Open mike 19/08/2023
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6:00 am, August 19th, 2023 - 58 comments
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Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...12 hours ago - Government Forces Universities to Enforce “Free Speech” While Limiting Universities̵...
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One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...3 days ago - MSD rejecting 220 pleas for food grants each day
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At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...5 days ago
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AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...5 days ago - Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut
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Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...6 days ago - How much should you worry about a collapse of the Atlantic conveyor belt?
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- Thank You
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...7 days ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50
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Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...1 week ago - Chris Penk’s Hate Parade
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...1 week ago - Tell me a story
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...1 week ago
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National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...2 days ago - Release: Minister’s plan for tertiary sector a backwards step
Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...2 days ago
- Release: National buries 1019 planned homes
It’s been revealed that National has cancelled 60 percent of its housing projects planned before mid-2025 amidst housing woes. ...3 days ago
- Release: Rule-Czar bill a right-wing power grab
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...3 days ago
- Release: Why not both? Luxon shuns Waitangi celebrations
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is running away from problems of his own creation, with his decision not to go to Waitangi. ...3 days ago
- Govt’s ‘free speech’ legislation stokes fear, not freedom
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...3 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...3 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...4 days ago
- ECE no place to cut corners
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...4 days ago
- Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...4 days ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...5 days ago
- Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...5 days ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...5 days ago
- Release: Visa changes let migrant workers be paid less
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...5 days ago
- Release: Nightmare before Christmas for Nicola Willis
With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...5 days ago
- Warning to Fast-Track Applicants – ‘Exploit the Whenua, Face the Consequences’
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...5 days ago
- Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again
For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...5 days ago
- Govt’s miserly 1.5% minimum wage will take workers backwards
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...5 days ago
- Release: Govt shirking responsibility for rate hikes
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...6 days ago
- Luxon’s ‘localism’ strikes again
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt breaks promise on EV chargers
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...6 days ago
- Greens call for end to subsidies for Methanex
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...6 days ago
- Govt child poverty targets allow for increase in poverty
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...1 week ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...1 week ago
- Govt’s emissions plan for measly 1% reduction
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...1 week ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...1 week ago
- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
- Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
- Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation
Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker
The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...2 weeks ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
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The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...2 weeks ago
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https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/08/19/john-campbell-beth-and-taxes-in-election-la-la-land/
John Campbell dismantling labour and the national on tax, !
Unlike John, I got a first in accounting.
And I can note the largest ever increase in base benefits ever (overdue given the cuts of 1991, under-assessment of living costs in the adjustment since then and real increases in MW levels), and the increase in amount of part-time work income someone on a benefit can get before any abatement kicks in (also overdue because of lack of adjustment for over a decade).
The increase of the in work tax credit amount is to continue the targeted support to the families of full-time lower wage workers – there are costs associated with work (particularly shift work) not faced by those on benefits. This is not used to reduce child poverty in beneficiary families, because it was not designed for that purpose.
It is near impossible to prevent child poverty without quality affordable housing* (not enough income related rent housing), accessible health care and food in "working class area" public schools.
In the absence of that*, a rent freeze (a $50 rent rise in the past year and in the next year is also likely) from 2022-2024 would have been the correct policy.
SPC what are these please?
Minimum wage?
Thanks BD, that makes sense.
These valuable increases to benefits/minimum wage and the commitment to regular review may be in danger of being overlooked as the opposition parties try to force a ‘I’ve got bigger baubles than you’ type election.
How many sitting ie voting days do we have left in Parliament?
That RMA replacement has to go through, also Land Transport Safety bill.
Are they running out of time?
I believe the 31st is the last sitting day before closing up shop for the election so that'd mean.
August 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, and 31;
They gave up on the MHA (1992) review completion by the 2023 election.
Someone should ask NACT what their plans for that are, given their love of incarceration of the underclass/more prisons/more youth in institutions/boot camps/less rights for new workers/transferring oversight of those on benefits under 25 to outside providers …
RMA third reading was Wednesday, not that our petty minded gallery journalists would think to inform us – they are far too busy trying to gotcha Hipkins on whether or not passata is going to be GST exempt.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/495939/rma-replacement-bills-pass-third-readings-in-parliament
Also.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/495896/three-waters-amendment-bill-passes-third-reading
Has anyone else had a problem with the unsafe ("safety"?) yellow plastic dots around Auckland Public transport areas?
Apparently AT have know for 5 years of the hazardous, if not dangerous, nature of these dots.
FYI, I am only raising for a safety reason, for AT users, not as a Govt bash exercise.
Tactile paving.
Steel and plastic mistakes and onto concrete …
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/03/finding-your-way-through-the-city-how-the-blind-use-our-footpaths.htm
Yep, considering how dangerous and expensive these are (to also remove/replace !) , I'm dumbfounded that there wasnt firstly a trial placement on a small area .
Just seems a good idea turned bad/dangerous, through lack of common sense. "Tactile" plastic ..when wet. Auckland rain….
Who let that through?
They first tried steel – got slippery when wet. Then moved to plastic, got slippery when wet.
Just has a dogged "we should know this cant possibly be safe, but we will keep going " element
Would be a humour…but the many broken bones….poor people.
yes. can be quite slippery at times.
Hi, good you know. Take care, as some of the fall injuries have been quite horrific.
good lord, they've got them beside the railway tracks.
What are they for?
To stop the blind walking off platforms onto tracks.
The yellow colour to warn those with limited sight and the raised up bits for those using canes.
I know. Quite bizarre. And they are for a visual and "tactile" alert. Seemingly moreso for blind/low vision people. And they..can be super slippery.
I would think replacement under urgency….with the NON slip alternative…that should have been trialled and used firstly !
Alternate coloured and textured paving would meet both visual and tactile outcomes.
Dude should watch his step ,!!seriously we evolved living out in the open dodging shit that wanted yo kill us ,
We're becoming pretty pathetic when a few slips and trips gets a news story.
Next we'll be suing companies when we spill hot coffee on our selves.
"If" it was one dude…."maybe". I get dodging hazards..(I ride a bike in town !)
But you should also actually read the links..and other replies. Also look at photo's of specifically what they are for and where they are located. And the cost of a failed system. For more actual relevant info….
They have them in a regional shopping centre near me (Takapuna) – many, many, accidents and complaints reported on local FB pages and to the Council. With, as far as anyone can see, no action.
It seems that AT have the budget to implement these 'safety initiatives' but no budget to remove them, when they prove more hazardous than the problem they were trying to solve.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-woman-breaks-leg-in-three-places-after-slipping-on-auckland-transports-yellow-tactile-dots/XKA3S2YB3BBB5GPPMBJEHVSG7I/
The do it to comply with regulations (disability). Tick boxes.
They don't fix because of cost to ratepayers. I wonder how much money they have cost ACC?
If ACC was able to claim reimbursement from public bodies – charge them for their cost …
If they are retaining a hazard, when they know it's a hazard, then I suspect they'll be liable under the H&S legislation under the "duty of care" provisions. Certainly there have been several recent court cases over Council liability in relation to negligence over known hazards (admittedly more around trees and landslips, than built environment)
https://www.tompkinswake.com/insights/knowledge/high-court-finds-council-liable-in-negligence-for-damage-from-fallen-tree/
At least one employee has been injured – so WorkSafe should have agency to intervene. AT, no doubt, would be much more concerned over this – since WS can afford the cost of a court case, whereas injured individuals generally can't.
Oh if you are also a commuter/user, is good that you are aware of the danger….the falls and injuries look real bad.
Occasionally my knee jerks quicker than my brain can react to.
Allgood …you also have the dry quick-wit ..that phrase pretty good : )
Have you looked at the photo in the article? It's a long strip of slippery surfacesbeside where people board trains.
People don't expect landscapes designed and built by humans to be walked on to be slippery. This is completely different from being in nature where we have to pay a different kind of attention.
The bean counters won.
https://www.vanguardgroup.co.nz/product-category/road-safety-cycleways/tactiles-studs-pavers/
Yea, The plastic/steel ones even look pretty UNsafe…..as in unfit for purpose.
Problem with bean counting, as always, there is an extra cost….
https://www.mobilityresearch.co.nz/products
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/mike-hosking-election-2023-chris-hipkins-winston-peters-as-bad-as-each-other/QSJTVC52SBENBDKSU3KKZV5AQM/
But they won't give Mike Hosking a tax cut, he loves tax cuts and they know he loves tax cuts and yet they do not.
So what does Mike do, he does what Hosking always does – says they seek the votes of people poorer than him.
This is a guy so self centred and short-sighted (except when imagining himself on a winter holiday financed by a tax cut), that he would only try and observe his own navel if he had his favourite hand held sucker upper in hand and some crumbs to eliminate.
Anything past mike hosking says , is not worth the effort imho
Is a person who makes jokes about blowing things up “a fit and proper person” to have a gun license?
Forget the gun license. Are they a 'fit and proper person' to be an MP ??
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/08/west-aucklanders-could-cut-20-minutes-from-commute-if-government-s-northwestern-busway-goes-ahead.html
From my reading of other Matt Lowrie Public Transport comments…he thinks, and talks a lot of sense.
Have you read his comment on alternatives to the tunnels ?
I dont live up there….but what do you think ?
300km of light rail sounds..awesome.
I did not vote for or against Wayne, not on me, not a resident.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove-Myer_Robinson
The Rail Link worked (extensions/improvements). Bus lanes work (can later be used for light rail developments). More of them.
They need to improve flow to and off the bridge. They need to plan for coping with higher sea levels (as to where the bridge begins/ends).
The next new development is a new bridge. They need to keep heavy vehicles off the clip-on, so it lasts longer.
Have they considered a congestion tax for lone passenger cars or reserving lanes for commuter (multiple passenger) cars?
Why are bike/foot traffic options not front and centre of early developments (existing bridge)?
Oh and look for people to crew ferries, they operate internationally – we can recruit more than bus drivers.
Hi, thanks for detailed reply. Like Matt Lowrie… youve also thought through some options and alternatives.
And re Dove-Myer Robinson…..I did know the name ? But the wiki page and his backstory…certainly a forward thinker ! As apart from the Bus Rail rapid transit ..he was an Environmentalist too?
More like needed.
Since the clean car tax goes to subsidize new evs, could it also subsidize replacement batteries for cheaper second hand evs?
Thanks for transporting me back to tauranga boys college 3rd form discos, classic days .
The rehabilitation of a mass murderer continues.
Hanna Liubakova
@HannaLiubakova
#Russia History takes its unexpected turn. An 8-meter-high Stalin monument was installed in the middle of Velikie Luki in the Pskov region. The priest of the Russian Orthodox Church consecrated the statue. Yes, the priest blessed the statue of Stalin.
https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/status/1692472692459422074
I see Luxon does not rate Woodhouse on his List.. Well he had to get something right. I have read the summary only. I will be looking at Barbara Kruriger as well.
When a leader under-performs, the price is not paid by the leader (safe at no.1) but by those down the list.
A bunch of new ACT MPs will come in at the expense of National candidates. Or – in Woodhouse's case – a sitting MP.
I bet he wouldn't have chucked his toys if National were 40+ in the polls.
Apart from a few at the top (Cabinet group), list rankings only have meaning is the MP's electorate if a marginal one. Kuriger has a safe seat. Promising new MP’s get a safe seat, the chance to win a marginal seat or come in on the list.
…list rankings only have meaning
isif the MP's electorateifis a marginal one …Fifty seven years old, 2,267-kilograms, fifty fucking years in a 24x11x6M tank.
/
Toastie
@Toastie@journa.host
Correct headline:
White people kill Tokitae, matriarch of the endangered Southern Resident clan, after 50 years of imprisonment
Subhead:
Despite longstanding #Indigenous efforts to bring her home to Lummi waters in the #PNW, colonizers persisted in exploiting her
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/lolita
https://journa.host/@Toastie/110913057931037559
Passed a piece of Council owned land on the North Shore isthmus used for election bill boards. The Labour billboard was down and someone had taken to it with an axe and chopped it into pieces. Rarely seen anyone go to that extent before.
I predict Labour is going to find their billboards are being trashed at a much higher rate than seen before. I base it, in part, on the level of vindictiveness their political and media enemies (looking at ZB hosts in particular) have encouraged, plus the insanity and hysteria around Covid and right wing extremism in general.
I think Labour in particular is in for a very rough campaign ride. Lets hope no-one gets hurt – or worse.
Twenty six years ago.
The Day the Nazi died- Chumbawamba
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Hess
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300953434/russian-general-who-knew-secrets-of-putins-palace-dies-suddenly-in-prison
Polonium poisoning also causes leukopenia.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/58088
Prostate cancer too, apparently.
One of the Russian agents wanted for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko has reportedly developed advanced cancer from the same radioactive poison used in the assassination.
https://metro.co.uk/2023/08/12/putin-goon-gets-cancer-from-substance-used-to-poison-litvinenko-19324690/
The Freedom Party of Brian Tamaki using the loud hailer heckler technique.
The agenda of the party is to get NACT government money for the Tamaki organisation. The pretence of concern about foreign ownership and homelessness, particularly galling given NACT policy.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/08/watch-chris-hipkins-mobbed-by-freedoms-nz-protesters-at-tara-market.html
Maybe liberals will wake up to how shifting activism and protest culture at Let Women Speak Auckland will be used against the left.
There is this :
Brian Tamaki, Sue Grey and assorted conspiracy nuts VS Leighton Baker, Samantha Edwards and assorted conspiracy nuts.
So…let them. Most of NZ will see them for what they are…conspiracy nuts.