Open mike 28/06/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, June 28th, 2023 - 31 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step up to the mike …

31 comments on “Open mike 28/06/2023 ”

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  1. Tony Veitch 1
    28 June 2023 at 6:14 am

    Another instalment from rugbyintel to set you up for the day!

    https://twitter.com/rugbyintel/status/1673413612264906758

    and yet another!

    https://twitter.com/rugbyintel/status/1673493381249630213

  2. Dennis Frank 2
    28 June 2023 at 7:59 am

    Xi didn't dictate to Hipkins, so the media lack an interesting angle to jump onto.

    One topic that appears to have come up is Hipkins’ decision not to join US President Joe Biden in labelling Xi a dictator – a decision praised in an opinion piece that ran in a state tabloid, The Global Times, prior to the visit.
    When asked whether this came up, Hipkins pointedly said that he did not raise the matter, but implied the Chinese side might have done. “It’s a question really for them to address. I did not raise it. I’m not going to speak for – it would be undiplomatic for me to make representations on behalf of China. When asked whether the topic came up at all, Hipkins said, “I’m not going to relay any issues that China raised with me … “I did not raise the matter,” he said, emphasising the “I” https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/chinese-president-xi-jinping-appears-to-raise-chris-hipkins-refusal-to-call-him-a-dictator-in-meeting/JGHDPJMVVZFDNCIAP3BJIKMG5I/

    He seems to have experienced immense difficulty in telling the truth about the conversation. Perhaps he felt that what Xi said was a minefield.

    Richard Harman tried hard to figure it out:

    Maybe Xi’s generosity might be explained by Hipkins’ refusal to buy into the debate about whether President Biden was right when he called him a dictator. So did it come up in the meeting? Hipkins wouldn’t answer at first, saying he would not speak for China. “I’m not going to I’m not going to relay any issues that China raised with me,” he said. “I did not raise the matter.” That sounded like China had raised his comments, presumably gratefully. https://www.politik.co.nz/chinas-incredibly-important-friend-and-partner/

    So evasion of the truth was the common ground that Hipkins & Xi used as the basis of their foreign relations. Biden will be considering the timing of when to up the ante: "Forensic stealth analysis has detected at least one dictation machine operating in Xi's office. As soon as we detect others being used by the regime, we will declare their concerted use of weapons of mass dictation (WMDs)."

    • tWiggle 2.1
      28 June 2023 at 10:40 am

      As if any world leader is going to come out of the highest of diplomatic talks with anything but a mutually agreed on media statement. This is political questioning and reporting to try and embarrass Hipkins.

      • Dennis Frank 2.1.1
        28 June 2023 at 11:31 am

        There's that, and there's also Hipkins embarrassing himself. Kiwis have a natural tendency to tell it like it is. Do they resonate with a leader who exhibits the opposite tendency? Not readily. Leftist framing of this stuff never really works well… frown

    • mikesh 2.2
      28 June 2023 at 8:54 pm

      I don't know whether Xi Jingping is a dictator. He seems to have a large "parliament behind' him though they of course may be little more than a rubber stamp. I rather wish though that Biden was more of a dictator, rather than a resident in Wall Street's pocket.

  3. Michael P 3
    28 June 2023 at 8:39 am

    This guy is just a fear monger. In this whole clip he doesn't once suggest what exactly it is he thinks we should do in order to stave off his doomsday prophecy. Funnily enough his voice sounds quite similar to that crazy Roger Hallum nutjob.

    He seems to be saying that the IPCC is incorrect. We have had it hammered into us that we must listen to the IPCC so that's what people are trying to do even those who are or were a bit skeptical about various things to do with anthropomorphic global warming.

    Many people have in good faith and despite their doubts decided to listen to the IPCC and get onboard with what they tell us needs to be done.

    Guys like this start preaching and it just turns people off again.

    I see their website proudly proclaims he is doing his bit, He hasn't flown since 2004. Wow, what a trooper!

    [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.]

    • Dennis Frank 3.1
      28 June 2023 at 8:57 am

      Typical mainstreamer. At 1'40" he's made his first point: we've known about the problem 32 years "and apparently been working on it". So he thinks the UN process has been working on it. Only a mainstreamer could believe such crap.

      First we had to watch a bunch of troops/thugs milling about in near-darkness for quite a while with no explanation of why. As a propaganda video this rates around zero out of ten for viewer-effect. Younger generations will have already switched out.

    • That_guy 3.2
      28 June 2023 at 9:26 am

      The IPCC has always been a bit conservative in their predictions.IMHO this guy has a middle-of-the-road opinion within the scientific community. Some people think things will be better that his predictions. Some people think that undersea + Canadian + Siberian methane deposits will all go at the same time and cause a second Permian-Triassic extinction event, wipe out most life on earth, and kill everything larger than a bug in the tropics.

      This guy's opinion is MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. Entirely within the range of opinions that exist in the scientific community.

      • Bearded Git 3.2.1
        28 June 2023 at 9:43 am

        That-guy: Anybody who takes a look at what is happening to the glaciers all around the world will get the message that the planet, and its inhabitants, are in a mess.

        Guterres, UN Secretary General says:

        "The rate of temperature rise in the last half-century is the highest in 2,000 years. Concentrations of carbon dioxide are at their highest in at least two million years. The climate time bomb is ticking."

        https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/un-scientists-warn-drastic-steps-needed-to-prevent-climate-change-catastrophe

        Meanwhile the complacent inhabitants just keep drilling for and burning oil:

        “Global oil demand will rise to 110 million barrels a day in two decades, bringing the world’s energy demand up 23%, said OPEC”

        https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/26/opec-says-oil-demand-will-hit-110-million-barrels-per-day-in-2045.html

      • Anne 3.2.2
        28 June 2023 at 8:37 pm

        MIDDLE OF THE ROAD opinion?

        There's no such thing as 'middle of the road within the range of opinions.' when it comes to CC.

        Climate Change will deteriorate in the fullness of time unless mankind mends it's wayward ways. The only question mark is… how long it will take and even that is not really questionable. How long it takes depends entirely on mankind's efforts to emmeliorate the causes.

    • weka 3.3
      28 June 2023 at 9:28 am

      I don’t allow climate denial under posts I put up, because we’re in an emergency and this shit just wastes people’s time, but feel free to comment here in OM where people can choose to point out where you are getting it wrong.

  4. joe90 4
    28 June 2023 at 8:47 am

    Poots' revenge.

    btw, do those secret Wagner operations in Mali, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic etc become Russian government operations?

    "Preparations are underway for the transfer of heavy military equipment from the Wagner PMC to the active units of the Russian military," the statement said

    https://tass.com/politics/1638999

    • Brigid 4.1
      28 June 2023 at 1:08 pm

      No. Because these countries aren't Russian territories. There's no reason for these units to become Russian operations. Wagner, being a private military company, is not legally permitted to act on Russian soil. When some of the Donbas territories became Russian following a referendum, the legality of Wagner's role there became a problem, partly giving Prigozhin the excuse he used for his failed coup attempt in my opinon.

      By the way, they aren't secret.

      • UncookedSelachimorpha 4.1.1
        28 June 2023 at 2:37 pm

        Putin said the russian state gave wagner $1b including for operations on foreign territory just in the last year [this was stated directly by putin]

        “The Defense Ministry, the state budget fully financed this group,” he told a group of servicemen inside the Kremlin.

        Putin said the state paid Wagner 86.26 billion rubles ($1 billion) between May 2022-May 2023 in maintenance and incentive payments alone.

        …while in this same time period his official spokesman Lavrov has stated "Wagner has nothing to do with the russian state" – directly quoted in russian state media.

        Which set of lies best suits you?

      • joe90 4.1.2
        28 June 2023 at 7:58 pm

        No.

        Yet there are claims that Russian Armed Forces have taken control of Wagner in Syria with commanders and officers arrested.

        I guess we'll have to wait and see if Preghozin gets the Beria treatment.

        There's no reason for these units to become Russian operations.

        lol

        @revishvilig

        ·

        12h

        Putin 2019: "Private security companies, the people you mentioned who indeed operate there – this is not a Russian state and they are not participating in battles." Putin 2023: "The Wagner group has been fully maintained by the state through the Ministry of Defense."

        https://twitter.com/revishvilig/status/1673772807954604034

  5. Dennis Frank 5
    28 June 2023 at 9:14 am

    The destruction of the world’s rainforests ramped up last year, despite global pledges to end deforestation by 2030, according to a new report.

    An area of tropical forest the size of Switzerland was lost in 2022, as forest destruction rose by 10% compared to the previous year, according to the report by the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Global Forest Watch, which draws on data collected by the University of Maryland.

    The rate of loss was equivalent to losing 11 soccer fields of forest a minute, the report found, as swaths of tropical forest were cleared for farming, mining and other commercial activities.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/27/world/rainforest-deforestation-brazil-climate-intl/index.html

    Talking at the problem seems to make it worse.

    This destruction has happened despite an agreement by more than 100 world leaders to end and reverse deforestation by the end of the decade, made at the COP26 UN climate conference in Glasgow in 2021.

    Just as useless as all the other international agreements. Until they match rhetoric & action & results nobody will believe them. Suit-wearers.

  6. Dennis Frank 6
    28 June 2023 at 9:43 am

    Bomber exposes woke infiltration of our public service:

    What do we have here? The Confidential briefing paper that shows the true scale of the Department of Internal Affairs new ‘Ministry of Truth’.

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/06/28/well-well-well-confidential-cabinet-briefing-paper-shows-ministry-of-truth-will-be-free-speech-garrotte/

    These turkeys can dream on as much as they like. Ain't never gonna happen.

  7. tWiggle 7
    28 June 2023 at 10:26 am

    For how such legislation will actually function, look to Australia who have just issued a warning to twitter, which can lead to fines of up to $700k/day.

    'The [eSafety] commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said there have been more complaints about online hate on Twitter in the past year than any other platform, and complaints have spiked since Elon Musk’s takeover of the company in October. She said if Twitter wanted to continue serving Australia it would need to abide by Australian laws, and Inman Grant has been working with regulators across the world to get platforms to improve their standards.

    'Nearly one in five Australians had experienced some form of online hate, eSafety research showed.“This level of online abuse is already inexcusably high, but if you’re a First Nations Australian, you are disabled or identify as LGBTIQ+ you experience online hate at double the rate of the rest of the population,” Inman Grant said.

    'A third of all complaints about online hate reported are about Twitter.'

    Twitter is not bothering to police its own policies. I wish NZ had an eSafety organisation. Free speech is not free hate speech, attacks on individuals at their own accounts to abuse them and threaten to harm them and their families. I have to guess from your position, Dennis Frank, that you like to be free to act that way.

  8. Shanreagh 8
    28 June 2023 at 10:43 am

    I would just like to thank all the authors for the wonderful thoughtful lead posts for us to read and comment on. A real feast.

    We really have some wide read authors here.

    Thank you. smiley

  9. Dennis Frank 9
    28 June 2023 at 12:45 pm

    In the aftermath of the GFC everyone declared banking reform inevitable. Here, National and Labour disagreed, and immediately went into thumb-twiddling mode, looking nervously around. Years passed. Then a brave knight rode into view, a Don Quixote figure named Faafoi. He somehow got the idea that being a Labour minister meant he could get the job done. He tilted at the banks, but the outcome was…

    not what Kris Faafoi intended. His open letter from 2019 wanted to see all API providers (not just the big five) having implemented version 2.0 of the API standards “or any further updates” by May 2020.

    What’s happened since then is unclear. API version 2.0 came and went, being superseded by v2.1, which included credit cards. But only BNZ has actually implemented v2.1, and you can hardly have an inter-bank data and payment structure working with only one bank on board.

    Which leaves New Zealand fintech companies – and their potential customers having waited four-and-a-half years between Faafoi’s original deadline (May 2020) and implementation. And that’s just for the four Australian-owned banks; it’s a six-and-a-half year delay for Kiwibank, and there's no API timeline at all for the other banks.

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/a-short-history-of-doing-sweet-fa-on-bank-innovation

    Nikki Mandow is Newsroom's business editor. She has a go at explaining why the Labour initiative has resulted in "sweet FA". Covid, anybody?

  10. Sanctuary 10
    28 June 2023 at 3:09 pm

    Noob property speculator discovers he is a noob property speculator…

    Another resident, Raj Sandhu, said the zoning changes had direct financial implications for him and his family.

    “When we bought the property last year we bought it on a valuation based on the future urban projection of the property,” he said.

    “Now, with the council throwing a spanner at the zoning, and it’s going to go back to rural [zoning], that’s personally going to affect my pocket.”

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rural-residents-south-of-auckland-angry-at-councils-flip-flop-on-development/3WWKFMM4ZFF6NBZISQ5FSOXP6U/

    Dear Raj, the council has no responsibility for your purchasing decisions. You should be talking to the person who sold you the land as a one way bet.

  11. Ad 11
    28 June 2023 at 3:41 pm

    Sir James Wallace named and convicted of multiple counts of assault.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/sir-james-wallace-named-as-former-rich-lister-convicted-of-indecently-assaulting-three-men-and-attempting-to-pervert-the-course-of-justice/B7LC7WDODNFM5PUKVPNJP3NUPM/

    From my experience about him, I can say he liked them slightly delicate and with a firm jawline.

    AT 85 he’ll die in jail.

    • Dennis Frank 11.1
      28 June 2023 at 4:00 pm

      Being a lawyer has a warping effect on morality. Quite honourable tho, look see:

      He was promoted to Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, also for services to the arts, in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours.

      In December 2018, Wallace was conferred with an honorary doctorate by Auckland University of Technology. In 2019, he received an honorary Master of Arts degree from the Waikato Institute of Technology.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wallace_(philanthropist)

      The establishment will now have to agonise awhile over whether to strip him of his various honours. A damned dilemma, one suspects. Damned if you do, damned if you don't… surprise

    • observer 11.2
      28 June 2023 at 4:01 pm

      Sir James Wallace. Sir Ron Brierley. Sir Jimmy Savile. And more.

      New law and order policy: "One strike". Arrest all the knights.

      Name suppression seems to last as long as you can afford the lawyers. If you can't, tough.