Open mike 05/01/2023
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6:00 am, January 5th, 2023 - 28 comments
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- This is bad news
The speech yesterday by Treasury’s Chief Economic Advisor warning that the books are in worse shape than forecasted looks like it’s part of a softening-up process for either more cuts or a longer wait to get back into surplus. The speech was a highly unusual public preview of Treasury’s Half-Yearly ...1 hour ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2024
Open access notables Projected increase in the frequency of extremely active Atlantic hurricane seasons, Lopez et al., Science Advances: Future changes to the year-to-year swings between active and inactive North Atlantic tropical cyclone (TC) seasons have received little attention, yet may have great societal implications in areas prone to hurricane ...10 hours ago - Chicken Kiev
Chatting in the supermarket this morning, I found I needed to lunge for the chicken drumsticks.Coping mechanisms: who hasn’t felt a greater need for them lately?When it all gets too much, I turn to demonstrating handy butchery hacks.It wasn’t that she’d said anything wrong, our friend, not at all. We ...14 hours ago - The year is 2024 and it’s 1984
This is written in response to the highly significant open letter from a group of economists that was today addressed to Christopher Luxon. The year is 2024, and it’s 1984. The country is reeling from a record Olympic medal gold haul, while the globe grapples with the choice of the ...15 hours ago - The IPCA has failed
Back in 2022, RNZ took an in-depth look at the "Independent" Police Conduct Authority and its handling of killings by police. These are the most serious test of oversight, and you would expect the police's use of lethal force to receive the most severe scrutiny. But despite the police regularly ...18 hours ago - Thursday 21 November 2024
The Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti arrived at Parliament on Tuesday – the size is being debated but estimates range from 42,000 to 100,000. The Prime Minister is defending not attending due to some of the organisers being affiliated with Te Pāti Māori. The national gang patch ban came into force ...19 hours ago - ‘These budget cuts are counter-productive and make no sense’
I spoke to former Productivity Chair Nana this morning about the letter he and a group of other economists sent to PM Christopher Luxon to urge the Government to urgently suspend cuts to spending and investment for the sake of the economy, struggling businesses and the wellbeing of vulnerable ...20 hours ago - ACT’s Astroturfing & A Co-ordinated Attack on Te Pati Māori
Unity on the Streets / Unity at the TableAfter the Hīkoi, all three right wing Coalition leaders came together to push the idea that the 42,000 - 50,000 + strong Hikoi was somehow less potent and brave, and more illegitimate than the energy and crowd displayed.Prime Minister Christopher Luxon 20-November: ...21 hours ago - Durability of carbon dioxide removal is critical for stabilizing temperatures
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- The end of policing by consent
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- Young Maori take over
Neither Wellington nor Parliament has ever seen anything like it before. The Police said there were more than 40,000 but however many there were, yesterday’s Hikoi to Parliament was a monumental event. It was almost three times the Foreshore and Seabed martch of 2004 and many,many times bigger than ...2 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Hikoi Aftermath
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- We need to talk about Kevin
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Like everyone else (everyone who wasn't there, anyway), I've spent the morning watching the hikoi march on Parliament. The pictures are astounding: parliament grounds and the surrounding streets are full, and there are still people backed up along Lambton Quay. The police are estimating 35,000 people, and that's a floor ...3 days ago
- Why Govt & NZ Inc should boycott & regulate Facebook
3 days ago - How should we talk about change?
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3 days ago - Discount Code for Webworm Merch!
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3 days ago - Gordon Campbell On The Hikoi Arrival, And Tyler Childers
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- National’s support base is wobbling
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7 days ago - More lawlessness from National
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Yesterday, under cover the the biggest political fight of the year, National quietly - covertly, even - introduced anti-foreign interference legislation. The bill is the product of a years-long work-program aimed at countering shit like this and this, and there's unquestionably a need to do something to counter foreign states' ...7 days ago
- The Haka Represents The Best Of Us
A few months ago, I was in an audience watching a Haka-Kapa and as I watched children dance and sing and sway and shout and beat, I couldn’t help but think “The Haka represents the best of us.”Yes, yes - there will be a thousand voices that rush forth to ...7 days ago
- Adding up the climate cost
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One of the major problems the Government has in implementing its ‘going for housing growth’ strategy is that it isn’t giving much funding help to councils. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and ...7 days ago - Friday 15 November 2024
The Treaty Principles Bill continues to dominate political news, with it passing its first reading in the House. Parliament was briefly suspended and Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke suspended for 24 hours after leading a haka that was joined by opposition MPs and the public in the gallery. Willie ...7 days ago
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The government's Treaty Principles Bill is up for its first reading today - bought forward in a rush in a desperate effort to avoid the hikoi which is currently marching on Wellington. But the Prime Minister won’t be there for it – he’s literally running away to Peru! But he ...1 week ago
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As the weight of the world Hangs on your shoulders The weight of the world Starts to take over again And over again All that you once loved, now you hate So slowly relearn how to meditate To have and to hold And never let go Can you feel it ...1 week ago - Thursday 14 November 2024
The Treaty Principles Bill is set to have its First Reading in the House today, as the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti continues. More than 40 KCs have written to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General outlining their “grave concerns” about the substance of the Treaty Principles Bill, while an academic and ...1 week ago
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- An opportunity for a pro-growth tax switch
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Between 1950 and 1993 the New Zealand government tortured and abused up to 250,000 children in residential care facilities. Yesterday, following formal findings from a royal commission, it finally apologised for that abuse. The next step is redress and restitution - compensating the surviving victims for the appalling harm they ...1 week ago
- Voices echo
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The Government has passed legislation to remove agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) while Aotearoa’s reputation on climate action plummets. ...13 hours ago - Failed boot camp experiment must end
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- Gender-affirming care must centre evidence and health needs, not political posturing
The Ministry of Health has today released an evidence brief regarding the use of puberty blockers in gender-affirming healthcare, amid moves by the government to limit access. ...14 hours ago
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- Release: National’s lack of climate action taking NZ backwards
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- Release: Simple reason for drop in emergency housing
When the Government says it has reduced the number of people in emergency housing, what it means is it is stopping people from accessing it in the first place. ...20 hours ago
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- Justice Select Committee opens floor for Treaty Principles submissions
Today, the Justice Select Committee has decided to officially open submissions for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Power of the people on full display as hīkoi approaches Parliament
Today, Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived in Wellington, with thousands gathering to march in unity against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
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- Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope
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- Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill
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...1 week ago
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- Green Party calls for conscience vote on Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
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- Without action, an apology will be empty air
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- Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
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The Green Party says the need is greater than ever for Aotearoa New Zealand to pursue an independent foreign policy. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Winston Peters must apologise
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The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.
Does the same apply to anti-vaxxers, et al?
https://twitter.com/iHateCogsci/status/1610409758120361984
anti-vaxxer and incel are terms that now get applied broadly beyond their technical meaning. Not all of those people act like abusers. It's not so much about being kind to the people in the groups we attach those labels to, it's about being able to differentiate based on what individuals are doing and then respond appropriately.
Ostracising whole classes of people based on internet generated ideas about major social problems destroys community. It's easy to do on twitter, but in real life, we still have to live with people who hold these views. It's possible to hold people to account for their behaviour and not push them all into more radical positions by treating them like shit.
Not everyone of course, some people are do far gone they need serious boundaries put in place. But too much of the response atm treats all the people perceived in a certain way as haters and wreckers as if we can hate them into changing. Ostracisation is a heavy duty social tool that needs to be used more wisely.
In the tweet the idea is that abusive people need to learn empathy and that focusing on their feelings inhibits this. It doesn't however present solutions. It's one of the failings of left and liberal politics currently. We think about what 'should' be happening, often in the negative, rather than imagining and creating the change we prefer.
How is empathising with Covid denialists and suchlike going for us?
I do not mind what words we use to describe those who are unconcerned about harming others. The people who are harmed need their feelings amplified instead, is the point I took. Old-fashioned left solidarity with the disadvantaged, in other words. And heeding Karl Popper about not tolerating the intolerant.
Very little public coverage of what life is like for people who are no longer free to leave their homes because some angry snowflakes resent wearing a mask, for instance.
What empathy? I've seen nearly three years of ostracisation and ridicule. Be specific with some examples please.
Neither do I so long as we are using the language accurately. My point wasn't the words are wrong, but that those two words are now used much less discriminately.
I agree with this. Is the left/liberal people amplifying the realities of those people? I haven't seen that, but there's a lot I miss. Obviously the government is shit at it. What are the MSM doing?
I don't know what it's like where you live, but as a person with a disability who lives in a small community with anti-vaxers and vax hesitant people, and people completely down the rabbit hole, the idea that we can just ostracise those people into 'right behaviour' puts me at risk. I'm still dependent on those people for a range of things. Many disabled people are.
It's a shit situation, but reiterating, that it's not about tolerating the intolerant, it's about not turning them *all into radicals who hate the government and will act much worse against society if pushed hard against the wall.
Along with Nact, who doesn't give a shit, and Labour, who don't know what to do, and NZ voters, including many on the left, who refuse to vote for parties that will actually try and shift us out the neoliberal hell hole we're descending into. This isn't solely on some anti-vaxers. Hardly anyone where I live wears a mask. This is about NZ as a whole.
Watching the goings on with the Republican Party and the election of the Speaker of the House reminds me of the old saying about organising a piss up in a brewery.
The GOP family comes together to put the stamp on the thousands of times in recent years utterances have come from them about 'unity' and 'division.'
It's sort of like the All Blacks playing the All Blacks in a match and the All Blacks failing to win.
Apparently the last time that the speaker wasn't elected on the first ballot was 1923
Digging it out now 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives#Notable_elections
I’d bet that there are currently bets on the record being exceeded.
Thanks for the link.. put up a post.
As some of us have been saying, new misogyny same as the old misogyny. Gender identity activists, come and get your people.
https://twitter.com/salltweets/status/1610742673652211712
in case you think this is an aberration rather than a regular occurrence,
https://terfisaslur.com/
And then, of course they have to make up claims about how much violence they are subjected to. There is even a new word for that – "transperbole". The most basic of research shows that there is nothing like the "Trans Genocide" they are claiming.
https://4w.pub/breaking-down-claims-of-a-trans-genocide/?fbclid=IwAR3-JUkokpORSE16BEYGJ4ec6E6JBRZMMqfT6w3srn3A-bc0xJthNM6Q-g0
I didn't know what TERF stood for, had to look it up! (I must lead a sheltered life!) – but this saddens me.
Hell, there are some woefully inadequate males out there!
If you follow Guy McPherson and think it's all going to be over by 2026, believe me, the earth will not miss some of the apologies for human species that live on it!
the problem with GMcP's position it that is basically says give up (and 2026 is just a daft date to predict). What that means in this context is that women will be increasingly harmed as societies shift to chaos and authoritarian positions rather than regenerative, life affirming ones.
No-one knows which way this will roll, but it's easy to make a case for not giving up and continuing to do the right things, with our full imaginations geared towards things changing but working out.
I agree, weka, re McPherson's predictions. I continue to do what I can to mitigate my impact on the climate . . . but
when I read a comment like the above one in the tweet, I despair for the human race.
The foolish and pointless protests at Parliament last year likewise left a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach.
If we are somehow to get through the on-coming climate melt-down it will because we begin behaving like bees or ants – putting the collective needs of all society above our own greed. Sadly, I can't see that happening.
Still, one lives in hope!
what do you think stops you from imagining a better future?
twitter replies,
My fav columnist:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/130897996/however-fast-time-is-going-for-you-history-will-be-made-in-the-year-ahead
Not to gloat but I doubt the possibility of a mild winter featured in Poots' plan to freeze Europe into submission.
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Natural gas prices in Europe fell back to pre-war levels, as a bout of mild weather reduced demand and eased fears of a prolonged supply crunch.
Benchmark futures fell as much as 11% as a warm spell curbs heating demand and blustery conditions cut use of gas in power generation. Mild weather has spread across the region, with temperatures breaking monthly records in several locations at the start of January.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-04/europe-gas-slumps-to-lowest-since-2021-as-mild-weather-cuts-use
It gets better.
https://twitter.com/DWUhlfelderLaw/status/1610702533655158786
Oh! No! How is he going to impress Greta now?
Inadvertently
https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1610209734929559553
Hehehe
Regretful-as.
Now that is a "Gotcha!!"
A fitting humiliation visited on Andrew Tate would have been if the prison van had been an EV.
I, (and possibly the whole world), would have wryly savored a satisfying guilt free sense of schadenfreude to start us off in a good mood for the year.
Just the thing to carry this piece of cargo to where it needs to be.
hahaha.
Ford Transit designed for comfort?!
Excuse me while I laugh.
It was a rolls compared to it's 400e predecessor.
With the way rental properties and their prices are, a long wheelbase Ford Transit with high panels are a major improvement.