While calling Russia the most significant and direct threat to itself, NATO said “authoritarian actors” in general were challenging its interests. In particular, China was criticized for allegedly using “its economic leverage to create strategic dependencies and enhance its influence.”
[lprent:
1. You seem to have a problem with adding a video – does the media button not work on comments? All I had to was to remove the anchor link – and lo – it worked! You must be desperate to get people to look at a meaningless video…
2. Pays to add more of an explanation about what you’re asking people to view.
3. Along with the comment you’re responding to – neither appear to relate to the post. ]
Luxon is not doing anything, which is remarkably good use of Taxpayers’ money. However, when he speaks, he talks in platitudes and says very little or shoots off his mouth and those are the more revealing moments of his short political career so far. I can also hardly wait for the next episode of Lamentable Luxon Lost in La La Land – the gift that keeps giving.
@ Lprent: I'd edited the YT link, so I take the blame the credit for buggering it up if that’s what happened. Those inane YT clips drive me up the wall some days.
"And note that arch fantasist/conspiracist, Chantelle Baker, has "liked" Mr O'Connor's comment. So we know where she stands: bodily autonomy for vaccines against a deadly disease, but not bodily autonomy for an unwanted pregnancy, rape, ectopic pregnancy, incest, etc. So much for "sovereign citizenship"."
So we know where she stands: bodily autonomy for vaccines against a deadly disease, but not bodily autonomy for an unwanted pregnancy, rape, ectopic pregnancy, incest, etc.
Macskasy is more than a little OCD about providing references.
I see no reference to substantiate the above claim.
Nothing over-the-top there then. Talk about over-reaction.
Around three quarters of abortions in the USA these days are performed in the first 8 weeks using oral medication. Trying to stop women having the right and choice to have a termination in the USA is akin to Canute trying to control the tides.
Note: Before the attacks start-I entirely oppose what the Supreme Court has done and fully support a woman's right to choose. There will be poor people in particular who will be greatly disadvantaged by the ridiculous SC decision. The 4 SC judges who said that they would not change abortion law to facilitate their elevation to the SC bench should be disbarred.
This vandalism was a lot more pre-meditated than I first realized. Also, the "synagog of Satan" graffiti makes more sense now I know the resident's upbringing:
The police summary of facts said Pattinson was one of four men who planned for weeks to vandalise the building.
It was commonly known that Duckor-Jones was part of the LGBTQ community and raised in a Jewish household, the summary said.
The men allegedly dressed in black clothing, including black hoodies and cloth masks, and went to the property with red spray paint and a black permanent marker at 11pm.
One of the men, who has not yet appeared in court, allegedly took a rainbow pride flag, attached it to a piece of wood and partially burned it. He then stayed in the car as a getaway driver.
Pattinson wrote “dancing Israelies” and a symbol of the Star of David underneath in marker on the wall.
Another man, who has not yet been charged, wrote biblical quotes, anti-Semitic messages and drew crosses.
They left, drove to the back of the Greymouth Aerodrome and changed their clothes.
Yeh, I believe that is a hate crime too! It's good that at least one perp confessed so the events are no longer all "alleged" (e.g. the rainbow flag – maybe it just spontaneously combusted coincidentally like). The sheer number of hate crimes since the police started recording those reported to them drew some comment on Twitter:
Really harmful behaviour from the young men who did this.
The hate crime statistic need more detail. Current police policy on this is predicated on the offense felt, rather than offence given or intended. Hate crimes against people because of the protected characteristic of sex, are not recorded, because sex is not included as a hate crime characteristic.
"A hate crime is an offence perceived by the victim, or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards a person’s race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or age."
There is a good article on Gloria, co-authored by Duckor-Jones, that shows his work and his goals regarding the Pink Church he has create. The majority of the public seemed to have interacted positively with him while he has been there.
The simplified version may not include the "protected characteristic of sex", but it seems to be covered under the; "such as", in s9(1) (h) referenced in the 2021 data quality review:
that the offender committed the offence partly or wholly because of hostility towards a group of persons who have an enduring common characteristic such as race, colour, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability; and
(i)
the hostility is because of the common characteristic; and
(ii)
the offender believed that the victim has that characteristic:
Thanks, but still provides no actual details regarding those stated hate crime statistics, which would give some indication of how many are targeted in different demographics, ie. religion, race, gender identity, sexual orientation etc. Even more informative, would be to know how they were targeted and what action the police took in those cases.
Might be included under "such as" is not the definitive answer that most would accept, but if you do, then well, we'll see how it plays out, in terms of hate crime statistics and hate crimes against women and girls and how they are included in police hate crime policy.
Interesting that gender identity is included, as it is not currently one of the protected characteristics under the Human Rights Act 1993, but it is because those discrimination characteristics don't come from there, but from the Sentencing Act, which has eliminated both sex and marital status, and included gender identity.
A glaring example of a hate crime – what were they 'thinking'? These criminals may have no sense of shame – still, the more sunlight the better, imho.
Um, we really need to think about what instances like this and others mean for any sense of democracy. The anti-vax protests at parliament earlier this year took overt misogyny – hatred of women – and racism to another level. Um I know the Prime Minister’s been particularly impacted by death threats and abuse but so have other MPs and a lot of journalists as well. Then six days ago in Tauranga a building housing a Rainbow Youth and Transgender support service was burnt down after other anti-queer incidents in that district.
– Sue Bradford [29 June 2022, @ 8:40 minutes] https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018847657
Apparently not; DMK, because hate crimes do not yet legally exist as such in Aotearoa. Up at comment 2.1.1, I linked to the Sentencing Act 2002 which appears to guide police understanding of hate crime being "hostility towards a group of persons" as an aggravating factor that: "In sentencing or otherwise dealing with an offender the court must take into account the following aggravating factors to the extent that they are applicable in the case"; alongside mitigating factors that likewise: "In sentencing or otherwise dealing with an offender the court must take into account the following mitigating factors to the extent that they are applicable in the case".
So in the above case of the vandalism of Gloria; the Pink Church. Aggravating factors would seem to be:
(d) the extent of any loss, damage, or harm resulting from the offence:
(h) that the offender committed the offence partly or wholly because of hostility towards a group of persons who have an enduring common characteristic such as race, colour, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability
(i) premeditation on the part of the offender and, if so, the level of premeditation involved:
While mitigating factors that must be considered by the court would seem to include:
(a) the age of the offender:
(b) whether and when the offender pleaded guilty:
(c) the conduct of the victim:
(d) that there was a limited involvement in the offence on the offender’s part:
(f) any remorse shown by the offender…
(fa) that the offender has taken steps during the proceedings (other than steps to comply with procedural requirements) to shorten the proceedings or reduce their cost:
(g) any evidence of the offender’s previous good character:
The original Stuff piece as much as says the admitted hostile criminal would have got away scot free if there hadn't been people watching the case and disposed to ask inconvenient questions. And that might still happen, though at least with some public record of his actions:
Pattinson’s defence lawyer, Doug Taffs, said Pattinson accepted the charge and had written a letter to the court.
He said police had initially said they would consider diversion but that had been rescinded “at a national level due to the public interest involved”…
Taffs told the court Pattinson wanted to apply for a discharge without conviction.
Judge Jane Farish said she wanted Pattinson to have a restorative justice conference with Duckor-Jones…
Duckor-Jones said, after court, he was keen to be involved in the restorative justice process.
Ghahraman has some choice words on the topic of our lacking specific hate crime legislation in today's Daalder piece on Newsroom:
For more than a year after the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the March 15 terror attacks first recommended hate crime laws be updated, officials provided no advice to ministers on the project…
The January 2022 briefing shows Ministry of Justice officials have previously considered and rejected changes to hate crime laws.
"When the issue of hate-motivated offending has been raised in the past, Ministry of Justice officials have felt that our current system – dealing with hate motivation as part of sentencing – was a better approach than specific offences. However, following the [Royal Commission] recommendation the Ministry of Justice is revisiting the issue," officials wrote…
"I think what the officials said [in the briefing] is actively misleading, because there isn't a current approach to hate crimes in our justice system. They don't exist," Ghahraman said.
"You can record within the sentencing notes to the judge that, as an aggravating factor of committing an ordinary crime, there was presence of hate. But there is no present system, so that's actively misleading the previous minister.
A note for anyone still interested in the Ukraine war on Russia's latest casual atrocity. Never ascribe to something planned evil when casual evil is just as likely – doubly so with the Russians who governments culturally seem to specialise in dumb and casual cruelty.
The Kh-22 (AS-4 "Kitchen") anti-ship missile used in the outrageous missile strike on the Kremenchuk mall attack is a huge six tonne weapon that was designed sixty years ago as a nuclear armed weapon to attack US Carrier groups in the North Atlantic. It's guidance is a simple gyroscope-stabilised autopilot in conjunction with a radio altimeter. It is hopelessly inaccurate. It has a CEP (Circular Area Probability, i.e. the circle in which it is likely to land) for an unmodified Kh-22 of 5000m(!) Now, if a CEP is 5000m that means 50% of your shots will land within 5000m of the target (more or less grouped around the centre point) but also that 50% of your shots will end up anywhere up to 15000 metres away. Accurate enough if you are firing a half dozen nuclear armed ones at a US carrier battlegroup I suppose, near enough is good enough in that case. Not much use for precision strikes though.
Now the Kremenchuk mall is within 500-1000m of any number of valid targets – a bridge over the Dnipro river, the railway station, or an industrial facility that may be engaged in refurbishing armoured vehicles. So my guess is the Russians were aiming at one of these, but using a missile that is akin to aiming at the Auckland harbour bridge with something that would count itself lucky if it ended up hitting the Auckland zoo.
The recklessness of using these weapons for what is effectively a form of area bombing on heavily built up civilian areas when no existential threat exists to Russia, they possess the ability to end the war at any moment and more accurate weapons are now in existence is astounding and definitely criminal. But also, it shows they are running out of precision guided weapons (sanctions are working) and they are pulling any old shit out of storage and slinging it at the Ukraine out of pure spite.
That sounds entirely feasible Sanc. A horrendous mistake-more collateral damage.
The blanket and unquestioning reporting by the anti-Russian pro-western media irritates me when it says that the Russians deliberately targeted a shopping mall with a 1000 people in it*. The western media loses respect by buying wholesale into what is effectively propaganda. When the Russians come out with propaganda we scorn them.
What a load of crap- noveau riche are annoying everywhere and sometimes brilliant. But to try and somehow blame this farm on the government because it was covered on a public channel shows that there are a lot of people in the rural sector who need to retire and log off.
We can sympathize that rich people buying into where you’re struggling is crap. Gentrification it is called and it is happening all over cities everywhere.
Saying PC or woke is just a sign of people who can’t articulate their real grievance or have a chip on their shoulder about some whole damn other thing.
Get some real rural leaders out front and send Rob’s mob back to the 70s. Opportunity Labour imo.
I feel bad for the kids that lost out but on a bigger picture scale this is good because its situations like this that will wake people up to what is actually happening in todays world
I also don't think that its a coincidence that Lia Thomas said this:
Andrew Little is going to make himself even more unpopular with the public. He'll never win an electorate seat. Seems like all the doctors and nurses that have spoken out are wrong and all is fine at the hospitals because Andrew has said so. Funny how so many health experts working at the coal face can be wrong.
Same as Lees-Galloway saying there's nothing wrong with the ACC system. Difference is that ACC claimants aren't listened to as much as medical practitioners whose job it is to sort us out when we're ill. Still, surprising Little has taken that view, whereas we expect that sort of shit to come out of Lees-Galloway's mouth.
Inflation / cost of living is the most important issue
facing New Zealanders today. After a significant
increase in February (53% vs 31% in Oct ‘21), the
latest Issues Monitor shows 56% of New Zealanders
now rate inflation as a top-3 issue.
Concerns around inflation mean housing is now
relatively less important as an issue, with only 37% of
New Zealanders placing it in their top 3, a
significant decline to its lowest level since Sep ‘20
(37%). However, it remains the second-highest
issue for New Zealanders.
Crime / law (26%) was the other most significant
shift, jumping up to #5 in May ‘22. This was an
increase from 19% in Feb ’22, and the highest level
of concern since tracking began in Feb ‘18.
Healthcare / hospitals (#3 at 29%) and petrol prices / fuel (#4 at 28%) are the other top-5 issues facing New Zealanders.
This survey included women! I don’t know who let them out of the kitchen but there you go lol
Good to see you focusing on the big issues, Micky. Keep up the good work.
Seymour continues to assert that we should be at level Green.
Last time I looked (though I stand to be corrected) I could not find any evidence of his qualifications as an expert in Pandemics and how they should be managed. He has seemed to be driven by which way the wind is blowing (in Remuera) when commenting.
The news media were at one ceremony by the looks of things. The Governor-General, the Prime Minister and his deputy were at another. The news media were at a swearing-in ceremony. The country’s leaders were at an appointment ceremony. The New Zealand Gazette record of what transpired says: Appointment of ...
I n some alternative universe, Auckland mayor Efeso Collins readily grasped the scale of Friday’s deluge, and quickly made the emergency declaration that enabled central government to immediately throw its resources behind the rescue and remediation effort. As Friday evening became night, Mayor Collins seemed to be everywhere: talking with ...
They called it an “atmospheric river”, the weather bombardment which hit NZ’s northern region at the weekend. It exacted a terrible toll on metropolitan Auckland and the rest of the region. Few living there may have noted a statement from electricity generator Mercury Energy labelled “WET, WET, WET!” This was ...
I know, that is a pretty corny title but given the circumstances here in the Auckland region, I just had to say it. The more oblique reference embedded in the title is to the leadership failures exhibited by Mayor Wayne Brown and his so-called leadership team when confronted by the ...
How much confidence should the public have in authorities managing natural disasters? Not much, judging by the farcical way in which the civil defence emergence in Auckland has played out. The way authorities dealt with Auckland’s extreme weather on Friday illustrated how hit-and-miss our civil defence emergency system is. In ...
Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The recent leadership change in the governing Labour party resulted in a very strange response from National’s (current) leader, Christopher Luxon. Mr Luxon berated Labour for it’s change of leader, citing no actual change.As ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 22, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 28, 2023. Story of the Week New Study Reveals Arctic Ice, Tracked Both Above and Below, Is Freezing LaterClimate change is affecting the timing of both ...
Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.It was another ‘SHOCK! HORROR!’ headline from a media increasingly venturing into tabloid-style journalism:Andrea Vance’s article seemed to focus on the "million dollar sums from the Government as the country grapples with a housing ...
Dr Brian Easton writes: It’s the summer break. Everyone settles down with family, books, the sun and some fishing. But the Prime Minister has a pile of briefing papers prepared just before Christmas, which have to be worked through. I haven’t seen them. Here is my guess at some ...
What Was the Prime Minister Reading in the Runup to Election Year?It’s the summer break. Everyone settles down with family, books, the sun and some fishing. But the Prime Minister has a pile of briefing papers prepared just before Christmas, which have to be worked through. I haven’t seen them. ...
In case you hadn't noticed, FYI, the public OIA request site, has been used to conduct a significant excavation into New Zealand's intelligence agencies, with requests made for assorted policies and procedures. Yesterday in response to one of these requests the GCSB released its policy on New Zealand Purpose and ...
Farming leaders are watching closely whether Damien O’Connor keeps the key portfolios of Agriculture and Trade when Prime Minister Chris Hipkins restructures his Cabinet. O’Connor has been one of the few ministers during Labour’s term in office who has won broad support for what he has done ...
South Islands farmers are whining about another drought, the third in three years. If only we knew what was causing this! If only someone had warned them that they faced a drying climate! But we do know what is causing it: climate change. And they have been warned, repeatedly, for ...
Ok, there’s good news and bad news in this week’s inflation figures, but bad > good. Our inflation rate held steady but hey, at a level below the inflation rate in Australia. The main reason for the so/so result here? A fall in petrol prices of 7.2% offset the really ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Since her shock resignation announcement, Jacinda Ardern has been at pains to point out that she isn’t leaving because of the toxicity directed at her on social media and elsewhere, rebutting journalists who suggested misogyny and hate may have driven her from office. Yet ...
Since her shock resignation announcement, Jacinda Ardern has been at pains to point out that she isn’t leaving because of the toxicity directed at her on social media and elsewhere, rebutting journalists who suggested misogyny and hate may have driven her from office. Yet there have been dozens of columns ...
The Clinical Magus: Of particular relevance to New Zealanders struggling to come to terms with the sudden departure of their prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, is Jung’s concept of the anima. Much more than what others have called the feminine principle, the anima is what the human male has made out ...
The Select Committee, considering the proposed RNZ-TVNZ merger, has come back with a report conceding many of the criticisms that were made of the original legislation. In what is one of the most comprehensive demolitions of a Bill submitted to a Select Committee, the Economic Development, Science and Innovation ...
Such are the 2020s, the age when no-one, it seems, actually respects the basic underpinnings of democracy. Even in New Zealand. This week, I stumbled across a pair of lengthy and genuinely serious articles, that basically argue that Something is Rotten in the state of New Zealand democracy. One ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hurrah. Today we found something fresh on the Beehive website, Beehive.govt.nz, which claims to be the best place to find Government initiatives, policies and Ministerial information. It wasn’t from Finance Minister Grant Robertson, whose reaction to the latest inflation figures would have been appreciated. So, too, ...
Smiling And Waiving A Golden Opportunity: Chris Hipkins knew that the day at Ratana would be Jacinda’s day – her final opportunity to bask in the unalloyed love and support of her followers. He simply could not afford to be seen to overshadow this last chance for his former boss ...
Extremism Consumes Itself: The plot of “Act of Oblivion” concerns the relentless pursuit of the “regicides” Edward Whalley and William Goffe – two of the fifty-nine signatories to King Charles I’s death warrant. As with his many other works of historical fiction, Robert Harris’s novel brings to life a period ...
To challenge the Government’s promotion of co-governance, to share power between Maori and public authorities and agencies, is to invite accusations of racism. An example: this article by Martyn Bradbury on The Daily Blog headed Luxon’s race baiting hypocrisy at Ratana. The article was triggered by National leader Christopher Luxon, ...
A very informative video discussion: Are we getting the whole story about Ukraine? | Robert Wright & Ivan Katchanovski Getting objective information on the situation in Ukraine and the cause of this current war is not easy. There is the current censorship and blatant mainstream media bias – which ...
Yesterday the Herald ran an op-ed from Mayor Wayne Brown titled “The case for light rail is lighter than ever” and a few things stood out. However, it’s getting more and more tricky to make a strong economic case for spending up to $29 billion on a single route of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Samantha Harrington Imagine it’s a cold February night and your furnace breaks. You want to replace it with an electric heat pump because you’ve heard that tax credits will help pay for the switch. And you know that heat pumps can reduce ...
In 2005, then-National Party leader based his entire election campaign on racism, with his infamous racist Orewa speech and racist iwi/kiwi billboards. Now, Christopher Luxon seems to want to do it all again: Fresh off using his platform at this week's Rātana celebrations to criticise the government's approach to ...
Inflation is showing little sign of slowing down, posing a problem for freshly minted PM Chris Hipkins. According to that old campaigner Richard Prebble, Hipkins should call a snap election. If he waits till October, he risks being swept away. The dilemma for the new leader is that fighting an election ...
Buzz from the Beehive A great deal has happened since January 19. Among other things, a new Prime Minister and deputy have been sworn in and our leaders (past, present and aspiring) have delivered speeches at Ratana. Newshub reported that politicians of all stripes had descended upon Rātana for the ...
It’s a big day for New Zealand; our 41st Prime Minister has taken office and the new, “Chippy” era of politics is underway. Or, on the other hand, the Labour Party continues to govern with an overall majority and much the same leadership team in place. Life goes on and ...
New Zealand has another Prime Minister who does not have a basic grasp of the three articles of the Treaty of Waitangi. THOMAS CRANMER writes: It is simply astonishing that New Zealand’s next Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, is unable to give even a brief explanation of the three articles ...
A statue of a semi-naked Nick Smith puts the misogyny debate into perspective. GRAHAM ADAMS writes … In the wake of Ardern’s abrupt resignation, the mainstream media are determined to convince us she was hounded from office mainly because she is a woman and had to fall on her sword ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is ...
An editorial in the NZ Herald last week, titled “Nimbyism goes bananas as housing intensifies“, introduced Herald readers to a couple of acronyms that go along with the now-familiar NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard): “bananas” (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone) “cave” dwellers (citizens against virtually everything). The editorial ...
Back in the dark autumn of 2020, when the prospect of Covid was freaking the country out, Finance Minister Grant Robertson set himself and Treasury a series of questions about what a post-Covid economy might look like. Those were fearful days, and the questions in part reflected a series ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yet another day has passed without Ministers of the Crown posting something to show they are still working for us on the Beehive website. Nothing new has been posted since January 17. Perhaps the ministers are all engaged in the bemusing annual excursion ...
Incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has already indicated he intends making the tax system “fairer”. That points to the route a government facing an election could take to tilt the odds towards winning in its favour, given Labour’s support in the last months of the Ardern era had been ...
NewsHub has a poll on the cost-of-living crisis, which has an interesting finding: the vast majority of kiwis prefer wage rises to tax cuts: When asked whether income has kept up with the cost of living, 54.8 percent of people surveyed said no and according to 58.6 percent of ...
Labour has begun 2023 with the centre-left bloc behind in the polls and losing ground. That being so, did his colleagues choose Chris Hipkins as the replacement for Jacinda Ardern because they think he has a realistic shot at leading them to victory this year, or because he‘s the best ...
Two Flags, Two Masters? Just as it required a full-scale military effort to destroy the first attempt at Māori self-government in the 1850s and 60s (an effort that divided Maoridom itself into supporters and opponents of the Crown) any second attempt to establish tino rangatiratanga, based on the confiscatory policies ...
The first of Kiwirail’s big network shutdowns to fix the foundations on our tracks is now well underway with the Southern Line closed between Otahuhu and Newmarket. This is following on from the network wide Christmas/New Year shutdown, during which Kiwirail say that nearly 1,300 people working across 69 different ...
This is a re-post from the Citizens' Climate Lobby blogIn last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Congress included about $20 billion earmarked for natural climate solutions. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for deciding how those funds should be allocated to meet the climate ...
You’ve really got to wonder at the introspection, or lack thereof, from much of the mainstream media post Jacinda Ardern stepping down. Some so-called journalists haven’t even taken a breath before once again putting the boot in, which clearly shows their inherent bias and lack of any misgivings about fueling ...
Over the weekend I was interviewed by a media outlet about the threats that Jacinda Ardern and her family have received while she has been PM and what can be expected now that she has resigned. I noted that the level of threat she has been exposed to is unprecedented ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is able to steer ...
The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central towards the ...
Following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern last week, her replacement, Chis Hipkins, has said: Over the coming week, Cabinet will be making decisions on reining in some programs and projects that aren’t essential right now That messaging is similar to what Jacinda Ardern said late last year and as ...
Much of what will mark the early days of Chris Hipkins’ Prime Ministership would have happened anyway. By December, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister were making it clear the summer break and early days of this year were going to be spent on a reset of government policy. ...
Going to try to get into the blogging thing again (ha!) what with an election coming up and all that. So today I thought I'd start small and simple, by merely tackling the world's (second) richest man.I'm no fan of Elon Musk. You don't want to know why, but I'll ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 15, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 21, 2023. Story of the Week State of the climate: How the world warmed in 2022With a new year underway, most of the climate data for ...
Well, that was a disappointment. As of today, the New Zealand Labour Caucus opted for Chris Hipkins as our new Prime Minister, and I cannot help but let loose a cynical cackle. ...
Get ready for a major political reset once Chris Hipkins is sworn in as Prime Minister this week. Labour’s new leader is likely to push the Government to the right economically, and do his best to jettison the damaging perceptions that Labour has become “too woke” on social issues. Overall, ...
Things have gone sideways… and it’s only the third week of January? It was political earthquake time. For some the Prime Minister made a truly significant announcement. For others – did you have this on your bingo card? – a body double did so (sit tight, you’ll understand later, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Because our hard-working Ministers of the Crown are engaged in Labour Party caucus stuff in Napier, no doubt jockeying to ensure they keep their jobs or get a better one, Point of Order was not surprised to find no fresh news on the Beehive website this ...
By the end of 2019, Jacinda Ardern was a political superstar heading towards an election defeat. She was an icon, internationally beloved, on track to be an ex-prime minister before the age of forty. It was the year of the Christchurch terror attack when Ardern’s response to the atrocity saw ...
People complain about their jobs being meaningless. Does it matter?David Graeber, author of Bullshit Jobs: The Rise of Pointless Work and What We Can Do About It, would have smiled at Elon Musk’s sacking half the Twitter workforce. Musk seems to be confirming the main thesis of the book, that ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. ...
Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. So, although Ardern has named an ...
I warned about the trap of virtue signaling in my article Virtue signaling over Ukraine. This video is still relevant – but have we moved on since then? The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was universally condemned at the time. Or was it? Certainly, the political atmosphere ...
Earlier this week Point of Order carried a post by Geoffrey Miller on how Japan under a new security blueprint is doubling its defence spending. The plans see Japan buying up advanced weaponry – including long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US – and spending more on ...
Anyone else suffering back-to-work-blues? We’re battling, but still upright. Haere tonu! Today’s cover image is of sunset over Tirohanga Whānui Bridge, sourced from Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Jolisa pondered the fate of AT’s ‘Statements of Imagination’. Tuesday’s post was a guest post by Grady ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
The Government is making an initial contribution of $150,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Tairāwhiti following ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “While Cyclone Hale has caused widespread heavy rain, flooding and high winds across many parts of the North Island, Tairāwhiti ...
Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor has classified this week’s Cyclone Hale that caused significant flood damage across the Tairāwhiti/Gisborne District as a medium-scale adverse event, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “We’re making up to $100,000 available to help coordinate efforts as farmers and growers recover from the heavy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flavio Macau, Associate Dean – School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock Potatoes are among Australia’s favourite vegetables. However, we are facing a shortage of processed potatoes, especially of frozen chips. Coles introduced a two-item limit for shoppers ...
The breakout star of Treasure Island: Fans vs Faves is The Spinoff’s own head of podcasting, Jane Yee. Here’s everything you need to know about her show, The Real Pod.What is The Real Pod?A weekly podcast which recaps the biggest reality TV shows screening in New Zealand, The ...
In some alternative universe, Auckland mayor Efeso Collins readily grasped the scale of Friday’s deluge, and quickly made the emergency declaration that enabled central government to immediately throw its resources behind the rescue and remediation effort. ...
The Treasure Island: Fans v Faves co-hosts talk fans, faves and making their new hosting partnership work. When Treasure Island: Fans v Faves premieres tonight and a new group of castaways wash ashore on a Fijian beach in the hopes of winning $50,000 for charity, they’ll be wrangled by a ...
*This story was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission* Landslips, road closures, homes and businesses flooded and more heavy rain on the way. Here is what you need to know as the severe weather continues. Landslips and homes without water Northern suburbs of Auckland and Titirangi appear ...
Chesdale cheese slices were one of the banes of Charlotte Muru-Lanning’s childhood. Can she learn to love them as an adult?This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. For most of my childhood, Chesdale cheese slices were a mainstay in the fridge. Much to my disappointment. ...
Auckland has a big clean-up job and faces uncertainty with severe weather forecast, but the prime minister would not be drawn on the Auckland mayor's handling of the flood response. ...
Total exports saw a growth of $8.7 billion (14 percent) to $72.2 billion in the year ended December 2022 compared with 2021, Stats NZ said today. Annual imports also rose sharply to $86.7 billion, up $16.1 billion (23 percent). “Price inflation ...
Meet the kiwi in charge of some of the worlds biggest brands across Japan, Australia and Aotearoa. Glen Kyne went from running the commercial team at Mediaworks to fostering brands like CNN and HBO in the blink of an eye. He chats with Duncan about the future of the streaming ...
The report by the Economic Development, Science, and Innovation Committee has suggested essential changes to the Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media Bill. Many of these changes are straight out of the Free Speech Union submission on this Bill and we are glad ...
Power Play - Aucklanders did not get the political leadership they deserve as they face the aftermath of Friday night's devastating floods, writes Jane Patterson. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kath Albury, Professor of Media and Communication and Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making + Society, Swinburne University of Technology Shutterstock A 2022 survey by the Australian Institute of Criminology found three in four app users surveyed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Farrelly, Professor and Head of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania Two years after Myanmar’s coup on February 1 2021, the country’s large and growing resistance forces receive almost no attention outside the country. The democratic opposition, fronted by the National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Beckett, Senior Lecturer (Food Science and Human Nutrition), School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle Pexels, CC BY Many of us want (or should I say need?) our morning coffee to give us our “get up and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Victoria’s Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Shutterstock We know everything in our homes gathers dust. What you probably don’t know is whether there are toxic contaminants in your house ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian A Wright, Associate Professor in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University Dan Himbrechts/AAP Swimming in rivers, creeks and lakes can be a fun way to cool off in summer. But contamination in natural waterways can pose a risk to human ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Highfield, Senior Lecturer, Deputy Head of School (ACT and regional NSW), Australian Catholic University Erik Anderson/AAP Around Australia, about 320,000 children are starting school for the first time. As an early childhood researcher, former kindergarten teacher, and parent of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Sonnemann, Principal Advisor Education, Grattan Institute Shutterstock More than four million students around Australia are heading back to school. While this will be a year of achievement and learning growth for many students, others will struggle to keep up. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Tregear, Principal Fellow and Professor of Music, The University of Melbourne This article contains spoilers. Todd Field’s new, multi-Academy Award nominated feature film Tár is generating considerable commentary – and not a little controversy. For some, its storyline allows ...
*This story was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission* Aucklanders whose homes and businesses were inundated during Friday's deluge have begun cleaning up as the threat of further wild weather lingers. Some of them told First Up how the unprecedented rain event had impacted them. 'It's just ...
Most of them commemorate early Pākehā arrival. Some are based on obsolete provincial borders. One celebrates an A&P show. But most importantly, none of them have any meaning to the vast majority of us, writes historian André Brett. First published in 2021 Last Monday was the Wellington Anniversary Day public ...
In the final part of a series on Labour's leadership transition, Elliot Crossan argues that the idealistic vision Jacinda Ardern espoused of a kind, empathetic and fair society is possible – but not with a less-inspiring new leader. Read part one here, and part two hereOpinion: Jacindamania ended in ...
A progress report on booksellers Last week's shock news that Vic Books in Wellington is set to close – it's open for nine more trading weeks, shutting its doors for good on March 31 – has been felt deeply by Kiwi booksellers. "It happens to them, it happens to all ...
A focus on “bread and butter” issues likely signals the end of the RNZ/TVNZ merger, writes Mark JenningsOpinion: It is highly probable new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has decided to scrap the plan to create a new public media entity, he just hasn’t announced it yet. His election-year pitch ...
Nearly 18 million people in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian assistance. The Detail talks to one aid worker who's seen the devastation wreaked by Russia's invasion and the toll it's taken on Ukrainians. When New Zealand aid worker Anne Bulley knocked on the door of two elderly women living in a ...
Loading...(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government’s cultural policy, released Monday, “puts First Nations first”, while also promising regulated Australian content on streaming services and a shift to greater support for the popular in the arts. The policy reflects ...
An inexhaustive list of community assistance in the Auckland area.Kai, clothing, bedding Auckland City Mission A flood response fund has been set up by the mission. Both Vodafone and Te Rourou, Vodafone Aotearoa Foundation will match donations up to $35,000 each. So, for every $10 donated, $30 will go ...
Auckland Emergency Management have issued an emergency mobile alert ahead of the potential for extremely heavy rain to hit the Auckland region. The alert warned Aucklanders of MetService’s orange heavy rain warning between now and Monday. The Met Service issued an orange heavy rain warning due to an active line of thunderstorms ...
By Barbara Dreaver, 1News Pacific correspondent The Moungavalu family in Aotearoa New Zealand are grateful to be alive. Their Māngere home in Auckland, along with others in their street, was hit hard by flooding with chest-deep water sweeping down the road. Mohe Mougavalu says the water went down their no ...
Auckland's mayor says lessons have been learned following the region's highest ever rainfall over 24 hours, which left four people dead and forced hundreds of people out of their homes. ...
Oceans are at their warmest state ever and that has consequences, Kevin Trenberth writes I am a climate scientist who has been around watching the climate crisis grow from one of little concern to one where enough extremes of weather have grabbed the attention of the public. It is now ...
The deputy prime minister, Carmel Sepuloni, and transport minister Michael Woods spoke Sunday afternoon and updated on the government’s response to the state of local emergency in Auckland. Today there will be 70-80 case managers supporting those calling the MSD helpline for assistance. Sepuloni encouraged anyone needing any assistance (food, ...
Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni says it has been "incredibly heartening" to see the way Aucklanders had helped each other out over the past few days. Sepuloni and Transport Minister Michael Wood have provided today's government update on the ongoing state of emergency in Auckland. Sepuloni thanked the many organisations ...
The deputy prime minister says it has been "incredibly heartening" to see the way Aucklanders had helped each other out over the past few days. Watch the latest government update here. ...
The deputy prime minister and the transport minister are providing today's government update on the ongoing state of emergency in Auckland. Watch it live here. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland Getty Images We’ve built our cities to be vulnerable to – and exacerbate – major weather events such as the one we saw in Auckland on Friday. While almost no ...
If you’ve managed to secure some eggs, here’s a tasty dish from the Parsi cuisine which essentially revolves around eggs… Even if they were an acquired taste for Perzen Patel. I’ve always been mentally allergic to eggs. I’ll eat cakes that have eggs and dishes where I can’t see or ...
PNG Post-Courier Papua New Guinea’s Service Improvement Programme worth more than K1 billion (NZ$440 million) has become a major cash cow for “irresponsible” leaders, says the monitoring agency. In the past decade, the Provincial and District Services Improvement Programme has delivered much but has not achieved what it set out ...
Twice a week, church bells ring out through Auckland’s CBD. Sam Brooks meets the people who make it happen.If you happen to be on the Victoria Park side of the CBD on a Tuesday night or a Sunday morning, you’ll hear the sound of eight bells ringing clear as, ...
An excerpt from a keynote speech delivered in November last year to mark Ben Brown’s time as Te Awhi Rito New Zealand Reading Ambassador.We imagine ourselves into existence and a universe comes with us. This is the first and most important function of language, revealed to us ideally ...
Or if he did, it might read something like thisVexed, defensive, shouty, Mayor Brown the Second wore the countenance of a man who had just discovered, to his irritation and horror, that he is, you know, the mayor of Auckland. At Saturday’s press conference in response to the record-breaking, ...
When you consider their remote location, perilous terrain and dark, sometimes ugly history, it seems incredible that anyone still lives on Pitcairn Island. But almost 50 people do and, as Graeme Lay discovers, they live very well. The supply ship Claymore II stands off the north coast of Pitcairn Island. ...
Heavy rain has hit Bay of Plenty and Coromandel overnight and there's more rain on the way for Auckland, but people are beginning to take stock of the damage. A home has collapsed in Tauranga and residents have been evacuated. There are a number of road closures mainly in the ...
In the second of a three-part series on Labour's leadership transition, Elliot Crossan focuses on how Labour's economic handling of the Covid crisis created an explosion in inequality. Read part one here.Opinion: In her emotional resignation speech, Jacinda Ardern described how she no longer had “enough in the tank to do ...
ANALYSIS:By James Renwick, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington The extraordinary flood event Auckland experienced on the night of January 27, the eve of the city’s anniversary weekend, was caused by rainfall that was literally off the chart. Over 24 hours, 249mm of rain fell — well ...
RNZ News Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has acknowledged the way Aucklanders have come together and opened their homes to those in need, with the New Zealand government focused on providing the resources needed to get the city back up and running. The new prime minister — just four days into ...
RNZ News Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty has asked for communication on support after the severe thunderstorm in Auckland to be stepped up. It comes after a Civil Defence warning text failed to be sent out, and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown told RNZ they will be reviewing the response, ...
RNZ News Three people are dead and at least one person is missing following the flooding overnight in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. About 1000 people were still stranded today after Auckland Airport was closed last night because of flooding of the arrival and departure foyers. Flights were cancelled for ...
Wayne Brown has doubled down on his decision last night to shun the media until close to midnight and only order a state of emergency at 9.30pm. In a defensive display to the media this afternoon, the Auckland mayor was questioned on comments other councillors made last night, including some ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins has confirmed there are three deaths linked to the extreme weather event in Auckland over the past 24 hours. There is also at least one person missing. Speaking at a press conference in Auckland, Hipkins said the priority was to make sure Aucklanders were safe, housed ...
*This story was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission*Until New Zealand's stormwater drain system adapts to our rising climate, it will never be able to cope with the level of flooding seen in Auckland on Friday night, writes James Renwick The extraordinary flood event Auckland experienced ...
Chris Hipkins has experienced his first major event as prime minister, just days into his tenure. He’s spent the day in Auckland alongside emergency services, surveying the damage and assessing next steps. He’s due to speak at 3.15pm alongside Auckland mayor Wayne Brown. Thanks to Stuff, here is a livestream. ...
Due to the “unprecedented weather event” in Auckland, organisers have confirmed the “heartbreaking decision” to cancel this year’s Laneway Festival. “We were so excited to deliver this show to our biggest crowd ever in New Zealand, our team has been working around the clock to do everything they can to ...
With the rain easing for a moment, many will be beginning the arduous task of cleaning out their flooded property. Auckland council has release advice for cleaning up after a flood. Cleaning up after a flood It is important to clean and dry your house and everything in it. Floodwater ...
Air New Zealand Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer Captain David Morgan says the airline’s domestic flights in and out of Auckland resumed from 12pm today as Auckland Airport re-opens. But he said with a backlog of flights and customers, the priority is those who need to travel urgently. “Those ...
Festival-goers holding on hope for Laneway, set to take place at Western Springs on Monday, will have to wait a bit longer for an official update. A brief post on Facebook this afternoon stated: “Safety is Laneway Festival’s number one priority. With the large weather event Auckland is currently experiencing, ...
Wayne Brown has defended the timing of a declaration of a state of emergency last night following record rainfall in Auckland. “The state of emergency is a prescribed process, it’s quite formal, and I had to wait until I had the official request from the emergency management centre. The moment ...
After the 11th hour cancellation last night, Elton John has cancelled the second concert of his farewell tour at Mt Smart, which had been scheduled for this evening. In a statement, John said: “Following the instruction of the emergency services, we have no option but to cancel tonight’s show in ...
The member of parliament for Mt Albert, Jacinda Ardern, has posted a message on Facebook following the flooding in Auckland. “I’m very conscious that it’s been a while since I posted, and there have been a few big things happening. But today the most important thing is everyone’s wellbeing and ...
Flooding of the runway, the check-in and arrivals areas on the ground floor and surrounding roads has disrupted operations at Auckland International, halting all departures until at least 5pm today, with no arrivals before 4:30am tomorrow. “People are asked not to come to the International Terminal at this time for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Victoria Park near the Auckland CBD on January 27.Getty Images The extraordinary flood event Auckland experienced on the night of January 27, the eve of the ...
New Zealand’s largest insurance group, IAG, says it is on track to receive more than 1,100 claims from Aucklanders by lunchtime after the city was deluged in the wettest day on record. Those claims, said the group which includes AMI, State and NZI Insurance, span property damage to homes and ...
The rampant flooding in Auckland didn’t just detonate its provincial public holiday weekend – it coincided with the biggest weekend of the year to date for live events. A pair of Elton John concerts at Mt Smart stadium had a combined capacity of over 80,000, while both Laneway at Western ...
Auckland is beginning a clean-up after its wettest day since records began. “Auckland was clobbered on Friday,” said emergency management duty controller Andrew Clark. “We won’t start to get a good idea of numbers affected until later today and, even then, this will take time, with information still coming in ...
The prime minister, Chris Hipkins, is travelling to Auckland after devastating floods hit the city overnight. With the airport out of operation until at least midday, he is landing at Whenuapai air base on a New Zealand Defence Force Hercules aircraft from Wellington. ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has arrived in Auckland for a daylong visit to the city following its catastrophic flood on Friday night. Flying in an Air Force Hercules to Whenuapai, Hipkins will spend roughly three hours on the ground assessing flood damage in the city before returning. He will receive ...
A quirk of timing left all Auckland’s institutions on the back foot. But social media, particularly TikTok, graphically showed just how bad the situation was. Late afternoon on a Friday is known as time to quietly drop bad news. You have the plausible deniability of it happening during work hours, ...
It’s a common sight during summer. It’s also a recipe for disaster.I recently drove with my family from New Plymouth to Tāmaki Makaurau and, just like how I lost count of how many cows I saw on the way, I lost count of how many cars had a passenger ...
Opinion - Election year has begun with a bang, and already the punditry and speculation are ramping up, but Grant Duncan warns not to treat polls as gospel. ...
New Zealand’s new prime minister, Chris Hipkins, is formally facing down an emergency just a few days after being sworn in, summoning the National Crisis Management Centre to the Beehive. The Beehive Bunker is being stood up to help with coordination of the emergency response in Auckland. I’ve asked ...
Analysis - Jacinda Ardern is one of New Zealand's most historically significant leaders. But she did not achieve the grand vision for Aotearoa her outsized rhetoric promised. ...
Brits abroad can be an asset to Aotearoa - but only if we make an effort to engage with te ao Māori, writes Scottish expat Fran Barclay Earlier this week, the UK High Commissioner signalled a promising intention to address the barriers facing young Māori and Pasifika who aspire to ...
"They want the Māoris out": provincial life in NZShe hadn’t learned to shut her mouth. Howard was tired of Councillor Kemp harping on and on and on. He pushed himself deeper into the boardroom chair and leaned back as far as he could force it. This woman had ranted ...
That's the sound of imperialisms clashing
War on nature, war on each other.
Imperialism is capitalist competition writ large.
War and climate change have the same economic and political drivers.
If we can’t stop one, we can’t stop the other.
Great to see R Kelly going down for 30 years.
R. Kelly Is Sentenced to 30 Years on Sex Trafficking Charges: Live Updates – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Also Ghislaine Maxwell getting 20 years for sex trafficking.
Let's see who else gets done for assisting them both.
Nearly …Plastic Free July. I'm linking a page to it. Maybe not possible to go plastic free? Well there are plenty of Alternatives…and suggestions.
https://www.facebook.com/PlasticFreeJulyAotearoa/
Because this is what we are faced with….
https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/en/plastic-problem/plastic-soup/more-plastic-than-fish/
And single use plastic…the worst. So a suggest starter !
https://hempplastic.com/
AS usual there is a solution but unfortunatly is doesn't benefit those that pull the strings.
Hi Bruce. Yes that does look Interesting. And apparently the Hemp uses much less Water than other Alternative Corn as well….
Just wondering..re the Biodgradeble aspect, if it needs a suitable process/conditions? I did see 6 Months…as opposed to 450 YEARS for some plastic !?
Plastic pollution is such a very recent problem (maybe 30 years? )
but Our Planet will bear the consequences for a Thousand years
I did remember hearing about this on RNZ way back…
https://dutchreview.com/culture/innovation/worlds-1st-plastic-free-aisle-in-a-dutch-supermarket/
The NZ supermarket duopoly has massive Greenwash advertising…but they are a major component of the Problem.
Thanks for your Input : )
Gee, the internal polls must be diabolical
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
For some reason it kinda reminds me of this:
[lprent:
1. You seem to have a problem with adding a video – does the media button not work on comments? All I had to was to remove the anchor link – and lo – it worked! You must be desperate to get people to look at a meaningless video…
2. Pays to add more of an explanation about what you’re asking people to view.
3. Along with the comment you’re responding to – neither appear to relate to the post. ]
I think people got the message just fine.
I can't wait for the next thrilling episode of
Our polls are tanking so we're panickingWhats Luxon done nowLuxon is not doing anything, which is remarkably good use of Taxpayers’ money. However, when he speaks, he talks in platitudes and says very little or shoots off his mouth and those are the more revealing moments of his short political career so far. I can also hardly wait for the next episode of Lamentable Luxon Lost in La La Land – the gift that keeps giving.
I heard he once held a door open for a woman…or was it that he didn't, one of the two
Yup, for Judith …
@ Lprent: I'd edited the YT link, so I take
the blamethe credit for buggering it up if that’s what happened. Those inane YT clips drive me up the wall some days.Its all good
Also while the title of the song is the point I'm trying to make its also not a bad song either so you know win-win
You were trying!? Are you going for promotion or a pay-rise?
You wouldn't believe how much I get paid for doing this but its not about the money, its the public service that counts
You lost count at one.
Interesting comment from Frank Macskasy:
"And note that arch fantasist/conspiracist, Chantelle Baker, has "liked" Mr O'Connor's comment. So we know where she stands: bodily autonomy for vaccines against a deadly disease, but not bodily autonomy for an unwanted pregnancy, rape, ectopic pregnancy, incest, etc. So much for "sovereign citizenship"."
https://frankmacskasy.substack.com/p/united-states-moves-closer-to-theocracy
So we know where she stands: bodily autonomy for vaccines against a deadly disease, but not bodily autonomy for an unwanted pregnancy, rape, ectopic pregnancy, incest, etc.
Macskasy is more than a little OCD about providing references.
I see no reference to substantiate the above claim.
Funny that.
Nothing over-the-top there then. Talk about over-reaction.
Around three quarters of abortions in the USA these days are performed in the first 8 weeks using oral medication. Trying to stop women having the right and choice to have a termination in the USA is akin to Canute trying to control the tides.
Note: Before the attacks start-I entirely oppose what the Supreme Court has done and fully support a woman's right to choose. There will be poor people in particular who will be greatly disadvantaged by the ridiculous SC decision. The 4 SC judges who said that they would not change abortion law to facilitate their elevation to the SC bench should be disbarred.
Pretty sure one doesn't have to be Nostradamus to have worked that one out from her other topics.
This vandalism was a lot more pre-meditated than I first realized. Also, the "synagog of Satan" graffiti makes more sense now I know the resident's upbringing:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/129122700/man-admits-antisemitic-and-homophobic-attack-on-west-coasts-pink-church
Yeh, I believe that is a hate crime too! It's good that at least one perp confessed so the events are no longer all "alleged" (e.g. the rainbow flag – maybe it just spontaneously combusted coincidentally like). The sheer number of hate crimes since the police started recording those reported to them drew some comment on Twitter:
Really harmful behaviour from the young men who did this.
The hate crime statistic need more detail. Current police policy on this is predicated on the offense felt, rather than offence given or intended. Hate crimes against people because of the protected characteristic of sex, are not recorded, because sex is not included as a hate crime characteristic.
"A hate crime is an offence perceived by the victim, or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards a person’s race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or age."
https://www.police.govt.nz/advice-services/advice-victims/hate-crime
There is a good article on Gloria, co-authored by Duckor-Jones, that shows his work and his goals regarding the Pink Church he has create. The majority of the public seemed to have interacted positively with him while he has been there.
https://www.renews.co.nz/i-painted-a-church-pink-in-greymouth-a-house-of-queer-worship/
The simplified version may not include the "protected characteristic of sex", but it seems to be covered under the; "such as", in s9(1) (h) referenced in the 2021 data quality review:
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0009/latest/DLM135545.html
https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publication/annual-report-police-data-quality-2021
Which I was looking at after reading this from a couple of years back:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/431996/hate-crimes-almost-half-complaints-to-police-wrongly-downgraded
Thanks, but still provides no actual details regarding those stated hate crime statistics, which would give some indication of how many are targeted in different demographics, ie. religion, race, gender identity, sexual orientation etc. Even more informative, would be to know how they were targeted and what action the police took in those cases.
Might be included under "such as" is not the definitive answer that most would accept, but if you do, then well, we'll see how it plays out, in terms of hate crime statistics and hate crimes against women and girls and how they are included in police hate crime policy.
Interesting that gender identity is included, as it is not currently one of the protected characteristics under the Human Rights Act 1993, but it is because those discrimination characteristics don't come from there, but from the Sentencing Act, which has eliminated both sex and marital status, and included gender identity.
A glaring example of a hate crime – what were they 'thinking'? These criminals may have no sense of shame – still, the more sunlight the better, imho.
Apparently not; DMK, because hate crimes do not yet legally exist as such in Aotearoa. Up at comment 2.1.1, I linked to the Sentencing Act 2002 which appears to guide police understanding of hate crime being "hostility towards a group of persons" as an aggravating factor that: "In sentencing or otherwise dealing with an offender the court must take into account the following aggravating factors to the extent that they are applicable in the case"; alongside mitigating factors that likewise: "In sentencing or otherwise dealing with an offender the court must take into account the following mitigating factors to the extent that they are applicable in the case".
So in the above case of the vandalism of Gloria; the Pink Church. Aggravating factors would seem to be:
While mitigating factors that must be considered by the court would seem to include:
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0009/latest/DLM135545.html
The original Stuff piece as much as says the admitted hostile criminal would have got away scot free if there hadn't been people watching the case and disposed to ask inconvenient questions. And that might still happen, though at least with some public record of his actions:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/129122700/man-admits-antisemitic-and-homophobic-attack-on-west-coasts-pink-church
Ghahraman has some choice words on the topic of our lacking specific hate crime legislation in today's Daalder piece on Newsroom:
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/unexplained-year-long-delay-on-hate-crime-reform?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1656559440-1
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/06/30/guest-blog-ian-powell-train-wrecks-and-election-outcomes/
Ian Powell telling it how it is about our health system and how restructuring will do sfa to change this crisis. Try not to get sick people.
Thanks for the link Anker, if what is said is true, it is very disappointing but somehow, not surprising.
We are getting a neo-liberal solution to problems caused by that way of thinking.
Poor old Grant Robertson now has Covid. Lets hope he doesn't get it too bad else Kelvin Davis will be acting PM.
Acting Prime Minister Grant Robertson comes down with Covid-19 | Stuff.co.nz
Oh dear lord no!
Get well quickly Grant, your country needs you!
"Get well quickly Grant, your country needs you!"
A never-to-be-forgotten quote, Pucky!
I'm sure he would be grateful for your genuine support and encouragement. Thank you on his behalf. 👋
PM is overseas, deputy PM has the spicey cough – time for Laura Roslin!
I just that no one on here finds out Luxon squeezes the toothpaste from the middle of the tube
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Will do.
I've also heard rumours he once failed to indicate while he was merging…
Nah, that’s BS, Luxon is always in the Right lane.
Excellent!
Nah, that's the chauffeur's job, as he drives from one side of the street to the other.
Pucky! Incognito and RBO took you to task, elegantly.
You made it too easy.
Thanks though (thumbs-up emoji).
A note for anyone still interested in the Ukraine war on Russia's latest casual atrocity. Never ascribe to something planned evil when casual evil is just as likely – doubly so with the Russians who governments culturally seem to specialise in dumb and casual cruelty.
The Kh-22 (AS-4 "Kitchen") anti-ship missile used in the outrageous missile strike on the Kremenchuk mall attack is a huge six tonne weapon that was designed sixty years ago as a nuclear armed weapon to attack US Carrier groups in the North Atlantic. It's guidance is a simple gyroscope-stabilised autopilot in conjunction with a radio altimeter. It is hopelessly inaccurate. It has a CEP (Circular Area Probability, i.e. the circle in which it is likely to land) for an unmodified Kh-22 of 5000m(!) Now, if a CEP is 5000m that means 50% of your shots will land within 5000m of the target (more or less grouped around the centre point) but also that 50% of your shots will end up anywhere up to 15000 metres away. Accurate enough if you are firing a half dozen nuclear armed ones at a US carrier battlegroup I suppose, near enough is good enough in that case. Not much use for precision strikes though.
Now the Kremenchuk mall is within 500-1000m of any number of valid targets – a bridge over the Dnipro river, the railway station, or an industrial facility that may be engaged in refurbishing armoured vehicles. So my guess is the Russians were aiming at one of these, but using a missile that is akin to aiming at the Auckland harbour bridge with something that would count itself lucky if it ended up hitting the Auckland zoo.
The recklessness of using these weapons for what is effectively a form of area bombing on heavily built up civilian areas when no existential threat exists to Russia, they possess the ability to end the war at any moment and more accurate weapons are now in existence is astounding and definitely criminal. But also, it shows they are running out of precision guided weapons (sanctions are working) and they are pulling any old shit out of storage and slinging it at the Ukraine out of pure spite.
Yep. Pretty much sums up this latest atrocity. Attempts to justify it, because "storing weapons" – easily proven to be BS.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/29/evidence-contradicts-russian-claims-about-kremenchuk-mall-attack
That sounds entirely feasible Sanc. A horrendous mistake-more collateral damage.
The blanket and unquestioning reporting by the anti-Russian pro-western media irritates me when it says that the Russians deliberately targeted a shopping mall with a 1000 people in it*. The western media loses respect by buying wholesale into what is effectively propaganda. When the Russians come out with propaganda we scorn them.
*There seem to be around 50 deaths not hundreds
"A horrendous mistake-more collateral damage."
Not surprising. Seemed to be an odd target from the start. How to ensure the rest of the planet is dead against you.
Gee there’s some confusion out there: hating on the noveau riche and their habits is apparently ‘woke’.
We hate capitalists and free enterprise say farmers and the Herald.
Sorry it’s a link to stuff the next day.
What a load of crap- noveau riche are annoying everywhere and sometimes brilliant. But to try and somehow blame this farm on the government because it was covered on a public channel shows that there are a lot of people in the rural sector who need to retire and log off.
We can sympathize that rich people buying into where you’re struggling is crap. Gentrification it is called and it is happening all over cities everywhere.
Saying PC or woke is just a sign of people who can’t articulate their real grievance or have a chip on their shoulder about some whole damn other thing.
Get some real rural leaders out front and send Rob’s mob back to the 70s. Opportunity Labour imo.
https://nypost.com/2022/06/27/trans-woman-beats-13-year-old-in-womens-skateboarding-contest/
https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/grid.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1918
I feel bad for the kids that lost out but on a bigger picture scale this is good because its situations like this that will wake people up to what is actually happening in todays world
I also don't think that its a coincidence that Lia Thomas said this:
https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-sports-college-swimming-united-states-olympic-team-14e7fd8d820a331d7aeb72b34cdc83e6
“It’s been a goal of mine to swim at Olympic trials for a very long time, and I would love to see that through.”
then this happens:
https://apnews.com/article/transgender-swimmers-new-rules-fina-world-governing-body-c17e99d3121fa964336458b57ae266f7
However for those interested I've managed to find a video of the competition:
Andrew Little is going to make himself even more unpopular with the public. He'll never win an electorate seat. Seems like all the doctors and nurses that have spoken out are wrong and all is fine at the hospitals because Andrew has said so. Funny how so many health experts working at the coal face can be wrong.
'An absolute lie': Healthcare workers savage Health Minister's claim hospital demand is 'dissipating' (msn.com)
Same as Lees-Galloway saying there's nothing wrong with the ACC system. Difference is that ACC claimants aren't listened to as much as medical practitioners whose job it is to sort us out when we're ill. Still, surprising Little has taken that view, whereas we expect that sort of shit to come out of Lees-Galloway's mouth.
Labour's internal polling must be appalling. 🙂
This survey included women! I don’t know who let them out of the kitchen but there you go lol
Good to see you focusing on the big issues, Micky. Keep up the good work.
https://www.ipsos.com/en-nz/17th-ipsos-nz-issues-monitor-june-2022
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Comments that argue the irrelevancy of a Post without addressing anything in/of the Post get a short sharp shrift to OM.
Pandemic
Seymour continues to assert that we should be at level Green.
Last time I looked (though I stand to be corrected) I could not find any evidence of his qualifications as an expert in Pandemics and how they should be managed. He has seemed to be driven by which way the wind is blowing (in Remuera) when commenting.