Chris Bishop wrote on Facebook:

This just makes me want to weep.

I encourage people to read the whole article along with the correspondence (which Stuff.co.nz has put up online too), but here’s a summary of the story:

Te Kura Hourua O Whangarei Terenga Paraoa is a partnership school based in Whangarei which opened in 2014. It’s a new school but since opening it’s been doing well – its roll increased from 50 to 72 in 2015, it graduated five year 13 students all with UE; it placed 4th at the regional kapahaka competition, to name a few. All of its students in 2015 were “priority learners” (Maori, Pasifika, kids with special needs or from low socio-economic backgrounds). The exact kids we really want to be helping.

It’s achieving great NCEA results for its students – 100% NCEA Level 3 and 2 achievement rates in 2015; and 84.2% at Level 1 – well above the average for Maori.

Earlier this year a local high school, Kamo High School, offered to let the kura use their chemistry fume cupboard to mix chemicals for students’ science experiments. Sounds sensible right? Who could possibly be opposed to that? As the Principal of Kamo said, she “saw this as an opportunity to support a highly successful emerging school in our area, and to improve the chemistry results for Maori students.”

Well, the PPTA it seems, the union for secondary teachers. This was a “major issue”. The executive turned up unannounced at the school for a “vital” meeting with the staff. Soon a long menacing letter arrived, threatening all sort of legal repercussions – all over the simple offer to let a nearby school use some science resources.

So now the offer’s been withdrawn. What a shame for the students of the kura. Once again, the PPTA is putting its ideological (and frankly wrong) views about partnership schools ahead of kids in our education system – and kids whom the system has largely failed so far (that’s why partnership schools exist).

This is not an isolated incident. In 2015 a teacher studying to become qualified was asked to leave one of his placements because he was employed at the kura. The PPTA has instructed all its members to “refrain from all professional, sporting and cultural contact with charter schools” – so no playing rugby against them, participating in arts festivals, no debating competitions – nothing.

I find all of this really sad. Partnership schools are a genuine, well-intentioned attempt to try and tackle the long tail of under-achievement in our education system. Every kid deserves a good education. For some, the existing system doesn’t work well. Partnership schools may help them; and the evidence so far is that they are. Nobody is forced to send their children there. No teacher is forced to work there. They’re a choice. I haven’t been to the kura (yet), but I’ve visited South Auckland Middle School in Auckland, and looked at their results. Sadly, many opponents of partnership schools have not bothered to do the same.

So this school agreed to allow students at another school their chemistry fume cupboard and because of that they had almost the entire PPTA Executive descend on their school to threaten them.

UPDATE: I’m informed that it was not the entire PPTA Executive, but just two people – the President and a staffer. Also the visit was known in advance.

Brian Rudman writes:

Sometimes it really is embarrassing to be a baby-boomer. We’re the generation that enjoyed free school milk, free university education and free healthcare, then, after sucking those teats dry, turned off the taps and told those following that the free ride was over.

Now, my fellow oldies sit back in their million dollar, debt-free homes, moaning about a piddling $15 for a transport swipe card which will give them free travel on Auckland’s buses, trains and ferries for the rest of their lives.

Ungrateful indeed.

Stuff reports:

Teina Pora will receive a record $2 million compensation payout, which was approved by Cabinet this week.

Pora was convicted in 1994 of the 1992 rape and murder of Susan Burdett, an accounts clerk who was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat in her South Auckland home.

Pora spent 21 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of rape and murder.

New evidence presented to the Privy Council showed Pora suffered from foetal alcohol syndrome that made his confession, which was key to his original conviction, unsafe. No retrial was ordered.

It’s understood the mood in Cabinet was that the compensation was well deserved.

The payment will be the highest ever, with Arthur Allan Thomas getting $1 million. 

A spokesman for Justice Minister Amy Adams said an announcement regarding Pora’s compensation was due tomorrow.

It seems reasonable for 21 years in prison. You could argue for even more.

It is well documented that Pora is not fully intellectually able due to the foetal alcohol syndrome. I hope he has good friends and supporters who will assist him in managing the money from the payout, so he isn’t taken advantage by others.

Stuff reports:

Should refugees be expected to officially commit to New Zealand values when they get here?

Some political leaders say yes, they should.

Refugees should sign up to a ‘New Zealand values statement’, proposes ACT leader David Seymour as he believes it would help ensure those arriving share our values. 

Just look at Australia, Seymour points out – they have a charter to accompany their visa approvals.

What the Australian charter says:

“Australian society values respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual, freedom of religion, commitment to the rule of law, Parliamentary democracy, equality of men and women and a spirit of egalitarianism that embraces mutual respect, tolerance, fair play and compassion for those in need and pursuit of the public good.

“Australian society values equality of opportunity for individuals, regardless of their race, religion or ethnic background the English language, as the national language, is an important unifying element of Australian society.”

Seymour admitted Australia have a different set of migration circumstances, but “on balance Australia is an incredibly tolerant and liberal place, that many many people from around the world want to go to”.

Seymour said it wouldn’t be difficult to pull together a simple charter, stating for example: “We believe regardless of gender, sexuality, ethnicity or religion, you have the same legal rights as everybody else.”

I quite like the Australian one, but Seymour’s one is also good.

What the Netherlands do is also good. They actually require all prospective immigrants watch a video about life in the Netherlands, and in it they stress things like freedom of speech, that same sex couples are affectionate in public and that if this upsets you, you should consider not moving here, as you’ll be unhappy.

Stuff reports:

US law enforcement officials are investigating reports that the man who killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando may have been gay himself, but not openly so, two officials said, with one describing the massacre as a possible “self-hate crime.”

Omar Mateen, who was shot dead by police after a three-hour standoff early on Sunday, left behind a tangled trail of possible motives.

He also called police during his rampage to voice allegiance to various militant Islamist groups. …

The two US officials, both of whom have been briefed regularly on the investigation and requested anonymity to discuss it, said that if it emerged that Mateen led a secret double life or had gay impulses that conflicted with his religious beliefs, it might have been what the same official called “one factor” in explaining his motive.

“It’s far too early to be definitive, and some leads inevitably don’t pan out, but we have to consider at least the possibility that he might have sought martyrdom partly to gain absolution for what he believed were his grave sins,” one of the officials said.

I imagine we’ll never know. What I know is that all religions need to preach that life is sacred, and nothing ever justifies killing another human being – not being an apostate, not being gay, publishing cartoons you don’t like etc.

The latest Gallup polls shows the percentage of Americans who have trust in newspapers and television news has hit record lows of 20% and 21%. Both of these are 10% lower than a decade ago.

The Guardian reports:

David Cameron has stood aside from active campaigning in order to make way for a push by Labour , as the party’s MPs admit that the response on the doorstep in its heartlands suggests leave campaigners’ warnings about immigration are making significant inroads.

Speaking at an event in central London, Corbyn will issue “an appeal to the whole labour movement and Labour supporters across Britain to support a remain vote in next week’s referendum”. The leaders of 11 trade unions are expected to join Corbyn, including Len McCluskey from Unite, Tim Roache from GMB, and Dave Prentis from Unison. There are fears that voters do not realise that the vast majority of Labour MPs support staying in the EU.

The planned intervention comes after a pair of Guardian/ICM polls suggested that support for leaving the EU is strengthening, with phone and online surveysshowing a six-point lead for Brexit. Leave now enjoys a 53%-47% advantage once “don’t knows” are excluded, according to research conducted over the weekend, compared with a 52%-48% split reported by ICM a fortnight ago.

In other polling today, a YouGov poll for the Times puts leave on 49% and remain on 39%, while an ORB poll for the Telegraph found that among those certain to vote, support for the Brexit campaign is on 49%, compared with 48% for remain.

Of the six polls since the ITV debate, the results are:

• Brexit +10%
• Brexit – 2%
• Brexit +1%
• Brexit +5%
• Brexit +5%
• Brexit +7%

A source within the remain camp said Downing Street had shifted from being “utterly convinced” of victory in the referendum battle, to a “blind panic”.

Just nine days to go!

Amy Adams announced:

Communications Minister Amy Adams marked the completion of Chorus’s role under the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI), saying the build would transform rural communities.

Ms Adams was in Waitomo in the Waikato region to switch on the final cabinet and celebrate the successful $234 million cabinet build programme, alongside the Government’s fixed line RBI build partner, Chorus.

This included the upgrading of 1237 rural cabinet and exchanges, connecting priority users (including 1027 rural schools and 39 hospitals and health centres) and backhaul to 154 RBI towers.

“The investment in the cabinet RBI programme means around 110,000 rural households and businesses across New Zealand now have access to improved copper broadband thanks to the RBI programme,” Ms Adams says. …

Before the cabinet upgrades, residents and businesses had speeds between 0.25 and 5 megabits per second (Mbps). Residents and businesses will now be able to experience speeds of between 10 and 20 Mbps – with those living within about 1km of a cabinet able to access speeds in excess of 50 Mbps.

I had a look at some of the VDSL cabinets the other day, and the speeds they are managing is very impressive. Not as good as fibre of course, but a huge improvement on ADSL.

The backhaul involved 3,500 kms of fibre to 1,200 cabinets and 1,000 schools. Chorus also did fibre to 150 Vodafoner cell sites for mobile broadband.

Paradox reports:

When I first came into the political scene, it was through my interest in numbers. My first snarky comment was in the form of an absurd little internet video that made a light mockery of some of the empty promises to reign in spending from the Obama administration. Obama promised to find $100 million in cuts to make to a nearly $4 trillion budget. I found the paucity of that promise to reduce spending funny in light of the enormity of scope of the federal government.

I followed this up with a dive into Obama’s first budget. This first budget stunned me in that, while the Obama administration was predicting a rather stunning and rapid recovery from the Great Recession, he was also predicting enormous federal spending increases as far as the eye could see.

It seemed strange that the answer to fixing the recession was “more spending” and then, after the recession was fixed, the answer was still “more spending.”

Sounds like Labour in NZ. They:

1. Called for even more spending during the recession
2. After the recession now call for even more spending
3. Criticise National for having run deficits!

Obama’s budget, on the other hand, anticipated a massive spending increase in the first year (due to stimulus spending) followed by pretty typical increases of about 6 percent per year.

That “6 percent” is important because in 2009 it was the rate at which federal spending had grown year over year for almost 30 years. So that is the number the Obama team used as their standard for how quickly spending should keep growing.

And this is far too much. Spending should grow no faster (preferably slightly slower) than the economy as a whole. If it gros faster than the economy is growing, then the private sector shrinks.

But after Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 2011, despite what you may have heard, they really did put a brake on federal spending. A really good brake. In fact, since 2011, federal spending has increased at only 1.3 percent per year … the slowest rate since the aftermath of World War II.

This means that spending is $697 billion lower than Obama wanted it.  That’s huge.

The difference between Obama’s 2015 spending projection and what was actually spent was an astounding $697 billion dollars. That’s more money than we spent on Medicaid.

Let that sink in. 

In five years, the Republicans managed to hold back Obama’s spending increases by more money than if they actually got rid of Medicaid. And so far 2016 looks like it will hold to that trend.

This suggests some of the anger at establishment Republicans is misplaced. The House has actually done a reasonable job of standing up for fiscal conservatism.

I think the anger is better directed at the Bush Presidency. He failed to control spending, and ran ever growing deficits. This led to the Tea Party, and has meant the Republican controlled House is now more focused on spending restraint.

If you took the difference between Obama’s projected spending and the actual spending appropriated by Congress for all five years, it’s a jaw-dropping difference of $2.5 trillion.

Obama held a press conference to announce his plan to reduce spending by $100 million. If the GOP Congress had held a press conference every time they actually reduced spending from Obama’s projections by $100 million, they could have held a press conference every two hours of every day since they took control of the House in 2011 until now. 

Great stat.

Their success in corralling federal spending is a feat unparalleled in my lifetime. The GOP’s work to block Obama’s spending should be cause for major celebration from serious fiscal hawks. Unfortunately, conservatives don’t seem to even know that this has happened, much less how to celebrate these wins. The narrative of a feckless “Establishment” betraying the electorate is more potent than the facts on the ground.  

Paul Ryan for President in 2020 I say. Make Clinton a one term President.

Stuff reports:

A truck crashed into a car after avoiding a cyclist on the Island Bay cycleway, sparking fears of worse accidents to come on the contentious route in Wellington.

John Wierenga said he arrived at the crash scene, near Tamar St, probably two minutes after the crash at dusk. 

A man driving a light Toyota truck said he had swerved to avoid a cyclist. …

Wierenga, a long-time Island Bay resident, said the cycleway was a disaster “designed by loonies”.

Residents and councillors opposed to the $1.7 million project have claimed it is a waste of money, forced upon locals despite a majority opposed to it.

The cycleway is hated by the locals, and I mean hated. They are not anti-cycling, just this cycleway.

I grew up in Island Bay. The Parade was a wonderfully safe road as it was very wide. But the cycleway has turned it into a dangerous stretch for both cyclists and motorists.

I’m very pro cycleway generally, and am very excited by the seafront one planned between Wellington and Petone. But the Island Bay one is a disaster and should be scrapped. I don’t think it can be redeemed.

Wellington city councillor Paul Eagle was on his way home when he encountered the upset truck driver.

“He was obviously going to the tip,” Eagle said. “He was a bit shaken, to be honest. He said he swerved to miss the cyclist.”

Eagle said he joined a group of about four locals to sweep shattered glass and debris off the street. He was told another accident happened nearby just a day earlier.

“It’s the first winter that we’ll have with the cycleway. It’s not looking good.”

The council’s transport committee will address the cycleway on June 30.

“The next thing that will happen is there’ll be a death,” Eagle said. “It’s completely avoidable if we apply common sense.”

The Council needs to admit it got it wrong and start again.

Stuff reports:

The number of refugees New Zealand will accept is to increase from 750 to 1000 each year, a decision widely panned by human rights advocates. 

Prime Minister John Key confirmed Cabinet had discussed the issue and reached a decision on Monday.

The figure is short of the 1500 refugees campaigners and Immigration NZ have said New Zealand can handle, but Key said services had to be bolstered to cope with an increase first. 

The annual costs to take on additional refugees would rise by $25 million to $100 million per year.

The Government was also working on a new pilot that would see community groups sponsor certain refugees, that filled criteria that was yet to be decided on. 

New Zealand’s refugee intake quota has remained at 750 per year, for the past 30 years.

New Zealand Amnesty International chief executive Grant Bayldon said the announcement was “shameful”. 

“This is a shameful and inhumane response and a stain on our country’s reputation as a good global citizen.

I recall the good old days when Amnesty was not seen as partisan. A non=partisan Amnesty would say we are pleased the Government is the first one in 30 years to increase the quota but we are disappointed they have not increased it further. But instead they call the first increase in 30 years “shameful”.

Key said Monday’s announcement was “an appropriate response”.

“Before we take any more, we need to be sure that people have the appropriate support and services they need to resettle in New Zealand, like housing, education and translation services. 

“Therefore, we’ve opted to increase the quota to 1000 from 2018, after the Syrian emergency response refugees have been resettled,” he said.

“When the new quota of 1000 comes into effect, the annual cost will rise by $25 million a year, to $100 million a year.

“It’s important to note, the annual refugee quota is just one part of New Zealand’s total refugee and humanitarian programme. 

“There are also 300 places available each year for family reunification, and an additional 125 to 175 asylum seekers have their claims approved each year.”

So once implemented we probably will be taking in around 1,500 refugees a year.

ACT leader David Seymour welcomed the increase but said the Government could do more to monitor the “tolerance” of refugees.

“This level of increase is very close to where we would be if we had followed ACT’s policy of increasing the quota in line with our growing population.

“However, this is also a good opportunity to up our commitment to values of peace and tolerance. Why wouldn’t we state these values clearly to the people seeking join our country?”

He proposed making all immigrants sign a “New Zealand Values Statement”, similar to those signed in Australia and Belgium.

“Specifically, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and respect for women and those of different sexualities should be understood and respected by all new New Zealanders.”

I agree with David Seymour. I think this should be a priority.

Food is overall slightly cheaper than a year ago, and as you can see food inflation has been under 2% for the last five years. Compare this to previous periods.

In total food at the end of nine years of Labour was 37.1% more expensive then when they came in. By comparison after seven years five months of National food prices are only 10.2% more expensive.

Eric Crampton writes:

University of Otago Associate Professor Nick Wilson argued that Disney’s classic 101 Dalmations should carry an R rating. Why? Because Cruella de Vil smokes. Wilson argued that children need protecting, and ex-smokers might appreciate the trigger warnings where films induce cravings.

You might find it amazing that in a world with Zika and Ebola, researchers concerned about public health have time and funding to watch and categorise 73.5 hours of broadcast television. They conclude that legislation could require R-ratings for programming with tobacco imagery. But their policy suggestion misunderstands how ratings work in New Zealand and points to a disconnection from the real world.

TV show ratings come from the Broadcast Standards Authority; they are not set by legislation. And the BSA has no R-rating. But Restricted ratings are set in legislation for content screened in cinemas, streamed online, or sold in DVD sets where the Office of Film and Literature Classification has jurisdiction.

An OFLC R-rating means it is illegal to let a child under the required age view the programme. Watching South Park with your 13 year old on broadcast television is legal regardless of whether it has the strictest broadcast rating: AO 9:30. The same episode streamed online or watched on DVD could carry a fine of up to $10,000 or up to three months in prison, if the episode were rated R14 by OFLC.

So calling for something to be restricted with an R rating is a pretty big deal: it means the state should be able to fine parents or put them in jail for letting the kids watch it.

There seems to be something about some Otago University professors where they just inhabit a parallel dimension. Go to jail for letting your kid watch 101 Dalmations!

Fusion reports:

On March 29, 2016, Farrokh Sekaleshfar — a British-born medical doctor and Shi’a Muslim scholar — was invited to speak at the Husseini Islamic Center just outside Orlando, Florida.

His sermon, “How to deal with the phenomenon of homosexuality,” at the Sanford-based center, happened behind closed doors, but it alarmed local gay and lesbian leaders. Only three years before, in another U.S. speaking engagement, the scholar and sheikh had described in characteristically sotto voce what it meant to do the compassionate thing for gay people:

“Death is the sentence. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about this. Death is the sentence.”

He continued: “We have to have that compassion for people. With homosexuals, it’s the same. Out of compassion, let’s get rid of them now.”

This is the different between Islam and almost all other religions. While the views of Dr Sekaleshfar are of course a minority view, you have a number of religious leaders in Islam who go around promoting these views. In other religions such as Christianity, people holding these views are deeply marginalised – the Westboro Baptist Church for example. They are shunned by pretty much everyone else (and are not so much a church as one extended family).

But here you have religious leaders invited to speak, and saying such things. It creates the climate for extremism.

Fusion got in touch with Dr. Sekaleshfar, who lives in the holy city of Qum in Iran and is currently traveling in Sydney, Australia.

Asked what his reactions are to today’s attacks, he told Fusion through Facebook, “I am totally against the barbaric act of violence that has happened. In no way at all can such a killing be justified Islamically.”

He called Orlando shooter Omar Mateen Siddiqui “an ill and perverted, animalistic entity who has abused an ideology to satiate his sad, twisted desires.”

Asked specifically about his March comments about gays in Orlando, as well as his better-known 2013 speech, Sekaleshfar called his approach an “academic discussion” in which he was describing the “theoretical angle as to what Islam says.”

“I never gave the call to a death sentence,” he said, adding that lines of his 2013 speech had been taken out of context. “I was explaining what Islamic law – in a country whose people democratically desired Islamic law to be exercised – states in relation to NOT homosexuals, but rather in relation to when the act of anal copulation is executed in such an aforementioned public,” he said.

Now there is a difference between saying the state should executive homosexuals and that individuals should do so. But it is about the climate. When a dozen or so Muslim countries do have the death penalty for homosexuality, when some Muslim scholars do say we should get rid of homosexuals, then it is perhaps no surprise that an individual may take that to mean that God wants him to kill homosexuals.

Again there is a difference between moderate Muslims, extremist Muslims and jihadist Muslims. But we delude ourselves if we think the problem is only the jihadists who actually pick up a gun. The extremist views of Dr Sekaleshfar provide a climate which fosters jihadism. Of course in this particular case, we don’t know if there was a link, but the point is no religious group should invite any religious leader to spread a message that homosexual acts should result in death.

Judith Collins released:

The number of people going on to re-offend after completing a sentence has decreased by 25 per cent from 2011, Corrections Minister Judith Collins said today.

“This is excellent progress, and I’m very proud of the hard work the Department of Corrections has done to get to this point. Reducing re-offending is hugely important because less crime means fewer victims and safer communities.”

Corrections aims to reduce re-offending by 25 per cent by 2017.  As of December 2015, the rate of re-offending has fallen by 6.8 per cent since 2011. 

“Unfortunately the re-offending rate is affected by a small group of individuals who are offending more often and more seriously.”

Up until reading this release I had not reflected on the difference between the re-offending rates for offences and people.

It’s a great thing 25% fewer people are re-offending.

But the re-offending rate has only fallen 7% as some offenders are re-offending more often.

It is possible they are a hard core who will not respond to rehabilitation, and there will come a point where you just have to keep them in jail for longer and longer to protect the community.

But those who do respond and stop re-offending should be given considerable support to do so.

I support a comprehensive capital gains tax (so long as other taxes are reduced to compensate) as the best tax system is broad based, low rate and few exemptions.

But I have always been suspicious of the claims that a CGT will have a big impact on house prices. Certainly Australia has a full CGT and they have similiar price inflation.

This exchange from Q+A was interesting:

Jonno Ingerson told Q+A that the Government’s bright line test doesn’t seem to be deterring speculators.

CORIN   Well, that’s interesting too, because that suggests, say, that the bright line test that the Government brought in, which was to say, ‘You sell within two years, that’s a clear line there. You have to pay your tax on your capital gain,’ that’s not deterring people.

 JONNO No, and if you look at the people that that was targeted at, which would be the speculators, if you like, that are driving the market, turning it over quickly, a lot of them were doing that as a business anyway.

 CORIN   And paying tax, presumably.

 JONNO And paying tax. Quite happy for the IRD, sure, yeah, ‘I bought and sold, and I’m paying you my big block of tax.’ The people it was aimed at were those that were skirting around the system. Yeah, it’s knocked a tiny number of those out, but—

 CORIN   Yeah, but that suggests they’re making such a decent profit that they’re quite happy to hand over it.

 JONNO Quite happy. Make 100,000, there’s your 50,000, 30,000, whatever it is and keep going.

If you make $100,000 off a house purchase and sale, then its a great investment whether or not your profit is $100,000 (untaxed) or $67,000) taxed.  A CGT will have some impact around the margins, but when demand is so much greater than supply, the impact is small.

Until the land supply issue is fixed, house prices will continue to increase.

Eric Crampton blogs:

Man, the snake-oil salesmen of the 1800s had nothing on today’s inequality campaigners. Turns out that inequality’s to blame for New Zealand’s low organ donation rates. Really?

Here’s Eileen Goodwin at the ODT.

An “individualist new-right” attitude that holds sway in New Zealand is holding back organ donation rates, a University of Otago biomedical ethics authority says.

Prof Grant Gillett was contacted for comment on a Ministry of Health consultation process that seeks to increase New Zealand’s low rate of organ donation. …

He said the political ideology of the Ministry of Health and the Government hindered efforts to foster a different view of organ donation.

“The ministry’s got quite an individualist new-right sort of agenda.

“I think it’s shared by the Government at large; I think that’s the reason why we are encouraged to tolerate the inequalities [in society].”

“It’s fundamental to neoliberalism that every individual should be able to be accountable for their own stuff, wrapped up in their own life, and not have dues to others.”

What a load of total bullshit. A semi-demented rant about neo-liberalism posing as expert commentary.

Asked if countries with high economic inequality had lower organ donation rates, Prof Gillett said he did not know.

So he admits he has no idea at all about what he is speaking on as a so called expert.

Eric notes:

Amazing that the socialist transformation of man away from individualism in Venezuela still has their live organ donation rates lower than those in that every-man-for-himself dog-eat-dog Hong Kong, never mind the US. And Sweden is also lower there than the US.

I wonder what else neo-liberalism will be blamed for – our growing road toll?

“As well as being tailored to the circumstances of the recipient, charity allows the donor to make a moral choice. There is virtue in deciding to give away your money, but none in having the same amount taken from you through the tax system.” 

– Daniel Hannan

The quote of the week is brought to you by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. To support the Union’s campaign for lower taxes and less government waste, click here.

The NY Post reports:

Turns out liberals are the real authoritarians.

A political-science journal that published an oft-cited study claiming conservatives were more likely to show traits associated with “psychoticism” now says it got it wrong. Very wrong.

The American Journal of Political Science published a correction this year saying that the 2012 paper has “an error” — and that liberal political beliefs, not conservative ones, are actually linked to psychoticism.

“The interpretation of the coding of the political attitude items in the descriptive and preliminary analyses portion of the manuscript was exactly reversed,” the journal said in the startling correction.

So how did such a massive error make it through a peer reviewed journal?

The journal said the error doesn’t change the main conclusions of the paper, which found that “personality traits do not cause people to develop political attitudes.”

But professor Steven Ludeke of the University of Southern Denmark, who pointed out the errors, told Retraction Watch that they “matter quite a lot.”

“The erroneous results represented some of the larger correlations between personality and politics ever reported; they were reported and interpreted, repeatedly, in the wrong direction,” he said.

It’s one thing for a paper to say something was significant when it wasn’t. It is another to reverse the findings entirely.

The Telegraph reports:

On Friday Mr Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, said he would consider voting Libertarian.

It would be the highest profile support yet for the third party, potentially spurring significant numbers of mainstream Republican voters to switch.

The Libertarian Party has traditionally been viewed as a fringe, and somewhat chaotic, group with some outlandish policies. In 2012 it secured just one per cent of the vote.

But the ticket this time has an exceptional amount of experience. Mr Johnson’s running mate is Bill Weld, the former Republican Governor of Massachusetts, who led that state before Mr Romney.

Mr Romney said he had “enormous respect” for Mr Weld, and described him as a “fine friend”.

He told CNN: “It would be very easy for me to vote for Bill Weld for president. “I’ll get to know Gary Johnson better and see if he’s someone who I could end up voting for. That’s something which I’ll evaluate over the coming weeks and months.”

A Romney endorsement would be huge and I think be enough to get them over 15% in the polls, and into the debates.

Libertarian policies, summed up as “minimum government, maximum freedom,” appeal strongly to many Republicans who want to slash taxes, eviscerate government spending, extend gun rights, and avoid overseas military commitments.

Immediately after Mr Trump secured the party’s nomination online searches for “Libertarian” quintupled.

As Governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 Mr Johnson’s fiscal conservatism was legendary, earning him the nickname “Governor Veto” as he set national records for refusing to sign spending bills.

As president he would eliminate numerous government departments and replace all income and corporate taxes with a national 28 per cent sales tax, which he claims would create tens of millions of jobs.

And their budget actually balances.

Some eyebrows were raised when America’s powerful National Rifle Association recently endorsed Mr Trump, rather than Mr Johnson, but he still hopes to pick up the votes of many gun owners.

Asked if there should be any gun control at all, he said: “We should be controlling a nuclear-tipped hand held device.”

Heh.

Mr Johnson’s key goal is to get into the televised presidential debates, which he describes as the “Super Bowl”. To do so he needs to hit 15 per cent in the polls, just three points higher than the 12 per cent he scored in a Fox News poll released on Thursday.

I hope they make it.

The Herald reports:

An app-based taxi service is being launched to take on Uber – led by disgruntled drivers.

Leon Kang, director of UrbanNZ, said the new service would match Uber fares and compete with the international transport app on “credibility and reliability”.

“We are making it mandatory for all prospective drivers to have background checks, medical checks and get a proper passenger endorsement under NZ Transport Agency rules,” said Kang, who drives for Uber at present. “Quite a number of Uber drivers have expressed interest in joining us, but we will be screening who we take on.”

The company was finalising its app, which according to Kang was “very similar” to Uber, and was planning for a launch in August.

“Uber seems to think it is invincible, but we are here to prove that they are not and give them a run for the money,” said Kang.

That’s a great way to respond – setting up competition. Far better than just whining.  I enjoy using Uber but I’ll happily use other services if they provide me with the same or better service and prices.

The Herald on Sunday understands many Uber drivers are quitting as they feel that the new fares, starting at $1.35 a km, no longer provide them a sustainable income.

If correct, them Uber will run out of drivers, and they’ll need to increase what they charge.

Kang said despite matching what Uber charges, drivers will have “more money in the pocket” because of lower commission fees.

Uber drivers usually kept 80 per cent of the fare, paid via a pre-registered credit card, but UrbanNZ, drivers would get to keep 87.5 per cent.

Price competition is excellent. If they are successful, then Uber will need to reduce its commission also to compete to get drivers.