@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz

Free human being of this Earth. Be excellent to each other! All my posts here are CC BY-SA 4.0 (or later).
#Vegan #Permaculture #Transition #PeerProduction #FreeCode #CreativeCommons #SciFi #Comedy #Juggling

Timezone: UTC+12

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strypey, to random
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

"[Nicola] Willis says she's not an austerity minister, but cutting taxes, holding down wages and slashing government spending are austerity measures. There is no evidence they will reduce the wage gap: Australia is doing the reverse, which is why people are going there.

Britain, meanwhile, has spent 14 years doing very much what Willis has introduced. The result: Gross National Income per capita is on track to be eclipsed by Poland within about 10 years."

, , May 30, 2024

strypey, to random
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Seems Biden is stuck between Iraq and a hard place. While some are calling him "genocide joe" for his handling of the campus occupations...

"I Morton Klein, as an American Jew, as a child of Holocaust survivors, have become frightened at the Biden-Lipstadt administration legitimizing antisemitism and Israel-bashing and making it extremely difficult for Jewish groups to fight [the BDS movement] on campus as antisemitic and antisemitic members of Congress as antisemites."

https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/06/01/biden-touts-cair-splc-antisemitism-push-muddies-waters-israel-hours-major-jewish-holiday/

strypey, to random
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Wrather (n.): Revenge of the climate.

strypey, to random
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

In hindsight, it's hard to believe that our teachers had us singing Suicide Is Painless at primary school...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Is_Painless

strypey, (edited ) to UKpolitics
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Ok, UK Labour have got my attention;

"Sir Keir Starmer has announced plans to create a publicly owned renewable energy company if Labour wins the next general election."

"He... plans to make the UK the first major economy to generate all of its electricity without fossil fuels.

He says this can be achieved by 2030 - five years earlier than being planned by the government."

, 2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63046067

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

... but ultimately they're still pushing timid, neoliberal solutions;

"Great British Energy would be set up with public money but would be independently operated and any profits would be reinvested, Labour sources say.

It would be able to build new wind, wave and solar projects - but also invest in privately-owned renewable schemes."

, 2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63046067

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

"Sir Keir has resisted calls from trade unions and many on the left of his party to nationalise the energy industry to help keep soaring bills down, arguing instead for an extension of the windfall tax on their profits."

, 2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63046067

We're going to have to work hard to get a public consensus in favour of forcing investors to sell infrastructure into public ownership (back into it in many cases). But having a windfall tax, let alone extending it, is a good start.

strypey, (edited ) to random
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Winston First have been spreading a story that the poor state of our roads was caused by a change to importing road bitumen, instead of producing it locally at Marsden Point. All because of the last Labour government and those bloody greenies;

https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/02/08/nz-firsts-doomed-deal-to-reopen-marsden-point-refinery/

A few points on that.

(1/?)

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Firstly, it seems that at least some of the bitumen used on roads in Aotearoa has always been imported;

"Waka Kotahi launched the bitumen supply chain review when it was announced by Refining NZ that it would cease onshore production of bitumen at Marsden Point Refinery in 2021. Before this, bitumen was sourced from both local and international sources."

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/media-releases/review-finds-bitumen-supply-chain-operating-effectively/

(2/?)

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Finally, on a historical note, Marsden Point Refinery...

"... is a tax-payer funded legacy from the 1960s that was... expanded again on a much bigger scale under Robert Muldoon’s Think Big projects in the 1980s, following global fuel security scares in the late 1970s... [under] the Fourth Labour Government... and the refinery assets were transferred to the New Zealand Refining Company, a consortium of the five major petrol retailers."

, 2020

https://contractormag.co.nz/contractor/marsden-point-bitumen/

(4/?)

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Also, it seems that Refining NZ ended local production of bitumen because they couldn't compete on price with imports, not because of environmentalists trying to shut down fossil fuel infrastructure;

"The refinery’s revenues had been declining and would continue to do so, he warned, unless they agreed to transition to an import terminal."

, 2021

https://newsroom.co.nz/2021/08/06/marsden-point-refinery-closure-to-save-100mt-co2/

(3/?)

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

So in summary, using imported bitumen for roads in Aotearoa is not a new thing, so chances are it wasn't the cause of the pothole crisis. Local production shut down because that was more profitable, for the cartel of transnational oil companies who control it. They control it due to a neoliberal government's decision, in the late 1980s, to hand ownership of the only oil refinery in the country - a natural monopoly paid for by the public - to a consortium of transnational oil companies.

(5/?)

strypey, (edited )
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Chances are, the pothole crisis was the result of the over-use of roads for moving heavy freight (instead of rail or coastal shipping), combined with the Key government robbing from the road maintenance budget to fund its Roads of Dubious Significance. Something the the subsequent Labour government either didn't notice, or didn't fix. If Winston First want to beat up on Labour, why not pick on that, instead of inventing a story from whole cloth?

(6/6)

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Oh and PS;

"The Fuel Industry (Improving Fuel Resilience) Amendment Bill, which was designed and passed by the Labour government in August last year, increased the level of onshore fuel stocks required to be held by fuel importers and wholesalers."

, 2024

https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/02/08/nz-firsts-doomed-deal-to-reopen-marsden-point-refinery/

Seems from the Waka Kotahi link posted upthread that plenty of thought was also given to securing sufficient supplies of road-quality bitumin.

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Oh and PPS;

“It’s not lost on me that there are inordinately large competing demands on our infrastructure spend, but there are other ways to boost resilience, not the least of which is getting the oil companies working with Channel to increase onshore holding capacity.”

, 2024

https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/02/08/nz-firsts-doomed-deal-to-reopen-marsden-point-refinery/

Another way to boost resilience is to reduce the fossil fuel dependence of our transport infrastructure as quickly as possible. Which the new govt is doing nothing much about.

strypey, to random
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Ben Vidgen's interview with Victor Billot on Apr 28 2024 is well worth a listen;

https://freshfm.net/Programmes/Details.aspx?PID=0af79e36-2e64-4b8b-af89-51624099d324

When Ben played the Interislander jingle by The Warratahs as an interlude;

"What a way to start a holiday!
Sailing to the other side.
Cruising on the InterIslander"

... it reminded me of the way our passenger rail and ferry services have been rebranded and repriced as tourist cruises, rather than domestic transport services.

(1/?)

strypey, to random
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Everythong (n.): Multi-purpose underwear.

strypey, to random
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

"The Invidious docker image is only available on Quay because, unlike Docker Hub, Quay is Free and Open Source Software."

https://docs.invidious.io/installation/

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

@lightweight
> It's possible to use a self-hosted Gitlab (or, I think, Forgejo) as a Docker image host

Sounds like this is something you have yet to experiment with? Do you use Docker in your hosting setup? If so, where do you currently store images?

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

@lightweight
> I'm (at last count) hosting at least 91 Docker-based services. Will do a trial eventually, though, as I'm not overly happy with the way the Docker folks do stuff.

If you were starting from scratch today, would you use Docker?

Gracchus, to Israel
@Gracchus@aus.social avatar

I’m done. Call it antisemitism or whatever else you can think to label what I am about to say; but FUCK ISRAEL and FUCK any Jews that continue to support this slaughter. Enough is enough.
That goes likewise for any leaders of the free west that don’t have the balls to condemn this and stop all assistance and support to this country.

#israel #IsraelWarCrimes #ArrestNetanyahu
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/27/global-shock-after-israeli-airstrike-kills-dozens-in-rafah-tent-camp?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Good for you @Gracchus. The antisemitism smear against people who speak up Palestinian human rights only works when we're in the minority, and most of the political class obediently join the dogpiles and repeat the lies. With what's happening on college campuses in the US, the worm has clearly turned on this one.

strypey, (edited ) to Podcasts
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Despite decades of rumours of a reboot of the cult classic BBC TV series Blake's 7, I don't think it will ever happen. Listening to a podcast called Star Fall;

https://kitchendavid.podbean.com/

... reminds me of why. All the things that made B7 great entertainment are the most difficult to replicate.

(1/?)

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

@bigblen
> Thanks for this link

You're welcome : )
> I started rewatching B7 on youtube a while back, this reminds me I must complete it...

I imagine the podcast makes a great accompaniment to a rewatch. Maybe I need to get hold of a copy and do that. Also, I wonder if there are fan edits?

strypey, to random
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

@AccordionBruce
> North America is so damn big

Bigger than China, where you can get almost anywhere by train, many of them by electric fast train or sleeper train?

@Br3nda @tbaldauf

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

End note; again, thanks to @sj_zero for laying out your arguments with so much detail. I'm finding this discussion both fascinating and insightful.

Note to @fgraver @AccordionBruce and @tbaldauf, if any of you are not enjoying our exchange, and want to be untagged, please just sing out.

strypey, to random
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

"Ocean Flyer, a business founded by former banker and Air Napier owner Shah Aslam​ and former New Zealand Air Force chief John Hamilton​, is among the earliest customers.

They have a $700m order for 25 seagliders that they plan to operate along New Zealand’s coast for about $30 to $60 one-way. Regent has about NZ$10 billion in orders from around the world."

#MelanieCarroll, 2022

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/129601892/ocean-flyer-promises-a-transport-revolution-but-perception-issues-remain

Sounds promising. Updates?

#seagliders #OceanFlyer #AirNapier #ShahAslam #JohnHamilton​

strypey, (edited )
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Me:
> Sounds promising. Updates?

Here's a 28 May episode of the NZ Tech podcast looking at the potential of electric seagliders;

https://nz-tech-podcast.captivate.fm/episode/will-500km-h-e-seagliders-displace-ferries-and-planes

#podcasts #NZTech #seagliders

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

I'm even more sceptical after my recent debate about the viability of fast trains in North America;

https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/112505060101162941

I do still think there's a place for fast trains in Aotearoa on the flatter parts of the country, eg between Tamaki Makaurau and Kirikiriroa, and between Ōtepoti and Ōtautahi. But given that most of our major population centres are on the coast, electric seagliders could be a better option than fast trains for most of our fast travel needs.

(2/2)

strypey,
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

I'm a big fan of electric fast trains, even more since I experienced an 8 hour journey from Hong Kong to Shanghai by electric train. That's about the distance from Ōtepoti to Tamaki Makaurau. I love the idea of Aotearoa in 2050 having an electric train that goes between them in under 10 hours, with a tunnel under Te Moana o Raukawa (Cook Strait). But I've always wondered about the viability of making railways safe for fast trains in a mountainous, geologically active country like ours.

(1/?)

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