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6:00 am, July 19th, 2025 - 41 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 …
Today's Posts (updated through the day):
Do humans have to respect the limits to growth?
New Post up:
Do humans have to respect the limits to growth?
Water Done Well ? Well Water …..Done
Hmmm I wonder where they Nitrates be a'comin from? NACT1 and Groundswell Gore must be keen to advise/help?
Oh also, Nitrates around the countryside…
The documentary by Baz MacDonald,"Milk and Money" may be relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noykSN0KWu4
I'm sure it cant be too hard to find the smoking
guncowshit….Jeez, what will Chris Bishop say ? Also the Hate on Skate types ? (Who are quite often, the Hate on Bikes types )
Onya Mayor Nadine and Councillor David ! Very cool.Thats raised my optimism level quite a bit.
Skate…on : )
RNZ's Giles Dexter has helpfully provided us with a list of evidence that parliament can still do consensus politics: https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/07/17/pay-talk-protection-national-backs-labours-transparency-bill/
This is a victory for free speech produced by bipartisan consensus, with the two doggish partisan parties remaining staunch advocates of social control tradition.
An ACT supporter might frame it as a victory for free speech – ACT is against this Bill – when it clearly is a victory for workers’ rights.
Belich is Union hard core. And smart as they come. Shoutout for good solid political work rewarded.
Aotearoa is going Green via investment in energy infrastructure: https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/18/solar-farms-in-investment-pipeline-could-triple-nzs-power-capacity/
I see Mike Joy in the comments is trying to clarify the concept of capacity since another commenter implied it’s an illusory construct…
Great post Dennis. I was particularly interested in the comment that says that rooftop solar is not included in the figures, and in particular:
"Estimates are over 600MW of rooftop capacity and growing rapidly as retail electricity prices keep ramping up"
That is already way more than the Clyde Dam generates-464 MW.
Very encouraging thankyou Dennis.
But will an alternative to Solar Zero emerge? That's accelerated power decentralization.
From your link, Dennis
https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/18/solar-farms-in-investment-pipeline-could-triple-nzs-power-capacity/
This is further privatisation of our electricity sector which will be counterproductive to significantly reducing the high cost of power
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/567371/new-zealand-first-s-cash-transactions-protection-bill-what-it-is-and-what-it-could-do
Winston the dinosaur trying to keep us in the dark ages, get rid of cash , cheaper for the reserve bank , harder for tax evasion and drug dealing.
And when the power goes out/internet crashes??
Build resilience and backups into the system,
Backups such as – cash? Gives a feel for how much I spend, but I'm an old dunga.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashless_society
No backups and resilence in our power ,internet , data storage and communication networks ,which would have the added bonus of not losing communication in states of emergency, the future is that that way> not that < way,
Imho, Kiwis should be able to continue using cash – we can agree to disagree.
I have no problem with people who use internet/network-dependent connections for cashless transactions – I do so myself. Similarly, I hope Kiwis who would prefer to go, or have gone cashless don't have a problem with me and others using cash as and when it suits, e.g. as a backup when needs must.
https://telconews.co.nz/story/networks-down-but-trust-up-how-to-communicate-when-outages-hit
Internet/network services are human endeavours, so subject to failure. That's when a non-network backup such as cash may come in handy, for shopping and the like – the paying customer is always right, regardless of how they pay.
Getting as many Kiwis as possible dependent on the internet is a great way to make money, although there are some magic places where you can get it for free (the internet, not money). Which could be handy – if you're short of money and live nearby.
https://www.broadbandcompare.co.nz/
Keep an eye out when ypu pay cash in corner dairy, I've noticed more than once that it never gets rung on , just gets put in the till.
Also forcing business to hold and take cash? Surely they can run their business how they want?
I have a sense of unease about forcing all Kiwis through a cashless bottleneck before they're good and ready – OK?
Made several cash purchases today – the various cashiers didn’t even bat an eye, and I think I might have had a 10 cent windfall into the bargain!
I like to keep a small bit of cash around, like $20.00 max. Any more and it seems to 'drift' out of my wallet.
My cousin though from Chch always has a wodge. Having gone through the Chch quakes, with pregnant daughter in law (her son was away), the two of them got in her car and fled south and were able to fill up somewhere where the cash was welcomed as some electronic pumps/tills were out.
Winston's bill wants to force all companies to hold cash
Seems prudent to me – emergencies are likely to become more frequent. If I'm interpreting correctly, then it's possible a cashless vendor could avoid being at odds with the Bill / Act / law by having a well-advertised legally-binding policy of shutting up shop in the event of an emergency that compromised cashless transactions. Presumably, cashless vendors (like normal shops), couldn't be forced to continue to trade (unless perhaps they were deemed 'essential'?), and "in the event of a digital or electrical outage" how could they anyway – IOUs?
But cheer up – maybe the bill won't be passed. Then you, I and businesses can carry on as usual, and by the time NZ enters a brave new cashless world I'll be past caring.
Agreeing with Drowsy requiring dairies to hold cash seems prudent. Though the dairy thieves …..will this lead to more hold-ups even if the cash is not held in the tills?
That Bwaghorn is why I don't use these dairies. Tax avoidance through understating income is blatant.
My dad being an accountant, was used to all the tricks about palming, cash handling showed this in practice in one of the Interisland ferries years ago. It was not as blatant as having a little pile of $$$ resting on the till but was much more significant. He worked out what was happening and went away and advised someone…not sure who as I was only young. People used to counting cash from the way backs can see this stuff.
People used to electronic transactions can also do this. But it should be/is easy to check if $$$ taken is a final step in a process.
Like people visiting a Dr. I worked in the health sector where we had highly skilled auditors with high tech tools to analyse numbers of patient visits, against income taken in against claiming for a health benefit (where the visit is subsidised). Health professionals still thought they could fiddle by not declaring all visits or by going to a resthome going to the lounge and asking 'everyone OK here?' and charging for the say 15 people sitting there x the basic consultation fee. So not declaring all visits when the receptionist had a list of those who the Dr saw that day…..
Starlink is the NZ government backup.
The EU is generating its own one.
In these days when IT seems to track every bit of our spending, the better to manipulate us, I am increasingly using cash.
If you're aware they are trying to manipulate you surely they can't!
It doesn’t appear they’ll be looking into political corruption à la Shane Jones, Casey Costello etc.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/567332/sfo-launches-pilot-programme-to-tackle-public-sector-corruption-risks
These are the agencies in the pilot, they have all volunteered to self assess.
Inland Revenue, Accident Compensation Corporation, the Department of Corrections, the Ministry of Social Development, Land Information New Zealand and Sport New Zealand.
On the face of it all of these departments are where bad actors could have a field day, and some have, and been caught already.
This is where the corruption cases have occurred this far 'She said many of the corruption cases involve risks to health and safety – and referred the examples such as building inspectors being bribed to waive through consents, and health officials bribed for contracts to supply medical equipment to hospitals.'
We did self assessment risk assessments of this kind when I worked in a RHA back in the year dot and other agencies BC year dot. Risk specialists and Auditors looked at them and grilled you. We were able to get to hospitals to audit them etc as we contracted with them. I think Health NZ will have a general power of audit and will schedule different types over a term of years. I don't have as great a fear that the health sector is not being subject to good audit practices.
Somehow they need to be able to get to the second tier public agencies such local authorities and their related offshoots ie for water. In view of some water agencies in the Wellington area having hopeless attendance from members at high level meetings where audit/general oversight etc is done it leaves room for many 'mice to play' lower down. And this happened.
So great initiative. They need to work hard to be able to look at local authorities.
Some of the best audits I have experienced are to do with process.
The processes for the one local authority I have dealt with recently would be wide open ie conducive for audit. They did not appear to have a robust conflicts of interest register or policies, their consultation processes did not follow best practice that was evident in central govt over 10 years ago etc, etc.
NPR defunded, many of its shows dumped.
PBS defunded. Even Sesame Street at risk.
Colbert and Late Show killed off with Trump threat to CBS, and Trump gloats.
Fox channels gloats about it all.
Zuckerberg settles lawsuit for the massive id database sale, and Facebook avoids actual scrutiny again.
That's a rapid closing of the American mind in a week…
… and with it critical lights of democratic scrutiny.
Jon Stewart is also worried that his own show won't survive the merger.
This is going dark fast.
Given Colbert is number one in the late show hosts ..and he is good at what he does..
And Stewart has been totally on form..
You'd think both would be grabbed by a competing network…
And Colbert has until mid next yr..(I think..)
..you'd imagine he won't be holding back..
Should be fun to watch..
Would that we had such high degrees of political satire here ..
We really need it…
Anyway..for those who don't know…and have any interest in u.s. politics…both are a must watch ..
Ya hafta laff…!
Colbert was also pretty scathing on his networks parent company..paramount…for bending their knee..and opening their wallet to trump…
That may have had some part to play..
The oligarchy has won.
The head of entertainment group Skydance — poised to take over media conglomerate Paramount Global — told federal officials he is pursuing a focus on “American storytelling” while touting a new, “unbiased” editorial direction for CBS News.
David Ellison, Skydance’s CEO, met with Federal Communications Chairman Brendan Carr to seek approval for his firm’s long-in-the-making merger with Paramount, according to a letter from a Skydance lawyer included in a federal filing. The transaction has roiled Paramount subsidiary CBS News and its longtime crown jewel, “60 Minutes,” amid fights over its editorial independence. Ellison is the son of tech billionaire Larry Ellison, a major supporter of President Donald Trump.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/media/david-ellison-fcc-chairman-paramount-deal-cbs-rcna219687
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/opinion/heather-du-plessis-allan-i-thought-national-was-supposed-to-be-good-with-our-money/
One way to shut up sunny kushel, just buy him .
Sunny Kaushal's beef started in earnest when the CRL project pretty much ruined his Shakespeare Hotel business and it took years to get first acknowledgement then compensation.
It was his poisonous leadership that helped turn the previously loyal Indian shopkeepers against Labour – criticl to losing Auckland isthmus seats in 2023.
A month or so ago, I saw a presentation on Labour results over the past few elections in Auckland vs overall results – the trends are identical. It's not ideal to lose electorate MPs, but there was no special impact on the overall result of either Auckland shopkeepers or an Auckland backlash against Covid lockdowns.
I had heard there was only one bellwether seat in NZ and that was Hamilton West, the others as you say follow the election trends/results.
From Mrs Google
Kneecap, Eno and co showing more backbone than Western legislatures.
./
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:gksmwsy2s4gke7dr3msuyytq/post/3luah2xo7xs2u
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jul/18/kneecap-no-further-action-glastonbury-performance-police
Massive Attack, Brian Eno, Fontaines DC and Kneecap have announced the formation of a syndicate for artists speaking out about Israel’s military assault on Gaza, who they say have been subjected to “aggressive, vexatious campaigns” by pro-Israel advocates.
Posting on Instagram, the musicians said their aim was to protect other artists, particularly those at early stages of their careers, from being “threatened into silence or career cancellation” by organisations such as UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jul/17/massive-attack-announce-alliance-of-musicians-speaking-out-over-gaza
boom
https://xcancel.com/KNEECAPCEOL/status/1944425917092073829
When it comes to having an argument, there comes a time when you can either attempt to de-escalate things and cool the conversation down or you can double down on your principles and go on the offensive. It seems that the Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap and Disturbed frontman David Draiman have both opted for the latter, as insults and over-generalizations were flung between the two on social media over the weekend.
This latest bout sprung up when Kneecap posted a now infamous photo of Draiman signing an Israeli artillery shell before it was deployed against targets in Gaza along with the following statement:
Now, there’s no way to tell if it was ultimately used on civilians in Gaza, but the numbers would certainly point to that being the case.
https://www.metalsucks.net/2025/07/14/kneecap-call-david-draiman-a-straight-up-cnt-he-responds-with-same-old-talking-points/