Open mike 08/10/2024
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6:00 am, October 8th, 2024 - 51 comments
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- Dance Magic
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...8 hours ago - Government Forces Universities to Enforce “Free Speech” While Limiting Universities̵...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...8 hours ago - Fact brief – Are we heading into an ‘ice age’?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...20 hours ago - As Our Power Lessens: Published
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...1 day ago - By Any Other Name.
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...1 day ago - Bernard’s last Saturday Soliloquy for 2024
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...1 day ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, December 21
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...1 day ago - 2024 OIA stats
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...2 days ago - Climate Change: A perverse incentive
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- ZB’s Power Couple
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...2 days ago - Austerity thumps GDP most since 1991
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...2 days ago
- Weekly Roundup 20-December-2024
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The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...2 days ago
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The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...3 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #51 2024
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment: Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...3 days ago
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- Cheeseburgers and Stunt Monkeys
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...3 days ago - MSD rejecting 220 pleas for food grants each day
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- The Wing Parties’ Economic Policies.
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In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...5 days ago
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New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...5 days ago
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At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...5 days ago
- Shameless, clueless
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...5 days ago - Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...5 days ago
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Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...5 days ago - How much should you worry about a collapse of the Atlantic conveyor belt?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson In this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...5 days ago
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In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...5 days ago - When austerity worsens public debt & cuts GDP
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Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...6 days ago
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- Thank You
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...7 days ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50
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I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...1 week ago - Nothing here but the shadows
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Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...1 week ago - Chris Penk’s Hate Parade
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All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...1 week ago - As Our Power Lessens: Accepted
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Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...2 days ago
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The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...3 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...3 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...4 days ago
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The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...4 days ago
- Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...4 days ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...5 days ago
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The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...5 days ago
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The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...5 days ago
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The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...5 days ago
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With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...5 days ago
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Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...5 days ago
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For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...5 days ago
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The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...5 days ago
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The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...6 days ago
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The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...6 days ago
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The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...1 week ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...1 week ago
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New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...1 week ago
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The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...1 week ago
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Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
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Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
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Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...1 week ago
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The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...1 week ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
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Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
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Took National less than a year to crash NZ. Even the UK version took a decade.
"Back on track"?
'Economy is cratering': Call for 1.5 percent official cash rate cut by Christmas | RNZ News
Back on track? Yep quite delibrate.
Stratergy looks like this, Crash the economy, force the RB to drastically cut interest rates, lift immigration, slow the Kainga Ora house build program and just like that the housing market turns values rise and the sugar hit turns the economy in time for the next election.
Theyre pushing through all the unpopular shit this year as well so its forgotten by the time the next election comes around.
Of course.
"slow the Kainga Ora house building programme"…..this has come to a total screeching halt. And all to pay for tax cuts mostly for the better off.
Scandalous
All the social housing build money is apparently going to 11 chosen non-profit or for-profit housing suppliers. Be interesting to know who those suppliers are. In 2016 the Nats had overseas housing managers bid in to manage NZ social housing.
Don't forget that the NZ Wright family who fund The Platform switched their private childcare business empire to a charity to reduce tax, and pick up more government subsidies, including an annual $200 mi government subsidy, and Covid wage subsidies of $84 mi.
This is the same-old, same-old Nats policy: profit-making for overseas interests under the guise of cost-cutting.
All the rights wings policies are aimed at pleasing right wing voters.
Appealing to right wing prejudice,ignorance, greed and power always wins.
All the right wing policies are aimed at smashing left wing voters.
None of the right wing Govts policies are unpopular with their voter base.
Smashing Maori, Beneficiaries, Greens, Feminists, Gays wins votes for the right.
The right wing have never been voted out after just one term ever.
So the right wing will win election 2026.
Not till 2029 when the swinging voters will project their problems on
to the sitting Govt will the left have a chance to win back power.
Cheer up everybody
Wish I could 😪
Agreed except 2026 it will be possible to remove them.
Who knows if the opposition can get its collective act together, there will be more than enough material to work with
Health, education, infrastructure, public housing etc plus the fast tracking free for all.
The ongoing wealth transfer picks up pace.
The right wing have never been voted out after just one term ever.
We've also never had a corrupt, incompetent, cruel government do this much damage in such a short time either. It's unprecedented in NZ so the point about one-term governments to me is moot.
Try the 4th Labour government…..
The 4th Labour Government was the best Government in NZ History.
I somehow think that you'll find few to agree with you on TS.
The best at voter betrayal certainly, a record the present government seems keen to reclaim.
The 4th Labour Gov't followed essentially 30 years of National Gov't.
By 1984 The Economy like Britains was forty years behind the times.
Rogernomics was neccessary but it was the fact that the pain was shared unequally.
Like the following Richardson mother of all budgets 1991 the pain was loaded on to the poor.
It took the Ardern/Robertson apology/budget 20 years later
to make a small effort to heal the pain.
Crucially the new right wing Govt has acted quickly to reintroduce the under class with massive cuts to the poor.
Under the ’84 Govt NZ's Victorian social policies were updated to the late 20th century.
White people were made to admit the evils of the White invasion.
Women and Gays were allowed to come out from the jack boot
of red neck gnorance and prejudice.
Now National and ACT want to take us back to 1890 again.
So yes the 1984-90 Labour is definitely the best NZ Govt ever.
The facts prove it
Another comedian?
Nah. No contest. This is the worst by far. As MTL says Labour Mk4 was best at voter betrayal but the malicious glee this sorry crew have shown smashing anything done before them, wrecking health pre-privatisation, making racists feel better about themselves, etc is unprecedented.
Koina, that is what they want you to believe.
But each person voting left threatens them. Believe we can do this.!!
State it loudly with certainty. "Make this a one term Government, and bring back our rights".
We can collapse their house of cards because their greed and differences will start to show, and job losses will continue to grow, so people will look for something to believe in, a way forward and hope for the future.
Luxon's complete lack of honesty and charm will wear thin at the next election.
This is way above my pay grade BTW. The bankers I work with have a positive outlook looking ahead from March next year, however they are nervous about the next six month. Talking with a couple of mates who are in the building and construction industry are holding on hoping to make it to next year…
"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty" Thomas Jefferson
35,000 march in Dunedin against cuts to hospital rebuild.
We are rapidly arriving at a point where resistance becomes duty.
Dunedun is a Labour held seat so health cuts there mean nothing Politically
Health cuts in marginal and swinging seats, well yes, but National won't do that.
The point has been made, however, that the hinterland seats surrounding Dunedin and which are dependent on the Dunedin hospital for healthcare, are National seats – and they will be sensitive to public opinion there.
The Waitaki electorate despite the once in a century Adern Covid landslide in
2020 was still won comfortably by National .
Downgrading of Dunedin hospital will have zero impact on the southern seats.
Do you think that National voters all have private healthcare? It seems a dubious assumption, to me….
National will not talk private health care at the election.
Even National are not that dumb.
They will let ACT do the talking for them.
National will say private health care will only ever be voluntary.
So the rich right wing whites will still vote Act so Act get back in
and the rest will vote National so National will keep all their seats.
QED
Whether the seats in the south are marginal is entirely irrelevant koina-under MMP it is the party vote that counts.
Hi, I love your content but PLEASE change your font. It’s awful, and hard to read. It undermines your credibility as a serious person. Happy to help with suggestions.
[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.]
More evidence, if any was needed of US complicity in the genocide of Palestinians. It is not credible for the US to be a broker of peace in the Middle East any more. China has already begun to step into this space and after the defeat of the IDF, it is hoped that they will brcome the brokers of choice.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/us-admits-it-doesnt-want-diplomatic-solution
And the only acceptable agreement to the Palestinian freedom movement is the end of the illegal 1948 Jewish invasion of Palestine and that the United States military is removed completly and never again to come any closer than 5,000 km to Palestine. Sounds like a fair deal to me
Unfortunately for your position, the other party involved (Israel) clearly finds your default negotiation position unacceptable.
Sounds like a continuation of the current war is inevitable.
The curent genocide has been non stop since the illegal Jew invasion in 1948
You seem to be under the illusion that there were no Jews in the area of the Palestine Mandate prior to 1948. You might want to do a bit of self-education, there.
The government in 1948 was the British Empire. Are you suggesting that they should re-establish control over the area?
You may also want to consider that the day after the British formally withdrew from the Palestine Mandate, and the State of Israel was established under UN charter, the armies of the surrounding Arab countries invaded. That is they invaded the newly established state of Israel. That would be the "illegal invasion" – you reference. I doubt there were any Jews in the Arab armies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Palestine_war
I wish you would stop doing that. You are falling right into the Zionist's trap.
It wasn't Jews that invaded Palestine. It was Zionists, backed by the US. The US needed a colonial settler proxy state in the Middle East to push the British Empire out.
At the end of WWII the British Empire was the dominant Western power in the Middle East.
The US gave the Zionists free rein to recruit inside the displaced persons camps in the post-war US controlled zone in Germany, and eleswhere. While making it difficult for the DPs to immigrate to the US which was the dream destination of most of the DPs.
The British Empire getting wind of the plot stopped the ships and re-imprisoned the DPs in Cypress.
From the Holocaust encyclopedia:
The last gasp of the British Empire in the Middle East was the Suez Crisis
Oh dear.
Someone doesn’t realise that Jewish people have been in that region for 3500 years.
Really? Then who were the "Infidels" that the Crusades were aiming to remove from the "Holy Land"? Hint – it was not the Jews. They had several attempts during the 11th and 12th C with varying degrees of success.
The First Crusade was an attempt to reverse Muslim conquests of the Mediterranean (632–661) and on reaching Jerusalem the Crusader forces massacred both Muslim and Jewish inhabitants.
I didn’t say they were the only peoples in the region.
Jerusalem was populated by Moslem and Jewish (hint Moslems allowed Jews to live there) civilians in 1099.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(1099)
Wondering where you are getting the impression that the defeat of the IDF is on the cards? It certainly doesn't seem apparent from the news coverage to date.
Its quite simple really. Something as rotten as this will soon no longer be able to hold it's own weight.
https://x.com/ytirawi/status/1842242729436201158
Oh, religious conviction.
Biology actually
Some good news.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/530111/government-and-iwi-partner-to-build-affordable-homes
If the Nats arn't worried about Dunedin because it is a Labour stronghold with Labour seats then they are befuddled by the US election with its college system in thinking that seats matter. We have MMP and it will be the party vote that counts.
Some more bad news for the reputation of a once seafaring, now seafearing, nation.
The Picton wharf has successfully impersonated a Samoan reef.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/350444012/bluebridge-ferry-crashes-wharf-picton
Ferry has a minor "Fender bender" on berthing.
Next. 'Truck takes a centimetre of concrete off the loading dock while backing in".
FFS.
vous accusez …reductio ad absurdum?
The pathetic Labour party in the UK has been persuaded by (among others) the big oil companies to adopt expensive and unproven Carbon Capture and Storage projects (CCS). This will cost NZ$47 billion over the next 25 years, locking the UK into fossil fuel usage for decades.
"it seems Labour has been swayed by the fossil fuel lobby, which has pushed CCS for years. This announcement represents a massive bet on a still unproven technology, and will lock the UK into fossil fuel dependence for decades to come. The Climate Change Act mandates the UK should achieve net zero emissions by 2050, yet this will be impossible if carbon capture leads to the UK building new gas power stations instead of wind and solar farms……carbon capture projects have a very poor track record of overpromising and underdelivering. The track record of adding carbon capture to power plants [has ended up] with the vast majority of projects abandoned." .
https://theconversation.com/the-uks-22-billion-bet-on-carbon-capture-will-lock-in-fossil-fuels-for-decades-240507
A deep dive into the Manawanui sinking.
https://gcaptain.com/hmnzs-manawanui-sinking-hard-grounding-fire-and-aftermath-for-a-broken-royal-new-zealand-navy/
The pontificating and finger pointing starting already.
While those who are experienced, are awaiting factual details.
The Israeli economy is suffering. Apparently genocide isn't profitable.
"The Bank of Israel said in May that the war costs would spike to about 250 billion shekels (US$66 billion) through the end of next year. “Prices are high. Standard of living is going down. There is inflation. There is a decline in the value of the Israeli currency,” said [Israeli political economist] Shir Hever. Foreign investment has dried up, more than 85,000 people have dropped out from the workforce, and there are “a quarter million people who have been displaced internally and lost both their jobs and their houses,” he added.
“And, of course, the very large number of people who are just leaving … The number of people who are leaving is unprecedented, really, in the history of Israel,” he said. “You see people just buying a one-way ticket to see what will happen.""
The whole article is well worth a read.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/1-year-of-gaza-genocide/1-year-of-gaza-genocide-is-israel-s-economy-in-a-process-of-collapse-/3352386