Open mike 24/02/2021
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- Daily crossword, Friday 17 January
The post Daily crossword, Friday 17 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 17 January
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What happened to the concept of walking—or even jogging—to school?
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/children-barred-from-school-bus-by-117-year-old-law/
Not safe, as no footpaths and traffic including trucks on a narrow country road.- so the parents take a car
It is odd cause the school bus goes past their gate, and an extra stop would not be difficult.
did you not even read your own link Morrissey?
Can he read??
Yes I did. I wasn't endorsing it—particularly as it came from the site of the world's most egregious radio station.
I was using it as a springboard for discussion.
Your most compelling argument by far here on TS.
Holy S#$t! The Westpac economist on One ZB saying he thinks house prices will increase more this year than they did last year!
is this a surprise?
no, its criminal.
yes, its criminal that media get economist who got everything wrong last year to come back and make more guesses. its criminal that too many people continue to listen to these snake oil merchants, and think they are above mistakes. its criminal to have people expect a time of super low interest rates, and rapid intake of cashed up kiwis returning to NZ to have any affect BUT rising house prices. ask your local taxi driver or hairdresser and they would tell you the same thing. if fact, ask your local criminals, they would agree.
Yes I always take economists predictions with a grain of salt after Shamubeel Eaqub wrote that article several years back on how it was better to rent in Auckland than to buy a property.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rent-dont-buy-says-economist/MP2TXZUW4XY75NXXR7ADLDM7FI/
This is possibly what earned him the nickname “Shambles” in some circles.
Ironically he did buy a few years later when he saw the light!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/94966044/shamubeel-eaqub-ive-bought-a-house-at-last
Please I really hope his forecast is wrong and that house prices stabilise.
Secondary students need to live 4.8 km from the college to be eligible to board the bus. The weather would be changeable, students could be approached and a traffic accident could occur.
What an outdated piece of legislation, it is like asking students to do a 10 km sponsored walk each day.
How long would it take to a walk 3.8 km distance?
on a road with no separated foot path? Probably an hour either way?
I did reread the article and the time it takes to walk 3.8 km is nearly an hour.
Thanks.
No wonder Kenya is killing us when it comes to middle and long distance running.
It's not about fitness it's about safety
Yeah, right. Tui.
So…. Kenya is not leaving us in the dust (metaphorically) in track and road running?
The school curriculum offers PE before, during and after school in NZ.
No wonder some students hate PE during school hours.
assuming they are, what's your point? We should have more death/disability so we can participate at the Olympics?
That's a moot point, weka. For a long time I've felt the same way about the Olympics as 90 per cent of the Japanese population does: I want them cancelled. Forever.
I don't see a ute screaming down that road at 100kph, or tanker and stock trucks also using it.
an hour. Read the link.
I later saw that as I was distracted by listening to the latest Covid news when I first read the link.
Remember Filbert Bayi? As a school boy he ran from home some 12 km to school, and then back, – a 120 km week, minimum.
At 5000 feet above sea level aiding blood oxygen carriage and running on surfaces that also helped develop leg strength.
Bayi is still the fastest Commonwealth Games 1500m runner.
"Snappy dresser, snappy runner!"—Keith Quinn re Filbert Bayi, 2/2/1974
For that small group of us with an interest in actual comprehensive human rights, decency and the rule of law….disturbing news from the UK…where…with Boris in charge…and Starmer being a "good boy" , are about to pass a law that will have a myriad of terrible consequences…I've taken this from the Jacobin…I know the Guardian would seem a more credible source of information…but they seem to have very little to say about the bill…beyond small scale reporting of "peers debating' and crimes that may or may not have been committed…The Guardian who are also being "Good Boys and Girls" and not actually interested in upsetting the apple cart of power..
The article goes on to say…
I apologise for the massive quotes…but I believe that this is a terrible bill with broad, and ultimately international consequences…and yet another example of Labour and the Greens, world wide, compromising our future in the name of appearing "reasonable", benignly Centrist (no such thing) and "broad church"…as if thats a good thing…and as if that will save us all…
Good comment except for your very last words, which lack any sense of perspective on reality and are a broad-brush fidget of fantasy:
No need to repeat my quote…but thank you anyway Incognito.
If you have some words of your own as to in what way this is a "broad-brush fidget of fantasy" given the actual reality of what is happening in regards to laws and policy…and the reality of how the Greens and Labour (UK…and NZ) sell themselves at Election time…I'll be more than happy to read them.
I never fancied myself as an online entertainer.
laid-back
No surprises with Starmer. He is the human rights lawyer who embraces Shafting Assange and supporting his wife's Zionism, Regarding the latter, he seems quite content to stand back with his hands in his pockets while Palestinians suffer the outrageous abuses of the Israeli government. To him, people labelled antisemites for opposing Israel's human rights abuses commit greater sins than 'settlers' and the IDF murdering Palestinians – and the odd Iranian scientist of course.
Ah, but you talk about one specific single individual only with a little reference to his spouse. Very different comment. That said, I know nothing about the Sir in question and his reasoning re. Israel and Palestine but you’re undoubtedly correct and accurate in your characterisation of the fine Sir.
The Labour Party continues its slide to the grave….
https://twitter.com/Socialist_Chris/status/1364205245270753280
the quote length you used along with your own commentary is how to do it
Thanks for reminding us of this seemingly innocuous piece of legislation Siobahn, and it is time well spent reading at least the UK Government Factsheet.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covert-human-intelligence-sources-draft-code-of-practice/covert-human-intelligence-sources-bill-factsheet-accessible-version
It's a bit of a worry that it is being marketed as merely '..making legal that which is already being done in order to keep us all safe from The Bad People'.
Participation in criminal conduct is an essential and inescapable feature of CHIS use, otherwise they will not be credible or gain the trust of those under investigation. This enables them to work their way into the heart of groups that would cause us harm, finding information and intelligence which other investigative measures may never detect.
The number of public authorities able to authorise this conduct has been restricted from those who can authorise the use and conduct of CHIS generally. Only the intelligence agencies, NCA, police, HMRC, HM Forces and ten other public authorities will be able to authorise criminal conduct.
No real surprise that so-called left wing/progressive parties are failing to adequately challenge this Bill. Trust in Governments generally has been declining for some time and it is clear from our own government's performance that keeping the Middle and the Business classes on side is of greater importance than properly and transformatively addressing the issues that often lead to "crime" and "disorder".
Is Sturmer a plant?
My first year at intermediate I used to run home for lunch nearly a block away every school day. It included a moderate hilly street in Wellington. It took me 5 minutes. I used to be a good middle distance runner. I do have a regret that I was over looked as I did not know what to do to see if I was good enough to run competitively.
Running to school has a dual purpose if you could be a competitive runner.
Didn't John Walker run everywhere as a kid? Miles to school, tennis practice etc. Kept him fit!
If so, it was the making of him when it came to being an Olympic gold medalist.
This is brilliantly funny (just waffly at first but sums up Boris towards the end).
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/23/boris-johnson-dog-dilyn-prime-minister-spad-no-10
This is brilliantly funny….
????
Marina Hyde is about as funny as mass murder.
https://www.medialens.org/2019/mirthless-laugh-the-persecution-and-torture-of-julian-assange/
Actually I agree with her views on that narcissist predator wiyh a messiah complex Assange. Having 'leftists' views, as I consider myself to have, does not mean one should automatically worship at the feet of someone like that loathsome person
"Loathsome" because he's a "narcissist predator wiyh a messiah complex" – intriguing opinion. Yet he's done some good too – "A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good. Each should have its own reward."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange#Honours_and_awards
Recently:
[2019] Julian Assange wins EU journalism award
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6065261/julian-assange-wins-eu-journalism-award/
[2019] On Saturday, Mr Shipton will accept the Gavin MacFadyen Award outside Belmarsh prison on behalf of his son.
The awarding body, which recognises and supports whistleblowers, describes Mr Assange as a “courageous truth teller”.
https://inews.co.uk/news/julian-assange-solitary-confinement-human-rights-gavin-macfayden-award-344528
[2020] Julian Assange, Australian investigative journalist, political activist and founder and spokesperson of WikiLeaks
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttgart_Peace_Prize
True, after all Mussonini did make the trains run on time; Hitler solved Germanys inflation and unemployment problems; Mao did wonders for literacy by introducing Simplified Chinese.
Guess we could worship them as well for their very real achievements. Would not recommend it though.
Intriguing that the suggestion Assange is not all bad would cause you to reach for Musssonini [sic], Hitler and Mao…. any others spring to mind?
I'm sure you’d agree that we're each entitled to our opinions, but why my effort to counterbalance your demonisation of Assange caused you to go so far off the reservation is a mystery to me.
I guess one can agree to the notion that someone can do a little good despite being a major asshole.
And one can also agree that the little good that one did may not outweigh all the other times that one was a major asshole.
Guess one can Sabine – "good" and "arsehole" unquestionably apply to us all; where we might differ is in the use of "little" and "major".
For example, I would suggest that Hitler did little good and was a major arsehole, whereas neo-Nazis might argue Hitler was a major good and not that much of an arsehole at all.
I would suggest that Assange did a lot of good (for which he was both recognised and punished) and is a bit of an arsehole.
One thing we can agree on; Assange (like Hitler) polarises opinion.
ah, you see there also comes in personal preference to what is minor and or major. Some have a capacity to overlook a lot of manure in order to see the turd blossom, others will never see the turd blossom for all the crap they leave behind.
You're not wrong there Sabine, as the numerous awards that Assange has received attest. But I wouldn't worry too much – we can all rest easy as long as Assange remains locked up.
Yes, i know, people getting awards and such, what glory!
We have this guy here in NZ who is a Sir………..and an ass, his name is John Key. Again, as i said, one can be a ass and still get awards. And these awards may point to a good deed or two, but they say very little of character. And this is the last i have to say on that.
And yet that arse Sir John remains at large – no justice for some, eh?
What has that to do with being funny?
People who sneer at the suffering of the victims of the state ain't funny. They ain't got no rhythm, neither.
Sez yew.
You have made a fair point, Gabby. There are some apologists for state crimes who are funny at most times—but not when they're making light of state crimes. For example, David Letterman was funny and sharp most of the time—but not when he kept saying, in 2004, "Where do you think you are—Fal-LU-jah?" His asinine studio audience dutifully laughed, but I doubt many others did.
Sasha Baron Cohen can be funny too—but he wasn't when he labeled a Christian peace activist in the Occupied West Bank as an Islamic terrorist and thus put his life in danger. That wasn't funny, although a certain mentality thought it was.
Marina Hyde is simply not in the same league as either Letterman or Baron Cohen. She should stop trying to be funny, pronto.
Let’s see, you commented here @ 9:29 AM to inform us all that a certain Marina Hyde had offended your sense of funny.
@ 4:53 PM you have come a long way and conclude that said Marina Hyde is not funny and “simply not in the same league as either Letterman or Baron Cohen”.
Wow! You need a hobby; maybe join Alwyn who also seems bored.
Devolving into fake transcriptery is never a good development.
The transcript of that ugly, unfunny conversation is verbatim.
You just knew that it would come in handy one day and today, that day had come.
one transcribes for relaxation [nervous titter]
ha ha ha
Thanks for the social tip, Incognito.
MEMO ALWYN:
Feel free to drop round to Chez Breen one of these days.
I guess we all have different sense of humour. Or in the case of many self righteous left wingers, absolutely none.
What do you find so funny about the suffering of those targeted for destruction by the state?
"Only half of the “new” public housing places sourced by the Government in its bid to stem a burgeoning waitlist are additional, newly-built homes."
"The rest of the “places” will have been leased, bought in the private market, or sourced from councils and community providers and reclassified – a move called a “redirect”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/124306169/half-of-new-public-houses-not-actually-new-stock
So the inadequate response is even more inadequate than presented.
This is the sort of exposure that public housing needs. The same can be said with rent increases creating homelessness.
A public housing levy is required so more homes can be funded. Outrageous to some.
Start with a "ghost house " tax
Barfly you can't use the word tax, it scares the home investor.
Mmm "ghost house levy?"
Exactly! From now on, when referencing to property porn, use Capital Gains Sex or Wealth Sex. Sex sells, Tax does not, we all know that. A well-designed PR campaign should inform and advise first-home buyers AKA property virgins and aspiring investors AKA insells about the risks of unprotected property sex with scantily clad or even unpainted properties. For the more risky promiscuous or polygamous folk who like to play with multiple properties simultaneously, there will be gang banks and auction orgies.
I think I’d better stop here and cool off …
sex evasion
There is a lot in your comment, I am trying to unpack it.
"I am trying to unpack it".
Don't even think about. I suspect that incognito is simply a pseudonym for Pandora and we all know what opening Pandora's box entailed.
Leave it severely alone.
I tried to dress it up and didn’t want to open the kimono too much but it may need a robust Freudian analysis to get to the bare-naked truth. Don’t get too excited or you might be in for an anti-climactic experience.
Too late, Alwyn came with a pre-emptive stroke, what a downer
"what a downer".
Now you make me feel bad. I'm very sorry if I rained on your parade.
When you rain, you pour.
A public housing levy is required so more homes can be funded.
Outrageous to some.
The emergency/transitional housing rort needs to be investigated, too. MSD contracting with community groups stacked full of incompetent, officious, bullying monkeys, half of them with weet-bix packet so-called social work qualifications gifted to them from a bums-on-seats provincial polytech pretending to be a university. These clowns spend their days policing transitional housing complexes to see if residents are complying with more-than-over-officious restrictions which if there's less than a sniff of the problem the person or their family are out on the street, forced back again to apply to MSD for emergency housing to be thrown through the same fucked up process that they've just gone through and which nobody appears responsible for apart from the thugs contracted by MSD operating under the guise of transitional housing providers. This government stripped the skerrick of protection people had by removing emergency and transitional housing from the RTA. If people complain to MSD they say "don't talk to us, go see the transitional housing provider – they decide who stays and who goes". Next minute it's back at MSD applying for emergency accommodation which, in many parts of the country, there's none. So, where those people go who knows. Back to family in already over-priced overcrowded flats, houses and garages run by scum landlords people without homes are either reliant upon or escaping from. What a complete and utter fuck up this has become.
I looked up emergency housing the other day. After 7 days there is a charge of 25% of your income.
To pay 25% of your income you need to be on a benefit or recieve other income, have a bank account and to get a bank account you need Photo ID.
Documents are required to be attached to a benefit application. Work and Income will help with costs for documents and ID.
It is not an easy process to get emergency housing.
I did say a day or 2 ago that emergency housing needs to be for 28 days at a time. 7 days at a time is to disruptive.
Some homeless people could prefer a night shelter. The choice of one needs to be there until the right housing is available.
"It is not an easy process to get emergency housing."
And once you've got it it's not easy to keep it, even if you still need it.
I agree. You cannot have a draining and irritating system when people are already drained and are not feeling that great.
I forgot to mention that you need to get a quote for the cost of the emergency housing.
I also forgot to mention that nobody gives a fuck about this because everybody knows that if someone's homeless it's their own fault.
Your point of view is valid and you are not alone in what you say.
Labour need to rethink how they deliver emergency and public housing. Not some Bennett solution which is full of fish hooks.
Yes, and in this case I'd describe what you say are fish hooks as a total abrogation of responsibility by setting up a framework of responsibility that's either non-existent, invisible or run by incompetents. It's likely, in fact, to be all of those things because that's what happens when government shoves core responsibilities over to the community sector. There are tasks that should and are appropriately delivered by the community sector, but emergency and transitional housing as a response to the housing crisis isn't one of them. What it means is that these monkeys have control over whether someone has a roof over their heads and government is allowed to not care. So when one of these idiot providers decides they want to kick someone out they're in effect creating further homelessness from within a system designed to address homelessness. Don't expect this government to do anything about this, though. Just like previous governments, they have enough trouble understanding the problem.
From the desk of the Editorial Board of the Financial Times (20/04/20), presented without comment:
https://www.ft.com/content/bc7b919c-80a5-11ea-8fdb-7ec06edeef84
Populations in mainland Europe recovered fairly quickly – but for England it took over a century – setting the stage for a better relationship between the gentry and the workers than prevailed elsewhere.
Sounds like fun and games in Parliament this afternoon.
Simon Bridges and Paul Goldsmith storm out of Parliament after stoush with Speaker Trevor Mallard | Stuff.co.nz
Fair call.
The Speaker also said he believed Goldsmith turned away, strategically, so as not to be able to see the Speaker. I expect he made a correct observation and drew an accurate conclusion.
Ah, the old "if I can't see you, you can't hurt me" technique.
What's the smarmy little gobshite gone and said now.
I'm not sure what Mallard said, I think he took away a question or something.
Have the Green Party leadership requested the resignation of their MP Mr March yet?
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/order-paper-questions/written-questions/document/WQ_02607_2021/2607-2021-chris-bishop-to-the-minister-for-covid-19
Or should it be Marx, as in Groucho Marx? I thought that Gilmore was pretty bad but this guy is vastly worse in the "Look at me. Aren't I important" category. Gilmore was completely innocent in comparison with this fellow. Surely the Green Party is not going to put up with the behavior of Ricardo Menendez March for any longer?
Are you really asking the question or doing a Gerry Brownlee "just asking the question" type question. I suspect if they had asked for his resignation it likely would have been reported on. While we are asking questions "Have the National Party Leadership requested the resignation of their MP Bridges yet" From supporting Conversion Therapy of citizens to attacking the countries Top Cop with childish Far Right slurs to throwing his toys outta the cot in parliament, I'm not sure we've seen a bigger case of "Look at moi, Look at moi, Look at moi" for a long time (Kath and Kim reference, not Simons speech impediment reference, that would be too un-PC or un-woke)
He applied through the official channels, not via the backdoor, twice. He got declined, twice.
You seem bored.
He lied – twice.
It seems a bit suspicious to me that not one, but two places (him and the partner) just happened to open up in MIQ when many people have been trying to get a spot for a lot longer.
What are you implying?