Weekend social 23/09/2011
Written By:
- Date published:
2:00 pm, September 23rd, 2011 - 46 comments
Categories: weekend social -
Tags:
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever.
No politics, no aggro, why can’t we all just get along?
46 comments on “Weekend social 23/09/2011 ”
- Comments are now closed
- Comments are now closed
Recent Comments
- NZ Politics Daily – 22 October 2020
Labour-Greens talks, Labour govt Henry Cooke (Stuff): There is no evidence National voters backed Labour to keep the Greens out Audrey Young (Herald): Labour holds all the cards as Ardern’s talks with Greens get underway RNZ: Greens better off independent – Former Green MP Catherine Delahunty Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Greens would be ...3 hours ago - Geoffrey Miller: Stardust across the Middle East: How Arab media reported on NZ’s electionNews is not in short supply in the Middle East, and on Saturday, Arab media remained focused heavily on the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh. Nevertheless, the New Zealand election – and especially Jacinda Ardern’s personal success – received significant attention from Arabic-language TV news channels, newspapers and ...3 hours ago
- It's Time For Some “Earnest Struggle”.
4 hours ago - Party Like It’s 1936: Songs for the Philologists
It’s the most obscure Tolkien book of all… so obscure that only fourteen copies exist: Songs for the Philologists, a 1936 collection of thirty humorous verses, by Tolkien (who wrote thirteen), E.V. Gordon, and ... 11 hours ago - Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – National’s catastrophic collapse and fraught rebuildThe National Party’s defeat has been so comprehensive that few in the party seem optimistic they will recover anytime soon. Falling from 47% in 2017 to just 27% (which might drop as low as 25% once special votes are counted), is one of the most severe collapses in New Zealand’s ...15 hours ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #42, 2020
Dust-up at the Denial Corral, in "journal time" Way back in 2017 the Institute of Physics publication Environmental Research Letters (ERL) published a featured article, Assessing ExxonMobil's climate change communications (1977–2014), by Supran & Oreskes. The article reverberated widely as it exposed a documented a pattern of behavior arguably described as perfidious. The authors ...16 hours ago - Now’s the time – expand ACC
Having ruled out Capital Gains Tax and Wealth Tax, the incoming Labour government must be looking for some significant progressive policies that they haven’t already ruled out. Expanding the ACC scheme fits that brief, and the Green Party have conveniently already proposed doing so. But, how to fund it? The accident/illness ...20 hours ago - Managing to the target
New Zealand's health system is chronicly underfunded, and so almost all DHBs run deficits. Last month, just before he bailed out Canterbury DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins was repeating the mantra that DHBs must live within their means and "have a credible plan to return to financial sustainability". But yesterday, ...21 hours ago - Solarise all the things!If we are to avoid dangerous levels of climate change, we need to decarbonise the economy and shift our energy supply completely to renewables. The good news is that the International Energy Agency thinks that that is going to happen. The reason? Interest rates have dropped. And this means that ...22 hours ago
- New Zealand weighs up a nation-sized battery
Ian Mason and Robert McLachlan Climate change was a small but perceptible part of the recent election. On climate change, Labour pointed proudly to their record of legislating for net zero emissions by 2050 (nicknamed the ‘Zero Carbon Act’), establishing a Climate Change Commission to set carbon budgets and advise ...24 hours ago - NZ Politics Daily – 21 October 2020Today’s content Election Jack Vowles (The Conversation): The 2020 NZ election saw record vote volatility — what does that mean for the next Labour government? Jason Walls and Chris Knox (Herald): 20 fascinating facts about the 2020 election you might have missed Stuff: Labour Day: A vote-by-vote analysis of New Zealand’s historic shift ...1 day ago
- Do Landslides Change the Landscape in the Long Run?
It was easy for election night commentators to use the ‘landslide’ trope to describe Labour’s winning of the 2020 election. But the historical record suggests that such landslides may not last long. In 1935, the First (Savage-Fraser) Labour Government won 53 seats in a parliament of 80; National ...2 days ago - The Debunking Handbook 2020: Prevent misinformation from sticking if you canThis blog post is part 2 of a series of excerpts from The Debunking Handbook 2020 which can be downloaded here. The list of references is available here. Prevent misinformation from sticking if you can Because misinformation is sticky, it’s best preempted. This can be achieved by explaining misleading or ...2 days ago
- Graeme Edgeler: Mandates are not mandatory, but they are also not meaninglessThere’s a lot of talk about what the Labour Government’s new mandate is. For a discussion of exactly what that might mean, Graeme Edgeler explores the murky logic of what they can and can’t do, pointing out that ultimately voters decide if this mandate was properly used in three years. ...2 days ago
- Hyping it up over fluoridation
In my time as a scientific researcher, honest scientists used to condemn colleagues who over-hyped their science. To our mind there should have been a special place in hell for scientists who misrepresented their ... 2 days ago - Don’t fall for the Covid contrariansAs life in Aotearoa gets back to some kind of normal after our latest Covid-19 outbreak, cases in the northern hemisphere are on the rise again and that puts us all at risk. Because no one is safe until we are all safe. This is a tricky virus. We now ...2 days ago
- Liam Hehir: Online abuse and the standard you walk byThere’s a lot of nastiness in the online public sphere, much of it tribal, petty and personal. Political commentator and Twitter enthusiast Liam Hehir has seen too much of it, and explains why he’s going to actively stand up against it. I did a radio interview a little while ...2 days ago
- Tanzania: elections, neoliberalism and economic diplomacy
Politics in New Zealand is the main focus of Redline, along with supporting liberation movements and anti-imperialist struggles. We have had little material from the African continent, so are pleased to print this submission from a Tanzanian writer on their pending elections. Tanzania will be going to the polls on ...2 days ago - Governing For All Of Us.2 days ago
- NZ Politics Daily – 20 October 2020Today’s content Coalition negotiations, shape of government Gordon Campbell: On why the Greens shouldn’t join the government Andrew Geddis (Pundit): What Sort Of Relationship Might Labour And The Greens Agree On? Audrey Young (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern holds preparatory talks with Greens but coalition looking unlikely Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern tight-lipped after ...2 days ago
- What sort of relationship might Labour and the Greens agree on?
Even without knowing the final election result (because, don’t forget there’s about 500,000 special votes still to count and they very likely will change Saturday’s results), we can say two things for certain about the next government. Jacinda Ardern will be its Prime Minister. And Labour will be at its core. But ...3 days ago - Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – Leftwing euphoria meets realityThe political left has been euphoric since Saturday’s night historic landslide victory for Labour. But political commentators from across the spectrum are united in warning that the new Government isn’t about to be transformative. Instead, we will see more of a status quo administration grappling with a crisis, with very ...3 days ago
- Yes, a mandate for sure… but issues for NZ will be far, far more difficult now
With the NZ General Election and Referendums over for 2020, Jacinda Ardern is to form a Government over the next few weeks, “there are some areas we do want to crack on with, that we will need to expedite”, and talks will begin to form around what the voters ...3 days ago - Labour Party landslide – 2020 Election in review
Jacinda Ardern - Prime Minister of New ZealandThe 2020 General Election has been one of the most interesting in New Zealand’s political history. Not only did we have voters provide the Labour Party with a stratospheric 49.1% mandate to govern, the results also delivered National with a crushing 26.8% defeat ...3 days ago - Be careful what you wish for: Labour's difficult triumph
Labour’s overwhelming victory at the election has been greeted with rousing cheers on the left of New Zealand politics and the start of transformational demands. It’s a multi-generational win for Labour, out-polling the Kirk, Lange and Clark victories. You have to go back to 1938 for a bigger percentage (55.8%) ...3 days ago - A Skeptical Science member's path to an experiment on carbon sequestrationDuring what now seems like another era entirely- back in February of this long year- Skeptical Science regular RedBaron (aka Scott Strough) mentioned in a discussion thread here that he'd been working on an idea for no-till cultivation of vegetables, was seeking to quantify what appeared to be promising results. Scott ...3 days ago
- Jacinda Will Keep Us Moving – To The Same Place.Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes? Not Likely: Though few New Zealanders would express it in such a fashion: Jacinda’s and Labour’s general handling of the Covid-19 crisis proved both to be highly effective defenders of the capitalist status quo. She, and they, kept the lights on. And that, in the absence of an alternative ...3 days ago
- The Greens and LabourWith an absolute majority, Labour can govern in its own right, and doesn't need partners. But while unnecessary, they're a nice-to-have, both as backup and for PR reasons. Ardern has talked about "consensus", and there are obvious benefits for her of having government policy endorsed by as many parties as ...3 days ago
- 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #42Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Earth has warmest September on record, and 2020 may clinch hottest year Record warmth in Europe and Asia overwhelms a ...3 days ago
- Josh Van Veen: The Vindication of Winston PetersAn egalitarian spirit is currently being revived in New Zealand, and we should thank Winston Peters for keeping alive that spirit. Josh Van Veen, who once worked with the NZ First leader, pays his tribute. With New Zealand First receiving less than 3% of the vote, critics are happily ...3 days ago
- The Hunt for Red October: Musings on Taieri
So New Zealand has had its general election. Jacinda Ardern has managed a single-party majority government, New Zealand’s first in twenty-six years, and its first since the adoption of proportional representation. I intend to do a comment on that further down the line – my feelings on the Sunday ...4 days ago - Lessons from the Election
This year’s general election has broken new ground – and not just in terms of its outcome, the seats won and votes cast, and – in an MMP environment – the margin of victory. It also suggests that something quite fundamental has changed in New Zealand politics. The outcome is ...4 days ago - The unexpected resultThe people have spoken, and its a Labour majority government. This wasn't meant to happen under MMP, and in fact its exactly what the system was designed to prevent: no majority governments, no elected dictatorships, unless we really, really want it (which at the time seemed unlikely on 40 years ...4 days ago
- Schadenfreude is a dish best served blue
What started out as the largest party in parliament has ended election night scratching the back door of the house of irrelevance. ...4 days ago - 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #42A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Oct 11, 2020 through Sat, Oct 17, 2020 Editor's Choice A FIELD GUIDE TOTHE ELECTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE The presidential election is just weeks away, and climate change has broken ...4 days ago
- Legal Beagle: Election '20: The Special Votes
The 2020 General Election has a preliminary result. For reasons I am unable to really explain, we will not have even a preliminary result for the end of life choice and cannabis legalisation referendums for some weeks (I dropped the ball on that one when the referendum legislation was before ...4 days ago - National rejects tonight’s result as a ‘rogue poll’
National are dismissing tonight’s election result as an “obvious outlier” Half an hour into counting, National Party leader Judith Collins and deputy leader Gerry Brownlee are already dismissing tonight’s election result as a “rogue poll”, saying it’s an incomplete survey with shoddy methodology. Brownlee called an emergency media stand-up just ...5 days ago - Jacinda Ardern ran down four National supporters with her car this morning but due to electoral law ...Dr. Ashley Bloomfield reported at today’s 1pm health briefing that the Coronavirus turns out not to exist, but that information was also withheld on the same grounds. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern began her election morning by ruthlessly driving her car into a family of National supporters just blocks from her ...5 days ago
- Six weird animals that have nothing to do with the electionGet a load of these things! Some of these animals are just crazy. You wouldn’t want a single one of these animals anywhere near your kids. It could ruin them for life. Last thing you’d want is your kid growing up around any of these, and thinking that’s what animals ...5 days ago
- 1pm Covid Health Update for 17th October, 2020What follows is today’s 1pm health update from the Ministry of Health There are 12 new cases of Covid-19 today, six in managed isolation, three escaped, and three are wealthy foreigners so it’s fine. One of these cases is a man in his 50s who visited Auckland sex club Fisting ...5 days ago
- It's Election Day.5 days ago
- National caucus convening to elect new leader for final 2 hours of the campaignThis is a breaking news event, and further updates and clarifications may be forthcoming. With less than three hours to go in the election campaign, The National Party is holding an emergency meeting to elect a new leader, one they hope can turn things around in the final one and ...6 days ago
- Judith Collins asking for two week extension on election due dateCollins says she was “ever so close” to finishing everything up, but a family member died, her computer crashed, and she just needs “a little more time” to get things right. In a late move this evening, Judith Collins has written an urgent letter to the Electoral Commission requesting a ...6 days ago
- The Debunking Handbook 2020: Misinformation is damaging and stickyThis blog post is part 1 of a series of excerpts from The Debunking Handbook 2020. The list of references is available here. Misinformation can do damage Misinformation is false information that is spread either by mistake or with intent to mislead. When there is intent to mislead, it is ...6 days ago
- Not as a Christian, but as a New Zealander: Why I am voting against assisted suicide tomorrow.
I am no stranger to lost causes. And, while there is always hope, it does appear that David Seymour’s “End of Life Choice” law will receive the necessary endorsement of voters to finally legalise assisted suicide in this country. A significant minority of voters will dissent, however.I will be one ...6 days ago - Ardern reassures voters that Greens’ negotiating table will be a tiny, humiliating oneOn the eve of the election, the Prime Minister wants New Zealanders to know the Greens will be given a very small seat at the table, quite literally. In the final hours of the campaign, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has made a forceful appeal to the electorate not to be ...6 days ago
- A Waste of Time: The Hundred “Best” Fantasy Books
Time Magazine has put out a list of the hundred best fantasy books of all time: https://time.com/collection/100-best-fantasy-books/ It is bad. Very bad. I get that this is clickbait nonsense, but… really. Time Magazine ought to be ashamed of themselves. Ostensibly, the selection process was as follows: ...6 days ago - Big changes do stickIn one of her last pre-election interviews, Jacinda Ardern tries to defend her policy of doing nothing while in government: Ardern reflected on large changes made by Helen Clark’s government – particularly in education and welfare – that were still part of the system now, saying they prove smaller ...6 days ago
- Polls show regret for not voting Green
I have looked at election polling for last four elections and have noticed a concerning pattern. The Green Party's polling leading up to each election is stronger than what they actually achieve, then the poll immediately afterwards is always considerably higher. For most parties the opposite is generally the case. ...6 days ago - Climate Change: Planning to failLast year, the government passed the Zero Carbon Act, setting short-term and long-term goals for carbon reduction. And they're already saying that they will fail to meet them: Environment Minister David Parker appears to have already given up on the country’s ability to meet the 2030 methane goal set ...6 days ago
- Another issue Labour is ignoring its voters overJacinda Ardern is trying to rule out even discussing a wealth tax if she gets re-elected. But if she gets re-elected, it will be by voters who support one. A Newshub poll shows that nearly half of all voters - and 60% of labour supporters - support a wealth tax: ...6 days ago
- Scholarship PhysicsIt’s that time of year when school students become seriously focused on exams. This year has been messy for student learning, and has affected some students more than others, but the NCEA external assessments and the Scholarship exams are going ahead pretty-much as normal. I’ve taken some interest in the ...6 days ago
- “Fitz” On Cannabis."I Like It!" “Shall I tell you the real reason to legalise cannabis? Because all the stuff I’ve told you, while true, isn’t enough. You should legalise cannabis because you’d like it. No, actually, you’d love it! Cannabis makes food taste better. It turns music into magic. It suppresses pain and nausea ...6 days ago
- Crusher fails to resonate7 days ago
- A flaw in our electoral transparency regime IILast month, we learned there was a flaw in our electoral transparency regime, with the New Zealand Public Party receiving a quarter of a million dollars in donations which will never have to be decalred. And now its got worse,as it turns out they're also explicitly soliciting donations from rich ...7 days ago
- “Entirely separate”When two people whose identities we all know but cannot say publicly due to name suppression were charged with "Obtaining by Deception" over routing donations to NZ First through the NZ First Foundation, Winston Peters claimed his party had been exonerated because "The Foundation is an entirely separate entity from ...7 days ago
- Judith Collins' little green liesNew Zealand is not the United States, thank goodness. We don't have the same level of political partisanship nor public media outlets that blatantly display political bias. However, during the closing weeks of this campaign I do feel an infection of trumpism is evident. Judith Collins and her National Party ...7 days ago
- Which ‘milk’ is best for the environment? We compared dairy, nut, soy, hemp and grain milksMaking eco-conscious choices at the shops can be tricky when we’re presented with so many options, especially when it comes to milk. Should we buy plant-based milk, or dairy? We’ve looked at the evidence to help you choose. Dora Marinova, Curtin University and Diana Bogueva, Curtin University Dairy has the ...1 week ago
- Josh Van Veen: The Psychology of ArdernismJacinda Ardern has made New Zealanders feel safe. Josh Van Veen looks at psychological understandings of leadership to help explain the ongoing success of Labour in this election campaign. Simon Bridges could have been the Prime Minister. Opinion polls in February suggested a close election, with Colmar Brunton giving the ...1 week ago
- Let's Make Jacinda Break Her Promises.1 week ago
- Two days to go, 12 questions still worth asking
One last lap. One last crack. One last chance to boost your own policies or knock down your opponents. Tonight TVNZ hosts the final leaders’ debate and although over a million New Zealanders have voted and much of the policy debate seems to have stagnated around negative attacks, there are ...1 week ago - Possible inter-satellite collision on FridayTwo objects in low-Earth orbit may collide with each other on Friday, in a hyper-velocity impact which would lead to millions of fragments being left on-orbit, each potentially-lethal to functioning satellites. Fingers crossed (not that I am superstitious) that it is a miss, rather than a hit. One local ...1 week ago
- Do Elections Deliver What We Want?
MMP may deliver a parliament which reflects us, but frequently the government does not. At the heart of my recent history of New Zealand, Not in Narrow Seas, is the interaction between economic and social change. I could measure economic change via the – far from comprehensive – ...1 week ago - Flailing last grasps bring lasting gasps in the NZ General Election…
The last week of the 2020 election here in New Zealand has been an increasingly torrid and venal affair has it not? Many expect the last week of any Election campaign to get considerably more tetchy, everyone is hurrying to nail the last voter down after all. But this ...1 week ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #41, 2020Zika follows climate Sadie Ryan and coauthors combine what we know about the Zika virus and its preferred regime with modeling to show the pathogen will greatly expand its range during the next few decades. We do have some remaining control over the situation. From the abstract: "In the ...1 week ago
- Does a delay in COP26 climate talks hit our efforts to reduce carbon emissions?Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz Will the delay of the COP26 UN climate negotiations impact ...1 week ago
- Where do the parties stand on open government?The election is in less than a week, so I thought I'd take a quick look at where the parties stand on open government, freedom of information, and the OIA. The short answer is that most of them don't. While Andrew Little has "promised" to rewrite the OIA, there's no ...1 week ago
- The Second Time As Farce: National's Election Campaign Falls Apart.1 week ago
- National's Little Helpers have A Cunning Plan.Keep Your hands Off Of My Stash: Viewed from the perspective of the 2020 General Election as a whole, the intervention of the Taxpayers’ Union against the Greens' Wealth Tax confirms the Right’s growing sense of desperation that the campaign is slipping away from them. With hundreds of thousands of ...1 week ago
- Covid-19: A planetary diseaseLouise Delany* This blog focuses on the underlying environmental causes of Covid-19 (Covid) and the role of international law in tackling both Covid and other planetary crises. I argue that major changes to our relationship with our planet and its creatures are needed and these changes must be supported by ...1 week ago
- Liam Hehir: How to make your mind upIf you’re still on the fence about how to vote, Liam Hehir says it’s probably more important for you to vote on the basis of your principles, and he offers a way to think about how these principles might align with the main party options. Still undecided? Here’s how ...1 week ago
- What else apart from a Wealth Tax? The shape of a Labour-Greens coalition
If you haven’t heard, the Green Party supports a Wealth Tax. Yeah, I thought you might have heard of it. Everyone’s been talking about it on the campaign trail these past few days. It would force the wealthiest six percent of New Zealanders to pay a one percent tax each ...1 week ago - Time is slipping by for the fruit industry to improve wagesThe covid-19 pandemic has meant a lot of changes for New Zealand. Lockdowns, social distancing, a massive shift to working from home and the death of tourism for a start. But the sensible and necessary border closure has also completely cut off the supply of cheap, migrant labour - and ...1 week ago
- A new low in American “democracy”Every US election, we're used to seeing long lines of voters, and reading stories of widespread gerrymandering and voter suppression (including things like flyers falsely telling people their assigned polling place (!) has moved or that voting will be on a different day, and robocalls threatening that people will be ...1 week ago
- A suggestion for Biden’s foreign policy.
I have been thinking about US foreign policy after the upcoming election. My working assumption is that try as he might, Trump will lose the election and be forced from office. There will be much litigating of the results and likely civil unrest, but on Jan 21, 2021 the Orange ...1 week ago
- WATCH LIVE: Election Night 2020
...5 days ago - Election Night Speech – Marama Davidson
Kia ora tātou kātoa. Ngā mihi maioha ki a koutou Te Roopu Kakariki, ngā kaitautoko, e aroha ana I te kaupapa mo te taiao me te mokopuna. No reira tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. I am so proud to be standing here tonight, at the end of an ...5 days ago - Election Night Speech – James ShawOn Election Night three years ago I stood up in front of you to say, “We are still here!” Well, tonight, not only are we still here, we are the first support party in MMP history to have started and finished a term in government above the 5% threshold. We ...5 days ago
- Greens only party with plan to meet scale of climate challengeA new report showing that the effects of climate change are already being felt in Aotearoa New Zealand shows the importance of the Green Party pushing for urgent action in the next Government. ...7 days ago
- Green Party commits to stronger urban tree protection and no new mines on public conservation landThe Green Party is the only party in Parliament which is explicitly committing to protecting public conservation land and the indigenous plants and wildlife which live there, from destructive mining. ...7 days ago
- Vote still undecided? Watch this.As of today, over 1.4 million New Zealanders have already cast their votes in this year’s election. While this shows that a huge number of people have already made up their minds about who they want to lead our country, there are many who are still undecided. ...1 week ago
- Labour's 2020 Election ManifestoThe Labour Party understands how important continuity, stability and clarity are for New Zealanders in these uncertain times. That’s why, in our 2020 Election Manifesto, we’re setting out how we will continue to invest in people, jobs, small businesses, infrastructure, and global trade, to set New Zealand up for the ...1 week ago
- Green Party releases tourism policyToday the Green Party’s conservation spokesperson Eugenie Sage went kayaking on Akaroa Harbour to highlight the greater protection achieved for Hector’s and Maui dolphins this term and the Greens’ election commitment to supporting sustainable tourism. ...1 week ago
- National’s false ‘wealth tax’ claims: The “last roll of the misinformation dice”“Collins has warned voters to expect a wealth tax. This is despite the fact Labour has ruled this out a number of times.” – Jason Walls, NZ Herald. “The Labour Party has ruled out implementing the Green Party's wealth tax.” – Henry Cooke, Stuff. “Labour has time and time again ...1 week ago
- Week that was: Counting down to Election DayIt’s getting incredibly close to Election Day now – and over a million people have already cast their vote! ...2 weeks ago
- Jacinda Ardern's Wellington Rally SpeechJacinda Ardern delivers a rally speech at Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre. ...2 weeks ago
- Grant Robertson's Wellington Rally SpeechGrant Robertson delivers a rally speech at Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre. ...2 weeks ago
- Building a vibrant creative sector The Green Party will push for better conditions, more certainty, and greater opportunities for New Zealand’s artists and creatives as part of the next Government, Co-leader of the Green Party, James Shaw said today. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens promise continued action to reduce mental health waiting timesThe Green Party is committed to reduce the waiting times people in mental distress have to put up with before they receive attention and get treatment. ...2 weeks ago
- Early voting is openDid you know that early voting is open? That means you can go out and cast your vote right now - whether you've already enrolled or not. Almost 600,000 Kiwis have already voted, and you can join them! ...2 weeks ago
- Greens would go further and faster for kauri protectionThe Green Party says Labour’s commitment to protecting kauri is a good start, but the Greens would go further and faster to keep our kauri standing. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens would bring urban food farms to Auckland CityThe Green Party will invest funding in community agriculture and urban food gardens in places like Auckland city centre. ...2 weeks ago
- Our next steps on climate changeWe’re proud of our record on climate change. Since coming to Government we’ve put climate and the environment at the heart of all of our policies, as they are inextricable from issues like housing, agriculture, waste, energy and transport. ...2 weeks ago
- 10 days out: 10 reasons to vote LabourWith only ten days to go until Election Day, we’re counting down the top ten reasons you should vote Labour this October. Already voted? Share this list with friends and family who haven’t voted yet to encourage them to give two ticks to Labour! ...2 weeks ago
- Greens welcome Labour’s climate commitments, will push for more action to match the scale of the c...The Green Party welcomes Labour’s commitment to reduce climate emissions in the next term of Government, but would go further and faster to address the true scale of the crisis. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens call for independent review of PharmacThe Green Party is calling for an independent review of Pharmac to ensure that there is proper equity around funding for medication for sick New Zealanders. ...2 weeks ago
- Labour’s record on Christchurch and CanterburyFrom investing in health and education to getting key projects built, we’re proud of our record in Canterbury. We know there’s still more to do, but we’ve made a good start, and we’re committed to supporting the region as together, we respond to COVID-19. ...2 weeks ago
- Investing in the South IslandAs part of our COVID recovery plan, we’re investing in shovel-ready infrastructure projects that not only create jobs across the South Island, but also help us build back better. From tackling climate change to strengthening our health system, we’re taking on the long-term challenges while keeping our economy moving. ...2 weeks ago
- National versus Labour: Our record on ChristchurchThe past decade has been tough for our second largest city. Unlike National, Labour’s backing the people of Christchurch so together, we can make it through COVID-19 and build back better. Here’s how National’s record on Christchurch compares to our progress so far. ...2 weeks ago
- National’s economic plan a cruel blow for those on low incomesThe Green Party says National’s economic plan would devastate those earning the least, and further entrench poverty across our communities. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens welcome Labour’s commitment to ban conversion therapy, but want Office for Rainbow Communit...The Green Party is pleased to see Labour commit to a long-standing Green stance of banning gay conversion therapy, as part of its Rainbow policy released today. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party announces plan for net zero energy buildingsIf re-elected, the Green Party would work towards net zero energy new buildings by 2030 in order to accelerate the transition to a low carbon future for Aotearoa and a cleaner, safer planet for our kids and grandkids. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens commit to protecting KauriIf re-elected, the Green Party will focus $50 million of the existing Jobs for Nature package to keep Aotearoa’s iconic kauri forests standing. “Kauri are an incredibly important taonga for Aotearoa and the Greens want to go further and faster to keep them healthy and standing,” said Green Party ...3 weeks ago
- Week that was: Health, housing and early votingIt was a big week of policy announcements as Jacinda and the Labour team hit the road to let New Zealanders know about our plan to keep New Zealand moving. From snow down south to our day of action, here are this week’s highlights from the campaign trail. ...3 weeks ago
- Greens welcome Labour Housing Plan, will push to clear the public housing waiting list in five yearsThe Green Party welcomes the Labour Party’s plan to continue delivering more public houses whilst ensuring more New Zealanders have a chance of owning a home. ...3 weeks ago
- Greens must be at table during RMA reform to protect environmentThe Green Party welcomes Labour’s commitment to reform the Resource Management Act, but says a Green voice is crucial to ensure the environment is not put at risk. ...3 weeks ago
- NZ announces a third P-3 deployment in support of UN sanctions
The Government has deployed a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea, announced Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “New Zealand has long supported ...3 days ago - Pacific trade and development agreement a realityPacific regional trade and development agreement PACER Plus will enter into force in 60 days now that the required eight countries have ratified it. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker welcomed the announcement that the Cook Islands is the eighth nation to ratify this landmark agreement. “The agreement represents ...7 days ago
- Securing a pipeline of teachersThe Government is changing its approach to teacher recruitment as COVID-19 travel restrictions continue, by boosting a range of initiatives to get more Kiwis into teaching. “When we came into Government, we were faced with a teacher supply crisis,” Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “Over the past three years, we ...1 week ago
- Border exceptions for a small number of international students with visasThe Government has established a new category that will allow 250 international PhD and postgraduate students to enter New Zealand and continue their studies, in the latest set of border exceptions. “The health, safety and wellbeing of people in New Zealand remains the Government’s top priority. Tight border restrictions remain ...1 week ago
- First COVID-19 vaccine purchase agreement signedThe Government has signed an agreement to purchase 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccines – enough for 750,000 people – from Pfizer and BioNTech, subject to the vaccine successfully completing all clinical trials and passing regulatory approvals in New Zealand, say Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods and Health Minister Chris Hipkins. ...1 week ago
- International statement – End-to-end encryption and public safetyWe, the undersigned, support strong encryption, which plays a crucial role in protecting personal data, privacy, intellectual property, trade secrets and cyber security. It also serves a vital purpose in repressive states to protect journalists, human rights defenders and other vulnerable people, as stated in the 2017 resolution of the ...1 week ago
- Ministry of Defence Biodefence Assessment releasedThe Ministry of Defence has today released a Defence Assessment examining Defence’s role across the spectrum of biological hazards and threats facing New Zealand. Biodefence: Preparing for a New Era of Biological Hazards and Threats looks at how the NZDF supports other agencies’ biodefence activities, and considers the context of ...1 week ago
- New Approaches to Economic Challenges: Confronting Planetary Emergencies: OECD 9 October 2020New Approaches to Economic Challenges: Confronting Planetary Emergencies: OECD 9 October 2020 Hon David Parker’s response following Thomas Piketty and Esther Duflo. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, wherever in the world you might be. I first acknowledge the excellent thought provoking speeches of Thomas Piketty and Esther ...2 weeks ago
- Kaipara Moana restoration takes next stepA Memorandum of Understanding has been signed today at Waihāua Marae between the Crown, local iwi and councils to protect, restore and enhance the mauri of Kaipara Moana in Northland. Environment Minister David Parker signed the document on behalf of the Crown along with representatives from Ngā Maunga Whakahī, Ngāti ...2 weeks ago
- New Zealand and Uruguay unite on reducing livestock production emissionsAgriculture Minister Damien O’Connor and Uruguayan Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries Carlos María Uriarte have welcomed the launch of a three-year project that will underpin sustainable livestock production in Uruguay, Argentina, and Costa Rica. The project called ‘Innovation for pasture management’ is led by Uruguay’s National Institute of Agricultural ...2 weeks ago
- 3100 jobs created through marae upgradesHundreds of marae throughout the country will be upgraded through investments from the Provincial Growth Fund’s refocused post COVID-19 funding to create jobs and put money into the pockets of local tradespeople and businesses, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta have announced. “A total ...2 weeks ago
- Health volunteers recognised in annual awardsHealth Minister Chris Hipkins has announced 9 teams and 14 individuals are the recipients of this year’s Minister of Health Volunteer Awards. “The health volunteer awards celebrate and recognise the thousands of dedicated health sector volunteers who give many hours of their time to help other New Zealanders,” Mr Hipkins ...2 weeks ago
- Community COVID-19 Fund supports Pacific recoveryThe Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio says a total of 264 groups and individuals have successfully applied for the Pacific Aotearoa Community COVID-19 Recovery Fund, that will support Pacific communities drive their own COVID-19 recovery strategies, initiatives, and actions. “I am keen to see this Fund support Pacific ...2 weeks ago
- Community benefits from Māori apprenticeshipsUp to 50 Māori apprentices in Wellington will receive paid training to build houses for their local communities, thanks to a $2.75 million investment from the Māori Trades and Training Fund, announced Employment Minister Willie Jackson today. “This funding will enable Ngāti Toa Rangatira Incorporated to provide its Ngā Kaimahi ...2 weeks ago
- Training fund supports Māori jobseekersRapidly growing sectors will benefit from a $990,000 Māori Trades and Training Fund investment which will see Wellington jobseekers supported into work, announced Employment Minister Willie Jackson today. “This funding will enable Sapphire Consultants Ltd. to help up to 45 Māori jobseekers into paid training initiatives over two years through ...2 weeks ago
- Ruakura Inland Port development vital infrastructure for WaikatoThe Government is investing $40 million to develop an inland port at Ruakura which will become a freight super-hub and a future business, research and residential development for the Waikato, Urban Development and Transport Minister Phil Twyford, and Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The funding has been has ...2 weeks ago
- Appointments made to Defence Expert Review GroupDefence Minister Ron Mark announced today the establishment of an Expert Review Group to review a number of aspects of the New Zealand Defence Force’s (NZDF) structure, information management and record-keeping processes. The Expert Review Group’s work arises out of the first recommendation from the Report of the Government’s Inquiry ...2 weeks ago
- No active community cases of COVID-19There are no active community cases of COVID-19 remaining in the country after the last people from the recent outbreak have recovered from the virus, Health Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “This is a big milestone. New Zealanders have once again through their collective actions squashed the virus. The systems ...2 weeks ago
- Clean energy upgrade for more public buildingsMore public buildings will be supported by the Government to upgrade to run on clean energy, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. Minister Shaw announced that Lincoln and Auckland universities will receive support through the Clean-Powered Public Service Fund to replace fossil fuel boilers. Southern, Taranaki, and ...2 weeks ago
- Schools back donations scheme for the second yearMore schools have opted in to the donations scheme for 2021, compared to 2020 when the scheme was introduced. “The families of more than 447,000 students will be better off next year, with 94% of eligible schools and kura opting into the scheme,” Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “This is ...2 weeks ago
- Ruapehu cycle trails gets PGF boostThe spectacular Mountains to Sea cycle trail in Ruapehu District will receive $4.6 million in funding from the Provincial Growth Fund for two additional trails, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This is an exciting development for the local community, and one that will provide significant economic opportunities ...3 weeks ago
- Update to air border order strengthens crew requirementsAdditional measures coming into effect on Monday will boost our defence against COVID-19 entering New Zealand through the air border, Health Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “As part of our precautionary approach and strategy of constant review, we’re tightening the requirements around international aircrew,” Chris Hipkins said. The COVID-19 Public ...3 weeks ago
- A true picture of Māori business activityA better picture of the contribution Māori businesses make to the economy will be possible with changes to the way information is collected about companies and trading enterprises. Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash have announced a new option for Māori enterprises who are part ...3 weeks ago
- When officials dance on the head of a pin
As the Royal Commission into abuse in state care continues its hearings, Aaron Smale outlines one graphic set of denials by officials which turned out to be false and misleading. Sometimes the work of a journalist is to convert technical information into something the average intelligent reader can understand. Sometimes ...37 mins ago - New Parliament Demonstrates That Māori Seats Should Go
New Parliament demonstrates that Māori seats should go ...54 mins ago - Low interest rates are killing the home ownership dream for many – even John Key is concerned
Super-low interest rates are a blessing to those already on the housing ladder. For those still renting and without a deposit, it is yet another nail in the long-sealed coffin of potential home ownership.Last week, when Heartland Bank became the first lender in New Zealand history to offer a home ...1 hour ago - Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – October 22 2020
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Today’s content Labour-Greens talks, Labour govt Henry Cooke (Stuff): There is no evidence National voters backed Labour to keep the Greens out Audrey Young (Herald): Labour holds all the cards ...1 hour ago - Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: National’s catastrophic collapse and fraught rebuild2 hours ago
- Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Election Day DemographicsAnalysis by Keith Rankin. Auckland electorates have lower populations, on average. Chart by Keith Rankin. This week’s first chart shows the average numbers of votes cast – on and before election day – in New Zealand’s different regions. In principle, all electorates have the same population, with electorate boundaries drawn ...2 hours ago
- Review: Rose Matafeo will make you laugh and make you cry in Baby DoneThe comedian stars opposite Matthew Lewis, the artist formerly known as Neville Longbottom, in a charming new New Zealand comedy about a pregnant woman completely losing her shit. Recently I watched all of series one of Duchess, the semi-biographical Netflix vehicle of comedian Katherine Ryan, based on her life as an ...2 hours ago
- Dunne Speaks: Just Being The Anti-Labour Party Will Not Work For NationalBy any measure the National Party has been the most successful New Zealand political party of recent times. After all, it has won 16 of the last 25 elections, governing for 47 years since first winning office in 1949, almost twice as long as the Labour ...2 hours ago
- How Many Malt Patrons Used COVID Tracer App On Friday?“Confusion is reigning after patrons at a pub may have been exposed to COVID, and the problem is a total failure of the Government’s NZ COVID Tracer app,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “The Prime Minister’s ‘team of 5 million’ ...3 hours ago
- Over 1 million mail-in ballots could be rejected in the US election — and the rules are changing b...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah John, College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University In the US election next month, record-breaking numbers of voters will cast their ballots by mail for the first time. Millions of these ballots will be processed by local election administrations inexperienced ...3 hours ago
- Thinking of ditching private health insurance in the pandemic? Here’s how to calculate if it’s w...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yuting Zhang, Professor of Health Economics, University of Melbourne Almost all private health insurers increased their premiums in October, and have scheduled another price rise for April 2021. As many people struggle financially amid the pandemic, you may be wondering whether you ...3 hours ago
- School of fish: how we involved Indigenous students in our investigation of a 65,000-year-old siteSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Morgan Disspain, Adjunct Researcher, Southern Cross University A recent program for school kids in Kakadu and West Arnhem Land, incorporating traditional knowledge and Western science, is a model for teaching Indigenous children on Country. The Djenj Project (djenj means “fish” in the ...3 hours ago
- At the heart of the broken model for funding aged care is broken trust. Here’s how to fix itSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rafal Chomik, Senior Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR), UNSW This article is part of our series on the future of aged care. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety will hold its final ...3 hours ago
- Why philosophers say solitude can be helpful (even if you didn’t choose it)Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Sharpe, Associate Professor in Philosophy, Deakin University Over the past seven months, many of us have got closer to experiencing the kind of solitude long sought by monks, nuns, philosophers and misanthropes. For some, this has brought loneliness. Nevertheless, like religions ...3 hours ago
- Live updates, October 22: ‘Contract tracing system working’ – HipkinsWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for October 22. All the latest New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz7.45am: ‘Contract tracing system working’ – HipkinsThe health minister does not believe there’s any reason for Auckland’s alert level to change, following news an infectious Covid-19 case visited ...3 hours ago
- The Bulletin: Everyone’s got an opinion for the GreensGood morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions over how Greens should approach Labour relationship, Auckland pub patrons told to self-isolate, and highly leveraged investors send house prices higher.How lucky is the Green party, to have so many people giving advice and suggestions right now? As talks continue ...4 hours ago
- Business & Investing: NZX and European exchange in ETS service
NZX will help develop Emissions Trading Scheme auction platform, plus Kiwis have way less debt on their credit cards ...4 hours ago - Labour's final online ad push: $24 a minute
In the final week of election campaigning the Labour Party was spending $24 every minute on Facebook and Google advertising It was a huge finish. Not only did Labour win by a landslide on election night, it outspent competitors in the last week of campaigning online. In a seven day period the ...5 hours ago - Book of the Week: Jesse Mulligan on Chelsea Winter
Food critic Jesse Mulligan cooks his way through Supergood by Chelsea Winter Dad might have been the only person in Hamilton who truly bought Playboy for the articles. If he knew there were naked ladies in there too well, it never came up, and when he occasionally passed me a ...5 hours ago - Police reviewing mysterious death in Gore
Police are reviewing the case at the centre of a Newsroom video investigation which revealed a substandard inquiry into the death of a three-year-old Southland boy. Melanie Reid and Bonnie Sumner report WATCH: Melanie Reid's video investigation Police have confirmed they are conducting a review into the case relating to ...5 hours ago - 1980 Moscow boycott still hurts Kiwi gymnast
When the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed, those who would have known just how the New Zealand team felt were the athletes selected for the 1980 Moscow Games. Their dreams were shattered 40 years earlier by a boycott - and 34 of those Kiwi athletes never got the chance to compete ...6 hours ago - Who the hell is Gideon Rozner, anyway?
Cindy Baxter looks into the background and associations of the author of a stark attack on re-elected Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern As I read the outrage at the negative outlier of an article about Jacinda Ardern’s victory in The Australian, I thought it was worth putting this piece into ...6 hours ago - Lion linked to Myanmar human rights abuses
The parent company of NZ’s largest beverage provider has been implicated in the funding of genocide. ...6 hours ago - Aussies stand by to fly on over
Australians are queuing up to go on a safe overseas holiday. Ross Stitt argues that New Zealand is missing out on a potential bonanza if it doesn't join the travel bubble. The much-anticipated Trans-Tasman ‘travel bubble’ has finally arrived. Sort of … Travellers from New Zealand are now allowed quarantine-free ...6 hours ago - Why New Plymouth voters went for Labour
After the Government announced a surprise ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration in 2018, the New Plymouth electorate looked like a sure thing for National. What changed? ...6 hours ago - W R Peters loans $60k to NZ First
As New Zealand First tried to fight off electoral oblivion, a W R Peters put his money where Winston's mouth was, Sam Sachdeva reports New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, or someone with the identical initials and home base, appears to have lent the party $60,000 in the dying days of the ...6 hours ago - Be fearless: Sandra Lee’s advice for Chlöe Swarbrick, 27 years after she stormed Auckland CentralThe woman who won Auckland Central for the Alliance in 1993 had some words of wisdom for the Green Party’s Chlöe Swarbrick on Sunday’s post-election episode of Gone By Lunchtime.“I always thought you could do it,” former cabinet minister Sandra Lee told Chlöe Swarbrick the morning after a dramatic election ...6 hours ago
- Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris: Covid-19 and the Swiss cheese systemThe effort to defeat the coronavirus relies on many layers of defence. Or, let’s call them, slices of cheese.One thing that has really irked me during Covid-19 has been the labelling of any mistake in our systems or any unexpected transmission of the virus as a failure. Yes, I understand ...6 hours ago
- Auckland's cone zone
Construction of Auckland's City Rail Link is well underway and don't local retailers know it. It's killing the heart of the city, with the sound of construction replacing the ringing of tills. The country's largest infrastructure project, the $4 billion Auckland City Rail Link, is touted as long awaited solution ...6 hours ago - Taskmaster NZ proves we can do panel comedy as well as the BritsNew Zealanders love Taskmaster UK. But will they warm to the homegrown version? Guy Williams is doing his best to amp up the crowd, while Angella Dravid sits quietly alongside with her usual look of both discomfort and amusement. Leigh Hart has that wry smirk on his face that viewers of ...16 hours ago
- At the highwater mark with little wriggle room
This Government’s work, its future successes and its failures, will now all sit fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the Labour Party. ...17 hours ago - The US is taking on Google in a huge antitrust case. It could change the face of online searchSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Kemp, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, UNSW, and Academic Lead, UNSW Grand Challenge on Trust, UNSW The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google for unlawful monopolisation. The department says Google’s conduct harms competition and consumers, ...17 hours ago
- Wāhine grab chance to have voice at the council table
Local government in Wairarapa is no longer the "pale, stale male" environment it once was, according to a recent survey. ...17 hours ago - NSW wants to change rules on suspending and expelling students. How does it compare to other states?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Sullivan, Associate Professor of Education, University of South Australia The disability royal commission heard from experts last week on the disproportionate number of students with a disability who have been suspended or expelled from school for “problem behaviour”. The commission’s public ...17 hours ago
- Greater needs, but poorer access to services: why COVID mental health measures must target disadvant...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graham Meadows, Professor of Adult Psychiatry, Monash University COVID-19 outbreaks and the resulting lockdowns, particularly in Victoria, have adversely affected many people’s mental health. Social isolation, financial stress, and anxiety about contracting COVID-19 can all contribute to psychological distress. For some people, ...18 hours ago
- NSW needs to prohibit religious discrimination, but not like thisSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Elphick, Adjunct Research Fellow, Law School, University of Western Australia It has long been a glaring problem that the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Act (ADA) does not prohibit religious discrimination. One Nation’s Mark Latham recently proposed a new Religious Discrimination Bill. ...19 hours ago
- The redemption of Hine-nui-te-pōAn extract from Witi Ihimaera’s new book Navigating the Stars: Māori creation myths.This is an abridged passage of a deeply empathetic section analysing the life story of Hine-nui-te-pō, who crushed Māui to death with her vulva. At the end of the book, Ihimaera argues that Hine-nui-te-pō should be instated to ...19 hours ago
- Green Party: 'Fruitful discussions … further discussions to have'The Green Party says there is a negotiation going on with the Labour Party, but there are more discussions to be had. ...19 hours ago
- The online support club that helps the newly redundant through a scary timeCovid-19 has shoved New Zealand’s economy into recession, prompting a whole lot of businesses to downsize and slash their workforce. That’s why a support club has been formed to help the newly unemployed to get back on their feet.Redundancy can hit like a ton of bricks. The shock, uncertainty, the ...19 hours ago
- Police Continue To Ignore Their Own Pursuits PolicyA police crash during a pursuit in Masterton in the early hours of Wednesday morning suggests the police are simply ignoring their own pursuits policy, says the car review website dogandlemon.com . Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, who is an outspoken road safety ...20 hours ago
- Green Party provide update after election resultsThe Green Party is speaking to media amid speculation over possible negotiations about a coalition deal. ...20 hours ago
- Houses (and their prohibitive prices) will be high in Ardern’s considerations as she appoints her ...
One of the strange outcomes of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the surge in house prices, not just in Auckland but through the rest of the country. It’s a phenomenon that runs contrary to past experience when the economy has slipped into recession. Many authorities say booming house prices are ...20 hours ago - Calls for Labour to fast-track child poverty mandateAnti-poverty campaigners are urging Labour to move fast and use its massive electoral support to forcefully tackle inequality. ...21 hours ago
- Indigenous leadership presents a new way of looking at the changed worldDon Rowe meets the post-graduate students putting tikanga and kaupapa Māori at the centre of learning how to lead. The planet is in trouble. Since the time of the industrial revolution, the Western world has become increasingly enthralled and enchanted by the pursuit of economic and individualistic success. Power, prestige, and ...21 hours ago
- The tale of ‘habitual criminal’ William King: a Black life in Victoria’s white justice systemSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alana Piper, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney The Black Lives Matters movement in the United States and Australia has drawn welcome attention to Black deaths in the criminal justice system. Such fatalities are extreme manifestations of a long history of ...21 hours ago
- Review: The Vow takes a deep dive into the cesspit of the NXIVM cultJust a few years ago, few people had heard of the self-help group/cult of personality known as NXIVM. Now the dark story has gone global, thanks to an eight-part docuseries that debuts on Neon today. This review contains mild spoilers for The Vow.What is it that white people love so ...21 hours ago
- Video: Death of a toddler – Mel Reid investigates
How did 3-year-old Lachie Jones really meet his death? Mysterious circumstances, improbable theories and a once-over-lightly police investigation spark calls for a new inquiry into how little Lachie Jones died in Gore last year. Melanie Reid and Bonnie Sumner report. *Watch the full story in the video player below* ...21 hours ago - Whakatōhea Settlement Another Step CloserThe Waitangi Tribunal decision to decline an urgent hearing into the Crown's decision to continue treaty negotiations with the Whakatōhea Pre Settlement Claims Trust is another step forward for the Whakatōhea Settlement. "We are pleased with ...21 hours ago
- Calls for an ABC-run social network to replace Facebook and Google are misguided. With what money?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona R Martin, Associate Professor in Convergent and Online Media, University of Sydney If Facebook prevented Australian news from being shared on its platform, could the ABC start its own social media service to compensate? While this proposal from the Australia Institute ...21 hours ago
- A loss of ‘Fijian’ identity – or no identity at all – in AotearoaBy Sri Krishnamurthi “No matter how we come to be in Fiji, or how long we have been here …we all part of the land. It is the land of our birth or land of our adoption, the land to which we belong” – The late archbishop Petero Mataca. When ...22 hours ago
- Decisive Victory of MAS in Bolivia: A Blow to Anti-Indigenous and Anti-Socialist Coups in the Americ...Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By William CamacaroFrom Caracas The decisive electoral victory of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) in Bolivia may be a point of inflection on the continent that advances the construction of a new South American socialist bloc. After having been removed from ...24 hours ago
- Podcast documents first-hand witness of the Senkata Massacre in BoliviaSource: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage Francesca Emanuele is a Peruvian journalist and a Ph.D. student of Anthropology at American University in Washington, DC. She interviewed a first-hand witness of the Senkata Massacre, that took place on November 19th, 2020, days after the overthrow of Evo Morales, ...24 hours ago
- With a mandate to govern NZ alone, Labour must now decide what it really stands forANALYSIS: By David Hall, Auckland University of Technology A pandemic can change the foundations of a society. But if this happens in New Zealand over the next three years, it will be for reasons beyond the control of the sixth Labour government. When it comes to the fundamental structure of ...24 hours ago
- Jornal Independente wins annual ‘best media’ award in Timor-LesteBy Jose Sarito Amaral in Balibo The Jornal Independente newspaper has been awarded Timor-Leste’s mediaoutlet of the year prize in the National Press Council’s 2019 awards. Rigoberto Monteiro, executive director of Timor-Leste’s Press Council, said the Independente took out the award because of the quality of its stories and “strict ...24 hours ago
- Sediment, jobs and mauri – Minister responds to questions about measuring progress on Kaipara clea...
We found nothing new, in our daily check of the Beehive website. But we can report the reply to questions that were raised in an announcement from Environment Minister David Parker (which we noted at the time) earlier this month. The announcement was headed Kaipara Moana restoration takes next step. ...24 hours ago - New Zealand’s gluten-free bread, reviewed and rankedA definitive answer to a burning question: what is the best gluten-free bread of them all?Outside of coeliac circles, not many people know that gluten-free bread is actually better than regular bread. It’s true.* After years of fastidious experimentation and perfecting, gluten-free bakers have now produced a product vastly superior ...1 day ago
- Voting patterns are more volatile than ever and will bring a stark test for LabourWhat is vote volatility and how will it affect the Labour Party over the next three years? Jack Vowles, professor of political science, explains.As the dust begins to settle after the 2020 election, a new electoral landscape becomes visible. It is remarkably different from the one before. One way to ...1 day ago
- Agreement Better Than DivisionA prominent Northland principal is raising concerns with the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF), suggesting its proposal to establish a breakaway principals’ union is misleading, divisive and would likely worsen outcomes for principals. Pat ...1 day ago
- Meet the duo behind some of The Beths’ coolest music videosAfter a lockdown spent creating stop motion in their laundry, Sports Team is now nominated for an Aotearoa Music Artisan award. The duo talk to The Spinoff about making music videos.The first music video Annabel Kean and Callum Devlin made was accidental. It happened on a date, wandering around Auckland ...1 day ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – October 21 2020Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Today’s content Election Jack Vowles (The Conversation): The 2020 NZ election saw record vote volatility — what does that mean for the next Labour government? Jason Walls and Chris ...1 day ago
- Bicultural, bilingual, bijural: A plan for a new model of legal education in AotearoaOPINION: It is time to integrate tikanga Māori into law schools to create a truly bicultural legal system, writes University of Otago law professor Jacinta Ruru. I see, hear, feel racism. Every day. Each morning, I begin my trek from carpark to office, walking across the campus lawns, alongside the Ōwheo ...1 day ago
- Greens better off independent – Former Green MP Catherine DelahuntyCatherine Delahunty says the party does not have the leverage to form a government with Labour and is better off pushing for change from opposition. ...1 day ago
- Winning election a 'big ask' – National leader Judith CollinsJudith Collins is looking to the future where she envisions herself as leader, and the party as the best opposition ever. ...1 day ago
- Trump has changed America by making everything about politics, and politics all about himselfSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Smith, Senior Lecturer in American Politics and Foreign Policy, US Studies Centre, University of Sydney On October 14, Donald Trump held a rally attended by several thousand in Iowa, despite White House guidelines that gatherings in the state should be limited ...1 day ago
- Despite more than 30 major inquiries, governments still haven’t fixed aged care. Why are they gett...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eileen Webb, Professor of Law and Ageing, UniSA: Justice and Society, University of South Australia This article is part of our series on aged care. You can read the other articles in the series here. Australia’s aged care sector has been ...1 day ago
- Why more housing stimulus will be needed to sustain recoverySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Rowley, Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University In response to the COVID-19 recession, federal, state and territory governments quickly provided support to the housing industry for two ...1 day ago
- Mathias Cormann wants to lead the OECD. The choice it makes will be pivotalSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Blundell-Wignall, Adjunct Professor, School of Economics, University of Sydney My old OECD boss Secretary General (SG) Angel Gurria’s third term is coming to an end and the race is on to replace him. Australia’s departing finance minister Mathias Cormann will face ...1 day ago
- We vibrated earthworms to learn about safely connecting human brains to computersSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ivan Maksymov, Australian Research Council Future Fellow (Senior Lecturer), Swinburne University of Technology This year, my colleague Andrey Pototsky and I were awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for our experimental work involving vibrating living earthworms. The Ig Nobel Prizes are ...1 day ago
- When too much news is bad news: is the way we consume news detrimental to our health?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Evita March, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Federation University Australia Humans are curious and social creatures by nature. The news helps us make sense of the world around us and connects us with our local, national and international community. So it’s no wonder ...1 day ago
- Food, tools and medicine: 5 native plants that illuminate deep Aboriginal knowledgeSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zena Cumpston, Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Over countless millennia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have harnessed the tremendous potential of plants, ingeniously using them for medicines, nutrition, to express our culture and to develop innovative technologies. But as I learn ...1 day ago
- Guide to the classics: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier — gender, gothic haunting and gaslightingSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Gildersleeve, Associate Professor of English Literature, University of Southern Queensland A small group of novels are famous for their first lines: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (1851) and Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (1877). Rebecca by Daphne ...1 day ago
- Live updates, October 21: Labour-Green coalition off the table – reportWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for October 21. All the latest New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz7.45am: Labour-Green coalition off the table – reportA Newshub report last night suggests that the chances of a formal coalition deal between Labour and the Greens are slipping ...1 day ago
- Forget Ardern v Collins, it's Trump v Biden that matters
Why the US election is more critical for our financial markets than our own one. ...1 day ago - The Bulletin: Climate change already happening, says new reportGood morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New report shows climate change already affecting New Zealand, new crop of managed isolation Covid cases, and National leader and ousted electorate MPs all staying on.As promised, today’s Bulletin will cover the government’s new climate change report, called Our Atmosphere ...1 day ago
- Business & Investing: RBNZ's shot across the property market
The Reserve Bank warns that it could act if house prices are driven by high leverage loans or investors rather than households, plus business sentiment improves ...1 day ago
Recording my old 45’s onto my computer.
I used to buy 45’s of New Zealand artists back in the day
Screaming Mee Mees Pop Mechanix (best NZ band for ever) Chills The Clean The Able Tasmans plus alot more.
They been stored in boxes since I left home decades ago as well and I had forgotten til I was cleaning out the garage and there they were- mint condition……. 🙂
I am going to enjoy this trip down memory lane. Esp Pop Mechanix-Jumping Out A Window cos the only copy on ncd is on 1 of those Natures Best comps which rocked but needed a mastered version.It was crap cos they had a really bad recording as masters had disappeared or some excuse….. So I know I’ll be able to make a crisp recording 🙂
I hope hahahahah hahahah
My daughter was going to a glam rock party…I pulled out early Bowie LPs for the occasion…they play like scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch…EEK!!!! The Zappa albums were in better order, lets face it God is treated with greater respect..
Talking of treating God with greater respect:
Would Jesus make the ABs?
Would that be something to do with turning the other cheek?
I assume that takes gadgetry to do, Kris… If I knew someone near here who has the appropriate kit, I would like to do likewise with the records I have…
I use musicmatch jukebox to record onto
You do need a stereo with a left and right OUTput plugs and a soundcard on your pc for other end of the plug
The plug you need is a 3.5mm Jack to 2 x RCA Phono Stereo Audio Cable-trademe is best place to look-diff prices for different lengths
Youll need to get into options on musicmatch and select recording and then select the line in
Then make sure your volume on your computer for line in is not too loud
i have done cassettes in the past- so its just a change of recording source which this time is a turntable
I have found to make sure if you have surround sound etc etc and dbfb and surround sound to turn these off when ya do it
this monstrosity i have has all these and it took me along time to get sound right 🙂
Theres a programme called mp3 gain which u can use to change the recording level after you have ripped the mp3-which I have also used to decrease or increase the volume
good luck
\
let me know if you have probs 🙂
Thanks, I have made a note of all that, and look forward to trying it… Awesome!
I use Audacity myself. But yes, a pre-amp is important, or else you will get very, very faint volume.
I think you can buy record players which have built in pre-amps plug straight into your comp, but they are expensive. Before the needle on my turn table defecated itsself (and I wasant about to spend a small fortune to fix it), I used a pre-amp that I bought from a charity shop for $9. I then went to the annual 24 hour book sale and bought a whole pile of LP’s to convert to MP3. They are still sitting at my parents place. I have managed to convince them not to chuck them out.
Gotta love the range of music on LP’s. And the art work is something else. (While I generally like all forms of music except rap, death metal and anything by Gaga, my first preference is easy listening elevator music type stuff from the 50’s and 60’s)
Awesome! Wish I had time to do that. Have a big stack of records that are gathering dust. Be great if you could share your efforts somehow… maybe loaded as a torrent? Wouldn’t mind hearing that Pop Mechanix album… Eddie Raynor is a legend.
Been doing a little thinking re the fishing season opening: it appears that according to the Fish and Game people there is more privatisation by stealth going on for high country waters in particular…you have to be a wealthy helicopter borne Yank to fish waters stocked and managed at the expense of the other license holders. Bad news. Add that to cow effluent in the lower country streams and we trout chasers are left with less and less good water.
Ordered a new fly line with a clear tip..stealth fishing…sounds good but the proof is in the results.
Day light saving coming up, rabbits in the evening. Got the garden in order so I can get out there, rugby nearly done with…yeah summer.
Shit…….. that sounds good! And here I am stuck in front of a screen getting excited about planting a few veg.
Fly fishing suggestions around Auckland anyone?
Used to live there…you have to travel BUT there are a few gems short of Taupo. Up past Helensville on the road to Kaipara south heads is Ototoa, lovely rainbow stocked lake, good on an evening.
For streams there is really good fishing in the south Waikato / King Country, all within 2 hours of Auckland. The best of it is definitely the top end of the Awakino, a true gem. Also the spring fed streams around Tirau can be good, lots of fish, lots undersized but very easy to take.
brilliant, thanks!
Dont forget your license to let you catch fish. I prefer sea fishing, as the fish taste way better than Trout.
There is also the fun times to be had in dropping a small whitebait net into one of those hundreds of sunlit creeks and streams going off all of Auckland’s harbours and waters on a rising tide snoozing on the bank. They go up the tiniest of waters …
Those Waitemata whitebait run at very odd times, long after the west coast season ends. We were given a container of them on Christmas morning a few years back. Dont know if they are the same?
Did not 1000’s of trout recently get released in lake Pupuke? also with a wee boat I am told you can fly fish for kawhai.
I hope bored you have some success and get a day like today – anything you do outside in a day like this must be great !!!
Thanks H, there is nothing quite like being knee deep in the cold stream on a hot day, its lucky place to be with or without trout to disturb you. Kahawai on a fly, now theres a challenge, they are high speed brutes.
Big Kingi’s on light line is a lot of fun as well. I use 9kg line (20lb) and chase 60lb+ Kingi’s My best is 85lb on 20 line was a fun hour or so. I use Kahawai for bait under a balloon. But for the real Kingi’s you need to go north, way north I used to go to Spirit’s Bay at easter was not too hot but still good to swim in.
Fishing is one of my favourite past-times, and once while fishing off Waiheke Island, I caught a kingi on a sprat line.
I had never seen a kingi in the wild before, so I was watching this fish swim about thinkiing “gosh, what a pretty fish / baby shark / taniwha.”
I still had my sprat line in the water and suddenly it ‘took off.’ Unfortunately, for me, the sprat line was wrapped around a finger and I thought I was going to lose the finger ( I didn’t of course otherwise I would be typing like th s).
The morality of thise woeful tale of fisherperson inadequacy is “fish fingers require a much greater contribution from the fish and much less from the fisher-person.”
Tell me how is the season up their when and if you are successful. Its been slow down here in Dunedin . Watching the poms playing the vampires tomorrow night thanks to my whangi girl winning tickets to the game for outstanding performance across a wide range of sports..
Watch out for the equinoxal energy out there including the latest solar flares, new moon and other electromagnetic and gravitational influences.
And falling bus size satellites.
Headed for Italy, it would seem – if anyone can read this here’s an article for what it’s worth…
http://www.tgcom.mediaset.it/mondo/articoli/1022166/satellite-nasa-verso-la-terra-forse-frammenti-pioveranno-anche-sulle-regioni-del-nord-italia.shtml
“NASA satellite to the earth, perhaps fragments
raining on the North Italy
It will enter the atsmosphere on Friday and impact with our planet is predicted in the evening”
yes that bring the bait and shake
Our weekly film visit this week was “The Help’ very good and worth seeing . Weekend in the garden. Sowing main crop of potatos . Will be eating early crop next week.Im hoping to have some better succcess with cauliflowers ,any one out there have any tips .
Keep on top of the watering and plenty of Mulch
Enjoy – maybe get a few planted myself before I watch the Scots stroll to an easy victory over the Pumas.
At last a good use for by wife’s blow hairdryer. Defrost and clean the freezer quick time and back in order sooner.
Tomorrow is my cricket club’s first get together before the start of the season the first Saturday in October. However, finding enough playable grounds here in Christchurch is going to be a bit tricky. Most of the grounds in East Christchurch as well as Heathcote and Sumner are pretty well munted. Linwood Park is full of temporary huts. The senior teams in the Suburban Association and the big boys in the CCA appear to have first dibs on the grounds that are in playable shape, whilst us social cricketeers in the lower grades may well be out of luck.
Best of luck happynz. There is nothing better than a social game of cricket and a few beers after. It is a sign of true civilization …
been thinking of neutrinos today – this faster than light ‘discovery’ is interesting and should be verifiable with a bit of effort. I’ve written a haiku for the occasion
we align, a slant
unaffected, you’re through me
Oh heart of no-mass.
perhaps not strictly accurate re no-mass, maybe low-mass? but hopefully gets the point across
Oh very good, marty! It’s fascinating news…
We don’t serve faster than light neutrinos in here said the barman. A Neutrino walks into a bar.
Oh yeah nerd jokes.
We don’t serve neutrinos in here said the barman. It’s okay i’m just passing through.
the only thing better than nerd jokes is really bad nerd jokes 🙂
or good ones
faster-than-light? That’s just tachy.
Oh very good! 😀
thanks deb – anything to lighten the load
yes very nice rice with splice
http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2011/09/this_extraordinary_claim_requi.php
It’s not that much faster than c however 😛
After reading your link my brain is hurting. 🙁
Warriors beat the Storm, Arsenal win at home to Bolton, Man Utd lose at Stoke. That will do me! Oh and Phoenix pay the bills!)
Ha one out of four would be great. Go Warriors!
A good pithy quip.
Politicians are interested in people. Not that this is always a virtue. Fleas are interested in dogs. — PJ O’Rourke
and
Outside of a dog a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read. Groucho Marx
Come on Warriors
The Grand Final! How cool is that!
Just back from a weekend in Christchurch. To borrow a phrase from vto – “unexpected earthquake observation no. 38” – the morning chorus doesn’t miss a beat for a 4.0 these days. Even the birds are over it.
Went to the Lido Hamiton for the repeat of the Met Opera 2011 season .Watched Tosca .No opera lover should miss this production. Tok a while to come out of the clouds . Do see! Now I did say that ‘The Help” had merit but after some thought and discussion wit my wife I perhaps was wrong . Worth watching, but a bit sugary ,and not really what the American South was really like .It was worse much worse than the film indicated.