Open mike 20/01/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 20th, 2023 - 56 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

56 comments on “Open mike 20/01/2023 ”

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  1. Visubversa 1
    20 January 2023 at 7:46 am

    We lose trust in Government agencies that lie.

    https://openinquiry.nz/2023/01/15/sex-lies-and-the-census

    • Sabine 1.1
      20 January 2023 at 8:15 am

      Oh yes, her penis and his vagina, correct data is for suckers.

      ” Sex is based on a person’s sex characteristics, such as their chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive organs. While typically based upon the sex characteristics observed and recorded at birth or infancy, a person’s sex can change over the course of their lifetime and may differ from their sex recorded at birth.”

      oh my, the science………throw aboard your old believes and march to the new tune where amputating healthy organs and injecting cross sex hormones is changing ones sex.
      Just believe the science. And people wonder why others get cynical.
      I do wonder how much of a studentloan the person has.

    • tinderdry6 1.2
      20 January 2023 at 12:15 pm

      Thanks for the link – a good read.

      " This policy means that data on ‘males’ and ‘females’ will ordinarily be based on a person’s subjective gender identity rather than his or her sex. "

      Just one of the many problems this madness is going to create.

      • Visubversa 1.2.1
        20 January 2023 at 5:17 pm

        Yes, and never again will we have accurate data on the basis of sex. No data for pay equity – or even for equal pay.

  2. joe90 2
    20 January 2023 at 7:54 am

    Abandoning the loser.

    /

    Iran will not recognize new regions as part of Russia

    Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that Tehran does not recognize Crimea, Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as part of Russia. According to him, despite "excellent relations" with Moscow, Iran recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

    https://www-kommersant-ru.translate.goog/doc/5774706?from=top_main_2&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    Serbian President Vucic denounces Russian occupation of Crimea and Donbas

    “We said from the beginning that we cannot support Russia's invasion of Ukraine,” Vucic said in an interview with Bloomberg on Jan. 18.

    “For us Crimea is Ukraine, Donbass is Ukraine – it will remain so.”

    https://news.yahoo.com/serbian-president-vucic-denounces-russian-183100868.html

    • Sabine 2.1
      20 January 2023 at 8:20 am

      Ah, yes, the stellar human rights proponent Iran. The country were old men are hanging their young by the many daily in order to pretend that God wants the non males hidden under a bedsheet if ever they dare to leave the house, that gayness must be castrated into womanhood or else be hanged, were the girls get raped into death so that they may not enter heaven for their audacity of wanting a life on their own rather then be considered owned property by their father, husband and state.

      Oh well, what would the winning west do without such a stellar supporter. 🙂 Never mind that Russia still does not have to win. Never mind that the Ukraine without Nato would already have lost. Never mind that if Russia fights Nato rather then Ukraine, all the Nato Memberstates might want to check how that will affect them.

    • SPC 2.2
      20 January 2023 at 11:53 am

      The Serbian position is quite the riposte to Putin.

      It is a nation that had it own issues with the break-up of Yugoslavia – conflict with Croatia and Bosnia over borders (not always in accord with the local of ethnic Serbs). And Russia supported Serbia then.

      The Iranian position is inexplicable given they are supplying drones weapons to Russia to attack the supply of power and water to Ukrainian civilians.

      It may be one of principle over agreed national borders/national sovereignty – but they supply weapons to Shia militias in Iraq and Hizbollah in Lebanon which diminishes the capability of nation state governance.

      Or it could be their position vis a vis Turks wanting a 30 mile occupation zone in north Syria.

      • Scud 2.2.1
        20 January 2023 at 6:46 pm

        Both probably taking a Each Way Bet now, instead of putting it all on the horse called Russia?

        If what I've heard is correct Iran has taken some very big losses IRT to its instructors teaching the Russians how use their UAV's & their UAV's are starting to lose some of its effectiveness against the Ukrainian Ground Base Air Defence.

        Which is now out stripping supply for Russia, but also to their other back Terrorist Groups with the Middle East Region.

        I think the Serbs are now having 2nd thoughts at physically & morally supporting Russia via antics in Kosovo with the KFRO Troops?

        I wouldn't be surprised if the EU has read them the Riot Act, as it has been a long term state economic goal to join the EU at some stage?

        Has Economic reality finally kick in for the Serbs?

        • SPC 2.2.1.1
          20 January 2023 at 7:05 pm

          Clearly the main focus atm is realising membership of the EU. While reluctant to apply sanctions on Russia (unwilling to meet such a cost while not yet in the EU), they seem to be on side with the EU on respect for the Ukraine borders.

        • joe90 2.2.1.2
          20 January 2023 at 7:16 pm

          Has Economic reality finally kick in for the Serbs?

          Reckon. The relatively wealthy EU or a skint Russia?

          As for Iran; the last thing the mullahs would want is to boost Azeri and Kurdish ambitions of secession by recognising disputed territories.

        • lprent 2.2.1.3
          21 January 2023 at 8:03 am

          The Serbs have a seccessionist area – Kosovo. A problem that was caused by active and independently documented ethnic cleansing in the 90s.

          Unlike the fantasy ethnic issues and faked referendums in the DPR, LPR, and Crimea.

          If Serbia diplomatically supports breakaways in Ukraine how can they argue against Kosovo?

    • mikesh 2.3
      20 January 2023 at 9:08 pm

      Why does Iran say this at this point in time? The Ukranian war has been going on for a year. Does Turkey's recent discovery of natural gas in the Black Sea have anything to doe with it?

      https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/turkeys-natural-gas-found-black-sea-now-comes-710-bcm-erdogan-2022-12-26/

      Iran is a supplier of gas to Turkey.

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

  3. Robert Guyton 3
    20 January 2023 at 8:53 am

    .

    • bwaghorn 3.1
      20 January 2023 at 1:26 pm

      That's deep dude

      • joe90 3.1.1
        20 January 2023 at 1:39 pm

        Way back when I first started using the interwebs a message consisting of a single dot signified a moment of silence/mourning.

        And with Robert being a bloke of a certain age, David Crosby comes to mind.

        • bwaghorn 3.1.1.1
          20 January 2023 at 1:52 pm

          Aaagh I see, hadn't noticed the dot on my grubby farm boy phone, was just having fun but accidentally got it right it would seem.

        • Mac1 3.1.1.2
          20 January 2023 at 2:00 pm

          "Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground.

          Mother earth will swallow you, lay your body down." Crosby Stills and Nash

        • Shanreagh 3.1.1.3
          20 January 2023 at 2:06 pm

          When I started it meant

          'I agree '

  4. SPC 4
    20 January 2023 at 12:05 pm

    There are a number of alt right social media sites where you might find conspiracy theories of this sort … or Groundswell.

    That’s why the true underlying agenda of those who preach the gospel of co-governance can only be the re-confiscation of the tribal territories lost since the Land Wars. This may sound far-fetched, but it is not impossible. As Māori discovered in the 1860s, and subsequent decades, all that is required to deprive a people of their lands, forests and fisheries is control of the legislative process, and the military force necessary to enforce the legislators’ will.

    While Pakeha New Zealanders remained united in their resolve to construct a “Better Britain” on the lands confiscated and/or acquired (all too often by immoral means) from the country’s indigenous people, the notion of re-confiscation could be dismissed as an absurdity. But, if a substantial portion of the Pakeha population, most particularly those occupying the critical nodes of state power: the judiciary, the public service, academia, the state-owned news-media, and at least one of the two major political parties; were to become ideologically disposed to facilitate the re-confiscation of Māori resources, then the idea would begin to sound a whole lot less far-fetched.

    How might a New Zealand parliament dominated by political parties favourably disposed towards co-governance set about transferring land held by private Pakeha/foreign interests to iwi authorities? One method would see all kinds of environmental and cultural obligations imposed on landowners – obligations that could not be fulfilled without rendering the enterprise unprofitable. Crown purchase (at a fraction of the land’s true worth) might follow, allowing the state to amass a vast amount of land. This process would undoubtedly be speeded-up by the consequent catastrophic collapse in agricultural land prices, which only constant and massive Crown purchases could stem.

    With most of New Zealand land now in the possession of the Crown, returning it to tangata whenua would be the obvious next step towards meaningful co-governance. The Waitangi Tribunal, or some other, similar, body could be tasked with delimiting Aotearoa’s iwi boundaries as they existed at the time of the Treaty’s signing in February 1840. (Given that many of these boundaries would have been extended, reduced, or eliminated altogether as a consequence of the Musket Wars of the 1820s and 30s, deciding who should get what would likely entail a fair amount of ‘robust’ negotiation!)

    The critical question to be settled in order for this process to succeed is whether a pro-co-governance parliament could rely upon the Police and the NZ Defence Force to enforce its legislative will. That there would be considerable resistance to the government’s plans may be taken as given, with such resistance escalating to terrorism and a full-scale armed rebellion highly likely. With the outbreak of deadly race-based violence, the loyalties of the Police and the NZDF would be tested to destruction.

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/01/17/what-is-co-governance/

    Now we have Chris Trotter suggesting that environmental and cultural burdens (at least he does not mentions fair pay industry awards for farm workers or better conditions for migrant workers) might be deliberately placed on landowners because of some design to reduce profits and the value of the land for transfer at lower cost to government to iwi.

    I would have expected the notion to have come from someone in ACT.

  5. SPC 5
    20 January 2023 at 12:42 pm

    The Taxpayers Union has done a January poll – it has Labour, Greens and MP at 57 seats and NACT at 63.

    A slight improvement (1 seat), the left block up 0.5% and the right block down 1%.

    https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/taxpayer_update_newsletter_230120?utm_campaign=230112_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=taxpayers

    • Bearded Git 5.1
      20 January 2023 at 9:45 pm

      It's all to play for SPC. Well done for grouping the MP as part of the Left: the MSM does not seem to understand this.

      I think Luxon will make mistakes when under pressure in the campaign…it's part of his DNA

    • bwaghorn 6.1
      20 January 2023 at 1:36 pm

      He's not dumb , he's a gutless vote grabbing stands for nothing climber,who wants the angry woman hating scum to vote for him so won't call them out like any politician with a spine would.

    • Shanreagh 6.2
      20 January 2023 at 1:57 pm

      OMG talk about minimise and miss the point…..it is not whether you read the twitter pages Mr Luxon and get annoyed, hurt or fearful it is all the rest of us who read them too and

      worry about whether

      our PM is safe

      our country is safe

      we are safe

      NZ has been infiltrated by groups like VFF, hard right wing elements

      our democratic institutions are going to be strong enough to withstand the constant battering from these groups

      our institutions are being called into disrepute

      we will all have to accomodate actions that are not good for us or our souls, ie making compromises that should not be made

      our way of life ie our freedoms that make us different to other countries, and that we love, will be threatened

      I see though he is not alone…..he may have taken guidance on his response from this person, Brigitte Morten, 'Political commentator and former National Party ministerial advisor'. She seems to think that the impact of malicious and despicable tweets/comment is solely limited to the persons spoken of. What a naive view.

      https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/01/helen-clark-s-comments-about-jacinda-ardern-naive-and-condescending-political-commentator-says.html

    • Maurice 6.3
      20 January 2023 at 9:35 pm

      Luxon later walked this back with Nicola Willis beside him (on TV News). The body language and facials made it look very much like she had had a few words with him.

      He may even have thought that he was getting a similar serving until told differently.

    • SPC 7.1
      20 January 2023 at 7:45 pm

      If this works then we can meet our methane targets without reduction in herd numbers (and export something to reduce such emissions worldwide).

      The delivery mechanism and the months of effectiveness make it viable, provided the animals remain healthy year on year.

      • bwaghorn 7.1.1
        20 January 2023 at 8:12 pm

        A quick Google tells me there a billion cattle in the world, (can't capture the graph to share)

        That's alot of methane, it's a lot of export $ if a kiwi company can sell it world wide.

      • weka 7.1.2
        20 January 2023 at 9:03 pm

        If this works then we can meet our methane targets without reduction in herd numbers (and export something to reduce such emissions worldwide).

        this would be a disaster. The amount of dairy cows we have is polluting ground, aquifers and rivers. It's an unmitigated disaster even without taking CC into account. We have twin crisis: climate and ecology, and dairy farming is the poster boy.

        This is why people talk about system change. The whole system of conventional industrial ag and economics is fundamentally flawed and needs to be redesigned to regenerative.

        • SPC 7.1.2.1
          20 January 2023 at 9:23 pm

          this would be a disaster

          Not for the planet.

          Sure dairy has its impact on waterways/acquifers which we knew about from the impact on North Island lakes, so the conversion of land from sheep farming to dairy in the South Island should have been regulated. We can still plan for water quality restoration to downside dairy herds and manage a move to mixed farming.

      • Drowsy M. Kram 7.1.3
        20 January 2023 at 10:18 pm

        …provided the animals remain healthy year on year.

        yes Worth a go.

        Benefits and risks of including the bromoform containing seaweed Asparagopsis in feed for the reduction of methane production from ruminants [19 March 2022 – review article]
        In conclusion, this synthesis of the literature suggests that large-scale aquaculture of Asparagopsis, and its application in methane mitigation strategies for ruminants at or near minimum effective inclusion levels, may not negatively impact animal health, food quality, and ozone depletion.

        The Seaweed Eating Sheep of North Ronaldsay

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromoform
        Bromoform is known as an inhibitor of methanogenesis and is a common component of seaweed. Following research by CSIRO and its spin-off FutureFeed, several companies are now growing seaweed, in particular from the genus Asparagopsis, to use as a feed additive for livestock to reduce methane emissions from ruminants.

    • Patricia Bremner 7.2
      20 January 2023 at 8:50 pm

      That would be brilliantlaugh