Open mike 24/02/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, February 24th, 2024 - 34 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:


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 …

34 comments on “Open mike 24/02/2024 ”

  1. ianmac 1

    Cunning but probably legal -just.

    Big coal company bought West Coast election campaign
    Unhappy with a policy banning more mining of conservation land, Bathurst Resources paid $32,600 for a candidate who knocked out the veteran Labour MP Damien O’Connor by Jonathan Milne

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/02/23/big-coal-company-bought-west-coast-election-campaign/?utm_source=Newsroom&utm_campaign=bd3002f883-Week+In+Review+24.02.2024&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-bd3002f883-95522477&mc_cid=bd3002f883&mc_eid=88a3081e75

    • Drowsy M. Kram 1.1

      Money makes the planet warm
      Humans conform
      Can we reform?
      Money makes the world transform,
      It makes for stronger storms…

      Serious climate change storms are already here – researcher [23 Feb 2024]
      The co-author of a new study illustrating the severity of hurricanes and cyclones says the winds in the strongest storms are getting stronger because of climate change.

      [EMCEE]
      Money makes the world go around
      The world go around
      The world go around
      Money makes the world go around
      It makes the world go 'round.

      A mark, a yen, a buck, or a pound
      A buck or a pound
      A buck or a pound
      Is all that makes the world go around,
      That clinking clanking sound
      Can make the world go 'round.

      [GIRLS]
      Money money money money money money
      Money money money money money money
      Money money money money money money
      Money money

      https://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/cabaret/money.htm

  2. Ad 2

    Any time Labour want to ask for help fundraising in Wanaka, it would not be hard.

    Cashed up 65+ social democrats by the bushel.

    • Graeme 2.1

      Same in Whakatipu.

      Just got to convince Labour or Green to stand credible, consistent and relevant candidates in Southland and Waitaki, and especially the new Central electorate (once it happens), along with policy that's relevant to voters in Central. Relevant candidates are a big ask with the way both electorates are structured, a candidate that does it in Wanaka or Queenstown is going to find it hard work in Mataura or Oamaru. There have been some good ones, but they are just around for the election and then have to go and find a real job.

      Ideal situation, until we get our own electorate, would be an MP with a certain list position resident in Upper Clutha or Whakatipu building networks across the district.

      • Ad 2.1.1

        Yes exactly.

      • bwaghorn 2.1.2

        Ad ans Graham for your labour electorate and list mps from south central!!!

        • Ad 2.1.2.1

          A Central Otago seat even without Oamaru would be winnable for Labour …

          … so long as you had $60k in the bank and the right Labour leader. Doesn't have to be a oncer like Waitaki 2020. Just a really good team around them.

          • Graeme 2.1.2.1.1

            A Central Otago seat even without Oamaru would be winnable for Labour

            Which is why National hate the idea with a vengeance. A 'grass roots campaign' will have to spring up next review to make it happen. An opportunity for a strong local Labour voice to come forward. The idea has pretty strong local support, Queenstown has had enough of being in Southland and the plonker MPs National inflicts on us and I'd say Wanaka is the same.

            Lots of solid local issues for a good Labour candidate / MP to get their teeth into as well, hospital, environment, social disasters, public transport, housing. All have potential to make National look disconnected. But need them here through the electoral cycle, not just at elections.

  3. Joe90 3

    Nobody wants to pay so things fall to pieces.

    /
    S&P Global Ratings says New Zealand public debt remains low but local councils have insufficient revenue to raise funding for their infrastructure responsibilities.

    In a webinar the credit rating agency shared a chart in its presentation slides showing local government rates had not increased, as a percentage of the economy, in the past 100 years.

    Meanwhile, central government taxation had risen from below 10% of gross domestic product in the early 1900s to over 30% today.

    https://www.interest.co.nz/bonds/126521/rates-levied-local-governments-have-been-flat-century-even-central-government-taxation

  4. Hunter Thompson II 4

    Just seen a Greenpeace news item noting that Luxon wants to pass legislation promoting irrigation dams on more of our rivers. I guess it'll be called the "Favours for our Rural Mates" Bill or some such.

    Irrigated land can quadruple in value, so it is often sold to a farmer to be used for intensive dairying. That means more crud in our (publicly-owned) rivers and streams: see Stuff, 5 Sept 2021 "Dairy farmer unrepentant, but will pay $103000 fine."

    These sales, if structured carefully by lawyers, can be done without incurring income tax.

    In effect, the NZ taxpayer subsidises pollution of the nation's waterways while the few make tidy gains at the expense of the many.

  5. joe90 5

    People would vote for this toe-sucking weasel?

    .

    @RpsAgainstTrump

    Vivek Ramaswamy on Elon Musk: “He's the closest thing I've met to a Founding Father in today's environment. I actually believe that.”

    https://twitter.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1760704703577399588

    • joe90 5.1

      People did vote this paranoid, delusional weasel.

      @Bencjacobs

      Liz Truss starts her speech at CPAC by proclaiming "the reality is that the west is being run by the left for too long" as the Tories approach their 14th straight year in office in the UK

      https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs/status/1760748223654748185

      Britain’s ‘deep state’ thwarted my plans, Liz Truss tells US far-right summit

      Former Conservative PM, whose tenure lasted 50 days, tells CPAC she fell victim to UK’s ‘establishment … its bureaucrats and lawyers’

      […]

      “Now people are joining the civil service who are essentially activists,” Truss said. “They might be trans activists, they might be environmental extremists but they are now having a voice within the civil service in a way I don’t think was true 30 or 40 years ago. So we just have a wholly new problem and, frankly, a hundred political appointees doesn’t even touch the sides in terms of dealing with them.”

      In an opinion piece published on the Fox News website, the former prime minister said agents of “the left” are active in the administrative state and “the deep state”.

      “I saw this for myself first hand as they sabotaged my efforts in Britain to cut taxes, reduce the size of government and restore democratic accountability,” she wrote.

      https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/21/liz-truss-deep-state-cpac-far-right

  6. adam 6

    Gotta laugh at how far to the right labour party has become.

    It's one of the worst parts of the early 21 century, how once proud working class parties are now the handmaidens for far right racist governments.

    The door which through all sorts of bat shit crazy and down right dumb policies are implemented.

    Or maybe they are just out of touch wankers.

  7. joe90 7

    Low confidencemischaracterize much of their assessments...they fucking lie.

    /

    A US intelligence assessment of Israel’s claims that UN aid agency staff members participated in the Hamas attack on 7 October said some of the accusations were credible, though could not be independently verified, while also casting doubt on claims of wider links to militant groups.

    The assault precipitated a full-scale invasion by Israel of Gaza that has killed upwards of 30,000 Palestinians. Earlier this year, Israel accused 12 employees of the United Nations Reliefs and Works Agency (UNRWA) of participating in the 7 October attacks alongside Hamas. It also said 10% of all UNRWA workers were affiliated with Hamas.

    […]

    According to the Wall Street Journal, the intelligence report, released last week, assessed with “low confidence” that a handful of staff had participated in the attack, indicating that it considered the accusations to be credible though it could not independently confirm their veracity.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/22/us-intelligence-unrwa-hamas

    • Subliminal 7.1

      Absolutely they lie. No one anywhere has seen any evidence of these accusations. What we do know is that the genocidal madman, Netanyahu, is hell bent on eliminating UNRWA and with it, the right of return for all present and future descendents of the survivors of the original Nakba in 1948. If he achieves this then the path is cleared for his crazed genocidal plan of removing all current Palestinians residing in Gaza and bringing in more settlers from Israel. The US is complicit in this until they cease veto of UNSC resolutions for a permanent ceasefire and stop shipping arms to the IDF.

    • weston 7.2

      Not only do they lie repeatedly their snipers shoot children in the face they blow up schools and universities because they can , they kill ambulance drivers and after a good day of killing innocents they party and make videos of the fun they had .

      The IDF are scum , rabid dogs no less , you couldnt even call them soldiers .

      • Belladonna 7.2.1

        Sounds exactly like Hamas, to me.

        There are no angels in this conflict.

        • weston 7.2.1.1

          Not much comparison between Hammas and the IDF the whole world has seen how low Israel will go and thats about on a par with the Natzi forces of ww2 according to some commentators calculating the number of dead in a specified time period especially women and children . That Israel is carrying out a genocide of the Palestinian people can hardly be disputed by anyone who has been paying attention .

          Have you seen some angels anywhere lately belladonna ?

          • Belladonna 7.2.1.1.1

            Just pointing out that just about every allegation you made against the IDF, can also be made against Hamas.

            I think that you probably need a basic refresher on exactly what went on during the Holocaust during WW2 ….

            Do I support what Israel is doing? Of course not. I can *understand* their motivations. That doesn't mean that I agree with their current actions.

            Do I think that it is fairly equivalent, both in intention and in level of violence, to many other 'ethnic cleansing' programmes that other countries have carried out? Yes, I do.

  8. Robert Guyton 8

    "some fish escaped the net "

    Oh no! That catch, lost!!

    Terrible news – the poor, poor industry!

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350189945/never-seen-anything-it-hundreds-dead-fish-wash-after-fishing-vessel-mishap

    • Bryan Dods 8.1

      Omaha Bay is very close to the Goat Island Marine Reserve.

      How close can the commercial boats go? Can they trawl right up to the boundary?

      I know the boats dislike cameras. Do they have to supply GPS data to show where they have been?

  9. joe90 9

    New to me.

    Hurray for the Riff Raff – Snake Plant (The Past Is Still Alive)

  10. Muttonbird 10

    Dildo cone-head wants to replicate an anecdotal social worker character called Jo, possibly a former netballer from Northland, all while reducing government by 6.5%:

    https://archive.is/tBpLu

    He wants community providers to do all the leg work with minimal funding so the white wealthy can pay less tax.

  11. Phillip ure 12

    Note to moderator..

    Wondering why my conversation with robert on 23rd doesn't appear in the comment sidebar…