Daily Review 23/01/2017

Written By: - Date published: 5:52 pm, January 23rd, 2018 - 42 comments
Categories: Daily review - Tags:

Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

42 comments on “Daily Review 23/01/2017 ”

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  1. Exkiwiforces 1
    23 January 2018 at 6:38 pm

    Well it had to happen sooner or later. I hope the DHB, NIWA and GNS Science Hydrogeology Department do an investigation in why CHCH’s drinking water is no longer deem secure for safe drinking water without the need for add chemicals to it.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/100815761/Christchurchs-water-should-be-temporarily-treated-after-report-finds-drinking-wells-may-be-susceptible-to-contamination

    • weka 1.1
      23 January 2018 at 6:46 pm

      There is a big push nationwide from Health Authorities and Councils to treat all town water supplies currently not treated. Thanks to the bad handling of Hastings outbreak, and authorities’ paranoia and inability to run competent systems.

      • Exkiwiforces 1.1.1
        23 January 2018 at 7:03 pm

        To my knowledge CHCH has never had to treat its drinking water as nature did it as the water seep into the aquifers until now. It could be due to either the dairy farms on the plains or to the earthquakes or a combinational of both.

  2. Grey Area 2
    23 January 2018 at 6:59 pm

    Totally Weka. Here in HB we used to have clean, unchlorinated water to drink that was the envy of many parts of the country, Now here in Napier the chlorine-free taps have been closed and you get the whiff of chlorine with each glass you pour from the taps.

    It was something we took for granted which now seems like Paradise Lost.

    • McFlock 2.1
      23 January 2018 at 7:16 pm

      John snow comes to mind. The pump that spread all the cholera was known for its good quality.

      The biggest issue is that chief executives and managers are now personally responsible for public safety, because the water supply is their workplace. So now they’re all much more risk averse. Also, the University of Otago got successfully sued for causing an injury when someone broke an arm in an area known for its hazardous flooring and responsible for several previous injuries – after that quite a few places around town started putting rails and non-slip paint everywhere I’d thought was a bit dodgy in the rain.

      But also… maybe a lot of places have been quietly ignoring smaller-scale gastro incidence, and their water bores need to be much deeper if they want guaranteed potable water from the source.

  3. joe90 3
    23 January 2018 at 7:37 pm

    Renewables begin to challenge king coal and bingo, tariffs.

    Breaking: Trump imposes 30% tariff on imported solar cells and modules in the biggest blow yet to the renewable energy industry—via @brianreports and @AriNatter pic.twitter.com/mCVk1SrnCn— Tom Randall (@tsrandall) January 22, 2018

    Renewable-energy developers have offered to supply Xcel Energy with electricity at the lowest prices quoted in the U.S., including solar and wind options with energy storage priced below what coal-generated power in the state costs.

    “The response was amazing.The world is our oyster. It was like walking into a Las Vegas buffet,” said Erin Overturf, chief energy counsel for Western Resource Advocates, one of several environmental groups that want the utility to reduce its dependence on coal.

    […]

    What they didn’t count on was how many bids would come in from the Nov. 30 solicitation, more than 430, with 350 just for renewables, or how low they would come in. Wind-only bids had a median price quoted of $18 M/Wh, meaning half of the bids were below that. Solar only came in at a median price of $29.50 M/Wh.

    https://www.denverpost.com/2018/01/16/xcel-energy-low-bids-for-colorado-electricity/

    • alwyn 3.1
      23 January 2018 at 8:25 pm

      Why on earth are you surprised?
      The tariffs aren’t to help the coal miners in the US.
      They are being put in to help the very high cost US producers of solar panels.
      They are the ones who have been opposing, not the use of solar panels but the much cheaper, more efficiently manufactured ones from China.
      That is what many of the commenters on this blog want. Get rid of trade. Don’t allow imports from China. To hell with what it costs. No TPPA.

      • joe90 3.1.1
        23 January 2018 at 9:08 pm

        Of course, tRump’s and other members of his administration’s financial ties to fossil-fuel companies and the notion that tariffs will play well with coal miners in swing states and his fossil fuel industry contributors took a back seat.

        /

        Solar "developers may have to walk away from their projects," said BNEF analyst Hugh Bromley. "Some rooftop solar companies may have to pull out" of some states.— Tom Randall (@tsrandall) January 22, 2018

        President Trump announced the first sweeping trade actions of his administration, enacting tariffs on solar panels and components (as well as washing machines) from nearly every country around the world. Even though Trump was right to blame Chinese government subsidies to its solar manufacturers for bankrupting U.S. solar producers, his “America First” tariffs are a decade too late to matter.

        Solar manufacturers across Asia can now stand on their own feet without public handouts, and their massive scale enables them to win brutal price wars. As they have driven down the cost of solar panels by three quarters over the last decade, the global share of U.S. solar manufacturing has dwindled to less than 5%.

        What’s next: Expect minimal investment in U.S. solar factories (any that are built will be highly automated), net U.S. job destruction as higher solar panel prices shave the boom in solar installations by 10%, and Chinese trade retaliation. Ultimately, the WTO may well rule Trump’s tariffs illegal.

        https://www.axios.com/trumps-solar-tariffs-1516658597-d08dc015-2244-40ea-8913-457b21a36c6e.html

      • Draco T Bastard 3.1.2
        23 January 2018 at 11:26 pm

        Why on earth are you surprised?

        I’m not. The US is probably the most protective nation of their industry.

        The tariffs aren’t to help the coal miners in the US.
        They are being put in to help the very high cost US producers of solar panels.

        It will, of course, do both.

        They are the ones who have been opposing, not the use of solar panels but the much cheaper, more efficiently manufactured ones from China.

        Yes. The US only believes that other countries need to open their borders to trade.

        That is what many of the commenters on this blog want. Get rid of trade. Don’t allow imports from China. To hell with what it costs. No TPPA.

        Nope.

        That’s your overly simplified version of it that amounts to another lie.

        To put it really simply I want costs properly factored into production so that there can be a comparison of which is actually cheaper. I also want the currency of each nation to float against each other inline with their trade so that it becomes the balancing tool that it’s supposed to be.

        • alwyn 3.1.2.1
          24 January 2018 at 9:59 am

          “That’s your overly simplified version of it that amounts to another lie.”
          Get over yourself.
          Why do you have to label anything a person says that you don’t happen to agree with a lie?
          Have you ever considered the fact that you are the one who is grossly oversimplifying things and don’t know what you are talking about?
          I don’t label you a liar though. I just consider you to be stupid.

          • Draco T Bastard 3.1.2.1.1
            24 January 2018 at 11:33 am

            Why do you have to label anything a person says that you don’t happen to agree with a lie?

            You gave a serious misrepresentation of the actual stated positions. What else could it be called than a lie?

            Have you ever considered the fact that you are the one who is grossly oversimplifying things and don’t know what you are talking about?

            I know what I’m talking about. Twenty years of study does that.

            You, on the other hand, have given absolutely no indication that you have any understanding of reality at all.

            • alwyn 3.1.2.1.1.1
              24 January 2018 at 2:04 pm

              “Twenty years of study does that”.
              Keep at it. You’ll pass NCEA level 1 someday.
              Out of curiosity what on earth have you studied for 20 years?
              You don’t show a mastery of any skill that I can see.

      • joe90 3.1.3
        24 January 2018 at 8:58 am

        How tRump’s tariffs help the very high cost US producers of solar panels.

        /

        As a solar company, we are devastated to learn Trump has imposed a 30% tariff on solar panels virtually killing the solar industry. Solar employs more people than coal and oil combined. today's decision will cause the loss of roughly 23,000 American jobs this year.— Eugene Wilkie (@NOW1SOLAR) January 22, 2018

        Unrolled.

        In the last decade, solar has experienced an average annual growth rate of 68%. Nearly 260,000 Americans work in solar – more than double the number in 2012 – at more than 9,000 companies in every U.S. state.

        The cost to install solar has dropped by more than 70% since 2010, leading the industry to expand into new markets and deploy thousands of systems nationwide

        In 2016, Solar installed 39% of all new electric generating capacity, topping all other technologies for the first time. Solar’s increasing competitiveness against other technologies has allowed it to quickly increase its share of total U.S. electrical generation

        The U.S Solar Industry is a 50 State Market Solar Helps K-12 Schools and Fortune 500 Companies Save Money view-source:

        https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/955579485998362625.html

        • alwyn 3.1.3.1
          24 January 2018 at 3:50 pm

          What are you trying to say here?
          From the first line it appears to be in reply to my comment but I’m not at all sure how.
          Note that I never said it would help firms who install solar panels.
          Neither will it help the people who want to generate their power via solar panels.
          It will only help the few, inefficient, US based companies that manufacture the things. They aren’t even owned in the US of course.

          • joe90 3.1.3.1.1
            24 January 2018 at 4:21 pm

            Sarc (/) , and I cited opinions that tRump’s tariff won’t do anything other than stifle the installation of solar systems.

            • alwyn 3.1.3.1.1.1
              24 January 2018 at 4:35 pm

              In other words you have come to the same conclusion I have. The tariffs are only there to help a few, small, US based manufacturers. All the rest of the Solar industry in the US are people and firms that install the things and they are going to be burnt.

              If you have to use US made panels you either pay enormous prices for them or you take the rational view that it isn’t worth putting them in.
              Tariffs, in whatever form they occur, never really help anyone other than the very few people with influence on the Government that imposes them.
              They simply impose costs on everyone else.

              Rather like the car and TV assembly firms we used to have in New Zealand.
              That is why I am in favour of free trade. Are you?

    • joe90 3.2
      23 January 2018 at 8:36 pm

      Bold Nebraska is cracking on by partnering with landowners to build solar installations on land directly in the path of Keystone XL.

      http://boldnebraska.org/second-nebraska-family-installs-solar-in-the-path-of-keystone-xl-pipeline/

      http://boldnebraska.org/solarxl/

      Also, early days but the Keystone XL project is having trouble attracting the necessary support.

      The Keystone XL pipeline will never be built,” said Bold Nebraska founder Jane Kleeb. “TransCanada clearly does not have the support necessary for this project, since the company could secure just 500,000 bpd of commitments from shippers on its 830,000 bpd-capacity pipeline — and that’s only with a giant subsidy gift directly from the Canadian government. What’s more, the landowners’ lawsuit challenging the Nebraska Public Service Commission’s approval of an *illegal* pipeline route is still set to be heard by the Nebraska Supreme Court in late 2018.”

      http://boldnebraska.org/bold-nebraska-statement-on-transcanada-announcement-of-shipper-commitments-for-keystone-xl-pipeline/

  4. eco maori 4
    23 January 2018 at 7:46 pm

    Tv 1 news new graphics are excellent they are World class showing our cities and landscape . We could easily build a big computer gaming industry with the people like the ones who designed those graphics

    I see Media works CEO is complaining about the Government plan to launch a Radio NZ channel if Its to hot in the kitchen than get out I say to him . Every one can see Media works pandering to the neoliberal wims . I say when they go broke TVNZ should buy them out cheap that’s what you get for lying to all the common people Ana to kai

    • eco maori 4.1
      23 January 2018 at 8:12 pm

      Eco Maori doesn’t like the way Media works has been used by shonky key to damage Maori cultured peoples MANA I have also seen them try and damage Me to putting up articles to counter what I have wrote here on the standard I have seen them suppress the left political parties to they think that they are sly like the sandflys But Eco see it all.
      Ana to kai

  5. Johnr 5
    23 January 2018 at 7:49 pm

    Hi people, does anybody have an email address for Phil Goff.
    Although I’m a rellie of his (our grandfather’s were brothers) he’s making me seriously angry about his councils treatment of Penny Bright and I want to send him a harsh reminder that neoliberal cliches arent good enough.
    Commercial sensitivity should be an illegal phrase in public service contracts.
    If everybody tendering for local or central govt contracts knew that the results were public knowledge then it is a level playing field and the public/peasants would know that it is on the level.

    • Stunned mullet 5.1
      23 January 2018 at 7:59 pm

      The results of contracts for the council work are publicly released.

      https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/about-auckland-council/working-with-us/Pages/awarded-contracts.aspx

      • eco maori 5.1.1
        23 January 2018 at 8:21 pm

        I know one phenomenon some organizations put up a unstanerablely low bid for a contract once they start the contract they cry foul and end up getting paid more than the highest bid that failed . I bid for a council contract and that is how I know that goes down on these council contracts its look after there M8 . Ana to kai

        • Johnr 5.1.1.1
          23 January 2018 at 8:41 pm

          Your not wrong there Eco. I always have a very wry smile when the corruption survey comes out.
          Man those guys don’t know the half of it

          • Stunned mullet 5.1.1.1.1
            23 January 2018 at 8:48 pm

            if you’ve got evidence of corruption at a local or country level you have a public responsibility to report it.

            https://www.sfo.govt.nz/whistleblowing

            • McFlock 5.1.1.1.1.1
              23 January 2018 at 8:59 pm

              That’s what you lot were saying ten years ago about kids living in severe need – ample support was available and therefore any kid in need should have their negligent caregiver reported to authorities.

              Turns out there were systematic shortcomings in both the help available and the enforcement authorities, but it took years for you lot to recognise there was a problem.

              The first systematic problem in regards to corruption should be that “I signed a legal declaration without reading it” should never be a defense against a charge of signing a false declaration.

              • Stunned mullet …
                23 January 2018 at 9:00 pm

                My lot ?

                • McFlock …
                  23 January 2018 at 9:06 pm

                  yup.

                  • Stunned mullet …
                    23 January 2018 at 9:12 pm

                    Do tell ?

                    Who are ‘my lot’?

                    • McFlock …
                      23 January 2018 at 9:44 pm

                      Do you imagine yourself to be without political confederates? How lonely you must be.

                      Read a few of your comments over the years – you strike me as being one of them for who the nats are either too moderate or too embarrassing to consciously support, so muddle around every election mournfully voting for whatever party appeals to their inherent conservatism or ego at the time and tell themselves they’re being open-minded and rational about the entire thing.

                      But more to the point, look at the commenters who agree with you most often. That’s your lot.

                    • stunned mullet …
                      23 January 2018 at 10:03 pm

                      Oh dear you appear to be another one of the ‘needs a big hug’ group.

                      i know there is the general tendency on this site to put commenters into pigeon holes so one can deride them as a RMNJ, left wing looney, capitalist, socialist, communist etc. Personally I find that a bit of a dreary old bore…a bit like DTB

                      For the avoidance of doubt I do believe that anyone who knows of any person or child that is being neglected or abused should definitely report it to the relevant authorities and any one seeing such abuse occurring should intervene immediately.

                    • McFlock …
                      23 January 2018 at 11:57 pm

                      Way to miss the point.

                      The problem is that it’s all well and good to report someone to authorities, but it’s pointless if the authorities are too overworked and restricted in legislation or budget to do anything about it.

                      You say corruption should be reported, yet we literally had a former minister of police defend himself in court with the argument that he couldn’t have “knowingly” signed a false document because he had no idea about whether what he signed was true or false. Report corruption to the SFO? What if it doesn’t seem to be serious enough for that? Report it to the cops? Big whoop – they do fuck all until you mount a private prosecution, then they take over and fuck up the case.

                      What about corruption legally protected by law – oh wow, the company owes millions, but fucko still drives a nice car and lives in a mansion that belongs to the family trust. Speaking of trusts, what about all the foreign ones that mysteriously wound up when disclosure rules were tightened?

                      Or the “12 days in the country” residency criteria for billionaires?

                      And all you have is “report it”. Our “low corruption” sits right beside “100% pure” as a myth we need to expose and address, because the rest of the world is beginning to figure it out.

    • Grey Area 5.2
      23 January 2018 at 8:00 pm

      phil.goff@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

      Now that wasn’t hard was it?

    • James 5.4
      23 January 2018 at 9:56 pm

      Phil.goff@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

      https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/mayor-of-auckland/Pages/contact-the-mayor.aspx

      I’m going to email him also telling him how many of us are happy they are finally bringing her to account.

  6. Ed 6
    23 January 2018 at 10:26 pm

    Steve Cowan nails it.
    Marx was right.

    “Karl Marx predicted that the growth of capitalism would also lead to a greater concentration and centralisation of wealth. He wrote: “Accumulation of wealth at one pole is at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole.””

    http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.co.nz/2018/01/inequality-marx-was-right.html

  7. SPC 7
    24 January 2018 at 11:18 am

    It’s starting to remind me of 2000 again, when business aided and abetted by the media campaigned against the incoming government.

    This came to an end for two reasons a moderate reform of the ECA and Labour rarely moved in areas where it had no electoral mandate and National’s support fell (neither business nor media wanted to get offside with a government that was going to be returned to office).

    Now we have the incipient attempts to make of an issue of lack of full disclosure of the PM’S circumstance during the coalition talks, and then move onto the issue of an
    impact on the ability of the Labour leader to perform her duties as PM.

    If the real target of this campaign is to destabilise the coalition, it is little wonder that there has been so much squealing about the wake jumping legislation as it would have been easier to pick off members of the NZF caucus than to convince Peters to change his mind. Given that one can suspect that National will look for an “airport/issue” to drive a wedge between the partners.

    National and its supporters have yet to concede they will face a full 3 years in opposition.