Open mike 08/10/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 8th, 2012 - 85 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

85 comments on “Open mike 08/10/2012 ”

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  1. Te Reo Putake 1
    8 October 2012 at 7:23 am

    The Guardian has a story and link to the big US election debate. No, not Obama/Mittens, Bill O’Reilly vs Jon Stewart.

    • ianmac 1.1
      8 October 2012 at 10:55 am

      Crikey Te Reo Putake. You caused me to spend 1:33hrs watching a fascinating encounter. Couldn’t stop watching. Thanks – I think?

    • Te Reo Putake 1.2
      8 October 2012 at 11:27 am

      Cheers, guys, I knew you’d like it, though I figured only CV would have time to watch it during the day 😉

    • Rosie 1.3
      8 October 2012 at 11:58 am

      Yes thanks indeed for that link. Have been looking forward to this debate so thanks for making it easy to access.
      Been a fan of Jon Stewart for many years but its hard to access unless you want to sit in front of a computer of an evening. Have finally sorted some kind of computer sorcery that will allow me to watch on telly from the comfort of the couch.
      Agree with Anne that we need a Jon Stewart in NZ. Or any political satire in fact. I guess theres no room on nz tv these days for politcal satire as “dancing-with-the-celebrity-chefs-whose-got-americas-next-big-ridges-propertymakeover-mykitchensux-theGC-NZ’s-got-idiots have anihilated any smart and funny programming.

      • karol 1.3.1
        8 October 2012 at 12:03 pm

        Rosie: Agree with Anne that we need a Jon Stewart in NZ. Or any political satire in fact.
         
        Bomber’s view on this posted today:

        Sharp political satire that goes that extra mile can rate but few NZ broadcasters have the courage to produce it and the furore NZ on Air received over a child poverty documentary means they are highly unlikely to risk more political pressure by funding something that openly mocks the Government.

        It’ll happen, but it will require a broadcaster with some vision.

         
         

        • Rosie 1.3.1.1
          8 October 2012 at 1:11 pm

          Hey thanks Karol! Good timing. That was a good article. I noted what they said about 7 days. It is irreverent and essentailly not that political but I do watch it. I agree that theres too many dick jokes, especially when that creepy sleezy guy from Taranaki is on it. Ben Hurley I think it is. Some of the humour can be quite demeaning to women at times and that makes me a little uncomfortable. I wasn’t paying attention fully last Friday night but I am sure I heard the host call Shonkey a liar. What ever it was, it was said with serious intent. They haven’t gone that far before and I hope they continue to step up the criticism. The section of the show where they wheel a politician out to answer qustions without saying yes or no is quite funny and often smart.

          • karol 1.3.1.1.1
            8 October 2012 at 3:16 pm

            Rosie, I used to be a fan of the UK and Aus equivalents (Have I Got News for You, and Good News Week).  I tried watching 7 Days a couple of times way back when it started, but but got put off by the juvenile dick-level jokes, and masculine slant.  If they are starting to be more mature and politically critical, maybe  should start watching?

            • Rosie 1.3.1.1.1.1
              8 October 2012 at 4:32 pm

              “…………….maybe should start watching?”
              Hmmm, maybe give it a go if you’ve nothing better to do and can deflect the cringey bits. If you consider shows where there is a panel of comedians participating in a set of games you’ll find 7 days at the other end of the spectrum from say, QI. I just watched a bit of the last episode on TV on demand to see what the host did have to have to say and it was “we’ll be right back with plenty of celebrity and criminal themes and funnily enough John Key fits both those categories”. I think as the mood changes and the public perception of the performance of Key & Co changes they probably will become more critical and the Key govt will provide more comedy fodder for a show such as this.

              It would be fantastic though to see a show fully committed to political satire. The silence is deafening.

  2. freedom 2
    8 October 2012 at 8:13 am

    Petra rules !!!!
    signing off the PM slot today: ” Thank you Prime Minister. Next we speak with a serious Economist”

    • weka 2.1
      8 October 2012 at 11:55 am

      Lol. Did she say that with a straight face?

    • prism 2.2
      8 October 2012 at 11:59 am

      freedom 2
      Don’t leave us in suspense. Who was the Serious Economist?

      • joe90 2.2.1
        8 October 2012 at 12:06 pm

        Who was the Serious Economist?

        This bloke.

        http://nzier.org.nz/user/shamubeeleaqub

        • prism 2.2.1.1
          8 October 2012 at 3:52 pm

          joe90
          Thanks – I had a tingling in my palms but wanted to confirm it. I wonder how Bill Rosenberg would be described? Is this serious enough for you Petra?

          From the CT/U bio – Bill Rosenberg Economist and Director of Policy
          Bill Rosenberg was appointed Economist and Director of Policy at the CTU in May 2009. He holds a B.Com in Economics, a BSc in Mathematics and a PhD in Mathematical Psychology. Bill was previously Deputy Director, University Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Canterbury, a Member of the Institute of Directors, a Commissioner on TEC, and was a member of the Regional Land Transport Committee of Environment Canterbury.

          Bill Rosenberg is widely published on globalisation, trade and e-learning and has been an active trade unionist for 30 years including the Tramways Union and Association of University Staff where he was National President for several years.

          Whereas the spokesperson for the NZ Institute of Economic Research from the right has been practising for 11 years (and mightn’t ever play it right.)
          Shamubeel [Eaqub] holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Management with Honours in Economics from Lincoln University. He has worked as a macro economist in the private sector since 2001, both in New Zealand and Australia. His focus and interest is in analytical frameworks to aid economic forecasting, commentary and incisive research into topical areas of economics.

          Incidentally the bio on Wikipedia of the USA William Rosenberg is an indication of how someone with chutzpah could get on there. (Thought – Peter Jackson also has chutzpah. Maybe we should be encouraging chutzpah!)
          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rosenberg
          He was forced to leave school to help support his family in the Great Depression. At 17 he started selling ice cream and at 21 became the Branch Manager.
          He became Union Delegate at Bethlehem Steel Works in World War 2 and eventually Contract Co-Ordinator.
          After that he borrowed some money to add to his own and started a business of mobile industrial catering. Soon he had 140 trucks. But he noticed that 40% of turnover came from coffee and doughnuts so he started Dunkin Donuts which he then franchised after opening six shops. There are now five thousand outlets.
          In 1960, he founded the International Franchise Association.
          We need more William Rosenbergs I think.

          • mike e 2.2.1.1.1
            8 October 2012 at 10:41 pm

            Shamubeel Eaqub is what you call a bank economist only puts forward ideas that benefit vested interests!
            Any ideas that are outside those vested interests these bank economists become propaganda experts rubbishing those ideas with scare tactics.
            Ganesh Nana is an economist not a bank economist he says we are getting screwed over by the devaluing economies!

      • freedom 2.2.2
        8 October 2012 at 12:11 pm

        Prism: some NZIER mouthpiece.
        weka: straightface but i suspect once dear Petra realised what was said the smile dropped somewhat.

  3. marsman 3
    8 October 2012 at 8:18 am

    Hollywood movie director James Cameron on RNZ news yesterday touting for more NZ taxpayer hand-outs for him and his Holywood mates. Instead of enriching the already rich even more and further backing the production of Hollywood crap we should be putting that money into our own movies, our own arts, our hospitals, our railway, our children. James Cameron you should be ashamed of yourself, greedy rich prick.

    • Tiger Mountain 3.1
      8 October 2012 at 8:36 am

      Agree marsman. An intervention on behalf of yank studio bosses from a usually “hands off” prime minister.

      Sell socially profitable assets built over generations–fine, send kiwi rail workers down the road and buy dodgy imported rolling stock–fine. Gut the public service–fine. “Not ruling it in, or ruling it out” is ShonKey’s regular weasel line, he has certainly ruled in more taxpayer assistance for the bloated studios and Lord Jackson.

    • tc 3.2
      8 October 2012 at 8:38 am

      Cameron is an experienced producer/director and knows how to follow the money trail, you can’t blame him he’s just following johnnylocks’ trail of taxpayer money crumbs.

      Beware the diversions kids…..sparkles has come back with his masters script and rehearsed lines to play the red herring while they plunder more assets.

      Tiwai and Norske skog should be front and centre, job losses and smashes the wholesale power market.

    • deuto 3.3
      8 October 2012 at 12:23 pm

      But what game is Cameron really playing?

      I just posted (on Karol’s Hollywood Rules post here) a link to a post by Gordon Campbell on Scoop this morning in which he quotes a Guardian article revealing that Cameron has recently been in China pursuing more US-Chinese co-productions.

      http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2012/10/08/gordon-campbell-on-the-chinese-shadow-over-john-keys-trip-to-hollywood/

      Campbell’s post is well worth reading as it explores the possible ramifications for the film industry here – and also raises the TPPA question.

  5. joe90 5
    8 October 2012 at 10:04 am

    Having trouble…no worries….we’ll change the rules.

    Education Secretary Ron Tomalis’ change, made without federal approval, might have skewed the results of the 2011-12 PSSA scores to make it appear charter schools were outperforming traditional public schools, according to a Morning Call review of publicly available test score data.

  6. AsleepWhileWalking 6
    8 October 2012 at 10:26 am

    Front page commentary on the US election…run up! Good God is there NOTHING else we can report on? Anything!? Please send us a natural disaster…or let Hekia speak again.

    What proportion of New Zealander’s care deeply, if at all, about some aging reptilian overlords fighting a highly manipulative PR war with the blindfolded public over an aging and soon to be ex-superpower? Their nation clearly suffers from a misplaced sense of patriotism….is is absolutely necessary that their pathetic puppet politicians are inflicted upon a NZ public, or is this preparation for who has real influence over us with the signing away of our sovereignty that comes with the TPPA?

  7. Pete 7
    8 October 2012 at 10:43 am

    This American Life on Quantitive Easing: Weekend at Bernanke’s

    Though the name of the Federal Reserve includes the word “federal,” it’s not actually part of the government. It’s an independent institution tasked with something very simple, but very huge: Creating money out of thin air. And during this last financial crisis, the leaders of the Fed did things that they would never have considered doing in the past. Alex Blumberg and David Kestenbaum report on what the Fed usually does, and how, since 2008, it’s taken a trip to what amounts to Fed Crazytown. (26 minutes)

  8. prism 8
    8 October 2012 at 11:14 am

    Gisborne people are fighting to keep their rail access. They make good points. Kiwirail is too scared to persevere with this practical infrastructure that is needed by this region isolated from the main transport lines.

    The government should be putting funds into infrastructure like this as well as improving the roads. But they are a comedy team, with the boss for entertainment jobs like a theatrical agent, and any effort to look seriously at our economy and unglamorous and permanent jobs in the rural fastness of the country is called ‘voodoo economics’.

    By the way Steven Joyce says he knows all about the exchange rate and exporting as he has been an exporter. Does anyone know in what? He has been in tourism, but that’s all I could see that could qualify from his bio. By the way he lives in Albany so that new northern motorway will be a boon for him while getting to the airport. Or does he have his own jet, yet?

  9. Logie97 9
    8 October 2012 at 11:22 am

    Our experts.
    John Key is apparently becoming a clinical psychologist as every solution suggested is termed “Loony” or “Wacky”. (Acshly, to his credit, more than single syllable words.)

    And then there is Tina there-is-no-alternative Joyce.

    Here’s one for both of them. Reinstate the tax levels to the 2008 state and also tax the multinationals before they ship their monies offshore.

    Here’s another “Loony” one for starters. Given that the evil of fast-food hamburgers is with us for some time, why not have a government funded and run chain of hamburger joints modelled on McDonalds. Ultimately have PPP franchises to New Zealanders. That way, all the profit remains in New Zealand.

    • millsy 9.1
      8 October 2012 at 8:07 pm

      Government burgers? No thank you. Im not that left wing. Believer in the common ownership of production distrubution and exchange as I may be, I am no more keen on government run takeaway shops as someome like Farrar is.

      Though, a co-operative farmer and grower owned fast food chain (perhaps collectively owned by Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, Inghams and the like), , or even a Maori owned hangi takeaway chain, sounds like a good idea.

  10. prism 10
    8 October 2012 at 11:41 am

    So how did this heading for RW Aotearoa page get featured in the Comments listings after
    Colonial Viper on Govt defends tax haven?

    Russell Norman Channels His Inner Mugabe, The Left Wing Bloggosphere Goes Agog and Reason Leaves the Building. So what is QE and Why Is It Destroying The Global Economy? ÂŤ Aotearoa: A Wider Perspective on Greens call for new tools, QE to save jobs

    • karol 10.1
      8 October 2012 at 11:48 am

      prism, as far as I can see it’s a link from that site, listed at the bottom of the Green QE post.

      • prism 10.1.1
        8 October 2012 at 12:06 pm

        karol
        Thanks – weird to see though interesting seeing the firepower on Aotearoa being manned to shoot down any new economic forays. Can’t disturb the present system that suits so many suits so can’t tear through the Ideological Curtain (like the Iron Curtain but with a Right Wing design this time).

  11. Logie97 11
    8 October 2012 at 11:47 am

    Food in Schools
    So KidsCan are pleased that the government has seen that there is an alternative. (Wonder how Tina Joyce feels about that.)

    However, a close look at just what the well-meaning Kids-Can actually provides for schools should be made before the government climbs on board. From what we saw on Campbell Live, it is snack food and lunch-box fillers – not wholesome food.

    • Jokerman 11.1
      8 October 2012 at 6:50 pm

      Suspend the Middle Classes (they are in detention anyway) that they might share their play-lunch
      money.
      (i have said it before, that Canterbury V.C is an unhelpful man; cross me)

    • millsy 11.2
      8 October 2012 at 8:15 pm

      I dont know why the prospect of food in schools make people cringe? I see it as an extension to other popular social programs in our education system: the school dental service, eye and hearing tests, MMR vaccinations (remember lining up and getting them back in ’92), school nurses and the now defunct milk in schools program (though those who benefited from all tend to bitch and moan about how sour the milk was, or how the milk monitors were little Hitlers).

      Though I would keep KidsCan out of it, better to have the schools do it themselves.

  12. Enough is Enough 12
    8 October 2012 at 12:18 pm

    JT essentially confirmed he is running for 2014.

    Will he get Waitakare?

    • Anne 12.1
      8 October 2012 at 12:55 pm

      I think its unlikely. Carmel Sepuloni is hugely popular out West.

      Tamihere’s claim on Q&A that Waitakere is a safe Labour seat and Labour should have won it just isn’t true any more. The demographics of the electorate have altered since the last boundary changes. Carmel did extremely well to come within 9 votes of winning the seat. Indeed if Labour wasn’t so cash-strapped and had been able to afford a judicial recount, then I’m picking she would have won the seat.

      I heard that a number of Polynesian votes were not counted on the grounds they were incorrectly cast or their intention was (supposedly) unclear. From past experiences, there was a strong chance many of them would have been accepted at a recount.

      • prism 12.1.1
        8 October 2012 at 1:07 pm

        Anne
        I can imagine that some people keen to cast their vote might put a line or a cross over whom they didn’t want, to make it clear that the one they ticked got in.

        And of course that is not following the instructions. Possibly some people can’t read too well and though there’s an example shown with the tick only, the importance of that may not have registered.

        • Anne 12.1.1.1
          8 October 2012 at 3:12 pm

          Yes prism that is the sort of thing that goes on – especially amongst our immigrant population.

          I heard about a large Polynesian family in the Waitakere electorate who were so keen to vote for Carmel they went and voted as soon as the polling booths opened. Later that day they went to another polling booth and voted again because they thought they had done it wrong the first time and their votes wouldn’t be counted. They ended up having none of their votes counted of course. I understand their first votes would have been counted, so if they hadn’t voted again Carmel would probably be the MP for Waitakere.

          • prism 12.1.1.1.1
            8 October 2012 at 3:20 pm

            Anne
            What a pity. I would have thought that one of their votes would have been accepted. It isn’t a case that it can be assumed that illegality is intended.

            • Anne 12.1.1.1.1.1
              8 October 2012 at 5:26 pm

              Well I guess the view was… the law is the law. No matter the law is an ass sometimes, if you vote twice you’re gone – end of story. That’s the sort of thing a judicial recount can – and often does – overturn. But its something that can never be guaranteed so I understand why Labour (and Carmel) felt they couldn’t take the risk.

              In my view it’s wrong that some political parties and their candidates can’t get electoral justice because they lack the money, while others (namely the Nats) can do so whenever they choose. Hardly a level playing field.

    • Jenny 12.2
      8 October 2012 at 7:59 pm

      Will he get….? For John Tamihere to get anything from Labour would be clear signal to voters that Labour don’t want to govern.

      • mickysavage 12.2.1
        8 October 2012 at 8:29 pm

        There would be a rebellion out west if head office went for Tamihere.  The locals support Carmel and do not like Tamihere.  With one interview he managed to write off the support of women and gays.  God knows hoe much damage he could cause if he really tried.

  13. prism 13
    8 October 2012 at 12:26 pm

    Yesterday or Friday? on Radionz there was a discussion on the Novopay new electronic program that is paying teachers salaries. So many stuff ups. One teacher had to hang on for two hours to reach someone at a call desk, the accent was hard to understand, when it was understood the desk person didn’t know what they were talking about. Double fudge.

    Incidentally the word is that Novopay hadn’t fixed all the bugs, knew it wasn’t ready to fly, but the MOE (Ministry of Exclamation, Expiration, Expiation, Excitation, Education, Effectuation, Elimination, Vexation – dunno, one of those) insisted on it being released – perhaps they thought they would use it as a beta model.

    Not so good when you’ve got accounts to pay and food to buy and transport or car registration or children’s needs or the electricity. Perhaps people like leading Light in the MOE getting over $500,000 p.a. (not over her lifetime) don’t worry about these. Just set up a direct debit and suck it out you tradespeople. No worries.

    • prism 13.1
      8 October 2012 at 12:58 pm

      Missed out Ministry of Evacuation – that’s meaningful in a number of ways after the Christchurch
      announcements about possible closures – Ministry of Expose, Exposure. They feel out in the cold down there.

    • millsy 13.2
      8 October 2012 at 8:27 pm

      MOE should take payroll in-house. It is the obession with outsourcing that leads to things like this.

  14. Jackal 14
    8 October 2012 at 12:40 pm

    Nick Smith out of the dog box?

    Let’s be perfectly clear, Smith resigned to avoid an investigation into the extent of his corruption. Without an investigation, Smith can never be exonerated, which should mean he never again returns to a position within cabinet…

    • mike e 14.1
      8 October 2012 at 10:25 pm

      Ol’Lizard eyes is on the way back scum will always float to the top!
      Slithering his way back into the snake pit Nationals caucus!

  16. Jokerman 16
    8 October 2012 at 2:09 pm

    Feed Your Head
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HmJQyS8QVw

    Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. To the Romans 14:22

    -the Cheshire Cat 🙂
    ()

  17. freedom 17
    8 October 2012 at 2:09 pm

    As it is now clear the LA dinner was not a quiet social event with a few studio heads perhaps Peter Jackson would like to share the full message that was shown to all and sundry?

    • Draco T Bastard 18.1
      8 October 2012 at 5:19 pm

      Yeah, saw that on WSJ which is pretty much just rant on just how evil Chavez is.

    • mickysavage 18.2
      8 October 2012 at 8:33 pm

      Yep anyone who pisses of Wall Street, the right wing MSM and the oil industry at the same time while feeding the poor is doing alright …

    • millsy 18.3
      8 October 2012 at 8:33 pm

      Yeah, didnt think Chavez would make it across the line this time, but he did. The Bolivarian Revolution is safe — for now. Though the guy needs to start realising that he is not immortal and needs to start planning for the future, ie sorting out a successor.

      • Draco T Bastard 18.3.1
        8 October 2012 at 11:38 pm

        Not a successor but more democracy and he seems to be doing that. From the WSJ link:

        Mr. ChĂĄvez, who will have been in power for 20 years by the next election, has vowed to give more power to grass-roots community councils to carry out social programs with state money. Critics say that would undermine democratically elected mayors across the country.

        The rich are getting pissed off that their system of dictatorship is being undermined.

    • joe90 18.4
      9 October 2012 at 1:40 am

      The poor wee things # Capriles aren’t happy.

      Melissa Rock ♡ ‏@MeowwItsMelissa
      I’m starting to believe there’s no morals in this world at all. How can Chavez win when it’s evident 99.9% of the country voted Capriles?!

      • Draco T Bastard 18.4.1
        9 October 2012 at 2:19 am

        Kinda sad looking at all the Caprilles supporters crying fraud. From what I’ve read most of the polls leading up to the election had Chavez winning and only one with Caprilles. There’s fraud alright but it isn’t from the Chavez camp.

  19. Jokerman 19
    8 October 2012 at 7:07 pm

    Dunne-“legitimate to avoid taxes” Done!
    Slippery-” well from my university days” ($180 annual tuition fees that Mum saved)”there is tax evasion and then there is tax avoidance” ????

    He Wept. (NAct supporters caudally lured by hemipenes)

    Little Conversations
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNC5H-3gCUs&noredirect=1

    “Shekinah”

    🙂

    (Bolt that Gatorade down: NOT)

  20. joe90 20
    8 October 2012 at 7:36 pm

    Will we really have to endure a full blown depression and a major conflict?.

    http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/oct/02/our-crisis-bad-jobs/

  21. ianmac 21
    8 October 2012 at 8:42 pm

    At this moment 8:40 John Ansell is getting a hearing on Native Affairs Maori TV

  22. captain hook 22
    8 October 2012 at 9:00 pm

    the only people making anything in NZ are the National Party gang making a killing out of their share parcels when they sell the states assets that they thieved from the legitimate owners..

  23. Beryl_Streep 23
    8 October 2012 at 9:35 pm

    Lprent, are you looking into the issue of the “too many redirects” issue that your Chrome readers are experiencing? There are plenty of examples scattered around the threads and comments. I like reading your site but I’m getting a bit tired of having to launch IE just to read it.

    This is the error that a lot of Chrome users are experiencing when accessing your site. Please have a go at sorting it out as Chrome is one of the most widely used browsers and you’re losing out on viewer stats by having this happen…

    http://i.imgur.com/xd9me.png

    • mike e 23.1
      8 October 2012 at 10:20 pm

      Sheryl bleep you are not the only one that’s having problems I use fire fox and msn its the standards server its always having teething problems.
      You just have to be patient it takes lots of money and or time to keep a sever functioning optimally!

      • Draco T Bastard 23.1.1
        8 October 2012 at 11:41 pm

        I use Firefox and have very few issues with this site.

        @ Beryl
        The general advice that I’ve been able to determine so far is to reinstall Chrome as it seems to be Chrome that’s having the problem.

      • lprent 23.1.2
        9 October 2012 at 8:34 am

        That is likely to be the posting problem. New or edited posts cause a hell of a load on the primary server because it informs damn near everyone that a post has been posted or live edited. It meant that there was a flood of requests at the primary server for everything from search engines to RSS feeds. Shows up as a server unavailable error to readers and as a major spike in queries and CPU.

        I moved the SEO system from event driven to periodic last week and that seems to have helped by time offsetting of the server.

        This week or next, I am going to move the RSS to feedburner and remove direct RSS feeds from the main server. It will redirect automatically once I have it running. And before anyone asks, I know about the feedburner API change and that isn’t really an issue. We currently don’t count RSS in page stats. And I haven’t seen any other RSS sevice that is comparable. It also means that we can start looking at RSS more closely on analytics.

    • lprent 23.2
      9 October 2012 at 8:19 am

      I wasn’t aware that it was still an issue.

      Clear the cookies for the site on your Chrome. I had it show on one machine once (I use Chrome as my default browser across 4 systems). When I was tracking it, it would disappear as soon as some or all of the cookies for the site were cleared. You can either ean all of your cookies, just the ones for the site, or down to individual ones. I will link to pages for the latter when I get off the pad if I aren’t beaten to it.

      After repeated restores and testing last week, it appears to have been one of a group of cookies set by chrome for the site caching by google on chrome rather than anything put out by the site – which explains why it only showed on chrome. It also expired during testing, so I presumed it had a finite lifetime and would eventually clean itself up.

      BTW: I ran comparisions of weekly code snapshots backups. There were no changes in any cookie management for the last month in the sites code. I love diffzilla on slickedit.

  24. captain hook 24
    8 October 2012 at 11:43 pm

    I have chrome and its never given me any problems here at all.

  26. Draco T Bastard 26
    9 October 2012 at 12:01 am

    “Spin me a brain exchange”, said Dear Leader!

    I offer this salient piece of advice to Dear Leader and the National Party; if we expect commitment from New Zealanders – then, as a nation, we must show commitment to our young folk, and to each other.

    That involves old fashioned concepts and values such as pride in our country. Not just our flag or rugby team or latest successful movie by Peter Jackson – but pride in a nation that invests in each citizen with universal, free education; food in schools programmes; decent housing; comprehensive free healthcare for our young people; fair wages sufficient to raise a family on; everyone paying their taxes (no exceptions for capital gains, sorry), and ensuring that no one is left behind.

    • Colonial Viper 26.1
      9 October 2012 at 12:34 am

      Damn good stuff. I can see Shearer pushing these exact lines later this week.

    • ianmac 26.2
      9 October 2012 at 10:45 am

      A simple philosophy but extremely valid for us all. If David Shearer could get passionate about this and spark a following then….

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