Open mike 19/01/2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, January 19th, 2020 - 52 comments
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52 comments on “Open mike 19/01/2020 ”

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  1. A 1
    19 January 2020 at 7:49 am

    Low profile visit from Chinese navel ship. Spontaneous those Chinese.

  2. Jenny How to get there 2
    19 January 2020 at 8:34 am

    Doesn't make any sense

    Labor leader Anthony Albanese has backed the nation's $70 billion coal export industry, agreeing with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton that ending local exports would only increase global emissions……

    ……."If you stopped exporting coal [from Australia] immediately, then that would not reduce global emissions," Mr Albanese told reporters in Sydney on Friday……

    https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/albanese-backs-australian-coal-exports-20200117-p53sbq?fbclid=IwAR1dFccWicfjglA8jRNZY9CNk83YN8sTR1zLll5Gn3QvlMv5f9QTzh3kwL8

    Under fierce pressure from the unprecedented bush fires, this sort of ludicrous statement reflects the desperation of the coal lobby

  3. Jenny How to get there 3
    19 January 2020 at 8:58 am

    Cortez gets stuck into the Centrist gatekeepers

    The move by the first-term congresswoman, a project rumored to be underway for months, is a bold challenge to the DCCC which angered many progressive lawmakers and activists when it announced last year a blacklist effort against campaign consulting firms and others who worked against its preferred candidates….

    https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/13/ocasio-cortezs-revolt-against-dccc-exactly-what-we-need-say-progressive-democrats?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email

  4. Puckish Rogue 4
    19 January 2020 at 10:03 am

    Heres why, on the balance of probabilities, I don't believe Warren over Sanders. He may have said he doesn't believe a woman can beat Trump but thats as far as I'd go (and hes probably not wrong in that)

    Gabbard might have had a chance but the party took care of her…



    • Kevin 4.1
      19 January 2020 at 12:56 pm

      So he’s been lying for the past 40 years then PR?

    • mauī 4.2
      20 January 2020 at 7:45 am

      Indeed, the odious Warren strikes again and if you're left and don't vote for her then you're totally responsible for the left's loss according to the fake left.

  5. Puckish Rogue 5
    19 January 2020 at 10:08 am

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1227896/greta-thunberg-climate-change-activist-Facebook-page-social-media-posts-edited

    I don't get this, it isn't really news is it, I thought it was pretty obvious others wrote her speeches for her

    • Incognito 5.1
      19 January 2020 at 10:31 am

      Reality is that editing a FB post is miles away from writing speeches, word for word, from beginning to end, every single one of them.

      Perception is that they are the same, unless one is open to nuance and context and applies at least a smidgen of critical thinking before they spout their brain burbs opinions into the world.

  6. Jenny How to get there 6
    19 January 2020 at 10:36 am

    Watch: Devastating footage as Tropical Cyclone Tino batters Pacific

    ….While the storm will not be a "direct threat" to New Zealand, WeatherWatch warned it would bring large waves to some places around the country and "churn up some NZ beaches".

    https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/watch-devastating-footage-as-tropical-cyclone-tino-batters-pacific/ar-BBZ4U9S?ocid=spartanntp

    That's all right then.

    • Sacha 7.1
      19 January 2020 at 10:42 am

      There is a growing conservative Filipino vote in NZ, though no idea how much they are worth compared with those Chinese or Indian donors he was weighing up.

      • Graeme 7.1.1
        19 January 2020 at 10:51 am

        The Filipino labour hire industry should be worth a shake down. Promises to open the doors for commissions all round.

        Wondering if there's MFAT involvement in this one, or it totally a National Party show, again

        • Cinny 7.1.1.1
          19 January 2020 at 11:06 am

          No need for MFAT, surely mark mitchell and paulo garcia can take care of the details. Dodgy dealings.

          Edit…. Come to think of it, I wonder why mark mitchell is going when the nat's say it's about trade? He’s their spokesperson for defence, justice, disarmament and pike river…. weird.

      • OnceWasTim 7.1.2
        19 January 2020 at 12:09 pm

        At the moment, I suspect 1 Chinese = 3 Filipinos at the current exchange rate (and still 2 Indians, although that's fluctuating as they are becoming more aware of how they're valued)

        If I were playing the stock and trade market, I'd put my money on those bloody Africans. They could become a force to be reckoned with. (Current rate: 1 Chinese = 4.5 Africans and rising – trending). Both the BBC and CNN have competing voices.
        Africa could become the new ‘thing’ (going forward, BUT in the fullness of time, and with regard to the intricacies & capabilities of our Immigration department)

      • millsy 7.1.3
        19 January 2020 at 3:53 pm

        Paulo Garcia is on record as stating that sex is only for having babies.

        This means that National have no right to call the left "wowsers".

        People like him have been streaming into the country for the last 10-15 years and obtaining positions of influence. South African and Filipino bible bashers who want to impose a Gilead-style theocracy in this country. People who completely reject science, sexuality, and female emancipation.

        The National party have been capured by Chinese oligarchs and South African/Filipino reactionary bible bashers. They all belive that people who do not work shouldnt eat,women should be the property of their husbands/fathers/brothers, sex outside of marriage should be outlawed.

        We do not want them in this country. Full stop.

    • James 7.2
      19 January 2020 at 11:30 am

      Worth it just to meet the pac man.

  8. joe90 8
    19 January 2020 at 11:00 am

    Surveillance capitalism courtesy of Mr Thiel, Mr.Zuckerberg, and mates.

    His tiny company, Clearview AI, devised a groundbreaking facial recognition app. You take a picture of a person, upload it and get to see public photos of that person, along with links to where those photos appeared. The system — whose backbone is a database of more than three billion images that Clearview claims to have scraped from Facebook, YouTube, Venmo and millions of other websites — goes far beyond anything ever constructed by the United States government or Silicon Valley giants.

    […]

    But without public scrutiny, more than 600 law enforcement agencies have started using Clearview in the past year, according to the company, which declined to provide a list. The computer code underlying its app, analyzed by The New York Times, includes programming language to pair it with augmented-reality glasses; users would potentially be able to identify every person they saw. The tool could identify activists at a protest or an attractive stranger on the subway, revealing not just their names but where they lived, what they did and whom they knew.

    […]

    One reason that Clearview is catching on is that its service is unique. That’s because Facebook and other social media sites prohibit people from scraping users’ images — Clearview is violating the sites’ terms of service.

    “A lot of people are doing it,” Mr. Ton-That shrugged. “Facebook knows.”

    Jay Nancarrow, a Facebook spokesman, said the company was reviewing the situation with Clearview and “will take appropriate action if we find they are violating our rules.”

    Mr. Thiel, the Clearview investor, sits on Facebook’s board. Mr. Nancarrow declined to comment on Mr. Thiel's personal investments.

    http://archive.li/jQIrw (NYT)

  9. joe90 9
    19 January 2020 at 11:41 am

    Great branding.

    Al-Qaeda (/ælˈkaɪdə, ˌælkɑːˈiːdə/; Arabic: القاعدة‎ al-Qāʿidah, IPA: [ælqɑːʕɪdɐ], translation: "The Base", "The Foundation" or "The Database",

    https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1218509613752115200

  10. Jenny How to get there 10
    19 January 2020 at 11:49 am

    Australia's climate change hell is not about to end soon.

    After months of devastating bushfires Australia is finally getting rain, but it won't stop the fires, and is bringing new extreme weather conditions

    Sinéad Baker, Insider

    Jan 17, 2020

    Rain and hail is falling in parts of Australia, but forecasters fear it won't stop the country's devastating bushfires,….

    ……The fires have killed at least 29 people, killed an estimated one billion animals, and burned more than 25 million acres of land.

    Fire services said this precipitation will help to weaken fires in those areas, though it won't actually put them out…..

    ……85 fires were still raging across the state, with 30 still out of control…..

    …..To make matters worse, the rain that has fallen so far has caused some flooding and damage. Forecasts suggest the flooding could get even worse, and cause even more devastation after months of fires.

    Lightning from the storms has also in some case started new fires, CNN reported.

    https://www.insider.com/australia-rain-not-stop-fires-could-create-dangerous-weather-2020-1

    When will Australia’s political leaders act on climate change?

    When they themselves are on fire?

  11. Sabine 11
    19 January 2020 at 1:14 pm

    well someone needs to tell the guys in OZ that just got flooded that really all they need is mops n buckets

    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1218674016942219265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1218674016942219265&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2F2020%2F01%2Ftrump-urges-mops-and-buckets-as-his-superior-response-to-rising-sea-levels-from-climate-change%2F

    and if we lock them up surely they stop protesting about stuff we don't have any intention about doing anything about. Surely.

    https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lesterfeder/environmental-protests-terrorism-australia-bushfires

    yeah, its all good. this is as it has always been

    https://www.dw.com/en/storm-flooding-misery-follow-bushfires-in-australia/a-52049688

    The Australian leaders as much as the americans and others don't give a flying poo about climate change. Currently they see our environment as a cost centre, it costs money to keep a tree alive that is only of use to a little marsupial that serves no purpose to us and that we already sell as a plushy. Thus why not let fire kill everything, then the floods finish of those who may survive. When all is said and done no one can stop the business form mining, drilling, mountain top cutting and so on and bingo profit. As for us humans, there is billions of us and if we drop a billion of three it would not make a difference.

  12. Jenny How to get there 12
    19 January 2020 at 1:23 pm

    What would it take to get Australia's political leaders to take climate change seriously?

    Should we sue them?

    It's not like we haven't got grounds

    …World Meteorological Organization says smoke has ‘probably’ reached Antarctic

    Smoke from bushfires in Australia has drifted across the Pacific and affected cities in South America, and may have reached the Antarctic, the UN World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday.

    …..Brown sooty deposits have already been reported on glaciers in New Zealand, potentially accelerating the rate at which they are melting, the programme said.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/07/australian-bushfire-smoke-drifts-to-south-america-un-reports

    All we need do is quantify the loss to our tourism industry from increased ice loss, and tourists repugnance for viewing muck coated glaciers.

  13. Incognito 13
    19 January 2020 at 3:18 pm

    ??

  14. weka 14
    19 January 2020 at 4:04 pm

    Sometime in the past few weeks there was a conversation that started with someone asking for examples of the terrible things that Trump administration had done, because people keep saying they're doing terrible things but this person wasn't seeing it. Anyone remember where that was?

  15. Dennis Frank 15
    19 January 2020 at 4:59 pm

    Natalia Salgado, who runs civic engagement at the Center for Popular Democracy, a left-wing advocacy group, anticipates the primaries: "This is an exciting time, and I can’t imagine anyone that’s less exciting than Joe Biden." https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/01/biden-sanders-warren-great-deflation/605134/

    "Democrats have two theories of how to win the 2020 presidential election: persuasion versus turnout. Advocates of the former, generally moderates, believe that Clinton lost to Trump mostly because she failed to convince enough moderate voters in swing states. But progressives say that an emphasis on turning nonvoters into voters is more important for a Democratic victory in November. They blame Clinton’s loss on failing to inspire and mobilize Americans: An estimated 4.4 million people who voted for Barack Obama did not vote in 2016."

    Biden seems a genial old duffer. Why, then, do I always seem to have the impression that he's constantly doing weasel impressions?? But Democrats like that kind of person, eh? Apart from being male, he's another Hilary Clinton.

    "In the 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats flipped 41 House seats from red to blue, the majority of the party’s winning candidates were more moderate. Candidates endorsed by lefty groups such as Our Revolution and Justice Democrats had much less success. Lanae Erickson, a senior vice president at Third Way, a center-left think tank, cited those gains as a reason to stick with a more moderate presidential candidate this year."

    Oh, I get it. Most Democrats are actually centrists. They're just pretending to be leftist. Ok, I think I can go with this theory. Politics is a numbers game, and if the numbers are in the center, they need someone sufficiently bland.

  16. Jenny How to get there 16
    19 January 2020 at 5:05 pm

    The new boat people will be Australian.

    https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australians-may-become-climate-refugees-as-global-temperatures-soar-us-expert?cid=news%3Asocialshare%3Afacebook&fbclid=IwAR2Xs35FfBDT-vqfwIchVLery7CQHTg1Byfk96FybHiKkbVG6hKPQRnNnGE

    Let's hope that we are kinder to Australians seeking refuge here, than they are to those who have sought refuge in Australia.

    “It is conceivable that much of Australia simply becomes too hot and dry for human habitation,” Dr Mann, who is director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, told Reuters…..

    …..Dr Mann, the author of four books including The Madhouse Effect, said Australia could still “easily achieve” the target by shifting towards renewable energy.

    “It’s possible to grow the economy, create jobs, and preserve the environment at the same time. These are things that all Australians could embrace,” he said.

    “They just need a government that’s willing to act on their behalf rather than on behalf of a handful of coal barons.”

    Maybe we could gently chide Australians who may seek refuge here by demanding that they first agree to give up their Australian citizenship and passport to become New Zealand citizens.

    • Dennis Frank 16.1
      19 January 2020 at 6:58 pm

      Problem is, they would still think like Aussies. They'd try to bowl underarm whenever possible. I know – we could hold them temporarily in pens on Auckland Island for however many years it takes for them to jump through our immigration hoops. They'll love the cool, wet climate there. They understand how helpful it is for those in transit to do a sojourn on an island because it's been their government policy for so long. 🤣

  17. Anne 17
    19 January 2020 at 5:56 pm

    The US Space Force uniform has been unveiled:

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51160547

    🙄

  19. Muttonbird 19
    19 January 2020 at 10:26 pm

    With Simon Bridges and his mercenary friends going to meet an extra-judicial dictator in Rodrigo Duterte, and Shane Jones attacking his own government from the inside, my wish for 2020 is for NZ First to be placed on the sidelines and for voters to recognise the danger of another National led government right now.

  20. Muttonbird 20
    19 January 2020 at 10:46 pm

    Bojo's Brexit celebrations. He tried to get Big Ben to bong and now has to settle for a light show outside Downing St.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/big-ben-boris-johnson-brexit-day-downing-street-celebration-a9289306.html

    As a poster on another forum put it;

    Madness would be claiming to want to build bridges between Leavers and Remainers and then ringing the biggest bell in the fooking country to celebrate Leaving, at the exact moment of leaving.

    So true.

  21. Jenny How to get there 21
    19 January 2020 at 11:06 pm

    Australia to spend up large on 21st Century version of a Potemkin Village frontage for visitors to gawp at.

    The Guardian

    Severe thunderstorms to hit NSW as bushfires continue to burn

    – with $25m to be spent on an international advertising campaign to tell visitors that “Australia is safe and open for business”.

    The prime minister, Scott Morrison, described the bushfire crisis as the “biggest challenge in living memory” to Australian tourism.

    In the tourism package, $20m will be spent on a domestic ad campaign and $10m has been set aside to create new tourist attractions – such as events, festivals or art – in bushfire-hit areas….

    …..The rest of the package includes $9.5m to be spent on bringing international TV shows and media to Australia, $6.5m for Tourism Australia’s annual trade industry event and $5m for the country’s diplomatic network.

    https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/severe-thunderstorms-to-hit-nsw-as-bushfires-continue-to-burn/ar-BBZ5T3T?ocid=spartanntp

  22. Eco maori 22
    20 January 2020 at 8:37 am

    Kia Ora The Am Show.

    I think politics using people's lack of knowledge of other cultures is a bit on the low side Chris.

    The weather is doing what our great scientists have predicted years ago on this site there was a conversation about what is happening in Australia now 2 years ago.

    Ka pai to China for their single use plastic bag ban that move will also make recycling plastic less costly.

    Ka kite Ano.

  23. Eco maori 23
    20 January 2020 at 6:28 pm

    Kia Ora Newshub.

    Yes house prices are expensive in Aotearoa.

    Wow that's a mean hailstorm.

    The Dragon rocket did exactly as what it was programed to do Ka pai.

    Ka kite Ano.

  24. Eco maori 24
    20 January 2020 at 6:46 pm

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.

    Rangtoto old sacred sight should be protected from development as a lot of knowledge will be lost forever from the development.

    Maori film makers should get tautoko every one knowns that discriminatied will make it harder for true tangata whenua o Aotearoa stories to be made into films.

    Ka kite Ano

  25. Eco maori 25
    21 January 2020 at 8:29 am

    Kia Ora The Am Show.

    Christmas should be a hakari and home made gifts given out.

    Condolences for the students lost on that footbridge but people need to learn to respect the power of mother nature.

    The over 65 drowning Stats show that we don't care for our elderly as much as we did in the past sad.

    Ocean acidification and warming is causing many negative effects on our environment.

    That's is sad that the unique beautiful Platypus is moving closer to extinction everyday what a shame.

    Ka kite Ano

  26. Eco maori 26
    21 January 2020 at 8:48 am

    What happens when you have the dark force interfering in your life when trying to get mahi