Yes, that was in response to Sanctuary’s story of quaffing large amounts of liquor with no regard to animals or the climate in some posh, conceited Earl of Auckland establishment no doubt.
My daughter was a pupil at the Titirangi Steiner school and I taught there for a while – They had their fair last weekend – I was intending to go up for the event but had other things to do unfortunately. I’m hoping to make it next year.
The two years I taught there were the best 2 years teaching I ever experienced. The students have all gone on to be do amazing things – including doctor, engineer, management, drama school, and an elected member of council (not in Auckland)
My daughter went there for a short while but elected to go mainstream. I have had a lot to do with families who are involved there. Some of my best friends out here are greens!
Yes we made a good few friends through the school and still in touch. One of the strengths I think is the involvement of parents. My daughter is dyslexic, and (both of us being teachers) we knew there was no way she would cope in main stream. She was not reading at all when she started at the age of 10, but within 3 months she was reading (remedial eurythmy was extremely helpful here because it helped with left brain right brain development). Within 6 months of starting at Titirangi she had read the first book of Harry Potter .
mmmm close…
I served in Navy for 15 years so lived in Devonport and Bayswater. I had an office while serving in HMNZS Tamaki which was literally on the top of the cliffs between Narrow Neck and Cheltenham – the view was absolutely stunning.
Not far from where I live. Did you know in the 1990s Nick Smith tried to sell off that priceless piece of land to an upmarket property developer. The anger from one end of the isthmus through to the other – and elsewhere – was massive. He was taken to court and lost and proceeded to have a right royal paddy. And now the land is there for everyone to enjoy in perpetuity.
Yes I did – It was always being eyed up to be sold off for the elite even back in the 80’s. The place has a huge military history and there are huge tunnels and underground rooms all over the place. I was there when Halley’s Comet was to be seen, and one night I was on duty and doing my rounds in the middle of the night when the comet went over. Very memorable. The other place I had to visit after midnight was the comms section on the top of Mt Vic. Not so bad when it was a fine night – but walking round there at 1am with a howling Nor Easter – I can think of better things to do. lol
Am mortified that this dropkick is my MP. Would you like an introduction when you are holidaying up this way. He’s rarely seen outside of Keri Keri I believe.
I hope that they are signed up members of the Union, and are at least getting a living wage. Maybe we should all go on strike in support of better penal rates and overtime for those who have to do the night-time shifts.
Harry is not doing well at the moment but his doctor is adjusting some of his treatment to try to correct things. #IStandWithHarry— Harry Leslie Smith (@Harryslaststand) November 22, 2018
If the Green Party let people build some hydro dams it wouldn’t be an issue.
Analysis of the scenario of closing Huntly so we have no fossil fuel use shows you need at least 1,000 MW of Hydro and Geothermal. 2000 MW if you convert to EV without the cars being active storage in the network. Solar and Wind are variable and can’t reliably provide for peak use. Solar is great for at location daytime Buisiness, while wind is great for offsetting Hydro so it acts like a battery charger.
If you wish to have no fossil fuel use, Hydro and Geothermal must be built on a large scale.
The other alternative is massive battery systems that store renewables like wind for peak use.
Would be better off going for the Greens idea of developing our silicon deposits and making solar panels. Throw in a few offshore wind turbines scattered around the coast line (Major benefit in that they would act as a reef and become fish breeding grounds that will never be commercially fished) and we’d easily be able to replace Huntly.
Solar doesn’t work at night and the wind doesn’t always blow.
So yes you can create the same supply but you cannot cover Peak demand which we already struggle with.
I could pick out hundreds of sites for smaller dams and no tourist ever goes anywhere near them. Especially low flow for peak load use.
You didn’t comment on Geothermal which is viable in most of NZ with deep bores. Creating extremely important stable base load.
Who said tourists don’t want to visit dams?
Hoover dam?
The dam hidden away at the Army camp is magnificent. I would visit that if it was open. The Rangipo station, built into the mountain surge chamber is unforgettable.
Solar doesn’t work at night and the wind doesn’t always blow.
But on average they work all the time.
So yes you can create the same supply but you cannot cover Peak demand which we already struggle with.
Peak demand would be covered by hydro.
I could pick out hundreds of sites for smaller dams and no tourist ever goes anywhere near them.
Yeah, you probably couldn’t.
And while New Zealand has many rivers that are still in a relatively pristine state, most of those are on the conservation estate and consequently few are in the North Island.
You don’t always need a dam either.
You didn’t comment on Geothermal which is viable in most of NZ with deep bores. Creating extremely important stable base load.
There’s limits to geothermal as well. Excess use does drain the water from the water table.
That said, research into the water that comes up from it could result in efficient resources extraction. It’s estimated that some 500 tonnes of lithium is washed down the Waikato River from one power station.
Who said tourists don’t want to visit dams?
The tourists who all fail to stop and look at our fine dams?
I’ve been to a few dams all across New Zealand. And the reality is that once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all.
There’s been virtually no new generation built in the last 20 years,but demand has increased. This need to be addressed. the obvious contenders are more geothermal in the North Island and along Alpine Fault. I doubt there much significant hydro that can be developed, we’ve done all the achievable projects years ago. But increasing electricity demand will make Tiwai’s future interesting. Wind is mired in the RMA, with a huge project at the windiest place in NZ, Kaiwera, bogged down, and this is in the middle of nowhere. But that’s about as far form the demand as you can get, like Manapouri.
So that leaves LOTS of geothermal in the Central NI as the alternative. Get going guys. Something has to be done quickly, ’cause we’ve done nothing for a long time, to solve our dependance on gas fired generation to keep the NI going.
Tonight’s oops looks like No Gas+ not much hydro + HVDC outage for maintenance + things go to shit on restart = fucking close to brown outs in NI at dinner time.
Something has to be done quickly, ’cause we’ve done nothing for a long time, to solve our dependance on gas fired generation to keep the NI going.
Very little has been done towards that goal since Think Big. Everyone complained about how much it cost rather than recognising that it was the only thing available to us and then stopped doing it hoping that the free-market would fix it.
Market forces should already have done so. The amount that Rio Tinto is paying is far below what the rest of the nation would pay if that power was fed into the national grid.
People criticise it all the time. You do, others do, plenty of press and websites. No one is executed or disappeared – everyone just keeps talkingand criticising the official explanation about it so wtf are you on about?
Apparently, being called a moron is censorship of the worst order.
Trouble is, I’m actually kind of interested in some of the t-crossing i-dotting details of those events. The newsweek article is sort of interesting. Did the US security services get caught with their pants down, or did the players get played? Might be an interesting footnote to history.
But then it gets lumped in with the “ohmagerd, gravity works consistenly, it must be a controlled demolition” crowd.
BTW the video needs to be updated after that Iranian building caught fire and collapsed recently.
Magnificent Joe. And I sort of understood the principle. Wow. Tomorrow???
A major shift in production of Energy? Wow again!
“The ion age of flight
The ionic wind that powers the plane is generated by electroaerodynamics. An electric field ionizes atoms and molecules in the ambient fluid – such as nitrogen molecules in air – and then accelerates them by Coulomb force. The accelerated ions then couple their momentum with other neutral atoms or molecules they collide with, and this gives rise to the ionic wind.”
It’s practical only if it’s more efficient. In other words, uses less power to achieve the same speed/height while lifting the same mass.
How much power did that little plane of his use compared to sticking a couple of electric motors on it?
Is there any way that he can see to make it all more efficient?
Power Jets W.2/700: Improved version of W.2/500 with important changes to the compressor impeller, diffuser and blower casing. Finally attained Whittle’s aim of 80% efficiency at a pressure ratio of 4:1.
That’s the W2 but even the WU seems to have had far better efficiency than that.
And the reason why I don’t see this ever working is because I see noway to actually improve it. It’s a wire exciting air around it that’s then dragged backwards by an opposite charge. The only way to improve it is to try and excite more air with the same power flow and I just don’t see that happening without an increase in mechanical structure that will decrease efficiency through increased drag.
Great toy.
The reality is the losses will be to great as far too many electrons will be lost without doing work, in regards to providing work.
This idea has a long history with on table floating devices often portrayed as stated in the video as anti gravity devices. Well researched as a dead end including in the zero point energy field.
However I do give this guy top marks for what he has achieved.
Braco T Bastards comment is a good one.
Electric motors can get to 95% efficient then blades will have an efficiency as well. I doubt this system could match that. The area of reactive wings look huge so frictions an issue. Also speed of the vehicle will be limited by the gas flow speed. Energy will be lost as energising atoms increases their temperature. Lastly this is similar to a fan pointed at a sail on a boat.
The real hope is just as in energy multiplying heat pumps, electricity based jet engines can be made to work.
Also this should not be confused with Ion engines. Which are presently the best in space, spaceship engines.
Northland MP Matt King gets to feature. Fancy that.
He’s the MP who has to go around grizzling about the lack of infrastructure in the region and making big nosies about nothing being done to improve things.
The arrogant sod probably can’t count the number of years his party has had the MPs in Northland and been the Government.
We get plenty of this in comments on this site. Always makes me laugh.
Karen Watson probably refers to herself as an “expat” but, in reality, she is a British immigrant living in France.
Watson, an immigrant, hates immigrants and longs for the days when immigrants like her didn’t move to rural areas of France like the one where she lives as an immigrant…
The same Twitter user, Otto English, went on to explain Watson’s views.
“Karen is a product of BRITISH exceptionalism. The sort of thinking where English people are never foreigners and immigrants are brown. Is it her fault? No. It’s been fed to her and reinforced,” he said.
Facebook admitted on Wednesday that a top executive hired a public relations firm to attack George Soros and undermine critics by publicizing their association with the billionaire Jewish philanthropist.
The seeds of Zuckerberg’s corporate strategy—act first, apologize later—were also evident in those early days. Back in 2003, after a massive backlash to Facemash, a sophomore Zuck explained in an e-mail to The Crimson why he was taking down the site. “I understood that some parts were still a little sketchy and I wanted some more time to think about whether or not this was really appropriate to release to the Harvard community,” he wrote, shortly before he was called before Harvard’s administrative board and accused of violating data security, copyrights, and individual privacy. “Issues about violating people’s privacy don’t seem to be surmountable,” he continued. “I’m not willing to risk insulting anyone.” At around the same time, according to chat logs that have since surfaced, Zuckerberg told a friend over instant messenger that he had over 4,000 e-mails, pictures, and addresses of people who had signed up for an early version of thefacebook.com. When the friend asked how Zuckerberg got that information, he replied: “people just submitted it; i don’t know why; they ‘trust me’; dumb fucks.”
Was this discussed today?
“The case of Czech drug-smuggler Karel Sroubek is expected to be back with Immigration New Zealand on time tomorrow, his lawyer has confirmed…..
…Wicks was hopeful of a response from Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway within a week.
A dead sperm whale that washed ashore in eastern Indonesia had consumed a horrifying collection of plastic trash, including 115 drinking cups, 25 plastic bags, plastic bottles, two flip-flops and a bag containing more than 1,000 pieces of string.
In all, the plastic contents of the whale’s stomach weighed 13.2 pound (six kilograms).
“Although we have not been able to deduce the cause of death, the facts that we see are truly awful,” Dwi Suprati, a marine conservation coordinator at World Wildlife Fund Indonesia told the Associated Press.
And that is why we need to do something about plastic use and recycling. This stuff shouldn’t be in the seas at all.
Also, I’m wondering if the flip-flps came with the wearer.
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
We’ll have a climate change ChristmasFrom now until foreverWarming our hearts and mindsAnd planet all togetherSpirits high and oceans higherChestnuts roast on wildfiresIf coal is on your wishlistMerry Climate Change ChristmasSong by Ian McConnellReindeer emissions are not something I’d thought about in terms of climate change. I guess some significant ...
KP continues to putt-putt along as a tiny niche blog that offers a NZ perspective on international affairs with a few observations about NZ domestic politics thrown in. In 2024 there was also some personal posts given that my son was in the last four months of a nine month ...
I can see very wellThere's a boat on the reef with a broken backAnd I can see it very wellThere's a joke and I know it very wellIt's one of those that I told you long agoTake my word I'm a madman, don't you knowSongwriters: Bernie Taupin / Elton JohnIt ...
.Acknowledgement: Tim PrebbleThanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..With each passing day of bad headlines, squandering tax revenue to enrich the rich, deep cuts to our social services and a government struggling to keep the lipstick on its neo-liberal pig ...
This is from the 36th Parallel social media account (as brief food for thought). We know that Trump is ahistorical at best but he seems to think that he is Teddy Roosevelt and can use the threat of invoking the Monroe Doctrine and “Big Stick” gunboat diplomacy against Panama and ...
Don't you cry tonightI still love you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightDon't you cry tonightThere's a heaven above you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightSong: Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so”, said possibly the greatest philosopher ever to walk this earth, Douglas Adams.We have entered the ...
Because you're magicYou're magic people to meSong: Dave Para/Molly Para.Morena all, I hope you had a good day yesterday, however you spent it. Today, a few words about our celebration and a look at the various messages from our politicians.A Rockel XmasChristmas morning was spent with the five of us ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). 2024 has been a series of bad news for climate change. From scorching global temperatures leading to devastating ...
Ríu Ríu ChíuRíu Ríu Chíu is a Spanish Christmas song from the 16th Century. The traditional carol would likely have passed unnoticed by the English-speaking world had the made-for-television American band The Monkees not performed the song as part of their special Christmas show back in 1967. The show's ...
Dunedin’s summer thus far has been warm and humid… and it looks like we’re in for a grey Christmas. But it is now officially Christmas Day in this time zone, so never mind. This year, I’ve stumbled across an Old English version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen: It has a population of just under 3.5 million inhabitants, produces nearly 550,000 tons of beef per year, and boasts a glorious soccer reputation with two World ...
Morena all,In my paywalled newsletter yesterday, I signed off for Christmas and wished readers well, but I thought I’d send everyone a quick note this morning.This hasn’t been a good year for our small country. The divisions caused by the Treaty Principles Bill, the cuts to our public sector, increased ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30 am include:Kāinga Ora is quietly planning to sell over $1 billion worth of state-owned land under 300 state homes in Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs, including around Bastion Point, to give the Government more fiscal room to pay for tax cuts and reduce borrowing.A ...
Hi,It’s my birthday on Christmas Day, and I have a favour to ask.A birthday wish.I would love you to share one Webworm story you’ve liked this year.The simple fact is: apart from paying for a Webworm membership (thank you!), sharing and telling others about this place is the most important ...
The last few days have been a bit too much of a whirl for me to manage a fresh edition each day. It's been that kind of year. Hope you don't mind.I’ve been coming around to thinking that it doesn't really matter if you don't have something to say every ...
The worms will live in every hostIt's hard to pick which one they eat the mostThe horrible people, the horrible peopleIt's as anatomic as the size of your steepleCapitalism has made it this wayOld-fashioned fascism will take it awaySongwriter: Twiggy Ramirez Read more ...
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
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So fellow dropkicks who has been paid lately?
I can assure you, micky, that I get paid exactly what I’m worth. Every single day. But since I’ve been called a RWNJ here, maybe that accounts for it.
You have not lived until you have been called a RWNJ! I seem to recall I was called this once …
Well, I got told to go back to Whale-Oil where I belong once.
Aww, damn, that beats me hands-down. I must try harder.
I get it plenty as well.
Put it down to living in Titirangi or something.
Didn’t we get slammed as the “Titirangi elites” or something like that, too?
Yes, that was in response to Sanctuary’s story of quaffing large amounts of liquor with no regard to animals or the climate in some posh, conceited Earl of Auckland establishment no doubt.
We Titirangi elites provide most of the content to this site.
Productive elites at least.
I had a place in Daffodil Street – does that count?
I think I knew someone who had a place in Daffodil Street at one point.
A realtor is definitely going to call that Titirangi. So yeah, you’re “elite” too. Or ex-elite, anyway.
ohhh Cool! 🙂
Hail fellow westie! I am in the South TItirangi peninsular …
My daughter was a pupil at the Titirangi Steiner school and I taught there for a while – They had their fair last weekend – I was intending to go up for the event but had other things to do unfortunately. I’m hoping to make it next year.
The two years I taught there were the best 2 years teaching I ever experienced. The students have all gone on to be do amazing things – including doctor, engineer, management, drama school, and an elected member of council (not in Auckland)
My daughter went there for a short while but elected to go mainstream. I have had a lot to do with families who are involved there. Some of my best friends out here are greens!
Yes we made a good few friends through the school and still in touch. One of the strengths I think is the involvement of parents. My daughter is dyslexic, and (both of us being teachers) we knew there was no way she would cope in main stream. She was not reading at all when she started at the age of 10, but within 3 months she was reading (remedial eurythmy was extremely helpful here because it helped with left brain right brain development). Within 6 months of starting at Titirangi she had read the first book of Harry Potter .
I grew up on the western slopes of Mt Albert and now live close to Devonport. Does that count as an “elite”? 😎
mmmm close…
I served in Navy for 15 years so lived in Devonport and Bayswater. I had an office while serving in HMNZS Tamaki which was literally on the top of the cliffs between Narrow Neck and Cheltenham – the view was absolutely stunning.
Not far from where I live. Did you know in the 1990s Nick Smith tried to sell off that priceless piece of land to an upmarket property developer. The anger from one end of the isthmus through to the other – and elsewhere – was massive. He was taken to court and lost and proceeded to have a right royal paddy. And now the land is there for everyone to enjoy in perpetuity.
Yes I did – It was always being eyed up to be sold off for the elite even back in the 80’s. The place has a huge military history and there are huge tunnels and underground rooms all over the place. I was there when Halley’s Comet was to be seen, and one night I was on duty and doing my rounds in the middle of the night when the comet went over. Very memorable. The other place I had to visit after midnight was the comms section on the top of Mt Vic. Not so bad when it was a fine night – but walking round there at 1am with a howling Nor Easter – I can think of better things to do. lol
DJ to be here maybe? lmao…standby….
Am mortified that this dropkick is my MP. Would you like an introduction when you are holidaying up this way. He’s rarely seen outside of Keri Keri I believe.
He has form
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/04/national-mp-matt-king-copies-act-press-release-takes-out-all-reference-to-act.html
Awh gawd, what a git. No wonder he fits in as a National MP.
Where do I sign up especially if it to troll that idiot – no wait – bugger it, I’ll do it for free.
This song seems to fit him quite well
I hope that they are signed up members of the Union, and are at least getting a living wage. Maybe we should all go on strike in support of better penal rates and overtime for those who have to do the night-time shifts.
I tried to be an altruist but nowadays I strictly work pro bono.
I wish. I could use some extra cash too.
By my last count, they owe me for 55 years.
Paid… someone got paid? Out of who’s pocket?
It would have to be a US billionaire.
Is he the one getting paid, doing the paying or, more likely, both?
How do I sign up. Do you need my ID number
Ronald Matthew King. MP for Northland, Beef Farmer and former Police Officer. Best mates with drop kick Mike Sabin.
Bugger.
So, Путин – вор is a thing.
https://www.currenttime.tv/a/putin-vor-school-russia-shkola-teen-protests/29602467.html
Been building for a while.
Which is good
https://libcom.org/news/festival-father-frost-against-putin-2019-take-place-january-18112018
That libcom site had some interesting thoughts from teacher at charter school, on corporates providing education. Not surprising its smoke and mirrors.
https://libcom.org/library/education%E2%80%99s-trojan-horses-thoughts-academy-school-worker
and also there are two others – one on strike connected with prison labour, used by corporates.
Other is about the USA strikes early 1900s by miners.
North Island power supply Fragile.
https://www.transpower.co.nz/sites/default/files/interfaces/wrn/WRN%20Insufficient%20Generation%20offers%20North%20Island%202950455792.pdf
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1811/S00706/update-power-prices-jump-hvdc-work-delayed.htm
https://www.transpower.co.nz/power-system-live-data
Scroll over the HVDC Link AT 18.08 the northflow transfer went to zero.
If the Green Party let people build some hydro dams it wouldn’t be an issue.
Analysis of the scenario of closing Huntly so we have no fossil fuel use shows you need at least 1,000 MW of Hydro and Geothermal. 2000 MW if you convert to EV without the cars being active storage in the network. Solar and Wind are variable and can’t reliably provide for peak use. Solar is great for at location daytime Buisiness, while wind is great for offsetting Hydro so it acts like a battery charger.
If you wish to have no fossil fuel use, Hydro and Geothermal must be built on a large scale.
The other alternative is massive battery systems that store renewables like wind for peak use.
I didn’t get payed for that wisdom, damn.
Where would you build them when there’s no suitable rivers left to build them on if we want to keep our tourism going? And there’s already none left in Te Ika a Māui.
Would be better off going for the Greens idea of developing our silicon deposits and making solar panels. Throw in a few offshore wind turbines scattered around the coast line (Major benefit in that they would act as a reef and become fish breeding grounds that will never be commercially fished) and we’d easily be able to replace Huntly.
You don’t have any wisdom to get paid for.
Solar doesn’t work at night and the wind doesn’t always blow.
So yes you can create the same supply but you cannot cover Peak demand which we already struggle with.
I could pick out hundreds of sites for smaller dams and no tourist ever goes anywhere near them. Especially low flow for peak load use.
You didn’t comment on Geothermal which is viable in most of NZ with deep bores. Creating extremely important stable base load.
Who said tourists don’t want to visit dams?
Hoover dam?
The dam hidden away at the Army camp is magnificent. I would visit that if it was open. The Rangipo station, built into the mountain surge chamber is unforgettable.
renewable powered pumped hydro for security and wind , solar , geo and hydro for baseload
Yes building high output dams (head height) with wind pumping the water back to the top is an option. I think Norway has built one.
That’s similar to massive battery banks charged with wind to cover peak load.
yep…or powered by solar.
But on average they work all the time.
Peak demand would be covered by hydro.
Yeah, you probably couldn’t.
You don’t always need a dam either.
There’s limits to geothermal as well. Excess use does drain the water from the water table.
That said, research into the water that comes up from it could result in efficient resources extraction. It’s estimated that some 500 tonnes of lithium is washed down the Waikato River from one power station.
The tourists who all fail to stop and look at our fine dams?
I’ve been to a few dams all across New Zealand. And the reality is that once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all.
There’s been virtually no new generation built in the last 20 years,but demand has increased. This need to be addressed. the obvious contenders are more geothermal in the North Island and along Alpine Fault. I doubt there much significant hydro that can be developed, we’ve done all the achievable projects years ago. But increasing electricity demand will make Tiwai’s future interesting. Wind is mired in the RMA, with a huge project at the windiest place in NZ, Kaiwera, bogged down, and this is in the middle of nowhere. But that’s about as far form the demand as you can get, like Manapouri.
So that leaves LOTS of geothermal in the Central NI as the alternative. Get going guys. Something has to be done quickly, ’cause we’ve done nothing for a long time, to solve our dependance on gas fired generation to keep the NI going.
Tonight’s oops looks like No Gas+ not much hydro + HVDC outage for maintenance + things go to shit on restart = fucking close to brown outs in NI at dinner time.
Very little has been done towards that goal since Think Big. Everyone complained about how much it cost rather than recognising that it was the only thing available to us and then stopped doing it hoping that the free-market would fix it.
The free market wants scarcity to increase prices.
Some wind has been created but profitability is low at present.
Privatising the electricity network was a mistake when it didn’t include developement obligations.
When EV gets going NZ will experience major problems.
“When EV gets going NZ will experience major problems.”
Market forces will say “ta ta Tewai”
There’s also geothermal on West Coast and Central NI
Market forces should already have done so. The amount that Rio Tinto is paying is far below what the rest of the nation would pay if that power was fed into the national grid.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize”
Voltaire
The first in a series .
People and things we are not allowed to criticise.
The events of 9/11
https://www.newsweek.com/cia-and-saudi-arabia-conspired-keep-911-details-secret-new-book-says-1091935
Coming up soon
#2 The Ukrainian maidan coup leaders
People criticise it all the time. You do, others do, plenty of press and websites. No one is executed or disappeared – everyone just keeps talkingand criticising the official explanation about it so wtf are you on about?
Apparently, being called a moron is censorship of the worst order.
Trouble is, I’m actually kind of interested in some of the t-crossing i-dotting details of those events. The newsweek article is sort of interesting. Did the US security services get caught with their pants down, or did the players get played? Might be an interesting footnote to history.
But then it gets lumped in with the “ohmagerd, gravity works consistenly, it must be a controlled demolition” crowd.
BTW the video needs to be updated after that Iranian building caught fire and collapsed recently.
heh
The ion drive.
https://physicsworld.com/a/combustion-free-propeller-free-aeroplane-takes-flight/
Magnificent Joe. And I sort of understood the principle. Wow. Tomorrow???
A major shift in production of Energy? Wow again!
“The ion age of flight
The ionic wind that powers the plane is generated by electroaerodynamics. An electric field ionizes atoms and molecules in the ambient fluid – such as nitrogen molecules in air – and then accelerates them by Coulomb force. The accelerated ions then couple their momentum with other neutral atoms or molecules they collide with, and this gives rise to the ionic wind.”
It’s practical only if it’s more efficient. In other words, uses less power to achieve the same speed/height while lifting the same mass.
How much power did that little plane of his use compared to sticking a couple of electric motors on it?
Is there any way that he can see to make it all more efficient?
The Nature link in the article goes to the full paper
Thanks.
At 2.56% efficiency I don’t see this ever working.
I just imagined this flying through some clouds…
Yeah, it didn’t end happily.
“At 2.56% efficiency”
That’s about where jet engines where with Whittle”s first running engine. There’s potential there.
Power Jets
That’s the W2 but even the WU seems to have had far better efficiency than that.
And the reason why I don’t see this ever working is because I see noway to actually improve it. It’s a wire exciting air around it that’s then dragged backwards by an opposite charge. The only way to improve it is to try and excite more air with the same power flow and I just don’t see that happening without an increase in mechanical structure that will decrease efficiency through increased drag.
Great toy.
The reality is the losses will be to great as far too many electrons will be lost without doing work, in regards to providing work.
This idea has a long history with on table floating devices often portrayed as stated in the video as anti gravity devices. Well researched as a dead end including in the zero point energy field.
However I do give this guy top marks for what he has achieved.
Braco T Bastards comment is a good one.
Electric motors can get to 95% efficient then blades will have an efficiency as well. I doubt this system could match that. The area of reactive wings look huge so frictions an issue. Also speed of the vehicle will be limited by the gas flow speed. Energy will be lost as energising atoms increases their temperature. Lastly this is similar to a fan pointed at a sail on a boat.
The real hope is just as in energy multiplying heat pumps, electricity based jet engines can be made to work.
Also this should not be confused with Ion engines. Which are presently the best in space, spaceship engines.
Northland MP Matt King gets to feature. Fancy that.
He’s the MP who has to go around grizzling about the lack of infrastructure in the region and making big nosies about nothing being done to improve things.
The arrogant sod probably can’t count the number of years his party has had the MPs in Northland and been the Government.
His picture, pure and simple, is a parody.
We get plenty of this in comments on this site. Always makes me laugh.
Karen Watson probably refers to herself as an “expat” but, in reality, she is a British immigrant living in France.
Watson, an immigrant, hates immigrants and longs for the days when immigrants like her didn’t move to rural areas of France like the one where she lives as an immigrant…
The same Twitter user, Otto English, went on to explain Watson’s views.
“Karen is a product of BRITISH exceptionalism. The sort of thinking where English people are never foreigners and immigrants are brown. Is it her fault? No. It’s been fed to her and reinforced,” he said.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12164538
Truth stranger than fiction.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/nov/21/facebook-admits-definers-pr-george-soros-critics-sandberg-zuckerberg
Zuckerberg’s only concern is his bottom line.
The seeds of Zuckerberg’s corporate strategy—act first, apologize later—were also evident in those early days. Back in 2003, after a massive backlash to Facemash, a sophomore Zuck explained in an e-mail to The Crimson why he was taking down the site. “I understood that some parts were still a little sketchy and I wanted some more time to think about whether or not this was really appropriate to release to the Harvard community,” he wrote, shortly before he was called before Harvard’s administrative board and accused of violating data security, copyrights, and individual privacy. “Issues about violating people’s privacy don’t seem to be surmountable,” he continued. “I’m not willing to risk insulting anyone.” At around the same time, according to chat logs that have since surfaced, Zuckerberg told a friend over instant messenger that he had over 4,000 e-mails, pictures, and addresses of people who had signed up for an early version of thefacebook.com. When the friend asked how Zuckerberg got that information, he replied: “people just submitted it; i don’t know why; they ‘trust me’; dumb fucks.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/mark-zuckerberg-has-never-cared-about-your-privacy
Meanwhile, at Kiwiblog, posters are trashing Jamal Khashoggi
and loudly endorsing Trump’s support for Murdermostfoul bin Salman
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2018/11/translating_trump.html/comment-page-1#comment-2363759
Can’t say that I’m surprised. Authoritarians always side with their leaders and will defend any and all atrocious behaviour done by them.
Jamal Khashoggi is a bastard. He split his blood on their precious carpet. I hope they send the cleaning bill to his estate.
(Just pretending to be a Kiwiblogger.)
Pretty good imitation there, Pete. You’ve earned yourself 60 upticks for that one.
Was this discussed today?
“The case of Czech drug-smuggler Karel Sroubek is expected to be back with Immigration New Zealand on time tomorrow, his lawyer has confirmed…..
…Wicks was hopeful of a response from Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway within a week.
He declined to comment on the findings by INZ contained in the file or what the outcome could be.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12164449
Sperm whale found dead with 13 pounds of plastic in its stomach
And that is why we need to do something about plastic use and recycling. This stuff shouldn’t be in the seas at all.
Also, I’m wondering if the flip-flps came with the wearer.