Open mike 27/11/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 27th, 2024 - 39 comments
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39 comments on “Open mike 27/11/2024 ”

  1. Jenny 1


    'We the people'

    Q: Will there ever be another Israeli away sport match played in NZ?

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/protesters-target-israeli-player-at-asb-classic/YP6CHK7UW23KGBXYORAKHBRO7A/

    A: No

    Not until the apartheid regime in Israel is ended. And never while the genocide in Gaza is continuing.

    Will Israel Become Too Expensive 4 the Empire?

    Indie Nile

    84.6K subscribers

    #football #maccabi #israel #propaganda #palestine

    @0:53 minutes;

    …..Where Israel plays an away game in Glasgow against the women's Scottish national team and it has to be played in an empty Stadium because basically the fans are not having it….

    …..The fans themselves are are starting to take more more and more actions. You have football fans certainly in Glasgow Celtic, more recently in Paris. Again completely violating the FIFA ban on any demonstrations of support flying Palestinian Flags.

    One wonders where that might lead UFA and and what kind of decisions UFA might make and I think this is actually going to escalate.

    You know what gives me hope these days? The lessons from South Africa and the role sports related protest….

    …..There was actually an incredible moment in 1981. The game was rugby and it was the apartheid regime's sport of choice.

    There was no thought of banning South Africa at the time, but then there was the tour of New Zealand in 1981. And there was a movement called HART, Halt All Racist Tours, they protested the games and the cops beat them up, brutally, which brought even more people out to protest. And eventually it grew so big, to the point of literally disrupting the games, people were coming onto the fields, and the tour was a complete shambles 'Batons and Barbed Wire'.

    For 8 weeks in 1981, New Zealand was more war zone than God Zone and basically the whole nation New Zealand split over the rugby tour from South Africa. And as a result the International Rugby Board banned South Africa from all international competitions. So it didn't stop because the oppressor suddenly grew a conscience and realized. 'Oh racism is bad'. No it stopped because the protest and the disruption caused by the protest made business as usual impossible. Business being the operative word, of course,

    Because Sports Authorities, like governments, will never act out of morality, they will act out of business interest when they are forced to act by the People, by the citizens and fans of the sports…..

    • Ad 1.1

      So the natural question is why Israel and Hezbollah can get a ceasefire agreed in weeks, but Hamas can't in a year.

      • Visubversa 1.1.1

        Because Israel wants all those "Arabs" out of the country that they say God gave to them.

      • Jenny 1.1.2

        Ad @1.1

        27 November 2024 at 10:59 am

        So the natural question is why Israel and Hezbollah can get a ceasefire agreed in weeks, but Hamas can't in a year.

        Because Lebanon is a large and well resourced country with access to the outside world and their allies, in comparison Gaza is like shooting fish in a barrel.

        • joe90 1.1.2.1

          Lebanon is a large and well resourced country

          A quarter of it's 5.4 million people are refugees and with a GDP/capita that's a tenth of ours, Lebanon is neither large nor well resourced.

      • Subliminal 1.1.3

        Because Israel sabotaged every effort at peace. The US put forward a peace plan that Hamas signed up to but Israel refused and when the US continued to insist, Israel assasinated Ismail Haniyeh, the very person they were supposedly negotiating with.

        This, of course, is just a sad continuation of Israeli "bad faith" negotiations for peace with Hamas that spans decades. Whenever peace looks set to break out or a cease fire to hold, Israel does something to break it so as to continue their slow strangulation of Palestinian rights or to justify further encroachment into Palestinian land. Genocide is always easier to hide under the cloak of conflict.

      • Jenny 1.1.4

        Hey Ad there is something wrong with your question.

        As the saying goes; 'It takes two to tango'

        As true for the dance as it is for peace negotiations.

        Ad1.1

        27 November 2024 at 10:59 am

        So the natural question is why Israel and Hezbollah can get a ceasefire agreed in weeks, but Hamas can't in a year.

        Why have you mentioned Israel and Hezbollah agreeing to a ceasefire in your question, but not Hamas and Israel?

        Surely it is not all on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire. I think you need to rephrase your question. Otherwise it kinda shows bias. don't you think?

        Hamas want an unconditional ceasefire and the release of the hostages. (on both sides)

        Israel demand/want an unconditional release of their hostages only, and to continue the war.

        Can you see the problem here?

      • SPC 1.1.5

        The reason, as per Hamas, is no release of hostages.

        Here, Hezbollah agreed to end the firing of missiles, without a cease-fire in Gaza.

        They met the Israeli terms.

        The agreement largely tracks UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

        Under resolution 1701, areas south of the Litani should be free of any armed personnel or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state and the UN peacekeeping force (Unifil).

        https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2d3gj9ewxo

        • Jenny 1.1.5.1

          SPC @1.1.5

          27 November 2024 at 5:35 pm

          The reason, as per Hamas, is no release of hostages…..

          The real reason, as per Israel, is no ceasefire.

          There are lots of videos that capture IDF soldiers shooting unarmed Palestinian civilians, even ones carrying white flags.

          Even if Hamas wanted to let the hostages go – Without a ceasefire, if Hamas let the hostages go, they could get caught up in the Israeli genocide against civilian population of Gaza, and be shot by the IDF. Something which has already happened, despite the three Israeli hostages in that case, being shirtless and carrying a white flag and obviously unarmed. The IDF mistook them for unarmed Palestinian civilians, shot at them killing two and then chased the survivor into a building and executed him at point blank range despite him begging for his life in Hebrew.

          The Killing of Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samer Talalka

      • Nic the NZer 1.1.6

        Hamas proposed a full hostage release in return for no invasion just days after the Oct 7th attack (as has been acknowledged by multiple Israeli sources by now). Israel has chosen instead revenge (on all Palestinians). This simply demonstrates how serious that negotiation ever was.

  2. Ad 2

    A world economy in which the dominant power uses tariffs less for specific targeted industry effects and more as broad levers of world power to extract all kinds of unspecified outcome, is a highly politicised world in which business confidence in the affected countries will tank and with in it inward investment.

    Imagine if Australia put up a 25% tariff on all NZ products, for an unspecified time and unspecified defined outcome. We would be fucked.

    • SPC 2.1

      Nationalism.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Act

      DJT Wharton School of Economics graduate.

      Over several decades, Wharton lobbied successfully in Washington, D.C. for tariff laws protecting U.S. manufacturing. He was a defender of large business and evolved into a staunch Republican. He successfully lobbied for the use of nickel in the U.S. coinage, but his lobbying for nickel tariffs was only partially successful, probably because he had a virtual monopoly on production in the U.S.

      Wharton became widely known as a leader of the Industrial League of manufacturing concerns.

      Wharton wrote extensively on economic matters, including protective tariffs and business cycles.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Wharton

    • Bearded Git 2.2

      The USA is only a quarter of the world's economy and falling. Much of this is built on sand…..AI is proving to be an expensive dud.

      I see a USA inspired tech crash coming.

  3. Ad 3

    The liquidation announced today of Solar Zero is a massive blow for a distributed power system in which each roof is a small battery for the whole network.

    If it can't work in Wanaka it's very hard to see it working elsewhere.

    • gsays 3.1

      It is, yet another sign, that 'the system' isn't designed to serve the people.

      A market based electrical system doesn't want players like Solar Zero in the game.

      The market desires scarcity.

      The market tends towards monopoly.

      It's all good though, power shareholders should see a nice wee bump in their portfolio value./sarc.

    • Graeme 3.2

      Solar Zero's business model was to create a distributed peaking generator to cash in on peak spot prices. They did this by putting their panels on peoples roofs with a nebulous return to the roof owner. All good for the roof owner (maybe) until the spot price hikes, then Solar Zero has drained the battery and the roof owner is paying for power off the grid.

      Solar Zero say they have 15,000 "subscribers" ("marks" might be a better description) who could be in an uncertain position right now. If the liquidators can offload the installations as a going concern in one lot the roof owners might come out ok. If it gets down to the liquidators picking off individual roof owners then it could get messy. The roof owners probably need to get together and organised, fast.

      At 15,000 installations Solar Zero has about 27% of all rooftop solar installations in the country, so this is going to be pivotal for the solar industry.

      We looked at Solar Zero a while ago and came away for the interaction with a quite jaundiced view of their business model. Especially around what would happen in an electricity crisis, or they went tits up.

      • Ad 3.2.1

        My relatives did great out of them. No depreciation no maintenance and annual upgrades, it was good for low income people which my replies are.

        We need more startups extracting profits off the margins.

    • Bearded Git 3.3

      Solar works. A solar farm with half a million panels has just applied for consent in the Maniototo. Sheep will graze under and around the panels.

      Solar Zero's problem was it's business model, not solar power.

      • Graeme 3.3.1

        Yeah, the solar bit has always been good, and getting better. The grid scale solar on the go here is mind boggling.

        Hopefully the reasons for Solar Zero's failure will be come apparent with time as the liquidation proceeds. The structure of the electricity market and behaviour of lines companies and other generators may have had as much influence as their business model.

        Solar Zero's solar as a service / distributed generation model may have been a good idea when they started but now there's much better if you own a median or better home with reasonable equity.

        Will be interesting how the liquidation proceeds, their assets will presumably be the whole business, or split to the installations and IP that runs the distributed generator. If the IP's any good that should be a clean sale (big if there, that could be their problem), but selling the installations either as a lot or individually could get interesting.

  4. ianmac 4

    Kevin M Kruse on Bluesky. For our Mr Luxon?

    Let’s run the government like a business, drive the car like a bicycle, and play the guitar like a piano

  5. Reality 5

    Nikki Kaye was a rarity as a National politician – she had empathy for people and wanted to work for and with them. No comparison with the current autocratic cold-eyed lot.

    • Ad 5.1

      Kaye was good to deal with. But lets be honest a minor contributor.

      Chloe is a good Auckland Cenral replacement.

      • higherstandard 5.1.1

        What has Chloe Swarbrick done for Auckland central in her time as their MP ?

        This is a genuine question, and yes, I know you could insert the names of most MPs and their respective electorates and ask the same question.

    • Nordy 6.1

      Thanks SPC.

      Of note yesterday was the repeal of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020. The repeal clause in the Act was updated in 2022 so that the repeal occurred yesterday.

      Both historically important and significant.

  6. Jimmy 7

    As expected the OCR has reduced by a further 0.5% today. Now 4.25%. Good news for everyone with a mortgage.

  7. SPC 8

    Biden should now arms embargo Israel until they agree to a 6 week cease-fire.

    And go to the UNSC and sponsor a call for a cease-fire for aid delivery.

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