Open Mike 07/12/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, December 7th, 2017 - 137 comments
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137 comments on “Open Mike 07/12/2017 ”

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  1. Andre 1
    7 December 2017 at 6:18 am

    Bitcoin gets a lot of press. But it appears to be nothing more than than a certificate of gratuitously wasted electricity. That waste of electricity appears inherent to blockchain transactions in general, bitcoin is just the largest at the moment. For instance, one bitcoin transaction apparently uses around the same electricity as one American household for one week.

    http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/12/climatedesk-bitcoin-is-really-bad-for-the-environment/

    Just how much electricity is wasted by bitcoin mining? Here’s some comparisons to national electricity consumption. For instance, bitcoin mining worldwide now consumes an amount equivalent to about 3/4 of NZ electricity use.

    https://powercompare.co.uk/bitcoin/

    • greywarshark 1.1
      7 December 2017 at 1:09 pm

      I need enlightening on this bitcoin biz so thanks for cogent info. I will do some exploring to get my mind round it. Like smart meters and other hype stuff will it be useful or has someone found another portal to suck their money vacuum into and both suck and blow up to a nice bubble.

      • Andre 1.1.1
        7 December 2017 at 1:18 pm

        Unless you feel the urge to make untraceable transactions, you have zero practical need for bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. Hence cryptocurrencies popularity for drug and kiddie porn deals.

        Unless gambling your money in extremely-high-risk, potential-high-reward-but-maybe-lose-the-lot scenarios appeals to you, you’ve got zero “investment” reason to get involved in bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.

        • SpaceMonkey 1.1.1.1
          7 December 2017 at 1:36 pm

          There’s no such thing as an untraceable transactions in Bitcoin. It is essentially a ledger of account. You can put a bitcoin laundry between you and another party but there will always be a record of a transaction between two addresses.

          I agree there is zero investment reason to get involved. I never got into Bitcoin because for me it isn’t tangible enough. And now, at the prices it is at, it looks like a bubble to me, and the fact it has hit the mainstream with all the accompanying PR hype around it means it’s too late for the average Joe to get in.

          • Andre 1.1.1.1.1
            7 December 2017 at 2:22 pm

            Seems to me bitcoin is the ultimate example of something that has value only because a bunch of people decided it has value. There’s absolutely nothing to back it.

            Hell, even fiat money is ultimately backed by the issuing state’s powers of compulsion. So it doesn’t become worthless until the issuing government becomes worthless, like say Zimbabwe. And even though gold is relatively useless compared to something genuinely important like platinum, it has some uses to justify some value being placed on it. You could even grow pretty flowers from tulip bulbs. But bitcoin?

            • One Anonymous Bloke 1.1.1.1.1.1
              7 December 2017 at 4:10 pm

              It has ‘value’ because the ‘goods’ and services that are traded do.

        • Ms Fargo 1.1.1.2
          7 December 2017 at 2:03 pm

          Kiddie porn? !!

      • SpaceMonkey 1.1.2
        7 December 2017 at 1:39 pm

        Greywarshark…. if you want a good read on what Bitcoin is and how it works, have a look at this series just recently started on Automatic Earth by Dr D:

        https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2017/12/bitcoin-doesnt-exist-1/

        It’s the first of 5 parts and 2 have been published, so it’s very current. I have some understanding of Bitcoin but this lays it all out, so far, really well.

  2. cleangreen 2
    7 December 2017 at 6:33 am

    Thanks for this Andre,

    We saw this used by NZ Power companies as their push was made during the “rollout of smart metering nation wide from 2011 to now, so one wonders now that most regions have had smart meters installed the “wasting of power in NZ has been “arrested”?

    At least that is what the Electricty industry tols us would happen after new smart metering was installed.

    Maybe that was yet another lie perpurtrated by National and their “corporate raiders and corrupt elite allies.”

    • tc 2.1
      7 December 2017 at 7:01 am

      Smart metering means no meter readers (outsourcing contract gets canceled) and buckets of data they don’t seem to know what to do with.

      As it’s a granular breakdown from what they get out of each sub station throughout already IMO it’s just more of that ‘looking busy’ routine we get from an industry gouging the consumer with such BS as tariffs on people with solar panels (unison) etc

      • solkta 2.1.1
        7 December 2017 at 7:17 am

        Seems to me smart meters provide some very useful data. I can go to the Genesis website and see a graph of my daily power usage. From this it is easy to estimate what running an electric heater costs me etc.

        • Andre 2.1.1.1
          7 December 2017 at 7:26 am

          Yep. Not long ago I noticed the spike of extra power consumption when the hot water timer kicks on at night had got a bit bigger. Turned out to be a leaking pressure relief valve. It would have had to have got a lot worse and wasted a lot more power and water before I would have noticed it in daily or monthly average bills.

          • greywarshark 2.1.1.1.1
            7 December 2017 at 9:24 am

            That’s interesting on smart meters. It has been hard to get a picture of their worth.

            Some people have had meters installed without their say-so which only charge the basic rates and override agreement pricing plans they have entered into. Can the pricing system be changed? How easy is it to get a new system that has all the features the consumer wants? How long does it take from ringing or emailing to getting a satisfactory finish? Does it have to be done over the phone where the consumer is getting charged per minute?

            • Andre 2.1.1.1.1.1
              7 December 2017 at 9:38 am

              Sorry, I don’t know enough about the different company plans or the nitty-gritty of the different smart meter capabilities to give a useful response.

              But the smart meters do enable things like Flick Electric’s plans, where they just pass through all of their costs plus either a small per day or per kWhr charge for their costs and profit. If you’re willing and able to manage your electricity use, say by putting hot water, fridge, fridge, freezer, dishwasher etc on timers so you don’t use them at peak times, you can save quite a bit on your power bill. Powershop offer a much cruder version, with separate pricing for peak and off-peak use.

              When smart meters will really make a difference is when they can communicate with the grid and users to manage the demand and smooth out peaks and troughs.

              • Draco T Bastard …
                7 December 2017 at 10:18 am

                When smart meters will really make a difference is when they can communicate with the grid and users to manage the demand and smooth out peaks and troughs.

                A fully cooperative national grid. Pretty much essential in this day and age but something we won’t get as long as we have privatisation and faux competition in the electricity ‘market’.

            • Draco T Bastard 2.1.1.1.1.2
              7 December 2017 at 10:16 am

              Some people have had meters installed without their say-so which only charge the basic rates and override agreement pricing plans they have entered into.

              The metres don’t do the charging. That’s still done by the retailer entering the info into the computer and if someone’s plan got changed that would be a mistake done by a human.

              Can the pricing system be changed?

              Of course it can and, if extra has been paid by the customer because of the mistake, a refund organised.

              Does it have to be done over the phone where the consumer is getting charged per minute?

              Most places have secure websites that people can log into to change account details.

            • greywarshark 2.1.1.1.1.3
              7 December 2017 at 11:38 am

              Thanks Andre and DTB. Something to think about when I turn down my next persistent offer of comparing prices with my present provider. What a scam. They can instantly offer a cheaper price for a year or something. I may be paying more but I have a reliable provider and am offered discounts if I pay in time which don’t disappear if it’s a day late. But I could do more perhaps. So now I know a bit more about smart meters workings.

              • Andre …
                7 December 2017 at 11:53 am

                If you’re interested in comparing price, Consumer have this handy website: https://www.powerswitch.org.nz/

                There’s no difference in reliability between providers, they all use the same wires and grid connections. It’s not physically possible for there to actually be a difference in reliability (unless you’re signed up with a provider that’s in the habit of randomly sending someone out disconnect houses). The differences are in the pricing plans, customer service, billing practices etc.

        • One Two 2.1.1.2
          7 December 2017 at 9:16 am

          For the convenience and benefit of the consumer…

          Is not why smart meters or most any technology is rolled out

          High Speed Broadband
          Smart Meters
          ‘Internet of Things’

          • solkta 2.1.1.2.1
            7 December 2017 at 9:26 am

            It might not have been the main driver for implementing this technology but that does not mean that the data gathered is not helpful.

            Also, gone are the days of estimated power bills where the consumer had to wait until the next actual reading before realising savings from reduced use.

    • NewsFlash 2.2
      7 December 2017 at 4:39 pm

      The ” Line charge” for my location is now $2.46 per day including GST, before any power is used, that just happens to round out at $944 annually or $73.8 per month(30Days), again, before any actual power is used, I believe the term “Gouging” of essential services is the correct one, starting to make Solar look like an excellent investment, have lived ion properties with only solar, no problems, except the battery replacement after 10 yrs or so, a 5 kw system is adequate for most if your heating/cooking is gas.

  3. cleangreen 3
    7 December 2017 at 7:01 am

    We have previous notified government claiming that the Municipal water supply is taken out of “shallow aquifer bores” while foriegn water bottlers are allowed to sink “deep well extraction” bores hence they get our premium water; while are only left now with the top of aquifer water which is mostly soiled and contaminated from road and land use water runoff.

    This ” Dirty NZ drinking water” issue has not even begun to be carefully and properly planned, as we need to stop “deep well ejection” by foriegn ‘free water pirates’ taking our best safe water.

    While all NZ households get contaminated water that will be now be “doped” with harsh toxic chemicals including chorine and flouride that will harm weaker older and young almost our society.

    This was forced on Municipal authorities who, now will add those chemiicals to kill pathegens and bactaria so our water is now equal to a third world water supply.

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/345570/new-zealand-s-drinking-water-a-mess

    [deleted. That was a lot of scrolling to get past on a phone]

    [Please don’t post whole tracts or long cut and pastes. You can cut and paste shorter bits to support the point you are trying to make or to give people and idea what the article is about. – weka]

  4. Ed 4
    7 December 2017 at 7:02 am

    This is what happens when you put profit above people.
    A destroyed environment.
    Undrinkable water.

    The solution is not chlorination.
    The solution is clean water.

    Abandon unsustainable dairy farming.
    Abandon neoliberalism.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11954491
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/345616/clean-water-it-s-the-communities-that-have-to-pay

    • cleangreen 4.1
      7 December 2017 at 7:40 am

      Ageed 100%.

      When did we learn that term “you cant get blood out of a stone”???

      Our Elders knew this would happen that was the reason for the term.

      Now we get get back to our former cleangreen country, or something close to representing the words of our dreams and asperations.?

    • savenz 4.2
      7 December 2017 at 9:41 am

      You got it in one ED,

      “The solution is not chlorination.
      The solution is clean water”

      The RMA should be immediately changed to put that as number 1 priority because at the moment ‘The environment court’ is actually ‘the development court’, likewise council consenting. It’s not about proving that new development and consents (aka water extraction) will not impact water and the community – it is about some other person x proving at their own cost that it will NOT impact water and community. That is pretty hard to do.

      The onus is on the wrong groups to prove impacts in environment not the one putting in the consents. There no come back or fines if the information in the consents provides to be wrong. It is an incredible dangerous and risky way to be running a consenting process and open to fraud especially with the amount of money involved in these consents.

  5. eco maori 5
    7 December 2017 at 7:40 am

    Are you people losing Mana with the public well its your own fault I tried for negotiation but that’s right you don’t negotiate with a dum broke ass MAORI. KIA KAHA

    • joe90 6.1
      7 December 2017 at 1:55 pm

      Toast:

      Bill Clinton
      Al Franken
      John Conyers
      Harvey Weinstein
      Louis CK
      Matt Lauer
      Kevin Spacey
      Jeremy Piven
      Brett Ratner

      Not toast:

      Roy Moore
      Donald Trump

      • Sabine 6.1.1
        7 December 2017 at 2:36 pm

        it’s okay if you are a republican.
        you can add Supreme Justice Thomas Clarence to that list have the right to sexually harras women. After all its t he wimminz fault with their poisonous and wily ways raising the lust in their hearts – filthy harlots – even at 14. I mean, really what is a 34 year old man to do when a 14 year old looks at him, or a married man who feels like he has to grab some pussy.

        • joe90 6.1.1.1
          7 December 2017 at 3:10 pm

          Of course no one’s calling for this pig’s resignation.

          Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, says he promises to pay back taxpayers for funds from a special congressional account he used to pay a harassment settlement back in 2013.

          Farenthold told NBC affiliate KRIS6 in Corpus Christi that he “didn’t do anything wrong” but would “do my best” to repay the settlement fee sometime this week, this time taking out a personal loan instead.

          […]

          Farenthold is the only sitting House member since 2013 to have used the congressional Office of Compliance account to pay for a sexual harassment claim, in which $84,000 was paid out, CBS News confirmed Friday.

          The House Administration Committee revealed Friday that only one sexual harassment claim has been paid through the taxpayer-funded account since 2013. Politico was the first to identify Farenthold as the lawmaker who was accused.

          https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rep-blake-farenthold-says-hell-repay-taxpayers-for-harassment-settlement/

          # IOIYAR

          Wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, @GinniThomas, presenting an award to @JamesOKeefeIII today for "defending liberty." pic.twitter.com/bWXFgWa36x— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) December 6, 2017

  7. DH 7
    7 December 2017 at 8:45 am

    This is bad…..

    “Benefit fraudster Leticia Drake and her partner lose home, savings and insurance payouts ”

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/99589505/benefit-fraudster-leticia-drake-and-her-partner-lose-home-savings-and-insurance-payouts

    There’s a disturbing vindictiveness from ‘The Crown’ there and the ruling has sinister implications.

    • JanM 7.1
      7 December 2017 at 8:58 am

      I agree, actually. By all means take their savings, etc, and give them a debt to pay off, but they have 2 children who are innocent and will be the greatest sufferers if they have to give up their home – there are enough families in trouble already without deliberately adding to them

      • DH 7.1.1
        7 December 2017 at 9:28 am

        Yes. The article is a bit vague on the house confiscation details but it does appear it’s been taken under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The Judge has ruled that some illegal income may have paid some of the mortgage and consequently ‘tainted’ the property.

        If true then everyone who commits any kind of offence involving financial proceeds could potentially lose their home. So much for the punishment fitting the crime.

        • savenz 7.1.1.1
          7 December 2017 at 9:44 am

          Funny enough they don’t seem to take the houses/assets of larger white collar criminals or corporate criminals like Banks.

        • Loop 7.1.1.2
          7 December 2017 at 11:54 am

          Not as I was led to believe the proceeds of crimes act would be utilised. I was of the understanding it was to help stamp out profiteering from drugs. I didn’t think it would take long for the law to start using it in other areas. Non payment of parking tickets next? You may laugh.

          • DH 7.1.1.2.1
            7 December 2017 at 12:30 pm

            It doesn’t say specifically the Act was called on, I just assumed from the inference, but the term ‘tainted’ is used in the Act so it probably was.

            I just had a read thru Ads link and it says the Act applies to serious offences which are described “an offence punishable by imprisonment for a term of 5 years or more” so I guess parking tickets might not make it (but who knows)

            I thought the same, that the act was aimed only at the heavy hitters. Nothing forces them to make these confiscation orders, they don’t have to do it, and I wonder at the thinking & motivations behind them.

          • Loop 7.1.1.2.2
            7 December 2017 at 1:25 pm

            Just read the news report on the couple. Admittedly they obtained funds they weren’t entitled to, but the proceeds of crimes act is being stretched to it’s limits confiscating the house. Far exceeds the power. Judge is wrong. As someone else stated, how many white collar criminals have been prosecuted to this degree. No mansions confiscated as far as I’m aware. Most would be in trust though. If they are going to use the POCA for individuals that aren’t big time criminals, there should be no borders, such as trusts, which stop the enacting of the Act against multi-millionaire/dollar fraudsters

            • DH 7.1.1.2.2.1
              7 December 2017 at 4:50 pm

              Yeah. It looks a bit vigilante-ish. I read the sentencing report Bill linked to below. The judge goes into great detail explaining the penalty he thinks she deserves and proceeds to give it her. And then along come these characters who appear to decide the court ordered sentence isn’t enough so they proceed to take her house as well.

        • greywarshark 7.1.1.3
          7 December 2017 at 12:06 pm

          This is bad policy. As JanM says, money should be confiscated and some punishment meted out, and some atonement.

          I think there should always be some personal atonement for crime, apart from just handing over money. It could be doing a certain number of hours for the Council on community jobs. As they are done, they would be recorded and if not done, then there is a jail sentence. The life has to be moulded round the reparation time, not the other way round.

          But why take away the house while the country is in this situation! What does that help the country and the lawbreaker, her children and partner in the long run. FGS.

          Law grinds the poor, and rich men rule the law. Oliver Goldsmith
          Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/oliver_goldsmith_403444

          • greywarshark 7.1.1.3.1
            7 December 2017 at 12:42 pm

            You could say that the rich hold the purse, and the purse-lipped among the rich twist the poor for their misdeeds.

            I am sure that the Judge regarded this rancid behaviour by a female beneficiary as totally outrageous and went all purse-lipped about it. Hence the serious stripping of all her assets. It is well-known that beneficiaries should not be able to have joy or satisfaction while they are receiving money for their keep from the government or some helping agency. Feckless pleasure and advantages gained are Not Allowed and the highest probity is required from the lowest living.

    • james 7.2
      7 December 2017 at 10:18 am

      Great job – the tax payer will be getting their stolen money back.

      I have no issue with this – or any other criminals having assets sold to pay back stolen money.

      • DH 7.2.1
        7 December 2017 at 10:45 am

        So you’d kick a person when they’re down huh James. Why does that not surprise me.

        • james 7.2.1.1
          8 December 2017 at 2:23 pm

          “So you’d kick a person when they’re down huh James”

          They are not “down” they were “caught”.

      • The Chairman 7.2.2
        7 December 2017 at 11:04 am

        @ James

        What if the value of the house (or other assets) taken far exceed the amount stolen and fine (if any) given?

        • Mickey Boyle 7.2.2.1
          7 December 2017 at 4:10 pm

          They should sell all the items until the money is re-paid and give back the remaining items to the fraudster.

      • Robert Guyton 7.2.3
        7 December 2017 at 11:11 am

        “I have no issue with this”

        James declares his position and it’s that of a pretzel.

      • Mickey Boyle 7.2.4
        7 December 2017 at 4:07 pm

        I agree with you James, they did the crime, time to pay the consequences.

      • Barfly 7.2.5
        7 December 2017 at 5:43 pm

        James

        For you Rod Petricevich had no reparations ordered by the court upon his imprisonment some assets had been forfeited earlier but there was no “he might win lotto order ” or reparations out of his superannuation ordered. He also enjoys significant trust benefits
        Is this 1 law for rich criminals and another for poor ones?

        Do you have any input on this?

        Cheers Barfly

        • Grey Area 7.2.5.1
          7 December 2017 at 8:09 pm

          Do you have any input on this?

          Gone quiet so apparently not. James probably has a headache from trying to formulate a response.

          Nothing if not consistent.

    • Bill 7.3
      7 December 2017 at 1:38 pm

      Erm. Here’s the sentencing document. Note the date? The judgement was on the 16th of May last year – 18 months ago.

      It’s a short read. To refer to someone with a gambling addiction as follows kind of beggars belief imo.

      The pre-sentence report indicates that there is a significant problem with gambling and poor decision making. That is putting it mildly. Mr Johnson, I think appropriately, lays the genesis of this offending on a gambling problem, although I suspect that there may well have been other issues as well, but this is behaviour that has bedevilled the defendant all of her adult life and she seems to have been a somewhat slow learner as to the undesirability of fuelling this behaviour by access to money which is not hers.

      And just to note that the sum she was sentenced on would have been the entire monetary value of her claim and not any proportion deemed to have been gained by dishonesty.

      edit – just to note further, that while her face and story is ‘everywhere’, there is nothing bar a side mention of her partner and his tax evasion.

    • savenz 7.4
      7 December 2017 at 2:00 pm

      Love the way the crown couldn’t be bothered investigating the complaints against and alleged benefit frauds by Paula B.

      I guess the legal and police system is not about innocence or guilt it’s just about having enough power and using the lawyers by the elite so you don’t get investigated properly, let alone caught.

  8. Ad 8
    7 December 2017 at 9:06 am

    Time Magazine’s Person of the Year goes to ….

    Silence-breakers against sexual harrassment:

    http://time.com/

    http://www.dw.com/en/time-names-the-silence-breakers-person-of-the-year/a-41675559

    This movement looks like it has a bunch more stamina than Black Lives Matter and Occupy.

    Speaking of which, Franken is going to go down now that the Democrat women have pretty much ordered it. Although still looks like Moore will get Alabama.

    • Andre 8.1
      7 December 2017 at 9:21 am

      Speaking of Franken, he had the opportunity to make a difference by resigning when the first allegations came out. He could have made a statement something like “behaviour of the kind I indulged in should be disqualifying for public office. To make that clear, I am now resigning…”.

      But if he goes reluctantly as a result of mounting pressure and an increasing list of accusers, he’s just another abuser that still doesn’t get it.

    • Bill 8.2
      7 December 2017 at 1:52 pm

      I don’t know about it having more stamina, but it’s absolutely of a different nature.

      Black Lives Matter and Occupy challenge structural foundations. ‘Silence breakers” or whatever name is being given to it, is about “bad apples” – at least, that’s the vein in which it’s generally reported.

      • Sabine 8.2.1
        7 December 2017 at 2:41 pm

        boys will always be boys no matter how old and how famous, and how rich and how connected and any of the bullshit.

        for the women it is

        when it bleeds it breeds
        beauty must suffer
        if you can’t escape it, try to enjoy it
        close your eyes and do it for England (insert any other country)
        martial duty of the women vs martial right for the man
        they are ‘jailbait’
        what did she wear
        why did she go there
        why did she not speak earlier
        where was the mother
        why did she drink
        to the victor go the spoils
        she must’ave enticed him
        lolita

        etc etc etc

        btw, the ‘me too’ movement is over ten years old, and was started by a woman of colour.

      • weka 8.2.2
        7 December 2017 at 3:01 pm

        Pretty sure if you relied on reporting for an understanding of BLM and Occupy you wouldn’t get the challenge to structural foundations either 😉

        • Bill 8.2.2.1
          7 December 2017 at 10:53 pm

          That’s true. And my comment was badly worded.

          What I was trying to get at is that some stuff just doesn’t get reported on and some other stuff gets reported in a way that renders it “safe.

          • weka 8.2.2.1.1
            7 December 2017 at 11:10 pm

            That’s true. Interestingly it’s black women that are most likely to prevent #metoo from becoming predominantly a liberal agenda, so I see the success of BLM here too. As you say, one has to look past much of the reporting to see the broader effects of what is going on.

  9. Ad 9
    7 December 2017 at 9:19 am

    Lovely article on New Zealand emissions, a proper plan for reducing them, and some hope that the Green Party will start to re-address this issue:

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1712/S00054/a-fresh-start-for-climate-change-mitigation-in-new-zealand.htm

    • Pat 9.1
      7 December 2017 at 9:32 am

      now what we need to see is a detailed plan of how its to be achieved…im hoping James Shaw has been very quiet because hes busy formulating that plan for imminent release.

    • Draco T Bastard 9.2
      7 December 2017 at 10:32 am

      Why do you always come out with lies about the Green party?

      As you well know, climate change and emissions have always been part of the Greens policies.

      • Ad 9.2.1
        7 December 2017 at 11:40 am

        The Green Party are in charge of actual implementation. as per their agreement with Labour. “Re-address” is covered in the article cited.

        Waiting for Shaw to show he will hold up his part of the 100-day plan. It’s their only action.

      • Sabine 9.2.2
        7 December 2017 at 2:42 pm

        they are still annoyed that the Green Party did not rubber stamp the ‘majority’ of the National Party. How dare they do as they want to instead of doing as they are ordered too.

  10. Muttonbird 10
    7 December 2017 at 11:01 am

    Farrar’s lost his keys to parliament.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99552731/speaker-reviews-list-of-approved-visitors-with-access-to-parliament-for-the-first-time

    That on its own will go a long way to cleaning up the place.

  11. Philip Ferguson 11
    7 December 2017 at 11:06 am

    This fight to preserve jobs and conditions at the Aquatic Centre in Rotorua is winnable, if people rally aorund behind the workers and put maximum pressure on the mayor, CEO and Council.

    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/workers-resist-redundancies-outsourcing-and-cuts-at-rotorua-aquatic-centre/

    • savenz 11.1
      7 December 2017 at 1:21 pm

      @ Philip Ferguson, That’s terrible. I bet they could easily save $700,000+ by cutting the Rotorua CEO and executive team down to minimum wages… Some one should do a tally on how much the executive team is being paid and their wage increases. Should be enlightening.

      I really hate all this conversion on NZ to a low wage transient economy. It’s such a race to the bottom and it does not save any money because then taxpayers and ratepayers then pay all the wages in work for dole schemes, more wage subsidies like working for families, the courts when people need to turn to crime, etc etc Nobody saves!!!! Not only does it not save money, it actually horribly reduces peoples quality of life and their mental health and wrecks their kids and dependants lives too!

      https://www.facebook.com/Rotorua-Aquatics-SOS-Save-Our-Staff-136776193653037/

  12. Robert Guyton 12
    7 December 2017 at 11:17 am

    “I should have shut my fat face”
    Hit that nail right on the head, Mr Quin.

  13. greywarshark 13
    7 December 2017 at 11:32 am

    Wet houses – a practical answer to the difficulties for blokes and women living on the streets with a booze problem. In this item hopeful Wellington Mayor Justin Lester says he will have talk with the government to get the first NZ one set up there. I wonder if that is progressing?

    Wellington mayoral candidate Justin Lester says his plan for the country’s first wet house would help addicts on the road to becoming more independent.
    A wet house is a residential facility where alcoholics can continue to drink, and research from Washington University found most of those people would halve their intake while they were there….

    If he were to become mayor, he said the council would lobby the government more strongly to solve homelessness, and would also push for tenants in council housing to be eligible for the Income-Related Rent Subsidy.
    5/9/2016 https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/312534/%27wet-house%27-plan-to-tackle-wellington-homelessness @m_cropp michael.cropp@notrnz.com

    https://www.rehabs.com/are-wet-house-facilities-really-helping-alcoholics/

  14. Andre 14
    7 December 2017 at 11:46 am

    A useful discussion around uncertainties and transparency in science, and how vested interests and politicians misuse them to further their agendas.

    https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-easiest-way-to-dismiss-good-science-demand-sound-science/

  15. mary_a 15
    7 December 2017 at 12:26 pm

    Another FFS moment … Natz gobshite Soper still at it. Today it’s Labour taking advantage of National’s initiatives! Getting more ridiculous now. Time to give it a rest.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11954555

    • savenz 15.1
      7 December 2017 at 1:23 pm

      Stop reading that drivel Mary_a! It just keeps their ratings up! Boycott them!

    • Psych nurse 15.2
      7 December 2017 at 2:03 pm

      Soper has an anology about National spreading hayseeds that the Goverment are reaping, any farmer knows that the only seeds to germinate from hay are weeds.

    • Nick 15.3
      7 December 2017 at 2:55 pm

      Yes I purposely avoid reading anything from soper and his missus.

  16. savenz 16
    7 December 2017 at 2:08 pm

    Petition
    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: I ask that you do not approve planned seismic blasting for oil in the newly discovered blue whale habitat off Taranaki, and that you make climate change your “nuclear free moment” by ending offshore oil exploration and drilling in NZ waters and the ‘Block Offer’ process.

    https://act.greenpeace.org/page/15809/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=facebook_promotion&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=climate&utm_term=seismicwhalesfb003&utm_content=paid_promo

    • BM 16.1
      7 December 2017 at 3:09 pm

      and that you make climate change your “nuclear free moment”

      You didn’t actually believe that bullshit. she only said because Labour wanted to get back all those ex-labour voters who moved over to the greens.

  17. corodale 17
    7 December 2017 at 3:06 pm

    If your traveling SH1 south of AKL, warning, “don’t look up”.
    Persistent condensation trails again.

  18. One Anonymous Bloke 18
    7 December 2017 at 4:09 pm

    Loath as I am to endorse right wing policy, it has to be said: the National Party threw money at a problem and there was a slight improvement.

    It’s definitely worth trying this National Party policy some more.

  19. OnceWasTim 19
    7 December 2017 at 4:19 pm

    Some fairly salient comments by Ella Henry and Bernard Hickey on the RNZ ZB Hour (aka ‘The Panel’) re our public service. (It’s in the first 15 minutes thank Christ – i.e. before Mora has the opportunity to start exercising his wisdom and ego – so not too much of a burden to listen to).
    The good thing is though, that people are starting to take interest and listen – and when they do (whether DHB’s or Water/health, Ed Jikayshun, Seeyoe’s celeries et al), they are starting to think: mmmmm geeeze Wayne – wtf?

  20. Yeow 20
    7 December 2017 at 4:34 pm

    “Does this tie make my gut look fat?”

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

    [no fat phobia please – weka]

    • Barfly 20.1
      7 December 2017 at 5:49 pm

      Aw come on you let me get away with a dwarfist jibe

      • One Anonymous Bloke 20.1.1
        7 December 2017 at 5:51 pm

        Which I hope I redeemed, and not in a good way.

        • weka 20.1.1.1
          7 December 2017 at 6:53 pm

          not quite getting that (was there a particular meaning in princess?)

          • One Anonymous Bloke 20.1.1.1.1
            7 December 2017 at 7:36 pm

            Well, on the one hand I subverted the interpretation of the ‘dwarf’ as a label, a mere cypher, an insult to David Farrar, and gave the dwarf a personal voice, but then I placed the dwarf in a potentially compromising position.

            The connection between Farrar and princesses should be familiar to any student of Dirty Politics.

            • weka 20.1.1.1.1.1
              7 December 2017 at 8:56 pm

              Ah. I thought the off camera bit was funny. Missed the princess bit, I’ll blame the hot weather.

      • weka 20.1.2
        7 December 2017 at 6:52 pm

        Let me deal with the fat phobia first. Fat phobic comments attack a person from a place of prejudice. There are a whole range of political implications that come from that. Do you think it would be ok to make putdown jokes about someone based on their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation? I don’t. Nor gratuitous digs at someone because of their body shape.

    • greywarshark 20.2
      7 December 2017 at 7:12 pm

      Perhaps it is more correct to say it as ‘Does this tie make my gut look slim.’ I don’t know how we are going to poke fun at each other if Health and Safety get too sterile about it. Instead of poking fun we might have to revert to poking someone in the nose.

  21. Muttonbird 21
    7 December 2017 at 5:21 pm

    Jeez, there’s some nasty surprises left by National under the rocks overturned today with the Minister briefings release.

    Housing, water, health, education. All the things we’ve known about for some years but denied by National and their greedy RWNJ hangers-on.

    • bwaghorn 21.1
      7 December 2017 at 5:32 pm

      beware of the it’s nationals fault cry , its valid for 6 months or a year tops.

      • Barfly 21.1.1
        7 December 2017 at 5:52 pm

        National used it successfully for at least god knows how many years…but that was with corrupt media support so I guess your correct (not going to say Right)

      • Muttonbird 21.1.2
        7 December 2017 at 6:47 pm

        I think the depth of the problems left behind cannot be turned around in 6-12 months to a point where the forces of 9 years of National’s abject non-governance no longer have an effect on society.

        This government have several terms and more to rightly blame the Nats for the housing crisis, and under-planning for infrastructure. Same goes for improvements in educational achievement. Perhaps 18-36 months to get the health ministry and water infrastructure sorted.

        Lets face it. National screwed these things up so bad that even an economy in free teenage party mode couldn’t help them win the 2017 GE.

      • NewsFlash 21.1.3
        7 December 2017 at 7:00 pm

        I don’t think they’ll have too, most voted for the coalition knowing all these problems(fires) existed, the only ones that didn’t was the National supporters who probably didn’t care or weren’t interested.

  22. eco maori 22
    7 December 2017 at 6:54 pm

    When I was naive I thought our justice systems were like science and that was it is not a fact till it was proven to be fact but not now our justice system will spread lies about anyone they have a beef with. I can prove that everything I have said to he TRUE. If they had one shred evidence that could stand up in our courts we’ll you no what would happen . My great grandmother died when I was 9 an I ended up living with the worst family of all my whano I had been living with them for a week and after drank for 4 days they took me to the post office and got me to sign a withdrawal slip and drew out all the money my great grandmother had me save at my school savings. I found out later that MAMA MY GGMAM had another account that my fathers maintainec was beeping payed into they spent that to the first account had $300 and the second account had $800 they carried on getting my father maintainec till I turned 18 and I had left at 14 and went to work my dad told me he had carried on paying till I turn 18 and I told all the other family members about this and the people who did this don’t like this fact getting out there. I never got any gifts or new clothing I was the little white slave lite the fire chop the wood milk the cow boil the water for a bath. I was 12 and I fix a mower that someone could not get going he gave it away I was sick of carting water so I setup a syphon system to take the water from the tank to the copper and another from the copper to the bathroom I buried the black plastic pipe and put taps on the ends into the copper and the bathroom he got pissed at someone and picked on me and pulled that out every time he got upset he would call me a white honky bustard everyone called me honky when he tried to hit me I would runaway and hide one time I stayed at the neighbours for 2 weeks when I was 13.One week he took my money from cutting ragwort and used it to go to a funeral and left 2 of us home alone for 5 days no food I went to the neighbours. After watching them catch possum I started catching and skinny and drying them I had about 30 skins he said he would sell them for me i never seen a cent. So what these people are doing to me now is not a new feeling I am use to being intimated and bullied its like water off a ducks back. What I did not like was I was very submissive but not now I will protect my family we made. Kia kaha

  23. eco maori 23
    7 December 2017 at 7:04 pm

    I had been shown how to smoke tabbco in 2 weeks WTF

  24. Philip Ferguson 24
    7 December 2017 at 8:31 pm

    Sad to hear of the death of Christine Keeler, one of the victims in the Profumo Scandal, although at least she lived to tell the tale, whereas poor Stephen Ward ended up committing suicide.

    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/the-profumo-affair-a-moral-panic-between-austerity-britain-and-the-swinging-sixties/

  25. eco maori 25
    8 December 2017 at 4:45 am

    There you go the state using all its power to try and suppress me I use to be able to find eco Maori by Googleing it not anymore they did the same to a website I found about corruption in the NZ justice systems email the IPCA about it as proof next minute web site vanished they would have paid Google to make it come up in page 1000 in any search. Kia kaha