This is very special – at the Pasifika Festival tomorrow members of Herbs, and friends, will be playing a 20 minute live set of Herbs classics.
This is a special dedication to Dilworth Karaka from two of Herbs' original founders: Toni Fonoti and Spencer...
www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/herbs
Former operator of Marsden Pt refinery is obviously correct:
Two Live Nation Entertainment Inc. executives bragged about the high fees the company charges fans at its venues, joking in internal messages that the company is "robbing them blind" and that "these people are so stupid" that "I almost feel bad taking advantage of them." In a series of chats from 2022, Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold, two regional directors of ticketing for Live Nation amphitheaters, boasted about their ability to raise so-called "ancillary fees" - like parking, lawn chair rentals and VIP access - and still get concertgoers to pay for them. In one exchange, Weinhold gloated about raising VIP parking costs at a Virginia concert venue to $250. "These people are so stupid. I almost feel bad taking advantage of them," Baker wrote, adding later, "I gouge them on ancil prices."
Oh.
@leahnylen.bsky.social
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Lawmakers in Washington State have agreed to tax people who earn over $1 million in the state’s first income tax.
And not what the story itself says. I try so hard to keep supporting professional journalism but fuck many of the protagonists make it harder and harder grrrr
Reading about how we could have fuel rationing in 6 weeks time and thinking about how different the present might be if the 'Green New Deal' that was talked about after the 2008 financial crisis had actually happened
Ways the govt could quickly help New Zealanders reduce fuel usage, but probably won’t 🤷, for reasons:
⚠️ Lower speed limits
🚌 Encourage PT (eg bring back half-priced fares)
🚲 Encourage active modes (eg pop-up bike paths)
🛤️ Move freight from road to rail (eg ramp up KiwiRail)
🏡 Support work-from-home
“A city’s creativity doesn’t depend on cars. That’s the 20th century. We’re in the 21st.”— Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
No matter what happens in the Paris election in 4 days, the world’s cities owe @annehidalgo.bsky.social a huge debt of gratitude.
The boldest, most inspiring mayor I’ve seen.
Aw, c’mon guys, what’s not to like?
🧵#nzpol
AI for the buzzkill
Fantastic that every major site has coverage of the Covid-19 Royal Commission findings yet do not mention the very real, very current wave of Covid and ponder out loud that we all might want to get boosted against an ongoing, live threat that we are currently inadequately responding to, how good.
It is THE fundamental problem. To survive and prosper we must make billionaires history. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I don't expect much from Peters and Seymour, but to see Simeon and Luxon blatantly politicising the 2nd Covid report is disgraceful.
Dr Ayesha Verrall is right, they are desperate.
#NZPol
The BIG problem is because of massive car manufacturing influence, most media and political energy is going to EVs, with not NEARLY enough going to fewer cars and less driving. But the priority HAS to be the latter, since it’s the part of the solution that will actually do much more public good.
So 2 Covid-19 Royal Commissions now find Labour did an excellent job & led NZ to one of the best outcomes globally. The report also vindicates the economics. If $30 billion was spent on schools, infrastructure etc that's amazing and supportive.
National are borrowing $120 billion w/o a pandemic
IMO, Phase 2 report skims over what The Disinformation Project documented as a more strategic, sustained shift towards extremist ideologies, & intentional radicalisation during Covid-19. In a quick reading, the official review overlooks the systemic complexity of NZ's media/information ecologies.
The Phase 2 report's out www.covid19lessons.royalcommission.nz/reports-less... Inter alia, it flags how mis/disinfo significantly impacted NZ's pandemic response. Both undermined efficacy of vaxx campaign and implementation of lockdowns, contributing to a measurable decline in public trust. #nzpol
There is no context where that is not both fucking hilarious and utterly tragic
Figurines of Brady Bunch and Partridge Family fighting each other
I have created a diorama of the Partridge family attacking the Brady Bunch family. My life is very boring.
Every country that has built out their solar energy / wind energy infrastructure is saying "let's keep this up." Every one that didn't is saying, "why didn't we do that?"
Submitters’ primary concerns about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines can be categorised as follows. ° mRNA vaccines (which use messenger RNA to instruct the body’s cells to produce a viral protein that evokes an immune response in the person receiving them) alter DNA or modify genes, causing cancer and other harmful conditions. ° The manufacturing process for Comirnaty was changed which affected its safety. ° The Comirnaty vaccine was still ‘experimental’ at the time of approval and had not been properly tested. ° The Comirnaty vaccine produced harmful side effects which authorities have not acted on appropriately. ° The long-term effects of the Comirnaty vaccine remain uncertain. 1383 We have carefully considered these issues, drawing on advice and evidence from a range of experts and sources, including studies provided to us by submitters, research published in leading scientific journals and conclusions from international regulatory authorities and the COVID-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board. This review makes clear that the concerns raised are not grounded in reliable evidence or aligned with scientific consensus. While we acknowledge the sincerity of those who brought these concerns to us, ultimately our conclusions reflect the most robust and widely accepted scientific evidence available.
Prepare for meltdowns from any VFF or similar people in your life. I think they genuinely convinced themselves the phase 2 report was going to prove them right.
Reader, it did not.
Simeon bad at job and blames others
'Young idea-less boy, blames people from years ago for saving many lives, in attempt to distract from this governments economic austerity incompetence'.
#nzpol
The Covid-19 Royal Commission's second report has been published, I've read (almost) all of it and here are the key takeaways:
newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/10/l...
The report recommended using public-private partnerships to improve efficiency, lower costs and expand timely access etc..😂😂😂
Because everywhere we look, privatised essential services deliver so much value 😂 - yeah, nah. Just invest in things that matter to us all you numpties.
If only this moron hadn't driven off the companies wanting to invest in Taranaki offshore wind arms...
If only this moron hadn't actively obstructed plans for govt-subsidised commercial and domestic solar production...
🦠 COVID-19
@helenp-h.bsky.social, speaking to RNZ:
"What many people don't realise is that getting Covid repeatedly is not like building immunity, it's more like accumulating damage," she says.
"Each infection raises your risk of long Covid and serious complications."
If you needed more reasons to ditch Spotify…
Interesting to think that Donald Trump may have, completely inadvertently and at a horrific cost, finally woken up the world to how urgent it is we get off our dangerous addiction to fossil fuels.
It’s frustrating seeing this barbarism knowing what we could be.
All these scientific and technological breakthroughs that could elevate humanity, and we’re busy murdering each other.
The world's progress is being held hostage by the giant fragile egos of small depraved men.
