Open mike 30/04/2025

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 30th, 2025 - 24 comments
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24 comments on “Open mike 30/04/2025 ”

  1. Bearded Git 1

    The Trump factor has massively helped Carney and is significantly helping Albanese.

    Luxon, Seymour and Peters are all showing Trump contagion. I hope the Left has realised that by tarring them with the Trump brush there are a lot of easy votes on offer next year (or earlier).

    • Anne 1.1

      I just hope like hell the Trump saga is making people think more carefully about their political options. Too many NZers have been falling for the lines enunciated by expedient, populist right wing politicians without any understanding of the likely outcomes.

      It has been a world-wide trend but hopefully the Americans, by electing Trump as president, have shone the light fully on the folly of such leaders.

      If Aussie Labor manage to retain the treasury benches against another expedient, populist right-wing populist, I will have more hope for the future of this planet.

    • Ad 1.2

      +1000

      It's such a great political moment to build on

    • Macro 1.3

      Just in case you missed it.

      Articles of impeachment issued against Trump! – By a Democrat – let's hope that it gets some traction from the moderate Republicans who are cringing with embarrassment over the past 100 days.

      The resolution includes seven articles of impeachment outlining a range of constitutional violations:

      1. Obstruction of Justice and Abuse of Executive Power: Including denial of due process, unlawful deportations, defiance of court orders, and misuse of the Department of Justice.
      2. Usurpation of Appropriations Power: For dismantling congressionally established agencies and impounding federal funds.
      3. Abuse of Trade Powers and International Aggression: Including imposing economically damaging tariffs and threatening military invasion against sovereign nations.
      4. Violation of First Amendment Rights: Through retaliatory actions against critics, media, and attorneys exercising constitutionally protected speech.
      5. Creation of an Unlawful Office: By establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”) and unlawfully empowering Elon Musk to unilaterally violate the Constitution.
      6. Bribery and Corruption: Involving dismissing criminal cases, soliciting foreign emoluments, and extortionate settlements for personal and political gain.
      7. Tyrannical Overreach: Seeking to consolidate unchecked power, erode civil liberties, and defy constitutional limits on presidential authority.
  2. SPC 2

    The good news, this is part of more research on (and there is improvement in ways to identify and earlier intervention for treatment) endometriosis.

    Women with endometriosis are at a significantly higher risk for developing a range of autoimmune diseases, new research has shown.

    The new study, involving researchers from the University of Oxford, has identified a significant genetic link between conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, coeliac disease and multiple sclerosis to endometriosis.

    Women with endometriosis were found to have a 30-80% increased risk of developing autoimmune diseases.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9l533k9gwo

    We are behind Oz.

    An Auckland gynaecologist says New Zealand urgently needs to overhaul how it diagnoses and treats a debilitating condition that affects at least one in ten Kiwi women, but often goes undetected or dismissed.

    Dr Michael Wynn-Williams told Saturday Morning's Susie Ferguson that when it comes to endometriosis, New Zealand's healthcare system is "standing still" – especially when compared to the progress made across the Tasman.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/558006/we-need-to-take-action-health-experts-urge-endometriosis-reform

    https://www.labour.org.nz/news-release_women_package

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jun/01/australian-researchers-make-world-first-endometriosis-breakthrough

    • Tabletennis 2.1

      @SPC thank you for those links. That is very interesting.

      Though I'm still missing if this knowledge – the link between endometriosis and developing of an auto immune disease later on- can lead to prevention of Rheumatoid Arthritis, other than being put on medication earlier.

  3. Bearded Git 3

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/29/phasing-out-fossil-fuels-doomed-to-fail-tony-blair-climate

    Blair moves even further to the Right into Trump-like cuckoo land where in the article he promotes unproven carbon capture as a solution to climate change.

    • Bearded Git 3.1

      ….that should have been "into Trump-like cloud cuckoo land…."

    • AB 3.2

      I have little time for Blair, but to be fair, he is talking about the "short-term" – even though he doesn't define what the "short-term" is exactly. And there certainly is a political problem for the left of somehow not forcing any short-term sacrifice of getting to net zero on the poorest, while people like Blair himself barely notice the impact. We shouldn't let our dislike of Blair obscure that fact.

      He is not offering any solutions, but rather looking for a heroic get out of jail card – carbon capture on the scale needed currently seems as implausible as bringing democracy to the Middle East by invading bits of it. That said, if the technology does turn up, we should insist that the IP goes into the public domain and everybody gets to use it at the lowest possible cost.

      • SPC 3.2.1

        He thinks that because total carbon emissions are going up, despite reductions in the "West", that the current course is failing – and is becoming unpopular.

        So proposes carbon capture instead – suggesting that AI will somehow enable successful forms of this. Here he is acting as salesman for Starmer's moves in this area.

        This is not free.

        The EU is on the right course proposing carbon tariffs on trade to incentivise cleaner production for the western market. The tariffs would finance clean tech supply to third world nations etc.

        • lprent 3.2.1.1

          The problem with carbon capture is two fold

          1. Almost all approaches so far seem to use a lot of energy. Guess where most of the energy will come from. Either directly or indirectly from fossil fuels or by using renewable energy that otherwise could replace derived fossil fuel energy that generates most of burnt carbon.
          2. Where to store the carbon so that it can't escape on geological time scales.

          Fracked and emptied gas/oil geological structures are likely to just leach CO2 back into waters or the atmosphere within years or decades. Few of those basins are now gas or water proof.

          That just means it extends the time to sequester fossil carbon away from the carbon cycle.

          Putting it into trees, vegetation or biomass is a waste of time. At best they have a recyclable period measured only in decades. Not the thousands of years required as a minimum to get over the current doubling of accessible carbon in the carbon cycle.

          The only way that works is to make it solid carbon or carbonates and store it away from oxygen. Including moving water with its oxygen. Need create some really big swamps for biotic carbon, or put carbonates into other still aerobic conditions in the deep ocean.

          Those are the only confirmed and proven carbon sequestration techniques. Other carbon capture techniques to date simply won’t scale to a viable level. That includes ideas like injecting into recent basalt to form carbonates (ie Iceland). Where in the hell did the basalt come from and how soon before you get the heat to burn the carbon capture carbonates off the any location in a basalt magma plume zone….

          Be nice if the scientific morons favouring carbon capture would go and do some basic geology.

  4. Adrian 4

    Well.., even Granny has woken up and started to smell the roses this afternoon with at least 4 stories ( too many for this Octo IT illiterate to link to all of them ) RSB saying it will have to cut OCR and other interventions, The Conversation headlining that “ Austerity is Not the Answer”. Sharon Zollner of ANZ not sounding very happy as business confidence nosedives in April and again the Reserve Bank making moves to buy in huge amount of cash as insurance for a rainy day.
    Āt bloody last, there must be a fair bit of quaking in boots if it has come to this. If you’ve lost The Herald Luxon, you’ve lost the country.

    • SPC 4.1

      You do know it is business time, when it is business time.

      Budget month is looming.

    • Muttonbird 4.2

      Incredible stuff. After tanking the economy with cuts and negativity, Willis is giving us a second helping of the same, expecting a different result? The tax cuts were meant to stimulate but that didn’t work. Instead, the public sector cuts which funded those tax cuts have suppressed business activity and tax take.

      The banks and economists once bitten twice shy know that this budget will lead to further contraction of the economy are trying to head that off with calls for further rate cuts.

      The grand plan seems to be to stuff NZ so bad the OCR will have to return to 1% and housing speculation will surge once more. It the only language the Nats know.

      Worst government in many, many years and the worst finance minister ever.

      • Muttonbird 4.2.1

        Just heard Eric Crampton from the far right wing NZ Initiative interview by Heather Stupidity-Allen about the budget and the first thing he offered to cut was interest free student loans.

        So the RW idea is to smash eager young people before they've even had a chance to earn rather than tax wealthy boomers properly, or at least means-test them.

        Absolute waste of oxygen, these guys.

        Crampton is not even a kiwi, he’s from Canada.

      • Nic the NZer 4.2.2

        Background problem here is the fictional idea that monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy. This fiction was only ever seen an plausible with an inflating housing bubble going on, this has ended in NZ. The effect of this is the government thinks it can avoid responsibility for causing a recession and interest rate cuts will fix the economy for it. This is unlikely to work but eventually if they persist with austerity the economy will bottom out (at a lower level than otherwise) and automatically drive fiscal policy into deficit, doing what the govt doesnt want to for it.

  5. Muttonbird 5

    David Seymour of the hypocrisy party while advocating for small government, local independence, and concentrating on core responsibilities breaks all three rules and meddles with councils by sending a letter to all 65 mayors.

    Then blames them for not lapping it up and asking for more.

    The man has zero self awareness.

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/the-bulletin/30-04-2025/seymours-truancy-call-to-mayors-met-with-confusion-and-exasperation

  6. Muttonbird 6

    Dear god. Erica Stanford seems determined to steal whatever childhood our kids have left:

    Financial education to become compulsory in schools from 2027

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360671193/financial-education-become-compulsory-schools-2027

    • dv 6.1

      It also SHOULD be compulsory for MPs.

      Especially NACTZ

    • Muttonbird 6.2

      Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe spells it out to Seymour:

      "As with all social issues, getting to the root cause of this is complex," Tripe told Local Democracy Reporting.

      He said factors could include poverty, housing instability and limited access to transportation, along with health and wellbeing challenges including mental health issues, anxiety and family dynamics, leading to families having difficulties in supporting their children's education.

      Students failing to connect with the curriculum could also lead to disinterest in attending school.

      Tripe said there had been efforts by the Ministry of Education to boost attendance in Whanganui, including the Kaitakawaenga pilot programme involving local primary schools Aranui, Whanganui East, Gonville, Carlton and St Mary's.

      "The aim has been to build relationships with students through sports and physical activities, which can result in building resilience and a sense of belonging, and lead to improved attendance," Tripe said.

      So, instead of issuing a directive to councils to take on the truancy work listed above when at the same time councils are commanded to stick to their core work, maybe Seymour should shut up.

      It's pure ACT though, ignore underlying inequities as if they don't exist, simpler to govern by command.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/559793/seymour-s-truancy-appeal-contradicts-government-s-own-directive-whanganui-mayor-says

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