So you didnt listen to the recording of Woodward talking to Trump. One moment he denies that he was aware of Woodward wanted to interview him and a little later he confirms he was aware of it.
Who would strike a deal with a country that decides to change the rules as they see fit from one day onto another. This mistrust will linger on well past after Trump has gone.
It are not just teachers having to deal with these socio-economic issues. It is everywhere and unless we are prepared to look deep into the causes and how to remedy them it will get worse before it will get better. These issues; police, health workers, families and employers have to deal with every day as well.
America, the land of the free, the land of endless opportunities, the land claiming endless free speech, the land of the defender and promoter of democracy..... Why is it than that American Embassys all over the world (even in NZ) are or are among the most fortified? Why is it that America is quite happy to support and arm so many non-democratic countries?America has become like a gated community. It robbed the world for its own benefit and now is in a desperate struggle to hang on to the wealth they amassed by exploiting resources and labour that is not theirs.
This would be the low end of the scale. I was offered by an immigrant painter that he would paint my house in turn for work he thought I could perhaps get for him (he misunderstood what my work was).The building and construction industry in many countries is notorious for corruption and bringing in foreign contractors in to deal with our housing shortage opens the door to corruption big time.
Ever since WWII they have been the bullies of the world and Trump is bringing it to a new extreme. New Zealanders should know that by how they treated us for our nuclear stance.
This is what you get when laws are passed that are open to interpretation and then give some over ambitious people targets that cant be met and make no sense. Next they dream up all sorts of situations behind their desks to justify their positions. Not in the least this is caused because NZ has the highest number of lawyers per capita in the world.If they have to remove the tree hut also all trees should have to be removed from gardens, oh wait we cant do that because we need a permit to do that as well.This type of attitude is happening and prevalent in some other countries as well and reminds me of the attitude that has caused and causes so much suffering by arguing we do as are told or what the law says.Another example was the story about scouting NZ also in the fair go program from last night. Check their annual reports and you can see where the money went. in 4 years time the roll stayed the same but pay for staff nearly doubled.
I had my own business until I retired. The one thing I know with regard to business prospects is that very little can be done by any government in NZ be it blue or red. When the financial crisis hit that was created in the US within 6 months the turnover halved. We now have Trump in the US creating another crisis that will hit soon or perhaps a little later and there is little little NZ can do about it.
At the moment there are two choices for a person the end their life either by refusing treatment. If refusing treatment causes pain and no doctor is prepared to assist in controlling the pain this can be a very cruel way of dying although chosen by oneself. The other is suicide. For me a good euthanasia law and system has the preference and it also may help those health professionals that feel guilty for keeping someone alive that wants to die.
The biggest danger are not the tariffs, but the Chinese population turning on American products and companies. If this happens this will have a massive effect on the stock value of a number of American big companies and this would trigger a share market crash of which the size is hard to predict.
The USA now openly it admits it is the bully of the world we have got the biggest army and if you dont sign on the dotted line what we want we threaten you with sanctions and violence. In NZ we know that all to well for our anti nuclear stance. Making friends with a gun on their head is never going to last. Having written that, Kim Jong Un is not Mr nice guy either.
I attended a catholic primary school in the late 50s early 60s. We lived in a coal mining area and learned about fossils and dinosaurs. The priest would come an tell us how the world was created in 7 days. As kids we had no problem handling it, because we also listened to the fairy tails of Anderson and Grimm and learned lessons for life from those. At my Catholic high school apart from Catholic teaching we were taught the world religions, humanism and some ancient religions. In science classes we were taught science. We understood that religion and science dealt with totally different aspects of who we are as human beings. Of course it wasnt and still isnt everywhere like that. An aunt of mine who became a nun, a science teacher and principal of a teachers college told me, when I was at high school, how she had questioned creation theory already at a young age and was so pleased when Teilhard de Chardins books were allowed to be read by Catholics. It is also not religion alone that raises some of the same questions as religion does. Someone below described religion as a way to deal with death, I would argue that it is more than that, humans struggle with a fear of change (I know that this is a generalisation and some thrive on change), and that as humans we have different mechanisms to deal with change, from religion and philosophy to indulging in legal and illegal drugs or just take it as it comes.
This was started long before Labour came into office. The real question is: How do these big software companies seem to get away time and again with incompetence?
Bad costing by the writer or whoever raised the issue. One could equally use another costing method showing that the use of public transport during peak times is recovering more than the 50% and recovering less during off peak. The idea about public transport is to get people to use it and base the costing on an average over the whole day and the whole area.
Failures with copper in water systems is not just caused by chlorine. Other factors have to be present or absent for it to happen. Copper pipe for chlorinated water should not have any residual carbon or residue from soldering or welding processes. Also increasing the pH reduces the risk of pit corrosion when water is chlorinated. Certain butylene pipes can also start leaking as a result of chlorinated water.
Took them a long time to figure out that you can just hire an outside computer company, at big expense, to deliver you the miracle solution. The same is 1 for internal re-organisations, but that will be next. Or one can say the old ways are coming back.
The US borrowings of 20 trillion consists of about 6 trillion foreign debt, the rest is borrowed from local sources or inter governmental. In turn the US holds around 9.5 trillion in loans to other countries. Although more than a trillion of that 9.5 sits in tax havens in the Caribbean. If there will be trouble it will be the pensioners and social security that will be hit hardest.
One of our sons left teaching because he got pushed to the ground bu a student and was told by the principal that the student would leave the school next day anyway and nothing was done about it. I am sure different schools different rules, but too often teachers are too scared for the repercussions whatever they do.
I would like to suggest that corporate tax avoidance is multiple times this. Often these are overseas companies that use supposedly legal accounting policies to avoid paying little or no tax.
This is of course not all of it. You still need batteries and inverters to be able to use the power for appliances and the amount of power that cab generated can be from a few Watt to 1000 Watt depending on the head of water available. From an article I read, with this motor for 1000 Watt you need a head of 120 m and 60 Watt a head of 4.5 m.
This is not the only issue where we as citizens have to suffer costs for no good reason, just because we live in a society where officials (because of public opinion) are happy to think up problems to protect themselves, instead of taking the right decisions or not going overboard with the measures that have to be taken.
China is not undercutting anybody. The wealthy nations have been using any cheap labour around the world to satisfy their hunger for more products. Even China has started doing that, by using even cheaper labour in Africa. The best thing that can happen is that they get to our level of prosperity and a level playing field is established. Whether we will stay stable or go backwards depends on the wealthy people and institutions on our globe.
One mistake in the discussion is assuming that everyone feels comfortable in the same temperature range. I dont mind low or high temperatures, my wife has a most comfortable range of less than 5 degrees. Also studies on the best temperature range vary as people in different climates get used to different temperature ranges. A quick look gave 18-21 as ideal in England and 21-26 in an American paper. For those that like it cold in an igloo it can vary from -7 to +16.
Reasonably accurate article but it is not necessarily high skilled jobs that demand higher income. What is also an important factor is offer and demand on the labour market. Over my lifetime (65 years) highly trained people on a relative average earn less because there are now far more people trained to a high level compared with 50 years ago, while the relative average income of trained trades people looks to me higher than what it used to be 50 years ago.
A good comparison would be the milk price with the Netherlands using similar supermarkets and suppliers. I used AH and Countdown, Campina in the Netherlands and Anchor in NZ. I also took the GST out 15 % in NZ, 6% in the Netherlands. Surprise the milk is 10% more expensive in the Netherlands
How to store hydrogen is well known, just like the storage of electricity. They also both have issues although very different. Whether you might not believe it, but hydrogen will become part of the mix to wean ourselves of carbon fuels.
It is of course great to see the the use of plastic bags and straws reduced, but it is only a feel good effort as it is in the total production of plastics like a drop in the ocean.
I can remember very well that many in business were asking to bring the value of the NZD down to increase export opportunities. Import businesses of course like the opposite, but for employment the general wisdom is that a lower dollar is better.
Was. It is already on its way down, just like the what happened to the British and many other empires.Nations have to stop trying to build empires just lets work together and all have a good time.
NZ is (by GDP per Capita) ranked within the top 20% of countries and within 15 % of the world population and that makes us a high income country. What that means is that people here may not know how poor the rest of the world is.
What good is an overseas expert going to achieve. The people that have all the knowledge on what is required are here and an it will take an overseas expert months to get familiar with what is required let alone finding solutions. (Apart from going back to the old system)
I would have no problem working there. The risk of dying while getting out of bed is a lot higher. If we would apply the no risk version we should evacuate all people from the west coast because of an eminent mega quake and Taranaki as well as we may get a volcanic eruption. Living in NZ comes with these risks and they may be higher in some places nobody is exempt.
I am trying to learn Mandarin and I would be incredibly surprised if it would become a dominant language, simply because it is too difficult to learn. Chinese students have to spend a disproportionate amount of time learning their own language and what I noticed is that Chinese speakers that live in another country and dont regularly write characters start forgetting some quite quickly. Also Mandarin is not the only spoken language in China, although the characters they use are the same, pronunciation varies.
If housing is considered a potential risk because it is overvalued, have a look at the increase of value in the share market in recent years (currently nearly 4 times the value in 2009). The share markets are at the moment far more likely to crash, as it only needs one of the big stocks to report some negative figures.The way international trade is disrupted at the moment, by a certain president, this wont take much for it to happen.
Obviously you dont have Chinese friends or have analysed other cultures as well as your own in depth. All of your stereotypes apply just as much to other cultures and for that matter to Kiwis, my culture and even attitudes within my own family. Yes there are differences, but they challenge me to find out why instead of seeing it as a threat.
The most essential things in life shouldnt be their to make huge profits on. The housing market has been spiraling upwards because of your logic, rents go up, new investors pay too much for a property and want more rent. Or like the Kushners and Cohen as was mentioned in an article yesterday buy cheap chase the renters out, do them up a little charge higher rents and increase the value massively.
To express teacher pay as a percentage of GDP per capita would be a far better measure. This would show where teachers stand with there income in relation to the income of others compared with other countries
There is another worldwide crash looming. Share prices are through the roof, just like 1987 and what happened. Share prices at the moment are not realistic and many investors are blind to the risk.
In a couple of documentaries i watched it was concluded that the glyphosate on its own does not do much, it only becomes really effective together with the wetting agent. The research presented to proof that roundup/glyphosate is safe is based on glyphosate without the wetting agent, but when you buy it it is always with the wetting agent.
For a Chinese student this would be luxurious and roomy compared to what they have at a university in China (a bunk bed with desk underneath and 4 or more to a room, only a bathroom, no sitting room or kitchen). The cost in Auckland is however more than 25 times as high.
The car industry already looked into hydrogen as a fuel many decades before. However because it could not be used directly into a conventional combustion engine the research stopped either late 60s or early 70s. Just like batteries also new technology is and has been developed to make the use of hydrogen feasible.
Look at the Netherlands, the baby boomers were promised heaven from there pension payments (compulsory), what they are getting at the moment is limbo. This is what you get the moment you loose control over your money.
Shipman appears to have a very limited idea of the role of banks. They actually create the vast majority of money in the world. For the rest of the story, it may resemble it, it may not. The only certainty is that there will be change. The have been experimenting with self checkouts in NZ for about 6 years with limited success and a source of fraud. In the US I talked to a checkout operator and she reckoned they were just as much work as the manual checkouts.
This is not a political issue but certain departments trying to justify their existence. Trying to think up issues that are not an issues. Now dogs will get harmed because they cant get off. Worksafe is a similar institution implementing rules where the rule causes more injury than the original situation. I have seen lawn mowing on the roadside where it will take more time to put cones out on the road and remove them than actually doing the mowing. Lifting these heavy cones all day I am also sure will come with plenty of injuries.
Study only a little bit of real history to realise that welfare is what reduced poverty massively. Real poverty and inequality existed before the well fare state and there was only a very small percentage of people that was not affected by it. Yes there may be some that take it easy because they have the opportunity and accept a low standard of living but for me that is more acceptable than the other option..
They may not big profits, but because the electricity industry is heavily regulated they are allowed to make steady but good profits and that is why shareholders like these shares. The real issue is that those that pay too much subsidize those on low rates.Also you may get a good rate for a year and than the price will be back up and even with the best effort you wont get what you paid the first year. You can switch again of course but because we live rural with no cellphone reception only a few retailers will actually supply us.In a small country (by population) the market is split in too many players driving the price up because the constant marketing costs of trying to gain or keep customers and the duplication of many jobs because of the fragmented market.
That doesnt mean it should be forgotten, like the Japanese are happy to forget the atrocities they committed in China and in many other parts of Asia. At least the Germans admitted after the war to what happened. So we in New Zealand should own up and acknowledge what happened during that period was wrong. That doesnt mean we have to stay enemies but it is to show that as humans we can work together on remember our past and ensure that we learned from it and do our utmost to stop it from happening again.
Sometimes it is good to take a stance. The question is how much longer will it be before another government will refuse any longer to talk to the Trump government because they no longer will accept this overtly bullying government as 1 representatives of the American people.
The cause of bullying is not that there are no differences, but because any difference can be used to bully. The solution lies in teaching tolerance not by trying to take away differences
Freedom of speech is great good. However that implies that we can NOT be tolerant with the intolerant. Intolerance is exactly what speakers like these stand for.
The Maori were indeed displaced by those from Europe that thought the world belonged to them and there are still those that believe that the world should only be made up out of white Europeans.With regard to immigration, NZs immigration policy is like it is, because it is a lot cheaper to import young adults than to raise a baby to young adulthood. This is exactly what my brother told me when we immigrated to NZ, I was leaving the country that paid for my upbringing and education. NZ in my view is not a racist country but there is still a lot of racism about.
I think that you miss something. If it is indeed like the cake issue, they shouldnt be allowed to speak, just like it is against NZ law what this baker did.
Coffee is like everything else; an acquired taste. For most people in NZ the coffee served may taste great I however find the vast majority of coffee in NZ undrinkable, far too bitter. With regard to coffee culture, NZ is a late comer, when we came to NZ 30 yeas ago finding anything different to powder coffee was a challenge. The taste of coffee NZs like, I believe, was largely dictated by Robert Harris coffee.
What would you call those that decided to build boats, sailed around the world and steal anything they could lay their hands on. Not only that they also tried to steel it from each other. The Dutch still use a song today in honour of at least one of them (Piet Hein)
Free speech is like this: In NZ you can wear anything you like in public but you are not allowed to walk naked through town. In NZ we have free speech, but there are also laws that limit you in what you can say about others.If anybody breaches these free speech rules they should have to defend themselves in court, just like Geert Wilders has had to do on numerous occasions in the Netherlands.
All this debate is about is whether it is appropriate to discuss that one set of human beings has more rights to privileges than another. Don Brash argues that it is ok for people like him, that dishonoured the Treaty from the start, now have a good argument to abolish it. Fortunately the thinking about issues like this is not part of mainstream NZ and I hope it will stay that way. Injustices like this should not be able to be wiped from history neither will we be able to go back in time, but we can address it in a way that is respectful.
Well written. On top of that the country is also not putting enough effort in ensuring that all the immigrants that come to this country integrate with those that are already here. On the contrary government departments that deal with these issues have not increased and even shrunk despite the number of immigrants increasing dramatically. This kind of attitude by government will contribute to the growing disharmony in society despite the huge amount of effort by volunteers to help immigrants integrating in NZ society.
President Trump is unfit for office - Bob Woodward's 'Fear' confirms it
So you didnt listen to the recording of Woodward talking to Trump. One moment he denies that he was aware of Woodward wanted to interview him and a little later he confirms he was aware of it.
Donald Trump boasts about his trade deals - but hasn't signed any
Who would strike a deal with a country that decides to change the rules as they see fit from one day onto another. This mistrust will linger on well past after Trump has gone.
Think teachers are whingeing? Visit my school, says Auckland decile-1 principal
It are not just teachers having to deal with these socio-economic issues. It is everywhere and unless we are prepared to look deep into the causes and how to remedy them it will get worse before it will get better. These issues; police, health workers, families and employers have to deal with every day as well.
Trump reckons you need photo ID to buy groceries
America, the land of the free, the land of endless opportunities, the land claiming endless free speech, the land of the defender and promoter of democracy..... Why is it than that American Embassys all over the world (even in NZ) are or are among the most fortified? Why is it that America is quite happy to support and arm so many non-democratic countries?America has become like a gated community. It robbed the world for its own benefit and now is in a desperate struggle to hang on to the wealth they amassed by exploiting resources and labour that is not theirs.
Claude Megson house in Remuera is a serious 'do-up or knock down'
If a DIYr would have done this we would get legislation that only architects are allowed to design houses.
New Zealand is not vigilant enough about creeping corruption
This would be the low end of the scale. I was offered by an immigrant painter that he would paint my house in turn for work he thought I could perhaps get for him (he misunderstood what my work was).The building and construction industry in many countries is notorious for corruption and bringing in foreign contractors in to deal with our housing shortage opens the door to corruption big time.
Court rules fatigue cause of ship capsize, after teen falls asleep at the wheel
Fatigue is one of the biggest factors in all accidents not only at sea.
Donald Trump got a dose of Dutch bluntness from visiting prime minister
Ever since WWII they have been the bullies of the world and Trump is bringing it to a new extreme. New Zealanders should know that by how they treated us for our nuclear stance.
Agent expects bids over $750k for uninhabitable two-bedroom house
This is not a house price, but a land price less demolition costs.
Council orders removal of 'non-compliant' Dunedin tree house
This is what you get when laws are passed that are open to interpretation and then give some over ambitious people targets that cant be met and make no sense. Next they dream up all sorts of situations behind their desks to justify their positions. Not in the least this is caused because NZ has the highest number of lawyers per capita in the world.If they have to remove the tree hut also all trees should have to be removed from gardens, oh wait we cant do that because we need a permit to do that as well.This type of attitude is happening and prevalent in some other countries as well and reminds me of the attitude that has caused and causes so much suffering by arguing we do as are told or what the law says.Another example was the story about scouting NZ also in the fair go program from last night. Check their annual reports and you can see where the money went. in 4 years time the roll stayed the same but pay for staff nearly doubled.
Did Google lose its soul on the way to world domination?
Get real, they are about making money and lots of it.
Growth figures question the confidence story, but don't settle the argument
I had my own business until I retired. The one thing I know with regard to business prospects is that very little can be done by any government in NZ be it blue or red. When the financial crisis hit that was created in the US within 6 months the turnover halved. We now have Trump in the US creating another crisis that will hit soon or perhaps a little later and there is little little NZ can do about it.
No dignity in euthanasia? Suffering is not dignified
At the moment there are two choices for a person the end their life either by refusing treatment. If refusing treatment causes pain and no doctor is prepared to assist in controlling the pain this can be a very cruel way of dying although chosen by oneself. The other is suicide. For me a good euthanasia law and system has the preference and it also may help those health professionals that feel guilty for keeping someone alive that wants to die.
Donald Trump steps up trade war with US$200 billion tariffs on Chinese goods
The biggest danger are not the tariffs, but the Chinese population turning on American products and companies. If this happens this will have a massive effect on the stock value of a number of American big companies and this would trigger a share market crash of which the size is hard to predict.
Dunedin tree house neighbours have past bad blood
These moaning people are everywhere and they have forgotten what they were like themselves when they were that age.
South Korea perplexed by US President Donald Trumps decision to cancel summit
The USA now openly it admits it is the bully of the world we have got the biggest army and if you dont sign on the dotted line what we want we threaten you with sanctions and violence. In NZ we know that all to well for our anti nuclear stance. Making friends with a gun on their head is never going to last. Having written that, Kim Jong Un is not Mr nice guy either.
No room for nuance in creation debate
I attended a catholic primary school in the late 50s early 60s. We lived in a coal mining area and learned about fossils and dinosaurs. The priest would come an tell us how the world was created in 7 days. As kids we had no problem handling it, because we also listened to the fairy tails of Anderson and Grimm and learned lessons for life from those. At my Catholic high school apart from Catholic teaching we were taught the world religions, humanism and some ancient religions. In science classes we were taught science. We understood that religion and science dealt with totally different aspects of who we are as human beings. Of course it wasnt and still isnt everywhere like that. An aunt of mine who became a nun, a science teacher and principal of a teachers college told me, when I was at high school, how she had questioned creation theory already at a young age and was so pleased when Teilhard de Chardins books were allowed to be read by Catholics. It is also not religion alone that raises some of the same questions as religion does. Someone below described religion as a way to deal with death, I would argue that it is more than that, humans struggle with a fear of change (I know that this is a generalisation and some thrive on change), and that as humans we have different mechanisms to deal with change, from religion and philosophy to indulging in legal and illegal drugs or just take it as it comes.
Donald Trump got a dose of Dutch bluntness from visiting prime minister
Not only become, they have been like that for as long as I can remember.
Damning report into beleaguered $90m health project released
This was started long before Labour came into office. The real question is: How do these big software companies seem to get away time and again with incompetence?
Moving to NZ "the most humbling experience" of her life, migrant says
Poor healthcare? Do I live in the same country as you?
Public transport 'superusers' in Auckland hurt government policy
Bad costing by the writer or whoever raised the issue. One could equally use another costing method showing that the use of public transport during peak times is recovering more than the 50% and recovering less during off peak. The idea about public transport is to get people to use it and base the costing on an average over the whole day and the whole area.
Chlorine blamed for spike in cylinder damage
Failures with copper in water systems is not just caused by chlorine. Other factors have to be present or absent for it to happen. Copper pipe for chlorinated water should not have any residual carbon or residue from soldering or welding processes. Also increasing the pH reduces the risk of pit corrosion when water is chlorinated. Certain butylene pipes can also start leaking as a result of chlorinated water.
Spark gets heavy about Agile
Took them a long time to figure out that you can just hire an outside computer company, at big expense, to deliver you the miracle solution. The same is 1 for internal re-organisations, but that will be next. Or one can say the old ways are coming back.
Donald Trump in high stakes gamble with trade brinkmanship
The US borrowings of 20 trillion consists of about 6 trillion foreign debt, the rest is borrowed from local sources or inter governmental. In turn the US holds around 9.5 trillion in loans to other countries. Although more than a trillion of that 9.5 sits in tax havens in the Caribbean. If there will be trouble it will be the pensioners and social security that will be hit hardest.
Plastic bag makers say their product isn't to blame for damaging the environment
You got the wrong company. This is Kiwi Plastics Company Ltd in Porirua, not Kiwi Plastics Packaging in Auckland.
More FM radio host Gary McCormick took on his daughter's bully
One of our sons left teaching because he got pushed to the ground bu a student and was told by the principal that the student would leave the school next day anyway and nothing was done about it. I am sure different schools different rules, but too often teachers are too scared for the repercussions whatever they do.
Self-employed hiding 20pc of their income from tax, says Inland Revenue
I would like to suggest that corporate tax avoidance is multiple times this. Often these are overseas companies that use supposedly legal accounting policies to avoid paying little or no tax.
Converted washing machine provides free power to 'Angry Ram' blogger
This is of course not all of it. You still need batteries and inverters to be able to use the power for appliances and the amount of power that cab generated can be from a few Watt to 1000 Watt depending on the head of water available. From an article I read, with this motor for 1000 Watt you need a head of 120 m and 60 Watt a head of 4.5 m.
Housing NZ to compensate 800 tenants over bogus meth testing
This is not the only issue where we as citizens have to suffer costs for no good reason, just because we live in a society where officials (because of public opinion) are happy to think up problems to protect themselves, instead of taking the right decisions or not going overboard with the measures that have to be taken.
Kea may be smarter than we thought: Researchers uncover evidence of tool use in the wild
A possum trapper did tell me that possums at times close leg traps and than eat the bate.
Donald Trump steps up trade war with US$200 billion tariffs on Chinese goods
China is not undercutting anybody. The wealthy nations have been using any cheap labour around the world to satisfy their hunger for more products. Even China has started doing that, by using even cheaper labour in Africa. The best thing that can happen is that they get to our level of prosperity and a level playing field is established. Whether we will stay stable or go backwards depends on the wealthy people and institutions on our globe.
Customers call out companies on unnecessary waste and use of plastic
Whatever we do with regard to packaging will have environmental consequences. To make paper or cardboard requires trees and a lot of energy as well.
Beer pong and walkers: The Dutch nursing home that is also a university dorm
Probably not for everyone but it could suit me.
Amazon warns NZ on internet shopping tax change
At the standard US postal charges it will be cheaper to buy in NZ.
Being cold and rationing heating is now normal in New Zealand
One mistake in the discussion is assuming that everyone feels comfortable in the same temperature range. I dont mind low or high temperatures, my wife has a most comfortable range of less than 5 degrees. Also studies on the best temperature range vary as people in different climates get used to different temperature ranges. A quick look gave 18-21 as ideal in England and 21-26 in an American paper. For those that like it cold in an igloo it can vary from -7 to +16.
New Zealand has issues, but the idea it is a 'low-wage economy' is a myth
Reasonably accurate article but it is not necessarily high skilled jobs that demand higher income. What is also an important factor is offer and demand on the labour market. Over my lifetime (65 years) highly trained people on a relative average earn less because there are now far more people trained to a high level compared with 50 years ago, while the relative average income of trained trades people looks to me higher than what it used to be 50 years ago.
Why Kiwis pay so much for beef and lamb
Tesco Lamb leg whole £10 per kg (just looked it up) Countdown special NZ$10.99 per kg
How former PM Tony Abbott helped tear down Malcolm Turnbull's premiership
paying we will, if it is not now it will be later.
Milking it: There's no such thing as a budget cow, so what is budget milk?
A good comparison would be the milk price with the Netherlands using similar supermarkets and suppliers. I used AH and Countdown, Campina in the Netherlands and Anchor in NZ. I also took the GST out 15 % in NZ, 6% in the Netherlands. Surprise the milk is 10% more expensive in the Netherlands
Could hydrogen turn Taranaki into the Norway of the Pacific?
How to store hydrogen is well known, just like the storage of electricity. They also both have issues although very different. Whether you might not believe it, but hydrogen will become part of the mix to wean ourselves of carbon fuels.
Warning of looming 'financial panic' in China
Has anybody looked at the NZ share market? It is ridiculously high and asking for a correction.
Supermarkets on track to ditching single-use plastic bags
It is of course great to see the the use of plastic bags and straws reduced, but it is only a feel good effort as it is in the total production of plastics like a drop in the ocean.
PM says her agenda works 'hand in hand' with business, but can she explain it?
I can remember very well that many in business were asking to bring the value of the NZD down to increase export opportunities. Import businesses of course like the opposite, but for employment the general wisdom is that a lower dollar is better.
Poll: Record-high 60 per cent disapprove of Trump
Was. It is already on its way down, just like the what happened to the British and many other empires.Nations have to stop trying to build empires just lets work together and all have a good time.
New Zealand: Where alcohol is normalised - and that means more drinking
NZ is (by GDP per Capita) ranked within the top 20% of countries and within 15 % of the world population and that makes us a high income country. What that means is that people here may not know how poor the rest of the world is.
QV data shows New Zealand house prices falling
These Ozzy parasites are around 45% directly owned by American owned banks.
Overseas expert flown in to fix capital's electronic bus timetables to cost ratepayers $36,000
What good is an overseas expert going to achieve. The people that have all the knowledge on what is required are here and an it will take an overseas expert months to get familiar with what is required let alone finding solutions. (Apart from going back to the old system)
Workers at dodgy Christchurch Hospital say they must accept risk or resign
I would have no problem working there. The risk of dying while getting out of bed is a lot higher. If we would apply the no risk version we should evacuate all people from the west coast because of an eminent mega quake and Taranaki as well as we may get a volcanic eruption. Living in NZ comes with these risks and they may be higher in some places nobody is exempt.
New Zealanders hungry and cold in their own homes this winter
If it were only 14! 27 lines companies, 151 retail companies, 5 main generators (94% of total generation) plus Transpower.
Every fortnight, an entire language is lost
I am trying to learn Mandarin and I would be incredibly surprised if it would become a dominant language, simply because it is too difficult to learn. Chinese students have to spend a disproportionate amount of time learning their own language and what I noticed is that Chinese speakers that live in another country and dont regularly write characters start forgetting some quite quickly. Also Mandarin is not the only spoken language in China, although the characters they use are the same, pronunciation varies.
Inland Revenue apologises to frustrated taxpayers
Just use a paper return. In the mail and no stress. Several years ago I gave up doing online returns.
Ignore the advertising: cars can't drive themselves yet
It is not that long ago that if you would even utter a little doubt on the safety of so called self driving cars you would be voted down big time.
Why Kiwis pay so much for beef and lamb
In the Netherlands beef mince is $35 per kg, here prime beef mince $13-18 per kg
Minister says nothing ruled out after tech body voices 'critical concerns' over R&D
If the government puts money into a company they should get a shareholding in the company or it should be in the form of a loan.
Could hydrogen turn Taranaki into the Norway of the Pacific?
It is known on how to store it. The problem is when something goes wrong.
A decade on from the GFC, the world is less equipped to cope with the next crisis
If housing is considered a potential risk because it is overvalued, have a look at the increase of value in the share market in recent years (currently nearly 4 times the value in 2009). The share markets are at the moment far more likely to crash, as it only needs one of the big stocks to report some negative figures.The way international trade is disrupted at the moment, by a certain president, this wont take much for it to happen.
Grim findings in China survey
Obviously you dont have Chinese friends or have analysed other cultures as well as your own in depth. All of your stereotypes apply just as much to other cultures and for that matter to Kiwis, my culture and even attitudes within my own family. Yes there are differences, but they challenge me to find out why instead of seeing it as a threat.
I've found the solution to the housing crisis, and it's been here all along
The most essential things in life shouldnt be their to make huge profits on. The housing market has been spiraling upwards because of your logic, rents go up, new investors pay too much for a property and want more rent. Or like the Kushners and Cohen as was mentioned in an article yesterday buy cheap chase the renters out, do them up a little charge higher rents and increase the value massively.
Grim findings in China survey
Are there that many people who know where New Zealand is?
China's Pacific aid dominance is 'overstated' but growing
When it comes to loaning money and having to pay interest trust nobody. In NZ we are also enslaved to the banks and in turn to whoever may own them.
Jobs warning to over 45s - ageism is alive and well
If it is 45 now, it is improving it used the be 40 when I was around that age.
Striking teachers have lost the war, even if they win a small pay battle
To express teacher pay as a percentage of GDP per capita would be a far better measure. This would show where teachers stand with there income in relation to the income of others compared with other countries
The solution to Aucklands traffic problems is already here
This video doesnt show what happens when an off ramp is full.
Mexico's World Cup winner against Germany causes 'artificial quake' in Mexico City
artificial earthquake between quotation marks refers here to beating Germany. Literary freedom together with a massive upset in soccer.
ANZ warns the threat to activity 'is real' as business confidence stays in the doldrums
There is another worldwide crash looming. Share prices are through the roof, just like 1987 and what happened. Share prices at the moment are not realistic and many investors are blind to the risk.
After departure cards, 5 things at airports that annoy
I have more issues with people that use these overpowering deodorants and perfumes, that stop your breathing.
Pike River mine re-entry to take longer than expected
and cones every few meters all over the country.
Government stamps out performance bonuses for public sector bosses
Bonuses should also been banned in the private sector, instead under performing should lead to loosing their jobs without golden handshakes.
Sage to ask EPA to look at Roundup after jury award
In a couple of documentaries i watched it was concluded that the glyphosate on its own does not do much, it only becomes really effective together with the wetting agent. The research presented to proof that roundup/glyphosate is safe is based on glyphosate without the wetting agent, but when you buy it it is always with the wetting agent.
Crowded House: One-bedroom Auckland apartment 'suitable for up to four people'
For a Chinese student this would be luxurious and roomy compared to what they have at a university in China (a bunk bed with desk underneath and 4 or more to a room, only a bathroom, no sitting room or kitchen). The cost in Auckland is however more than 25 times as high.
Reserve Bank interest rate call sends NZ dollar tumbling
Nobody can with certainty predict what the OCR will be in 2020. What I know is that they just increased it in the UK.
China's Pacific aid dominance is 'overstated' but growing
Most of the American loans are internal, that means pension funds, insurance companies banks, etc.
Could hydrogen turn Taranaki into the Norway of the Pacific?
The car industry already looked into hydrogen as a fuel many decades before. However because it could not be used directly into a conventional combustion engine the research stopped either late 60s or early 70s. Just like batteries also new technology is and has been developed to make the use of hydrogen feasible.
Facing up to an age old problem
Look at the Netherlands, the baby boomers were promised heaven from there pension payments (compulsory), what they are getting at the moment is limbo. This is what you get the moment you loose control over your money.
Future of shopping: Identity to overtake wallets, stores to survive
Shipman appears to have a very limited idea of the role of banks. They actually create the vast majority of money in the world. For the rest of the story, it may resemble it, it may not. The only certainty is that there will be change. The have been experimenting with self checkouts in NZ for about 6 years with limited success and a source of fraud. In the US I talked to a checkout operator and she reckoned they were just as much work as the manual checkouts.
Bugger! MPI tightens dog-on-ute law
This is not a political issue but certain departments trying to justify their existence. Trying to think up issues that are not an issues. Now dogs will get harmed because they cant get off. Worksafe is a similar institution implementing rules where the rule causes more injury than the original situation. I have seen lawn mowing on the roadside where it will take more time to put cones out on the road and remove them than actually doing the mowing. Lifting these heavy cones all day I am also sure will come with plenty of injuries.
Damien Grant: Nanny state insulates us from the consequences of failure
Study only a little bit of real history to realise that welfare is what reduced poverty massively. Real poverty and inequality existed before the well fare state and there was only a very small percentage of people that was not affected by it. Yes there may be some that take it easy because they have the opportunity and accept a low standard of living but for me that is more acceptable than the other option..
Review finds two-tier power market developing
They may not big profits, but because the electricity industry is heavily regulated they are allowed to make steady but good profits and that is why shareholders like these shares. The real issue is that those that pay too much subsidize those on low rates.Also you may get a good rate for a year and than the price will be back up and even with the best effort you wont get what you paid the first year. You can switch again of course but because we live rural with no cellphone reception only a few retailers will actually supply us.In a small country (by population) the market is split in too many players driving the price up because the constant marketing costs of trying to gain or keep customers and the duplication of many jobs because of the fragmented market.
Satellite snares space trash in net
What about plastic debris in the oceans and anywhere else, threatening life on earth?
Amazon warns NZ on internet shopping tax change
The money you spent overseas is lost to the NZ economy, money you spent here stays in the system.
NZ Super isn't enough for 'no frills' lifestyle, but Kiwis are bridging the gap
They are not given anything, it isnt theirs.
A mature nation owns its history - the good and the bad
That doesnt mean it should be forgotten, like the Japanese are happy to forget the atrocities they committed in China and in many other parts of Asia. At least the Germans admitted after the war to what happened. So we in New Zealand should own up and acknowledge what happened during that period was wrong. That doesnt mean we have to stay enemies but it is to show that as humans we can work together on remember our past and ensure that we learned from it and do our utmost to stop it from happening again.
Why a small-town restaurant owner asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave
Sometimes it is good to take a stance. The question is how much longer will it be before another government will refuse any longer to talk to the Trump government because they no longer will accept this overtly bullying government as 1 representatives of the American people.
Bible in Schools case fast-tracked to High Court, could be heard later this year
The cause of bullying is not that there are no differences, but because any difference can be used to bully. The solution lies in teaching tolerance not by trying to take away differences
Free speech group raises $50k to challenge Auckland Council over far-Right speaker ban
Freedom of speech is great good. However that implies that we can NOT be tolerant with the intolerant. Intolerance is exactly what speakers like these stand for.
Damien Grant: The new arrivals draining our country's resources and giving nothing
The Maori were indeed displaced by those from Europe that thought the world belonged to them and there are still those that believe that the world should only be made up out of white Europeans.With regard to immigration, NZs immigration policy is like it is, because it is a lot cheaper to import young adults than to raise a baby to young adulthood. This is exactly what my brother told me when we immigrated to NZ, I was leaving the country that paid for my upbringing and education. NZ in my view is not a racist country but there is still a lot of racism about.
Free speech group raises $50k to challenge Auckland Council over far-Right speaker ban
I think that you miss something. If it is indeed like the cake issue, they shouldnt be allowed to speak, just like it is against NZ law what this baker did.
Why Starbucks 'struggled' in Kiwi coffee culture
Coffee is like everything else; an acquired taste. For most people in NZ the coffee served may taste great I however find the vast majority of coffee in NZ undrinkable, far too bitter. With regard to coffee culture, NZ is a late comer, when we came to NZ 30 yeas ago finding anything different to powder coffee was a challenge. The taste of coffee NZs like, I believe, was largely dictated by Robert Harris coffee.
Cunning, deceitful savages: 200 years of MÄori bad press
What would you call those that decided to build boats, sailed around the world and steal anything they could lay their hands on. Not only that they also tried to steel it from each other. The Dutch still use a song today in honour of at least one of them (Piet Hein)
Anthem writer Thomas Bracken's anti-Chinese rhetoric 'racist to modern eyes'.
Anthems are normally about patriotism and that is why I dont like them.
Don Brash speaks at boisterous Auckland University debate, punctuated by protests
Free speech is like this: In NZ you can wear anything you like in public but you are not allowed to walk naked through town. In NZ we have free speech, but there are also laws that limit you in what you can say about others.If anybody breaches these free speech rules they should have to defend themselves in court, just like Geert Wilders has had to do on numerous occasions in the Netherlands.
Don Brash speaks at boisterous Auckland University debate, punctuated by protests
All this debate is about is whether it is appropriate to discuss that one set of human beings has more rights to privileges than another. Don Brash argues that it is ok for people like him, that dishonoured the Treaty from the start, now have a good argument to abolish it. Fortunately the thinking about issues like this is not part of mainstream NZ and I hope it will stay that way. Injustices like this should not be able to be wiped from history neither will we be able to go back in time, but we can address it in a way that is respectful.
When a person with extreme views defends free speech someone gets hurt
Well written. On top of that the country is also not putting enough effort in ensuring that all the immigrants that come to this country integrate with those that are already here. On the contrary government departments that deal with these issues have not increased and even shrunk despite the number of immigrants increasing dramatically. This kind of attitude by government will contribute to the growing disharmony in society despite the huge amount of effort by volunteers to help immigrants integrating in NZ society.