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.
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about today’s global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was ...
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Valmaine Toki, University of WaikatoAotearoa New Zealand likes to think it punches above its weight internationally, but there is one area where we are conspicuously falling behind — the number of sites recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Globally, there are 1,121 ...
An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
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This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
When I was preparing for my School C English exam I knew I needed some quotes to splash through my essays. But remembering lines was never my strong point, so I tended to look for the low-hanging fruit. We’d studied Shakespeare’s King Lear that year and perhaps the lowest hanging ...
When I went to bed last night, I was expecting today to be eventful. A lot of pouting in Congress as last-ditch Trumpers staged bad-faith "objections" to a democratic election, maybe some rioting on the streets of Washington DC from angry Trump supporters. But I wasn't expecting anything like an ...
Melted ice of the past answers question today? Kate Ashley and a large crew of coauthors wind back the clock to look at Antarctic sea ice behavior in times gone by, in Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat. For armchair scientists following the Antarctic sea ice situation, something jumps out in ...
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A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
As we welcome in the new year, our focus is on continuing to keep New Zealanders safe and moving forward with our economic recovery. There’s a lot to get on with, but before we say a final goodbye to 2020, here’s a quick look back at some of the milestones ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
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The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
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The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
In 10 x 100, we survey a group of 100 people via Stickybeak and ask them 10 questions. Last month we quizzed Wellingtonians. Today, we ask NZ drivers how they’ve found a holiday period without international tourists, and what they get up to while they’re on the road.Across Aotearoa roads ...
Emmanuel Macron's anti-separatist policies have garnered backlash from the international Muslim community. Now, a global coalition has complained to the UN. ...
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By Lorraine Ecarma in Cebu City The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) will continue to stand against any threats to human rights, chancellor Clement Camposano has declared in response to the termination of a long-standing accord preventing military incursion on campus. In a Facebook post, Camposano said the academic ...
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As New Zealand faces a dire shortage of veterinarians, a petition has been launched urging the Government to reclassify veterinarians as critical workers so we can Get Vets into NZ. “New Zealand desperately needs veterinarians from overseas to counter ...
New Zealand is fast developing a reputation as a South Pacific vandal, says Greenpeace, as the government continues to fight against increased ocean protection. At the upcoming meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), ...
The Department of Internal Affairs and Netsafe are urging parents and caregivers to be mindful of the online content their tamariki may be consuming in the lead up to the inauguration of president-elect of the United States of America Joe Biden ...
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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.