About
Contact
Advertise

Facebook
Twitter

September 4, 2024 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 04 September 2024

Like this:

Like Loading…

Email
Facebook
Twitter
Comment212

Uncategorized
General Debate

Comments (212)

Login to comment or vote

NeverMindTheBollocks

A bunch of bureaucrats at the IEA with no skin in the game say that O&G consumption will fall, perhaps steeply, in the years after 2030.

The oil majors, who are the experts, think that oil demand in 2050 will be similar to the 100m bpd that it is today.

Who to believe, who to believe.

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Energy-Majors-Say-Oil-is-Here-to-Stay.html
24 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:01am
- David Garrett
  
  Nevermind: This discussion reminds me of the “peak oil” debate. During my time in parliament 15 years ago, the Greens’ party line was that “peak oil” had already occurred, or if it hadn’t, it would by next Thursday (next Thursday back then, not now).
  
  In fact, fifteen years later, the world is awash with the stuff, and the USA is once again a net exporter of oil, something it had last been about 1955.
  
  Meanwhile up here in the Magic Kingdom, sea levels have risen an average of 3mm – yes that’s three millimetres – in the last 20 years, as measured by the Tonga Ports Authority.
  
  32 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:28am
  - cmm
    
    Much of that 3mm is likely due to land subsidence caused by various factors such as tectonic plate movement and sucking water out of the aquifers.
    
    23 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 10:18am
    - kowtow
      
      Much of the eastern seaboard of the USA is sinking too, due to water extraction .
      
      Not climate catastrophe as the UN , te media and Greens etc would have us believe .
      
      16 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 10:49am
      - waikatosinger
        
        Not just water extraction. Also glacial rebound. With the pressure of miles thick ice removed from the center of the continent, the center of the continent is rising and the fringes are sinking. Like most things geological this happens very slowly. I has been happening for thousands of years since the ice sheets retreated. And it is still going on today.
        
        10 0
        Report
        September 4, 2024 11:28am
      - kowtow
        
        waikatosinger
        
        Indeed . Isn’t debate and knowledge great !
        
        None of this , “the science is settled” b/s.
        
        It’s no more settled than the continents themselves !
        
        Speaking of which the science of tectonics is also relatively new and only really took off cos of Cold War subs chasing each other around the ocean bottoms. How new is that.
        
        6 0
        Report
        September 4, 2024 12:25pm
      - cmm
        
        Eastern seaboard sinking (Louisiana, Miami etc) is huge. Something like 1.5 metres over the last 100 years.
        
        There’s that classic photo from California in 1977. I wonder what it looks like today.
        
        https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/land-subsidence-san-joaquin-valley
        
        PS: can you see 3mm on that?
        
        6 0
        Report
        September 4, 2024 12:26pm
    - JackRabbit
      
      Indeed. Thanks to the equalising effect of the moon, and it’s gravity in the form of tides, any increased sea level rise in one part of the world is quickly distributed around the world, within 12 hours. With secondary, tertiary, etc changes occuring with each tide.
      
      So if it is rising 3mm somewhere else and the standard 1.5mm here, the 3mm is horse shit.
      
      Daft pr*cks that think otherwise, can post a picture of their bath / swimming pool, where the level of the water is higher at one end than the other.
      
      4 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 11:38am
      - NothingLeft
        
        Not quite correct, as the temperature of the water column changes it’s density, and that can lead to slight differential changes in sea level across the globe if one region has warmer less dense water (will go higher) vs another region with cooler more dense water that will go lower. It can’t be by much as differences also drive convective mixing, but that mixing is over distances that can be 10000km or more so it’s slow with only tiny pressure differentials to ‘push’ it, and sometimes continents restricting the flow paths.
        
        4 0
        Report
        September 4, 2024 12:09pm
  - Justitia
    
    Don’t give any credence to this “fossil fuels cause sea level rise” crap. The UN IPCC was mandated from the outset with the conclusion that climate change is man-made and now fakes “The Science” through computer modelling to try to paper over the cracks. They are chasing their own tails, but hey it’s a (very good) living. Meanwhile real science clearly shows that CO2 increases as a result of warming.
    
    7 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 2:36pm
  - slijmbal
    
    Peak Oil is peak bollocks. Contracted to Shell’s exploration and production labs in the Hague in a previous life – huge setup. Finding oil is expensive and once found the country it is found in wants it to be used as it needs the royalties. Oil companies deliberately limit the amount they find as it’s expensive to find and finding too much drops the price. There are literally thousands of years of oil/gas available especially when one includes shale oil.
    
    Another Greenpeace\Greenie lie.
    
    4 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 4:10pm
kiwikidsnz

Before anyone gets complacent note the continuing gender gap which will be the key to the next election

Roy Morgan’s New Zealand Poll for August 2024 shows support for the National-led Government (National, ACT & NZ First) has increased in August, up 3% points to 53%, increasing its lead over the Labour-Greens-Maori Party Parliamentary Opposition on 43% (down 1% points)

https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9663-nz-national-voting-intention-august-2024

ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence was up 4.3 points in August to 92.2. At 92.2 it is still well below its 10-year average (109), but also well off its lows. Both the current and future conditions indexes lifted, the latter by more

https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9658-anz-roy-morgan-nz-consumer-confidence-august-2024
24 1
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:03am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Government confidence was even higher, the break down of female voters is not the problem, its younger female voters, as women over 50 is a lot closer
  
  14 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:38am
  - waikatosinger
    
    Maybe it was a mistake to give women the vote. They don’t seem to be using it very well.
    
    (Puts on flame retardant suit)
    
    5 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 5:03pm
    - PurplePen
      
      Uptick cause it made me laugh.
      
      2 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 8:05pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Trump Just Hit Baron Von Zuckerberg With A VERY Big Warning…
It seems Zuckerberg has crossed his path. Such a nice guy was plotting against him all the time.

https://dailyheadlines.com/trump-just-hit-baron-von-zuckerberg-with-a-very-big-warning/
16 11
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:04am
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  Good, couldn’t happen to a nicer Oligarch. Zuckerberg has always been a creepy influence peddler.
  
  And remember, if the service is free, it is because you are the product. Facebook has always sold your personal information and tried to curate your feeds.
  
  13 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:12am
Simon

All the demons and cranks running the UK. Have been for a long time. It’s just more obvious and in the open now.

You cant count out that the same people were running the UK when the Treaty was signed in 1840.
9 10
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:04am
- Nukuleka
  
  What an unhinged, bizarre comment to make! It makes no sense whatsoever- on any level.
  
  9 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 11:31am
- NZer In Exile
  
  Simon can you please explain a bit more?
  
  0 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 2:52pm
I remember when

Isn’t it great the way the old songs come to mind.
Yesterday as I was driving down the state highway I found myself singing,
“Don’t fence me in.”
11 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:06am
- Biscuit
  
  Mmm, I remember when…
  
  I took (well, I was COMMANDED to take) the boss of this household over to Coastlands yesterday.
  
  En route, I noticed her giving me a VERY conspiratorial look.
  
  And then she burst out into:
  
  Do do do do do de do do do do do do do do do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do doo be-do-do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do do-do do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do doo de-do-do de-do-do de-do-do de-do-do-doodle do do do-doo do!
  
  Do do do do do de do do do do do do do do do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do doo be-do-do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do do-do do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do doo de-do-do de-do-do de-do-do de-do-do-doodle do do do-doo do!
  
  Do do do do do de do do do do do do do do do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do doo be-do-do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do do-do do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do doo de-do-do de-do-do de-do-do de-do-do-doodle do do do-doo do!
  
  Do do do do do de do do do do do do do do do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do doo be-do-do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do do-do do
  Mahna Mahna
  Do doo de-do-do de-do-do de-do-do de-do-do-doodle do do do-doo do!!!
  
  Five or six km of us singing that together! With action, too, natch.
  
  How can you not love such a person, eh?
  
  9 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:25am
  - pdm
    
    Bloody hell Biscuit you and your good lady never cease to amaze me.
    
    I am tempted to rescind my invitation to take you both to Mangaorapa to see:
    Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu
    
    and your favourite Hawkes Bay try scorers farm.
    
    8 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 10:50am
    - Biscuit
      
      Ha, pdm…
      
      My partner gazed at my post and said something to the effect that ‘someone didn’t like your comment.’
      
      That someone, I am guessing, didn’t like your reply either … but then I tabbed down and found that just about ALL of the posts after mine had been downticked.
      
      He – and I am presuming a) it is a he and b) he’s the same saddo each time – can keep his (sad) life. Me, I am quite content living in my (way happier) one.
      
      6 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 12:23pm
- OlderChas
  
  There are several sections of SH1 I call Alcatraz!
  
  1 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 11:52am
peterwn

Google News indicated there was a Herald article “MSD cuts funding for charity working with emergency housing tenants” by Azaria Howell, article found late yesterday. Click on link and article gone! No equivalent article in print edition.
There must have been serious ‘egg on face’ disinformation in the article for it to be pulled.
16 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:07am
- Ghost
  
  MSN have it
  
  https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/ministry-for-social-development-cuts-funding-for-charity-working-with-emergency-housing-tenants/ar-AA1pSN9l?ocid=BingNewsSerp
  
  8 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 8:58am
  - zulumonster
    
    The answer is in the article – there has been a 71% drop in families in emergency housing so the number of “housing navigators” is being reduced. Note that this charity is getting funding for 10 housing navigators in November, down from the previous 17, so not even a commensurate drop in numbers compared to their “client” numbers.
    
    16 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 9:07am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  The headline is s they need to smear the government
  
  10 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:39am
Gussy Fink-Nottle

Extraordinary.
The BBC has run a story on the horrific Beslan school siege (20 years ago).
It’s critical of Putin’s personal response.
The thrust of the piece (and one of its subheadings) is ‘Image protection’.
It wraps up with the spookily ironic assertion ‘State media has been fully tamed’.

One significant detail is conspicuous in its absence.
Nowhere in the 900-word article is there any reference to the fact it was an Islamic terrorist attack.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86ld5z2ll7o
21 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:08am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Zuckerberg blames Biden for censorship.
Zuckbucks everywhere.
Looks like the naughty boy is a liar!

https://dailyheadlines.com/hot-off-blaming-biden-for-censorship-zuckerberg-resumes-election-meddling/
10 4
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:17am
- NothingLeft
  
  doesn’t actually sound bad – they say they are using the money to install monitoring cameras. Good if true
  
  2 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 12:13pm
cmm

This current concept of giving sentence discounts for a traumatic childhood etc is entirely broken and has the equation the wrong way around.

People who have had traumatic childhoods should really get more harsh sentencing. Here’s why.

The main purpose of imprisonment is to give a criminal some “feedback” that their offending was unacceptable to society and they must not repeat it. The punishment needs to be harsh enough that they remember it next time they feel inclined to offend and choose to stay on the path of righteousness.

If a person has had a life where they are treated well, then just the judicial process, and maybe a very light sentence, is enough to stop them from ever offending again. Of course, if they do offend again then their feedback needs to be increased.

If a person has led a harsh life then they are used to a level of harshness. They therefore need more harsh sentencing etc to get any feedback otherwise it is just water off a duck’s back.

NZ has the highest, or close, recidivism rates in the world. Clearly our crims are not getting the feedback they really need.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350401280/tragic-life-story-led-sentence-discount-prison-rioter
34 6
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:24am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  Plus the fact that prison’s main purpose is to keep us safe from that person. Past trauma is an indication that a criminal is likely to be more dangerous in future, not less. Therefore they need to be locked up longer.
  
  23 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 8:28am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Punishment for the crime is a societal expectation. Without punishment that fits the crime there can be no social reparation.
  As Adam Smith (1723-1790) said: “Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.”
  
  20 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 8:28am
  - Dave
    
    Even if one does not see punishment as social reparation – many punishments are not – it is difficult to see how cultural reports contribute to the sequestration, deterrence and rehabilitation (listed in descending order of effectiveness) functions of prisons, home detentions, fines.
    
    9 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 9:06am
- Simon
  
  Prisons are a moral & fiscal failure – Bill English
  
  Reap as you sow.
  
  4 21
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 8:42am
  - cmm
    
    I think that is taken out of context.
    
    17 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 9:27am
  - Colville
    
    No doubt prisons are the cage at the bottom of the cliff.
    
    After parenting, school, sports, mental health and society hasnt worked prison is where people end up.
    Yes some people are just bad bastards…but most wouldnt end up like that without the shithead ganged up druggie parents.
    
    This isnt to say we shouldnt be building a VERY large prison to house those that are bad now… as there is nothing else to be done.
    
    IIRC it takes 11 convictions average to actually get sent to prison… (DG ????) if you havent learnt by then you aint gonna!
    
    17 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 9:46am
    - slijmbal
      
      Grew up in one of poorest, nastiest parts of Liverpool. Crime was endemic. Generally down to s$$t parents. Many saw prison as a side effect of crime that was acceptable. They frequently grew out of it around the age of 45.
      
      2 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 8:24pm
  - Dudley Quaffquaff
    
    An expensive way to make bad people worse
    
    3 15
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 9:49am
    - kevn
      
      dud… I wonder if out-working the serious convicts is a plan. I’m sure China would be able to sort a deal to have a less expensive option.
      
      7 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 10:04am
    - David Garrett
      
      Dudley: What alternative would you suggest? Particularly for the worst of the worse, Tarrant, Burton, Bell, Baker and many others whose names are less well known??
      
      16 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 10:08am
      - NothingLeft
        
        Contract out their incarceration to third world countries. Requirements:
        1/ kept alive in reasonable conditions (food, shelter, not shackled for long periods, no unwarranted physical abuse)
        2/ $10 million dollar penalty if they escape
        3/ lose a years payment if they die
        
        Should cost $5-10k per year. Do this for all people in prison for >2-3 years and we could likely save the country many billions per year in direct costs and indirect savings in reduced crime rates as we could incarcerate bad bastards for longer.
        
        Would also potentially stop the ‘training and networking’ that currently occurs in NZ prisons.
        
        6 0
        Report
        September 4, 2024 12:17pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Simon: “Prisons are a moral & fiscal failure – Bill English. Reap as you sow.”
    
    Which obviously meant they are bloody expensive and the fact they exist in significant numbers suggests there is a lot of immorality about.
    
    Airhead lefty “idiot-compassion” is a huge reason why criminality expands.
    
    0 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 2:56pm
- David Garrett
  
  cmm: I saw the headline to that story when I looked up Stuff on my phone when I awoke…I couldn’t bear to look at the story.
  
  7 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:31am
Grunter

The ‘Climate Debate’ and end all fossil fuels arguments can be considered as two seperate arguments:

1: That human GHG emissions are causing “Global Boiling” (this term is used by the UN.)

2. The planet must stop using all fossil fuels or it will be the end of the human race.

The first argument is actually irrelevant. It doesn’t actually matter if this is a correct or incorrect hypothesis. I consider it incorrect, but again it doesn’t matter.

The second argument is the only one that matters. Essentially, what happens if we stop using Oil, Gas and Coal? And critically, what are all the unintended consequences of doing this?

And this is where the entire whacky house of cards come tumbling down. It would end all ‘renewable’ energy as solar panels and wind mills need fossil fuels to do the massive amounts of mining for the minerals required to manufacture these non-renewable contraptions.

Same goes for anything made from plastic, rubber, and metals. All gone.

Mass produced agriculture would stop, causing global food shortages, etc,etc…… Try eliminating all materials today that need fossil fuels – its impossible unless you live in a cave!

So, debate “Global Boiling” all you like, but until you have a solution to that perceived problem (and you don’t) then stop wasting your breath. Furthermore, ending fossil fuels by say 2050, will definitely kill off most of the human population. Is that what you are trying to do?
23 3
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:25am
- amospicton
  
  We don’t know whether stopping using fossil fuels entirely will ‘solve’ the problem or not. It might. What we do know is that would be an enormous cost – particularly to the world’s poorest. It’s easy to make the case that the availability of cheap energy has been the single greatest driver of increased living standards over the past 200 years. So isn’t it better to concentrate on dealing with the effects of warming if and when they occur rather than trying, possibly in futility, to stop it?
  
  14 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:25am
  - Local Miller
    
    Actually we do know. We went through the better part of 2 years with significantly reduced air travel ICE engines being used and reduced manufacturing over the C-19 scamdemic and there was ZERO impact on the increase in CO2. Man’s contribution to increasing CO2 in the atmosphere is so miniscule we are arrogant to think we can impact the climate.
    
    15 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 11:38am
    - Burtland
      
      “The most surprising result, is that while carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by 5.4% in 2020, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere continued to grow at about the same rate as in preceding years”. “During previous socioeconomic disruptions, like the 1973 oil shortage, you could immediately see a change in the growth rate of CO2,”
      
      “The lack of change in CO2 growth rates through 2020 (COVID) indicates that expecting changes to individual behavior to be sufficient to halt the increase of GHGs in the atmosphere is unrealistic.
      
      … this would suggest that the medicine they will impose will be much stronger than not driving your car
      
      https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/emission-reductions-from-pandemic-had-unexpected-effects-on-atmosphere
      
      4 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 1:49pm
- cmm
  
  By 2050, or thereabouts, the Islamic Africans will have taken over most of the levers of power in Europe.
  
  Don’t expect them to fret much about climate change.
  
  20 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:29am
  - kowtow
    
    Africa ? Here’s a real genocide that no one seems interested in.
    
    ‘The killing, persecution and displacement of Christians in Nigeria is “unrelenting” and “a time bomb,” according to a major new report.
    
    Christians “are deliberately targeted,” as well as “Christian communities, their livelihood(s), faith leaders and places of worship,” according to the report by Open Doors International, a faith-based non-profit working to raise awareness of global persecution, aiming to mobilize prayer, support and action among Christians.
    
    Christians are reportedly becoming “an endangered species” there, the report says.’
    
    https://nypost.com/2024/09/03/world-news/thousands-of-christians-deliberately-targeted-and-killed-in-nigeria-report/
    
    13 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 10:54am
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Not on the list of “cool” things to protest about, so the juvenile screeching rent-a-mob clowns don’t give a F.
      
      1 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 3:01pm
- Burtland
  
  climate change must be true, the BBC reports …
  
  “Extreme weather increases the risk of girls being pushed into marriage. Can we stop this?”
  
  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct5ws3
  
  11 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:41am
  - Local Miller
    
    Is there anything we can’t blame on the non-existent extreme weather?
    
    11 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 11:40am
- David Garrett
  
  Mass produced agriculture would stop, causing global food shortages, etc, etc…… Try eliminating all materials today that need fossil fuels – its impossible unless you live in a cave!
  
  Quite so…which is why the entire idea of “ending oil” is just a stupid juvenile fantasy. I am prepared to bet a penny to a pound of shit that those clowns gluing themselves to roads have no idea that in all likelihood the glue is made of hydrocarbons. Or that the keyboard on which they tap out their inane ideas also has its origins in plastics derived from oil.
  
  19 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:12am
kowtow

I wonder when the Disinformation Project or $1uffed Fire and Fury are going to take NZME to task .

Today’s Herald is full of articles that can only be described as obvious anti coalition propaganda .

Front page is some medicos saying the health system is falling apart ; but that was never said when Ardern shut it down to “save it”.Quite the opposite te media applauded that sabotage.

The conviction of Eli R is covered but the reporter states the assault toke place at a “raucous speaking event” . Excuse me , that was a feminist rally that was shut down by rioters, some of whom were clearly there equipped for and intent on violence and who did engage in violence , not “raucous” .

There’s yet another article on the Maori King by Arena Williams ,Labour MP . What’s pretending to be a eulogy is actually an attack on the co alition.But she fails to mention his quote;
” There’s no principles, the treaty is written. That’s it.”
According to Williams he was a a “unifyer” , but according to te media and the left anyone in the coalition who says that is a divider.

Last point .
There’s a bit of detail in the paper from the NZSIS report .
All the radio news mentions domestic dangers from “lone wolf” , but there’s more detail in the paper . It’s actually from FMVE , that’s “faith motivated violent extremism”, re emerging in NZ , stirred up by events in Gaza.

The FM bit has been noticeably absent from their radio news , I wonder why.
23 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:28am
- sirknz
  
  That Eli R one really irked me.
  
  They stated that their purpose that day was to deny someone else from exercising their own right to speak. The judge basically used the “oh, you’ve had a difficult life” argument to excuse it all.
  
  There is nothing more despicable than denying someone their right to speak purely because you disagree with their world view.
  
  20 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:17am
  - kowtow
    
    ‘There is nothing more despicable than denying someone their right to speak purely because you disagree with their world view’
    
    And actively using violence to back up the “protest.”
    
    10 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 12:21pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      At the time the MSM seemed to make a big deal out of how the tomato juice incident didn’t result in injury to the 2 women victims and how Rubashkyn (Eliana Golberstein,) was undertaking a NON-VIOLENT protest.
      
      They told Stuff in the days after the incident that they chose tomato juice because it was a non-violent way of making Parker miserable.
      
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350400387/trans-rights-activist-convicted-and-discharged-after-dumping-tomato-juice-posie
      
      It’s as if MSM journos can’t see the bloody obvious when it is hitting them in the face.
      
      5 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 3:12pm
G the giant from Dunedin

I see the Morgan poll is out. A big upward swing of 3% for the coalition and 3.5% for Nats, 10% gap between government and opposition suggests there is no way we will see a one term government.

I say again, how the helm could level headed voters swing back to Labour after the damage they have done and get lumped with Greens and TPM in cabinet
24 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:29am
- Colville
  
  Excellent.
  Now we need Hipkins to stay in place for the next two years before the odious McAnulty knifes him..
  
  37 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:11am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Yes, MPs have been speaking out, and Hipkins has been breathless with bullshit, pressure is on, I would rather the failed Hipkins stay.
    
    Any leader wanting to win will time it right, McKanulty will know there is no chance next election
    
    13 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 9:36am
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  No matter what we do, no matter what we say
  
  13 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:51am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Yes, and as I have said level headed hard working tax payers know bullshit when they see it
    
    6 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 11:43am
Cassandra

I can understand discounts for pleading guilty but unless the crim’s family are going into prison too then a discount for their part in the crime seems worse than pointless. All it does is let the crim out early to resume his career. Back to the family which caused the problem in the first place.
17 1
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:33am
- cmm
  
  The purpose would seem to trying to be “fair”.
  ie if someone had a rough childhood then they already had some punishment up front and therefore should get some hand outs.
  
  While that might seem “fair”, it does not really work in practice. If they grew up being thumped and treated poorly then a bit of prison life is an insignificant deterrent.
  
  17 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 8:39am
- Stellaboxer
  
  Up until the age of 18 the parents of a child should be the ones who receive the punishment for their sprogs crime. I believe you would see a huge increase in parental responsibility and far fewer oinks out after dark.
  
  15 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:10am
  - cmm
    
    18 is maybe pushing it.
    In many countries 14 is considered the age of criminal liability. Before that, parents are at least partially responsible.
    I’d say 14 is about right.
    
    10 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 9:31am
  - NothingLeft
    
    Watch the movie “We need to talk about Kevin” about a child psychopath. Psychopaths are born not made, and some of them have low impulse control or low intelligence. Talk to any teacher or look at the longitudinal study from Dunedin, and you can identify boys who will be criminals from a young age.
    
    You want to hold parents responsible for accidents of genetics? Particularly in a time when the law has crept in scope to the point where it is no longer legal to use force to chastise kids in meaningful ways. A 12 year old psycho can’t be controlled by parents and teachers who aren’t allowed to back up rules with force. Made even worse by number of single mothers trying to raise them.
    
    8 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 12:26pm
    - wsk12345
      
      You do realise that that book is FICTION?
      
      And yes you can identify kids from a young age, 3-5 years old from memory in the Dunedin study. But that’s a long time after birth – and we know from other research that the first 3 years are critical. I bet that every single kid identified as a psycho at age 5 had a god-awful childhood. That isn’t generic, it could be, but most likely most cases are due to the bad luck to be born to sub-humans.
      
      4 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 2:04pm
  - Ghost
    
    No.
    
    I never broke any laws, but there is no way my parents should be held accountable for things I did as a kid. I always knew I was accountable for my actions.
    
    For some parents that knowingly involve their children in crime or know what the child is up to and doesn’t attempt to intervene, yes. But most parents will be unaware what their children are up to.. I’m sure many here did things there parents never knew about at the time.
    
    2 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 3:00pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  This government has already halt how much time can be dropped, some were getting down to 20% of the punishment, pretty sure the government has made it no more than 60% reduction
  
  3 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:41am
Yvette

Perhaps just read the portions in bold type –

Today’s guests include the Governor-General, members of the Rātana Church, and iwi including Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Kauwhata and Ngāti Hine.
Kiro said she ‘wore three hats’ for her visit today – as governor-general, on behalf of the people of Aotearoa, and to mourn as a sister with whakapapa to the Kiingi.
She gave paid tribute to the manaakitanga of the Kiingi and Kiingitanga, and their work in bringing people together, referencing the national hui held at Tuurangawaewae in January.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/dame-cindy-kiro-arrives-at-turangawaewae-marae-to-pay-her-respects-to-kingi-tuheitia/3P7FQCSMZVGVXAFX6B7TH364HQ/

Up to 10,000 people are estimated to have responded to the call from Kiingi Tuheitia, the Māori King, to a national hui in reaction to the Coalition Government’s policies on te reo and the Treaty of Waitangi.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/01/thousands-stream-in-to-t-rangawaewae-marae-for-hui-iwi.html.

It is inconceivable that the Governor General would not attend, but at the same time the praise she gave for the Kiingi and Kiingitanga work in bringing people together, referencing the national hui held in January, was praise for a unity against the nation’s Government.

It was surely a vast dereliction of moral duty that both the Maori King and David Seymour were at Waitangi this February and no greater understanding between either was attempted, presumably less explanation show the unity fostered by Kiingi Tuheitia may perhaps be based on at least some misinformation –

Peters, Seymour heckled during Waitangi proceedings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-yL9h_Lba0

Transcript. [Applause]
[Hone Harawira:] there’s more important things to be
doing if we are to build this nation
than try to muck around with a treaty of
white thingy and you want to cut the treaty in
front of all of these people. Hell, no!
[Applause] [Music]
Not only will we not stand for
it, Shane Jones ain’t going to stand for it.
Sorry, David, you’re on your own on this.
One the thing you need to
know is: that when it comes time to see
whether this is going to go into
legislation, you and your shitty ass bill
are going down the toilet.

Nice?

Slightly presumptuous of Harawira – and even perhaps the Late Maori King, since he made his call for unified opposition over a year before the planned sighting of the Government’s actual legislation.

So unity for what?
11 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:35am
- rouppe
  
  If he was all about unity, you wouldn’t need to mention “members of the Rātana Church, and iwi including Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Kauwhata and Ngāti Hine.”
  
  If he was all about unity, Cindy Kiro wouldn’t need “three hats”.
  
  That hui in January wasn’t about national unity, it was about driving a bigger wedge into the already bad race debate.
  
  Harawira, Waititi, Ngawera-Packer, Morgan, Tamihere and more are the biggest racists in this country. Racist and Maori Nationalists.
  
  They are Mazi’s
  
  22 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:11am
- kowtow
  
  All this palaver about this fellow , granted a leader in some respects, but does the GG attend say MP’s funerals , do we fly govt flags at half mast for same .
  
  In so many ways electorate MPs are far more representative , significant and embodying of our constitutional arrangements and democratic principles than some sort of marginal Victorian era creation.
  
  10 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:22am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    All this palaver about this fellow
    
    Now if your father/grandfather was 69 years old and had a 10 year plus history of ill-health and frequent hospitalisations (including for diabetes, kidney disease – requiring daily dialysis and then a kidney transplant, cancer, stomach surgery, heart problems), why would you subject him to long public appearances on the other side of the world (Paris Olympics) followed a couple of weeks later by a weekend of festivities (Koroneihana)?
    
    16 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 9:56am
    - kowtow
      
      Sounds like he did more travelling than our erstwhile FM , Mahuta.
      
      7 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 10:58am
- DimChappie
  
  What is the source of the quote that begins “It is inconceivable that the Governor General would not attend……”
  It is not at all clear where this comes from.
  
  7 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:09am
  - Yvette
    
    It was not a quote, DimChappie, until you quoted half of it
    It is my opinion – which is why it is not italicised or linked.
    
    2 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 3:41pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Covid gaslighting coming back for the Democrats?

https://politicalactionalerts.com/democrats-push-covid-panic-as-trump-gains-ground-in-polls/?
7 6
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:45am
- sherp
  
  Who else thinks Harris might just get covid and not be able to debate trump….
  
  14 5
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:36am
  - kowtow
    
    She’s doing the “I’m busy on the phone ” trick to avoid reporters’ questions.
    
    If she keeps up the anti democratic , not available to the media schtick , even they will turn on her , at least a teeny weeny bit.
    
    9 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 11:00am
- Benedict Yu
  
  I would have thought that COVID was dead as a political issue in the USA.
  
  3 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:57am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

The Shortage No One Talks About.
While this is an American source, the same is happening in NZ, leadership, courage, and common sense.
“They’re scared to stand up against the cultural tides, terrified of being labeled or canceled. This cowardice isn’t just disappointing; it’s dangerous.”

https://patriotpowerednetwork.com/americas-greatest-crisis-the-shortage-no-one-talks-about/?
12 5
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:57am
Burtland

Seems MSD under Carmel Sepuloni had a secret stasi …

MSD was spying on 5 social media platforms -training was supplied by MBIE

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018954065/msd-bans-staff-from-using-fake-social-media-profiles
13 1
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:02am
- Ghost
  
  Did you listen to the report? They admitted it was misleading in 2017, so this was going on under the previous national government as well
  
  6 6
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:12am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Trump surges ahead, contrary to what other media says.
Honesty from Nate Silver.

https://patriotpowerednetwork.com/nate-silver-says-trump-surges-ahead-of-harris-in-2024-race-dems-in-disarray/?
11 6
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:04am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Yes, even the corrupt MSM said yesterday that Trump is tipping Michigan
  
  9 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:43am
- Grunter
  
  Next week’s debate (Sept 10th) I expect will be a critical point in the race to the White House. Komrade Kamala’s Kommunism policies will start to be exposed and will unravel her campaign.
  
  Trump will be heading towards a landslide victory that the Leftards, the Rhinos, and The Deep State simply can not tolerate.
  
  Panic will set in…….This is about to get nasty IMO at the back end of Sept
  
  8 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:01am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    I always said it will be a landslide, even if Joe was still at the helm under Obama.
    The loss for the left won’t be pretty. The National Guard will have a lot to do. I don’t think Joe Biden will bother to call the National Guard into action. Under Obama’s control the violence will just be blamed on Trump. That is how the nasty Democrats are.
    If/when Trump wins on Nov 5th, Joe is still President until noon on Jan 20th 2025. Who knows what will happen. Jan 6th 2021 will be nothing. There will be burning, rioting, looting, shootings.
    
    3 4
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 12:19pm
JC60

To all those enthusiastic supporters of hiking the foreign tourist levy to $100, every country affected by this is now well within their rights to introduce a similar charge on Kiwis. Since we are a long way from just about anywhere, many New Zealanders visit multiple countries on their trips abroad. Expect to pay a great deal more for that overseas holiday as a result. Talk about cutting off you nose to spite your face. It has the whiff of a third world scam about it. Yeah, let’s soak the tourists.
12 5
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:06am
- Colville
  
  JC60.
  Even a mid range tourist will spend $10K on flights and accom to come here for 10 days… so $100 is 1%.
  Is that a deal breaker? Nope.
  
  The “bones of their arses” tourists that come and hire a camper, shit in the bushes and live on 2 minute noodles ….would we miss them? nope.
  
  The ones who come to walk Te Araroa … live on instant noodles, annoy the shit out of trampers and dodge paying any DOC hut fees… would we miss them? Nope.
  
  18 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:18am
- cmm
  
  It isn’t so much being enthusiastic about it as being realistic.
  
  A $65 increase from the current $35 to the proposed $100 is not going to move the needle on anybody’s decision to go anywhere.
  
  For the people coming here, the average trip is 10 days, so $6.50 a day – a cup of coffee.
  
  “Expect to pay a great deal more for that overseas holiday as a result.”
  What sort of holidays do you go on that $65 is a “great deal”?
  
  I very much doubt any country would bring in different rates depending on where you travel from. It just isn’t worth the complication – especially if it is to “punish” the few NZ travelers to their shores.
  
  10 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:37am
  - JC60
    
    I think you missed the point. As I said, many kiwis visit multiple countries when on holiday, so the extra charges could easily mount up. As far as your second point about countries not bringing in different rates depending on where you come from – well many countries do, they are called reciprocity fees and vary according to the fees that are imposed on their own citizens.
    
    2 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 12:26pm
- MCōs
  
  Three hundred dollars for a tourist visa for a stay longer than 30 days in Thailand. It used to be fifty
  
  10 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:41am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  $62 US many countries use USD hardly a big amount, and let’s not be blind to the fact we pay already to go to most countries, and visas can be quite expensive, most people going through a booking agency will not even see the cost
  
  8 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 9:46am
- Scooter
  
  Do you really think another country will single out NZ and charge a higher fee just in spite? It won’t happen and I can’t imagine there are any countries that pay a different tourist fee from another. What NZ could also look into is a “bed tax” like a lot of European cities charge a per night fee usually 1-5 euro. But this may cost more to administer than a fee at the airport, not sure.
  
  3 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:44am
- Ghost
  
  These fees are nothing new. Can you point out any countries with such fees that have been targeted for doing so. My guess is you won’t be able too.
  
  3 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:47am
  - JC60
    
    They are called reciprocity fees and are charged by many countries including India, China, Mexico and Canada. Argentina also used to apply this to Australian citizens until it was suspended in 2017. They are imposed on countries which charge similar fees for their citizens.
    
    1 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 12:19pm
Diogenes

I see that DPF wants to eliminate Good Friday, Easter Day (the correct term, it’s not Easter Sunday), and Christmas Day.

What a wonderful idea. Let’s strip away the last remnants of any civic acknowledgement of the force that underlies Western civilisation. What we call the West would not exist if it were not for Christianity. Yes, I acknowledge that some terrible things have been done in the name of Christ. But you can’t lay those at the feet of Jesus, they are the result of human beings going explicitly against His teachings and following a lust for power, money, etc. And despite those failings, down through centuries of history the unifying and emancipating force of Christianity, when honoured and observed, has risen above all other idealogies, religions and philosophies.

We are at peril when we lose sight of that and fail to acknowledge it. Tragically, we are seeing what in the West we are reaping because of the increasing rejection of what Christ taught.

But hey, let’s find a new working philosophy. For starters, we could examine the underpinning unifying forces of countries where Christianity is vilified, and what it is that makes their people happy and prosperous. For starters, there’s ……. (well, I’m sure there must be one).
26 7
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:22am
- newview
  
  A little naive Diogenes. “I acknowledge that some terrible things have been done in the name of Christ”
  A gross understatement starting with the Crusades. By far the majority of wars have had a religious connection. We are now a completely multicultural society in NZ so I’m afraid I have to disagree with your opinion on this. By all means have the holiday and mark these occasion’s how you want, but don’t tell others they should not work on these days if they wish to. We should not act like an authoritarian state who tells it’s citizens what they should do on religious occasions.
  
  4 16
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:47am
  - Taieri
    
    You make a very valid point. As we are now a multicultural society, we should do away with all the remaining vestiges of Christianity. And start anew. But with what?
    
    2 11
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 10:53am
    - newview
      
      Nothing Taieri. They are for most holidays that just keep the retailers going. Keep them by all means but to an ever increasing part of our society that’s all they are. A holiday.
      
      2 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 1:20pm
  - kowtow
    
    ‘A gross understatement starting with the Crusades’
    
    Utter nonsense .
    
    The crusades were a series of defensive wars against an extremely violent , intolerant ,expansionist , ‘colonial settler’ Arab conquest of Christendom.
    
    If you’d like a modern picture of what that was like and involves look no further than ISIS in Syria or indeed the Oct 7 outrages .
    
    12 5
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 11:17am
    - newview
      
      Utter nonsense to you Kowtow. The point is they were violent campaigns. In the name of religion. Whether they were justified is immaterial.
      
      3 4
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 1:06pm
      - kowtow
        
        ‘The point is they were violent campaigns.’
        
        Well duh , they were facing an extremely ruthless and violent invader , I doubt cuddles were fashionable then.
        
        3 2
        Report
        September 4, 2024 3:39pm
      - Mike
        
        The crusades were launched 400 years after the Arab conquest of Palestine. So kowtow would probably be ok with Eire liberating Northern Ireland in response to the expansionist Cromwellian conquest of the 17th century.
        
        0 1
        Report
        September 4, 2024 5:22pm
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      No, the crusades were a response to the Turkish invasion of the Middle East and Anatolia. The Arab takeover of the Middle East happened more than 400 yrs earlier.
      
      0 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 6:05pm
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    “A gross understatement starting with the Crusades.”
    
    In the West we’re regularly guilt-tripped about the supposed wanton aggression of the Middle Eastern Crusades. But the 1st Crusade was a response to the Seljuk Turkish invasion of the Middle East and Anatolia. Byzantine Emperor Alexios I appealed to the West for help to push back the Turks. He got more than he bargained for, as the Pope and various Western knights had their own agendas. And the so-called People’s Crusade that preceded the 1st crusade was an absolute shocker, featuring mass murder of Jews in the Rhineland.
    
    The last two crusades against the Turks (in 1396 and 1443-4) were unambiguously defensive, an attempt to stem the Ottoman advance into Europe.
    
    I don’t see why the West should be apologetic to Muslims about the Crusades. A series of wars that finished nearly 600 yrs ago, in which the Muslims ultimately prevailed. There’s more reason for the West to be apologetic to Jews, or to Orthodox Christians for the sack of Constantinople in 1204.
    
    8 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 11:32am
  - Sir Henry Morgan
    
    The Crusades were a response to Islamic armies first invading the Christian Levant, then invading Christian Europe. Centuries later, westerners have been trained to self-flagellate because their ancestors stood up for themselves and for Christendom. It’s ridiculous.
    
    The cultural gap between Christendom and the Islamic world was vast even back then. I remember reading an account in which one of the Islamic leaders was amazed that European women were allowed to participate in public life, including assuming positions of authority – e.g. taking command of a castle when their husband was away on business, meeting with emissaries, and so on.
    
    4 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 1:54pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Newview I’m curious. Do you therefore suggest we pay no heed to the demands of Muslim groups for demands to respect this or that custom/belief of theirs (in NZ)?
    
    1 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 3:10pm
- rouppe
  
  That’s a bit of a misrepresentation of what he proposed.
  
  There are calls for an increasing number of public holidays for various niche causes.
  
  He proposed replacing public holidays with annual leave days so that christians can celebrate christian events, Buddhists can celebrate Buddhists events, Muslims can celebrate Islamic events, each in their own time.
  
  He never proposed eliminating those “days” just changing how the paid time off work was handled.
  
  4 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:58am
  - Local Miller
    
    This could be fun. The logistics as companies have to try anticipate when they are going to have a bunch of staff on leave. 80% off over 25th & 26th Dec, and some time in April. Then random groups off over Passover, Diwali, Eid, etc.
    Under the current system everyone knows there are set days when (almost) no one is at work, and a few days when a few people take leave for religious reasons.
    
    4 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 11:53am
Jack5

Good report in Stuff by Lloyd Burr on the intricate ownership of the barge stranded on the West Coast.

The ownership path winds through the companies and limited partnership registers, and Burr links it to a $7 million subsidy from NZ’s previous and disastrous government to four entities…

.. that make up the Aotearoa Shipping Alliance. The other entities are West Coast hapu Ngati Waewae, East Cape’s Te Rimu Trust, and Waikato’s Tainui Kawhia Inc.

The alliance applied for a piece of a $30m ‘blue highway’ coastal shipping fund announced by former Transport Minister Michael Wood in 2022. It was awarded $7m from that fund.

Among the requirements included creating new seafarer jobs.

The grounded barge turns out to be crewed by foreigners.

NZ needs coastal shipping. Labour’s response was its traditional answer to any problem: throw millions of taxpayer money at it.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350401966/explained-barge-thats-stuck-west-coast-beach
20 1
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:29am
- kevn
  
  Jack… Amazing tale of bungling from start to finish and clipping the $$ ticket by many.
  
  11 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:12am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  Good article.
  
  Who recommended that barge needs their head read. How MSA or whoever allowed its use on the W Coast needs to be given 2 dozen at the gratings.
  
  11 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:14am
  - alex Masterley
    
    Who approved the vessel and on what basis is a question that we are all interested in having answered.
    When I saw the size of the propulsion units I thought they were totaly unsuited to conditions in the Tasman or any areas around the NZ coats.
    
    7 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 12:34pm
- Taieri
  
  Whoever thought that this abortion of a thing was suitable for operations out of Westport needs his head examined. And whoever approved it for trading on NZ coast should lose his/her job. Their incompetence is just unbelievable!
  
  10 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:49am
  - Jack5
    
    Kiwiblog’s seafarer followers – do you know?
    
    Are ocean-going barges used much anywhere in the world these days?
    
    Was the last big use of barges in the South Pacific the Japanese Navy with its fleets of cargo and troop carrying barges in the 1940s?
    
    The Japanese estimated 73 large barges could move a Japanese infantry regiment (more than 3000 soliders), rations and ammunition 70 nautical miles per night. With proper daytime concealment and fuel, they said this could be repeated for several nights.
    
    An account of RNZN corvettes fighting Japanese armed barges at Guadacanal:
    
    https://navymuseum.co.nz/explore/by-collections/ships/kiwi-moa/
    
    AND, Japanese Navy estimates on barge logistics, WW2:
    
    https://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt09/barges.html
    
    2 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 2:31pm
    - Taieri
      
      In the 1970’s there were some experiments with LASH ships. I call it “experiments” because the idea never really took off. LASH stands for “lighter aboard ship”. These ships were essentially barge carriers; in theory the concept was great, in practice not so.
      
      Military transport has its own rules, especially during the war. I’m not an expert on that, but as far as I know, the Japanese war experience with barges is not really relevant to the world of commercial shipping.
      
      0 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 5:33pm
I remember when

Why do ‘changes to the road layout’ often produce concern for those using it for the first time.
When did simplicity stop being the intent when making such changes?
They are not something that you want to negotiate for the first time during peak traffic use.
10 1
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:29am
Maggy Wassilieff

Rodney exhorts us to keep the values of the Enlightenment alive.

https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/rodney-hide-the-new-tyrants
15 1
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:30am
- Swifty
  
  A very good and important piece from Rodney.
  
  4 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 1:09pm
MCōs

Simeon Brown announced a big package of money to be spent on roads the other day, but from what I understand apart from maintenance it will be a long time before anything new will be built
One of the projects is the extremely expensive EW Link that will be a short cut between the SW M’way and the Southern M’way.
When National was previously government $51mil was spent on preparatory work for this project. One would have thought contracts can’t be far away for at least initial stages or does the entire length of the road have to be designed 100% & land purchased etc before anything can start?
Fifty one million dollars!
5 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:36am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  The road out of Wellington starts next year
  
  5 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:27am
  - rouppe
    
    From Otaki to Levin is not really “out of wellington” anymore…
    
    4 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 11:09am
  - MCōs
    
    That’s what they said about Transmission Gully in 1919
    
    3 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 11:26am
Pope Punctilious II

The SIS is apparently worried about a rise of “anti-Maori” extremism.
https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2024/09/03/anti-maori-views-linked-to-rise-in-extremist-ideologies-nzsis-warns/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

I suspect this is unfortunately a very real threat, not just because of the provocative antics of the Maori Party, but also because of the unmandated “indigenization” of our institutions. Imagine a frustrated middle-aged pakeha man, embittered by job loss, divorce, an acrimonious child custody battle, and maybe having his house burgled. He doesn’t feel like he enjoys a lot of white male privilege – quite the opposite. It’s not difficult to see how he might be seduced by an extremist group.

No mention of indigenous extremists in the article, nor the trans activist extremists who attacked the “Stand up for Women” rally in Auckland. And no mention of the spate of assaults on Asian New Zealanders?
17 1
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:38am
- cmm
  
  Maybe, but I would be far more worried about Maori extremism.
  
  Surely the Maori entitlement we see on display every day should be considered extremist? It would be if it was exhibited by white people.
  
  Or has the Overton window shifted so far that those are perfectly acceptable and thus is no longer considered extremist?
  
  17 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:25am
- sirknz
  
  Everybody knows that the biggest threat to society is all of the ‘far right white extremists’™ who just want everyone to have the same rights and responsibilities, regardless of who their ancestors are.
  
  14 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 11:33am
cas

This week’s Listener has an amazeball comment.

A quote from Jacinda who was addressing a Democratic National Convention lunch in Chicago “My daughter asked me last night, Mummy are boys allowed to be prime minister in New Zealand?

And in the Heritage NZ magazine, an article on Ngai Tahu’s world’s first indigenous-led research programme in the sub Antarctic islands, the idea that there was Polynesian voyaging and occupation in those islands in the 1200s is repeated. I thought the latter idea had been debunked.
14 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:40am
- Mike
  
  It seems likely that limited occupation occurred:
  
  Investigations in 1998 and 2003 discovered ovens and middens in the dunes behind Sandy Bay on Enderby Island in the Auckland Islands. They were dated to the 13th or 14th centuries, the period when mainland New Zealand was first settled. There are no traces from later periods so it seems almost certain that settlement was short-lived.
  
  https://teara.govt.nz/en/subantarctic-islands/page-4
  
  IIRC there are a fair number of much warmer islands reached by Polynesian voyagers but not settled permanently.
  
  5 5
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:06am
  - NothingLeft
    
    The polynesian settlers in NZ gorged themselves (and mostly wiped out) seals and penguins that had lead a charmed life living on NZ’s shores. Those skills would have worked fine in Auckland Islands too, until they wiped out the population the same as everywhere else. Same as for the Moa, it was a food source that quickly became scarce.
    
    11 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 12:36pm
    - Mike
      
      Funnily enough, they left enough seals for Europeans to kill millions in the 1790s and 1800s.
      Coming back strongly now.
      
      3 4
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 2:49pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        So you’re admitting neither Maori nor Euros of 200 or so years ago were uber-wise wonder-guardians of natural resources?
        
        3 1
        Report
        September 4, 2024 3:16pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        The NZ sealing industry was very much concentrated on the sub-Antarctic Islands (first Antipodes, then Campbell Is and Bounty Is) and less so around Stewart Island and Otago-Fiordland coast.
        
        The pre-European Maori had wiped out the seal populations of the North Island and Kaikoura- Banks Peninsula regions.
        
        https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/science-and-technical/nzsealing.pdf
        
        6 0
        Report
        September 4, 2024 3:39pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  The trip to the ice was debunked and Ngai Tahu was one of those. Basically they said it was rubbish.
  
  11 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:16am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  I thought the latter idea had been debunked.
  
  No.
  
  What has been “debunked” – lacks any evidence – is the recent suggestion by Professor Priscilla Wehi that Pre-European Maori reached Antarctica.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300765931/fact-or-fantasy-the-battle-over-the-polynesian-antarctica-discovery
  
  There is clear evidence that Pre-European Maori settled (for a short time) on Enderby Island, in the Auckland Island Group…. 460km South of Mainland NZ..
  https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/southland/places/subantarctic-islands/auckland-islands/heritage-sites/enderby-island-maori-occupation/
  
  There’s another 2000km of nasty Ocean between the Auckland Islands and Antarctica.
  
  Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1Reply ReportSeptember 4, 2024 9:40am
  
  12 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:23am
  - kowtow
    
    Ngai Tahu , whom the Crown has gifted the vast majority of the South Island to , only sailed to the South Island in the mid 1700’s , barely before Cook .
    
    So any suggestion they could have got to the Antarctic 500 years before that is rubbish.
    
    7 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 12:17pm
    - Mike
      
      If you read the articles, you would realize that it was the Ngai Tahu archaeologists and historian debunking the Antarctica myth.
      
      4 3
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 2:56pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  So Jacinda is now bringing her daughter into the political conversation, eh?
  
  4 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 2:10pm
  - Ghost
    
    She always did when it would suit brand ardern.
    
    6 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 2:37pm
Jack5

The Otago historic whaling folk song, “Wellerman,” continues to gain following on YouTube.

NZ pretty much ignores its success. “Wellerman” doesn’t mesh with the country’s present Green self-view. A big change from a few decades a ago when old whale jaws could still be seen over path entrances at some old South Island shore base sites.

The re-discovery and posting by a Scot, Nathan Evans, has now reached 361 million views, and his lyrics versin another 25 million.

Versions range from those of a symphonic orchestra, a US Navy band, a German Army band, bagpipers, and the Vienna Boys’ Choir.

A Tik Tok version has reached 16 million views.

The song tells of a whale chase by a crew of an Otago-based Weller Brothers ship, and their wait for “sugar, tea, and rum” from Sydney.

There are several musical dance versions, and this recent posting by Rumanian electronic musicians is easy on the eye if light on lyrics:

https://youtu.be/1MRQfqjPNIY?si=d_X_LCl7ZTbzgthn

Or a snippet from a recent version by a German Army band:

https://youtube.com/shorts/POMAMqG2Zqw?si=WMfxHdrcbZfI_n6T
13 0
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:49am
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  How very cool!
  
  9 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:22am
MCōs

Internet back to normal at our house in Mangere Bridge. Some clown had cut the fibre cables that run under the bridge
I didn’t know there was an individual cable for each user.
That was the song sung by chorus
6 0
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 9:57am
- cmm
  
  Yup, that is how it works.
  There is an individual fibre from the “exchange” or whatever they are called now, all the way to the modem in the house.
  Normally they run a couple of fibres to allow them to be switched over if needed.
  
  The beauty of this approach is that it does not need any power in the cabinets.
  
  5 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:28am
  - Taieri
    
    The beauty of this approach is that it does not need any power in the cabinets.
    ———
    
    The router still does though.
    
    4 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 10:42am
    - Local Miller
      
      Which router? The one in the cabinets?
      
      3 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 12:03pm
    - cmm
      
      There isn’t a router in the cabinets.
      
      Yes, your modem in your house (and router etc) will need power. If you want those to work during a power outage then you can do what I do – hook them up to a UPS.
      
      2 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 12:38pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    A single fibre can carry a colossal amount of data per second. Generally your data will go down the same fibre (figurative) “pipe” with a whole bunch of other users. Equipment at either end of the fibre separates out individual user-streams of data. In some cases there are internet companies that will roll out a dedicated cable from the node (usually an exchange building) to the customer premises. This is usually made available to reasonably high density business areas not far from a node, to provide very high speed connections (usually way too pricey for a home user).
    
    2 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 4:26pm
- Biscuit
  
  MCōs, I have an alibi!
  
  Honest!
  
  1 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 12:26pm
Paulus

Have just been talking to a person who was at the Western Bay of Plenty Council meeting yesterday when they voted, not unanimously, to retain Maori Seats and the view given by the Mayor, who favoured the Maori Seats was that the Council will do all they can to keep these seats.
A local opinion Poll gave an almost 70% against their retention earlier.
So when the vote is taken next year will the Mayor resign as he was strongly in favour of retention and the support of the Council (Staff).
One Lady – sic, was said afterwards that she had put a remit to the Labour Party of which she was a Member that the will abolish the Legislation to vote on Maori Seats nd she expected very favourable response a the next Government which will be a Labour and Maori Coalition supported she said by the Media.
13 1
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 10:00am
- kowtow
  
  The irony is these Elites keep banging on about the non existent / or invented / made up as we go along principles of a treaty and yet blatantly and willfully ignore the principles of democracy .
  
  Commentary from other western countries ( re the rise of “populism” ) is that electorates are beginning to either disengage altogether or move to the fringes for this very reason . Voters are being ignored by the Elites , who of course know best for us .
  
  Very dangerous .
  
  13 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 11:24am
Clyde

I was recently sent an excerpt from David Lange’s speech from the 1st November, 2000 when he was delivering the Bruce Jesson Memorial address. Very pertinent today.

Here I come back to the government’s aim of closing the gaps between rich and poor, and the way in which it was overtaken in public understanding by the subsidiary goal of closing the gaps between Maori and the rest. I don’t describe the second goal as lesser than the first out of any wish to minimise the effect of growing inequality on Maori people. What I mean is that from the point of view of a democratic government, the first goal can encompass the second, but the second can’t encompass the first. If the government’s goal is to reduce inequality, it follows that it will do whatever it can to improve the position of Maori.
How goals like this are achieved is the whole business of politics. It is not particularly easy politics, because the racial element always makes politics difficult, however you handle it. In this country there is the history of dispossession and displacement. There is the growing number of people who identify as Maori. There is the growing number of those who wish to wield political power as, and on behalf, of Maori, and increasingly have the means to do so. These are challenges to the political process, but they are not insurmountable.
Democratic government can accommodate Maori political aspiration in many ways. It can allocate resources in ways which reflect the particular interests of Maori people. It can delegate authority, and allow the exercise of degrees of Maori autonomy. What it cannot do is acknowledge the existence of a separate sovereignty. As soon as it does that, it isn’t a democracy. We can have a democratic form of government or we can have indigenous sovereignty. They can’t coexist and we can’t have them both.
This brings me to the preoccupation of successive governments with the Treaty of Waitangi.
It is with no disrespect for Maori feeling for the treaty that I have to say it means nothing to me. It can mean nothing to me because it has nothing to say to me. When I was in office I understood that the government had succeeded to certain legal and moral obligations of the government which signed the treaty, and that in so far as those obligations had not been met it was our responsibility to honour them. But that is the extent of it.
The treaty cannot be any kind of founding document, as it is sometimes said to be. It does not resolve the question of sovereignty, if only because one version of it claims one form of sovereignty and the other version claims the opposite. The court of appeal once, absurdly, described it as a partnership between races, but it obviously is not. The signatories are, on one side, a distinctive group of people, and on the other, a government which established itself in New Zealand and whose successors represent all of us, whether we are descendants of the signatories or not. The treaty cannot even resolve the argument among Maori themselves in which one side maintains that that you’re a Maori if you identify as such, and the other claims that it’s your links to traditional forms of association which define you as Maori.
As our increasingly dismal national day continues to show, the treaty is no basis for nationhood. It doesn’t express the fundamental rights and responsibilities of citizenship, and it doesn’t have any unifying concept. The importance it has for Maori people is a constant reminder that governments in a democracy should meet their legal and moral obligations, but for the country taken as a whole, that is, and must be, the limit of its significance.
Here I come to the dangers posed by the increasing entrenchment of the treaty in statute. The treaty itself contains no principles which can usefully guide government or courts. It is a bald agreement, anchored in its time and place, and the public interest in it is the same as the public interest in enforcing any properly-made agreement. To go further than that is to acknowledge the existence of undemocratic forms of rights, entitlements, or sovereignty.
The treaty is a wonderful stick for activists to beat the rest of us with, but it could never have assumed the importance it has without the complicity of others. It came to prominence in liberal thought in the seventies, when many who were concerned about the abuse of the democratic process by the government of the day began to see the treaty as a potential source of alternative authority. It’s been the basis of a self-perpetuating industry in academic and legal circles. Many on the left of politics who sympathise with Maori aspiration have identified with the cause of the treaty, either not knowing or not caring that its implications are profoundly undemocratic.
I don’t think it any coincidence that the cause gained momentum in the eighties and nineties, when the government retreated from active engagement in economy and society and in doing so weakened the identification between government and governed which is essential to the functioning of a democracy. It isn’t in the least surprising that undemocratic ideas flourish when democracy itself seems to be failing.
I think that in practice the present government will find it difficult to draw back from its public commitment to the treaty, and that this will almost certainly rob it of its chance to build a more cohesive society and a more productive economy. It has, in the public mind if nowhere else, adopted a goal whose pursuit is inevitably divisive, and it is spending its political capital on it almost by the hour. The result, if the worst comes to the worst, will be a fractured society in which political power will be contested in ways beyond the limits of our democratic experience.
This is the sum of it. In practical terms the government has done very little to change what it says it rejects about the last fifteen years, and very little to equip itself with the tools it needs to build an alternative. What it has done may be the groundwork for greater change in the future, or it may be tinkering. It’s impossible to be sure. The government is diffident in its language and has not yet succeeded in associating itself with any unifying idea. On the contrary, it has become too clearly associated with an undemocratic and divisive goal which is likely to deny it more than one term in office. The conclusion which then must be drawn is that the last election has changed very little, and that democratic values are still at risk here.
12 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 10:12am
- Cassandra
  
  But where would the disgruntled voters go to? Surely it’sd have to be ACT or NZF if their problem is National’s weak policy on Maori separatism? I think that National will be monitoring the electorate very closely to see which way the wind blows. I hope that Luxon will show some leadership on this issue but he’ll follow the Key model – don’t rock the boat. To his cost.
  
  11 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 11:12am
  - kowtow
    
    Key did more than “don’t rock the boat”.
    
    He wrecked the bilge pump so the good ship NZ is slowly sinking .
    
    13 3
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 11:43am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Luxon is not a leader, he is a fence sitter.
    
    12 6
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 12:21pm
  - cmm
    
    “But where would the disgruntled voters go to? ”
    
    They don’t have to go anywhere.
    Many, if not most, of them just won’t vote.
    
    5 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 12:43pm
  - Nigel Kearney
    
    There is an entire world out there. Disgruntled voters can go wherever they want and take their money and future tax dollars with them.
    
    4 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 12:57pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Yes Labour used to be relatively sane. Jacinda and her comrades changed all that.
  
  4 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 3:40pm
Master Mariner

Merchant Navy Day.
Unfortunately at sea , If at home I would raise the Ensign up my flag Pole.
9 0
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 11:03am
- Taieri
  
  That was yesterday. Wonder how many people knew about it?
  
  6 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 12:57pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  What Merchant Navy MM?
  
  When I came to NZ in 1973 there was USSCo, SCONZ, Interislander, 2 x cement companies.
  
  When I went to sea in the UK in 1965 they had an MN of about 3k ships. Some companies had 100 ships like Holts of Liverpool, BI etc
  
  Now all gone. P&O and Cunard are Brand Names only for Carnival.
  
  8 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 1:11pm
  - Taieri
    
    The company I started with in 1974 had 172 ships. It still exists. With 2 vessels.
    
    8 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 2:11pm
- Swifty
  
  Ahoy, you salty dogs. I’m sorry, but I’ve missed your point.
  
  I don’t doubt for a minute the accuracy of the statements you’ve made here today but what am I to make of them?
  
  Is the decline of shipping in NZ a grave mistake, something to be regretted for reasons other than nostalgia, or is it a natural consequence of new ways of doing things appearing and proving better and more efficient? Just like the truck overtook the horse and cart, the tractor over men and handtools, the machine loom over hand-knitting etc.
  
  Your views gratefully received.
  
  6 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 2:55pm
  - Taieri
    
    New Zealand is an island. Well, a few islands. Life on islands can’t exist without shipping. That’s all I have to say.
    
    8 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 4:06pm
  - Master Mariner
    
    Where was the shipping to NZ during Covid ?
    
    You must have secure supply chains, How do you do that with out Shipping ?
    
    3 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 7:39pm
- MCōs
  
  I have a novel on my bookshelf by Nicholas Monserrat from 1951, The Cruel Sea centred on the Merchant Navy during WWII
  It’s a long time since I read the book, but as I recall it was a gripping account of live on the high seas being constantly terrorized by the German navy
  
  3 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 6:33pm
Bobba Fret

Just heard on Newstalk ZB news at 11:00am that Ginny Anderson has said that the figures she was quoting on police foot patrols being down, when she was proved wrong by the reporter “Could have been better”!!!!!!
Is that the understatement of the year! They were wrong Ginny.
16 0
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 11:09am
- cmm
  
  Up or down is still missing the point.
  Sure it was worse under Labour, and is now up slightly, but the number of foot patrols is pathetic.
  
  On average each cop does one foot patrol every two months.
  
  Yeah, that’s going to show them who’s boss.
  
  Compare that to the number of Mongrel Mob people you see walking around – essentially their foot patrols getting the message out that they own the streets.
  
  Who’s winning?
  
  5 4
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 12:42pm
cmm

Commerce comission: supermarket sector has no meaningful competition.

Well it’s got a whole lot more competition than anything in government.

If I don’t like the deal on 90% of supermarket products I don’t have to buy them.

I still have to pay for the government otherwise they send people around with guns to take it from me forcefully.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/supermarket-sector-has-no-meaningful-competition-commerce-commission-says/GE5JWMLSZVEXBETCYG7K5XB4RA/
3 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 12:34pm
cmm

You to can go to that venerable university called AUT and get a degree in being a Taylor Swift Fan.

FFS, don’t they see what this does to any brand value they have?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/taylor-swift-aut-to-launch-australasias-first-university-course-studying-swift/VBTXC3JGXNCI7GX2UV6SOND72Y/
9 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 12:59pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  To join Fat Studies and Women’s Studies as a waste of time.
  
  4 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 1:23pm
- Blog-aholic
  
  Imagine for a moment that after studing your degree in all things swift you still could not get a job at Maccas……
  
  4 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 2:18pm
- Burtland
  
  confirmation our universities are stuffed
  
  2 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 3:00pm
- NothingLeft
  
  Degrees for lost girls who don’t have any clear vision of what they want to do with their lives. Just a waste of youthful development years when they could be learning some useful marketable skills.
  
  3 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 3:07pm
- Taieri
  
  a degree in being a Taylor Swift Fan.
  ——–
  
  A degree in being a fan. How exciting. I wish I was young again…
  
  5 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 4:09pm
- fernglas
  
  It’s not a degree, it is a summer school paper.
  
  5 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 4:22pm
  - Mike
    
    Why let facts spoil the story?
    
    1 3
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 5:28pm
Swifty

The Maritime Union once again acting like spoiled brats and confirming they don’t give a toss about taxpayer money – but it’s the way they dress up their partisan, selfish member interests as some sort of patriotism that makes me puke the most:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/527022/maritime-union-disgusted-and-angry-ferry-talks-not-on-christopher-luxon-s-agenda-during-south-korea-trip
8 1
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 1:15pm
NothingLeft

Eric Weinstein gives a brief inciteful summary of what we are actually seeing play out in the current US election (first 5 minutes of this longer podcast):
https://youtu.be/PYRYXhU4kxM
2 3
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 1:21pm
- NothingLeft
  
  And final 30 minutes for some more deep insight into the respective US presidential candidates. Weinstein is from the left, but worked for Peter Thiel and knew JD Vance closely – he’s genuinely interested in helping the little guy.
  https://youtu.be/PYRYXhU4kxM?t=10968
  
  2 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 5:27pm
Jack5

Fracking, which could enable NZ to extract gas from its large coalfields, is defended in the Telegraph today.

The technique recovers gas and oil from shale or coal. It entails drilling and using a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals, to release gas or oil.

Greens typically oppose it as a threat to the environment. Fracking uses a lot of water and can cause minor, local earth tremors.

The Telegraph says American frackers have profoundly changed the global oil market.

In 2008, US oil output of crude oil had collapsed to 5 million barrels and day, less than half the country’s consumption. Brent oil contracts were trading at $US148.

North American fracking brought US oil back as an oil exporter, and, says the newspaper, has stopped the cartel of Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from pushing Brent contracts much above $U75.
6 0
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 2:10pm
NothingLeft

Trump interview with Lex Friedman. Forced myself to listen for 30 minutes. And Trump just rambles – low-key blustering taking minutes to answer questions without saying anything significant, always vague, nothing definite. Guess that’s par for the course for politicians though.

Still (sadly) infinitely better than the alternative (Status Quo). Mostly because he says he will hopefully work to dismantle the deep state to some extent, and work on restoring democratic norms and freedoms. And hope of some improvement is better than nothing.

https://youtu.be/qCbfTN-caFI
3 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 2:41pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  I listened to Trump being interviewed by Shawn Ryan. Trump did readily wander off from the questions which was disappointing. However, that’s just a Trump tick. You get used to it. I don’t pick up age related deterioration there. His communication style was never perfect. If you listen you realise Trump has the right priorities. Trump is still vastly preferable to the very nasty train wreck the dems have on offer.
  
  7 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 3:33pm
  - fernglas
    
    It’s not age related deterioration. It’s someone with a short attention span who wants to talk about things that interest him rather than things that interest other people. It’s the same attention span that means he doesn’t read much of anything, including top level briefing papers.
    
    3 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 5:15pm
    - Mike
      
      Didn’t read them, just kept them for the resale value.
      
      1 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 6:10pm
Jack5

A tech giant’s share price has taken the biggest ever one-day hit for an American share.

Nvidia, which in June passed Microsoft to become the world’s biggest public company, has taken a record $NZ451 billion day’s fall in its total share price as the sharemarket cools on artificial intelligence players.

Nvidia mushroomed from graphics card maker as crypto-currency coiners used its products, then boomed again when its graphics electronics proved suited for artificial intelligence systems.

The day’s fall for Nvidia shares was 7.75 per cent.

Over-all, shares on Nasdaq, the technology stock exchange, fell 3.3 per cent, and shares on the main Wall Street exchange fell 2.1 per cent.
4 0
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 3:15pm
- Inandout
  
  Jack, shame because Nvidia make a superb video card, well the desktop computer assembled for me has. Must be 10 years old by now.
  
  2 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 4:04pm
- cmm
  
  Ouch!
  It isn’t as dramatic as that though. NVIDIA stock is still 8% higher than where it was a month ago.
  
  Over the last 25 years especially, GPUs have become more and more decoupled from actual graphics hardware. They are really massively parallel floating point computers. This is ideal for doing graphics computation (eg. all the rotations etc and shader caclulations for games), but that processing can be very useful for many other roles.
  
  For example, the types of massive computation required to do atmospheric modelling for weather predictions, genetics, finite element analysis etc.
  
  Neural net type AI has benefited a lot from using GPUs, but, more recently, there is a move towards tensor processing units (TPUs) which are specialised for AI learning and are faster, cheaper (per unit processing) and use less power.
  
  This is likely going to kill the top end AI data centre processing market for GPUs pretty quickly.
  
  GPUs will still be used for AI for the forseeable future in smaller ventures (eg. universities), but more likely the higher-tier devices rather than the insanely high-tier devices.
  
  The top NVIDIA GPU is the A100. You can get one on a card for your PC for about $28,000. NVIDIA was selling these by the pallet. When that market gets replaced by TPUs or by people using less expensive devices (eg. $5000 range), then NVIDIA’s flash in the pan will go away.
  
  Their only long term hope would be either getting into the TPU game or exceeding the capabilities of the A100 with a new device that is at least 5x as fast, half the price and uses less energy.
  The laws of physics stand in the way.
  
  5 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 4:49pm
  - cmm
    
    NVIDIA have been hit by a simultaneous triple-whammy:
    
    * Massive over-hype.
    * Lower than expected earnings.
    * Anti-trust lawsuit threatening.
    
    https://www.reuters.com/legal/nvidia-hit-with-subpoena-us-justice-department-bloomberg-news-reports-2024-09-03/
    
    1 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 7:42pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Candace Owens going to Australia and NZ?
They want to censor her free speech but let in criminal rappers?
This is a Facebook link so may not work unless you have Facebook open.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=saved&v=492595346732070

Some say she is cuckoo – but mostly lefties and CNN watchers say that.
1 5
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 3:26pm
cmm

It is funny watching scientists making highly speculative guesses as to how things came about – in this case that Kiwis and some other species actually came from Australia.

Maybe, I wont argue that that are or aren’t. Maybe they sailed over in a Pavlova or something.

But some of these claims look super sketchy.

“The little Latia limpet, a limpet which can’t cross the sea and must have been on land when we drifted away from Gondwana”.

The Latia limpet is a fresh water limpet. If it had washed across the sea on a log then yes, the sea water would have killed it.

But many birds species are found in both NZ and Australia, including the Crested Grebe. It is very likely the wee Latia limpet hitched a ride.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kiwi-actually-an-australian-immigrant-experts-say/EIVWCIKBI5CMHFRQ3XSMCEGVDA/
4 2
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 4:17pm
- greybeard
  
  Obviously the early maori called in to Australia on their way to discovering NZ and picked up a whole lot of passengers.
  
  3 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 4:58pm
- Jack5
  
  The Bluff oyster (Ostrea chilensis) is also native to Chile.
  
  New Zealand’s native beech forests are of a type also native to South America.
  
  Continental drift?
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dredge_oyster
  
  4 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 5:38pm
waripori

Nvidia still looking rock solid compared with Trump Media now down 77% from its peak a few months ago.
3 0
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 4:18pm
- Mike
  
  Nvidia being an actual business rather than a meme stock could be the difference.
  
  3 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 5:12pm
  - waripori
    
    What makes you say a company with quarterly revenue of 856k and a quarterly loss of 16.37 million is not a real business? Even Devan Nunes is selling his shares and he is the CEO.
    
    2 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 7:05pm
The Other Rusty

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/olympics/olympics-2024-rachael-gunn-devastated-by-backlash-after-paris-break-dancing-debut/JZJCSM6A65CXNKW5ACED5I5HVM/

As is usual for academics, the apology is not for her being complete and utter shite, but for everyone else’s reaction to her being complete and utter shite.

Classic Leftist mindset – it’s everyone else’s fault.
8 3
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 5:35pm
- Ghost
  
  Why should she apologise for being shit? Athletes, actual athletes not break dancers bomb at olympics, commonwealth games. Rugby teams bomb. Cricket. The warriors have bombed most of their existence, they don’t owe anyone an apology.
  
  2 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 5:49pm
  - The Other Rusty
    
    I recall a time when representing and turning out to be shite used to be something to be embarrassed about, and would result in an apology.
    
    Of course now we live in different times where everyone gets a gold star for turning up and nobody can be criticised for being useless.
    
    Not sure if you have noticed, but athletes spend most of their time commenting on their own performance or lack thereof after an event. That’s probably how they learn to do better next time?
    
    Meanwhile in academia, the Professor’s comments, which should (if she had a gracious bone in her body) be about her own shite performance – are not about her shite performance – they are about everyone else’s reaction to her shite performance.
    
    She is commenting on the fact that her obviously shite performance made people point out that she was obviously shite.
    
    As usual, she blames them for pointing out that the emperor has no clothes, when she should be apologising for wearing no clothes.
    
    3 3
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 6:34pm
    - Ghost
      
      I can’t recall a NZ Olympic or commonwealth athlete apologising for not getting a medal or for failing. I’d hate to think there are any idiots in this country that would expect to get an apology from any of our athletes. Nor should they have to. But the people who abuse those athletes should apologise.
      
      She doesn’t owe anyone an apology. She competed, and like the vast majority of athletes who go to the olympics, she lost. The problem with society today is people like you who think you are owed an apology from sportspeople that don’t win.
      
      3 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      September 4, 2024 6:48pm
      - The Other Rusty
        
        You simply prove my point. A gold star for turning up.
        
        And thanks for turning up.
        
        1 1
        Report
        September 4, 2024 7:10pm
      - The Other Rusty
        
        From ChatGPT. Take it with a pinch of salt if you like. But there are clearly athletes out there who are apologetic. None of them appeared to blame someone else.
        
        Emma Twigg
        Event: Women’s Single Sculls Rowing
        Apology Date: August 3, 2024
        Details: Apologized after finishing with a silver medal, expressing disappointment in not defending her gold medal from Tokyo(New Zealand Olympic Team).
        
        Ryan Fox
        Event: Men’s Individual Stroke Play Golf
        Apology Date: August 3, 2024
        Details: Apologized for not meeting expectations, finishing outside the medal positions.
        
        Kate Haines and Alana Sherman
        Event: Women’s Coxless Pair Rowing
        Apology Date: July 29, 2024
        Details: Apologized after finishing last in their repechage race, failing to advance.
        
        Tim Price
        Event: Equestrian – Eventing
        Apology Date: July 30, 2024
        Details: Apologized after finishing 8th, missing out on a podium finish.
        
        Erika Fairweather
        Event: Women’s 200m Freestyle
        Apology Date: July 29, 2024
        Details: Apologized after finishing 7th, expressing disappointment in not performing better.
        
        Luuka Jones
        Event: Women’s K1 Canoe Slalom
        Apology Date: July 31, 2024
        Details: Apologized after finishing 8th, acknowledging she fell short of her podium goal.
        
        David Nyika
        Event: Men’s Heavyweight Boxing
        Apology Date: August 7, 2024
        Details: Apologized after losing in the quarterfinals, ending his medal hopes.
        
        Anton Down-Jenkins
        Event: Men’s 3m Springboard Diving
        Apology Date: August 6, 2024
        Details: Apologized after not making it to the final, expressing disappointment in his performance.
        
        Tupou Neiufi
        Event: Women’s 100m Backstroke (Paralympics)
        Apology Date: August 5, 2024
        Details: Apologized after finishing outside the top three, expressing regret for not meeting her personal expectations.
        
        0 1
        Report
        September 4, 2024 7:28pm
      - Ghost
        
        Got it, You are part of the entitled people who think they are owed something by others for nothing. No one gets a gold for turning up, and they sure as hell don’t owe people like you an apology. Only point you’ve made is that you are part of the problem facing athletes. No athletes owes anyone an apology.
        
        Wow, someone uses ChatGPT
        
        Anton Down-Jenkins Wasn’t into the 2024 olympics. So ah, I doubt he made that comment
        
        Article
        
        Anton Down-Jenkins, an out gay diver who competed in Tokyo for the 2020 — errr, 2021 — Summer Olympic Games, has retired from the sport, ending his bid to compete at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
        
        Ummm, why would Tupou Neiufi apologize on august the 5th? Do you realise she is a Paralympian and that the Paralympic games only started on the 28th of august
        
        Oh my is there anything right in your post. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/olympics/david-nyika-olympics-why-cruiserweight-boxer-is-withdrawing-from-2024-games/Y7OPOSPMMZEPXPWXUVISWRUNRA/ Whoops David Nyika withdrew last year from the olympics.
        
        This is fun, what else is bullshit in your post
        
        Gee, I cannot find an apology from Luuka but she did say
        
        “I have to be proud of what I’ve done and to have paved the way for other athletes. It’s always been a goal for me, and Finn [Butcher] is an example.”
        
        Who’s next in your list of fake apologies.
        
        Agree with Erika, she did herself proud. “But, I’ve done myself proud – that was an Olympic final and I just came fourth.”
        
        Dear kiwibloggers, please don’t use ChatGPT
        
        Whose next
        
        How about Tim
        
        Tim Price summed up their Olympic campaign. “We were aiming for a serious medal and so it’s really disappointing but it is sport at the end of the day and we’ll take stock and see what we can do better next time.”
        
        Twigg was proud of her performance and so she should be, what an insult your post is to our athletes who worked hard and performed their best.
        
        “Today was about racing for the pure love of it. I was super proud with how I executed when it counted and to have the race of my life and be there with Karolien, who I have been chasing for the last three years, was equally as special.”
        
        Whose next
        
        Ryan had a good time at the Olympics
        
        “My golf had signs of being really good, and a couple of days I left a lot out there, which seems to be a recurring theme this year,” Fox told the Herald. “But it was awesome, the atmosphere was great, the crowds were incredible for the golf and it felt like golf really found its place in the Olympics last week.
        
        ChatGPT huh………
        
        People apologising for not placing who weren’t even in the Olympics, huh
        
        Someone apologising for their placing in a race weeks before they competed, huh
        
        Wow, what a stupid post.
        
        0 1
        Report
        September 4, 2024 8:08pm
Pineapple Lumps

Has there been any commentary from the Remuera tennis club, New World shopping, Omaha Beach Bach going, lady lately?

Or has she continued to turn her 1day kiwiblog exile into an ongoing stay of absence?
6 1
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 7:48pm
- Tauhei Notts
  
  Remuera Women’s Tennis Club members shop at Farro Fresh, not New World.
  But, I do miss Maggie.
  
  6 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 8:24pm
  - Pineapple Lumps
    
    NW is right in the heart of Remmers village, Farro Fresh down the hill in Orakei basin. I would guess they shop at both, but we won’t hear which one has the best hot cross buns if Maggie stays away!
    
    3 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    September 4, 2024 9:13pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  The Polkinghorne trial is on-going.
  
  Just saying.
  
  1 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 4, 2024 10:21pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Holidaying in the last of the Northern summer perhaps?
  
  0 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  September 7, 2024 7:19pm
Scooter

Latest dead baby.

https://www.chrislynchmedia.com/news-items/person-found-dead-at-barrington-street-property/
0 0
Log in to Reply
Report
September 4, 2024 8:19pm

Add a Comment Cancel reply

Login to comment or vote

« $800,000 for 2,300 views!

The Jackson movie museum? »

Donations

You can now donate to Kiwiblog

Exclusive content from DPF on Patreon

Become a Patron!

Never miss a post

Email Address

Join 13K other subscribers

Highlights

Target achieved II
Good progress on attendance
Health Target 5 – elective treatments
Health Target 4 – Specialist appointments

Links

"The principal view of human laws is, or ought always to be, to explain, protect, and enforce such rights as are absolute, which in themselves are few and simple."
Not PC
The response to Budget 2026 has been unusually muted
Point of Order
You know what “does not pass the sniff test”? Labour’s incremental response to blatant corruption – this is why they plunged 7.5%
The Daily Blog
When is a Free Speech Union not a Free Speech Union?
The Standard
We Are a Country That Decided Housing Was The Economy
No Minister
My Opening Statement for the UATX Caplan-Jones Immigration Rematch
Utopia
Woman of the day
Hompaddock
Playing with numbers.
Kiwipolitico
A crime
No Right Turn
Another non-tariff barrier
Offsetting Behaviour
Rugby Premiership Predictions for Round 18
Stats Chat
Budget 2026
NZCPR
UK Conversion Therapy Ban, Digital ID, Rallies, Elections
Bob McCoskrie's McBlog
A central banker’s fiction
Croaking Cassandra
THE WORKING FROM HOME RACKET BY PUBLIC SERVANTS
No Punches Pulled (Bob Jones)
Tory Whanau may have to sell Wellington mayoralty to make ends meet
The Civilian
The Accidental Engagement
Imperator Fish
Legal Beagle: Election '23: The Special Votes
Public Address
Get Vaccinated Tomorrow Or Shut Your Pie Hole
Cactus Kate
Making this movie might have been a mistake
Liam Hehir
Why I am retiring from political blogging
Kiwi FireWalker

[email protected]

PO Box 12270, Thorndon, Wellington 6144

Facebook
Twitter
FourSquare
Instagram
LinkedIn
Google+

Archives
Disclosure Statement
Editorial Policy
Privacy Policy
Complaints Policy
Comments Policy

Design by cre8d

%d

Share this:

Like this: