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6:00 am, July 29th, 2025 - 22 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):
Fisher and Paykel
Had an overnight outage due to the rss-aggregator plugin trying to upgrade itself from v4 to v5 without asking for permission.
I have disabled it temporarily. Looks like it is unusable. Another task…
Any complex system is liable to generate chaos from within, as well as to be susceptible to a chaos factor entering from without, since it is the way of the world.
The astrologer's take on this is via correlations with Mercury retrograde – a phase of temporal context lasting about 3.5 weeks, of which we are currently in the midst.
Technoglitches are likely during this phase of time, plus communication breakdowns of more general sorts. One would judge Trump's apparent victory yesterday accordingly, and expect subsequent revision when Mercury goes direct. Devil in details…
"Mercury retrograde"? Don't think so – my power bill will be going up, going forward.
When we look at the way AI is going I guess it is no wonder that computer software now considers itself to be of more significance than are carbon based puny little human beings and sees no reason to ask permission to do whatever it wants.
You are very brave disabling it. Look what happened when the human beings on the spacecraft tried to shut down the HAL 9000 in 2001, A Space Odyssey. Beware!
The High Court has ruled Oranga Tamariki must pay $108,000 in legal costs to the couple entrusted with foster care of a Maori child: https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360771887/judge-slams-oranga-tamarikis-egregious-behaviour-awards-costs-moana-foster-parents
The judge held OT's efforts to remove the child (involving several court hearings) amounted to egregious behaviour.
Let other over-zealous bureaucrats take note.
It doesn't affect the people in the Department. As always it is the taxpayer who pays. The public student isn't bothered at all.
I wonder how the poor little kid in the middle of this brawl is getting on these days?
That case distressed me. The child was safe and well cared for. What is more the foster parents were diligent in ensuring the child would receive her cultural needs. Then in strode the Oranga Tamariki bullies. I expect a wet bus ticked was all they got – if that.
Not so much overzealous bureaucrats, rather incompetent bureaucrats combined with stupidity and the willingness to do harm to others
Looks like Richard Harmon has been played like a fiddle by Federated Farmers.
From The Bulletin.
https://thespinoff.activehosted.com/index.php?action=social&chash=2bb232c0b13c774965ef8558f0fbd615.536&nosocial=1
Integrity Institute’s media funding raises questions over political agenda
The Integrity Institute, set up to promote transparency and accountability in politics, is under scrutiny for allegedly using its $3 million endowment to advance politically targeted journalism, reports Richard Harman in Politik (paywalled). The organisation is funding a year-long investigative series in Newsroom, currently focused on Federated Farmers’ influence on freshwater policy. But the prescriptive nature of the institute’s trust deed – which encourages media partnerships and even outlines potential “sting” operations against lobbyists – is "raising questions about its own integrity", writes Harman."
The Newsroom Piece was a great piece of journalism. Fed Farm just didn't appreciate being dragged into the daylight.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/25/who-benefits-the-power-of-the-farm-lobby-part-two/
I read the Politik post last night. It was reasonably balanced, given Richard Harmons usual leanings.
He does go on at length about Bryce Edwards new vehicle (Integrity Institute) choice of targets, but also put this in
I'd (unusually) agree with Edwards on this. TINZ looks more like one of the usually right wing neo-liberal front organisations than anything else from what I have read from them. To me, the are less interested in transparency than they are in confining government to a very specific course of action that favours their sponsors.
The organisations that the Integrity Institute are targeting about lobbying are (according to their deed)
All of which do seem to have specific agendas that are more influenced by the interests of their funders, are all heavily engaged in lobbying, and are all well within the target of any organisation that is looking at influence via lobbying. I can see why those organisations would be worried, defensive, and interested in smearing the II.
That case distressed me. The child was safe and well cared for. What is more the foster parents were diligent in ensuring she would receive her cultural needs. Then in strode the Oranga Tamariki bullies. I expect a wet bus ticked was all they got – if that.
Greens reach accord with hard right: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/29-07-2025/windbag-why-the-taxpayers-union-endorsed-this-green-party-policy
Using neocolonial economic theory as basis for one's economic policy in the 21st century may seem audacious but it's genuinely Green: mixing the past with the present is what evolution does, and any contemporary reframe serves to shift us into the future.
Young dudester Joel McManus points to the trendiness factor in contagion. HG may be a century in his grave but his influence persists.
I was impressed that he is so open-minded. Sure as hell beats going for the solution to the problem, so you can see why he did so well in Labour. Meanwhile, the long-hair option goes for solving the problem instead:
I envisage hordes of BlueGreen flags in Wellington streets, marching in all directions. Oh, wait. Nope, it evaporated…
Interesting DF – a new approach to the shrouded behemoth.
Snort. TPU agrees with some GP tax policy, for their own purposes.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360773125/businesses-should-pass-paywave-costs-through-prices-nicola-willis-says?cx_testId=75&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=2#cxrecs_s
Witless willis strikes again , she's telling shops to put 1% to 3% on all goods even if people don't use pay wave!!
From the link;
"The Finance Minister says when a ban on contactless card payment surcharges comes into effect, businesses should pass on the cost to customers as they would any other business cost, if they can't absorb the bill."
If there was a "ban on contactless card payment surcharges" then there would be no cost to pass on. The banks would not be allowed to charge businesses.
But our coward finance minister will not take on the banks in that way just like her ineffective chat with Fonterra and her turnstile tackling of the banks.
Instead, us fogey Eftpos users are gonna bear the cost.
Edit, Goodness! the comments are scathing, small business owners amongst them.
I'm sure Groundswell, Peter Williams (Taxpayer Union mouthpiece) and other anti 3 Water/Maori militant agitators will stump up with some cash right? Riiight….
Can't afford pay equity or teachers but lotsa money for the wealthy and sorted.
//
The Government has quietly agreed to raise the range of fees board members of Crown bodies could be paid, in some cases by 80%.
Under the increase, revealed in a Cabinet document uploaded online without fanfare today, the top potential annual fee for chairs of governance boards would rise… to more than $160,000.
That compares with the top amount of $90,000 in the previous framework issued in 2022.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/govt-to-increase-crown-body-board-members-fee-ranges-in-some-cases-by-80/Z2WV3ZCXBFEPRJVB4UMOUFQIZA/
archivedotli
The government invested a lot of money in buying the favour of landlords.
But it seems
investing for CG in housing is not as good as the stock market (the 1986-1987 boom bust leading us astray).
(and the CG in property is largely a result of population inflow and the 1986 tax cuts and the estate tax removal enabling the gated community aka inter-generational upper class bling culture).
https://www.stuff.co.nz/home-property/360773085/new-zealanders-urged-break-property
And rents are now in decline with values flat-lining as people move to Oz to escape the back to the 20th C form of neo-liberal conservatism.
I thought I would group source a desire for resources.
My SO has become a delegate and has strike action coming up. They want to do a little education for the younger staff about strikes, picket lines, scabs etc.
Last time round when union members naively crossed the line, the korero that their actions were undermining the sacrifices of the workforce were described as mean etc. So many of the staff are Gen Z/Millenial or recent migrants so strike action is seen as a chance to spend a day at home or with mates.
Does anyone know of any essays, literature, YT videos etc that are a gentle explainer.
Also any ideas how the rest of us could support the picket line.
Chur.
What I have come up with is some hot pumpkin soup to give out.
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/queenstown/member-high-profile-family-dodges-conviction-pak%E2%80%99nsave-shoplifting
Subscriber only. Different rules it appears.