If you're not in the U.S., what's up in your part of the world? Showing 2,051-2,100 of 3,266

[Ian]

It is too long a drive for me to be bothered with Costco so I shall have to put aside cheap beer. Mind you, I tend to drink craft beer from small breweries anyway

[J.]

How long was the shortest term served by a Prime Minister of Great Britain?
https://youtu.be/5Xf4UJlVg_0

[J.]

Hong Kong protester dragged into Manchester Chinese consulate grounds and beaten up
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-63280519

[J.]

Well, that was quick.

Liz Truss quits after six chaotic weeks as UK prime minister
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-p...

[Ian]

J. wrote: "Well, that was quick.

Liz Truss quits after six chaotic weeks as UK prime minister
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-p..."

It is apparently a record, although not one I suspect she wants. There is also the problem of finding a replacement - they say they will do that in a week, which is also rather quick.

[J.]

Somewhere in Langley, a CIA division head is asking a room fool of shrugging spooks who did it.

[Nik]

Not bad:
https://www.timeout.com/london/news/e...

[Nik]

J. wrote: "Somewhere in Langley, a CIA division head is asking a room fool of shrugging spooks who did it."

You are right nothing can happen without US meddling. And if Burns visited London in the last few years .....

[J.]

Hu Jintao escorted out of China party congress
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/f...

[J.]

The single best choice which King Charles III could possibly make:
https://twitter.com/Number10cat/statu...

[Ian]

J. wrote: "The single best choice which King Charles III could possibly make:
https://twitter.com/Number10cat/statu..."

At least Larry has shown the ability to stick around :-)

[Scout]

"The New Zealand government intends to tax its farmers for the farts and burps that their cows generate, potentially in one of the first such initiatives in the world. The new climate change proposal from the government aims to address the rising greenhouse gas emissions coming from the nation's agricultural industry.Oct 12, 2022"

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/tax-o....

[Ian]

Scout wrote: ""The New Zealand government intends to tax its farmers for the farts and burps that their cows generate, potentially in one of the first such initiatives in the world. The new climate change propos..."

This is Ardern and the Greens going crazy. My guess is that there is an election next year, and Ardern does not have many MPs from rural areas, but she overlooks that she will need a coalition partner because there is a lot of grumpiness around. I think she will lose, and that particular tax will be gone. Since in her last election she promised no new taxes (and hasn't exactly kept that promise) she is leaving that tax until 2024, I think, so it probably won't happen.

[J.J.]

Must have thought it was a good idea after watching Dutch farmers shut down their country when they were similarly targeted as part of their country's climate agenda.

https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/news...

[Scout]

A perfect example of progressives having no common sense.

[J.]

What's going on with this?

Netanyahu on brink of comeback as Israeli exit polls point to narrow majority for ex-PM
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/01/middle...

[Nik]

Nothing good, if you ask me, but many others might be happy. His party remained with a similar amount of votes, but his prospective religious partners gained more seats and he'd be able to form a right wing - religious coalition.

[Papaphilly]

Nik wrote: "Nothing good, if you ask me, but many others might be happy. His party remained with a similar amount of votes, but his prospective religious partners gained more seats and he'd be able to form a r..."

How does he have so many lives?

[Nik]

Papaphilly wrote: "...How does he have so many lives?..."

He has a constant pool of admirers that deem him a king. No matter what charges are being now tried in the court, they'd come and vote for him. Plus, extreme right under his guidance gained a lot of votes on account of the left leaning parties, some of which didn't make it through the minimum threshold. A phenomenon of political longevity, not a good one though, as a "young Bibi" seemed much better than an old Bibi, facing multiple corruption charges. A limit on a number of tenures, like in the States or elsewhere, should be more appropriate

[Ian]

On a slightly different matter, our morning news included an item that FIFA has declared the cup in a few weeks will be carbon neutral. An examination of their calculation included the interesting assumption that all visitors would buy a one-way ticket to Qatar. Do they expect everyone to walk home, or do they expect some serious event that removes the need to go home?

[J.J.]

Maybe they think the jet fuel will run out while there?

[Scout]

Just more nonsense from crazy people who somehow have power. Nothing new for us in the U.S. :-)

[J.]

KFC apologises after German Kristallnacht promotion
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe...

To paraphrase: Please remember the Night of Broken Glass by combining meat and dairy. Somebody needs to be fired.

[J.]

Youth who stabbed home intruder jailed for three-and-a-half years
https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/...

If you can't legally defend yourself and your family against a home invasion with ALL available force, then you are a slave in your own country.

[Scout]

I agree, J. That's crazy. But I bet that the guy who broke into Pelosi's house and attacked her husband will be put away for a long while. More Democrat double standards. We're used to it.

[Papaphilly]

J. wrote: "Youth who stabbed home intruder jailed for three-and-a-half years
https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/...

If you c..."

Different countries, different attitudes. even in the U.S., there are differences. For instance in NY state, the bad guy can sue you for being injured on your property even if he is breaking the law. NJ not so much.

[Scout]

Looks like we're back to talking about ourselves :-) What's up in other parts of the world?

[J.]

Scout wrote: "Looks like we're back to talking about ourselves :-) What's up in other parts of the world?"

Qatar has spent over $220 billion on the World Cup and Team Qatar got kicked to the curb by Ecuador in the opening game. 🤦‍♂️

[J.]

I can't tell if this is a comedy act or an actual singer.

Brazilian Trans Deaf Mute Singer
https://youtu.be/C-jt46vslUc

[Papaphilly]

J. wrote: "I can't tell if this is a comedy act or an actual singer.

Brazilian Trans Deaf Mute Singer
https://youtu.be/C-jt46vslUc"

Is it an Onion piece?

[J.]

No Onion or Babylon Bee articles are coming up with my usual search engines.

[Ian]

NZ is probably too obscure for most, but the government has done something unusual with its controversial three-waters legislation (in which it is effectively taking over control of all water, sewage infrastructure without paying anything for it). This was to sneak in, in a late night "urgency" session, to entrench their end position. That started by being a full entrenchment, where no future parliament could undo this without a 75% majority or through a referendum. Since this is usually reserved for constitutional issues, this was considered a but to much but the Greens and Labour adjusted it down to 60%. The protests are because a simple majority late at night with a surprise piece of legislation cannot be undone by future governments, unless said government can get 60% of the seats. What is regarded as bad is that even if we forget "three waters", what is to stop this from happening again on something else? The government is rethinking this, maybe scared that with an election coming up, this might have them in the wilderness.

[J.]

Ian wrote: "NZ is probably too obscure for most, but the government has done something unusual with its controversial three-waters legislation (in which it is effectively taking over control of all water, sewa..."

They're instituting a central planning scheme over water, a commodity without which people die in days...

I hope that you have a well.

[Papaphilly]

USA beat Iran for the knockout round of the World Cup! I will say in all honesty, the Iranians are probably the bravest athletes in this cup. They are facing troubles at home for their non-singing their National Anthem.

[Ian]

J. wrote: "Ian wrote: "NZ is probably too obscure for most, but the government has done something unusual with its controversial three-waters legislation (in which it is effectively taking over control of all..."

Actually, my house has a large tank and i collect rainwater :-)

[J.]

Ian wrote: "Actually, my house has a large tank and i collect rainwater :-)"

Be careful that they don't condemn your cistern as a health hazard.

Out of curiosity, how do you sanitize your potable water? I've seen old school systems that needed chlorine added and I've seen newer systems that hit the water with UV.

[Ian]

I take it as it comes. My ancestors did that, and it keeps the immune system active :-) I crudely filter the rubbish out that might otherwise go in.

[Scout]

Ian, what was the stated purpose of doing this? It sounds diabolical to me.

[Ian]

What? Collecting rainwater to drink? In the past, you either had a well or you did this. The purpose is to get water. My house was built before municipal water was available, and when mains water did turn up, I found the plumbing in our house only worked with low-pressure water, so rather than try to replumb the whole house, which would involve major reconstruction, I left things as they were.

[Nik]

I think Scout was asking about water legislation masterpiece

[Ian]

Oh, sorry, the legislation? The stated purpose is "to better provide water quality and its disposal." In NZ water is provided by local governments and there have been three issues over the past two decades. In one, there was an accidental contamination of a small town's water supply as a consequence of a flood. That was fixed. The second one was Wellington's water infrastructure requires maintenance because it is old, and the city will have to increase rates (local taxes). The problem for the government is that increased local taxes are unpopular, and the city strongly votes for the current government, and of course the government has a lot of taxable property in the capital. The third is that Auckland is poorly situated for water and is going to have to ship some in from the Waikato, where local Maori see this as a way of charging Auckland for it. Again, Aukland city has a lot of voters for the government, but also currently the government has all the Maori seats.

Without going into all the details that are somewhat tedious, the government effectively wants to manage the entire country's water supply and water treatment, It will bring in Maori "co-governance", whatever that means, to boost its Maori votes, and by controlling the whole country it will enable everyone not affected by these troubles to contribute towards the solutions, thus minimizing the costs on selected voting regions. It will also placate the Greens, who are part of government by enabling them to put min some of their favourite "environmantal" aspects.

In a sense, it is effectively nationalizing the country's water infrastructure, but it is not paying for it. It states the cities will still own it; it is just that the cities cannot do anything with it. Central government will effectively decide where new buildings etc can be because they control where things like sewage can be put.

Worse, they want to put in place entrenchment. The opposition have stated if they win the next election they will can this legislation and return things to the status quo. You might think that this would be democracy in action but the government has responded by proposing entrenchment, i.e. to change anything passed by a simple majority now it would take 60% of the vote in Parliament or a referendum. Entrenchment is usually something reserved for constitutional issues.

Their purpose? First, they have shown a strong political will to micromanage everything. During their current tenure, the government bureaucracy has expanded hugely (about 25%, I think). Second, i think they think they need to get their pet projects implemented while they have a simple majority. Although in fairness, why they are doing this is something only they can answer, and they are being somewhat vague. They say overall it will be cheaper, but they always say that before establishing a large bureaucracy that makes everything more expensive.

[Ian]

For what it is worth, the NZ government has backed down on the entrenchment, and has withdrawn the text from the bill, agreeing that it was unconstitutional.

[Scout]

Sorry I wasn't clear, Ian. I was asking about the legislation. Happy to see it failed. Your statement " They say overall it will be cheaper, but they always say that before establishing a large bureaucracy that makes everything more expensive" sounds like what Democrats do here :-)

[Ian]

No worries about the clarity, Scout. I misinterpreted, but no harm.

As for the other point, I think all governments that put up some new agenda do it.

[Ian]

Some of you may recall I pointed out "Big Oil" closed down our refinery and rendered it inoperable, stating it was more economical to provide oil products from the big refineries offshore. Since early this year when they did it, petrol has gone up in price, like most other places, but diesel has doubled in price. So much for efficiency.

The latest news is the coming holiday flights will be restricted, and probably very expensive. The reason: the latest tanker of jet fuel is off-spec. Not sure in which way, but it cannot be used in aircraft, and it cannot be refined further because the refinery no longer works. So much for efficiency. Idoubt people wanting to fly over the holiday period will be very thrilled.

[Nik]

Petition Musk to prioritize a hyperloop 4 u

[Ian]

Would you travel on a hyperloop that went through the feed for a supervolcano?

[Scout]

:-)

[J.]

Ian wrote: "Would you travel on a hyperloop that went through the feed for a supervolcano?"

It depends on what music is playing.

Yes:
https://youtu.be/TvHsN5-YBLI

No:
https://youtu.be/ipqqEFoJPL4

[J.]

From Justin Trudeau's Canuckistan:

'Easier to let go': Terminally ill woman in Canadian euthanasia commercial that 'glorified suicide' previously said she wanted to live but couldn't afford care to improve her quality of life
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...

Yep, public health services thought it was more cost effective to have her kill herself.