Open mike 13/03/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 13th, 2023 - 22 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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22 comments on “Open mike 13/03/2023 ”

  1. Adrian Thornton 1

    "I am making a very important statement'….say what you want about this man, but the trolling king, Wagner CEO Yevgeny Prigozhin turns out to have some pretty good comic timing…`even under heavy incoming fire.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/comments/11ov5y5/ru_pov_prigozhins_presidential_announcement/

  2. aj 2

    Recent fearmongering headlines in Australia have been warning of the threat of war with China 'within 3 yrs' and TV3 'The Nation' last weekend brought out Australian military "strategist" Mick Ryan about whether or not Australia was being alarmist, Ryan said: "There is nothing alarmist about that timeframe. Defence over the last couple of years has said we no longer have the 10-year warning time we used to plan on."

    Ryan is an army general who has spent a lot of time in Afghanistan and is far from a person with and independent and judicious mind. Simon Shephard just nodded in agreement to every word.

    Working Dog just nails this for Australia.

    https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1633321006420090881?cxt=HHwWgoDT_aaz3KotAAAA

    https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-faces-threat-of-war-with-china-within-three-years-experts-warn/9c757e9c-d0e7-4b33-9a0f-70546858c736

    • tc 2.1

      Sums up our lazy media as a scan of oz media would've found some useful talking points.

      From journos doing their job to former PM's berrating the oz media for taking such a provocative tone.

      tv3 is owned by american media, is that serving the nz public ?

      • aj 2.1.1

        former PM's berating the oz media for taking such a provocative tone.

        Paul Keating doesn't hold back, never has, he's a gem

  3. "Royal biff: Prince Andrew in 'despair' after being shafted by Queen in will13 Mar He expected something in his mother's will. Now the extent of the snub has been revealed."

    This..in the New Zealand Herald..who seem unable to just say it like it is..the Royals Inheritance tax avoidance scheme they signed up for back in 1993. Ofcourse Stuff aren't even going there. I don't know..maybe its their desire to seem "fair" and "reasonable" or whatever it is they have signed up for…

    Though I notice the Guardian are also being good little boys and girls and not drawing too much attention to the issue. They did talk about it in polite wispers 5 months or so ago..though they were at pains to point out…

    "King Charles will not pay tax on the fortune he has inherited from the late Queen, although he has volunteered to follow his mother’s lead in paying income tax."

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/13/king-charles-will-not-pay-tax-on-inheritance-from-the-queen

    I like that..a system of taxation that relies on one "Volunteering" to pay tax.

    Which actually, now that I think about it..is precisely what we have for the rich and powerful…

    • tc 3.1

      The guardian is an establishment outlet these days. Ran with the corbyn smears and has pretty much ignored assange for years now.

      • Siobhan 3.1.1

        The Guardian is worse than the establishment..and for many many years now….they drain away the energy for change, they distract and manipulate the voters needed for any real change. Also…Don't forget their "Bernie Bros" narrative.

        The liberal class who still think of the Guardian as being their voice…yeah, those people…don't trust them.

  4. Ad 4

    Here comes the world of pain in Auckland as the big cuts come in to save money to respond to the flood damage. In particular the much-maligned west Auckland manages to get fewer and fewer upgrades to anything, and more and more storm damage each season.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-floods-auckland-council-joins-the-government-with-tightening-its-belt-to-pay-for-storm-damage/K5OMI37SQRHMJGPJ5GWSD3PURQ/

    This is the precursor to the world of pain Government is going through cutting projects in time for Budget 2023.

    Also the world of reallocation pain NZTA is going through with its own board to reallocate project funding away from new projects towards fixing up the roads and rail that is so damaged. Lots of regions are going to suffer out of that.

    And underneath that is all the pain the communities and society in general goes through as all the big fresh upgrades die.

    • Ad 4.1

      Very interesting to see that NZSuper increase of $100 per fortnight, benefit rates tracked up by inflation, and an upward shove to the incomes of 1.4 million kiwis.

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/pm-chris-hipkins-policy-bonfire-turns-to-transport-speed-limit-changes-expected-to-be-ditched/B3KZEZZEGFAMRNMJREI4TIHPQM/

      NZTA's board is in for more serious work to afford the rebuild.

    • Belladonna 4.2

      Meanwhile, AT is digging up a perfectly functional roundabout (just up the road) – to replace it with a more highly-engineered one.

      Those of us who've been through this process with AT in the past, know that the new one is highly likely to be *less* functional than the old one. We've had this happen with the last 3 AT road 'design' projects (one of which had to be replaced 3 times, and another one can't get buses around it, without driving on the verge).

      This will apparently (according to the info provided by the local board) take 6 months – doubling the usual traffic chaos – amidst the usual blizzard of traffic cones – since there will only be one lane of traffic through in each direction (there is usually both a right turning lane, and a straight ahead one).

      Many, many locals have fervently requested AT to abandon this project, and take the funding to where it is actually needed in repairing the roading infrastructure damaged by Gabrielle et al. No dice. It's going ahead come hell or high water.

    • Visubversa 5.1

      The ACLU has been on the "Trans Train" for years. They condemn the use of chemical castration pharmaceuticals for treating sex offenders, but are more than happy to support the same sort of medications use on children as so called "puberty blockers".

  5. Jenny are we there yet 6

    New Scientist published in the UK has a report referencing, among other recent extreme weather events, the back to back weather disasters in Auckland and Hastings.

    Do back-to-back disasters show first climate tipping point is upon us?

    Compound and cascading catastrophes, like two hurricanes striking within days, are becoming more common. Does this mean we have crossed the first climate tipping point, an irreversible shift in Earth’s natural systems, asks Graham Lawton

    Columnist by Graham Lawton

    A COUPLE of weeks ago I visited an experiment in a forest in the south of England that is attempting to make young trees old before their time. While I was there, I saw the aftermath of events of a year ago, when the UK was battered by three consecutive named Atlantic storms in just a few days. One of the casualties of that triple whammy was a large beech tree in the forest, felled by a branch that was ripped off its neighbour…..

    https://www.newscientist.com/article/2363210-do-back-to-back-disasters-show-first-climate-tipping-point-is-upon-us/?

    • tc 6.1

      I thought that once the modelling stop predicting reliably the weather patterns we’re past the tipping point.

  6. Mike the Lefty 7

    This just made my day.

    I got a notification from the Taxpayer's Union that I have earned a badge for being one of their top fans!

    Seriously!

    I get their posts nearly every day. I usually pour scorn on their claims of political neutrality and tell them that they are a front for the National Party and an organisation of tax evaders.

    For that they award me a fan badge???

    They REALLY should pay more attention to detail, shouldn't they!

    Ha ha ha ha………

    • Visubversa 7.1

      It is an award for turning up. A bit like the "best whiskers"
      prize in the children's section of the Cat Show!

      I have had some of those from sites where I only turn up to poke the Borax.

  7. Ittybittytrickledowncommitte 8

    And boom! Just like that Weka completely negated any good weka may have contributed to the green movement by throwing down the green voter equivalent of not believing in vaccines as the “side effects” haven’t been “disproven”

    Cheers pal. Nice uppercut

    [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.]

    • weka 8.1

      feel free to try again under that post, without having a go a me, and by explaining your thinking more clearly.

    • Roy Cartland 8.2

      Please do. I can't work out what the heck you're on about, if anything. Hard to believe Weka would be undermining the green cause, but like she says, go on and explain.

  8. Maurice 9

    Exactly … someone has to take the barbs for stating the bleeding obvious.

    If we do not look outside our little echo chamber what hope is there of being progressive?

    Thanks for seeing it Jenny

    [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.]

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