Open mike 24/06/2024
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6:00 am, June 24th, 2024 - 27 comments
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- Dance Magic
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...11 hours ago - Government Forces Universities to Enforce “Free Speech” While Limiting Universities̵...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...11 hours ago - Fact brief – Are we heading into an ‘ice age’?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...23 hours ago - As Our Power Lessens: Published
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...1 day ago - By Any Other Name.
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...1 day ago - Bernard’s last Saturday Soliloquy for 2024
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...1 day ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, December 21
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...2 days ago - 2024 OIA stats
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...2 days ago - Climate Change: A perverse incentive
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The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...2 days ago
- ZB’s Power Couple
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...2 days ago - Austerity thumps GDP most since 1991
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...3 days ago
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The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...3 days ago
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The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...3 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #51 2024
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment: Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...3 days ago
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- Cheeseburgers and Stunt Monkeys
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...3 days ago - MSD rejecting 220 pleas for food grants each day
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- The Wing Parties’ Economic Policies.
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This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...3 days ago - Book Review: How Big Things Get Done
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Some years ago, I found myself pondering the power of literature to endure. Or at least the power of some of it to endure, while the rest vanishes in mere decades: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-and-despair-the-literary-future/. I have similarly had fun with the subject in some of my short stories, such as Another Alexandria ...5 days ago - Corrections is torturing prisoners again
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...5 days ago
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New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...5 days ago
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At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...5 days ago
- Shameless, clueless
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...5 days ago - Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...5 days ago
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Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...5 days ago - How much should you worry about a collapse of the Atlantic conveyor belt?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson In this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...5 days ago
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In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...6 days ago - When austerity worsens public debt & cuts GDP
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...6 days ago
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And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...6 days ago - A Lipstick Government
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Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...6 days ago
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- Thank You
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...7 days ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50
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I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...1 week ago - Nothing here but the shadows
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Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...1 week ago - Chris Penk’s Hate Parade
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...1 week ago - Tell me a story
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...1 week ago - As Our Power Lessens: Accepted
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National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...2 days ago - Release: Minister’s plan for tertiary sector a backwards step
Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...2 days ago
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It’s been revealed that National has cancelled 60 percent of its housing projects planned before mid-2025 amidst housing woes. ...2 days ago
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The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...3 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...3 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...4 days ago
- ECE no place to cut corners
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...4 days ago
- Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...4 days ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...5 days ago
- Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...5 days ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...5 days ago
- Release: Visa changes let migrant workers be paid less
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...5 days ago
- Release: Nightmare before Christmas for Nicola Willis
With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...5 days ago
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Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...5 days ago
- Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again
For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...5 days ago
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The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...5 days ago
- Release: Govt shirking responsibility for rate hikes
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...6 days ago
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The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...6 days ago
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The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...6 days ago
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The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...6 days ago
- Govt child poverty targets allow for increase in poverty
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...1 week ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...1 week ago
- Govt’s emissions plan for measly 1% reduction
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...1 week ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...1 week ago
- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
- Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
- Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation
Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker
The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...2 weeks ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
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https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350306339/more-deaths-and-injuries-expected-auckland-roads-due-governments-plans
More deaths an injuries due to national party policies!
Oh well, another addition to the Bingo card….
Simeon Brown (or other senior Nat) seriously injured in car crash caused by driver going too fast for situation / conditions.
At current rate it's hardly a game of chance.
The faster you go, the bigger the mess ?
NActFirst are updating….
The faster you go, the faster you get there.
There being subjective…..
There was this re…trucks.
And having travelled that Kaikoura road a bit, WHY isnt Rail….and Coastal Shipping used more !
Are we talking about roads that are unsafe, or are we talking about making the roads more safe?
The two are different things.
Improving the safety of an unsafe road should be a priority.
However just making an already safe road, even more safe, for the sake of being extra safe, while looking good, doesn’t achieve anything or very as a result.
Did you read the article, or did you jump straight to dedend the idiot act/nat coalition?
Yes I did read the article.
The blanket reduction in speed will not achieve anything. It’s a knee jerk reaction, made under the guise of safety.
In order to be really safe, we could require a man waving a red flag walking in front of vehicles..,
Blanket ideas like this will just annoy the voters.
It’s like having 4 mobile speed cameras, along transmission gully, on a fine sunny Sunday afternoon, to catch speeding drivers. Also known as revenue gathering.
My experience with driving in urban areas, and residential streets, is that traffic speeds are often self governing
You small dick, tough talking cunts (I know what a mixed image!) should piss off and send in some one tough like a Queenslander:
When public safety is about safety not bullshit culture wars my link title to a post with a much more moderate lexis used throughout, but the conclusion is much the same
@newsence; Hmm not to sure what the “you small dick, tough talking cunts” means? I generally don’t associate with people like that, so am at a bit of a loss, but I feel that I wouldn’t be missing much
Sure we could reduce the speed limit of the residential street I live on to 30km/hr, along with the speed humps already in place. This may give the appearance of a safer road, but when the car crash rate is already at zero, or close to zero what’s the point? Personally I’m in favour of speed humps on residential streets, as they force drivers to slow down. Lowered speed limits will only work if they are enforced, and the only way to do that is to have speed cameras every 100m or so, or GPS tracking on every vehicle. This may be possible, but will the public support it?
We live in a society where we are policed by consent, we are not a police state, we expect some give and take. The courts would most likely wave excessive fines, or multiple fines for the same offence anyway, just like they work to avoid the 3 strikes sentencing laws.
I think the resources should to be allocated to the stretches of highway or roads where we have the most incidents, in these areas visible speed camera vans, along with increased traffic police patrols would be a very visible deterrent, which should lead to fewer road deaths and crashes. The downside is that we issue fewer speeding tickets, which is less revenue.
When the speed cameras were first introduced, they were generally located on the high crash, or more hazardous locations. The intended purpose was to deter speeding, and reduce crashes and deaths. Since then they are now generally located in areas that have higher volumes of speeding vehicles, and we issue a lot of tickets. However these stretches of road are often far safer than the high crash areas.
From what I see, we are policing the safer stretches of road or highway, and not the most dangerous stretches of highway. Personally I’d like to see more emphasis on the latter. Just like I'd like the police to arrest baby murders, and other violent criminals, rather than arrest people for tagging rainbow painted pedestrian crossings.
One more gap our CoC govt will fail to close, like the visionary honest John et al.
Australia: 4.5 deaths per 100,000 people; 4.9 deaths per billion vehicle-km
Aotearoa: 7.8 deaths per 100,000 people; 7.2 deaths per billion vehicle-km
New Zealanders are bad drivers, far worse than most countries I’ve been to and driven cars in.
Drink driving is still an issue, texting while driving, failing to properly give way at intersections, stopping other drivers from changing lanes, running stop signs and red lights, not indicating, the list could go on… The speed is not the problem, it’s the way we drive. Someone driving at 30km/hr, not paying attention and hitting a pedestrian will cause carnage.
Anyway, we reduce the speed limit, how are you going to enforce it? We can’t enforce all the rules that we as drivers ignore as it is.
Sure, not "the problem", but vehicle speed is a risk factor.
https://www.transport.govt.nz/statistics-and-insights/safety-annual-statistics/sheet/speed
The faster a bad and/or unlucky driver is travelling, the greater the risk. Many Kiwis would know of a 'wrong place, wrong time' crash victim.
It's not rocket science – the faster you go, the bigger the mess. If one simply must travel over the speed limit, then please – not on a shared road.
As for enforcement, speed cameras can educate – 3 strikes and you're out?
I reckon your a speeder, proof is your comment about revenue gathering, but I bet you have an inflated belief in your ability.
I'd almost bet you drive a Ford falcon or a BMW.
From the article linked above:
The oft-held tenet that traffic fines is revenue raising is strictly speaking true as money is collected. But this ignores the fact that the only way drivers are raising revenue is by them breaking the law. We don’t question punishments for behaviour that could injure or kill people except, apparently, when those behaviours are committed behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Well I guess you are right. The law is the law, it’s black and white.
Someone speeding at say 110km/hr on the transmission gully motorway, is just as guilty of breaking the law as someone else doing the exact same speed on the narrow and winding stretch of SH1 about 100km further north.
The risks/consequences of an accident on the transmission gully motorway are much, much less than the accident black spot further north.
But I’ve yet seen the same concentration of speed cameras and mobile traffic police on the accident black spot that I do on the transmission gully motorway.
Sorry to disappoint you, I have never driven a BMW, and never willingly chosen to drive fords, holdens, commodores, or falcons.
As for revenue gathering, see my comment about four mobile speed cameras along Transmission gully, on a perfect day for driving, on a very safe road.
The speed cameras would be more effective on roads that have higher crash rates, where the crashes are much more serious.
But if we are being black and white, sure speeding on a very safe highway, or speeding on an much less highway is against the law. But the chances of a serious crash with a serious outcome is more likely on the unsafe road.
Small-scale nuclear power, as being pushed by the Liberals in Oz, is unaffordable: Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan could cost as much as $600bn and supply just 3.7% of Australia’s energy by 2050.
The same amount would fund a change to 100% renewables.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/europes-solar-power-surge-hits-prices-exposing-storage-needs-2024-06-21/#:~:text=Strong%20hydro%20and%20nuclear%20power,according%20to%20SolarPower%20Europe%20data.
Meanwhile in the forward looking part 9f the world
FYI its paywalled..but having previously seen stuff about Winton Land, I did a quick search…
And there was this…
Nothing to see here…..unless you look
Oh, and I was maybe not surprised to see…..
Steven Joyce
Oh and to be be full of snide and snark for this time on a Monday morning, did you know?
'gals, black is the new black if you work for Winton and, guys, did you know that to be a person of the people and approachable when you work for Winton you just need to take off your tie'
[Please stick to your approved user name here, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
Joyce seems to be able to help his rich-prick mates while at the same time feathering his own nest whether he is in the cabinet or not. Remember the auditor general's strong criticism here:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/515880/auditor-general-criticises-way-university-of-waikato-contracted-steven-joyce
Then there were the dodgy government grants to his radio station etc etc.
Absolutely. And all pretty legal.
88 years old and still robbing banks.
It's better to burn out, than to fade away.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/88-year-old-montana-man-sentenced-prison-2-bank-robberies-rcna158501
Luxon being a jerk at the post-Cab.
Reti says (direct quote) "I apologise" (for the cancer shambles).
Luxon immediately asked if he will apologise too.
Answer: "What I would say to you …" bluster, bluster. Minister forced to apologise, but PM won't. Pathetic.
And there was much more in similar vein, the journos asking about broken promises and Luxon refusing to engage, just constantly repeating his self-praise. They were still asking when he walked away at the end.
Does he really think this works? Does he believe that voters (including Nat voters) admire him more for refusing to say sorry, to acknowledge any fault?
It's not even smart politics.
Why did/does he want to be in politics?
But it’s also refreshing to see that bullheaded conservative patriarchy that just dictates its will and throws its temper around gaslighting everyone. Luxon just gets to a point where Dad has decided now everyone shut up!
There’s been plenty of charming salesmen for this section of society, so it’s at least honest to see how these men in powerful positions are. Here even with everyone watching.