Open Mike 03/01/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, January 3rd, 2019 - 125 comments
Categories: open mike, uncategorized - Tags:

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 …

125 comments on “Open Mike 03/01/2019 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. lprent 1
    3 January 2019 at 10:24 am

    The block to comments this morning was due to the temp directory getting full. I’d left a bash shell tail the standard’s log, and it was spooling the log output into /tmp as history. I must set the bash to not be on an infinite scroll.

  2. Robert Guyton 2
    3 January 2019 at 10:49 am

    Pete George @ Your NZ:
    “It’s hard to measure whether Kiwiblog is worse than The Standard – abuse at KB is generally worse but it is also more open, there’s a more subtle insidious approach often taken at TS – and it is aided by one sided moderation, and promoted by the master moderator, which arguably reflects more poorly on the blog.”

    https://yournz.org/2019/01/03/farrar-acts-on-ongoing-attacks-on-ardern/#comment-336562

    Why do we allow George to comment here?
    His views seem poisonous.

    • te reo putake 2.1
      3 January 2019 at 10:55 am

      It’s a conspiracy, Robert. We master moderators have a solemn pact where we let PG comment here just to make his moaning about moderation at TS seem hypocritical. The rest of the commenters are subject to random, anarchic moderation decisions based on a throw of the I ching.

      • Robert Guyton 2.1.1
        3 January 2019 at 11:17 am

        Ah! Now I understand how it all works, TRP! The I Ching! Suddenly, it all makes sense!
        That’s a relief!

        • marty mars 2.1.1.1
          3 January 2019 at 11:49 am

          Watch out Pete’s probably writing another post on labour and Chinese names even as we speak…

          ‘At the Jacinda love blog the labour blackhats haters have once again ripped in again into immigrant and Chinese again as I predicted many time though a humble hobbyist and amiable amateur am I – I’m sure Mr or Mrs I ching is as deeply offended as I am at this and now I await my ban at that filthy jungle full of running dogs and sitting cats.’

      • NZJester 2.1.2
        4 January 2019 at 12:18 am

        The I ching, my goodness get with the times. Toss a D20 dice or shake up a custom made 8 ball filled with moderation decisions to spice things up.

    • marty mars 2.2
      3 January 2019 at 11:01 am

      Why do you care so much Robert?

      • greywarshark 2.2.1
        3 January 2019 at 11:14 am

        Because in everyday life you don’t make a good thing if you put poor, even poisonous, ingredients in it.

        And TRP the idea of letting anybody have a go as long as they don’t go against the basic rules supposedly is an example of free speech actually ignores why The Standard is important even vital in my opinion. It is an exchange of thinking peoples ideas

      • Robert Guyton 2.2.2
        3 January 2019 at 11:18 am

        Good question, marty mars – I have no reasonable answer to offer and thanks to you, I’m abandoning all interest in his waffling.

        • marty mars 2.2.2.1
          3 January 2019 at 11:35 am

          I’m not saying stop just make sure you’re getting what you want from it – imo you do good. Pete is Pete and that cat won’t change. But we also need to know the insidious lies he says to poison the well so if someone can stomach it well good on them.

          • Robert Guyton 2.2.2.1.1
            3 January 2019 at 11:40 am

            I think I was bored, Marty. I should have instead, pursued my old habit of learning new words. Here’s a good one: grimalkin

            “A grimalkin (also called a greymalkin) is an archaic term for a cat. The term stems from “grey” (the colour) plus “malkin”, an archaic term with several meanings (a cat, a low class woman, a weakling, a mop, or a name derived from a hypocoristic form of the female name Maud.”
            Much more fun 🙂

            • greywarshark 2.2.2.1.1.1
              3 January 2019 at 12:33 pm

              Hey is that an obscure put-downm? Hah! Great word ‘grimalkin’. Thinking about cats – the Cheshire Cat might be a good concept that could indicate a paragraph of opinion within those three words. A sort of code.

              Wikipedia says: “One of its distinguishing features is that from time to time its body disappears, the last thing visible being its iconic grin. ”
              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire_Cat

              Just perfect for people who need a ban. Could say, this one deserves the Cheshire Cat treatment!

              That would fit into PGs description of TS in 2 above.
              “It’s hard to measure whether Kiwiblog is worse than The Standard – abuse at KB is generally worse but it is also more open, there’s a more subtle insidious approach often taken at TS

              Subtle, insidious, machiavellian. Just the way that the powers that be are working away manipulating our society, and people like PG are useful foot soldiers. Meet them with an understanding of their own methods I say. As long as we try to speak truth and be as open as possible except when facing the twisted.

            • fender 2.2.2.1.1.2
              3 January 2019 at 1:17 pm

              “I think I was bored…”

              Humans dislike being bored so much sometimes physical pain is preferable. Experiments around sensory deprivation have shown humans will even inflict pain like an electric shock on themselves (or they will even go to yawnNZ) in an effort to alleviate their boredom.

              Some deadbeat subjects will even get so bored they will invent absurd fantasies like: ” I suppose that Marama Davidson is probably going to claim that Santa was a c**t though and claim him/her as being part of her taonga” to amuse themselves.

              Take care Robert, stick to reading the dictionary rather than the ramblings of the deranged. 🙂

          • Pete George 2.2.2.1.2
            3 January 2019 at 11:49 am

            “But we also need to know the insidious lies he says”

            That is more of an insidious lie than your vague unsubstantiated assertion.

        • Bewildered 2.2.2.2
          3 January 2019 at 2:04 pm

          You and Pete got a bit of bro love going on Robert The mutual infatuation is sweet 😊

    • Drowsy M. Kram 2.3
      3 January 2019 at 11:25 am

      Robert, thanks for keeping an eye on Your NZ and passing on some of the waffle – sorry to read you won’t be doing this anymore.

      Pete George’s catty assessment of The Standard’s moderation (and “master moderator”) arguably reflects more poorly on Pete George, and is weak poison.

      Petey is getting on in years and may be suffering from a nail and claw disorder:

      https://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/skin/c_ct_nail_nailbed_disorders

      • Robert Guyton 2.3.1
        3 January 2019 at 11:34 am

        Well, Drowsy, if Pete’s suffering from onychomycosis, which might explain his caterwauling (https://www.catster.com/cat-behavior/caterwauling-what-is-it-and-why-do-cats-do-it), then he deserves our sympathy, or at least mine, and I’m happy to offer it.

      • veutoviper 2.3.2
        3 January 2019 at 11:39 am

        That’s OK – I probably will!

        BUT a warning – I am probably older than PG …

        AND no I don’t suffer from a nail and claw disorder now that I have to have (give myself) very frequent Vitamin B12 injections to stay alive. Nails and claws are in top notch condition. LOL

        • Robert Guyton 2.3.2.1
          3 January 2019 at 11:44 am

          veutoviper – re-claws (nails and hair too) I met a woman recently who needed to strengthen hers, so drank tea made from horsetail (equisetum) daily for a month and built strong, vigorously-growing locks and nails. She recommended it highly. Yesterday I met a bloke who recommends darkening hair with water in which un-hulled walnuts have been boiled. He too swore by the process.

          • veutoviper 2.3.2.1.1
            3 January 2019 at 2:53 pm

            Interesting, Robert. Good hair and nails are a small inconsequential tangent benefit of my injections, as my body cannot absorb B12 from food through the stomach/gastric system. Addison-Biemers Syndrome aka Pernicious Anaemia (PA) which is a bit of a misnomer as its symptoms/effects are body wide and not just haematological.

            Vitamin B12 (In the case of PA – injections) are essential to make good red blood cells which can then transport oxygen around my body to keep my heart, lungs, brain and every other organ functioning and to try to stem the permanent muscular and neurological damage already done which means I can no longer walk far, or do a lot of other things in particular gardening. I have always been a very keen and active gardener (come from a long line of home and professional gardeners) and the inability to do so any more is devastating. Hence my silence to date on your posts on that subject.

            (FYI the long line apparently includes three generations of Head Gardeners and gardeners at Kew Gardens London, including when Joseph Banks returned with his NZ plant collection.)

            BUT a great benefit (double edged sword?) of the B12 injections is my brain function and memory have improved probably the most of all. IMO these functions are back to what they were probably in my late 30s (and the bloody brain will not stop churning in the middle of the night!)

            I could write a thesis on all of this but won’t today – LOL (TG, they all say.)

            • Robert Guyton 2.3.2.1.1.1
              3 January 2019 at 3:34 pm

              Jeepers! You’ve got great Garden Cred, veutoviper!
              The woman who recommended the horsetail treatment to me had also suffered from anaemia, though she didn’t say pernicious. She was from Baja California and looked Mexican. Great hair and nails!

      • greywarshark 2.3.3
        3 January 2019 at 12:37 pm

        Suffering from nail and claw problems? Or perhaps foot-and-mouth – though different animal? That could come from trying to beef up his arguments!

    • The Fairy Godmother 2.4
      3 January 2019 at 11:28 am

      As someone who canvasses for the Labour party I find the expression of such views useful and in particular the response to them. It gives me a greater understanding of the views out there. Unfortunately a lot of people are influenced by ridiculous anti union and anti labour views promoted by our media. It also takes me out of my bubble which is important when I want to help win elections. I do have a theory though that PG comes here to promote his blog and encourage people to click on it to see what the story is. Perhaps he comes here when his blog is quiet.

      • Pete George 2.4.1
        3 January 2019 at 11:52 am

        I came here recently to address false claims being made by Robert. he seems to feel aggrived that he should abide by reasonable standards of debate like everyone else (not here of course, he seems free to make things up).

        Did you notice that it was Robert bringing it up here and linking to Your NZ, not me.

      • greywarshark 2.4.2
        3 January 2019 at 12:21 pm

        I can see the truth of your opinions TFG. That was helpful explanation.

      • veutoviper 2.4.3
        3 January 2019 at 12:34 pm

        While some people here wonder why I and others bother to read PG’s and other blogs, I totally agree with what you have said re it being useful to know what is being said elsewhere and the reactions to it. As you say, this is needed to be able to put things in perspective and look at things from outside our own bubbles.

        I also suspect your last sentence is very close to the truth as to why PG comes here. (see my last para below.)

        I was actually adding to my tongue in cheek reply at 2.3.2 when I ran out of editing time, to say that I have been interested in seeing the road the comments have taken on my comment I filed on Open Mike on 1 Jan which lprent then put up as the post called “Discussion on Political Leader PR”.

        After making one slightly snide reply (sorry) to someone who commented on that post, I decided to not comment further and just see where the conversation went of its own accord. It has been an interesting exercise, and I am putting together a short summary of my observations as a sort of close off comment.

        While my comment started by replying to some assertions PG had made, very few people focused on what my actual comment morphed into as I wrote it which was the different treatment of PR by Ardern to that by Bridges, particularly in relation to their families – other than lprent and one or two others who actually read it in full (thanks Andre) and got the drift. I suspect most did not read it in full, but that’s life.

        I may also include a short bit about my observations of the reactions to PG’s comments on his own blog re his discussions/reactions to the thread here – Hint; very few there have taken the bait and responded in detail. Focus there is also now on Kiwiblog where yesterday Farrar finally banned someone for a hideous comment re the PM’s baby. I refuse to say anymore about that but PF has done a post on the whole situation – but has also taken the opportunity to include comparisions of Ts to Kiwiblog.

        But I also intended to include a comment similar to yours. That is, PG does put a lot of time and effort into his posts on his blogs and I give him credit for that. Sometimes, he gets a lot of on topic comments, but sometimes he gets very few. At times, it must be a bit soul destroying, and I have wondered more than once, whether he comes here for a different environment and different commenters when he is feeling a little disillusioned with his own blog. Fair enough, but also expect to be challenged.

        I also totally agree with what mickysavage says at 2.5 – both in respect to PG and as a general principle in relation to all commenters including myself.

    • mickysavage 2.5
      3 January 2019 at 11:59 am

      I have a soft spot for Pete. He has a deep respect for freedom of expression. He is tribal conservative but has reached a position where he thinks the centre provides the best result in a goldilocks sort of way.

      As long as he does not infringe the basic tenets of the site he is welcome to comment.

  3. marty mars 3
    3 January 2019 at 10:59 am

    “Hours after taking office, Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has launched an assault on environmental and Amazon protections with an executive order transferring the regulation and creation of new indigenous reserves to the agriculture ministry – which is controlled by the powerful agribusiness lobby.

    The move sparked outcry from indigenous leaders, who said it threatened their reserves, which make up about 13% of Brazilian territory, and marked a symbolic concession to farming interests at a time when deforestation is rising again.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/02/brazil-jair-bolsonaro-amazon-rainforest-protections

    The war has just gone up a few notches.

    • Ed 3.1
      3 January 2019 at 12:02 pm

      And we get another step closer to climate catastrophe.

      • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1
        3 January 2019 at 1:09 pm

        Another step well into climate catastrophe IMO. We should have stomped on this type of shit back in the 1990s but the governments have been taken over by business and refused to listen to the science.

        Now it’s going to end up being every country for themselves. The nations that won’t be too afflicted by the changing climate can’t afford the influx of refugees from those that will be.

        • Ed 3.1.1.1
          3 January 2019 at 3:04 pm

          Sounds like he Listens to Happy clappy born agains.
          You know the ones who believe in the oncoming apocalypse.

          “Silas Malafia, an influential televangelist and close friend of Bolsonaro, said developed countries who centuries ago cut down their own forests should pay if they wanted Brazil to preserve the Amazon.”

          • greywarshark 3.1.1.1.1
            3 January 2019 at 7:38 pm

            There is that interesting link thhat touches on Brazil’s surprisingly small haul from its oil sales. I think Brazil doesn’t have to be paid anything for doing what it should have done when the money was flowing like oi.

    • joe90 3.2
      3 January 2019 at 8:50 pm

      Hence the fevered support from Netanyahu, Pence and Haley.

      Another order removed the concerns of the LGBT community from consideration by the new human rights ministry.

      https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2019-01-02/brazils-bolsonaro-hinders-demarcation-of-indigenous-lands

  4. Ed 4
    3 January 2019 at 12:11 pm

    Glenn Greenwald shows how the Guardian has become a facade.
    Five weeks ago, it published a fake news front page story. It was totally made up.
    Its editor has been an ostrich and kept her head in the sand.
    The Guardian now displays where its priorities lie – not with the truth and not with the public, . It has become a pillar of the deep state.

    https://t.co/PvHYD56DYv?amp=1

    • greywarshark 4.1
      3 January 2019 at 12:18 pm

      Thanks Ed
      There have been comments about The Guardian for ages and I can see that there is something there. Pity because the G sounds good. I was thinking of putting payments into their pockets but hey?

  5. greywarshark 5
    3 January 2019 at 12:11 pm

    What’s going on down in China? How do people think about their system there, how do foreigners get treated? A close look by foreigners who live/have lived there and who know.
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNPa8fSXzzAZuT9859GVhg

    • Draco T Bastard 5.1
      3 January 2019 at 1:17 pm

      You linked to the person’s subscriber channel. Which particular video are you talking about?

    • Mark 5.2
      4 January 2019 at 1:03 pm

      Yeah…disgustingly privileged white people fearing their loss of privileges, one of whom is an angst fulled white South African who thinks he was ‘discriminated’ against in South Africa.

      From 9:04 to 10:16: Bemoaning the fact that the Chinese government does not accredit the diplomas of American international schools in China who follow their own curricula. He hates the fact that his kids should attend the local schools.

      Can anyone imagine the uproar in NZ say, if there were Chinese established schools teaching entirely in Chinese, teaching Chinese cultural and political perspectives, and these schools expecting to be fully accredited under the NZQA system?

      These people are pure FILTH (Failed in London Try Hong Kong) types. China would do well to be rid of such types.

  6. mauī 6
    3 January 2019 at 1:19 pm

    Gardening question for our resident organic gardeners.

    My brussel sprout plants are being overrun by aphids or might be cabbage butterfly larvae. The plants are looking really unwell. What is the peraculture solution to this please?

    • Fran 6.1
      3 January 2019 at 1:32 pm

      Kia ora Maui,

      This might help.

      A garlic spray can deter aphids, mites and white butterflies. Try crushing several cloves of garlic, add 1 litre of boiling water, leave to cool, then strain through a sieve. Add 1 teaspoon of soap or detergents to help the spray stick to the leaves.

      • mauī 6.1.1
        3 January 2019 at 1:45 pm

        Cool, thanks for that Fran. Worth a go.

        • patricia bremner 6.1.1.1
          3 January 2019 at 3:56 pm

          yes and using a baby hair brush to knock them down helps. Put small pots of cornstarch out for the ants. They actually put the aphids to work Cheers’

          • mauī 6.1.1.1.1
            3 January 2019 at 8:41 pm

            Thanks Patricia. ideally I’m looking for a solution that is part of the garden design and doesn’t involve human interaction if possible.

            • weston 6.1.1.1.1.1
              3 January 2019 at 10:03 pm

              prob gd to have the brassica doing most of their growing in a cooler time of the year maui ditto peas etc

  7. veutoviper 7
    3 January 2019 at 2:26 pm

    I am going to try to put this up as a totally neutral comment (with one exception*).

    FYI, yesterday David Farrar finally banned someone on his Kiwiblog General Debate post for an absolutely noxious* comment wishing violence to the PM’s daughter.

    I am not going to link to that comment or Kiwiblog, or give any more detail.

    Today, no General Debate post has been put up on Kiwiblog.

    h/t to a commenter on Pete George’s YourNZ blog. (I have checked and there is no GD for today on KB.)

    Pete George has done a detailed post on his blog on this banning and his views on comments on Kiwiblog and Farrar’s approach to moderation.

    This post and the comments on it can be viewed here.

    https://yournz.org/2019/01/03/farrar-acts-on-ongoing-attacks-on-ardern/

    There are no mentions of The Standard in the post itself but there are some in the comments, primarily by Pete George, with one or two small related replies from others.

    • Draco T Bastard 7.1
      3 January 2019 at 3:00 pm

      FYI, yesterday David Farrar finally banned someone on his Kiwiblog General Debate post for an absolutely noxious* comment wishing violence to the PM’s daughter.

      The most important word being finally.

    • Robert Guyton 7.2
      3 January 2019 at 3:28 pm

      They egg each other on and lose their sense of perspective. Seen fresh from the outside it all looks sick but the players know the nuances and histories of who’s saying what and see it all very differently. I think it suits Farrar to have those things said on his blog; he simply claims he can’t moderate them and thus allowing the harmful claims to see the light of day where a lot of “silent watchers” will see them. It’s an ugly strategy, imo.

      • One Two 7.2.1
        3 January 2019 at 10:44 pm

        Spot on, Robert…

        That is precisely what DF is doing…

        I’ve been to KB once many years ago…read the comments sections…never went back…

        I’ve also seen well known and highly placed business people link and quote from KB…

        DF takes his orders from somewhere…ugly indeed…

  8. Ed 8
    3 January 2019 at 3:30 pm

    Bryan Bruce reflects on knighthoods, questions the hardworking ethic of the new rich and lament the loss of egalitarianism in this country.
    As ever, he is spot on.

    “While I think it is important to acknowledge people for their contribution to our communities and our country, I do think it’s time we had the discussion again about what Knighthoods and Damehoods signify.
    Do we still want to cling to these vestiges of the British Empire or is it time to replace them with our own honours that reflect our now diverse multi-cultural country ?
    Your answer to that question, I suspect ,reflects what you think it means to be a New Zealander.
    A few days ago I was talking with Liz Gunn on her Drive show on Radio Live when I found myself remembering out loud that one of the things that once marked our National character is that we were an egalitarian country – that we believed “Jack was as good as his master” and that we called no man “Sir”
    It’s a charactistic, I regret to say, that is in grave risk of disappearing from the New Zealand psyche.”

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/01/03/guest-blog-bryan-bruce-call-no-man-sir/

    • greywarshark 8.1
      3 January 2019 at 4:11 pm

      I don’t mind giving homage to a man or woman that I deeply respect. Some deserve it. It is who receives this homage that bothers me. I think it should be up to the people to vote.

      • Morrissey 8.1.1
        3 January 2019 at 5:26 pm

        MEMO: greywarshark
        FROM: The Knights of the British Empire

        It has been brought to our attention that you have had the gall and temerity to write: “Some deserve it. It is who receives this homage that bothers me. I think it should be up to the people to vote..”

        We would like to point out that a Knighthood is the culmination of a lifetime of careful groveling to the powerful and assiduously keeping an eye out for “the main chance.” This process is what the “great unwashed”, i.e., such oiks as yourself, are obliged to call “public service”.

        We strongly contest your implication that some Knights and Dames do not deserve their honours.

        Respectfully,

        Sir Paul Holmes
        Sir Thomas Eichelbaum
        Sir Jimmy Savile
        Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet
        Sir Peter Leitch
        Sir Jeremiah Mateparae
        Sir John Key
        Sir William “Double Dipper” English
        Sir William Gallagher
        Dame Lesley Max
        Sir Clive Woodward
        Sir Robert Jones

        • DJ Ward 8.1.1.1
          3 January 2019 at 7:08 pm

          We?

        • greywarshark 8.1.1.2
          3 January 2019 at 7:56 pm

          Well Morry i can see some obvious ones in the list that bring to mind that old circular saying that someone is famous for being famous (although having some position in the community and/or wealth would be a requirement.)

          Perhaps we should retrospectively duck them in a pond and see if they come up to see who is one of the truly chosen.

          And to be really boring I’ll repeat Bad Sir Brian Botany which I guess not everyone has come across, I hope.

          Here is a reading from Chris Blue who is a NZr, He also does another one about knights.

        • Ed 8.1.1.3
          3 January 2019 at 10:09 pm

          Talley is a notorious knight.

  9. Ed 9
    3 January 2019 at 3:37 pm

    Ben Norton nails it.

    “Today, on the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, don’t forget that for years the ENTIRE WORLD has voted at the UN to call for an end to the illegal, crippling US embargo on Cuba.
    In 2018, the vote was 189 nations to 2 (USA and Israel).
    189. To. 2.”

    I would add the words of Morgan Artyukhina that Cuba is “a model for socialism & decolonization in innumerable ways. Real grassroots democracy ensures popular participation in politics everyday-not 1 day every 2-4 years like in capitalist democracies. Its medical system is the envy of the world, based on the local polyclinic.”

    Happy 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution! ¡Hasta la victoria siempre!.

    • greywarshark 9.1
      3 January 2019 at 4:09 pm

      Amazing numbers there. Cross your heart that’s totally factual?

      Good on Cuba, anyway. They have been through the mill. What about Puerto Rico?

    • joe90 9.2
      3 January 2019 at 5:06 pm

      Hasta la victoria siempre!.

      Your kinda place, eh, Ed.

      /

      Day and night, the screams of tormented women in panic and desperation who cry for God’s mercy fall upon the deaf ears of prison authorities. They are confined to narrow cells with no sunlight called “drawers” that have cement beds, a hole on the ground for their bodily needs, and are infested with a multitude of rodents, roaches, and other insects.

      These female prisoners lack all sort of necessary personal possessions and almost always have no water, even for bathing, often drinking this precious liquid full of insects. The food distributed to them is terrible, smells rotten, and is stored in receptacles lacking in hygiene. Even prison officials have complained of the small quantities served.

      In these “drawers” the women remain weeks and months. When they scream in terror due to the darkness (blackouts are common) and the heat, they are injected sedatives that keep them half-drugged.

      They are supervised by men who personally administer the feminine products they need and who so often open these “drawers” without respecting their privacy.

      One female prisoner cried out, “get me out!”, “get me out, I’m suffocating!”, and an official called Marino replied: “stick your nose out through a hole and shut up!”

      If anyone in the penitentiary protests out loud, they are taken to assigned punishment cells where they must abide by a ruthless discipline.

      https://web.archive.org/web/20090331143515/http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y03/nov03/10e8.htm

    • DJ Ward 9.3
      3 January 2019 at 9:27 pm

      One of the only nations where the Red Cross is banned fron visiting prisons. Under there rules all of us would get about 17 years in prison for our anti National or anti Labour comments. So hardly a free country.

      The health system as commented by ED is free but it’s also not free. Treatment is compulsory with no right of complaint. If the doctor wants to cut your arm off, your arm gets cut off. Some of the high profile political prisoners are Doctors and without free speech we actually have no way of knowing how good the system actually is. We very rarely hear about its errors or failings. Life expectancy figures shows it’s pretty good. Born today 78.8 years male: 76.5 years female. Not sure why women die younger. Maybe with less economic pressure etc on men unlike our society things are better for men. Plus they have regulated shared care so don’t have the ridiculous male suicide rate we get from our fault divorce, gynocentric family court scam.

      • greywarshark 9.3.1
        3 January 2019 at 11:06 pm

        Okay Cuba isn’t paradise. I’ll write it off my list of drawcards for my next overseas holiday, though if they are poor they might welcome me. Howecver I had better have super health insurance by the sounds of it. Probably a picture for much of the world.

  10. greywarshark 10
    3 January 2019 at 4:06 pm

    A fast talking punchy USA comedian Hasan Minhaj. Looking at Amazon and the behaviour of behemoths.
    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5maXvZ5fyQY

  11. Herodotus 11
    3 January 2019 at 4:22 pm

    I read many reviews on climate change. After spending an afternoon in the garden, whilst in the bathroom spotting a few exposed areas that missed out on suntan lotion, gave thought to how strong the sun is and the absence of comment regarding the ozone. NZ may “benefit” from a change in climate, yet we face hash consequences from the loss in ozone.
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/06/ozone-layer-not-recovering-over-populated-areas-scientists-warn

  12. Morrissey 12
    3 January 2019 at 5:39 pm

    Christopher Hitchens at his best

    Try to forget the memory of the sad fellow he became in the 2000s. He used to be great once….

    • Psycho Milt 12.1
      3 January 2019 at 7:07 pm

      Poor Hitchens must have been in despair in those years, knowing how low he’d fallen in morrissey’s esteem.

      • Morrissey 12.1.1
        3 January 2019 at 8:33 pm

        Hitchens jumped, suddenly and inexplicably, on to the doomed ship of neocon fools after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Even more foolish than that mad choice was his crazed attack shortly after on, of all people, Noam Chomsky. Interviewed by Kim Hill on National Radio in early 2002, Chomsky memorably wrote Hitchens off as “incoherent.”

        In October 2014, this writer, i.e. moi, wrote that Hitchens was:

        a supremely gifted writer, who ended up being regarded by most people as a courtier, a crawler and a callous, unapologetic liar. In his risible final book, he spends several pages enviously detailing how wonderfully urbane his friend Martin Amis was in the company of the young women at a Manhattan brothel they were visiting. He also indulges in a ridiculous attack on Noam Chomsky, and calls the democratically elected Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez a “dictator”.

        George Galloway, who memorably humiliated him in 2005 in New York City, was dead right when he said that Hitchens had transformed himself from a butterfly into a slug.

        https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-18102014/#comment-913383

        Still, thanks to the wonders of YouTube and the library, we can now appreciate Hitchens as he used to be, before he became unhinged.

        • Ed 12.1.1.1
          3 January 2019 at 9:12 pm

          I never could fathom why he turned from the brightest of lights to a slavish defender of the neocon wars of conquest.

          That debate between Galloway and Hitchens is memorable.
          In it George said of Hitchens,”What you have witnessed is something unique in natural history – the first ever metamorphosis of a butterfly back into a slug.”

          If that didn’t quite signal the full animosity he meant to convey, he extended the image: “The one thing a slug leaves behind it is a trail of slime.”

  13. DJ Ward 13
    3 January 2019 at 6:21 pm

    This could result in a few murders or even a war. OK there’s been a few murders already but the dreaded, often predicted water wars.

    Egyptians population growth is out of control with population set to double over the next 50 years. They are already facing an immediate fresh water crisis, power crisis so unless they get there act together things will get nasty.

    Then there is this bold move by Ethiopia. Yes Ethiopia.

    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jan/2/egypt-water-anxiety-grows-over-ethiopia-dam-nile/

    • Morrissey 13.1
      3 January 2019 at 8:51 pm

      You fool, you’ve quoted a Moonie paper.

      • DJ Ward 13.1.1
        3 January 2019 at 9:56 pm

        Explian how that worthless comment matters to the dam? The article is News far more than opinion so deal with it.

        I’ll quote who I like. Most if not all your fixations on media is irrational. All of us realise that media, no matter who it is, are pushing one eyed wheelbarrows.

        The recent comments by the former female editor of the NY Times is a good example of bias. The NY Times being blatantly anti Trump, driven by click bait and graduates out of the lefty indoctrinated universities. Same in NZ.

        • greywarshark 13.1.1.1
          3 January 2019 at 11:03 pm

          Blatantly anti-Trump. Perhaps she is just trying to find that elusive balance. Are you a Trump supporter?

  14. greywarshark 14
    3 January 2019 at 7:58 pm

    The ability of the do-it-yourselfer with or without No.8 wire, this guy uses duct tape and lots of it, is the subject of this next serious skill-building video.

  15. Sacha 15
    3 January 2019 at 8:02 pm

    Stoked to see the top-notch material that talented NZ musicians and film-makers can produce these days:

    • Sacha 15.1
      3 January 2019 at 8:04 pm

      @Lprent – for your notes, auto-embed worked and then it disappeared when I edited the text. Oh, and now it’s back even though the edit window is still open.

  16. Morrissey 16
    3 January 2019 at 8:50 pm

    J.K. Rowling writes amusing children’s fantasy,
    but that’s as far as her talent goes, unfortunately.

    http://normanfinkelstein.com/2018/12/30/nouveau-riche-j-k-rowling-doesnt-want-to-share-her-bundle-of-swag-so-naturally-she-cries-antisemitism/

    • Ed 16.1
      3 January 2019 at 10:17 pm

      She is a notorious anti-lefty on Twitter.
      Spends hours going after Corbyn.
      She has forgotten the days she was penniless writing in an Edinburgh cafe.

      • greywarshark 16.1.1
        3 January 2019 at 10:44 pm

        Ed
        She does have the right to consider Corbyn unsatisfactory. Why don’t you think of some things to ask your next local government candidates as on Matthew’s post?

        • Morrissey 16.1.1.1
          4 January 2019 at 9:58 am

          She does not have the right to recycle vicious lies, however.

          Yes, yes, she’s made a career out of penning fantasies, but she’s foolishly signed up to repeat the sad and stupid fantasies of Yenta Hodge, Rudolf Giuliani, Alan Shredowitz, Binyamin Netanyahoo, et al.

          As we see every day with that loon in the White House, money can’t undo the stupid.

      • joe90 16.1.2
        3 January 2019 at 10:49 pm

        Rowling; influenced by socialist writer Mitford, a well heeled supporter of multiple causes including ending child poverty, single parents, the welfare of child mental health patients, Médecins Sans Frontières, human rights, refugees, and a long time supporter and donor to UK Labour.

        Ed, an ahistoric, poe-faced malcontent with a boner for war criminals and corrupt, authoritarian thugs.

        • Morrissey 16.1.2.1
          4 January 2019 at 10:00 am

          Ed, an ahistoric, poe-faced [sic] malcontent with a boner for war criminals and corrupt, authoritarian thugs.

          You’re trying too hard, joe. Lying like you’re doing never helps. Not for long.

    • DJ Ward 16.2
      3 January 2019 at 10:33 pm

      Your really don’t get it do you.
      Your source Norman? Links to Twitter, that longs further into Twitter. Why not direct to the Rowling comment.

      A Rowling comment.

      “I chose to remain a domiciled taxpayer for a couple of reasons. The main one was that I wanted my children to grow up where I grew up, to have proper roots in a culture as old and magnificent as Britain’s; to be citizens, with everything that implies, of a real country, not free-floating ex-pats, living in the limbo of some tax haven and associating only with the children of similarly greedy tax exiles.
      A second reason, however, was that I am indebted to the British welfare state; the very one that Mr Cameron would like to replace with charity handouts. When my life hit rock bottom, that safety net, threadbare though it had become under John Major’s Government, was there to break the fall. I cannot help feeling, therefore, that it would have been contemptible to scarper for the West Indies at the first sniff of a seven-figure royalty cheque. This, if you like, is my notion of patriotism. On the available evidence, I suspect that it is Lord Ashcroft’s idea of being a mug”

      The top tax rate is 45% and she has earnt at least 650million pounds. You want her to pay more? Other people’s money eh.

  17. beatie 17
    3 January 2019 at 9:15 pm

    ‘A former All Blacks manager and national rugby president has claimed a Polynesian star was robbed of a match appearance because the tour bosses couldn’t spell his name.

    The outrageous revelation was made by West Coast rugby identity John Sturgeon, and brought howls of laughter from a Greymouth audience.’

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12184488&fbclid=IwAR0FbcCoWyy4ujfsG2f6YuY8qRhoX_n6gkW8S9j2EwB4WUt7ApiVc56cPC0

    So, not only was Va’aiga Tuigamala’s career adversely affected, Sturgeon and his audience think racism is hilarious.

    But, hey no racism in Newzild, eh.

    • greywarshark 17.1
      3 January 2019 at 10:57 pm

      It was a superb example of ineffective management though. What a dumbie, and couldn’t the office workers get their information correct? Was there a legal side, where you are expected to have names correct? It’s not necessarily racism, it’s slackism.

  18. greywarshark 18
    3 January 2019 at 10:37 pm

    Does anyone know why Music 101 and Alex Behan have been dropped from Radionz?
    And going back why did Simon Mercep get put off? He’d hardly got started.

  19. greywarshark 19
    3 January 2019 at 10:46 pm

    Everyone is having trouble fronting up to the waste problem. The authorities don’t take control – in this case the workers are losing out as well as those trying to run a difficult business. This in Scotland.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-46741497

    And in India, two poor brothers run an efficient scrap business and just make a living. Is this what the west really want?
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46616372

    But Indians are generating more waste than ever as processed food takes over kitchens, cheap electronics fly off the rack, and home delivery apps fill up phones. And a deep-rooted sense of thrift (the same one that has fuelled India’s famous “jugaad” or cheap innovation)

    So what’s this ‘jugaad’?

  20. Ed 20
    4 January 2019 at 2:31 am

    Interesting 2019 predictions from Bomber Bradbury.
    I agree with someof them…. I don’t see the establishment being shaken out of its complacency to climate change, I am hopeful Jeremy Corbyn will lead a Lexit.

    Interesting thoughts from Martin.
    Thought provoking.

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/01/03/pessimistic-predictions-for-2019/

  21. Eco Maori 21
    4 January 2019 at 10:37 am

    The Western Australia has got there future on the correct path renewable enery is going to power our future ka pai
    Renewable energy
    New lithium hydroxide factory in Western Australia wins federal approval
    Plant set to boost local jobs and supply growing global demand for lithium, which is used in renewable energy storage Earthworks for a new lithium hydroxide factory in Western Australia are expected to begin this month after the $1bn project received federal environmental approval.
    The plant owned by the world’s largest lithium producer, the US chemical company Albemarle, was approved by the WA government in October and is estimated to create up to 500 jobs in construction, with another 100 to 500 operational jobs once it is operational.
    Australia’s trade minister, Simon Birmingham, said the plant would provide a much-needed local jobs boost and supply a growing global demand for lithium, which is used in renewable energy storage.The company has been ordered to identify a new breeding and foraging habitat for WA’s three threatened black cockatoo species – Carnaby’s cockatoo, Forest red-tailed cockatoo, and Baudin’s black cockatoo – to offset habitat lost by clearing the 89ha plant site, including 54ha of coastal plain vegetation that is home to a number of threatened native orchids.
    The director of the Conservation Council of Western Australia, Piers Verstegen, said the environmental impacts of the project were “manageable” Ka kite ano links below P.S I know wild whenua will be ruined but its will counter by limiting carbon being burnt

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/03/new-lithium-hydroxide-factory-in-western-australia-wins-federal-approval

  22. Eco Maori 22
    4 January 2019 at 11:25 am

    ‘Momentum is growing’: reasons to be hopeful about the environment in 2019
    As we reflect on a year of extreme weather and ominous climate talks, Guardian environment writer Fiona Harvey explains why 2019 could see some much-needed breakthroughs E
    xtreme weather hit the headlines throughout 2018, from the heatwave across much of the northern hemisphere, which saw unprecedented wildfires in Sweden, drought in the UK and devastating wildfires in the US, to floods in India and typhoons in south-east Asia.
    According to the World Meteorological Organisation, last year was the fourth hottest on record and confirms a trend of rising temperatures that is a clear signal that we are having an effect on the climate. Droughts, floods, fiercer storms and heatwaves, as well as sea level rises, are all expected to increase markedly as a result.
    Late in the year there was also the starkest warning yet from scientists of what our future will be if we allow climate change to take hold. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the global body of the world’s leading climate scientists, which has been producing regular reports on the state of climate science since 1988, produced its latest comprehensive overview examining what the future will look like if we undergo 1.5C (2.7F) of warming. That does not sound like a lot – most people would be hard put to notice a temperature difference of 1.5C – but in climate terms, 1.5C above pre-industrial levels is enough to take us into the danger zone. It would see the mass die-off of coral reefs, the extinction of some species, rising sea levels, wet areas of the world becoming wetter and dry areas drier, and the decline of agricultural productivity across swaths of the globe Ka kite ano links below.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/02/climate-change-environment-2019-future-reasons-hope

  23. Eco Maori 23
    4 January 2019 at 12:25 pm

    Its cheaper and more intelligent to prevent making a mess of our lakes and awa rivers. Change to organic farming the tourist boom was predicted by national so why was there no intro structure money invested in the places were they new the tourist booms would take place well ask simon. We need to get the toilets and sewage systems up to a standard to handle the tourist.
    The end is nigh for our lakes
    Queenstown and Wanaka are New Zealand’s poster children, Instagram worthy and renowned around the world – always with our ostensibly ‘pristine’ lakes in the foreground.
    The appearance belies the reality – our Southern-Lakes waterways are in danger and no-one is talking loudly enough about it. It’s not bad all the time, and for some, that’s enough leeway to ignore the problem.
    There’s a map, on the Ministry of the Environment’s webpage that shows the real-time, most recently recorded water quality for every large lake and river in the country. The colour coding goes from red being ‘poor’ to blue being ‘excellent’.
    If you look closely enough, there’s a trend, the red dots are creeping their way upstream, multiplying, coming ever-closer to the source. Our waterways are dying.
    Water quality is a weathervane, it signals changes on the horizon. Those changes are occurring at a rapid rate. The Southern-Lakes is home to New Zealand’s fastest growing population, increasing annually at around 8 percent – a lot when compared with Auckland’s 2 percent.
    We have over 3 million visitors a year, and that number is multiplying with airport expansions and draft tourism strategies tabled that forecast five million visitors in the not too distant future. Our water quality is in danger across the district – not only big bodies of water under regional council control but also drinking water and stormwater under local district council control. The infrastructure is under too much pressure – from development runoff, stormwater provisions, sewage treatment
    E. Coli, cyanobacteria, Lake Snot, these are all terms that have become part of our everyday vocabulary. We have begun to expect days in summer where the quality is so bad as to be unswimmable rather than being shocked by it. That desensitisation leads to a slippery slope of acceptance.
    The only response to anything less than pristine and excellent condition of our waterways should be outrage. Foot-stamping, loud, vocal, in-your-face outrage. There’s a crisis afoot, not just brewing, and we need our authorities to recognise it.
    Just because water looks clear doesn’t mean it isn’t contaminated. So where’s the problem? What is causing it? And most importantly, what can we do about it?
    Ka kite ano

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/01/03/377614/the-end-is-nigh-for-our-lakes

  24. Eco Maori 24
    4 January 2019 at 1:37 pm

    No need for Eco Maori words this mana wahine say’s it all for me.

  25. Eco Maori 25
    4 January 2019 at 1:55 pm

    No need for Eco Maori words Tama Iti say it all.

  26. Eco maori 26
    4 January 2019 at 5:51 pm

    Kia ora Te kaea one has to keep a eye on the weather when diving there are a few people drowning While diving.
    Ngati porou pa wars is going strong I seen a couple of faces I know.
    Feed the need is a good idear feeding the children with no lunches at school.
    Ka pai Te whano apunui has a wakama team for there tamariki.
    It’s cool to see way wine boxing getting some media coverage.
    Ka kite ano

  27. Eco maori 27
    4 January 2019 at 6:36 pm

    Kia ora Newshub some people need to learn how to forgive the American hip-hop 2 different groups from the USA fight in Aotearoa no way to be a role model for the tamariki.
    I wonder if he knows that he has bitten off more than he can chew trump that is .
    Let’s hope there is not any lives lost or to much damage in the Tasmanian Bush fires.
    Ka pai to all the new Democrats members of the American Representative of The House.
    It was a sad loss the Rugby league Fai drowning trying to save a m8.
    Congratulations to China for landing a spacecraft’s on the far side of the Marama.
    I seen a show were a lady could detect some dease just buy smell to .
    It will be a great way to diagnose cancers from someone’s breath that will save a lot of lives. Ka kite ano

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.