Open mike 21/04/2024
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6:00 am, April 21st, 2024 - 27 comments
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A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...27 minutes ago - Dance Magic
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...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...12 hours ago - Fact brief – Are we heading into an ‘ice age’?
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The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...1 day ago - Bernard’s last Saturday Soliloquy for 2024
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...1 day ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, December 21
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Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment: Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...3 days ago
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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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- The Wing Parties’ Economic Policies.
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In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...5 days ago
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- “Better economic management”
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
- Shameless, clueless
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
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...5 days ago
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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?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson In this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...6 days ago
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Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...6 days ago
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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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- Making Gravy
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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
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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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Starting the lettuce countdown on US Speaker Johnson now the Ukraine package has a successful vote.
The truss tomato had a chance against the lettuce, the market is sometimes for turning, but the 112 who voted against the legislation may not be.
I think that mocking him by comparing his actions to those of Truss are terribly mistaken.
He is willing to give up the role of Speaker in order to do something that he believes to be right. If he loses the Speaker's job then so what?
If only we had more politicians like him.
Oh you propose Mike Johnson for nobility?
Mike Johnson of Louisiana has bragged that he doesn't believe in the climate crisis – even though his home state has been ravaged by it.
He is comprehensively against abortion in fact calling it "An American Holocaust".
He has repeatedly voted against aid to Ukraine. Apart from today,
He stridently opposes LGBTQ rights believing that gay rights would enable people to marry their pets.
He was also one of the architects to overturn the 2020 election. That means that the official second in line to the presidency “violated his oath to the constitution and tried to disenfranchise four states”, as the writer Marcy Wheeler neatly put it. He helped lead a legal effort to reverse the results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Johnson is bottom-feeding scum and his career should die n a ditch.
He has repeatedly voted against aid to Ukraine. …
You mean public aid for the armaments industry, the only people to derive any benefit from this proxy war. You seem to be on the same wavelength as Senator Lindsey Graham, who declared in January last year: "I like the path we're on. With American weapons and money, Ukraine will fight Russia to the last Ukrainian."
https://twitter.com/colonelhomsi/status/1609642934244200448?lang=en
Russia's army has killed over 20,000 Ukrainians, 1,200 of whom were children. Russia's army has also captured a further 28,000 Ukrainians. Those deaths were caused by Russian armaments through the Russian armed attack on Ukraine.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293492/ukraine-war-casualties
The only thing holding Russia back from conquering the entire of Ukraine is US and EU armament deliveries. And yes that requires the US and EU to pay armaments manufacturers.
There's New Zealand and Australian funding and armaments that go into that as well. Good use of my taxpayer dollar as well.
But there’s no need to take my word for it, when you can hear Zelynsky’s appreciation:
“We appreciate every manifestation of support for our state and our independence, our people and our lives, which Russia wants to bury in ruins.”
“Certainly, we will use American support to strengthen both our nations and bring a just end to this war – a war that Putin must lose.”
He added that the U.S. had “showed its leadership from the first days of the war.”
https://kyivindependent.com/breaking-u-s-house-passes-61-billion-ukraine-aid-bill/
The only thing NATO armaments can and have achieved is to put Ukraine in a demographic death spiral. Prolonging the fighting has gradually lost territory for at best a delayed settlement.
It's unfortunate NATO misscalculated and Russia reacted of course but at that point there is only so much to do which won't risk nuclear conflict. A sane super power (like the Kennedy administration) would have sought a truce by now.
May you never be asked to defend yourself.
If you do ever piss off David Tua don't try to settle it in the ring.
Which nations have lost territory since the UN has formed – providing collective security (includes border integrity)?
A UN rule since 1949 has been to not recognise territory gain made by war. This is based on the law of contract – no forced consent. Thus Russia could only gain Ukraine territory by their consent without any prior use of force or occupation.
A policy designed to deter military aggression.
That a UNSC member is engaged in this action should be seen as ground for expulsion from that body.
The Russian action is of the 1930's scale – Italy in Ethiopia and Japan in China etc. That broke the League of Nations.
It's unfortunate but UN procedures have little impact on super powers (even Russia). I'm perfectly ok with sanctions being applied to Russia beyond the end of the conflict, but at present the US is just mandating the sacrifice of Ukrainian's in it's supposed US geo-political interests.
The main reason I give for Zelensky still carrying on is he will likely be assassinated domestically if he tries to settle things. It's probably only the US which can broker a deal here, and they should repatriate him at that time.
It's unfortunate that Russia is ruled by a psychopath who cares not a jot for the suffering he causes in his quest to bring back the Soviet Union.
Johnson appears to have had his Road to Damascus moment.
His current actions certainly seem to show a change in at least some of his beliefs don't they?
From the Guardian we have the following
"“I am going to allow an opportunity for every single member of the House to vote their conscience and their will,” he said, adding: “I’m willing to take a personal risk for that, because we have to do the right thing. And history will judge us.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/20/republicans-ukraine-aid-package-congress
Can anyone point me to a decent, and preferably non partisan, analysis of what's changed politically, diplomatically or militarily to bring about Johnson's, and the House Republican's change on Ukraine.
The GOP members of the House voted 112-101 against the aid package.
Johnson has changed his mind and while he is Speaker that allows it to come to a vote.
There has always been enough votes for the aid, if it came to a vote.
He became Speaker after a prolonged uncertainty about agreement on the appointment, thus was averse to place the party or nation through that again by acting without GOP caucus united behind him – lest he had to resign and the party renew that process all over again.
A small minority will now call for a replacement – which might wake up Trump and have him leave a court room and put something on Truth Social.
Yeah, but what changed to make Johnson change his mind and force it to a vote.
Did some of the 101 that voted for it quietly threaten him with a vacate motion if he didn't? Just like MTG is threatening because he did.
Or has something fundamentally changed in American attitudes toward Ukraine, and / or Russia?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/21/us/politics/mike-johnson-turnaround.html
Jon Stewart considers the past 100 years in the ME
https://youtube.com/shorts/qM69_2lt0bw?si=ZPX3QikkdNRoKghn
Sparrows. Lately the usually prolific sparrows have disappeared. Bread tossed on the lawn stays until it rots. Has anyone else lost their sparrows. If they have died out then that would be a serious warning about food chains etc.
Could be a salmonella outbreak tends to run through a flock from time to time.
Scuddys are very prone to salmonella with their ground feeding, will wipe out the local population until others come in fill the gap.
But also they could have gone where the feeding was better. They could be off feeding off a farmer's seed paddock and will be back in a few weeks, rather plump, and wanting to know where their bread is.
Job sharing MP's.
It would make the hours workable for mothers and work life balance parenting fathers.
The two intend to work week on and week off – presumably this would be at the federal parliament and involve them using the same housing there (that requires the other to read up on matters before Select Committees while working as electorate MP – no caucus is involved in their case as "Independent").
An alternative would be to divide the job between MP in the electorate and MP in parliament.
A male claims one person doing all the work makes them the more committed candidate for the job (glass ceiling protection argument).
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/514844/bronwen-bock-and-lucy-bradlow-want-to-become-australia-s-first-job-sharing-mps
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/04/21/who-helps-with-the-emotional-toll-of-being-an-mp/
Because Republicans always stand up for the rights of ethnic minorities, right?
.
U.S. Congresswoman Suspected of Having “Russian Handlers” After Transcarpathia Amendment
[…]
Greene’s amendment included the following language: “No funding shall be made available to Ukraine unless restrictions on ethnic minorities’, including Hungarians in Transcarpathia, right to use their native languages in schools are lifted.”
Political pundit ‘Jay in Kyiv’ responded: “The amendment that Marjorie Taylor Greene just proposed to sabotage the Ukraine bill is something that is such a nuanced Russian disinfo narrative that it could have only come directly from her Russian handlers.
https://2paragraphs.com/2024/04/u-s-congresswoman-suspected-of-having-russian-handlers-after-transcarpathia-amendment/
In reply to Ianmac at 3.
Check the number of cats in your neighbourhood. As much as I love them, they are killing machines. Especially for small birds.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/04/calls-for-national-cat-act-after-entire-population-of-robins-wiped-out.html
Thanks Stephen. We have no cats but a couple stroll through as though they own the place. However, the sparrows who usually fly by or squat on nearby roofs are absent. I went on a 19 km bike ride today and watched out and saw but one. (I live in Blenheim by the way.)
I'd suspect they have been sidetracked by some farmer's seed crop that's just been harvested. Marlborough has a significant seed crop production, and the extent and verity of it can vary from year to year. They are most likely out of town feeding up.
Unfortunately there's also some rather unpleasant methods employed to keep birds off these crops before they are harvested.
Down here (Whakatipu) most of our birds are quite seasonal, heading off to better feed at various times of year.