Open Mike 25/07/2017
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6:00 am, July 25th, 2017 - 19 comments
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Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...3 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. ...4 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. ...4 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. ...5 days ago
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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. ...5 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
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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
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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
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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. ...6 days ago
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With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...6 days ago
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For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...6 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. ...6 days ago
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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. ...7 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. ...7 days ago
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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
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The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...1 week ago
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...2 weeks ago
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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
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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
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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
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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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The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...2 weeks ago
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- Govt introduces archaic anti-worker legislation
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New NZ twitter discussion thread:
#LeftWithEnough
At the hashtag are the tweets from last night’s discussion: focus on poverty, homelessness, etc
started by Keep Left Waikato
If you are a programmer can’t you do most of your work remotely making where the employer is irrelevant ?
Similarly can’t PB tech courier you the products you want ?
………. and where’s my fecking flying hovercar !
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: I see that was on my post. I guess you didn’t read it. Banned until October 23rd. ]
We should be importing single seater drones and all be flying around Auckland?
This is a picture of some of my home computers. That part of the electronics collection has at least 10 3.5″ drives with over 16 terabytes of storage and then there are innumerable SSDs as well. Not to mention assorted laptops, phones, keyboards, mice, breadboards, portable raid drives for holding raw footage (my partner does documentaries), screens, switches, network links, cables.. All of which require maintenance and parts
What programmer ever leaves their work at work? Fastest known way to lose a profession.
One part of the cluster is The Standard. Which I send time linked into from my long days at work (and when I am home I’m linked to the work networks).
Because I’m seldom at home during their couriers delivery hours and I live in a pretty secure apartment complex that couriers can’t get into and provides no place for them to leave stuff. Couriers just mean that I have to drive to Morningside or a delivery point during their working hours to pick stuff up.
Sometimes your supreme lack of attention to details still surprises me
Clearly you have a confused idea about what programmers do.
You cannot afford to have people trying to undercut the authorities on issuing disaster evacuation orders. Like a fire in a theatre or other building with people in it, the one you get wrong is the one that will kill.
If you have five minutes, one of the most important videos you can ever watch on climate change.
The Guardian is beginning to really follow the Trump-Kushner-Ross money trail:
https://www.theguardian.com/international
Will be great to hear how Muller deals with the extended remit into financial affairs; there’s no going back from ‘follow the money”.
“Todd Barclay has come out of hiding, returning to Parliament with a cheery smile as if the past month never happened.”
Perhaps he is happy because he will have been set up with a high paying job within the “Club.”
The seafaring/coastal shipping industry used to be one of the largest employers in New Zealand. Since coastal shipping routes were opened to overseas shipping companies in 1994, having a seaborne career (unless you want to join the Navy) is almost impossible, as New Zealanders are being bypassed in favour of cheap overseas labour.
Now from the looks of it, carreers such as farming, hospo or hoticulture may end up being closed off to New Zealanders.
Lol. Douglas came up with the idea of a universal benefit… …no… …the Romans did. Paying citizens a bread stipend.
wrapped in the flag….
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DFib8oXXYAE_LI1.jpg
In March this year Tanzania banned the export of raw gold and copper.
They are forcing the economy away from bulk exports towards higher valued refined or processed goods. Their President has also banned exports on raw gems as well (like the lovely Tanzanite you can get in the jewellers now).
The Tanzania President had been promising to do this for some time. Few African leaders really carry this kind of threat out, even fewer have stable democracies as Tanzania does.
In New Zealand this would be like banning all raw logs and all raw water and all powdered milk exports – until they were shown to be processed in this country. It’s a pretty radical change.
I sure ain’t defending everything the Tanzanian President has done. But he’s not proposing to renationalise anything – only to get more value kept within Tanzania. He’s putting Tanzania first. He is definitely giving the impression that one leader will not be cowed or dictated to by the investment community or major international mining companies or the trading markets for such minerals.
For all its gamut of minerals, Africa still depends on foreign investors to extract resources from its mines, while the financiers keep refined gold and cut diamonds in their vaults in London and Belgium.
In the context of the ongoing downgrades by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, this might sound like one is promoting policy recklessness. Far from it.
The argument, rather, is that it is wrong for Europe to own the technology, intellectual property and the profits for making auto-catalytic converters out of platinum mined in Africa, or for Switzerland and France to make billions from jewellery manufactured with African gold, while Africa struggles to keep investors happy by shying away from building its own downstream capability.
Like comparing Fonterra’s near-raw processing to Nestle’s vast FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) empire of milk, sugar and chocolate.
The other instrument he has at his disposal is tax.
This guy has just handed the major gold exporter a $180 billion tax bill.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-24/acacia-gets-190-billion-tax-bill-it-would-take-centuries-to-pay
Of course it will settle for a fraction of that.
But this President has balls of steel, by making the multinational miners pay, and so doing good for his country.
I’m sure it’s unthinkable in New Zealand – where governments are so cowed by Fonterra since it is a creation of the government itself.
Just nice to see a leader go for full economic transformation, without reverting to communist renationalistation inevitably at the pointy end of a gun.
I like what Doug Casey has to say about UBI – it’s stupid, versions of it have already been done (and failed), and just like during the industrial revolution we will find other ways of making money as we are replaced.
https://www.caseyresearch.com/doug-casey-on-universal-basic-income/
Well, I read through it and don’t recall ever having seen as much hyperfellating dialogue before.
But man, the dude really hates people. You can tell he’s a bit of a Randian.
His main argument seemed to be that even though he thinks we’ll probably be able to afford a UBI, it’ll A) make people lazy and B) will never satisfy the bounds of avarice.
To which I respond “A) so what”, and “B) maybe so or maybe not, but it will satisfy the bounds of need”.
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Which means to say that he’s lying. Yes, some versions of it have failed but the good ones worked really well.
Do some reading and get a little educated.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/08/universal-basic-income-socialist-libertarian/
https://www.vox.com/first-person/2016/11/14/13513066/universal-basic-income-crowdfund
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-santens/minimum-wages-vs-universal-basic-income_b_7957850.html
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Ok can we please now leave the kid alone. Todd Barclay has fronted back at Parliament. His career is over. He is a bit of a dick but he is also young and his resignation should now be enough. Leave him alone. Anything else is starting to be a bad look.
Cigarette salesman aside.
Yeah, nah.
We’re still paying for this turkey – if he’d resigned as honour demands we could leave it to the police, but he’s still got both trotters in the trough. Do you think he’s doing a good job? Indications are that an empty space does it better.