Open mike 22/04/2015

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 22nd, 2015 - 90 comments
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90 comments on “Open mike 22/04/2015 ”

  1. Paul 1

    Three thought provoking articles on the ongoing man-made tragedies occurring in the Mediterranean.

    Why Europe Lets People Drown
    http://www.theautomaticearth.com/2015/04/why-europe-lets-people-drown/

    Katie Hopkins Gets Her Dead Immigrants – Happy Now? Russell Brand The Trews (E302)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=884RCxG61K4

    A Horror We Made
    https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2015/04/a-horror-we-made/

    • miravox 1.1

      This is all so awful. It amazes me that countries can go into other countries and exploit or destroy them and expect no ‘externalities’ from that.

      Having said that, the UK and the US, the biggest offenders in the destruction of nations have been getting off rather lightly, with Italy and Greece bearing the brunt of resuce and resettlement operations that they can little afford.

      The UK response of stopping resuce missions to ‘remove the pull factor’ for would-be refugees and migrants is particularly disgusting. I wonder how many deaths the current UK government think will do the job?

      Fix what you broke, exploiters and warmongers, and/or open the gates – there are consequences for destroying things. Turning the boats back, and wiping out human trafficking removes migrants and refugees from European sight, but does not fix the horror (whether war or economic, in which European/US nations are implicated) that these people are trying to escape.

  2. GR 2

    (Trigger warning – [r0b: deleting unfounded allegations – let the account speak for itself without attaching these labels to it])

    So it’s confirmed that John Keys is a [del]. It’s a disturbing read, but a brave young woman has spoken out on the Daily Blog about how our [del] her. The Tory filth are protected from prosecution though, as in Northland, as with Keys, as with all the rest of the Natzi bottom-feeding sub-human scum.

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/04/22/exclusive-the-prime-minister-and-the-waitress

    • just saying 2.1

      Tro-lling GR?
      An account of harrassment which paints an interesting picture of our PM.
      How do you feel about someone you don’t like repeatedly pulling your hair after you have made it perfectly clear you don’t want them to GR?
      How do you feel about someone with this kind of power and a security detail in tow behaving this way?

      • GR 2.1.1

        Not trolling. It literally made me sick to read it. Any such bodily violation is certainly a sexually motivated assault.

        • just saying 2.1.1.1

          Oh, I think it was an attempt at trolling and damage limitation on behalf of the National Party. You’ve really got to watch out for over-egging the pudding with that kind of thing.
          Thanks for deleting it Rob. It was insulting.

          This behaviour is disturbing and telling. No attempt at extreme exaggeration changes the fact.

          • Gosman 2.1.1.1.1

            Has GR got a track record in this regard or is this mere speculation on your part?

        • weka 2.1.1.2

          “Not trolling. It literally made me sick to read it. Any such bodily violation is certainly a sexually motivated assault.”

          It might be sexually motivated, but there is nothing in the story to say it definitely was. I read it as bullying, most likely gender bullying (can’t see Key doing that to a male waiter), and creepy, but not inherently sexual. The story is bad enough on its own without adding to it.

          I also think the woman who told the story gets to define what happened to her.

          • Murray Rawshark 2.1.1.2.1

            From my knowledge of men who do this sort of thing, it is almost definitely related to sex and predation. I have come across it several times and it creeps me out.

            • Colonial Rawshark 2.1.1.2.1.1

              I reckon your take on this is spot on MR.

              I also think the woman who told the story gets to define what happened to her.

              She can certainly define her experience of it. But she cannot define what Key’s driving intent and motivation was. That will require other people to assess.

              • weka

                on the basis of what she wrote, I can’t see how we could know whether there was anything sexual in Key’s intentions or motivations. Possibly people who were there and saw it might have a better view on that, but maybe not then even.

            • weka 2.1.1.2.1.2

              “From my knowledge of men who do this sort of thing, it is almost definitely related to sex and predation. I have come across it several times and it creeps me out.”

              Sure, but this is the woman’s story, and I think it’s better to not put additional bits into that that she didn’t.

              • Colonial Rawshark

                Her story does indeed stand on its own. Developing connections, comparisons and context is what we are doing here. I think it adds value if we want to have a conversation about what has happened.

              • Murray Rawshark

                It is her story but it is also our story. This guy is the PM of our country and what he does affects us all. He is our representative. We are not going to get anywhere by making this the story of one individual, something that followers of identity politics do all the time. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.

                As for putting additional bits into it, we see every story through the lens of our own experiences. They add to, or in some cases, detract from our understanding. Unless we have the concentration of a goldfish, it’s something we can’t help doing.

                • just saying

                  No question in my mind that Key is a predator devoid of empathy and conscience. I didn’t need to read this story to come to that conclusion. This isn’t about “identity politics” and I find it offensive that you would come to such a conclusion. The way GR wrote about this incident was straight from the Crosby-Textor playbook of divide and rule. I don’t know if GR is an innocent, but the way it read to me, I don’t think he or she is.

                  An attack on one of us is indeed an attack on all of us. Maybe though, you could listen to of those with experience of dealing with this particular kind of attack and of how our experiences are usually able to be dismissed instead of writing us, and our experiences off so glibly.

                  • Murray Rawshark

                    What on earth am I writing off so glibly? I can’t make any sense of your comment at all. I did not say the story was about identity politics. How about replying to something I actually wrote? Note that I never saw GR’s whole comment, and wasn’t addressing that.

                    You have certainly seen what I wrote through the lens of your own experiences, which ironically is the point I was making.

                    • greywarshark

                      Can you MR refrain from using the term identity politics at all? It seems to flavour every discussion it crops up in with something pungent and ultimately unpleasant. Best left on the shelf if some extended discussion and analysis is hoped for.

                    • Murray Rawshark

                      Sure, I’m not wed to the term. I’ll try to be more specific.

                    • just saying

                      If you didn’t read GRs comment why are you assuming that responses to it relate to”identity politics”?
                      It was grossly inflammatory and inaccurate and bore no relationship to the story as related by the complainant.
                      Are you saying that it is ever possible to not understand things through the lens of our own experiences? Or does that just apply to some kinds of kinds of experiences?
                      And yes, the term “identity politics” pisses me off.

              • Tracey

                The other video, of the child, definitely is not a playful tug on a pony tail, but a caressing or fondling. BUT I agree with Weka, the waitress has described tugging (on her pony tail), not caressing or fondling.

                Who does this, to a stranger, or even a casual acquaintance from a cafe? C’mon honesty time. Who? I don’t know anyone who does since they were a child and it was not to fondle. Then ask yourself how many rime Minister’s have done it? Not just once it seems, Multiple times to different people.

                Those on the Right morally affronted by Brown having sex with someone not his wife, are you morally appalled right now? Then say so.

    • It is a disturbing read – the rest of your comment is ott and will probably be deleted, I hope.

      • veutoviper 2.2.1

        I agree – both that it is a disturbing read if true, and that GR’s comments are ott.

        However, it also brought to mind an action by Key last year on the Campbell Live episode pre-general election where Key cooked breakfast, but was videoed beforehand at a local market straightening a young girl’s ponytail while she was being interviewed by Campbell.

        imgur.com/r/newzealand/wT4XtDj

        I found it disturbing at the time, and still do having re-watched it now. If it had been a very quick flick, fine – but it is the fact that he rubbed the girl’s hair through his fingers. Actually, even a quick flick is not fine without the permission of the girl.

        His action also raised a lot of comments at the time, eg these ones on the video extract above.

        http://www.reddit.com/r/…/john_key_being_weird_and_grabbing_some_girls/

        EDIT – Snap, felix and your video link works!

    • felix 2.3

      That is fucking disgusting. Our PM is a bully who harasses young women from a position of power, and his wife knows it, and his staff know it.

      It’s a repeated physical assault.

      ps remember this? http://imgur.com/r/newzealand/wT4XtDj

      • GR 2.3.1

        Agreed. It’s his predilection for young girls that is most disturbing. I wont be surprised if Savilesque revelations come to light.

        • felix 2.3.1.1

          It’s certainly difficult not to notice his readiness to cover up after prominent NZers in [r0b: del].

        • I don’t think that kind of insinuation is at all helpful.

          Plenty of men are creeps. Their creepiness should be called out and shut down. But comparisons to Jimmy Savile’s decades of child sexual abuse and the massive networks of power and privilege which covered for him are just gross.

          • weka 2.3.1.2.1

            +1 They also muddy the seriousness of what Key did in this instance that isn’t being reported as sexual assault. What he did, his abuse of his position of power and how he treated this woman is bad enough.

            • rawshark-yeshe 2.3.1.2.1.1

              but it is able to be prosecuted as sexual assault according to the employment lawyer interviewed on Stuff this morning … the link is on Open Mike …

              • Maui

                This is going to be awkward & icky when we get round to the PM explaining why an ex-MP was recently retired.

        • Tracey 2.3.1.3

          “predilection for young girls” – GR that is a smear too far based on evidence available today. Is there more than one girl shown to have had her pony tail messed with? To my knowledge it is an adult woman and a child.

      • Pasupial 2.3.2

        felix

        That’s he bit that stood out for me:

        He would come up behind me when I was at the ordering terminal, tug on my hair and then pretend that his wife, Bronagh, had done it (much to her embarrassment), and she would tell him to stop it. As he rounded the corner behind me he commented “that’s a very tantalising ponytail”… he pulled my hair before once again pointing the blame at Bronagh. I couldn’t believe it, he was still persisting and by now he had definitely got the message that I was not enjoying it – that seemed to be why he was enjoying it so damn much.

        This is a level of sociopathy not previously reported about Key, other people really don’t seem to be seen as human to him. Hopefully others he’s acted similarly (there will be others) will find the strength to come forward with their stories.

      • saveNZ 2.3.3

        @Felix

        OMG that is so inappropriate!

      • Colonial Rawshark 2.3.4

        ps remember this?

        Look closely at that video. Note that he did not “pull” on that girls pony tail (no resulting head and neck motion form the girl). Instead, you can see from a repetitive movement of his thumb that he rustled around, feeling the texture of the girls hair between his fingers.

    • Dave 2.4

      I honestly hope it’s not true and is a story out of Bradbury’s head, I honestly do.

    • vto 2.5

      That is assault and a complaint should be made to police.

      That is entirely in keeping with John Key’s persona…. weird, child-like, shallow, planet key, dominating, and no self-awareness

      edit: I recall him playing oddly with a young girld ponytail when doing some cooking thing with Campbell Live. Thought it was very strange at the time.

      • felix 2.5.1

        Yep it’s here: http://imgur.com/r/newzealand/wT4XtDj

        And yep I thought it was very weird at the time too. Like a compulsion that he couldn’t control.

        • vto 2.5.1.1

          Yes that’s it.

          It is most definitely weird. As you say, like a compulsive fetish.

          And now he has gone and done it again and again and again to this poor person waiting in his stalkee café.

        • Lanthanide 2.5.1.2

          YOU CAN’T BE SURE THAT WAS REALLY JOHN KEY’S HAND, IT COULD HAVE BEEN ANYONES!

          • Pasupial 2.5.1.2.1

            Hopefully Campbell Live will go through their archival footage and get us a longer cut that shows the incident from another angle. Or even what the girl’s mother says to Key at the end. Another reason to watch CL tonight.

          • Tracey 2.5.1.2.2

            LOL

            It was Nicky Hager’s, that extreme left wing conspiracy theorist, again

    • Hateatea 2.6

      There are no words ………….

      If this is true, it is appalling. No person should have to tolerate such behaviour once let alone repeatedly. Where were her co-workers and management in this?

      Ah well, let the spin begin.

    • tinfoilhat 2.7

      Witnesses to this alleged event must come forward.

      If he doesn’t outright deny them, his fate is sealed.

      • tinfoilhat 2.7.1

        “If he doesn’t outright deny them, his fate is sealed.”

        Bah……’ If he doesn’t outright deny the accusations, his fate is sealed.’

        ….my outrage got the better of my typing.

      • Murray Rawshark 2.7.2

        He has admitted them. His acolytes, beginning with Farrar and Plunket, will probably say it’s all a storm in a teacup and far left lesbians are just jealous because they all have short hair. Many Kiwis will agree. That this creep is still in office is a real indictment on us as human beings.

    • Murray Rawshark 2.8

      FJK has apologised for “horsing around” and being playful with the waitress. There is something seriously wrong with the guy and maybe we are learning why Paula Bennett cut her hair short.

      In other news, Young Nacts has sent out a bulletin requiring all female members to grow their hair long and wear pony tails.

      • Chooky 2.8.1

        lol….all around the country people will be cutting their ponytails off

        • Murray Rawshark 2.8.1.1

          In 1999 I drove about 4000 km through Brazil, from São Paulo to Cuiabá and back. On the second day I stopped for lunch at a small restaurant outside Campo Grande. The owner, a middle aged woman, had never seen a man with a ponytail before and asked if she could play with it. I let her. That’s how people who respect others do it.

          It also has buggerall to do with Key, but this is Open Mike.

  3. Charles 3

    Just been over to The Daily blog.

    ?!

    • Charles 3.1

      The woman who wrote that, she is somewhere safe right now yeah? Someone go get her and hide her.

      • Tracey 3.1.1

        prophetic and respectful Charles. We care too much about the story and not enough about the messenger

  4. r0b 4

    It’s going to be a lively day in OM. Please folks, don’t post stuff that makes work for moderators…

  5. les 5

    this is Wolf Of Wall St behaviour….funny that!

  6. Adrian 6

    No wonder he feels so ” comfortable ” in the company of a certain ex-MP.

    • 1. That post is gross and brings in a lot of unrelated material to hype its story up.

      2. There are affair rumours about every influential person. (Well, affairs for dudes, “slept her way to the top” for women)

      3. A consenting extramarital affair between adults is the business of them and their partners and shouldn’t be used for cheap political point-scoring unless there are elements which impact their work (e.g. the early insinuations in the Len Brown saga that there was sexual harassment, or misuse of influence.)

  7. CnrJoe 8

    It was his P.M hand. Not his John Key – husband and father and general family man – hand.
    Hands Hats. Keep up!
    But No. With his security detail and Bronagh Colluding with him It is definitely the Prime Minister of N.Z stalking and assaulting this woman.

    • felix 8.1

      Maybe it was John Key, All-Black Captain?

      Or John Key, Licensed Building Practitioner?

    • ianmac 8.2

      Or maybe his Hair Dresser training getting a refresher and certainly not a PM of NZ.

  8. Ffloyd 9

    AT LAST!! An article on John Campbell in the Herald!! All about his jersey FGS! Sorry about the exclamation marks but I am gobsmacked.

  9. Chooky 10

    Kathryn Ryan good on Green issues today…personally I always thought she was a Greenie….she loves diving after all and tramping

    (my comment…the government should be protecting New Zealanders and their environment and regulating against corporates opposing and standing in the way of new power saving technology using renewable electricity sources)

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201751454/new-energy-and-money-saving-technologies

    “New technologies such as LED lighting and solar panels are meant to be making electricity cheaper and reducing reliance on traditional electricity markets. But Nine to Noon recently highlighted the case of Wellington City Council’s plan for installing LED streetlights to save electricity costs, which is being hampered by the local lines company saying it would change its charging formula to recoup any money lost. Wellington Electricity’s chief executive referred to new technology “marching across the hillside looking at eating your lunch off the table”. And there’s been outrage after Meridian and Contact Energy slashed the price it pays for solar energy coming off its customers’ houses. So what’s the future of new technologies being able to put a dent in consumers’ power bills and is the industry playing fair?”

    (and….on CLIMATE CHANGE…who says this is NOT REAL !?)

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201751455/warming-seas-and-the-impact-on-fish-stocks

    “One of the country’s biggest fisheries companies, Sanford has closed its Christchurch mussel processing factory, blaming rising ocean temperatures and variable weather. Matthew Dunn, a Victoria University marine biologist and Dr John Zeldis a marine scientist with NIWA, discuss the implications of warming oceans on the seafood industry, which brings billions of dollars to the economy.”

    • Colonial Rawshark 10.1

      Ah yes, yet another discussion on how global warming is hurting capitalism, because that is what is the important bit.

      • Chooky 10.1.1

        @ CR…wrong!…no it is hurting the consumer!….and wrecking the environment….that is the “Important bit” !…that should be of concern and self- evident to every New Zealander

        … personally I dont give a monkey’s arse… (always wanted to use that term)… that it is hurting the corporate profits of formerly state owned assets…if they were still state owned the story would be different

        Time to support the GREENS!

      • greywarshark 10.1.2

        Colonial R
        Did you say you can be contacted on FB? I tried the other day, (a lot of Tat Loos) and not sure whether I was successful, (de is the start of my e/m address.)

        • Colonial Rawshark 10.1.2.1

          Hi GWS

          Sorry, didn’t see anything on FB which looks like it might be from you. If you find a Tat Loo who lives in Dunedin and has multiple politician types as FB friends, that’s probaby going to be me.

        • greywarbler 10.1.2.2

          Colonial R
          Had another look and sent FB message on 19 April. That might help place it.

          • Colonial Rawshark 10.1.2.2.1

            Gosh darn it don’t see anything on that day. Try again…

            • greywarbler 10.1.2.2.1.1

              @ Colonial R
              Okeydoke. Not good with this facebook, it isn’t as easy as I thought. Have requested friend of yours. So hope that works.

    • felix 10.2

      “personally I always thought she was a Greenie….she loves diving after all and tramping”

      Good lord Chooky, are you trying to get her sacked?? 😀

      • Chooky 10.2.1

        lol…no just getting a dig at someone yesterday who said she was a rightwinger ….she aint!

        • Bearded Git 10.2.1.1

          @Chooky That would be me. I could be wrong about her being to the Right, but there are plenty of Blue-Greens out there. I still hold with my impression that she tends to favour the Right in the Monday politics discussion.

          • Chooky 10.2.1.1.1

            well you are allowed your opinion and I have mine….and they are diametrically opposed

            …so I guess this just shows that she is a very successful broadcaster/interviewer on radionz…she always did say that no one would know her own political opinions

  10. Morrissey 11

    The American version of Leighton Smith

    Glenn Beck is notoriously slow, pompous, and bewildered about virtually everything. Except for the slight variation in accent, he could be the bloke that’s spluttering and frothing over on NewstalkZB right now….
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY0WV3aqV1k

    On this clip, Beck boasts about how he has “been with the WITCH Barbara Walters, and I stress the word WITCH….”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImM4HiZfrjw

    And, for those who can stand it, here are two more stellar performers from the Republican Party’s brains trust….
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sa4Qt4Y2VY

  11. Chooky 12

    Chomsky analyses the US media and the perceived threat of overseas media competition …also he critiques the ‘International Criminal Court’

    ‘Chomsky: ‘International law cannot be enforced against great powers’ FULL INTERVIEW’

    http://rt.com/usa/250729-complete-chomsky-rt-interview/

    “While the International Criminal Court investigates and sentences African dictators, any of the crimes the US commits like the invasion of Iraq, which has destabilized an entire region, go unpunished, philosopher Noam Chomsky tells RT…..

  12. freedom 13

    A plug for some good people making great music

    If you have a couple of bucks spare, here is a group of artists that would put it to good use. An amazing trio helping to keep alive the diverse taonga of Aotearoa
    https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/3450-ara-taonga-puoro-ensemble-ep

  13. Morrissey 14

    Britain’s criminally stupid attitudes to race and immigration are beyond parody
    by FRANKIE BOYLE
    http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1429604913.html

    The anti-immigration election rhetoric is perverse – we fear the arrival of people that we have drawn here with the wealth we stole from them.

    I sometimes wonder if satire has reached a nadir in Britain because British society has itself become a parody of itself. The Chipping Norton Set: the prime minister, a tabloid editor and a Roger Mellie-ish TV icon all conveniently living in the same little town and taking turns at being the centre of scandal, feels like a novel Martin Amis bashed out because his conservatory was leaking. Likewise there has been an element of tragic irony this week as the growing drumbeat of anti-immigration election rhetoric has been punctuated by the mass drowning of migrants.

    Katie Hopkins calling migrants vermin recalls the darkest events of history.

    …..

    If we have become a self-satirising society, Ukip are just the broader end, the easy slapstick laughs. They even have a porn-star candidate. Of course, he isn’t the first MP to have filmed himself having sex. But he is the first to do so with an adult, whom he allowed to live.

    Even our charity is essentially patronising. Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day. Give him a fishing rod and he can feed himself. Alternatively, don’t poison the fishing waters, abduct his great-grandparents into slavery, then turn up 400 years later on your gap year talking a lot of shite about fish.

    In a further nod to satire, Comic Relief this year focused on Malawi and Uganda. I didn’t see any acknowledgement that Britain had been the colonial power in those countries. “Thanks for the gold, lads, thanks for the diamonds. We had a whip-round and got you a fishing rod.”

    A lot of racism comes from projection. White Americans have a stereotype of black people being criminals purely because they can’t acknowledge that it was actually white people that stole them from Africa in the first place. Today, you have the spectacle of black men being gunned down by cops who, by way of mitigation, release footage to show that the victims were running away. This is what happens when you don’t understand or even acknowledge history. You end up in a situation where, when slavery is the elephant in the room in your relationship with African Americans, you think it’s OK to say that you killed one of them because he was trying to escape.

    Britain is in a similar place with colonialism. We have streets named after slave owners. We profited from a vile crime and feel no shame. We fear the arrival of immigrants that we have drawn here with the wealth we stole from them. For much of the rest of the world we must be the focus of bitter amusement, characters in a satire we don’t understand. It is British people that don’t learn languages, or British history. Britain is the true scrounger, the true criminal.

  14. Clemgeopin 17

    Do watch Campell Live tonight and support that eminently worthwhile programme. 7 pm, TV3.

    Tonight, (from Twitter) the topics include:

    * She was just 12 when she got into a “wrong relationship” with a married man 10 years her senior. What’s going on inside Gloriavale? disturbing revelations about the Gloriavale community. Is it time for the police to become involved?

    * Thames locals come out in force to protest plans for a crematorium in their town’s CBD. Fair enough? Or an over-reaction?

    * Would you give something this bad to your kids? We look into the “lunch packs” being sold directly to children.

    Campbell Live @CampbellLiveNZ also tweeted this:

    No. 1 on TV3, again. You are making this happen.
    1. Campbell Live 288,720 viewers
    2. The Bachelor 278,540
    3. 3 News 229,820
    THANK YOU!

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