Open mike 23/03/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 23rd, 2024 - 81 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 …

81 comments on “Open mike 23/03/2024 ”

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  1. Anne 1
    23 March 2024 at 10:56 am

    An atrocious act reminiscent of our own Chch attack except it took place at a concert hall and there was a small group of "extremists" involved.

    Yes it took place in Moscow, Russia. Yes we don't like what Russia is doing to Ukraine. But these are innocent people killed and maimed just as in Chch.

    Will Luxon have the balls to send a message of sympathy and understanding on our behalf to the people of Moscow? I doubt it. But he may prove me wrong.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/512479/gunmen-kill-at-least-40-in-attack-at-concert-hall-near-moscow

  2. Descendant Of Smith 2
    23 March 2024 at 11:23 am

    Maybe the landlord should kick him out.

    Prime Minister Christoper Luxon's electorate office has been vandalised for the third time in less than six months. Footage taken in east Auckland's Botany on Friday shows the words "grant the visas" painted on the walls of Luxon's office in black.

    An image of Luxon had also been targeted with a moustache and hair drawn on.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/03/prime-minister-christopher-luxon-s-auckland-office-vandalised-for-third-time-in-six-months.html

    • alwyn 2.1
      23 March 2024 at 11:58 am

      "Maybe the landlord should kick him out"

      It is people with attitudes like yours which encourages many MPs to buy their Electorate Office properties. They can rely on keeping the property available rather than be forced out by anti-social b******ds like yourself trying to wreck the place.

      It does open up some interesting considerations though. Would you approve of a landlord being able to evict a tenant because that tenant has voted for a party (say Labour) that the landlord does not approve of? By your reckoning they would be entitled to do so.

      • Descendant Of Smith 2.1.1
        23 March 2024 at 12:15 pm

        lol.

        • alwyn 2.1.1.1
          23 March 2024 at 12:32 pm

          Were you amused and did you laugh out loud when

          Hone Harawira's Office had shots fired at it?

          Helen Clark's Office was vandalised?

          James Shaw was assaulted?

          John Key's electorate office was fire-bombed?

          I suppose you thought they were hilarious if you "lol" about this one.

          https://nzissues.com/Community/threads/willie-jackson-thinks-theres-a-violent-shift-in-political-debate.35879/page-3

          • Descendant Of Smith 2.1.1.1.1
            23 March 2024 at 2:05 pm

            The lol is at you. Stop being a moron.

            It was clearly a self evident joke – we all, including yourself, know who the landlord is.

            Right wingers get so emotional. Making mountains out of molehills since I don't know when. Extrapolating and projecting and thin edge wedging. Just waiting for you to invoke the modern equivalent of the Reichstag Fire Decree. Sort those communist agitators out.

            • gsays 2.1.1.1.1.1
              23 March 2024 at 7:11 pm

              It's what happens when a tory/conservative/capitalist/Hoskings handmaiden tries to appear like they care about people.

              So out of character, it's like watching a horse trying to walk backwards.

          • Ad 2.1.1.1.2
            23 March 2024 at 9:18 pm

            Fully agree Alwyn.

            An MP has a highly exposed job, with plenty of implied violence coming with it.

            After the attack on our Parliamentary grounds in 2022 that could easily have turned into our very own January 6th – and all the abuse and threats that MPS got after that – I can see why there were so many retirements.

            It is aggravating that so many budget cuts are simply generating petty spite like vandalism rather than broadscale public protest, as we would have in decades gone. Time for those hard core activists with a vigilante sneer to be arrested, shamed, and jailed.

            Anyone on the left excusing consistent attacks on the PM's office needs their head read.

            • Descendant Of Smith 2.1.1.1.2.1
              23 March 2024 at 9:39 pm

              Where in here has a single person condoned it? Stop buying into Alwyn's framing.

  3. Patricia Bremner 3
    23 March 2024 at 12:06 pm

    Once again Alwyn, you "bark at every passing car" and completely miss the point !!

    • Jilly Bee 3.1
      23 March 2024 at 12:11 pm

      Yes, Patricia, I sometimes think Alwyn is part of the 'Convoy of Stupid' Grant Robertson was referring to in his Valedictory speech earlier this week.

    • alwyn 3.2
      23 March 2024 at 12:12 pm

      And the point is what precisely? Is it acceptable to vandalise an MPs Office? Can I evict a tenant because other people are attacking him?

      What are you advocating Patricia?

      • Patricia Bremner 3.2.1
        23 March 2024 at 2:46 pm

        The point is that you stop catastrophising.
        Luxon is the Landlord !!
        DofS was making a joke….
        Your list shows there are always protests, some more threatening than others, but has little relevance to the joke. The sad thing is getting so prickly it has to be explained, and even then you would not “get it” because it requires the ability to laugh at yourself.

        • alwyn 3.2.1.1
          23 March 2024 at 3:14 pm

          I have never found claiming that someone is like Hitler was ever funny. And that is what those dopey bastards did. Such activities are never something to joke about. Never.

          Have a look at the picture of how they vandalised Luxon's picture. Then laugh.

          https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/03/prime-minister-christopher-luxon-s-auckland-office-vandalised-for-third-time-in-six-months.html

          • Rose 3.2.1.1.1
            23 March 2024 at 3:34 pm

            Well said alwyn.

            • Descendant Of Smith 3.2.1.1.1.1
              23 March 2024 at 5:53 pm

              Well said alwyn.

              That's stretching the English language a long, long way.

              Another hint :if you are going to talk right-wing you need to add plenty of superlatives. You need at least a "very" and a pinch of hyperbole.

              Luxon has it sussed:

              People like the farmers I met in Gore, who are working incredibly hard,

              The teachers I met in Auckland, who are laser focused

              New Zealand is the best country on Planet Earth.

              We reach for the stars even while we stay close to our roots.

              (I have no idea what this even means but mixing metaphors can be fun I guess eg it is good to know our PM has put the bit between his teeth and taken the bull by the horns”.)

              A great example is the huge cost-blow outs in the ferry project.

              it is a massive job to clean up the mess left by the previous government.

              is also a major problem.

              vast swathes of the former Eastern Bloc

              We are delivering big changes and I’m incredibly proud

              In my former life, it’s what I would have called a big turnaround job.

              massive infrastructure deficit.

              This is just from one speech which I haven't even finished. Wish someone would bring back "A Week of It".

              https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/state-nation-0

          • Phillip ure 3.2.1.1.2
            23 March 2024 at 4:00 pm

            Lux-on is nothing like hitler..

            Hitler garnered wide support from taking care of the German working class..

            Lux-on wants to eviscerate the nz working class..

            Nothing like each other…

          • Red Blooded One 3.2.1.1.3
            23 March 2024 at 4:12 pm

            and Alwyn quickly pulls Godwins Law when it is shown he is a Woke Snowflake with zero sense of humour regarding a joke about the Landlord of a building when no mention or support of the type of Grafitti had been stated.

          • Descendant Of Smith 3.2.1.1.4
            23 March 2024 at 4:26 pm

            Then make the point yourself and don't hijack my post with irrelevancies.

            Maybe you could link it to your posts criticising Stephen Jack for putting up a poem likening Jacinda to Hitler, or your outrage at the pub in Bluff that put up signs saying:

            A Bluff pub is in the firing line after placing a sign in its window comparing the Covid-19 response to Nazi Germany.

            The sign, which is meant to explain to customers that it is mandatory to sign in using the Covid-19 tracer app, makes reference to Nazis Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Operation Reinhard, a German plan to exterminate Jews.

            In a photo taken over the weekend, the sign faces out the window and labels Jacinda Ardern "Hitler" and Dr Ashley Bloomfield "Dr Ashley Goebbels".

            https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-bluff-bars-disturbing-sign-compares-ardern-to-hitler-covid-response-to-jewish-atrocities/GZ5MAIG52JPYLLCSPNWKPHGZ5E/

            Oy maybe the one where a supporter of the New Conservative Party put up a poster showing Jacinda with Hitler.

            https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-christchurch/residents-%E2%80%98deeply-offended%E2%80%99-over-hitler-ardern-sign

            Or the Act party candidate who wrote:

            Responding to a LinkedIn post by Seymour a year ago, Naidu-Franz said: "If you are wondering how the Nazis were able to come into power and do all the horrific things that they did, well you are looking at the start of the process right here. So Mr Seymour, when can we expect those who are unvaccinated to start wearing armbands? When can we expect to see concentration camps and re-education camps? When can we start expecting to see troops on our streets rounding up people?"

            To be clear this was one of the few times I agreed with Seymour who condemned it when it was raised later.

            Or the swastikas on Jacinda's hoardings.

            https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/07/jacinda-ardern-s-election-billboards-defaced-with-nazi-imagery.html

            There's so many examples I could do a long long list. I'm just unsure where your public outrage was at the time – maybe you just silently railed within.

            • alwyn 3.2.1.1.4.1
              23 March 2024 at 11:07 pm

              You seem to have kept track of the dreadful comments that Jacinda Ardern had to put up with.

              Did you laugh and tell jokes about them? If not why do you do so when the remarks are about Luxon? Are you really so ignorant that you equate him with one of the most evil people in history? Are you really so foolish?

              • Descendant Of Smith …
                24 March 2024 at 12:46 am

                Are you really so ignorant that you equate him with one of the most evil people in history?

                Where have I done that? Post your evidence.

          • joe90 3.2.1.1.5
            23 March 2024 at 4:52 pm

            Such activities are never something to joke about. Never.

            Unless of course you're a National party candidate.

            https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300857204/national-candidate-shared-a-poem-likening-jacinda-ardern-to-adolf-hitler?

          • weka 3.2.1.1.6
            23 March 2024 at 5:09 pm

            Have a look at the picture of how they vandalised Luxon's picture. Then laugh.

            Lol. I did laugh. I mean it's visually comically funny. But doubly because the MSM said someone had draw hair and moustache on him rather than saying they were mocking him as Hitler.

            Beyond that, what are you trying to say? That it's beyond the pale to the PM to Hitler? Do you want to explain that in the context of this?

            https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=dfbdc3300e18911d&q=jacinda+ardern+hitler&tbm=isch&source=lnms&prmd=invsmbtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj72q25wYmFAxVU0jQHHe7UCKAQ0pQJegQICRAB&biw=1256&bih=711&dpr=2.22

            • alwyn 3.2.1.1.6.1
              23 March 2024 at 11:02 pm

              I'm not sure which of the pictures in this link I am supposed to be looking at. There seem to be hundreds of them.

              However if it is one that is claiming that PM Ardern was behaving like Hitler I will say that it is incredibly offensive, Comparing anyone, with the exception of individuals like Kim Jong Un, or Putin, to Hitler is offensive.

              Do you think comparing Ardern to Hitler is offensive, or would you laugh at it?. Would you say the same about comparing Luxon to Hitler, or not? If your reaction isn't the same in the two cases can you really justify the difference?

              I think that Jacinda Ardern was the worst PM New Zealand has had in my lifetime. It doesn't mean I think she was evil in the way Hitler was.

              • SPC …
                23 March 2024 at 11:05 pm

                Who would be your second worst?

                • alwyn …
                  24 March 2024 at 9:47 am

                  I would be of two minds. Muldoon or Palmer. I would go with Muldoon as the second worst.

                  Best two are much easier. Holyoake was the best. Fraser was number two. I have a soft spot for Moore though. He saved Labour from extinction in just a couple of months.

                  • KJT …
                    24 March 2024 at 10:05 am

                    Amazing how ideology can blind someone.

                    Just out of interest how many blighted lives and deaths does someone have to cause to be comparable to Hitler? 1000, 10 000, 100, 000, millions? Is there a scale of evil equivalence?

                    Bombing 100 children as against 1000 000?

                    Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson, and their Governments decades of blighted lives and deaths from the illnesses and despair from the poverty they caused, say! That the Coalition of cuts is knowingly and cynically exacerbating.
                    More or less evil than the acknowledged fascists?
                    The effects on the people they harm is the same.

                    • alwyn …
                      24 March 2024 at 12:13 pm

                      You sound a little like the person who accepted Stalin's dictum.

                      "The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic."

                      For the record the generally accepted big three of 20th century madmen were Hitler, Stalin and Mao who each deliberately murdered or starved to death tens of millions of people, with Mao probably the champion at about 45 million of his own countrymen..

                      Only statistics as Stalin said. You on the other hand seem to have a phobia about Douglas and Richardson who didn't kill anyone. They carried out necessary economic changes that improved the average living standards of the New Zealand populace. If they were so bad why has no succeeding Government made any significant changes to their policies? To claim that they were evil, in the way the great dictators were, is as foolish as the people who equate Ardern with the Nazis. It just isn't so.

                    • KJT …
                      24 March 2024 at 2:40 pm

                      Alwyn.

                      "carried out necessary economic changes that improved the average living standards of the New Zealand populace".

                      Absolute bullshit. Most people's living standards have dropped ever since.

                      We still haven't recovered from the absolute disaster they caused.

                      And the damage they did to many thousands. “Killed nobody” How many children die of rheumatic fever, to name just one lot of people they killed. Caused by the callous increase in poverty in NZ, to benefit a few mostly non productive, speculators.

                      Of course it is in the hundreds of thousands, and now ongoing for generations. So. "Just a statistic"

                      And, The reason why the Neo-liberal disaster hasn't been reversed is it is too costly. Buying back and fixing rail, after they fucked it, cost enough on it's own.

                      Repairing the damage the current Coalition of clowns has done in just 100 days, will take decades.

                    • alwyn …
                      24 March 2024 at 8:15 pm

                      'Most people's living standards have dropped ever since."

                      And what is you evidence for this claim?

                    • KJT …
                      25 March 2024 at 7:41 am

                      Where have you been for the last 40 years?

                      Planet Key?

                    • alwyn …
                      25 March 2024 at 2:49 pm

                      @KJT.

                      Does your comment mean that you don't have any evidence but you feelz that way?

                    • KJT …
                      25 March 2024 at 10:59 pm

                      @Alwyn
                      No. It means the evidence is all around you, but your ideology has made you blind to it.

                      In the 60's and 70' s one income could feed a family and own a house. Even for those in labouring jobs. Now two incomes barely suffice.

                      Over 80% of the WW2 generation retired owning a house. What percentage of boomers, whose prime working years coincided with the Neo-Liberal disaster, will own a house without a mortgage. Less than 60%. The percentage for our children will be even less.

                      This is a disgraceful indictment on our Governments, given NZ 's per capita wealth.

                  • Macro …
                    24 March 2024 at 12:10 pm

                    Holyoake!!! LOL Best voice in the house.

                    You do know he was probably the worst grifter of the lot.

                    A prime example:

                    Goldsmith was less restrained, noting Holyoake’s ‘great ingenuity for turning events to his advantage’ and the fact that many thought the road construction ‘had the smell of fish’ about it.24

                    Holyoake would have known for some time that the Crown was going to build roads to access the land being developed to the north and west of the lake. In September 1959 the Taupo Times reported that construction of a highway up the western side of the lake would soon commence, and added in October 1960 that ‘The actual construction of the new 33-mile highway is only incidental to the network of roads which must intersect the whole of the Western Bay area now that the development of the new farmlands is well under way.’25 It seems more than likely that the Deputy Prime Minister was well aware of all these impending developments. The question really boiled down to one of timing.

                    https://www.nzjh.auckland.ac.nz/docs/2010/NZJH_44_2_03.pdf

                    Oh and we have him to thank for our involvement in Vietnam as well.

                    • alwyn …
                      24 March 2024 at 12:31 pm

                      I suggest that you read and learn about Holyoake's action during the Vietnam.

                      He opposed the war and went to extremes to ensure that we never sent anyone except volunteers to the country. Even the regular force members weren't sent there unless they requested the assignment. No conscripts were ever sent there, in contrast to the US or Australia.

                      There were only 3,000 people who went there, and the peak was only 550 in 1968. 37 died on active service during the whole 12 years there were people from here involved.. They were not actually front line troops but mostly artillery in support roles back from the front.

                      Holyoake managed to resist enormous pressure from the US to send more troops. He actually encouraged demonstrations so that he could tell the US that he couldn't do any more as he would lose office and a Labour Government would certainly do less and might even recognize the North Vietnamese as the Government of the South.

                      In summary he gave as little support as was possible.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    24 March 2024 at 2:58 pm

                    There were only 3,000 people who went there, and the peak was only 550 in 1968.

                    … during the whole 12 years there were people from here involved.

                    By then, a total of 3,890 New Zealand military personnel, all volunteers, had served in Vietnam from June 1964 to December 1972.
                    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_in_the_Vietnam_War#Withdrawal

                    "We can have a big debate about the technical numbers", but where would that get us – it's all about the vibe.
                    Any joy devising a better method of calculation? It's been 7 weeks smiley

                    The last, most shameful chapter of NZ's involvement in the Vietnam War
                    Defence officials had not disclosed their presence to the government and the hapless Defence Minister Allan McCready, who was shielded from the youngsters when he visited Dong Ba Thin, denied my story when it was published. Even after being corrected, he claimed that the number trained by New Zealanders was insignificant – "about 10".

                    • alwyn …
                      24 March 2024 at 6:35 pm

                      I took my statistics from the Official New Zealand Government material on Vietnam.

                      If I had to choose I assume that it will be more accurate than Wikipedia.

                      On the other hand I did misquote it. It does not say there were only 3,000. It says there were over 3,000, so you number could be accurate.

                      "The Vietnam War was our longest and most contentious military experience of the twentieth century. Over 3000 New Zealanders served in South Vietnam from 1963 to 1975."

                      https://www.vietnamwar.govt.nz/nz-vietnam-war

                    • alwyn …
                      24 March 2024 at 8:11 pm

                      "Any joy devising a better method of calculation?"

                      I thought you were joking when you asked for this. I would have thought you would have learnt this sort of thing at Primary School.

                      It has nothing to do with Economics. It has nothing to do with Statistics. It is simply what calculations are valid and which aren't.

                      Here is a simple example. If I tell you that the average age of the New Zealand population aged less than 100 is 38 and the average age of people over 100 was 102. Would you happily tell me that the average age of the population is (38 + 102) / 2 or 70?

                      Would you think again if I told you there were 5 million under 100 and 300 over 100? That is the level of the question you were asking and why I thought you were simply joking.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    24 March 2024 at 3:11 pm

                    Ha ha – only 6 weeks!

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    24 March 2024 at 9:00 pm

                    I thought you were joking when you asked for this.

                    smiley I'm not joking alwyn – are you?

                    You've critiqued my method of calculating the "per annum minimum wage increase above inflation" by mentioning inflation "in Venuzela in 2017", and by using another "simple example" at 8:11 pm today.

                    Perfectly prepared to accept that the method of calculation I used is flawed, but only if you can provide a worked example of a better method of calculation using the mutually-agreed relevant figures, which I set out again below for your convenience.

                    Allowing for 15% inflation, the per annum minimum wage increase above inflation was ~1.8% ([31% – 15%] / 9 years) under National-led govts.

                    Allowing for 25% inflation, the per annum minimum wage increase above inflation was ~3.2% ([44% – 25%] / 6 years) under Labour-led govts.

                    You seem ‘reluctant’ to show a better method using these figures – what would you conclude, if our positions were reversed?

                    Minimum wage increase slammed as ‘tiny‘ by Labour, but it could’ve been lower [1 Feb 2024]

                    The Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety recommended to Cabinet an even lower minimum wage increase than what has been agreed to.

                    The government is already copping criticism from Labour over what the party called a “tiny” and “pathetic” 2 percent increase to the minimum wage, from $22.70 to $23.15.

                    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/508173/minimum-wage-increase-slammed-as-tiny-by-labour-but-it-could-ve-been-lower

                    Does this mean that the minimum wage has decreased in real terms? How would you even calculated that?

                    • Michael P …
                      25 March 2024 at 8:48 pm

                      One of the best ways to look at wages in my opinion is wages against productivity.

                      Prior to the 80's, there was a clear 'connection' between productivity growth and wage growth. So as productivity increased, wages also increased in line with this. In other words, workers were rewarded in line with increased productivity.

                      Since the 80's, productivity has continued to increase whereas wages in real terms, have flatlined. In other words all of the profit from increased productivity over the last 4 decades has gone to shareholders and executives instead of a fair share of it going to workers via increased wages.

                      Here's a graphical example which is US data but from memory (and logic) I'm pretty sure all western economies are similar:

                      https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/03/01/wages-and-productivity/

              • weka …
                23 March 2024 at 11:08 pm

                out of curiosity, how is it offensive to you?

              • KJT …
                24 March 2024 at 3:26 pm

                Comparing Jacinda Adern, who did her best to save lives, to Hitler is simply a joke.

                David Seymour however, whose policies if enacted will kill tens of thousands with the illnesses of poverty and despair, and blight the lives of millions more to come, is simply being accurate.

                The current callous dismissal and disregard for people's lives and livelihoods, to benefit a few, reminds me of a commentator on WW2 Nazism who talked about the "banality of evil". And how the evil doers didn't think of themselves as evil.

          • Ad 3.2.1.1.7
            23 March 2024 at 9:21 pm

            Unless these vandals can be persuaded that Labour, Greens and TPM have the nous to work together and be an effective opposition that rallies New Zealand, I fear there will be more of this dumb bullshit.

            Hipkins just needs to get out of his shell and pick up the phone the Chloe and start something.

            • newsense 3.2.1.1.7.1
              23 March 2024 at 11:12 pm

              Except that Anderton and Clark already had history. And Chippy is mostly a control freak leader, who’s uninterested in the policy making structure of his own party. He thinks about clinging on.

              I can’t see that he’s a man who would risk giving the Greens (who are being done over by someone, if not themselves) more air.

              This has to be a one term government.

              But what survives?

              Luxon is all kinds of…it wouldn’t surprise if he unilaterally scrapped the MRDS to increase his own wealth. Which it will significantly. That’s a conflict of interest. It’s a soft corruption.

              Unlike more obvious corruptions of Ministers granting favours as one shot deciders.

              Front footing what a coalition might look like and where any leadership would come from is essential. Hipkins again offers nothing and overrules everything. $5 off is a coupon, it’s not a vision for how the society can combat infrastructure deficit and being poor and survive the next ten years…

              • newsense …
                23 March 2024 at 11:12 pm

                I feel like inflation is screwing our exports.

              • Ad …
                24 March 2024 at 8:36 pm

                This is a three term government unless Hipkins and Davidson can actually unite, and do it soon and in durable form.

              • Michael P …
                25 March 2024 at 8:52 pm

                Labor needs to focus (damn hard) on the Labor Party and forget about the Green Party and TPM.

                As Peters has shown well whether you like him or not is that the time for talking to other party's (publicly) is after an election. Until then they need to concentrate on revealing what Labor truly is.

  4. Descendant Of Smith 4
    23 March 2024 at 5:29 pm

    "which encourages many MPs to buy their Electorate Office properties."

    This I did think was funny.

    Pretty sure claiming allowances to rent to yourself is a much bigger incentive than anything I may or may not do.

  5. Bryan Dods 5
    23 March 2024 at 7:39 pm

    Perhaps the graffiti artist first tried to make the poster look like Mussolini .

    Trouble was nobody could spot the difference.

  6. Bearded Git 6
    23 March 2024 at 7:46 pm

    Dolphins 1 Rich Pricks 0.

    Maybe there is a god?

    • Stan 6.1
      23 March 2024 at 8:06 pm

      Agreed BG. Russell Coutts throwing his toys out of the cot, saying SailGP wouldn't return to Lyttelton due to "minority interests".

      I loved the quote on RNZ from a Lyttelton local who said "at the end of the day, the minority group would be the people who want to see these dolphins harmed".

    • Ad 6.2
      23 March 2024 at 9:34 pm

      Auckland managed to do the Americas Cup races with quite similar conditions only 3 years ago. Clearly Christchurch isn't suited to do that kind of racing after all, so they should come back to Auckland.

  7. weka 7
    23 March 2024 at 9:27 pm

    some weekend political humour from Monty Python

    https://twitter.com/HeavyMetalSvet/status/1771252890880839901

  8. Ad 8
    23 March 2024 at 9:27 pm

    Just want to put on record the sadness at the loss of Judge Phil Recordon. He was an amazing leader of the legal profession by constantly upgrading legal systems, and by supporting civil society in a whole host of areas. He was at least as progressive in his work as the great Ted Thomas.

    Unstinting work for civil society causes from the early 1980s, and a powerhouse of justice in South Auckland.

    A great man.

  9. Descendant Of Smith 9
    23 March 2024 at 9:44 pm

    Daily review conspicuous by its absence.

    At least we are getting noticed I guess.

    Which brings me to New Zealand’s deputy prime minister Winston Peters and his use of Tubthumping. The man is clearly modelling himself on the recent upsurge of populist politicians, these ultra-wealthy men somehow getting to claim to be “of the people”. Across the globe, from Italy to Sweden and from Jair Bolsonaro to Donald Trump, these self-styled “outsiders” are gaining power and popularity using slogans that appeal to ordinary people, slogans that make no sense when you put them in the mouths of millionaire careerists. Their rhetoric is anti-elite, and yet they clearly and definably are the elite. Their popularity depends upon them playing at being just like you and me, the good guy at the bar who buys you a drink while you’re watching the football, who tells you the reason the country is going down the drain isn’t because of the multibillionaire corporate hoarding of the world’s wealth but because … cue a culture-warrior rant about immigration and snowflakes and experts and “I did my own research”.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/22/my-band-hit-tubthumping-is-the-latest-working-class-anthem-to-be-co-opted-by-populist-politicians

  10. weka 10
    23 March 2024 at 10:08 pm

    This is very disappointing from the Greens. They need to do more than a routine candidate selection review.

    More claims emerge against suspended Green MP Darleen Tana

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350222068/more-claims-emerge-against-suspended-green-mp-darleen-tana

    Good commentary from Gareth Hughes. Describes Fitzsimons as Steel Magnolia by way of comparison.

    What I don't get is how no-one knew. The Waiheke community much be pretty small.

    • SPC 10.1
      23 March 2024 at 10:23 pm

      The next two off the list are (in for …. and Shaw or Shaw and ….).

      • Francisco Hernandez (Dunedin) 17
      • Benjamin Doyle (Hamilton West) 18

      The new reserves then would be

      • Mike Davidson (Ilam) 19
      • Stephanie Rodgers (Ōhāriu) 20

      https://www.greens.org.nz/green_party_unveils_its_list_for_the_2023_election

      The burden of growing the vote, a need for more "why not" research on candidates down the list.

      • weka 10.1.1
        23 March 2024 at 10:32 pm

        good to see another South Island MP for the Greens. I hope Hernandez is ready. I only know him from twitter, where he shitposted (in a good way) through the early election.

  11. SPC 11
    24 March 2024 at 1:01 am

    Janis Joplin tribute by Melissa Etheridge (bald post chemo) and Joss Stone in 2005 (pre Caribbean phase)

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

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    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
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    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
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    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

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  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

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  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

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  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

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  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

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  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

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  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

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  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

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  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

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  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

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    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

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  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

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    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

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    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

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    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
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    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
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    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
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    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
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  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
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    7 days ago
  • Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot

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    7 days ago
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    1 week ago
  • Update on global IT outage

    Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
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  • New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership

    New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.    “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
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  • New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns

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  • 'Pacific Futures'

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