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Open Mike 18/10/2026
29 comments on “Open Mike 18/10/2026”
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https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/361046726/we-escaped-whims-kings-did-we-just-create-new-kind-dependence
Grants not bright enough to realize that if we don't have system of taxation and redistribution, we are rapidly heading back to the fuedilism and surf surfdom he starts if being against.
For a long time it has been argued that the burden of tax should be lifted from the backs of the productive and transferred to capital. In a way that is what a UBI achieves: it acts as a sort of refund, to the taxpayer, of the tax that he has paid. I'd have thought that Damien would not have disapproved of that. It seems fair to me.
A Universal High Income goes a step further, aiming to provide a comfortable standard of living.
Hence, is far more desirable
Surfdom! How appealing.
Our starving captives are held by slumlords.
Damian the professional commercial undetaker is just a Monty Python parody of the ultra-rich.
Let's surf then, we'll all have boards instead of cars and ride above the storm of political maelstrom. /sarc There is a different sort of 'serf'. They were better off than slaves that could, can be, sold off for the use of their bodies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom | Serfs who occupied a plot of land were required to work for the lord of the manor who owned that land. In return, they were entitled to protection, justice, and the right to cultivate certain fields within the manor for their own subsistence. Serfs were often required not only to work on the lord's fields, but in his mines and forests and to labour to maintain roads. The manor formed the basic unit of feudal society,..
We are all Serfs.
https://sandersinstitute.org/technofeudalism-explained-with-yanis-varoufakis
Grant singing for his supper as usual. A useful tool playing his role in the attention economy.
To be honest I think him and seymour possibly believe in their beliefs? That's what ideology is .
Where as luxon is just a useful middle management tool for the robber barons.
Nope, ideology is not religious faith in which you switch off the critical, sceptical, and scrutinising parts of your brain. Ideology is a framework that often is a mix of evidence & theory but unfortunately, it has taken cult-like properties in some cases, including cult leaders & followers.
The UK press and media, right to the bbc, is infested with rw opinionistas, who broadcast ideas into the public ears and eyes in a mob. They've shop-fronted Farage and grown islamophobia and anti-migrant sentiment. Over 8 years they demonised the trans community, to the point that the UK is considered dangerous for trans travellers because of its policies.
Opinion writers are cheap and manufacture clicks via fear and outrage. Factual, actual, even-handed journalism is 10x more expensive. We're headed the UK’s way.
https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/361097684/about-thrills-police-urge-parents-check-phones-amid-crime-surge
Car theft and robbery surges,and not a single headline about national being soft on crime !!!
Does nz have a corrupt media?
Hilarious!
"A commemorative plaque celebrating the opening of New Zealand’s largest ever infrastructure project was put on hold over fears the National Party would roll Christopher Luxon as its leader.
An exchange of emails obtained by The Post via an official information request reveals a bureaucratic scramble behind the scenes as transport staff prepared for the opening ceremony of the City Rail Link.
“It could be an expensive mistake if we cast in bronze someone who didn't actually do the opening,” wrote Auckland Transport’s Joel Rowan, who works in external communications."
https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/361092022/aucklands-crl-still-has-no-commemorative-plaque-and-its-partly-nationals-fault
3 more weeks and he's just caretaker management.
Wow LPrent the site looks fantastic on mobile & laptop, esp mobile so easy to read & attractive. Thanks.
I like the r/h column with other posts sas I lack time to pick up other news. Sometimes my son gives me links from the net such as Anders Puck Neilsen and Alastair and Rory and Yarnis Varoufakis and Sarah Paine etc. Finding out for oneself is so time-consuming but relying on AI totally, not good.
A highly informative article from a professor in Commercial Law on our right to repair our cars where it’s convenient for us.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/10/18/a-fair-go-for-the-mechanic-down-the-road/
I didn’t know this and I wonder if it also applies to second-hand cars, as I sheepishly go back to the yard where I bought it from if there’s something wrong within the first year of purchase.
She [the professor] makes the following points, which I have bulletized instead of quoted (which is the TS convention):
This is not a Left-Right issue, as National had lodged a similar member’s bill but it was never drawn and they never enacted it – National only seems to love [more] roads and [more] trucks but not always [more] choice!?
Labour has proposed something similar to the Australian scheme as part of their policy A Fair Go For Drivers.
Interesting – years ago I bought second-hand unseen, from distant city, a musical amplifier for one of my sons. It came, was going then something happened. I wanted to get it checked locally but the seller said I had to ship it back so they could do that. Costly. So I got it looked at nearby and got it going.
It had valves and once turned on for a while they got sprayed with something, and the one that didn't bubble was kaput. Simple but a knowledgable person could diagnose. Saved much. But I thought I wasn't allowed to do that. I was short of money but wanted my boys to have music skills. This warranty matter affects more than cars.
With a bit of luck and progressive leadership, this could only be an issue for 10 or so years.
The amount of things to maintain and repair on EVs is way less.
I’ve heard that EVs are easier for Service & Maintenance but I don’t know if the same is true for Repairs, necessarily. And is it also true for both by independent mechanics?
Independent mechanics for EVs would be thin on the ground as the idustry is so young. Come to think of it, they probably need a difeerent title.
I was talking to young mechanic (electrical engineer?) who works for Toyota and he took up the opportunity to train in the EV field. It was a few years ago, Covid times perhaps, but he is glad he did it now as demand is increasing.
I'm wondering if insurance companies are part of the issue you raised as they would rather write a car off than invest in it's repair.
Like everything in a market, there is a limited supply of 'choice' – especially for those without the ability to pay for said 'choice'. More specifically, there is a limited supply of the 'right to choose' because all rights are conflictual – the car buyer's right to choose the mechanic they go to is in conflict with the car dealer's right to get a richly deserved financial return from their stupendously awe-inspiring willingness to choose to take the risk of owning and running a car dealership. Depending on the direction that political power is running at any time, one right to choose gets eliminated in favour of another. Once any politician starts yabbering about 'choice' as though it is some sort of naturally-existing substance like titanium or bird poo, all bullshit detectors should be turned up to the highest level of sensitivity.
Aren’t big car dealers big donors of National and ACT?
"“The right to remain silent is a fundamental principle, however,.."
FFS!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361047908/national-proposes-scrapping-right-silence-child-murder-cases
Ugly, ugly National.
Ugly, ugly Paul Goldsmith.
Waterboarding next?
I reckon your on the wrong side of this one,
No uglier than people being allowed to get away with manslaughter or worse. Agree we have to watch out for the slippery slope, though.
Of course he did.
""Prime Minister Christopher Luxon picked a "challenging" election date, despite the Electoral Commission favouring two other options, newly released advice shows.
Labour is accusing Luxon of "knowingly limiting turnout" by putting up another barrier to voting.
Advice seen by RNZ shows the commission described the chosen date of 7 November as "challenging, but manageable", partly because advance voting would begin on a public holiday.
Two alternatives – 17 October and 21 November – around that time were considered "administratively more feasible".
"Our practice has been to advise on avoiding an election date during these times."
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p style=”text-align:start”>https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/361047922/prime-minister-passed-over-easier-election-dates-advice-reve
Andrea Vance in Sunday Star (18 Oct) reports a 46% increase in approvals for mining on conservation land.
As a GreenPeace campaigner says: "Once an ancient forest is felled, land bulldozed, or a river contaminated by toxic mine drainage, we can't just magic those places back into existence."
Not that Shane Jones cares. Someone might make money, and that's all that matters.
The people are getting uneasy about our shipping and port ownership and control.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK2610/S00472/poll-shows-strong-support-for-greater-public-ownership-as-transport-unions-call-for-port-protection.htm
The Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) and the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) are calling on central and local government to protect public ownership and control of strategic port assets, following new polling showing strong support for greater government ownership of essential services and infrastructure.
A majority of voters for all political parties, including all coalition government parties, supported public ownership over private ownership…