I did some considerable site pruning yesterday, trimming plugins, fixing some errors that crept into the quite old database, and generally doing a tidy on the site and the system that hosts it. It feels a lot faster and lighter after clearing away some of the old plugins.
I don't think that I broke anything because these were almost all things that I'd done on a test system first. But let me know if a feature that used to be there from last week is no longer there on the desktop site.
It is also prep for building a new theme that will
eliminate having to have a separate mobile theme. The theme should flex from larger to mobile.
Still be based on the maintainable themes from wordpress. Our current theme is based on a 'classic' theme from the 2000s and has proved highly maintainable and extensible. The new one will be based on the 2023 theme.
Should carry through most or all of the features of the existing site like the right bar. But in a more maintainable form and hopefully somewhat better because it will be accessible from the mobile side as well.
I tested all of the basics yesterday while fixing a bug that has lurked in the system since wordpress 3.6 in 2013. There was a failure in the upgrade from the MU release to the mainline that affected the creations of new multi-sites. It was still in database. Took most of last night to finally find and kill that.
I will also be collecting some of the useful old unmaintained plugins features, simplify them (generally they are coded in a manner that is unmaintainable) and wrap Standard plugins over them.
This is all being done on spare time available – which is usually short. So they may take a while. But I am actually starting to have more spare time….
Those of you who still have logins will be able to beta test and be critical of the new theme earlier. 🙂
Just looked at the numbers of posts, comments media and general storage on the site.
Posts
All (29,802)
Mine (1,125)
Published (28,307)
Sticky (1)
Drafts (1,372)
Private (123)
Trash (39)
Comments
302,346 spam comments were blocked so far. This is just one of the automatic anti-spam systems that has been in pace since about 2017. It is the 2nd from final trap.
All (1,834,676)
Mine (23,913)
Pending (0)
Approved (1,834,676)
Spam (44)
this is the final trap – these are mostly moderator caught and cleaned periodically.
Trash (613)
24515 media items – these are the sites graphics and documents – mostly used in the posts themselves. A few where an author has used a graphic in a comment. And a handful for site graphics.
There are currently about 3-4x other cached graphics used speeding the site. Different sizes of media, different forms of the media (mostly webp these days), and all of your gravators for comments in various forms.
The site lives on /dev/md0 (raid 1 of 2 SSDs and one space) which is mounted on /mnt/TS.
960 GB available
49.9 GB used (6%)
The onsite backup is currently 146 GB made up of weekly full file backups (each 10.6 compressed), hourly database backups (each ~248 MB compressed), and hourly files deltas. This is replicated in two places offsite and usually updated within 20 minutes of the hourly backup.
I keep about 8 weeks on site.
There is a 2 year off site archive (just in case of long term regression issues), I still do a yearly backup of the archive to bluray. I'm kind of paranoid about backups.
Also about privacy. All of the backups are encrypted, and so is the site.
Not sure about traffic these days. The public face is cached out at cloudflare. They report
Previous 30 days
Total Bandwidth 2.54 TB
Cached Bandwidth 74.43 GB
Uncached Bandwidth 2.46 TB
But we watch a lot of streamed TV and audio, run VPNs to work, and do a lot of work on the same link.
So far over April, we did
Domestic In: 398.57 GB
Domestic Out: 403.42 GB
Domestic Total: 801.99 GB
International In: 76.86 GB
International Out: 5.36 TB
International Total 5.44 TB
In Total: 475.42 GB
Out Total: 5.76 TB
Total usage: 6.24 TB
A lot of the international out would have been the Standard either as the site itself or as offline backups.
But we work and backup a lot of material in the cloud. All of my work goes through aussie VPNs because that is where the cloud servers are. I spend a lot of time on hooked into servers in Texas. My partners systems backup internationally and she works on sites offshore. Both of us mostly work from home.
For the longest time it has been next to impossible to use the Reply function on an iPhone or iPad because of misbehaviour by the CKEditor widget, the text area was unable to capture focus so I could not type in the comment box.
This seems to be working a bit better. Focus is still failing about 50% of the time, but that's still a big improvement from 99% that I was experiencing. (my only option was to go into the safari settings and turn off javascript). If you want to look into it further, I found a possibly relevant thread on stack overflow…
thanks for the update, and all the mahi Lynn. Looking forward to seeing the new theme.
btw, the site has been running slow for me recently, including this morning. Usually when going to edit something or working the back end, but sometimes just pages too.
Wellington City Council seems intent on ensuring people wanting to go to restaurants, theatres, etc in the inner city have a very difficult time getting there. The people from the suburbs, Porirua, Upper and Lower Hutt will be unable to drive to and park from 7am to 9pm from Courtenay Place to Parliament if Let's Get Wellington Moving proposal is decided on. Given the bus service is unreliable and LGWM want to remove some inner city bus stops, people will find it just too inconvenient to bother. If I have misinterpreted this latest idea please put me right!
Another plan is to remove half the car parks from Molesworth Street and side streets. And to remove two bus stops from Molesworth Street. Makes no sense to me to remove bus stops for those less able to walk further, particularly in bad weather. All this to have more cycleways. I await with interest and scepticism to see all these cyclists.
I personally know a young couple living in inner city Wellington who managed to walk to work, go to cafes etc. But to visit family further afield, get groceries, go to sports practice out of the city, medical appointments etc etc was difficult. They have now got a car park in their building and life is much easier and convenient.
Eh what? There’s bugger all parking along the Golden Mile itself, it’s all on the side streets but don’t let facts spoil a rant. These days though I find it’s far easier just to go to the now council owned car park in Tory St or the one by Les Mills for cheap parking rather than circling around looking. If we’re out for dinner $5 or $8 for parking won’t break the bank.
I live in inner city Wellington too. I walk to work and have to step on to the road frequently due to over-full footpaths. Cycling is far too dangerous for me right now, but sometimes I see more bikes than cars on my walking commute.
I can't wait for the transformation – bikes and scooters separated from walkers and more room for buses to move freely, and it will be a nicer space to be in.
Agree that the public transport needs to be more reliable, but a good pair of shoes, a snapper card and the occasional use of mevos (car rental by the hour) works pretty well for the able-bodied – even if they don't cycle, and is way cheaper, and gives more freedom than owning a vehicle in the inner city.
I put a lot of this failure down to the increasingly restrictive rules being placed on landlords. This is effectively an aversive stimulus that discourages landlords from renting out their properties, or makes them extremely fussy about who they will accept as tenants. Hence, the pressure on housing increases.
If that's the case, then we should not allow one group of citizens to exercise such a powerful gatekeeping function over the ability of other citizens to be satisfactorily housed. It is an asymmetric power relationship that must be considered totally illegitimate between supposedly free citizens.
As a principle that is undeniable. But actually implementing the end of private landlordism is of course extremely fraught and dangerous. But you don't achieve it by caving in to landlord demands.
Waiting lists do change – often the biggest reason is that the definition has changed – National reduced waiting lists by excluding some categories – the same thing happened with hospital waiting lists. It was an easy "win" for National, and much easier than actually improving services. Remember also that National sold off quite a few "state houses," purportedly to local housing organisations. I have not seen any statistics on what happened following those sales, but bearing in mind that the whole state housing stock had declined in repair (which we know from those that were not sold), and that the new owners do not have the capital resources of the state, it is possible that at least some of those houses were sold to maintain the rest, or let to tenants able to pay higher rent.
Over the last few years New Zealand has seen an enormous increase in the renovation of existing houses and the building of new ones – to the extent that we are short of workers, supply chains could not cope (and that is internal supplies as well as international suppliers). That building work has been done by both government and private owners / landlords. That has increased housing supply in both cities and regional towns, and has been done by both government and private developers. Far from minimum standards choking off development, the developers have seen the opportunity for profit. Yes you can point to individual projects of government that did not produce headline completions, but overall New Zealand has a large number more dwellings than when National lost in 2017, and there have also been a large number of "state houses" renovated and more fit for purpose.
But there have been other influences – recent storms took out a large number of houses in some areas, particularly in Auckland and the East Coast. That has put a lot of pressure on housing supply – and we can be proud of the reality that New Zealand has coped well with that pressure; most of those displaced through the destruction of their dwelling have been able to find at least temporary accommodation – but that will have also increased pressure on the supply of state housing.
Knowledge is power, no more so than in the hands of insurance companies when they can use your personal information against you and deny you coverage or hike premiums.
Reading the Sunday Star Times today, you'd think it was hosting the campaign. Luxon has entire front page, 'giving us the message' masquerading as an airline steward like mine today.
She too got the message wrong, like Luxon, saying on the flight briefing we were travelling to the airport where we were leaving from. I don't think he knows where he is going either.
Bought a copy at Wellington Airport. Only $2 rather than $4.50. Discount price to sell Luxon?
I haven’t had enough motivation to read the recent (yesterday?) opinion piece from Luke Malpass, But I guess I will just have to bite the bullet and read it.
Regarding the low effective tax rate of the very wealthy in NZ, I don’t think that it is going away as Mr Malpass seems to think (and hope?).
A Bill will then be introduced to bring these into effect and set up the reporting requirements.
I would like to see these principles enacted in a Bill before the end of the current Parliamentary term.
If Parliament passes it, the Tax Principles Act will take its place alongside the Tax Administration Act and other revenue Acts to create the tax system that New Zealanders can understand and be proud of.
Consider the alternative offered by the owner of a ute parked on the side of the road who inscribed upon his back window about the time Seymour was visiting, the following political, social and economic wisdom-
"F**k the Taxman".
I think Parker is arguing here for some kind of consensus- the consent of the governed. He's saying that smart economies and countries recognise the need for taxation. Social cohesion is a basic necessity- for all. It is brought about by fairness.
That's a good speech by Parker. The argument will be over how much will people agree is fair taxation for fair social outcomes.
The ute owner represents a stupid end of that spectrum. We have to find what is tolerable, acceptable and effective. That's about education, debate, informing. It's about what kind of a society we would have if we lost social cohesion- the consequences of poverty.
In these post covid times, with misinformation and rabbit hole craziness more than ever.
And the middle ground 'no frills' approach will help people see that their taxes are not wasted and spent frivolously but will serve that common purpose of decency, fairness, opportunity for all.
The Taxman most likely paid for the road that the ute was parked on and the roads & infrastructure to get it there and back. The Taxman, in all likelihood, also paid for the limited education of the presumed owner of the ute.
I agree with your comment and I think Parker is onto something that is or at least should be much less controversial than RWs make it out to be.
Elon sycophants are some of the most bizarre fanboys on this side of the incel world, but this wacky gem inexplicably in my timeline has entered Trump-having-lunch-with-Jesus category.
Never before has the UK had this 'pledge of alliegence' for a coronation. I find it creepy, and even creepier to think this might be CIII's idea. The UK is paying $100 mi for the event. CIII's estate runs to $1 bi, including dispensation from tax.
Don't bother with the rest of the article, just pinned it for validation.
But what you and many others fail to recognise is that the trappings of this anachronism brings a massive boost to the British coffers in the form of tourism, and also gives the ordinary citizens of Britain and millions of others throughout the world a chance to be lifted out of their relatively drab existences.
Add to that – and imo the most important feature – the enormous historical significance of many of the beautiful articles of Royal patronage since time immemorial (eg. Westminster Abbey as just one of them)) and the equally magnificent parades of horses and carriages is a sight that gives countless millions enormous pleasure. No-one in the world can do it like the British. I happily admit I am one of them.
Reading the article, it looks as though this 'pledge of allegiance' for the commoners (i.e. the general population) – is replacing the traditional oaths of allegiance of the peers at the coronation.
So, in effect, a populist move, recognizing that the peers (Lords) are no longer a significant force in the governance of the UK.
It gives those who wish to participate an active part in the ceremony (albeit at a remove), rather than simply having their 'oaths' taken on their behalf by their MPs (which they do every time parliament sits).
Those who don't want to, don't have to (in fact, they don't even have to watch – and can take their holiday and go do something else)
As I understand it, the House of Lords does retain political power in forcing amendment of particularly egregious legislation. They must, like MPs, swear alliegance to the Crown on entering the House of Lords, but also on the death of a monarch. Charles is already sworn in by the peers, just not crowned.
This remains a new pledge asked of commoners. Still feels creepy to me.
The point I was making is that this pledge of allegiance by the commons, is replacing the oaths from the Lords in the Coronation ceremony.
Historically, that was a public acknowledgement by the most powerful local warlords that they would obey the King (or, occasionally, Queen). And was a truly important bulwark of the monarchy.
I'd regard the change as a symbolic acknowledgement that the Lords hold little political power any longer.
No doubt any form of formal allegiance would feel 'creepy' to you.
I suggest that you refrain from watching or reading about the coronation – or, any other political change of power, since all of the constitutional elements are likely to disturb you.
Very insightful article on the effect of social media on political life from Rafael Behr, a UK political columnist.
"The more crowded the information marketplace, the harder it is for bland facts to compete with more lurid fare. Palates that are jaded need higher doses of spice. In politics, that creates incentives to wilful provocation. One way to catch the attention of a large audience is to stir a smaller one into a lather of indignation. In politics, infuriating the other side can be an effective campaign technique to amplify a core message."
"Every second of the political day on social media is a referendum on whatever feels most urgent in the moment. The high frequency of that cycle makes it harder to distinguish between what is noisy and what is important. It militates against the debate of priorities, which is part of the negotiation of trade-offs necessary for pluralist politics to function."
The GOP strategy to gerrymander electorates to retain control of states and maximise the GOP seats in the House, and also block access to votes from younger voters and workers is becoming blatant.
Voter suppression of poor people and young people by Tories rife in the UK too, with photo id now required. The list of accredited ids is small and biased to older people and car owners, while getting valid id for voting is not simple.
In accordance with the Act’s stipulations, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has launched a Voter Authority Certificate as an alternative, a document that individuals can apply for online and which is free but requires that you already be registered to vote and supply a recent digital photo, your date of birth and National Insurance number to claim.
That looks like a very simple process to me. And would be pretty much identical to that required for any of the already-accepted forms of ID.
In addition, anyone in the younger age brackets, who wants a drink at their local pub, will have a photo ID already (that's the PASS card).
Note, getting a PASS card is indeed a quick and easy process (although they do charge a fee).
If you want to argue that requiring any form of ID is going to depress voting – that's one thing (and you should produce your argument).
But your current argument, that it's systematically unjust, just doesn't stack up.
AI-generated movies don't quite pass as live action. Yet.
Text-to-Videos are getting insanely powerful. Few years and we will watch Hollywood movies generated by AI. Here are 12 incredible use cases of #Gen-2 changing the industry very rapidly
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
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While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
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Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
I did some considerable site pruning yesterday, trimming plugins, fixing some errors that crept into the quite old database, and generally doing a tidy on the site and the system that hosts it. It feels a lot faster and lighter after clearing away some of the old plugins.
I don't think that I broke anything because these were almost all things that I'd done on a test system first. But let me know if a feature that used to be there from last week is no longer there on the desktop site.
It is also prep for building a new theme that will
I tested all of the basics yesterday while fixing a bug that has lurked in the system since wordpress 3.6 in 2013. There was a failure in the upgrade from the MU release to the mainline that affected the creations of new multi-sites. It was still in database. Took most of last night to finally find and kill that.
I will also be collecting some of the useful old unmaintained plugins features, simplify them (generally they are coded in a manner that is unmaintainable) and wrap Standard plugins over them.
This is all being done on spare time available – which is usually short. So they may take a while. But I am actually starting to have more spare time….
Those of you who still have logins will be able to beta test and be critical of the new theme earlier. 🙂
Just looked at the numbers of posts, comments media and general storage on the site.
Posts
Comments
302,346 spam comments were blocked so far. This is just one of the automatic anti-spam systems that has been in pace since about 2017. It is the 2nd from final trap.
this is the final trap – these are mostly moderator caught and cleaned periodically.
24515 media items – these are the sites graphics and documents – mostly used in the posts themselves. A few where an author has used a graphic in a comment. And a handful for site graphics.
There are currently about 3-4x other cached graphics used speeding the site. Different sizes of media, different forms of the media (mostly webp these days), and all of your gravators for comments in various forms.
The site lives on /dev/md0 (raid 1 of 2 SSDs and one space) which is mounted on /mnt/TS.
The onsite backup is currently 146 GB made up of weekly full file backups (each 10.6 compressed), hourly database backups (each ~248 MB compressed), and hourly files deltas. This is replicated in two places offsite and usually updated within 20 minutes of the hourly backup.
I keep about 8 weeks on site.
There is a 2 year off site archive (just in case of long term regression issues), I still do a yearly backup of the archive to bluray. I'm kind of paranoid about backups.
Also about privacy. All of the backups are encrypted, and so is the site.
Not sure about traffic these days. The public face is cached out at cloudflare. They report
Previous 30 days
Total Bandwidth 2.54 TB
Cached Bandwidth 74.43 GB
Uncached Bandwidth 2.46 TB
But we watch a lot of streamed TV and audio, run VPNs to work, and do a lot of work on the same link.
So far over April, we did
Domestic In: 398.57 GB
Domestic Out: 403.42 GB
Domestic Total: 801.99 GB
International In: 76.86 GB
International Out: 5.36 TB
International Total 5.44 TB
In Total: 475.42 GB
Out Total: 5.76 TB
Total usage: 6.24 TB
A lot of the international out would have been the Standard either as the site itself or as offline backups.
But we work and backup a lot of material in the cloud. All of my work goes through aussie VPNs because that is where the cloud servers are. I spend a lot of time on hooked into servers in Texas. My partners systems backup internationally and she works on sites offshore. Both of us mostly work from home.
Thanks for the update. It does seem faster now.
For the longest time it has been next to impossible to use the Reply function on an iPhone or iPad because of misbehaviour by the CKEditor widget, the text area was unable to capture focus so I could not type in the comment box.
This seems to be working a bit better. Focus is still failing about 50% of the time, but that's still a big improvement from 99% that I was experiencing. (my only option was to go into the safari settings and turn off javascript). If you want to look into it further, I found a possibly relevant thread on stack overflow…
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14923967/ckeditor-does-not-focus-on-ios-when-tapping-in-text-area
Thanks again for all your work on the site. Nga mihi nui Matua
thanks for the update, and all the mahi Lynn. Looking forward to seeing the new theme.
btw, the site has been running slow for me recently, including this morning. Usually when going to edit something or working the back end, but sometimes just pages too.
Can't really cache the back-end easily normally. So it is usually short-cached.
A lot of it changed last night, so what would normally cache would have required a reload.
Wellington City Council seems intent on ensuring people wanting to go to restaurants, theatres, etc in the inner city have a very difficult time getting there. The people from the suburbs, Porirua, Upper and Lower Hutt will be unable to drive to and park from 7am to 9pm from Courtenay Place to Parliament if Let's Get Wellington Moving proposal is decided on. Given the bus service is unreliable and LGWM want to remove some inner city bus stops, people will find it just too inconvenient to bother. If I have misinterpreted this latest idea please put me right!
Another plan is to remove half the car parks from Molesworth Street and side streets. And to remove two bus stops from Molesworth Street. Makes no sense to me to remove bus stops for those less able to walk further, particularly in bad weather. All this to have more cycleways. I await with interest and scepticism to see all these cyclists.
I personally know a young couple living in inner city Wellington who managed to walk to work, go to cafes etc. But to visit family further afield, get groceries, go to sports practice out of the city, medical appointments etc etc was difficult. They have now got a car park in their building and life is much easier and convenient.
Eh what? There’s bugger all parking along the Golden Mile itself, it’s all on the side streets but don’t let facts spoil a rant. These days though I find it’s far easier just to go to the now council owned car park in Tory St or the one by Les Mills for cheap parking rather than circling around looking. If we’re out for dinner $5 or $8 for parking won’t break the bank.
I live in inner city Wellington too. I walk to work and have to step on to the road frequently due to over-full footpaths. Cycling is far too dangerous for me right now, but sometimes I see more bikes than cars on my walking commute.
I can't wait for the transformation – bikes and scooters separated from walkers and more room for buses to move freely, and it will be a nicer space to be in.
Agree that the public transport needs to be more reliable, but a good pair of shoes, a snapper card and the occasional use of mevos (car rental by the hour) works pretty well for the able-bodied – even if they don't cycle, and is way cheaper, and gives more freedom than owning a vehicle in the inner city.
Despite the promises Labour made about solving the housing crisis prior to becoming elected five years ago, the waiting list for state housing has sky-rocketed.
Back then, the media had a myopic focus on people living in cars. But now, nothing much seems to have changed.
I put a lot of this failure down to the increasingly restrictive rules being placed on landlords. This is effectively an aversive stimulus that discourages landlords from renting out their properties, or makes them extremely fussy about who they will accept as tenants. Hence, the pressure on housing increases.
If that's the case, then we should not allow one group of citizens to exercise such a powerful gatekeeping function over the ability of other citizens to be satisfactorily housed. It is an asymmetric power relationship that must be considered totally illegitimate between supposedly free citizens.
As a principle that is undeniable. But actually implementing the end of private landlordism is of course extremely fraught and dangerous. But you don't achieve it by caving in to landlord demands.
Waiting lists do change – often the biggest reason is that the definition has changed – National reduced waiting lists by excluding some categories – the same thing happened with hospital waiting lists. It was an easy "win" for National, and much easier than actually improving services. Remember also that National sold off quite a few "state houses," purportedly to local housing organisations. I have not seen any statistics on what happened following those sales, but bearing in mind that the whole state housing stock had declined in repair (which we know from those that were not sold), and that the new owners do not have the capital resources of the state, it is possible that at least some of those houses were sold to maintain the rest, or let to tenants able to pay higher rent.
Over the last few years New Zealand has seen an enormous increase in the renovation of existing houses and the building of new ones – to the extent that we are short of workers, supply chains could not cope (and that is internal supplies as well as international suppliers). That building work has been done by both government and private owners / landlords. That has increased housing supply in both cities and regional towns, and has been done by both government and private developers. Far from minimum standards choking off development, the developers have seen the opportunity for profit. Yes you can point to individual projects of government that did not produce headline completions, but overall New Zealand has a large number more dwellings than when National lost in 2017, and there have also been a large number of "state houses" renovated and more fit for purpose.
But there have been other influences – recent storms took out a large number of houses in some areas, particularly in Auckland and the East Coast. That has put a lot of pressure on housing supply – and we can be proud of the reality that New Zealand has coped well with that pressure; most of those displaced through the destruction of their dwelling have been able to find at least temporary accommodation – but that will have also increased pressure on the supply of state housing.
Have the Greens finished their list yet?
Re-ranking started Friday.
Voting closes midday on the 12th May
Knowledge is power, no more so than in the hands of insurance companies when they can use your personal information against you and deny you coverage or hike premiums.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/488907/geneticist-andrew-shelling-calls-for-ban-on-insurers-accessing-genetic-tests
It would have been nice if the article had elaborated more widely on the use of health data, e.g., from smart watches here in NZ.
Is Stuff spearheading National’s election campaign or just the Luxon Charm Offensive?
Reading the Sunday Star Times today, you'd think it was hosting the campaign. Luxon has entire front page, 'giving us the message' masquerading as an airline steward like mine today.
She too got the message wrong, like Luxon, saying on the flight briefing we were travelling to the airport where we were leaving from. I don't think he knows where he is going either.
Bought a copy at Wellington Airport. Only $2 rather than $4.50. Discount price to sell Luxon?
I haven’t had enough motivation to read the recent (yesterday?) opinion piece from Luke Malpass, But I guess I will just have to bite the bullet and read it.
Have you read it?
Yes, just now. The middle of the road, safe, dependable, 'no frills' PM backed by politicians like Wood and McAnulty, Robertson and Parker.
Meanwhile National has to hive off to the right to protect its flank from ACT which is now making a move on a conservative's stronghold in Tamaki.
Labour's left remains unchallenged by strangely ineffectual Greens.
As Malpass asks, will it be down to who is the more dependable and trustworthy between the two Chrises?
I wouldn't trust the one who uses a phone only to speak into, and not to listen as the Sunday Star Times depicts Captain Luxon doing today.
It was pretty vanilla from Mr Malpass.
Regarding the low effective tax rate of the very wealthy in NZ, I don’t think that it is going away as Mr Malpass seems to think (and hope?).
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/shining-light-unfairness-our-tax-system
I find it interesting that “research” has now become such a loaded term.
Consider the alternative offered by the owner of a ute parked on the side of the road who inscribed upon his back window about the time Seymour was visiting, the following political, social and economic wisdom-
"F**k the Taxman".
I think Parker is arguing here for some kind of consensus- the consent of the governed. He's saying that smart economies and countries recognise the need for taxation. Social cohesion is a basic necessity- for all. It is brought about by fairness.
That's a good speech by Parker. The argument will be over how much will people agree is fair taxation for fair social outcomes.
The ute owner represents a stupid end of that spectrum. We have to find what is tolerable, acceptable and effective. That's about education, debate, informing. It's about what kind of a society we would have if we lost social cohesion- the consequences of poverty.
In these post covid times, with misinformation and rabbit hole craziness more than ever.
And the middle ground 'no frills' approach will help people see that their taxes are not wasted and spent frivolously but will serve that common purpose of decency, fairness, opportunity for all.
The Taxman most likely paid for the road that the ute was parked on and the roads & infrastructure to get it there and back. The Taxman, in all likelihood, also paid for the limited education of the presumed owner of the ute.
I agree with your comment and I think Parker is onto something that is or at least should be much less controversial than RWs make it out to be.
The Sunday StarTimes is just another Tory Rag like the Herald .
The cult of Qelon.
Elon sycophants are some of the most bizarre fanboys on this side of the incel world, but this wacky gem inexplicably in my timeline has entered Trump-having-lunch-with-Jesus category.
https://twitter.com/larryfeltonj/status/1652396939785261059
I'm going to give a php 8.1 a test with the web server. May get a few quirks.
Works ok on the test VM. But there are some old plugins – some of which may use deprecated features.
Umm. Probably not WordPress 6.2 still has it on beta with PHP 8.0 – 8.1
Double ummm "The end of life date for PHP 7.4 was November 28, 2022"
I'll try it in a ubuntu 22.04 VM with a full backup. Site will be a slightly slow because I'll do the full backup now.
Mostly deprecation notices for wordpress on PHP 8.x but I need to find the plugins that need updates.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/29/public-invited-to-swear-their-allegiance-as-king-is-crowned
Never before has the UK had this 'pledge of alliegence' for a coronation. I find it creepy, and even creepier to think this might be CIII's idea. The UK is paying $100 mi for the event. CIII's estate runs to $1 bi, including dispensation from tax.
Don't bother with the rest of the article, just pinned it for validation.
Parasites gotta do what parasites gotta do. English royalty – an anachronism from a long time ago.
Yes. You are right. It is an anachronism.
But what you and many others fail to recognise is that the trappings of this anachronism brings a massive boost to the British coffers in the form of tourism, and also gives the ordinary citizens of Britain and millions of others throughout the world a chance to be lifted out of their relatively drab existences.
Add to that – and imo the most important feature – the enormous historical significance of many of the beautiful articles of Royal patronage since time immemorial (eg. Westminster Abbey as just one of them)) and the equally magnificent parades of horses and carriages is a sight that gives countless millions enormous pleasure. No-one in the world can do it like the British. I happily admit I am one of them.
Reading the article, it looks as though this 'pledge of allegiance' for the commoners (i.e. the general population) – is replacing the traditional oaths of allegiance of the peers at the coronation.
So, in effect, a populist move, recognizing that the peers (Lords) are no longer a significant force in the governance of the UK.
It gives those who wish to participate an active part in the ceremony (albeit at a remove), rather than simply having their 'oaths' taken on their behalf by their MPs (which they do every time parliament sits).
Those who don't want to, don't have to (in fact, they don't even have to watch – and can take their holiday and go do something else)
Not sure why you regard it as 'creepy'.
As I understand it, the House of Lords does retain political power in forcing amendment of particularly egregious legislation. They must, like MPs, swear alliegance to the Crown on entering the House of Lords, but also on the death of a monarch. Charles is already sworn in by the peers, just not crowned.
This remains a new pledge asked of commoners. Still feels creepy to me.
The point I was making is that this pledge of allegiance by the commons, is replacing the oaths from the Lords in the Coronation ceremony.
Historically, that was a public acknowledgement by the most powerful local warlords that they would obey the King (or, occasionally, Queen). And was a truly important bulwark of the monarchy.
I'd regard the change as a symbolic acknowledgement that the Lords hold little political power any longer.
No doubt any form of formal allegiance would feel 'creepy' to you.
I suggest that you refrain from watching or reading about the coronation – or, any other political change of power, since all of the constitutional elements are likely to disturb you.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/apr/29/antisocial-how-putting-away-my-phone-helped-me-recover-from-a-heart-attack
Very insightful article on the effect of social media on political life from Rafael Behr, a UK political columnist.
"The more crowded the information marketplace, the harder it is for bland facts to compete with more lurid fare. Palates that are jaded need higher doses of spice. In politics, that creates incentives to wilful provocation. One way to catch the attention of a large audience is to stir a smaller one into a lather of indignation. In politics, infuriating the other side can be an effective campaign technique to amplify a core message."
"Every second of the political day on social media is a referendum on whatever feels most urgent in the moment. The high frequency of that cycle makes it harder to distinguish between what is noisy and what is important. It militates against the debate of priorities, which is part of the negotiation of trade-offs necessary for pluralist politics to function."
The GOP strategy to gerrymander electorates to retain control of states and maximise the GOP seats in the House, and also block access to votes from younger voters and workers is becoming blatant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22rL3YTgkO4
Only part way through the vid so not sure if he mentioned Texas' plans to limit polling places.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/texas-senate-passes-bill-end-countywide-voting-election-day-rcna80829
Also, Florida man.
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/01/florida-republican-leader-seeks-to-decertify-democrats-ban-democratic-party/69953767007/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/voter-id-rules-polling-station-local-elections-b2329402.html
Voter suppression of poor people and young people by Tories rife in the UK too, with photo id now required. The list of accredited ids is small and biased to older people and car owners, while getting valid id for voting is not simple.
Looks to me as though the UK have this covered.
From your article:
That looks like a very simple process to me. And would be pretty much identical to that required for any of the already-accepted forms of ID.
In addition, anyone in the younger age brackets, who wants a drink at their local pub, will have a photo ID already (that's the PASS card).
Note, getting a PASS card is indeed a quick and easy process (although they do charge a fee).
If you want to argue that requiring any form of ID is going to depress voting – that's one thing (and you should produce your argument).
But your current argument, that it's systematically unjust, just doesn't stack up.
AI-generated movies don't quite pass as live action. Yet.
Text-to-Videos are getting insanely powerful. Few years and we will watch Hollywood movies generated by AI. Here are 12 incredible use cases of #Gen-2 changing the industry very rapidly
https://twitter.com/heyBarsee/status/1651961767810179072