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Open Mike 16/05/2026

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 16th, 2026 - 18 comments
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18 comments on “Open Mike 16/05/2026 ”

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  1. Dennis Frank 1
    16 May 2026 at 7:45 am

    Huh. Spinoff writer compiles an excellent summary of media political relations saga here: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/12-05-2026/maiki-sherman-what-actually-happened

    Luxon, who has seen two embarrassing interviews with new TVNZ Breakfast host Tova O’Brien go viral, announces he will no longer appear on the morning show each week.

    Lux is fearful of becoming even more contagious. Politics as performance art seems to be trending, and it looks like he doesn't like the effect of his performances in the mass media. Sharing of memes is usually interpreted as favourable nowadays, so I'll hazard the suggestion that he is deeply uncomfortable with seeming so favoured.

    Since politicians normally seek favourability, this behaviour is paradoxical. It's remotely possible that his minder has told him it will make him seem postmodern and sophisticated. Otoh we could assume that Tova was giving him the runaround and punters thought it real cool fun to share, and the minder sent him off for more media training. Tova should get her producers to organise one of them display box on-screen counters, so viewers can select which of these interpretations they prefer.

  2. PsyclingLeft.Always 2
    16 May 2026 at 8:12 am

    The Kids are protesting for their Future ! I am proud of you.

    Striking students call on the government to do more to fight climate change

    About 200 school students have marched their way through the capital to Parliament, calling on the government to do more to fight climate change.

    School Strike 4 Climate Wellington co-director Miki Inoue-Palmer said they were striking because they "care about the planet".

    "I believe it's super important to get young people engaged in civics, and to get young people understanding how they can shape the world around them, and shape the decisions of the government," she said.

    The Ass-ociate Minister of Education Seymour sneers (I hear him as if from The Wall.….If you dont eat your mouldy meat…how can you have any Planet)

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour said the students should be in class, and he expected schools to mark their absence as unjustified.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/595350/striking-students-call-on-the-government-to-do-more-to-fight-climate-change

    Kids and Youth…be Aware, Enrol, Vote !

  3. Dennis Frank 3
    16 May 2026 at 8:53 am

    Trump may go Green?? Or slap down his advisers. The Colorado River hasn't reached the sea for quite a while, so the govt has decided to become unamerican.

    The U.S. government has proposed a new water-sharing ​plan for the drought-stricken Colorado River that could cut up to 40% of current ‌supplies to Arizona, California and Nevada, according to a senior Arizona official.

    With a 20-year-old plan expiring this year, and talks between 7 states that share the river at an impasse, the federal government late last week intervened with a strategy to ​deal with severe water shortages, according to Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water ​Resources.

    https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-government-planning-dramatic-colorado-river-water-cuts-due-drought-overuse-2026-05-15/

    The idea that govt oughta actually deal with a crisis will get many thinking that dangerous radicals have taken over. Trump, as master of the art of the deal, will adopt an heroic posture. "Guys, you're doing it wrong. Rope 'em and brand 'em is the old formula that works real good." Brands are where it's at in capitalism, so officials wearing the Water Conservator brand on their forehead will acquire a new sense of identity.

  4. Dennis Frank 4
    16 May 2026 at 9:16 am

    Fossil fuel freaks freak out frequently: https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/15/the-mystery-of-the-disappearing-gas-reserves/

    Released Thursday, the figures show proven reserves have tumbled for the fifth consecutive year… That’s a 25% decline from last year… and a decline of 66% since 2021.

    So the stuff is evaporating before they can mine it. Mother Nature must be in league with the devil, eh? The industry provides a nice pentad framing graph.

    Over time, gas flows up the categories, from contingent to possible to probable to proven and then, ultimately, to production.

    Such schema are terrific for cognition. The pentad is contingent/possible/probable/proven/product. Algorithmic thingy, y'know. Show it to suits with Powerpoint, and the effect is hypnotic. They high-five each other. Capitalism ain't dead yet. Yet the down trendline will kick in subliminally despite all the hoopla.

  5. Visubversa 5
    16 May 2026 at 9:45 am

    Is there anybody on the planet who actually believes that "Roxy Tickle" is a woman?

    This is what happens when well meaning people add nebulous and undefined wording like "gender expression" to legislation designed to protect against discrimination.

    In Australia, Lesbians cannot meet publicly without having to admit any men – yes any man, who opens his mouth and utters the magical incantation "I identify as"

    May be an image of ‎one or more people and ‎text that says '‎James Dreyfus @DreyfusJames 10h If nothing else, the Giggle/ Tickle decision will awaken so many people. Some men, like Tickle, take a perverse pleasure in destroying anything that belongs to women. Vindictive dog-in-a-manger behaviour. This ruling will eventually backfire in the court of public opinion... 157 t7711 t7 711 3.7K ان 22K‎'‎‎

    • Mercurio 5.1
      16 May 2026 at 12:21 pm

      Seeing Visubversa's "dog-in-a-manger" post was like finding … a dog in our manger.

      • greywarshark 5.1.1
        16 May 2026 at 12:40 pm

        This from vi.. is so well said I will repeat it.

        This is what happens when well meaning people add nebulous and undefined wording like "gender expression" to legislation designed to protect against discrimination.

        So true, a touch on the arm is I understand in NZ, counted as physical assault, for one.

    • greywarshark 5.2
      16 May 2026 at 12:29 pm

      Here in NZ the secluded place that one-sex toilets are for both women and men with separate facilities has been under attack. Why? – apart from being more convenient for men who want to pose as women, rather than the other way round, it would also be cheaper and take up less valuable rentable space for a landlord company.

      This has been taken up by the support organisation for women. https://www.speakupforwomen.nz/post/media-release-council-data?cid=56a1450a-dcc2-4a28-b1b1-3186b40eba20

      MEDIA RELEASE: Only Eight Councils Provide Female-Only Facilities, New National Data Reveals

      April 30 2026

      …Only eight councils clearly provide female-only changing and showering facilities.

      Nearly 9 out of 10 either do not—or cannot clearly say that they do. “If a space is labelled female, it should mean female,” said Suzanne Levy, spokeswoman for Speak Up for Women.“What we’ve found instead is widespread confusion, inconsistency, and in many cases, the quiet removal of female-only spaces.”…

      • Ad 5.2.1
        16 May 2026 at 12:54 pm

        The team around Luxon have done an excellent job stabilizing the PM and the coalition government.

        Willis has taken more of the media load, cocky political editors dispatched, neutral media choked, TV news narrative has shifted, and we're firmly back in the pre-Budget setpiece cycle.

        Political management done well.

        • Mercurio 5.2.1.1
          16 May 2026 at 1:02 pm

          Ugly but effective.

        • Bearded Git 5.2.1.2
          17 May 2026 at 6:48 am

          The problem for the Nats is that no matter how much they protect and air-brush Luxon, he will come across as boring and uninspiring in the election campaign.

    • weka 5.3
      16 May 2026 at 10:38 pm

      Terrible situation arising out of the way Australian sex discrimination law is constructed (differently from NZ). Looks like legislative change is the only option now (and that's going to have to come from the right).

      Maeve Halligan at the Cambridge Union debate this week was superb on lesbian rights

      https://youtu.be/wE0JY9d7f-w?t=4789

      the other member of the Society of Women speaking from the audience was good too

      https://youtu.be/wE0JY9d7f-w?t=4625

  7. Ad 7
    16 May 2026 at 12:56 pm

    Sorry my comment attached to wrong thread.

    • greywarshark 7.1
      16 May 2026 at 1:03 pm

      OK While your analytical attention Ad rests here, have you and TS handled this and I have missed it? Have you commented – if so where?

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/595409/the-house-the-constitutional-shift-you-may-have-missed-this-week

      …Was this the most exciting thing to happen in the House this week? Probably not. But beneath the Parliamentary and financial jargon sits a significant constitutional milestone: the principle that Parliament should be able to scrutinise the government without the government controlling Parliament's purse strings. For the first time, that principle is now formally reflected in the way Parliament funds itself..

  8. Drowsy M. Kram 8
    16 May 2026 at 3:57 pm

    Some time ago, it probably dawned on our big business-friendly CEO, sorry, PM that the NActF coalition – 'government' by and for the sorted – might be required to ‘move on’.

    So, perhaps the latest flurry of CoC activity is in aid of fulfilling commitments to corporates and other backers while the fulfilling is ‘good’ – hell hath no fury like a sponsor spurned.

    Anne Salmond: Democracy for sale [careful now Newsroom, 16 May 2026]
    Governance in New Zealand is becoming a farce. Theoretically, democracy offers government ‘of the people, by the people, for the people.’ Under this coalition Government, it’s government ‘of the corporation, by the corporation, for the corporation.’

    As lobbyists roam the corridors of power, policies are traded, and donations from the corporations flood in.

    The latest example is the Government’s decision to cancel the right of citizens to sue corporations for damages arising from their failure to tackle climate change. It’s a democratic disgrace.

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/13/govt-takes-one-step-forward-three-steps-back-on-environment-policies/

    • Bearded Git 8.1
      17 May 2026 at 6:55 am

      Thanks for that Drowsy…great stuff from Salmond.

      There are not that many votes for the Nats to gain from the corporate top 5% and the farming sector.

      Couple this with the robotic and humourless Luxon, and this election is there for the taking if the Left runs a reasonable campaign.