Open Mike 22/09/25
Open Mike 22/09/25
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6:00 am, September 22nd, 2025 - 40 comments
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Today's Posts (updated through the day):
NZ just…. lagging. Is it because of….NACT1's zionist supporters ? Even Keir Starmer calls enough….
Enough.
Where America goes, we go. Where America stands, we stand.
Adaptation of M J Savage quote.
Blindly following the country that has fostered many conflicts in other countries isnt smart diplomacy its sycophancy.
Pathetic… scandalous. Luxon could have put his foot down on the Palestine state issue and dared Seymour to bring the government down, which he wouldn't have.
Instead presumably Seymour has just put his lead on and is taking him for walkies around the parliament grounds.
Ah yes that coalition agreement that took weeks over that they're trying to spin as being part of the election result process.
The leads never off luxon with both Peters and Seymour yanking it whenever they choose to.
I found this a useful commentary on the effect of state recognition:
What will recognizing Palestine as a state actually achieve? – DW – 09/21/2025
In this link is a pretty stark map showing which countries already have made this state recognition. Clue: we don't look so good.
In reality, it's easy to justify, on the basis there is no such state. No borders, no governing body or credible candidate to form one, no distinct ethnicity, culture or language. The people claiming they must have a state were quite happy to be Egyptians or Jordanians only 60 years ago.
Worse, one of the contenders to rule the alleged state is a genocidally murderous terrorist group. As an example of why NZ govt is sensible not to participate in this empty virtue-signaling, Hamas has congratulated the governments that did participate and one of its leaders has already called it "the fruits of October 7." It's better that Winston Peters isn't offering them any fruit, thanks.
Sheesh on those measures I'd shudder to think whether New Zealand would have been invented as a state in 1840.
The conditions placed on Israel for its membership in the UN have yet to be met.
Those conditions can't be met by Israel alone, so they're effectively pending until it has a willing partner to enable them to be met.
Well, that was fairly predictable. And it is your opinion.
Anyway, I have a small question for you. What do you see, when Israeli bombers are blowing up buildings that have Women and Kids inside?
"Have you stopped beating your wife?" isn't a small question!
But to answer a question, what I see in Gaza is a necessary war being fought against far-right religious extremists. Wars are expensive and unpleasant, so if anyone's aware of a non-military means of dismantling and disarming Hamas, it's a safe bet the Israeli government will be interested to hear from them.
It was no trick question. I'm too honest for that. I just actually wondered what you saw. Sadly, you answered predictably. I'll keep that in mind.
Here's a little light on the horizon.
A day of solidarity (28th October) between the Council of Trade Unions and The Iwi Chairs Forum. Quite what this will look like I'm not sure.
I do like the observation that if one day's pay can't provide; 3 square meals, 24 hours rent and utilities, a fraction of a clothing allowance, savings for when we can't work then why are we working.
Hat tip teaboot.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2025/09/21/nz-unions-finally-fighting-back-against-a-far-right-anti-worker-government/
Unless you want people working 7 days a week 365 days a year you may want to multiply that by 1.48 (weekends and holidays) . My apologies for being picky – my bad day = my bad mood
Hey, all good.
Further proof that if success is to be achieved you need folk operating from the heart and folk operating from the head.
Hopefully yr mood has improved. Here is 3 minutes of the wonder of nature just in case it hasn't.
Attenborough and BBC from 16 years ago so highly unlikely to be AI
Scoop has a press release discussing the high rate of crashes caused by tourists who fly in to NZ and straight away get behind the wheel of a car while fatigued: https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK2509/S00721/speeding-tourists-unrestrained-toddlers-the-chaos-one-highway-cop-faces-daily.htm
I recall hiring a car in Queenstown late last century and noticing a small sticker, just below the speedometer, about the size of a postage stamp. It had a horizontal arrow on it pointing to the left.
This faded little note was the hire company's reminder to foreigners that we drive on the left.
Definitely a thing – and I wasn't even a tourist. Luckily no real harm done, just damage to my car – and pride. Won't be doing that again.
If any older people can recall driving from Auckland past Huntly and seeing the long lines of coal buckets ferrying local coal to the old Meremere power station, well, we're starting something very similar again. This time the majority state-owned company Genesis is buying Huntly coal for its Huntly power station:
Genesis turns to NZ coal as Huntly demand heats up | The Post
They're starting with 120,000 tonnes a year.
It's great that some companies are going for larger-scale solar in some places here. Excellent. But don't ever think that something like Solar Zero with state backing is going to come back:
Behind SolarZero's collapse | RNZ News
Even if you could convince Treasury and MBIE to forget that SolarZero collapse, it would also take quite a chunk of time and belief from a fresh board to build up a new version of the dead Green Investment Finance fund:
Government to wind down Green Investment Finance | Beehive.govt.nz
Sustainability in energy production isn't a safe bet even with state majority control of a generator, whether it's a large one or a small one.
I worked at Meremere.
I do remember the buckets (Are they moving? I think they're moving!), and counting how many chimneys were belching smoke. Good times – we don't know how lucky we were.
I remember the buckets well – we visited family friends at Te Kauwhata fairly frequently, and the road ran below them. Dad would stop the car and we'd forage for lumps of dropped coal for the fire at home. Not a lot of spare money, and every little helped….
My dad worked there back in the day. Every Xmas they'd have "Meremere Christmas" on the building.
Well until the cow-cockies get their enormous Fonterra fire-sale payout mid 2026, ain't no-one but no-one with a free-floating $50k to go invest in some company somewhere.
NZ investor confidence is at the lowest point since COVID:
NZ investor confidence drops to Covid lows – NZ Herald
Speaking of which, I've been thinking about this fonterra deal.
The brands have been sold for $3b and that's a one-off payment.
But the sum is so large it must have an impact on the net wealth of nz inc, for future years. It might help farmers pay down debt but it's hardly helping the economy to grow.
Even though fonterra is private it’s so big as to be in the government sphere of interest and influence.
How will the government factor the sale into it's growth model, from years 2 onward?
I suggested last week that we were at a watershed moment in the US and the UK.
200,000 to 300,000 people turn up for Charlie Kirk's memorial service and millions watch on TV. Reports suggesting many, many young people attending.
Huey Long a man considered by many as a Fascist demagogue who was assassinated in 1935 reportedly had 200,000 at his funeral. Considering the US population in 1935 the number of Charlie Kirk funeral attendees is well, small.
Nowhere near as big as the Black Lives Matter or even the Me Too movements yet.
Granted Trump hasn't hit the trough of a GWBush and Trump has a deeper and stronger Republican-crossover base …
Trump Approval Rating: Latest Polls | Silver Bulletin
… but my view is Trump MAGA has massively overreached and it's the performance of the economy that will determine the fate of the Republicans not the fate of one minor unelected celebrity.
I believe Trump has overreached with starting this kind of nonsense:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/15/trump-strike-venezuela-drug-cartel-vessel
The late Frederick Forsyth postulated a fictional scenario very like this in his 2010 novel The Cobra. It doesn't end well for anyone.
Not too bad for a venue that can hold 63K people but hey, imagine the turn-out had 300 million septics not been killed by drugs last year!
This on the turntable reminding me of how it was 8 years ago and how much worse it is now. I'll be interested how much republicans of more moderate inkling hold their breath and vote Democrat to purge themselves of these zealots.
Sadly the Democrats like Labour here seem to be devoid of policy and vision.
Limiting smartphone use in schools seems a good idea, but I'm not a user, or a student.
Blame smartphone use, not the food?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/green-party-chief-of-staff-resigns-citing-health-wellbeing-and-whanau/WBTG4W4ZW5HW5HYQZRKTAAY6EI/
Jeez why would anyone rely on this bunch of hopeless flakes in a bar fight, political, metaphorical or actual? They've got all the staying power of a handful of organic straw thrust into a furnace.
Jeez do you know anything about the persons health,well being, whanau? Maybe just fill your boots at the bar, and stick with ol' granny herald …..
And hey presto, they immediately segue into a survey – yet again! – of all previous resignations, expulsions, etc. Every blessed time.
It's warranted.
Add them to that 30% turnover list it's just another reason to stick with a stable centre left party.
Meanwhile, in the real world, the Greens have put forward a costed, and vetted by real economists, proposal for investing in the economic, environmental and social future of NZ. Something sorely needed.
Unlike National whose "plan" seems to be to destroy everything they touch, if they cannot flog it off to their cronies first, Labour who is yet to have a plan, but seems to support a slight relaxation of Neo-liberalism, Peters, who will pander to any bunch of loonies that get them over the threshold, (principles be dammed) and Seymour, who thinks Ayn Rand was a prophet!
Exactly KJT. The Greens continue to poll over 10%.
Their key and impressive leadership cabal remains intact. Also intact are their genuinely left wing and pro environment policies
The Greens are certain to be needed by Labour to form a government in 2026, and they will drag Hipkins' highly conservative proclivities to the Left.