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6:00 am, March 15th, 2022 - 102 comments
Categories: open mike -
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Yes! Maybe time to go fill up the car today. Good move by Labour reducing the petrol tax. We all know they hate reducing any tax, but it was really needed. I just hope that in a few weeks time the price hasn't risen more than the temporary 25c reduction.
Public transport move unexpected but also a great move. Hopefully encourage more to use.
Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon calls out Government: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/hate-speech-laws-race-relations-commissioner-meng-foon-calls-out-government-over-delays-three-years-after-march-15-attacks/NJCG5HWNUFDBEYELB45LQXHH6Y/
There's always hope. They ought to keep hoping for the best. For the govt it's just a matter of being engaged with higher priorities. Foon knows the squeaky wheel gets the grease so he squeaks loudly. Trouble is he's drowned out by louder squawks.
There's an immense design problem with legislative change. It consists of an elephant in the room that law reformers don't want to look at: the lack of prosecutions under the current law. The media has amply reported that hate speech is already illegal – what part of this don't these people understand??
You can't reasonably expect govt & public service lawyers to fix a problem that doesn't exist. Complainants ought to get real. Launch their own prosecutions against hate speech using the law designed for that purpose. This ain't rocket science. And really, why can't Foon figure it out? I would have thought he's the ideal person to be leading any prosecution on behalf of targeted ethnicities.
Robert Habeck is a novelist, philosopher, and the German equivalent of our minister of finance:
And he's part of the hinge between Germany and Russia now.
However another dictator is poised to rescue the west:
All hail the saviour! Biden ought to invite Maduro to the White House & host him with a military parade of goose-steppers. Dictators love that stuff!
What sort of stuff do unelected Presidents like Guaido,appointed President of Venezuela by the U.S….like?
cloak & dagger stuff… useful idiot theory says you can always find one suitable on either the left or right side of the fence…
@ D.Frank..Here is a speech that I can only assume was written especially for you….
So you never get tired of wallowing in a mire of false assumptions? Why? 🙄
Important to note the scale and impact of all the government's $$ increases to New Zealanders from yesterday:
– Half price public transport.
Providing direct benefit to over 1,000,000 regular users
– 1 April NZSuper increases $52 per fortnight for a single person
– 1 April NZSuper increases $80 per fortnight for a couple
That assists 800,000 Kiwis
– 1 April Working for Families increases $20 per week
That assists a further 365,000 families with children
– 1 April Minimum Wage lifts to $21.20
That assists a further 300,000 people
Easily 2.5 million New Zealanders getting greater government funding in 16 days time.
Benefits rates also increase as the second part of the increases announced last year come into force – I think my supported living allowance goes up $23 per week on 1 April
Yes, the 23 NZD that is the last payment to finally pay the increase that the WEAG demanded in 2019.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/information-releases/cabinet-papers/2021/welfare-overhaul-work-programme-update/appendix-three.html
again, this too is nice, but a few years late and now several tens of dollars short. And considering that it will be tacked on the main benefit, fringe benefits will be reduced accordingly to make up for the windfall and chances are benefits are still no better off, in fact my be worse of.
But an effort has been made, and i really hope that this will be enough for a while to make your life a bit easier.
– Half price public transport.
Providing direct benefit to over 1,000,000 regular users
Starting in Arpil for three month. It is nice, but again, its neither here nor there, just a wee little temporary relieve. By then the 25cnts discount on the tax on gasoline will be nill and voided.
– 1 April NZSuper increases $52 per fortnight for a single person
– 1 April NZSuper increases $80 per fortnight for a couple
needed as rent increases will be announced on April 2
– 1 April Working for Families increases $20 per week
nothing for families on the benefit?
1 April Minimum Wage lifts to $21.20
needed as rent increases will be announced on April 2
all of these 'increases' are nice, but too little very much too late, an in fact will do nothing much to change anything, same as te min wage increase last year did not do much, nor the one the year before. Why?
Because there is no way any government can increase the Min Wage / Benefits / Super enough to make inflation go away, in fact it feeds into inflation, and people still are a few hundred dollar short for food and essentials after paying rent.
What is missing on your list are the important things.
But, another layer of sugar was applied to the stale cake of 'Non reform' and some like a good sugar rush, never mind the headache afterwards.
No other NZ government in 50 years has increased benefits on this scale.
Rent controls as a maximum rent rarely work.
No other government in 50 years has built more affordable housing. Not enough and the waiting lines are worse, but the building is happening.
Public transport use is currently only a substantial share of trips per day in 2 NZ cities: Wellington and Auckland.
I'll wait for budget to comment on tax bracket changes.
That is not the point of my comment Ad.
The point is that without meaningful reform you can increase the benefits every other month and htey would still not hold up. Case in point hte first 25 NZD i ncrease came curtesy of National, and that too did fuck all.
Public transport is not used because it is too expensive and always was. I am a public transport user as i never owned a car in NZ. I used to live close to work and walk as that was cheaper then running a car and spending x amount of hours in traffic.
The half price announcement is good, but made bad by not starting immediately and then only for three month. That is just pretending to do something, that's not even a band aid.
The budget……lol. Mind there is another poll to come for sure, and that too will reflect the compassionated and considerate movements of this government, it will move compassionately and considerably down. 27.8% is the low of Cunliffe, Little would have been even lower, so lets wait and see. Shall we?
Can you please list the houses build, vs houses sold and houses demolished. Please, that would be nice if you could actually provide proof for that point.
Re Housing, the biggest need currently is getting our population into affordable and suitable housing; and social housing needs continue to grow. THe scale of need is such that I believe we need to go back to something like the State Advances Corporation system – issuing loans at say 0.5% above government stock rates, requiring payments of a percentage of earnings which remains fixed for say 20 years, for up to 90% of the cost of a dwelling. Someone is currently paying the $6 billion that banks made last year – perhaps some of that can be reduced by removing difficult clients from seeking bank loans . . .
Might be a small thing to you, for others it is significant.
https://twitter.com/A_G_Hawkins/status/1503225624441208837
Indeed it is, and that is why i would have preferred that today the prices are already at half price and without a three month expiry date.
The delay is probably to allow systems to change fares and test changes,
Technology sometimes slows change.
(Was watching a documentary of London Underground where they had a (temporary) mechanical scheduing system instlled just after the second world war. It was the most reliable part of the whole, even in the early 2000's)
I have been advocating for free public transport for ever. I love public transport as i positively hate driving and owning a car. Eww. Literally. Trams, busses, shuttles, le chemin de fer, trains, and bicycles, are my mode of transportation of choice. Cars are something that i rent when i can't have the other stuff.
This is the first time they even contemplate it. So i guess i am applauding 'baby steps', while shaking my head at the temprorarinessness of it all.
Public transport fees need to be looked at, honestly and with affordability in mind, and we are not doing that. And if changing the software is in the too hard basket, the Government could include a tax rebate for those that use it to go to work and ship their kids to school. At the end of the year via the tax return. Maybe that is easier. After all, to some extend it is a business expense for workers and families.
Edit: And doing it right now does not seem a concentrated push to make public transport more attractive and affordable but just a wee things to shut up noises about high cost of living and being perceived at doing something. Polls and such demand actions, not foresight and anticipation of stuff happening, but polls that trend the wrong way.
"I have been advocating for free public transport for ever. "
Me, too. I am cynical about this scheme, because it seems an easy move with little cost, and limited benefit.
I also believe that public transport in Auckland needs to be improved in terms of getting better service and security, particularly in the outer regions. My family did use public transport to get into Auckland for tertiary study (pre Covid) and the cost was high, and the reliability and service mediocre.
I'm guessing they are still working on the 2022 budget and will need time to adjust things for a longer term change. In the meantime, we have three months to see what the uptake of PT is, and to lobby for making it permanent. This is how change through parliament can work well.
Greater Auckland use their influence to argue against free public transport, never once considering how much relief it will possibly give to some of the financially distressed households in Auckland.
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/?s=free+public+transport
As we attempt (unsuccessfully) to raise lower incomes, we need to also design strong policies and strategies to reduce essential costs: housing, transport, food and utilities.
have you got a tl'dr precis of their objection to free PT?
I attended a few transport public lectures back in the day, with Matt L as a guest speaker. He was consistently dismissive of the topic when it was brought up.
Given that I come from a perspective that many Auckland households are struggling financially, I never heard that addressed either in person or on their blog posts, which are really well structured in terms of identifying points, which they then dismantle or discuss. However, that also often limits discussion to just those points.
Today's post seems fairly neutral, but public transport has declined – as you would expect – since the pandemic, and public transport is always championed on GA.
There are considerable improvements that could be made in terms of service and security though, especially in the farther reaches of Auckland. So, although I would support free public transport, it must be accompanied with addressing regional inequity in terms of access and quality of service.
I posted the search link because I understand I read their posts through a particular lens, and others may see it differently.
sent you an email.
Increases (above and beyond the normal inflation adjustment) to all benefits from 1 April 2022 were announced in the 2021 budget.
While increases to the MW are inflationary, they still result on those on the MW being better off … unless rent increases (constrained by a limit to one increase a year). Landlords increase rents based on the wider market, and or knowledge of the tenants income.
The lucky country.
https://twitter.com/QReconstruction/status/1501294218559512580?cxt=HHwWiICziefI1dUpAAAA
Build your third largest city at the base of a major river catchment …
Not uncommon around the world. The legacy of rivers being used for transport and ports. New Orleans is a classic example, and man's wrestling to control the Mississippi catchment is a fascinating story.
Bloody scary!
Just saw a photo of Bernard-Henri Lévy on the front lines of Odesa. We live in interesting times when 73 year old French philosophers go into bat for the defense of freedom!
And an equally brave person acting in Russia
oops! see Joe beat me to it
Resilience tech can be viable with a simple design:
More.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/gravity-energy-storage-will-show-its-potential-in-2021
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_battery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_energy_storage_power_plants
Interesting. I liked the UK one using old mine shafts, but can see how that would be limited. Might still be useful though.
But a large open cast pit might be the go for a bigger one – difficult to complain about sightlines if it's at or just below ground level. And give it a roof with solar panels for generation as well as storage.
Julian Assange refused permission to appeal against US extradition by UK’s top court
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/julian-assange-us-extradition-appeal-b2035579.html#comments-area
Western media and opinion makers detailing censorship in Russia, should perhaps devote 10% of their column inches and screen time to accurately reporting and analysing this situation.
Yes it's disgusting…UK govt immoral out in the open..did RNZ even cover this today?
Can't find it, if they did.
No Adrian
And last night TVNZ repeated the lie that a Russian tank had crushed a civilian car in Kiev, as if it was breaking news
They first aired that , our own TVNZ, on the 26th , 2 days into the invasion when no tanks were anywhere near the inner streets of Kiev , but the footage had been circulated on social media, and TVNZ picked it up from whatever scumbag news aggregate they subscribe to.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/02/26/russian-tank-runs-over-ukrainian-civilian-car-driver-survives/
The story has long been exposed , by France 24, but the NZ public continues to be subjected to propaganda.
https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/truth-or-fake/20220303-chimeras-and-the-war-in-ukraine
In case the previous link doesnt work this one is much better, text rather than tedious video
https://observers.france24.com/en/europe/20220301-video-debunked-russian-tank-crush-civilian-car-kyiv
France 24 is a Rupert Murdoch channel ie fox news France.
Yep wasnt detailed but they did report it
That is actually a bonus for Assange – If they had agreed to hear it they would eventually have declined the application while another year or so went by of him being imprisoned . This way he will hopefully have a chance in a fairer Court.
I hope you are proven right.
Courageous.
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1503445657805373446
https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1503453014643949576
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/remembering-march-15-three-years
But tax cuts hog the limelight
The survivor who was shot 9 times and is completing his walk from Dunedin to Christchurch today got good coverage on TV1 Breakfast TV show. He was exceptionally dignified.
Respect!
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/03/14/mosque-attack-survivor-on-final-leg-of-360km-peace-walk/
Hoping this catches on…
https://twitter.com/AliceFromQueens/status/1503475138997719044?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
Looks like it is.
https://twitter.com/AlexandruC4/status/1503142677503692803
google translate
Excellent. Oligarchs and billionaires should not exist. Slay the dragons. Give the wealth back to the people.
Will you lead the charge against the odious Trump man Peter Thiel please, or perhaps James Cameron ,Graeme Hart, or Richard Chandler who made his fortune at the expense of the Russian people?
Oh pardon me , his thefts are to be celebrated
Will do, as soon as I can mobilise my 27 followers on twitter. In the meantime, I will continue to sledge the Government like it’s a piñata
Can't wait for our unhoused people to do the same to empty rich listers houses here in NZ. Liberate all the ghost houses for the homeless.
right on Sabine!
I'm with you,We have morality on our side
Better make sure no-one that has had a facist thought, or dressed as Hitler joins in, because,….
… they don't care about the cause, they just want the world to burn so they can rise out of the ashes.
Oh dear
No sense of irony?
You get that
nope, not with fascism and especially not on the 15 March.
I would have no problem with that
The 2.5 million refugees (and climbing) need some place to live! So thoughtful of the benefactors of their counties aggressor to prearrange accommodation for them. 🙂
One would have thought that after investing so much of yourself into the debunked Trump/Putin conspiracy theory, only to be humiliated right out in public for that unquestioning support, that you might be even just a tiny little more circumspect going forward…but nope, I guess that critical thinking, historical context or any type of nuance at all just isn't your bag…but to be fair, again you are far from being alone in your unquestioning enthusiasm to march in step yet again.
I know that you seem to believe the Trump/Putin conspiracy has been debunked. But outside your small coterie of Putin dupes there has been a shift away from treating Putin like a modern liberal, and a return to seeing him as a recrudescent Stalinist.
Steele, who you were at pains to rubbish, has proven to have been a rather reliable source, and is much in demand for his expertise. Here he is addressing the Oxford Union.
"I know that you seem to believe the Trump/Putin conspiracy has been debunked"…..yeah I know that some of you have committed yourselves so fully into, and therefore internalized so deeply into yourselves that cult of stuff and nonsense, that you could never turn back….well not without some sort of professional help anyway.
Fact free diatribe as usual Adrian.
Some nutritious fact for you: Russian Misinformation Is "A Military Assault” on the West | Amanpour and Company – YouTube
Just so you know the role you are playing in the dissemination of Putin's disinformatzia.
We can agree that the war is terrible, and needs to end – while trying to understand how we got to this point.
@Molly, "while trying to understand how we got to this point."…I agree completely, unfortunately our friends Munro, Macro, Frank etc have shown no interest in the history, murky origins and devious Geo-Political machinations that underlay this tragic war….though to be fair they only reflect most of the worlds media own lack of interest, and as they only ever regurgitate what they are told too, and have been doing so for years, why should anyone expect anything else from this lot? monkey see, monkey do I guess.
I don't believe I have witnessed even one of them have an original thought cross from one side of their cranium to the other in matters of geo politics in the entire time I have been on The Standard.
Big-nosed monkeys regurgitate MSM narrative…
It's fascinating how you dress up your credulity as superior knowledge.
Though of course my sources are actual people, not the msm – so you have only proven your ignorance yet again.
The matter in dispute between the Putin dupes and I, is the acceptability of repeating propaganda uncritically. The most aggressive Putin trolls on this site, routinely attack any occurrence the western press dare to report, as well as the ones that maintain the highest standards themselves, like Reuters. This process is designed to create a false equivalence – if all media lie, propaganda is suddenly on an equal footing with fact based journalism.
Understanding how we got to this point is not complex – with the collapse of the Soviet Union, western powers assumed the cold war was over – and it was, briefly, under Gorbachev. Once the old party cadres regained power however, they immediately turned isolationist, and the cold war resumed – while the West naively extended trade and friendship to the Stalinist Putin.
You will never see anything verifiable or explicatory from the wretched refuse of Putin's NZ propaganda team – their game is a spoiling game – dividing and confusing responses to allow Putin to get away with his atrocities. They have no friends in eastern Europe to use as touchstones for the veracity of the fake news sites they prefer, and though long on insults, they make unsupported and indeed unsupportable assertions about every fact that crops up. They have nothing that will increase our understanding of the causes or possible end points of the conflict – They are noise, not signal.
If you're interested in the causes of the war, this interview is at least informed: Professor David Marples: Putin’s true motives for invading Ukraine | RNZ
Or, make your own contact with expat Russian journalists – a surprising number have been obliged to flee, and they will give Putin’s propagandists short shrift.
Sometimes Adrian one needs to look at oneself in the mirror. Have you ever read the Mueller Report? This is a fair summary of its findings:
my bold
It's all well and good to focus purely on the first statement in that summary – as did Trump, his Repugnant supporters, Faux news, and of course the Russian propogandists, but there was ample circumstantial evidence to show that there was significant interference by Russian "influencers" in Facebook and other social media to attack, and upset, the democratic process and a fair vote, not just for the wealthy, but for all.
And a more recent independent investigation by MIT found Troll farms reached 140 million Americans a month on Facebook before the 2020 election
This would give the butmuhfreedumb mob something to complain about.
https://twitter.com/lauriechenwords/status/1502920100193914881
Life in a real totalitarian state.
Days after buying over-the-counter medicine from a pharmacy in Beijing, university student Yu was stunned to find her prized green health code — the essential rating needed to enter the city’s shops, offices and public transport — was gone.
In a scene being repeated across the Chinese capital, a pop-up window now warned the app could no longer ascertain her coronavirus risk status.
[…]
Yu was one of thousands who showed up to Beijing workplaces or shopping malls this week only to find they were barred entry due to their health code status, as already-strict virus controls were ramped up ahead of the Winter Olympics.
Overnight, the city had quietly rolled out a new rule requiring everyone who had bought medication for anything that might be a Covid symptom — including fever, cough and throat dryness — to take a virus test before their health app status could be restored to green.
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/01/30/not-easy-being-green-chinas-health-codes-define-covid-era-life/
Whatever it takes to stop this getting away on them.
https://twitter.com/yaling_jiang/status/1503034729209032706
we should have that here.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/463342/green-party-mp-elizabeth-kerekere-breaks-self-isolation-rules
It seems even well educated people with good, well paying jobs just don’t fucking get it.
My SO's filthy that after all the planning and effort that went into systems to avoid incidents and maintain continuity, a halfwit knowingly exposed to a positive case on the job during the weekend turned up to work yesterday and swanned around un-masked.
Exasperated is not the word.
Yep,lots of wilful negligence.
Say what!!
https://thespinoff.co.nz/live-updates/15-03-2022/simon-bridges-to-quit-politics-and-leave-parliament-in-the-coming-weeks
A big loss for National. I would suggest Jacinda thinks about doing likewise, if she wants to set herself up overseas before the possibility of WW3 starting.
Well some say that the speechifying at Harvard is the PM going to Job interviews. WW3 started the day, WW2 ended it was called the Cold War. Which we have now started in earnest and with actual bullets and as always the little people do the dying, and the rich suits do the grand standing.
Mind, if we survive this war will we finally build a monument to the unknown Mother and child.
(Mother – adult human female having given birth to a child)
Expressed so well Sabine – my respect
Great article in the Herald today about 3 waters by Shane Jones. Sorry behind a paywall.
At last the mainstream media are allowing a sensible rebuttal to the co-governance issue this government have tried to deceptively sneak in. I suspect the co-governance debacle will quietly disappear.
I wondered who the man in the high vis vest was, throwing stuff at police in Wellington. A number of feeds and photographers got the action shots.
Turns out he's from the Far North where there seem to be quite a few with weird ideas. A teacher no less.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/abundant-life-school-staff-spotted-at-parliament-protest/UULLUZDA75Q2UGU4IJ32VL2JWY/
Recent publicity hinted at something unusual going on at the guy's school. The principal, said to be on leave, was a would be National election candidate. That he was beaten by Matt King might say something.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/abundant-life-school-seniors-in-limbo-after-closure-of-senior-school/EQV4SIBUEO2QBQOBHHB6U4ZSKI/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/nationals-five-enter-final-battle-for-northland-electorate/GZ3HGSQT74WFUHAE4PXQV5RZSY/
Surely they got the date wrong, and this article belongs to April 1st:
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/controversial-womens-network-logo-taken-down-after-twitter-backlash/news-story/fd5e2d01baa384d2d5b4e20fe86fe0e1
Apologies. Tried saving to smaller size, but was unsuccessful.
I'm not going to say anything more about size, as I would likely incriminate myself…
Better now, after I've resized it? Size matters
Thanks, Incognito.
(I deleted a couple of comments before posting, along the lines you mention )
A dirty mind is a joy forever.
They even chose the same colour as the euphemistic emoji 🍆
Save the image, select it and pick your size
http://www.simpleimageresizer.com/
Thanks.
I'm pleased there was some sort of explanation of what the objection was. Graphic design and logos are something I've been involved in.
I briefly glimpsed the article, saw there was controversy and looked at the graphic without reading any of the text and seeing the words 'phallic' and 'male genitalia.' My first thought was about symbolic breasts and that depicting women through that was the issue.
What would please me would be hearing that a woman was responsible for the design and it was approved by a team with female leadership.
There is an explanation of sorts, due to the design proforma (which I found later).
https://twitter.com/samanthamaiden/status/1503466149639786496
Greens deal to one of their own. If only Labour would do the same with Trev.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-green-mp-elizabeth-kerekere-quits-portfolio-after-covid-19-breach/EYDHYPP46GW2JWVQZTFLW
Yes Jacinda is no Helen Clark or John key when it comes to disciplining party members who are out of line. We all remember David Clark over lockdown.
I'm sure Robert Guyton will be along to defend this Green party member shortly.
Green Party MP Elizabeth Kerekere breaks self-isolation rules (msn.com)
That link didn't work – somehow got truncated… https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-green-mp-elizabeth-kerekere-quits-portfolio-after-covid-19-breach/EYDHYPP46GW2JWVQZTFLWASF3Y/
Remembering one of the worst massacres in NZ history. 15 March, 2019, 51 precious Kiwis were cruelly murdered by a sick and twisted white supremacist.
https://twitter.com/sammyhill78/status/1503459735215173632?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
https://twitter.com/AyaUmari/status/1503495950261981186?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
https://twitter.com/TamathaPaul/status/1503465566623141888?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
Wonderful news! Now… how to get them out of Ukraine safely:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/463338/visas-for-ukrainian-new-zealanders-families-as-government-increases-aid
Even during the Vietnam war I can't recall a protest like this.
The sheer courage, not only has Marina Ovsyannikova sacrificed her job and career, she is also facing a possible 15 year jail term
This war can only end in one way. A humiliating defeat for Putin.
Deliberately withholding life saving medical attention from someone who needs it is a crime.
It looks likely that the person who died at the Peka Peka farm anti-mandate camp, was infected with Covid-19. The death is being investigated by the coroner. Whether this person's covid infection was the cause of their death has yet to be determined.