Today's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

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#3516818 4-Aug-2026 12:16

The biggest leaks are on likely on the supply side so metering won't take away the need to pay for that regardless how much you use individually.

MikeAqua

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#3516822 4-Aug-2026 12:28

freitasm:

No. The rates reduction is less than the water bill.

Thieves.

This happening was my first thought when three waters was initially announced. You have an additional organisation with its own administrative overhead, and the councils are taking the opportunity to keep some of the rate revenue. I wonder what the total cash grab is nation wide?

This is just how councils behave. For example, the Marlborough Council switched from bags, recycling tubs and collection being included in rates to wheelie-bins and collection being an additional charge, with no rates reduction. What are you gonna do?

Mike

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#3516837 4-Aug-2026 13:38

MikeAqua:

freitasm:

No. The rates reduction is less than the water bill.

Thieves.

This happening was my first thought when three waters was initially announced. You have an additional organisation with its own administrative overhead, and the councils are taking the opportunity to keep some of the rate revenue. I wonder what the total cash grab is nation wide?

This is just how councils behave. For example, the Marlborough Council switched from bags, recycling tubs and collection being included in rates to wheelie-bins and collection being an additional charge, with no rates reduction. What are you gonna do?

The fundamental issue is that council kept getting elected by keeping rates rises below the rate required for asset basic asset maintenance. At the same time they resisted user pays for water because it was unpopular.

The only way to stop that happening is structural separation of water from other council activities. There's absolutely an overhead of cost that goes with it but if you don't want basic infrastructure to be a political football I'm not sure there is a better way.

geoffwnz

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#3516840 4-Aug-2026 13:44

cddt:

geoffwnz: the calculations being based on rateable value rather than actual use (not that we even have water meters).

Is there a reason Wellington doesn't have water meters?

Probably. You'd need to ask the various councils that question I guess.

Until now, it's always just been part of the supply and a component of the rates charge.

MotorDrive Rallying

kingdragonfly

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#3516852 4-Aug-2026 14:06

Cross country flight. The flight is typically 6 to 7 hours or more depending on layovers.

It's not shocking that this from Florida.

The good news is the evangelists are drowning out some of the screaming babies.

Now I know why people applaud when the plane lands.

I'm sure my Muslim friends know that this year on a Southwest flight a Muslim passenger had a prayer-time alarm that played the adhan, and the flight was diverted to Atlanta after the behavior alarmed passengers/crew where armed tactical police boarded the aircraft, and interrogated by the FBI.

No reports of the "Sky Evangelists" getting that treatment. There is a difference between the two: in the evangelist words, passengers “have no choice” but to listen while the Muslim, by all accounts, was mumbling to himself, quietly observing Ramadan.

"Sky evangelist" kicked off flight after scaring crew!

From the creator: "'Sky Evangelist' Whitney Lynn was removed from an Alaska Airlines flight after preaching to captive passengers.

Her reaction shows the difference between religious persecution and facing consequences for disruptive behavior—and offers a perfect example of Christian privilege.
"

elpenguino

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#3516854 4-Aug-2026 14:19

cddt:

geoffwnz: the calculations being based on rateable value rather than actual use (not that we even have water meters).

Is there a reason Wellington doesn't have water meters?

The ratepayers of Wellington kicked up a stink when the idea was mooted some years ago and the idea of water meters was shelved.

Interesting to see the experience of Kapiti residents where meters were put in place ~25 years ago.

Until meters were introduced, water restrictions were put in place most summers. Since meters, water restrictions have seldom, if ever, been required.

Turns out if something is free, people waste it. Who knew?

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is knowing not to put it in fruit salad.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

MikeAqua

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#3516862 4-Aug-2026 14:45

cddt:

Is there a reason Wellington doesn't have water meters?

Expensive to buy - unless you make the rate payers pay for them. Expensive to install - unless you make the rate payers pay for that too. If you make the rate payers pay, they might vote you out!

The rate system is highly tweakable by councils. This gives the council considerable discretion about how much rates they collect and how. But then the exercise of that discretion becomes a big election issue. Hence the reason we have decades of underinvestment.

Mike

Behodar

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#3516920 4-Aug-2026 15:03

elpenguino:

The ratepayers of Wellington kicked up a stink when the idea was mooted some years ago and the idea of water meters was shelved.

Interesting to see the experience of Kapiti residents where meters were put in place ~25 years ago.

Until meters were introduced, water restrictions were put in place most summers. Since meters, water restrictions have seldom, if ever, been required.

Turns out if something is free, people waste it. Who knew?

We got meters in Whakatane maybe 30 years ago (I remember them going in when I was a kid, but no idea what the costs were like). We get separate rates and water bills. Water's crept up recently but is currently sitting at around $500/year for me (single person).

gzt

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#3516929 4-Aug-2026 16:05

Does your water bill include grey and sewage or is that part of the rates bill?

Behodar

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#3516934 4-Aug-2026 16:36

I don't believe it does, but it's very light on detail. I'd need to check the actual rates bill for mentions of water, but I don't have one handy.

Edit: Or I can look on the website!

Stormwater is on the general rates bill at $622.09 and Sewerage at $634.97.

kingdragonfly

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#3516940 4-Aug-2026 16:51

A bitcoin wallet is simply a tool that stores a private key and lets you send or receive bitcoin, the same way a password manager stores a password. There's a public key which everyone sees, but the private one prevents people from stealing from.

The thing that was supposed to be random wasn’t random. I think the word "insidious" is accurate because the entropy failure that persisted for five years without anyone noticing.

Imagine a real life "mystery boxes gacha manufacturer, like Pop Mart's Labubu, accidentally made the serial number printed on the box indicate the contents inside. Obviously Pop Mart wanted the contents to be secret, so someone could "steal" all the rare ones.

The whole point was the bitcoin hardware wallets were supposed to be more secure than software based ones. The problem was this hardware wallet were effectively using a software wallet with a predictable seed

"Predictable seed" is a bad thing. Imagine a casino with dices that gamblers could accurately predict the next dice throw.

Every other security property depends on the seed being unguessable.

I'm not seeing a lot of technical articles about this: millions of dollar stolen from "Coldcard" hardware wallet attack. More recent articles mention higher amounts.

Note the mainstream articles don't make it obvious that not all Coldcards were affected.

Coldcard Hardware Wallet Hack Drains $89m: What It Means for Crypto Self-Custody: IG

"Coldcard hardware wallet" of Coinkite notified users in late July 2026 that a security flaw in older firmware had compromised some wallets. Attackers exploited the flaw across several distinct waves: ... reaching approximately 1,367 BTC (around $89 million) by 2–3 August...

"The issue traces back to [old] firmware build ... Instead of [using the] dedicated hardware random-number generator, a bug pushed part of the process through a software-based generator with far less genuine randomness - in some cases tied to predictable values such as device serial numbers. [The] attackers reconstructed private keys offline, without ever touching the physical device."
...

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deepred

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#3516988 4-Aug-2026 20:25

MikeAqua:

cddt:

Is there a reason Wellington doesn't have water meters?

Expensive to buy - unless you make the rate payers pay for them. Expensive to install - unless you make the rate payers pay for that too. If you make the rate payers pay, they might vote you out!

The rate system is highly tweakable by councils. This gives the council considerable discretion about how much rates they collect and how. But then the exercise of that discretion becomes a big election issue. Hence the reason we have decades of underinvestment.

Former UK High Commissioner Laura Clarke said it best: "New Zealand has Scandinavian ambitions in terms of quality of life, but a US attitude to tax."

The British have the same issue: "The structural shortfall in public services arises from an awkward truth of British politics: we want to pay American taxes and expect European services. Truss’s champions splutter that the UK tax burden is the highest for 70 years. True, but Britons still pay significantly less tax than most of those Europeans who enjoy more generous services."

"I regret to say that we of the F.B.I. are powerless to act in cases of oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate commerce." — J. Edgar Hoover

"Create a society that values material things above all else. Strip it of industry. Raise taxes for the poor and reduce them for the rich and for corporations. Prop up failed financial institutions with public money. Ask for more tax, while vastly reducing public services. Put adverts everywhere, regardless of people's ability to afford the things they advertise. Allow the cost of food and housing to eclipse people's ability to pay for them. Light blue touch paper." — Andrew Maxwell

Handle9

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#3516989 4-Aug-2026 20:31

deepred:

MikeAqua:

Expensive to buy - unless you make the rate payers pay for them. Expensive to install - unless you make the rate payers pay for that too. If you make the rate payers pay, they might vote you out!

The rate system is highly tweakable by councils. This gives the council considerable discretion about how much rates they collect and how. But then the exercise of that discretion becomes a big election issue. Hence the reason we have decades of underinvestment.

Former UK High Commissioner Laura Clarke said it best: "New Zealand has Scandinavian ambitions in terms of quality of life, but a US attitude to tax."

The British have the same issue: "The structural shortfall in public services arises from an awkward truth of British politics: we want to pay American taxes and expect European services. Truss’s champions splutter that the UK tax burden is the highest for 70 years. True, but Britons still pay significantly less tax than most of those Europeans who enjoy more generous services."

It's somewhat easier to accept higher taxes when you have a highly productive economy. Norway, Sweden and Denmark all 50% or more GDP per capita than NZ. There is a lot more money to go around.

Behodar

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#3517046 5-Aug-2026 08:51

Why does an invoice have a copyright notice on it, and

cddt

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#3517055 5-Aug-2026 09:56

elpenguino:

The ratepayers of Wellington kicked up a stink when the idea was mooted some years ago and the idea of water meters was shelved.

Interesting to see the experience of Kapiti residents where meters were put in place ~25 years ago.

Until meters were introduced, water restrictions were put in place most summers. Since meters, water restrictions have seldom, if ever, been required.

Turns out if something is free, people waste it. Who knew?

When meters were installed in Whitianga a couple of years ago and residents began to be charged for water separately, usage immediately dropped about 25%.

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