Latest Top Scoops Headlines [Page 4]
All Hands On Deck!
Sunday, 14 June 2020, 10:14 am | Rajiv Sondhi
Rajiv Sondhi [1] Even as we relish the defeat of the Covid 19 contagion, a new contagion is upon us. As has been headlined in recent days, the economic contagion is rearing its head. And we will need the same bold, innovative and united moves ... More >>
Woked In Fright: The Brief Banning Of Fawlty Towers
Sunday, 14 June 2020, 10:02 am | Binoy Kampmark
It’s all getting nasty. The urge to remove statues in hurried indignation; the lust to censor programmes now deemed offensive; the erasure of history, which, any sensible sort should know, is often a panoramic account of crimes and slaughter worth ... More >>
Battles Over Education: Australia, China And Unsafe Universities
Friday, 12 June 2020, 2:25 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Entering a university should be, to some degree, unsafe. Away from the gazing eyes of parents, institutional structures for the child, the entrant faces, or at least should face, the prospect of something truly daunting: To think, to entertain discomfort, ... More >>
Listen To The 'Calls Ringing Out In The Streets Across The World,' Says George Floyd's Brother
Friday, 12 June 2020, 10:33 am | Common Dreams
Philonise Floyd, the younger brother of George Floyd, implored Congress in emotional testimony Wednesday to heed "the calls ringing out in the streets across the world" and take meaningful action against police brutality and racial injustice ... More >>
Researchers Show Hack-for-Hire Op Targeted Groups Fighting For Climate Action & Net Neutrality
Friday, 12 June 2020, 10:31 am | Common Dreams
The Canadian digital watchdog group Citizen Lab reported Tuesday that a hack-for-hire group targeted thousands of organizations around the world, including climate advocacy groups involved in the #ExxonKnew campaign. Groups that have asserted ExxonMobil ... More >>
Removal of Māori children from their families is a wound
Friday, 12 June 2020, 10:27 am | The Conversation
The state removal of Māori children from their families is a wound that won't heal – but there is a way forward More >>
Goldmining As Our Metaphor For Economic Activity
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 5:44 pm | Keith Rankin
Imagery: Metaphors, Symbols, Analogies As a species, people use symbols to facilitate understandings of the complexities of the world. In the last millennium in Europe, the highest subjects of learning were 'classical studies' and 'theology'. It was ... More >>
Open Wounds: Sweden Drops The Olof Palme Case
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 5:00 pm | Binoy Kampmark
It’s the sort of thing that ruffled the image of a composed and tranquil existence. In some countries, doing away with political leaders is a periodic affair, deemed necessary to clean the stables. But in Sweden, change is barely discernible, stability ... More >>
An election like no other: with 100 days to go, can Jacinda maintain her extraordinary popularity?
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 4:45 pm | The Conversation
Jacinda Ardern is at stratospheric support levels due to her government's management of the COVID-19 crisis. That lead will inevitably narrow by the election – but by how much? More >>
Humans Are Escaping From The Abusive Relationship With The Police State
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 4:20 pm | Caitlin Johnstone
Abusive relationships where the abuser is a transparently horrible monster don't tend to last long, because it becomes obvious to the victim very quickly that they need to head for the door. The ones that last are the ones where the abuser is also ... More >>
On Allowing The Police To Use “Sponge” Bullets
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 2:04 pm | Gordon Campbell
Terminology can be SO important. Back when “non-lethal” bullets were first invented and became part of the weapons array available to US Police, they were called “ rubber bullets” rather than say, “plastic bullets” because “plastic” sounded ... More >>
By sacking staff and closing stores, big businesses could hurt their own long-term interests
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 12:20 pm | The Conversation
"Helping Kiwis live better every day" is the Warehouse motto. Now it's laying off staff and closing stores. More >>
Counties Manukau DHB Battles Surgery Backlog
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 10:27 am | Steve Forbes - Local Democracy Reporter
Counties Manukau Health says it had to defer between 1400 and 1600 elective surgery operations due to Covid-19 and it is now looking at reducing the backlog with the much needed funding boost it received in last month’s budget. But according to ... More >>
Council Backtracks On Endeavour Models, Agrees To Consultation
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 10:26 am | Aaron van Delden - Local Democracy Reporter
“Talk to us — that’s the whole point,” said a protester at this morning’s extraordinary meeting of Gisborne district councillors as they voted unanimously to revoke their earlier decision to install models of James Cook’s Endeavour in ... More >>
Hotline Calls For Help With Food Most Common In Lockdown
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 10:23 am | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
Running out of food during the Covid-19 lockdown was the reason most Coasters called the civil defence hotline for help, it has emerged. West Coast Emergency Management director Claire Brown briefed the Regional Council yesterday on the work done over ... More >>
National backtracks on 'Strike Force Raptor' police unit plans
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 10:21 am | RNZ
National is distancing itself from its controversial Strike Force Raptor proposal, saying it would not direct the police to set up such a unit if elected. More >>
Small tourism businesses ask for DOC fee relief
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 10:20 am | RNZ
Small tourism operators using Department of Conservation land say they have had to continue paying various fees despite losing nearly all their visitors. More >>
Spy tales: The asylum seekers who fled to New Zealand
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 10:18 am | RNZ
Earlier this week, there were reports that a former Russian spy was in New Zealand. Whatever the truth of that case, others have fled here in the past to escape security agencies - or to make up stories about their lives as spies. More >>
What Morality Is
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 8:38 am | Gary Novak
Morality and justice are the same things. Their application is rationality. Definitions and all meanings have to be aligned upon purpose; otherwise they misrepresent. There is a purpose for morality, justice and rationality. The purpose is to promote and ... More >>
Don’t be too pessimistic about New Zealand’s future.
Thursday, 11 June 2020, 7:51 am | Gregor Thompson
With the first hurdle hopped our Government will be turning its attention to trying to soften the economic damage this pandemic has on our little archipelago. More >>
Police, Protests, And Human Transformation: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix
Wednesday, 10 June 2020, 2:57 pm | Caitlin Johnstone
"Without the police you'd have vigilantism!" Vigilantism? You mean like when a band of armed thugs inflict extrajudicial violence upon someone who pissed them off? Like the police do constantly? One of the many good things coming out of ... More >>
Altars Of Hypocrisy: George Floyd, Protest And Black Face
Wednesday, 10 June 2020, 2:04 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Be wary what you protest about. The modern moral constabulary are out, and they are assisted by their Silicon Valley friends in the Social Media club. Should you dare take a stand on anything, especially in a dramatic way, you will be found out ... More >>
New Zealand Government Introduces Internet Censorship Legislation
Wednesday, 10 June 2020, 11:42 am | Socialist Equality Group
By Tom Peters Legislation introduced to New Zealand’s parliament late last month would vastly expand the power of state agencies to censor and remove online content deemed “objectionable.” The Films, Videos, and Publications Classification (Urgent ... More >>
On Why Women With Opinions Can Be SO Annoying
Wednesday, 10 June 2020, 11:38 am | Gordon Campbell
Good grief. Well, we shouldn’t be all that surprised at National MP Paul Goldsmith and his “ stick to your knitting” comment yesterday. Sexism and the National Party go together like love and marriage and the horse and carriage era to which ... More >>
Coronavirus weekly: racism, COVID-19, and the inequality that fuels these parallel pandemics
Wednesday, 10 June 2020, 10:34 am | The Conversation
Our experts look at why people of colour are being hit harder by COVID-19, New Zealand's success in eliminating the virus, and the latest on drug trials. More >>
Black Lives Matter outrage must drive police reform in Aotearoa-New Zealand too
Wednesday, 10 June 2020, 10:29 am | The Conversation
Will police accept the challenge of ending Māori over-representation at every stage of the criminal justice system in Aotearoa-New Zealand? More >>
Police Brutality, White Supremacy And Reparations
Wednesday, 10 June 2020, 9:55 am | Alan Smith
By Alan Smith, Co-chair, Green Party of Pennsylvania ( www.gpofpa.org ) For the past four months we have stopped what we were doing. We have taken drastic, life altering, paradigm shifting changes in order to deal with a global pandemic. The ... More >>
The dark side of COVID-19 and consumerism
Wednesday, 10 June 2020, 9:19 am | Just Imagine
What is it that keeps IKEA ahead of its competition? It’s hard to think of a more commoditised industry than low cost furniture yet year after year IKEA beat their competition despite many trying to emulate their success. Success that is due, in ... More >>
A Plague Of Pandemics, Including A Pandemic Of Plague
Tuesday, 9 June 2020, 5:25 pm | Keith Rankin
How many current pandemics? The word 'pandemic' is not entirely defined on narrow public health criteria. (Likewise, an economic depression has no technical definition.) In an important sense it is a word of history, a word to describe significant health ... More >>
New Study Shows The Effectiveness Of Lockdown Measures On Preventing COVID-19 Spread
Tuesday, 9 June 2020, 4:44 pm | Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research
Emergency health measures such as social distancing, shelter-in-place and travel restrictions had a significant impact on stopping the spread of COVID-19, new research shows. A New Zealand economist joined an international team of researchers to produce ... More >>
No new cases of Covid-19 for 18th day, but stricter border measures in place - Bloomfield
Tuesday, 9 June 2020, 4:07 pm | RNZ
From today people in managed isolation will not be allowed to apply for exemptions to attend funerals and tangihanga. More >>
Black Lives Matter
Tuesday, 9 June 2020, 3:22 pm | Foundation Against Islamophobia and Racism
By Azad Khan The killing of George Floyd happened in the United States, but this could have just about happened anywhere in the world. The cold blooded murder of George Floyd once again highlights the racism and the risk that people of color, ... More >>
Radical Reforms: Disbanding Police Forces In The US
Tuesday, 9 June 2020, 3:07 pm | Binoy Kampmark
If you can envisage the commencement of a police force as a band of auxiliaries to keep slaves in check, capture escapees and sow much terror, it becomes that much clearer. Such men were not stewards to keep the people safe; they were there to protect ... More >>
Palestinian, Indigenous And Black Lives Matter
Tuesday, 9 June 2020, 1:43 pm | Dr Gideon Polya
Dear fellow humanitarian, Palestinian lives matter. Indigenous lives matter. Black lives matter. The 8 minutes 46 seconds murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis cops has prompted huge “Black Lives Matter” demonstrations in the US and thence in ... More >>
On Level One, And Living With Predatory Markets
Tuesday, 9 June 2020, 9:59 am | Gordon Campbell
Welcome to Level One, earthlings. This is the new normality while the virus still roams beyond the border walls. Those borders will remain closed and guarded by quarantine for any entrants from outside, and while the Transtasman bubble remains an idea that ... More >>
New Zealand hits zero active coronavirus cases. Here are 5 measures to keep it that way
Tuesday, 9 June 2020, 9:30 am | The Conversation
New Zealand is now likely free of COVID-19. But while the pandemic continues elsewhere, strict border controls and face masks are among measures the country will need to keep it that way. More >>
Eternal Fixation: The Madeleine McCann Disappearance Show
Monday, 8 June 2020, 4:05 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The “lost child” endures as motif and theme, the stalking shadow of much literature, the background to a society’s anxiety. The child, often deemed innocent, becomes the ink blot of loss in such disappearance. In Australia, it was captured by Peter ... More >>
PM’s Press Conference – The Move To Level One
Monday, 8 June 2020, 3:14 pm | The Scoop Team
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said New Zealand will move to covid-19 level one restrictions from midnight tonight. Cabinet’s decision follows the Ministry of Health saying there were no active cases in the country and there had been no new ... More >>
The Other Crisis
Monday, 8 June 2020, 12:50 pm | Jon Leighton
Technologist and climate activist Jon Leighton writes about the climate and ecological crisis, and the folly of putting our faith in activism or technological solutions to deliver us from these crises. Instead he is now focusing on re-localisation and ... More >>
America Vs. China: Influence, Propaganda & COVID-19
Monday, 8 June 2020, 12:17 pm | Richard S. Ehrlich
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Southeast Asia is resisting the harsh U.S.-China blame game over COVID-19, preferring to maintain financial links with both, but Beijing appears to enjoy a better image among the region's hearts and minds. "Southeast Asian ... More >>
Some students fail to return to school post-lockdown
Monday, 8 June 2020, 11:38 am | RNZ
Principals say schools have no idea where some of their students have gone since the lockdown and the Education Ministry has stepped in to help. More >>
Did retailers overpromise during lockdown?
Monday, 8 June 2020, 11:28 am | RNZ
Hundreds of people are still waiting to receive online orders they placed during lockdown, and some are struggling to get the refunds they're entitled to. More >>
Northland Councils Should Support Kaipara’s Fight Against Auckland’s Dome Valley Landfill
Monday, 8 June 2020, 11:24 am | Susan Botting - Local Democracy Reporter
Northland local authorities should be working together to stop the multi-million dollar Dome Valley mega landfill, an opponent of the dump says. Michelle Carmichael, Fight the Tip, Save the Dome leader, said the proposed facility on more than 1000 ... More >>
Ex-Russian spy would be 'potential security problem' for NZ
Monday, 8 June 2020, 11:19 am | RNZ
New Zealand has a potential security problem on its hands if an ex-Russian spy who survived a poisoning in Britain is living here, a former UK ambassador to Russia says. More >>
Calls For Freedom Camp Site Closure After Tourists Intrude Residents’ Privacy
Monday, 8 June 2020, 11:15 am | Chloe Ranford - Local Democracy Reporter
Freedom campers have left residents in a Marlborough Sounds bay feeling "vulnerable" after years of defecating in their gardens, pinching their water and internet, and demanding to shower. Double Bay residents are calling for the Marlborough District ... More >>
‘It’s No Picnic In Picnic Bay’: Rural Resident Fights For Better Broadband Connectivity
Monday, 8 June 2020, 11:13 am | Chloe Ranford - Local Democracy Reporter
Internet access is "no picnic in Picnic Bay", in the Marlborough Sounds, with resident Chris Womersley using a lunchbox and water bottle to tap into a broadband tower after his dial-up was binned. Forty-five kilometres away, in Tuamarina, slow ... More >>
The Most Revealing Footage On Police Brutality Is These Cops Applauding Its Perpetrators
Monday, 8 June 2020, 11:11 am | Caitlin Johnstone
Among the constant deluge of police brutality footage flooding the internet as America's armed goon patrol responds to the Black Lives Matter protests across the nation, there is one video which stands out above all the others in illustrating ... More >>
Censorship: Its Central Role In A Multi-Party Dictatorship
Monday, 8 June 2020, 9:18 am | Eric Zuesse
Eric Zuesse, originally posted at Strategic Culture A friend happens to run a web-archiving service and has been coming under intense pressure to remove allegedly “false” Web-pages from his archive’s records. This would be censorship by that Web-archive. ... More >>
How to get back to New Zealand from Europe during Covid-19
Sunday, 7 June 2020, 9:05 am | Gregor Thompson
An account of returning to NZ during the COVID travel restrictions, featuring video of cabin staff in Hazmat suits and advice for Kiwi Expats wanting to get home. By Gregor Thompson More >>
Racism Kills Across The World: Four Stories Of Police Brutality We Will Never Forget
Saturday, 6 June 2020, 6:56 pm | Scoop.me
George Floyd is dead. He was murdered because he was black. 46-year-old Floyd was choked by a Minneapolis police officer during an arrest. George Floyd is not the first victim of black police brutality: According to the data platform mappingpoliceviolence.org ... More >>
World Environment Day Provokes Warnings That 'To Care For Humanity, We Must Care For Nature'
Saturday, 6 June 2020, 6:43 pm | Common Dreams - Jessica Corbett
"Today, nature is sending us a clear message. We are harming the natural world—to our own detriment," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Friday. (Photo: Getty Images) U.N. chief António Guterres, Fridays for Future strikers, ... More >>
Benefits Of Equality, By John Scales Avery
Saturday, 6 June 2020, 10:43 am | John Avery
A new freely downloadable book I would like to announce the publication of a book which presents evidence supporting the thesis that elimination of excessive economic inequality makes societies happier and better. The book may be freely downloaded ... More >>
New $1.8 Million Wharf For Remote Pouto As Kaipara Harbour Wharves Project Takes Shape
Friday, 5 June 2020, 4:50 pm | Susan Botting - Local Democracy Reporter
A new $1.8 million wharf is to be built at remote Pouto as part of the Kaipara Harbour Wharves project. It will be the only new wharf in the unique $4.95 million Provincial Growth Fund-funded project. The wharf will be one of four initial developments in ... More >>
Coast Councils To Seek Govt Funding For SNA Work
Friday, 5 June 2020, 4:44 pm | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
The council team working on a combined district plan for the West Coast will ask the Government for funding to research significant natural areas (SNAs). The Te Tai Poutini One Plan Committee of council and iwi leaders is meeting regularly to thrash ... More >>
Council Aims To ‘buy Local’
Friday, 5 June 2020, 4:41 pm | Aaron van Delden - Local Democracy Reporter
Supporting the local economy is meant to be a key consideration for Gisborne District Council when it makes purchases. The council’s procurement policy in the past gave preference to local suppliers and businesses, as long as their prices were within ... More >>
Two weeks since last new case of Covid-19 in New Zealand
Friday, 5 June 2020, 4:38 pm | RNZ
New Zealand has marked 14 days of no new cases of Covid-19, with just one active case remaining. More >>
Miniature horse Star's attacker jailed for 2.5 years
Friday, 5 June 2020, 4:34 pm | RNZ
The man who viciously stabbed a miniature horse 41 times has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. More >>
Airbnb property owners switch to long-term rentals
Friday, 5 June 2020, 4:32 pm | RNZ
Owners of Airbnb properties are switching to longer term renting, as tourism slumps following the coronavirus pandemic. More >>
Born Accessible: A Win For Access And Publishers
Friday, 5 June 2020, 2:50 pm | Blind Low Vision NZ
It was a monumental moment for Blind Low Vision NZ and the disability community when New Zealand become a member of the Marrakesh Treaty earlier this year. It was something we had been advocating for over ten years. More >>
Fatuous Grounds And Barren Thoughts: Misconduct, The University Of Queensland And Drew Pavlou
Friday, 5 June 2020, 1:54 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The global student populace have become so passive it is a surprise to hear any stir of protest that issues forth from a campus. Generation Z tends to seek passes and certificates rather than knowledge and the examined life. So it came as something ... More >>
