Written By: - Date published: 9:38 am, October 8th, 2019 - 33 comments
Stuff had an interesting piece looking at rates, taxes and local infrastructure “Rates are much lower than you think, and they’re responsible for miserable growth in cities”. They just missed out one crucial factor. The way that PPP debates often block infrastructure. Interesting that got missed..
Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, October 1st, 2019 - 66 comments
Good to see that the courts upholding the right of venues to decide how they are able to use their facilities and assess risks. There is no ‘free speech right’ in our law including the Bill of Rights Act that overrides owners assessment of risk. The rights that are in the BoA are not exclusive – anyone can express their opinion peaceably – including protesters like myself at the doors of bigots.
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, September 30th, 2019 - 51 comments
Occasionally, this site puts up a video from parliament. Probably happens a few times per month at best. Not a whole lot of interest. It is put up for the public to observe parliament when required. While it’d be fun to make clips mocking National politicians – why should the public pay to provide feedstock for juveniles to do that? Either have and follow the simple rules similar to every other content provider or shut down parliamentary TV.
Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, September 27th, 2019 - 35 comments
Anyone who has been around tech for the last couple of decades will be aware of the liberating and industry disruptive effect of batteries. This caught my attention – “Tesla May Have Invented a Million-Mile Electric Car Battery”. It was well worth the read.
Written By: - Date published: 8:41 am, September 26th, 2019 - 13 comments
The Civilian ‘reports’ in “Trump repeatedly asked Ardern if New Zealand gives asylum very often”. Oh shit! We need to reverse National’s large donation policy and proactively and preemptively pass a law against bolthole refugees.
Written By: - Date published: 3:45 pm, September 22nd, 2019 - 26 comments
In a striking example of the typical climate change denier, the “Australian Young Coal Coalition” released a photo bemoaning the mess left by friday’s climate change strike rally in Hyde Park. Pity that it was a lying fake. Being put out by climate change deniers, of course it was just a lie. That is all […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, September 16th, 2019 - 30 comments
The war that Saudi Arabia and its allies has been waging against the Houthi side in the civil war in Yemen took a interesting turn yesterday. Houthi claimed an attack on Saudi oil processing facilities using drone strikes. It is likely to significantly reduce the output of the Saudi exports for a while as the […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, September 6th, 2019 - 2 comments
The Civilian is New Zealand’s pre-eminent source of online news, and indeed the purest form of news that you can consume without having an apoplectic seizure. Today they detail the course of a vaccination on live TV. Please put your hot drinks down before reading.
Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, September 6th, 2019 - 22 comments
I was joyful to see that the San Francisco board of supervisors has declared what I have long thought; that the National Rifle Association in America has for many years been acting as a terrorist organisation. We should add them to our register of terrorist organisations as well.
Written By: - Date published: 5:13 am, August 22nd, 2019 - 56 comments
I am really not a fan of political candidates bullshitting. John Tamihere – candidate for Auckland city Mayor, is this kind of blowhard. He is the epitome of the kind of fool who seems to keep his brain mounted right next to his testicles to inform his mouth what to say. He released a transport policy fantasy… I’ll vote for Goff.
Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, August 21st, 2019 - 23 comments
I’ve just been reading the decision by the IPCA on their botched and blatantly political searches on Nicky Hager. But there is a more serious problem. The police appear to be technically and legally incapable of enforcing our 2002 legislation about computer crimes. Perhaps a specialist office like the SFO who can garner the skills to deal with it – without political linkages being an issue.
Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, August 12th, 2019 - 49 comments
“Allegations of trespassing and intimidation as Southland winter grazing protest escalates” yesterday. The reporter completely missed the most important salient point – the police don’t seem to be doing their job. Leaving a pissed lynch mob of farmers trying to force people out of their house to ‘talk’ to them is pretty clearly an act of intimidation. And that doesn’t even cover the original idiot farmer who is alleged to have rammed someone’s car.
Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, August 9th, 2019 - 67 comments
Matt Blomfield has brought the Whaleoil site from the official assignee. This fulfills a long held wish of, not only Matt, but a whole pile of people that this arsehole-run paid-for defamation lying site have damaged over the years. Chapter 27 of the Margie Thompson’s Whale Oil book is now available online…
Written By: - Date published: 8:03 am, July 31st, 2019 - 78 comments
The interview between Jack Tame and Simon Bridges was revealing. Circumlocutions and the wheedling of a conniving prosecutor around the National party hypocrisy over cancer drugs. Making a token amount towards funding super-expensive cancer drugs – but don’t want to deal with root causes or prevention of cancer? It beggars belief that this fool is a politician.
Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, July 26th, 2019 - 36 comments
Matthew Hooton has a piece on National’s chances in the next election this morning entitled as “National stumbling to defeat”. Personally I think he is a PR weasel who is on the border to dirty politics. But he did cover the salient points that will be on the mind of the National party conference.
Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, July 18th, 2019 - 4 comments
Brian Easton has put up a interesting post at Pundit which looks at how we should measure and constrain in our methane emissions. My initial impression is that his approach defeats the purpose of trying to reduce the effects of climate change over the coming century.
Written By: - Date published: 8:46 am, July 16th, 2019 - 35 comments
Of all of the inventions that currently make riding bikes safer and more convenient in urban environments, I’d have to say that the rain radar would be number four on my list.
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, July 15th, 2019 - 59 comments
The rate at which the building consents have increased in Auckland, and the shift to a more useful mix, has been incredibly fast. You can understand why National after their decade of failure for housing and transport have been targeting the authors of that success. It highlights National’s economic incompetence.
Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, July 14th, 2019 - 30 comments
It isn’t often that I read a sports story. My view was that if you aren’t doing a sport, then what is the point in watching others doing it? Work on something that you can do. However a title on an aussie ABC article caught me – “New Zealand earn genuine respect”. Now that was unusual…
Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, July 10th, 2019 - 28 comments
I’ve been musing on the subject of minor drugs that are currently illegal and their supply chain. It is early days so far, but almost all of the news coming through from where the recreational use of cannabis has been decriminalised hasn’t indicated dire consequences. There are some pretty obvious benefits – especially in the quality of supply.
Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, July 6th, 2019 - 15 comments
Scott Marsh does a great depiction of Israel Folau’s essential ethics. Check out some of Scott’s other art as well.
Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, July 5th, 2019 - 38 comments
Traffic and parking in Auckland isn’t helped by ignorant conservative dipshit parasitic immigrants like Mike Hosking. They really don’t get how this city can’t just keep adding roads as the roads backup after accidents. Or why it is so much safer for ratepayer cyclists to not have to contend motorists trying to accidentally kill them.
Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, June 20th, 2019 - 19 comments
This morning read at 0645 it was the New York Times with a subscription, BBC World which doesn’t need one, Sydney Morning Herald without one, NZ Herald without a subscription, Stuff doesn’t need one, Huff Post which also doesn’t need one, and the Guardian which I toss change to on a periodic basis. The NZ Herald absolutely sucks and doesn’t deserve a premium.
Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, June 19th, 2019 - 82 comments
Greenland holds a large store of fresh water. If fully melted, it will raise sea levels by roughly 7 metres. It is melting – fast. Last week, temperatures across Greenland about 22 degrees Celsius warmer than the normal for that time of year. It produced an extraordinary visual effect of dogs walking on water through surface melt over sea ice.
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, May 29th, 2019 - 15 comments
Whale Oil by Margie Thomson is about the Blomfield vs Slater case. Lost by Cameron Slater because after 7 years of trying to delay it, he was unable to mount a credible defense before a judge. But there is a lot of detail behind that that is worrying in an internet age..
Written By: - Date published: 11:48 pm, May 28th, 2019 - 216 comments
You have to wonder about what kind of law Simon Bridges, a former criminal prosecutor, actually practiced. Because given the events of today – it seems questionable if he understands the legal basis of our criminal laws about computers. Do we really want someone so incompetent at his chosen profession before entering politics (or have a criminal receiver of stolen goods) to run this country?
Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, May 24th, 2019 - 59 comments
It has been pretty boring watching the coverage of religious conservatives trying to present a meaningful political presence for the next election. Haven’t the NZ Herald’s puff piece journalists ever read about the history of religious parties in this “no religion” state? They’re fractional parties incapable of getting to 5% without assistance, and they don’t grow the vote for the right.
Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, March 22nd, 2019 - 128 comments
Now that I’ve had time to look through what has been implemented and what is proposed to happen with changes to gun laws and think about it. I’m almost satisfied. Since that so seldom happens that I suspect a gotcha, I’m now going to keep debugging until I am sure that it is actually as good as it looks.
Written By: - Date published: 4:39 pm, March 21st, 2019 - 80 comments
Jacinda Ardern has announced an effective ban by an order in council on the current sales of all military-style semi-automatic weapons and all assault rifles. There will be legislation passed to remove them from the hands of the public including a buyback and prison terms for possession. Not quite far enough yet. (Updated as I see other details)
Written By: - Date published: 10:54 am, March 16th, 2019 - 213 comments
I’ve used and worked with weapons for large chunks of my life. They’re not there for dickheads. There aren’t any reasons to keep operational semi-automatic weapons in civilian life. Just outlaw them. The conviction for unlawful possession of them requires mandatory imprisonment.
Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, March 13th, 2019 - 13 comments
A decision released yesterday by the Human Rights Review Tribunal that went against Cameron Slater is very clear. The gratuitous publication of personal details on its own simply isn’t newsworthy in any news medium. The topic has to actually be newsworthy to get the exemption in the Privacy Act for news mediums.
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