I was thinking of a really dull and tedious weekend. ..no real estate speculation or tax avoidance calculus. No getting ticketed at 200 in the Mazeratti. No fine dining with oodles of fine Otago pinot noir. Tutukaka game fishing or similar. None of that nonsense for Ennui. No………………… …..For some bizarre February reason Super Rugby starts tonight.
Mrs Ennui will yawn and run a bath…my cup will floweth over.
“I only drink champagne when I’m happy, and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.
– Lily Bollinger”
She of course had the advantage of not having to pay for it.
After having my wallet stolen while I was pissed as a parrot I had such rage and hatred of myself that it was enough to get me through the first 2 months (not really an incentive I guess)
Chilled water on a hot day. Delicious. You can feel it flowing inside your body cooling all over. Water is your friend. I’ve been reading that it gives muscles a boost, keeps away cramps, releases the prickly feelings from calcium spurs in your elbows when you are older.
Big weekend down in the King Country the A’N’P shows on in Taumarunui as well as the classic gliders turning up for a week at the airport.
But of most interest to me is the king country center champs dog trail at mahihi otarohanga it the best chance for a easy entry to the north island/new Zealand champs in may. Is Bess the mighty good enough.
I will be carrying on with my efforts to rear an endangered species – monarch butterflies. I keep wondering which group of brassica growers convinced who in which government department to ask some idiotic minister to permit the importing of a caterpillar eating wasp. Even caterpillars left outside that are less than a cm long are being eaten by the very efficient wasps and all that is left is black blood.
P.S. There are lots of white butterflies around, are they not as tasty as the colourful monarch?
I don’t think they were deliberately introduced, just someone not being careful enough with imports. Bloody things make a mess of monarch caterpillars.
White butterfly’s are destroyers of brassicas, monarchs eat the swan plant as far as I know. The whiteys are menaces and seem to be around awhile whereas the monarch had a very short life cycle.
We hate them with a passion as they monster the winter crops coming up now.
I have 17 swanplants growing but have sighted only one monarch butterfly. Those leg trailing paper wasps seem to patrol the plants looking for caterpillars. same last year. Monarchs Nil.
I live rurally. I have paddocks for neighbours. Recently the property was refenced to stop the cows from coming in. Before the fencing, i had a bit of a wild garden thing growing. Lots of flowers, colour, insect life and even a rat nesting under the harakeke.
Well, the fencing contractor, whom I know very well, unilaterally decided to have his workers ‘clean up the place’ and had them remove every plant and every bit of colour from the section. This happened last week and my blood is still boiling.
The fencing contractor is a good person and runs a crew of youths who otherwise would be in prison. He is also a Tuhoe bushman. I said to the dude “how the fuck would you like it if I went through Te Uruwera with a chainsaw. ” That’s how badly violated I feel.
So I really do get the wild garden thing. And on a final note, Bob, the rat, is now trying to store his nuts in my ceiling. I need to really think about that one.
“I said to the dude “how the fuck would you like it if I went through Te Uruwera with a chainsaw. ” That’s how badly violated I feel.”
Makes sense to me. Lots of people socialised into tidy is best and the beauty and abundance of wilderness in our backyards is lost on them. I’ve been in that situation a few times where people thought they were doing something useful or kind but were in fact destroying something essential. It’s hard. Did the man get it when you pointed it out?
Rats on the other hand, once they make it into the ceiling, that’s a step too far. It was always the young males who would come in at 3 o’clock in the morning and run riot over my bedroom ceiling. That was the time for me to push back.
“Rats on the other hand, once they make it into the ceiling, that’s a step too far. It was always the young males who would come in at 3 o’clock in the morning and run riot over my bedroom ceiling. That was the time for me to push back.”
I know exactly what you are saying. So far I think it still is just Bob, the solitary rat. I have yet to see or hear evidence of the whanau or mokopuna. He is already in the ceiling space rattling his nuts about.
I have had endless discussions with the locals on how to remove rats, which generally involves trapping or poisoning. I am at an impasse. I don’t want to kill but I also don’t want to come home to a horde of rats arguing over the remote.
Can you cover the swan plant bush with fine netting – dress material type? Or fine muslin? Monarchs are beautiful. Do you belong to the Trust? I am sorry about the demise of the NZ preying mantis and the way that the South African has swamped it. But I feel that wasp may be getting into the preying mantis too.
@Janine
Naa the white ones only eat the tougher green stuff, Cabbage and my Silverbeet (out with the dust again) so must be bitter compared to the Swan Plant eating butterfly. . I have a friend here in Levin who’s house has hundreds of chrysalis mainly empty now and butterfly’s everywhere. Oh if they eat the plants too quick or too far She put Cucumber out for them. The forum Second link should elp with your wasp problem.
Thanks for the links DH. It is good to see that some people have living caterpillars. I got some net to cover my two mature trees greywarsharrk, but the wasps managed to get underneath the cover and there was carnage! Of the 22 caterpillars that I knew of only 4 remained. One was hanging ready to turn and only half of it was left. I live in the Franklin district so if there was a deliberate release of wasps I guess it would have been here. We are also close (as the crow flies) to the Auckland Airport, so I suppose if something came in there it would head for this area as a good source of food. Now I go over the trees at least twice a day and any branches with eggs on I bring inside.
@ Janice
Good luck with raising them inside. Perhaps a trend could be started for people to adopt the ones ready to change, bringing them inside when they went into their J shape. And then viewing them as living works of art – I find them beautiful with their cases of light green with gold spots. Watching the amazing work of the nature as their wings form and colours deepen till they can be seen through their thin cover is interesting. The beautiful end comes as they emerge and slowly waft their wings to dry and circulate their blood. Set them high enough so the cat won’t get them would be a rule!
Monarchs! I used to see them all the time at my parents (Chch) growing up. Haven’t seen one for many years. I had forgotten. Thank you for your efforts…
Flying home to winter after 4 fabulous weeks with friends and family in Aotearoa. Highlights included family wedding, Abel Tasman track and several visits to Raglan. Best.holiday.ever.
Only rained while we were on the track – reckon it was Puck paying us back for a dry Milford walk some years ago.
This is where Facebook could come in handy. A group with transport and revolving and reliable sober driver task could contact each other and set up trips like this Contrarian.
Writing this, I have the wonderful Dick Gaughan playing in the background. Militant working class folk music as its sinewy, caustic best.
One of the things I like most about Dick is that, like a string of singer-songwriters of his time, he is a very accomplished guitar player. Back in the 60s and 70s being a guitar-playing singer-songwriter you had to be a really good guitarist. Like Dick, or like Bert Jansch or John Renbourn or Davy Graham. Or NZ’s own wonderful Chris Thompson (‘Echoes from the Pit’ and ‘Minstrelsy’ are wonderful albums).
The Gaughan album I have on is ‘Gaughan Live!’, recorded at the Hebden Bridge Trades Club in the north of England.
Gaughan is a Cot, but he has a couple of nice songs exposing the myths peddled by Scottish nationalists, pointing out that the Scottish landowners and capitalists ruthlessly exploited the working people of Scotland and also emphasising the solidarity between Scottish and English workers: “No Gods” is a powerful, raucous number, while “Both Sides the Tweed” is just beautiful as a song, even if you didn’t follow the lyrics.
“Tom Paine’s Bones” is another great track, sinewy and emotional.
“Whatever happened?” is magnificent; it’s a rollicking, biting condemnation of all those who espoused revolutionary views in their youth but moved right as they climbed the socio-economic ladder (but might have kept the odd Che Guevara t-shirt).
He also has some wonderful guitar-playing on two instrumental medleys.
Gaughan first came to my attention at the time of the 1981 hunger strikes in the H-Blocks. He does a beautiful version (my favourite) of an old Irish republican movement song, “The Galtee Mountain Boy” and it was on a fund-raising album put out by the POW Dept of Sinn Fein. The live album contains my favourite version of “Both sides the Tweed” but there’s a nice version of it by Dick with Emmylou Harris at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlDijR0Y60Q
One of my favourite tracks on that great album was “Back Home in Derry”, written by Bobby Sands (although Sands was from Belfast). But my favourite version of that song is by the wonderful Gary Og, however his best vid of it seems to have disappeared from youtube. But he does a nice version of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song: here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iP7r0cg7Oc&list=PLDC4C4612C68C0D55&index=16
One of my favourite Irish songs is “James Connolly” and my favourite version is this one, which accompanies one of the annual Easter Rebellion commemorations organised by the Belfast branches of the socialist-republican movement eirigi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EghEkVe80e0
and I’ll be digging out some of the old magnificent Van der Graaf Generator; this is one of my favourite songs of theirs, “Arrow” (from 1975): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiLv2f3QKzs
I share your admiration for Gaughan. Fine guitar player and also a voice which I find very rich with an expressive warmth. “Kist of Gold” is my favourite album. Great political songs and also a way with a love ballad. He’s one of my “Gee, I wish I could play/sing like Gaughan.”
“…songs exposing the myths peddled by Scottish nationalists…”
you seem to infer that Scottish nationalist were (are?) on the side of the landowners and capitalist and they they were fellow travellers in ther attitudes towards working people.
Can you expand? I don’t see the current SNP in that light.
Blew the head gasket on the Commodore last week! Off to buy a bicycle this arvo.
Starting a new job on Monday. Will need the $$$ to pay for the Holden dramas. Arrgh
On Radionz. I thought this was a breakthrough in social understanding and the Joy of Mathematics. It is not airy fairy ideas, really factual and provable and repeatable.
And can be applied to NZs as a democratic people if trying to understand why our democracy and we are going down the plughole. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167277
Hannah Fry – Love and Mathematics ( 21′ 27″ )
09:40 Just in time for Valentine’s Day weekend – Dr Hannah Fry tells Wallace the
mathematical equation for love. Her new book The Mathematics of Love offers a unique perspective on matters of the heart. As a mathematician, Dr Fry answers such burning questions as: What is the chance of finding love? How long will it last? And what are your chances of divorce?
“Selma, the stunning new film based on Paul Webb’s screenplay and directed by the previously unheralded African-American Ava DuVernay, makes for an interesting side-by-side comparison with Stephen Spielberg’s Lincoln. Both films revolve around the circumstances attending the passage of key legislation affecting Black America: in the first instance, the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery and in the second the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that sealed the doom of Jim Crow, a legacy of white America’s abandonment of Reconstruction. . .”
Another film. – Edward Snowden and how it feel to be really unpopular in a pseudo-democracy.
Citizenfour – A panel discussion ( 19′ 19″ ) http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167273
08:40 The Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning documentary Citizenfour tells the story of Edward Snowden – a former NSA employee turned whistle-blower.
Radio New Zealand National held a screening of the film in Auckland earlier this week and followed it with a panel hosted by Wallace Chapman and featuring: Mediawatch’s Colin Peacock; former Listener editor Finlay McDonald; documentary filmmaker Annie Goldson; and, Sandra Kailahi – a freelance journalist and director.
Also be aware of something lighter – Alan Davies UK Jonathan Creek QI etc is coming.
10:40 Alan Davies – Telling Stories
Alan Davies is a standup veteran of 25 years. He starred in the crime show Jonathan Creek which ran for 14 years, and is a permanent panelist of the QI show hosted by Stephen Fry. Alan Davies is bringing his new show Little Victories to NZ for a series of gigs across the country in July. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167279
I met an honest-to-God Alex Jones 911 truther today who told me that “God’s judgment is upon America”, that “Obama can kill anybody he wants”, and that “FEMA is constructing death camps around the nation”.
This guy is around 65 and very overweight, has renounced his U.S citizenship and emigrated to New Zealand. He also said “the church in America is corrupt” and “America is the whore of Babylon” and something about Revelation chapter 16.
Tried injecting a little bit of sanity into the conversation but soon realised I was wasting my time and looked for an exit strategy. But on reflection I pretty much agree with his criticism of US militarism, although his logic and religious rhetoric was totally insane. I think he got NZ citizenship because of his Australian wife.
No doubt he will pull a NZ pension while complaining about big government and voting NACT
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We’re confident in the ability of Kiwi businesses to succeed in the face of COVID-19, and our Government is committed to doing our bit to enable that success. Kiwi businesses have always been innovative and resilient, and the COVID-19 pandemic has proven this yet again. Many businesses are finding new, creative ...
New Zealand First is pleased to release the names of its first tranche of candidates for the 2020 election. The includes all sitting New Zealand First Members of Parliament except Clayton Mitchell MP who earlier today announced he will not be seeking re-election. In alphabetical order they are: MP ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Tauranga New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell has decided not to seek re-election in this year’s General Election. “After serious consideration and discussion with my family, I have decided to pursue other passions in my life and spend a lot ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced that new Lockheed Martin Super Hercules aircraft would replace the outdated and costly 1960s Hercules fleet. The $1.521b project will include a flight simulator for staff training and other supporting infrastructure. "This fleet will ensure the Defence Force can continue to support New Zealand's ...
The Green Party is urging the New Zealand Police to rule out the use of Armed Response Teams, following their recent trial in communities around Aotearoa. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has described Labour's original COVID-19 commercial rent dispute proposal as "poorly targeted". Justice Minister Andrew Little hasannounced a temporary law changeto force commercial landlords and renters to consider COVID-19 in disputes over rent issues, almost two months after the Government first floated the idea. But ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First acknowledges that some small businesses have been struggling to meet fixed costs due to the loss of revenue by COVID-19. We also know some businesses are at greater risk of insolvency when they cannot come to a reasonable ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First is disappointed that the removal of the spousal deductions has had to be delayed by the Ministry fo Social Development, due to COVID19 workload pressures. “New Zealand First has always stood for fairness when it comes to superannuation ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First On the steps of Parliament today the Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters received a petition from registered nurse Anna Maria Coervers, requesting an amendment to the Protection for First Responders Bill which will ensure the legislation also include registered ...
It's been a busy seven days as we start to rebuild New Zealand together. From delivering extra support for small businesses, to investing in our artists and arts organisations, to cutting red tape on home DIY projects, we're rolling out our plan to get the economy and New Zealand moving ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says alert level 2 restrictions have to be discussed during today's Cabinet meeting. Thousands gathered across the country, including at Parliament, yesterday forBlack Lives Matter marcheswhere social distancing and mass gathering rules were flouted. Mr Peters said the breaching of Alert Level 2 rules at ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State Owned Enterprises KiwiRail’s Northland rail upgrade steps up another gear today and will help Northland recover from the impacts of COVID-19, State Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters says. The Government is investing $204.5 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to ...
“Today and every day we stand in solidarity with George Floyd’s family, friends and community who feel pain and fear about his untimely death at the hands of Minneapolis police”, said Green Party Co-leader and Māori Development spokesperson Marama Davidson. ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Hon Eugenie Sage, Minister of Conservation The West Coast forests of Mount Te Kinga at Kotuku Whakaoho/Lake Brunner are the latest predator free project to receive Government funding, announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
The Green Party says major freshwater reforms announced today provide the strongest ever protections of our waterways, to help ensure the next generation can swim in the rivers of Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party has begun the process for a Select Committee inquiry into student accommodation, which has been exposed during COVID-19 as an under-regulated sector that straddles students with unfair debt. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Megan Woods, Minister of Research, Science and Innovation Hon Dr David Clark, Minister of Health Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods, and Health Minister David Clark today announced a COVID-19 vaccine strategy, ...
Budget 2020 is about rebuilding together, supporting jobs, getting business moving and the books back into the black. It’s an integral part of our COVID-19 economic response, and our plan to grow our economy and get New Zealand moving again.Here’s a quick look at the five top things you ...
The Green Party is pleased to reveal its candidate list for the upcoming election. With a mix of familiar faces and fresh new talent, this exceptional group of candidates are ready to lead the Greens back into Government. ...
The Coalition Government has approved $206 million in essential upgrades at Ōhakea Air Base. Defence Minister Ron Mark said the money would be spent on improving old infrastructure. He said safety issues would be addressed, as well as upgrades to taxiways, accommodation and fresh, storm and waste water systems. "This ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First “I am not persisting with this case just for myself, but for all people who have had their privacy breached. Privacy of information is a cornerstone of our country’s democracy. Without it our society truly faces a bleak future. We now ...
This summer presents a great opportunity for New Zealanders to get out into nature with bookings on Great Walks for 2020/21 set to open next week, says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Bookings for the Great Walks will open between 9 and 11 June, excluding Milford and Routeburn tracks which ...
Extra 40,000 businesses to be eligible for wage subsidy extension Small business cashflow support application period extended The Government is today announcing further support for businesses that continue to be affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, as the broader economy becomes one of the most open in the world following ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed five Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules transport aircraft will be purchased to replace the existing fleet, Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “Last year, Cabinet selected these aircraft as the preferred option to replace the current Hercules fleet. Procurement of the Super Hercules has been ...
New public housing that will save tenants money in energy bills, and provide warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, is setting the standard for the Government’s future public housing programme, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. Dr Woods opened the new Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities complex, which has a ...
The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage is celebrating World Environment Day with an announcement of a major step towards Wairarapa Moana being recognised as an internationally significant wetland. “Wairarapa Moana is an ecosystem of 10,000 hectares of wetland and open water that provides a home for indigenous fish, birds and ...
A new-look Police graduation ceremony to take account of COVID19 health rules has marked the completion of training for 57 new constables. Police Minister Stuart Nash attended this afternoon's ceremony, where officers of Recruit Wing 337 were formally sworn in at the Royal New Zealand Police College without the normal support of ...
Mobile traders and truck shops must adhere to responsible lending requirements Interest rate cap on high-cost loans Lenders prohibited from offering further credit to an applicant who has taken two high-cost loans in the past 90 days The Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Kris Faafoi, has signalled an end ...
94% of firms say wage subsidy had positive impact on cashflow 62% of firms say support helped to manage non-wage costs like rent A survey of business that have received the Government’s wage subsidy show it has played a significant role in saving jobs, and freed up cash flow to ...
New legislation introduced to Parliament today will support growth and assist businesses on the road to economic recovery, said Revenue Minister Stuart Nash. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020-21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Bill proposes that businesses can get tax deductions for ‘feasibility expenditure’ on new investments,” said Mr ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson has welcomed the first release of funds from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced as part of Budget 2020. Sport NZ has announced that $4.6 million in funding will go to the Wellington Phoenix, NZ Warriors, Super Rugby teams and the ANZ Premiership ...
An iconic New Zealand tourism attraction and the country’s 31 Regional Tourism Organisations are the first recipients of support from the $400 million Tourism Sector Recovery Plan, to help position the sector for recovery from COVID-19, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. The plan includes a Strategic Tourism Assets Protection ...
The Government will legislate to ensure businesses that suffered as a result of the COVID-19 response will get help to resolve disputes over commercial rent issues, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. A temporary amendment to the Property Law Act will insert a clause in commercial leases requiring a fair ...
The Minister for Small Business says new data from Xero highlights the urgency of prompt payment practices to small and medium enterprises as we move into economic recovery. Last month Government ministers wrote to significant private enterprises and the banking industry to request they join efforts by government agencies to ...
Young people in Waikato will be the first to have free access to period products in schools in another step to support children and young people in poverty,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. During term 3, the Ministry of Education will begin providing free period products to schools following the ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash has issued the following statement in response to charges filed against three Police officers this morning in the New Plymouth District Court. “Any incident involving a loss of life in Police custody is taken very seriously. The charges today reflect the gravity of the ...
$196 million for Crown Research Institutes $150 million for R&D loan scheme $33 million for Māori research and development opportunities $12 million for the Nationally Significant Collections and Databases $10 million to help maintain in-house capability at Callaghan Innovation New Zealand’s entrepreneurs, innovators and crown researchers will benefit from a ...
Further temporary changes to NCEA and University Entrance (UE) will support senior secondary school students whose teaching and learning have been disrupted by COVID-19. “The wellbeing of students and teachers is a priority. As we are all aware, COVID-19 has created massive disruption to the school system, and the Government ...
Minister for Racing Winston Peters today announced that the terms for the directors of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) have been extended to 30 June 2021. Due to the COVID-19 crisis the transition period has been extended to ensure that the Racing Industry Bill can complete its progress through ...
The deadline for landlords to include detailed information in their tenancy agreements about how their property meets the Healthy Homes Standards, so tenants can see the home they are renting is compliant, has been extended from 1 July 2020 to 1 December 2020. The Healthy Homes Standards became law on 1 July 2019. The Standards are ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little today announced details of further appointments to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. “I am pleased to announce Paula Rose QSO OStJ as Deputy Chief Commissioner for a term of five years commencing on 15 June 2020,” said Andrew Little. “I am also pleased to announce the ...
The Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF) will pay costs of learners of all ages to undertake vocational education and training The fund will target support for areas of study and training that will give learners better employment prospects as New Zealand recovers from COVID-19 Apprentices working in all industries ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will finally start to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas pollution as it was originally intended to, because of changes announced today by the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw. The changes include a limit on the total emissions allowed within the ETS, rules to ensure ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List provides an abundance of examples that Pacific people’s leadership capability is unquestionable in Aotearoa. “The work and the individuals we acknowledge this year highlights the kind of visionary examples and dedicated community leadership that we need ...
The Government is backing a new $27 million project aimed at boosting sustainable horticulture production and New Zealand’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our economy. During and ...
Applications have opened for 2021 Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships, which will support more Māori and women to pursue careers in forestry science, says Forestry Minister Shane Jones. “I’m delighted Te Uru Rākau is offering Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships for the third year running. These ...
The Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List once again highlights the dedication by many to looking after our native plants and wildlife, including incredible work to restore the populations of critically endangered birds says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Anne Richardson of Hororata has been made an Officer of the New ...
The Government will invest $10 million from the One Billion Trees Fund for large-scale planting to provide jobs in communities and improve the environment, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor and Forestry Minister Shane Jones have announced. New, more flexible funding criteria for applications will help up to 10 catchment groups plant ...
Organisations that support women are invited to apply to a new $1,000,000 fund as part of the Government’s COVID-19 response. “We know women, and organisations that support women, have been affected by COVID-19. This new money will ensure funding for groups that support women and women’s rights,” said Minister for ...
Healthier waterways are front and centre in a new project involving more than 300 King Country sheep, beef and dairy farmers. The Government is investing $844,000 in King Country River Care, a group that helps farmers to lift freshwater quality and farming practice, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “Yesterday ...
A major funding package for libraries will allow them to play a far greater role in supporting their communities and people seeking jobs as part of the economic recovery from COVID-19. “Budget 2020 contains over $60 million of funding to protect library services and to protect jobs,” says Internal Affairs ...
A jobseekers programme for the creative sector and four new funds have been set up by the Government to help our arts and music industry recover from the blow of COVID-19. Thousands of jobs will be supported through today’s $175 million package in a crucial economic boost to support the ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has welcomed the First Reading of a Bill that will make legislative changes to further improve the veterans’ support system. The Veterans’ Support Amendment Bill No 2, which will amend the Veterans’ Support Act 2014, passed First Reading today. The bill addresses a number of ...
Views sought on Order in Council to help fast track the reinstatement of the Christ Church Cathedral The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Hon Poto Williams, will be seeking public written comment, following Cabinet approving the drafting of an Order in Council aimed at fast-tracking the reinstatement of the ...
The law setting out New Zealanders’ basic civil and human rights is today one step towards being strengthened following the first reading of a Bill that requires Parliament to take action if a court says a statute undermines those rights. At present, a senior court can issue a ‘declaration of ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today reiterated the deep concern of the New Zealand Government following confirmation by China’s National People’s Congress of national security legislation relating to Hong Kong. “New Zealand shares the international community’s significant and long-standing stake in Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand ...
Thousands of artists and creatives at hundreds of cultural and heritage organisations have been given much-needed support to recover from the impact of COVID-19, Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern announced today. “The cultural sector was amongst the worst hit by the global pandemic,” Jacinda ...
Key New Zealand assets will be better protected from being sold to overseas owners in a way contrary to the national interest, with the passage of the Overseas Investment (Urgent Measures) Bill. The Bill, which passed its third reading in Parliament today, also cuts unnecessary red tape to help attract ...
Setting higher health standards at swimming spots Requiring urban waterways to be cleaned up and new protections for urban streams Putting controls on higher-risk farm practices such as winter grazing and feed lots Setting stricter controls on nitrogen pollution and new bottom lines on other measures of waterway health Ensuring ...
The Government is on the verge of reaching its target of state sector boards and committees made up of at least 50 percent women, says Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter and Minister for Ethnic Communities Jenny Salesa. For the first time, the Government stocktake measures the number of Māori, ...
Does a move to Covid-19 Level 1, that Cabinet is considering tomorrow (Monday, June 8), mean back-to-normal for 290,000 rental property owners and managers, Tenancies War spokesman Mike Butler said today. The Covid-19 Response (Urgent Management) Act, ...
ANALYSIS:By Denis Muller of theUniversity of Melbourne When a newspaper with the authority of The New York Times chooses to publish a party-political essay calculated to further inflame the violence wracking cities across America, serious questions arise. On June 3 the Times published in its opinion section an ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Noble, Education Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Three quarters of a million Australian children are likely to be experiencing employment stress in the family as a result of COVID-19. This is on top of around 615,000 children whose families were ...
Spice up the classic banana muffin with a subtle touch of star anise.These muffins came about one rainy Saturday when the cupboards were bare and there was nothing much left in the fruit bowl aside from some very sad-looking bananas. Fortunately we know sad bananas result in the best kind ...
For years, Work and Income has been telling New Zealanders they couldn’t get the benefit until their redundancy payments ran out. Turns out, it was wrong.What’s all this then?Work and Income has long told New Zealanders receiving redundancy payments that they weren’t eligible for the benefit until their redundancy money ...
New Zealand writer Anna Rankin reports from Los Angeles. Last Friday afternoon, I went downtown to a protest outside the enormous Los Angeles Police Department headquarters on 1st Street. The LAPD had set up cordons, placing orange cones across streets to block traffic. Arms crossed, they stood with a wide ...
Until the sudden closure of Bauer Media in April, Simon Farrell-Green was the editor of HOME, New Zealand’s oldest architecture magazine. Here he explains what comes next.Being the editor of a major architecture magazine was the best job I ever had. I got it in 2016, after a career spent ...
A global success story or an overly generous, unsustainable scheme that is doing lasting damage to our fish stocks? Ethan Neville looks at the ongoing debate over New Zealand’s fishing quota management system. The management of our fisheries is a touchy topic – and why wouldn’t it be? New Zealanders ...
By RNZ News Thousands of people were protesting across Australia today to oppose the deaths of Indigenous people in police custody. It comes as Black Lives Matter protests are held around the world after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in the US ...
Wrapping everyone in a blanket of love, whakapapa and mauri for Matariki is the brave, exuberant and generous fabric art of Maungarongo Te Kawa, writes Amanda Thompson.E te AtuaNau enei rau harakeke he taongaTukuna ki a matouKia tika o matou mahiKo Papatuanuku e takoto neiTuturu WhakamauaKia tina, tinaHui eTaiki e.‘Karakia ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...
One press statement from the Beehive yesterday sounded more like advertising – or a barker’s pitch – than a Government announcement. Another advised of two diplomatic appointment, one of them – has the woman who landed the post done something wrong? – to protest-troubled and politically volatile Hong Kong. And ...
It’s not often that someone graduates from university one year and becomes a senior economist commentating on national media the next. George Driver investigates the meteoric rise of the high-flying Brad Olsen.Google “senior economist Brad Olsen” and you’ll find him quoted in no fewer than 167 articles in the past ...
As public sentiment turned against Uber Eats, a new local operation emerged promising a more ethical alternative to help New Zealand’s struggling hospitality industry. But now Eat Local NZ has suspended trading after falling out with its Australian partner Mr Yum. So what happened?A dispute between local hospitality platform Eat ...
By Budi Sutrisno in Jakarta As the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died while being arrested in the United States, sparks a global outcry, Indonesian rights advocates and young people have stepped forward to remind fellow citizens that racism has long been an issue at home as ...
Edward Cullen became a vampire to survive the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. Now a new Twilight novel looms and Laura Surynt, a New Zealander living in the UK, wants to live forever too. As I lay in bed this morning watching Instagram stories, Tayi Tibble told my reluctant little Capricorn ...
Over the lockdown period, thousands of people joined a Facebook group dedicated to remembering the nightlife of inner-city Auckland. Its creator Simon Grigg explains why it touched a chord in lockdown.Within a few days of The Lost Nightlife of Inner-city Auckland Facebook page accidentally going live on May 12, we ...
Throughout Anglo colonial states there is a constant habit of defining people who aren’t white as a problem, writes Aaron Smale in this personal essay. It was a balmy summer evening in the capital and cops were standing over a young brown man. I was walking down Courtenay Place on ...
"The countdown clock ticks 2, then 1, then the prime minister raises her drink": dystopia, by Ōtautahi writer Laura Borrowdale. You stand in the centre of the room, and around you, the guests seem to swirl and blend into one. There’s a mouth, gaping and red, filled with laughter. A ...
Martin Luther King Jr said in 1963: “America has given the Black people a bad cheque, a cheque which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’." Six generations of egregious police violence later, the sentiment out of which those bad cheques were born could be shifting. In the wake of egregious police violence, ...
WATCH: In a candid interview on Sky Sport, Dame Susan Devoy talks on her concern for rising sports stars, the state of NZ squash, and the spectre of racism. Dame Susan Devoy is proudly still “a little terrier who fights for the underdog”. “I have been doing it all my life and ...
Of the huge funding boost coming for early childhood education, Playcentre has been left with just the crumbs, writes Kate Barber. Amidst all the celebration of the $430m funding boost for early childhood education (ECE) announced in this year’s budget, little attention was paid to the plight of Playcentre. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vikrant Minhas, PhD candidate, University of Adelaide Although bacteria are single-celled and microscopically small, they still need energy to survive, just like us. One of the most efficient ways of acquiring energy for bacteria is through sweet, soluble carbohydrates: sugars. In fact, ...
PACIFIC PANDEMIC DIARY:By David Robie Three cartoonists had especially poignant takes on the tragic and toxic political aftermath of martyr George Floyd’s brutal killing under the knee of a white American policeman in Minneapolis last week. The Boston Globe’s Christopher Weyant featured a split frame contrasting a red-capped “Make ...
Are central bankers jealous that epidemiologists are the rock stars of the current crisis?There is talk that both the British and New Zealand central banks might institute negative interest rates as part of the policy response to the Covid shock. While Sweden’s central bank ended its five year experiment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monika Sarder, Senior Strategic Analyst, Monash University Algorithmic decision-making has enormous potential to do good. From identifying priority areas for first response after an earthquake hits, to identifying those at risk of COVID-19 within minutes, their application has proven hugely beneficial. But ...
LISTEN: This week's Extra Time podcast discusses racism in sport and the role of athletes and organisations in making a stand for good. Former Silver Fern and Black Fern Louisa Wall believes today's sports stars must have a social conscience and stand up against discrimination and divisiveness. Sport and politics, once ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Thomas, Associate professor, Flinders University We have seen ten days of protests in the United States over the death of George Floyd. While thousands of people have gathered to express their outrage peacefully, some demonstrations have been marred by vandalism and ...
40 percent of millennials have one, and an increasing number of GenXers and Baby Boomers do too. Two Cents' Worth delves into the world of side hustles. ...
Auckland writer Caroline Barron has a terrific book out today called Ripiro Beach: A Memoir of Life After Near Death. Here, she writes about the memoirs that have been a balm, a lesson, or both. Throughout my life, I’ve sought solace between the covers of books, particularly memoirs. There, I’ve learnt ...
An exclusive interview with Steve McSteverson about his traumatic and tragic ordeal this week.Many New Zealanders are struggling with the news that a children’s book not commissioned or authorised by Jacinda Ardern was advertised in a newsletter for children’s books. This horrific attack on New Zealanders whose ears are permanently ...
Air New Zealand staff are dismayed and angered at the company’s announcement to cut a further $150 million from their wage bill. On Friday, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Foran, made the announcement to employees, who are still ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr. Bodean Hedwards, Lecturer, Monash University This week the leaders of India and Australia reaffirmed their mutual interest in closer diplomatic and economic ties. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during their long-delayed Thursday “virtual summit”: ...
The Herald reported this morning that MediaWorks was on the verge of selling its TV assets to US TV giant Discovery – but an internal email and senior source suggest the story may have been premature.A senior MediaWorks source has emphatically denied a report in the NZ Herald that a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gery Karantzas, Associate professor in Social Psychology / Relationship Science, Deakin University Life in lockdown has been tough on many relationships. But negotiating the transition back to “normal” as restrictions continue to lift could also be a challenge for couples. So what ...
A slight bounce in the economy is brightening the outlook as the country heads into the winter months, Radio NZ reports. Retail spending is up and NZ shares rose on Thursday for a third day running. Key indicators have led some economists to point to a faster recovery than expected. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Hanmer, Adjunct Professor of Architecture, University of Adelaide HomeBuilder is a good idea gone bad. It is possibly the most complex and least equitable program the government could have devised to deliver construction jobs. It gives $25,000 to people who already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Keller, Professor of Cognitive Science, Western Sydney University The coronavirus pandemic has silenced the world’s concert halls and opera theatres. Organisations specialising in live performance face an existential crisis under current restrictions on social gatherings, with up to 75% of people ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson, wearing his Sport and Recreation ministerial hat, can show he can be a big spender and draw voters’ attention to his largess each time he dispenses money from the funds under his control – or the control of an agency within his ministerial bailiwick. Yesterday he ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pi-Shen Seet, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Edith Cowan University Scott Morrison wants to overhaul the skills workforce to ensure a better post-COVID-19 recovery. But there may not be enough people with the necessary skills to do so. And travel restrictions, which ...
As we transition out of a Covid-focused world and prepare for what comes next, New Zealand’s ICT industry is gearing towards growth.From app development helping track the Covid-19 virus to website engineering keeping businesses in touch and online, ICT knowledge has been crucial to keeping New Zealand working over the ...
Analysis: As New Zealand eases restrictions, it no longer has international precedent to look towards and must decide on its own how to reopen the economy while reducing the risk of a second wave of infections, Marc Daalder reports While most of the country eagerly awaits a likely move to ...
Ten days is too long. That from insurance claimant advocate, Ali Jones. EQC has today made contact with homeowners via email after accidentally releasing confidential details of 8000 insurance claims on May 26. Jones says although she has not received ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (Penguin Classics, $24)Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. The other day, ...
Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration.When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z ...
Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration.When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin. The conversation around the 2020 covid19 pandemic has been widely framed as ‘health versus the economy’. It has been quite political, with people leaning to the left emphasising ‘health’, and people leaning to the right emphasising ‘the economy’. A couple of weeks ago ...
Sam Brooks pays tribute to Alex Rider, and the new TV series that (finally) captures the spirit of the books.“What if James Bond was a teenager?”The concept for Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series is so simple but so brilliant. There’s a reason why the franchise has managed to sustain 12 ...
Analysis - The PM resists pressure to move immediately to level 1, Winston Peters' tactics play into the hands of the Opposition and the government at last works out a commercial rent solution, writes Peter Wilson. ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By COHAFrom Washington DC Federal charges against the four protectors of the Venezuelan Embassy, who defended the building in Washington DC against violent opposition crowds for several weeks between April 10 and May 16 of 2019, were completely dropped in a case that ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By COHA Editorial TeamFrom Washington DC The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) joins the Black Alliance for Peace[1] and other pro-democracy organizations throughout the world in calling for the United Nations to address the systemic violations of human rights by the police and ...
Being shot by police had a profound, transformational effect on Rob Mokaraka’s life in more ways than you’d expect. A new documentary, airing on Māori TV at 7.30pm on Sunday, explores the work he’s done to heal his own mind and to ensure nobody has to go through the same ...
Human rights watchdog TAPOL has condemned the demand by Indonesian prosecutors seeking 17 and five years imprisonment for West Papuan activists Buchtar Tabuni and Irwanus Uropmabin. On June 2, the Jayapura District Prosecutor’s Office issued 33 pages containing charges against the defendant Irwanus Uropmabin. In the document, the Public Prosecutor ...
The arrival of Dan Carter is far from the first time the ever-struggling Auckland team has hoped to turn around its fortunes with a star signing, writes Jamie Wall.New Zealand rugby Twitter is a generally desolate place, especially lately given that there’s been nothing to talk about ever since the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Senior Lecturer in New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity US President Donald Trump delivered an address this week in which he threatened military action on the nation. Then he walked to the nearby St John’s Episcopal Church ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Why do we burp? We sometimes also burp before meals, why does this happen? — Ahaana, age 7 That is a really interesting question, Ahaana! There ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justine Bell-James, Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland After years of litigation, Australia’s highest court will today make a major decision on the fate of the controversial proposed expansion to the New Acland Coal mine in Queensland. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Williams, Associate Professor in Urban Ecology and Urban Horticulture, University of Melbourne Tomorrow is the first World Green Roof Day. Cities around the world will celebrate the well-documented environmental, economic and social benefits of green roofs. New ground-level green spaces are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Senior Lecturer, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Robodebt isn’t the only measure the government should consider withdrawing. Late last Friday, after a long press conference from the prime minister which avoided any mention of the topic, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW Harvard University’s Alberto Alesina died suddenly of a heart attack on May 23. He was 63. His long-time colleague and friend Larry Summers wrote that before him, “there was no academic field of political economy. Today, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Griffith University What keeps democracies together? As America burns, Brazilians die and Europe braces for another wave of the coronavirus, the question assumes an alarming immediacy. If the answer is complicated in one way, it is ...
Weekend social 13/02/2015 
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever.
You’ve got to wonder why the New Zealand Police undertook an armed response teams (ARTs) trial in the first place? Of course there was the Christchurch mosque terrorism attack, but that was an isolated incident and therefore cannot be used as an excuse to arm Police. What this trial does ...8 hours ago
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, May 31 through Sat, June 6, 2020 Editor's Choice The world must seize this opportunity to meet the climate challenge As current and former central bankers, we believe the pandemic offers ...14 hours ago
The 60 Years of New Zealand Television celebrations, such as they were, seemed to rely heavily on the classics: here we go again with Lynn of Tawa, A Week of It and the Country Calendar spoofs. Wonderful highlights of our televisual past, to be sure, but after hearing Paul Holmes’ ...1 day ago
The Two Americas Collide: You gotta love the Americans marching for George Floyd and the fragile promises of the US Constitution. But, you also gotta keep your eye on the pale rider in the White House, and understand that behind him Hell follows.THE FRAGILITY of democracy’s promise is becoming clearer ...2 days ago
Oliver Twist, famously asked for ‘more’. He did not challenge the system of workhouses – Dickens did – nor the authority of Beadle Bumble. He was only nine. I am often struck how critics of the current income maintenance system are like Oliver Twist. They ask for more, but they ...2 days ago
New Zealand’s history as a sheep-farming nation means the command “Get in behind!” has long had a particular resonance — but not usually for journalists. However, in late March, as panic over the coronavirus pandemic surged around the world, Dr Gavin Ellis — former editor-in-chief of the NZ Herald — ...2 days ago
When the New Zealand Police started using Armed Response Teams - gangs of heavily-armed police cruising Māori-Pacifica neighbourhoods in juiced-up gun-trucks - they told us it was a "trial". But it turns out that those armed police - who were mainly doing traffic stops and bail checks, rather than the ...2 days ago
Another study comparing effect in children from nonendemic areas (Dagang) and endemic fluorosis area (Jinghai) about 80km apart in the Tianjin area of China. Hardly sampling the same population. Anti-fluoride campaigners still use studies from ... 3 days ago
George Thomson, Nick Wilson, Richard Edwards This blog discusses the passing of the Smoke-free Environments (Prohibiting Smoking in Motor Vehicles Carrying Children) Amendment Act last week. We briefly review some lessons from this legislation’s long journey and explore future smokefree possibilities in Aotearoa / New Zealand. A law ...4 days ago
Bernard Hickey is one of New Zealand’s leading financial journalists. His latest article, published by Newsroom, lays bare the cruel treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers stranded since the lockdown. Our Prime Minister is lauded overseas for her compassion, but her Cabinet is refusing to properly support tens of ...4 days ago
For a good part of my adult life I have studied civil-military relations. I have studied authoritarian and democratic variants, and I have studied them across countries and regions. I have also worked in and with several US security agencies and have lectured on the theme at a number of ...4 days ago
by The Spark “The system is broken”—the words of a young black man in Minneapolis watching flames destroy a police precinct demonstrators had torched. Broken? Yes, it is! What else could you say about a system whose police for nine minutes casually knelt on a black man’s neck, watching until ...5 days ago
Like the rest of the world, I have been aghast at what I have seen of, and read and heard about, what is happening currently in the United States. It seems incredible that a once great country should be suffering the worst effects and the highest number of deaths worldwide ...6 days ago
Image credit: Writing an Article vs. Writing a Blog Post: What’s the Difference? I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is ... 6 days ago
It’s almost painful to watch. Let’s be honest, maybe a pleasure too, in some quarters, but painful nonetheless. Because the fact is, for a democracy to function properly, any sitting Government does need honest and proper Opposition so that it doesn’t get ahead of itself. That’s what we should ...1 week ago
Well, we are out of lockdown, essentially. I did end up getting the wage subsidy while we were on levels 3 and 4 but I would have been fine if we didn’t. The first day of level 2, the Thursday, the office opened again for the people who weren’t able ...2 weeks ago
Hon Shane Jones, NZ First List MP based in Northland New Zealand First MP Hon Shane Jones has today announced his candidacy for the electorate of Northland. Speaking at a New Zealand First meeting in Kerikeri, Northland, Mr Jones said it was a privilege to be selected by the Party ...5 hours ago
We started the week by announcing free apprenticeships to support Kiwis into work and to help get New Zealand moving again - and we ended the week by extending the wage subsidy to 40,000 more businesses, helping to protect businesses and workers alike. ...2 days ago
The Green Party is urging the New Zealand Police to rule out the use of Armed Response Teams, following their recent trial in communities around Aotearoa. ...3 days ago
This summer presents a great opportunity for New Zealanders to get out into nature with bookings on Great Walks for 2020/21 set to open next week, says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Bookings for the Great Walks will open between 9 and 11 June, excluding Milford and Routeburn tracks which ...2 days ago
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The Spanish-owned contractor behind the stalled Transmission Gully Public Private Partnership is accused of abandoning projects in Australia. ...2 hours ago
ANALYSIS: By Denis Muller of the University of Melbourne When a newspaper with the authority of The New York Times chooses to publish a party-political essay calculated to further inflame the violence wracking cities across America, serious questions arise. On June 3 the Times published in its opinion section an ...7 hours ago
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...8 hours ago
New Zealand writer Anna Rankin reports from Los Angeles. Last Friday afternoon, I went downtown to a protest outside the enormous Los Angeles Police Department headquarters on 1st Street. The LAPD had set up cordons, placing orange cones across streets to block traffic. Arms crossed, they stood with a wide ...15 hours ago
Tania Tapsell is replacing MP Anne Tolley as National's candidate for the East Coast. ...23 hours ago
One press statement from the Beehive yesterday sounded more like advertising – or a barker’s pitch – than a Government announcement. Another advised of two diplomatic appointment, one of them – has the woman who landed the post done something wrong? – to protest-troubled and politically volatile Hong Kong. And ...1 day ago
Throughout Anglo colonial states there is a constant habit of defining people who aren’t white as a problem, writes Aaron Smale in this personal essay. It was a balmy summer evening in the capital and cops were standing over a young brown man. I was walking down Courtenay Place on ...2 days ago
"The countdown clock ticks 2, then 1, then the prime minister raises her drink": dystopia, by Ōtautahi writer Laura Borrowdale. You stand in the centre of the room, and around you, the guests seem to swirl and blend into one. There’s a mouth, gaping and red, filled with laughter. A ...2 days ago
Martin Luther King Jr said in 1963: “America has given the Black people a bad cheque, a cheque which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’." Six generations of egregious police violence later, the sentiment out of which those bad cheques were born could be shifting. In the wake of egregious police violence, ...2 days ago
WATCH: In a candid interview on Sky Sport, Dame Susan Devoy talks on her concern for rising sports stars, the state of NZ squash, and the spectre of racism. Dame Susan Devoy is proudly still “a little terrier who fights for the underdog”. “I have been doing it all my life and ...2 days ago
Are central bankers jealous that epidemiologists are the rock stars of the current crisis? There is talk that both the British and New Zealand central banks might institute negative interest rates as part of the policy response to the Covid shock. While Sweden’s central bank ended its five year experiment ...2 days ago
LISTEN: This week's Extra Time podcast discusses racism in sport and the role of athletes and organisations in making a stand for good. Former Silver Fern and Black Fern Louisa Wall believes today's sports stars must have a social conscience and stand up against discrimination and divisiveness. Sport and politics, once ...2 days ago
40 percent of millennials have one, and an increasing number of GenXers and Baby Boomers do too. Two Cents' Worth delves into the world of side hustles. ...2 days ago
A slight bounce in the economy is brightening the outlook as the country heads into the winter months, Radio NZ reports. Retail spending is up and NZ shares rose on Thursday for a third day running. Key indicators have led some economists to point to a faster recovery than expected. ...2 days ago
Analysis: As New Zealand eases restrictions, it no longer has international precedent to look towards and must decide on its own how to reopen the economy while reducing the risk of a second wave of infections, Marc Daalder reports While most of the country eagerly awaits a likely move to ...2 days ago
I was thinking of a really dull and tedious weekend. ..no real estate speculation or tax avoidance calculus. No getting ticketed at 200 in the Mazeratti. No fine dining with oodles of fine Otago pinot noir. Tutukaka game fishing or similar. None of that nonsense for Ennui. No………………… …..For some bizarre February reason Super Rugby starts tonight.
Mrs Ennui will yawn and run a bath…my cup will floweth over.
Valentine’s day on saturday – sponteneity doesn’t usually go too far wrong 🙂
I’m “celebrating” 192 days sober…with another water /sigh
It is a celebration – good for you!
I used to work in a brewery, long (long) ago. So much alcoholism. It put me off alcohol for my early life, and even now I very seldom drink.
Might be time to change your handle to barfree 🙂
Over 3 years for me. It was easier than I’d expected.
But you will miss out on this view of life
“I only drink champagne when I’m happy, and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.
– Lily Bollinger”
She of course had the advantage of not having to pay for it.
Good on you Barfly. What a massive effort. I hope you’ve been well supported through out and continue to be. Take care and enjoy your achievements.
I’ve heard it’s better than the alternative. Congrats on your willpower
Barfly. Great news. What was your greatest incentive to choose this hard row?
After having my wallet stolen while I was pissed as a parrot I had such rage and hatred of myself that it was enough to get me through the first 2 months (not really an incentive I guess)
There are some ratbags out there. But using that trigger to recognise a problem and deal with it is the best response you could have made.
Chilled water on a hot day. Delicious. You can feel it flowing inside your body cooling all over. Water is your friend. I’ve been reading that it gives muscles a boost, keeps away cramps, releases the prickly feelings from calcium spurs in your elbows when you are older.
Grime Music time..
Well OK Only Dizzy Rascal
But hoping other’s can offer up some Grime Tunes.
Big weekend down in the King Country the A’N’P shows on in Taumarunui as well as the classic gliders turning up for a week at the airport.
But of most interest to me is the king country center champs dog trail at mahihi otarohanga it the best chance for a easy entry to the north island/new Zealand champs in may. Is Bess the mighty good enough.
May the inside of your gumboots stay dry.
Not sure if that’s a curse or a blessing could do with a drop of rain or two , might even leave the coat at home to temp mother n into getting me:-)
Well, if it’s real dry, you won’t be needing your gumboots to keep you out of the hospital or infirmary 🙂
I tell you the next time I see mud I may strip off and roll in it.
Mud wrestling?? CAn we watch???
The only thing I wrestle with is the implications of being human and if you read my posts you’re already watching. 🙂
Dang an event I was prepared to travel to. ” put in chuckle icon”
I’m a slightly chubby hairy in all the wrong places middle aged man you would be better to watch the “borat” fight scene.
you are a ‘bear’..
..and you do have yr own fan sub-set..
..so nude-wrestling shouldn’t be ruled out for those ‘bear’-like reasons..
Not quite a bear but gravity is shifting the follicles from my head to all sorts of odd places.
“You don’t walk around Muddy puddles. You jump in them.
Peppa Pig.
Oh the joys of having a 3 year old 🙂
There’s nothing more satisfying than jumping in a muddy puddle & getting your mates soaked……lol
I will be carrying on with my efforts to rear an endangered species – monarch butterflies. I keep wondering which group of brassica growers convinced who in which government department to ask some idiotic minister to permit the importing of a caterpillar eating wasp. Even caterpillars left outside that are less than a cm long are being eaten by the very efficient wasps and all that is left is black blood.
P.S. There are lots of white butterflies around, are they not as tasty as the colourful monarch?
I don’t think they were deliberately introduced, just someone not being careful enough with imports. Bloody things make a mess of monarch caterpillars.
White butterfly’s are destroyers of brassicas, monarchs eat the swan plant as far as I know. The whiteys are menaces and seem to be around awhile whereas the monarch had a very short life cycle.
We hate them with a passion as they monster the winter crops coming up now.
I have 17 swanplants growing but have sighted only one monarch butterfly. Those leg trailing paper wasps seem to patrol the plants looking for caterpillars. same last year. Monarchs Nil.
i have six six foot high swanplants..
..and i have swarms of monarchs…
..birds and stuff love my yard..
..the lawns haven’t been mowed in five yrs..(i walk it down when it gets too high..)
..so there is a whole eco-system going on in there..
..and tho’ in suburbia..the fence/trees make it a green-cave of sorts..
..a safe haven for them all..
..and even wild birds like being whistled-at/talked to..
..my great grandfather taught/showed me that when i was a kid..
..he used to do it all the time..and i thought it was very cool..
..so also do it..
Kiaora Phil
I live rurally. I have paddocks for neighbours. Recently the property was refenced to stop the cows from coming in. Before the fencing, i had a bit of a wild garden thing growing. Lots of flowers, colour, insect life and even a rat nesting under the harakeke.
Well, the fencing contractor, whom I know very well, unilaterally decided to have his workers ‘clean up the place’ and had them remove every plant and every bit of colour from the section. This happened last week and my blood is still boiling.
The fencing contractor is a good person and runs a crew of youths who otherwise would be in prison. He is also a Tuhoe bushman. I said to the dude “how the fuck would you like it if I went through Te Uruwera with a chainsaw. ” That’s how badly violated I feel.
So I really do get the wild garden thing. And on a final note, Bob, the rat, is now trying to store his nuts in my ceiling. I need to really think about that one.
morena adele..
..i find if it gets too unruly/high..
..that walking it down is preferable to cutting..
..i did my backyard yesterday..
..and it is strangely satisfying to do..
(..much more so than clattering around with a lawn mower..
..faster..and no mountain of clippings to deal with after..)
..and freshly-tamped it all packs down to about 10cm high..
..and then the cycle starts again..
..and doing that i get a glimpse of the insect-life in the eco-system that has built up..
..and i really recommend growing some swan-plants..
..it is way cool to have monarch butterflies flying around the place..
Kiaora Adele,
“I said to the dude “how the fuck would you like it if I went through Te Uruwera with a chainsaw. ” That’s how badly violated I feel.”
Makes sense to me. Lots of people socialised into tidy is best and the beauty and abundance of wilderness in our backyards is lost on them. I’ve been in that situation a few times where people thought they were doing something useful or kind but were in fact destroying something essential. It’s hard. Did the man get it when you pointed it out?
Rats on the other hand, once they make it into the ceiling, that’s a step too far. It was always the young males who would come in at 3 o’clock in the morning and run riot over my bedroom ceiling. That was the time for me to push back.
Kiaora Weka
“Rats on the other hand, once they make it into the ceiling, that’s a step too far. It was always the young males who would come in at 3 o’clock in the morning and run riot over my bedroom ceiling. That was the time for me to push back.”
I know exactly what you are saying. So far I think it still is just Bob, the solitary rat. I have yet to see or hear evidence of the whanau or mokopuna. He is already in the ceiling space rattling his nuts about.
I have had endless discussions with the locals on how to remove rats, which generally involves trapping or poisoning. I am at an impasse. I don’t want to kill but I also don’t want to come home to a horde of rats arguing over the remote.
Ben the movie springs to mind.
Can you cover the swan plant bush with fine netting – dress material type? Or fine muslin? Monarchs are beautiful. Do you belong to the Trust? I am sorry about the demise of the NZ preying mantis and the way that the South African has swamped it. But I feel that wasp may be getting into the preying mantis too.
@Janine
Naa the white ones only eat the tougher green stuff, Cabbage and my Silverbeet (out with the dust again) so must be bitter compared to the Swan Plant eating butterfly. . I have a friend here in Levin who’s house has hundreds of chrysalis mainly empty now and butterfly’s everywhere. Oh if they eat the plants too quick or too far She put Cucumber out for them. The forum Second link should elp with your wasp problem.
http://www.monarch.org.nz/monarch/species/monarchs/monarch-host-plants/feeding-monarch-larvae/
http://www.monarch.org.nz/monarch/forum/
Thanks for the links DH. It is good to see that some people have living caterpillars. I got some net to cover my two mature trees greywarsharrk, but the wasps managed to get underneath the cover and there was carnage! Of the 22 caterpillars that I knew of only 4 remained. One was hanging ready to turn and only half of it was left. I live in the Franklin district so if there was a deliberate release of wasps I guess it would have been here. We are also close (as the crow flies) to the Auckland Airport, so I suppose if something came in there it would head for this area as a good source of food. Now I go over the trees at least twice a day and any branches with eggs on I bring inside.
@ Janice
Good luck with raising them inside. Perhaps a trend could be started for people to adopt the ones ready to change, bringing them inside when they went into their J shape. And then viewing them as living works of art – I find them beautiful with their cases of light green with gold spots. Watching the amazing work of the nature as their wings form and colours deepen till they can be seen through their thin cover is interesting. The beautiful end comes as they emerge and slowly waft their wings to dry and circulate their blood. Set them high enough so the cat won’t get them would be a rule!
Monarchs! I used to see them all the time at my parents (Chch) growing up. Haven’t seen one for many years. I had forgotten. Thank you for your efforts…
Flying home to winter after 4 fabulous weeks with friends and family in Aotearoa. Highlights included family wedding, Abel Tasman track and several visits to Raglan. Best.holiday.ever.
Only rained while we were on the track – reckon it was Puck paying us back for a dry Milford walk some years ago.
Leaving the land of intense cold for Auckland tomorrow. Yay, warmth!
There’s a Wellington/Wairarapa outdoor dj and laser party this weekend.
Although I’m not going to it I usually enjoy these type of events.
https://www.facebook.com/events/448976005256415/
I know a number of the DJ’s and lighting guys – quite friendly with the organisers too. They always do good work so will be fun I am sure.
I was thinking of going but the problem is the drive back the next day. There would be no way I would be sober enough to drive.
This is where Facebook could come in handy. A group with transport and revolving and reliable sober driver task could contact each other and set up trips like this Contrarian.
Writing this, I have the wonderful Dick Gaughan playing in the background. Militant working class folk music as its sinewy, caustic best.
One of the things I like most about Dick is that, like a string of singer-songwriters of his time, he is a very accomplished guitar player. Back in the 60s and 70s being a guitar-playing singer-songwriter you had to be a really good guitarist. Like Dick, or like Bert Jansch or John Renbourn or Davy Graham. Or NZ’s own wonderful Chris Thompson (‘Echoes from the Pit’ and ‘Minstrelsy’ are wonderful albums).
The Gaughan album I have on is ‘Gaughan Live!’, recorded at the Hebden Bridge Trades Club in the north of England.
Gaughan is a Cot, but he has a couple of nice songs exposing the myths peddled by Scottish nationalists, pointing out that the Scottish landowners and capitalists ruthlessly exploited the working people of Scotland and also emphasising the solidarity between Scottish and English workers: “No Gods” is a powerful, raucous number, while “Both Sides the Tweed” is just beautiful as a song, even if you didn’t follow the lyrics.
“Tom Paine’s Bones” is another great track, sinewy and emotional.
“Whatever happened?” is magnificent; it’s a rollicking, biting condemnation of all those who espoused revolutionary views in their youth but moved right as they climbed the socio-economic ladder (but might have kept the odd Che Guevara t-shirt).
He also has some wonderful guitar-playing on two instrumental medleys.
Gaughan first came to my attention at the time of the 1981 hunger strikes in the H-Blocks. He does a beautiful version (my favourite) of an old Irish republican movement song, “The Galtee Mountain Boy” and it was on a fund-raising album put out by the POW Dept of Sinn Fein. The live album contains my favourite version of “Both sides the Tweed” but there’s a nice version of it by Dick with Emmylou Harris at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlDijR0Y60Q
One of my favourite tracks on that great album was “Back Home in Derry”, written by Bobby Sands (although Sands was from Belfast). But my favourite version of that song is by the wonderful Gary Og, however his best vid of it seems to have disappeared from youtube. But he does a nice version of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song: here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iP7r0cg7Oc&list=PLDC4C4612C68C0D55&index=16
One of my favourite Irish songs is “James Connolly” and my favourite version is this one, which accompanies one of the annual Easter Rebellion commemorations organised by the Belfast branches of the socialist-republican movement eirigi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EghEkVe80e0
and, of course, lots of the wonderful Damien Dempsey: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/damo-does-the-dux-gig-review/
the wonderful Seth Lakeman: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/seth-lakemans-workers-lives-review-of-tales-from-the-barrelhouse-and-word-of-mouth/
and I’ll be digging out some of the old magnificent Van der Graaf Generator; this is one of my favourite songs of theirs, “Arrow” (from 1975): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiLv2f3QKzs
Phil
I share your admiration for Gaughan. Fine guitar player and also a voice which I find very rich with an expressive warmth. “Kist of Gold” is my favourite album. Great political songs and also a way with a love ballad. He’s one of my “Gee, I wish I could play/sing like Gaughan.”
“…songs exposing the myths peddled by Scottish nationalists…”
you seem to infer that Scottish nationalist were (are?) on the side of the landowners and capitalist and they they were fellow travellers in ther attitudes towards working people.
Can you expand? I don’t see the current SNP in that light.
since the 10th feb i have posted/linked to 40 items in my music/ent/lit category..
http://whoar.co.nz/category/musicentlit/
..and there is some seriously good shit in there..
..ranging from one for joni mitchell fans..
..to lord of the rings in five minutes..
..(having tired of all the walking..i walked out of the first lord of the rings..
..so i found that one useful/a time-saver..)
..happy scrolling..!
Oceania Badminton Champs starts this weekend at North Harbour. Some good battles between Aussie and NZ. Pacific Island teams eliminated early 🙁
I asked a Cook Islander if he was going to play in his jandals, he said “I wish, it’s too bloody hot in here” 🙂
Quite a fun tournament, not too serious like the NZ Open…
Blew the head gasket on the Commodore last week! Off to buy a bicycle this arvo.
Starting a new job on Monday. Will need the $$$ to pay for the Holden dramas. Arrgh
A song just for Holden owners…….LMAO 🙂
Shuddup! Made myself feel better with these… 😆
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ford+on+fire
On Radionz. I thought this was a breakthrough in social understanding and the Joy of Mathematics. It is not airy fairy ideas, really factual and provable and repeatable.
And can be applied to NZs as a democratic people if trying to understand why our democracy and we are going down the plughole.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167277
Hannah Fry – Love and Mathematics ( 21′ 27″ )
09:40 Just in time for Valentine’s Day weekend – Dr Hannah Fry tells Wallace the
mathematical equation for love. Her new book The Mathematics of Love offers a unique perspective on matters of the heart. As a mathematician, Dr Fry answers such burning questions as: What is the chance of finding love? How long will it last? And what are your chances of divorce?
did she get to the bit about how many people are simply not suited to lifelong monogamy? 😉
There was too much for my tiny brain to encompass weka. May have done. There’s something for everyone in the book it seems.
“Selma, the stunning new film based on Paul Webb’s screenplay and directed by the previously unheralded African-American Ava DuVernay, makes for an interesting side-by-side comparison with Stephen Spielberg’s Lincoln. Both films revolve around the circumstances attending the passage of key legislation affecting Black America: in the first instance, the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery and in the second the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that sealed the doom of Jim Crow, a legacy of white America’s abandonment of Reconstruction. . .”
full review at: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/selma-the-movie-the-history-and-its-relevance-today/
Another film. – Edward Snowden and how it feel to be really unpopular in a pseudo-democracy.
Citizenfour – A panel discussion ( 19′ 19″ )
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167273
08:40 The Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning documentary Citizenfour tells the story of Edward Snowden – a former NSA employee turned whistle-blower.
Radio New Zealand National held a screening of the film in Auckland earlier this week and followed it with a panel hosted by Wallace Chapman and featuring: Mediawatch’s Colin Peacock; former Listener editor Finlay McDonald; documentary filmmaker Annie Goldson; and, Sandra Kailahi – a freelance journalist and director.
Film has been shown in auckland and Wellington.
Will be opening from Feb 19 in Christchurch and Dunedin.
Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiGwAvd5mvM
Also be aware of something lighter – Alan Davies UK Jonathan Creek QI etc is coming.
10:40 Alan Davies – Telling Stories
Alan Davies is a standup veteran of 25 years. He starred in the crime show Jonathan Creek which ran for 14 years, and is a permanent panelist of the QI show hosted by Stephen Fry. Alan Davies is bringing his new show Little Victories to NZ for a series of gigs across the country in July.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167279
I met an honest-to-God Alex Jones 911 truther today who told me that “God’s judgment is upon America”, that “Obama can kill anybody he wants”, and that “FEMA is constructing death camps around the nation”.
This guy is around 65 and very overweight, has renounced his U.S citizenship and emigrated to New Zealand. He also said “the church in America is corrupt” and “America is the whore of Babylon” and something about Revelation chapter 16.
Tried injecting a little bit of sanity into the conversation but soon realised I was wasting my time and looked for an exit strategy. But on reflection I pretty much agree with his criticism of US militarism, although his logic and religious rhetoric was totally insane. I think he got NZ citizenship because of his Australian wife.
No doubt he will pull a NZ pension while complaining about big government and voting NACT