Open mike 16/06/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, June 16th, 2021 - 46 comments
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46 comments on “Open mike 16/06/2021 ”

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  1. Robert Guyton 1
    16 June 2021 at 7:31 am

    “It's extraordinary. I've never seen anything like this in my 20 years work in the flu surveillance area,” ESR virologist and flu expert Dr Sue Huang said."

    I predicted here on TS that this would happen 🙂

    'Extraordinary' lack of seasonal flu in New Zealand, ESR virologist says

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/125442512/extraordinary-lack-of-seasonal-flu-in-new-zealand-esr-virologist-says

    • Matiri 1.1
      16 June 2021 at 8:41 am

      We've been doing the Flutracking survey each week for a few years, they also ask Covid questions now too. There was a distinct lack of flu during lockdown too.

      https://info.flutracking.net

    • weka 1.2
      16 June 2021 at 9:28 am

      we really should use this as an opportunity to cement into society the behaviours that limit cold and flu spreading. Better sick leave would help.

      • ghostwhowalksnz 1.2.1
        16 June 2021 at 10:00 am

        The main reason is the lack of inwards air travel who dont go through the 2 week isolation -quarantine. It peters out by time people with flu leave.

        But the other things are important too, I use the supermarket sanitiser on way out, and the reduction of air spreading by ill people using sick leave – which was increased recently

        • weka 1.2.1.1
          16 June 2021 at 10:06 am

          I don't udnerstand your first paragraph, can you please say that in a different way?

          • ghostwhowalksnz 1.2.1.1.1
            16 June 2021 at 11:28 am

            Quarantine system prevents flu from spreading after arriving from overseas, which is also what experts are saying

        • greywarshark 1.2.1.2
          16 June 2021 at 10:15 am

          I use the supermarket sanitiser on the way in so that I don't add my bacteria to the things I touch, trolley, goods looked at and replaced etc. I thought that was best. Yet you use it going out?

          • Jimmy 1.2.1.2.1
            16 June 2021 at 10:19 am

            Use it on the way in and on the way out…………….problem solved.

            • greywarshark 1.2.1.2.1.1
              16 June 2021 at 10:57 am

              That's not what I was asking. Don't state the obvious eh.

            • McFlock 1.2.1.2.1.2
              16 June 2021 at 2:07 pm

              bit harsh on the hands, no?

              I tend to wear gloves all the time when out and about anyway. Bloody doorknobs. Not latex, just normal gloves. Bung sanitiser on them regularly, but the hands themselves less often.

      • bwaghorn 1.2.2
        16 June 2021 at 11:31 am

        10 days sick leave is more than enough.

        • Patricia Bremner 1.2.2.1
          16 June 2021 at 2:05 pm

          Bwaghorn, Yet there are many infectious conditions requiring longer quarantine than a fortnight.

          Glandular Fever/Epstein barr virus, Shingles, Rheumatic Fever, and many operations require a longer recovery.

  2. Ad 2
    16 June 2021 at 9:07 am

    National completely agrees with you about EV's. We should expect to see strong pushback against Labour Ministers and MPs at the National Agricultural Fieldays which start tomorrow. Not sure if any of the Greens are fronting.

    https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2106/S00102/biting-the-hand.htm

    Last night Toyota made a public statement that it won't be bringing in electric utes in the foreseeable future.

    Of course that's just a competitive gift to Ford and Volkswagen, but also means Toyota will be supporting a very long second hand and parts market here for the Hilux.

    Anyone working in the farming or rural community or indeed the construction and tradie sectors knows that it is pretty pathetic to call utes a status symbol. It's the thing you need to do your work, and it's not replaceable. That's one reason why nearly every vehicle manufacturer has stopped making sedans.

    So there's no need to worry, National will repeal the scheme you are worried about, and will of course also get rid of all that cycleway investment.

    You may also find that rural communities will need to organise their own collective responses to transport solutions, since their regional and local councils are dominated by National Party people. That I suspect will be up to a few charismatic individuals.

    [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 2.1
      16 June 2021 at 9:15 am

      They don't agree with me, I support the feebate scheme and think it's not going nearly far or fast enough. If you can't be bothered to read a post and make an effort to understand it, then don't bother using it to derail to your own agenda.

      • Ad 2.1.1
        16 June 2021 at 9:30 am

        Weka at some point you are going to have to grow a skin rather than moderating anyone who says Boo to you. You put out a set of fact-free rhetorical questions, doing exactly what I said you did.

        You agreed at length with the GenZero commentary against utes. So I commented on that.

        You questioned the focus on cities rather than on isolated communities. So I commented on that.

        You wondered whether rural communities could organise themselves with their own solution. So I commented on that.

        Stop driving engagement away.

        • weka 2.1.1.1
          16 June 2021 at 9:59 am

          "Weka at some point you are going to have to grow a skin rather than moderating anyone who says Boo to you."

          Why though? You flat out lied about National agreeing with me, why should I let something like that stay under my post?

          The points you are making about rural communities would work if you related them to the post. You've got useful perspectives to bring for sure, from a range of experiences, but the rhetoric you use is just too problematic. Stop blocking your own engagement.

          Btw, I disagreed with Gen Zero dude,

          https://twitter.com/wekatweets/status/1404265443464945668

          • greywarshark 2.1.1.1.1
            16 June 2021 at 10:55 am

            Kirk Serpes – Another master of the sweeping assertion which limits opportunity to discuss possible moves to fit the future.

            'Everyone did pretty fine 20 years ago' – meaning nothing – pub talk! 'without a massive ……vehicle' – ditto, emotional language. 'Nobody needs' – personal opinion based on ? | 'grotesque luxury item' – emotional language and opinion again | 'Taxed much much higher than proposed' – Could be sound idea but lacking factual information to assist judgment of idea.

        • Bearded Git 2.1.1.2
          16 June 2021 at 11:30 am

          Agree As …Weka jumping down people's throat's just a little too quickly….love the Standard tho.

      • Shanreagh 2.1.2
        16 June 2021 at 9:31 am

        Weka, thank you for your post here and thread. As a townie only once removed from farming stock I think we need to work on ways to influence uptake of ideas and transport in the rural sector.

        We need to get away from BAU. I will be thinking about your post as I go about my day and will comment later.

    • greywarshark 2.2
      16 June 2021 at 10:18 am

      Your argument that utes are not a status symbol is not valid I think. I remember the Queen Street farmers going in for deer and venison with their Range Rovers in da city.

      Also utes look like a manly vehicle, driven by a bloke for all seasons and reasons, salt of the earth. People don't necessarily sift through their thinking for the emotional base.

      • mac1 2.2.1
        16 June 2021 at 11:14 am

        Late in my teaching career I bought a secondhand ute. I joked with my colleagues about finally becoming a 'real bloke'. It was useful for carrying horse manure to the plot, gravel for the driveway, political hoardings, bikes, pine cones and firewood- all sorts.

        But the reaction from the boys was interesting. There was a group, I suspect rural lads, who approved the ute. It was 'blokey', practical, functional, cheap to buy.

        You're right, greywarshark, we have to recognise the 'emotional base' for it informs what we buy, how we vote, and more.

        Wise politicians respect this. Adsters know it. Con men use it.

        • Patricia Bremner 2.2.1.1
          16 June 2021 at 2:14 pm

          We have a Toyota Ractis ..it fits in with emissions, has huge room in the rear when you lay the two back seats down. It easily carried a wheel chair/ walker/ toiletting chair two suitcases and sundry bags. At times two cubic m of pine, or rubbish and trimmings for the dump etc. So we are amused when people say they "need" a ute.

  3. Shanreagh 3
    16 June 2021 at 9:43 am

    It just seems to my eye Ad, that your comments are nay-saying and not made on the basis of how to find a way forward using this new technology. Seems focused on BAU.

    Sure we all need to know the status quo, known by all policy analysts of status quo or do nothing. It is always put in but we are a progressive people & there is always a better way than the status quo, no matter how minor the tweak.

    You get bouquets rather then brickbats if you focus your doubts on saying:

    'What if' or 'what will happen' or 'have we thought about'

    From that people will be able to pick out the possible things that might not work and be able to work on them. Being able to see all sides means we will be able to design systems and policies without undue negativity hiding or clouding them.

    Weka’s thread
    https://thestandard.org.nz/climate-transition-transport-and-the-rural-road-tumbleweeds/

    • weka 3.1
      16 June 2021 at 10:05 am

      thanks for that. It's my reading of Ad's position that he is green tech BAU and anti-powerdown, and thus the middle ground and most useful pathways is lost. I suspect this underlies his hard man entry into commenting under my posts. That I also have little time for.

      Completely agree about the importance of being able to see all sides in designing our best responses.

      Look forward to hearing your thoughts later.

  4. Byd0nz 4
    16 June 2021 at 10:34 am

    I'll stop polluting with my old banger when the militaries of the world denounce all military activity and embrace peace and a moneyless one world political system. Cough cough.

    • RedBaronCV 5.1
      16 June 2021 at 8:25 pm

      Who on earth is advising Labour for FFS. Shouldn't they mean "only home" for the peeps who wind up moving from Napier to Auckland sell and buy again and pay an increaed price? If you can't afford a mortgage then you are unlikely to be able to afford the rent either.

  6. greywarshark 6
    16 June 2021 at 10:41 am

    I'm dipping into Slavoj Zizek's In Defense of Lost Causes. Interesting. Have to use the little gray cells. One para in chapter on revolutionary terror:

    There is thus, beyond all cheap jibes and superficial analogies, a profound structural homology* between Maoist permanent self-revolutionising, the continuous struggle against the ossification of state structures, and the inherent dynamics of capitalism.

    • Definition of homology for those of us who don't use it in daily language.
      Under – 'What is homology in simple words'! –
      The similarity of a structure or function of parts of different origins based on their descent from a common evolutionary ancestor is homology. Analogy, by contrast, is a functional similarity of structure that is based on mere similarity of use. merriam-webster.com

    He goes on to look at China's 'true' Cultural Revolution, beyond the 'violent …outbursts of a Red Guardist' which is – 'the permanent dissolution of all life-forms necessitated by capitalist reproduction? Today, the tragedy of the Great Leap Forward itself, is the repeating itself as the farce of the capitalist Great Leap Forward into modernisation, with the old slogan "an iron foundry in every village" re-emerging as "a skyscraper in every street."

    It is the reign of contemporary global capitalism which is the true Lord of Misrule…p198

  7. bwaghorn 7
    16 June 2021 at 11:51 am

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300334128/national-party-all-out-of-love-for-returning-mp

    National are the gift that keeps giving!

    I know a few whanganui nat voters who cant stand the woman, a assumed it was cause she was brown but maybe theres something to it.

    • joe90 7.1
      16 June 2021 at 1:29 pm

      One National MP told Newsroom she “sailed her own waka’’ and seemed to think the party should be honoured she had agreed to join, rather than being grateful for the opportunity to be in Parliament.

      This is the grasping, self interested Harete for I've known for years. To a fucking T.

  8. greywarshark 8
    16 June 2021 at 11:56 am

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444836/america-s-cup-team-nz-rejects-government-auckland-council-s-hosting-offer
    The offer involved cash and in-kind support worth about $99 million.

    Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said Aucklanders would be disappointed Team NZ was looking to move the next regatta overseas.
    Team NZ wanted twice what was on offer, Goff said.
    "That clearly was not sustainable in the post-Covid environment.

    "While I understand Team New Zealand have to think about their commercial interests, I share Aucklanders' disappointment that the Cup is looking like it is going overseas.

    "Council invested $113 million in infrastructure for this year's successful America's Cup and made a huge effort to deliver it on time and on budget.

    These are the people who concentrate on their mahi – making money and enjoying themselves. They have taken NZ for a ride which started before 1984 but has intensified since then. They are the wealthy and self-centred, who have been robbing the world for the things they want since the major colonial times.

    The yachties are too big for their NZ boots. Let them put on their 7 league boots then and stride the world. And don't come back in the future asking for more largesse. Climate change poverty will be on our shoulders then, and a burden that the ordinary people won't be able to sail away from. And we don't want it made worse by wealthy people darting here and there like butterflies sipping at any good thing till it is used up, (with nothing left for young moth-ers, to which future we are on our way right now).

    • alwyn 8.1
      16 June 2021 at 1:47 pm

      We should all be grateful that Phil hasn't, apparently, got the chance to throw another $99 million into the great gaping hole that is America's Cup racing. What he should be doing now isn't complaining that they want to go elsewhere. He should be apologising to the Auckland Ratepayers for the $113 million that he wasted last year.

      Standing there on the dais of shame should be the Prime Minister stepping up and asking forgiveness for the $140 million that the New Zealand taxpayer also wasted on the stupid idea.

      That would be at least as appropriate an apology as would one for the dawn raids of the 1970s. This one, unlike the 1970s event still has available the prime perpetrators of the fiasco. They are not, unlike Kirk, Rowling and Muldoon, long dead.

    • McFlock 8.2
      16 June 2021 at 2:45 pm

      lol – Awesome photo. That look, and that guard of the purse

      https://twitter.com/secondzeit/status/1404956799707488256

      • greywarshark 8.2.1
        16 June 2021 at 4:04 pm

        Grate! Marvellous image. He's saying – You must understand our POV.'

        And she is thinking 'Hey up, don't crowd me. I'm not a soft touch. It's the country's money you are talking about. We have different sort of priorities and prestige to consider',

    • Patricia Bremner 8.3
      16 June 2021 at 4:24 pm

      1000% Greywarshark. Love the "7 league boots". It is a hole of greed.

    • RobbieWgtn 8.4
      16 June 2021 at 5:12 pm

      $685M for a bridge cycleway or 3 Americas Cup challenges @$200M ea. ?

      Investment in the America’s Cup brings massive tax take and ongoing benefit to our country.

      No virtue signalling petty envy either.

      • woodart 8.4.1
        16 June 2021 at 5:37 pm

        "massive tax take and ongoing benefit to NZ" neither of those claims has ever really stood up. a good sound bite but nobody has ever told us HOW MUCH benefit.

      • Patricia Bremner 8.4.2
        16 June 2021 at 7:29 pm

        Who benefits?

    • Pohutukawakid 8.5
      16 June 2021 at 11:04 pm

      And Rod Stewart supposedly got the best part if a a million bucks for an appalling rendition of his theme song.

  9. greywarshark 9
    16 June 2021 at 12:52 pm

    Question to haunt us:

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018799446/larry-keating-investigating-corruption-in-the-amazon

    Was there a link between the brutal attacks on conservationists Sir Peter Blake and Captain Pete Bethune in Brazil?

    In his new documentary, The Garden of Evil, Larry Keating investigates the possibility that the attacks, both of which happened in the Amazon but 16 years apart, might have been the work of powerful criminal organisations with involvement in illegal logging, drug trafficking, and the export of endangered animals.

    And looking at the viciousness of rampaging men corrupt and out of the control of subduing law enforcement in Brazil, we can imagine how they might have behaved in NZ in the early days. If you were Maori then, you would probably have signed up with the Brit authorities so they could get control of these unprincipled b…ards that had landed like locusts destroying the cultural rules and Maori societies.

    Here is a quote from The Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington/Nugi Garimara about the way that the same villainous sailors behaved in Australia early on:

    The aboriginal camp was going about its daily life and then there was a loud boom. They immediately thought of an incident when relatives were shot as the men tried to prevent the white raiders from kidnapping the women.

    'Kundilla and his family had heard how their brothers and uncles were killed by ruthless white pirates, desperados and escaped convicts. Those cruel and murderous men came ashore and stole Aboriginal women and kept them on board their ships as sexual slaves, then murdered them and tossed their bodies into the ocean when their services were no longer required. These renegades made up the crews of the American whaling ships which hunted for whales and seals on the southern coast of Western Australia.' p.4

  10. greywarshark 10
    16 June 2021 at 2:24 pm

    This is interesting for Hone Harawira's viewpoint to get Maori on the up and up.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/matangireia/story/2018791582/series-2-episode-4-hone-harawira-matangireia

  11. Adrian Thornton 11
    16 June 2021 at 2:46 pm

    Great news for the Progressive Socialist left…..

    Pedro Castillo is declared the new President of Peru

  12. Foreign waka 12
    16 June 2021 at 9:18 pm

    I just saw this and it is interesting how similar the stories are to what we see in NZ.

    https://youtu.be/7hn2b5-50go