Open mike 05/02/2024
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6:00 am, February 5th, 2024 - 50 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 ...32 minutes 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 ...9 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 ...13 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 ...14 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 ...18 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 ...19 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: ...20 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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- What’s the time Mr Seymour?
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The Justice Committee has called for submissions on National's racist and constitutionally radical Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. Submissions can be made at the link above or by post, and are due by Tuesday, 7 January 2025. But I'd get in quick, in case National grows a spine ...2 days ago
- We need to talk about Kevin
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family has a Drunk Uncle Kevin in there somewhere. If your Kevin is anything like the ones I know, he was getting along happily enough without having to think too much about the Treaty Principles Bill apart from bloody good job, onya guys ...3 days ago - The hikoi
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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- AMA + Holiday Webworm Merch!
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
If ACT leader David Seymour intended the Treaty Principles Bill to drive a wedge into National’s support base, he may well already be succeeding. By midnight on Thursday after the Maori Party haka in Parliament, National MPs were being deluged with emails and messages from their members calling them out ...4 days ago
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6 days ago - More lawlessness from National
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- National’s tyrannical “foreign interference” law
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
St Mary’s Bay housing left hanging: Climate risk is systemically underestimated in the climate scenarios used by central banks, and a new report warns 10,000 houses are set to become uninsurable in Aotearoa. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in ...7 days ago
- Auckland chafing at Bishop’s housing intensification orders
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
- Weekly Roundup 15-November-2024
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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
As the Hikoi against it swells into the tens of thousands, KCs call on National to kill off ACT’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 14: The ...1 week ago - Dealing to the big Aussie banks
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- Instead of axing the HRC, ACT corruptly installed a racist, transphobic “Gay Human Rights Commissi...
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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
1 week ago
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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. ...12 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. ...13 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. ...19 hours ago
- Govt’s child wellbeing strategy ‘shallow and shameful’
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- Release: A historic win for Samoan communities
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The Government has taken a giant step backwards by reinstating live animal exports. ...1 day ago
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- Release: Smoking numbers up under Costello’s watch
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- Release: Call for Palestine recognition by NZ, Australian and Canadian MPs
Parliamentarians from Australia, Canada and New Zealand have written an open letter to their respective Prime Ministers calling on them to recognise Palestine. ...2 days ago
- 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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Te Whatu Ora’s bill for contracting and consulting staff has ballooned by nearly 20 percent under the National Government, breaking a promise they made during the election campaign to cut contractors. ...4 days ago
- Release: Growing pressure to scrap Section 7AA Repeal Bill
The newly released Section 7AA Repeal Bill's select committee report is further evidence that the Government should scrap it. ...4 days ago
- Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope
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- Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...1 week ago
- Stand Up for Te Tiriti
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- Release: Over 15,000 sign Labour’s open letter to Luxon
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- Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors
...1 week ago
- Release: Labour formally apologises to state and faith-based care survivors
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Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...1 week ago
- 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
- Govt move to exclude journalist risks chilling effect
The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...2 weeks ago
- Without action, an apology will be empty air
For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Concerns remain over tobacco interference
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- Urgent wake-up call on climate
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- Green MP’s Meme-ber’s Bill set to save the world
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- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
- 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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“You came to my house and said, if you want to talk about Te Tiriti o Waitangi come to Waitangi. I am at your house and you are not here.”
“Kei hea Koro?”
Jones and Peters – late to the party.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350168324/historic-day-waitangi-te-ao-maori-powerhouses-challenge-government
How to explain that trim/fit looking tame iti…?
He went vegan… didn't ya know..?
I noticed the change. You might enjoy this wonderful read, Phil. The poem encapsulates the article, but the prose is well worth reading. It begins with discussion around scything 🙂
"The machine appeared
In the distance, singing to itself
Of money. Its song was the web
They were caught in, men and women
Together. The villages were as flies
To be sucked empty.
God secreted
A tear. Enough, enough,
He commanded, but the machine
Looked at him and went on singing."
https://orionmagazine.org/article/dark-ecology/
That is a good read…
I have scythed…I am a fan of the well-sharpened scythe…
And I liked schumacher's response to being called a 'crank'..
And I was surprised at the end to realise it was written in 2012..it is so contemporary..
When you reach the denouement, the date doesn't matter any more 🙂
And touching on the dismay felt/contradictions seen by the author at the green movement being about carbon trading and the like..and bereft of any serious self-questioning/calls for the major changes needed..
My version of that dismay is at how many people who call themselves green…who claim to want to help save the planet..but who still eat animals…who support the industrial exploitations/cruelties done to all these animals..not to mention the environmental damage caused by those industries/practices..
(Some even pat themselves on the back: proudly proclaiming they only eat organic/free-range..(!)..as if that somehow absolves themselves from any blame/responsibilities..it doesn't..!)
Does their addiction to eating flesh over-ride the 'green' attitudes they fervently profess to follow..?
I mean..they cannot claim to not know of the horrors accompanying/behind what they eat..?..can they .?
So do they just not care enough..to change..?
These inherent green contradictions in so many self-professing 'greens' has long puzzled me…
..it still does..
Your mention of enjoying scything made me think of this chap, Titus.
He lives a fully off-grid (some may say feral) lifestyle. He is charming, gentle and deeply religious but not in a preachy, want to convert you way. Friends with the Amish.
A really enjoyable hour and I see there is another vid of visiting Titus in winter.
Edit, TBH the scything is only a minute or so but it was about ‘the vibe’.
"The machine" could be the international financiers sniffing round the ashes of Three Waters….
Still behind a paywall for the next couple of days.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/02/05/no-bailing-out-water-says-minister/
Quelle surprise.
So much so that he has become a poster boy for Maori men's health!
https://menshealthweek.co.nz/maori-mens-health-status/
That is a good vid from tame..in that link..
His enthusiasm for how good he feels from going vegan..is contagious..
Being a shepherd works to, I can assure you
David Seymour on the paepae
[image resized – Incognito]
Caption anyone?
Seymour:…'shit..!..I don't think my iwi likes me..'
Luxon:…'see what your bullshit has wrought..?'
Peters:..’shit..!..if this keeps up we could well be a one term government..’
Captions (in song..)
Seymour:..'mama told me not to come'..
Luxon:'we gotta get out of this place'..
Peters:'sitting/nodding on the dock of the bay'
I wish I were in Te Kuiti now
Te Puke?
Darn! Luxon can’t even get his wishes right.
Seymour: "Looks as if I've done an overbite this time"
Thanks Incognito. I don't know how to do it.
After-taste of a dead rat.
Winston drifted off to sleep – I saw him, so did the cameraperson 🙂
I hope Peeni didn't bring his gun. 🙁
Not a caption, but isn't Luxon's head gonna be a'peelin’?
Lizard skin comes with spf 100
Does this mean that they’re not going to pay staff or employ anyone?
@MusicalChairs14
@henrycooke article in Stuff made me join the public service agency staff numbers (and salaries) with an estimate of the savings each agency is being asked to make. I'll explain the workings in this , but fair to say that the impact is being grossly underplayed…[1/n]
[…]
@MusicalChairs14
For some agencies, estimated savings are greater than the agency's overall salary spend! Presumably these agencies fund other organisations / services that will also be cut? Either way, very clear that consequences will extend way beyond the '63,000 public servants' [Ends]
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GFc2M8kbgAAvdwT?format=png&name=900×900
https://twitter.com/MusicalChairs14/status/1753932301007036472
Hone Harawira!!
"You buggers want to get rid of it!"
Hell no!
You're on your own on this one mate!
"You and your shitty-arse bill!"
Ha!
Ano!
Shout-out to the Pākeha greenies!
Liking that!
Hone knows it's about exploiting the resources, as it is.
"Maranga mai"
Hone's message.
Did nga wahine just "e noho" Winston?
where are you watching?
Stuff & RNZ – split screen 🙂
At least Winston knew to sit, when he was told. Seymour refused and ranted on and on.
When in Waitangi, tikanga, tikanga, tikanga!
Luxon's boring everyone to death.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnn!
This one ?
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/rt-hon-christopher-luxon-waitangi-speech
Even more boring than reading this drivel? Who wrote this pile of useless crap
This is a lie.
"It has required a generosity of spirit from both Iwi and the Crown"
The crown has been as miserly as possible. They were much more generous to those who invested in SFC – even to the extent of not publishing the recipients of the taxpayer largess and paying interest, they were much more generous to businesses during COVID, more generous in paying compensation to Taranaki farmers for the loss of their free land and the need to pay Maori owners market rents.
This is becoming more relevant by the hour 😮
"One of the warriors lifted his maro (loin cloth) to reveal his penis to the political parties during the pōwhiri. He then licked his rakau (stick) and bared his butt."
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161794900127033&set=a.65048947032
This is worth the read..
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/04/what-legendary-historian-tells-us-about-contempt-for-todays-working-class-ep-thompson
Cheers Phil, a worth while five minutes.
With yr rant above about 'greenies that eat meat', I feel the same about where support for workers has gone from the left. Especially in this neighbourhood here at TS.
The traditional working class has splintered..
Some have become mobile…and not followed their parent down the mine..with many of them becoming the nouveau middle class (in economic terms)..
What we have now is an underclass..with no pride in being there..no sense of community with other workers..
..doing the shit minimum wage jobs…many with little dignity in them..
And their bosses ..who believe in paying them the minimum..and would have them as slaves if they could get away with it..
..raw/ugly capitalism is what it is..
Tho' I don't agree with your contention that people in/on this forum don't support those low wage workers..
I am pretty sure most here would support increases in workers wages etc…
And yes..many of the working class here are now that nouveau middle class..but I don't think that uncaring for the lowest paid framing stands..
What makes you think it does..?
(And I am sure there is a thesis in that splintered working class new reality..)
"What makes you think it does..?"
The enthusiasm shown by comments on worker issues compared to other items. Especially when it is (insert opposition MP/policy) related.
You don't think that for many/most here..that such issues are a given..?
That the minimum wage should be the living wage…at the very least..?..as just one example..?
Way to insult your hosts.
@spider_hoof
Christopher Luxons Waitangi speech was pretty much verbatim of his speech from last year. He has learned nothing and refuses to learn anything because he is only here to serve his shareholders/donors/masters.
[…]
@spider_hoof
Watch for your self, they are both on youtube. Christopher Luxon doing his speech 05 Feb 2023 version starts at the 1 hr 9 min mark
The 05 Feb 2024 version starts at the 2 hr 46 min mark
Oh yeah, and here he is doing the same speech on his facebook on the 6th of February 2023 after he declined being at Waitangi on the actual day. https://fb.watch/q08qaig_1Z/
https://twitter.com/spider_hoof/status/1754366340549448079
Puppet.
A talking block of pine…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geppetto#Role
…. like this one? (skim through the human intro.)