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Open Mike 17/05/2026

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 17th, 2026 - 26 comments
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26 comments on “Open Mike 17/05/2026 ”

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  1. Bearded Git 1
    17 May 2026 at 7:35 am

    Many in the USA are having doubts about permitting power hungry and noisy data centres.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/16/texas-county-data-center-construction-ban-00922493

    "The growth [of data centres] has stirred pushback from environmentalists and rural residents who worry about the effects on water supplies, the electric grid and their quality of life…..opposition to data centers appears to be hardening, and politicians are paying attention. A Gallup poll conducted in March showed 71 percent of respondents said they wouldn’t want to live near data centers, with 48 percent strongly opposed."

    Of course Trump is a major supporter of data centres, which is as good a reason as any to opposed them.

    "President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) have both made artificial intelligence — which relies on power hungry-data centers — an economic priority."

  2. Bearded Git 2
    17 May 2026 at 7:50 am

    The UK is about to introduce legislation to ban all new North Sea oil and gas licenses. The UK is able to do this because of massive solar and wind installations already developed.

    The COC dinosaurs have moved in the opposite direction of course.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/uk-moves-ban-new-north-sea-oil-gas-licenses-permanently

    As an election issue here the UK's (and Australia's similar) stance is a godsend to Labour/Greens.

    Luxon is on the wrong side of history as ever. Just as he is with Te Tiriti, NCEA, RONS, Climate Change measures etc etc etc

    • Matiri 2.1
      17 May 2026 at 9:24 am

      Not just the UK, most nations planning similar initiatives 'inspired' by Trump ironically.

      In late April, 60 nations representing over one-third of the world’s economic power met in Colombia to accelerate their shift away from oil, gas and coal due, at least in part, to the effects of the Iran war. The summit, led by Colombia and the Netherlands, was organized outside normal United Nations channels and processes to avoid the kind of bottlenecking often orchestrated by petrostates. Participants met to draft individualized, national transition roadmaps away from fossil fuels; using more laid back question and answer information sessions, they made unusual progress. The United States was not invited.

      https://www.salon.com/2026/05/16/green-energy-will-have-the-last-laugh-because-of-trump/

    • alwyn 2.2
      17 May 2026 at 2:37 pm

      If I have had my access allowed.

      Did you read the article you linked to where it says

      "Oil and gas still accounts for three-quarters of the UK’s energy mix. And the majority of those fossil fuels are now shipped in from abroad, meaning other economies benefit from the job creation and tax receipts that are derived from the lucrative drilling and refining processes."?

      If that statement is true how can you possibly claim that " The UK is able to do this because of massive solar and wind installations already developed.". They cannot possibly replace oil and gas usage, surely and if they are still going to have to use fossil fuels is it not best to control their production rather than have to depend on countries like Russia?

      edit. I see I have been released from durance vile. Thank you.

  3. Dennis Frank 3
    17 May 2026 at 8:08 am

    This analysis of the UK situation captures key features well:

    A consensus is emerging that Britain is locked into a worst-of-both-world’s Frankenstein economy, displaying all the negative features of neoliberalism but with a cumbersome, meddling, bureaucratic state that impedes business agility and individual initiative. We have critical national infrastructure and assets held in private, often foreign ownership, and twin trade and sovereign deficits that make us dependent on the kindness of strangers.

    UK plc is an extremely open, over-financialised, unbalanced economy, exposed to volatility in global trade and relying heavily on imports, not least energy and cheap labour. Britain built an economic model designed for ever-increasing liberalisation and reduced trade frictions. But it now finds itself, as the historian John Bew put it, as the “last man at the bar in Davos”, watching in horror as the Washington Consensus collapses.

    Labour factions are beginning to coalesce around the articulation of a politics of national production, of creating the conditions for market dynamism and overcoming the long-term, sclerotic doom-loop by facilitating investment-led growth. Even the nationalisation proposals of the Burnham camp are framed as a solution to rising fiscal burdens on the entitlement state – an energy, housing, work and transport subsidy regime that compensates workers and consumers for the failures of the very privatisation model that brought arms-length regulatory omnipotence into being. https://unherd.com/2026/05/labours-battle-of-ideas/

    Dunno about that last bit – any omnipotence of regulators strikes me as more like hallucination than reality. It's good that they are thinking more deeply though.

    • Dennis Frank 3.1
      17 May 2026 at 8:17 am

      As addendum to that, the analyst detects subterranean forces at work:

      The reason why we are cycling through prime ministers with the attention span of a Love Island contestant isn’t just down to the personal shortcomings of the contemporary political classes. It is because something structural, something more tectonic than mere personal idiosyncrasies is taking place… Britain is broken. We have been promised various means of salvation: fiscal tightening, deregulation and privatisation under Cameron; Brexit-means-Brexit under May; post-Brexit levelling up under Johnson; deficit-funded Reaganite tax cuts under Truss; and now an amorphous technocratic reformism under Starmer. All have looked like different versions of managed decline.

      Nothing the overclass did has worked, so folks must abandon support for the establishment. They no longer do the compulsive fore-lock tugging that persisted through the 19th century but they still do the inner cringe in subservience despite being increasingly baffled about who they are supposed to cringe to…

  4. PsyclingLeft.Always 4
    17 May 2026 at 8:16 am

    Dirty Dairy and Nitrates…Collusion, and being enabled/protected by Environment Southland ?! At my local Library I read the ODT Sat 16th and was very taken aback to read a seemingly active smoke shitscreen was being applied by this organisation.

    The ODT Link is subscriber...but its all there…

    https://www.odt.co.nz/southland/plan-muddy-nitrate-debate

    This was earlier from Greenpeace’s Will Appelbe (who I respect)

    This damning report on Southland's drinking water slipped under everyone's radar – until recently. And

    https://www.facebook.com/greenpeace.nz/videos/this-damning-report-on-southlands-drinking-water-slipped-under-everyones-radar-u/1436158538064184/

    RNZ article covered earlier too….

    “New report exposes potential nitrate pollution in Southland”

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/587940/new-report-exposes-potential-nitrate-pollution-in-southland

  5. PsyclingLeft.Always 5
    17 May 2026 at 8:39 am

    Strike ! Humans fight back against AI Oligarch$. (and yes, I do realise its still about employee money…but, a fightback nonetheless)

    At Samsung, the global AI boom spurred a looming strike and deep divisions

    JPMorgan estimated the strike could impact Samsung's operating profit by 21 trillion won to 31 trillion won (NZ$24 billion to NZ$35.43 billion), while sales losses could stand at about 4.5 trillion won (NZ$5.14b).

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/595429/at-samsung-the-global-ai-boom-spurred-a-looming-strike-and-deep-divisions

  6. Dennis Frank 6
    17 May 2026 at 10:08 am

    The Yank-Nigerian axis is working well:

    May 16 (Reuters) – Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the second in command of ISIS globally, ‌has been killed in an operation conducted by U.S. and Nigerian forces in the northeast of the African country, U.S. President Donald Trump and his counterpart in Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said… Nigerian ​forces worked closely with the U.S. military in what he called a daring joint operation that dealt a heavy ​blow to the ranks of the Islamic State.

    Trump, who has previously accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants, ‌thanked the ⁠Nigerian government for its partnership in the operation.

    Very statesman-like of him eh? Yet I sometimes get the impression T likes the old cowboy riding off firing madly in all directions thing.

    The Nigerian Army, also on X, opens new tab, said the strike was carried out in Metele in Borno State, where troops carried out a precision air-land operation in close coordination with U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

    Well, it's good to know that the Nigerian Army is on X. Informs the global media elite that missionaries in darkest Africa may no longer fear the cooking pot. Puts Musk on notice that his African roots are reaching out to him. Makes multi-racial geopolitics look like a global trend. I presume those yank soldiers are called Africommandos?

    https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-says-isis-second-command-abu-bilal-al-minuki-eliminated-2026-05-16/

  7. Dennis Frank 7
    17 May 2026 at 11:21 am

    Constipation situation: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/5/16/iran-war-live-lebanon-israel-extend-truce-tehran-ready-for-more-us-talks

    • Iran has prepared a mechanism to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz that envisages collecting fees. Iranian politician Ebrahim Azizi said the plan will be announced shortly.
    • Reporting from the waterway, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi says Hormuz has become “a parking lot for ships”

    They just need a drone with swipe-card facility attached. Send it to each ship so the captain can pay the user-fee. Simple, just like any other parking lot, toll-booth, or online payment scheme. Iranian state website with a shia funding module included gives them optionality for foreigners wishing to pay for the will of Allah.

  8. Dennis Frank 8
    17 May 2026 at 12:49 pm

    In a state of freedom, nobody owns you. Aotearoa has long seemed close to this ideal, but Dame Anne has questions around that: https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/16/anne-salmond-democracy-for-sale/

    Who owns TVNZ and RNZ – citizens, or politicians? Are they our employees, or not?

    Seems like she hasn't realised that state-owned enterprise law means the answer she is seeking is the state. Notice that she believes it is either citizens or politicians. Such muddled thinking is typical of people who are produced by the education system.

    Nonetheless she is trying to provide a positive alternative, which is a Good Thing, so I must try not to be too accurate in my critique.

    Switzerland has 9 million people, and 2000 communes. New Zealand has 5.4 million people, and 67 local authorities.

    I get her point: if we switch to communism, we'll rocket up to the top of the global wealth parade, standard of living, etc. If it worked for the Swiss, it can work for us!! Unfortunately, she fails to jump to this obvious conclusion.

    the least we can do is to stand up to arrogant, self-interested politicians and tell them to pull their heads in, or we’ll throw them out of office. Or are we too gutless and witless to do even that?

    Time will tell. The minute I see anyone in Labour do what she's telling them, I'll report it here with considerable enthusiasm. I see only a single problem with this political strategy; the in-pulling of heads was popular in the 1960s but not since, so behavioural contagion is unlikely, especially in younger generations who will probably only be able to learn the technique via proper therapeutic advice. Who will pay?

  9. greywarshark 9
    17 May 2026 at 2:02 pm

    I think Dame Anne deserves a better analysis than that DF. Thanks for all the other work you have put in today though. Interesting and I know takes time, I'm enjoying reading your findings.

    • Binders full of women 9.1
      17 May 2026 at 5:57 pm

      I find her writing very hard to follow.. it's so vague as if we're all supposed to know who are "the foreign interests", who's the "libertarian afraid of free speech" and "we need to vote out politicians who do ABC and vote in politicians who do XYZ" FFS can't she just say "NZF & NATS & ACT baddies vote for Lab & Greens goodies"??

      • greywarshark 9.1.1
        18 May 2026 at 11:08 pm

        I think she might want people to think around their firm premises? Being definite about everything every election hasn't been sufficient to advance in NZ a decent phalanx of reps to take on the world. More like having taken a butlering course on how to politely usher in an invading horde of heads stuffed with money tricks mostly. Welcome to the circus, the legerdemain is fine.

  10. Bearded Git 10
    17 May 2026 at 2:38 pm

    Talbot Mills Poll here….it 's tight:

    Lab 36 Gre 9 TPM 2=47

    Nat 29 NZF 14 ACT 7=50

    While this shows the Right ahead by 3, they were up by 7 in the last Talbot Mills (52-45). ACT and National remain in the doldrums. Hipkins is preferred PM.

    I remain convinced there will be a TPM overhang that will help the Left.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/new-poll-keeps-national-in-the-20s-labour-retains-biggest-share-of-support/ECSCZV3ZQZETTDDOIRAEEW476A/

    • Binders full of women 10.1
      17 May 2026 at 6:00 pm

      Labour will sweep the Maori seats… or maybe Huhana will win TTT if TPM don't choose Hone. I'm praying Tania beats Rawiri. Debbie also not a shoo in… and down Te Tai Tonga..?? Who knows? Takuta been quiet on the late night bong rants lately

  11. PsyclingLeft.Always 11
    17 May 2026 at 3:09 pm

    Yet another US illegal act coming soon ? As they seek to assert domination over the very small thorn in their side…

    'submission diplomacy'

    Cubans prepare for 'invasion' as US escalates tensions with long-suffering island

    State hospitals are now deprived of many basic medicines, Cubans complain of food rotting in their fridges during lengthy blackouts and uncollected trash piles up in nearly every neighbourhood of the island.

    Washington's oil blockade has drained the island of its last reserves, the energy minister announced this week. New sanctions against companies doing business with Cuba are halting most maritime shipments to the island, guaranteeing that food prices and hunger will spike even higher.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/595472/cubans-prepare-for-invasion-as-us-escalates-tensions-with-long-suffering-island

  12. weka 12
    17 May 2026 at 4:16 pm

    Found this while looking for examples of people calling political opponents fascist.

    Charles McBryde on when and when not to call someone a fascist (4 mins)

    https://www.tiktok.com/@charlesmcbryde/video/7594618347229121806

  13. Policy Parrot 13
    17 May 2026 at 4:41 pm
    • Latest

    "NZ First to oppose privatisation".

    Also NZ First: "We rule out working with Labour, Greens and Te Pati Maori".

    Leaving it able to only work with pro-privatisation parties National and ACT.

    • Also:

    "NZ First opposes Regulatory Standards Bill, will work to repeal".

    Also NZ First: "[Costello] said the bill fundamentally promoted accountable and open government and promoted the rule of law, efficiency in regulation, property rights, an independent judiciary, and equality before the law."

    They oppose a bill the day after it passes with their votes!

    NZ First: We say whatever we want, to whoever we want, then do whatever we want. Don’t worry about cognitive dissonance, thinking is for pointy-heads.

    Feel free to add more examples, for e.g.

    • Opposing raising the age of retirement.
    • Renationalising the BNZ.
    • weka 13.1
      17 May 2026 at 5:07 pm

      please provide a link for the quotes (it's a requirement of commenting here)

  14. Drowsy M. Kram 14
    17 May 2026 at 5:14 pm

    Sharon Murdoch does it again – this is funny, and I'm still trying to figure out why.


    https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/361005674/cartoon-may-17

  15. Drowsy M. Kram 15
    17 May 2026 at 9:05 pm


    https://nickrockel.substack.com/p/mcanulty-vs-bishop-d45

    Deputy PM and ACT leader David Seymour might be onto a winner here – it's worked for former deputy PM Peters, and now the CoC CEO has tacked onto a more cautious track.

    PM promising solution to immigration problem that doesn’t exist, demographer says [careful now RNZ, 14 May 2026]
    He [demographer Paul Spoonley] said immigration had risen a bit as an issue, but it was not a top 10 concern for New Zealanders – as identified in the latest Ipsos issues monitor. He said polling showed the majority of New Zealanders viewed immigration positively.

    “I can only assume that the prime minister is beginning to react to his two coalition partners both of whom seem to want to make immigration a central issue for the coming election, but also to see immigration as somehow being divisive and an issue for New Zealanders – I don’t think it is.”