The Daily Blog Open Mic – Friday – 28th February 2020

1. In case anyone missed this, Golriz was diagnosed with MS a year or so ago. I already admired her principled stand on several matters, and have considered her a great asset to the Greens. I so much wish her and Guy well, and the necessary strength and courage to continue seeing this through.
   RNZ Link
   ODT link

2. I throw something into the mix just because it is interesting and might have some application that you think of.
   The word ‘feedforward’ –
   A feed forward, sometimes written feedforward, is an element or pathway within a control system that passes a controlling signal from a source in its external environment to a load elsewhere in its external environment. This is often a command signal from an external operator. Wikipedia
   or shorter –
   the modification or control of a process using its anticipated results or effects.
   “feedforward correction capabilities”

   Bio about Marshall McLuhan 1911-1980 who used the word and idea:
   https://www.marshallmcluhan.com/biography/

   And a link giving a short and colourfully clever graphic background to matters in his mind:
   (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCr2binb4Fs

   For mind-expanders, information junkies, guru watchers etc.

   • Ae! Interesting concept and one that’s well understood by some of those ‘second tier’ immigrant individuals we don’t value or welcome AT ALL because they don’t generally meet an income threshold.
     For some of those individuals, they not only don’t meet the income threshold of a facile, exploitative and Eurocentric policy (and one which none of “US” have been consulted on) – all dressed up as “best practice going forward”, but “WE” do our very best to make their lives a misery whilst they’re in this lil ole colony of NuZUll that punches above its weight, and chuck ’em out as soon as we can finf an excuse.
     Not too different from the expendables during the dawn raid era – except that we profess to be so much more sophisticated now, when in fact the same old prejudices and colonial attitudes exist just has they always have.
     It’s probably something both @ SaveNZ (who, AGAIN! I generally agree with), and Michelle should consider.
     (I’m not sure they’ve come to realise who their best allies are)

     One of my comments the other day seems to have disappeared up its own arse, but I suspect it was down to me rather than anything sinister given this past week (Maxim Institute’s revelations which quite a few have been saying for at LEAST the past 5 years; Bernard Hickey this morning;), as well as the recent Parker/Winnie jaunt resulting in a realisation for the need for quite a few talk fests before anything substantive will result in their noble ? quest, I just have to watch with amusement – not much else to be done, other than to commit to a change in vote after a loiftoim. – which after yesterday, I’m now committed to)
     (Parker and Winnie by the way are bloody lucky they met with the people they did or they’d be lucky to have escaped without a really debilitating case of the Belly – oh the opportunity missed! – but next time maybe).
     They’ll maybe begin to understand that the indigenous are no longer prepared to be colonised but that they have every intention (if necessary) of being the colonisers next time around, as they should.
     In many ways, its great to be older ( and now just of “pension” age , and to sit back and watch, with no less concern for the exploited ).
     30 plus years of corporatisation with confusion over the definitions of value and worth, politicians being completely captured by ‘their’ (actually OUR) officials, and the ways they excuse themselves.
     You could probably write another reality TV show for it (if you could get “funding”)
     If 2020 proves another success for Labour, I wish them the very best of British for their next diplomatic talk fest in the newly invented term “Indo-Pacific” – going forward in this space.
     And in the meantime, I’ll watch as radio frequencies get discussed and valued in terms of their monetary worth and potential, and in anticipation of the next PWC or engineered QC report, and as each and every ‘stakeholder’s ego’ try to prove how exceptionally and utterly superior they are.
     It’s a shame we’re probably just going to have to go through all the stupidity again – but so be it.
     Oh, btw – did you notice an Hawaian Prince is back in town – he’d be the one whose antics some Kiwi home-grown officials equipped with their neo-lib, generic managerialist mindset took a while to realise they were being fleeced.
     It’s all bloody gorgeous darling

     • You are going stream of consciousness there OwT. It sounds interesting – what I got.

       • Actually not so much that @ Grey, but I’ve now seen too many people ripped off, given false hope and promises, strung along and then churned out.
         – If you happen to be a conservationist with skills that are second nature – preservation of the purity of the water table, preservation of wildlife and a number of ecosystems, expert in restoring things that have become well and truly fucked;
         – If you happen to be someone that designs foundations in earthquake-prone areas;
         – If you happen to be an air-force trained avionocs and electronics expert;
         – If you happen to be someone that’s skilled in all aspects (upgrade, design and implementation) of rail networks;
         – etc., etc., etc.
         Then you’re not likely to meet the ever-changing criteria, and even even if you are, you’ll have reached old age before a decision is made.
         I’m afraid the bullshit artists are in control and it now appears that there are a few Ministers in government that aren’t what they professed to be. They’d probably be surprised to learn that one of their ‘mates’ described a couple of them as being ‘imposters’ at a recent protest.
         I’m not so sure about their being imposters as much as their being really shit judges of character with malfunctioning bullshit detectors.

         So its now more a case of vote on principle and let the chips fall where they may. No doubt if my preference for a Labour/Green/perhaps MP coalition in 2020 fails, then there’ll be a heap of “learnings going forward, in this space”
         (Which reminds me – I feel like having a rhubarb pie)

3. China are considering deploying a contingent of 100,000 to Pakistan, to help them fight a particular war:
   bbc world asia china
   The Chinese government announced this week it was sending a team of experts to Pakistan to develop “targeted programmes”

   (hint… it’s all true and quite cute)

   • There was a good link about the locusts that was on the duck one – which incidentally may not be the saviours and may suffer unless they are carefully managed, as the Pakistan area is arid and ducks do like water – that is not rocket science.

     But thinking about rocket science – how much money has been spent on finding the hormone or whatever that causes these locusts to change from solitary insects to rampaging hordes? It isn’t a new problem – it is mentioned in the Bible. FGS says he/she surveying the planet, do you expect me to do everything for you, you useless creations. I gave you the brains and the limbs and the will, all you have to do is follow my advice which is to love each other as I have loved you, But sorry, you have more fun things to do.

     So what are they doing – spraying pesticides – BAU. The stupidity and greed of the powers that be is just stupendous. And the complacency of the people below, us ordinary not very wealthy isn’t much better. The Lord looks after those that look after themselves, say the rich helping themselves. And if we Joes on the street were looking harder on our own behalf instead of thinking its SEP, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in. Simple democracy doesn’t meet the needs of our time and need to control the rapacious chemical and technological age, that worships machines and instead of pronouncing its religious message in Latin, uses machine language and code. We hardly have time to get out of our trough, but we think we can relax now – we are sorting our recyclables and stopped single-use plastic bags. Anything goes wrong – let’s blame the top politician for things that he/she can only attempt to control. I have just been reading about the 1986? assassination of the Swedish Prime Minister. The recalcitrant can rise anywhere; they still don’t know who did it and the way the detection procedures went is another story.

4. First case of coronavirus Covid19? in NZ. Was visiting Iran, permanent resident in NZ 60 years. Family responsible and called healthline. Is in Auckland hospital in a negative pressure treatment room.
   https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/first-case-coronavirus-confirmed-in-new-zealand?auto=6136737117001

   • Yippee, we are still part of the club.

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