Open mike 05/04/2013

112 comments on “Open mike 05/04/2013 ”

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1. Jenny 1

   5 April 2013 at 6:22 am

   ‘

   One good thing about climate change. More dramatic skies

   At least it seems so to me.

   Also Has anyone else noticed this?

   Spring flowers are out. At least they are here in Papakura

   So early?

   Goodness me, summer hasn’t even ended yet.

   In other micro-climate change news.
   Because of the dryer conditions the ground has been shrinking and cracking right across the Auckland region. This has effected footpaths and in some circumstances even house foundations and retaining walls.

   Landscape contractors are looking forward to a big boom in retaining wall construction, especially when the rain, when it does come, gets into the cracks in the ground.

   Playing fields are very hard for this time of year.

   Will this result in more sports injuries?

   Has anyone in the media looked into this?

   I am no expert. And all these things may have nothing whatsoever to do with climate change. But who would know? All the journalists who should be asking these hard questions have gone silent.

   Tell us what’s happening to us
   • muzza 1.1

     5 April 2013 at 8:48 am

     *More dramatic skies*

     Glad to see that the propganda is being rolled out…What a load of nonsense.

     Yes the skies are the result of CC /sarc, but what else is contributing to climate change?

     The journos have gone silent (because the media owners have instructed it, but no worries they can’t keep geo-engineering off limits much longer, its become too obvious, so they drip it into the mindset, using various methods, like pics of dramatic sky to fool people with ), because if it gets stirred up, then they are going to have to talk about geo-engineering Jenny, perhaps then people will really begin to join those dots.

     You can’t discuss these subjects in a silo, they’re linked!

     Oh and Jenny – Officially summer finished some time back, but hard ground is not uncommon at time of year, which is why we have schedule cricket tours, like the one just finished eh!
   • ghostrider888 1.2

     6 April 2013 at 5:55 pm

     well, freesias have come up already…hmmm
2. Morrissey 2

   5 April 2013 at 6:40 am

   “Ummm, ahhhh, I dunno. Ummm…”
   Umperator Fish fails to perform
   The Panel, Radio NZ National, Thursday 4 April 2013
   Jim Mora, Jock Anderson, Scott York

   This government is on the ropes. Scandal after scandal has left its major asset, the affable John Key, looking tired, harried and confused. His inability to tell lies convincingly has been embarrassingly exposed with the Ian Fletcher/GCSB scandal; for the first time, Key has been faced with relentless and concerted questions from journalists, who can sense blood.

   Regular listeners to the Panel will know that, almost always, at least one of the two guest Panelists will be a right winger and reflexively a Key supporter, and that the host (usually Jim Mora) will almost always support that right winger. So the program is usually stacked against the liberal or left voice, if there happens to be one that day.

   However, as has been shown by the likes of Gordon Campbell, Anna Chinn, Bomber Bradbury and Gordon McLauchlan, one liberal voice having the gumption to challenge the indolent and poorly thought out assertions of right wingers can be extremely effective.

   So it would be enormously damaging to the Government, and enormously helpful for the rest of us, if an articulate person went on National Radio’s Panel show and simply restated the facts of this scandal, eloquently and courageously.

   Unfortunately, though, the representative for the liberal left today was one Scott York….

   JIM MORA: First topic today is, unsurprisingly, the Ian Fletcher/GCSB scandal. John Key has had ANOTHER memory lapse; how damaging could this one be for the Government?
   SCOTT YORK: I, uh, dunno. You know, uhhh, the Labour government had its problems too, with Clare Curran. But ummmm, I dunno. Yeah, I guess….
   JOCK ANDERSON: This is a story that has been promulgated by twenty-five wild-eyed journalists.
   JIM MORA: John Armstrong from the New Zealand Herald joins us. John, is Jock Anderson correct when he says it’s just twenty-five wild-eyed journalists that are pushing this story?
   JOHN ARMSTRONG: [speaking slowly to indicate great seriousness] It’s a bit wider than that, but not much.
   JIM MORA: So you think it’s a bit too much to suggest there is a danger of oligarchy in this country? Thats too long a bow to draw.
   JOHN ARMSTRONG: Yes, but this is corrosive. This will worry the National Party hierarchy.
   MORA: It sounds impulsive what he did, saying “I’ll pick up the phone and ring the guy.” So this will not hurt John Key. As we said yesterday, people will say this is the way the world works. It will not hurt John Key will it.
   ARMSTRONG: It doesn’t go far beyond the Beltway.
   JOCK ANDERSON: As Rob Hosking said in the NBR, this is only of concern to the Bowen Triangle, which is the Wellington equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle!
   MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha! John Armstrong on the Panel! Ha ha ha ha ha!

   Topic 2: The Census…
   Jock Anderson spends several minutes boasting about how he did not fill out his census form. Then Jim Mora decides it’s time to turn into Mr. Nasty, except he doesn’t do it with much conviction….

   JIM MORA: Carol Slappendel is the General Manager of the 2013 Census. She joins us now. I see you are still allowing people to fill in their census forms more than a month late. Shouldn’t we call it the March-April census and dispense with the urgency of the night?
   CAROL SLAPPENDEL: Actually, the completion rate has been exceptionally good. And there has been a very high number of people doing it online.
   MORA: [skeptically] Yeah. Can I ask you about that? How did it go in Oamaru where participating online was ENCOURAGED?
   CAROL SLAPPENDEL: Very well, actually.
   MORA: Carol Slappendel, thank you. It’s 4:30, time for the news.

   ….4:30 News and Weather….

   JIM MORA: Time for the Soapbox. What’s been on your mind, Scott?
   SCOTT YORK Ummm, I’d like to give a bit of a plug for a new website. Ummm, it’s a satirical site called The Civilian.
   JIM MORA: The Civilian?
   SCOTT YORK: Yes. Some say it’s a Kiwi equivalent of the Onion.
   JIM MORA: It’s nice to see a blog with a sense of humor, isn’t it. Some of these political sites have no sense of humor.
   SCOTT YORK: Yeah! Ummmm. Yeah.
   JIM MORA: Good luck to them! Jock what’s been on YOUR mind?
   JOCK ANDERSON: Well, this is something I complained about on this program a few weeks ago, and that is the way that Len Brown’s Auckland Council keeps shutting its citizens out on the weekends. I object to the Auckland Council closing down the city centre for these events all the time. Last weekend Queen Street was closed for a wild-eyed bunch of sweaty zealots racing in the Golden Mile.

   MORA: Ummm, thank you, ummmm, Jock. I’d like to move onto North Korea. THAT’s a serious topic. The state’s warlike rhetoric follows the recently imposed U.N. sanctions. Are you getting a bit worried now?
   JOCK ANDERSON: I am.
   JIM MORA: Just before we get Professor Al Gillespie, Scott, your thoughts.
   SCOTT YORK: Ummm, North Korea is such an odd country, ummmmm, cut off from the rest of the world. We’ve got a new, inexperienced North Korean leader, ummmmm, next thing you know, ummmm, it’s World War Three.
   JIM MORA: Are we right to be nervous, do you think, Al?
   AL GILLESPIE: America is being particularly belligerent at this point.
   JOCK ANDERSON: Are there any similarities to the Cuban missile crisis?

   [This discussion continues for a further few minutes, then the music starts to swell, signalling the impending end of the show…]

   MORA: Just before we go, your thoughts on the Christchurch Cathedral?
   SCOTT YORK: Ummm, ahhhh, I dunno. Ummm.
   MORA: It’s five o’clock. Gotta go!
   • Tigger 2.1

     5 April 2013 at 8:13 am

     Who the fuck is Scott York? Speaking of satire…you made this up, yes? I mean, this is just crazy sauce.
     • Professor Longhair 2.1.1

       5 April 2013 at 9:39 am

       Unfortunately, he has not made any of it up. I heard the broadcast, and that is a pretty accurate transcript.
       • Lanthanide 2.1.1.1

         5 April 2013 at 1:04 pm

         No it’s not. He gives the impression that talking to Carol Slappendel took all of 2 minutes, but it was much much longer than that.

         Which means so far, every single transcript of Morrissey’s that I’ve read where I had actually heard the interview itself, he has mischaracterised in some way. So I don’t trust anything he writes any more.
         • fender 2.1.1.1.1

           5 April 2013 at 3:04 pm

           You might have a poor reception down there Lanth, I listen to ‘the panel’ most days and when Morrissey reports on it he gets it 99.9% correct 99.9% of the time.

           With regard to the Carol Slappendel segment he did omit the tired ramblings of Jock Anderson who tried to put listeners asleep with his paranoid recollections of avoiding filling out census forms (he must have much to hide).

           I always enjoy Morrissey reporting on ‘the panel’ farce and find his version matches what I have heard.

           p.s. Scott York is a bit of a smelly fish.
           • Lanthanide 2.1.1.1.1.1

             5 April 2013 at 6:48 pm

             “You might have a poor reception down there Lanth, I listen to ‘the panel’ most days and when Morrissey reports on it he gets it 99.9% correct 99.9% of the time.”

             No, all I’ve said is that every single transcript for which I’ve read that I had also heard the actual interview at the very least mischaracterised what went on, if not completely changed the works spoken so as to not be a transcript at all.

             Note that that is a sample of about 4. But 4 out of 4 is not good.

             “With regard to the Carol Slappendel segment he did omit the tired ramblings of Jock Anderson”

             Um, no, he omitted many question and answer responses from Carol. Perhaps you need to check your reception.
         • Morrissey 2.1.1.1.2

           5 April 2013 at 7:34 pm

           No it’s not.

           Yes it is, and you know it is, just as you knew my rush transcript of Hekia Parata’s embarrassingly inept interview back in August 2011 was accurate….
           http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30082011/#comment-369467

           He gives the impression that talking to Carol Slappendel took all of 2 minutes, but it was much much longer than that.

           I think any intelligent reader would realise that I had not included everything these people said on the programme. My purpose is of course to capture something of the pervading tone of shallowness and flippancy. My approach is little different from the great Tom Frewen’s legendary Today in Parliament—which can still, by the way, be heard on Community Radio stations.

           Which means so far, every single transcript of Morrissey’s that I’ve read where I had actually heard the interview itself, he has mischaracterised in some way.

           I have mischaracterised nothing. In the transcript that heads this thread, I have endeavoured to capture at least a hint of the essential nastiness of Jock Anderson, the refusal to be serious of Jim Mora, and the timidity and mealy-mouthedness of Scott York. You are trying to say that is not a valid approach, and that every single thing they say should have been included. That’s nonsense.

           So I don’t trust anything he writes any more.

           In March 2011 you trusted the demonstrable lies of the Japanese government and you trusted the integrity of the Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe when he came on television to insist there was “absolutely no danger” from radiation around Tokyo. I’ll leave it to readers to decide whether they trust YOUR judgement.
           • QoT 2.1.1.1.2.1

             6 April 2013 at 12:00 pm

             I think everyone on this thread frankly needs to google the definition of “transcript”.
           • Lanthanide 2.1.1.1.2.2

             6 April 2013 at 12:33 pm

             “Yes it is, and you know it is, just as you knew my rush transcript of Hekia Parata’s embarrassingly inept interview back in August 2011 was accurate….
             http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30082011/#comment-369467”

             Sorry, I don’t “know it” because what you have produced and claimed to be a transcript, is, to borrow one of your words, “demonstrably” not a transcript.

             “I think any intelligent reader would realise that I had not included everything these people said on the programme. ”

             No, any intelligent reader who reads something that purports to be a transcript would expect it to be a transcript. There is absolutely nothing in your post that suggests the sections that show dialogue are not actually the complete dialogue that was spoken. All you need to do is put “…” in there or “later” or anything, but you deliberately choose not to do so.

             “I have mischaracterised nothing. In the transcript that heads this thread, I have endeavoured to capture at least a hint of the essential nastiness of Jock Anderson, the refusal to be serious of Jim Mora, and the timidity and mealy-mouthedness of Scott York. You are trying to say that is not a valid approach, and that every single thing they say should have been included. That’s nonsense.”

             You mischaracterised the interview with Carol Slappendel by making it look like Mora had her on for less than a minute to ask her one question and then bid her off. That DID NOT HAPPEN and so you are mischaracterising what did happen. It really is very straight forward.

             “In March 2011 you trusted the demonstrable lies of the Japanese government and you trusted the integrity of the Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe when he came on television to insist there was “absolutely no danger” from radiation around Tokyo. I’ll leave it to readers to decide whether they trust YOUR judgement.”

             Sure, I’ve no problem with that. All you have to do is show that the people flying in those flights to Japan have somehow gone on to suffer ill health effects. Then you might actually have some evidence.
   • Dr Terry 2.2

     5 April 2013 at 10:45 am

     Regrettably not only Key but his supporters too clearly have severe and regular lapses in memory.
3. mickysavage 3

   5 April 2013 at 7:54 am

   Just a thought, the massive pay increases to the Mighty River Power directors is a more important issue than Key’s bastardising the process to have his mate appointed as head of the GCSB.

   The second issue certainly has raised considerable concerns about his honesty but the first issue shows the never ending process whereby the rich get more and the poor and workers get less.

   Out in middle New Zealand I think many will find the nuances of the Fletcher issue too difficult to comprehend whereas the greed shown by the MRP directors is clear to see.
   • LynWiper 3.1

     5 April 2013 at 8:02 am

     Great cartoon!

     http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10875469
   • Coronial Typer 3.2

     5 April 2013 at 8:12 am

     Even Key’s stuff-ups on sideshow stories protect him from the bigger stories; GCSB beltway oddity covers New Zealand’s largest single pending industrial closure, and also smothers the big MRP prospectus launch together with price range. He may go down in history for nothing except being our luckiest PM.
   • BM 3.3

     5 April 2013 at 8:14 am

     True, no one gives a toss about “the process”.
     Key rung his mate,big deal.
     It’s widely accepted, that it’s who you know, not what you know when it comes to getting a job, people don’t have an issue with that, it’s just the way the world works.

     Power prices though, that irks people.
     • karol 3.3.1

       5 April 2013 at 8:19 am

       And I am so tempted to do a Godwin….. nuff said.
     • One Tāne Huna 3.3.2

       5 April 2013 at 8:26 am

       Funny how the right want this to be an arcane debate about “process” when it’s about their Prime Minister lying to Parliament and the nation.
       • freedom 3.3.2.1

         5 April 2013 at 8:33 am

         +1,
       • BM 3.3.2.2

         5 April 2013 at 8:35 am

         I don’t think he lied, he’s a very busy man, Key can’t be expected to remember every trivial detail.
         • Pascal's bookie 3.3.2.2.1

           5 April 2013 at 9:15 am

           Funny how he remembered all the trivial little details a few days later though eh.

           memory how does that fucking work.
           • freedom 3.3.2.2.1.1

             5 April 2013 at 9:27 am

             http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10875435

             well last night Kate Shuttleworth explained it using fluff and scotch tape
         • aj 3.3.2.2.2

           5 April 2013 at 8:19 pm

           Trivial detail is remembering if it was 4 peices of fish and $6 chips or 3 fish and $7 chips.

           Phoning a mate to tap him into a very sensitive job is not trivial.

           You have a bizzare sense of triviality
       • muzza 3.3.2.3

         5 April 2013 at 8:54 am

         Thats right Bloke – This is about lying!

         Lots of it, by the same people, and now an everyday event!

         Certain types love it, because it validates the lies they tell to themselves, and others on a daily basis!

         Thats why lying is *no big deal* – Look at BM, liar apologist, pity those around you son, cos you is a liar too, which is why you are looking at semantics, and offerign excuses for the biggest liar ever to lead a government in NZ history, which is no mean feat for JK!
     • idlegus 3.3.3

       5 April 2013 at 9:05 am

       so from now on whenever key says ‘to the best of my recollection’ or ‘from what i can recall’ you are gonna believe him? what a sucker. also, ‘key rang his mate’, key still has not confirmed they were ‘mates’, thats just what everyone knows but key wont admit it, just weasel words about his mum & grant robertson & everything else. why didnt he, when first asked, say ‘yep, we are mates, so what?’, maybe hes incapable of telling the truth? his first instinct is to lie, duck & cover. speaking of which, hes on radiolive this afternoon with willie & jt, could be interesting but usually its just whitewash & weak.
     • Draco T Bastard 3.3.4

       5 April 2013 at 10:08 am

       True, no one gives a toss about “the process”.

       Yeah, actually, they do. Especially when it’s becoming obvious the amount of corruption involved in this appointment.
       • Draco T Bastard 3.3.4.1

         5 April 2013 at 11:49 am

         Yep, they do. And that’s a Stuff online poll so, although unscientific, it’s also leaning to the right, i.e, the people you’d most expect to support JK and National.
     • Dr Terry 3.3.5

       5 April 2013 at 10:47 am

       Power prices irk some people, not many enough as yet however!
4. karol 4

   5 April 2013 at 8:28 am

   The Liberal Conspiracy (which claims to be the most popular left of centre political blog in the UK), has an article reporting on a poll about people’s views on climate change.

   Last week the site Carbon Brief released information on their extensive energy and climate change polling, which you can read about on their site. …

   1. Doubts about climate change aren’t rising …

   2. ‘Belief’ in climate doesn’t mean that much anyway
   One of my favourite charts is from a post-Copenhagen poll that showed that, even among those who said they don’t think global warming has been proven, a majority wanted a reduction in worldwide emissions….
   2. ‘Belief’ in climate doesn’t mean that much anyway
   One of my favourite charts is from a post-Copenhagen poll that showed that, even among those who said they don’t think global warming has been proven, a majority wanted a reduction in worldwide emissions.

   More about the poll on the Carbonbrief website.
5. Tazireviper 5

   5 April 2013 at 9:17 am

   So in 2009 what job was he shoulder tapped for http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10875494
   • BM 5.1

     5 April 2013 at 9:27 am

     That’s what I like about Key, he’s a go getter, bugger the process that’s for dull old people, public servants and Labour party politicians.
     He didn’t get rich sitting around writing stuff in triplicate and filling out a zillion forms, he gets out there and makes it happen.
     • freedom 5.1.1

       5 April 2013 at 9:33 am

       are there any pages left in your Planet Key passport?
     • Murray Olsen 5.1.2

       5 April 2013 at 9:43 am

       Jesus H Christ! Next you’ll be talking about how firm his buttocks are and how flowers grow where his feet touch the earth. You bloody right wingers make me think that you have real daddy issues, thinking that everything can be solved by a man’s man with a firm hand.
     • Te Reo Putake 5.1.3

       5 April 2013 at 10:00 am

       I think I know where BM gets his inspiration from:

       http://listverse.com/2010/05/30/top-10-crazy-facts-about-kim-jong-il/
     • muzza 5.1.4

       5 April 2013 at 10:04 am

       BM – Showing what an online liar looks like.

       One way or another BM, you are lying here!

       BM – Knows little to nothing about Keys career, or how he made his money, other than what he reads on wiki or the herald!

       If he did, then he would know that same system, which made Key *rich*, by stealing, because thats what the banking system is, theft of other peoples lives/futures, BM would understand that same financial systems are taking him, his mates, and his family down too!

       Idiots and liars, are close relatives!
     • North 5.1.5

       5 April 2013 at 10:10 am

       That’s right BM, Key gets out there and makes it happen, and lies and lies and lies and lies.

       Where the hell is your moral compass man ?

       That said I suspect you’re just taking the piss. Even you know Key’s a liar.
     • Draco T Bastard 5.1.6

       5 April 2013 at 10:12 am

       That’s what I like about Key, he acts like a good dictator in helping out the rich and powerful.

       FIFY
     • BM 5.1.7

       5 April 2013 at 10:16 am

       I may have been a bit over the top there, but that is how the public perceive John Key , which is why he gets away with what he does.
       Facts are most people despise politicians, yet Key is still the most liked of all current politicians by a loooong way and that’s because he doesn’t behave like a politician.
       • Pascal's bookie 5.1.7.1

         5 April 2013 at 10:28 am

         Except for the last fortnight when he been politicianing like all get the fuck out.
       • Colonial Weka 5.1.7.2

         5 April 2013 at 11:35 am

         “but that is how the public perceive John Key”

         I’m getting really sick of this meme. Half the country didn’t vote for him or his party. When you say the ‘public’ in this context, what you mean is some people + the MSM.
         • Draco T Bastard 5.1.7.2.1

           5 April 2013 at 11:39 am

           +1
       • Draco T Bastard 5.1.7.3

         5 April 2013 at 11:51 am

         …which is why he gets away with what he does.

         Well, at least BM is willing to admit that JK is getting away with doing questionable stuff and lots of it.
     • Dr Terry 5.1.8

       5 April 2013 at 10:52 am

       BM and Key idolater, please reveal precisely HOW your god went about out there (where?) to make it happen (gross wealth).
     • McFlock 5.1.9

       5 April 2013 at 1:50 pm

       lol

       You could say the same about half the folk in Paremoremo.
       Which is probably where Key should be, if he treated his financial speculations in the way you describe he treats the country today.
     • yeshe 5.1.10

       5 April 2013 at 1:53 pm

       excuse the impertinence, but as I read your posts I keep wondering if your initials stand for ‘bowel movement’ ?
     • QoT 5.1.11

       6 April 2013 at 12:03 pm

       Ah yes. Everyone loves a go-getter who says damn the process … right up until it’s your house being compulsorily acquired or your kids getting expelled or your taxes getting raised or the Police knocking on your door.
6. ianmac 6

   5 April 2013 at 10:02 am

   “Police find vehicle connected to shooting of George Taiaroa .” More news later according to the Dom.
   • ianmac 6.1

     5 April 2013 at 11:33 am

     That was a Stop Press banner on the Dom around 10am. Gone now. No news?
     • Jackal 6.1.1

       5 April 2013 at 2:08 pm

       Breakthrough in roadworker killing case

       Police have made a major breakthrough in the hunt for the killer of George Taiaroa, finding a Jeep Cherokee believed to be central to the case.

       Taiaroa was killed on Tuesday, March 19, while operating a stop-go sign on a one-lane bridge on Tram Rd, Atiamuri, in the south Waikato about 3.10pm.

       It’s understood police know the whereabouts of the blue Jeep.
       • ianmac 6.1.1.1

         5 April 2013 at 3:08 pm

         Thanks Jackal.
7. marty mars 7

   5 April 2013 at 10:32 am

   If you have lived in this country long enough you hear every vile, disgusting comment made against Māori – every low and slimey slur and put-down and even though we have heard it all, it still hurts to hear another.

   http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8513218/Sterilise-smokers-comment-outrage

   We let these people off too lightly – and trying to get out of it by using the ‘joke’ defence is as bad as using the ‘should have thought harder’ defence – they are not a defence they are just useless excuses.

   http://mars2earth.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/comment-about-maori-not-joke.html
   • Pascal's bookie 7.1

     5 April 2013 at 10:41 am

     And stuff’s headline that it was directed at smokers is part of the problem.
     • marty mars 7.1.1

       5 April 2013 at 10:48 am

       yep they changed the headline to take ‘Māori’ out
   • muzza 7.2

     5 April 2013 at 10:42 am

     Hi Marty – These comments are genuine insight into the types which are *in charge* of us, this is what they’re into!

     They get away far too lightly, for many reasons, a couple if core reasons, IMO are.

     1: People are not paying attention

     2: Reality tv, and glossy trash mags/reporting, means that those who are paying attention have become numbed to such comments, because it so *normalised* now.

     The shear hatred these comments reek of, need a seeing to, I agree 100%
     • marty mars 7.2.1

       5 April 2013 at 10:55 am

       Normalised is very true and that is what we have to fight – I will say though that the outrage is there although dissipated by the ‘joke’ excuses.
   • The Al1en 7.3

     5 April 2013 at 11:04 am

     If that’s a joke, just think what he’s like when he’s being serious.
     Dark age stuff.
   • Ennui 7.4

     5 April 2013 at 11:49 am

     Better send that out to the zoological community: “new species of dinosaur discovered, still alive…”…form of raptor methinks looking at the photo.
8. Te Reo Putake 8

   5 April 2013 at 11:01 am

   “Doing research on the Web is like using a library assembled piecemeal by pack rats and vandalized nightly.”

   Roger Ebert.

   Sad to read of Ebert’s death, he was a truly great film critic and, as the article below notes, a real influence on the net commentariat:

   http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/04/03/roger-ebert-movie-critic-cancer-leave-presence
9. Penny Bright 9

   5 April 2013 at 12:20 pm

   5 April 2013

   ‘Open Letter’ / OIA request to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key :

   “How are you ‘inducted / familiarised’ with your statutory duties arising from the Public Records Act 2005?”
   _______________________________________________________________________________

   Prime Minister of New Zealand
   John Key

   Dear Prime Minister,

   Given your previous background at the highest levels of the private sector/ banking and finance corporate world (being the former Head of Derivatives for Merrill Lynch, and a former Foreign Exchange Advisor for the New York Federal Reserve), it may have been your custom and practice to ‘do’ internationally significant deals over dinner or over the phone?

   However, you are now Prime Minister of New Zealand, ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (according to the 2012 Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’, along with Denmark and Finland).

   http://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results

   As New Zealand is ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ – we should arguably be the most ‘transparent’?

   Arguably, the laws, regulations and culture which apply in the private, corporate world – are NOT the same which should and do apply to the public sector, of which you are now in charge, as Prime Minister of New Zealand.

   May I respectfully remind you of the pivotal legislation which covers the public sector / public service, as outlined on the NZ State Services Commission website:

   http://www.ssc.govt.nz/legislation

   Contents
   Title page
   Crown Entities Act 2004
   Human Rights Act 1993
   NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990
   Official Information Act 1982
   Protected Disclosures Act 2000
   Public Finance Act 1989
   Public Records Act 2005
   State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986
   State Sector Act 1988
   ________________________________________________________________________________

   In particular – may I draw your attention specifically to the Public Records Act 2005:

   http://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2005/0040/latest/DLM345536.html

   Part 1
   Purpose, other preliminary provisions, and key administrative provisions
   Subpart 1—Purpose and other preliminary provisions

   3 Purposes of Act

   The purposes of this Act are—
   (a)to provide for the continuation of the repository of public archives called the National Archives with the name Archives New Zealand (Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga); and

   (b)to provide for the role of the Chief Archivist in developing and supporting government recordkeeping, including making independent determinations on the disposal of public records and certain local authority archives; and

   (c)to enable the Government to be held accountable by—
   (i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained; and
   (ii)providing for the preservation of, and public access to, records of long-term value; and

   (d)to enhance public confidence in the integrity of public records and local authority records; and

   (e)to provide an appropriate framework within which public offices and local authorities create and maintain public records and local authority records, as the case may be; and

   (f)through the systematic creation and preservation of public archives and local authority archives, to enhance the accessibility of records that are relevant to the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand and to New Zealanders’ sense of their national identity; and

   (g)to encourage the spirit of partnership and goodwill envisaged by the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi), as provided for by section 7; and

   (h)to support the safekeeping of private records.

   (My underlining)
   _______________________________________________________________________________

   Please provide the following information:

   1) What is / was the process by which you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with this above-mentioned key legislation which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand?

   2) What was / is the role of the NZ State Services Commission, in ensuring that you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with this above-mentioned key legislation, which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand?

   3) What is / was the process by which you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with the above-mentioned Public Records Act 2005, which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand to:

   “enable the Government to be held accountable by—

   (i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained ”

   4) What was / is the role of the NZ State Services Commission, in ensuring that you were ‘inducted / familiarised’ with the above-mentioned Public Records Act 2005, which now covers your statutory duties as the Prime Minister of New Zealand to:

   “enable the Government to be held accountable by—

   (i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained”

   5) How many staff are employed in your ‘Prime Minister’s Department’?

   6) Please confirm that you have staff in your ‘Prime Minister’s Department’, who have the responsibility for ‘diary notes’ / memos / minutes (and the like), of affairs of State, in order to ensure that your above-mentioned statutory duties as Prime Minister of New Zealand, under the Public Records Act 2005, are carried out in a proper way.

   7) Please provide the information which explains why you are relying upon your (proven to be unreliable) memory, for matters such as your role in the appointment of Ian Fletcher as Director of the GCSB, when you have a statutory duty as Prime Minister to:

   “..enable the Government to be held accountable by—
   (i)ensuring that full and accurate records of the affairs of central and local government are created and maintained”

   Yours sincerely,

   Penny Bright

   ‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
   2013 AucklandMayoral Candidate
10. idlegus 10

    5 April 2013 at 12:30 pm

    from now on john key isnt going to answer questions from journalists unless he has time to research an answer. radiolive. 12:15. infact he just said he will ask for it in writing first.
    • Colonial Weka 10.1

      5 April 2013 at 1:05 pm

      Aw, poor Johnny, having to answer difficult questions from journalists.
    • BM 10.2

      5 April 2013 at 1:13 pm

      Isn’t that how Helen Clark operated?
      • idlegus 10.2.1

        5 April 2013 at 1:16 pm

        i have no idea, nor do i care, shes not the prime minister is she.
        • BM 10.2.1.1

          5 April 2013 at 1:20 pm

          Maybe that’s the most effective way to approach the NZ press.
          They always seem to be trying to invent stories and put spin on everything.
          • karol 10.2.1.1.1

            5 April 2013 at 1:38 pm

            Did Clark have written questions submitted to her before she went on RNZ most mornings and answered questions?
          • North 10.2.1.1.2

            5 April 2013 at 2:58 pm

            BM – you kid yourself with your whining that the NZ press invents stories against poor wee Johnny Ambushed etc etc but you kid no one else.

            You just look more and more an idiot. A knucklehead indeed, pissing into the wind.

            It looks like “Johnny Liar” IS getting locked in, as people have been saying it might. That’s why your idol is having a bit of a tanty right now.
      • mickysavage 10.2.2

        5 April 2013 at 1:23 pm

        Isn’t that how Helen Clark operated?

        In that alternative reality known as wingnut land yes, but back here on real earth Helen was legendary for knowing her stuff and answering questions truthfully.
        • BM 10.2.2.1

          5 April 2013 at 1:34 pm

          Wasn’t that the reason she got so pissed at John Campbell regarding the corn gate incident because he altered the questions during the interview and made her look like a bit of a clown because she didn’t have a pre constructed answer.

          Anyway it makes sense to know the questions before hand, especially since every reporter is out there trying to get a scoop and make a name for themselves.
          • McFlock 10.2.2.1.1

            5 April 2013 at 1:55 pm

            No.
            If I recall correctly, it is routine for exclusive interview topics to be identified beforehand, so the interviewee can prepare. I think the corngate one pissed clark off because they were broad with the topic outline (said it would be about nz horticulture or something), and JC leapt almost immediately into a very narrow field of “on this date GM corn escaped” (or whatever).
          • Dv 10.2.2.1.2

            6 April 2013 at 12:13 pm

            One of the problems re corngate was the media (some) confused the difference between 5% rate and difference at a 5% probabilility level.
    • freedom 10.3

      5 April 2013 at 1:19 pm

      is this for real or a late april fools?
      btw, did they ask him about lying to Parliament?
      • idlegus 10.3.1

        5 April 2013 at 1:31 pm

        yes, key said the omission was an answer to a supplementary question (‘i only had 15 seconds to answer!’), not a written first question. so if he was asked it in writing, he could have told the truth. but didnt someone on the standard say that gerry brownlee answered on behalf of john key another question that was certainly written? is john key biding his time to get out the country before any journalist (i wish) digs up that information.

        & yes, not answering questions in parliament, stand ups or to journalists, if we want an honest, factual answer, he will want it in writing first. thats what he said. he even said it as a warning basically. & tv3 have got it in for him.

        john key was being ‘boo hoo me’ & how hard it is being prime minister, up at 6:30am, bed at 12:30am, & do you remember what you had for breakfast last week?
        • freedom 10.3.1.1

          5 April 2013 at 1:48 pm

          yes Brownlee made an answer on the PM’s behalf the following day

          p.s. having all sorts of long delays (up to twenty seconds) accessing The Standard since about 1pm, other sites all ok, anyone else? downforme says it is down for everyone
11. Poission 11

    5 April 2013 at 1:58 pm

    As the email leaks seem to get bigger,(the latest being bigger then Ben hur ie 2million) and this is very interesting as it details who uses offshore tax havens.

    http://www.icij.org/offshore/who-uses-offshore-world

    I cannot see the Minister of Tax evasion,money laundering,and incompetence providing any solutions.Time to close down the laudrymats.

    As an aside one of the journalist is Nicky Hager.
    • ianmac 11.1

      5 April 2013 at 2:32 pm

      Poission: Just read a few summaries. Now I feel ill!
12. just saying 12

    5 April 2013 at 1:58 pm

    Anyone else finding ‘The Standard’ glacially slow just now?
    • mickysavage 12.1

      5 April 2013 at 2:57 pm

      I bet the GCSB is running a connection diversion of the site’s traffic …
    • lprent 12.2

      5 April 2013 at 6:07 pm

      I will have a look at it. But it has been running OK for me when I have been scanning it today. I’m currently having a long awaited beer, listening to the news on natrad, and reading comments on the nexus7 – via the cellphone to the net…

      Hard to test right now.
      • karol 12.2.1

        5 April 2013 at 6:29 pm

        I’ve had problems – especially when I was updating the Fletcher post before 6pm-ish. And I couldn’t get the paragraph formation right on the update – looked correct on the “visual”, then no space between the end of the original post and the update on the post actual.
    • Anne 12.3

      5 April 2013 at 6:24 pm

      Yes! Taking 3 to 5mins to even get into post.
13. freedom 13

    5 April 2013 at 2:15 pm

    I just tuned in for about thirty minutes of the post PM chat on RadioLive

    I quickly considered reaching for the sledgehammer and sacrificing the stereo

    already admitted facts seem so irrelevant to these people
    • idlegus 13.1

      5 April 2013 at 2:26 pm

      i know, its real hard to listen to. also another funny thing in the john key interview, tamaheri mentioned a news scoop that the australians have told ppl to get out of south korea, & tamaheri asked john key what he was going to do, & john key said ‘why? whats happening over there?’. he didnt know about the bird flu news coming out of china also. but who knows, maybe he was lying again.
      • freedom 13.1.1

        5 April 2013 at 2:33 pm

        and touching on the ancient topic of the PM rarely fronting to National Radio and the increasing evidence that Auckland is New Zealand whilst the rest of us are just potential tourists there, I noticed the Station ID

        “This is Auckland’s RadioLive”

        and this is the only station the PM can be said to front to regularly
14. DH 14

    5 April 2013 at 2:26 pm

    This isn’t funny……

    “House prices tipped to rise by 12pc”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=10875502

    An interesting perspective on this is the lost revenue for the Crown. There’s over 400,000 households in Auckland and I assume that each one lives in a house so one expects there’s 400k houses of all types. An increase of 12% in the average price would be about $55k per house. That’s a capital gain of $22billion on 400,000 houses, if gains were taxed it would realise tax of around $5billion. And that’s just from Auckland. Quite staggering numbers really.
15. mickysavage 15

    5 April 2013 at 2:50 pm

    Hey I have found this ideal investment for the Government. The shares are rock solid and are predicted to give between a 6 and 7.7 % yield each year for the next couple of years. The Government can borrow money at less than this and it could make a real killing. If it acquires all of the shares then it does not have to worry about minority shareholders rights.

    Oh wait, we own these fecking things and we are paying merchant bankers huge amounts of money to sell something that we already own to pay down debt that could be paid quicker if we kept control of them.

    Wankers ….

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10875576
    • freedom 15.1

      5 April 2013 at 3:21 pm

      perhaps KiwiSaver will buy the lot
      at least that would be small buoy of positive atop the tsunami of evil
    • karol 15.2

      5 April 2013 at 3:31 pm

      And, as it happens, the promo material is misleading about how risky these shares are. over to Russel Norman:

      The offer document lists risks including the Tiwai Point smelter closing, regulatory changes, and Treaty claims but makes no attempt to quantify these risks or assess their likelihood.

      “National has been pushing Kiwis to invest their savings in Mighty River, so it has a duty to properly inform them of the risks,” said Dr Norman.

      “There is a very real danger that the closure of Tiwai Point, Treaty claims, and reforms by a future government will reduce the value of these shares significantly but National has failed to give potential investors an estimate of the size of those risks.
    • karol 15.3

      5 April 2013 at 5:09 pm

      And someone at the Wall Street Journal isn’t too impressed.
16. marty mars 16

    5 April 2013 at 3:48 pm

    I want to give a big thank you to all The Standard especially karol for getting information and links to this Prime Minister of ours and his lies. More to come I’m sure – thanks again.

    I also want to say to Bryce Edwards that he is really shows some poor judgement in his (very good) article in NZ Politics daily. Every person who has made comment is quoted by him, such as – whaleoil, kiwiblog, John Minto, Julie Fairey, journalists, The Green Party, all good, but I noticed one group of blogger missing, yes everyone except The Standard and the bloggers who have researched and asked very searching questions about the goings on, in fact some new original information that illuminates seems to come up every day. No, no quoting any of those articles – he’d rather put in Pete George Twice!!! That has got to be a WTF moment if ever there was one – but nothing from over here. I pretty disapointed about that.
    • marty mars 16.1

      5 April 2013 at 3:51 pm

      forgot the link

      http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/nz-politics-daily-honesty-bigger-issue-cronyism-ck-138154

      It is a good article except for the bit I mentioned above.
    • xtasy 16.2

      6 April 2013 at 12:46 am

      Bryce Edwards appears to be working on becoming more “mainstream” and more “commonly acceptable” in my eyes. Maybe he has a high paying job here or in Aus on his mind??? There are fewer and fewer journalists and commentators I bother with or even trust. And it is only the Standard, the Daily Blog and a few others that I still bother to read now.
17. Paul 17

    5 April 2013 at 5:04 pm

    Looking forwards to Morrissey’s next entry after listening to Brian Edwards and Michelle Boag’s comments about Ferguson’s appointment on the Bora hour.
18. prism 18

    5 April 2013 at 5:09 pm

    Listening to Michelle Boag always leaves me underwhelmed. She seems sure to say something crass each time. The discussion I heard on Jim Mora was about class in Britain and New Zealand. The latest strata identification in GB was seven, but that’s the way of the world since the year dot she thinks. Nothing new here, or to concern oneself about.

    Her own parents were ‘hard working’ and so she had a good grounding for becoming the idol that she is. This hard working epithet seems a loaded description, there’s a suggestion that they were outstanding and perhaps deserving, because most others weren’t hard working.

    If you become deserving through long hours then the caregivers and low income people working multiple jobs should be due for a decent bonus anytime. The figures show that NZs are working long hours. Just as well the pubs are allowed to open all hours unless there is lots of hoo hah about it. What about rewarding these low-paid hard working people with a Christmas bonus for not being layabouts like most of those beneficiaries under 65, possibly make that 70? And could volunteers doing a minimum period for community and social betterment be included?
    • karol 18.1

      5 April 2013 at 5:21 pm

      They must have been talking about the article Draco posted on a couple of days back, based on a major survay. It was different from previous class levels, like the UK Registrar General’s one, used for official stats.

      The important thing is that it shows “the precariat” has become a significant class of low income struggling people at the bottom of the system.
      • ianmac 18.1.1

        5 April 2013 at 5:25 pm

        Should have put this here rather than on the other topic”
        Dr Brian Edwards on the Panel totally agreed with Michelle Boag that the whole fuss about Mr Key was absolutely ridiculous. Should never have happened. He thinks that the behaviour of John Campbell in his interview with Mr Rennie was a disgrace. There was no story here and John Key should get tough and tell ‘em like it is. It is totally understandable for a very busy PM to forget things. After all both Michelle and Brian forget things so why shouldn’t the PM?

        I think that the issue was really about how Mr Key handled or mis-handled the situation.

        Brian Edwards has been captured by the Dark Side!
      • prism 18.1.2

        5 April 2013 at 5:46 pm

        I think I remember seeing 15% for the significantly poor. And growing under the British Decameron (Thatcher x 10)………
    • xtasy 18.2

      5 April 2013 at 11:25 pm

      Forget “egalitarianism” in NZ, which Boag and Edwards and Mora tried to imply, has existed, and to some degree still exists (withing limits or boundaries). Boag justified that socialist experiments failed, and that there will always be social classes. Edwards accepted he would now be privileged, but came from a more “egalitarian” background. Mora spoke a lot of common drivel.

      In all honesty, there has never been true “egalitarianism” in NZ, although the colonial heritage has provided for a fighting and working mentality of most, if not all, to try to prove they do their best, do survive, or have a right to exist.

      Egalitarianism is something different though.

      We see the farce of this now, where beneficiaries are largely – and actually by wide parts of society (incl. working poor and “middle class”, whatever that means now) SHAMED for not “pulling their weight”!

      Is this “egalitarianism”, or giving all an equal chance to start and succeed?

      NO, I am sorry, dear friends, I think that too many in NZ claim something that is a bit of a farce.

      It is everyone out there for their own “betterment” and “advantages” as they “see fit”, not much of a truly caring society. It never was. The absence of rigid class systems like in Britain and some other countries does NOT mean there never were any classes here. There clearly have been, and stop dreaming fluffy nonsense, thank you.

      Also Maori and Pacifica people, to some degree other new migrants have always been used to do the dirty and undesirable work here, while the “middle class” think they get what they deserve. Look at the many Asians working extra hours now, sometimes on low pay, like Filipinos and Filipinas in supermarkets, elder care and on farms.

      NZers who think they are so “great” should wake up, and in some cases feel ashamed!
19. Morrissey 19

    5 April 2013 at 5:14 pm

    A shameless Government plug masquerades as a news item
    NewstalkZB, Friday 5 April 2013, 8:00 A.M.

    “There is NO DANGER that the prospect of the smelter closing will affect the price for Mighty River Power shares!”

    No, that was not, as you might think, a Government-paid advertisement; it was a chirpy and bright announcement by one Niva Retimanu reading the 8 a.m. “news” on the government mouthpiece NewstalkZB.

    The “news” item that followed that gushing headline consisted of an interview with a very upbeat Brian Gaynor, who amplified the positivity of the advertisement, errr, headline. According to the financial guru, there is nothing but good news to be had from the flogging off of this asset.

    There will have been many—maybe most—listeners to that piece of bright positive “analysis” who will have imagined that Gaynor was a trustworthy and disinterested commentator on this matter. In fact, he is the chairman of Milford Asset Management’s Investment Committee and head of Milford’s portfolio management and investment analysis, and as such stands to trouser some handsome fees from his involvement in the selling off of the publicly owned power company.

    It is difficult to decide which party comes out of this sordid little charade looking shabbier and dodgier. Nobody really expects serious or reliable journalism from NewstalkZB, but surely Gaynor has a reputation to think about; mouthing dishonest platitudes on a notoriously partisan radio station is certainly not going to enhance it.

    Anyone who is interested in complaining about this naked partisanship by NewstalkZB might like to click on the following…
    http://bsa.govt.nz/complaints/formal-complaint
20. BLiP 20

    5 April 2013 at 5:23 pm

    ‘

    Heh!!

    . . . In what is believed to be one of the largest ever leaks of financial data, the Washington, D.C.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has received nearly 30 years of data entries, emails and other confidential details from 10 offshore havens around the world . . .

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/04/03/offshore-data-leak.html

    (Moderation!!!! Is it the new email address? I’ve changed providers)
    • rosy 20.1

      5 April 2013 at 7:15 pm

      Yeah, I spotted that in The Guardian yesterday.

      It has the potential change the face of politics in some countries, currently the premier of Georgia is scrambling. It looks like there’s going to be a coordinated slow release of names.

      The consortium of journalists includes Nicky Hager.
21. RJLC 21

    5 April 2013 at 6:36 pm

    I’ve just watched TV3 News coverage of the funeral of Bruce Hutton, perjurer, fabricator of false evidence, liar and perverter of the course of justice.

    Utterly disgusted and sickened to observe police officers, in dress uniform , attending the funeral “as a mark of respect”.
    • Treetop 21.1

      5 April 2013 at 6:58 pm

      That is what the police do. A neighbour of mine had a brother in law who was an assistant commissioner and the police made an appearance.

      I heard that the Crewe review contains 90,000 pages of evidence and may be released in two months.
    • Morrissey 21.2

      5 April 2013 at 7:45 pm

      Was it as sickening as all those broadcasters and politicians competing to make the most fulsome insincere tribute to “Sir” Paul Holmes a few months back?
    • Treetop 21.3

      8 April 2013 at 1:22 pm

      Crewe inquiry worries after eulogy.

      Hutton retired in 1976, he was the head of the Crewe investigation.

      There was a strong show of police support at the funeral.

      “Former MP and police Inspector Ross Meurant, who was criticised in eulogies, said the review had been undone by Mr Bush’s praise for Mr Hutton.”

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10876061

      What is it that the police do not see that the public sees when it comes to a cartridge case being planted?

      Do you think that the police will attend Clint Rickards funeral and give a eulogy criticising Louise Nicholas? (sorry Louise if you are offended).
22. Morrissey 22

    5 April 2013 at 7:14 pm

    Why don’t we hear more from those eloquent Wellington mandarins?
    “Focus on Politics”, Radio NZ National, Friday 5 April 2013

    I used to think that the people working in the highest echelons of the Wellington civil service were, apart from one or two obvious duds like Christine (Spankin’) Rankin, possessed of superior intellect, impeccable manners and of course an effortlessly superior dress sense. They were seen only occasionally in public, attending symphonic concerts, spectating languidly at cricket tests or race meetings, dining at the most exclusive eateries, and gracing the best and toniest private functions. To this outsider’s untutored eye, these men and their elegant women moved in a rarefied, privileged world, somehow finding the time to read the classics to such a level that they could wittily allude to something from Homer as easily as they could discern whether the wine they had been proffered was worth quaffing. And they could probably speak several languages to boot. In other words they moved on a higher plane than the rest of us mere mortals.

    I’ve just heard State Services Commissioner Ian Rennie speaking at length on National Radio’s superb “Focus on Politics” programme. It is now painfully apparent just why there is a long-established tradition of keeping these mandarins away from the public gaze.

    Here’s an excerpt, taken at random, but entirely representative of everything else he said….

    “We certainly did not have, ahhh um prescience… it was becoming ahhh clear…. there was a need aahhh to change ahhhh, ummmmm, internal structures…. ahhh, ummmm, not just the ahmmmm traditional ahhh ahhh military community ahh, ummmm…”
23. stever 23

    5 April 2013 at 10:15 pm

    This is rather good:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/05/company-profits-welfare-payments-society

    !!!
    • Colonial Viper 23.1

      5 April 2013 at 10:16 pm

      i was just reading that!!!

      Ha-joon Chang – that guy is bloody good.
    • Draco T Bastard 23.2

      5 April 2013 at 11:01 pm

      Simple, direct and sums up perfectly.

      Really, if we actually introduced a free-market profits would disappear over night. Same way that wages are dropping in fact (labour doesn’t get the same protections as businesses).
    • xtasy 23.3

      5 April 2013 at 11:57 pm

      stever: Rather interesting!
24. xtasy 24

    5 April 2013 at 11:09 pm

    Darien Fenton is capable of TIME TRAVEL!

    She is a MONTH ahead of the rest of us, going by the “news” page on the Labour website.

    The most “current” post by her is dated 30 April 2013. I am impressed, does she know the future and whether Shearer will still be leader a month of more ahead???

    http://www.labour.org.nz/news

    http://www.labour.org.nz/node/6334
25. Descendant Of Sssmith 25

    6 April 2013 at 4:27 am

    One of the problems we opined in the mid-80’s was that National got themselves elected by joining the Labour Party.

    See we are not the only ones with the right-wing festooned in the left

    http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/04/05/lies-fraud-and-austerity/

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