Open mike 03/04/2022

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 3rd, 2022 - 37 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 …

37 comments on “Open mike 03/04/2022 ”

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  1. Tony Veitch (not etc.) 1
    3 April 2022 at 6:38 am

    Thoughts on a Sunday morning:

    “Obviously, not everyone agrees that a Mass Extinction Event is under way. The ongoing, rampant denial is based on at least four factors: 1) contemporary people are generally ignorant about science; 2) these people are not particularly bright; 3) people lie to themselves and others to enhance their own comfort; and 4) vertebrate animals tend to receive more attention than other species in discussions about the ongoing loss of biodiversity.

    “We are in the midst of an insect apocalypse that has been widely reported for the last few years. Insects and other small, seemingly insignificant species are critically important for our continued wellbeing and survival. It is the smallest of organisms that pollinate plants, filter water, break down biomass into soil, and generally make our lives worth living. If you think tiny organisms don’t matter to your health and happiness, just try upsetting the balance of bacteria in your stomach. You can get back to me when you’re done sitting on a toilet.

    “We are in trouble. We are in real trouble. Earth has been in the midst of a Mass Extinction Event for at least 30 years.”

    From Guy McPherson – Nature Bats Last.

  2. mac1 2
    3 April 2022 at 8:18 am

    Beautiful quote from a spokesperson in the PM's office to a reporter seeking to question about a misogynistic altered photo.

    "The Prime Minister’s office declined to comment when approached by Stuff. A spokesman added that it was the perpetrators of misogyny that should be questioned, not the victim."

    And questioned severely. The maximum penalty is a $200,000 fine for a company.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300556615/police-receive-complaint-about-doctored-photo-of-pm-used-to-promote-strip-club?

    • Anne 2.1
      3 April 2022 at 11:47 am

      There have been many women down the years who can attest to the accuracy of negative reactions mac1. Victims are left to feel they are in some way responsible for the harassment they have experienced.

      In my case it was obscene phone calls and hoaxes with sexual connotations. On one occasion my home was broken into and a lurid message scrawled on a bathroom cabinet door. It also included false claims about me to authoritative persons. The perpetrators (two of them as it turned out) were never approached by those to whom I reported the incidents including the police. I didn’t know their identities at the time but for certain reasons an investigation would have uncovered them quickly.

      It is wrong that this type of activity is not taken as seriously as other forms of criminal behaviour. It can have such an impact on a person's life as has been elsewhere described by the City Councillor, Sara Templeton.

    • Anker 2.2
      3 April 2022 at 12:10 pm

      Disgusting mysogyny. But that is what I would expect of a business that objectifies women.

      Its brutal to see how women are the target of so much vitriol and hate

      • mac1 2.2.1
        3 April 2022 at 12:42 pm

        Yes, Anker. Told a man I walk with about this issue. He had to have it explained to him why it was misogyny. Earlier, I listened to some anti-Māori story telling and got told that Māori would have used slaves to dig the eel canals by an American of otherwise great sensibility.

        I wonder why first the topic came up as we looked down on the site of the first Polynesian settlement in Aotearoa, and why people immediately the brought in the cruel side of Māori culture as they did today.

        Is it a way of justifying old colonial attitudes- "They did it, too"?

        Interestingly I diverted the discussion onto stories of how our pakeha ancestors got here and when, and why. They knew the stories of the ships, their names, where and when they landed, even why they came. And they were doubting stories of canoes bringing crops and growing materials that gave legitimacy to the Māori who were telling their stories to them.

        These were otherwise reasonable men, some conservatives, some Greenies but we have some way to go in our discourse as this discussion, held over coffee on a site that was a replica of a stone age Henge, showed.

        Three Waters, co-governance, Te Tiriti, will occupy some pretty ugly ground to be worked over…….

        Misogyny, racism, bigotry in all its form have a common roots in ignorance, fear and power-seeking greed.

        Look for the same causes in reactions to the new issues of our times- pandemics and global warming.

  3. Patricia Bremner 3
    3 April 2022 at 8:47 am

    Yes Tony, I am alarmed at the lack of flying insects. Bees have been notable by their absence.

    Cockroaches and ants still abound round our pongas, but there are few moths round lights at night.

    Spraying for years, mowing all grass, planting geometric spiky plants, doing away with cottage gardens and fruit trees, fences instead of hedges, the world of concrete and bitumen is damaging life.

  4. joe90 4
    3 April 2022 at 10:20 am

    When will these lunatics be charged with conspiring to kidnap and murder their imagined enemies?

    Surely discussing and then compiling a list of those they intend to kidnap and murder is enough.

    On a Tuesday afternoon last month, around two dozen people joined a Zoom meeting to decide whether to sentence the New Zealand Government to death.

    This group, calling itself a “grand jury”, was led by Australian woman Sandra Crack, who has claimed to be the “chief sheriff” of Australia.

    A day earlier, the group had ruled that the Government was no longer legitimate, and agreed that all laws passed since 1987 were fraudulent and thus void. Now, they would be the arbiters of justice in New Zealand.

    […]

    For more than five hours, the group discussed the supposed crimes that had been committed. Among those on the Zoom call were John Ansell, the former National party ad-man, and Jamie Mansfield – who uses the pseudonym Jae Ratana – who was involved in setting up the occupation at Parliament.

    […]

    One by one, the jury voted to adopt the death penalty for these crimes.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300555020/the-selfproclaimed-sheriffs-who-want-to-arrest-the-authorities

    https://number8haywire.substack.com/p/sheriffs?s=r

    • SPC 4.1
      3 April 2022 at 10:34 am

      The tragedy is that sovereignty movement folk do not realise they are larpers.

    • Ross 4.2
      3 April 2022 at 11:22 am

      When will these lunatics be charged with conspiring

      So, conspiracies are real? What makes this a conspiracy?

      I imagine that police would require evidence before any charges could be laid.

      • joe90 4.2.1
        3 April 2022 at 11:55 am

        Publicise a conspiracy to import a banned substance and find out whether or not the popo require evidence before any charges could be laid.

      • Incognito 4.2.2
        3 April 2022 at 2:03 pm

        Who let the monkeys out this morning?

        Have you even read the link in joe90’s comment or did you simply fail to switch on your brain and register the words and message? 15 March was less than 3 weeks ago and you’ve already conveniently wiped it from your memory, it seems. Has it occurred to you that you might be an enabler?

      • McFlock 4.2.3
        3 April 2022 at 9:21 pm

        So, conspiracies are real?

        many are

        What makes this a conspiracy?

        Assuming the zoom meeting is reported accurately, the agreement of several people (zoom participants) to damage another (the people they "judged") via an unlawful act (the legal validity of their "summonses" and "executions"to be determined by an actual court, of course).

        Might be that the same people talking about the zoom meeting have a recording of that zoom meeting, in which case the evidence of the conspiracy will be the recording of the conspiracy.

        Happy to help.

    • RedLogix 4.3
      3 April 2022 at 11:28 am

      Good point joe – this crowd has been around in various forms for decades, but as the globalisation unravels and the level of threat and anxiety builds they will gain adherents. Expect more of this.

      There is of course a lesson in this for all of us. The moment you are thinking that your cause is so important that it justifies chaos, murder, or even war in order to achieve it's ends – then you have stepped over the boundary.

    • Red lion seratus 4.5
      3 April 2022 at 9:32 pm

      Having spotted this story to , it all seemed to read like a McPhail & Gadsby satire…all it needed was a ex-mayor in a rusty stepside truck who sold speed on the side. Unfortunately this is the reality of conspiracy nutters cyber fucked on Qanon & the like

  5. weka 5
    3 April 2022 at 12:03 pm

    I'm writing a post for Climate Action Mondays, this one on slow fashion. If anyone is aware of government actions, progressive party policies, or NZ NGO/community activities, please let me know.

  6. Poission 6
    3 April 2022 at 1:31 pm

    Whats really on peoples minds.

    https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1508079380614066180

    Consumer confidence correlates well with voting opinion,which in NZ is the lowest since 2008.The effects will arise in the Local elections as Both mayors and Councillors become unemployed.

    Adding costs on a weak ideological basis ie that does not improve efficiency (productivity) is both wasteful and unsustainable in a regime of Peak Money.

    https://tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/consumer-confidence

    https://theconversation.com/cost-of-living-crisis-historical-evidence-suggests-voters-could-quickly-turn-against-tories-176633

  7. Belladonna 7
    3 April 2022 at 3:26 pm

    Interesting article on the work that Mallard is doing to change the culture of parliament – specifically (though not entirely) around MPs – who have previously been untouchable.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/parliament-workplace-bullying-culture-review-mps-the-staff-you-cant-fire/6XHPXYTF6K527LDY3FIUABN26A/?c_id=1&objectid=12515297&ref=rss

  8. joe90 8
    3 April 2022 at 7:06 pm

    Tankies, Putin humpers?

    https://twitter.com/five15design/status/1510403906790387712

    Zachistka

    Zachistka (Russian: зачистка, lit. clearing operation) is an unofficial Russian military term for "building (room-to-room) clearing operations" (battle drill) featuring armed patrols and house-to-house searches. The term is mostly associated with, but not exclusive to, the "insurgency phase" of the Second Chechen War following the reinstatement of Russian peacekeeping operations in Chechnya. Several zachistka operations became notorious for their accused or confirmed human rights violations by Russian forces, including ethnic cleansing and pillaging, and the term zachistka is used in English exclusively to refer to these violations, particularly in Chechnya.[1]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachistka

    #Bucha

  9. Poission 9
    3 April 2022 at 8:28 pm

    Housing investors and Tax breaks,seems to be a ubiquitous recipe for housing inflation.

    Why did landlords buy so many more houses in 2021? There are a lot of reasons, including the rise of short-term rentals which has taken thousands of houses out of the Phoenix housing supply and put them into the Phoenix lodging supply.

    One national, long-term, systemic cause is that real estate investors get huge tax breaks that live-in owners don't get. Landlords naturally buy a lot more houses because of those tax breaks.

    Those government incentives also make real estate booms (and busts) a lot larger than they would be if the government didn’t, essentially, pay landlords to buy single-family houses.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwake/2022/04/01/the-real-reason-house-prices-are-skyrocketing-what-the-real-estate-industry-wont-tell-you/?sh=23c3bd335da4

    • pat 9.1
      3 April 2022 at 8:53 pm

      That describes the incentives and symptoms rather than the cause (raison d'etre)….for that we can identify credit expansion.

      • Poission 9.1.1
        3 April 2022 at 8:57 pm

        The credit expansion also needed to go somewhere (equities being well overpriced) so Fundmanagers like Blackrock started investing in residential housing (they also had an in on where companies would expand production sites early)

        • pat 9.1.1.1
          3 April 2022 at 9:09 pm

          Where the borrowing comes from is not important, rather the trajectory.

          None of it would be accepted unless by design, and the functioning of the system depends on it….everything else is incidental.