consider how easy it is….you have (alleged) experts waiting and willing to give (informed?) comment…..or you can do the analysis yourself…sometime in the never never when its too late.
its not as if there is much on offer of formal alternative analysis….so msm conspiracy? unlikely…..reason the right fund it? of course
Give Radionz their due, when they aren’t telling us the latest horror from the USA, full coverage, of fire, flood and pestilence, they are digging out some interesting stuff using OIA. They are trying.
@ TC, While I agree Hooton etc get air time to push an acceptable agenda, I think the manufacturing consent component is more subtle.
Most people understand Hooton and friends are from, and are promoting a specific political view, so in my mind not all that threatening politically.
What I would say is more in line with the ‘manufacturing consent’ theory in regards to RNZ, would be some of the following, you can add your own….
1.Having the markets referred to and analyzed constantly all day.
But at the same time no constant updates on labour/workers news, in fact no daily news or views on workers issues at all.
2. Having bank economists as the main commentators on the economy.
3. Having that useless centrist Mike Williams on the Monday politics with Kathryn Ryan. RNZ are prepared to have a right wing ideologue like Hooton, which I think is fine, but not prepared to have the Left wing equivalent.
So the Left, with Williams speaking for it, generally come out looking weak and ineffectual, ( which sadly, probably pretty accurately describes the political playing field now actually).so no indepth ideological debates to be had on that show.
4. You only have to look at the presenters, Guyon Espiner, Susie Ferguson, Jesse Mulligan, Kathryn Ryan, when was the last time any of these four really held power to account? a pretty rare occurrence to my knowledge.
The only saving grace is John Campbell with his quite effective dripping tap technique.
Far right neo liberal think tank huh?
And how come Labour are ‘certainly open to the idea’ and ‘one they would definitely look at’?
Are you implying that Labour are open to far right neo liberal ideas there Paul?
A brief history of the vampire squid Goldman Sachs’ entanglements with the US government and how its spawn have been welcomed into Trump’s swamp to continue sucking the country dry.
Went to the cricket yesterday, a fine day spent becoming sun kissed little solar babies! But anyway, there were 12 of us, and as they were mostly average Joe kiwi blokes at the pub before hand I did a quick survey as to what people thought of Trump’s immigration ban. Only two people (and me) thought it was a bad thing. All the rest supported it. I suspect, depressingly, Trump’s ban will turn out to be rather popular.
Perhaps people just didn’t want to talk politics on such a beautiful day. You and I disagree on almost everything but even I think his plan is “too far” or at least could have been implemented a hell of a lot better.
But it was a beautiful family day and a lot of people wouldn’t want to ruin it having an argument or discussion on trump that could cause arguments.
That’s right Sanctuary, and the sad fact is that’s what all this promotion of sport, sport and more sport is all about ….. bread and circuses to numb the masses.
OK Paul, I will put it in a question.
What’s more important in this Country – Rugby or Politics ?
As to your second sentence…..yes that covers many basically unacceptable excuses for not getting involved in democracy.
A narrow view maybe, and a minority view in godzone when compared to avid sports fans. However I am not going to resile from my belief that sport is over emphasised deliberately ( by the likes of Sky, ‘professionalism’ and politicians) in the knowledge that it is escapism/entertainment to keep the masses happy whilst it encourages the winner/loser mentality. I am all for individual excellence but the tribal team/nation aspect is nigh on war.
The winner/loser mentality plays right into the Capitalistic free market/neoliberalism agenda – leading to more CC and economic unsustainability and boom/bust cycles, and to our impending total demise.
We need a cooperative society, not a combatative, resource depleting, winner takes all doomed situation like we currently have.
The general population seem to be ‘wilfully or naively ignorant’ of the connection I am pointing out.
Will the outgoing PM speak out about Agent Orange.. NOOOO of course not, he would rather reassure people that it won’t happen here, that’s it. Gutless, the leader of NZ is an embarrassment, we need a strong leader, one that condemns the bad decisions of other leaders, English is not that person.
People with no responsibility for the good of the country shoot their mouths off, but English tolerates idiots and thinks about the effect on the country of a fruitcake PM or President yakking on. Espiner was just his usual bloody minded self asking unreasonable questions.
I do not have a transcript but the saying comes to mind “Fools rush in, or expect others to, while wise men consider matters” I know who I consider to be wise in this situation.
Good on Smalley for (eventually) speaking up, I suppose…
….actually, nah.
She should have spoken up in a loud clear voice to the staff at reception and in triage that there was a bloodied child who needed attention right NOW.
Mum may or may not be known to those at A&E…and this happens….but bringing in a child in that condition…
1) she either knew it would attract attention and she would finally get the help she needs, or
2) she doesn’t give a shit about her child’s condition.
I wonder what would happen if A&E went on strike like junior doctors recently did … would they get more money to adequately staff the A&E at known busy times?
Heaven forbid that strike happens when my family need help BUT all this cost cutting by having more bean counters and not enough medical staff is crazy.
The BCs cannot say X number can be seen in Y time because good doctors give each patient the time they need for their problem and the rest have to wait … the only answer is to have ‘spare capacity’ rather than saving money.
“On Inauguration Day, Trump apparently filed his candidacy for 2020. Beyond being unusual, this opens up the ability for him to start accepting “campaign contributions” right away. Given that a sizable fraction of the campaign funds from the previous cycle were paid directly to the Trump organization in exchange for building leases, etc., at inflated rates, you can assume that those campaign coffers are a mechanism by which US nationals can easily give cash bribes directly to Trump. Non-US nationals can, of course, continue to use Trump’s hotels and other businesses as a way to funnel money to him.
(6) Finally, I want to highlight a story that many people haven’t noticed. On Wednesday, Reuters reported (in great detail) how 19.5% of Rosneft, Russia’s state oil company, has been sold to parties unknown. This was done through a dizzying array of shell companies, so that the most that can be said with certainty now is that the money “paying” for it was originally loaned out to the shell layers by VTB (the government’s official bank), even though it’s highly unclear who, if anyone, would be paying that loan back; and the recipients have been traced as far as some Cayman Islands shell companies.
Why is this interesting? Because the much-maligned Steele Dossier (the one with the golden showers in it) included the statement that Putin had offered Trump 19% of Rosneft if he became president and removed sanctions. The reason this is so interesting is that the dossier said this in July, and the sale didn’t happen until early December. And 19.5% sounds an awful lot like “19% plus a brokerage commission.”
Conclusive? No. But it raises some very interesting questions for journalists to investigate.”
A lot of energy and thinking here goes into present news. politics and future elections, and discussing present and future policies needed. Some space also provides stories about smart and/or clever ideas that advance our living standards, education and thinking.
(I put these separately because our education system has not been spent on thinking and discussing so that we end up understanding our society, economy, and our place in that of the world and how we all fit into the environment on the planet, or not.)
TS could be a place where there was some space for discussion in a post about ideas for better living, indeed eventually, for better surviving. Some people need to be thinking beyond our next wrestling match with lordly politicians and the wealth accumulators, and the dogma of those who want us to stop thinking and be obedient to the latest fashionable cult or religious edict made well before the industrial revolution and the useful art of making toilet paper, flush toilets and hand washing. These have been vital in preventing plagues, but as shown in Havelock North, are like many of our systems are under stress or deteriorating.
I would like to be part of an on-line discussion group who all read a certain book about human directions and our fading future, and then put up a post and discuss the points we have taken. If mickey savage, ie Greg, does pursue his politics in real time it would bring other important topics to the blog. There would be another avenue for consideration and discussion of thought. It would bring ‘disruption’ ie a different approach.
I was thinking that EF Schumaker “Small is Beautful: a study of economics as if people mattered’ book which was praised some years ago, and which I never read, would be a good one to start on. (On Trade me under title.)
It would be good if even two or three commenters would group and take a month to read it and make notes as they go along with ideas that they would be positive about, and some that they might enlarge on. One of us would have to set up a post and if no-one else wanted to do that I would stop thinking about it and actually learn to do it and moderate it.
There are some deep thinkers and some very concerned people who write here. It would be good if we could concentrate our brains to light some ideas for the future. Anyone who will do this please indicate by reply on Open Mike and we can co-ordinate. If I have annoyed someone in the past, remember that the idea is sovereign and sharing thoughts with people disagreed with is essential for getting broad understanding. If we only take notice of people we agree with we never get wider perspective.
Rob
Yes I think that I may have to do that, but I like the idea of having concentrated thinking being done ahead of the actual post, rather than the post being set up as the subject du jour and getting 5 comments of varying perspicacity, or words of that nature !
When it comes to examining the weighty problems of humankind, and how to manage ourselves, the one sentence comment from some idiot savant doesn’t get us far. I have ideas, posters have ideas, authors in the mainstream have ideas. Commenters have ideas, and some get raised in Open Mike, and never taken further, so hope having pre-reading would result in some better response and could lead to further research from links that people would find.
With the decline of government for the people, we citizens need to find our own experts and make our own draft policies for the country’s betterment then lobby for ones that are therapeutic of our ills, not just reactionary to events. The corporates already draft legislation to suit themselves as a small but influential group. We ordinary citizens are a large but not influential group and have to get smart, or get trodden on. Sort of like the giant foot that I think Terry Gilliam drew for Monty Python, with us being like sticky mud between the toes.
Please can anyone, either commenter, or reader, or briefly passing through who would like to apply their mind to reading an agreed book, and then putting forward intelligence on a dedicated post, please indicate now or in the next few days. If there is silence I will have to draw the conclusion that we are mainly a nation of fence sitters, and cargo cult recipients, with no backbone to make change and demonstrate our own analytical skills in humanities and development. We can contact through the blog, don’t have to have personal involvement but personally contact each other’s names or pseudos on this blog.
I want to know now if we have enough people who are not already fully stretched on one area of interest. There are some like that, but many who are marking time while others do the thinking for them. And likely it won’t be appropriate, or too late.
How many would like to be in on building knowledge so as to develop new ways of managing ourselves in the future that is getting ever difficult and coming closer all the time.
I haven’t had a proper read through this thread yet, but I’ve been thinking about a book or film club idea for TS so would love to follow your lead on this. I’m interested in the Schumacher book too. Thanks for bringing this up. I’m away out for a while, hope to catch up later.
Weka
Glad you like the sound of it. It would be good if it came within your ideas for advancing the value of The Standard. So look forward to your thoughts. I’m going out for a while. But I’ll be back.
weka
Including us two that makes seven who have shown interest. So if most were willing and we got a modus operandi going, we could get started.
I like EF Schumaker as an idea but people might need time to get a copy. There is one in the stack at the local Nelson library, there are new ones under $20 from a bulk book merchant in Hamilton, I have one in my books somewhere but…. Second hand bookshops are thinner on the ground than they used to be. We might need two weeks between books for all to get copies. For some of these older authors Gutenberg might have them.
Practicality might result in getting an easily available one to start off with.
Rob was talking about guest posts, I like the idea of that when we have got some good quotes to a=start discussing and arguing about.
I just got an ebook copy from Amazon for around $10. It looks like about a 4 hour read. Cheap paper copies there too. It looks like it’s available in many libraries, so I would expect it to be available on interloan (that’s something like $6 or $7 I think).
A couple of initial thoughts. We can put up a post introducing the idea and the first book. I’m thinking Sunday is good. It’s often a quiet day but it continues with the sunday magazine idea we used for putting Robert Guyton’s posts there. People can get to know that we have those kinds of posts on that day. (someone used to do a Sunday Reading posts, a kind of round up of the week). I can put it up on a busier day, but on those days people tend to go for the topical posts.
In the post we put links to how to access the book and how long it takes to read (that’s available online), and a timeframe for reading, and maybe ask for who is interested. We need to make that encouraging 🙂
Then x weeks later, I put up another post which is the discussion one. This discussion can primarily be for the people that read the book, but I think it would make sense for the conversation to be broad enough that anyone can join in if their interest gets piqued.
Is that the kind of thing you were thinking of, or something else?
The more work that other people can do the better. I’ve got a pretty full load of things to be doing here already, so if all I have to do is put the post up that’s easy, but if I have to write a lot of copy etc that’s more work and less likely to happen.
What I would need for the first post is:
Content of the post (intro and explanation, how to find the book etc)
Any relevant links
A photo for the front page
A blurb for the front page
weka
That sounds practical and likely to be supported. The Sunday reads in my opinion didn’t get as many comments as deserved and I myself didn’t get to read them often. This would be similar I think, in intention, but more structured, and likely to get more attention over
a longer period.
So Always on a Sunday would be just the job. Following on Robert Guyton’s input which was so good with continuing episodes , ‘The Knowledge’ club would be sporadically continuing each month but we could weekly put some favourite quote of what we had read already just for general interest at that stage.
It’s Wednesday. and what you suggest about having an initial post about it on Sunday would be good. With explanations of how to access book etc. But I would like to know first that there was a core group who are intending to read the entire book and discuss its points at the end. Anyone could join in at any time reading some or all of the book, but we do need a core group going right through.
I would like to call for hands-up of the initial core participants (it would be best to have minimum of four), to make a reasonable discussion at end. I’ve seen Paul, Pat, Asleep While Walking saying good idea. Macro likes the idea but has to source the book again but might do a reprise (I thought Schumaker because he was famous and first in his time Macro), KJT has commented referring to UBI, which looks like it will get highlighted again. And Weka and greywarshark.
So can we have confirmation of who, whom will start us off and get welcomed onboard? Hi there.
Once we have the core number of readers and commenters, then this list from you Weka which I can probably do by 12 February – may need to ask advice for some things. And we would be set and off – and if anyone wants to work on it to get it up faster then good.
Weka’s list
What I would need for the first post is:
Content of the post (intro and explanation, how to find the book etc)
Any relevant links
A photo for the front page
A blurb for the front page
Everyone needs access to a copy, (eg weka’s advice on how and which outlet to access E-books or other internet offerings.) (And if hard copy from library – I’ll enquire how long it takes to get inter-loan and will initiating library send direct to your address as provided by your home library? This could be helpful for the disabled, or people distant from their own library.) Buy hard copy – local bookshop? Amazon weka says E-book $10 and hard copies, and on Trme about $17 from Hamilton address quickly if paid quickly – look under Small is Beautiful.
In our discussions of whatever book when we quote pieces we must give chapter sources and page or topic references with our response which builds our ideas on or against. This would follow the usual practice of confirming and enabling reference to our source. Which you would want weka and would help to keep ourselves and readers
on track.
I think this would be valuable to us individually and to add to the political nous in the country. I have been concerned that serious and important background info often gets 12 comments, while the latest political gaffe or flagrant or fragrant behaviour gets 112.
We are watching the lampooning of our political system and the clowns are entertaining us, keeping us occupied and away from our important business of looking after all our own interests as citizens in our country. It’s fascinating, sometimes grotesque to watch but some of us have to turn away from the view, and work out what we can do together to repair this crumbling long-running show of democracy-as-we-know-it.
ok, let’s go for Sunday the 12th as the first intro post. That will avoid Waitangi weekend and associated posts too.
So for the first post we need:
Content
intro to the whole idea, keep it succinct, maybe 3 paragraphs?
naming and a brief intro to the first book
Links to who Schumacher is (note spelling)
wikipedia
Guardian review
Info and links on how to get book:
Your ideas
Te Puna search for interloans/which libraries have the book
Amazon link for ebook and cheap 2nd hand
Other option links?
Other links?
Front page photo
Front page blurb
I will need all that in a single document, ordinary text. If any of the content is a direct quote, please put it in ” ” and put a link at the end of the sentence/paragraph for where it was taken from.
I’m happy to help out while you organise that too, just ask or comment here.
As for getting people to commit, I think we can ask again. Try today’s OM, and I’d suggest keeping to the point and making the comment easy to read and engage with. However I also think there will come a point where we just need to do that work and see what happens.
weka
Okay first step I have put comment on Open Mike 1/2 No. 17 asking for keen Standardistas. So that’s all for now as I have to do something else. This could be good once its going. I remember some really good and long discussions around CV’s ideas and also Bill’s.
I thought a harmonica action – expand, contract to NZ (Rosemary suggested Marilyn Waring could be next) then out to someone like Joseph Stiglitz? world economics, then perhaps Max Rushbrooke here in NZ etc.
That would open our minds away from strictly NZ. Say we kept to the local, global then repeat but we took a vote or a priority list of authors each time, say once a month then two week break then again.
r0b
Are you interested in being in the first reading group? If you have time, as well as writing posts, as well as whatever else you find to pass the time away!
Please don’t tell me what as I think I would be exhausted hearing. But over a month you could find the time perhaps, weka says it doesn’t take long to read, but of course the reading would have to have some note taking of points as well, even keywords, and that would slow it up. And also lead to links being included to give direction to the points.
I thought I’d ask though you are no doubt busy, and if not this time, then at a later time perhaps. Could you advise thanks.
What a good idea greywarshark. I read posts and comments here on TS and sometimes get the impression that folk seem to think that they are saying something new. That their ideas are novel and groundbreaking….when in reality most of these thoughts have been said and/or writ before….often by people who have spent a lifetime in active research and discussion in their particular field.
“Safe drinking water counts for nothing. A pollution-free environment counts for nothing. Even some people – namely women – count for nothing. This is the case, at least, according to the United Nations System of National Accounts. Author Marilyn Waring, former New Zealand M.P., now professor, development consultant, writer, and goat farmer, isolates the gender bias that exists in the current system of calculating national wealth.
As Waring observes, in this accounting system women are considered ‘non-producers’ and as such they cannot expect to gain from the distribution of benefits that flow from production. Issues like nuclear warfare, environmental conservation, and poverty are likewise excluded from the calculation of value in traditional economic theory. As a result, public policy, determined by these same accounting processes, inevitably overlooks the importance of the environment and half the world’s population.
Counting for Nothing, originally published in 1988, is a classic feminist analysis of women’s place in the world economy brought up to date in this reprinted edition, including a sizeable new introduction by the author. In her new introduction, the author updates information and examples and revisits the original chapters with appropriate commentary. In an accessible and often humorous manner, Waring offers an explanation of the current economic systems of accounting and thoroughly outlines ways to ensure that the significance of the environment and the labour contributions of women receive the recognition they deserve.”
When Trump et al have all moved on to wherever defunct politicians slope off to we, the people will still be here trying not only to survive another day, week, month…but also doing what we can to make the lives of our kids (and their kids) better and more secure.
And we must learn to do this irrespective of which coloured flag flies atop our parliamentary seat. We do get so bound to the ‘we MUST change the government’ narrative instead of concentrating on what you, greywarshark, suggest giving space for “stories about smart and/or clever ideas that advance our living standards, education and thinking.”
I fear though, the usual ‘I know best voices’ will prevail here and elsewhere on the net…as history appears to have been deliberately ignored as the world seems hell bent on repeating it. 🙁
Rosemary McDonald
I am interested in people who will opt in, not just people who think it is a good idea. So will you opt in Rosemary? Marilyn Waring would be good too. Would you join the reading, discussing circle?? If the post was moderated effectively, only useful discussion that added to the discourse would go in so the usual riff raff would have to shape up or ship out.
Anyone can comment, critique, it’s essential that some actually do the hard yards of getting informed on the same text and subject and then raise points of disagreement, doubt, positive visions if…so and so was done, and how lack of finances could be circumvented etc.
Looking at achievable objects, how to avoid having Johnny come latelies take over and drive the project too fast, or too far into middle class materialisms, or too idealistically and rigidly, purely etc. Tailoring projects to allow for human nature, and climate change, and continuity, and rewarding and respecting all participants in suitable ways. Those are things that wise thinkers would be incorporating in ideas for projects.
How to provide jobs for ourselves in the future would be one of the things to consider. There is the constant theme that this or that is going to happen and that’s the word so get used to it. We have knowledge from education and wisdom but the poem of Ozymandias sorrowfully reminds us of our overweening desires and fantastic visions. That poem came from the discovery of a creation of Rameses BC 13th century. So can we so many centuries later actually see above those grand confabulations, and think as pragmatic idealists. As Rutherford said “We haven’t much money, so we need to think”.
In antiquity, Ozymandias (Ὀσυμανδύας) was a Greek name for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II. Shelley began writing his poem in 1817, soon after the announcement of the British Museum’s acquisition of a large fragment of a statue of Ramesses II from the thirteenth century BC, leading some scholars to believe that Shelley was inspired by this.
The 7.25-ton fragment of the statue’s head and torso had been removed in 1816 from the mortuary temple of Ramesses at Thebes
KJT
And here is something I found that is a long standing and presumably experienced project team. was called the Intermediate Project or something to help adapt to intermediate technology – I saw it on EF Schumaker site – Practical Action – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Practical_Action.
When I was at Waikato Uni, the engineering department were looking at technologies transferable to third world countries, with inadequate infrastructure and capabilities. Small scale water treatment, for example.
KJT
I don’t know whether you would consider it a genuine engineering project but this morning I came upon a Greenpeace? info leaflet about the work that had been done on constructing low cost toilets using local materials after studying 500 people going to the toilet to advise on the best design!
I am not sure how they did this, probably studying the aftermath.
They worked out a plan, it has plaited palm leaf sides on wooden frame, a 100mm vent pipe going high covered with flyproof gauze, and can be shifted to another spot when hole is filled. I see that as a beautiful and elegant design myself. What do you think?
And while we are communicating – can you come into the first reading group looking at E F Schumacher over a month with a big discussion on his ideas at end? We could do with a practical innovative open mind on this. Could you let me know?
It would be great to revisit the UBI this year. I’ve got some half finished posts from around the time of Labour’s discussion paper. Maybe we could republish some of the previous ones and invite people to take the idea forward. We could do a week on the UBI at The Standard.
“I am interested in people who will opt in, not just people who think it is a good idea. ”
Tomorrow my partner and I head off into the wild blue yonder after 3 months of enforced houseboundness. Too busy for the likes of us over the silly season, having to compete with the thousands of others for dwindling free/cheap camping spots.
Our Bus is basic. Very basic. Living in a space measuring 7mx2m certainly forces one to think very carefully about what is needed to ensure a tolerable standard of living and what is mere want. And while other Brethren of the Eternal Highway have embraced mobile internet, we have not…considering it a luxury and an unnecessary extravagance. Our 300w of solar on the roof removes the need (over the sunny months) for us to scuttle into a commercial camp every 7-10 days to plug into the 240V to charge our house batteries and do some internetting…so any engagement in forums such as this will be limited to the occasional hook up via the Aotearoa People’s Network at the local library if we should wander into a town. We do not have an ipad, android, smartphone etc…just a couple of unsmart 3G flip phones…one for each of the major networks.
It is not unusual for us to have no cellphone coverage either. And we don’t have telly. We read, a lot. And listen to Natrad…and Sport Radio (for the cricket, because relationships only survive close proximity if the other person’s peccadilloes are tolerated and accommodated).
But don’t be concerned that I will be bereft of intelligent and informed discourse on politics, history and social issues in general as the regions are teeming with interesting folk who make very pertinent observations and have formed credible opinions about life the universe and everything.
Usually while waiting for the fish to bite. 😉
And the conversations we have with young and not so young overseas travelers…coming to the realisation what a small world we live in and how remarkably similar we all are.
So no, I can’t commit to opting in on a regular basis, and it would be rude to pop in now and again like a johnny come lately riff raff type who comments and runs without engaging with the whole discussion. But I will be checking in now and again to see how such a project is shaping up because, I do think it is a goer. 🙂
Rosemay
I am talking about a study circle. And if you can spend some of your time while you are travelling reading and then contribute when we have our post at the finish that will be fine.
And if a number of people can start doing this, each time we had another study subject you or anyone else could come in for that. That is all I am talking about. Spending time concentrating on one thing, as a special project apart from other activities and input.
Cool, you got me wondering about your solar power system, I wouldn’t mind playing around with something similar. Did you setup the solar power yourselves? Was it easy? Do you store the power in deep cycle batteries? What appliances can you run from the 300W panel?
You’re probably busy trying to get ready for your holiday, but thought I’d ask anyway 😉
Hiya maui…not holiday as much as normal life for us!
We had the Bus fitted out by the experts…but many clever folk do their own work. Lots of help/advice on line…ask mr. google “motorhomes/rv solar power”….some of those guys are real technophiles. I’ll happily do plumbing…but I’ll leave the sparky stuff to the experts!
We started off with 80W of solar and doubled that as $$$ came available…one of the reasons for Bus dwelling was because house living too expensive….we can save, living in the Bus. Anyway, 2x80w panels not quite enough to keep pump, toilet, 12v fridge and lights going and charge the batteries on the power assist wheelchair wheels on a dull day…so after the solar controller folded (you need a controller able to take the maximum input from your panels) we upgraded to a 30A…then added another 140w panel. Total keeps our 4 aging deep cycle batteries topped up…might get another year out of them. We live lean…seriously…our fridge is less than 25litres, no telly etc. So 300w is plenty. Some of the Brethren have 2000w solar and Lithium batteries and run coffee machines and hairdryers!
Or…if you’re out and about and you spot a house with solar proud on the roof…try knocking on their door…most folk living off the grid are more than happy to turn others to the light side. 🙂
That is very cool, life on the road huh. Sounds brilliant. Yeah, I could have used google, but nothing beats talking to someone direct and getting an interesting nugget of information or two. Thanks, its good to get to know a bit more about how these things work. Enjoy your travels!
I read Schumaker’s book some years ago – then stupidly lent it and never got it back. It made good sense then and I suspect even more sense now. There are a number of books out along similar lines, many of them following the sustainable economy framework of zero growth and prosperity without growth. I have some on my book shelves now but regrettably no longer “Small is Beautiful’.
Give the guy a break – he has been thrown without warning into the aftermath of Key’s amoral opportunism and wrecking-ball approach to constitutional propriety .. and the economy. Does this remind anyone of Trump ?
he is a bigot. and a spineless one. someone without courage and conviction. someone who likes his bread buttered both sides and who is a ‘benefit fraud’.
Wow a big chip there on both shoulders, I am sure his wife 8 kids, siblings, friends, parents think differently and know him a hell a lot better than your hate rant
Who knows the score and has been in politics a long time and is a key player behind all the corrupt, wrong abuses this government, (and the previous National government), has done and continues to do.
No, Caretaker Bill doesn’t deserve to be given a break, not at all.
An executive order from President Donald Trump opening up discrimination against the LGBTQ community on the basis of religious belief is expected sometime this week, possibly as soon as today.
[…]
From what we’ve heard, the executive order could be far-reaching, and could include: making taxpayer funds available for discrimination against LGBTQ people in social services; allow federally funded adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ parents; eliminate non-discrimination protections in order to make it possible to fire federal employers and contractors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity; and allow federal employees to refuse to serve people based on the belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that gender is an immutable characteristic set at birth, which would impact a broad range of federal benefits.
The order is expected to come in the packaging of so-called “religious freedom,” which argues that someone’s religious beliefs should be enough to prevent them from having to provide goods and services to members of the LGBTQ community if doing so would conflict with said beliefs.
…and that gender is an immutable characteristic set at birth…
That one’s not just obnoxious, but also stupid. Gender refers to differences between the sexes that are social rather than physical in nature – by definition it isn’t “immutable” or “set at birth.” Presumably they mean sex is an immutable characteristic set at birth, but even that’s only true most of the time. Biology isn’t the manufacturing of identical units, it’s vague and messy at the edges.
At the risk of spreading fake news, the link below is an interesting read. A lot of the claims made are by nature unverifiable, and the author doesn’t appear to be a particular expert on the topic, but it does pull the threads together into a thought provoking picture.
“A growing bandwagon of academics and policy makers in other countries, including the United States, UK, Australia, etc. has been calling for prohibitions against cash.
It’s always the same song: cash is a tool for criminals and terrorists.
Harvard economist Ken Rogoff is a leading voice in the War on Cash; his new book The Curse of Cash claims that physical currency makes the world less safe.
Rogoff further states “all that cash” is being used for “tax evasion, corruption, terrorism, the drug trade, human trafficking. . .”
Wow. Sounds pretty grim.
Apparently pulling out a $5 bill to tip your valet makes you a member of ISIS now.
Of course, this is total nonsense.
A recent Gallup poll from last year shows that a healthy 24% of Americans still use cash to make all or most of their purchases, compared to the other options like debit cards, credit cards, checks, bank transfers, PayPal, etc.
And the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco released a ton of data late last year showing that:
– 52% of grocery purchases, along with personal care products, are made in cash
– 62% of purchases up to $10 are made in cash
– But even at much higher amounts over $100, nearly 1 in 5 purchases are still made using physical cash
This doesn’t sound life nefarious criminal activity to me.
It seems that perfectly normal, law-abiding citizens still use cash on a regular basis.
But that doesn’t seem to matter.
A bunch of university professors who have probably never been within 1,000 miles of ISIS think that a ban on cash would make us all safer from terrorists.
You probably recall the horrible Christmas attack in Berlin last month in which a Tunisian man drove a truck through a crowded pedestrian mall, killing 12 people.
Well, the attacker was found with 1,000 euros in cash.
The logic, therefore, is to ban cash.
I’m sure he was also found wearing pants. Perhaps we should ban those too.”
AWW
I am very concerned that there is such a big push for banning cash. I use EFTPOS a lot but I don’t want to have my every transaction be scrutinised and digitalised. The only way many can manage in this unfair system of people having to pay the rich for the right to exist and have some government support is to utilise the black economy. Now that we have this impost of 15% GST on practically all our spending, and very low wage rises to match the inflation that is so low that it mainly benefits large investors, the poor are being screwed by our economic system and RW government.
I am very concerned that there is such a big push for banning cash. I use EFTPOS a lot but I don’t want to have my every transaction be scrutinised and digitalised.
It may be digitised but there’s almost no chance that it will ever be scrutinised. Really, nobody cares – unless you’re committing a crime.
The only way many can manage in this unfair system of people having to pay the rich for the right to exist and have some government support is to utilise the black economy.
The answer to that is to limit the rich. Make it so that they can’t oppress others. In fact, get rid of them altogether.
Now that we have this impost of 15% GST on practically all our spending, and very low wage rises to match the inflation that is so low that it mainly benefits large investors, the poor are being screwed by our economic system and RW government.
Which tells us that the system needs changing and not that we should keep it the way that it is.
DTB It may be digitised but there’s almost no chance that it will ever be scrutinised. Really, nobody cares – unless you’re committing a crime.
You are always so certain. I am certain that I don’t always believe you.
You just cannot make sweeping statements like the above in a time when some can track one’s keying on the computer, and follow where you go on the internet and then try and sell you something or remind you what you did yesterday. The insatiable desire to know everything you do, surveil it control it, profit from it, sanction it. That’s what is abroad these days from government and corporates.
No to a cashless society and don’t believe there would be no charges – only a matter of time before there were.
hear hear…and not only charges…ask the Greeks or the Cretans how they felt about the frozen accounts and the usefulness of cash….with the ability to identify, pigeon hole and control ALL purchasing opportunity the assumption that the system will not be misused punitively is naive….indeed i would suggest it is a certainty, the only question is how long it would take?
Having said that, it will likely happen and there will sweet FA we can do about it.
Having said that, it will likely happen and there will sweet FA we can do about it.
There is always something we can do about it. It’s this belief that we can’t that prevents us from making our political system better and more responsive to the people rather than the corporations.
post election this year the government announces that in 12 months time cash will will no longer be legal tender and all transactions will be electronic…..what effective response do you foresee?
Although I’d prefer a plan to remove the present banking system and replace it with a new one based around the government being the sole creator of money in the system. This money would be digital and introduced into the economy through a UBI and other government spending. Private banks would not be able to create money at all.
cashless society and private banking are two separate issues…a general strike assuming it was widely supported, may reverse the decision…perhaps but then that could be said of any policy….has it happened in neolib times?…and what makes you think “this time it will be different”?
just because you desire to link the two doesn’t mean it will occur as such and general strike?good luck with that….last one was in 79, not even the advent of the ECA triggered one…..power of positive thought only takes you so far, then reality hits.
“The only way many can manage in this unfair system of people having to pay the rich for the right to exist and have some government support is to utilise the black economy”
You mean tax avoidance. Deliberately running small businesses and not paying tax or being customers knowing that the business is avoiding tax in order to get cheaper goods yourself.
Isnt this something you were against? I thought people were supposed to pay their fair share – this means everybody.
but you can’t put charges on cash as you can with ‘bank accounts’.
And you can deprive anyone of access to their money via a an IT issue, or an outage, or or or or.
i once had a nice paid job and because i had money go into my account every month and because it was over a certain amount, my account was ‘free’ of charges.
then i lost my nice paid job due to restructuring and the first month not receiving my pay me previously ‘free’ account suddenly was not so ‘free’ anymore but cost me ‘account service fees’.
now if i were paid in cash every month in by either my boss or receiving unemployment benefits it would not matter, but you just lost your job, you are on a benefit and your account of several years suddenly costs you 10 bucks.
Yeah, mate, no matter how much you like the idea of digital, virtual reality money, i like cash.
and i also dislike the idea that those of us that like cash, because we can control our spending better, because we don’t like to be paying transaction fees and the likes to be ‘considered’ criminals, cause if you don’t have anything to hide you would not care.
I also like to point to the demonetization debacle in India just recently were the only ones that were not hurt were the ones that already had money. The poor and the very poor as always can get fucked.
btw, if I wanted to pay for drugs via a bank transfer, or pay pal who the fuck would stop us from doing so, unless you really like the surveillance tool that comes with virtual reality money.
i once had a nice paid job and because i had money go into my account every month and because it was over a certain amount, my account was ‘free’ of charges.
then i lost my nice paid job due to restructuring and the first month not receiving my pay me previously ‘free’ account suddenly was not so ‘free’ anymore but cost me ‘account service fees’.
Yep, happened to me as well.
Still, it was the privatisation and high profit model that did that. Which is why I say that that infrastructure should be state owned and run with no fees.
btw, if I wanted to pay for drugs via a bank transfer, or pay pal who the fuck would stop us from doing so,
Funding a crime is, as a matter of fact, a crime in itself.
Now, I’m all for legalising drugs so buying drugs doesn’t bother me. It’s the avoidance of paying taxes that the drug sellers do and can get away with doing by only taking cash and thus ripping off the rest of us that does.
Yes, there’s a surveillance issue but it more comes down to if the figures match then we don’t look but if they don’t then we do type thing. Nobody’s going to be looking into the figures unless something is wrong.
So, basically, it’s a cool idea as long as we trust all future governments to not privatise it or abuse its surveillance opportunities, we can ensure criminals don’t go back to barter or use a proxy commodity as a means of exchange, we can ensure employers don’t pressure employees to under-report hours worked, everyone’s online in every location, and you don’t lose your card.
Cash is still a damned good option for any number of reasons. Hell, there’s a twenty in my pocket right now – it was the most convenient way to transfer the money at the time and location.
it’s a cool idea as long as we trust all future governments to not privatise it or abuse its surveillance opportunities
Not trust. Put in place processes that allow us to keep an eye on them.
Trust but verify
we can ensure criminals don’t go back to barter or use a proxy commodity as a means of exchange
Going back to barter would decrease the number of possible clients that the criminals have decreasing their income and it would show up elsewhere.
we can ensure employers don’t pressure employees to under-report hours worked
Employers do that already. Having cash doesn’t change that and many employers now refuse to pay in cash any way.
everyone’s online in every location
Secure coverage should cover our entire EEZ.
and you don’t lose your card.
I’ve lost my card once in the last five years and it took me two days to notice. Once I did it took another day to get it replaced. It was never a concern.
I pretty much stopped using cash ten years ago. The few times that I’ve needed it was because the buses in Auckland either didn’t have HOP card or used a different one that was incompatible. Now that they all use HOP so even that’s no longer an issue.
Basically, you’re at the point of having to invent disaster scenarios to produce fear of the new to prevent it coming in.
I’m not the one inventing secure data coverage throughout the EEZ.
How does it decrease clients? People already use drugs, stolen groceries, and various commodities as pretty difficult-to-trace means of exchange. Hell, even ramen noodles have become a standard currency in US prisons, after cigarettes got banned.
And that’s not even getting into standardised slugs of gold used as a means of exchange.
We don’t have the technology to implement it anytime soon.
It doesn’t decrease the availability of trading to criminals. It inconveniences them slightly, and every innocent person who prefers to use cash.
Druggies might not be thieves, but drugs are already a means of exchange/barter.
You’ve obviously never bought precious or semi-precious metals.
It’s pretty easy, and all they have is my word for who I am. As long as they get the cash, it’s all good. And I read an article recently about how topline watch/jewellery manufacturers pay couriers to fly to the client state with the new watch as “personal jewellery”, thus avoiding all import/export duties. So to make your cashless society effective, now you’re going to have to control how much bling people can wear before it’s “for supply”.
And you only need to exchange barter goods for money for the side of your finances that’s legitimate. Even then, you’re not doing much more than what a fence does every day.
There is currently no public engagement about many issues of governmental privatization. It’s not going to suddenly change tact to accommodate an open and honest discussion around digital only currency
An open and honest discussion about digital only currency, fails and falls apart immediately as there is no single coherent point which will pass a logical sniff test. Evidenced by the illogical incoherent utterings of the ‘experts’ fronting the propaganda campaign
The procession of privately sponsored and paid for ‘experts’ will remain, along with the privately and industry authored legislation which will be rolled out and dutifully passed into law by the paid for governments who represent the same private agendas!
Those who comment here on the topic can see and understand the blatant negative consequences, should physical cash no longer be legal tender
You don’t. I’ve provided the reason why I believe you don’t!
The example of this discussion while singular in its nature is part of a plethora of threads which make up, what is becoming a transparent nefarious agenda. An old agenda which is becoming increasingly difficult to wave away using such terms as ‘conspiracy theory’
That the system as a whole needs to be changed (disposed of and built from the ground up) is a given should the majority of life on this planet wish to regard itself as ‘ free’ or ‘living’ in a near term timeline
The ‘digital agenda’ is at the very core of the roadmap that I see, and is totally incompatible with freedom and living organisms, and their continuance to exist. The planet and all inhabitants are functional in analogue. Resonant frequencies which support and enable life are analogue, and as such are incompatible with the ‘digital agenda’. Should I say the ‘digital agenda’ is incompatible with the natural world of analogue
The major issue as I see it, is that there is no visible path to how the required change will happen (current frameworks) and I don’t forsee a critical point reached before the lock down under digital technological dictatorship (that’s what it is) has taken a hold which can’t be rolled back without severe consequences and violence
Private entities will fight with all they have to continue the ‘deployments’
The articles written here about stepping out of the existing systems are good examples of what I agree needs to happen, but I don’t believe the numbers are high enough and it essentially becomes those who ‘exit’ and those who ‘remain’ (essentially giving mandate to the privately owned and controlled ‘democracys’ masquerading as the governments of entire nations of peoples
The tipping point required to halt the agendas in flight is reliant on those who ‘remain’ ….
This doesn’t sound life nefarious criminal activity to me.
Which, of course, isn’t the point.
The point is the ‘cash jobs’. You know the ones where the trady says that he’ll do the job for a few percent less if you pay cash – because it doesn’t go through his books and so doesn’t pay tax.
And I’m pretty sure that the drug dealer isn’t going to accept credit card or even bank payments either.
1 in 5 purchases are don in cash – all criminal purchases, that aren’t covered by those stats, are done in cash because it can’t be traced.
Now consider this. ~98% of all money is bank money. Bank money is 100% electronic money tracked by the banks. Considering that cash makes up such a small amount of money in the economy why are so many purchases still done in cash?
Of course, the private banks do hide the movement of money from the government.
See, it’s not just about going cashless but there also only being one issuer of money per country and that money only then exists on that issuers systems and cannot leave the country.
The current system has been destroyed by those who own and direct said system, and now they’re looking for a way to continue the plunder…
Cashless is the next step as directed by the same owners of the monetary and financial systems
The companies and agencies leading the propaganda campaign against ‘cash’ are the companies , institutions and agencies who will most benefit from the implementation of ‘digital only’,as well as the operational theft which will follow….should there be no hedge agaist the intended theft through digital
Cashless is the next step as directed by the same owners of the monetary and financial systems
You don’t leave it to the private sector. That’s simply a bad move.
In fact, the major problems we have with our financial system is that we leave it to the private sector. And they use it as a Ponzi Scheme.
Cash money is the hedge…
Cash is the only money that’s of government issuance. You make it so that digital money is also the only money of government issuance and that there is no bank money at all.
More info about the suspect in the Canadian mosque shooting. It seems he’s a pro-Trump white nationalist. But somehow Trumpets are using him as further lying justification for their travel ban on a few Muslim majority countries.
look white male shooters and mass murderers are ‘lone wolfs’ who have ‘legitimate grievances’ and ‘who are misunderstood’ and who ‘just lost the plot’ and and and.
its the others that you are to be afraid of. be the effn afraid.
Human ingenuity knows no bounds. Over at Whaleoil, the attacker was a Muslim, not a White nationalist, because he shouted Allahu Akbar. At Kiwiblog, the first comment on the thread says the propensity for bigots to kill Muslims is just another reason our country would be safer if we didn’t let Muslims immigrate.
Hawkes then takes this even further, suggesting that when certain apes started pursuing more complex resources — for example, by developing tools for hunting — grandmothers came about in order to ensure that small children weren’t left behind. With the kids provided for, natural selection was free to favor those with larger brains, thus paving the way for those apes to evolve into humans. And grandmothers’ style of upbringing, with its emphasis on social dependence, gave rise to “a whole array of social capacities that are then the foundation for the evolution of other distinctly human traits, including pair bonding, bigger brains, learning new skills and our tendency for cooperation.” Grandmothers, Hawkes says, are what make us human.
It’s so obvious that we’ve evolved to be a socialist species. Capitalism is against that nature.
Yup. Interesting and disturbing piece on a subject I’m not entirely unfamiliar with. But I’m struggling way too much to see how it’s connected to the topic of the post.
The American dream is back. We’re going to create an environment for small business like we haven’t had in many, many decades! pic.twitter.com/ZuJNaN6z8b
I wonder if the Green Party will be apologising to Hawkes Bay dairy farmers?
They were the ones blamed for the water pollution shambles in Havelock North, after all.
Indeed it seemed to received wisdom that it was all caused by the conversion of farms from sheep to dairy.
Looks as if Ms Delahunty’s crusade against dairying was misplaced.
“He knows, as we al do, that the real and lasting damage to our rivers is from stock in waterways, farm run-off, sewage and intensified dairy farms among others – he just won’t admit it,” Green Party water spokeswoman Catherine Delahunty said.” http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/health/2016/09/smith-havelock-north-speculation-unhelpful.html
They don’t lie so much as see what they want to see……..
I know a lot of people who will read a thing and inside their head it gets converted into something else…..and they don’t even realise they are doing it.
That’s the Hastings District Council water manager’s opinion of what caused the outbreak. From the same organisation that poisoned thousands of people. Not exactly independant is it..
Lots of interesting, insightful, engaged commentary across a range of topics and posts/OM on TS today. Am also noticing an absence of the RW trolls as well as noting who is currently banned. Making connections 😉
There are a few of us still floating around in the shadows, I just don’t disagree with a lot of what is being said (with the exception of Paul who thinks quotes from the New Zealand Initiative shows that right wing bias and propaganda in NZ media. I notice he doesn’t think quotes from Trade Unionists show a left wing bias…but talking to Paul is like talking to a brick wall, so I just let it slide)
Overall, making reasoned comments stops me commenting, so I concur, well done you!
I asked Danyl about it – he’s taking another break. I presume switching it to private is to prevent comments in the meantime. Hopefully it’s not permanent.
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The New Zealand First donations scandal trial began in the High Court this week. And it’s already showing why the political finance laws in this country need a significant overhaul. The trial is the outcome of a high-profile scandal that unfolded in the 2020 election year, when documents were made ...
The televised hearings into the storming of the Capitol are revealing to the American public a truth that was obvious to some of us from the outset – that the Trumpian “big lie” about a “stolen” election was part of a determined attempt at a coup that would have been ...
When in 1980 I introduced the term ‘Think Big’ to characterise the major (mainly energy) projects, I was concerned about the wider issue of state-led development strategies. From that perspective, the 1980s program was not our first ‘think big’. That goes back to Vogel in 1870, who wanted to develop ...
Malaysia will abolish the death penalty: The government has agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty, giving judges discretion in sentencing. Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the decision was reached following the presentation of a report on substitute sentences for the mandatory death penalty, which he presented ...
The Petitions Committee has reported back on a petition to introduce a capital gains tax on residential property, with a response that basicly boils down to "fuck off, we're not interested". Which is sadly unsurprising. According to the current Register of Members' Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests, the eight members ...
We Can Be Heroes: Ukrainian newly-weds pose for the cameras before heading-off to the front-lines. The Russo-Ukrainian War has presented young people with the inescapable reality of heroism. They see Volodymyr Zelensky in his olive-drab T-shirts; they see men and women their own age stepping-up to do their bit. They have ...
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed the irony of Boris Johnson's desperate attempts to cling onto power.I recall, almost immediately after Jermey Corbyn was elected, a bunch of memes based on the WW2 film Downfall, associating the mild manner Jermey Corbyn with Hitler in his final, ...
Terms and conditions may change For myriad reasons we'd like to think and know that dumping our outmoded and dangerous fossil fuel energy sources may be difficult and may require a lot of investment but that when we're done, it'll be back to business as usual in terms of what ...
Yesterday the Supreme Court quashed Alan Hall's conviction for murder, declaring it was a miscarriage of justice. In doing so, the Chief Justice found that "such departures from accepted standards must either be the result of extreme incompetence or of a deliberate and wrongful strategy to secure conviction" - effectively, ...
New Zealand may have finally jumped off its foreign policy tightrope act between China and the US. Last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern effectively chose sides, leaping into the arms of the US, at the expense of the country’s crucial relationship with China. That’s the growing consensus amongst observers of ...
Farmers are currently enjoying the highest prices and payouts in the history of this country. They will never be better placed to acknowledge that their wealth comes on the back of climate-changing emissions and causes serious amounts of water and soil pollution. Costs which everyone else is having to shoulder. ...
A ballot for two member's bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Electoral (Right to Switch Rolls Freely) Amendment Bill (Rawiri Waititi) Customs and Excise (Child Sex Offender Register Information Sharing) Amendment Bill (Erica Stanford) The first is also covered in Golriz Ghahraman's ...
It never rains but it pours. A day after we get the mysterious landscape of TirHarad, we finally get Empire Magazine’s image of the Amazon Celebrimbor, as played by Charles Edwards: Now, I would be lying if I said that this Celebrimbor looks in any way like the ...
The world is currently going through a surge of inflation - some of it due to the ongoing breakdown in the global supply chain, some of it due to disruptions to oil and food supply due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but much of it due to pure corporate profiteering. ...
The He Waka Eke Noa report has finally been released, and it shows that the entire project was a scam from start to finish. The scam starts with the title, which translates as "we are all in this together". But the whole purpose of the policy is to ensure that ...
Today is a Member's Day, and first up is the second reading of the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Bill. Like the recent Rotorua bill, this is going to be controversial, as it ditches the principle of fully-elected local bodies in favour of iwi appointments (and disproportionate ones at ...
As per Fellowship of Fans, we now have a couple more images from The Rings of Power, this time what appears to be some items from the upcoming Empire Magazine article. This first ...
In this Free Speech podcast Daphna Whitmore speaks to Nina Power – an English social critic, philosopher, and author of the new book “What Do Men Want”. Nina was previously a senior lecturer in Philosophy at Roehampton University in Britain. She writes for Telegraph, Art Review, and The Spectator and ...
Back in 2017, then-opposition leader Jacinda Ardern declared climate change to be "my generation's nuclear-free moment". Since then the government she leads has passed the Zero Carbon Act, legislating a net-zero (except for methane) 2050 target and strengthening our interim 2030 target. But that target has been rated as "insufficient" ...
That giant sucking noise is the sound of the jobs of our nurses, doctors, and midwives being vacuumed up by medical recruiters from New South Wales. The conservative Perrottet NSW state government has just announced ambitious aims to recruit more than 10,000 nurses, doctors and other staff as part of ...
A Man May Smile And Smile: Stan Rodger was an affable almost avuncular figure although it’s important to recall that no-one gets to the top of the then largest union in the country without exercising the skills commonly found in any political snake pit; ostensible bands of brothers and sisters ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The rising cost of gasoline and diesel is both a frequent headline and an ongoing financial drain for many, let alone a major issue in the upcoming November midterm elections. But unlike previous gas crunches, some consumers now have options ...
New Zealand’s motley collection of Public Holidays tell a story about who we are as a people. New Year’s, Waitangi Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day, Queen’s Birthday, Labour Day, Christmas. We’ve ...
In one of his interviews with the UK’s BBC News, President Volodymyr Zelensky had expressed some dismay at the West’s toleration of sanctioning Russia on the one hand, while with the other still taking considerable income and influence from Russia via a range of sources, such as fuel (gas ...
We’re proud to have delivered on our election commitment to establish a public holiday to celebrate Matariki. For the first time this year, New Zealanders will have the chance to enjoy a mid-winter holiday that is uniquely our own. ...
Proposed new legislation to reduce the risk that timber imported into Aotearoa New Zealand is sourced from illegal logging is a positive first step but it should go further, the Green Party says. ...
On World Refugee Day, the Green Party is calling on the new Minister for Immigration, Michael Wood to make up for the support that was not provided to people forced to leave their home countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
This week, we’ve marked a major milestone in our school upgrade programme. We've supported 4,500 projects across the country for schools to upgrade classrooms, sports facilities, playgrounds and more, so Kiwi kids have the best possible environments to learn in. ...
We’ve delivered on our election commitment to make Matariki a public holiday. For the first time this year, all New Zealanders will have the chance to enjoy a mid-winter holiday that is uniquely our own with family and friends. Try our quiz below, then challenge your whānau! To celebrate, we’ve ...
The Green Party says the removal of pre-departure testing for arrivals into New Zealand means the Government must step up domestic measures to protect communities most at risk. ...
The long overdue resumption of the Pacific Access Category and Samoan Quota must be followed by an overhaul of the Recognised Seasonal Employers (RSE) scheme, says the Green Party. ...
Lessons must be learned from the Government's response to the Delta outbreak, which the Ministry of Health confirmed today left Māori, Pacific, and disabled communities at greater risk. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to withdraw the proposed Oranga Tamariki oversight legislation which strips away independence and fails to put children at the heart. ...
As New Zealand reconnects with the world, we’re making the most of every opportunity to show we’re a great place to visit, trade with and invest in as part of our plan to grow our economy and build a secure future for all Kiwis. Just this week we saw further ...
Matariki tohu mate, rātou ki a rātou Matariki tohu ora, tātou ki a tātou Tīhei Matariki Matariki – remembering those who have passed Matariki – celebrating the present and future Salutations to Matariki I want to begin by thanking everyone who is here today, and in particular the Matariki ...
Oho mai ana te motu i te rangi nei ki te hararei tūmatanui motuhake tuatahi o Aotearoa, Te Rā Aro ki a Matariki, me te hono atu a te Pirīmia a Jacinda Ardern ki ngā mahi whakanui a te motu i tētahi huihuinga mō te Hautapu i te ata nei. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker will represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the second United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, which runs from 27 June to 1 July. The Conference will take stock of progress and aims to galvanise further action towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, to "conserve and sustainably use ...
The Government is boosting its partnership with New Zealand’s dairy sheep sector to help it lift its value and volume, and become an established primary industry, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “Globally, the premium alternative dairy category is growing by about 20 percent a year. With New Zealand food ...
The Government is continuing to support the Buller district to recover from severe flooding over the past year, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today during a visit with the local leadership. An extra $10 million has been announced to fund an infrastructure recovery programme, bringing the total ...
“The Government has undertaken preparatory work to combat new and more dangerous variants of COVID-19,” COVID-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall set out today. “This is about being ready to adapt our response, especially knowing that new variants will likely continue to appear. “We have undertaken a piece of work ...
The Government’s strong trade agenda is underscored today with the introduction of the United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Legislation Bill to the House, Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “I’m very pleased with the quick progress of the United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Legislation Bill being introduced ...
A ministerial advisory group that provides young people with an opportunity to help shape the education system has five new members, Minister of Education Chris Hipkins said today. “I am delighted to announce that Harshinni Nayyar, Te Atamihi Papa, Humaira Khan, Eniselini Ali and Malakai Tahaafe will join the seven ...
Austria Centre, Vienna [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] E ngā mana, e ngā reo Tēnā koutou katoa Thank you, Mr President. I extend my warm congratulations to you on the assumption of the Presidency of this inaugural meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. You ...
The Government is taking action to make sure homecare and support workers have the right to take a pay-equity claim, while at the same time protecting their current working conditions and delivering a pay rise. “In 2016, homecare and support workers – who look after people in their own homes ...
A law change passed today streamlines the process for allowing COVID-19 boosters to be given without requiring a prescription. Health Minister Andrew Little said the changes made to the Medicines Act were a more enduring way to manage the administration of vaccine boosters from now on. “The Ministry of Health’s ...
New powers will be given to the Commerce Commission allowing it to require supermarkets to hand over information regarding contracts, arrangements and land covenants which make it difficult for competing retailers to set up shop. “The Government and New Zealanders have been very clear that the grocery sector is not ...
Ministerial taskforce of industry experts will give advice and troubleshoot plasterboard shortages Letter of expectation sent to Fletcher Building on trademark protections A renewed focus on competition in the construction sector The Minister for Building and Construction Megan Woods has set up a Ministerial taskforce with key construction, building ...
Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson and Minister for Māori Crown Relations Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis announced today the inaugural Matariki public holiday will be marked by a pre-dawn hautapu ceremony at Te Papa Tongarewa, and will be a part of a five-hour broadcast carried by all major broadcasters in ...
Volunteers from all over the country are being recognised in this year’s Minister of Health Volunteer Awards, just announced at an event in Parliament’s Grand Hall. “These awards celebrate and recognise the thousands of dedicated health and disability sector volunteers who give many hours of their time to help other ...
New Zealand’s trade agenda continues to build positive momentum as Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor travels to Europe, Canada and Australia to advance New Zealand’s economic interests. “Our trade agenda has excellent momentum, and is a key part of the Government’s wider plan to help provide economic security for ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will leave this weekend to travel to Europe and Australia for a range of trade, tourism and foreign policy events. “This is the third leg of our reconnecting plan as we continue to promote Aotearoa New Zealand’s trade and tourism interests. We’re letting the world know ...
[CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Nga mihi ki a koutou. Let me start by acknowledging the nuclear survivors, the people who lost their lives to nuclear war or testing, and all the peoples driven off their lands by nuclear testing, whose lands and waters were poisoned, and who suffer the inter-generational health ...
New Zealand’s leadership has contributed to a number of significant outcomes and progress at the Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which concluded in the early hours of Friday morning after a week of intense negotiations between its 164 members. A major outcome is a new ...
The Government has delivered on its commitment to roll out the free methamphetamine harm reduction programme Te Ara Oranga to the eastern Bay of Plenty, with services now available in Murupara. “We’re building a whole new mental health system, and that includes expanding successful programmes like Te Ara Oranga,” Health ...
Kura and schools around New Zealand can start applying for Round 4 of the Creatives in Schools programme, Minister for Education Chris Hipkins and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni said today. Both ministers were at Auckland’s Rosehill Intermediate to meet with the ākonga, teachers and the professional ...
It is my pleasure to be here at MEETINGS 2022. I want to start by thanking Lisa and Steve from Business Events Industry Aotearoa and everyone that has been involved in organising and hosting this event. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to welcome you all here. It is ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, met in Wellington today for the biannual Australia - Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Minister Consultations. Minister Mahuta welcomed Minister Wong for her first official visit to Aotearoa New Zealand ...
The volatile global situation has been reflected in today’s quarterly GDP figures, although strong annual growth shows New Zealand is still well positioned to deal with the challenging global environment, Grant Robertson said. GDP fell 0.2 percent in the March quarter, as the global economic trends caused exports to fall ...
More than a million New Zealanders have already received their flu vaccine in time for winter, but we need lots more to get vaccinated to help relieve pressure on the health system, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “Getting to one million doses by June is a significant milestone and sits ...
It’s a pleasure to be here today in person “ka nohi ke te ka nohi, face to face as we look back on a very challenging two years when you as Principals, as leaders in education, have pivoted, and done what you needed to do, under challenging circumstances for your ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is successfully creating jobs and boosting regional economic growth, an independent evaluation report confirms. Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash announced the results of the report during a visit to the Mihiroa Marae in Hastings, which recently completed renovation work funded through the PGF. ...
Travellers to New Zealand will no longer need a COVID-19 pre-departure test from 11.59pm Monday 20 June, COVID-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “We’ve taken a careful and staged approach to reopening our borders to ensure we aren’t overwhelmed with an influx of COVID-19 cases. Our strategy has ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will travel to Rwanda this week to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali. “This is the first CHOGM meeting since 2018 and I am delighted to be representing Aotearoa New Zealand,” Nanaia Mahuta said. “Reconnecting New Zealand with the ...
We, the Ministers for trade from Costa Rica, Fiji, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, welcome the meeting of Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) partners on 15 June 2022, in Geneva to discuss progress on negotiations for the ACCTS. Our meeting was chaired by Hon Damien O’Connor, New Zealand’s Minister for ...
Internal Affairs Minister Jan Tinetti has today announced Caroline Flora as the new Chief Censor of Film and Literature, for a three-year term from 20 July. Ms Flora is a senior public servant who has recently held the role of Associate Deputy‑Director General System Strategy and Performance at the Ministry ...
Eleven projects are being funded as part of the Government’s efforts to prevent elder abuse, Minister for Seniors Dr Ayesha Verrall announced as part of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. “Sadly one in 10 older people experience elder abuse in New Zealand, that is simply unacceptable,” Ayesha Verrall said. “Our ...
More New Zealand homes, businesses and communities will soon benefit from fast and reliable connectivity, regardless of where they live, study and work,” Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications, David Clark said today. “The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us time and again how critical a reliable connection is for ...
Disarmament and Arms Control Minister Phil Twyford will lead Aotearoa New Zealand’s delegation to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) First Meeting of States Parties in Austria later this month, following a visit to the Netherlands. The Nuclear Ban Treaty is the first global treaty to make nuclear ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will this week welcome Australian Foreign Minister, Senator the Hon. Penny Wong on her first official visit to Aotearoa New Zealand as Foreign Minister. “I am delighted to be able to welcome Senator Wong to Wellington for our first in-person bilateral foreign policy consultations, scheduled for ...
State schools have made thousands of site, infrastructure and classroom improvements, as well as upgrades to school sports facilities and playgrounds over the past two and a half years through a major government work programme, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. The School Investment Package announced in December 2019 gave ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had a warm and productive meeting with Samoa Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa in Wellington, today. The Prime Ministers reflected on the close and enduring relationship the two countries have shared in the 60 years since the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, and since Samoa ...
“Food price data shows New Zealanders pay too much for the basics and today’s figures provide more evidence of why we need to change the supermarket industry, and fast," Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark says. Stats NZ figures show food prices were 6.8% higher in May 2022 compared ...
An independent body to strengthen and protect the integrity of the sport and recreation system is to be established. “There have been a number of reports over the years into various sports where the athletes, from elite level to grassroots, have been let down by the system in one way ...
Parents of babies needing special care can now stay overnight at Waitakere Hospital, thanks to a new Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU), Health Minister Andrew Little said today. The new SCBU, which can care for 18 babies at a time and includes dedicated facilities for parents, was opened today by ...
RNZ News Today’s Matariki celebrations signal the maturing of Aotearoa New Zealand, says Māori leader Sir Pou Temara. A ceremony attended by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and other dignitaries was held in Wellington to mark the first national public holiday in New Zealand for Matariki. On a still Wellington morning ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hans Westerbeek, Professor of International Sport Business, Head of Sport Business Insights Group, Victoria University Organisers of Wimbledon, the main draw of which begins on June 27, have found themselves in a quandary over their controversial decision to ban Russian and Belarusian ...
ANALYSIS:By Mike Lee, University of Auckland Aotearoa New Zealand will enjoy a new official public holiday on June 24, with the country marking Matariki — the start of the Māori New Year. But with it comes the temptation for businesses to use the day to drive sales. Some Māori ...
Pacific Media Centre newsdesk A new Asia Pacific social justice research and publication nonprofit has awarded a diversity communications trophy to a West Papuan postgraduate student who has advocated for the education and welfare of his fellow students. Several dozen Papuan students trying to complete their studies were stranded in ...
By Claudia Tally in Port Moresby The impartiality of officials who have been appointed to manage polling in the National Capital District during the Papua New Guinea general election next month has been questioned. In a first of its kind meeting in Port Moresby yesterday, candidates, police and the election ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mike Gardner, Flinders University Mike Gardner, Author provided Ever wondered about the secret to a long life? Perhaps understanding the lifespans of other animals with backbones (or “vertebrates”) might help us unlock this mystery. You’ve probably heard turtles live a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger Patulny, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Wollongong Shutterstock Despite widespread access to social media and videoconferencing technology, many Australians experienced heightened loneliness during COVID lockdowns, and continue to do so. We surveyed more than 2,000 Australians during 2020-21 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathomi Gatwiri, Senior lecturer, Southern Cross University Shutterstock For Black African young people in Australia, social media can be especially fraught – a place they witness footage of anti-Black violence, contend with an “othering” gaze and encounter racist trolling, posts ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thea van de Mortel, Professor, Nursing and Deputy Head (Learning & Teaching), School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University Shutterstock We’re now pretty used to swabbing our nose to test for COVID when we have a scratchy throat or new ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bjorn Sturmberg, Research Leader, Battery Storage & Grid Integration Program, Australian National University Shutterstock The Black Summer bushfires devastated parts of the Eurobodalla region in New South Wales. Then earlier this year, the area was hit by floods. As climate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Levido, Research Fellow – Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Recent outrage surrounding a young children’s toy “vlogger” set echoes moral panics of the past, particularly when words such as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Warwick Smith, Research economist, The University of Melbourne Australia’s new federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, spoke regularly in opposition about a well-being budget and the need to measure more than just the traditional economic indicators. He was even mocked for it by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacob Sunter, PhD Student, University of Adelaide Cybele O’Brien/ Getty Recently screened at the Sydney Film Festival, Fire Island is a rom-com inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the film breaking traditional conventions to feature gay romance as the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese will be on the international road again next week. He’ll be at the NATO summit in Madrid, where the war in Ukraine will obviously dominate the discussions, which will also canvass China and ...
The Crown has described the New Zealand First Foundation's founding document "a sham", as it closes its case against two men accused of mishandling political donations. ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Wealthy can buy access to power – and politicians don’t want this changedPolitical scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. The current New Zealand First Foundation trial in the High Court continues to show why reform is required when it comes to money in politics. The ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. The charts below are all to the same scale. Strictly speaking, they show seasonal mortality rather than excess mortality. The zero percent baseline represents low-season mortality rather than average mortality. FranceChart by Keith Rankin. French mortality data shows a big covid ‘spike’ in March 2020, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Peel, Director, Melbourne Climate Futures, The University of Melbourne A major new climate case to stop Woodside’s controversial Scarborough gas project going ahead has been filed by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) in the federal court this week. ACF lawyers argue ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gail Iles, Senior Lecturer in Physics, RMIT University Steve Gale (pilot) and Gail Iles (right) next to the Marchetti jet.Kieran Blair, Author provided Last Saturday, a two-seater SIAI-Marchetti S.211 jet took off from Essendon Fields Airport in Melbourne with an expert ...
New Zealand’s dairy industry, which is proving again it is the backbone of the country’s export industries, has been given fresh encouragement with the big co-op Fonterra signalling a record milk price for the season that has just opened. It comes as the payout for the just-finished season stands as ...
Buzz from the Beehive Damien O’Connor scored twice – he issued one statement as Minister of Trade and another as Minister of Agriculture – while rookie Emergency Relief Minister Kieran McNulty broke his duck, announcing flood relief for the West Coast. Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall put more runs on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is facing extradition to the United States after this was given the green light by the British Government. Assange faces charges of espionage over the publication of classified information ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Getty Images The concern about gangs and gang-related violence in New Zealand continues to be highly politicised. Government ministers are under constant media scrutiny and political pressure, with both sides trying to ...
The New Zealand Parliament has significantly limited people’s ability to take part in the only public consultation on Three Waters reform by refusing to accept email submissions. Instead of enabling people to submit via one of the simplest and ...
Shortages of nursing and social work staff in Aotearoa can only be met with strong training programmes. However, current moves to consolidate the curriculum in the new network of vocational education provision – Te Pūkenga - will fall short of ...
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning examine in detail what to expect from the NATO leaders’ summit, which includes addresses from the prime ministers of Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Why is NATO including addresses of NATO partners in this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Angela Conquet, PhD Candidate, The University of Melbourne Abby Murray/Rising Three years in the making, Rising’s much-anticipated first edition brought to Melbourne’s festival-deprived audiences a rich program featuring 225 events. With former Chunky Move founder and choreographer Gideon Obarzanek ...
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) has released new data indicating that New Zealand is falling seriously short when it comes to meeting human rights commitments across a number of areas. Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand ...
COLFO appreciates Police clarification that criminals had in their hands a list that may have contained details of at least 5,602 licensed firearms owners. Once the Police investigation is completed COLFO will ask members if they want a call ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The judge in the trial of Bruce Lehrmann, the staffer alleged to have raped Brittany Higgins, ruled on Tuesday, “regrettably and with gritted teeth”, that his trial will need ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gita Mishra, Professor of Life Course Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland Shutterstock New research shows women who have had a miscarriage or stillbirth, have an increased risk of stroke – when blood can’t get to the brain, ...
With nearly half of scheduled Capital Connection services since Monday 13 June having been bus replaced, delayed, or operating at reduced capacity due to mechanical issues, Kāpiti Coast commuter rail campaigner Gwynn Compton has called out the Government’s ...
“The Corrections Association (CANZ) has made pens with the phrase “Where’s Kelvin” printed on them and the response from Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis is that he wants one so he can frame it,” says ACT’s Corrections spokesperson ...
The experimental weekly series provides an early indicator of employment and labour market changes in a more timely manner than the monthly employment indicators series. Key facts The 6-day series includes jobs with a pay period equal to or less than ...
More than 5,500 people felt so aggrieved by the controversial parts of the Fisheries Amendment Bill, they wrote unique submissions opposing it. The bill has massive implications for fisheries sustainability in New Zealand The new legislation would force through ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Wayland, Senior Lecturer Social Work, University of New England Shutterstock About a year ago, many of us were in lockdown. State premiers fronted the media every day to reveal how many people had tested positive for COVID and how ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Grose, Climate projections scientist, CSIRO Shutterstock It’s an offhand joke a lot of us make – it’s freezing, can we get a bit more of that global warming right about now? But how should we really conceive our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Renee Adams, Professor of Finance, University of Oxford Shutterstock The gender diversity of thought leadership in finance is lower than in most other academic fields, our research shows. Finance ranks 132nd out of 175 fields with a representation of only ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phil Lewis, Professor of Economics, University of Canberra Australian shoppers are facing a crisis in the fresh-food aisles. Iceberg lettuces that cost $2.80 a year ago have doubled, or tripled, in price. Brussel sprouts that cost $4 to $6 a kilogram are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Sussex, Fellow, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University As Russia’s war in Ukraine becomes a quagmire of attrition, Western leaders are slowly coming to two realisations about Vladimir Putin’s intentions. First, Russia’s war against Ukraine won’t be over soon, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Kathryn Campbell, has been replaced in a shake-up of federal departmental heads announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The new secretary will be Jan ...
Current City Councillor with local government management experience, stretching beyond thirty years, says enough is enough, it’s time for change in our city’s elected leadership and culture. Napier [City] has a proud and prominent history, ...
As Chris Hipkins apologises to Charlotte Bellis for comments about her MIQ application, it can be revealed the government dropped a similar case days before a scheduled court hearing. ...
The New Zealand Food Network (NZFN) celebrated National Volunteer Week 2022 with the launch of its new Selwyn Operation. Earlier this week, the NZFN and Volunteering Canterbury hosted the first volunteer group at the new warehouse facility, which ...
As Chris Hipkins apologises to Charlotte Bellis for comments about her MIQ application, it can be revealed the government dropped a similar case days before a scheduled court hearing. ...
Opposition Leader Christopher Luxon has shown he is a fast learner. Where earlier he often ended on the receiving end in exchanges with the Prime Minister in Parliament, now it is the Prime Minister who who can be seen back-pedalling, Take, for example, pressures in the health system which are ...
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will approach this episode in two parts.First we will detail what to expect from the NATO leaders’ summit, which includes addresses from the prime ministers of Japan, Australia and New Zealand.Why is NATO ...
Matters relating to governance, ownership, and accountability are all part of the Water Services Entities Bill, which represents the next stage in the Government’s Three Waters reform programme. Nelson City Council is working on a submission to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timo Rissanen, Associate professor, University of Technology Sydney Shutterstock Today we make more clothing than ever before. And the driver for this is primarily economic, rather than human need. Over the past decade, the term “circular economy” has entered the fashion ...
Buzz from the Beehive The state is flexing its muscle in the building and supermarket industries. In the building industry the intervention can be criticised as long overdue and unlikely to do much good any time soon to remedy a crippling shortage of plasterboard. A Ministerial taskforce has been set ...
Tēnā koe Chris, On behalf of the schools in our care we are writing to you to express our thoughts and concerns as the Principals of Invercargill Primary Schools. Since the inception of Tomorrow’s Schools, over thirty years ago, education in ...
Unions representing thousands of care and support workers across Aotearoa New Zealand say the renewed care and support legislation that sets workers’ pay rates will leave workers and the sector in crisis for longer. The legislation to amend the Support ...
While the country prepares to celebrate the first Matariki holiday weekend, incompetent mis-management by Auckland Transport will see the popular Britomart to Onehunga train services permanently ruined. “Through silence, zero public consultation and general ...
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The New Zealand Institute is a far right neoliberal think tank.
How come its pronouncements get so much airtime on RNZ?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201831413/immigration-expert-calls-for-a-levy-on-migrants
Same reasons hooten, farrar, boag, franks etc all get airtime, to push the themes and messages to manufacture consent.
Which shows that right wing bias and propaganda exists in all Management of NZ msm media, including RNZ.
consider how easy it is….you have (alleged) experts waiting and willing to give (informed?) comment…..or you can do the analysis yourself…sometime in the never never when its too late.
its not as if there is much on offer of formal alternative analysis….so msm conspiracy? unlikely…..reason the right fund it? of course
Don’t overlook supporting Scoop.
Give Radionz their due, when they aren’t telling us the latest horror from the USA, full coverage, of fire, flood and pestilence, they are digging out some interesting stuff using OIA. They are trying.
@ TC, While I agree Hooton etc get air time to push an acceptable agenda, I think the manufacturing consent component is more subtle.
Most people understand Hooton and friends are from, and are promoting a specific political view, so in my mind not all that threatening politically.
What I would say is more in line with the ‘manufacturing consent’ theory in regards to RNZ, would be some of the following, you can add your own….
1.Having the markets referred to and analyzed constantly all day.
But at the same time no constant updates on labour/workers news, in fact no daily news or views on workers issues at all.
2. Having bank economists as the main commentators on the economy.
3. Having that useless centrist Mike Williams on the Monday politics with Kathryn Ryan. RNZ are prepared to have a right wing ideologue like Hooton, which I think is fine, but not prepared to have the Left wing equivalent.
So the Left, with Williams speaking for it, generally come out looking weak and ineffectual, ( which sadly, probably pretty accurately describes the political playing field now actually).so no indepth ideological debates to be had on that show.
4. You only have to look at the presenters, Guyon Espiner, Susie Ferguson, Jesse Mulligan, Kathryn Ryan, when was the last time any of these four really held power to account? a pretty rare occurrence to my knowledge.
The only saving grace is John Campbell with his quite effective dripping tap technique.
Far right neo liberal think tank huh?
And how come Labour are ‘certainly open to the idea’ and ‘one they would definitely look at’?
Are you implying that Labour are open to far right neo liberal ideas there Paul?
Yes, sadly they are.
They are open to then and have been for 30+ years. That’s why their policies always look so much like National’s.
Labour spouts neoliberal dogma, yes.
And TVNZ, another win for the right wing backed by their presstitute media.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/migration-big-bright-spot-in-new-zealand-according-report
NZ business doesn’t want immigration questioned, its worth too much for them.
The New Zealand Institute is the Business Roundtable, rebranded.
Far Right Think Tank says immigration in NZ is ok
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/01/30/far-right-think-tank-says-immigration-in-nz-is-ok/
A brief history of the vampire squid Goldman Sachs’ entanglements with the US government and how its spawn have been welcomed into Trump’s swamp to continue sucking the country dry.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-goldman-sachs-effect_us_588eabf7e4b0b065cbbcd9d9?section=us_politics
Went to the cricket yesterday, a fine day spent becoming sun kissed little solar babies! But anyway, there were 12 of us, and as they were mostly average Joe kiwi blokes at the pub before hand I did a quick survey as to what people thought of Trump’s immigration ban. Only two people (and me) thought it was a bad thing. All the rest supported it. I suspect, depressingly, Trump’s ban will turn out to be rather popular.
Perhaps people just didn’t want to talk politics on such a beautiful day. You and I disagree on almost everything but even I think his plan is “too far” or at least could have been implemented a hell of a lot better.
But it was a beautiful family day and a lot of people wouldn’t want to ruin it having an argument or discussion on trump that could cause arguments.
That’s right Sanctuary, and the sad fact is that’s what all this promotion of sport, sport and more sport is all about ….. bread and circuses to numb the masses.
Actually no – it’s just that some people enjoy sport.
Its entertaining, it’s a fun day out with the family. Quality time with kids.
Not some vast conspiracy to numb masses and stop them thinking.
Ffs – do you even believe what you type.
Some reading for you, James.
It’s usually best not to take a strong viewpoint until some research on the subject has been done.
Ffs, to put it more plainly , your average avid sports fan is a boofhead.
I think that’s a bit harsh.
Wilfully or naively ignorant, I’d say.
OK Paul, I will put it in a question.
What’s more important in this Country – Rugby or Politics ?
As to your second sentence…..yes that covers many basically unacceptable excuses for not getting involved in democracy.
You know people can like and be involved in both right ?
bit of a narrow view there Garibaldi
A narrow view maybe, and a minority view in godzone when compared to avid sports fans. However I am not going to resile from my belief that sport is over emphasised deliberately ( by the likes of Sky, ‘professionalism’ and politicians) in the knowledge that it is escapism/entertainment to keep the masses happy whilst it encourages the winner/loser mentality. I am all for individual excellence but the tribal team/nation aspect is nigh on war.
The winner/loser mentality plays right into the Capitalistic free market/neoliberalism agenda – leading to more CC and economic unsustainability and boom/bust cycles, and to our impending total demise.
We need a cooperative society, not a combatative, resource depleting, winner takes all doomed situation like we currently have.
The general population seem to be ‘wilfully or naively ignorant’ of the connection I am pointing out.
The decline of Empire looks the same, whether it be in Roman times or today.
Their gladaiators, our sports ‘stars.’
Will the outgoing PM speak out about Agent Orange.. NOOOO of course not, he would rather reassure people that it won’t happen here, that’s it. Gutless, the leader of NZ is an embarrassment, we need a strong leader, one that condemns the bad decisions of other leaders, English is not that person.
Jack Tame interviewed English this morning..
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/why-youre-not-prepared-take-stronger-stance-jack-tame-puts-bill-english-spot-over-trumps-travel-ban?auto=5303064130001
He just had a train wreck of an interview with Espiner on Morning Report too.
If he was asked “are you indecisive “he would reply “Look I’m not sure whether I am or not”.– That’s our pm.
People with no responsibility for the good of the country shoot their mouths off, but English tolerates idiots and thinks about the effect on the country of a fruitcake PM or President yakking on. Espiner was just his usual bloody minded self asking unreasonable questions.
What were the unreasonable questions that the interviewer asked him?
One does not have to shoot ones mouth off to make a stand against religious persecution.
I do not have a transcript but the saying comes to mind “Fools rush in, or expect others to, while wise men consider matters” I know who I consider to be wise in this situation.
True, but fools multiply when wise men remain silent.
Link for RNZ interview with English from this morning.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/323446/'i'm-not-here-to-defend-the-policy'-pm
Blood stained toddler…where is he/she now?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11791637
Good on Smalley for (eventually) speaking up, I suppose…
….actually, nah.
She should have spoken up in a loud clear voice to the staff at reception and in triage that there was a bloodied child who needed attention right NOW.
Mum may or may not be known to those at A&E…and this happens….but bringing in a child in that condition…
1) she either knew it would attract attention and she would finally get the help she needs, or
2) she doesn’t give a shit about her child’s condition.
Either way…help should have been on hand.
If/when this wee one becomes a statistic….
I wonder what would happen if A&E went on strike like junior doctors recently did … would they get more money to adequately staff the A&E at known busy times?
Heaven forbid that strike happens when my family need help BUT all this cost cutting by having more bean counters and not enough medical staff is crazy.
The BCs cannot say X number can be seen in Y time because good doctors give each patient the time they need for their problem and the rest have to wait … the only answer is to have ‘spare capacity’ rather than saving money.
Scary stuff coming out of the White house.
“On Inauguration Day, Trump apparently filed his candidacy for 2020. Beyond being unusual, this opens up the ability for him to start accepting “campaign contributions” right away. Given that a sizable fraction of the campaign funds from the previous cycle were paid directly to the Trump organization in exchange for building leases, etc., at inflated rates, you can assume that those campaign coffers are a mechanism by which US nationals can easily give cash bribes directly to Trump. Non-US nationals can, of course, continue to use Trump’s hotels and other businesses as a way to funnel money to him.
(6) Finally, I want to highlight a story that many people haven’t noticed. On Wednesday, Reuters reported (in great detail) how 19.5% of Rosneft, Russia’s state oil company, has been sold to parties unknown. This was done through a dizzying array of shell companies, so that the most that can be said with certainty now is that the money “paying” for it was originally loaned out to the shell layers by VTB (the government’s official bank), even though it’s highly unclear who, if anyone, would be paying that loan back; and the recipients have been traced as far as some Cayman Islands shell companies.
Why is this interesting? Because the much-maligned Steele Dossier (the one with the golden showers in it) included the statement that Putin had offered Trump 19% of Rosneft if he became president and removed sanctions. The reason this is so interesting is that the dossier said this in July, and the sale didn’t happen until early December. And 19.5% sounds an awful lot like “19% plus a brokerage commission.”
Conclusive? No. But it raises some very interesting questions for journalists to investigate.”
https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/trial-balloon-for-a-coup-e024990891d5#.6gedv9r1w
There’s a post up too,
A lot of energy and thinking here goes into present news. politics and future elections, and discussing present and future policies needed. Some space also provides stories about smart and/or clever ideas that advance our living standards, education and thinking.
(I put these separately because our education system has not been spent on thinking and discussing so that we end up understanding our society, economy, and our place in that of the world and how we all fit into the environment on the planet, or not.)
TS could be a place where there was some space for discussion in a post about ideas for better living, indeed eventually, for better surviving. Some people need to be thinking beyond our next wrestling match with lordly politicians and the wealth accumulators, and the dogma of those who want us to stop thinking and be obedient to the latest fashionable cult or religious edict made well before the industrial revolution and the useful art of making toilet paper, flush toilets and hand washing. These have been vital in preventing plagues, but as shown in Havelock North, are like many of our systems are under stress or deteriorating.
I would like to be part of an on-line discussion group who all read a certain book about human directions and our fading future, and then put up a post and discuss the points we have taken. If mickey savage, ie Greg, does pursue his politics in real time it would bring other important topics to the blog. There would be another avenue for consideration and discussion of thought. It would bring ‘disruption’ ie a different approach.
I was thinking that EF Schumaker “Small is Beautful: a study of economics as if people mattered’ book which was praised some years ago, and which I never read, would be a good one to start on. (On Trade me under title.)
It would be good if even two or three commenters would group and take a month to read it and make notes as they go along with ideas that they would be positive about, and some that they might enlarge on. One of us would have to set up a post and if no-one else wanted to do that I would stop thinking about it and actually learn to do it and moderate it.
There are some deep thinkers and some very concerned people who write here. It would be good if we could concentrate our brains to light some ideas for the future. Anyone who will do this please indicate by reply on Open Mike and we can co-ordinate. If I have annoyed someone in the past, remember that the idea is sovereign and sharing thoughts with people disagreed with is essential for getting broad understanding. If we only take notice of people we agree with we never get wider perspective.
Do you want to do some guest posts along these lines?
Rob
Yes I think that I may have to do that, but I like the idea of having concentrated thinking being done ahead of the actual post, rather than the post being set up as the subject du jour and getting 5 comments of varying perspicacity, or words of that nature !
When it comes to examining the weighty problems of humankind, and how to manage ourselves, the one sentence comment from some idiot savant doesn’t get us far. I have ideas, posters have ideas, authors in the mainstream have ideas. Commenters have ideas, and some get raised in Open Mike, and never taken further, so hope having pre-reading would result in some better response and could lead to further research from links that people would find.
With the decline of government for the people, we citizens need to find our own experts and make our own draft policies for the country’s betterment then lobby for ones that are therapeutic of our ills, not just reactionary to events. The corporates already draft legislation to suit themselves as a small but influential group. We ordinary citizens are a large but not influential group and have to get smart, or get trodden on. Sort of like the giant foot that I think Terry Gilliam drew for Monty Python, with us being like sticky mud between the toes.
Please can anyone, either commenter, or reader, or briefly passing through who would like to apply their mind to reading an agreed book, and then putting forward intelligence on a dedicated post, please indicate now or in the next few days. If there is silence I will have to draw the conclusion that we are mainly a nation of fence sitters, and cargo cult recipients, with no backbone to make change and demonstrate our own analytical skills in humanities and development. We can contact through the blog, don’t have to have personal involvement but personally contact each other’s names or pseudos on this blog.
I want to know now if we have enough people who are not already fully stretched on one area of interest. There are some like that, but many who are marking time while others do the thinking for them. And likely it won’t be appropriate, or too late.
How many would like to be in on building knowledge so as to develop new ways of managing ourselves in the future that is getting ever difficult and coming closer all the time.
I haven’t had a proper read through this thread yet, but I’ve been thinking about a book or film club idea for TS so would love to follow your lead on this. I’m interested in the Schumacher book too. Thanks for bringing this up. I’m away out for a while, hope to catch up later.
Weka
Glad you like the sound of it. It would be good if it came within your ideas for advancing the value of The Standard. So look forward to your thoughts. I’m going out for a while. But I’ll be back.
weka
Including us two that makes seven who have shown interest. So if most were willing and we got a modus operandi going, we could get started.
I like EF Schumaker as an idea but people might need time to get a copy. There is one in the stack at the local Nelson library, there are new ones under $20 from a bulk book merchant in Hamilton, I have one in my books somewhere but…. Second hand bookshops are thinner on the ground than they used to be. We might need two weeks between books for all to get copies. For some of these older authors Gutenberg might have them.
Practicality might result in getting an easily available one to start off with.
Rob was talking about guest posts, I like the idea of that when we have got some good quotes to a=start discussing and arguing about.
I just got an ebook copy from Amazon for around $10. It looks like about a 4 hour read. Cheap paper copies there too. It looks like it’s available in many libraries, so I would expect it to be available on interloan (that’s something like $6 or $7 I think).
A couple of initial thoughts. We can put up a post introducing the idea and the first book. I’m thinking Sunday is good. It’s often a quiet day but it continues with the sunday magazine idea we used for putting Robert Guyton’s posts there. People can get to know that we have those kinds of posts on that day. (someone used to do a Sunday Reading posts, a kind of round up of the week). I can put it up on a busier day, but on those days people tend to go for the topical posts.
In the post we put links to how to access the book and how long it takes to read (that’s available online), and a timeframe for reading, and maybe ask for who is interested. We need to make that encouraging 🙂
Then x weeks later, I put up another post which is the discussion one. This discussion can primarily be for the people that read the book, but I think it would make sense for the conversation to be broad enough that anyone can join in if their interest gets piqued.
Is that the kind of thing you were thinking of, or something else?
The more work that other people can do the better. I’ve got a pretty full load of things to be doing here already, so if all I have to do is put the post up that’s easy, but if I have to write a lot of copy etc that’s more work and less likely to happen.
What I would need for the first post is:
Content of the post (intro and explanation, how to find the book etc)
Any relevant links
A photo for the front page
A blurb for the front page
weka
That sounds practical and likely to be supported. The Sunday reads in my opinion didn’t get as many comments as deserved and I myself didn’t get to read them often. This would be similar I think, in intention, but more structured, and likely to get more attention over
a longer period.
So Always on a Sunday would be just the job. Following on Robert Guyton’s input which was so good with continuing episodes , ‘The Knowledge’ club would be sporadically continuing each month but we could weekly put some favourite quote of what we had read already just for general interest at that stage.
It’s Wednesday. and what you suggest about having an initial post about it on Sunday would be good. With explanations of how to access book etc. But I would like to know first that there was a core group who are intending to read the entire book and discuss its points at the end. Anyone could join in at any time reading some or all of the book, but we do need a core group going right through.
I would like to call for hands-up of the initial core participants (it would be best to have minimum of four), to make a reasonable discussion at end. I’ve seen Paul, Pat, Asleep While Walking saying good idea. Macro likes the idea but has to source the book again but might do a reprise (I thought Schumaker because he was famous and first in his time Macro), KJT has commented referring to UBI, which looks like it will get highlighted again. And Weka and greywarshark.
So can we have confirmation of who, whom will start us off and get welcomed onboard? Hi there.
Once we have the core number of readers and commenters, then this list from you Weka which I can probably do by 12 February – may need to ask advice for some things. And we would be set and off – and if anyone wants to work on it to get it up faster then good.
Weka’s list
What I would need for the first post is:
Content of the post (intro and explanation, how to find the book etc)
Any relevant links
A photo for the front page
A blurb for the front page
Everyone needs access to a copy, (eg weka’s advice on how and which outlet to access E-books or other internet offerings.) (And if hard copy from library – I’ll enquire how long it takes to get inter-loan and will initiating library send direct to your address as provided by your home library? This could be helpful for the disabled, or people distant from their own library.) Buy hard copy – local bookshop? Amazon weka says E-book $10 and hard copies, and on Trme about $17 from Hamilton address quickly if paid quickly – look under Small is Beautiful.
In our discussions of whatever book when we quote pieces we must give chapter sources and page or topic references with our response which builds our ideas on or against. This would follow the usual practice of confirming and enabling reference to our source. Which you would want weka and would help to keep ourselves and readers
on track.
I think this would be valuable to us individually and to add to the political nous in the country. I have been concerned that serious and important background info often gets 12 comments, while the latest political gaffe or flagrant or fragrant behaviour gets 112.
We are watching the lampooning of our political system and the clowns are entertaining us, keeping us occupied and away from our important business of looking after all our own interests as citizens in our country. It’s fascinating, sometimes grotesque to watch but some of us have to turn away from the view, and work out what we can do together to repair this crumbling long-running show of democracy-as-we-know-it.
ok, let’s go for Sunday the 12th as the first intro post. That will avoid Waitangi weekend and associated posts too.
So for the first post we need:
Content
intro to the whole idea, keep it succinct, maybe 3 paragraphs?
naming and a brief intro to the first book
Links to who Schumacher is (note spelling)
wikipedia
Guardian review
Info and links on how to get book:
Your ideas
Te Puna search for interloans/which libraries have the book
Amazon link for ebook and cheap 2nd hand
Other option links?
Other links?
Front page photo
Front page blurb
I will need all that in a single document, ordinary text. If any of the content is a direct quote, please put it in ” ” and put a link at the end of the sentence/paragraph for where it was taken from.
I’m happy to help out while you organise that too, just ask or comment here.
As for getting people to commit, I think we can ask again. Try today’s OM, and I’d suggest keeping to the point and making the comment easy to read and engage with. However I also think there will come a point where we just need to do that work and see what happens.
weka
Okay first step I have put comment on Open Mike 1/2 No. 17 asking for keen Standardistas. So that’s all for now as I have to do something else. This could be good once its going. I remember some really good and long discussions around CV’s ideas and also Bill’s.
nice one grey, I’ll follow on there too.
Assume (one shouldn’t) the book is “Small is beautiful” E F Schumacher…?
Pat
Yes. I thought that one to give an overview from the past – he died in 1977 I think. He sounds like a nice guy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._F._Schumacher
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/e/e_f_schumacher.html
I thought a harmonica action – expand, contract to NZ (Rosemary suggested Marilyn Waring could be next) then out to someone like Joseph Stiglitz? world economics, then perhaps Max Rushbrooke here in NZ etc.
That would open our minds away from strictly NZ. Say we kept to the local, global then repeat but we took a vote or a priority list of authors each time, say once a month then two week break then again.
Great idea.
greywarshark – OK, sounds interesting! I don’t always catch what’s going on in comments, so I’ll email you…
r0b
Are you interested in being in the first reading group? If you have time, as well as writing posts, as well as whatever else you find to pass the time away!
Please don’t tell me what as I think I would be exhausted hearing. But over a month you could find the time perhaps, weka says it doesn’t take long to read, but of course the reading would have to have some note taking of points as well, even keywords, and that would slow it up. And also lead to links being included to give direction to the points.
I thought I’d ask though you are no doubt busy, and if not this time, then at a later time perhaps. Could you advise thanks.
Hi – just leaving now in a rush – complicated – email me?
What a good idea greywarshark. I read posts and comments here on TS and sometimes get the impression that folk seem to think that they are saying something new. That their ideas are novel and groundbreaking….when in reality most of these thoughts have been said and/or writ before….often by people who have spent a lifetime in active research and discussion in their particular field.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Alongside Schumaker (and perhaps ahead IMHO 🙂 ) would be anything written by our own Marylin Waring. http://www.marilynwaring.com/html/books.html
“Safe drinking water counts for nothing. A pollution-free environment counts for nothing. Even some people – namely women – count for nothing. This is the case, at least, according to the United Nations System of National Accounts. Author Marilyn Waring, former New Zealand M.P., now professor, development consultant, writer, and goat farmer, isolates the gender bias that exists in the current system of calculating national wealth.
As Waring observes, in this accounting system women are considered ‘non-producers’ and as such they cannot expect to gain from the distribution of benefits that flow from production. Issues like nuclear warfare, environmental conservation, and poverty are likewise excluded from the calculation of value in traditional economic theory. As a result, public policy, determined by these same accounting processes, inevitably overlooks the importance of the environment and half the world’s population.
Counting for Nothing, originally published in 1988, is a classic feminist analysis of women’s place in the world economy brought up to date in this reprinted edition, including a sizeable new introduction by the author. In her new introduction, the author updates information and examples and revisits the original chapters with appropriate commentary. In an accessible and often humorous manner, Waring offers an explanation of the current economic systems of accounting and thoroughly outlines ways to ensure that the significance of the environment and the labour contributions of women receive the recognition they deserve.”
…and if like me you haven’t got the book (on my list when scouring the second had bookshops) you can watch….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS2nkr9q0VU
When Trump et al have all moved on to wherever defunct politicians slope off to we, the people will still be here trying not only to survive another day, week, month…but also doing what we can to make the lives of our kids (and their kids) better and more secure.
And we must learn to do this irrespective of which coloured flag flies atop our parliamentary seat. We do get so bound to the ‘we MUST change the government’ narrative instead of concentrating on what you, greywarshark, suggest giving space for “stories about smart and/or clever ideas that advance our living standards, education and thinking.”
I fear though, the usual ‘I know best voices’ will prevail here and elsewhere on the net…as history appears to have been deliberately ignored as the world seems hell bent on repeating it. 🙁
Rosemary McDonald
I am interested in people who will opt in, not just people who think it is a good idea. So will you opt in Rosemary? Marilyn Waring would be good too. Would you join the reading, discussing circle?? If the post was moderated effectively, only useful discussion that added to the discourse would go in so the usual riff raff would have to shape up or ship out.
Anyone can comment, critique, it’s essential that some actually do the hard yards of getting informed on the same text and subject and then raise points of disagreement, doubt, positive visions if…so and so was done, and how lack of finances could be circumvented etc.
Looking at achievable objects, how to avoid having Johnny come latelies take over and drive the project too fast, or too far into middle class materialisms, or too idealistically and rigidly, purely etc. Tailoring projects to allow for human nature, and climate change, and continuity, and rewarding and respecting all participants in suitable ways. Those are things that wise thinkers would be incorporating in ideas for projects.
How to provide jobs for ourselves in the future would be one of the things to consider. There is the constant theme that this or that is going to happen and that’s the word so get used to it. We have knowledge from education and wisdom but the poem of Ozymandias sorrowfully reminds us of our overweening desires and fantastic visions. That poem came from the discovery of a creation of Rameses BC 13th century. So can we so many centuries later actually see above those grand confabulations, and think as pragmatic idealists. As Rutherford said “We haven’t much money, so we need to think”.
In antiquity, Ozymandias (Ὀσυμανδύας) was a Greek name for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II. Shelley began writing his poem in 1817, soon after the announcement of the British Museum’s acquisition of a large fragment of a statue of Ramesses II from the thirteenth century BC, leading some scholars to believe that Shelley was inspired by this.
The 7.25-ton fragment of the statue’s head and torso had been removed in 1816 from the mortuary temple of Ramesses at Thebes
Have a look back on the UBI conversations on the Standard.
A group of us, Authors and commentators, not always people who agreed with each other, agreed this was one thing we could be united on.
I think we should again get behind the UBi, and other solutions, of course?
KJT
Yes I will thanks.
KJT
And here is something I found that is a long standing and presumably experienced project team. was called the Intermediate Project or something to help adapt to intermediate technology – I saw it on EF Schumaker site – Practical Action –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Practical_Action.
When I was at Waikato Uni, the engineering department were looking at technologies transferable to third world countries, with inadequate infrastructure and capabilities. Small scale water treatment, for example.
KJT
I don’t know whether you would consider it a genuine engineering project but this morning I came upon a Greenpeace? info leaflet about the work that had been done on constructing low cost toilets using local materials after studying 500 people going to the toilet to advise on the best design!
I am not sure how they did this, probably studying the aftermath.
They worked out a plan, it has plaited palm leaf sides on wooden frame, a 100mm vent pipe going high covered with flyproof gauze, and can be shifted to another spot when hole is filled. I see that as a beautiful and elegant design myself. What do you think?
And while we are communicating – can you come into the first reading group looking at E F Schumacher over a month with a big discussion on his ideas at end? We could do with a practical innovative open mind on this. Could you let me know?
Yes.
KJT
Great. I’m trying to crank myself up to present it with some formality.,
with Weka’s help. Watch this space!
It would be great to revisit the UBI this year. I’ve got some half finished posts from around the time of Labour’s discussion paper. Maybe we could republish some of the previous ones and invite people to take the idea forward. We could do a week on the UBI at The Standard.
“I am interested in people who will opt in, not just people who think it is a good idea. ”
Tomorrow my partner and I head off into the wild blue yonder after 3 months of enforced houseboundness. Too busy for the likes of us over the silly season, having to compete with the thousands of others for dwindling free/cheap camping spots.
Our Bus is basic. Very basic. Living in a space measuring 7mx2m certainly forces one to think very carefully about what is needed to ensure a tolerable standard of living and what is mere want. And while other Brethren of the Eternal Highway have embraced mobile internet, we have not…considering it a luxury and an unnecessary extravagance. Our 300w of solar on the roof removes the need (over the sunny months) for us to scuttle into a commercial camp every 7-10 days to plug into the 240V to charge our house batteries and do some internetting…so any engagement in forums such as this will be limited to the occasional hook up via the Aotearoa People’s Network at the local library if we should wander into a town. We do not have an ipad, android, smartphone etc…just a couple of unsmart 3G flip phones…one for each of the major networks.
It is not unusual for us to have no cellphone coverage either. And we don’t have telly. We read, a lot. And listen to Natrad…and Sport Radio (for the cricket, because relationships only survive close proximity if the other person’s peccadilloes are tolerated and accommodated).
But don’t be concerned that I will be bereft of intelligent and informed discourse on politics, history and social issues in general as the regions are teeming with interesting folk who make very pertinent observations and have formed credible opinions about life the universe and everything.
Usually while waiting for the fish to bite. 😉
And the conversations we have with young and not so young overseas travelers…coming to the realisation what a small world we live in and how remarkably similar we all are.
So no, I can’t commit to opting in on a regular basis, and it would be rude to pop in now and again like a johnny come lately riff raff type who comments and runs without engaging with the whole discussion. But I will be checking in now and again to see how such a project is shaping up because, I do think it is a goer. 🙂
Rosemay
I am talking about a study circle. And if you can spend some of your time while you are travelling reading and then contribute when we have our post at the finish that will be fine.
And if a number of people can start doing this, each time we had another study subject you or anyone else could come in for that. That is all I am talking about. Spending time concentrating on one thing, as a special project apart from other activities and input.
Cool, you got me wondering about your solar power system, I wouldn’t mind playing around with something similar. Did you setup the solar power yourselves? Was it easy? Do you store the power in deep cycle batteries? What appliances can you run from the 300W panel?
You’re probably busy trying to get ready for your holiday, but thought I’d ask anyway 😉
Hiya maui…not holiday as much as normal life for us!
We had the Bus fitted out by the experts…but many clever folk do their own work. Lots of help/advice on line…ask mr. google “motorhomes/rv solar power”….some of those guys are real technophiles. I’ll happily do plumbing…but I’ll leave the sparky stuff to the experts!
We started off with 80W of solar and doubled that as $$$ came available…one of the reasons for Bus dwelling was because house living too expensive….we can save, living in the Bus. Anyway, 2x80w panels not quite enough to keep pump, toilet, 12v fridge and lights going and charge the batteries on the power assist wheelchair wheels on a dull day…so after the solar controller folded (you need a controller able to take the maximum input from your panels) we upgraded to a 30A…then added another 140w panel. Total keeps our 4 aging deep cycle batteries topped up…might get another year out of them. We live lean…seriously…our fridge is less than 25litres, no telly etc. So 300w is plenty. Some of the Brethren have 2000w solar and Lithium batteries and run coffee machines and hairdryers!
for mobile solar talk…here’s the best place to look http://www.nzmotorhome.co.nz/NZMotorhomeForum/viewforum.php?f=55 there’s a really good search facility.
For a house…these guys…good reputation and happy to share the knowledge…http://www.indepower.co.nz/index.html
Or…if you’re out and about and you spot a house with solar proud on the roof…try knocking on their door…most folk living off the grid are more than happy to turn others to the light side. 🙂
That is very cool, life on the road huh. Sounds brilliant. Yeah, I could have used google, but nothing beats talking to someone direct and getting an interesting nugget of information or two. Thanks, its good to get to know a bit more about how these things work. Enjoy your travels!
Good idea.
I read Schumaker’s book some years ago – then stupidly lent it and never got it back. It made good sense then and I suspect even more sense now. There are a number of books out along similar lines, many of them following the sustainable economy framework of zero growth and prosperity without growth. I have some on my book shelves now but regrettably no longer “Small is Beautiful’.
Give the guy a break – he has been thrown without warning into the aftermath of Key’s amoral opportunism and wrecking-ball approach to constitutional propriety .. and the economy. Does this remind anyone of Trump ?
so you are saying Bill English was not Vice PM all those years? That was an alternative version of Bill English?
True, but he is not Trump or Key. He’s an old style Southland boy.
he is a bigot. and a spineless one. someone without courage and conviction. someone who likes his bread buttered both sides and who is a ‘benefit fraud’.
he is very much like the others.
+1 Sabine.
Wow a big chip there on both shoulders, I am sure his wife 8 kids, siblings, friends, parents think differently and know him a hell a lot better than your hate rant
Who knows the score and has been in politics a long time and is a key player behind all the corrupt, wrong abuses this government, (and the previous National government), has done and continues to do.
No, Caretaker Bill doesn’t deserve to be given a break, not at all.
Theocrats have been busy.
An executive order from President Donald Trump opening up discrimination against the LGBTQ community on the basis of religious belief is expected sometime this week, possibly as soon as today.
[…]
From what we’ve heard, the executive order could be far-reaching, and could include: making taxpayer funds available for discrimination against LGBTQ people in social services; allow federally funded adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ parents; eliminate non-discrimination protections in order to make it possible to fire federal employers and contractors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity; and allow federal employees to refuse to serve people based on the belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that gender is an immutable characteristic set at birth, which would impact a broad range of federal benefits.
The order is expected to come in the packaging of so-called “religious freedom,” which argues that someone’s religious beliefs should be enough to prevent them from having to provide goods and services to members of the LGBTQ community if doing so would conflict with said beliefs.
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/01/sources-report-trump-executive-order-lgbtq-community-coming-soon/
…and that gender is an immutable characteristic set at birth…
That one’s not just obnoxious, but also stupid. Gender refers to differences between the sexes that are social rather than physical in nature – by definition it isn’t “immutable” or “set at birth.” Presumably they mean sex is an immutable characteristic set at birth, but even that’s only true most of the time. Biology isn’t the manufacturing of identical units, it’s vague and messy at the edges.
At the risk of spreading fake news, the link below is an interesting read. A lot of the claims made are by nature unverifiable, and the author doesn’t appear to be a particular expert on the topic, but it does pull the threads together into a thought provoking picture.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ex-kgb-spy-cited-in-the-trump-blackmail-dossier-just_us_588e3f0de4b0cd25e4904a24
The other ban
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/the-other-ban-that-was-quietly-announced-last-week-20742/
“A growing bandwagon of academics and policy makers in other countries, including the United States, UK, Australia, etc. has been calling for prohibitions against cash.
It’s always the same song: cash is a tool for criminals and terrorists.
Harvard economist Ken Rogoff is a leading voice in the War on Cash; his new book The Curse of Cash claims that physical currency makes the world less safe.
Rogoff further states “all that cash” is being used for “tax evasion, corruption, terrorism, the drug trade, human trafficking. . .”
Wow. Sounds pretty grim.
Apparently pulling out a $5 bill to tip your valet makes you a member of ISIS now.
Of course, this is total nonsense.
A recent Gallup poll from last year shows that a healthy 24% of Americans still use cash to make all or most of their purchases, compared to the other options like debit cards, credit cards, checks, bank transfers, PayPal, etc.
And the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco released a ton of data late last year showing that:
– 52% of grocery purchases, along with personal care products, are made in cash
– 62% of purchases up to $10 are made in cash
– But even at much higher amounts over $100, nearly 1 in 5 purchases are still made using physical cash
This doesn’t sound life nefarious criminal activity to me.
It seems that perfectly normal, law-abiding citizens still use cash on a regular basis.
But that doesn’t seem to matter.
A bunch of university professors who have probably never been within 1,000 miles of ISIS think that a ban on cash would make us all safer from terrorists.
You probably recall the horrible Christmas attack in Berlin last month in which a Tunisian man drove a truck through a crowded pedestrian mall, killing 12 people.
Well, the attacker was found with 1,000 euros in cash.
The logic, therefore, is to ban cash.
I’m sure he was also found wearing pants. Perhaps we should ban those too.”
AWW
I am very concerned that there is such a big push for banning cash. I use EFTPOS a lot but I don’t want to have my every transaction be scrutinised and digitalised. The only way many can manage in this unfair system of people having to pay the rich for the right to exist and have some government support is to utilise the black economy. Now that we have this impost of 15% GST on practically all our spending, and very low wage rises to match the inflation that is so low that it mainly benefits large investors, the poor are being screwed by our economic system and RW government.
It may be digitised but there’s almost no chance that it will ever be scrutinised. Really, nobody cares – unless you’re committing a crime.
The answer to that is to limit the rich. Make it so that they can’t oppress others. In fact, get rid of them altogether.
Which tells us that the system needs changing and not that we should keep it the way that it is.
DTB
It may be digitised but there’s almost no chance that it will ever be scrutinised. Really, nobody cares – unless you’re committing a crime.
You are always so certain. I am certain that I don’t always believe you.
You just cannot make sweeping statements like the above in a time when some can track one’s keying on the computer, and follow where you go on the internet and then try and sell you something or remind you what you did yesterday. The insatiable desire to know everything you do, surveil it control it, profit from it, sanction it. That’s what is abroad these days from government and corporates.
No to a cashless society and don’t believe there would be no charges – only a matter of time before there were.
hear hear…and not only charges…ask the Greeks or the Cretans how they felt about the frozen accounts and the usefulness of cash….with the ability to identify, pigeon hole and control ALL purchasing opportunity the assumption that the system will not be misused punitively is naive….indeed i would suggest it is a certainty, the only question is how long it would take?
Having said that, it will likely happen and there will sweet FA we can do about it.
There is always something we can do about it. It’s this belief that we can’t that prevents us from making our political system better and more responsive to the people rather than the corporations.
post election this year the government announces that in 12 months time cash will will no longer be legal tender and all transactions will be electronic…..what effective response do you foresee?
A general strike.
Although I’d prefer a plan to remove the present banking system and replace it with a new one based around the government being the sole creator of money in the system. This money would be digital and introduced into the economy through a UBI and other government spending. Private banks would not be able to create money at all.
cashless society and private banking are two separate issues…a general strike assuming it was widely supported, may reverse the decision…perhaps but then that could be said of any policy….has it happened in neolib times?…and what makes you think “this time it will be different”?
No they’re not and they shouldn’t be treated as such.
We work to make it different rather than just whinging that it’s too hard.
just because you desire to link the two doesn’t mean it will occur as such and general strike?good luck with that….last one was in 79, not even the advent of the ECA triggered one…..power of positive thought only takes you so far, then reality hits.
More bloody whinging.
more bloody invective but no answers.
“The only way many can manage in this unfair system of people having to pay the rich for the right to exist and have some government support is to utilise the black economy”
You mean tax avoidance. Deliberately running small businesses and not paying tax or being customers knowing that the business is avoiding tax in order to get cheaper goods yourself.
Isnt this something you were against? I thought people were supposed to pay their fair share – this means everybody.
but you can’t put charges on cash as you can with ‘bank accounts’.
And you can deprive anyone of access to their money via a an IT issue, or an outage, or or or or.
And with the government as issuer and maintainer of the money supply then there won’t be any charges.
little story from my life.
i once had a nice paid job and because i had money go into my account every month and because it was over a certain amount, my account was ‘free’ of charges.
then i lost my nice paid job due to restructuring and the first month not receiving my pay me previously ‘free’ account suddenly was not so ‘free’ anymore but cost me ‘account service fees’.
now if i were paid in cash every month in by either my boss or receiving unemployment benefits it would not matter, but you just lost your job, you are on a benefit and your account of several years suddenly costs you 10 bucks.
Yeah, mate, no matter how much you like the idea of digital, virtual reality money, i like cash.
and i also dislike the idea that those of us that like cash, because we can control our spending better, because we don’t like to be paying transaction fees and the likes to be ‘considered’ criminals, cause if you don’t have anything to hide you would not care.
I also like to point to the demonetization debacle in India just recently were the only ones that were not hurt were the ones that already had money. The poor and the very poor as always can get fucked.
btw, if I wanted to pay for drugs via a bank transfer, or pay pal who the fuck would stop us from doing so, unless you really like the surveillance tool that comes with virtual reality money.
Yep, happened to me as well.
Still, it was the privatisation and high profit model that did that. Which is why I say that that infrastructure should be state owned and run with no fees.
Funding a crime is, as a matter of fact, a crime in itself.
Now, I’m all for legalising drugs so buying drugs doesn’t bother me. It’s the avoidance of paying taxes that the drug sellers do and can get away with doing by only taking cash and thus ripping off the rest of us that does.
Yes, there’s a surveillance issue but it more comes down to if the figures match then we don’t look but if they don’t then we do type thing. Nobody’s going to be looking into the figures unless something is wrong.
So, basically, it’s a cool idea as long as we trust all future governments to not privatise it or abuse its surveillance opportunities, we can ensure criminals don’t go back to barter or use a proxy commodity as a means of exchange, we can ensure employers don’t pressure employees to under-report hours worked, everyone’s online in every location, and you don’t lose your card.
Cash is still a damned good option for any number of reasons. Hell, there’s a twenty in my pocket right now – it was the most convenient way to transfer the money at the time and location.
Not trust. Put in place processes that allow us to keep an eye on them.
Trust but verify
Going back to barter would decrease the number of possible clients that the criminals have decreasing their income and it would show up elsewhere.
Employers do that already. Having cash doesn’t change that and many employers now refuse to pay in cash any way.
Secure coverage should cover our entire EEZ.
I’ve lost my card once in the last five years and it took me two days to notice. Once I did it took another day to get it replaced. It was never a concern.
I pretty much stopped using cash ten years ago. The few times that I’ve needed it was because the buses in Auckland either didn’t have HOP card or used a different one that was incompatible. Now that they all use HOP so even that’s no longer an issue.
Basically, you’re at the point of having to invent disaster scenarios to produce fear of the new to prevent it coming in.
I’m not the one inventing secure data coverage throughout the EEZ.
How does it decrease clients? People already use drugs, stolen groceries, and various commodities as pretty difficult-to-trace means of exchange. Hell, even ramen noodles have become a standard currency in US prisons, after cigarettes got banned.
And that’s not even getting into standardised slugs of gold used as a means of exchange.
Well, if we don’t invent it then we certainly won’t have it.
By decreasing the availability of trading.
Most of the people who use drugs aren’t going to go out and become a criminal to support their habit.
Do you have any idea as to how difficult that is? Gold is well controlled and so is pretty much every other mineral/element.
And, at the end, you need to be able to exchange the barter goods for money and that’s in the system. And the figures won’t match.
We don’t have the technology to implement it anytime soon.
It doesn’t decrease the availability of trading to criminals. It inconveniences them slightly, and every innocent person who prefers to use cash.
Druggies might not be thieves, but drugs are already a means of exchange/barter.
You’ve obviously never bought precious or semi-precious metals.
It’s pretty easy, and all they have is my word for who I am. As long as they get the cash, it’s all good. And I read an article recently about how topline watch/jewellery manufacturers pay couriers to fly to the client state with the new watch as “personal jewellery”, thus avoiding all import/export duties. So to make your cashless society effective, now you’re going to have to control how much bling people can wear before it’s “for supply”.
And you only need to exchange barter goods for money for the side of your finances that’s legitimate. Even then, you’re not doing much more than what a fence does every day.
Well. If we had Democratic control of the Government, instead of the managerial model of Government?
I’d work on that before trying for a cashless society, frankly.
The government WON’T be the “issuer and maintainer”..
The core premise of your argument is counter to comments you make about government on a number of other topics …
Which tells me you have a technological hard on which confuses and misdirects you!
That’s actually the only valid option. Leaving it to private enterprise will make the whole financial system even more of a scam than it is now.
WTF are you talking about?
Money is privately owned, issued and controlled either directly or indirectly through government structures such as exist in NZ
Who owns the NZ public/govt/private debt Draco?
Your belief that digital only currency will be managed and controlled by benevolent governments is that of a fantasist
Same response to your comment 12.4.1
Yes, so we change the system. If we don’t then it all keeps going the same as it is now.
There is currently no public engagement about many issues of governmental privatization. It’s not going to suddenly change tact to accommodate an open and honest discussion around digital only currency
An open and honest discussion about digital only currency, fails and falls apart immediately as there is no single coherent point which will pass a logical sniff test. Evidenced by the illogical incoherent utterings of the ‘experts’ fronting the propaganda campaign
The procession of privately sponsored and paid for ‘experts’ will remain, along with the privately and industry authored legislation which will be rolled out and dutifully passed into law by the paid for governments who represent the same private agendas!
Those who comment here on the topic can see and understand the blatant negative consequences, should physical cash no longer be legal tender
You don’t. I’ve provided the reason why I believe you don’t!
Dude, the problem you have is that you’re solely concentrating on the digital money. You’re forgetting that we need to change the whole system.
If we only do one part then it won’t work as the present system itself doesn’t work.
No, that’s not it, in broader context anyways…
The example of this discussion while singular in its nature is part of a plethora of threads which make up, what is becoming a transparent nefarious agenda. An old agenda which is becoming increasingly difficult to wave away using such terms as ‘conspiracy theory’
That the system as a whole needs to be changed (disposed of and built from the ground up) is a given should the majority of life on this planet wish to regard itself as ‘ free’ or ‘living’ in a near term timeline
The ‘digital agenda’ is at the very core of the roadmap that I see, and is totally incompatible with freedom and living organisms, and their continuance to exist. The planet and all inhabitants are functional in analogue. Resonant frequencies which support and enable life are analogue, and as such are incompatible with the ‘digital agenda’. Should I say the ‘digital agenda’ is incompatible with the natural world of analogue
The major issue as I see it, is that there is no visible path to how the required change will happen (current frameworks) and I don’t forsee a critical point reached before the lock down under digital technological dictatorship (that’s what it is) has taken a hold which can’t be rolled back without severe consequences and violence
Private entities will fight with all they have to continue the ‘deployments’
The articles written here about stepping out of the existing systems are good examples of what I agree needs to happen, but I don’t believe the numbers are high enough and it essentially becomes those who ‘exit’ and those who ‘remain’ (essentially giving mandate to the privately owned and controlled ‘democracys’ masquerading as the governments of entire nations of peoples
The tipping point required to halt the agendas in flight is reliant on those who ‘remain’ ….
‘And the meek shall inherit the earth’
Which, of course, isn’t the point.
The point is the ‘cash jobs’. You know the ones where the trady says that he’ll do the job for a few percent less if you pay cash – because it doesn’t go through his books and so doesn’t pay tax.
And I’m pretty sure that the drug dealer isn’t going to accept credit card or even bank payments either.
1 in 5 purchases are don in cash – all criminal purchases, that aren’t covered by those stats, are done in cash because it can’t be traced.
Now consider this. ~98% of all money is bank money. Bank money is 100% electronic money tracked by the banks. Considering that cash makes up such a small amount of money in the economy why are so many purchases still done in cash?
Of course, the private banks do hide the movement of money from the government.
See, it’s not just about going cashless but there also only being one issuer of money per country and that money only then exists on that issuers systems and cannot leave the country.
The current system has been destroyed by those who own and direct said system, and now they’re looking for a way to continue the plunder…
Cashless is the next step as directed by the same owners of the monetary and financial systems
The companies and agencies leading the propaganda campaign against ‘cash’ are the companies , institutions and agencies who will most benefit from the implementation of ‘digital only’,as well as the operational theft which will follow….should there be no hedge agaist the intended theft through digital
Cash money is the hedge…
You don’t leave it to the private sector. That’s simply a bad move.
In fact, the major problems we have with our financial system is that we leave it to the private sector. And they use it as a Ponzi Scheme.
Cash is the only money that’s of government issuance. You make it so that digital money is also the only money of government issuance and that there is no bank money at all.
More info about the suspect in the Canadian mosque shooting. It seems he’s a pro-Trump white nationalist. But somehow Trumpets are using him as further lying justification for their travel ban on a few Muslim majority countries.
https://thinkprogress.org/the-trump-camp-is-using-the-attack-on-a-quebec-mosque-to-prop-up-its-muslim-ban-a9ed63996b5a#.w1nafzdup
look white male shooters and mass murderers are ‘lone wolfs’ who have ‘legitimate grievances’ and ‘who are misunderstood’ and who ‘just lost the plot’ and and and.
its the others that you are to be afraid of. be the effn afraid.
Human ingenuity knows no bounds. Over at Whaleoil, the attacker was a Muslim, not a White nationalist, because he shouted Allahu Akbar. At Kiwiblog, the first comment on the thread says the propensity for bigots to kill Muslims is just another reason our country would be safer if we didn’t let Muslims immigrate.
The Evolutionary Importance of Grandmothers
It’s so obvious that we’ve evolved to be a socialist species. Capitalism is against that nature.
the “grandmother hypothesis”, is species limited.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/01/why-do-killer-whales-go-through-menopause/512783/
Fascinating and very interesting. Thanks Poission.
the red river runs.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-dc75304f-e77c-4125-aacf-83e7714a5840
[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.]
Yup. Interesting and disturbing piece on a subject I’m not entirely unfamiliar with. But I’m struggling way too much to see how it’s connected to the topic of the post.
Heh. What it might be like if women got the power to decide what men could do with their bodies. Ejaculation ban!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fake-photo-hilary-clinton-signs-male-ejaculation-ban-parody-joke-french-feminists-52_us_588f6321e4b0176377958797?ox39pb9&
Donald J. Trump :
The American dream is back. We’re going to create an environment for small business like we haven’t had in many, many decades!
After securing the borders the Don is set to bring wealth and employment back to America!
You Lefties should be celebrating!
The American Dream has always been a nightmare for the majority, and Trump will certainly make it grow.
+1
Yep, the home of Robber Barons. Trump looks set to bring that back in.
I wonder if the Green Party will be apologising to Hawkes Bay dairy farmers?
They were the ones blamed for the water pollution shambles in Havelock North, after all.
Indeed it seemed to received wisdom that it was all caused by the conversion of farms from sheep to dairy.
Now it appears that it was all due to sheep farming in the area. It wasn’t dairy at all.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11791401
Looks as if Ms Delahunty’s crusade against dairying was misplaced.
“He knows, as we al do, that the real and lasting damage to our rivers is from stock in waterways, farm run-off, sewage and intensified dairy farms among others – he just won’t admit it,” Green Party water spokeswoman Catherine Delahunty said.”
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/health/2016/09/smith-havelock-north-speculation-unhelpful.html
Where did Ms Delahunty say it was “only” Dairy farms.
Intensive Dairy, of course, makes it worse.
“farm run-off” says Catherine Delahunty.
And she was correct.
Looks like you’re lying again.
They don’t lie so much as see what they want to see……..
I know a lot of people who will read a thing and inside their head it gets converted into something else…..and they don’t even realise they are doing it.
That’s the Hastings District Council water manager’s opinion of what caused the outbreak. From the same organisation that poisoned thousands of people. Not exactly independant is it..
..Follow distractions…
…waste your own life…
[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.]
The pumpkin pinochet’s first international achievement.
well lookit it, it may have to do with this.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/british-navy-lead-war-games-gulf-tensions-simmer-iran-205169915
What could possibly go wrong
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/06/10/warships-hit-high-temperatures-gulf.html
Not to mention the British will have a period without a functioning carrier in the next few years.
And the F35 was supposed to replace the marine corps harriers that are being phased out.
And apparently the LCS is a bit of a bust.
The special relationship is beginning to get quite the strategic problem in its make-up.
Lots of interesting, insightful, engaged commentary across a range of topics and posts/OM on TS today. Am also noticing an absence of the RW trolls as well as noting who is currently banned. Making connections 😉
Well done us.
There are a few of us still floating around in the shadows, I just don’t disagree with a lot of what is being said (with the exception of Paul who thinks quotes from the New Zealand Initiative shows that right wing bias and propaganda in NZ media. I notice he doesn’t think quotes from Trade Unionists show a left wing bias…but talking to Paul is like talking to a brick wall, so I just let it slide)
Overall, making reasoned comments stops me commenting, so I concur, well done you!
Yes when I listen to the radio it is awash with the views of trades unionists , while bankers are hardly ever heard at all…….
Dimpost is still on the Private viewing link. Any news on this?
I asked Danyl about it – he’s taking another break. I presume switching it to private is to prevent comments in the meantime. Hopefully it’s not permanent.
Thanks Psycho. Hope he returns. His is one of my daily visits.
Though in doing so he has effectively removed his entire back catalogue of posts from the Net……which is unfortunate.
Something for Labour to seriously ponder?
There’s not one comment on the thread: Little’s State of the Nation speech.
An uninspiring Labour is the biggest obstacle to changing the Government.