Open mike 04/05/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 4th, 2024 - 56 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step up to the mike …

56 comments on “Open mike 04/05/2024 ”

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  1. observer 1
    4 May 2024 at 8:14 am

    Steve Braunias, always a good Saturday morning read, now at Newsroom. Nails it:

    The Secret Diary of .. Coalition Sheriff Luxon (newsroom.co.nz)

    • Kay 1.1
      4 May 2024 at 8:42 am

      Brilliant. Nice to have access to Braunias again. No way was I ever going to pay for a Herald subscription.

    • ianmac 1.2
      4 May 2024 at 9:39 am

      Steve hits my nail on the head and hopefully nails the lid on the Luxon coffin.

    • Phillip ure 1.3
      4 May 2024 at 1:27 pm

      (here's my go..)satire…

      My day by Christopher (n.b.!) luxon .

      I awoke with that familiar sense of dread…after a nite of intertwined nightmares…featuring Peter's and Seymour…tying me in knots impossible to get out of…and constantly laughing at me ..and not in a nice way..

      (Why can I no longer have the nice dreams I used to have..the rapture-ones…?)

      To the bathroom…for the head-shave….I wish I hadn't started this bloody look..the upkeep is a killer…but like so much of my life now ..I am trapped ..I think I look like Mr potato-head…

      Her indoors has my smoothy green (oh..!..the irony..!) breakfast ready…and the car is waiting..

      My first hurdle of the day is meeting with Peter's and Seymour..(or as I call them ..pe-more..)..

      God..!!.. it's tiresome…both of them constantly waving their dicks in the air.. trying to clamber on top of each other .. it's unsightly…

      And this is my immediate future…

      And the ministers they have foisted on me..(!)…have you seen these clowns..?…I wouldn't hire them to load suitcases on planes ..

      I am enjoying wreaking tory havoc upon the lefty public servants..but it is those ministers I would like to fire..

      And I have to work with them ..(!)

      Well…I had the meeting…the usual bullshit went down…(They really loathe each other..)..and a new fear is solidifying within me ..(just what I need..!)

      That is that Peter's wanted deputy p.m. job first…'cos he is planning to ensure his enemy has a much truncated go at the job..and he will pull the plug ..when he chooses ..bastard..!

      He has this whole 'i've got a secret..vibe about him ..

      I trust him as far as I could throw him…

      Just got a new poll…it isn't good news…we are tanking..me especially…where is my bloody honeymoon..?..John promised me one..!

      At this rate we will only be a one-term government ..and that is not long enough to do what I promised to the backers…(They didn't shell out $10 mill + for nothing..eh..?..they want their pay-day..their mines ..etc..)

      Just finished question time…it didn't go well…nobody did what they are meant to..the pe-more ministers were their usual dismal selves…they were drowning..not waving..

      (I have two and a half more years of this..?..it could make me wish for Peter's to pull the plug…so I can have another go ..)

      And I hope that Parker doesn't take over from hipkins…he is too smart for his own good..with his bloody wealth tax/capital gains tax/land tax aspirations…he is the lefties lefty..and we can't have that..he would nail us…

      And that has been my day… would you like it..?

      I deserve a bigger pay raise than what I got..given what I have to put up with with pe-more. .

  2. Dolomedes III 2
    4 May 2024 at 8:25 am

    Like a lot of people, I was unimpressed with the government's announced intention of demanding 6.5 % public spending cuts across the board. If anything, some areas need strengthening. For example, we need more ICU capacity in hospitals. If there was a good reason for locking down the entire country, it was our lack of 1st world-level ICU capacity. See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_hospital_beds

    But, there is some good news, in that cuts are now being more targeted on government entities of doubtful utility. I'm pleasantly surprised to learn the Pay Equity Taskforce is being disbanded: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/515831/pay-equity-taskforce-disbanded-no-longer-required-minister

    Of course it won't be the end of the "gender pay-gap" grift, but at least there is now one less taxpayer-funded body pumping out activist propaganda.

  3. Phillip ure 3
    4 May 2024 at 8:46 am

    I am semi-rural..

    Today I have the soundtrack of r-soles running around with guns…

    …trying to blow birds out of the sky…

    ..as I said…r-soles….

    • David 3.1
      4 May 2024 at 9:16 am

      Oh dear, you moved to the country side from the big smoke for some peace and tranquility and now you’re upset with country folks who do country stuff. How about you try to get on with your neighbours, they may reciprocate with roast duck for dinner.

      • Phillip ure 3.1.1
        4 May 2024 at 9:28 am

        'country stuff'…like wholesale uncaring cruelties done to animals..?

        Yeah…I noticed…

        • bwaghorn 3.1.1.1
          4 May 2024 at 9:45 am

          What predator are we going to release that will contain the explosion of introduced animals ,hooked and feathered, that will happen if Noone hunts.

          • weka 3.1.1.1.1
            4 May 2024 at 9:48 am

            are duck numbers a problem?

            • bwaghorn 3.1.1.1.1.1
              4 May 2024 at 10:46 am

              Not sure what would happen to mallards but Canada geese are an increasing problem.

            • Binders full of women 3.1.1.1.1.2
              4 May 2024 at 11:11 am

              Weka..Duck numbers aren't a problem because of the annual shoot. Without the cull numbers would be a problem. There would be overpopulation and skinny hungry ducks. Its very tightly studied and controlled. Mallards 1 month, parries 2 months, pheasants 3 montgs. And to illustrate overpopulation Canada geese are no longer game birds and can be hunted all year by any means eg rifle or bow and arrow. I've just returned from a morning missing ducks with my two daughters. I think that will be their only 0530 start this season. I think they just wanted to be like their friends who play dress up with mums and dads, take thermos and bacon and egg pie. .its great being outdoors and gives my thumbs a rest from usual weekend trapping mishaps. Next weekend will be quieter for everyone.

  4. Dennis Frank 4
    4 May 2024 at 8:50 am

    I googled to see who would pronounce the fate of JAG next week & the govt website told me "no items were found". So they've done a runner.

    https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/scl/privileges/tab/mp

    Google harridan and you immediately see why. Tender males all over the nation will have absorbed her performance, done a collective shudder at the prospect of contagion, staring down the barrel of a future in which it becomes a fashion trend, like possums frozen in the headlights. You'd expect some females on the committee too though – perhaps they did a runner out of solidarity with the others?

  5. Dennis Frank 5
    4 May 2024 at 9:11 am

    Spinoff's editor spotted the opportunity to be erudite:

    Genter walked across the house and stood over Matt Doocey, a National MP who, in addition to being associate transport minister is also the first minister for mental health – a position he pitched partly due to his own struggles. He has been very public about these, in a way which is strikingly copacetic with the Greens’ general “bring your whole self to work” philosophy. To cross the floor like that and stand yelling over anyone was incredibly strange, but Doocey was a particularly poor choice of target.

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/03-05-2024/can-the-green-partys-holy-mission-survive-its-fallible-disciples

    She was doing dominance/submission, which has always been the core of Nat ethos. Nats always come in two types: the dominant and the toadies. She had him pegged. Obviously he will complain to the privileges committee: "She hectored me, and my name's not Hector!" They will pronounce such othering totally unacceptable.

    • weka 5.1
      4 May 2024 at 9:42 am

      as far as I can see both the left and the right have hypocrites on this. Genter was wrong in what she did, she knows she was and she has apologised in parliament. I don't know if she has apologised to Doocey.

      The lefties implying it's no big deal are doing the left a disservice, because it basically means we have no principles and we can be mean to the people we disagree with politically. What I don't understand is how people think that's going to end. If we establish that it's ok to be mean to those we disagree with, what do we think everyone else is going to do?

      • Dennis Frank 5.1.1
        4 May 2024 at 10:03 am

        Yeah that's the impression created in the public mind. Could be she's been suffering some kind of pressure in her private life that made her slip out of character. The compounding effect though, of her spat with the florist woman, seems ominous.

        Hard to see how an electorate MP can survive hostilities with one of her constituents becoming prime-time media feeding frenzy. Either Marama or Chloe ought to go & see the woman to figure out a solution that could prevail over the traffic-planning bureaucrats who created the problem.

        • weka 5.1.1.1
          4 May 2024 at 10:30 am

          it's a no win situation for the Greens.

          The problem I have is they’ve said they’re not disputing the florist’s story and we can’t tell if that’s because of their internal process or because what JAG did was really that bad (the florist’s story reads to me as exaggerated, esp as she is known to be strongly anti-cycling or whatever)

        • Traveller 5.1.1.2
          4 May 2024 at 11:00 am

          The 'traffic planning bureaucrats' work in the context of political support. Reading some of the comments on TS in recent days from Wellingtonians, and media reports, it sounds as though there are serious problems with the way changes are being rolled out.

          And now there's another one. Wellington business owner Nicola Cranfield claims Green MP Julie Anne Genter grabbed her – NZ Herald

          • mikesh 5.1.1.2.1
            4 May 2024 at 11:43 am

            The trouble would seem to be that a lot of our city roads were put in place over a hundred years ago when horseback was a major means of transport, and there were very few cars around. The issues that we have today, relating to cycle lanes versus kerbside parking were simply not envisaged in those earlier times.

            • Visubversa 5.1.1.2.1.1
              4 May 2024 at 1:01 pm

              Absolutely! The street I live in was subdivided in 1905. Mostly villas, but the odd bungalow and "cottage". Sites of 330 to 350m2. Street is steep and narrow with parking on one side only. Many sites have no off street parking, some have only one space. It is a block from a major arterial route and was designed for working class accommodation, and for people who would walk, cycle, bus or tram into the CBD for employment. There was a neighbourhood shopping centre within walking distance.

              As it is 1 stage to the CBD by bus we used to be infested with "hide and riders", but a P120 restriction with exemption for residents permits available has fixed that.

              There is a cycleway/walkway at the bottom of the road which is part of a wider cycle network and is very well used. It had to be extended a few years ago because it was so popular.

          • AB 5.1.1.2.2
            4 May 2024 at 1:04 pm

            …it sounds as though there are serious problems with the way changes are being rolled out

            No doubt. It's hard to see how there couldn't be, especially when trying to retrofit a sane infrastructure to an insanely-designed city (I speak as an Aucklander.)

            There's an old saying about breaking eggs to make an omelette. As one would expect, there's a double standard about the importance of different types of egg. A single business owner egg is a precious thing whose breakage is an atrocity that is shouted with horror from the rooftops – usually by the business owner themselves who is platformed assiduously by sympathetic media. But the public servant egg can be cracked in their thousands without much concern and even with glee in some quarters – because the process has been sold to the public as necessary and beneficial.

            The politics of change is all about which omelettes get made and which eggs get broken. The CoC is doing this right now through the brutal application of raw power. The Green politics of just transition has to do better than that. It must show greater caritas. In that context, Green MP's blowing their stack is foolish and unhelpful.

            • Traveller 5.1.1.2.2.1
              4 May 2024 at 3:38 pm

              Good comments. I am an Aucklander too, and what is happening in this city is anything but a 'just transition'. Consultation with local communities is opaque, at best. I have been to public meetings where people asking reasonable questions are ridiculed by transport planners and even local body politicians. I want to travel a pathway to less congestion, lower emissions and better alternative transport options, but the way this being imposed on Auckland (and from all reports Wellington) is causing deep division.

          • Dennis Frank 5.1.1.2.3
            4 May 2024 at 1:06 pm

            I'm inclined to agree. Progress can take many forms and for the mayor to ignore vested interests suggests she's aiming to be a one-termer. I normally oppose vested interests too but a local economy is a different context. One must be genuinely pro-people to succeed.

            You can't just freeze out businesses in the CBD – that's a form of madness. The Green way is to be inclusive & work together to create a scheme that is win/win all around the table of stakeholders. Seems to me the mayor & Rongotai MP lack that Green authenticity. And from your link: “It was just very odd to be grabbed by a politician.” Any kiwi would feel that way!

            So three strikes and she's out. The pattern is too strong to deny. The Greens will have to bite the bullet and create a minimised downside transition asap!

            • Shanreagh 5.1.1.2.3.1
              4 May 2024 at 2:26 pm

              That is the truly ironic thing that the bluster and ramming things through without consultation has turned many of us who initially thought the concept of cycle lanes had something going for it, but lets discuss it further and aim for a win-win for WCC/cyclists and residents/cyclists, into fighting for the survival of our suburbs and the people who live there, who work at many of the jobs we don't do.

              We value our little businesses here in the suburbs. They bring human scale and the village concept into our lives. We want them to succeed.

              Certainly some of the local body politicians of yore of differing parties have more of the touch that signalled success than the Greens are currently showing.

              I am not sure about political parties in local bodies. At the moment the Greens in WCC are using the

              'application of raw power. The Green politics of just transition has to do better than that'. From AB

              There has been precious little evidence of the concept of 'just transition'. Raw power I think has a fascination and the Greens are dancing so close to this flame that it is going to melt their wings. (just to mix several metaphors and a Greek legend)

              I guess at base some of us were hoping for a change, a principled change but we've backed the wrong horses or perhaps the horses were wearing different colours from those we thought they were wearing.

              • Traveller …
                4 May 2024 at 3:48 pm

                @Dennis Frank

                @ Shanreagh

                Good comments, both.

                I'm not a Green Party supporter, nor am I from the left of politics. However I have previously held them in high regard as principled and open. But they have morphed into a form of self-righteousness that IMHO is manifest in the recent behaviour of some of its parliamentarians. For all that, they hold a significant level of public support.

              • Cinder …
                4 May 2024 at 4:52 pm

                "survival of the suburbs and those who live there"

                Jesus fucking wept! Hyperbole much?

                Yes. I'm sure that a cycleway will cause everyone to either leave or commit mass suicide. Leaving Berhampore a smoking ruin haunted by the shades of lost souls moaning "once we had a car and could roam near and far, never more, never more! Cycle tyres now grind our bones and lycra and spokey dokies fill what once were our homes"

                How's that for hyperbole?

                Stop talking like you represent everyone in your suburb, it's an intellectually dishonest smoke screen for your desire to maintain the completely unsustainable status quo.

                You seem totally oblivious to the enormous structural changes to retailing over the last decade.

                You're a big fan of anecdotes, well my friends who run a very successful book store are much more worried about what the enormous loss of public service jobs will mean to their business than cycleways.

                Covid forced them to change their business model and they thrived as result. Something little miss loading zone and yourself could learn from.

                • Shanreagh …
                  4 May 2024 at 6:03 pm

                  As a long standing member of my community and of the Residents Assn, member of many community groups I know that I have more knowledge of the workings of Berhampore as a community than you have. I'm certain of that. The groups I belong to get along well, we rarely tolerate rudeness though we do have and welcome thinkers.

                  If you look at my record you will note that far from wanting the status quo I am all for projects that will enhance the lives of residents and the environment.

                  Hence our work to move light industrial, so-called, businesses from Berhampore, to move the montrosity that was Athletic Park from our community, trees in streets, lower speed limits, the pull off lane near the Berhampore shops. We worked on/with height limits to new builds and we have some good looking shops in B'pore as a result. We worked with HNZC on the design of the social housing on Adelaide rd south of B'Pore.

                  Having been involved in the cycle way planning from earliest times you will need to do a bit better than grandstanding insults (and some pretty good cycle-related descriptors), to convince me that there are benefits to people losing access to close by parking.

                  The cases I am aware of where people will be affected are especially where they may be reliant on elder care, home cares, Meals on Wheels, living with mobility issues or families working multiple jobs. Not to mention tradies working on our lovely older houses or DIYers expecting the next delivery of Gib board or a bin.

                  One of the ideas that I gathered info on early on in the planning was the building/use of cycle ways in the planned town of Cromwell (planned by MWD after the inundation as part of the Clyde dam etc.)

                  At the time this was one of the few towns that had planned cycle ways. These made a point of not using main roads unless there was no option. They were planned specifically to minimise cars and bikes having to share the same space. The best examples were not linked to busy main roads but went along safer routes, including through nearby parks.

                  Particularly in Berhampore there was work done on off road options to skirt B'pore on the east & west. More practical on the west though

                  Unfortunately the bike lobby said it MUST, reason/s unknown, go along the narrow main roads despite the knowledge that people would/could lose access to their homes.

                  I am well aware of the changes to retail and also that communities wish to keep 'their' shops. I fail to see why the cycling lobby should be trying to put local shops out of business when with a bit of forethought/ fewer fixed ideas and goodwill they could remain fulfilling a function into the future.

                  My next move will be to an electric car as, despite what you say, the move is not to get people out of cars as a mode but to limit the use of fossil fuels. People can still have the benefits of travel but without fossil fuels. I get that batteries disposal is a problem but humans being innovative and creative we will solve this.

                  Public transport with its ability to move 80 or so people at a time should be getting a lion's share of transport monies. Same with rail for long distance. Move freight off roads back onto rail.

                  Or is your vision really to do without car-like transport modes? If so I'll probably buy shares in a candle making company as naughty electricity is bound to have you as a detractor. My brother in law will have room on his farm to breed some carthorses and we'll find a wheel-wright somewhere to make the wagon-wheels. Perhaps cyclists pulling wee trolleys like the Kaibosh bins could go around collecting the horse poo for gardens? wink

                  Perhaps you could also work on developing long life fresh flowers or convince people they don’t need flowers in their lives. Perhaps a nice bit of metal or a bike pump could be sent to mark graduation. Some long nails, a pump and one recycle scrunched up paper flower could make a great bridal bouquet. These have the benefit of not needing to be delivered in a timely fashion. Sure to catch on, not.

                  Many people love flowers and receiving them. Why should she be put out of business? What actually do the flower lovers get out of it if she is forced to go?

                  • Cinder …
                    4 May 2024 at 11:18 pm

                    As you've kicked all this off on the Genter post, lets fucking go…

                    Especially with your snide little quip about politeness and thinking. You've demonstrated neither quality from the start.

                    I stand by my comments that you are in fact a grand old dame. You reek of blind privilege and your lack of self awareness is truly astonishing. You remind me of Felicity Wong – The "heritage expert" who decries new builds on aesthetic considerations even though she is legally blind. She admitted that to me when I dealt with her in a professional capacity. It was eye opening – Ha fucking ha!

                    I have attended many transport consultations and community board meetings throughout New Zealand so I know the demographic that shows up. Pakeha silverbacks with too much time on their hands, wanting to protect their property values and keep their privilege and convenience. Thats how I recognise you for what you are.

                    You have no understanding of traffic networks or urban planning. You really exposed yourself with the ridiculous comment asking that cyclists take the long way or risk their lives if they want to use arterial routes and the destinations that they connect to. It's no wonder that the local officials don't listen to you – you're ignorant and have no idea what you’re talking about. I'm embarrassed for you.

                    Buying an electric car are we? Thought the only thing we could afford was a Film Soc membership. Bit of a slip there wasn't it? Oh dear…

                    Cool little strawman calling me a luddite – allow me to respond.

                    You don't care if children and adults get killed or injured when cycling for travel or recreation. In fact, you'd like to see more of them killed and injured near the hospital – At least it will be easy to tidy up the mess I guess. Shame about the grief and trauma, but the flowers MUST get through.

                    You care more for flowers, which will rot, just like you, than people.

                    I think you're being exploited by little miss private loading bay – She knows a lonely old lady when she sees one and is happy listen to you rabbit on and will say anything to get your money. Are you sure you're not the victim of elder abuse?

                    Or is she bribing you with flowers to get you on side? Are you corrupt? Bribed with flowers – wouldn't that be a turn up for the books!

                    Your claims to politeness are a facade. You might say they're compromise-d… get it? Probably not, you don't seem very good at joining the dots – typical kiwi.

                    Your final comment s fucking hilarious!

                    Here is an idea – Try another fucking florist! One thats less vile and selfish. Or perhaps pick some wildflowers or grow some yourself – that way you can stick them up your ass whenever you want. Wouldn’t that be memorable!

                    Sanctuary was bang on about this site last week.

              • Kay …
                4 May 2024 at 5:12 pm

                Couldn't agree more. Another interesting observation is, try emailing any of the councillors who voted for this, and surprise, surprise, not a peep. Not even the decency to acknowledge receipt of said email.

                Perhaps the poor dears are feeling overwhelmed by their inboxes overflowing from constituents upset about cycleways and leaking pipes?

                WCC is now on a par with central government (of any stripe). Try communicating with a Minister when you have a very valid, major problem. Although, at least you get an auto-reply saying they got your email. And usually, a form follow up from a staffer down the track. If you're lucky, your local MP isn't MIA, like the last Rongotai one was (Eagle). Now the current Rongotai representative might end up MIA.

                These politician forget they're public servants, and only have their jobs on the whim of the voting public. To refuse to own what they've done by ignoring the public will more than likely see them voted out.

                It's very likely Wellington will shift Right again at the next council elections, and the main reason will be ramming through the cycleways and the total distain the public has been treated with.

  6. joe90 6
    4 May 2024 at 9:41 am

    Forced-birthers have a new strategy.

    //

    As soon as Collin Davis found out his ex-partner was planning to travel to Colorado to have an abortion in late February, the Texas man retained a high-powered antiabortion attorney — who court records show immediately issued a legal threat.

    If the woman proceeded with the abortion, even in a state where the procedure remains legal, Davis would seek a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abortion and “pursue wrongful-death claims against anyone involved in the killing of his unborn child,” the lawyer wrote in a letter, according to records.

    Now, Davis has disclosed his former partner’s abortion to a state district court in Texas, asking for the power to investigate what his lawyer characterizes as potentially illegal activity in a state where almost all abortions are banned.

    The previously unreported petition was submitted under an unusual legal mechanism often used in Texas to investigate suspected illegal actions before a lawsuit is filed. The petition claims Davis could sue either under the state’s wrongful-death statute or the novel Texas law known as Senate Bill 8 that allows private citizens to file suit against anyone who “aids or abets” an illegal abortion.

    https://archive.li/OlbkK (wapo)

  8. joe90 8
    4 May 2024 at 10:14 am

    @IanDunt has good news.

    .

    What we've seen so far confirms what we've witnessed for the last couple of years: a wave of electoral annihilation is coming for the Conservative party under Rishi Sunak

    […]

    It's early yet in the 2024 local elections. We don't know about most councils yet, or the mayoral contests, or the police and crime commissioners, whatever they are. But what we've seen so far confirms what we've witnessed for the last couple of years: a wave of electoral annihilation is coming for the Conservative party under Rishi Sunak. There are interesting wrinkles in the numbers, telling little phenomena that become visible in the right light. But the basic lesson this morning is the same as it ever was: The Tories are fucked, fucked, fucked. They really are utterly fucked.

    https://iandunt.substack.com/p/elections-2024-the-tory-day-of-reckoning

    • Kay 8.1
      4 May 2024 at 10:47 am

      The Tories are fucked, fucked, fucked. They really are utterly fucked.

      God, let's hope so. Especially on behalf of my English friends with disabilities who have been lucky to survive them. No exaggeration.

    • newsense 8.2
      4 May 2024 at 7:44 pm

      Anyone who tells you they want a 4 year term should immediately set off your warning bells.

      The Tories have had two years of extra governing since they became clear lame ducks.

      And they’ve got the HoL at least as something of a check on BS like these Rwanda flights.

  9. joe90 9
    4 May 2024 at 1:28 pm

    Law and order is for poor people. Pricks.

    /

    The oft-considered idea of introducing a law for corporate manslaughter has been advanced once again with a Labour MP’s Bill, but how much support it will garner is unknown.

    The Crimes (Corporate Homicide) Amendment Bill, put into the member’s ballot by Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich, would create a criminal offence for employers to cause the death of a person.

    […]

    Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said National wasn’t interested in the Bill, “Corporate manslaughter laws are not currently on our agenda as I am focused on our coalition commitments to restore law and order.”

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/02/new-push-for-corporate-killing-laws/

  10. joe90 10
    4 May 2024 at 5:57 pm

    NYT freebie about the violent counter-protest at the University of California, Los Angeles.

    (tl;dr acab)

    A New York Times examination of more than 100 videos from clashes at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that violence ebbed and flowed for nearly five hours, mostly with little or no police intervention. The violence had been instigated by dozens of people who are seen in videos counterprotesting the encampment.

    The videos showed counterprotesters attacking students in the pro-Palestinian encampment for several hours, including beating them with sticks, using chemical sprays and launching fireworks as weapons. As of Friday, no arrests had been made in connection with the attack.

    To build a timeline of the events that night, The Times analyzed two livestreams, along with social media videos captured by journalists and witnesses.

    […]

    Throughout the intermittent violence, officers were captured on video standing about 300 feet away from the area for roughly an hour, without stepping in.

    https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/03/us/ucla-protests-encampment-violence.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pU0.ajl7.HGC4_MSwNCOu&smid=url-share

    • I Feel Love 10.1
      4 May 2024 at 7:41 pm

      I read the police & campus security retreated & stood back because the counter protesters threw things at them & the police didn't want to get hurt. & this…

      "A video showing Annelise Orleck, 65, being taken to the ground intensified criticism of the decision by the college’s president to call in officers."

      "Annelise Orleck, a labor historian who has taught at Dartmouth College for more than three decades, was at a protest for Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday night, when she was knocked to the ground. Dr. Orleck, 65, was zip-tied and was one of 90 people who were arrested, according to the local police."

      https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/03/us/dartmouth-professor-police-protests.html

      • joe90 10.1.1
        4 May 2024 at 7:56 pm

        Coast to coast cowardice and stupidity.

        Timothy Burke

        @bubbaprog

        The scary "book on terrorism" NYPD is using as evidence of criminal intent is an Oxford Press textbook from International Affairs U6387, a course taught this semester at Columbia by Michael E. O’Hanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution.

        NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Operations Kaz Daughtry

        @NYPDDaughtry

        Pencils, books, laptops, those are the tools of students and what you expect to find on a college campus. But here’s what the NYPD found in Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after we were able to arrest the protestors and agitators for commandeering and barricading themselves inside the building. Gas masks, ear plugs, helmets, goggles, tape, hammers, knives, ropes, and a book on TERRORISM. These are not the tools of students protesting, these are the tools of agitators, of people who were working on something nefarious. Thankfully, your NYPD was able to prevent whatever they were planning and stop them before they could do it. Continue to peacefully and lawfully protest; but know that if you engage in illegal conduct, the NYPD will hold you responsible and hold you accountable—someone has to.

        https://twitter.com/NYPDDaughtry/status/1786449287359992179

        https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1786480486593774021

    • Anne 10.2
      4 May 2024 at 8:02 pm

      The 2020s are starting to feel like a repeat performance of the 197Os… spilling into the 80s. The main issues then were the Vietnam War and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. But the response from the respective authorities is the same – turn on the protestors and create the impression they are the baddies.

      The issues now are the Israeli/Gaza war and climate change.

      The protestors won back then and they will win again.

      Edit: and lets not forget… the next generation of leaders is amongst them.

      • joe90 10.2.1
        4 May 2024 at 8:27 pm

        The protestors won back then and they will win again.

        They won a fight. Fifty years on and we're yet to win the war.

  11. newsense 11
    4 May 2024 at 7:41 pm

    Why we need journalists. It’s funny when it’s the art spokesperson. Other vital portfolios not so much:

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/03/the-crown-versus-maori-children/

    Very long form. Very to the point. The high court should be ashamed at allowing this obviously important information to be allowed to slither away from the Waitangi Tribunal and the ignorant to be comforted by its structural colonial paternalism. The mana of a court is reduced and it isn’t the Waitangi Tribunal.

  12. joe90 12
    4 May 2024 at 8:09 pm

    I guess Newshub had to go.

    /

    @DiscussingFilm

    After Warner Bros took various cost-cutting measures including turning movies into tax write-offs and refused to pay actors & writers for months, David Zaslav’s 2023 pay package is now at $49.7M, a 26.5% increase from 2022. (Source: https://wp.me/pc8uak-1lE1mC)

    https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1781373865421054326

  14. SPC 14
    4 May 2024 at 8:58 pm

    Oz has had a lot of crimes of violence against women this year and a decision has been made to identify the influence of porn on those under 18 as the reason and require a porn passport.

    There is already the means for parents to place a porn block on the devices of their children – so it is about those parents who do not bother to do this being blamed for the violence.

    The problem with age based ID online is that it might result in ID theft – and this has consequences (an online crime explosion is the risk here).

    The Australian government is expected to spend $6.5 million on a pilot program that will check the age of a person before they enter a pornographic website.

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the pilot will be able to identify “available age assurance products”.

    The Sydney Morning Herald said the passports will be ‘electronic tokens’ that could also become used for online liquor stores and gambling sites.

    Once a system to block on-line sites is established (for those without a "passport"), it is easier to set up the same system to block access to free streaming sites and thus the idea is probably popular with corporate industry sectors (film/TV/sport – content suppliers).

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350264837/australia-trials-porn-passport-what-it-and-should-we-try-it-too

  15. SPC 15
    4 May 2024 at 9:20 pm

    Revolutionary Iran continues its campaign against immodesty in the ME, from elimination of Zionist Jews from the region to domestic suppression of the presence of women not showing signs of fearful compliance to their patriarchy.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350267543/iran-hires-hijab-enforcers-snitch-women-breaking-strict-clothing-rules

    Using women against other women is adopting the East German tactic of “informing”. Paying them to do so is based on two factors, rewarding servility and the divide and conquer strategy (to create a risk for those involved in a feminist network).

  16. SPC 16
    4 May 2024 at 9:29 pm

    Social media has the touched up photo and the evolution to deep fake, meanwhile in the real world … .

    One wonders, the fate of the poor who cannot afford to present as one of the "class" above – I suppose they could watch Cherry 2000 and claim to be real, rather than a production line knock off.

    https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/05/01/are-we-all-going-to-end-up-with-the-same-face/