Open mike 01/10/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, October 1st, 2019 - 86 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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

Step up to the mike …

86 comments on “Open mike 01/10/2019 ”

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  1. Sacha 1
    1 October 2019 at 8:49 am

    Tail wags dog, again – Winston First torpedo party pill testing https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12272257

  2. Adrian Thornton 2
    1 October 2019 at 8:53 am

    Letter to RNZ this morning…

    Bolton on RNZ morning news cycle?

    Why and who the hell would give John Bolton air time to talk about ANY foreign policy issue?, and especially North Korea….this is a man who still defends the invasion of Iraq as a success.

    Most Liberal media seem to have adopted the strategy that any enemy of Trump instantly becomes an ally, even to the point now of giving oxygen to psychopathic nutters like Bolton..RNZ listens deserve and expect better balance than that.

    "Bolton says US considering Libya model for North Korean denuclearization"
    https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/30/asia/north-korea-bolton-libya-intl/index.html

    "Is John Bolton the most dangerous man in the world?"
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/16/john-bolton-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-danger

    "To Avoid an Iraq-Style Disaster Under Trump, Bolton Must Go'
    https://nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/avoid-iraq-style-disaster-under-trump-bolton-must-go-52897

    What RNZ didn't bother pointing out in their segment is that Bolton goes on to say in his usual insane style " Bolton resumed his call for the US to consider military action against North Korea.",

    Just take a read of this Guardian piece…The heading is of course highlighting the 'attacks Trump' part, and not the lets get into a war with North Korea part..WTF, no mention of Bolton undermining Trumps attempts to negotiate with N Korea with his infamous 'Libya model' statement.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/30/john-bolton-trump-north-korea-kim-jong-un

    We all want to see the end of Trump, but the my enemies enemies are my friends strategy is not the way to do this, and undermines all goodwill, moral highground and moral indignation that we have the right to feel and act upon in the efforts to bring people like Trump down…attacking him from the Left is the only winning strategy that will work in the longrun, Bernie Sanders has been showing the way on this since 2016.

    • Gosman 2.1
      1 October 2019 at 9:45 am

      Ummm… when you state "We all want to see the end of Trump" be aware that you do not state a fact. There is a significant section of the population who are okay with Trump. You and I might disagree with them but they do exist. Trying to pretend everybody thinks like you do is the height of intellectual arrogance.

      • Adrian Thornton 2.1.1
        1 October 2019 at 10:29 am

        Fair point.

        • Gosman 2.1.1.1
          1 October 2019 at 11:11 am

          The other thing is you seem to think RNZ should be a tool of the left. Why else would you write the following"…attacking him from the Left is the only winning strategy."?

          • Adrian Thornton 2.1.1.1.1
            1 October 2019 at 11:29 am

            The first part up to the end of the links was all I sent RNZ, what was written after was for the benefit of TS readers.

            I don't think RNZ should come down on anyone's side, what I believe they have the obligation to do is provide fair and balanced reporting…nothing more nothing less.

    • Andre 2.2
      1 October 2019 at 10:31 am

      Bernie Sanders has been showing the way on this since 2016.

      Uhh, in 2016 Bernie got 13.2 million votes in the Dem primary. That was a mere 43% of the roughly half of the roughly 30% of the electorate that bothered to vote in the primaries and identify as Democrats. Yes, that nets down to just 6% of the electorate. And he only got there by hoovering up the entire share of people that really couldn’t take Hillary or just preferred someone else.

      That’s hardly the stuff of a shining political future. This time around, there’s plenty of other options, which is why he’s fading to currently be somewhere around half to a quarter the support he got last time around.

      • Adrian Thornton 2.2.1
        1 October 2019 at 11:15 am

        As usual you completely miss the point.

        • Andre 2.2.1.1
          1 October 2019 at 11:23 am

          What point is it that I am missing? Please clarify.

          That you think points of view you disapprove of shouldn't be aired?

          That there is some massive leftie majority out there just waiting to be awakened by the right messiah, that you just know is there despite there being precisely zero evidence for its existence?

          That a media organisation having someone on to have their say automatically means they are endorsing and allying themselves with the view being expressed?

          • Siobhan 2.2.1.1.1
            1 October 2019 at 11:54 am

            "Sanders began the campaign as an underfunded, septuagenarian, avowed democratic socialist, who was best known in Washington for decades of rants against free trade deals. He will end it a few million votes short of the nomination of a party in which he remains an outsider, a surprisingly close runner-up to arguably the most heavily favored non-incumbent candidate for a party nod in recent memory, Hillary Clinton."

            Democrats, said Jared Bernstein, a liberal economist and former adviser to Obama and Vice President Biden, have moved away from talk of deficit reduction and "grand bargains" on safety net spending, and toward "a much more truly progressive agenda."

            "Bernie very effectively tapped a progressive energy that's been building for a long time," Bernstein added. "Could that energy have coalesced behind someone else, like Sen. [Elizabeth] Warren? Probably. But Bernie's been an extremely effective and disciplined messenger."

            https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/08/how-bernie-sanders-changed-the-democratic-party/

            I'm pretty sure this point, that Bernie has changed the political landscape, has been made on numerous occasions, by a number of folk on this site..however maybe you would feel a bit more comfortable to hear this point made by Bernstein who as the Chief Economist and Economic Adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden in the Obama Administration, can hardly be accused of being a self deluded 'Leftie'.

            And I'm pretty sure the corporate Democrats wouldn't inch towards a more progressive standpoint, or atleast make vaguely progressive noises, unless they felt there was a wide demand for such a thing.

            • Ad 2.2.1.1.1.1
              1 October 2019 at 1:33 pm

              Overton window blah blah whatever.

              There is no certainty that either Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren will get the nomination for Democratic US Presidential candidate. Currently it 's not even a likelihood.

              The Subpoena hearings may well push both Democrats and the wider electorate the other way, favoring simply the person most likely to simply get Trump out: Joe Biden.

              • McFlock …
                1 October 2019 at 3:08 pm

                Dunno that Biden is that person.

                Either way, there has been a large policy shift in the dems. Not all of it Bernie, by any means – resistance to the orange one has also mobilised a lot of people.

              • Andre …
                1 October 2019 at 3:59 pm

                Let alone the possibility of leftie over-reach and a repeat of 1972.

                • Adrian Thornton …
                  1 October 2019 at 4:57 pm

                  Unlike the centrist over reach that gave the world Trump…sorry, not the Russians.

                • Nic the NZer …
                  1 October 2019 at 7:14 pm

                  Wow, the democratic establishment candidate has not even lost yet and your already out with the blame and excuses for the loss.

              • Stuart Munro. …
                1 October 2019 at 4:03 pm

                Like Hillary was? And really Joe has less to recommend him. His mum might vote for him, youth not so much.

              • phillip ure …
                1 October 2019 at 4:32 pm

                the overton window on action on climate-change –

                – has been upgraded from a window – to a set of french doors…

              • Adrian Thornton …
                1 October 2019 at 4:54 pm

                "favoring simply the person most likely to simply get Trump out: Joe Biden" are you mad? Biden is fucked, the guy is suffering from some sort of dementia. he will never make it all the way to the election, let alone the end of the primaries,

                Warren has obviously now been anointed the new DNC saviour.

              • Nic the NZer …
                1 October 2019 at 7:21 pm

                Well one of us is dead wrong because i had figured using an episode involving obvious Biden foreign political interference (possibly corruption), to attack Trump was a sure end to his campaign. The negative effects on Trumps campaign seem less than certain.

            • Dukeofurl 2.2.1.1.1.2
              1 October 2019 at 2:54 pm

              Before Sanders , there was Obama who seen as a'left wing' candidate in 2008

              he got even closer to Clinton 48% with 47% of those voting

              However he had the Super delegates ( 68%) and the Caucuses

              • Andre …
                1 October 2019 at 2:58 pm

                Arguably Hillary was the leftie and Obama the centrist.

                https://www.vox.com/2015/6/15/8779449/hillary-clinton-populist-record

                • phillip ure …
                  1 October 2019 at 4:43 pm

                  not so much 'arguing' – as dancing on the head of a pin..?

                  obama the war-criminal vs clinton the wannabe war criminal..who is more left..?

                  right ho..!

                  also worth remembering that on any international ideological-spectrum..

                  the american democrat party is to the right of our tories…

                  so..y'know..there is 'left' and 'left'…

                • Adrian Thornton …
                  1 October 2019 at 4:49 pm

                  "Arguably Hillary was the leftie and Obama the centrist"

                  Holy hell you really are one deluded melonfarmer, both of them are liberal capitalists and have nothing (or very little) to do with the Left..that is just a plain fact..no argument or debate need be entered into.

                  • Andre …
                    1 October 2019 at 5:00 pm

                    Uhh, do you understand that if left" and "right" are to have meaning, it has to be with reference to where the political centre is? That you are not the centre of the political universe, rather you are so far out there that the centre is a tiny speck barely brighter than a star? And the fact that Obama won the office (twice) and Hillary failed makes a pretty clear marker for how far left a candidate can be and still be electable.

                    • McFlock …
                      1 October 2019 at 5:20 pm

                      Gotta disagree with that last line – there are many more determinants of election victory than simply how "left" or "right" one is compared to the electorate.

                      Although yeah, most of any given population would stand well to the right of the promontory from where Adrian makes his proclamations of political validity. So far to the right that he finds it difficult to judge the distance between the people he his observing.

                    • Andre …
                      1 October 2019 at 5:23 pm

                      Just tryin' to keep it simple …

                    • Adrian Thornton …
                      1 October 2019 at 5:27 pm

                      No, what you guys seem to have missed or just ignore (for whatever reason) is that the (Liberal) Left have dragged us all so far to the right over the past 25 or so years, that a so called centre leftist like Clinton or Obama or NZ Labour today for that matter would have been considered centre right then, infact all I am advocating for is a much needed realignment…

                      "President Obama said his economic policies are "so mainstream" he'd be considered a moderate Republican in the 1980s."

                      https://thehill.com/policy/finance/272957-obama-says-his-economic-policies-so-mainstream-hed-be-seen-as-moderate-republican-in-1980s

                    • McFlock …
                      1 October 2019 at 5:36 pm

                      And compared with politicians 200 years ago both Clinton and Obama were centre left to extreme left.

                      But if we're talking about the US in 2008 and comparing Obama and Clinton's relative positions, then both my 200y.o. benchmark and your 30 y.o. benchmark are completely irrelevant.

                    • Adrian Thornton …
                      1 October 2019 at 5:41 pm

                      @McFlock, I hardly think comparing political positions from within the life times of the people involved to that of political positions 200 years ago makes any sense or has any relevance to this conversation whatsoever.

                    • McFlock …
                      1 October 2019 at 9:26 pm

                      Not sure the USA in 1995 was all that left wing. 3 strikes laws, Iraq, and all that.

                      And for NZ, 14% of current voters in NZ weren't even born 25 years ago, so not sure about "us all", either. And it was the height of the Bolger/Shipley governments.

                      I don't mind utopians – it's good to have goals.l But I think even your recollections are decidedly red-tinted.

                      But compared to, say, NZ politicians 45 years ago, yeah HC and Obama would probably be right wing. But that would be a pointless comparison, like comparing them to the US "founding fathers".

          • AB 2.2.1.1.2
            1 October 2019 at 2:37 pm

            "some massive leftie majority out there just waiting to be awakened by the right messiah"

            "Messiah" is a mischaracterisation of Sanders. At some rally when the crowd chanted "Bernie", he looked irritated and wagged his finger – "no no, it's not Bernie it's you". Near the end of Karl Stead's fabulous novel 'My Name was Judas' the narrator says, "Our friend was not the Messiah / Nor will there be one". Sanders, it seems to me, knows this instinctively, which is part of what makes him qualitatively different from all others in the race, and important historically, win or lose.

            But it's absolutely clear to me that everyone on here reads into the situation in the US exactly what they want to. And that there is no point in commenting on it any more.

  3. Anne 3
    1 October 2019 at 10:17 am

    News just in :

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2019/sep/30/donald-trump-news-today-live-impeachment-ukraine-whistleblower-latest-updates

    Trump reportedly pushed Australian PM to investigate Mueller inquiry.

    Not much detail yet.

  4. Pat 4
    1 October 2019 at 10:17 am

    "I didn't realise when I set up Matrix Homes that vested interests would not want it to succeed," he says. "We were selling a two-bed house for $99k, and that doesn't help us when the industry is trying to explain why houses are 700-800k."

    The building industry was resistant; so too was bureaucracy."

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/115369645/wellington-report-2019-why-the-matrix-is-not-always-about-the-future

    housing (affordability) crisis?…..whose crisis?

    • greywarshark 4.1
      1 October 2019 at 11:20 am

      Sounds enough to make you cry, sis!

    • weka 4.2
      1 October 2019 at 11:25 am

      I wish they'd done something indepth on that rather than just interviewing the business owner. Looks interesting, but too short on detail to see what is going on. We've been so focused on the cost of purchasing, I'd really like to see more on the costs from council's post leaky building, and from the housing industry raking in profits. Also the banks and the conditions they put on mortgages. That thing about having to build larger houses is one I hear too often.

      • greywarshark 4.2.1
        1 October 2019 at 11:47 am

        Exactly – why not write into The Detail or whoever is doing the in-depth stuff at Radionz and ask them to look into what you have outlined? They are trying hard and turning out some good background stuff I think. What do you think?

        • Dukeofurl 4.2.1.1
          1 October 2019 at 4:42 pm

          The problem with his business model – at a guess- is that the house is a prefab so he doesnt get paid anything till it goes on site. Thats a huge cashflow issue.

          Dont see how the banks have an issue with small houses per se. they happily lend on small apartments.

          The real problem is small sections, where the building- land ratio makes more sense with high land costs.

          And my impression was that people think of these small houses as a sort minor dwelling at the back of an existing house. That can be a minefield as far as consents go. My guess is he didnt have a very good planners working with him to navigate these issues FIRST before starting construction.

          Twyford can tell him all about wanting big numbers but only getting a trickle

          • weka 4.2.1.1.1
            1 October 2019 at 5:38 pm

            "Dont see how the banks have an issue with small houses per se. they happily lend on small apartments."

            Banks routinely refuse to lend on small builds, or make the conditions unattractive, afaik because they see small houses, especially if owner built or not a cookie cutter house, as a liability if it comes to a mortgagee sale. At least this is what I hear from people trying to get mortgages.

            • Pat 4.2.1.1.1.1
              1 October 2019 at 6:21 pm

              Banks (and everyone else with a finger in the pie, and that includes local and central gov) are seeking to protect their interest…consider if he had succeeded what would the effect have been.

              • weka …
                1 October 2019 at 6:58 pm

                It's depressing to consider. You'd think Housing NZ could have followed through.

                There could be issues we don't know about too.

                • Pat …
                  1 October 2019 at 7:07 pm

                  Actually HNZ would have been the perfect client….but there was still risk. If they had supplied HNZ what was to stop them (or someone else) taking the model to the wider market?

                  • weka …
                    1 October 2019 at 8:22 pm

                    They could have contracted a time period where that wouldn't be allowed?

                    • Pat …
                      1 October 2019 at 8:29 pm

                      only for the signee…the whole model is potentially too disruptive.A pity because there is so much potential to reduce housing costs but thats never really been the main concern

  5. joe90 5
    1 October 2019 at 10:52 am

    They've dispatched specialised protest-suppression personnel and kit with a command structure separate from the PLA, too.

    Here's hoping cool heads prevail.

    China has quietly more than doubled its deployment of mainland security forces in Hong Kong, according to foreign envoys and security analysts, in the most dramatic move yet by Beijing to prepare for a potential worsening of unrest in the global financial center.

    https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/09/30/asia-pacific/china-doubled-troop-levels-hong-kong-envoys-estimate/#.XZJ2V2bRWUl

  6. joe90 6
    1 October 2019 at 11:28 am

    This could be a BFD.

    The monarch reportedly asked aides for first time in her reign just how and when should could dismiss a PM.

    The Queen sought advice on the circumstances in which she could sack a prime minister ahead of Tuesday’s incendiary Supreme Court ruling, i has been told.

    https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/queen-sought-advice-on-sacking-prime-minister-source-claims-1-5013774

    Boris Johnson will be dismissed by Queen if he tries to ignore court order to implement Benn Act, says Grieve

    Dominic Grieve, one of the 21 Tories who had the whip removed after rebelling over Brexit and one of the MPs involved in drafting the Benn Act to rule out a no-deal Brexit on 31 October, has said he thinks the legislation is robust, and that ministers will not find loopholes in it.

    In an interview with Sky News, Grieve said that if Boris Johnson tried to ignore the law, the courts could force him to comply.

    [Johnson] would be taken to court and a writ of mandamus would be issued against him and he would be told, as a matter of law, that he has to write the letter [to the EU requesting a Brexit delay]. The case could go to the supreme court and I suspect the courts could deal with it very quickly.

    Grieve also said that, if Johnson tried to ignore the courts, ultimately he could be dismissed as prime minister by the Queen.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/sep/30/brexit-latest-news-boris-johnson-conservative-conference-boris-johnson-groping-allegation-deeply-concerning-says-former-cabinet-minister-live-news?

    • greywarshark 6.1
      1 October 2019 at 12:30 pm

      That would be a facer for Boorish. Good one.

    • Dukeofurl 6.2
      1 October 2019 at 3:14 pm

      Cant be 'dismissed' by the queen. This is not Australia where the written constitution gives the GG such powers.

      The last time a PM was sacked like that was the 1700's ( george Grenville)LOL

      If the parliament has no confidence in the PM, they should vote so and give Boris an election. …which they dont want.

      The Queen is between a rock and a hard place while the Commons wont vote no confidence in her PM

      Surely you can see the obvious.

      • joe90 6.2.1
        1 October 2019 at 3:22 pm

        Surely you can see the obvious.

        As I said, this could be a bfd.

        But unlike others, I ain't no scholar of UK political convention so wtf would I know.

        Eh, sport.

        /

        • Dukeofurl 6.2.1.1
          1 October 2019 at 4:23 pm

          A source …in Scotland…. asking about sacking a PM ?

          Thats absurd , the only person she can ask for 'advice' is Johnson himself. The story says so at the end. Clearly just scuttlebutt which is typical of UK papers..the rest of the world calls it fake news

  7. esoteric pineapples 7
    1 October 2019 at 11:32 am

    Fascinating insights in this interview with a former CIA whistleblower



    • esoteric pineapples 7.1
      1 October 2019 at 11:43 am

      On the subject of a CIA whistleblower citing Trump abused his power by asking a favour of the Ukrainian president to dig dirt on Biden, Biden himself on camera told the story of how he insisted the Ukrainian government fire its attorney general before he/the US government would give it a billion dollar loan which seems like a pretty obvious abuse of power too. Biden visited the Ukraine 13 times over 25 months. George Galloway suggests Biden's son Hunter was acting as a proxy for Joe Biden. In other words, the Biden versus Trump feud seems to be more about a battle between equally corrupt adversaries.

      • joe90 7.1.1
        1 October 2019 at 11:54 am

        The relevant issue is that tRump solicited Ukranian officials to interfere in a US election. That's it.

      • Andre 7.1.2
        1 October 2019 at 11:56 am

        Ever occur to you to look for perspectives beyond the recycled Repug talking points tailored to appeal to convergence moonbats peddled for clickbait by the likes of Jimmy Dore and Galloway?

        Here's just one of many:

        https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/23/20879611/joe-biden-hunter-biden-ukraine-corruption-prosecutor-burisma-donald-trump-whistleblower-complaint

      • francesca 7.1.3
        1 October 2019 at 2:28 pm

        And the prosecutor who was appointed to replace Shokin (he who was sacked because Biden said he was not pursuing corruption) actually finally closed down the Burisma investigation ….there were no calls for his sacking from Biden, in fact he (Lutsenko ) was in that position until last month.

        Burisma was also under investigation in the UK for fraud and money laundering.The UK says the Ukrainians were dragging the chain . The Ukrainians say the UK prosecutors were.

        Ukraine is an oligarchy, public officials are in the pocket of who has the ascendancy at the time

        At the moment Kolomoisky (Zelensky has described him as his business partner) is back in the driving seat after having been demoted by Poroshenko.

        The hellish nature of the Ukrainian oligarchy is covered in this Kyiv Post link

        https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/ihor-kolomoisky-still-throwing-his-weight-around.html

        The overthrow of Yanukovich did not eliminate corruption in Ukraine, the looting spree goes on .

        • Stuart Munro. 7.1.3.1
          1 October 2019 at 4:10 pm

          There is always an oligarchy.

          But given the choice between a domestic oligarchy and a Kremlin controlled one, it's not a difficult choice for the Ukraine to prefer their own. Nor would admitting a Putin appointee likely decrease corruption.

      • Dukeofurl 7.1.4
        1 October 2019 at 3:04 pm

        The Whole US government has been working with Ukraine to stamp out corruption

        https://nabu.gov.ua/en/tags/fbi

        Its not an abuse of power to follow formal government policy over many US presidents regarding Ukraines corruption

        NZ would do the same regarding our Aid to various places , especially some in pacific which are as broken as Ukraine is

        • francesca 7.1.4.1
          1 October 2019 at 5:47 pm

          Yep ,Kolomoisky is a prince

          https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-summit-kolomoisky/with-zelenskiy-in-charge-ukraine-tycoon-kolomoisky-sees-amicable-solution-on-privatbank-idUSKCN1VY1P8

          And the US is the absolute showpiece of corruption free democracy?

          Nah, like Jimmy Carter says "Its just an oligarchy now "

          Except we call them tycoons

          With money and corporations running the show

          Getting rid of Shokin did nothing to defeat corruption

          And the Ukrainians, as is so startlingly clear, are not one people as much as the nationalists of Western Ukraine would like them to be .The people of the east twice voted Yanukovich in

          And if the US is so keen to stamp out corruption (I mean really?)they would have made damned sure to avoid the bad optics of Biden and Archer being on the Burisma board being paid eye watering amounts ,shortly after Biden senior gets put in charge of Ukraine.You really think th e US gives a flying fuck about corruption??When they've backed the most corrupt, undemocratic countries on the planet?

          Check out Latin America through the decades.

          And if they were so keen on democracy , Pyatt and Nuland wouldn't been heard plotting over the phone on who should be PM

          "Yats is the man "

          The US has poured billions in to Ukraine with no reduction in corruption, but plenty of their own corporations like Monsanto reaping the benefits.Their money isn't conditional on anti corruption drives , rather on further deprivatisations so US companies can get in and make a profit.

          And geopolitically the ruling elites stay aligned to US elite interests

  8. greywarshark 8
    1 October 2019 at 11:41 am

    Another perspective on the UK and Europe.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/30/beach-towels-and-brexit-how-germans-really-see-the-brits

    The latest Conservative rabbits from the hat (The Sorting Hat – hopefully it contains enough magic to sort this lot out.)
    Brexit: Government to reveal detailed plan for EU negotiations
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49881345

    .

    Aljazeera in Manchester gathering people vox pop.

    Swweet promises (? – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_corruption)
    Sajid Javid says Tories aim to raise national living wage to £10.50 an hour – as it happened https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/sep/30/brexit-latest-news-boris-johnson-conservative-conference-boris-johnson-groping-allegation-deeply-concerning-says-former-cabinet-minister-live-news

  9. Ad 9
    1 October 2019 at 12:10 pm

    "Hollow Men" and its worthy successor "Utopia" are really good at mocking the language of senior bureaucrats and operatives. While it's Australian, it's a small shift to here, scaled down.

    This one I particularly enjoyed for its grandiloquence brought down to the smell of the printed paper:

    • Dukeofurl 10.1
      1 October 2019 at 2:57 pm

      Ngaro- he was more explicit …diss us and you will get your (NGO) funding cut.

      • ianmac 10.1.1
        1 October 2019 at 3:19 pm

        Actually Jones said bluntly just what other MPs slyly hint at. Why else would Bridges for instance offer bridges for some and not for others? Pretty blatant but not really up front. "Vote for our lot if you want bridges built," is the message though. All the time.

        Why would Farrar spend so much time on focus groups if it wasn't to find out who to whom and to what to set the promise (bribe).

        • McFlock 10.1.1.1
          1 October 2019 at 4:30 pm

          Well, bluntly expressing corrupt practise is generally considered to be worse than merely implying it.

          BTW, "bridges" is just some of it. David Skeggs' recollections about the defunding of the Public Health Commission are pretty damning.

          Shane Jones is a stupid, corrupt oaf. I really hope for a labgrn government next year.

    • Stuart Munro. 10.2
      1 October 2019 at 4:14 pm

      It's more concerning that net policy outcomes aren't much better than a tin-pot African nation, even though they represent a vast improvement over those of the previous government. Shane Jones is what he is, but given you were happy with Brownlee the Beast, your complaint is partisanship, not objectivity.

  12. Eco maori 12
    3 October 2019 at 8:26 am

    Kia Ora The Am Show.

    I agree that that someone needs to be held accountable for the CTV building that collapsed during the Christchurch Ruamoko. We lost A lot of good people in that desaster there whanau will be happy.

    I say that the media needs to be held up to have honest content as they have a major influence on the way people behave I have seen some behaving badly.

    All the best to Bernie

    Ka kite Ano

    • xanthe 12.1
      3 October 2019 at 8:36 am

      The Christchurch City Council are the body responsible for the loss of those lives.

      They cleared the building for re-entry after the 4 Sept 2010 earthquake.

      It withstood that earthquake but was mortally weakened with many reports from occupiers that it felt unstable between the two quakes.

      I continue to be amazed at how the CCC is getting away with this!

  13. Eco maori 13
    3 October 2019 at 5:30 pm

    These sandflys are sending PEE addicts after Eco Maori

  14. Eco maori 14
    3 October 2019 at 6:30 pm

    Kia Ora Newshub.

    Sea level rising

    I think our power bills are quite expensive.

    Justice for you is a great way to put that Wahine case.

    Its time for a change in our society way of treating Papatuanuku.

    A American Warbird crashed in America

    Ka kite Ano

  15. Eco maori 15
    3 October 2019 at 6:54 pm

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News

    Yes some tamariki and Mokopuna have bad teeth I made sure to my Tamariki looked after their nihor. One can jump up and down all they want but the horse won't drink Te Wai.

    Its great that more putea is going into Maori health.

    I think it is needed to have 18 years olds being kept in the youth justice. I say some don't grow up till quite long in the nihor.

    Indigenous 100 interviewing 100 indigenous tangata Wehie isn't it reka that tangata whenua o Aotearoa are receiving more respect.

    Moden Maori art is great there are some good artists rising from Maoridom some beautiful art to Kia Kaha.

    Ka kite Ano

  16. Eco maori 16
    4 October 2019 at 5:46 am

    Yes Te pro action against Papatuanuku Warming has started rolling against Te neanderthal who are to short sighted to see that there greed of money and power will cause A Papatuanuku wide tragedy now I can see that we the leftist of Te Papatuanuku are going to stop the BULLSHIT of the neanderthal lies and make the Papatuanuku a CARBON NEUTRAL PAPATUANUKU.

    An unstoppable climate change movement takes hold

    Climate chaos is playing out in real time from California to the Caribbean, and from Africa to the Arctic and beyond. Those who contributed least to the problem are suffering the most.

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    I have seen it with my own eyes from cyclone-battered Mozambique to the hurricane-devastated Bahamas to the rising seas of the South Pacific.

    I called the Climate Action Summit to serve as a springboard to set us on the right path ahead of crucial 2020 deadlines established by the Paris Agreement on climate change. And many leaders – from many countries and sectors – stepped up.

    A broad coalition – not just governments and youth, but businesses, cities, investors and civil society – came together to move in the direction our world so desperately needs to avert climate catastrophe.

    The Summit also showcased ways in which cities and global industries like shipping can achieve major reductions in emissions. Initiatives to protect forests and safeguard water supplies were also highlighted.

    More than 100 leaders in the private sector committed to accelerating their move into the green economy.

    A group of the world's largest asset-owners – responsible for directing more than $2 trillion – pledged to move to carbon-neutral investment portfolios by 2050

    This is in addition to a recent call by asset managers representing nearly half the world's invested capital – some $34 trillion – for global leaders to put a meaningful price on carbon and phase out fossil fuel subsidies and thermal coal power worldwide

    The International Development Finance Club pledged to mobilise $1 trillion in clean energy funding by 2025 in 20 least developed countries

    Too many countries still seem to be addicted to coal – even though cheaper, greener options are available already. We need much more progress on carbon pricing, ensuring no new coal plants by 2020, and ending trillions of dollars in giveaways of hard-earned taxpayers' money to a dying fossil fuel industry to boost hurricanes, spread tropical diseases, and heighten conflict

    And I will make sure that the commitments that countries, the private sector and local authorities have made are accounted for – starting in December at the UN Climate conference in Santiago, Chile. The UN is united in support of realising these initiatives.

    Climate change is the defining issue of our time

    Science tells us that on our current path, we face at least 3C of global heating by the end of the century. I will not be there, but my granddaughters will

    I refuse to be an accomplice in the destruction of their one and only home.

    Young people, the UN – and a growing number of leaders from business, finance, government, and civil society – in short, many of us – are mobilising and acting. But we need many others to take climate action if we are to succeed

    We have a long way to go. But the movement has begun.

    António Guterres is Secretary-General of the United Nations

    Kia Kaha Antonio keep up the excitement mahi.

    Ka kite Ano link below.

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/116296704/an-unstoppable-climate-change-movement-takes-hold

  18. Eco maori 18
    4 October 2019 at 11:26 am

    We need to stop all the plastic waste from entering our natural environment.

    Stop producing the stuff stop using it all together we did not need plastic in the days of old. We used natural materials paper made from plant products

    Glass bottles for our fluids don't let the pro carbon people's lies Te Tairawhitimate is going to fall on our heads if we choose to change the way we live to a non carbon closed loop system we're everything we use gets recycled.

    That's the only way we are going to SURVIVE in my eyes care for our ENVIRONMENT care for others culture care and respect for everyone.

    How worried should we be about microplastics?

    Plastic is everywhere – in our food, air, water and oceans. But do we know enough to determine how harmful it is to our health?

    Microplastics are found in our diets, our water and are impacting our environment. Should we be worried?

    If you enjoy a spot of food, like to breathe air and partake in the occasional drink of water (tap or bottled), then you’re almost certainly an unwitting consumer of microplastics.

    People who use triangular nylon tea bags are the latest group to be shocked at their exposure to plastics. According to one study, they could be getting about 11bn or so particles of plastic with their Earl Grey or breakfast tea.

    Microplastics have turned up pretty much everywhere that scientists have looked for them – from the bottom of the deepest parts of our oceans to the stomachs of whales, seabirds and in our own poo.

    Those fancy tea bags? Microplastics in them are macro offenders

    But should we be worried about our plastic diet – either for the sake of our own health or for the health of the environment?

    What is microplastic?

    There’s no agreed definition, but researchers have generally referred to pieces of plastic smaller than about 5mm as microplastic. However, the University of New South Wales’s Mark Browne, who has been researching plastics since 2004, says it’s better to think about plastics relative to the units they’re measured in. So microplastics are between one micrometre and 1,000 micrometres wide (there are 1,000 micrometres in one millimetre

    What is it doing to our health?

    “There’s an absence of science here,” says Browne. “We know that across particle sizes, plastics can cause issues. The critical issue now is what are the concentrations that people and wildlife are being exposed to. We don’t need more studies on which products emit plastics. We need studies that expose organisms or models to these doses to see if they cause problems

    Lauren Roman, at CSIRO oceans and atmosphere, says that for all animals “the size of the plastic matters”.

    “If the piece is too big, the animal won’t eat it or, in the case of seabirds, they will regurgitate it. If it’s very small then it can just pass straight through them.”

    For larger pieces, Roman says there is some evidence that plastic accumulating in the stomachs of animals can suppress their appetite – known as the “dietary dilution effect” that could have knock-on effects Ka kite Ano link below.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/02/how-worried-should-we-be-about-microplastics

  19. Eco maori 19
    4 October 2019 at 1:58 pm

    A study that tells us that it's just common sense that everyone everywhere needs to plant trees to sequence carbon emissions from the Tawhirimate. Planting trees does not need huge investment just the will of the tangata and government. The can be grown from seed or to jump ahead a year take cutting off Mama trees cloning them planting them and caring for them. I don't think many place are like Aotearoa we're we can just plant tree keeping the weeds in check for 2 years and walar you have a forests growing

    Massive Forest Restoration Could Greatly Slow Global Warming

    The right trees, planted in the right locations, could store 205 gigatons of carbon dioxide.

    The team has also created a planning toollinked to the map that will be open to the public starting July 5. Individuals and organizations can zoom in to any location to see where new forests could be started.

    Crowther has not studied other carbon sequestration techniques that have been discussed a lot lately, such as ocean fertilization (growing algae to soak up carbon) or direct air capture (machines that pull CO2 from the atmosphere), but he thinks they would be much more expensive than growing trees. He estimates it might cost the world $300 billion to plant the 0.9 billion hectares. And new forests provide another strong benefit: they restore biodiversity, which is crucial because so many plant and animal species are disappearing. Crowther says he began to study reforestation because he was really looking for ways to stop species loss. Tremendous benefits beyond carbon sequestration "come from biodiversity—providing food, medicines, clean water and all sorts of things for humans," he says.

    Chazdon cautions that replanting may not be as simple as it sounds, and she wonders if 0.9 billion new hectares will ever be possible, given competing priorities. More trees consume more water, and this could threaten agriculture or other human activities in dry areas. And local people may not want forests if they need to generate income from the land, say from farming or herding. Some prominent reforestation programs, such as ones in the Philippines, have failed "because there was no local involvement," she says.

    The best places to start reforestation are where multiple benefits can readily be gained. In a July 3 Science Advances paper, Chazdon and colleagues identify a series of locations in the tropics that have higher-than-average potential for benefits as well as ease of getting started.

    All the new tree work, Chazdon says, signals that "we're entering into the practicality stage" of smart reforestation. "We can bring a lot of interdisciplinary science to bear. I hope there will be more interaction between scientists and politicians, realizing that the tools we now have can guide reforestation that is the most cost-effective, and has multiple benefits and fewer tradeoffs."

    Ka kite Ano link below below

  20. Eco maori 20
    4 October 2019 at 2:06 pm

    Eco Maori was trying to organise the planting of 50.000 trees this year but there are too many hurdles to jump through Ma Te Wa the trees will be planted in 2020

    • Eco maori 20.1
      4 October 2019 at 6:31 pm

      Kia Ora Newshub.

      I tau toko the protests against the action Zealanders signs being plasted around the Auckland university the person in charge of the university needs to pulled up about this

      Yes people have to learn to be careful around Awa and Tangaroa as Wai is a powerful force that can take lives quickly.

      Another problem with the Westcoast access rail last time it was a road problem it caused by Global warming some of the people still want to mine coal.

      That's good that our government has stopped the banning of refugees from the Middle East and Africa.

      250 years since Cook landed in Turangi A Kiwa I'm not sure about the weaveing together.

      Let's hope not to much damage is caused by the big Bush fire in Australia the bushfire season started early there this year.

      If he didn't want heaps of tamariki he should not have donated his dna.

      The Glacier in France and most of the other Glacier around Papatuanuku are dissolving because of Human Caused Global Warming I see some storys about Climate Change are being muted.

      Ka kite Ano

  21. Eco maori 21
    4 October 2019 at 6:52 pm

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.

    I tau toko the tangata striking of a living wage I like to see management live on their workers low wage.

    Huge slip on another road the one by Ohakune Global Warming has given Tawhirimate heaps of Mana.

    Te Waiariki Wai safety is well needed organisation especially with our long Tangaroa lines and all our Awa and lakes in Aotearoa.

    Ka kite Ano