Today 38 years ago 27 tons of methyl isocyanate leaked from the majority owned Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. An estimated 3,800 people died instantly, and more than 22,000 have died since.
In 1989 the Indian government settled on a payout of $500 per survivor, owners Dow continue to deny responsibility for the disaster and refuse to clean up the site.
The disaster was entirely preventable.
.
The initial effects of exposure were coughing, severe eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation, burning in the respiratory tract, blepharospasm, breathlessness, stomach pains and vomiting. People awakened by these symptoms fled from the plant. Those who ran inhaled more than those in vehicles. Owing to their height, children and other residents of shorter stature inhaled higher concentrations, as methyl isocyanate gas is approximately twice as dense as air and, therefore, in an open environment has a tendency to fall toward the ground.[29]
Thousands of people had died by the following morning. Primary causes of deaths were choking, reflexogenic circulatory collapse and pulmonary oedema. Findings during autopsies revealed changes not only in the lungs but also cerebral oedema, tubular necrosis of the kidneys, fatty degeneration of the liver and necrotising enteritis.[30][5] The individuals who did not die were exposed to cancers, blindness, loss of livelihood, and financial strain.[31]
The initial effects of exposure were coughing, severe eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation, burning in the respiratory tract, blepharospasm, breathlessness, stomach pains and vomiting. People awakened by these symptoms fled from the plant. Those who ran inhaled more than those in vehicles. Owing to their height, children and other residents of shorter stature inhaled higher concentrations, as methyl isocyanate gas is approximately twice as dense as air and, therefore, in an open environment has a tendency to fall toward the ground.[29]
Thousands of people had died by the following morning. Primary causes of deaths were choking, reflexogenic circulatory collapse and pulmonary oedema. Findings during autopsies revealed changes not only in the lungs but also cerebral oedema, tubular necrosis of the kidneys, fatty degeneration of the liver and necrotising enteritis.[30][5] The individuals who did not die were exposed to cancers, blindness, loss of livelihood, and financial strain.[31]
A timely reminder joe. All automation engineers who are involved with process safety have encountered the Bhopal story at some stage. It was both a traumatic and transformative moment, and became one of the primary drivers in the safety technology systems revolution that has happened since early 90's. There is a great deal of detailed information on the disaster available online. This paper seems fairly accessible:
The root causes of this disaster lay in a complex chain of events; but the core one that stood out for me was that the plant was scheduled for closure and someone within operations decided to temporarily store more MIC in the critical vessel than it was designed for. That lack of training and insight led to everything else that happened.
Many have argued the plant should never have been built in the first place; and these days even a rudimentary HAZOP analysis would likely come to this same conclusion.
What we can say for certain is in the intervening 38 yrs, the entire approach to process safety has radically improved, invoking far more sophisticated and rigorous training and procedures. Entirely new technology platforms are now routinely applied to processes like this – technologies that simply did not exist when the Bhopal plant was designed in the late 70's.
It also drove a transformation in corporate liability. These days the safety obligations and liabilities of corporate management and directors is clearly spelled out in legislation and case law. And while the cover and effectiveness of this legislation still varies around the world, the chances of a Union Carbide being able to so egregiously evade liability are very much lower in 2022.
Yes – the entire litigation story is a long and complex one. Central to the problem was the sheer number of victims and the fact that Union Carbide simply did not have the funds to cover. There were multiple parties, governments and courts involved – few of whom covered themselves in any glory.
The plant itself was a mistake, it never made money and Union Carbide had already decided to shut it down and dispose of it. That decision in itself was part of the chain of causal events that led to the worst industrial disaster ever.
Everyone accepts that it was a very ugly episode, but it is worth noting that a great deal changed afterward to reduce the risk of something similar happening again.
”How did our politics get so stupid? Political life has become one long, permanent campaign where parties cynically offer up trivial sound bites in staged photo-ops – while kicking the most difficult decisions down the road.”
A disengenuous answer. At no point does she point the finger at her own media industry. We can’t keep blaming Hosking et al. All media trivialise the issues, and go for gotcha sounbites.
Perhaps Andrea could have a chat to other media companies to up their game /sarc
In terms of the meeting of Finnish PM, Sanna Marin with Jacinda Ardern, Vance has this to say:
Only the naive would fail to see that that summit was as much about the optics of two glamorous, progressive leaders sharing a handshake, than boosting two-way trade that already sits firmly in Finland’s favour.
And there is a good example of the snide and cynical attitude of NZ journalists and commentators . It is a partisan attempt to introduce an erroneous interpretation of Ardern's meeting with Marin. Global trade and economic matters plus the war in Ukraine would have been front and centre of that meeting.
She also fails to point out that the trip was part of an Australasian tour and that the Finnish PM is currently there discussing the same topics with Aussie's PM who happens to be male.
It leads nicely into the Q&A Tane interview this morning with Willie Jackson, Minister of Broadcasting. It was the same mode of cynicism and attempt to create a false interpretation of the government's proposed merger of TVNZ and RNZ.
These 40 years and under journos show their ignorance of the history of NZ broadcasting:
We had exactly that set-up for decades and it worked well. The standard and accuracy of reporting and commentary was vastly superior to what we have today. We can thank the neoliberal acolytes for the decline.
I do have some idea what I'm talking about:
I was an NZBC employee working at the sharp end of broadcasting in the 1960s.
Politicians and the media are hand in hand. As bad as each other. Jacinda Arden does show dignity in how she responds to events and does not rush off to buy flowers and get filmed placing them at the site of a tragedy. Luxon and Seymour's recent photo opportunities were awful, on a par with Judith Collins' faux prayers.
Replying to Reality at 3. (Can’t reply on iPhone or iPad??)
And yet on Andrea Vance, in a throwaway line, is the only mainstream journalist to pick up on the hypocrisy of politicians using personal tragedies for political gain.
It’s a pity that they never gave that commitment and perhaps just as well because National has form in breaking its promises on asset sales.
On a related note, Wayne Brown seems to be in the deep pockets of investors.
Any sale would likely be welcomed by other potential investors.
"An asset of that quality will be well received by the many investors in New Zealand and there's certainly enough cash availability for investors to partake," New Zealand Shareholders Association CEO Olver Mander told Newshub.
Years back I proposed a simple test of whether an asset should be in public or private control. All you have to do is ask the question – 'if this enterprise was to encounter commercial or technical difficulties that threatened its continued operations, would there be overwhelming political pressure for the public sector to step in to save it?'
In the case of Auckland Airport I suspect the answer is yes. In which case it should remain in at least a majority public control.
I agree, sort of, but not sure yet about your definition of commercial. I would exclude a drop, demonstrated by a drop in shareholder value, in the definition of 'commercial'. Astute investors will be always looking at the reasons this is happening and using this to guide their (continued) investment strategies .
Would it work if you had 'should be in majority public or private control'?
The test also works when looking at whether the Govt, any Govt, should answer calls for rescue in cases like RAL.
I think my caveat 'that threatened its continued operations' gives some clarity around commercial difficulties. A simple drop in share price alone might not trigger that condition.
It is more a case of risk. As Arnold Nordmeyer once famously pointed out, would anyone want to socialise every corner dairy?
Because while they might provide an important social service (especially in the 50's before supermarkets came along) the failure of a single one would not likely have any political impact. The large majority of enterprises fall into this category and can be sensibly left to the private sector.
By contrast only the state is large enough to absorb the intergenerational risk of large scale infrastructure – and thus should be in appropriate public control.
'Commercial difficulties' seem to me to be a term used to signal a view that a Govt handout/bailout is justified. Continued operations seem to mean that continued present operations. Sometime cutting one's cloth is a better response.
But a good rough rule of thumb and as I said also works when assessing calls for Govt investment once firms face difficulties eg RAL.
Wayne Brown likes writing rambling letters telling Wellington that he doesn’t like them to tell him what to do with his front porch but he doesn’t seem to mind investors taking over a strategic asset in his backyard.
Hasn’t the ship long sailed on majority public control of Auckland Airport?
It wouldn’t surprise me if the share price had been climbing since Brown rode into town.
So yes 'ship long sailed on majority public control of Auckland Airport' in 1998?
The Government was AIAL's majority shareholder, the rest being held by the local councils. In 1998 the Government sold its shareholding, ………
'After amalgamation into the Auckland Council, the local authority now owns a 22.4 per cent stake worth $1.13 billion as of May 2014.
AIAL appears on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX: AIA) and Australian Stock Exchange (ASX: AIA). International shareholders hold around 40 per cent of the shares, domestic approximately 60 per cent'.
On NZ Herald premium content (I cannot access the complete story) headline states Wayne Brown may have talked the share sale price down………
Renationalisation or closer regulatory control. Energy costs form a large part of the costs for many low income families. Low user charges are now gone.
Low user charges was labour policy,as it discriminates against people in the leafy suburbs with big houses and EV'S
There will also be no renationalisation,and regulatory control is very good,and all 3 regulators all tell us that increased costs going forward will be from labour,and/or green policies.
How can you show good faith when you are dealing with a devious group within Labour , who I now note say it was a mistake- really a mistake, not that you goy caught???Will do something so underhanded and yet no one will take ownership in voting in support of the SOP ? Is the PM so disinterested that what was discussed within caucus “discussed, despite her saying on Monday it was “not necessarily something I would be aware of”
and when you are caught out – misdirect, hide, avoid anything to distance from what was such an underhanded attempt. Perhaps the PM Ardern should just retire as imo power has corrupted her into a person I am sure on reflection it is not someone a few years ago she would have thought she would become.
Yes it is a ridiculous comment by Herodotus. Bears no relation to a knowledge of Parliamentary process. It even goes against a close reading of the article they are linking
'She cast doubt on whether Labour MPs knew exactly what was being voted on: "To be fair, the principle of entrenchment has generally attracted a 75% threshold. Everyone in Labour was very aware of that. What would have been happening in real time as you had both an entrenchment position, but a different threshold.”
Similarly, Minister Chris Hipkins, the Leader of the House, also said he did not know it was being voted on. He said he knew the Government had previously sought a 75% entrenchment, but he understood this would have failed as it did not have cross-party support.'
I linked to the lists of SoPs earlier. here it is again
Anyone including opposition MPs can put forward an SoP at any time.
As Solkta says discussion on the floor of Parliament is the least likely place to be able to slip something through with Hansard recorders, The Speaker, house majorities/whips and the ability to have all the drafts in front of the House and able to be read by all & sundry. We also have Parliamentary Counsel.
Bearing mind the position of SoPs being able to be put in place at any time if there was nothing at the Caucus then there was probably not an SoP in place. I am not sure if a Green MP (Sage) would go to a Labour party Caucus but I would think not. As a Minister she will go to Cabinet.
What is the big drama anyway? Legislation matters and the conduct of such through the House are are traditionally under the purview of the Leader of he House. The current Leader of the House is Chris Hipkins.
In the view of whether cockup or conspiracy I think we would come down to the fact in a fast moving Parliamentary environment Hipkins may/maynot have been aware of, but no expectation that the PM would be, as it happened but would be soon after. Hipkins would have control and would be discussing.
Those trying to make a meal of this show very clearly their lack of knowledge of parliamentary process and their partisan approach, and this is par for the course as far as the media is concerned. That the approach has trapped Herodotus is also clear.
To me it is yet another example of the idiotic expectations that the media places on the PM in a bid to achieve a prized ‘gotcha’.
We saw it so often during Covid when there was the expectation that she was solely responsible for full or empty supermarket shelves, loading out delays from warehouses to said supermarkets etc etc
Mahuta spoke in favour of it (the amendment) on the floor – immediately following Sage's introduction of her SOP (which specifically referenced the 60% entrenchment) – so pretty certain that at last some Labour MPs knew about the provision & therefore what they were voting for.
"There is a high constitutional threshold to be reached in order to put such a threshold within legislation, and often it's on constitutional matters—of which this bill is not—and it would be a novel approach to include an entrenchment clause. However, in saying that, I think that the member for the Green Party who has put up, still, and tested the will of the House in relation to having an entrenchment cause is a worthy matter to be considered, because at least the Government and the Greens are very clear about our position on privatisation: we don't want to see it."
Mahuta has also said it was discussed at the Labour caucus immediately prior. Though she hasn't made it clear whether the discussion refrenced the 60% (which was achievable) or the general provision of entrenchment (75%) which was not. But the discussion did specifically talk about entrenchment (in some form) in relation to water. It's not really believable that Hipkins and Ardern could have been totally blindsided.
I don't think anyone is saying either were totally blindsided, the Stuff article says they were prepared for 75% but not being fully aware that there was an SoP floating round with the percentage at 60% and not 75% and that a vote on the lower percentage was imminent.
Incognito linked below to the exact wording – specifically drawing attention to the 60% as it was put to the vote.
Your alternatives are either that they weren't paying attention to the debate in the House (which is, actually, a real possibility, under urgency with multiple SOP being debated). Or that they actually did want to have entrenchment – and are backtracking now that the constitutional implications have become a public issue.
Yeah, right, they were caught with their pants down in the middle of the act and it is all on file:
CHAIRPERSON (Greg O'Connor): Members, we're about to vote on an amendment which is a proposal for entrenchment requiring a 60 percent majority for repeal or amendment of the entrenched provision. Under Standing Order 270, this proposal must be carried by that majority. Therefore, this amendment must be agreed by a 60 percent majority, which would be 72 members. The question is that the Hon Eugenie Sage's amendment to insert new Subpart 4A into Part 6, set out on Supplementary Order Paper 285, be agreed to.
A party vote was called for on the question, That the amendment be agreed to.
When the focus should have been on privatisation of water or rather on keeping it as a public good it sadly became a technicality issue with some screaming that democracy was under attack. Government could have shown more unity and resolve but they looked like a bunch of flustered possums caught in the headlights.
Isn't this now a neat trap for National and Act, agree to the proposal not to sell water assets. Or not, leaving them open to election jibes of wanting to sell.
The other array drives show a spare with an empty partition, and the other drive with a munted file system. My guess is that it powered off while it was resyncing.
No disk errors. Resyncing.
I’d better pop a new drive into the array and shift a spare. Note the hours on SSD 0
SSD 0 = 3992 hours powered on (about 166 days)
SSD 1 = 35474 hours (~4.14 years)
SSD 2 = 759 hours (spare)
lprent@lpws:~$ sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdf
smartctl 7.2 2020-12-30 r5155 [x86_64-linux-5.15.0-43-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-20, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Intel 730 and DC S35x0/3610/3700 Series SSDs
Device Model: INTEL SSDSC2BB120G4
Man this thing is old. the SSD Intel 730 series got sold in NZ from 2015. I suspect that this one was from 2016 or 2017 (I'd have to crack the case to see).
Last year over in Perth I was heading home from work when I was passed by a couple of loons on a motor-scooter, carrying something oversized and weaving wildly over the road. I followed them about a km to a major intersection with a main highway.
Much to my horror they didn't even pretend to slow down, went straight through the red light and missed an Aussie road train at full speed – by less than a metre.
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The Guardian article below reports the problems of longtime Kiwis in Oz with non-permanent resident visas who've lost jobs. They are caught in a poverty trap when they cannot access CentreLink unemployment payments. Sobering reading. This is another unjust legal loophole for poorer Kiwi citizens in Oz, not just the 501 deportees, that the NZ government needs to sort out with their Aussie counterparts.
Sorry but the link icon did not work for me today.
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A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
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You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
The Golden Age There has been long-standing recognition that New Zealand First has an unrivalled reputation for delivering for our older New Zealanders. This remains true, and is reflected in our coalition agreement. While we know there is much that we can and will do in this space, it is ...
Labour Te Atatū MP Phil Twyford has written to the charities regulator asking that Destiny Church charities be struck off in the wake of last weekend’s violence by Destiny followers in his electorate. ...
Bills by Labour MPs to remove rules around sale of alcohol on public holidays, and for Crown entities to adopt Māori names have been drawn from the Members’ Bill Ballot. ...
The Government is falling even further behind its promised target of 500 new police officers, now with 72 fewer police officers than when National took office. ...
This morning’s Stats NZ child poverty statistics should act as a wake-up call for the government: with no movement in child poverty rates since June 2023, it’s time to make the wellbeing of our tamariki a political priority. ...
Green Party Co-Leader Marama Davidson’s Consumer Guarantees Right to Repair Amendment Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament this evening. ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
PNG Post-Courier Prime Minister James Marape has issued a strong appeal to all young men and boys in Papua New Guinea — stop abusing girls, mothers, and sisters. He made the plea yesterday before flying to Australia, emphasising the importance of respecting women and children in society. Marape urged young ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government on Sunday will pledge $8.5 billion for Medicare, declaring this would enable all Australians to have access to bulk billing by 2030. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce the policy at ...
By Gizem Nisa Cebi The BBC has removed its documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone from iPlayer after it was revealed that its teenage narrator is the son of a Hamas official. The broadcaster stated that it was conducting “further due diligence” following mounting scrutiny. The film, which aired ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – OPEN LETTER: By Hassan Abo Qamar Dear Mr Trump, I am writing to you as a Palestinian and a survivor of genocide, who was born and raised in Gaza — a city of love and resilience. I have read your ...
Pacific Media Watch One of the leading Middle East’s leading political and media analysts, Marwan Bishara, has accused President Donald Trump of applying a doctrine of ‘strategic coercion” and “economic blackmail” in his approach to the Gaza ceasefire. Bishara, senior political analyst of the Doha-based Al Jazeera global television network, ...
THE PRIME MINISTERWell look what I would like to say to you about the Man Up protest against a Pride event at an Auckland library on Saturday is that they went too far. You know, at the end of the day, let’s be honest, they went just a bit too ...
In a remarkable last-minute twist, the young immigrant mother at the heart of Fractured, Melanie Reid’s groundbreaking podcast on a case involving a baby’s injuries, has had her deportation order cancelled.Just days before she was set to be removed from the country, Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk intervened, cancelling the deportation ...
Near-complete darkness. A savage shape to the hills. No words. Corinne presses the accelerator down, the road twisting and ducking before her. “We don’t have to go,” she says again, to Lizzie, in the passenger seat.Soon, the tarseal will turn to gravel, and the road will slip and slide like a ...
This podcast contains discussion about sexual assaultThe protest by Destiny Church at an Auckland Pride event has revisited a rhetoric that many in the rainbow community thought was dead and buried.Much of the response from the general public has been a lashing out against Bishop Brian Tamaki’s ManUp gang.Josiah Pasikale ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. This week has felt a lot like 2017. Remember when every other day there was a report of some guy saying something massively, comically, sexist (or worse, just being a flat-out abuser with few professional repercussions) and then out The Spinoff would ...
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is the fourth and final film in the series and gives our Bridge the fairytale ending she really, fucking deserves. It’s been 23 years since Bridget Jones’ Diary delivered one of the most iconic single gals in all of cinema (and literature). The world ...
The Junior Taskmaster host takes us through her life in television, from bingeing school holiday sitcoms to making Starstruck. In many ways, Rose Matafeo has been preparing for her role on Junior Taskmaster all her life. Not just because she is the daughter of a teacher, but because she has ...
On the lonely pain of miscarriage. It was my second pregnancy. I already had an 18-month-old toddler. We’d gone through anguish to have her. My daughter’s coming to being had started with a health hiccup that became an alarming question mark. The question had changed. It was no longer the ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Symone Tafuna’i.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.Symone Tafuna’i does it all. At only 25, she is a champion sprinter, a sports ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack K. Clegg, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, The University of Queensland A thin crystal is bent elastically when pressed with a metal probe. UQ/QUT We are all familiar with elastic materials – just think of a rubber band which can return ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Changlong Wang, Research fellow in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Monash University D.Alimkin, Shutterstock Hydrogen was once sold as a universal climate fix — a clean, green wonder fuel for cars, homes, power grids and even global export. But reality has cooled ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia gpointstudio/Shutterstock Imagine you have just finished a workout. Your legs are like jelly, your lungs are burning and you just want to collapse on the couch. But instead, you pick yourself ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mia Schaumberg, Associate Professor in Physiology, School of Health, University of the Sunshine Coast You may have noticed that changes in weight are sometimes accompanied by changes in your period. But what does one really have to do with the other? ...
For too long, political and cultural ideologies have held our public service captive, fostering an environment of self-censorship and removing a vital tool for error correction: freedom of speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna M. Kotarba-Morley, Senior Lecturer in Museum and Curatorial Studies / Research Fellow, University of Adelaide Wikimedia/The Conversation Archaeologists in Egypt have made an exciting discovery: the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose II, a ruler who has long been overshadowed by his ...
The new chair of the Electoral Commission (EC) says he has full confidence in the preparation for the next election, and guidance for selecting polling booth locations is being reviewed. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Partlett, Associate Professor of Public Law, The University of Melbourne A month in, and it is clear even to conservatives that US President Donald Trump is attempting to fundamentally reshape the role of the American president. Trump and his supporters ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Herrington, Futures Specialist, School of Cybernetics, Australian National University Thirty-four artworks created with artificial intelligence (AI) have gone up for sale at Christie’s in New York, in the famed auction house’s first collection dedicated to AI art. Christie’s says the collection ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk As French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls lands in New Caledonia tomorrow to pursue talks on its political future, the situation on the ground has again gained tension over the past few days. The local political spectrum is deeply divided between ...
The Defence Minister says she has not been entirely taken by surprise by the US's pivot away from security backstop to Europe towards the Indopacific. ...
A new poem by Kim Cope Tait. Not Waving But Dying The day we moved in to the house on the peninsula I stood before the picture window that faces the harbour. Oh, I said, I’m going to die here. It wasn’t macabre, no fantail arrived. And I wasn’t afraid. ...
Today 38 years ago 27 tons of methyl isocyanate leaked from the majority owned Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. An estimated 3,800 people died instantly, and more than 22,000 have died since.
In 1989 the Indian government settled on a payout of $500 per survivor, owners Dow continue to deny responsibility for the disaster and refuse to clean up the site.
The disaster was entirely preventable.
.
The initial effects of exposure were coughing, severe eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation, burning in the respiratory tract, blepharospasm, breathlessness, stomach pains and vomiting. People awakened by these symptoms fled from the plant. Those who ran inhaled more than those in vehicles. Owing to their height, children and other residents of shorter stature inhaled higher concentrations, as methyl isocyanate gas is approximately twice as dense as air and, therefore, in an open environment has a tendency to fall toward the ground.[29]
Thousands of people had died by the following morning. Primary causes of deaths were choking, reflexogenic circulatory collapse and pulmonary oedema. Findings during autopsies revealed changes not only in the lungs but also cerebral oedema, tubular necrosis of the kidneys, fatty degeneration of the liver and necrotising enteritis.[30][5] The individuals who did not die were exposed to cancers, blindness, loss of livelihood, and financial strain.[31]
The initial effects of exposure were coughing, severe eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation, burning in the respiratory tract, blepharospasm, breathlessness, stomach pains and vomiting. People awakened by these symptoms fled from the plant. Those who ran inhaled more than those in vehicles. Owing to their height, children and other residents of shorter stature inhaled higher concentrations, as methyl isocyanate gas is approximately twice as dense as air and, therefore, in an open environment has a tendency to fall toward the ground.[29]
Thousands of people had died by the following morning. Primary causes of deaths were choking, reflexogenic circulatory collapse and pulmonary oedema. Findings during autopsies revealed changes not only in the lungs but also cerebral oedema, tubular necrosis of the kidneys, fatty degeneration of the liver and necrotising enteritis.[30][5] The individuals who did not die were exposed to cancers, blindness, loss of livelihood, and financial strain.[31]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster
GEEZ Dow arse######s
A timely reminder joe. All automation engineers who are involved with process safety have encountered the Bhopal story at some stage. It was both a traumatic and transformative moment, and became one of the primary drivers in the safety technology systems revolution that has happened since early 90's. There is a great deal of detailed information on the disaster available online. This paper seems fairly accessible:
https://www.aiche.org/sites/default/files/cep/20141222_1.pdf
The root causes of this disaster lay in a complex chain of events; but the core one that stood out for me was that the plant was scheduled for closure and someone within operations decided to temporarily store more MIC in the critical vessel than it was designed for. That lack of training and insight led to everything else that happened.
Many have argued the plant should never have been built in the first place; and these days even a rudimentary HAZOP analysis would likely come to this same conclusion.
What we can say for certain is in the intervening 38 yrs, the entire approach to process safety has radically improved, invoking far more sophisticated and rigorous training and procedures. Entirely new technology platforms are now routinely applied to processes like this – technologies that simply did not exist when the Bhopal plant was designed in the late 70's.
https://control.com/textbook/process-safety-and-instrumentation/safety-instrumented-functions-and-systems/
It also drove a transformation in corporate liability. These days the safety obligations and liabilities of corporate management and directors is clearly spelled out in legislation and case law. And while the cover and effectiveness of this legislation still varies around the world, the chances of a Union Carbide being able to so egregiously evade liability are very much lower in 2022.
Yeah but $500 measly dollars for the survivors !!!!
Yes – the entire litigation story is a long and complex one. Central to the problem was the sheer number of victims and the fact that Union Carbide simply did not have the funds to cover. There were multiple parties, governments and courts involved – few of whom covered themselves in any glory.
The plant itself was a mistake, it never made money and Union Carbide had already decided to shut it down and dispose of it. That decision in itself was part of the chain of causal events that led to the worst industrial disaster ever.
Everyone accepts that it was a very ugly episode, but it is worth noting that a great deal changed afterward to reduce the risk of something similar happening again.
Andrea Vance asks how our politics got so stupid.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/130649918/politics-is-now-one-long-campaign-of-trivial-sound-bites-at-staged-photoops
”How did our politics get so stupid? Political life has become one long, permanent campaign where parties cynically offer up trivial sound bites in staged photo-ops – while kicking the most difficult decisions down the road.”
A disengenuous answer. At no point does she point the finger at her own media industry. We can’t keep blaming Hosking et al. All media trivialise the issues, and go for gotcha sounbites.
Perhaps Andrea could have a chat to other media companies to up their game /sarc
Hypocrisy much
Probably being a little unfair on Vance
In terms of the meeting of Finnish PM, Sanna Marin with Jacinda Ardern, Vance has this to say:
And there is a good example of the snide and cynical attitude of NZ journalists and commentators . It is a partisan attempt to introduce an erroneous interpretation of Ardern's meeting with Marin. Global trade and economic matters plus the war in Ukraine would have been front and centre of that meeting.
She also fails to point out that the trip was part of an Australasian tour and that the Finnish PM is currently there discussing the same topics with Aussie's PM who happens to be male.
It leads nicely into the Q&A Tane interview this morning with Willie Jackson, Minister of Broadcasting. It was the same mode of cynicism and attempt to create a false interpretation of the government's proposed merger of TVNZ and RNZ.
These 40 years and under journos show their ignorance of the history of NZ broadcasting:
We had exactly that set-up for decades and it worked well. The standard and accuracy of reporting and commentary was vastly superior to what we have today. We can thank the neoliberal acolytes for the decline.
I do have some idea what I'm talking about:
I was an NZBC employee working at the sharp end of broadcasting in the 1960s.
Yes – there are more than a few of us who lament the destruction of the public service ethos of that era Anne.
That anyone under the age of 50 probably has no idea of what we are talking about is even sadder.
+1000
I always value your input Anne…….and do especially in your comments here.
Thank-you Shanreagh.
I value yours too. And Patricia.
Politicians and the media are hand in hand. As bad as each other. Jacinda Arden does show dignity in how she responds to events and does not rush off to buy flowers and get filmed placing them at the site of a tragedy. Luxon and Seymour's recent photo opportunities were awful, on a par with Judith Collins' faux prayers.
Replying to Reality at 3. (Can’t reply on iPhone or iPad??)
And yet on Andrea Vance, in a throwaway line, is the only mainstream journalist to pick up on the hypocrisy of politicians using personal tragedies for political gain.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/480046/three-waters-government-announces-it-will-remove-entrenchment-clause-from-legislation
It’s a pity that they never gave that commitment and perhaps just as well because National has form in breaking its promises on asset sales.
On a related note, Wayne Brown seems to be in the deep pockets of investors.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/12/ratepayers-unsure-of-auckland-mayor-wayne-brown-s-proposal-to-sell-auckland-international-airport-shares.html
Years back I proposed a simple test of whether an asset should be in public or private control. All you have to do is ask the question – 'if this enterprise was to encounter commercial or technical difficulties that threatened its continued operations, would there be overwhelming political pressure for the public sector to step in to save it?'
In the case of Auckland Airport I suspect the answer is yes. In which case it should remain in at least a majority public control.
I agree, sort of, but not sure yet about your definition of commercial. I would exclude a drop, demonstrated by a drop in shareholder value, in the definition of 'commercial'. Astute investors will be always looking at the reasons this is happening and using this to guide their (continued) investment strategies .
Would it work if you had 'should be in majority public or private control'?
The test also works when looking at whether the Govt, any Govt, should answer calls for rescue in cases like RAL.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/130637119/ruapehu-alpine-lifts-faces-liquidation-after-govt-reportedly-refuses-extra-funding
Still pondering Canterbury Finance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Canterbury_Finance
Still pondering if large-scale BoD or organisational fraud would be covered in 'commercial' difficulties.
I think my caveat 'that threatened its continued operations' gives some clarity around commercial difficulties. A simple drop in share price alone might not trigger that condition.
On the other hand consider Air New Zealand.
Good rule of thumb that. If something must never go out of business, then it's not a business.
It is more a case of risk. As Arnold Nordmeyer once famously pointed out, would anyone want to socialise every corner dairy?
Because while they might provide an important social service (especially in the 50's before supermarkets came along) the failure of a single one would not likely have any political impact. The large majority of enterprises fall into this category and can be sensibly left to the private sector.
By contrast only the state is large enough to absorb the intergenerational risk of large scale infrastructure – and thus should be in appropriate public control.
Well, as "every corner dairy" seems to be demanding that the taxpayer fund their security costs – we are getting closer to that every day.
'Commercial difficulties' seem to me to be a term used to signal a view that a Govt handout/bailout is justified. Continued operations seem to mean that continued present operations. Sometime cutting one's cloth is a better response.
But a good rough rule of thumb and as I said also works when assessing calls for Govt investment once firms face difficulties eg RAL.
Good point Visubversa.
My response was to RL not you and I must have hit the wrong reply button.
Asset ≠ enterprise
Wayne Brown likes writing rambling letters telling Wellington that he doesn’t like them to tell him what to do with his front porch but he doesn’t seem to mind investors taking over a strategic asset in his backyard.
Hasn’t the ship long sailed on majority public control of Auckland Airport?
It wouldn’t surprise me if the share price had been climbing since Brown rode into town.
Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Airport#Shareholders
So yes 'ship long sailed on majority public control of Auckland Airport' in 1998?
The Government was AIAL's majority shareholder, the rest being held by the local councils. In 1998 the Government sold its shareholding, ………
'After amalgamation into the Auckland Council, the local authority now owns a 22.4 per cent stake worth $1.13 billion as of May 2014.
AIAL appears on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX: AIA) and Australian Stock Exchange (ASX: AIA). International shareholders hold around 40 per cent of the shares, domestic approximately 60 per cent'.
On NZ Herald premium content (I cannot access the complete story) headline states Wayne Brown may have talked the share sale price down………
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/market-close-auckland-airport-shares-fall-as-council-proposes-selling-its-stake/ERJSIGO7SJGF7BZ7WQNNKLUQV4/
In a country with the population of Aotearoa, privatisation of public assets makes no sense.
Telecommunications, electricity generation and delivery, transportation networks and infrastructure should all be nationalised.
Agree and especially with the Govt tackling or signalling changes now to the electricity sector as having a huge impact on people.
And what signals and tackles to the electricity industry would that be?
Renationalisation or closer regulatory control. Energy costs form a large part of the costs for many low income families. Low user charges are now gone.
Low user charges was labour policy,as it discriminates against people in the leafy suburbs with big houses and EV'S
There will also be no renationalisation,and regulatory control is very good,and all 3 regulators all tell us that increased costs going forward will be from labour,and/or green policies.
How can you show good faith when you are dealing with a devious group within Labour , who I now note say it was a mistake- really a mistake, not that you goy caught???Will do something so underhanded and yet no one will take ownership in voting in support of the SOP ? Is the PM so disinterested that what was discussed within caucus “discussed, despite her saying on Monday it was “not necessarily something I would be aware of”
and when you are caught out – misdirect, hide, avoid anything to distance from what was such an underhanded attempt. Perhaps the PM Ardern should just retire as imo power has corrupted her into a person I am sure on reflection it is not someone a few years ago she would have thought she would become.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/130623964/jacinda-ardern-attended-labour-caucus-meeting-where-controversial-three-waters-entrenchment-clause-was-discussed
How is it possible to pass a bill through parliament without getting "caught"? Your comment is ridiculous.
Yes it is a ridiculous comment by Herodotus. Bears no relation to a knowledge of Parliamentary process. It even goes against a close reading of the article they are linking
'She cast doubt on whether Labour MPs knew exactly what was being voted on: "To be fair, the principle of entrenchment has generally attracted a 75% threshold. Everyone in Labour was very aware of that. What would have been happening in real time as you had both an entrenchment position, but a different threshold.”
Similarly, Minister Chris Hipkins, the Leader of the House, also said he did not know it was being voted on. He said he knew the Government had previously sought a 75% entrenchment, but he understood this would have failed as it did not have cross-party support.'
I linked to the lists of SoPs earlier. here it is again
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/bills-and-laws/supplementary-order-papers/
Anyone including opposition MPs can put forward an SoP at any time.
As Solkta says discussion on the floor of Parliament is the least likely place to be able to slip something through with Hansard recorders, The Speaker, house majorities/whips and the ability to have all the drafts in front of the House and able to be read by all & sundry. We also have Parliamentary Counsel.
Bearing mind the position of SoPs being able to be put in place at any time if there was nothing at the Caucus then there was probably not an SoP in place. I am not sure if a Green MP (Sage) would go to a Labour party Caucus but I would think not. As a Minister she will go to Cabinet.
What is the big drama anyway? Legislation matters and the conduct of such through the House are are traditionally under the purview of the Leader of he House. The current Leader of the House is Chris Hipkins.
In the view of whether cockup or conspiracy I think we would come down to the fact in a fast moving Parliamentary environment Hipkins may/maynot have been aware of, but no expectation that the PM would be, as it happened but would be soon after. Hipkins would have control and would be discussing.
Those trying to make a meal of this show very clearly their lack of knowledge of parliamentary process and their partisan approach, and this is par for the course as far as the media is concerned. That the approach has trapped Herodotus is also clear.
To me it is yet another example of the idiotic expectations that the media places on the PM in a bid to achieve a prized ‘gotcha’.
We saw it so often during Covid when there was the expectation that she was solely responsible for full or empty supermarket shelves, loading out delays from warehouses to said supermarkets etc etc
Sage is not a minister. The Greens do not have a minister inside of cabinet.
Solkta …… Doh of course…….so even less likelihood of a anyone on the Govt's side knowing of an SoP about lowering the entrenchment %.
Mahuta spoke in favour of it (the amendment) on the floor – immediately following Sage's introduction of her SOP (which specifically referenced the 60% entrenchment) – so pretty certain that at last some Labour MPs knew about the provision & therefore what they were voting for.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansD_20221122_20221123
Mahuta has also said it was discussed at the Labour caucus immediately prior. Though she hasn't made it clear whether the discussion refrenced the 60% (which was achievable) or the general provision of entrenchment (75%) which was not. But the discussion did specifically talk about entrenchment (in some form) in relation to water. It's not really believable that Hipkins and Ardern could have been totally blindsided.
I don't think anyone is saying either were totally blindsided, the Stuff article says they were prepared for 75% but not being fully aware that there was an SoP floating round with the percentage at 60% and not 75% and that a vote on the lower percentage was imminent.
Incognito linked below to the exact wording – specifically drawing attention to the 60% as it was put to the vote.
Your alternatives are either that they weren't paying attention to the debate in the House (which is, actually, a real possibility, under urgency with multiple SOP being debated). Or that they actually did want to have entrenchment – and are backtracking now that the constitutional implications have become a public issue.
Yeah, right, they were caught with their pants down in the middle of the act and it is all on file:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansD_20221122_20221123
I fail to see what the big drama is. A percentage requirement was dropped. Hipkins has stated he did not think 75% was a go-er.
It is clearly some sort of media beat-up.
When the focus should have been on privatisation of water or rather on keeping it as a public good it sadly became a technicality issue with some screaming that democracy was under attack. Government could have shown more unity and resolve but they looked like a bunch of flustered possums caught in the headlights.
Yes agree with this. I just hope that Labour gets a wriggle on and pushes through the remaining stages quickly.
Isn't this now a neat trap for National and Act, agree to the proposal not to sell water assets. Or not, leaving them open to election jibes of wanting to sell.
Problems for dairy owners.
If they were to stop selling tobacco products, would they be such targets of robberies?
And the ram-raid in Christchurch on the gun shop.
What if all gun-shops were required to moved their premises as close as possible to police stations?
The system will be going down for a reboot shortly.
Shouldn't take too long.
Cheers.
Ok – that was annoying. Something failed on the TS raid during shutdown and it didn’t start up because it kept skipping drives.
The raid is now running on a single SSD. I’ll try adding the other disk and spare back in.
The other array drives show a spare with an empty partition, and the other drive with a munted file system. My guess is that it powered off while it was resyncing.
No disk errors. Resyncing.
I’d better pop a new drive into the array and shift a spare. Note the hours on SSD 0
SSD 0 = 3992 hours powered on (about 166 days)
SSD 1 = 35474 hours (~4.14 years)
SSD 2 = 759 hours (spare)
Can I ask the brand name for SSD 1 please?
lprent@lpws:~$ sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdf
smartctl 7.2 2020-12-30 r5155 [x86_64-linux-5.15.0-43-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-20, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Intel 730 and DC S35x0/3610/3700 Series SSDs
Device Model: INTEL SSDSC2BB120G4
Man this thing is old. the SSD Intel 730 series got sold in NZ from 2015. I suspect that this one was from 2016 or 2017 (I'd have to crack the case to see).
SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 1
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 35480
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 294
170 Available_Reservd_Space 0x0033 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 0
171 Program_Fail_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
172 Erase_Fail_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
174 Unsafe_Shutdown_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 250
175 Power_Loss_Cap_Test 0x0033 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 647 (173 477)
183 SATA_Downshift_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
184 End-to-End_Error 0x0033 100 100 090 Pre-fail Always - 0
187 Reported_Uncorrect 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
190 Temperature_Case 0x0022 062 058 000 Old_age Always - 38 (Min/Max 31/42)
192 Unsafe_Shutdown_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 250
194 Temperature_Internal 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 45
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
199 CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
225 Host_Writes_32MiB 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 1783323
226 Workld_Media_Wear_Indic 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 23879
227 Workld_Host_Reads_Perc 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 26
228 Workload_Minutes 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 2127705
232 Available_Reservd_Space 0x0033 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 0
233 Media_Wearout_Indicator 0x0032 077 077 000 Old_age Always - 0
234 Thermal_Throttle 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0/0
241 Host_Writes_32MiB 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 1783323
242 Host_Reads_32MiB 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 656517
SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged
Thanks for that.
Boo Hiss
Nope – something is wrong on one of those drives. Fails during startup.
Ummm time to put in a new array and retire these SSDs
You have to feel sorry for the three people injured in the ute.
Motorcyclist dies in crash after fleeing police, hitting ute, in Auckland | Stuff.co.nz
'You have to feel sorry for the three people injured in the ute.'
…and the police and the friends and family of the idiot on the motorcycle.
Last year over in Perth I was heading home from work when I was passed by a couple of loons on a motor-scooter, carrying something oversized and weaving wildly over the road. I followed them about a km to a major intersection with a main highway.
Much to my horror they didn't even pretend to slow down, went straight through the red light and missed an Aussie road train at full speed – by less than a metre.
Canadian visual artist/designer Daniel Voshart used 800 images of busts and Artbreader, a machine learning-based art website, to create astonishingly realistic images of 54 Roman emperors.
https://www.voshart.com/ROMAN-EMPEROR-PROJECT
Great no longer do we have to imagine them with sightless seeming eyes and odd curly hair, when they do have hair.
The Guardian article below reports the problems of longtime Kiwis in Oz with non-permanent resident visas who've lost jobs. They are caught in a poverty trap when they cannot access CentreLink unemployment payments. Sobering reading. This is another unjust legal loophole for poorer Kiwi citizens in Oz, not just the 501 deportees, that the NZ government needs to sort out with their Aussie counterparts.
Sorry but the link icon did not work for me today.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/08/were-screwed-the-new-zealanders-left-stranded-in-australia