Open mike 06/08/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, August 6th, 2016 - 80 comments
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80 comments on “Open mike 06/08/2016”

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  1. Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster) 1
    6 August 2016 at 6:23 am

    I’ve just been watching Max Keiser Report number 947, and it gave me food for thought.

    Inequality has become quite grotesque in the USA and in New Zealand, with the richest people in this country increasing their wealth by obscene amounts while the rest of the country struggle to make ends meet. (Slight exaggeration)

    It seems to me that, unless we elect a government determined to reverse this trend, we really will end up as serfs. Automation will destroy jobs in the future, so more and more people will join the precariate, while the profits from employing less humans will go straight to the top ten per-cent.

    So, as I would suggest, we stand at a crossroads in the history of our country. If we continue on as we are, then we will cement in a new aristocracy, the money-owners, and a new peasantry, the working class who exist on minimum wages and zero hours, or reluctant government handouts.

    Or we can take a really radical direction and aim to share the benefits of the economy equally among all the people who live in this country. Radical reform may include a UBI. It must include tax redistribution, shifting the burden of tax from the poor, who can’t escape paying, to the rich, who now avoid paying.

    What is absolutely certain is that we cannot do nothing.

    Just as an aside, this is why I would support a Trump presidency. Will Clinton nothing meaningful will change. She has been bought and paid for by the very people who don’t want to see economic equality, and she’ll do their bidding.
    With the Donald, hell, we don’t know what we’re getting, but it sure isn’t
    e*t*b*i*h*e*t. (I bet that will get past moderation!) Yes, I think the man is a shallow showman, and there’s more than a suggestion he might be deliberately throwing his chances of being elected, but if he does get the nod, he won’t tug his forelock to the – to that word again.

    But I look in vain in New Zealand for a political party with the gumption to propose a legislative revolution. I fear we shall have to take to the streets in the end, to force political change and to unseat the (God, there’s that word again – can I never get away from it?)

    • Ad 1.1
      6 August 2016 at 6:49 am

      Got any links to those policies you want on the Trump website?

    • The Chairman 1.2
      6 August 2016 at 8:49 am

      “It seems to me that, unless we elect a government determined to reverse this trend, we really will end up as serfs.”

      Unless we also look at improving our political structure, the elite (through political donations or corporate lobbying) can end up commanding the Government we elect.

      • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1
        6 August 2016 at 10:43 am

        +1

        The rich already command our government. Hell, they actually make up the present government.

    • te reo putake 1.3
      6 August 2016 at 9:48 am

      Tony, there are historical parallels for your Trump leaning. And history tells us that they always work out badly for working people. Reagan, Thatcher, the Austrian bloke who ran Germany in the thirties … all elected on the promise to end the establishment. All cemented the establishment in place.

      It’s an infantile pretension, similar to the extreme left concept that we need concentration camps before the lumpen proles will rise up.

      On the up side, Trump, who had to admit lying this morning, has surged to a massive 8% chance of winning, according to 538. Hillary Clinton has a mere 91% chance of becoming president.

      https://theintercept.com/2016/08/05/donald-trump-admits-doesnt-understand-sees-television/

      • Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster) 1.3.1
        6 August 2016 at 12:37 pm

        TRP – I do really agree with what you’re saying. If I were an American voter I would cast my ballot for Jill Stein, and to hell with the consequences. But don’t look to HRC for any meaningful change in the USA.

        And perhaps it is unhealthy to oppose the Clintons?

        http://forum.clonehost.net/topic/30/hillary-clinton/7

      • Colonial Viper 1.3.2
        6 August 2016 at 11:00 pm

        It’s going to be an easy Trump win. Bring on the TV debates – the ones that Hillary are scared to death of.

        • Rodel 1.3.2.1
          7 August 2016 at 1:13 am

          Trump’s Democratic opponents and a growing number of republicans say Trump is temperamentally unsuitable for the presidency. They need to delete the ‘tempera’ part of the adverb. He is mentally ‘unsuitable’..

          Honestly, if he were an ordinary person ranting on the street without his money or power, the people in white coats would pick him up, give him a nice room and some medication.

      • adam 1.3.3
        6 August 2016 at 11:31 pm

        te reo putake I don’t think there is any chance of a goodwin when we talk about what a fascist state has done to working people.

        I know Bill and I bring up Franco a lot, there is a reason. Franco’s Spain was a nightmare, the way that economy worked was to brutalise sections of the working class based on ethnicity and/or whether they had fought for republic or not. Even then the so called pro-Franco peasants did not do that well.

        trump is a fascist, he may not be a hitler, but his economics and his approach is fascist. This does not bode well for working people, the sick, the disabled, and most of all women. And we should smack him and his ideas down like the destructive force they are.

    • Draco T Bastard 1.4
      6 August 2016 at 10:39 am

      …while the profits from employing less humans will go straight to the top ten per-cent.

      As it always has done under capitalists type systems. We see the same thing in Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt and we all know what happened to them.

      It really is capitalism that doesn’t work. Unfortunately a few get rich until it all falls down and they’re the ones making the rules to suit themselves.

      If we continue on as we are, then we will cement in a new aristocracy, the money-owners, and a new peasantry, the working class who exist on minimum wages and zero hours, or reluctant government handouts.

      QFT

      Of course, the money owners like that idea which is why they always advocate and lobby government for the policies that will bring it about.

      Radical reform may include a UBI. It must include tax redistribution, shifting the burden of tax from the poor, who can’t escape paying, to the rich, who now avoid paying.

      It must include a UBI and changing all businesses to cooperatives. The workers need to control the business and have a say in who gets paid how much. Shares will need to be converted to loans so that shareholders no longer have a say in running a business and the business itself cannot be owned by the workers either – it needs to be self-owned.

      It must include tax redistribution, shifting the burden of tax from the poor, who can’t escape paying, to the rich, who now avoid paying.

      That’s how capitalism works. The rich get rich by having the poor pay them for everything. And that is why it also fails.

      But I look in vain in New Zealand for a political party with the gumption to propose a legislative revolution.

      And that is the problem that we have. No political party is willing to throw out the failed system that is capitalism and look for a better system.

    • RedBaronCV 1.5
      6 August 2016 at 1:51 pm

      Look ahead a bit to the long game with Trump. The likes of Koch brothers haven’t just tamely accepted it but will move onto the next strategy.
      Should Trump get in he would be surrounded by the Republican far right who will isolate him as much as possible and do the governing in his name.

      And how long is it before Trump is impeached or assassinated ( not that I would wish that on anyone) and then Mike Pence ( a tea party far right) becomes president in a job nobody would ever vote him into. At that point the Tea party has the reigns of power.

      Coming down the road behind every Trotsky is a Lenin and a Stalin.

      But HRC really needs to up her game to and make concrete moves towards the Bernie position. Other wise there will be an action replay of this in 4 years.

    • mosa 1.6
      7 August 2016 at 2:21 pm

      We became serfs in our own country a long time ago its just credit and low interest rates and cheap crappy goods and men like Key smiling and telling us in a soothing voice we all can be rich if we just elect him and his party and BELIEVE in the BRIGHTER FUTURE we can all have our own cardboard box too live in or move up to the family stationwagon or garage.

  2. Ad 2
    6 August 2016 at 6:53 am

    Exactly why did someone assign today – the coldest and wettest day of the year – to get me up at 6am to put up their electoral hoardings?

    To my colleagues who are joining me, to you I say: OMG, and Solidarity Forever.

    In the great Leftie Second Coming, all those who actually did pull their boots on, and their raincoats, and got out there and hauled timber for yet another local government election effort, will be read aloud and praised to the victorious crowds in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

  3. Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster) 3
    6 August 2016 at 7:28 am

    I don’t always agree with Chris Trotter, but this quote from a Daily Blog posting is, I think, quite pertinent:

    “Practical progressive organisations like the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) are few and far between. Vastly outnumbering them are the tens-of-thousands of self-defined progressives who confuse posting comments on Facebook or The Daily Blog with effective political action.”

    Chris Trotter: The Daily Blog.

    I’m off this morning to help in the John Minto campaign to become mayor of Christchurch!

  4. Jenz 4
    6 August 2016 at 8:06 am

    This morning on the Al Jazeera news they did a story on homelessness in NZ, it wasn’t a short piece, Bernard Hickey was interviewed, and at the end of the story the news presenter said that they had asked the Minister of Social Housing for an interview a number of times but they declined. Tried to find a link on line for it, but couldnt. Disappointing that government could not even take a few moments to comment on a story about a situation they have created which has lead to one of the worlds largest news networks doing a report on it.

    Enough suffering, time for change, thanks Al Jazeera for your coverage on one of the most desperate situations our people have ever faced.

    • save nz 4.1
      6 August 2016 at 9:31 am

      Gosh the only international photo op that National, turned down!

      • Chooky 4.1.1
        6 August 2016 at 9:50 am

        yes certainly shows up our hopeless jonkey nact agenda bought tv journalism Hoskings and Henry style …and corporate bought foreign ownership mainstream media newspapers…only John Campbell and RNZ escapes imo

        • Rodel 4.1.1.1
          6 August 2016 at 11:24 am

          Chooky- I inadvertently caught two of Hosking’s smirk sentences the other night- Mea culpa.
          It said, complete with trademark smirk,”You know what the trouble is with Education today ? The unions….” At which point my usual frantic Henry/Hosking search for the remote was successful.

          And yes, I have listened in the past which is why I don’t listen now.

          • Chooky 4.1.1.1.1
            6 August 2016 at 12:47 pm

            the quality of Hosking discussion is so infantile, lacking in depth, brainless and jonkey nact fawning and obsequious

            …that New Zealanders are in danger of becoming brain dead if they watch that programme.

        • Philj 4.1.1.2
          6 August 2016 at 6:34 pm

          Chooky
          ‘Only JC and RNZ escapes imo’. If only I could agree. JC has been taught a lesson about challenging your employers view. RNZ is struggling to maintain funding and quality journalism. There are a few glimmers of hope @ RNZ, Media Watch, JC, Phil Pennington, Kim Hill, and then I begin to run out of suggestions. RNZ is sadly deteriorating and slowly drowning. A healthy and broad alternative media is essential. Australian Public Broadcast current affairs is far better than ours.

  6. Chooky 6
    6 August 2016 at 9:44 am

    ‘South China Sea’

    https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/345282-us-china-dangerous-confrontation/

    “Rumors of war – this time in the South China Sea. Washington appears – step by step – to be moving away from a policy of engagement with Beijing to one of confrontation. This is a policy approach counterproductive for all involved. Attempting to contain China militarily is nothing less than dangerous.

    CrossTalking with Harry Kazianis, James Bradley and Peter Navarro.”

    and

    “Japan summons Chinese ambassador over ships

    Japan’s foreign ministry Friday summoned China’s ambassador to protest what it said were intrusions into its territorial waters by Chinese coast guard and fishing vessels. The two countries are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Japanese vice foreign minister Shinsuke Sugiyama called in Cheng Yonghua, Beijing’s ambassador to Tokyo, the foreign ministry said. Sugiyama “strongly protested” to Cheng that the incursions were a “violation of Japan’s sovereignty.” The Japan Coast Guard said that two coast guard vessels from China’s State Oceanic Administration entered territorial waters near the Senkaku islands during the afternoon before eventually departing. (AFP)”

  7. Penny Bright 7
    6 August 2016 at 9:52 am

    Seen this?

    “We at The Peace Place are very excited that Auckland Peace Action will be launching their campaign and national petition against the up-coming Weapons Expo and US Warship Visit here at The Peace Place this coming Saturday 6th August at 4pm.”

    The Peace Place
    22 Emily Place
    Auckland City

  8. UglyTruth 8
    6 August 2016 at 10:41 am

    Two Prominent Anti-Clinton Activists Found Dead in Two Days; Mainstream Media Blackout

    http://forum.clonehost.net/post/136

  9. Rodel 9
    6 August 2016 at 11:04 am

    Outgoing Tory’ leader Cameron’s granting of knighthoods and peerages to his millionaire money donors is corrupt, blatant and understandable but the OBE , whatever that is, awarded to his wife’s stylist, for ‘political and public service’ was ludicrous.

    What next? A knighthood for Bill English’s hairdresser? Certainly not Stephen Joyce’s.

    Good on the Aussies for dismissing this medieval/feudal anachronism. When, oh when will New Zealand grow up?

  10. Pasupial 10
    6 August 2016 at 12:12 pm

    This is grimly amusing, especially with the timing that coincides (not coincidentally?) with the start of the Brazil Olympics.

    The committee set up to investigate the lack of transparency in Panama’s financial system itself lacks transparency, Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has said after resigning from the Panama Papers commission…

    Stiglitz and Swiss anti-corruption expert Mark Pieth joined a seven-member commission to investigate Panama’s notoriously opaque financial system, but both quit the group on Friday, saying Panama refused to guarantee the committee’s report would be made public… last week they received a government letter that drew back from its commitment to making the findings public…

    “I have had a close look at the so called Panama Papers and I must admit that, even as an expert on economic and organised crime, I was amazed to see so much of what we talk about in theory was confirmed in practice,” Pieth said…

    “We’re being asked to do this as a courtesy for them and we’re paraded in front of the world media first,” said Pieth, a criminal law professor at Basel University. “Then we’re told to shut up when they don’t like it.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/06/two-resign-from-panama-papers-commission-over-publicity-of-report

  11. George Hendry 11
    6 August 2016 at 12:22 pm

    Anyone heard from BLiP lately?

  12. RTM 12
    6 August 2016 at 12:50 pm

    NZ’s closest neighbour may be entering another period of revolutionary crisis:
    http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2016/08/a-quick-note-on-tongas-new-crisis.html

  13. swordfish 13
    6 August 2016 at 12:59 pm

    Poll Drought

    Surely time for another Colmar Brunton ?

    They always release their polls on a Sunday. Over the last 18 months, the gap between each CB has varied between 6 and 8 weeks. Tomorrow, It’ll be an outrageous 9 weeks since their last release. Can we expect it to lead One News 6pm tomorrow night or has the Pollster just thrown in the towel along with Herald-Digi ?

    • James 13.1
      6 August 2016 at 1:18 pm

      Swordfish – you must be the only lefties who actually looks forward to the polls.

      I do enjoy your analysis of them. You must put a lot of time and effort into it and it’s appreciated.

      • swordfish 13.1.1
        6 August 2016 at 3:23 pm

        Cheers, James.

        “you must be the only lefties who actually looks forward to the polls”

        Dunno about that. The polls through March-June were by no means all bad news for the Opposition* – Roy Morgan, UMR and Curia all had the Nats sliding during all or part of that period. The current interest is in finding out how reliable the last (Nat-friendly) Roy Morgan was.

        * Oppo Bloc = Yes, I know, Winnie could swing either way (politically-speaking, you understand).

    • RedBaronCV 13.2
      6 August 2016 at 1:53 pm

      Perhaps they are waiting on one that favours Key maybe ??? I don’t know how they set their polling periods. SF can you enlighten or will we see one 2 nite.

      • James 13.2.1
        6 August 2016 at 2:01 pm

        Aunty Helen falls lower in the race for the top UN job.

        http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11688342

        • Muttonbird 13.2.1.1
          6 August 2016 at 3:06 pm

          Seems that anything John Key touches these days is doomed to failure. Flag change, TPPA, Clark’s UN bid.

      • swordfish 13.2.2
        6 August 2016 at 3:48 pm

        “I don’t know how they set their polling periods. SF can you enlighten or will we see one 2 nite.”

        Not sure. The gap usually varies from 6 to 8 weeks. Fieldwork generally takes place over 5-6 days (always starts on a Saturday and is completed by Wednesday or Thursday). Then roughly 6-8 weeks until the next one. Probably depends on how busy they are with their more commercial work. Or maybe the timing’s entirely dictated by One News.

        But now 9 weeks and counting, so I’m assuming there’ll be one tomorrow on One News 6pm. (Colmar Brunton always release on a Sunday). Then again, maybe like Roy Morgan they’ve decided to make it less regular ? *

        Open mike 14/05/2016

        * Their director, Andrew Robertson (who blogs as Grumpollie) has recently left for a new position in the Public Service, so that upheaval might have delayed things.

        • alwyn 13.2.2.1
          6 August 2016 at 4:32 pm

          I was polled by Reid Research about a week ago. The do the ones for TV3 don’t they?
          There may be one on TV3 tomorrow night or the following Sunday depending upon where they were in the poll when they rang me.

          • swordfish 13.2.2.1.1
            6 August 2016 at 5:34 pm

            Ahhh that’s interesting.

            3 News/Newshub usually release their Reid Research polls between 3-5 days after the final day of polling. Their fieldwork generally takes place over 6-8 days.

            So your one should be released at some point over the next week (unlike Colmar Brunton, they don’t restrict their release to a particular day of the week – in CB’s case: Sunday).

            Have a look at 3 News tonight – Can’t rule out a release today – if so, maybe upstaging a Colmar Brunton tomorrow ?

            Can we assume you chose the Mana Party, alwyn ?

        • RedBaronCV 13.2.2.2
          6 August 2016 at 7:41 pm

          Ta muchly SF. I had visions of them polling every day until they got a Nact result for the right number of days – although I know that is not allowed!

    • Anne 13.3
      6 August 2016 at 6:54 pm

      If one emerges in the next few days, then I will be sorely tempted to accuse them of… waiting until nearly the end of a month-plus long parliamentary recess before conducting the poll. Such polls always favour the governing party because they are the only ones afforded any publicity. Example… post Xmas holiday recess. There is invariably a poll released around the beginning of February.

      Cynical I know, but having been a keen observer of politics and the media for several decades it’s an understandable conclusion to come to.

  14. ge 14
    6 August 2016 at 2:37 pm

    The few laws that govern and restrain the actions of NZ Judges, have been eroded.
    in 2010 the Supreme Court of NZ ruled by a 3-2 margin in Attorney General v Chapman that rights guaranteed by the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990 were no longer enforceable against judges.
    Then there was the Public Records Act 2005 which required all branches of government to create and maintain accurate public records of their affairs. In March 2009, Ministry of Justice Counsel Jeff Orr asserted that judges were exempt – stating judges are governed by their own customs and “not by the requirements of any enactment (eg the Public Records Act, the Crimes Act 1961)”.
    In Greer v Smith [2015] all five judges of the Supreme Court of NZ convened privately, without submissions from government or public, to rule a single judge in their court can issue private judgments refusing access to public records at our highest court – and that such a private order was also unappealable.
    Last month, the Official Information Act 1982 became the object of judicial exemption when the Ombudsman rejected an appeal against the Judicial Office for Higher Courts’ refusal to provide an “official agenda” for a taxpayer-paid judge retreat earlier this year on the ground, “The judicial conference agenda does not constitute ‘official information’ because it is held by the judiciary which is not subject to the OIA.”
    But the judiciary are only exempt from such transparency in their judicial function. Taxpayer funded official agendas and judicial cocktail parties are not exempt.
    The exemption from law extends beyond our 61 High Court judges and 144 lower court judges. The Judicial Office for Higher Courts has 115 staff employees – all of whom are exempt from the Official Information Act
    Then there is the Supreme Court Act 2003 which requires under section 16 that Supreme Court judges give reasons for refusals. The dirty secret that is uniquely NZ is many Supreme Court decisions are kept off the record, which is helpful in evading this law which pertains entirely to judges.
    And those who challenge the off-record secrecy are shut out of the courts altogether.

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 14.1
      6 August 2016 at 3:18 pm

      …I may have missed something, but shouldn’t this be in Open Mike?

      • Draco T Bastard 14.1.1
        6 August 2016 at 4:52 pm

        And probably under a ‘fantasy’ tag.

        • weston 14.1.1.1
          6 August 2016 at 8:16 pm

          or it could be good info which we would otherwise not know about

          • Draco T Bastard 14.1.1.1.1
            6 August 2016 at 10:14 pm

            Nope, it sounds like BS based around a few well chosen but misrepresented facts spread to scare people. In other words, well crafted lies.

            • weston 14.1.1.1.1.1
              7 August 2016 at 8:45 pm

              Or your paranoid draco What was it about that persons comment that made it suspect ?

              • Draco T Bastard …
                7 August 2016 at 10:22 pm

                No links and the structure that is very much what you’d see on conspiracy websites that are all about telling you how bad government is. I suspect that if we could properly investigate the allegations and get the correct context it would be nothing like what he said.

      • weston 14.1.2
        6 August 2016 at 8:13 pm

        Im sure mods are quite capable of picking that up uncooked or are we supposed to be impressed with your detective work ?

  15. SmallFurryAnimal 15
    6 August 2016 at 3:47 pm

    This article asks the question, “What happens if the President is mentally impaired?”

    (HRC has been seen with a hand tremor among other things)

    http://www.theorganicprepper.ca/earth-wrong-hillary-clinton-08042016

  16. The Chairman 16
    6 August 2016 at 4:29 pm

    The ugly story behind New Zealand’s most popular fruit

    • weston 16.1
      6 August 2016 at 8:37 pm

      Saw that ugly alright say anything against the big owners and bang your dead youd have to be brave to take them on .By the sound of it the american fruit co stacked up a few bodies too putting it mildly was that in nicuagrua or the hondures? sorry not much good at spelling or geography !.Incidentely bananas grow just fine in northland .I eat my own most days and for weeks at a time depending on how theyre producing .Ive usually got enough to dry some also .

  17. The Chairman 17
    6 August 2016 at 4:31 pm

    NZ’s hidden ‘baby scoop’ shame – unmarried women had their babies taken from them

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/82793165/NZs-hidden-baby-scoop-shame-unmarried-women-had-their-babies-taken-from-them

    • Chooky 17.1
      6 August 2016 at 5:00 pm

      what a great woman!…and it is wonderful her story turned out well!

      …other women were destroyed by the baby snatchers and their snatched babies also were destroyed …i read of one woman who searched the rest of her life for her daughter and her daughter searched for her mother…they were very close to finding each other but both committed suicide before they could meet…a tragedy!

      this is a story of crimes against women and their children

      • Mrs Brillo 17.1.1
        6 August 2016 at 9:44 pm

        That was the normal situation when I was a young woman.
        In fact I know some very prominent New Zealand women of that day who still have not talked publically about the secret babies they bore, who were adopted.

        One was a married woman who unexpectedly found herself pregnant when she separated from her abusive husband – she already had a toddler and arranging a job that would allow for her to care for them both was impossible. There was no benefit available, and her husband vanished. In effect, giving the child away was her only option apart from murder/suicide, so she had her little girl adopted and grieved for ever after.

        Thank god, and Second Wave feminists, that the DPB was introduced in the 1970s, though it was over the dead body of some MPs. I recall one who said “If you play, you pay”, and that was the attitude of men in power in those days.

        See the other post here today reminding us of the Prime Minister’s and the Speaker’s abominable treatment of female MPs last year, and I think those attitudes are still there, just hidden under a thin veneer of pretend tolerance.

        • Chooky 17.1.1.1
          7 August 2016 at 10:26 am

          yes sexism is entrenched alright…(my daughter working independently in the workforce is now recognising it in some patronising older men, after pooh poohing feminism in her teens…)

          I have nothing but absolute admiration for the women that came before me and their struggles and tragedies …these women were the shock troops for women’s rights and feminism…

          birth control contraception and abortion were absolute rights fought for and won by New Zealand women! (despite the misogynist Catholic Church)…also the DPB to enable women to keep and look after their babies and children

          …and equal education opportunities and equal pay for equal work recognised in principle but not in actuality…also legislation against sexual harassment and assault

          …and these fundamental rights are still NOT for many women around the world!

  18. Muttonbird 18
    6 August 2016 at 6:44 pm

    The Guardian draws opinion from all over the globe and this article is by Dunedin based writer, Eleanor Roy. In it, in part, she describes John Key’s brighter future…

    ”we have the second highest rate of youth suicide in the OECD. That a third of our children live below the poverty line and 10% of our working-age population is on social welfare.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/05/trump-brexit-is-new-zealand-your-escape-route-too

    Some of those comments are pretty revealing.

    What you dont know about NZ is: its really expensive to live there, when you are someone who has to work for a living. Salaries are comparatively low (I am an engineer) and a normal job has normal 40h+/week working hours. House prices are sky rocking in Auckland. Renting is no real option and again expensive. The 4 season a day weather results in one of the highest global asthma rates and damp houses with very low ceilings (the newly built ones). Life in NZ is: lawn mawing, barbecue, rugby, talking about the All Blacks and mortgages, sailing if you can afford it. Everything closes by 6pm, streets are empty at the latest by 10pm. Kiwis are usually friendly people, but I felt that life down there was very narrow. Kiwis usually live a close knit family life that includes childhood friends. Activities are lived in their back yard. For overseas newcomers its relatively difficult to get access. In work life, things are done the Kiwi way, sometimes the laws of physics, chemistry etc. are ignored to “save” costs thereby resulting in even damper houses. Business partners conduct meetings a little like village talk as everyone somewhat knows everyone else and is somehow related, part of family etc. which has an effect on how decisions are made > resulting in a lack of quality > the job does not always go to the best, but the best related person group etc. Life down there felt like living in a transit and I am very glad to be back in Europe again.

    The bolded bit among others, brutally true of New Zealand decision makers short-sightedness on so many crucially important projects and policy for future generations.

    • Colonial Viper 18.1
      6 August 2016 at 10:24 pm

      So, NZ is a backward hick country where town closes early, life revolves around enjoying the basics and people actually know each other.

      I trust whoever it is finds the new Europe much more to their liking.

      • Muttonbird 18.1.1
        6 August 2016 at 10:40 pm

        Not at all. People don’t know each other as another comment on the blog where I sourced this from attests to.

        Having lived a lot in London and auckland I must say that socially London is a lot better. I know most of the people who live in my street, which was never true in auckland. Benefit of terraced housing and walking to school maybe?

        I’d agree with this in that that New Zealand fails badly on security of community. The amateur landlord class flipping properties for capital gain has rendered low income renting communities powerless and transient.

        Low income New Zealand renters just want to be stable and have security of tenancy. They want their kids to be able to attend the same school without fear of disruption through no fault of their own. They want their kids to know the neighbours kids without being moved on by some property flipping investor. However, the fuelling of the investment property market both internally and through the advertising of the same to offshore buyers with cheap money is destroying that community spirit.

        Even working class Europe has what we don’t.

        • Colonial Viper 18.1.1.1
          6 August 2016 at 10:51 pm

          Kiwis are welcome to move to London for a better community life. Where the average house price is now £600,000.

          • Muttonbird 18.1.1.1.1
            6 August 2016 at 11:01 pm

            Heh. You are like Farrar and Hooten comparing modern day amenities with Victorian times and calling it a win for the National party.

            The average wage in London is £50,000. Did you forget that bit?

  19. Draco T Bastard 19
    6 August 2016 at 7:07 pm

    The Unsexy Truth About Millennials: They’re Poor

    The truth is that lower wages and poverty can account for so many of the things that older generations find so mystifying about millennials.

    For example, millennials drive less than their parent’s generation—and until recently, at least—were relatively uninterested in buying cars. As The Atlantic reported in 2012, this crisis prompted automakers to appoint “youth emissaries” and come up with new car colors like “techno pink” and “denim.”

    But trying to make cars cooler doesn’t change the fact that, as CityLab found, there’s a significant gap in vehicle miles traveled between millenials who make over $30,000 a year and those who make less. Simply put: Cars cost money and millennials have less of it.

    Welcome to the wealth siphon that is capitalism that takes wealth from the many and gives it to the rich.

  20. joe90 20
    6 August 2016 at 7:12 pm

    Dude goes to town on Trump’s “economic” advisers –

    I get preferring businessmen over "economists", but Trump's team is dominated by vulture sectors of the economy. None of 'em make stuff.— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) August 5, 2016

    "Hope, get me the former chief economist at Bear Stearns. Must be a smart guy. Maybe he'll advise me on economics." https://t.co/yHLsEsHphI— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) August 5, 2016

  21. joe90 21
    6 August 2016 at 10:05 pm

    tl;dr needs more pictures

    Offering a rare insider analysis of the climate assessment process, Carnegie’s Katharine Mach and colleagues at the Department of Global Ecology examined the writing and editing procedures by which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change creates summaries of their findings for policymakers. Despite recent critiques that these summaries are too difficult for non-experts, Mach and colleagues found them comparable to reference texts in terms of reading comprehension level. Their results are published by Science Advances.

    “Using multiple tools for measuring reading ease, we found that IPCC reports are designed for grownups, but they are not harder to read than other science documents, including those written for the public by professional writers,” said co-author Chris Field, who served as the co-chair of the second IPCC Working Group.

    Nevertheless, Mach and colleagues also suggest ways that the summary reports could be improved by using less jargon and more cohesive language to link the ideas they contain. The summaries could also be enhanced by graphics, videos, animations, and online multimedia, in addition to extensive media availability by panel leadership.

    http://phys.org/news/2016-08-climate-summaries-grownups-difficult-policymakers.html

  22. mauī 22
    6 August 2016 at 10:07 pm

    Well after this horror week for rugby, I think I just witnessed a player do a ‘mince’ walk to accept his award for winning the competition. Then the whole team received tankards as individual prizes. Maybe players and the whole rugby culture are a bit slow in learning, or maybe it’s best to leave it out there for all to see.

    • Colonial Viper 22.1
      6 August 2016 at 10:18 pm

      Everyone at the awards ceremony pretty cool about it all, though? If so, it just goes to show that the $$$$$/sporting section of the community they are most in touch with and that they care most about don’t give a ****.

      • mauī 22.1.1
        6 August 2016 at 10:32 pm

        Yeah pretty much, the guy is being congratulated for his walk on twitter.

        I wonder if a few supporters are questioning their membership for next year though. Be interesting to look at a certain franchise’s balance sheet for 2017.

        • Colonial Viper 22.1.1.1
          6 August 2016 at 10:34 pm

          50/50 between whether more people walk away disgusted or join up for more of the same.

          Pretty sure the sponsorship dollars are going to go up in either event.

  23. joe90 23
    6 August 2016 at 10:29 pm

    From 1984 – the bloated beast that is America’s Presidential candidate selection process.

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