Open mike 26/11/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, November 26th, 2019 - 57 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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57 comments on “Open mike 26/11/2019 ”

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  1. cleangreen 1
    25 November 2019 at 4:55 pm

    TO Weka,

    Sorry my confusion was about the two week ban.

    I understand now after I received notice today that it was from "astro planning" event on Hillside rail workshops blog when I span a comment about trucks in that rail post so I now understand to 'stick to the issue of rail' not road. all good thanks..

    thought it was about your question

    [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.]

    • weka 1.1
      25 November 2019 at 5:11 pm

      I still need you to answer my questions above, because you appear to not know how to technically use the site.

      • cleangreen 1.1.1
        25 November 2019 at 8:02 pm

        Sorry weka I couldn't add my comment at your questions site as there was no 'reply' box to add the answers to.

        I have several computers all laptops,

        I do follow the main comment stream always as it is easier to add comments to them at the rolling comments string..

        As you have alerted me too I have also in the past briefly gone onto the box on the right hand where the comments are only seen as whom to and from, but when I go onto that site I get a confused list of past comments and no warnings appear there or on the main string either so either.

        I just must have missed the warnings when travelling away home one location to another I had simply missed the warnings – but that is no excuse I agree..

        I travel between two locations from a remote farm in the Gisborne hills to Napier where I need to reset my settings for my internet service provider and I don't use any other system such as a smart phone as at the farm 300kms away there is no wifi or celphone service there.so a am old school as you see.

        I would welcome any advise to make it simpler to operate.

        Us 75yr olds are not up to today’s speed of learning.
        I must also say I have a suffered past brain injury and two stokes to make my brain harder to use.

        My burden.- disability.

        • Dukeofurl 1.1.1.1
          26 November 2019 at 5:23 pm

          reading this , Ive just realised that Ive never used the 'replies' tab on the sidebar and didnt know it gives all replies to your comments .

          Ive always just flicked through the body of the comments, or less often used the recent part of 'comments' tab.

  2. A 2
    26 November 2019 at 8:03 am

    Morning!

    Name our wind

    Officially naming Wellington's wind was an interesting thought and was an easy way to remember something like how tropical cyclones were named, he said.

    MetService meteorologist Tom Adams said depending on how you defined it, Wellington was the windiest city in the world based on average wind speed.

    "Winds that would barely be noticed in Wellington can cause significant damage in other cities that are less used to the wind," Adams said.

    "It's windy but at least the trees and buildings are used to and designed for it."

    OTHER WINDS

    France – Mistral

    Switzerland – Föhn/Foehn

    United States of America – Santa Ana winds

    Northern Africa – Sirocco/Scirocco

    Egypt – Khamaseen

    ​Mexico – Tehuantepecer

    • Cricklewood 2.1
      26 November 2019 at 9:21 am

      Fremantle Doctor to add to the list…

      Wellington actually needs two names one for the Northerly the other for the Southerly…

    • JanM 2.2
      26 November 2019 at 9:21 am

      Tuparara – strong and gusty wind

    • SPC 2.3
      26 November 2019 at 9:32 am

      Whanganui a Tara "Gone with the Wind" Welly Wood. A strong wind a rhetterly and more mild wind a scarletterly.

      Or (in winter from the south) – "southerwelly/alpine". From the Tasman and Oz – "westerwelly/Tasmanian. And yeah the northerwelly and the easterwelly.

      The alternative is willy to welly, but that leads to Auckland sucks Wellington is full of blowhards – politicians who are expected to do whatever the voters in Auckland want.

    • alwyn 2.4
      26 November 2019 at 2:04 pm

      Perhaps we could just name it Maria. Then we could have a ready made song as "borrowed" from Paint your Wagon.

      That was in 1951 when the musical was written. A storm of that name was first used in a 1941 novel Storm and that, according to Wiki, was one of the factors that led to major storms being given women's names. Really strong winds seem appropriate for a good Wellington Southerly.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Call_the_Wind_Maria

    • Karol121 2.5
      26 November 2019 at 4:01 pm

      I am wondering if some of the often annoying Wellington wind could be described as something like a Southerly Buster or Backdoor Front for those wind conditions forming in or around the central Wellington area, say around St Paul Square and thereabouts.

      See:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southerly_Buster

      Pockets of hot air, often dense, forming out almost nothing within a confined location, causing pressure and a reaction leading to a type of lateral wind of minimal extent (from a wider global perspective), but which can often cause a bit of a local storm, and usually no more than that which might be compared to a storm in a teacup. But this far less common than the observed, prevailing Wellington winds.

      For the more prevalent, from the Northern central area, maybe the Hutt Devil, and from the Cook Straight, how about Cook Blast?

      I am also wondering if they will come up with completely gender neutral names for weather phenomena in the future.

  3. Matiri 3
    26 November 2019 at 8:57 am

    Tawhiri the god of weather including wind?

  4. Adrian Thornton 4
    26 November 2019 at 9:18 am

    Here is a an interview that asks the right questions of a Russia conspiratory pusher and establishment liberal attack dog….that being said he still gets invited to go on every liberal MSM show to disseminate his lies and bullshit with of course absolutely no push back what so ever..just to prove beyond a doubt that the establishment liberal class are just as corrupt and as void of ethic's and morals as the establishment right/tories.

    Malcolm Nance on the Danger of Conspiracy Theories

    https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/malcolm-nance-on-the-danger-of-conspiracy-theories

    • McFlock 4.1
      26 November 2019 at 2:42 pm

      Good interview.

      Not sure it says what you think it says, though.

      • adam 4.1.1
        26 November 2019 at 3:10 pm

        That the US intelligence community are bat shit crazy, and in paranoid lala land.

        The extrapolations that guys makes are running close to completely nuts. They are deeply ideological and tethered to a hated of anything Russian.

        It's all iffy. Mind you if your a complete Russophobe this intelligence nut would be your man.

        Misquoting wikileaks and calling Julian Assange a Russian laundromat, (odd that, as this one got wikileaks in loads of trouble https://wikileaks.org//spyfiles/russia/)

        Did you read the truly weird one at the end, his black hole theory.

        People who fall for conspiracy theories, are almost as bad as the people who make them up.

        • McFlock 4.1.1.1
          26 November 2019 at 3:23 pm

          The black hole theory is usually not too far off the mark.

          Like if about a dozen people have been fired for misconduct or convicted of wrongdoing, and they all worked in a variety of roles for one person, a reasonable assumption would be that that person maybe has something to hide.

          The event horizon is when he tweets confessions at 3am.

        • Karol121 4.1.1.2
          26 November 2019 at 4:46 pm

          What is It's NOT a conspiracy?

          He really DID part the red sea, and the earth really WAS created in seven days?

    • Karol121 4.2
      26 November 2019 at 4:33 pm

      Corruption is said not to be quantifiable when comparing chalk with chalk or cheese with cheese.

      In other words, extent, scale, magnitude is said not to be a legitimate comparative when comparing one party to another, or even when comparing one representative political identity to another, because corruption just is what it is.

      Identifying just exactly what corruption is and what is isn't?

      Now that is a curly one because much of that which is described as corruption might simply be that one or another person or group in a position of power and influence is being manipulative or is taking advantage of an opportunity that presents, which might be considered inappropriate but which may not be illegal.

      Much of the corruption argument pertains to the wide and varied ideals individually held by many and the perception of many more.

      Example: Would a lawyer, as an officer of the court, be considered corrupt if he were to fail to adequately represent his client in a criminal trial because certain people in court management had put pressure on him not to take up the judge and jury's time arguing points of law and procedure, due to the heavy court workload at that time?

      How about if the lawyer is having a bad time of the month, and just throws the client's case file on the sideboard after getting home without reviewing it, to arrive at court the next day ill-prepared?

      Complaints to the NZ Law Society very really go anywhere in relation to a client's accusation of under-performance by a legal practitioner.

      That lawyer may not be considered to be a state employee or an elected representative, but does hold a form of state authority and responsibility.

      Corruption is a most interesting word, and has most interesting connotations.

      And remember that most everything about the structure of the system as it pertains to executive, administration and legislature is very much about legal definitions.

    • francesca 4.3
      26 November 2019 at 5:02 pm

      Adrian, your link
      Now that is hilarious!

      Straight out of a comic book or some teenage TV show.

      Superman and Lex Luthor

      Wiley E Coyote and the road runner

      Thanks Adrian, I had quite a chuckle over that
      Mind you, those Russians are devilishly clever . I saw David Shearer talking about Sudan on RT yesterday.Little does he know he’s being co opted
      and next thing he’ll be getting swept into Putin’s web

      • Dukeofurl 4.3.1
        26 November 2019 at 5:40 pm

        'Co-opted' because he says ordinary and unsurprising things about the conflict in the South Sudan and the effects on the people?

        Its a standard interviewer and interviewee on the ground thing. Doesnt mean hes then asked to visit the Kremlin for banquets

  6. Incognito 6
    26 November 2019 at 10:01 am

    Special pre-Christmas TS service today:

    Puckish Rogue 2019-12-22

    Observer Tokoroa 2020-01-28

  7. A 7
    26 November 2019 at 10:42 am

    Motion to withdraw the cash ban legislation in Oz…

    Liberal party…that’s the party China allegedly wanted the Aussie car salesman for? China is basically cashless.

    Max Keiser said that China is going to declare as yet undisclosed gold + release a gold based crypto. The cash ban would have increased the uptake of this crypto asset – still might. Aussie is far to small to be a major issue, although the more countries that take it up, the more it is likely to become world currency in the future.

  8. Ad 8
    26 November 2019 at 12:20 pm

    Great to see Westpac AU head office CE, Chair, and Board getting roasted for international money security crimes.

    Off you go boys.

  9. Sacha 9
    26 November 2019 at 12:25 pm

    On understanding wily Winnie's ways: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/404141/david-slack-nz-first-and-its-inscrutable-leader-winston-peters

    Even if your ends are admirable and it's all above board, there are questions about proximity and influence that might be provoked, so why would you not anticipate those questions and address them?

    But the most obvious and direct route tends to be the one less travelled by Winston Peters. Perhaps his enigmatic and inscrutable intent here has been to function as a sort of pathfinder; to lead us to revelation.

    • Dukeofurl 9.1
      26 November 2019 at 5:46 pm

      The applications were declined .

      The Henry family have a long association with forests and wood processing industries in NZ- an offshoot of the family became lawyers.. Judges and founded major law firms.

  10. greywarshark 10
    26 November 2019 at 12:58 pm

    Kilroy was here! Or careless human destructive vandal was here?

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/404152/visitors-carving-names-in-moeraki-boulders

  12. mosa 12
    26 November 2019 at 1:51 pm

    Lead narrowing in this poll between Conservative and Labour parties with three weeks too go.

    https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/25/tory-lead-labour-narrows-manifesto-launch-11214646/

  13. UncookedSelachimorpha 13
    26 November 2019 at 2:39 pm

    Important story yesterday reporting Human Rights Commission report into working NZ poor:

    More than 50,000 working households live in poverty

    Interview with Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner on the study here.

    Incredible stats – 50,000 NZ households in poverty while working (after allowing for working for families etc). The system is totally broken.

    I am incredibly frustrated at how little the Labour / Coalition government is doing about this – but under National doing a study like this at all would be less likely, and would be instantly dismissed as irrelevant if it was.

    The complete report in PDF is here

    • SPC 13.1
      26 November 2019 at 4:34 pm

      The 2018 advances in WFF tax credits and changes in AS negated by the rising cost of rent.

      The MW is going up over a dollar each year – again April 2020 and then in April 2021 to $20 an hour.

    • Dukeofurl 13.2
      26 November 2019 at 6:22 pm

      The background suggests its irrelevant to current situation

      'The research was carried out using the 2013 Census data. We define a “working” household as where at least one adult aged 18 to 65 inclusive is receiving positive wages or salaries for a minimum of seven months in the year preceding March 2013. From the scoop link.

      Ive sure the poverty gap hasnt evaporated but its so bloody out of date to be useless

  14. greywarshark 14
    26 November 2019 at 6:32 pm

    Let's stop the live export of animals from NZ. And have stringent rules on the few allowed to be imported. Keep out the diseases that are being imported. And respect our animals welfare and security.

    14,000 sheep trapped inside capsized live export ship – SAFE

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/11/26/14000-sheep-trapped-inside-capsized-live-export-ship-safe/