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5:30 pm, November 20th, 2025 - 13 comments
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Daily review is also your post.
This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.
The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).
Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Here is a worthwhile 30 minutes. Gary Stevenson, expelled from high school for selling cannabis, former very successful trader, and author of The Trading Game.
Chloe Swarbrick was a recent (and first pollie) guest on his YT channel.
He speaks of something we already know, growing inequality, a government that wants to austere it's way to prosperity and refuses to tax the rich.
Part of the problem is they are disincentifized to act.
Stevenson is coming to Aotearoa in March 2026.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/579275/30-with-guyon-espiner-economist-gary-stevenson-on-why-new-zealand-should-tax-the-rich
Pyroclastic flows rolling down Indonesia’s Mount Semeru. Little wonder people once attributed volcanic activity to the gods.
Mount Semeru in East Java province unleashed searing clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to 7km down its slopes several times from midday to dusk, while a thick column of hot clouds rose 2km into the air, Indonesia's Geology Agency said in a statement.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/11/20/indonesias-mount-semeru-erupts-prompting-evacuations/
edit:
wide-angle of the flow path and arrival
amazing. Hope everyone is out of the way.
Absolutely terrifying. There's considerable mass and energy in those flows, not to mention a most likely instantly terminal atmosphere. I wouldn't be standing there watching / videoing it coming towards me.
We should pay close attention to those videos, our Central Planteau volcanos have a history of producing very spectacular pyroclastic flows. One today would not be a good day.
Although it's difficult to see what (if anything) we could do, should one of the CP volcanoes erupts unexpectedly.
You and I couldn't do much, if anything, directly, but being prepared is a choice.
https://www.mdc.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0032/139658/Tongariro-Volcanic-Centre-Contingency-Plan.pdf
https://www.civildefence.govt.nz/cdem-sector/cdem-resilience-fund
Tax dollars well spent, imho.
There's a lot that can be done to ameliorate the risk, and be prepared for the possible consequences.
How making sure Auckland can still get energy and transport links with the rest of the country can be maintained or restored quickly. And also making sure New Zealand's economy and society is dispersed enough to continue when one of these obliterates most of Waikato / BOP and isolates Auckland from the National Grid.
AF8 will be a cake walk compared to a repeat of historic pyroclastic flows in the Central Plateau. lprent's post below outlines the effects in visceral detail. If you were in the way, at least you wouldn't get much warning and it wouldn't hurt for long.
Taranaki can do these too, and is very similar to Semeru, very high likelihood of something just like this ripping down the Mountain and across the ring plain. Not ideal if you're in the way, but more of a regional impact. A CP event would have nation wide consequences.
Agree, that being prepared for the consequences of natural disasters is pretty important in NZ – with our high level of exposure to risk, and our geography (long, narrow country, with few transport corridors).
But the planning is much the same for a major earthquake, tsunami or even weather event – there's nothing special you'd need to do for a volcanic eruption.
The reality is – if you're on the slopes of a volcano when a major eruption happens – i.e. you're seeing the pyroclastic flow approaching – no preparation is going to help you.
Have a close look at volcanic plateau ignimbrites if you really want to feel like there may be a problem.
Also goes straight down the outlets like the Waikato river. Most of the Waikato river power dams have massively thick layers of welded ignimbrite in their river walls – 10s of metres thick each from different explosions. Places like Hamilton get regular floods of pumices. That is why the river changed its course at Karapiro.
Last big eruption at Taupo was less than 2000 years ago. One of the problems with doing earth sciences as my first degree was a heightened awareness of the disasters behind most of New Zealand…
Is Peters' timing over repealing the RSB a dead cat because of the ferries? Or what?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/579493/winston-peters-vows-to-repeal-regulatory-standards-bill-david-seymour-hits-back
Remarkable given NZF voted for the RSB, that people will vote for them over this.
Or is it Seymour dead catting Peters calling Pike River a murder scene.
Looks like it's open warfare in the COC. Wonder how long before it falls to bits?
I find no limit on the credulity of NZF voters in accepting whatever version of reality that Peters is currently promoting.
After the thought about volcanoes – Whakaari is steaming again!
Ocean currents seem important! lprent and his earth science background led to his referring years ago about the AOCC and AMOC.
Atlantic Ocean Current Collapse Could Trigger New Ice Age: Iceland has declared a state of emergency as scientists warn the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may be shutting down. This vital climate-stabilising current keeps Europe warm — and without it, we could see freezing temperatures, mass disruption,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTnhtQ2YtGo 2.52m 44,625 views Jul 18, 2024
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, is a key climate system and is vital in regulating the temperature of the planet. However, in recent years there have been many studies suggesting that its potential slowdown, or even collapse, could have a catastrophic effect on our climate and could lead to more extreme weather. In our latest animation, we give you a lowdown on what the AMOC is, how it works, what could happen if it does slow down and what NOC [National Oceanography Centre] is doing to research it.
And interesting – being objective – info on large oil coy pinned future on oil from algae, but they made holes in their pretty balloon. No good fix here.
14 Jul 2009 — Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. is making a major jump into renewable energy with a $600 million investment in algae-based biofuels
and from this week 2025 :
https://www.reddit.com/r/throwaway_the_videos/comments/1p1es7r/exxons_600_million_dollar_lie_climate_town/30.24m