An interesting discussion is taking place in South Taranaki regarding the development of utility scale solar generation facilities. Basing their arguments on the historical remuneration agreements for oil developments that were shortsighted and biased towards the fossil fuel companies seems to be an inappropriate model to base solar developments on.

I can sympathise with the claims that bushland and wetlands will be affected by these projects but the loss of dairying income has to be put alongside the potential income stream and downstream development opportunities that a significant electricity source presents.

A background factor that isn't mentioned in this report is that the relatively uniformity of topography of South Taranaki's volcanic ring plain lends itself well to development of such projects and whereas dairying capitalises on the fertility of the volcanic soils these projects do so with the benign topography, and without the often criticised environmental impacts of intensive dairy farming. Obviously the STDC members will have strong connections within the dairy industry so this will influence their opinions on any competing activities on their patch.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/climate-change/3...re-profits

What do you call this type of plug? 

and, where can I buy it in Auckland?

   

Which means that 11 thousand people will be without a supermarket. This smacks of 'we can't make enough money here,so we're leaving & to hell with these people, they're too poor'


https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/01/19/flaxm...ext-month/



https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zeala...arket.html


As a result, a petition has been started.


https://www.change.org/p/prevent-the-clo...kAFIPuYL-o

They seem to be trying to back away from it to some extent in only supporting it to the first reading.


https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/507...-bill-memo


"The government has confirmed a document about the government's proposed Treaty Principles bill is a leaked draft memo from the Ministry of Justice.

Te P─üti M─üori's co-leader Rawiri Waititi posted a screenshot of the leaked document on social media on Friday, saying it showed the government's "intentions to erase Te Tiriti o Waitangi".

The screenshot showed commentary from the report's author saying they expected the Bill would be "highly contentious".

He can't seem to exercise much in the way of self control.



https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/5070...tion-order

A family member used to make a delicious chutney we all used to call her Intense pickle ┬á- it was a recipe she claimed was named after a British colonel from India - have searched the net and canÔÇÖt find anything linked to the colonies - it was a dark pickle - spicy - definitely sultanas and apples - wasnÔÇÖt burn you mouth hot just delicious .Unfortunately she is not a recipe sharer

Could be a good thing if it snowballs, might be enough to lead to Putins collapse.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/35014912...s-not-ceos

She doesn't expect much in the way of inspiration from this bunch of wasters.

That can't be good, bugger...


https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/01/16/houth...-of-yemen/

Houthi rebels have fired at a US owned ship off the coast of Yemen, causing limited damage, & no one was injured.

Which sounds terrible until you find out that the original email came from someone from the 'sovereign citizens' group..




https://thelawassociation.nz/extremism-s...veillance/


"Some believe they are bound by statutes only if they consent to them. They engage in obfuscatory tactics in court, making bizarre arguments based on what could only be described as pseudo law
Sociologist Paul Spoonley tells us that some of the messages coming through at the Parliament occupation reflected a growth of extremism that has been developing for some years (The Conversation republished in LawNews 11 March 2022).

One of the subsets of right-wing extremism that Spoonley describes is that of the ÔÇÿsovereign citizenÔÇÖ ÔÇô a phenomenon not unknown to those of us who have worked in the courts.
ÔÇÿSovereign citizensÔÇÖ have been appearing before the courts and advancing their ÔÇÿinterestingÔÇÖ arguments for the past 15 or so years. Spoonley suggests the sovereign citizen phenomenon has been influenced by American politics but once again he is vague as to how.


Sovereign citizens ÔÇô or, as they are referred to in the UK and Canada, freemen-of-the-land or FOTL ÔÇô share common attitudes to established law. Some believe they are bound by statutes only if they consent to them.

They engage in obfuscatory tactics in court, making bizarre arguments based on what could only be described as pseudo law. Most sovereign citizens are not violent but may be verbally aggressive and many will use pseudo-legal tactics merely as attempts to ignore certain rules, to get out of debt or to avoid such things as paying licence fees and traffic tickets."







https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3010399...f-yourself


"Salt said he believed the email, sent on July 10, 2023, came from a person associated with Sovereign Citizens, a growing group across Aotearoa that sociologist Paul Spoonley said posed a threat in its right wing extreme views that elected governments do not have legitimate authority.
Stuff reported in 2023 that all councils had been experiencing an increase in aggressive behaviour from the group.