Daily review 07/12/2023

28 comments on “Daily review 07/12/2023 ”

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1. georgecom 1

   7 December 2023 at 6:24 pm

   strange as the following may be I find myself feeling the need to defend David Seymour. It seems a handful of years ago Peters called Seymour a cuckold, apparently because of the deal National made to keep ACT afloat in the Epsom electorate. My understanding of the term cuckold, at least a more modern definition, means that slur is not accurate.

   For the sake of accuracy, with the arrangements for Epsom I would think Paul Goldsmith is actually the cuckold, not being permitted to get it on with the epsom electorate but instead told to sit by and watch as someone else makes love to what would naturally be his safe seat. So goldsmith is the political cuckold. Seymour is more to my mind a 'rent boy' figure, someone who lives off a sugar daddy type set up. So a "political rent boy" would be more accurate I think.

   That said, recent events do seem to, ironically, make Peters statements more true and it's of Peters own making. Winston has been getting it on with Seymour political lover, National, and taking Seymours action. Last week we saw Peters making some stupid comments about journalists and Luxon supporting Peters. Seymour just had to sit in the cuckold corner and accept it all. Peters is the GIHF – the H denoting 'Have To' rathe than the more normal GILF with the L being "like to". Luxon didn't 'like to' with GIFH peters but did 'have to'.
2. gsays 2

   7 December 2023 at 6:48 pm

   Great analogy.

   I know I shouldn't but political rent boy makes me think of a bow tie aficionado.
   • georgecom 2.1

     7 December 2023 at 6:55 pm

     the term is not a particularly flattering one, maybe a 'kept man' or political gigolo might be another terminology.
3. Dennis Frank 3

   7 December 2023 at 7:16 pm

   Plug-in planes! Progress takes form: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/06/electric-plane-set-to-deliver-mail-across-new-zealand-in-decarbonisation-push

   Parcels and letters will soon be distributed by electric aircraft between regions of New Zealand… On Wednesday, Air New Zealand announced it had purchased a battery-powered, all-electric five seater cargo aircraft, which will be put to use running mail between airports with New Zealand’s postal service from 2026.

   However it seems rather a short-hop hi-tech venture…

   Much like electric cars, the futuristic aircraft also comes with range anxiety. While it can fly more than 480km, it is only expected to be flown on routes of about 150km domestically in New Zealand. Greg Foran, Air New Zealand’s chief executive, told the Guardian he hopes the airline will be running zero-emissions electric flights carrying passengers by 2030.
4. Dennis Frank 4

   7 December 2023 at 7:26 pm

   Clever leftism!

   Venezuela’s president ordered the creation of a new state called “Guayana Esequiba” on Tuesday, following a controversial Sunday referendum… Venezuelan voters [agreed] annexation of land from neighboring Guyana.

   The area in question, the densely forested and oil-rich Essequibo region, amounts to about two-thirds of Guyana’s national territory.

   https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/06/americas/venezuelas-president-orders-creation-of-new-state-and-map-including-land-from-guyana/index.html

   Xi could be inspired by this and ask his govt to annex two thirds of Russia. Having a method that actually works is very persuasive…
   • adam 4.1

     7 December 2023 at 8:12 pm

     If the oil stays in the ground then yes – Clever leftism!

     Otherwise, just some imperial bullshit.
     • Populuxe1 4.1.1

       8 December 2023 at 2:17 pm

       Pretty sure it's still just some imperial bullshit even if it stays in the ground
5. observer 5

   7 December 2023 at 7:52 pm

   Let's play a game!

   You are the new Prime Minister in a brand new government. It is your first ever Question Time in Parliament. There are the usual questions from the opposition ("Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and policies?"). You have advance notice of these opening questions. The answer is entirely up to you. Your big, BIG plans … The floor is yours!

   So your staff have plenty of time to prepare your answer. What would you choose to talk about? Your economic plans? Your vision for the next 3 years, or beyond? Your ambitions for health, housing, jobs, climate change? The world?

   Or … this.

   DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Pāti Māori) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and policies?

   CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Prime Minister): Yes I do, and particularly our commitment to lifting educational achievement by removing distractions like cell-phone use in the classroom to ensure that young people receive the quality education they deserve and lets them live the life that they ultimately want.

   (source: Hansard. today).

   Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers – New Zealand Parliament (www.parliament.nz)
   • adam 5.1

     7 December 2023 at 8:10 pm

     Big ups to Debbie.

     It was not a tough question, but the answer was rambling quintessential nothingness we have come to expect from the lack of talent which is the so called Tory leadership in this country. Donkey 2 has stepped up to the plate.

     It's no wonder that ardern lady was so popular in the beginning.
   • Tony Veitch 5.2

     7 December 2023 at 8:12 pm

     It's early days, of course, but I thought the opposition were directing their attacks at two quite vulnerable members of the CoC:

     Dr Cigga Reti, as Minister of Health for ducking responsibility for pushing the repeal of the Smokefree legislation through,

     and Tama Potaka (sp?), probably the most inexperienced Minister in the CoC and having to swallow all ACTs and NZFirsts blatant racism.
     • observer 5.2.1

       7 December 2023 at 8:16 pm

       Agree on both counts … their body language was shouting "this is not what I signed up for".
       • Robert Guyton 5.2.1.1

         7 December 2023 at 8:28 pm

         You believe they signed up for something more … decent?
         • observer 5.2.1.1.1

           7 December 2023 at 8:37 pm

           Well, less indecent maybe.

           I don't think Reti was prominent in the coalition negotiations so – given the power dynamic – he probably got a call from his leader saying "Sorry Shane, foreign buyers' tax is gone, so we've invented a new spin … and also, you're getting associate Ministers from both ACT and NZF, make the best of it".

           Potaka … time will tell. Politicians usually over-rate their influence in Cabinet, until reality hits home.
           • Pat 5.2.1.1.1.1

             7 December 2023 at 8:45 pm

             As we have learned, Cabinet over-rates its influence….irrespective of political hue.
6. Blazer 6

   7 December 2023 at 8:54 pm

   I heard Reti interviewed on radio by a Pacifica journalist….every question she asked him about the smoking legislation he directed her to NZ First M.p Casey Costello…did not want to..know.
   • aj 6.1

     7 December 2023 at 9:52 pm

     I suspect the opposition will get around that – he is going to get a hammering.
7. joe90 7

   7 December 2023 at 8:58 pm

   In a world full of shitty things, she's back and she’s beautiful!

   Wisdom, the world’s oldest known wild bird, recently returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge!

   The beloved Laysan albatross, or mōlī, is in her 70s now and was first spotted last Friday by a volunteer.

   Her long-time mate, Akeakamai, has yet to be seen and was also absent the last two nesting seasons.

   Jonathan Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at the national wildlife refuge, said he doesn’t expect Wisdom to nest this year, but he did witness the possibly 72-year-old seabird participating in mating dances.

   “She is quite spry for a septuagenarian!” wrote Plissner.

   Biologists first identified and banded Wisdom in 1956 after she laid an egg, and the large seabirds aren’t known to breed before age 5.

   It is estimated that Wisdom has produced 50-60 eggs and as many as 30 chicks that fledged, according to Plissner.

   The ageless Wisdom can be seen on the left in these photos with her well-known band number Z333.

   Each year, millions of seabirds return to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Ocean to nest and raise their young. Wisdom, specifically, has been doing this since the Eisenhower administration.

   https://www.instagram.com/p/C0fFVzmrI9j/

   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_(albatross)
   • Anne 7.1

     7 December 2023 at 9:17 pm

     Thanks joe90.

     I follow the Royal Albatross at Taiaroa Heads, Dunedin. It is fascinating watching them grow from little balls of white fluff to the majestic birds they are when they fledge. They all have different personalities and are remarkably intelligent.
     • Visubversa 7.1.1

       8 December 2023 at 8:18 am

       Nestcams are wonderful things. We spent a lot of lockdown following the nesting season of a pair of Peregrine Falcons from the cameras set up on the spire of a cathedral in a West Yorkshire town. It was fascinating to watch the development of the chicks from 4 white fluffballs being stuffed regularly with bits of recently deceased pigeon to 4 little avian murder machines.
       • Anne 7.1.1.1

         8 December 2023 at 10:01 am

         

         Oh well, they all have to eat.
8. joe90 8

   7 December 2023 at 9:48 pm

   Why bother cutting emissions when you could spray particles into the upper atmosphere to dim the sun.

   I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

   https://theconversation.com/why-dimming-the-sun-would-be-an-effective-tool-in-the-fight-against-climate-change-218670
   • weka 8.1

     7 December 2023 at 9:58 pm

     fuck we're stupid.
     • Tony Veitch 8.1.1

       8 December 2023 at 5:54 am

       What with COP28 doing the usual cop-out, emissions rising over 1% during the year etc and crazy ideas like this one being floated as 'real' solutions – I'm not holding my breath on the chances of human survival until even the end of this decade!
     • Drowsy M. Kram 8.1.2

       8 December 2023 at 9:12 am

       Stupid, and blinded by 'brilliance' – pie-in-the-sky scams will be the death of us

       From a 100-mile city to a desert ski resort: why is Saudi Arabia spending billions on architectural ‘gigaprojects’? [3 Dec 2023]
       Conceivably, as one architect speculates, The Line will be “a Noah’s Ark for the happy few”, a privileged AI-controlled citadel set in an inhospitable desert. Otherwise it will be clickbait visible from space, two vast and pointless lines of glass whose colossal construction cost would defeat the Vision 2030 plan to reduce dependency on oil revenues. What’s more likely is that it will never be completed. While fleets of diggers are already scratching trenches out of the desert, with a view to building the first phase by 2030, no schedule has been announced for the remainder.

       A different ‘world’? If only. All the money on spaceship Earth won't buy a planet B.

       Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s grand plan to ‘hook’ poor countries on oil
       [27 Nov 2023]
       Climate scientists say fossil fuel use needs to fall rapidly – but oil-rich kingdom is working to drive up demand
   • mac1 8.2

     8 December 2023 at 8:45 am

     But they say that science will save the world.

     Here are two views. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC2305/S00013/why-science-cant-save-us.htm

     https://www.arduino.cc/education/how-science-will-save-the-world

     Last night I saw a play based on Dickens' 'A Christmas Tale’. The story as I saw it involved a man who was misguided by personal calamity, the brutality of others, and lack of loving connections at an early age to become fixated on wealth and personal power. He became an exploiter, a bullying employer, uncaring of others.

     But he changed. His behaviour changed, his actions became caring and generous. He went from 'humbug' to harmony.

     It was not science that changed Ebenezer Scrooge and saved him.
     • Macro 8.2.1

       8 December 2023 at 8:54 am

       hmm.. where is the ghost of christmas past when we need him.
   • Macro 8.3

     8 December 2023 at 8:57 am

     I remember that idea being put forward over 20 years ago….

     But who is going to police it? and what is there to stop some idiot sprinkling too much and creating an ice age.
   • Georgecom 8.4

     8 December 2023 at 9:40 am

     Yeah good idea, we can use chemtrails to do it.

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