Open mike 23/03/2025

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 23rd, 2025 - 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 23/03/2025 ”

  1. Drowsy M. Kram 1
    23 March 2025 at 6:58 am

    David Seymour and the food fight he can’t win [23 March 2025]
    Even in the policy area where ACT was expected to drive transformation — reforming the machinery of government — he [Seymour] has fallen short. His case for reinvention was to create another new ministry, stuffed with more highly paid bureaucrats.
    …
    The problem with selling yourself as the anti-politician is that eventually, people start expecting results rather than just quips.

    He’s doing his best. It’s just not good enough for office.

    Luxon rescues flailing CoC partner – enlists foreign aid to deliver food to hungry kids – it's what Jesus would have done.

    The Secret Diary of .. Luxon of India

    MONDAY
    The party of honoured New Zealanders were shown an old fort. “Awesome,” said Mr Luxon.
    …
    FRIDAY
    Mr Luxon sat in the darkness of the Marabar Caves. He had wandered off the day before and got lost. His phone lost reception, and then the battery ran out.

    “Help,” he called out. “Help!”

    His betrothed, who sat undetected in another corner of the cave, regarded him sceptically.

    Reply
  2. SPC 2
    23 March 2025 at 7:29 am

    Items to look out for include potential changes to corporate tax rates and incentives for multinationals.

    Part of the problem with our current account deficit is offshore companies sending their profits overseas.

    The smart move is to increase tax on the larger corporates (progressive tax on companies) – the Oz banks 28 to 33 cents.

    This affords

    Accelerated depreciation on manufacturing technology would help boost wages, productivity and growth.

    And here we are, the OIO changes proposed were always go this way

    Also look for an agreement between coalition partners allowing wealthy foreigners to buy homes worth more than $5 million, rather than the $2m floor price scuttled by New Zealand First after the last election. Willis’ update last week was that this issue is currently at the “leader-to-leader” stage of discussions.

    The original proposal was for a 15% stamp duty.

    https://archive.li/X8pyw#selection-4159.0-4177.123

    Reply
    • SPC 2.1
      23 March 2025 at 7:44 am

      If it was a main residence no CGT accrues.

      Otherwise a 2.5M cost and a $5M sale – and a CGT on 2.5M would amount to more than 15% on the $5M.

      This is money National is losing by limiting the bright-line test to 2 years. And it applies for properties from 1 to $5M value.

      Reply
      • Bearded Git 2.1.1
        23 March 2025 at 9:48 pm

        That is why a wealth tax that includes the value of the main residence is far better than a CGT.

        Reply
    • James Thrace 2.2
      23 March 2025 at 1:42 pm

      A smarter move would be to impose a low, say 5%, tax on revenues for overseas owned companies.

      That ensures for every dollar earned in NZ, 5c is paid back to the govt.

      Also avoids the legal rort of MNCs “paying a loan” to their Irish based head office which is often an exorbitant amount, in order to reduce their total profits they can then claim they earned. It’s good jiggery pokery, but not good for the country they are depriving of resources.

      Reply
  3. SPC 3
    23 March 2025 at 7:53 am

    Post modernism and the intellect of the libertarian of the ACT ilk.

    The reason for it came from people like George Orwell***, who explained that governments try and control the media narrative.

    ACT libertarians, no less than others (see Seymour – more nutritious and more delicious for less money – a total and utter lie).

    The government not being seen as the abiter of objective truth is obvious from Marxist Leninism in the USSR, Goebbels or the BBC***.

    This critique was in the tradition of empirism, not otherwise.

    There endeth the lesson.

    PS Seymour just had to ask the children who ate and or rejected the food.

    Reply
    • Morrissey 3.1
      23 March 2025 at 8:38 am

      The government not being seen as the abiter of objective truth is obvious from Marxist Leninism in the USSR, Goebbels or the BBC***.

      And the heavily censored government mouthpiece Radio New Zealand.

      https://x.com/search?q=from%3AMaxBlumenthal%20rnz&src=typed_query

      [You are accusing RNZ of being a “heavily censored government mouthpiece” of the Coalition Government and at the same time attacking the NZ Government. These are bold accusations for which you only provide a link that doesn’t work, i.e., it likely is selective and thus biased.

      Bold claims require bold evidence, so you’re in Pre-Mod until you can provide that evidence or withdraw your comment – Incognito]

      Reply
      • Incognito 3.1.1
        23 March 2025 at 10:09 am

        Mod note

        Reply
        • Morrissey 3.1.1.1
          23 March 2025 at 10:11 am

          The link doesn't work?

          It worked fine for me.

          [lprent: It took me about 15 minutes to get into X myself. Then your link provided no explanation or context. I suspect that it referred to the journalist at RNS who’d been sub-editing stories by others to a pro-russian stance and got stood down for it. However since you haven’t provided a actual explanation, and instead acted like time-wasting fuckwit, I will follow your lead.

          Banned two months to encourage you to follow a reasonable request by moderators with alacrity rather a by wasting bandwidth and moderator time.

          As the policy says under self-martyrdom offences

          Generally wasting a moderators time is just not a good idea. We’re there to deal with isolated problems. People persistently sucking up our voluntary time won’t like the results. ]

          [if you think your politics are being censored rather than your behaviour being curtailed, then you patently didn’t understand what Incognito or Lprent said. Best you take a longer break, because the mods just don’t have time for this. 6 months – weka]

          Reply
          • Incognito 3.1.1.1.1
            23 March 2025 at 12:50 pm

            You cannot read English, obviously, and are wasting my time, again. The link doesn’t work at all for me, but was shite anyway, it now appears – quelle surprise!

            Not only are you wasting Mods’ time but also quite a few others have clicked on that specious link.

            I wasn’t about to ban you yet, but I had to deal with something else and Lynn dealt with you in the meantime – he made a better decision in shorter time than I would have.

            Reply
          • weka 3.1.1.1.2
            23 March 2025 at 1:20 pm

            mod note.

            Reply
      • Phillip ure 3.1.2
        23 March 2025 at 1:03 pm

        I listen to rnz…

        ..if it is being 'heavily censored'…

        ..the censors are doing a real crap job of it…

        Reply
      • SPC 3.1.3
        23 March 2025 at 1:12 pm

        The case was one where a RNZ journalist was rewriting the foreign news items to take out a 'western" media bias.

        Complaints about this came in and RNZ apologised.

        This was not RNZ being biased, just not being complicit with the journalists actions.

        If they were, they would need to appoint someone to approve (or at least provide formal direction) the changes staff make

        Links to twitter may require the person to be logged on, before they work.

        Reply
        • weka 3.1.3.1
          23 March 2025 at 1:21 pm

          yeah, that's new, or at least I only just realised twitter isn't visible now without a login. That will change how people need to reference twitter here, standalone links won't be useful.

          Reply
          • SPC 3.1.3.1.1
            23 March 2025 at 1:33 pm

            Go to x.com. log in then click link – on a different window.

            Reply
            • gsays 3.1.3.1.1.1
              23 March 2025 at 2:14 pm

              Yes, or acknowledge that using X is empowering Musk and decide to not have anything to do with it.

              Same goes for Facebook, remembering that the live stream of the Mosque murders was still up after the murderer was in custody and decide to not give it your attention.

              Works for me anyhow.

              Reply
            • weka 3.1.3.1.1.2
              23 March 2025 at 3:19 pm

              I was thinking about people without a login

              Reply
              • Incognito …
                23 March 2025 at 3:38 pm

                I don’t think it actually matters whether a link can be accessed easily or not by others. Without some modicum of explanatory comment and/or reasoned argument I’m reluctant to dive into whatever (rabbit) hole it might be and likely to treat it as lazy link-spamming.

                Reply
                • weka …
                  23 March 2025 at 4:38 pm

                  well yes, I agree with that. The problem is if someone explains and quotes and links but people can access the link, the context is gone. Not without precedent eg paywalls, but more of a problem because twitter is used a lot.

                  I see Joe has a solution below 👍

                  Reply
                  • Incognito …
                    23 March 2025 at 5:01 pm

                    Some paywalls are permanent but can sometimes be circumvented (e.g., https://archive.ph) and some subscription walls are temporary (e.g., Newsroom-Pro) – I tend to warn readers of an existing wall.

                    Reply
                  • Joe90 …
                    23 March 2025 at 5:33 pm

                    Screenshot, save, re-size to suit TS (I use https://www.simpleimageresizer.com/ to generate a temporary url) and use that url to save the image at the host of your choice ( I use https://archive.li/ ) and post the archivedotli hosted image with the x/bluesky address.

                    Reply
                    • lprent …
                      23 March 2025 at 7:47 pm

                      I’d love to be able to supply an ability to upload the media for comments here.

                      But the storage requirements and overhead would be considerable. We have accumulated 28246 media items in our library just on posts. The storage is well over 10GB (ummm actually closer to 15GB now) because of the various sized modes that the items are stored in – much of which is not further compressible.

                      It is most of our backup load when we do full the daily backups.

                      Not to mention the CPU for local scanning for junk, sizing, compressing, and other work in the media submitted by commenters.

                    • joe90 …
                      23 March 2025 at 8:06 pm

                      But the storage requirements and overhead would be considerable

                      Indeed. I imagine the costs associated with something like Mr Johnson's LGF with it's user generated pages,user media library, etc, would be in the arm and a leg territory.

          • joe90 3.1.3.1.2
            23 March 2025 at 3:33 pm

            Adding cancel to the link should enable non-account holders to access the tweet

            ie; https://x.com/wekatweets becomes https://xcancel.com/wekatweets

            https://xcancel.com/

            btw, use this to unroll or allow non-account holders to access bluesky.

            https://skyview.social/

            Reply
          • Grey Area 3.1.3.1.3
            23 March 2025 at 5:13 pm

            And some of us will no longer log in because of the despicable Musk. How relevant is "x" any more?

            Reply
  4. SPC 4
    23 March 2025 at 8:01 am

    Part 2

    Some ACT and and so called libertarians are now trying to connect their economic theories of small government to western cultural order heritage – such as patriarchy.

    Indicating that with power they search for connection to past traditions of authority to assume legitimacy to their continuance in power with those of past establishment.

    This is not kind to either women, or those without current or historic connection to wealth and privilege.

    This includes an attempt to divide feminists against each other. Despicable.

    There is no connection between science and libertarianism.

    The way in which society is structured is not connected to science as to methodology. Science is neutral in that regard.

    Reply
  5. dpalenski 5
    23 March 2025 at 9:49 am

    Trump's view on who pays tariffs also stuck in the 19th Century? They also talk about motorcycles for some reason, though when it comes to electric everyone else is doing it better and cheaper. I finally had an opportunity to go to FTN Motion's showroom outside Britomart to see a Streetdog for real the profile is on the low side as expected through the seat height of the ground isn't that much different to the average motorbike, it's the position of the handlebars which can be changed. So I think I might be sold on a Streetdog now.

    Reply
    • gsays 5.1
      23 March 2025 at 2:23 pm

      Without being too forward, do you mind telling us yr height and weight?

      I am 130kgs and 6 foot, I am wary of looking like McGilla Gorilla on a Streetdog 80.

      I would love to support the kiwi electric bike initiative but can't wait for their (rumoured) full size race bike to come into production.

      Currently I'm looking at this;

      https://www.zeromotorcycles.com.au/zero-for-less?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwreW2BhBhEiwAavLwfNgR4iGypxr65qYWTK0hCscAf2qDyINfbL0r0Gf1qMn9w8P4ypOv0xoC17IQAvD_BwE

      Reply
      • dpalenski 5.1.1
        23 March 2025 at 4:19 pm

        I'm under 80 kg and a little under 6 foot, so I'm a tad shorter and lighter. I just happened to be around Britomart for work reasons, so it was a quick look and chat with the guy there. So no test ride properly, do that when I'm a bit more serious.

        Those Zero Motorcycles have fast charging which does make it better for roadies out of town but not sold in New Zealand yet. Hopefully they set up here soon.

        FTN should properly start selling a fast charge battery as the second battery. Otherwise, it's a one-way trip or all over Auckland only kind of bike.

        Quite a lot of choice in electric motorbike space, just not out of US of A

        Reply
  6. Morrissey 6
    23 March 2025 at 9:56 am

    Is there a society anywhere half as depraved as the one where people like this are marching in the streets?

    https://x.com/BroccoliTickles/status/1903300686793568496/photo/1

    Reply
  7. SPC 7
    23 March 2025 at 10:50 am

    An answer from Grok3

    The "George Bush of the CIA" referenced in the context of the JFK assassination likely refers to George Herbert Walker Bush, who later became the 41st President of the United States. This identification stems from a specific FBI memorandum dated November 29, 1963, written by Director J. Edgar Hoover. The memo, uncovered through a Freedom of Information Act request and published by The Nation in 1988, states that "Mr. George Bush of the Central Intelligence Agency" was briefed on November 23, 1963—the day after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination—regarding the reactions of anti-Castro Cuban exiles in Miami to the event. This briefing occurred in the context of heightened tensions with Cuba and suspicions about potential foreign involvement in the assassination.

    However, there is no direct evidence in the newly released JFK files or other official records that explicitly identifies this "George Bush" as a "Hispanic expert" or confirms he was spoken to by an FBI agent in Dallas, Texas on November 23, 1963. The memo does not specify the location of the briefing or Bush’s role beyond his affiliation with the CIA, nor does it mention him being a Hispanic specialist. The idea of him being a "Hispanic expert" may stem from speculation or misinterpretation of his later documented ties to anti-Castro Cuban operations and figures like Felix Rodriguez, a Cuban exile and CIA operative, during his career. These connections are often cited in conspiracy theories linking Bush to the assassination, but they are not substantiated in the memo itself.

    George H.W. Bush’s official biography places him in Texas during this period, running the Zapata Off-Shore Drilling Company, based in Houston. On November 22, 1963, the day of the assassination, he was reportedly in Tyler, Texas, approximately 100 miles east of Dallas, as part of a Senate campaign stop. An FBI memo from Special Agent Graham Kitchel, dated November 22, 1963, notes that Bush called the FBI’s Houston bureau from Tyler at 1:45 p.m. that day to report hearsay about a potential threat to Kennedy, though this call occurred before the assassination news broke widely and does not align with a Dallas meeting the following day. Another piece of evidence, a November 20, 1963, Dallas Morning News advertisement, confirms Bush was scheduled to speak in Dallas on November 21 at the Sheraton-Dallas Hotel, placing him in the city the day before the assassination, but no official record confirms his whereabouts on November 23.

    The confusion about Bush’s CIA involvement in 1963 arises because he denied any affiliation with the agency prior to his appointment as CIA Director in 1976 under President Gerald Ford. When confronted about the Hoover memo in 1988, Bush’s spokesman, Stephen Hart, suggested it might refer to another George Bush, and the CIA neither confirmed nor denied the claim, citing standard policy. A George William Bush, a low-level CIA employee in 1963, was later identified as a possible alternative, but he testified to the Assassination Records Review Board in 1996 that he was a junior analyst with no connection to the Cuban exile community or the assassination, making him an unlikely candidate for the briefing described.

    The notion that Bush was in Dallas on November 23 and spoken to by an FBI agent there may derive from speculation fueled by conspiracy theories, such as those in Russ Baker’s Family of Secrets or claims on websites like TomFlocco.com, which allege Bush was photographed at the Texas School Book Depository. However, this photo’s authenticity is disputed, and no primary source from the JFK files confirms an FBI agent meeting Bush in Dallas on that date. The newly released files from March 18, 2025, focus more on Oswald’s activities and CIA operations like the AMLASH plot against Castro, without directly addressing this specific encounter.

    In summary, the "George Bush of the CIA" is most plausibly George H.W. Bush, based on the Hoover memo, but there’s no conclusive evidence he was a "Hispanic expert" or met an FBI agent in Dallas on November 23, 1963. His presence in Texas, CIA ties, and the memo’s ambiguity have kept speculation alive, though the establishment narrative—and Bush himself—maintains he was not involved with the CIA until much later. The lack of specificity in the records leaves this as an unresolved question, open to interpretation but not definitively answered by the available evidence.

    Reply
  8. Joe90 8
    23 March 2025 at 5:49 pm

    On Seymour's habitual dissembling.

    The verbal tricks rolled out by politicians are many and varied. Here, Brian Tweed picks apart one method that’s popular with ACT leader David Seymour.

    Politicians are notorious for dodging questions and turning the kōrero around to suit their own agendas. We’ve come to expect them to stretch the truth, but listening to some of the rhetoric from our current government ministers is especially painful.

    Chlöe Swarbrick put it best when she said: “We can’t leave politics to the politicians.”

    As a university lecturer, I spend much of my time marking degree-level assignments, master’s and PhD theses, and writing and reviewing academic articles and books.

    Recently, I decided to “mark” a transcript of one of David Seymour’s interviews as if it were a 100-level assignment.

    It failed — badly. Not because a TV interview needs to meet university standards, but because the logic was flimsy, unsupported by evidence, and full of misleading rhetorical tactics. We have people running the country whose words wouldn’t pass a basic university assessment.

    That should concern all of us.

    https://e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-analysis/understanding-political-ventriloquism/

    Reply
  9. SPC 9
    23 March 2025 at 6:34 pm

    One reason it is harder for "singles" to own housing. Cost.

    Strategy.

    2 young couples (and 2 older singles). Renting two bedroom flats to save faster. Buying two bedroom properties together.

    The younger couples onto a family home. Then one each.

    The older pair onto a 2 bedroom town house/apartment (and maybe their own).

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/360624162/how-much-more-expensive-it-be-single

    Reply
  10. adam 10
    23 March 2025 at 7:00 pm

    Need a laugh –

    White Guy's Black Church

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MZ0JbXds6CA

    Reply

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