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6:00 am, April 15th, 2025 - 9 comments
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Open mike is your post.
For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.
The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).
Step up to the mike …
oh dear – if this is real I may need to start drinking again /s
https://www.reddit.com/r/law/comments/1jz477g/trump_to_bukele_homegrowns_are_next_the/
It’s very bad. This week’s test is if they ignore the Supreme Court over extraditions. If that happens I think it’s a functional dictatorship.
Robert Reich’s explanation
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-two-tipping-points-for-when-we
Oh yeah, it's real.
.
Former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince and a team of defense contractors are pitching the White House on a plan to vastly expand deportations to El Salvador — transporting thousands of immigrants from U.S. holding facilities to a sprawling maximum security prison in Central America.
The proposal, exclusively obtained by POLITICO, says it would target “criminal illegal aliens” and would attempt to avoid legal challenges by designating part of the prison — which has drawn accusations of violence and overcrowding from human rights groups — as American territory.
[…]
The proposal includes sample language for a “Treaty of Cession” so that a portion of the prison complex can become U.S. territory, arguing that “transferring a prisoner to such a facility would not be an Extradition nor a Deportation.” Once the land is owned by the U.S., the proposal says it will be leased back to El Salvador to run the prison complex and urges the Homeland Security secretary to “suspend the ICE detention standards” to avoid questions about detention standards established by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Bureau of Prisons.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/11/military-contractors-prison-plan-detained-immigrants-erik-prince-00287208
https://theconversation.com/amid-the-election-promises-what-would-actually-help-fix-the-housing-crisis-heres-5-ideas-253332
It seems our cousins across the direct have the same problems we do. This one is about housing.
”The elephant in the housing policy room
At the end of the day, it’s worth remembering that housing isn’t all about supply, buildings, investment and construction. Our housing is also where we live, sleep and grow old.
Our population aren’t just passive players in the housing system, they actively shape it, in their choices to buy housing, to rent, seek out major cities and renovate.
By demonstrating, de-risking, and promoting a broader range of housing options (such as making rental an attractive lifetime tenure, expanding shared equity options, or championing advances in modular and prefabricated construction), governments can shape demand towards more affordable homes.”
IMHO NZ imports a lot of people. People need housing to live thus a continuing inflation of housing demand. Also as you import more and more people the % of publicly owned housing gets lets and less – decades ago the % of public housing was significantly higher which acted as a brake on the cost of private rentals.
According to media reports, Brad Pitt declined to film in the Shotover river because it is polluted by sewage: https://crux.org.nz/crux-news/new-blog-post-24 The shoot will take place in Auckland instead, using a tank.
Soon after, the government announced a $13.5 million support payment aiming to get more tourists to come to NZ. Given the filthy state of many of our waterways, why would foreigners risk their health?
One media report, citing unnamed sources, only one of which 'claimed' that it was Pitt who was concerned. It seems like a convenient excuse for the production company to justify a financial decision.
Buried in the article is what is likely to be the real reason – cost…. Doing multiple takes in the 'wild' is a whole exponential level of more expensive, than in a controlled environment tank. And remembering that we are coming into winter – where weather is indeed likely to be a significant risk (not to mention water temperature …. IIRC there were risks with hypothermia during the LOTR water sequence filming).
it gets worse. Two councillors have said there should be no more development in Queenstown until the sewerage system is fixed.
Tbf, the changes of getting sick from the sewerage issue is unlikely, it's a big, fast river. Queenstown has had issues with people getting sick from other waterways. I hope tourism get's some bad publicity out of this.
Piling in more tourists is late stage capitalism death cult. They don't care about life, they just want to make more money and have more power.
They spend $13m on tourists who will come here anyway and expect gratitude, while slashing billions from 3 waters and billions from social housing but giving billions in tax cuts to rich landlords.