull. She is safe and being cared for by loved ones & wishes to remain anonymous. In the aftermath of the state sanctioned violence unleashed upon NZ women wishing to exercise our right to peacefully assemble & speak, we are helping women who attended with counselling services if they so wish.'
Perhaps this will be enough for PM to jump off his 'on the one hand this on the other hand that' stance that the violence on 25/3 could be shared. I doubt he will though he seems blinkered.
It would have been easy to condemn the violence as did a UK minister in terms of what actually happened.
Ah me……….we've joined them in a world of madness not of our own making.
Off to
1) write complaint to IPCA, as suggested by SUFW about NZ Police not being guided or learning from the poor policing at the Hobart event, SUFW got back to me this morning
2) Donating to the fund for counselling for women who attended waiting to speak or listen on 25/3 who were terrified/hurt by the violence shown against them.
If you read that kind of stuff, don't expect to learn anything useful. The author makes a fundamental mistake about a minute into the article. You'd be better off reading something written by an expert who understands the underlying issues rather than a journalist who is looking to score points.
I thought this was useful when I read it, but there are likely other articles that are just as good.
What I would like to say is that, so long as we recognise both sex and gender identity as separate politically important features, and keep language that allows us to discuss these features separately, then it strikes me that the ‘spaces’ issue should not and does not admit of a one size fits all answer. In each case we need to ask the question why this service/space/provision has been designated as woman only? And we need to ask on a case by case basis whether, given this justification, interpreting ‘woman’ as ‘female’ or as ‘female-identified’ would undermine that justification….
The article is worth further quotes, but it's probably best read in full.
And may I ask who will be the "we" sitting in judgement as to whether women have any continuing right to the sex based rights and protections we have managed to claw out over the last couple of hundred years? Probably the same people who denied us those spaces and rights, are resentful that we got them and that we still have them.
You're reading too much into it. She's just talking about how female-only spaces are justified using many different reasons. Some of those justifications may allow for transwomen to be fairly excluded; some not.
The 'we' in this case just appears to mean any fair minded person judging the stated justification for female only spaces. For example, the case for excluding transwomen from having their books on a women's fiction shelf in a bookstore is a lot less compelling than excluding them from women's boxing.
For example, the case for excluding transwomen from having their books on a women's fiction shelf in a bookstore is a lot less compelling than excluding them from women's boxing.
Unfortunately while this was true in the past, the aggressive push to colonise women's culture means that there is a compelling case to be made about library shelves. Putting a trans women section within women's section might be an appropriate compromise (assuming there is such a thing as a women's section).
Yes, but it's a lot less compelling than the justification for exclusion from boxing given that nobody will permanently injured or die if you do the bookshelf thing. Replace the books with some other anodyne example if you like.
I would say less compelling, rather than a lot less compelling because the latter implies that it wouldn't matter. I'm pointing out that in the current milieu, it does matter.
This is why you are going to lose. The average person will be difficult to persuade about these peripheral issues—hardly anyone cares about books because hardly anyone reads.
Because too many GCFs lump these peripheral issues in with things that everyone thinks matters—like women's physical security—people won't take you seriously. Just like Labour and the Greens won't take you seriously because they know they own you.
Gender critical feminists need to pick their battles better. Go for the big stuff first. Worry about the little stuff later. Eventually, both sides will have to compromise. It's just going to happen.
For example, the case for excluding transwomen from having their books on a women's fiction shelf in a bookstore is a lot less compelling than excluding them from women's boxing.
Why wouldn't they have separate section for transwomen, so men, women, transwomen?
I find all the women's writers on women's issues compelling as they speak to me about women's issues.
Men/transwomen I would find interesting as commentary as they are not women.
Where she starts talking about gender essentialism. She's attributing to gender critical feminists a view they do not hold.
"Gender essentialism is the idea that there is an innate, immutable ‘womanness’ or ‘manness’ which expresses itself in what we consider ‘femininity’ or ‘masculinity’."
Gender critical feminists do not believe this. They believe (roughly) that there is a sex binary and that gender is a social construct assigned to people based on that sex binary, which happens to be hierarchical, and therefore objectionable. Their main aim is to separate females as a sex class from the gender roles society assigns to them—this was the overriding aim of radical feminism roughly from the start.
Probably because being a bad faith actor works. The same underlying reason that her allies attacked the Albert Park event – they feel that they are right, that they can get away with it, and that acting unfairly is justified if it furthers their goal.
I find it hard to tell how much is bad faith, and how much is that they really just don't understand the GCF position. Both I guess, but also the latter is a wilful ignorance at this point.
Hey, the author may not have to harbour her paranoia about gender critical feminists for too long. If the world follows Canada, they'll all be in jail.
This is part of a post that came to me as part of a sign on site. The context is a letter to respond to a friend who thinks that the other is 'transphobic' This word together with other transactivist buzz words such as 'Terf '& 'Nazi' is what many of us get thrown at us when we try to respond from a women's rights & issues point of view. These are world-wide trans ways to respond and you can see them appearing against women all round the globe.
"It's very difficult—without radically changing one's basic and reasonable understandings and experiences of the world—to avoid being transphobic.
I believe that the sexes are more real and hence more socially important than gender identity. That makes me transphobic.
I believe that the bodies of males and females have different capabilities from each other. That makes me transphobic.
I think it is mad to have males competing with and against females in female sport events. That makes me transphobic.
I think it is wrong and cruel to subject female prisoners to males in their cells. That makes me transphobic.
I think transing children is abusive, and stopping their natural healthy growth is extreme abuse. That makes me transphobic.
I fail to celebrate, and actually find it tragic when people wish to surgically remove healthy, functioning parts of their bodies. That makes me transphobic."
The letter is full of sensible words and has some good advice for what we can do to make spaces safer for women and children.
I cannot get on to the site to comment, as even though I have a nom de plume, it keeps giving my email address. This probably my error. I will fix soon.
I was hoping that an author from TS could seek an Ok to quote the whole sensible piece on here.
I'm sick to death with all this nonsense. People are free to sleep/have sex with whoever they like. Why does it have to become a virtue signalling, labeling, publicity and attention seeking thing? And I’m not going to join a selfrighteous hate group either.
Enough already.
You don't seem to understand what the issue is RosieLee.
It's not about sexual orientation – although that protected characteristic has also been affected – it is about the failure of legislators and policy makers to consider the impacts of the changes they are making. And so the impacts have been far reaching across many sectors of society.
That is why it is a political discussion, one that was avoided by a No Debate stance in NZ.
Why do you think this has to do with sexual orientation Rosie? You possibly think that because gender ideology has used the good PR built up built up by the Gay Liberation movement for decades, and because decades ago, the vast majority of trans people were same sex attracted.
These days – even the words "same sex attracted" are referred to as "a transphobic dogwhistle" and many institutions have redefined homosexuality as "attraction to the same gender" rather than "attraction to the same sex".
The faces of todays Trans Rights movement are much more like Alex Drummond than Carmen or Georgina. Google "Alex Drummond Stonewall" and you will find Alex – 50 something, no hormones, no surgery, does not even shave off the beard. Identifies as a woman and as a lesbian – basically because he is still the same straight man he was before he put on the skirt.
Lesbians who say no to people like Alex are told that we are bigots and transphobes.
On the surface a reasonable idea if you are open minded but many are not. Just ask gay men or lesbians how their experience of their sexual preferences being aired has gone for them over the past 50-70 years.
Yes indeed, the majority of LGBT people who are once again utterly disgusted with the actions of a small but vocal minority of "queer" activists and their allies who are making the entire community look bad and making life harder for the rest of us are being once again told that we have some internal phobia and are bigots and ought to shut the fuck up.
The allies are the worst tbh, they say the craziest shit and just encourage the TRAs.
These people glamourize the stonewall riot as if the stonewall riot was what got LGBT people equal rights and not the following decades and decades of peaceful activism, coalition building and court cases after stonewall
Increasingly, queer activists think violence achieves things because of their warped views of stonewall's significance but at the same time mock and belittle the peaceful activism that actually changed laws because in their minds it's never been worse to be LGBT+ despite it being the best time in history.
And because their allies and media and left wing politicians constantly reinforcing their opinions and constantly telling them that trans people are in the middle of a genocide queer activists are starting to get violent.
As for what happened in America as a queer person I've been saying for years that this is what has been happening and that it's going to end in tragedy and laughed at…
Whether you are on the left or right , If you live in a social media bubble where everyone agrees with you, if you have no real connection to society outside your bubble and the media and pandering politicians constantly tell you you're a victim and at risk if being replaced/ exterminated, it's no surprise that you'll get violent.
The greatest threat to human existence other than climate change is that we have 8 billion people all living in alternative realities curated by algorithms which reinforce all of our beliefs and opinions and dehumanize those who disagree with us m.
If I see a book about Gay Liberation and any sort of Gay Rights history I check the index for "Marsha P Johnson". If it says that Marsha was a trans activist who started the Stonewall riots and that started Gay Liberation, I put it back on the shelf. None of those things is true. Malcolm was a gay man who did drag. He came late to Stonewall. He worked for Gay rights certainly, but that struggle had been going on for a long time before Stonewall.
The Mormons convert the dead – the Transcult transes the dead.
Yes, agree. Particularly with this and your last sentence:
'The allies are the worst tbh, they say the craziest shit and just encourage the TRAs.
These people glamourize the stonewall riot as if the stonewall riot was what got LGBT people equal rights and not the following decades and decades of peaceful activism, coalition building and court cases after stonewall."
Note: I consider the ref to TRAs here to be to a very small percentage of the transgender community. Usually, but not always men with a transgender identity who are threatening and aggressive.
The advocacy for self ID is/was a problem (support for this from allies may have been mistaken), the attacks on some transsexauls as transcum by self ID transgender women and non binary TRA's was another – then there was the exhibitionist tone of the dicks in female places (hardly being respectful). Some would have found this reminiscent of the shibboleth about lesbians needing a man/male nurse in an institution of care.
India is in serious risk of a massive wet bulb event in the next few years that could, in a country where the ruling classes view the poorest of their fellow Indians with complete indifference, lead to a human catastrophe.
India already has an incredibly hot in summer. My ex-brother in law who is from Pakistan said that cricket is played in the cooler months in India because people would likely die if they tried playing outdoors in summer.
So, I don't think they would want it getting too much hotter over there.
When I was in Al Ain inland Emirates, the temperature was frequently in the 40s. But very very dry. I could find no insect life. The imported Asian labourers were expected to do the physical work but were not expected to work in temperatures above 50degrees. For some reason the official thermometer never made it above 49degrees.
What on earth will happen to the Indians who have to work in order to live. The vast population would spread to where? Mothers, fathers and the kids. Help.
There has been controversy lately over some writing which is said to be a poem about Captain Cook.
If you want really powerful poetry, read "The Colonel" by Carolyn Forche (1981), available on the web. It deals with brutality in El Salvador. Just don't expect iambic pentameter.
The colonel returned with a sack used to bring groceries
home. He spilled many human ears on the table. They were like
dried peach halves. There is no other way to say this. He took one
of them in his hands, shook it in our faces, dropped it into a water
glass. It came alive there. I am tired of fooling around he said. As
for the rights of anyone, tell your people they can go fuck them-
selves.
We are so overdue to see a debate in Parliament about AUKUS and any side hussles NZDF and MoD are preparing.
I want to see Labour+National fully debating and then fully agreeing any new Defence posture, before the US Pacific Defence Undersecretary and the Australian ADF slide us into something we simply have no mandate over.
If the US Congress can get over their divisions and rescind war orders, well we can generate the same debate as well
I have a thought for how you could advance your cause on the women's rights issues you have been outlighting over recent weeks.
That is, why not aim for a CIR with a question such as: "Females should not have to share their exclusively female areas with people with penises".
I think this type of question crystalises one of the main issues in terms that most could understand.
I imagine responses to this type of question would quickly pass the 200k threshold, and would get a fairly overwhelming response in favour in a referendum.
It would not be difficult to get a Human Rights Commission decision on this point to successfully follow the BORA implications and also be practical. That would assist local and central government departments who own and operate the great majority of shared public facilities in this country.
Today FM pays the price for being woke. Given the FM crew is probably well and truly pissed by now, the 5pm meeting with management should be a hoot. Richardson may have to keep an eye on Duncan Garner.
Should Sean Plunket ever get a radio spectrum spot, ZB may also lose a solid chunk of their listeners.
Just tryna accentuate something positive here. (will leave aside the temptation to moan about govt showing preference for some religious views but not others)
Yes the Treaty Claims process carries on dealing fairness and equity as it has done for many years.
Back in the dark infested spaces at the back of the cupboard in the room labelled 'Policies not wanted on the journey' is a once thoughtful way forward called Three Waters.
I would love to be reading in 10 years time how well this is working as groups open a new water treatment plant or pipes are inspected on regular basis, sewerage outfalls are retired from service and the 1000th trade apprentice is acknowldged.
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Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
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Hipkins is announcing the new Auckland harbour crossing this afternoon. There's been over 7 years worth of modelling and testing for it to be a tunnel.
The problem for this government is that it is now beset by long term announcements – either in infrastructure or in governance and systems – that either don't arrive or have negligible palpable difference to any citizen. Announcements just don't have political effect.
Great that he's trying to bring some momentum back from an utter political disaster week. But as an election year political tactic it isn't going to work.
I agree. If they really want to win, they need to do something dramatic and immediate, like making the first 10-15k of income tax free.
Yeah it's shit imagine a politician doing things for the long term good instead of pandering to the moron swing voters
Under Ardern we had 5 years of managerial bullshit and crisis cash redistribution. As a result of this 'long term good' does anyone here feel any improvement in the health system, road and rail transport system, education system, poverty alleviation system, public housing system, immigration system, justice system, or any other part of New Zealand public services?
No we don't.
This is what you get with really bad policy delivery over 2 terms, and it is Hipkins' core political headwind.
Sounds like it was an announcement abouta possible plan maybe, 5 possible options ,hardly spades in the ground
It announced that they have gone backwards by multiple years.
And any option will cost between $15-$25 billion in 2023 dollars.
I had hoped Hopkins was a roll ya sleeves up crack heads and make shit happen guy, not looking that way.
Labours very lucky the nats and act arnt worthy of my vote
Labour under Ardern rebuilt hospitals, made huge inroads into the housing crisis, and put a ton of work into water reform. They also stated plans for fixing rail infra and set the goal of "Road to Zero" for the NZTA
It sucks that those plans were derailed by an apocalyptic pandemic that's still claiming more lives than the road toll and wrecking the health system. The media is bored with that story though.
https://twitter.com/SoonLeeNZ/status/1612301909230227456?s=20
Maintenance on hospitals is a basic government job,
When's rail starting to the airport, ?
Recession is the only thing that's stopped the runaway housing train,
Yes covid was a fucker but you can't ride that pony for ever, I'd bet there's a few illnesses that kill more than cars
Orr created the 2021 bubble and the 2022 correction began before the OCR rise reaction to inflation, which will be confimed as leading to recession (official once the March quarter figures are released).
Orr created the conditions that enabled the (extension of) the bubble….there is a subtle difference, one that allows the RBNZ to disclaim responsibility to a degree.
Yes, but could have installed tighter lending conditions for investors once it was clear that the pandemic monetary policy and government wage subsidy had secured the economy (rather than let them speculate by buying up existing property assets).
Yes they could (should) have…but the increased borrowing (credit creation) was determined by the banks and individuals…in many cases to their detriment.
They can claim they wernt responsible for banks lending (risk) criteria.
Greed (or easy money) makes for poor decision making
NZTA network is worse.
Rail network regional and national is worse.
Ferry network regional and national is worse.
Road toll has got worse.
None of the water reforms have landed other than set up a regulator.
No part of our health system has improved.
"utter political disaster week"
Come come
One aging useless right wing minister got rid of. I have never forgotten Nash attacking the two billion dollar backpacker industry…stuck up idiot stuck in the past.
He was in the wrong party. Always felt that about him. Can't wait to see him defect, good riddance.
Just released minutes ago.
It's actually easy. The cheapest option, according to the release, is a light rail/biking/walking bridge parallel to the existing bridge.
Just do it.
Minister Wood is not walking back that massive 2022 PR disaster even again.
It is dead.
Been there – it was rejected.
Good. I wish the engineering teams who have put so much into this the best with it.
The network of tunnels commonplace in the big Australian cities work remarkably well; this tunnel should be a wonderful asset.
Yes this would be a decade of work worth putting ones' shoulder to.
Seriously needs a tunnel congestion charge just like Sydney does for all of its tunnels.
The extensive spread of Auckland Warkworth to Pokeno is 110 kilometers and is accelerating with more development, requiring more people living on the periphery and travelling longer and longer across the isthmus.
No, there will never be a public transport alternative to most of this.
Desperate and dumb….it will probably have the desired effect to a degree.
Feels like the last few days on twitter has been full of performative heteros telling the “other” queers who voice dissenting views as to the abhorrent way that the TRAs acted on 25 March. Its notable that the performative heteros tend to say how they expect the “rainbow” community to be, and can’t engage in debate except to say there is no debate. When (typically the performative straight male “allies”) are asked if they would sleep with a self identified woman with a penis, they tend to prevaricate saying it isn’t about them, or they block. Seems to me a lot of straight people are just performative fuckwits demanding acceptance & unable to listen to those with concerns.
I've been doing some background reading, as instructed by some here, and found this very good: https://overland.org.au/2019/05/what-is-gender-critical-anyway-on-essentialism-and-transphobia/
If you are referring to me Robert – and apologies if you are not – it was reading comprehension that you appeared to be having trouble with.
No point in going for quantity if the quality of comprehension is still poor.
After making it past the opening sentence, "Transphobes are having a moment in Aotearoa" it seemed to get progressively worse.
TBH the reasoning is best expressed by this:
At this point I realised I'd read this before and decided not to waste more of my life continuing.
I will say that the closing paragraph does not express the concerns of many who are called TERFs at all:
I accept your apology, Molly.
Still curious as to the personal attacks you're indulging in. Not sure why you believe I'm a poor reader and have comprehension problems or why you feel you should broadcast your opinion about that.
Basically, because it doesn't appear that you read comments before responding.
For example, you've posted a link and I have commented on that link, and your response is limited to your acceptance of my apology and a query about how I see your contributions.
The article you posted, is written by someone who assumes they know what concerns many women hold. If they had had the opportunity to listen to some of the NZ women speak on the weekend, they may have realised that their assumptions were wrong. But that opportunity for clarity didn't happen.
Your responses, often show another version of this lack of listening and comprehension. No matter what people write you either ignore it, redirect, or take a really strange interpretation of it to run with.
It's a form of silencing, in that words exchanged with you are lost somewhere in between the writing and the reading.
What a curious comment, Molly.
You indicated that reading the material I had linked-to was a waste of your life.
I'm not sure why you'd want to waste any more of it engaging in discussion about it.
Perhaps, if you'd like an answer from me about any particular matter, you could ask a question, rather than cast a vague net of words. That would make it easier to know where your interest lies.
"Still curious as to the personal attacks you're indulging in. Not sure why you believe I'm a poor reader and have comprehension problems or why you feel you should broadcast your opinion about that."
Don't put forth a query if you don't want an answer.
"Perhaps, if you'd like an answer from me about any particular matter, you could ask a question, rather than cast a vague net of words. That would make it easier to know where your interest lies."
Experience has shown this makes little difference.
Give it one more go, go on! 🙂
Molly, are you trans-exclusionary?
In what way?
What does that even mean Robert?
You haven't defined it?
Then all you need to ask
Are you are Radical
then
Are you a Female
And voila you've made up the initials of Terf.
What about:
GCF
I'm one.
I don't believe in gender woo woo though if someone wants to describe themselves as a cat or a cabbage or a 'lesbian transwoman' then I'll laugh or go OMG or say 'contradiction in terms' along with the rest.
Lesbians are women who love other women.
I believe in the male sex and the female sex. Of course there are Intersex but the small in proportion to the huge numbers of babies born.
Woman: an adult female human being
Man: an adult male human being.
Or be my usual respectful self even though some of the ideas are wacky.
Until they come for my rights or the rights of the females/female children in my family.
To Robert Guyton – from your linked article:
Gender essentialism is the idea that there is an innate, immutable ‘womanness’ or ‘manness’ which expresses itself in what we consider ‘femininity’ or ‘masculinity’.
If you now add TRANS – in front gender essentialism than the article makes sense. Otherwise the article is: just throw it in the bin.
The Paradox Institute, science based educational videos, could help to bring you up to speed with this kind of falsehood. Because there is more than one way to be a women or to be a man.
https://www.theparadoxinstitute.com/watch/is-sex-bimodal
Thanks, tt.
Dimsie is an anti-terfer. I'm curious what you learned from reading that.
I guess Tova's persona non grata here on TS now.
https://www.todayfm.co.nz/home/opinion/2023/03/tova-i-was-at-the-counterprotest-as-a-woman-who-is-pro-all-women-including-trans-women.html
Read it.
Full of assumptions and inaccuracies, peppered with assertions.
eg: "The rights of people to be themselves, love who they love and not be targeted by misguided, hate-fueled anger and abuse"
"I was there for a shared kaupapa that says no to stirring up fear and hysteria designed to marginalise a group of people."
"And like Posie Parker doesn’t publicly defend the neo nazis who always rock up to support her rallies. "
ecetera…
I think it is a piece written by someone uninformed of the concerns women hold, that she was given the opportunity to hear by being present at a #LetWomenSpeak event.
Yet she doesn't recognise her part in supporting a #DoNotLetWomenSpeak kaupapa.
"The rights of people to be themselves, love who they love and not be targeted by misguided, hate-fueled anger and abuse"
Applies to all, I reckon.
"I was there for a shared kaupapa that says no to stirring up fear and hysteria designed to marginalise a group of people."
Ditto.
"And like Posie Parker doesn’t publicly defend the neo nazis who always rock up to support her rallies. "
Does she publicly defend the neo nazis? Do they always turn up (I don't know).
Interpreting those statements depends on one's point of view, doesn't it. No wonder the matter is confused!
"Interpreting those statements depends on one's point of view, doesn't it. No wonder the matter is confused!"
Actually interpreting these statements depends on ones level of knowledge to quite a significant degree. The fallacies are easier to spot for those who know more.
Have you read LawfulN's link yet?
Oh the irony of this comment (from Tova):
"The rights of people to be themselves, love who they love and not be targeted by misguided, hate-fueled anger and abuse. " (my bold).
There's a few such pearlers from Tova.
(As I read them I looked down to see if I was fading out of existence – but No – I made it to the end, fully intact. )
Indeed, the irony is thick (both ways) 🙂
Really, I'd like you to explain what your sentence (just a little) please rather than casting words into space.
"The rights of people to be themselves, love who they love and not be targeted by misguided, hate-fueled anger and abuse."
Some people appear to fervently believe that Posie threatens the rights of people to be themselves, love who they love and not be targeted by misguided, hate-fueled anger and abuse.
Do you see what I mean?
No.
You'll have to explain who these people are
and not be targeted by misguided, hate-fueled anger and abuse."
If you answer Terfs or women you, and they, are wrong.
This has been a whole lot of what I call bullkaka or woo. You ask to find out, for people to give examples and no-one can tell you, Their propagandists have told them.
If you are lucky they might tell you that their mother's aunty's friend's cousin's partner heard someone say something derogatory in the pub but as they were a bit under the weather they may have misunderstood.
Where does this leave actual women?
Tova O'Brien is a journalist. What's your point Robert? Because it looks like you wanted to post an anti-terf opinion piece and then when I pointed out that she is anti-terf, you bring in TO so say what exactly? Here is another woman how has a belief about something?
Dimsie uses anti-terf rhetoric. I'll just keep pointing out the context of the links you are posting. Any time you want to step out of the culture war and engage meaningfully, let me know.
https://terfisaslur.com/
https://twitter.com/coccinellanovem/status/1637202317329027075
Tova is pro-trans-rights, I suppose. The images/messages you posted, weka, do you mean them to shock? It seems you've picked extremely violent examples in order to shock. It seems unusual for you to do that.
weka: Dimsie is an anti-terfer. I'm curious what you learned from reading that.
RG: I guess Tova's persona non grata here on TS now [+link to new article, without any explanation]
My impression is that you too are an anti-terfer. So I posted, again, what that means.
Yes, the image is shocking. Imagine talking about women's rights and being subjected to that continually.
I don't know who "Dimsie" is, weka.
Dimsie is the author of the article in your link where you said,
It's in her bio on that page.
weka – does it come down to this: many people fervently believe that Posie was promoting ideas that caused many in the trans community to fear for their well-being?
only if you want to render invisible thousands of women who've been working on women's sexed based rights for nearly a decade. And ignore the serious levels of abuse that have been aimed at women in that time. And if you want to support No Debate. And if you want to ignore child safeguarding and the fact that many countries, including now NZ's own MoH are starting to review transitioning on of children thanks to the efforts of GCFs and other GC people.
Otherwise, no.
Many people (don't) fervently believe that Posie was promoting ideas that caused many in the trans community to fear for their well-being?
why are you commenting as if women and their rights aren’t central in this?
Freedom of speech isn't the central issue?
You’d have to say what you mean by freedom of speech for me to answer that.
Well they are wrong.
They are products of their own propaganda and the consequences of No Debate.
Many women support Trans rights as they can relate as having been through oppression as women.
What we draw the line at is the loss of our own identities as women and all the women's issues that are our now but won't be soon
eg
sex based rights including access to safe spaces
safeguarding of children's identities so they can grow up as children to adults without being part of adult cult dogma
and many others that you will know of if you have done unbiased reading.
Not picked to exaggerate Robert. You saw the posters on 25/3. C**t, suck my girl dick etc. They reached a crescendo ove rthe weekend after a week of building up. people like katherine stock and others from the UK have been harassed, even to the point of having to go to safe houses, withdraw from public life for periods.
I have muted many of them & v blocked others as my desire to learn did not go that far.
I had someone tried to hack my twitter handle to include 'is a nazi' in it.
Even on the few relatively mild trans supporters I am following women are universally regarded at Nazis.
It is hard to maintain a level of good will in their cause, when the purpose in life of some is to violently attack women with words, and with just plain violence as they did to the 70 year in Auckland with a fractured skull.
I am pretty sure that woman's rights to safe spaces without intact males will be able to be met somehow if people can find level headed people to talk to.
I am finding gt support ie realism from the LGB lobby particularly a Gay lobby group in the UK
Trans lobby has been very intolerant of Lesbians. We have a knowledgeable poster here, Visubversa, who knows how extreme the ant Lesbian actions and words have been. Read her posts.
"I had someone tried to hack my twitter handle to include 'is a nazi' in it."
What the hell, Shanreagh… I've always found your posts to be respectful even if you disagree.
Hope your account is protected now.
She was persona non-grata after a few weeks vitriol on Covid updates.
I used to follow her unitl I realsied that she did not support womens' rights or issues.
I've just read that the elderly woman who was bashed at the let womne speak event has a fractured skull
ManaWāhineKōrero12:51 AM · Mar 30, 2023
'It has been revealed that the 70yr old woman who was brutally assaulted in Auckland on Sat, has a fractured skull. She is safe and being cared for by loved ones & wishes to remain anonymous. In the aftermath of the state sanctioned violence unleashed upon NZ women wishing to exercise our right to peacefully assemble & speak, we are helping women who attended with counselling services if they so wish.'
Perhaps this will be enough for PM to jump off his 'on the one hand this on the other hand that' stance that the violence on 25/3 could be shared. I doubt he will though he seems blinkered.
It would have been easy to condemn the violence as did a UK minister in terms of what actually happened.
Ah me……….we've joined them in a world of madness not of our own making.
Off to
1) write complaint to IPCA, as suggested by SUFW about NZ Police not being guided or learning from the poor policing at the Hobart event, SUFW got back to me this morning
2) Donating to the fund for counselling for women who attended waiting to speak or listen on 25/3 who were terrified/hurt by the violence shown against them.
#Let women speak
#Stand up for women
#The whole world is watching
If you read that kind of stuff, don't expect to learn anything useful. The author makes a fundamental mistake about a minute into the article. You'd be better off reading something written by an expert who understands the underlying issues rather than a journalist who is looking to score points.
I thought this was useful when I read it, but there are likely other articles that are just as good.
https://medium.com/@mary.leng/where-metaphysics-meets-politics-in-gender-critical-feminism-1fe565e2093a
Thank you, have bookmarked that.
From the closing paragraph:
The article is worth further quotes, but it's probably best read in full.
And may I ask who will be the "we" sitting in judgement as to whether women have any continuing right to the sex based rights and protections we have managed to claw out over the last couple of hundred years? Probably the same people who denied us those spaces and rights, are resentful that we got them and that we still have them.
True. That is one of the more relevant aspects that is not recognised or addressed in the wider discussion.
But the article has some good points for Robert to read to start to get the gist of the discussions that he is currently not a part of.
You're reading too much into it. She's just talking about how female-only spaces are justified using many different reasons. Some of those justifications may allow for transwomen to be fairly excluded; some not.
The 'we' in this case just appears to mean any fair minded person judging the stated justification for female only spaces. For example, the case for excluding transwomen from having their books on a women's fiction shelf in a bookstore is a lot less compelling than excluding them from women's boxing.
Unfortunately while this was true in the past, the aggressive push to colonise women's culture means that there is a compelling case to be made about library shelves. Putting a trans women section within women's section might be an appropriate compromise (assuming there is such a thing as a women's section).
Yes, but it's a lot less compelling than the justification for exclusion from boxing given that nobody will permanently injured or die if you do the bookshelf thing. Replace the books with some other anodyne example if you like.
I would say less compelling, rather than a lot less compelling because the latter implies that it wouldn't matter. I'm pointing out that in the current milieu, it does matter.
This is why you are going to lose. The average person will be difficult to persuade about these peripheral issues—hardly anyone cares about books because hardly anyone reads.
Because too many GCFs lump these peripheral issues in with things that everyone thinks matters—like women's physical security—people won't take you seriously. Just like Labour and the Greens won't take you seriously because they know they own you.
Gender critical feminists need to pick their battles better. Go for the big stuff first. Worry about the little stuff later. Eventually, both sides will have to compromise. It's just going to happen.
For example, the case for excluding transwomen from having their books on a women's fiction shelf in a bookstore is a lot less compelling than excluding them from women's boxing.
Why wouldn't they have separate section for transwomen, so men, women, transwomen?
I find all the women's writers on women's issues compelling as they speak to me about women's issues.
Men/transwomen I would find interesting as commentary as they are not women.
What was the fundamental mistake about a minute into the article?
Where she starts talking about gender essentialism. She's attributing to gender critical feminists a view they do not hold.
Gender critical feminists do not believe this. They believe (roughly) that there is a sex binary and that gender is a social construct assigned to people based on that sex binary, which happens to be hierarchical, and therefore objectionable. Their main aim is to separate females as a sex class from the gender roles society assigns to them—this was the overriding aim of radical feminism roughly from the start.
The author makes a rookie error.
this. GCF positions aren't a secret, so it begs the question of why Dimsie doesn't know this or chooses to misrepresent it.
Probably because being a bad faith actor works. The same underlying reason that her allies attacked the Albert Park event – they feel that they are right, that they can get away with it, and that acting unfairly is justified if it furthers their goal.
I find it hard to tell how much is bad faith, and how much is that they really just don't understand the GCF position. Both I guess, but also the latter is a wilful ignorance at this point.
Hey, the author may not have to harbour her paranoia about gender critical feminists for too long. If the world follows Canada, they'll all be in jail.
That is truly terrifying.
This is part of a post that came to me as part of a sign on site. The context is a letter to respond to a friend who thinks that the other is 'transphobic' This word together with other transactivist buzz words such as 'Terf '& 'Nazi' is what many of us get thrown at us when we try to respond from a women's rights & issues point of view. These are world-wide trans ways to respond and you can see them appearing against women all round the globe.
"It's very difficult—without radically changing one's basic and reasonable understandings and experiences of the world—to avoid being transphobic.
https://theministryhasfallen.substack.com/p/guest-post-an-explainer-to-an-old
The letter is full of sensible words and has some good advice for what we can do to make spaces safer for women and children.
I cannot get on to the site to comment, as even though I have a nom de plume, it keeps giving my email address. This probably my error. I will fix soon.
I was hoping that an author from TS could seek an Ok to quote the whole sensible piece on here.
I'm sick to death with all this nonsense. People are free to sleep/have sex with whoever they like. Why does it have to become a virtue signalling, labeling, publicity and attention seeking thing? And I’m not going to join a selfrighteous hate group either.
Enough already.
You don't seem to understand what the issue is RosieLee.
It's not about sexual orientation – although that protected characteristic has also been affected – it is about the failure of legislators and policy makers to consider the impacts of the changes they are making. And so the impacts have been far reaching across many sectors of society.
That is why it is a political discussion, one that was avoided by a No Debate stance in NZ.
Why do you think this has to do with sexual orientation Rosie? You possibly think that because gender ideology has used the good PR built up built up by the Gay Liberation movement for decades, and because decades ago, the vast majority of trans people were same sex attracted.
These days – even the words "same sex attracted" are referred to as "a transphobic dogwhistle" and many institutions have redefined homosexuality as "attraction to the same gender" rather than "attraction to the same sex".
The faces of todays Trans Rights movement are much more like Alex Drummond than Carmen or Georgina. Google "Alex Drummond Stonewall" and you will find Alex – 50 something, no hormones, no surgery, does not even shave off the beard. Identifies as a woman and as a lesbian – basically because he is still the same straight man he was before he put on the skirt.
Lesbians who say no to people like Alex are told that we are bigots and transphobes.
On the surface a reasonable idea if you are open minded but many are not. Just ask gay men or lesbians how their experience of their sexual preferences being aired has gone for them over the past 50-70 years.
nailed it James.
Yes indeed, the majority of LGBT people who are once again utterly disgusted with the actions of a small but vocal minority of "queer" activists and their allies who are making the entire community look bad and making life harder for the rest of us are being once again told that we have some internal phobia and are bigots and ought to shut the fuck up.
The allies are the worst tbh, they say the craziest shit and just encourage the TRAs.
These people glamourize the stonewall riot as if the stonewall riot was what got LGBT people equal rights and not the following decades and decades of peaceful activism, coalition building and court cases after stonewall
Increasingly, queer activists think violence achieves things because of their warped views of stonewall's significance but at the same time mock and belittle the peaceful activism that actually changed laws because in their minds it's never been worse to be LGBT+ despite it being the best time in history.
And because their allies and media and left wing politicians constantly reinforcing their opinions and constantly telling them that trans people are in the middle of a genocide queer activists are starting to get violent.
As for what happened in America as a queer person I've been saying for years that this is what has been happening and that it's going to end in tragedy and laughed at…
Whether you are on the left or right , If you live in a social media bubble where everyone agrees with you, if you have no real connection to society outside your bubble and the media and pandering politicians constantly tell you you're a victim and at risk if being replaced/ exterminated, it's no surprise that you'll get violent.
The greatest threat to human existence other than climate change is that we have 8 billion people all living in alternative realities curated by algorithms which reinforce all of our beliefs and opinions and dehumanize those who disagree with us m.
Quite right Corey.
If I see a book about Gay Liberation and any sort of Gay Rights history I check the index for "Marsha P Johnson". If it says that Marsha was a trans activist who started the Stonewall riots and that started Gay Liberation, I put it back on the shelf. None of those things is true. Malcolm was a gay man who did drag. He came late to Stonewall. He worked for Gay rights certainly, but that struggle had been going on for a long time before Stonewall.
The Mormons convert the dead – the Transcult transes the dead.
Yes, agree. Particularly with this and your last sentence:
Note: I consider the ref to TRAs here to be to a very small percentage of the transgender community. Usually, but not always men with a transgender identity who are threatening and aggressive.
I value your view, analysis and vernacular Corey.
Thanks Corey, well put.
A good post, but I would quibble about this part
The advocacy for self ID is/was a problem (support for this from allies may have been mistaken), the attacks on some transsexauls as transcum by self ID transgender women and non binary TRA's was another – then there was the exhibitionist tone of the dicks in female places (hardly being respectful). Some would have found this reminiscent of the shibboleth about lesbians needing a man/male nurse in an institution of care.
Decarbonising industrial processes with the "box of rocks" concept.
https://twitter.com/drvolts/status/1640060077527924737
India is in serious risk of a massive wet bulb event in the next few years that could, in a country where the ruling classes view the poorest of their fellow Indians with complete indifference, lead to a human catastrophe.
https://twitter.com/PGDynes/status/1640386018451812356
India already has an incredibly hot in summer. My ex-brother in law who is from Pakistan said that cricket is played in the cooler months in India because people would likely die if they tried playing outdoors in summer.
So, I don't think they would want it getting too much hotter over there.
When I was in Al Ain inland Emirates, the temperature was frequently in the 40s. But very very dry. I could find no insect life. The imported Asian labourers were expected to do the physical work but were not expected to work in temperatures above 50degrees. For some reason the official thermometer never made it above 49degrees.
What on earth will happen to the Indians who have to work in order to live. The vast population would spread to where? Mothers, fathers and the kids. Help.
There has been controversy lately over some writing which is said to be a poem about Captain Cook.
If you want really powerful poetry, read "The Colonel" by Carolyn Forche (1981), available on the web. It deals with brutality in El Salvador. Just don't expect iambic pentameter.
Indeed. And the coolest dictator in the world is at it again.
[…]
The colonel returned with a sack used to bring groceries
home. He spilled many human ears on the table. They were like
dried peach halves. There is no other way to say this. He took one
of them in his hands, shook it in our faces, dropped it into a water
glass. It came alive there. I am tired of fooling around he said. As
for the rights of anyone, tell your people they can go fuck them-
selves.
[…]
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49862/the-colonel
Looks like Tova and Duncan are doing their bit to take the heat out of the jobs market….
I'm devastated…..just devastated.
I know, thoughts and prayers.
Both Sean Plunkett and Martyn Bradbury called this weeks ago. Bomber is gloating this morning.
More importantly who will broadcast the cricket?
There is an ODI tomorrow….
Live on Duke which is also available live on TVNZ's website. Bit high on the data costs if not on Wifi or unlimited data plan though…
Chur, Craig.
Should be easier and more straight forward than trying to stream off a broken cricfree.
Great to see Republicans and Democrats agree to formally repeal Congress’ 1991 and 2002 authorizations for military action in Iraq.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/29/tim-kaine-todd-young-iraq-00089369
We are so overdue to see a debate in Parliament about AUKUS and any side hussles NZDF and MoD are preparing.
I want to see Labour+National fully debating and then fully agreeing any new Defence posture, before the US Pacific Defence Undersecretary and the Australian ADF slide us into something we simply have no mandate over.
If the US Congress can get over their divisions and rescind war orders, well we can generate the same debate as well
Weka et al.,
I have a thought for how you could advance your cause on the women's rights issues you have been outlighting over recent weeks.
That is, why not aim for a CIR with a question such as: "Females should not have to share their exclusively female areas with people with penises".
I think this type of question crystalises one of the main issues in terms that most could understand.
I imagine responses to this type of question would quickly pass the 200k threshold, and would get a fairly overwhelming response in favour in a referendum.
It would not be difficult to get a Human Rights Commission decision on this point to successfully follow the BORA implications and also be practical. That would assist local and central government departments who own and operate the great majority of shared public facilities in this country.
Today FM pays the price for being woke. Given the FM crew is probably well and truly pissed by now, the 5pm meeting with management should be a hoot. Richardson may have to keep an eye on Duncan Garner.
Should Sean Plunket ever get a radio spectrum spot, ZB may also lose a solid chunk of their listeners.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/300842932/theyve-fed-us-today-fm-staff-go-to-the-pub-stations-fate-due-to-be-announced-at-5pm
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/mediaroom-radio-ratings
Another great announcement from Labour today
https://twitter.com/LabourMaoriNZ/status/1641258310627389440?s=20
Just as well the legal person was not given a male or female identity …
Just tryna accentuate something positive here. (will leave aside the temptation to moan about govt showing preference for some religious views but not others)
The aggregation of incorporated capital (mammon) leads to person status (so I suppose that can include receiving asset land title or cash in lieu of).
Are you referring to corporations being legal persons? In New Zealand I think they are called 'entities' but IMHO the correct term would be 'egregore'
Sure, that comes up in law in some "jurisdictions", then the sense of entitlement to exploit land and labour for profit …
A moari girl on fb reliable informed me that all mountains are Koro, so he's a he ,plus didn't Taranaki sulk off after a love triangle tiff.
bwaghorn your spelling of Maori is ??????
The story of the Mountains.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/whenua-how-the-land-was-shaped/page-4#:~:text=The%20story%20goes%20that%20in,battle%20Tongariro%20emerged%20the%20winner.
I'm on a ph with 51 year old eyes , I apologize to any who are deeply offended
Yes the Treaty Claims process carries on dealing fairness and equity as it has done for many years.
Back in the dark infested spaces at the back of the cupboard in the room labelled 'Policies not wanted on the journey' is a once thoughtful way forward called Three Waters.
I would love to be reading in 10 years time how well this is working as groups open a new water treatment plant or pipes are inspected on regular basis, sewerage outfalls are retired from service and the 1000th trade apprentice is acknowldged.
Putting this here so I can find it later. Man punches elderly woman. The tweet’s interpretation is a misrepresentation
https://twitter.com/brutalnz/status/1641234529955504128
This one is better
https://twitter.com/rachaelwongaus/status/1641267205664030721
And this, list of intimidation of women, decapitate terf sign
https://twitter.com/aja02537920/status/1617143815306989568
For Robert from the collection from Weka above.
A documentary made in 2017 by Maria MacLachlan who was assaulted by Trans activists at Speakers Corner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG58r8bm4Pw
So you can see how long this madness has been with us.