Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step right up to the mike…
I can only hope that this attempted Americanisation of our politics has backfired so badly that it’ll be a long time before anyone tries it again. Americanisation of our foreign policy, spying laws, ngati poaka, culture, and fast food has already gone too far.
The Government’s argument that it wanted to widen and deepen the ownership and the make-up of the stock market was the only good one for the asset sales programme.
But selling 49 per cent of the biggest electricity generator in the country to just 1.4 per cent of the population is not a democratisation of the stock market.
The Mom programme also failed to strengthen the share market. Instead, the sales have triggered a backlash wiping a combined $1.3 billion or 13 per cent off the stock market values of Contact Energy, Mighty River Power and TrustPower.
Must that infernal equilibrium of the market kicking in.
Joyce said he had not paid much attention to Lawless’s tweets.
“Lucy has her views. I think they are slightly contradictory – on the one hand she argues for more subsidies for the film and television industry; on the other she spends a lot of time opposing oil and gas, which are big earners for New Zealand taxpayers and help pay for the things she is seeking.”
Joyce’s snide remarks claiming oil and gas are the answers for all NZ’s problems, shows a man not really suited to political leadership.
How have such ill-suited people (as in Team Key) come to have so much political power?
The New Zealand government is subsidising the oil and gas industry to the tune of $46 million annually, an investment at odds with its claims on the world stage to be ‘spearheading’ efforts to reform fossil fuel subsidies, says global conservation organisation WWF.
And its going to pay worse as the years roll on. While the oil and gas industries complain bitterly overseas about “subsidies” to renewable energy initiatives, they themselves are the ones sucking up the most subsidies. That and society at large ignoring and not accounting for all the damage (externalities) the industry causes on the environment.
But our global civilisation is absolutely dependent on this energy and I expect that more and more is going to be taken out of society in order to prop this sector up even as its base resources continue to deplete.
“In June 2010, Barton has questioned the wisdom of deficit spending to fund an extensive national wind turbine energy generation grid. He said, “Wind is God’s way of balancing heat. Wind is the way you shift heat from areas where it’s hotter to areas where it’s cooler. That’s what wind is. Wouldn’t it be ironic if in the interest of global warming we mandated massive switches to wind energy, which is a finite resource, which slows the winds down, which causes the temperature to go up? Now, I’m not saying that’s going to happen, Mr. Chairman, but that is definitely something on the massive scale. I mean, it does make some sense. You stop something, you can’t transfer that heat, and the heat goes up. It’s just something to think about.”
Fundamentally it is true. TANSTAFL after all: the electrical energy has been harvested out of the kinetic energy in the wind. Of course humans would be lucky to ever harvest 1-2% of the wind’s total available energy.
Yep, there was an article about it a year or so back. Can’t find it now though. The author’s paper basically said Yes, it’s clean, yes it’s renewable but there’s still consequences to putting up all those blades. Still, I figure that we could put a few without concern. The idea would be to calculate just how many we can put up before we put too many up rather than the burn it all now creed of the fossil fuel partisans.
Lol. Clearly I’m no energy expert but the other ‘arf, an amateur wind energy enthusiast (and has recently been studying this topic for an assignment) reckons the planet would need to be covered in wind turbines before anything detrimental occurred. (No, you’re right, not a scientific calculation)
The main point is that the Texan Republican Congressman who had a lot to do with energy policy in the US and who was one of the main writers of the energy policy Act 2005 (which gifted Haliburton with subsidies) during the Bush regime is a climate change denier and has a belief that God controls the weather. Would you really want him advising on wind energy?
We are unfortunate enough to have Simon Bridges as our Energy and Resources Minister but so far despite his promotion of deep sea oil exploration and defence of the industry, he hasn’t yet got God involved, although, that theme could be lurking under those angry smouldering eyes given his background. If you’re looking at comparing govt energy spokespeople than you may have a case of worse and worst.
Just saying that we should consider possible consequences before rush in. It is, after all, the rushing in where angels fear to tread that has given us AGW.
Would you really want him advising on wind energy?
No, I’d want actual scientists backed up with observations and calculations.
p ure
and karol
The question of how such pricks get into politics has just been stated by philip.
For NACTS they have to pass the smug, supercilious prick test and they have to have been in some successful business – doesn’t matter what. Showing that they can move the pieces on the board successfully and get money or have a burning desire to learn this. That’s the high jump they have to pole vault over.
and they have to have been in some successful business
No, they just have to have been in business and know the right people (part of the “smug, supercilious prick test”). It doesn’t matter if the business was successful or not.
Slater wasn’t correct. He wants politics to be a filthy, disgusting, depraved business because it legitimises who he is and how he likes to behave. Plenty of politics out there that doesn’t fit his description, due to the kinds of people involved.
weka
+1
Smoke and mirrors. With mirrors you get a different perspective each time you shift position.
Getting out in the sunlight would be a good shift for Slater.
Michelle Boag’s comments on Q+A – Do they see Conservatives as their only hope ? Great ! Means ShonKey Python is fucked.
A sense only but I can’t see New Zealanders being prepared to tolerate another cuppa tea bullshit. Yes it’s MMP but that doesn’t exclude people saying “Oh no not again……”. The spectre of entitlement and any trick for power is gonna tell on them.
Besides Craig is religious nutter. We have a significant history of that carry on going tits up politically.
Very enjoyable. Although Chris Hedges would say – remember that all of these people are multi-millionaires. They make good points, and necessary points – but all they are doing in the final analysis is picking fun at some of the more extreme aspects of the crony capitalism that we find ourselves in.
They never advocate for any serious change or upending of the system (no surprise as it is the same system that they are in the top 0.1% of). For instance, none of them ever says – it’s time to walk from the Democrats and the Republicans, and support an independent third party. Saying that McDonalds or Walmart should pay their workers at least $10/hr is safe of course. Nothing really changes, albeit a bit of worker hardship and poverty is relieved.
Hence their role is merely part of the long weakened liberal elite: to try and soften a few of the more egregious and unfair aspects of the current political economic disaster zone that we find ourselves in, and to conduct a bit of education on the way.
On Down the List this morning they are playing a game of ‘Monopoly’ which is right up to date with current political moves and properties. Land on Sky City casino and you might get bankrupted!
What a marvellous on-line business for a smart and ironic deviser to develop into a game that changes perhaps daily, and punters will pay to play it. How interesting and fun.
There was talk in Open.m 26/10 about intergenerational education on the past and reality. I’ll just put here a really sound Chinese Confucian precept from Thinkexist.com
“By three methods we may learn wisdom:
first, by reflection, which is noblest;
second, by imitation, which is easiest; and
third, by experience, which is the most bitter.”
Confucius quotes (China’s most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC)
If you’re interested in the experience of the factory worker and you’re in Wellington, this may be a fascinating exhibition to go and visit:
Li Xiaofei’s exhibition, Assembly Line – A packet of Salt, shows video footage of 100’s of factories around the Yangtze river, footage that he has compiled over the last three years. It’s on at the Toi Poneke gallery until 9th November.
“The Assembly Line videos deliberately mix artistic and documentary language. Images of the individual and the machines are constantly being cut up, restructured, transformed and rebuilt into an evocative film. This body of work explores a number of interlocking themes including the relationship between labour and management, people and machine, factory and individual and individual and society”.
I knew from the start that this whole “buy-to-rent” thing would be a disaster. Over the last decade or so, everything that Wall Street touched has turned into a scheme primarily focused on parasitically funneling wealth and resources away from society at large to itself. This is no different. They call it a “new asset class.” I call it Wall Street serfdom.
What makes this article even more interesting is that it’s not simply greed, it is also obvious that these Wall Street firms have no idea what the fuck they are doing.
I have just heard from a friend of a suicide of a man who was taken off the benefit. I am so angry that giggling Paula Bennett and co will be happy accepting any increase in their remuneration while they are driving others to take such desperate measures. I regard their lack of empathy with contempt. This NAct government falls over itself to subsidise corporations but shows little compassion for the people. Shame on them!!
Watching Nat matriarch Michele Boag on Q&A trying to stitch up the ways the Nats can keep their filthy hands on the power levers in parliament reminded me of Karl Rove of Fox news who tried to come up with all manner of ways that Mitt Romney could beat Obama in the last US Elections she was grasping at straws suggesting ACT could win Epsom
and on top of that telling Micheal Parkin off for accusing the incompetent Steven Joyce of Cunliffe bashing was laughable now that Miss Goody Two Shoes Jessica Mutch is off to the UK hopefully Micheal and Corin Dann might grow a pair ask some searching questions of the idiots running the country because the Herald won’t.
Talking of Joyce why is it that him/Key and English are always right and everyone else is wrong.Its called arrogance and it sinks many a government.
Bruce Schneier, Cryptographer and Computer Security Specialist and Author of Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Thrive
We’re in the middle of an epic battle for power in cyberspace. On one side are the nimble, unorganized, distributed powers such as dissident groups, criminals, and hackers. On the other side are the traditional, organized, institutional powers such as governments and large multinational corporations. During its early days, the Internet gave coordination and efficiency to the powerless. It made them powerful, and seem unbeatable. But now the more traditional institutional powers are winning, and winning big. How these two fare long-term, and the fate of the majority of us that don’t fall into either group, is an open question – and one vitally important to the future of the Internet.
And the Nats are up in one poll released today and Labour are back close to the Shearer levels they have become used to in he past year or two.
A rogue poll? – maybe.
But the one thing that leads to politic civil war more than any other, is bad polling. Get some great results like Labour has recently and Cunliffe is “The Man” and the Nats start looking for folk on their side to eat.
A few more of the “rogue” polls like todays one and the Labour MPs will be looking for folk on their side to eat.
Afterall, political cannibalism is okay when its self preservation. Isnt it?
That some with VERY close allegiances to the Nats behaved badly in the Auckland Mayoralty can be forgiven if it doesnt affect polling, shows an ugly side of politics in New Zealand.
New Zealand Superannuation NOT ASSET OR INCOME TESTED A universal entitlement for every citizen/permanent resident from age 65 ….. 10 years residency only qualification .required………. NOT SO……………..see http://www.nzprotest.com
ethnic New Zealanders from Europe mainly discriminated against and forced to undergo Asset and Income test via S.70 the stealth clause in SSA 1964. see also Auckland University Research Policy Unit on Justice Delayed is Justice denied…………….www.migrantstonewzealand beware.org
New Zealand Superannuation NOT ASSET OR INCOME TESTED A universal entitlement for every citizen/permanent resident from age 65 ….. 10 years residency only qualification .required………. NOT SO……………..
Tomorrow afternoon, if things go really really badly, I may find myself down to one eye. People who used to sneer at me on Twitter will no doubt say So what's changed? Nothing, that's what, you one-eyed lefty.I don’t mean to be dramatic, it’s just a routine bit of cataract ...
A few weeks ago an invitation dropped into my email inbox to attend a joint Treasury/Motu seminar on recent, rather major, changes that had apparently been made to the discount rates used by The Treasury to evaluate proposals from government agencies. It was all news to me, but when ...
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After seeing yet-more-months of political debate and policy decisions to ‘go for growth’ by pulling the same old cheap migration and cheap tourism levers without nearly-enough infrastructure, or any attempt to address the same old lack of globally conventional tax incentives for investment, I thought it would be worth issuing ...
The plans for the buildings that will replace the downtown carpark have been publicly notified giving us the first detailed glance at what is proposed for one of the biggest and best development sites in the city centre. The council agreed to sell the site to Precinct Properties for $122 ...
With the Reserve Bank expected today to return the Official Cash Rate to where it was in mid-2022 comes a measure of how much of a psychological impact the rate has. Federated Farmers has published its latest six-monthly farm confidence survey, which shows that profit expectations have fallen and risen ...
Kiwis Disallowed From Waiting Lists Based on Arbitrary MeasuresWellington hospital are now rejecting patients from specialist waiting lists due to BMI (body mass index).This article from Rachel Thomas for The Post says it all (emphasis mine):A group of Porirua GPs are sounding alarm bells after patients with body mass indexes ...
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
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Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
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Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
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The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
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Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
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Slaters/Cook/Palino/Wewege and Chuang.
its a bloody circular firing squad (and a vortex of crazy).
Two front pages & an editorial
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11146923
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9331664/The-mayor-the-love-rat-and-nudity
I can only hope that this attempted Americanisation of our politics has backfired so badly that it’ll be a long time before anyone tries it again. Americanisation of our foreign policy, spying laws, ngati poaka, culture, and fast food has already gone too far.
When maths speaks louder than words
wotta dick Abbott is
Bernard Hickey in the NZHerald:
Must that infernal equilibrium of the market kicking in.
“..Forget the relationship help aisle –
– this is the best marital advice the world has to offer..”
http://www.alternet.org/sex-amp-relationships/9-relationship-tips-dont-suck
(ed:..bloody hell..!..this should be taught in high-schools..)
phillip ure..
Or schools could explore whether marriage is an outdated concept.
@ asleep..
..isn’t it more about freedom of choice..?
..than either/or dictates..?
..and you said ‘marriage’..
..the linked article talks of ‘relationships’..
..close..but no prize..
..phillip ure..
Stuff has picked up on Lucy lawless Twitter criticisms of Steven Joyce, in ‘Warrior in tweet war with minister‘:
Joyce’s snide remarks claiming oil and gas are the answers for all NZ’s problems, shows a man not really suited to political leadership.
How have such ill-suited people (as in Team Key) come to have so much political power?
Report exposes Government hypocrisy on fossil fuel subsidies
Oil and gas doesn’t appear to pay that well.
And its going to pay worse as the years roll on. While the oil and gas industries complain bitterly overseas about “subsidies” to renewable energy initiatives, they themselves are the ones sucking up the most subsidies. That and society at large ignoring and not accounting for all the damage (externalities) the industry causes on the environment.
But our global civilisation is absolutely dependent on this energy and I expect that more and more is going to be taken out of society in order to prop this sector up even as its base resources continue to deplete.
On the subject of energy: You thought Simon Bridges was tard enough, thank goodness we don’t have this guy writing our energy policy.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023819890
Wind energy controversy
“In June 2010, Barton has questioned the wisdom of deficit spending to fund an extensive national wind turbine energy generation grid. He said, “Wind is God’s way of balancing heat. Wind is the way you shift heat from areas where it’s hotter to areas where it’s cooler. That’s what wind is. Wouldn’t it be ironic if in the interest of global warming we mandated massive switches to wind energy, which is a finite resource, which slows the winds down, which causes the temperature to go up? Now, I’m not saying that’s going to happen, Mr. Chairman, but that is definitely something on the massive scale. I mean, it does make some sense. You stop something, you can’t transfer that heat, and the heat goes up. It’s just something to think about.”
Wow.(With apologies if this already been posted)
Fundamentally it is true. TANSTAFL after all: the electrical energy has been harvested out of the kinetic energy in the wind. Of course humans would be lucky to ever harvest 1-2% of the wind’s total available energy.
I read that the total wind energy available might fall between 100TW to 200TW. Extracting 1% of that would be huge.
Yep, there was an article about it a year or so back. Can’t find it now though. The author’s paper basically said Yes, it’s clean, yes it’s renewable but there’s still consequences to putting up all those blades. Still, I figure that we could put a few without concern. The idea would be to calculate just how many we can put up before we put too many up rather than the burn it all now creed of the fossil fuel partisans.
Lol. Clearly I’m no energy expert but the other ‘arf, an amateur wind energy enthusiast (and has recently been studying this topic for an assignment) reckons the planet would need to be covered in wind turbines before anything detrimental occurred. (No, you’re right, not a scientific calculation)
The main point is that the Texan Republican Congressman who had a lot to do with energy policy in the US and who was one of the main writers of the energy policy Act 2005 (which gifted Haliburton with subsidies) during the Bush regime is a climate change denier and has a belief that God controls the weather. Would you really want him advising on wind energy?
We are unfortunate enough to have Simon Bridges as our Energy and Resources Minister but so far despite his promotion of deep sea oil exploration and defence of the industry, he hasn’t yet got God involved, although, that theme could be lurking under those angry smouldering eyes given his background. If you’re looking at comparing govt energy spokespeople than you may have a case of worse and worst.
Check this out for more Barton crazy:
http://americanloons.blogspot.co.nz/2013/03/473-joe-barton.html
Just saying that we should consider possible consequences before rush in. It is, after all, the rushing in where angels fear to tread that has given us AGW.
No, I’d want actual scientists backed up with observations and calculations.
Tat
It’s base all right.
Rosie
Now I’m (really) confused. How many ways are there for finding our way out of this maze. Damn all these cul de sacs.
+100 Karol . How have they indeed. Seeing joyce (unfortunately) this morning , I was asking myself the same question.
it has long puzzled me just who colin craig looks like..
..and seeing him on q & a..
..it has just come to me..
.it is e.t..!
..check it out..!
.and wow..!..isn’t he a smug/simpering/supercilious prick..
..eh..?
phillip ure..
p ure
and karol
The question of how such pricks get into politics has just been stated by philip.
For NACTS they have to pass the smug, supercilious prick test and they have to have been in some successful business – doesn’t matter what. Showing that they can move the pieces on the board successfully and get money or have a burning desire to learn this. That’s the high jump they have to pole vault over.
For LABOUR it’s different – isn’t it?
No, they just have to have been in business and know the right people (part of the “smug, supercilious prick test”). It doesn’t matter if the business was successful or not.
Slater WO was correct, politics is a filthy, disgusting, depraved business. Couldn’t think of a more appropriate family business for them.
Slater wasn’t correct. He wants politics to be a filthy, disgusting, depraved business because it legitimises who he is and how he likes to behave. Plenty of politics out there that doesn’t fit his description, due to the kinds of people involved.
weka
+1
Smoke and mirrors. With mirrors you get a different perspective each time you shift position.
Getting out in the sunlight would be a good shift for Slater.
Michelle Boag’s comments on Q+A – Do they see Conservatives as their only hope ? Great ! Means ShonKey Python is fucked.
A sense only but I can’t see New Zealanders being prepared to tolerate another cuppa tea bullshit. Yes it’s MMP but that doesn’t exclude people saying “Oh no not again……”. The spectre of entitlement and any trick for power is gonna tell on them.
Besides Craig is religious nutter. We have a significant history of that carry on going tits up politically.
Craig is also anti-asset sales, so that would be interesting if there was another National-led government and they had an appetite for more sales.
joyce is on q & a sneering at the idea of a living wage/raising the minimum wage..
..bill maher has the best response/riposte to him/his bullshit..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/26/bill-maher-minimum-wage_n_4166212.html?ref=topbar
phillip ure..
Hah, that was good 😈
Bill maher rocks, is he available amongst any of das skys dross ?
You could back to back him, daily show and colbert as a therapy regime of sorts.
Very enjoyable. Although Chris Hedges would say – remember that all of these people are multi-millionaires. They make good points, and necessary points – but all they are doing in the final analysis is picking fun at some of the more extreme aspects of the crony capitalism that we find ourselves in.
They never advocate for any serious change or upending of the system (no surprise as it is the same system that they are in the top 0.1% of). For instance, none of them ever says – it’s time to walk from the Democrats and the Republicans, and support an independent third party. Saying that McDonalds or Walmart should pay their workers at least $10/hr is safe of course. Nothing really changes, albeit a bit of worker hardship and poverty is relieved.
Hence their role is merely part of the long weakened liberal elite: to try and soften a few of the more egregious and unfair aspects of the current political economic disaster zone that we find ourselves in, and to conduct a bit of education on the way.
+1
Not to forget the toxicity of the supremely entitled Weetbix baggage Bling Rankin.
Q+A…….I’ll never use it…….but you know I will.
On Down the List this morning they are playing a game of ‘Monopoly’ which is right up to date with current political moves and properties. Land on Sky City casino and you might get bankrupted!
What a marvellous on-line business for a smart and ironic deviser to develop into a game that changes perhaps daily, and punters will pay to play it. How interesting and fun.
There was talk in Open.m 26/10 about intergenerational education on the past and reality. I’ll just put here a really sound Chinese Confucian precept from Thinkexist.com
Confucius quotes (China’s most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC)
that quote passed from a respected GP to me.
that quote passed from a respected GP to me.
If you’re interested in the experience of the factory worker and you’re in Wellington, this may be a fascinating exhibition to go and visit:
Li Xiaofei’s exhibition, Assembly Line – A packet of Salt, shows video footage of 100’s of factories around the Yangtze river, footage that he has compiled over the last three years. It’s on at the Toi Poneke gallery until 9th November.
“The Assembly Line videos deliberately mix artistic and documentary language. Images of the individual and the machines are constantly being cut up, restructured, transformed and rebuilt into an evocative film. This body of work explores a number of interlocking themes including the relationship between labour and management, people and machine, factory and individual and individual and society”.
http://asianz.org.nz/events/packet-salt-li-xiaofei
This just came up on Facebook feed..
Mozilla have released Lightbeam
http://www.occupycorporatism.com/new-mozilla-app-shows-users-who-is-tracking-them-online/
It enables the user to watch who is watching them……..
I’m using chrome with ghostry installed.
Ghostry findings for this page:
DoubleClick
Facebook Connect
Facebook Social Plugins
Google Adsense
Google Analytics
NetRatings SiteCensus
Quantcast
Statcounter
WordPress Stats
busted!
crikey..!..that facebook feed is a bit old hat/news..eh..?
..i had that one way back on the 25th..
..phillip ure..
I run http://www.abine.com/how-donottrackme-works/ on both Chrome and Firefox. It seems to work. Adblock also speeds things up.
Wall St rental homes: Billion dollar slum lords
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-26/closer-look-decrepit-world-wall-street-rental-homes
i just found this – on the afternoon trawl..
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/26/12_other_governments_that_enjoy_spying_on_their_citizens_partner/
“..8) New Zealand
New Zealand?
Really?
A new law allows the country’s main intelligence agency to spy on its own citizens.
The government realized that the Government Communications Security Bureau had been spying on New Zealand citizens illegally – anyway —
– so it introduced the new law to make it a lot less illegal.
As in other countries – there’s been a lot of public opposition to the law;
– as in other countries – the government claims that the added surveillance is needed to protect the people.
Aww – thanks government!..”
phillip ure..
I have just heard from a friend of a suicide of a man who was taken off the benefit. I am so angry that giggling Paula Bennett and co will be happy accepting any increase in their remuneration while they are driving others to take such desperate measures. I regard their lack of empathy with contempt. This NAct government falls over itself to subsidise corporations but shows little compassion for the people. Shame on them!!
heartless
Watching Nat matriarch Michele Boag on Q&A trying to stitch up the ways the Nats can keep their filthy hands on the power levers in parliament reminded me of Karl Rove of Fox news who tried to come up with all manner of ways that Mitt Romney could beat Obama in the last US Elections she was grasping at straws suggesting ACT could win Epsom
and on top of that telling Micheal Parkin off for accusing the incompetent Steven Joyce of Cunliffe bashing was laughable now that Miss Goody Two Shoes Jessica Mutch is off to the UK hopefully Micheal and Corin Dann might grow a pair ask some searching questions of the idiots running the country because the Herald won’t.
Talking of Joyce why is it that him/Key and English are always right and everyone else is wrong.Its called arrogance and it sinks many a government.
Like
Bruce Schneier: Power in the Age of the Feudal Internet.
PROPOSITION
Bruce Schneier, Cryptographer and Computer Security Specialist and Author of Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Thrive
We’re in the middle of an epic battle for power in cyberspace. On one side are the nimble, unorganized, distributed powers such as dissident groups, criminals, and hackers. On the other side are the traditional, organized, institutional powers such as governments and large multinational corporations. During its early days, the Internet gave coordination and efficiency to the powerless. It made them powerful, and seem unbeatable. But now the more traditional institutional powers are winning, and winning big. How these two fare long-term, and the fate of the majority of us that don’t fall into either group, is an open question – and one vitally important to the future of the Internet.
https://www.schneier.com/
and then there are the ghosts
And the Nats are up in one poll released today and Labour are back close to the Shearer levels they have become used to in he past year or two.
A rogue poll? – maybe.
But the one thing that leads to politic civil war more than any other, is bad polling. Get some great results like Labour has recently and Cunliffe is “The Man” and the Nats start looking for folk on their side to eat.
A few more of the “rogue” polls like todays one and the Labour MPs will be looking for folk on their side to eat.
Afterall, political cannibalism is okay when its self preservation. Isnt it?
That some with VERY close allegiances to the Nats behaved badly in the Auckland Mayoralty can be forgiven if it doesnt affect polling, shows an ugly side of politics in New Zealand.
New Zealand Superannuation NOT ASSET OR INCOME TESTED A universal entitlement for every citizen/permanent resident from age 65 ….. 10 years residency only qualification .required………. NOT SO……………..see
http://www.nzprotest.com
ethnic New Zealanders from Europe mainly discriminated against and forced to undergo Asset and Income test via S.70 the stealth clause in SSA 1964. see also Auckland University Research Policy Unit on Justice Delayed is Justice denied…………….www.migrantstonewzealand beware.org
New Zealand Superannuation NOT ASSET OR INCOME TESTED A universal entitlement for every citizen/permanent resident from age 65 ….. 10 years residency only qualification .required………. NOT SO……………..
SO…NOT!
SO……NOT! Not what! ………..
ask 65,000 to 70,000 kiwis about their SO VERY MUCH ASSET AND INCOME TESTING ON THEIR NZ SUPER and losing thousands of dollars????????????????
SO REAL……………
http://www.nzpensionprotest.com
supamu… 😉