Open Mike 23/12/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, December 23rd, 2016 - 73 comments
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73 comments on “Open Mike 23/12/2016 ”

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  1. North 1
    23 December 2016 at 7:01 am

    “Sir” Patrick Lynch on Hekia Parata as Minister of Education:

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11767517

    “She made it clear from the outset that Maori and Pacific students did not deserve to be destined to a life of under-achievement and this view spread to become very contagious with the leaders and practitioners in the sector, as well as most teachers.”

    So this ‘clarity’ from ‘Larger-Class-Sizes’ Parata was unprecedented then was it ? No one had ever visited that concept ? Right you are then…….nah…….it’s the “Sir” thing that’s the tip off.

  2. North 2
    23 December 2016 at 7:22 am

    “very contagious…….” ? FFS “Sir” Patrick what are you on ? The contagion here is post-truth pandering by bought and paid for shills. All wrapped up in a National Party box with a bow. That said it’s extremely worrying that there remain (apparently and according to “Sir” Patrick) teachers whom to this day and despite the benign attendances of Ms Parata, think that Maori and Pacific students DO deserve to be destined to a life of under achievement. That shows the shit of the singularly rewarded shill in my book.

    • BM 3.1
      23 December 2016 at 8:03 am

      I know this is tough for you North, but Key is no longer PM,
      you’re going to have to find someone else to demonise.

      • North 3.1.1
        23 December 2016 at 8:31 am

        Aloha BM. You’re right. Those ‘bludging-bastard-bennies-having-a-beer-at-Xmas’……..those feeding out of their car boot in a scummy attempt to replicate a Clevedon polo meet…….they’re next on my list. Which will render you and your fellow trolls quite redundant. Meri Kirihimete BM !

  4. Carolyn_nth 4
    23 December 2016 at 8:13 am

    Interesting post by Steve Snoopman Edwards, on why John Key quit.

    While performing his Resignation Ritual on December 5 2016, Key’s voice broke.[4] It was the same hint of hurt meekness that occurred when reporters would not get with the program at the National Party’s campaign rally in Auckland in late August 2014 and instead pressed Key with questions over the Dirty Politics scandal.
    …
    To sum up, the Smiling Assassin’s political capital was in steady decline and he knew it.

    Mainly because of rising concerns about poverty & inequality.

    Part two lost me around the time it got into game theory – and I was reaching for my tinfoil hat.

    ditto part three:

    My hunch is that a three steps forward, one step backwards political waltz stratagem is in play. The advancement toward world government through the construction of Neo-Colonial super-states such as the European Union and mega economic super-bloc deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Treaty, are deeply unpopular projects.[3] I think the Neo-Colonial puppet masters have decided the best way to get there is through a strategic sabotage of societies, fanning the flames of prejudice across multiples fronts, and in the process trigger multiple civil wars and major wars between major powers.[4]

    But the point in part one about Key’s squeaky voice break, being a tell, is probably significant – just not sure what exactly it tells.

    • North 4.1
      23 December 2016 at 9:01 am

      Politics offering fascination (me too a guilty consumer) there is bound to be colourful ‘anecdata’ swirling around. As to why King John decided to serve less time as PM than did Helen Clark. And there is. F….ous F……ting, viz. “Fabulous Fascinating”, stuff.

      • Carolyn_nth 4.1.1
        23 December 2016 at 9:54 am

        Key’s sudden, unexpected resignation is very odd. The best explanation so far is that he judged his popularity was on the slide, and best quit while ahead.

        However, that doesn’t seem to explain the suddenness of the resignation – having interviews lined up, then cancelling them at the last minute to announce his resignation.

        There must be something else, and it may be of significance to our understanding of politics in NZ in the 21st century.

        The full, soundly evidence-based, story of John Key’s time in politics is still yet to be told.

        • Morrissey 4.1.1.1
          23 December 2016 at 9:59 am

          It has been told, by Nicky Hager, first in The Hollow Men, then even more damningly in Dirty Politics.

          • Carolyn_nth 4.1.1.1.1
            23 December 2016 at 10:12 am

            Hager has covered some of it – tip of the iceberg. But there’s more to be told about why JK decided to enter politics when he did, and why he suddenly decided to leave.

            I have no doubt, though, that Hager’s books will be re-visited over the next few years as more information comes to light. And extra pieces of the puzzle will be put in place. More of the bigger picture will be exposed.

  5. Andre 5
    23 December 2016 at 8:25 am

    Phosphate. All living things need it. We spread massive amounts around as fertilizer, which washes into waterways and fucks them up. Our current cheap sources are likely to run short in the foreseeable future. So here’s an effort to slow all that waste by engineering plants to use the phosphate in ways that animals and humans end up wasting less of it.

    http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/12/engineering-rice-to-waste-less-fertilizer/

    • Paul 5.1
      23 December 2016 at 8:34 am

      Paradise Lost – Nauru

      Nauru’s natural phosphate reserves once made millionaires of the entire population. Now they’re among the world’s poor, as sick and destitute as the refugees they’re taking in.

  6. repateet 6
    23 December 2016 at 8:26 am

    The Lynch piece on Parata will likely not be beaten as the Christmas /End of Year Vomit Stakes.

    I had the experience of working under 18 Ministers of Education.

    Parata stands out as being able to play the bureaucratic game and the bully game manipulated through that, the ability to cash in on the scumbag work of her predecessor and an unerring determination to follow through and do what she thought should happen.

    In those senses she has been like Ovation of the Seas.

    In the sense of learning and kids, innovation, and having New Zealand’s education system once again a world leader, she has been a leaky dinghy heading for rocks.

    And on top to that, a scornful, blind, bereft pilot, forging on. i

  7. Paul 7
    23 December 2016 at 8:30 am

    Jonathan Freedland writes an article with unintended irony.
    Freedland himself is a master of fake news and his newspaper the Guardian spreads propaganda about a whole range of things.

    To name a few
    Scotland
    Corbyn
    The Ukraine
    Syria

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/16/not-post-truth-simpler-words-lies-aleppo-trump-mainstream

  8. Andre 8
    23 December 2016 at 8:50 am

    Heh. Trump’s doctor (y’know, the cartoon character from a bad sci-fi movie) goes “meh” over the idea of Trump dropping dead in office.

    “If something happens to him, then it happens to him,” Bornstein told STAT. “It’s like all the rest of us, no? That’s why we have a vice president and a speaker of the House and a whole line of people. They can just keep dying.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-doctor-harold-bornstein_us_585af903e4b0eb58648517c3

  10. Paul 10
    23 December 2016 at 8:54 am

    China devaluation risk is rising as capital outflows reach danger level

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11772045

  11. Paul 11
    23 December 2016 at 9:20 am

    John Key’s legacy.
    ‘The brighter future.’

    People have resorted to sleeping in public toilets as Tauranga’s homeless crisis deepens, with a report finding that mothers fear losing their children if they admit to having nowhere to live.

    The report stated it was impossible to pin down the extent of the city’s homeless problem because of “a chronic lack of reliable and consistent local data”.

    However the report, written by researcher Rachel Hatch for the Tauranga Homelessness Steering Group, did identify nine specific issues associated with homelessness in the city. It also made 19 recommendations to help fix the problem.

    Ms Hatch wrote the report after a seven-day survey of homeless people and a count of families sleeping in cars on a Sunday night in September when freedom camping rules were being relaxed.

    “They had sheets and blankets covering the windows and children would peep out as you drove past,” Ms Hatch said of the car families.

    “They often prefer areas with security and lighting, not just for safety reasons but because their young children get frightened in dark areas and cannot settle.”

    Among the findings were that the risk of becoming homeless had increased in Tauranga, and that homeless mothers were reluctant to approach social agencies out of fear of having their children uplifted………

    ….Key findings

    • The risk of becoming homeless in Tauranga has increased
    • The city’s homeless are either “transitional” or “chronic”
    • Families with children are becoming “transient and unsettled”
    • Mothers hide their homelessness, fearing CYF
    • A men’s shelter has given single men some security
    • There is a lack of emergency accommodation for women and children
    • Homelessness is undermining health and social services
    • A lack of affordable housing is a problem for low-income people

    Read the whole article here.

    Tauranga’s homeless resort to sleeping in public toilets

    • Carolyn_nth 11.1
      23 December 2016 at 9:36 am

      Good report; very bad situation & the buck stops with the government.

      But the article doesn’t mention what the recommendations are:

      The report urged that the problem be tackled with a multi-agency approach focusing on 19 recommendations.

        • Carolyn_nth 11.1.1.1
          23 December 2016 at 10:22 am

          Thanks.

          Recommendations include need for more and better monitoring of homelessness in the long term

          Plus:

          Structural
          …
          The monitoring approach above is combined with staff training to ensu
          re that the data collected is accurate and in accordance with the New Zealand definition of homelessness.

          Homeless women with children and women who face imminent eviction are able to access help without the fear of having their children uplifted by Child Youth and Family

          Lack of documentation when accessing services are a significant barrier for homeless people. The criteria required to access services needs to be low

          It may be cheaper in the long term to offer loans or payments to those facing eviction, with a poor credit rating or tenancy history

          …

          Institutional:
          Emergency accommodation is supplied for all members of the family so that they can be together. …

          The variety of social housing stock is increased.

          Tauranga …However, they are being held back and progress stifled simply by a lack of affordable housing supply.
          …
          Supported accommodation is provided for those in a chronic and long term state of homelessness

          Relationship and Personal

          Again information sharing between health and social service providers can help identify those who are in an unstable housing environment.

          In order to reach out to homeless people, in particular women and children, young people and older people it is recommended that a mobile “Housing Clinic” service is established.
          …

          It is recommended that the housing clinic utilises well established umbrella organisations such as Te Manu Toroa and Te Tuinga Whānau

          It is recommended that homelessness people are not presented as passive victims, unreliable or deficient, but to give voice to the complex factors that have also caused the housing crisis here in Tauranga.

          I think it is a failing of the NZ Herald article that it did not give detailed coverage of the recommendations.

          • jcuknz 11.1.1.1.1
            23 December 2016 at 2:53 pm

            I gather The Herald has run a sob story about two separate mothers living in motels at the governments expense [ $1000/$2000 per week ] because it doesn’t have the power [ I assume ] to deduct rent before it pays benefit.

            “What you do not see you do not miss” is a financial policy I have followed for decades … pity these folk who do not pay their miniscule rent of State house cannot be educated with elementary living on whatever they earn / are given by the generous taxpaper. arrears of several thousands before being evicted … a stupid system it seems to me.

            • Pat 11.1.1.1.1.1
              23 December 2016 at 3:44 pm

              one more time….in english

            • Paul 11.1.1.1.1.2
              24 December 2016 at 9:21 am

              You really understand the Christmas message.
              What a horrible person you are to others.

              • jcuknz …
                25 December 2016 at 6:39 am

                It disturbs me much more than Pat’s comments that a government department supposed to look after folk appears powerless to really help them live in the system. Letting them get deeper and deeper in the financial mire….I know from experience of years ago that once you miss one payment it is very hard to catch up again and “auto payments” are a simple and effective if long term way of getting out of trouble.
                Like the rent due plus five or ten dollars extra to slowly pay off the arears.

  12. Morrissey 12
    23 December 2016 at 9:41 am

    ACT is the inevitable next stop for this useless waka-jumper

    Has anyone else caught the news about disgraced former M.P. Shane Jones working as a security guard in San Diego?

    http://deadspin.com/security-guard-appears-to-be-masturbating-near-cheerlea-1790317271

  13. Carolyn_nth 13
    23 December 2016 at 10:03 am

    The Otago Daily Times is the only MSM outlet I have seen that has reported on the latest Roy Morgan Poll.

    The National Party has taken a 4.5 percentage point hit since the departure of former Prime Minister John Key on December 5, but the Labour Party continues to poll below 30% despite a 5.5 percentage point jump in support, according to a regularly volatile opinion poll conducted by Australian pollster Roy Morgan.

    In the month since the previous Roy Morgan poll, which put National at 50% and Labour on 23%, National has dropped to 45.5% support and Labour jumped to 28.5%. Combined with the Greens, unchanged at 14.5%, a centre-left coalition commands 43% support, just short of National.

    Winston Peters’s New Zealand First party was down half a point to 7.5% support.

    Edit: NBR has the exact same article, but slightly different headline..

    • Paul 13.1
      23 December 2016 at 10:23 am

      The ODT is not owned by NZME or Fairfax.

      • Carolyn_nth 13.1.1
        23 December 2016 at 2:35 pm

        Well, the main MSM sites don’t seem to have reported the poll, but NewstalkZB did.

      • jcuknz 13.1.2
        23 December 2016 at 2:43 pm

        The ODT caters for its population which is largely left wing.

        • Corokia 13.1.2.1
          23 December 2016 at 7:56 pm

          The ODT is owned by a family of 1%ers.
          It’s cutting staff and is getting more and more articles from the Herald.
          It certainly seems to have less ‘infotainment ‘ than Stuff or the Herald , but it ain’t left wing.

          • jcuknz 13.1.2.1.1
            24 December 2016 at 9:25 am

            I’ll take your word for it as I gave up reading/buying it years ago .
            Cutting staff is common to most print media as people do not have time to read newspapers which are a dying aspect of life.
            You only have to look at its leader page cartoons to see which way they are slanted

            • Paul 13.1.2.1.1.1
              24 December 2016 at 9:35 am

              I sense anyone to the left of Golden Dawn and Pauline Hansen is left to you.

              • jcuknz …
                25 December 2016 at 6:46 am

                I think I get your drift but know little about either of the two ladies
                At the time I was a keen supporter of ACT as a meaningful alternative to The Alliance with socialism but that was then not the current ACT.

    • The Chairman 13.2
      23 December 2016 at 12:04 pm

      As indicated in the article, the poll is unlikely to reflect the full impact of Key’s departure. Therefore, there is a good chance National’s support will further fall.

      But once again, it also shows Labour shouldn’t be complacent.

  14. Red Hand 14
    23 December 2016 at 10:07 am

    The New Zealand tourist industry and climate change.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/business/auckland-airport-tops-record-international-passengers

    “Though air travel emissions now account for only about 5 percent of warming, that fraction is projected to rise significantly, since the volume of air travel is increasing much faster than gains in flight fuel efficiency. (Also, emissions from most other sectors are falling.)”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/sunday-review/the-biggest-carbon-sin-air-travel.html

  15. Paul 15
    23 December 2016 at 10:26 am

    Maybe a member of the press should ask Lieutenant General Ben Hodges about Fallujah.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/321100/claims-russia-used-syria-as-'live-fire-training‘

    • Morrissey 15.1
      23 December 2016 at 5:11 pm

      Or Gaza.

    • Psycho Milt 15.2
      23 December 2016 at 6:25 pm

      I’m pleased to see you’re finally recognising the similarity between Russia’s bombing campaign against Syrian civilians and the USA’s similar activities in Iraq a decade or so earlier. Muslims certainly have noticed it, as witnessed by the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey this week. The Russians are going to need US-levels of security from now on.

  16. Paul 16
    23 December 2016 at 10:38 am

    John Key’s legacy.
    ‘The brighter future.’

    Hundreds sleep outside Auckland City Mission, night after night, over the Christmas period

    At 10.30 pm Gordon Brown is snuggled under a green tartan sleeping bag, preparing for a long night camped out on Hobson St.
    By 3.30 am he’s fifth in a line of hundreds, all waiting.
    He’s not queuing for the latest iPhone or the opening of a new fashion boutique – Brown will wait 10 hours on the footpath in the hope of a full belly for Christmas.
    Health beneficiary Gordon Brown arrived at 10 pm on Wednesday night, 11 hours before the City Mission would open its doors.
    The Auckland City Mission dole out food packages from 9 am during the Christmas season, limited to 350 per people day.
    “I’m hoping for sizzlers and maybe some real good milk – like there was last year,” said Brown, a health beneficiary in his third year queuing overnight for a donated bundle of basic necessities and the odd festive treat.
    Gordon Brown’s son ferries hot coffee to his father from the car, as people wait all night outside Auckland City Mission …
    By 11 pm on Wednesday 20 people are gathered, bundled in bright fluffy blankets and sitting on cushions or deckchairs.
    Brown said any dawn arrivals would be forced to turn back, because the limited packages were distributed on a first in, first served basis.
    Auckland City Mission fundraising manager Alexis Sawyers said there was less to go around this year because donations had been sluggish – while first time visitors “in desperate need” had increased.

    Read the whole article here.

    Hundreds sleep outside Auckland City Mission, night after night, over the Christmas period

  17. Paul 17
    23 December 2016 at 11:27 am

    30 years of the poison of neo-liberal ideology has reduced us to this……..

    Emergency departments across New Zealand face a grim and growing annual Christmas tradition, dubbed “granny dumping” by hospital staff.
    Each Christmas season, elderly people are being left at hospital emergency departments as the families who would normally care for them take off for a summer break.
    New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association national secretary Deborah Powell confirmed “granny dumping” was a growing reality.
    “It is a thing – we are seeing more of it. Every year that passes, we are seeing a bit more.”
    The practice amounted to “leaving granny at the doorstep [of ED], so to speak”, she said.
    Figures were hard to come by, as she had heard only anecdotal evidence from her members, and no work had been done on investigating the scale of the problem.
    “The cause of it isn’t well understood. We really haven’t investigated this fully enough. In fact, it is about time we did.”
    It was clear that it put extra strain on hospitals, which would not turn elderly people out if it was not safe, she said.
    That meant hospitals sometimes had to admit elderly people, despite their not having any pressing medical need.
    Christmas was the worst time as many community support services, normally available to the elderly, closed down for the holiday period.
    The problem highlighted the “strain families were under that brings them to this point”, with community “wraparound services” reduced over the break, Powell said.
    New Zealand Nurses Organisation chief executive Memo Musa said the union was not aware of granny dumping, but recognised that there was a problem around affordable respite care for families.
    “This extended holiday period can be stressful and lonely for some people, and it would be improper for us to assume that they would use the ED for respite care.
    “We do have an issue in New Zealand reported by our members about the need for more affordable and accessible respite care in the community. Respite care gives family caregivers a break

    Read the whole article here.

    Doctors raise concerns over ‘granny dumping’ as families head away at Christmas

  18. Paul 18
    23 December 2016 at 11:44 am

    Liberation of East Aleppo: Testimonies from Hanano

  19. indiana 19
    23 December 2016 at 11:49 am

    How true is the following?

    “Labour builds an electoral majority by having as many people as possible reliant on state spending. That is what matters to them.”

    [lprent: How true is the following

    “If you want to be a stupid troll, then don’t do it here.”

    Banned 4 weeks for stupidly trying to invoke some kind of dumb flamewar from 2008. FFS grow up. ]

  20. Peroxide Blonde 20
    23 December 2016 at 12:27 pm

    Iain Macwhirter: Dumb Brexit means 2016 will go down as the year the Union died

    “Compare and contrast those previous revolutionary years with the 2016 Brexit revolution. Its most distinguishing feature is its ignorance. It’s not so much red, white and blue Brexit, but stupid Brexit. It has no philosophy. There is no John Locke of Brexit, nor Tom Paine, no Karl Marx, no Jean Monnet. The intellectual driving force of Brexit has been the Ukip’s laughing gnome, Nigel Farage. There is no wisdom behind Brexit, only a vague fear of foreigners and a mantra of “taking back control.”

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14981053.Iain_Macwhirter__Dumb_Brexit_means_2016_will_go_down_as_the_year_the_Union_died/

  21. Draco T Bastard 21
    23 December 2016 at 12:40 pm

    Addendum to yesterdays comment on 3D Printing:

    Hybrid Additive Manufacturing Machine Steps up in Size

    The eight-cylinder engine block on display at the Japan International Machine Tool Fair (JIMTOF) (seen above) shows one possible application of this technology, although it was just a partial build, in part, to show areas where the additive process was able to reduce weight. An entire 9.6-kg version of this engine block produced from AlSi10Mg material (including supports) was completed in 95 hours (90 hours for sintering and 5 hours for milling). Total production time, including support design, programming, fixture design/manufacturing, setup, and so on was 15 days. Although this might sound like a long time, company tests on a five-axis machining center showed it would take approximately 22 days to machine the engine block from a solid blank, including time for fixture design/manufacturing, programming, machine setup and so on.

    • Andre 21.1
      23 December 2016 at 12:54 pm

      Sure additive manufacturing is great for low-volume production, and to make components with complex internal structures that are very difficult to make other ways.

      But it’s a very very long way away from displacing current common techniques for high volume production. 3D printing a plastic part will never compete with banging parts out of an injection mold with 20 second cycle times, complete with perfect surface finish straight out of the mould. Or forged or cast or stamped metal parts. When those parts are to be produced in high enough volumes to justify the tooling.

      • Draco T Bastard 21.1.1
        23 December 2016 at 1:56 pm

        But that’s my point. Complex stuff that used to be made through milling is better off made through 3D printing. Just one of those machines can produce 90 engines a year. Any modifications to the engine can be easily introduced at any time.

        It can produce more than engines and it doesn’t use people to produce anything. Once the design process is set up it’s fully automated. This effectively removes economies of scale and so such justifications as “produced in high enough volumes to justify the tooling” go out the window.

        And the 3D printer can produce better variants of the stamped and forged stuff because it can be optimised for maximum strength while keeping the use of resources down using topological optimisation.

        And the final bit is, of course, that as R&D goes into 3D printing the speed will also increase. I remember when home printers used to take minutes to print a page and now the speed is measured in pages per minute. It really won’t be long until the speed of 3D printing matches stamping and forging and the cost of the machine to do so will be cheaper than setting up the tooling for the stamping/forging and it will be far more useful.

        • Andre 21.1.1.1
          23 December 2016 at 3:11 pm

          Just out of curiosity, have you ever spent time in a high volume factory? And watched 3D printers at work? And handled and tested parts that come off the different kinds of machines?

          90 engines per year is impressive if you’re, say, a Formula 1 team. But it’s very underwhelming if you’re a manufacturing engineer used to producing thousands per day from much simpler equipment.

          Yes there will be a market for those people willing to pay a premium for the advantages of 3D printed parts, and there will be situations where 3D printed parts are cheaper due to low volume.

          But the technological leaps needed for producing parts by additive methods to become competitive with conventional techniques are so enormous I just don’t see it happening for high volume items. Let alone questions around whether energy use and material costs for additive methods can come down to being competitive with conventional methods. Coz every time I’ve had anything to do with industrial lasers, I’ve always been struck by how much energy they use compared to how little gets delivered to the workpiece to do useful work.

          • Draco T Bastard 21.1.1.1.1
            23 December 2016 at 5:15 pm

            90 engines per year is impressive if you’re, say, a Formula 1 team.

            And if you’ve got 1000 units it’s 90,000 per year. How many new engines does NZ need per year?

            And each unit is capable of producing more than engines. Anything of any complexity up to 1300kg from a variety of materials.

            But it’s very underwhelming if you’re a manufacturing engineer used to producing thousands per day from much simpler equipment.

            You’re missing the point. That much simpler machine needs to be justified by volume of the piece produced because it only produces that one item. The 3D printer doesn’t as if you don’t need an engine today then you can have it produce something else. In other words, the 3D printer is in use all the time any way. Amount of volume for each item is immaterial when the next item coming out of the printer can be a different item.

            And the 3D printer will be cheaper to start off with and won’t need major engineering to produce a new item. Just a few days of programming.

            But the technological leaps needed for producing parts by additive methods to become competitive with conventional techniques are so enormous I just don’t see it happening for high volume items.

            Those technological feats are already happening. That’s what the article in my comment highlighted.

            Let alone questions around whether energy use and material costs for additive methods can come down to being competitive with conventional methods.

            Energy, especially renewable energy, is incredibly cheap compared to the physical resources used.

            These post and comments of mine are to say that NZ needs to do the R&D into 3D printing and start manufacturing here in NZ using it else we’re going to find that we’re going backwards even faster. And it should be the government that does it.

            • Andre 21.1.1.1.1.1
              23 December 2016 at 6:31 pm

              The thing is, I’ve worked with the reality of what 3D printing produces. Starting from 20 years ago. Yes, the technology has made huge improvements in that time. But to get to the point of being competitive with conventional processes for volume manufacture of simple parts, the technologies would still need to make Moore’s law type improvements. But it’s more like the linear progress being made in, say, paper printing technology, or automotive technology (excluding electric).

              Like most new technologies, it’s being massively oversold. Yes, it’s now possible to 3D print an engine block or crankshaft. But they don’t tell you it still needs all the critical surfaces finished by conventional techniques. They also don’t tell you that the material properties achieved will be well down on conventionally processed parts, with just a few exceptions.

              So yes, it’s a useful technology if you’re RocketLab or Team New Zealand, wanting to build a small number of complex parts where there’s a huge value in minute weight savings. But F&P Healthcare won’t have much use for the technology outside their R&D department. Because to make a few hundred plastic cases or metal chassis, it’s still going to be cheaper and quicker to knock up a die and mount it in an injection moulding machine or press. Although it may end up cheaper and quicker to make the die by 3D printing.

              As far as what our industrial strategy should be, well, we’re too small to do it all ourselves. We do have some notable players in niche markets, such as magnetic technologies with Buckley Systems and Magritek. Where there’s a lot of intellectual content but fairly low production volumes. There’s plenty of other similar niches we could be going after.

              But just because we could make anything we wanted to here by a high cost low throughput process like 3D printing doesn’t make it a good idea to forego getting those items from overseas where there’s enough volume to justify setting up much lower cost processes.

              • Draco T Bastard …
                23 December 2016 at 6:57 pm

                But they don’t tell you it still needs all the critical surfaces finished by conventional techniques.

                The device linked to in my first comment does that.

                They also don’t tell you that the material properties achieved will be well down on conventionally processed parts, with just a few exceptions.

                That piece of data is a few years out of date.

                But F&P Healthcare won’t have much use for the technology outside their R&D department.

                For now but not for much longer.

                As far as what our industrial strategy should be, well, we’re too small to do it all ourselves.

                And that to is significantly out of date. Productivity is now so high that we actually can do everything ourselves. 3D printing will add to that productivity.

                But just because we could make anything we wanted to here by a high cost low throughput process like 3D printing doesn’t make it a good idea to forego getting those items from overseas where there’s enough volume to justify setting up much lower cost processes.

                And that shows a fundamental misunderstanding of economics. You’re still thinking in terms of money rather than in terms of resources used. Using less resources is always cheaper than using more resources.

    • b waghorn 21.2
      23 December 2016 at 4:36 pm

      3d printing will come into it’s own when/if we go to space in a big way, you could send dozens of preprogrammed printers to build habitats etc the possibilities are endless

      • Draco T Bastard 21.2.1
        23 December 2016 at 5:26 pm

        3d printing will come into it’s own

        Wrong. It’s already coming into it’s own. There’s that bike that I linked up above, GE and Rolls Royce are using it to produce jet engines and the NZ firm RocketLab are using it to produce their rocket engines as an assembly line item.

  22. Draco T Bastard 22
    23 December 2016 at 12:52 pm

    The nocturnal side of reason

    II.
    “Post-truth politics” is just what we have been living under. The “monstrous worship of facts,” as Wilde called it, the tyranny of technique, is an avoidance of truth.

    In a narrow sense, it is possible to question whether a given statement is true or not — that is, whether it is factual. But what would it mean to ask whether liberalism, socialism, or fascism were factual? Each of these discourses can organise a set of factual claims in their support, but their truth or falsehood seems to reside elsewhere, in the register of desire. When politics obscures this, when we can no longer inquire as to the truth of the discourse by which we are governed, our politics has become “post-truth”.

    • Adrian Thornton 22.1
      23 December 2016 at 2:14 pm

      The media are accusing citizens, of living in a ‘post truth’ world because the normally compliant masses are no longer buying into the medias own “Truth’ narrative.
      Witness the resounding defeat of the free market Blairites in the UK in the face of straight out aggression from all MSM, through to the Democrats worst election defeat in US political history, again with the full and unashamed support of pretty well all MSM.
      No I think this post truth narrative is just the pathetic death rattle of a media that has been totally and utterly exposed as being almost powerless to shape the world to it’s preferred image….hence, rapidly becoming redundant to it’s pay masters.
      This incredible and rapid shift in power is in my opinion the real news of 2016.

  23. Cinny 23
    23 December 2016 at 3:17 pm

    Woot, woot. Awesomeness. Time to show the rest of NZ what a by election is like without the dirty politics.

    Two of my most favourite ladies in Parliament, dang it’s going to be a win either way, and a wonderful platform for them to inform the public on their party policies.

    Personally one of the reasons I voted for Greens last election was because I wanted to see Julie-Anne stay in the house, she is an incredible talent. And now the media will give her even more exposure wooo hoooo. Loving this MOU, loving the Nat’s not in this race.

    Both of these ladies are classy as, there will be no personal politics, and no drama between them. Just loads of media exposure for them and their parties, and a mighty difficult but fine choice for the voters in Mt Albert.

    Go get em girls 😀 either way the voters are going to be so thrilled with their new MP, that is a given.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11772229

    • Fisiani 23.1
      31 December 2016 at 11:30 am

      The media will highlight every tiny bit of difference to foment the picture of disunity. Labour will struggle to get out the vote and National voters may well vote for Genter. No good news options for Labour

  24. Carolyn_nth 24
    23 December 2016 at 3:22 pm

    I weas interested in some comments on Al Jazeera News today, from Nik Gowing – co-author of “Thinking the unthinkable: A New Imperative for Leadership in the Digital Age”.

    The research is interesting. The researchers interviewed leaders in corporations and public services. It seems such leaders across the world are worried that the old “normal” has broken down. Worrying things are happening unexpectedly – from Brexit, to Trump, etc. and the leaders no longer know how to act, or lead.

    The leaders are worried about the growing anger against corporate and political leaders, by consumers. that’s the interesting part.

    I watched this video from a conference at the beginning of November.

    Gowing says leaders need to be open to new ideas – to the unthinkable and unpalatable. But he and the other speakers at the conference still seem to think ity’s unthinkable that the whole system needs changing.

    gower says what needs to change is the culture and mind-set of corporations – not the systems. But cultures and mindsets are not separable from systems and structures.

    The CEOs seem to be looking for ways to exploit the young, and customers, to provide them with new ideas. But they want to use these ideas for business as usual – to maintain them in their positions, wealth and power.

    Interesting though, that corporate CEOs and shareholders are very worried about the rising anger of various sections of the public.

  25. alwyn 25
    23 December 2016 at 3:27 pm

    “worst election defeat in US political history”.
    Don’t you think you are going just a little over the top?
    Don’t you think, at least for the Presidential election, that 1964 and 1972 were rather more spectacular thrashings?
    Or do you have something else in mind?

  27. Paul 27
    23 December 2016 at 5:36 pm

    The legacy.
    The brighter future.
    Slave rates.
    And fisiani’s proud of this wretched set up.

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11772381