Open mike 05/09/2022

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 5th, 2022 - 54 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:


Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

54 comments on “Open mike 05/09/2022 ”

  1. Roy cartland 1

    Horrifying read about the billionaire preppers. Basically they want to invent the tech to get away from the rest of us, some even want to cause the apocalypse. Though some want to 'befriend' us, so we don't turn against them.

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff

    • Mac1 2.1

      There is one word superfluous in the article- at the end of this quote…..

      "We judge that this, combined with individuals’ personal grievances, increases the likelihood that individuals will be radicalised and inspired to mobilise to violence, which could happen with little or no intelligence forewarning."

  2. Macro 3

    Now Larry I could vote for!

    No lying in No 10 – unless it's on a comfy sofa, and a responsible hiss-cal policy.

    What's not to like.

  3. PsyclingLeft.Always 4

    Emeritus Prof Sir Alan Mark said a resource consent issued by Environment Southland last year should have been publicly notified given the pollution he predicted would occur to the upper Waiau River and therefore to Lake Manapouri.

    He wrote to the council asking it to reconsider its decision.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/te-anau-decision-shocks

    I, along with many others, have great Respect for Sir Alan Mark. He has truly been a Guardian of NZ ecosystems. Fantastic he is putting himself into this !

  4. SPC 6

    The GOP strategy for the Congressional elections was outlined for Fathers Day in the USA by Tucker Carlson on Fox News.

    1. GOP candidates win school board elections campaigning against race and gender issues being in schools and so this should be the case for Congress.

    2. Stress the importance of compliance with law and order (as civil rights are rolled back) under the direction of the new Supreme Court.

    3. Border security for the USA (opposing illegal migration) not supporting foreign nations like Ukraine.

    4. Linking womens right feminism with childless careers serving corporations

    5. Promoting the GOP as one with the cause and service to family

    6. Associating families headed by a sole mother with fatherlessness, poverty and crime

    To which the Democrats should simply ask would any of the GOP candidates for Congress support a tax credit for families? And of course propose that the tax credit provided during the pandemic and which lowered child poverty be made permanent – thus only be possible with a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.

    An issue, the 2005 election was fought over here (Brash attacked the then PM for placing a career before family – the classic Jehu defenestration of a woman in power move). Key of course accepted the WFF tax credit to win power in 2008.

    • Peter 6.1

      Stress the importance of compliance with law and order. Cute eh?

      So someone allegedly breaks all sorts of laws and you threaten the officials whose job it is to investigate. Is that how it works?

  5. Sacha 7

    How to outflank a right-wing host who would otherwise intervene ideologically

    https://twitter.com/BeardedGenius/status/1566349321750171648

    • weka 7.1

      lol, for a minute there I thought The Great British Sewing Bee was ruined.

    • Anne 7.2

      My God, what a class act! Love the replies eg:

      Exactly how to deal with ridiculous comments like “We can’t predict the future. So let’s just not try.” Exactly the bollocks we heard on Brexit. “We don’t know what will happen. Ignore experts. Just believe.”

      We've got our fair share of such idiots too.

    • Gabby 7.3

      That. Was brilliant.

  6. SPC 8

    An article on Christianity in US politics.

    https://wapo.st/3AR9JA4

  7. Poission 9

    Vladimir PUT OPTION,catches Europe by big short and the energy markets will contagion into financials as markets open,and analysts start to see a huge risk unwinding (1998 revisited) as governments impose both subsidy for consumers funded by windfall tax's on Generators,who in turn need to be bailed out by governments to meet margin calls,

    https://twitter.com/JavierBlas/status/1566471702489534467?cxt=HHwWhsC4mdjtnL0rAAAA

    Germany around another 100 billion Euro for generators,as well as 100 billion Euro for consumers.( With gross positions around 2-5 trillion euro)

    Finland calls a Lehman moment ,although it is more LTCM (which was Russian default forced)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-Term_Capital_Management

    https://twitter.com/OilSheppard/status/1566497575175442433?cxt=HHwWgsC-3dbPqL0rAAAA

    • pat 9.1

      What to do….

      Default and lose preferred access to financial markets (assuming they continue to exist) or burden taxpayers (current and future) the costs.

      No good options

      • Poission 9.1.1

        Default is not an option,as it is intertwined in the financial markets ,a single position of say 100 million,may have been hedged and swaped into 20 different financial commodities with a gross risk of > 1 billion.

        There needs to be a substantive untangling of positions to align the physical trades with the real demand.

        In the UK both contenders for the PM have withdrawn from lines in the sand statements as the ill wind blows and the BOE whispered in a few ears ( with the pound at risk of parity with the $)

        • pat 9.1.1.1

          Default remains a possibility….and nobody knows the potential related positions.

          • Poission 9.1.1.1.1

            Default is always a possibility,especially with energy trades without physical positions,as with so called electrical retailers in the UK.

            With the eurozone and UK there are further risks with currency depreciation ( euro just going under 99c US) for imported commodity's ,the correction maybe for the ECB to hit .75 points on Thursday to stop capital flight.

            The positions are always risky as some will be very creative,but always add up exponentially such as LTCM with 4 billion in capital levered into 120 billion in debt through swaps etc.

            ( europe stock futures down 3.3% b4 open )

    • Ad 9.2

      Truss is making extravagant promises on energy as well.

      Plenty of UK pensioners bundled in single rooms.

      Winter's coming.

      • Poission 9.2.1

        Truss has painted herself into a corner with tax cuts and NHS reversals,leaving little room for energy (with UK providers in margin calls as well) she became a one trick pony (like the nats) with only a tax cut card platform.

        The BOE forecast 13.3% inflation by jan,citicorp reckons 22% the 70's show revisited when the IMF comes for NY dinner.

  8. Drowsy M. Kram 10

    Michael, that just leaves the Holy Trinity of interest rates, oil and gold. [@6:50 mins]

    Blasphemy? On RNZ?!! Although gold was Melchior's gift to the Son.

    • Descendant Of Smith 11.1

      No more or less ironic than if it had run out of petrol.

      Bring back coal powered steam engines I say.

    • Belladonna 11.2

      What I found …. strange … if true, was that there is apparently nowhere for a tow-cable to be attached – since the car is basically all plastic.

      Sounds like a major design flaw. Even the best of cars break down.

      • Nic the NZer 11.2.1

        Now if only the model of car had been posted it would be possible to verify the factual nature of that post. Fortunately no specific electric car companies were hurt in the making of this news item by breitbart media.

        • Belladonna 11.2.1.1

          Had a quick look – and apparently it's true.

          Less to do with the plastic nature of the vehicle and challenges in fitting tow points, and more to do with the way the EV has no 'neutral' and the wheels connect to the motor.

          Flat-bed tow truck is the only recommended-by-the-manufacturers solution.

          "What about towing a depleted EV to the nearest charger? This shouldn’t be done, as most manufacturers recommend against towing electric cars, even when in neutral, due to how the motors are attached to the wheels and their lack of a true neutral gear. To avoid damaging the car, it’ll have to be loaded onto a flat-bed truck instead of being towed by the patrol van of a breakdown company."

          https://www.wired.co.uk/article/electric-vehicles-breakdown

    • Muttonbird 12.1

      Doing a more limited number of things well might just be better than failing at many things simultaneously.

      That old classic. With this the wealthy entrench their privilege by ensuring no social progress is possible because, they say, it is impossible to do well.

      Talk about small thinking. What if the private sector thought that way? No-one would try anything!

    • Stuart Munro 12.2

      The discredited Business Round Table NZ Initiative risking their dubious reputation to sledge Labour instead of prepping an entrepreneurial solution? How unprofessional.

    • Incognito 13.1

      National focus groups are on it!

    • Belladonna 13.2

      Pre-emptively, the Government needs to announce what the new levy (or application of the existing levy to a previously exempt income stream) will be used for.

      If they're wise, they'll be looking at added tourism support funding from the AirBnB stream (e.g. public toilets in tourist popular, but low population, areas). The uber stream might go to funding public transport subsidies. [You could also look at offsetting GST on PT – but they've been reluctant to look at exemptions in the past]

      I believe that Kiwis are more likely to support a new 'tax' if they can see the proceeds going to a relevant area. Certainly for the next couple of years.

      They're less likely to gain support if the funding just goes into general revenue.

      • Muttonbird 13.2.1

        Yes, some good ideas there on how to sell a policy to the public.

        As for "relevant area" for proceeds of GST on AirBnB at source, you couldn't look further than support for renters rights! Government has complained that policing healthy homes standards and policing illegal landlord eviction behaviour is too costly and the burden shall remain with the lowly tenant.

        About time that changed, don't you think?

      • Muttonbird 13.2.2

        Here we go. Enjoy!

        There are fears that the reopening of New Zealand’s borders could lead to a flood of landlords taking their properties off the long-term rental market and offering them to tourists instead.

        Short-term rental platforms, such as Airbnb, stand accused of contributing to housing shortages and driving up rents in cities around the world.

        In Wellington advocates say a crackdown on unregulated Airbnb-style accommodation could free up hundreds of homes for the under-pressure rental market.

        But the prospect of making extra cash by providing Airbnb-style accommodation is attractive to many property owners, particularly given the rising cost of living.

        Short precis; seven different property agents acknowledge AirBnB is major influencing problem in the rental sector. Aus/NZ AirBnB rep says, 'nothing to see here, let them eat cake, etc'.

        AirBnB and Uber need a good, swift kick in the nuts imo, and I am so proud David Parker is taking the worldwide lead on this.

        https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/129712562/heres-what-airbnb-can-do-to-a-rental-market

        • Gabby 13.2.2.1

          That's one reason that there really isn't a decent alternative to building state houses.

        • Belladonna 13.2.2.2

          Do you really think that imposing GST on AirBnB rentals will cause landlords to re-consider and offer them to long term tenants?

          It seems unlikely to me.

  9. aj 14

    Metal Plants Feeding Europe’s Factories Face an Existential Crisis

    Power-intensive aluminum smelters say they need government support to survive.

    Looking more and more likely that the Tiwai Point Smelter will remain open for a long time to come.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-04/energy-crisis-europe-s-aluminum-smelters-are-struggling-to-survive?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=business&utm_medium=social&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business

  10. Poission 15

    Chile heavily defeats progressive constitution reform,and retains Pinochet 41 yr old constitution.

    A large work of art at 388 pages the over complex tome was to big to succeed.

    The 388-article proposed charter sought to put a focus on social issues and gender parity, enshrined rights for the country's Indigenous population and put the environment and climate change centre stage in a country that is the world's top copper producer….

    The new constitution would have established autonomous Indigenous territories and recognized a parallel justice system in those areas, although lawmakers would decide how far-reaching that would be.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/chile-constitution-vote-referendum-magna-carta-1.6572652