Open mike 19/08/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, August 19th, 2024 - 50 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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50 comments on “Open mike 19/08/2024 ”

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  1. SPC 1
    19 August 2024 at 6:59 am

    Just came across this (last year polling)

    Apparently more New Zealanders see themselves as right of centre (43%) than left of centre (28%).

    The same folk see the NZH as without any bias – but ZB and the Platform as right wing (everything else is left of centre … no surprise … but with the most left wing at 15% so).

    https://commonroomnz.com/david-farrar-media-bias-exposed/

    • PsyclingLeft.Always 1.1
      19 August 2024 at 7:35 am

      Well yes. David Farrar would angle it that way wouldn't he. And re the Common room, I was surprised to see who the presenters are. A mixed bag? A curates egg ? Although bit hard to see the good parts..

      https://commonroomnz.com/presenters/

      Tim Wilson an executive director at Maxim Institute ? Always thought he was just a dick. Seems he's got a lot in Common (right wing ) with most of the other presenters…

      • Muttonbird 1.1.1
        19 August 2024 at 8:43 am

        It's a right wing astroturf site attempting to pass itself off as an emerging media organisation.

        A real den of vipers.

        Ironic, given Farrar's protestations about balance in the media, very, very few contributors there (if any) could be regarded as having any left wing, socially conscious values at all.

        • PsyclingLeft.Always 1.1.1.1
          19 August 2024 at 8:46 am

          Aye . Common room…..as in, not so much .

        • Jimmy 1.1.1.2
          19 August 2024 at 10:59 am

          Don't forget that everything is seen as hard right wing by the 25-30 left leaning commenters on this site.

          There are many people who consider Luxon way too left leaning and many even think Seymour is a bit woke.

          • PsyclingLeft.Always 1.1.1.2.1
            19 August 2024 at 11:20 am

            everything is seen as hard right wing by the 25-30 left leaning commenters on this site.

            Everything? That seems kinda hyperbolic ? Have you employed a researcher ? Curia…. ? I ask as one of the 25-30..

            There are many people who consider Luxon way too left leaning and many even think Seymour is a bit woke.

            Oh riiight. And who they ? So we should be kinda ..OK with Lux and Seymour ? As it..could all be so much worse….

          • AB 1.1.1.2.2
            19 August 2024 at 11:32 am

            So you see the political spectrum as an entirely relative thing and solely in the eye of the beholder. So no objective or comparative historical analysis of the concept is possible and it's just a social construction.

            Very postmodern of you Jimmy – actually quite woke – are you a "cultural Marxist" (whatever the hell that is) and do you believe the same thing about gender?

    • Ad 1.2
      19 August 2024 at 8:43 am

      Pretty intuitive then that ZB is by a long shot the most popular radio station, and our most powerful MSM full stop.

      RNZ are tanking, just thankfully not as fast as TVNZ.

  2. PsyclingLeft.Always 2
    19 August 2024 at 7:57 am

    Fonterra Greenwashing ?..Nah surely not. Just couldnt be.

    Fonterra accused of 'greenwashing' to impress big foreign buyers keen on 'regenerative agriculture'

    In a soothing navy blue, the words "Regenerative Agriculture" unfurl across a bucolic scene of cows grazing. Tucked beneath is the presentation subheading, "Our natural advantage". Hovering in the top right corner is Fonterra's logo.

    Anyway…some Eperts who know what they see.

    "Utterly, utterly greenwashing," says Mike Joy, an academic well known for his freshwater advocacy. "We've kind of gone as far away from regenerative as possible."

    Adam Canning, from Australia's James Cook University, is an expert in regenerative agriculture and has worked closely with sugar cane growers. "It's total greenwashing," he says. "I think what they are trying to do is brand and control the narrative that they are already doing regenerative, and they are trying to call, for example, their rotational grazing regenerative – actually it's not."

    Joy says he is not surprised at Fonterra's move to highlight a pasture-based system as proof of an advantage in claiming the regenerative agriculture mantle. "There's certain voices within agriculture in New Zealand who have been saying all along that we are already regenerative and we don't need to change anything."

    There are farmers in New Zealand who have embraced regenerative agriculture long before Fonterra staked its claim, he says. "There are some really good people involved and the big guys come and take over and turn it into a farce."

    Such as Mark Anderson….An Actual Regenerative Farmer.

    "We were having consecutive, longer dry spells. Not just through summer, but extending into late autumn as well."

    "Cocksfoot, multiple different clovers, herbs like plantain, chicory, sheep's burnet," Mark Anderson says, launching into a list of some of the different plants he started sowing in his South Island dairy farm's pasture a decade ago when he started on the journey of regenerative agriculture. "Prairie grass, Yarrow," he continues. "Tall herbs, short herbs and perennial grasses. Sometimes we add some annuals in there."

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/525503/fonterra-accused-of-greenwashing-to-impress-big-foreign-buyers-keen-on-regenerative-agriculture

    Onya Mark. Regenerative Farmer. Fonterra ? Shame on you !

  3. Michael Scott 3
    19 August 2024 at 8:22 am

    I found Tim Wilson's video " How to disagree agreeably " very useful.

  4. PsyclingLeft.Always 4
    19 August 2024 at 8:24 am

    Billionaire woose and far right supporter/financier Eion Musk take his X bat and ball from Brazil…

    X says it is closing operations in Brazil due to judge's content orders

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/525484/x-says-it-is-closing-operations-in-brazil-due-to-judge-s-content-orders

    Ol' Eion Musk was a fascist Jair Bolsonaro cheerleader ..also unsurprisingly, a major Trump one too. Has custom made pom poms.

  5. Reality 5
    19 August 2024 at 9:30 am

    Picking up The Post this morning brought quite a nostalgic moment to see Jacinda on the front page. How we miss her, particularly when compared with what we have now. She did not insult. She cared about people. Luxon cares about himself and his entitlements.

  6. Jenny 6
    19 August 2024 at 10:03 am

    Diplomacy is war by other means.

    What Hamas want in a ceasefire and hostage deal are the lifting of the Israeli hold up of aid shipments into the besieged territory.

    Hamas also want the displaced civilians to be able to return to the North during the ceasefire.

    What Israel want in a ceasefire and hostage deal, is to continue their siege of Gaza during the ceasefire, including control of the Philadelphi Corridor keeping the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza closed.

    Israel also want to be able to prevent displaced people from returning to North during the ceasefire.

    For a ceasefire to be agreed to. One side has to back down on these two opposing demands.

    As their people are more likely to be killed from hunger, disease and lack of shelter, than Israeli bullets and even bombs and missiles, Hamas is unlikely to back down on their demand that the siege be lifted and the displaced be allowed to return to what remains of their homes.

    That is just the reality of their situation.

    https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/daily-death-rate-gaza-higher-any-other-major-21st-century-conflict-oxfam#:~:text=Israel's%20total%20blockade%20of%20the,diseases%2C%20diarrhoea%2C%20and%20cold.

    Israel’s total blockade of the Gaza Strip is restricting life-saving aid, including food, medical supplies, and water and sanitation facilities. “On top of the already horrific death toll, many more people could die from hunger, preventable diseases, diarrhoea, and cold……

    …..Over one million people – more than half the population – have been forced to seek shelter in Rafah on the Egyptian border. Oxfam staff in Rafah report massive overcrowding, with very little food and water, and essential medicines having run out. This crisis is further compounded by Israel's restrictions on the entry of aid, closing borders, imposing a siege, and denying unfettered access. Currently, only 10 percent of the weekly food aid needed is getting in.

    One of Oxfam’s partner organizations, Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC), described the situation for those living in tents as “worse than anything you could imagine”, with makeshift shelters letting in rain, being blown away in the wind and people resorting to desperate measures like selling precious food or water supplies to get a blanket.

    Oxfam is also warning of the massive threat to life, beyond direct casualties, from hunger and disease. The onset of cold and wet weather is making the situation even more critical, with a shortage of blankets, no fuel for heating devices and no hot water.

    • Jenny 6.1
      19 August 2024 at 10:30 am

      Diplomacy is war by other means.
      War is decided by power. Diplomacy is also decided by power.
      Israel and Hamas must realize: they cannot achieve through negotiation what they failed to achieve in war. In other words, Israel will not retrieve its captives without concessions, and Hamas will not see Gaza free of Israeli soldiers without making sacrifices.

      Marwan Bishara

      As the governing body in Gaza, preventing famine among their people must be Hamas most immediate pressing need.

      Hamas may have to 'sacrifice' return to the north for getting the Rafah Crossing reopened.

      https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/eu-says-over-2-000-trucks-carrying-gaza-aid-stuck-on-rafah-border/3246904#

      Israel may have to make concessions over their control of the Philodelphi Corridor and the Gaza Crossing in exchange for keeping civilians from returning to the north.

      • Bearded Git 6.1.1
        19 August 2024 at 10:49 am

        The Palestinians should concede nothing.

        Gaza is part of the Palestinian state. Its borders are inviolable and Palestinians are permitted to live anywhere within those borders just as Kiwis can live anywhere within NZ's borders.

        All Israeli military equipment and personnel must leave Gaza and the West Bank.

        This includes the departure of all Israelis living in the illegal settlements. These could be used to house Gazans whose houses have been destroyed as a result of Israeli war crimes.

        • Obtrectator 6.1.1.1
          19 August 2024 at 11:26 am

          These [illegal settlements] could be used to house Gazans whose houses have been destroyed as a result of Israeli war crimes.

          They won't be, though. In the unlikely event of a withdrawal by Israel, they'll be demolished in the same mindless and spiteful fashion that the ones in Gaza itself were in 2005.

          • ianmac 6.1.1.1.1
            19 August 2024 at 12:04 pm

            Even if the war was over, where would the Palestinians live? Buildings have been destroyed on a huge scale and probably the means to rebuild also.

  7. Mike the Lefty 7
    19 August 2024 at 1:25 pm

    Interesting choice for position of Chief Human Rights Commissioner. Stephen Rainbow was, if my information is correct, a "progressive Green", ACT with token green face. I wonder how much influence Seymour had in this appointment.

    • Visubversa 7.1
      19 August 2024 at 1:52 pm

      He has certainly been in the National Party, I don't know how recently. More of a Blue/Green if you look at some of his published work.

    • Ad 7.2
      19 August 2024 at 1:56 pm

      OMG he's a hard core Nat. Currently senior advisor to Mayor Nick Smith in Nelson.

      Very political appointment and preparing for an HRC cleanout like all other Departments and otherwise 'independent' entities.

      Also very pro-Israel.

  8. Ad 8
    19 August 2024 at 1:53 pm

    If Ethiopia can ban combustion vehicles successfully, why can't we?

    https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/17/climate/ethiopia-evs-gas-car-ban-climate/index.html

    • gsays 8.1
      19 August 2024 at 2:56 pm

      Probably taking us too close to China for the likes of 2-Tesla-Christopher.

    • Belladonna 8.2
      19 August 2024 at 3:52 pm

      Given that Ethiopia has only around 50 charging stations – it's more like banning imports of all cars.

      And, even if the charging station was resolved (unlikely) it's also facing fairly extreme issues with the electricity infrastructure as a whole (lots of power outages).

      https://restofworld.org/2024/ethiopia-gas-car-ban-ev-chargers/

      • Ad 8.2.1
        19 August 2024 at 7:50 pm

        Really you mean they are facing the energy transition with fewer resources and more political direction than everyone outside of the EU and China.

        • Belladonna 8.2.1.1
          20 August 2024 at 9:43 am

          Doesn't sound much like an energy transition – more like an energy contraction.
          And, given that currently at least half of the country has no electricity supply (primarily burning wood, etc. for cooking) – it seems like a very large aspiration to convert entirely to EVs.

          There is also major controversy with Egypt over the building of dams on the Nile – and the downstream consequences.

          https://climate-diplomacy.org/magazine/conflict/politics-grand-ethiopian-renaissance-dam

          On a smaller scale, we have the same issue in NZ – where conversion to EVs has not been matched by equivalent generation capacity – resulting in the increased use of coal and gas fired generation, and the power-price hikes we've seen this winter.

  9. Jimmy 9
    19 August 2024 at 3:57 pm

    Government needs to sort this sort of thing out urgently. What makes the daughter feel she is entitled to live in a tax payer provided property that I'm sure is needed for someone on the list that is more needy, and not even pay any rent for 10 months!

    Kāinga Ora tenant dies but daughter moves in, changes the locks | Stuff

    • Visubversa 9.1
      19 August 2024 at 4:26 pm

      KO has dealt with that before- probably lots of times. I was in the CAB at one stage and a family came in very distressed because they did not inherit their mother's tenancy of a State House. Their father had been a Public Servant on transfer decades before and qualified for a State House. After he died, the rest of the family stayed there – paying a quarter of their mother's pension as rent. The now adult kids never moved out, or became co-tenants – possibly because their income would have been assessed for the rent.

      Their mother died and KO gave them notice to leave. One of them – a sole parent may have qualified for a KO tenancy, but would have had to get in the queue with every body else.

  10. ianmac 10
    19 August 2024 at 4:58 pm

    By the way. The Herald did have a heading for Politics but now it hasn't. Wonder if they removed it so there will be nowhere to publish any criticism of their PM.

  11. ianmac 11
    19 August 2024 at 5:12 pm

    This morning on Morning Report, Simeon was asked where the money for Police road drink and drug testing was going to come from. Simeon said redirection but that 70 million would be withheld from the Police until they met the targets.

    Wow! But I have seen it reported nowhere else.

    • bwaghorn 11.1
      19 August 2024 at 7:00 pm

      He did go on about something along those lines on te news last night,

      It seems underfunded police can only access the money to do the job by doing the job with out the funding!!!!

    • Ad 11.2
      19 August 2024 at 7:48 pm

      The Police deserve a hard budget rule over them.

      Their corporate culture to all other crown entities is arrogant and toxic.

      Goid job.

    • Psycho Milt 11.3
      19 August 2024 at 9:05 pm

      So far, haven't seen a single journalist ask either Brown or the Police about the efficacy of the available drug testing. If the cops were having to transfer money from other areas so they could spend it on testing to establish whether someone driving a car used cannabis at some point in the last week, I can't be the only one who'd feel like my tax dollars were not being well spent, but no journalist asks whether this "roadside drug testing" actually identifies impairment or not.

    • Anne 11.4
      19 August 2024 at 9:13 pm

      Now I know what was going on last week.

      Was driving along Lake Rd, Devonport when I spotted a line of cars ahead. It transpired the police were doing large scale drink/drug testing. There were three of them [plus extra cops standing around I don't know what for] and they worked in unison… letting a few cars through without stopping them. It came to my turn and I was stopped. I wanted to suggest that I could think of far better things he could be doing than stopping old ladies to see if they were drunk in charge of a vehicle. I would have if I had known what was going on.

      So, the cops are spending up large on testing in the middle of the day in the middle of the week. Something has to give. The real crims will have a field day knowing they're local boys in blue will be too busy knocking up young mums and pensioners on their way to do their SM shopping. 😉

      • Nic the NZer 11.4.1
        19 August 2024 at 9:47 pm

        Being scheduled in the middle of the day this was likely a training exercise, rather than an attempt to catch any drunk or drugged drivers.

        • Anne 11.4.1.1
          19 August 2024 at 10:46 pm

          Never thought of that. You be right. My cop looked very young. Getting them primed and ready for the testing blitz.

          • tWig 11.4.1.1.1
            20 August 2024 at 11:16 am

            More spent on drunk driving means less spent on meth, a dangerous, addictive drug that destroys communities. Wrong emphasis on relative harm caused to society. And the expensive, but legal habit of addictive nicotine, a drug that is very hard to break the habit for a proportion of people.

  12. Jenny 12
    20 August 2024 at 6:35 am

    Bearded Git @1.1

    19 August 2024 at 10:49 am

    The Palestinians should concede nothing…..

    It is all very well to say that from the safety and comfort of your living room in New Zealand, but what if your children were being butchered in front of your eyes you would 'concede' everything.

    As Marwan Bishara says it is a matter of power. Who has it, who doesn't.

    This is not a war, it is a one sided slaughter.

    The Israelis are doing everything in their power to wipe out the Palestinians, the Palestinians are doing everything in their power to prevent it.

    The US Qatar and Egypt have proposed a three stage plan. Stage 1 is a temporary ceasefire, with the possibility of extending it into a permanent ceasefire, that is stage 2. Stage 3 is the rebuilding of Gaza.

    Hamas, with whatever power they have, want a ceasefire and partial prisoner echange, with the possibility of extending it to stage 2 a full prisoner exchange and permanent ceasefire. The Israelis are doing everything within their power to prevent any ceasefire. The Israelis have said, any ceasefire must be temporary, Even with a full handover of all the hostages the Israelis say that they will continure the war until Hamas is eliminated.

    The outcome will be decided as Marwan Bishara says, by who has the most power..