Posts by Alfie
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For those who haven't read it yet, the venerable Russell Brown has penned an excellent piece for the Herald comparing Zoomy to Uber.
I was interested to read the comment from Ben that the Uber driver who crashed into parked cars is up for $27k in damages. Surely that information must raise alarm bells with the thousands of other illegal Uber drivers operating in NZ?
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Is this New Zealand's first serious Uber crash? Whacking into a parked car is not a good look. Was the Uber driver involved fully licensed? Did the Uber vehicle have a COF?
Given Uber's well-publicised disregard for NZ law, you might expect the Herald journo to have asked those questions.
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Displaying what's becoming a familiar arrogance, Uber says it will ignore the California DMV's demand that they seek an autonomous vehicle testing permit for their self-driving cars.
While Simon Bridges proved to be a naive walkover for Uber, I'm not sure the San Fran authorities will feel so well-disposed towards a company which actively chooses to break the law.
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Felix Geiringer has confirmed that Nicky Hager’s daughter has received a confidential settlement from the Police over the now disgraced Dirty Politics raid.
Police also seized and cloned her phone and laptop just two weeks before her end-of-year university papers were due. They kept the laptop for more than four months, Geiringer said.
What nice people. However there’s no mention of any heads rolling at Police HQ.
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Speaker: Confessions of an Uber Driver…, in reply to goforit,
By my calulations even without allowing for the time factor and converting miles to kilometers look like the rate per km is approx 50c.
Then according to the IRD's Mileage rate for self-employed people they're losing 22c for every km they drive.
The mileage rate for motor vehicles is 72 cents per kilometre.
They used to have a sliding scale relating to the engine size of a vehicle but that seems to have been standardised by the IRD at some point. The AA calculates the rate at up to $1.07 per km.
When my Dad drove a taxi back in the 50s and 60s, he used to split the income into thirds. One third for the driver, one for the owner and a third to the car. In theory that was enough to cover all running costs and repairs and to put aside enough money to buy a replacement vehicle every three years.
It strikes me that a lot of people who drive for Uber are quite naive when it comes to considering depreciation and eventual vehicle replacement. And Uber take advantage of that.
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Naked Capitalism is running a series of five stories delving into “Uber’s Ponzi-scheme economics”. Hopefully they may contain some interesting data for Ben and others researching Uber’s practices.
Link: via BoingBoing
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For anyone who wondered why the term Alt-Right has become an acceptable euphemism for Nazi, I recommend Pete Reynolds' essay, Why I Am Changing the Name of Our Puppy-Burning Movement to “Alt-Warmth”.
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Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to Hilary Stace,
And if you really want to throw up in your cornflakes, have a listen to Collins squirming out of her murky past. She maintains she’s as pure as the driven snow and that Nicky Hager lied about her. Uh huh.
I found myself wishing that Kim Hill was conducting that interview.
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While most of our MSM are off chasing clickbait, RNZ still provides a glimmer of light at the end of an increasingly long and dark tunnel. My apologies if someone has posted this in another thread but I can’t find it anywhere.
I’m referring to RNZ’s excellent work in exposing the widespread abuse of minors in State care between the 1950s and 1980s and this government’s attempts to either cover-up the scandal or at least to make it disappear as cheaply as possible. And damn the victims.
Former Youth Court judge Carolyn Henwood (Dai’s mum) chaired the Confidential Listening and Assistance (CLAS) panel which spoke to more than 1100 victims who had been abused in state care, under the less than watchful eye of the Department of Social Welfare. Her detailed report which recommended an independent enquiry has effectively been shelved by the government.
RNZ’s coverage began Wednesday morning with Kim Hill’s superb interview with Minister for Social Development Anne Tolley which began at 7:28am as a brief discussion before the 7:30am news. The Morning Report producers in their wisdom allowed the interview to run for a full 16 minutes, with Tolley finding herself increasingly out of her depth. Here’s one memorable exchange.
Tolley: “Some of the claimants that have actually made claims and had claims settled have said that in some cases they experienced very good care.”
Hill: “You mean, when they weren’t being raped or abused?"
Tolley insists that the MSD, the reincarnation of the very department which oversaw the abuse, is somehow the correct body to provide victims with an impartial ear. If you haven’t heard that clip yet, please do yourself a favour. See also Toby Morris’ great cartoon (below) which nails the minister’s attitude.
Kim Hill’s interview and in particular Tolley’s arrogance inspired a number of victims to contact RNZ. Kathryn Ryan opened Nine to Noon interviewing survivor Jazmine Bell who was disgusted with the Minister’s comments and her refusal to order an independent inquiry or a blanket apology to victims.
Then add to the mix Aaron Smale’s excellent backgrounder which shows the lengths Tolley and Attorney-General Chris Finlayson have gone to to bury the report and avoid any embarrassing enquiry. The government appears determined to pick off vunerable victims by offering them a small settlement in exchange for signing a confidentiality agreement preventing them from ever speaking publicly about the abuse.
"Make it go away."
This is a national scandal which deserves this type of quality journalism. RNZ’s coverage has inspired other journalists to pick up the mantle, including Toby Manhire’s summary published by the Herald today.
Journalism is still alive at RNZ. And Kim Hill is indeed a national treasure.
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Speaker: Confessions of an Uber Driver…, in reply to BenWilson,
That’s not actually my job to enforce, it’s the Government’s, and the various arms it has for exactly this purpose.
Here's a perfect example of one of those government departments taking proactive action against illegal drivers. NZTA's seeming reluctance to enforce NZ law against infringing Uber drivers suggests that they may have received some sort of go softly directive from upstairs.