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6:00 am, May 15th, 2026 - 82 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 …
Consider the possibility of the law not being an ass. Such a break with tradition would be almost inconceivable, but for a new political move by the establishment:
Lawyers here and everywhere will freak out. The idea that the legal establishment should do its job properly has never previously been thought possible.
I reckon he's onto it. Senators wearing head-bags would be a real good look. They would only be ordinary paper bags for normies (Nat/Lab); the other parties could be more stylish. Different shades of yellow for ACT to allow members to demonstrate their unique flair instead of monoculture. Greens likewise: which ones will dare to go deep??
Lawyers will argue that they are not law-makers, merely law orchestrators, so should not be forced into conformity with the prescription. I'm agnostic on that point. Regardless, there must be holes cut for eyes so they can see their way around.
Public mood sampling as a guide to politics: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/new-poll-keeps-national-in-the-20s-labour-retains-biggest-share-of-support/ECSCZV3ZQZETTDDOIRAEEW476A/
The basic idea is that of a race, in which Hipkins is moving steadily backwards and Luxon within the margin of error. Winston has leapt 7%.
Very few people really want Peters as PM; they're just pulling the collective chain. When it comes down to it and the real possibility is widely advertised, his chances will evaporate like widdle on hot asphalt.
I don't know that this is true.
There is a solid body (I'm speaking in the numerical sense, not a comment on their intelligence) of people who really do admire him.
Especially when contrasted to the alternatives: Luxon, who has the charisma of an undercooked potato; and Hipkins who is tarred with the Covid response from the last Labour government.
While I'm no apologist for Peters, his 'charm' goes over very well in some quarters, and he has political survival and manipulation skills which are unsurpassed in parliament today.
Imho, the Kiwi Covid response was pretty good – hardly a tarring offence.
Not all Kiwis agree, naturally.
"… and Hipkins who is tarred with the Covid response from the last Labour government."
Strange isn't it. International health and safety experts deemed New Zealand's response to Covid was amongst the best in the world and still the naysayers try to suggest it was otherwise. Of course a few mistakes were made – like the final lockdown in Auckland lasting longer than necessary – but every nation on the planet was flying blind so a 'few mistakes' were inevitable. What's more Labour owned up to them. I'll guarantee if the boot had been on the other foot, National would never have admitted them.
It beggars belief this myth that the Labour Govt. made a dog's breakfast out of the Covid response – when the per-capita death rate was one of the lowest – is given any credibility whatsoever.
The thing is that "''New Zealand's response to Covid was amongst the best in the world.." comes at a cost.
That cost is schisms in families, resentment about state over reach, bitterness over coerced medication etc.
I get that this is not your summation but it is the lived reality of many. Witness the early occupiers of Parliamen grounds. A fair few of them were atypical Labour voters -white, professional, middle class, female.
One can not take a large group data set (low mortality rate) then expect it to apply at an individual level.
Hipkins, being the Minister for Covid Responce had his signature on all those initiatives
Yes, every country, and every individual, experienced a balance of costs, and benefits – some longer than others. I’m still alive, which is a benefit to me.
Imho, the Kiwi (team of 5 million) response to the novel Covid-19 pandemic was pretty good – is this not your summation, gsays?
Not everyone agrees, naturally – take Plan B, please – but I'm up-to-date with my flu and 'Pfizer stuff' shots, and so is my surviving parent.
https://www.healthnz.govt.nz/health-topics/immunisations/vaccines-aotearoa/covid-19-vaccines/getting-covid-19-vaccines
DMK : Pretty much summed for me. And including Parents (mine, and others) who weren't Plan B'd as collateral damage as per Sweden, America, England, et al…
Many thanks Jacinda, Sir Ashley, and Chippie : )
"Imho, the Kiwi (team of 5 million) response to the novel Covid-19 pandemic was pretty good – is this not your summation, gsays?"
That's the thing, there were plenty who didn't feel they were in the team. Otherwise the people who started the welly's occupation wouldn't have. Also it aint binary, it wasn't Team Jacinda or Plan B enthusiasts.
I don't want to relitigate the whole Covid thing, merely tautoko Belladonna's observation that Hipkins has a Covid shadow.
Tarring shadows and shining halos are in the eye of the beholder, if the comments in this thread are anything to go by. Let’s agree to disagree.
The further away the corner from where the spotlight shines, the longer the shadow – straight under the spotlight, the shadow is tiny and everyone has one.
Not only does Hipkins (and Labour) have a ‘Covid shadow’, he has also an ‘immigration anchor’, and other baggage that will weigh & wear him down forever, if you believe some impartial & disinterested sources. For those reasons, all disillusioned voters should vote TOP because there’s no more cat-gate and they’re a fresh new colour on the political palette.
Labour, Hipkins, and of course Ardern will forever be stigmatised by Covid. Never forget that Labour gave us Rogernomics.
That point about Labour/ Rogernomics. Interesting – without the stunning clobbering of R'ics peeps would not have lost all belief in the government's steadfastness. Having been jerked around, and seen such mendacious lies as in the methadone cases with people tossed out of state housing because of clauses to advantage in the agency's contract … Well it doesn't result in a resigned citizen taking problems on a chin already bruised.
"The thing is that "''New Zealand's response to Covid was amongst the best in the world.." comes at a cost."
Did you think it would come without cost???
Do you believe it's rational to continue to decry those who were in governance at the time, given that there was, demonstrably, associated cost?
Is there any scenario at all that you believe would have been better?
See above reply to Drowsy.
I understand what you're saying but imho I think they got it wrong. The culprit was Covid not the government. God, I felt it too. Living as I do on my own, it was lonely. My family could only communicate by phone or email. I used to worry if I fell sick and there was no-one to come to my aid.
Okay, that wasn't anything like the hardship some people went through. I think especially of those who lost loved ones and couldn't even have a funeral. But most people were stable and mature enough to understand the dilemma of the government. They couldn't have one rule for some people and another rule for others. It would have been impossible to manage.
As for the protest at parliament… I have not one tot of sympathy for the participants. Their behaviour was deplorable. What sympathy I had for them went out the window.
Cheers, Anne.
I have been reflecting a bit lately on those years. What keeps coming up for me is the massive trust, shown by all those around me, in pharmaceutical companies and their products.
They have to be one of the most litigated industries going, more than fossil fuels and tobacco. I figure that trust was a result of the fear that everyone was going through.
We also have a lot of trust in the state as a population. So when they said jump we largely jumped. BUT, those of us who arent so trusting, that distrust was magnified.
I mention the Wellys occupation not for the stone throwing, vandalism and arson that occured at the end but those that organised, acted and cooperated to get the encampment going. I know a few of them and they had a lot of courage to act on their convictions.
"What keeps coming up for me is the massive trust, shown by all those around me, in pharmaceutical companies and their products."
Much better then, that all those around you showed massive distrust in pharmacy – we'd all be far better off now!
And New Zealanders are still doing it!
Let's boycott all pharmaceutical products! End Big Pharma!
Put a mustard-plaster on it.
You might well have missed the (seemingly) endless comments on the Covid medical efficacy of Ivermectin ?!Hydroxychloroquine (as taken by Pres Trump ?!) or even… Bleach?!
Its why he appointed notorious anti vaxxer RFK…to the US Health top job : (
Some…aint never gonna get it.
Not helping.
I've been saying for a while now, there needs to be empathy shown to those that for whatever reason weren't in the team of 5 million.
If snark and sarcasm is the default position, it's not attractive.
This is the biggest issue I see with the left. Shit on those not in lockstep.
As to "End Big Pharma". Yes.
Another of the unlearnt lessons of Covid and now with Trump pooing in the sandpit our oil comes from, we are at the end of long fragile supply chains.
We should pivot, fund and encourage locally produced insulin, HRT medication, ADHD medicine, anti inflammatories, pain killers etc.
Resilience, well paid jobs and less reliant on the 'global market' three of the main parties are beholden to.
As to yr colleague there firing potshots, Ivermectin was effective in certain populations as it lowered the parasite load in the humans making other medication more effective.
PLA, you have asked me not to engage with you, how about you show the same courtesy?
It's difficult to track who's talking to who here 🙂
But really, gsays?
"This is the biggest issue I see with the left. Shit on those not in lockstep."
That's the Left's biggest issue; "shitting" on?
And "lockstep"? Really?
Winston – met him at a press party in Bowen House many years ago – had a meal with him (table of 6) more recently, ran into him outside of a public meeting sometime after; he didn't like me, I didn't like him. He's a grifter, imo. His broad smile works on those upon who broad smiles work; I'm not one of those.You may admire his talents, I do not.
Some admire Wily for reasons. I'd include Centrists in that.
Nice appraisal by the way, never met him, but mine is observational… over many years : )
My impression is that he's more of a player (he played rugby and law). Family ever in private except his bro who had a go but dropped off the pace.
When I was cutting stories for TVNZ newsroom early '90s I went around telling random journos that Winston was doing the right thing with his winebox campaign. I'd already been telling them I was in the Greens & an astrologer, so stirring the collective pot yet again was no big deal. SOE journos are free of state control but not free of surveillance (I reported my experience of being consulted by the Te Karere presenter onsite here some years ago). Anyway they never marched me out the front door. Head of News asked me to come & see him at one point so I went with keen interest and he asked me if I was a member of the Greens so I said yes. Think he said something like "Hmm."
Please Sir, can we have a little certainty for Kiwis with that "certainty for business"?
A(t)las, we certainly can 🙁
“A serious approach”? By the NActF CoC? You must be joking – time to turn off the CoC.
Party Vote Green.
This is government that delights in destroying the environment.
It appears that they are still going ahead with the misjudged $2.7 billion LNG import plan.
There are votes in cancelling this and going solar instead for Labour and the Greens.
A key point made in that piece – that risks are not eliminated, but are simply transferred elsewhere. Self-interested actors like businesses are keen to transfer risks onto others – such as customers, governments, taxpayers, other businesses, the natural world, or future generations.
Governments cannot act like that, and if they do, they are guilty of 'clientilism' – simply being the agent of some client who calls the shots. Governments need to approach big, scary risks by fragmenting them into many smaller, equitably distributed and individually manageable risks.
Jonathon Pie's latest rant.
He echoes my sentiments about NZ Labour pretty well – the time for incrementalism is past – time to repudiate the whole neoliberal ideology and stand for the workers!
Why do you think that incrementalism is a problem? Small steps in the right [lower case] direction and gradual change are wrong somehow?
It may have escaped your notice, but we're in the middle of an existential climate crisis. Small steps won't cut it anymore.
PS the Greens know this and have developed policies to at least mitigate the problem, such as their Electrify NZ policy.
I'm not at all certain Labour do.
I thought you were talking about standing up for [the] workers!? Anywho, love your sarcasm.
I have linked to ourActionStation before…but if anyone knows people who might like to make some (even small) difference for NZ and the World…
And just one of the vital messages…so easy..but so hard ? Enrol !
@Tony V @ 4.
That's what really worries me. The situations are so similar, the populace elects a Labour party without a vision just because the governing conservative parties are so unpopular.
Doubly concerning as Hipkins went over to the UK to get advice. (Insert shiver going down spine emoji).
Do you watch Parliament TV, gsays?
In the House, the Labour and Green MPs constantly display vision, passion and clarity of intention.
You would describe it as "spine".
Well said Merc.
The kids are alright.
Anonymous
@YourAnonNews
Shark Tank Billionaire Kevin O'leary says 2 people fighting data centers in Utah are Chinese agents. Turns out its just 2 local girls in Utah, they make a hilarious video calling him the fuck out
https://xcancel.com/YourAnonNews/status/2054911659483750695
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/13/utah-approves-datacenter-backlash
AKA (completely ironically) Mr Wonderful…..
This section of his Wiki Link is given as part of the justification of this monstrous data centre blight?!
Mr Wonderful has more than a few opponents. One in particular….
singalong available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecR6dSyQClM
Kev has neolib doctrine down pat: "We are gonna create incremental jobs." Don't tell Hipkins, he'll get over-excited.
This is the real worry.
"The Stratos artificial intelligence datacenter footprint will cover more than 40,000 acres (62 sq miles) over three sites in Box Elder county in north-western Utah. The facility will require about 9GW of power, which is more than the entire state of Utah currently consumes, and suck up a significant amount of water in an area that has been hit by severe drought in recent years."
We already are on the path to this in NZ where an "AI factory" has recently been given consent in Southland that will supposedly use spare green energy. There is no such thing-pure greenwashing. In fact it will use 280MW of grid power (two thirds of the Clyde dam) that could be used for useful productive purposes.
https://www.odt.co.nz/southland/nzs-first-ai-factory-given-green-light-invercargill
Who wouldn't like to live near a data centre.
/
Datacenters Behaving Like Acoustic Weapons
https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/default/files/2025-07/data-center-factsheet-4.pdf
‘Dizziness, nausea, vertigo, and sleep disruption’: The undetectable hum of AI data centers is making local residents sick
[…]
People living nearby to AI data centers in the US are increasingly reporting illnesses caused by a near-imperceptible hum.
The infrasound, which in some cases can be ‘felt’ rather than heard, is causing people living in the vicinity of several data centers to fall sick with symptoms such as headaches, insomnia, nausea, and anxiety.
Those living near certain data centers have reported noise levels approaching 100dB, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
https://www.techradar.com/pro/dizziness-nausea-vertigo-and-sleep-disruption-the-undetectable-hum-of-ai-data-centers-is-making-local-residents-sick
AI infrastructure is significantly warming surrounding areas, creating a “data heat island effect” with the potential to impact hundreds of millions of people living nearby, a new working paper found.
Using a dataset of land surface temperatures produced by NASA, a research team led by the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge found from 2004 to 2024, the surrounding areas of more than 6,000 data centers worldwide saw an average increased land temperature of about 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. In certain cases, nearby temperatures increased 9 degrees Celsius, or 16.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Researchers calculated these heat islands could be felt about 6.2 miles away from facilities, impacting up to 343 million people globally.
https://fortune.com/2026/04/01/ai-data-centers-heat-island-hyperscalers/
" "
/
Meeting the government’s AI data centre targets could mean higher water bills and drawing more water from rivers, according to an industry group.
Water UK, a trade body, said Labour’s goal of tripling AI data centre capacity by 2030 was likely to be thwarted without “radical changes”.
Elsham Tech Park, a proposed data centre in Lincolnshire which would be one of Britain’s largest, won planning approval in March and a wave of the projects is anticipated by the end of the decade. Campaigners, MPs and water companies have raised concerns about the water needed to keep the facilities cool.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/ai-data-centres-higher-water-bills-ltz6r2937
https://archive.ph/67qAE
Georgia residents recently learned that a massive data center used nearly 30 million gallons of water without proper billing, deepening concerns about how large computing facilities — and especially those powering operations like artificial intelligence — can strain local resources.
What happened?
Residents of the Annelise Park subdivision in Fayetteville, Georgia, began complaining last year about unusually low water pressure, according to Politico. When Fayette County officials looked into the issue, they discovered "two industrial-scale water hookups" serving a nearby Quality Technology Services data center campus.
Officials reportedly determined one hookup had been connected without notice to the water utility, and the other, which had been left off the QTS company account, was not being billed
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/data-center-drained-30-million-002000882.html
And thievery is baked into the business plan.
As demand for artificial intelligence technology boosts construction and proposed construction of data centers around the world, those computers require not just electricity and land, but also a significant amount of water. Data centers use water directly, with cooling water pumped through pipes in and around the computer equipment. They also use water indirectly, through the water required to produce the electricity to power the facility. The amount of water used to produce electricity increases dramatically when the source is fossil fuels compared with solar or wind.
https://theconversation.com/data-centers-consume-massive-amounts-of-water-companies-rarely-tell-the-public-exactly-how-much-262901
""
https://bsky.app/profile/ketanjoshi.co/post/3mlrbd5bkms2x
Why Anthropic’s ultra-dirty deal shouldn’t surprise you at all
[…]
This is a quasi-epilogue to my recent essay linking infrasound fears from wind power to the same around data centres. I found through my career in the wind industry that weird wind farm health beliefs were mostly a marker of development done wrong. Irate communities were exploited by bad-faith disinformation groups. Data centres see something similar, but the scale is different. Impatience, bloat and corruption are resulting in growth that is frequently harmful.
What we know is that most apples are bad apples. The fundamental drivers of this change are panic and impatience, and that is what is behind the worst impacts of data centre growth, including a material risk to decarbonisation and climate action.
https://ketanjoshi.co/2026/05/13/why-anthropics-ultra-dirty-deal-shouldnt-surprise-you-at-all/
These data centres seem a bit like a Pyramid scheme…strike that, they literally are a Pyramid scheme, with the new Oligarch Tech Pharaoh's making $Billions….while the wage slaves hope for some Oligarch specific plague…or something
@ Mercurio @ 6.1
No I don't watch parliament TV that sort of performative nonsense leaves me cold. It reminds me of soccer players and their antics when brushed by an opponent.
I get in opposition they must oppose but I would love to see half that passion articulating their vision of a future for us.
It's hard to take, that's for sure gsays, but somebody has to do it 🙂
I persevere. What I see is Power .v. The People. The Government MPs, especially the PM, bury questions from the Opposition, but those questions, along with the #$^*@# answers, are kept in the Hansard record and in the memories of MPs with a memory. CoC MPs may appear to brush off/dismiss challenges from the Opposition MPs, but they are scored by them and it all adds up. No question is so perfectly formed that it can bring down its target, but, like the straws in a faggot, when amassed and applied, there is great strength.
A passionate vision for us is being espoused, it's up to us to hear it and amplify its volume.
In my opinion.
"A passionate vision for us is being espoused.."
Do you mind giving a few words that describe this vision?
Oh that I could be so pithy 🙂
It's a vision of support, care and empowerment. It recognises the perennially-disadvantaged and supports the weak and the meek. It seeks to curtail the cruel and the heartless and rewards the reformers.
You know what has to be done, gsays – you just have to back those most closely aligned to your own vision and most likely to action it.
Not an easy decision, granted; these are political parties, pulled this way and that way by circumstance, history and fortune; if you can't settle to at least one of those on offer, perhaps politics isn't your groove 🙂
Me, I'm all Green on it.
Unfortunately politics is my groove and settling for the idea of being nicer to victims of the neo liberal orthodoxy sticks in my craw.
The same orthodoxy that thinks welfare for working people is acceptable. Having to run very high migration to help sweeten the books thereby suppressing wages and conditions. The seeming disinterest in making us more resilient in respect to the likes of medicines.
I see what you mean.
If you disconnect from the outfall of politics in order to become able to survive its mashing jaws, you become … apolitical.
It's just weird!
Implementation. Important word after Ideals and Imagination. What can we do when our hard-won democracy gets rorted and becomes a sports match. We win and take down the other's successes out of spite and smarmy smartness.
There is little hope of getting probity from our present system. Face it when a system allows immaterial immense growth of wealth that can buy up small countries and seduce their civil servants, we people wanting ordinary lives (which can be very enjoyable) we're pipsqueaks. All our efforts must be for practical change and careful embedding of resources and ensuring that the authorities can't find a way to degrade and despoil everything we gain or hold dear. Prevent that and then you have the climate and growth in pests and diseases to to contend with. But limit the difficulties, a shorter life with humour, achievement, thoughtfully, love and amiability, can be achieved. Just reading Terry Pratchett, so great – he died in his 50's I think.
Do you think it's possible to envisage something that's not derived or distilled or synthesised from something you've already seen?
Is it possible to generate an entirely new thought?
Is it possible to generate an entirely new thought?
Einstein did, others too. In neuroscience, progress is being made as to how. The effect seems to originate subliminally (see iceberg model).
In the imaginal realm, the mind wanders thro possibilities. In the real, it gets anchored in here and now. Changemakers do a blend…
Thanks, Dennis, for being so frank 🙂
So do cheese-makers, wine-makers, coffee-makers, whiskey-makers, fusion chefs, fashion designers, creative artists, nutritionists, management consultants, and change managers. Einstein needed a haircut and a real job.
That’s a good question for gen-AI*.
*AI can make mistakes, so double-check responses
I loathe AI, especially anything/everything visual. It's pabulum for the mind. AI written language is just as bad, only it takes a moment longer to detect. Wormtonguery of the most dangerous sort because it directly threatens:
(Provided by AI 🙂
I’m still getting my head around gen-AI (only text-based) – it’s changing so fast – and, at present, I think it has its uses, e.g., as augmented assist beyond F7 and Advanced Search. I like experimenting with it although it can be a bit of a time-wasting trap that’s not too dissimilar to YouTube, as it keeps you ‘engaged’. Perhaps I need to find a better hobby …
The "better hobby" and one you'll have to find it spit-spot, is one AI can't touch and that can only be in the depths of your imagination where the artificial sun don't shine 🙂
Ah! The internal abyss.
There's an abyss, Incognito?
Nope, there aint.
It's fully-lit.
And it isn't internal 🙂
Forgot to take my meds
"Is it possible to generate an entirely new thought?"
Mark Twain, Arthur Schopenhauer and John Locke all say no.
Twain "For substantially all ideas are second hand, consciously or unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources".
They're all wrong, gsays – clever thinkers, but too thinky to get it 🙂
Mind you, Twain did say, " …all ideas are second hand, consciously or unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources" so my question is, only a million? How so? Perhaps a zillion … quadrillion … in which case, why not an infinite number of sources, hence my question. Your thoughts?
I don’t watch Parliament TV either (hardly ever) but performative or not, it’s one place where you can get a direct glimpse of politicians in action rather than relying on audio-visual interviews or third-party (written) reporting in/by media with all its filters & framing. In the House (Debating Chamber) politicians are constrained by archaic rules & rituals, which may be partly to blame for the performative perception.
Yeah well, it'll grind your gears – imagine being there! It's like the surface of a spring – if it's flowing sweetly, it's a beautiful thing – if the upwelling is bringing muck to the surface, it can look awful; grotty, snotty, clotty and foul. Not many kindly folk can stomach it; somebody has to take the hits 🙂
It's unlikely to be a goer, but god loves a trier dept;
When stuffed, bend strategically and resist realistically, and you may eventually become un-stuffed. If Madam President cites psych founding guru William James, an authentic 19th century yank aristocrat, she can get leverage with T using his stance.
Junk mail….literally. A trueblue Nat pamphlet (possibly coming to a mailbox near you? ) proclaiming…
Ah well I thought.. have a quick squiz. Hmmm,the photos of happy New Zealanders dont appear to be AI? (insofar that none have extra eyes..or arms : )
But I soon stopped my perusal on reading…
And
Wtaf ?! What alternate reality are they in?
Move on, if you can, step by step
In my moviemind I see some type of Jim Carrey Liar Liar result…but the carnage…would be good : )
Re your links..yes. Who is the pamphlet aimed at? Only the already sorted.
NZ…the message needs amped. If not already..please enrol and….. Vote NACT1 out in November!
I would appreciate someone fact checking this if anyone is interested in TOP's UBI policy.
Opportunity Party have some details on their Citizen's Income that would replace our current welfare system. Rates are from the links below. Comparisons for a single disabled adult who can't work:
Supported Living Payment + Disability Allowance = $26,387 in hand ($507/wk)
CI + DA = $25,400 in hand ($488/wk)
Difference: $987 less per year or $19/wk
Not great, but worse, they've removed the hardship benefit Temporary Additional Support which means people with disability costs above $6000/year are much worse off.
100,000 people on SLP, many of those will be getting TAS.
I didn't include accomodation costs because they're more complex, but TOP's housing assistance is capped at $125/week, which is low compared to WINZ accommodation supplement for people in high housing cost areas.
All payments are tax free except SLP (amount above is after tax).
Benefit rates
https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/benefit-rates/benefit-rates-april-2026.html
TOP policy
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KgTXUgjVipAA7EcDas-EJmOr6ZkeCf9B/view
Banking reform advocate Kent Dustan has nominated the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Banking Association, Roger Beaumont, for Australia’s top honour, “Australian of the Year".
Says RadioNZ:
"It's a tongue in cheek move …..that is due to Beaumont’s successful lobbying on behalf of Australian-owned banks that generate billions in profits for Australian shareholders."
Dustan has just been interviewed on RNZ Afternoons (audio not yet up). He was extremely eloquent and well-informed.
In reply to a question (slight paraphrase) "Finance Minister Willis has put the Australian banks on notice about their high profits. Has this had any effect?" he answered "Yes. Their profits have gone up every year since"
Well worth a listen when the audio comes up.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/20260515
Speaking of RNZ and banks, I send a text to red radio every time they talk banks and have Claire Matthews on as an 'expert'. Often described as being from Massey's Business School (true).
I knew Ms Matthews when she was a bank manager in a small rural town. We would often have exchanges when I would deposit the takings from our pre eftpos restaurant/bar and they would charge a cash handling fee! A bank charging a surcharge for handling cash.
Her excuses included that the insurance they paid would go up with the extra few thousand in their safe. Despite that logic, they would not give me a rebate when withdrawing cash.
It is reasonable to know if Ms Matthews has any shares or financial interests in any of the banks while she is used as a mouthpiece on RNZ for these Aussie gougers.
Hipkins has started signalling in all directions, particularly Ak. Patronage is vital for Labour this year. Elderly gent obliges…
I think he did the right thing making it figurative. Doing it physically could be legally deemed a technical assault. Apparently Hipkins didn't simper or go "Woof, woof." It's even possible he didn't realise the mayor was patronising him. Labour, you know.
What, politicians promoting local industry?? I recall when communist govts did that regularly. Someone had better run a security check on the ole feller. And really, the govt paying several million dollars to get a rich singer here is just being enterprising & helping the rich get richer, as per usual. It's what National is there for.
There was a massive spike in page views, users, sessions, etc recently. But mostly just scanning down the content.
Not sure what is going on, but it seems like some new bot(s) out of the US, Hong Kong and Singapore scanning the site. Probably AI bots. Especially yesterday when the US 'users' overtook NZ 'users' by a large margin.
Looks like I may have to find a better bot exclusion techniques.
Screen door?
AI bots
Had to come. Better than drones. Try asking the gizmo which are the best bot exclusion techniques.
Perhaps a Deep State agent in the US is using Aotearoa as a focus group. Hope so. They could do with an infusion of she'll be right…
And Belgium!?
This has been going on for quite a while now, actually, especially high traffic from the US according to Stats. Because of this it is impossible to ascertain the number of page views from genuinely interested readers (mostly Kiwis from NZ).
I’ll just live without those KPIs and won’t reach my end-of-year target, so no X-mas bonus for me this year.
Shane Jones: "I accept … that in some areas, the growth in intellect and the growth in intelligence will take a lot longer, and I fear that the longest period of time it will take will be around Ngāti Ruanui and Taranaki." I don't. Whilst its true that the pace of life here is leisurely, doesn't mean minds are moving slowly too.
I wonder if he's one of those people who operate a still in the backwoods, and due to their caring relationship with kea &/or kaka use outside troughs for thirsty local birds. Could make a good reality tv show, that giddy parrot thing…
Under Joe90 7.4.1.1.1 above I find a very meaningful phrase from a quote which I have observed too: