Daily review 20/05/2019

12 comments on “Daily review 20/05/2019 ”

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1. A 1

   20 May 2019 at 6:14 pm

   The Gosford Church needs to put out a book of billboard wisdom. It would be a great fundraiser for sure.

   Oroville is often in my thoughts atm.
2. Kat 2

   20 May 2019 at 6:37 pm

   That could be the growing sentiment over in oz in a few years. Thirty pieces of silver and a slick scomo side show.
3. Sabine 3

   20 May 2019 at 7:46 pm

   and this may have been the best thing to come out of Games of Thrones

   https://youtu.be/4lXHVawhn40
4. greywarshark 4

   20 May 2019 at 8:04 pm

   Eugenie Sage is adopting a foolish approach with waste tip fee rises. Once the item has been bought and if it cannot be recycled, or it costs to do so, it will be thrown out. Putting up the fees does not change that, only make it more likely that it may be thrown down a bank. Getting money back on tins has been tried, making composting packaging more affordable also.

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018695887/new-zealanders-dumping-record-amounts-of-waste

   She said there was a fundamental problem with New Zealanders' waste because there were no restrictions on what manufacturers were able to pump out.

   "If you go to somewhere like Europe, they have a lot of regulation around what you can make packaging out of … to creating materials which can be collected and reused.

   "But in New Zealand we've just got open season."

   Ms Sage said changes such as product stewardship were being looked at by the government – but they would take some time.

   Ms Sage said an increase on a landfill levy was also vital in reducing the amount of waste being dumped.

   A discussion document on levy changes will be released later in the year.
   • Rosemary McDonald 4.1

     20 May 2019 at 8:33 pm

     I understand this young woman has a lot to answer for, wastewise….

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUBIxs6e2JU

     …and it may very well be that housing insecurity has forced folk to realize that some day, maybe very soon, you're going to have to pack all that shit up and move…
     • greywarshark 4.1.1

       20 May 2019 at 8:44 pm

       I've heard it is very popular, I am trying to do it for my own sake. But your things contain memories, are you not to have memories in this future? Must you be prepared to drift through life with a backpack and a folded mattress?
5. Dennis Frank 5

   20 May 2019 at 8:13 pm

   "Election 2019: What happened to the climate change vote we heard about?" As considered by a political scientist in Oz. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-20/what-happened-to-the-climate-change-vote/11128128

   "The annual Lowy Institute Poll demonstrated stronger support for climate change action in Australia in 2019 than in any previous survey since 2006. In the survey more than 60 per cent of Australians agreed with the sentiment that "Global warming is a serious and pressing problem. We should begin taking steps now even if this involves significant cost"."

   But what kind of human wants to put their money where their mouth is? Not your average voter! "Crucially, those identifying it as the most important issue had risen from 9 per cent in 2016 to 29 per cent in 2019. Advocacy groups and even media outlets also encouraged the view that 2019 was, and should be, Australia's climate election." So what?

   "But in the end, we saw a decline in the primary vote for the Labor Opposition, who had announced a more significant reduction target than the Government and a suite of measures — from investment in renewable energy to an energy guarantee — to get there. And we saw a rise of only around 0.5 per cent of the primary vote for the party with the most progressive and ambitious climate policy: the Greens."

   The explanation lies in that academic arena that no academic is capable of representing in the media and public life: political psychology. Belief in the threat of climate change is what people think they are supposed to support, so they do, to pollsters. Belief in business as usual is what people depend on, so they vote accordingly.

   "As the most significant political issue for Greens supporters in the election, climate change clearly played a role in the re-election of Adam Bandt in Melbourne, and in strong primary votes for the Greens in nearby electorates of Higgins, Kooyong and Macnamara. In Sydney, it was clearly prominent in Wentworth (undecided at the time of writing), and most prominently Warringah where Zali Steggall won the seat from Tony Abbott. In Warringah, not only was the LNP's position on climate change inconsistent with the views of most in this constituency, but Mr Abbott was (rightly) seen as the chief architect of an extended period of climate inaction in Australia."

   "But in this case and in other inner-city seats, support for climate action looks broadly consistent with a 'post-materialist' sensibility. Here the emphasis on quality of life over immediate economic and physical needs encourages a focus on issues like climate change. But this is a sensibility that speaks to those in higher socio-economic brackets, and principally with higher levels of education."

   So the shift is only happening with comfortable informed mainstreamers. Struggling or uninformed mainstreamers – the vast majority – are too attached to the status quo.

   Plus "climate concern is at its highest in Australia when there's a perception (eg 2006, 2019) that the government isn't doing anything about the issue and isn't taking it seriously. Conversely, climate concern has been at its lowest as the Government began to pursue substantive climate action, bottoming out when the so-called carbon tax was legislated in 2012."

   Paternalism rules mass consciousness, in other words. Perception that the govt is solving the problem means voters get complacent, feeling they don't need to own it. Mature adults would take personal responsibility for playing their part in the solution. Typical mainstreamers haven't matured – they want the nanny state to make the nasty problem go away for them.

   "In this election, Australians were suddenly faced with a prospective Labor Government ready with a suite of measures to tackle climate change. And they were presented with an account of these measures as a devastating economic blow to Australian prosperity and growth."

   So the left are no good at public relations? Well, no, that's not it. Just ask Bob Harvey. Labour have used ad agencies for as long as anyone can recall. The wrong ones, perhaps, sometimes. But it goes to show how important James Shaw's strategy has been for Aotearoa: maximum effort to obtain cross-party consensus is well worth it. It removes the potency of denial as an opposition weapon.
   • greywarshark 5.1

     20 May 2019 at 8:49 pm

     Australians are too smart to be taken in by shysters like Douglas following the Treasury and the other rat pack. They trod on us like gardeners on snails. In Oz they don't go for theoretical utopian approaches. They aim too low, we aimed too high. Next time get Goldilocks to check out which pot is the right heat.
6. greywarshark 6

   20 May 2019 at 8:19 pm

   Is capitalism as its manifests itself today the physical aspect of psychopathology?

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYemnKEKx0c&feature=player_embedded_uturn

   TED talk on finding out whether you are mad. Once apparently that it has been decided that you are mad, everything that you do will be translated into a feature of some sort of madness. Jon Ronson does the testing.
7. Dennis Frank 7

   20 May 2019 at 8:48 pm

   "Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party has kept a big lead over both the ruling Conservative Party and the opposition Labour Party in a poll on voting intentions for the European elections." Barbarians at the gates? Nope, they've already broken through. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-poll/uks-brexit-party-maintains-big-lead-in-eu-election-poll-idUSKCN1SO0P7

   "According to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer newspaper, Farage’s newly formed party is on 34% of the vote ahead of the May 23 election… The party’s support was unchanged from a week ago. The poll put Labour in second place on 20%, down 1 percentage point. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives stay in fourth place on 12%, up 1 point. The pro-EU Liberal Democrats, who have explicitly called for a second referendum on Brexit, are on 15%, up 3 points."

   The Brexit Party "was announced on 20 January 2019" after a split in UKIP. "By mid-February 2019, eight MEPs had joined the party". More defections since have brought "the total number of MEPs to 14 of the 24 who were elected as UKIP MEPs in 2014." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brexit_Party

   "On 15 May 2019, four Welsh Assembly Members originally elected or co-opted for UKIP … joined the Brexit Party." So they're on a roll. "Farage said that there was "no difference between the Brexit party and Ukip in terms of policy, [but] in terms of personnel, there's a vast difference", criticising UKIP's connections to the far right."

   Farage, such a moderate sensible centrist, distancing himself from rabid rightists! "Farage said, "This is not about left or right, it is about right or wrong." But Nigel, that's not what the media want to hear! Don't you know ethical considerations make their heads hurt? Have some compassion!

   "A survey of 781 Conservative Party councillors found that 40% plan to vote for the Brexit Party." Jeez, there must be a stiff breeze blowing in UK voterland!!
8. James 8

   20 May 2019 at 10:55 pm

   https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/media/2019/may/20/julian-assange-sweden-files-request-arrest-rape-allegation

   Great to see him getting closer to be standing trial for rhe rape allegations against him
9. Pat 9

   21 May 2019 at 6:55 am

   "Australia's worst drought in more than a century has slowed the country's wheat production and for the first time since 2007 it has had to import wheat.

   New Zealand imports most of its wheat from Australia, and Foodstuffs New Zealand, which owns the New World, Pak'n'Save and Four Square brands, has confirmed that suppliers have signalled prices for bread are on the up.

   Foodstuffs sources wheat flour for its instore bakeries from New Zealand and Australia and said the increase was due to decreased availability of wheat and greater demand for wheat based products around the world."

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/389663/price-of-bread-likely-to-rise-after-australian-wheat-shortage

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