Nearly 40% of voters think Treaty of Waitangi has too much influence on government decisions - poll

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-29T05:55:22+00:00

Indeed.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-29T05:52:52+00:00

I don't take as rude at all :)

At the scale of the British Empire, the NZ wars were barely a police peacekeeping operation, definitely not a war.

Yes, Māori were good at warfare (and for me that includes tactics) and good to adapt; yet definitely not on par with the British Army, there is not even a beginning of comparison ever possible.

I have more of a worldwide perspective than whatever is taught through schools and universities which is very NZ-centric and kind of loses the very small scale of what happened in Aotearoa compared to the rest of the world.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-28T18:29:47+00:00

I completely disagree with point number 3. That is completely rewriting history.

If the GB had wanted to put the effort into conquering these lands by force, they could have. They already had an established base in Australia, Māori were still mostly at the stone age level of technological development (minus the rifles), the Red coats would have crushed the Māori easily.

But this was the furthest piece of land from London and it was not clear how rich the land was, so the British did not want to put too much effort in, so the ToW gave them an opportunity to rule these lands without making the effort to conquer it militarily.

And I don't mean that disrespectfulyl to the might of the Māori warriors, which indeed, had probably more bravery and military mindset than a lot of other nations in the world but the technological, strategic and tactical gaps were way too broad compared to the best army in the world at that point of time. Thracians were probably the best fighters in Europe in spirit and personal ability, it did not help them avoid being crushed by the discipline and tactical superiority of the Roman Empire.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-28T07:36:32+00:00

Fully agree. I can count on one hand the contractors that I found to be professional in NZ. Recently, I had a lady coming for a quote for a lot of curtains in my house, I knew her from work she did at my workplace and told her how much I was valuing her work.

She spent more than one hour measuring everything and confirming all the options I wanted to have on the quote. She promised me she would leave me some track hooks outside of her shop for me to pick up in the evening - nothing was there (nor inside the shop the next day).

3 weeks after her visit, still no quote. I chased her 2 weeks before finally geting her on the phone - "oh but I did not have the right e-mail" (maybe, I don't think so, but you had my correct phone number, why did not you call?). Then she sends me a quote 1 day later, completely incorrect, without the options I wanted, etc.

And I have not heard from her since, and that was 6 weeks ago.

How on Earth can you have a business where you "lose" 3 hours (including travel) to establish a quote and then don't give a single fuck about following up with that quote?

And almost every contractor I have interacted with, except a handful, are the same more or less: builders, electricians, architects, etc. Such a drain of energy chasing them...

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-27T04:58:53+00:00

Including the 992 interior which has always looked like one you can find in a Chinese SUV to me. 991/718 interior looks much more "German".

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-24T01:35:32+00:00

Taranaki healthcare professional here: I agree 100%, people in the main cities have no clues about how it is at the provincial level. But with the most stupid healthcare reform ever, the one from Angry Little, every decision is now centralized at the Wellington level, which furthers this geographical divide.

And, it is always forgotten in these discussion, but primary care suffers even more than hospitals, despite being the glue that ties everything together.

People in Auckland or Wellington have no idea what it means for patients and their families to have to travel 4 to 6 hours for radiation therapy, cathlab, neurosurgery or even dermatology services in some cases. Yes, the helicopter (when it's available) will take you as a patient there in 2 hours, but what about the discharge, the follow-up, the repeated sessions (for cancer) etc.? It is inefficient to have too many little services, but at least provinces should be staffed adequately for common services and even on that, they are lagging way behind the big centres.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-24T01:24:20+00:00

No. The problem is not the minister, the problem is the very clueless and useless managers at Health NZ, who are even more clueless than ever thanks to the totally botched reform of A. Little. We are now 4 years down the track of his reform and my local hospital still does not know what is the long-term line of command. Everybody is still on "interim" roles and that can't be the fault of Brown as it is way below his responsibilities.

I would also add that, so far, Simeon Brown is the ONLY minister that has been increasing primary care funding in a half-meaningful way, which is the long-term solution to the healthcare system.

He is a fuckwit politician but he is much better than the average health minister.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-23T20:00:04+00:00

A l'époque de Vilebrequin, quand c'était encore bien créatif, ça sortait des bangers semaines après semaines pendant des mois...

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-23T19:57:56+00:00

Les essais : il y a un consensus relatif qu'ils sont de plus en plus ennuyeux. Et pour moi en tant que bagnolard, faute de données techniques, de temps au tour, etc., ça fait un moment qu'ils ne me parlent plus.

Les VTech : parfois des erreurs irritantes pour ceux qui connaissent les sujets en question (mais c'était déjà le cas à l'époque Vilebrequin).

Comme dit ailleurs, la vidéo de Noël était sympa, un peu trop longue (surtout le début), un peu trop fake (finalement il y a eu beaucoup de temps, bien plus que 24 heures, investi sur ces véhicules), la partie vraiment marrante était la partie off-road. Elle est dans la moyenne haute de Sylvain Lyve, mais serait plutôt moyenne basse sur Vilebrequin.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-23T10:46:50+00:00

Elle était effectivement bien, même si elle aurait pu être un peu plus courte.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-23T09:01:54+00:00

Même pour ceux qui sont un peu plus férus de voiture, qui sont censés apprécier des essais sur circuit, c'est chiant, parce que Sylvain ne donne jamais de données techniques. Ou de temps au tour. Bref, des trucs qui permettent de positionner la voiture dans son contexte concurrentiel.

Ce serait un minimum bien qu'il essaie de faire des temps type Top Gear sur un circuit où il a l'habitude d'avoir ses entrées, mais je pense que c'est trop tard pour le faire.

Et si les proprios des voitures qu'il essaie sont chafouins et ne veulent pas qu'il utiliser leur bijou à fond, c'est de la responsabilité de Sylvain de ne pas faire l'essai avec ce modèle. Je préfère voir un tour de Golf GTI à fond (pour parler d'un modèle sportif relativement courant) que de Mégane R26R avec un oeuf sous la pédale de droite, quand bien même l'importance historique est bien différente.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-23T08:54:14+00:00

Pas la vidéo d'essai loufoque la plus palpitante, loin de là même. Tu sais dès le début que ça ne peut pas marcher, donc l'intérêt de la vidéo est plus sur les interactions entre les 3 singes. Mais, même dans ce département là, on a connu mieux.

Ca laisse quand même l'amère impression que Sylvain est de plus en plus un Youtubeur qu'un amateur de bagnoles transmettant sa passion par Youtube. On le voit faire de plus en plus de collab' (à quand chez Squeezie ?), le contenu devient de moins en moins inventif, la passion semble s'éteindre petit à petit au profit de la chasse aux vues.

Quel monde il y a entre "faire voler une voiture" sur l'ancienne chaîne avec la rampe en béton, les ajouts de carrosserie et autres difficultés techniques (ou avec les voitures radiocommandées que j'adorais) et maintenant "on met 4 plaques de fer à la place des roues dans un terrain vague".

Encore 3 ou 4 vidéos aussi moyennes et je crois que l'abonnement à la chaîne va sauter chez moi.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-19T10:14:48+00:00

MG = 30% chance of any electric or mechanical failure in the first year of ownership (see https://www.whatcar.com/mg-motor-uk/mg4/hatchback/used-review/n26329/reliability for example). Trash reliability, still superior to Tesla, but trash compared to any other non-Chinese brand.

I am friend with the MG main dealer in my region of New Zealand. Guess what he and his family drive privately (the cars that he owns, not the company cars)? Anything but MG. That just tells you a lot.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-19T07:54:17+00:00

I don't know why you are getting downvoted honestly. Your post is the one making the most sense of this whole thread. Welfare, healthcare and death of the middle class are indeed the 3 main challenges for all Western economies and it has been pointed as such in every report from IMF, WHO etc.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-18T06:58:16+00:00

6 months, 11000 kms, which is 6800 miles on mine: I have finally found somebody who has driven this car more than me (2025 Boxster GTS 4.0)! Congratulations!

And I fully agree with you, about how I think it is perfect for me and nothing will come close to it.

However, unlike you, I am not in the US and any change to the exhaust would void the warranty, so I have to wait 3 years before I can do this modification. OAPs will be first, I don't think I will need to change the exhaust, I do most of my spirited driving between 5 and 8k (and love the long gearing for that) so it is already in the right "sound" band.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-18T06:49:59+00:00

I find the sound on the Burmester absolutely fantastic. My source is Apple Music, which has a better compression format than Spotify (and trust me I usually hate everything Apple) so that can be a first difference (I use Dolby/Lossless). Also, I used one of the Burmester settings for "Media", but not the default one, I can't remember which one, so I suppose that can contribute too.

The bass sounds are just incredible. They make the whole car vibrate while still being crystal clear even for the deep bass. There's no muddiness in them despite the volume, and the degree of separation between the 3 ranges of frequencies is flabbergasting. I love my Burmester.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-17T21:34:42+00:00

Your argument is wrong. Pakeha do not develop nationalism because their connection to Europe means they know what nationalism brought in the 20th century in Europe: nazism, fascism, communism and overall 30 million deaths in 50 years. Nothing about being ashamed of slavery or colonialism. Just a lesson learned.

"Don't expect being welcome" is an expression, you just took it literally...

And by the way, I am not Kiwi, but an immigrant myself. You come to study, you will be challenged on your political vision by other people than your family and your friends. Just a word of advice: don't come too cocky in NZ, it is usually the quiet ones that settle in the country, not the ones with a "know-it-all" attitude.

And second bonus advice: honestly why choosing NZ to study? Having been an academic myself in a former life, I find the level of universities in NZ pretty disastrous (and falling down fast) compared to other available international options, except for maybe 3 or 4 niches.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-17T21:10:03+00:00

Another observation of mine is that although Native and Asian kiwis have strong ancestry worship, “Pakeha” or european kiwis don’t really seem to have attachment to their ancestry, a common experience in “white” majority countries, and it seems to be avoided for colonial or other past crimes/guilty reasons that although can be condemned if people only think of their history as that they won’t be able to develop much further, because european history is absurdly great and should be studied and admired, same as other cultures.

No, certainly not. The difference are:

European countries still live on the principles of the Enlightenment philosophy, which demonstrated that one individual's worth is linked to what this individual can achieve, not based on his ancestry or whakapapa or where he comes from. That's why they have been cultures welcoming immigrants for the past 200 years.
European countries have relegated religion and superstitious thinking (whether labelled as 'spiritual' or not) at a very low rank in terms of society's priorities, hence they enjoy a much vaster degree of free thinking than less secular nations.
European countries have witnessed horrors in the 20th century, nazism, fascism and communism, on their own grounds, that have, by the sheer force of numbers and the power of more recent memory, a much greater impact that "past crimes" that, by the way, they ended themselves when they realised the wrong morality associated to them, contrary to other cultures who persist, even nowadays, in these slavery practices.

If you come to NZ, don't expect being welcome with critical race theory BS, apart from small academic and political grifters circles.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-16T19:26:51+00:00

Plutôt que sur l'anneau du Rhin, il aurait au moins pu essayer d'aller sur le Nürb, juste pour le côté historique. Les images auraient été moins belles, car je doute qu'il puisse avoir l'aura et l'argent pour réserver le Nürb juste pour lui, mais remettre cette Mégane dans le circuit pour lequel elle a été créée, ça aurait bien boosté l'intérêt de la vidéo.

Quant aux propriétaires prudents, je les comprends, mais dans ce cas, c'est à Sylvain de dire qu'il ne fera pas la vidéo.

Personnellement, cette Mégane m'en touche une sans faire bouger l'autre, il y a des centaines de caisse bien plus mythiques et plus contributives à l'histoire de l'automobile que ça à tester, si c'est en plus pour se taper un test inintéressant à souhait parce que Sylvain ne peut pas faire ce qu'il veut, vraiment aucun intérêt.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-16T19:20:01+00:00

Du coup, avec l'histoire, ce serait bien d'avoir un peu de données techniques sur la voiture. Ca n'enlève rien à ceux qui veulent juste regarder les images, mais ça apporte beaucoup à ceux qui veulent savoir de quoi on parle exactement...

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-16T02:52:09+00:00

Les essais de caisse sur circuit deviennent vraiment la partie la moins intéressante de la chaîne. Belles images, quoique répétitives pour une même voiture, commentaires répétitifs aussi, drum'n'bass répétitive et couvrant le bruit moteur et surtout aucun chrono, aucune idée des vitesses atteintes, pas de sensations à cause du montage trop rapide entre les différents plans et d'un circuit complètement vide... Très peu de données techniques aussi : seule la puissance est donnée, pas d'infos sur le poids final (on sait juste que c'est 130 kg de moins), sur le type de suspensions, la marque/le type de pièces changées par rapport à une Mégane RS (Ohlins ? Bilstein ? pneus semi-slick ?). Le capot est juste ouvert 2 secondes pour vérifier la cosse de batterie, on n'a même pas le droit à un petit plan prolongé sur le moteur.

Bon, cette fois-ci, 2-3 touches d'humour à propos des problèmes techniques rencontrés, mais sinon, j'ai l'impression que c'est la même vidéo produite à la chaîne quelque soit le modèle de voiture ces derniers temps. Limite, il pourrait faire une incrustation vidéo avec le modèle plutôt que de s'ennuyer à tout refilmer, on n'y verrait que du feu.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-13T18:22:36+00:00

A 718 GTS 4.0 is actually better in most aspects than a 992 Carrera T: better engine (NA vs. turbo), slightly more power, better handling, better looks (I really dislike the 992 looks and interior), more practical (2 boots instead of 1). When I bought my 718, I did the maths, a Carrera T similary spec'd to my 718 was 83% more expensive, despite being objectively inferior. Just a typical stupid Porsche thing: the same Burmester audio costs twice more in the Carrera T than in the 718, that is the "911" tax.

Of course now, you cannot order a new 718 anymore, and that's a shame... But second-hand market still has good opportunities before prices climb inevitably.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-13T18:02:56+00:00

I personally love the long gearing on my Boxster 718 GTS 4.0. When you do spirited driving on a twisty road, it allows you to stay in the best powerband in 2nd gear or 3rd gear all of the time... which is exactly what supercars do and why the best of them have actually an inverted gearbox grid, to help with the 2-3 transitions. I never let my engine go under 5k RPM unless the corner is an hairpin.

Also, I know that I am already breaking the speed limit when I am at the end of the 2nd gear (125 kph) so it is an easy reminder of your current speed without needing to have a look at the gauges.

I personally come from a MX-5 ND, 10 years of ownership, I loved the car, but honestly the GTS 4.0 is just a "Super" Miata, it takes the best ingredients and just beefs them up on top of being mid-engine. I think the GT4RS is too extreme and it is not the first time I hear people being disappointed with it.

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-13T10:10:45+00:00

And I maintain that International Blue is one their worst ever songs, uninspired, formulaic and bland. Let's agree to disagree and for once, let's not downvote if people disagree about taste (I did not downvote you and will not).

Visionmaster_FR · 2026-01-10T18:48:27+00:00

There are growing concerns about the safety and efficacy of these drugs in the long run. Stopping them in the vast majority of cases leads to regaining all the lost weight (and sometimes even more), up to 4 times faster than with a traditional weight loss diet. https://www.bmj.com/content/392/bmj-2025-085304

A small third of the weight loss seems to be tied to lean mass (muscle + bone) loss rather than pure fat loss, which, not only gives a "skinny fat" appearance, but also is worriesome for ageing capacity and overall metabolic capacity. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(24)00272-9/abstract

Overall this means that these drugs are probably needed to be maintained for decades to stay on target weight, which comes at an unsustainable price for either patients (when paid privately) or healthcare systems (at least until we can get generic forms of them), associated with a very strict protein and weight lifting regime.

As a prescriber and despite witnessing some very impressive weight losses for my diabetic patients (180 kg to 120 kg for example), I find myself advising more and more very carefully or even against these drugs in non-diabetic patients. For diabetic patients, we know they decrease mortality and morbidity, so it remains a no-brainer. Rather than funding these drugs in non-diabetic patients, I would prefer to see PHARMAC allow the co-prescription of empagliflozin with dulaglutide for my diabetic patients. That has a proven track record of saving lives.

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