Open mike 16/08/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, August 16th, 2020 - 149 comments
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149 comments on “Open mike 16/08/2020 ”

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  1. Andre 1
    16 August 2020 at 6:46 am

    The latest attempt to use clever editing to try and make some sense of Grampa Rage Nappies' noises still doesn't come out making any sense.

  2. aom 2
    16 August 2020 at 7:39 am

    The f-wits of the week award has to go to the organizers and participants in yesterday's Right to Life "Death March" in Christchurch as reported on RNZ this morning. Big deal – the thousand who attended 'obeyed the law' by being in groups of 100. Tell that to the health workers if they all have to be tested because only one carried the Vovid-19 virus. More importantly, which of the self-entitled wankers will apologise to the team on 1.5 million in Auckland for their insensitivity or the thousands of rugby fans who were unable to attend the final match of the season, even though they could have 'obeyed the law' by being in groups of 100. No doubt the small trucking firm owner in Tauranga whose drivers are all having to self-isolate because they were at the border on legitimate business would love to offer some words of advice to the marchers on how to be part of the team of 5 million.

  3. dv 3
    16 August 2020 at 8:43 am

    Murdock cartoon. Cruel an funny

    Make sure to note the inscription on the scythe!!!

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/94869389/sharon-murdoch-cartoons

    • SPC 3.1
      16 August 2020 at 9:04 am

      ACT

      There will be interest on any unpaid student loans until you die, and while you may not choose to euthenasia, our let the coronavirus spread policy will leave you trapped in your home scared to get either assisted care in an old age facility or visit a doctor.

      • Tricledrown 3.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 9:25 am

        Given the number of Doctors dying from Covid 19.Doctors visits could be a thing of the past.we will have to use technology to interact with health care providers to prevent collapse of our health system.

        • SPC 3.1.1.1
          16 August 2020 at 9:31 am

          Sure. The problem then is the net connectivity of some of the aged – some are/were not even able to order food on-line.

          Then there are the many academics with tenure who are refusing to take classes in person this semester in the USA. On-line teaching is going to develop a lot further.

        • greywarshark 3.1.1.2
          16 August 2020 at 9:41 am

          I fear this will happen. I enjoy a friendly as well as reliable relationship with the pair of doctors where I go. That is part of the value of the treatment.

        • Peter 3.1.1.3
          16 August 2020 at 11:06 am

          In the situation of there being no doctors we could use the services of the highly qualified know everything keyboard experts who wanted life to carry on as usual right from the beginning of the virus. They knew so much and would have had no interventions past "You've got this new flu thing, go to the doctor."

          • lprent 3.1.1.3.1
            16 August 2020 at 11:12 am

            I think that you are attributing too much understanding and empathy to Trump. His tweets have never said “go to the doctor”.

            I suspect that they would have said something more like “it is Obama’s fault”.

            /sarc

        • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1.4
          16 August 2020 at 11:49 am

          we will have to use technology to interact with health care providers

          That's not actually a bad thing.

          I have a watch that measures my heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygenation. Throw in an app that records that info and asks questions about how you feel and sends that to the doctor and then a doctor/nurse can determine if you need to see the doctor or not.

          Even without covid this would be a good system to implement.

          • SPC 3.1.1.4.1
            16 August 2020 at 12:48 pm

            I'd supply these to all rest home workers – esp if it includes temperature.

          • George 3.1.1.4.2
            17 August 2020 at 9:43 pm

            Remarkable as these watches can be…we have a reasonably expensive smart watch that also does these things but it records steps..that haven't been taken. Which means it may also record blood pressure that may not be accurate and heart rates that are probably a bit off as well.

            • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1.4.2.1
              17 August 2020 at 10:40 pm

              I did read up on the devices. The blood pressure and oxgenisation seems to be reasonably accurate.

              The heart rate, not so much. I've ended up doing three readings in sequence and then averaging them.

              The long term record would be most important but the devices do need to become more accurate as far as heart rate go.

              And the steps are way out and not to be taken seriously.

  4. Ad 4
    16 August 2020 at 8:45 am

    I found the death notice of one of the world's last Waffen-SS soldiers in Geraldine pretty yuck.

    How many more of these types did we have here?

    https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/south-canterbury/former-waffen-ss-officer-dies-96-geraldine

    • swordfish 4.1
      16 August 2020 at 9:13 am

      .
      Was he one of the world's last Waffen-SS soldiers per se ? or one of the world's last Waffen-SS soldiers specifically in Geraldine ? … if the latter then it sounds like the South Canterbury Township might have been a more popular bolthole for Nazis than the whole of South America.

      By my reckoning, that leaves just 6 remaining SS, 4 Gestapo & 2 SD Stormtroopers left in the secret Geraldine refuge-hideaway … along with 3 remaining Mussolini Blackshirts in the nearby Italian Fascist stronghold of Temuka.

      There’s a plausible theory that Hitler & Von Ribbentrop are still holed up in Gore with a bottle of whisky & a couple cyanide pills. But if it’s ac hoice between Gore & suicide you’d think they would’ve gone for the latter.

      • Pat 4.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 9:24 am

        LMAO

        • greywarshark 4.1.1.1
          16 August 2020 at 10:12 am

          Ha – it's like the opposite of an Easter Egg hunt. The trouble is that we have a different sort of diseased person that afflicts our souls, sort of passe' trying to eliminate these old germs, when there is a new lot of people as diseased in the mind circulating everywhere.

          Brighten up with Crosby SNY Southern Cross – maybe we can sail away from the bad old world to something good leaving the dirty dealers streaked behind us like a comet trail burning up in our wake.

          • greywarshark 4.1.1.1.1
            16 August 2020 at 7:32 pm

            Some good words from Southern Cross for those seeking the real New Zealand.

            When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
            You understand now why you came this way
            'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small
            But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a comin' day

      • aj 4.1.2
        16 August 2020 at 9:50 am

        Gore & suicide

        From someone who has never visited Gore, I'd guess

      • woodart 4.1.3
        16 August 2020 at 9:54 am

        gold

        • aj 4.1.3.1
          16 August 2020 at 10:44 am

          Visited a week ago, great meal at a local restaurant then went to a NZIFF screening of Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band at the St James theatre. More class and culture there than long standing mythology would lead anyone to believe.

          • greywarshark 4.1.3.1.1
            16 August 2020 at 11:00 am

            Good country music comes from around Gore and they have an interesting art collection. I know those things about Gore. Don't think it's Ruddygore as Gilbert and Sullivan put it.

            To divert. This is Ruddigore from the Minack Theatre. Amazing

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minack_Theatre

            (

            And further:

            Anyone read Derek Tangye's stories about his Cornwall time there with wife Jean? Delightful, a very loving relationship in a picturesque setting, growing flowers mainly for the London market.

            (https://www.pinterest.es/pin/384987468144984988/

            https://alchetron.com/Derek-Tangye

            On Google about Derek – Derek Tangye was educated at Harrow and subsequently worked as a journalist on national newspapers. During the war and afterwards he was a member of MI5, before he and Jeannie moved to Minack. Jeannie died in 1986 and Derek in 1996.

            But as I look through the info about them, I find them outed as spies to Russia!! (It isn't amazing that people believe conspiracy theories as we live the White Queen's situation of believing six impossible things before breakfast.)

            But in 1949, to the total astonishment of friends and colleagues, including stars Danny Kaye, Noel Coward, Tyrone Power and Bing Crosby, the Tangyes suddenly abandoned their life as one of London's most glamorous couples and moved to a broken-down cottage in Cornwall.

            The revelation that they were spying for the Soviets suggests they may have been living in fear of exposure and quit London before their treachery was discovered.

            According to the secret Soviet file, they continued spying long after their self-imposed 'retirement', maintaining many valuable connections vital for Moscow but keeping out of the way of MI5 spycatchers. http://not4attribution.blogspot.com/2014/05/spies-princess-margarets-butler-and-top.html

            • greywarshark 4.1.3.1.1.1
              16 August 2020 at 1:49 pm

              And while they were feeding the Russians (bosh or borscht?) they may have been providing a service for MI5 – we must not forget the double-switch with 'watchers'. My money would be on that, a valuable but easy to refute way of maintaining some sort of intelligence balance. Intelligent? Could be.

      • Gabby 4.1.4
        16 August 2020 at 10:57 am

        Tell me more of what you know about the suicide rate in Gore.

        • aj 4.1.4.1
          16 August 2020 at 1:56 pm

          It is not cluster or hotspot to the best of my knowledge. I don't come from Gore, and I shouldn't react to unjustified cheapshots but someone has to stand up for the place. Yes, I know it’s satire but I don’t joke about suicides. Other than that I love Swordfish's posts 🙂

      • AB 4.1.5
        16 August 2020 at 11:49 am

        Poor old Denis Glover – was he thinking of this when he wrote sardonically:

        "I dream of what may yet be seen / in Johnsonville and Geraldine"

        Is Herman Goering in Johnsonville? It is part of the Ohariu electorate and Herman was known as something of a dandy. (Now scanning the photographic archive for any images of him wearing a bow tie, bouffant hairdo etc..)

      • Andre 4.1.6
        16 August 2020 at 2:08 pm

        That was quite an impressive diversion, from a post expressing disgust about us harbouring and delivering glowing whitewashed obituaries for an actual Nazi, turning it into a slagfest on Gore.

        • RedLogix 4.1.6.1
          16 August 2020 at 3:07 pm

          Yet the left gives safe harbour to any number of openly unapologetic marxists. Even here at TS they're either indulged as 'harmless' relics, or we leave unchallenged their endless weasel excuses about why every actual marxist state has been a humiliating, dangerous and miserable failure.

          It's cheap and rewarding to do outrage at right wing fascists and race supremacists, but the willful hypocrisy of also remaining blind to those who go too far on the left does rather invite a some pointed mockery IMHO.

          • Adrian Thornton 4.1.6.1.1
            16 August 2020 at 3:14 pm

            "Yet the left gives safe harbour to any number of openly unapologetic marxists"..what is even more surprising around here is the number of unapologetic free market liberals who still have the gall to call themselves Left.

            • Andre 4.1.6.1.1.1
              16 August 2020 at 3:23 pm

              It must be tough, being "the only leftie in the village".

              • Adrian Thornton …
                16 August 2020 at 4:09 pm

                "It must be tough, being "the only leftie in the village".

                No it isn't… though it is quite sad seeing so many good people being first blinded then turned by the greed mechanism that is inbuilt into the very heart of the ideology of liberalism… witnessing them abandoning bit by bit their core principles and critical thinking abilities to justify to their inner being the reason that they now follow an ideology that they know deep inside is one of insatiable and ultimately suicidal endless growth regardless of the consequences to humans or the planet….that part is a bit hard at times Tbh.

                But I consol myself by just being grateful that I haven’t succumbed to the undeniable allure of that short term free market liberalism trap….that will leave most of our children and grandchildren never owning their own home and without long term job security etc and so forth.

          • Andre 4.1.6.1.2
            16 August 2020 at 3:22 pm

            If that's an attempt to segue into another crack at BLM for being marxist, I think you're a long way off the mark on that one. This Politico piece explains why and delves into the background of how that "BLM is marxist " thing came about as a Repug attempt to damp down the heat they were getting over it.

            https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/10/elections-republicans-black-lives-matterbacklash-389906

            • McFlock 4.1.6.1.2.1
              16 August 2020 at 4:41 pm

              What I find funny is that "Marxist" covers everything from Stalinism to Democratic Socialism and a few more mild flavours at that. I can understand why the yanks shit a brick at the mere word, but anyone with a glancing knowl;edge of the history of the NZLP should know better.

              • AB …
                16 August 2020 at 4:59 pm

                It's foolishness of barely undergraduate level – probably inspired by Jordan Peterson. If I can blame Marx for Stalinism, can I also blame Jesus for the Spanish Inquisition and Nietzsche for the Holocaust?

                • McFlock …
                  16 August 2020 at 5:03 pm

                  It is, however, convenient for people whose real issue is with the name of the movement but can't express that without coming across as more than a bit racist.

                • greywarshark …
                  16 August 2020 at 5:26 pm

                  AB Your argument seems to be logical. But who am I to attempt my individual understanding when there are so many learned people here. Perhaps there could be a hold on ordinary transmission of political theoretical jibes until after the election. Does anyone know whether there is going to be an attempt by Nats and JC to bring the Court into delaying the election? Please correct me severely if that has been discussed elsewhere and direct me to it. Thanks.

                • RedLogix …
                  17 August 2020 at 9:20 am

                  probably inspired by Jordan Peterson.

                  I read Gulag Archipelago shortly after it was first published, and my first trip to Russia was 20 years ago. That was the one when I got to visit the Gulag Museum at Perm. Peterson merely puts the case, a case I had long believed, far more eloquently than I could.

                  As for your 'undergraduate foolishness' crack, I can only note that it was the so-called intellectual left in Europe and America who were most completely sucked in by Stalin for decades, obdurately refusing to acknowledge the undeniable and inescapable suffering of those who died by the tens of millions in his Marxist utopia.

                  And now the truth cannot be whitewashed away, they pretend "it wasn't real marxism". After my experiences I read that with the same gut reaction as if someone tried to defend National Socialism by claiming "Hitler wasn't a real nazi'.

            • RedLogix 4.1.6.1.2.2
              17 August 2020 at 9:06 am

              I've previously linked to the 2015 video where one of the two co-founders openly and unambiguously describes both of themselves as "trained marxists" and links this training to their motivation and vision for the organisation they were creating.

              Case closed.

              • solkta …
                17 August 2020 at 9:29 am

                Mind closed.

                • RedLogix …
                  17 August 2020 at 9:44 am

                  Bravo, scintillating and convincing argument there.

                  Many millions of people who have visited the Holocaust memorial's at Auschwitz come away from the experience with not only a deep emotional impact, but a much broader understanding of exactly what happened. In one sense it opens their minds and hearts, and in another it creates a determination to draw a line in the political sands, a boundary that says fascism and race supremacy theories are unquestionably off limits.

                  I never really planned to go to Perm, it was a spur of the moment decision based on a chance conversation I had while on the train returning from a work trip. It's the same experience as Auschwitz, but one that's far less accessible to most Westerners, and it's spare grim horror remains a chill memory.

                  And again the more recent trip to Magadan was another work trip commissioning a gold processing plant at Polyus. The highway you travel on to get from Magadan to site (it's a long trip) is known as the "Road of Bones". You have to be oblivious to history not to feel something of the past slipping into your soul, while riding on that bus.

                  Whether these experiences (and others) opened my mind to marxism, or closed it off, is a semantic debate you are free to have with yourself.

                  • solkta …
                    17 August 2020 at 9:50 am

                    There is obviously no point in trying to argue with you. You have made up your mind that Marxist equals Holocaust, as you demonstrate again. Others here have an education.

                    • RedLogix …
                      17 August 2020 at 10:03 am

                      It was the 'educated' left wing intellectual elites of Europe and America who were sucked in by Stalin for decades.

                      As any conman will tell you, their lies only succeed because their victims want them to be true.

                    • RedLogix …
                      17 August 2020 at 10:11 am

                      Marxist equals Holocaust

                      And here you make a foolish undergraduate mistake in drawing an equivalence between two things in different categories. Marxism is a political theory, the Holocaust was an event. They cannot be logically compared.

                      On the other hand I am drawing an explicit equivalence between marxism and fascism, and if you wish between the stalags and the gulags.

                    • solkta …
                      17 August 2020 at 10:19 am

                      yawn.

          • Andre 4.1.6.1.3
            16 August 2020 at 5:10 pm

            I was kinda hoping someone else that actually wanted the argument today was going to pick up on this other aspect of that comment about "the left" and TS harbouring marxists: it's a helluva false equivalence between disgust at the idea of harbouring a former actual serving nazi, and allowing keyboard warriors to express their opinions and desires without feeling the need to pull them up by their shorts every time they do, no matter how loony-left or marxist or maoist or stalinist they may be.

          • Draco T Bastard 4.1.6.1.4
            16 August 2020 at 5:16 pm

            why every actual marxist state has been a humiliating, dangerous and miserable failure.

            Because they weren't Marxist. This has been explained – in excruciating detail.

      • mikesh 4.1.7
        16 August 2020 at 4:31 pm

        One writer claimed that Adolf died in 1964 in Patagonia. It has always been suspicious that the Russians won't allow anyone access to his alleged corpse.

    • Adrian Thornton 4.2
      16 August 2020 at 2:49 pm

      Looks like he was part of the 2nd Waffen SS Division Das Reich, judging by where he said he fought, that Div. gained a pretty brutal record of atrocities in France and who knows what the fuck they got up to in Russia! They also earned themselves an extremely formidable combat record as well.

      Not sure if you can condemn all members of the Waffen SS outright, most were just plain combat troops like the troops of other nations, though maybe more ideological, especially during the first few years of the war…even Gunter Grass ended up as a member.

      • Sabine 4.2.1
        16 August 2020 at 3:37 pm

        The Waffen SS demanded a bit more loyalty then the regular conscript into the Wehrmacht.

        As for his claim 'i did not know' fuck him, There is enough photographic evidence to point out his lying, both as for the atrocities committed against Russians, Poles, Jews and anyone else in between but also of the hanging of conscripted Germans on the road side trees for cowardice and treason.

    • Gabby 4.3
      16 August 2020 at 7:02 pm

      He seems to have kept the rallies to a tolerable minimum.

  5. Robert Guyton 5
    16 August 2020 at 8:47 am

    The Chesswas Letter

    (A local National Party official has written to leader Judith Collins with an impassioned plea for the party to oppose Covid-19 restrictions.)

    “This election, more than ever, National has nothing to lose. We need to sack the media-doting risk-averse PR-"guru" advisors and pollsters we have relied on for too long, who focus on only only that portion of Kiwis with an overblown sense of trust in a media that is driven by and feeds human anxieties more than facts and truth,” Chesswas wrote.

    He said National should align itself with the New Conservatives, who are arguing against the new lockdown, and the New Zealand Public Party, whose co-leader has suggested the “plandemic” is a bioweapon.

    Experts have condemned the New Zealand Public Party for spreading this theory, which does not have a basis in fact.

    ”We needs to start sounding like the principled freedom loving right wing Kiwis that are the backbone of our party,” Chesswas wrote."

  6. Patricia Bremner 6
    16 August 2020 at 9:25 am

    So the pressure this disease has provided, shows clearly that we have small but quite deranged groups of people who do not believe in community. Forewarned is forearmed.

    Many have outed themselves as not community minded win at any cost and bring the government into disrepute and practicing the dark art of Dirty Politics.

    We are getting a clear picture of who to trust.

  7. Patricia 2 7
    16 August 2020 at 9:26 am

    Jack Tame is giving Judith Collins a grilling on TV 1. She has obviously had some PR training and is keeping her voice low and speech slow ; not lurching into her usual fish wife style of conversation.

    • joe90 7.1
      16 August 2020 at 9:57 am

      Judith's eyebrows were up, too.

      • Incognito 7.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 12:28 pm

        She doesn’t know which one is up and which one is down so the default position is both up. Just watch for the smug semi-smirk.

    • Morrissey 7.2
      16 August 2020 at 1:28 pm

      her usual fish wife style

      ???? sad

      I know a lot of fishermen's wives. None of them are remotely as nasty or dishonorable as Judith Collins.

      Back in the days of the Bolger/Shipley maladministration, Winston Peters used to abuse fishwives in order to make a point. Whenever the late great Whanganui M.P. Jill Pettis interjected during one of his speeches, he'd say: "It's market day."

    • Muttonbird 7.3
      16 August 2020 at 4:11 pm

      Bacteria is the wife of Unhygienix, the fishmonger.

  8. Observer Tokoroa 8
    16 August 2020 at 9:51 am

    Simplicity – the Winner

    Covid- 19 seems to have some people in an understandable "What The Hec" mode. "We are condemned forever". We have to wash our hands. Keep a distance. Get Check ups. Avoid Transmission. Oh Poor us. tch tch tch

    I dont think we are in great difficulty. 102 days without any Trouble. Currently much much less today.

    Strangely enough, the main worriers are the so called people who keep the Economy going. They are bleeding at the corners of their eyes and heart and every other little doggy bit.

    Month after month the wealthy are nagging "What about the Economy" ? night and day.

    The Vaccines are not yet available. As happens with Viruses. For Virus are living things and they keep a deep control on their living structures.

    Equally, we humans have learnt over time how to cope with the Virus enemy. Right back from the Spanish Collapse and dreadful other Viruses.

    We, the Simple People, are following our wonderful Leaders – Jacinda Ardern, Doctor Bloomfield, Chris Hipkins, Testing staff. And the Sciences.

    Our economy is working if our Foreign Banks allow. If all of us follow our Leaders. And if the Wealthy get off their comforts and stop nagging.

    The very Elderly, will do as they do day in and day out. They will thank Mother Earth on their death bed. For they are robust Kiwi and Whenua and Family.

    • Treetop 8.1
      16 August 2020 at 11:36 am

      My heart sobs for those who have plenty and that they are being restricted by a pandemic in increasing their wealth.

      Losing money may as well be a disease to those with enough who are complaining.

  9. Pat 9
    16 August 2020 at 10:47 am

    The population question (for NZ)

    "The reality of New Zealand’s primary production exports is that the natural resource set is already close to fully used, with environmental sustainability issues already of major importance. There will still be some technological advances that can contribute to improved production and productivity, but it is going to be hard work.

    In relation to population issues, the bottom line has to be that if New Zealand’s population continues to track upwards at rates similar to the last decade, then land-based exports can only decline on a per capita basis. Where will the new exports come from to pay for imports items for which New Zealand is poorly positioned? That issue has to be brought forward into any immigration debate"

    https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/106554/any-debate-immigration-has-consider-fixed-natural-resources-have-be-spread-across

    Its said we currently produce enough food for 20 million people and as Keith Woodford notes we are pretty much at maximum output, difficult improvement aside….with primary production and migration of our two pronged approach to non NZD earnings and one prong badly blunted for the foreseeable (if not permanently) then simple arithmetic suggests any increase in population will provide a corresponding decrease in offshore purchasing power and consequently a loss of national wealth and living standards regardless of distribution issues or demographics

    • greywarshark 9.1
      16 August 2020 at 11:08 am

      Interesting facts that keep breaking through the fog of other considerations. The most important get pushed aside.

    • Foreign waka 9.2
      16 August 2020 at 11:17 am

      Pat, quite right and not to mention that the best land for growing food is used for housing. Stupidity has no bounds.

    • SPC 9.3
      16 August 2020 at 11:21 am

      Short term growth through population increase is no more sustainable than the carbon economy.

    • Draco T Bastard 9.4
      16 August 2020 at 12:09 pm

      Ah, someone's finally starting to notice the actual economics of our nation and not just the delusional finances that has been the bedrock of government policy for decades.

  10. SPC 10
    16 August 2020 at 11:19 am

    Tina Ngata says many of the conspiracy theories circulating online find their genesis in the alt-right, particularly in the United States, and are promoted by white supremacist movements wanting to destabilise centrist governments.

    Health officials trying to stamp out rumours as well as COVID-19 – Hipkins She says New Zealand's history of colonisation and poor treatment of tangata whenua means some sectors of Māori society are particularly susceptible to these conspiracies. "They take advantage of people who have a natural distrust of authority and so it finds very fertile soil in the minds of communities that have been oppressed in the past."

    Māori sociologist Dr Tahu Kukutai agrees. She says there are specific conditions that lead to conspiracy theories being adopted by disadvantaged communities such as economic insecurity, inequality and feeling disempowered and COVID-19 has created a perfect storm of these factors.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/08/block-or-engage-how-to-deal-with-wh-nau-caught-up-in-conspiracies.html

    Which is why Maori should do some work in their community to prevent this, because when MOH is accused of racism for moving to quarantine people infected in the community (only when brown skinned people are the ones being infected) it invites resistance to public safety policy. Seeking a working relationship with MOH cuts both ways.

    • I Feel Love 10.1
      16 August 2020 at 12:23 pm

      They are. Doing work in their own community. Some are reminding their people about the 1918 pandemic & the cost to Maori, not all Maori are conspiracy nutters, in fact the 'protest' in Whangarei was pathetically attended, it's just the keyboard fantasists stirring shit that makes them more prominent than they are. Of course, as we see in the USA this shit is dangerous, the qAnon Republican candidate in Georgia is utterly terrifying. WTF is going on? As if there isn't enough crap to deal with right now.

    • Incognito 10.2
      16 August 2020 at 2:34 pm

      You have a Moderation note waiting for you here: https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-14-08-2020/#comment-1741513. Please respond, thanks.

  11. Gabby 11
    16 August 2020 at 11:22 am

    I'm worried that Big Brown hasn't drawn attention to the unusual delay in announcing the Lotto results. It's interesting is all I'm saying. Does Big Brown know something?

    • I Feel Love 11.1
      16 August 2020 at 12:27 pm

      It is all very convenient isn't it Gabby? That's all I'll say but someone should resign over this, where's that RW journo when you need him.

    • OnceWasTim 11.2
      16 August 2020 at 12:35 pm

      It's really really spooky eh @ Gabs. In a similar 'vein' I'd really really like to know what Billy TK senior thinks of his junior. The disenfranchised of course are open to "draining the swanp" more than most, and its unfortunate that Labour hasn't picked up on this in any useful sort of way (in this space, going forward) – pragmatic incrementalism and all I 'spose prevents it and there's a heap of consultants, media analYsts, ditherers and various other hangers-on that need their tickets to be clipped.

      I guess we'll see in the fullness of time. Of course the senior naturally loves the produce of his loins – and of course he always was a better guitarist.

    • Robert Guyton 11.3
      16 August 2020 at 12:49 pm

      " Does Big Brown know something?"

      Ordinarily, he claims to know nuffink, but here he's implying he knows everyfink, but won't say nuffink and that listeners are free to make up anyfink they want, so long that it hurts Jacinda's reputation. Big Brown then, appears to be a fink!

  12. Robert Guyton 12
    16 August 2020 at 12:57 pm

    "Everything is held together with stories. That is all that is holding us together, stories and compassion."
    – Barry Lopez

  13. Patricia Bremner 13
    16 August 2020 at 1:01 pm

    Sorry Weka, was skyping elderly friends on the Sunshine Coast.

    The groups are varied. Out Doors Group which seems to have a vocal American voice shouting "Freedom" slogans, Billy Te Kahika with his conspiracy theory party, Facebook users abusing the current covid victims, Gerry Brownlee firing his bosses DP bullets, among others. There are good people in National, and many are onboard with the Health requirements to contain this virus. What we do regarding the dangerous minority is hard to know. Positions are hardening imo

  14. joe90 14
    16 August 2020 at 1:13 pm

    It gets worse.

    It’s not clear what set off the police chase, but Slyman appears to have been convinced by QAnon theories that the government was out to kidnap his children. Inspired by videos he had watched online, Slyman warned his children during the chase that the police were coming to abduct them—or maybe just shoot them in a staged killing. In return, they begged him to pull over. His daughter even tried to grab the wheel of the minivan and drive it off the road after he accused her and his wife, who had dived out of the vehicle at the start of the chase, of being agents of the nefarious cabal that QAnon believers say controls the world.

    “They want to make us crazy,” Slyman said, “but I’m not crazy. My wife and my daughter were a part of it.”

    http://archive.li/hXVPH (dailybeast)

  15. Patricia Bremner 15
    16 August 2020 at 1:15 pm

    I still can not get my reply button to work. Lenovo on vodafone.

  16. aj 16
    16 August 2020 at 2:02 pm

    From openDemocracy

    https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/government-u-turning-on-the-u-turn-on-local-covid-contact-tracing/

    "If you buy something and it's not delivered, you wouldn't buy it again. Right?

    Not, it seems, if you're the UK government and one of your mates or top donors is selling it.

    We've just uncovered how two giant firms – Serco and Sitel – have landed lucrative deals to continue running NHS Track and Trace, despite major failures.

    Serco and Sitel are reaching less than half of the people they're supposed to be contacting. They're charging £900 per person traced. Experts have branded it a 'disaster'.

    Yet now they're getting up to £520 million to carry on – while councils mopping up their failures get no extra cash. Why?"

  17. ianmac 17
    16 August 2020 at 2:07 pm

    National is to release their Covid Policy later this week according to Collins.

    They could claim impossible restrictions because they don't have to action their policy. Things like testing every "frontline staff" weekly. Firing every staff member who slips up. Publishing every bit of information that is not now being published. Demanding that any virus carrier be exposed and named as a carrier. Demanding that the frontline team declares exactly where an infection came from. Compulsory masks. Compulsory everything.

    Demanding that Dr Reti follows Collins position on virus and fire him if he acts in a reasoned manner against the greater Collins knowledge.

    • Treetop 17.1
      16 August 2020 at 2:34 pm

      There are snags when it comes to testing, waiting for the result, being a close contact with a negative result, time isolating and front line testing.

      Getting the who, when, why and how tested is important?

      Throw the politics away as they are mudding the waters. The priority is elimination and for every political party to strive for this. The country will know when elimination cannot be achieved.

  18. Treetop 18
    16 August 2020 at 2:19 pm

    1. Am I correct that if a contact of a cluster a person has to stay home until the result is known and even if a negative result the person has to isolate for a total of 14 days?

    2. Am I correct that if no symptoms and not a close contact and you had a test that you do not need to stay at home?

    3. Or if no test done and a contact from a cluster then you need to isolate for 14 days?

    4. I expect that if a negative result and then you become unwell that you can get retested.

  19. PaddyOT 19
    16 August 2020 at 3:09 pm

    Monique Hanotte: The teenage Belgian spy who walked 140 airmen to freedom.

    Monique (Henriette) turns 100 years old with an inspiring story of courage and selflessness as a young woman assisting the Comet Line.

    " With the benefit of 75 years of hindsight, Monique remains insistent that she didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. "

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/monique-hanotte-teenage-belgian-spy-walked-140-airmen-freedom/

  20. Patricia Bremner 20
    16 August 2020 at 3:44 pm

    PaddyOT, @ 19 Monique was working for the greater good, so she sees herself as a small cog in a big wheel

    Currently we have too many thinking their own good is important, and they are happy to jam the wheel of greater good with self interest

    • PaddyOT 20.1
      16 August 2020 at 5:18 pm

      The same thoughts when posting the story. The idea that examples of selflessness might become more scarce as the past's ' heroes' from all walks disappear and the outlook if societies become driven by self first attitudes is concerning.

  21. observer 21
    16 August 2020 at 3:52 pm

    Winston has read my comment on here yesterday, and is now calling for Oct 17 as the election date. Presumably he's doing a Bridges, and trying to score points by calling for something he already expects to be announced.

    Safe prediction: PM will announce the delay at 10 a.m. tomorrow, and we'll have a silly game of "told you so" by various politicians.

    It will make no difference to the election outcome, which is all that matters.

    • Muttonbird 21.1
      16 August 2020 at 4:06 pm

      He's also trying to distract from the indirect lashing he got from Chippie this afternoon regarding the spreading of fake news.

      He's claiming the GG "should know" the majority of Parliament don't support a Sept 19 election date but since when has it been Parliament's decision? And how on earth does he know a majority of Parliament supports a delay?

      • observer 21.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 4:19 pm

        It says everything about NZF's irrelevance now, that he is giving a press conference and nobody is bothering to carry it live.

      • SPC 21.1.2
        16 August 2020 at 5:06 pm

        It's apparently automatic for the GG to issue the writ as soon as the PM decides on the date.

        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12356049

        Peters is inferring a majority for the latest date possible means a later date should be chosen.

        That would not influence a GG, the Electoral Commission is the body repsonsible for the election once the date is decided and the writ issued automatically afterward.

        With parliament no longer standing Peters cannot propose a no confience motion to form an election date coalition (Seymour Peters Collins in no particular order),

        Its mere electioneering. If for example there was another outbreak in November parliament would have to recovence to authorise by 2/3 majority an election next year.

        The PM is still quite free to decide.

        For mine, she could extend the date out 2-4 weeks (longer to cover uncertainty about how long it will take to close this down), and allow a longer period of early voting at level 2 and a slower campaign at Level 2

        (presumption Auckland will go to Level 2 for 2 weeks after the 2 at Level3)

        It willl still be the Electoral Commission who decide if it can be held on the day. I'm not sure what happens if they do not hold it in the day and early voting has already begun. Just keep early voting available until a Saturday can be used?

    • PaddyOT 21.2
      16 August 2020 at 5:27 pm

      Winston's your fanboy following your posts, awww jealous ! sad

  22. Muttonbird 22
    16 August 2020 at 4:46 pm

    Despite me not wanting to hear much from experts, here's a good Skegg article on RNZ. He says of a Hong Kong colleague involved with SARS 1:

    The Hong Kong professor (said) there are three essential components to dealing with these pandemics and they were physical distancing, including mass masking, testing and rapid contact tracing, and border controls.

    He said if you relax any one of those three, you better make sure you really tighten the other two.

    I'm in Auckland and there's not a lot of mask wearing. I don't wear one outside but I do whenever I go inside with the rest of the unwashed. I'd say mask wearing in Auckland indoor public places is still only 30-40%.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/423630/covid-19-how-new-zealand-can-avoid-lockdowns-in-the-future

    • ScottGN 22.1
      16 August 2020 at 6:25 pm

      I think the mask wearing request is starting to get through in Auckland. I’ve just been to the Mt Eden Countdown and I’d say 80% of the queue were masked. I always have mine with me but I don’t wear it if I’m out walking alone and not getting within 2 metres of anyone. I use it for crowded pavements and shops and will presumably use it on the bus when we go back to work.

      • Muttonbird 22.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 8:00 pm

        Hope you are right. I still see a lot of people in close contact situations not doing it.

        National Party voters.

  23. Muttonbird 23
    16 August 2020 at 4:57 pm

    Rimmer wants 4 weeks at L1 before the election date.

    But here's the thing, L1 didn't really work.

    L1 gives us a false sense of security so we shouldn't really be going back to L1 until there's a vaccine, or at least better treatment and testing, and better compliance.

    Curious Rimmer is now on board with levels and such after rubbishing the entire government approach in favour of throwing the vulnerable under the Covid bus.

    Also, I would have thought Rimmer would want an election asap as his stock has never been higher.

    • McFlock 23.1
      16 August 2020 at 5:09 pm

      Level 1 is fine. It stops worry fatigue, and lets the country exist as normally as possible.

      We have a single cluster. Big deal. We've adjusted our conditions to match the threat. When that cluster is eliminated, we'll go back to level 1. When the vaccine comes and is distributed, we'll go back to level zero.

      • Muttonbird 23.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 5:14 pm

        I'd like to see better direction under L1 next time. The Nats and Barry Soper whinged about Covid info being broadcast as a way to keep the populace under Ardern's control!

        But it's clear lots of people need reminding.

        • SPC 23.1.1.1
          16 August 2020 at 5:15 pm

          The mistake we made at was, people

          • SPC 23.1.1.1.1
            16 August 2020 at 5:19 pm

            Not able to edit.

            The mistake we made at level 1 was that people were complacent about testing for COV2 because they presumed it would be cold or flu. Such self isolation is not good enough because of family contact spread and delay in finding out it is back.

      • observer 23.1.2
        16 August 2020 at 5:17 pm

        That's true. It's also another reason to delay (for a short period).

        It's a sad certainty that when gov't announces a reduction in the level, PM will be accused of politicking, she'll say it was on DG's advice, opposition will insinuate DG is biased, etc, etc.

        Better if that doesn't happen a week before the election.

        • McFlock 23.1.2.1
          16 August 2020 at 5:54 pm

          What has it got to do with election timing? Maybe L3 will be an issue, but if it's back to L2/1 by september, no worries

    • SPC 23.2
      16 August 2020 at 5:14 pm

      If we delayed an election until the country was at Level 1, we could be leading the world into an era without elections for 1-2 years. With the US election coming up, its an example Trump would cite again and again.

      • observer 23.2.1
        16 August 2020 at 5:20 pm

        Come on, Trump (and his potential voters) don't know or care what happens in a small European country near Germany called Noo Zeeland.

        • McFlock 23.2.1.1
          16 August 2020 at 10:52 pm

          lol the number of yanks and brits who were sudden twitter experts on our nation beg to differ.

    • Incognito 23.3
      16 August 2020 at 5:20 pm

      Rimmer wants 4 weeks at L1 before the election date.

      Can somebody please ask him when the whole of the country will be back at L1? Or should we ask the virus?

      Can they please also ask him what should happen if there’s another step-up in Alert Levels somewhere in the country?

      If extra time and a delay will play in the hands of National, will it also benefit ACT?

      I’d think that voters want some sense of clarity and certainty. Shifting election dates is ‘shifty’ behaviour, politically speaking. However, voters also like fairness and possibly care less about legitimacy. So, what’s fair and what’s legitimate?

      When the PM writes the writ, how might that affect any possible step-ups in Alert Levels between now and Election Day? The election campaigns of political parties should not take precedent over or come at the expense of measures to keep all of us safe.

      • observer 23.3.1
        16 August 2020 at 5:27 pm

        And of course it's the government that decides levels.

        "New poll out, Labour down, announce return to level 2".

        Just get Seymour to sign a document saying "I hereby declare election null and void in the event of a single positive case of the virus, within one month of scheduled election. Until then government rules indefinitely, with my blessing". That should shut him up.

        • Incognito 23.3.1.1
          16 August 2020 at 6:21 pm

          Seymour is all about freedom, which means freedom from responsibility, and he’ll never sign a document that will put the weight of the nation on his shoulders. He’s all show and only good for show, on TV. Bunch of self-serving nihilists 🙁

      • Muttonbird 23.3.2
        16 August 2020 at 5:28 pm

        +1. I meant to add that Seymour's approach is entirely dependent on what the virus does rather than what people can take control of.

        • Incognito 23.3.2.1
          16 August 2020 at 5:59 pm

          Exactly! It’s no way to plan the Election or govern the country. Might as well read the tealeaves, if we were to follow Seymour’s ‘lead’.

          We already have too much uncertainty due to lockdowns, and the overall effects of the closed border, et cetera. Businesses are facing going belly-up and people are in fear of losing their jobs. School students are looking at 2020 as a very disruptive year, one that will follow them for years to come.

          I wish the current crop of MPs would stop thinking about themselves, less about their own interests, and more about the five million people in this country, many of who have it much tougher than any MP.

    • mauī 24.1
      16 August 2020 at 10:04 pm

      Now imagine what it might be like for Māori, who don't just have 1 misspelled place name, but likely thousands dotted around the country.

    • Draco T Bastard 25.1
      16 August 2020 at 5:59 pm

      The problem with that thread is that it assumes that FDI is necessary and is thus the reason for the reform that the author wants.

  26. Robert Guyton 26
    16 August 2020 at 5:54 pm

    "Ardern’s political style rests on her personal appeal, but it has also been criticised as superficial – or, as Bill English put it, “stardust”."

    Bill "Fence Post" English. Respected authority on Dipton, sheep, dipping sheep and double-dipping, reckons the Prime Minister's essential quality is "stardust". We are stardust, Bill, as Joni Mitchell so elegantly sang.

    • mac1 26.1
      16 August 2020 at 6:56 pm

      "and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."

      Great song, beautifully sung, and the science of the words “we are stardust” is so far advanced in its grasp of the universe.

      Then the reference above, (following the line ‘we are stardust, we are golden”), which I read as meaning getting back to simplicity and back to what is important, a vital message post-Covid 19.

      • weka 26.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 11:39 pm

        Incredible song. I take that line to be about that generation taping into the potential spirit of humanity. We've lost so much since then.

        I agree about the simplicity message, and what is needed how.

    • Just Is 26.2
      16 August 2020 at 7:32 pm

      Bills just Jealous cos he was a 3 times bridesmaid, PM 3 times but was never ever, ever, ever, voted into the position by the people of NZ.

      Bill knows that, but still wonders why

  27. Muttonbird 27
    16 August 2020 at 6:00 pm

    Powerful Kiwirail campaign here.

    https://www.nearmisses.co.nz

    • greywarshark 27.1
      16 August 2020 at 7:35 pm

      Can't figure that M. What does it say? Looks about crossing smashes.

      • Muttonbird 27.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 7:56 pm

        It's to draw attention to the high danger around the many level crossings in this country, and to the impact near misses have on train drivers' mental health.

  28. Muttonbird 28
    16 August 2020 at 6:20 pm

    Lotto seems to have fallen off its perch of trust.

    Proud anti-gambler in all its forms here and I think funding of community sports etc needs to be revisited.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12356935

    • Draco T Bastard 28.1
      16 August 2020 at 9:28 pm

      Lotto seems to have fallen off its perch of trust.

      Doesn't sound like it. Just sounds like their computers got swamped as more people than expected signed in to buy online rather than going to the store.

  29. Sabine 29
    16 August 2020 at 9:02 pm

    FDA approved fast and cheap saliva test .

    twitter thread makes for interesting reading

    https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1294654256763609090

  30. Pat 30
    16 August 2020 at 9:08 pm

    "National Australia Bank Ltd on Friday urged customers at high risk of default on their loans to sell their properties sooner rather than later, as it reported ballooning credit impairment charges during the quarter."

    https://www.reuters.com/article/nab-results/update-2-australias-nab-urges-high-risk-clients-to-sell-homes-soon-idUSL4N2FG06O

    whither Australia goes NZ follows

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    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot

    The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Nine priority bridge replacements to get underway

    The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
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