Open mike 22/02/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, February 22nd, 2011 - 57 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

Comment on whatever takes your fancy.

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

Step right up to the mike…

57 comments on “Open mike 22/02/2011 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  2. neoleftie 2
    22 February 2011 at 8:40 am

    Mr Key said he was “not going to make excuses” and acknowledged “the matter should have been handled better by everybody, including myself”.

    “The whole thing has been sloppy and frankly the public deserves better.”

    either a very clever strategy or he’s really a ‘boy scout’?

  3. Pascal's bookie 3
    22 February 2011 at 8:47 am

    It’s Presidents’ Day today, there in Americcy, when they celebrate and commemorate their secular gods and ancestor spirits.

    It’s a movable feast, in the style they prefer, with this one falling on the third monday of the second month in each year.

    This date partially relates to the earthly incarnation date of George Washington, the Originator (born on a Feb the 22nd) , and that of Abe Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, (born on a Feb the 12th).

    Abe is of more interest to me today, though I’ll note in passing that these two are the lords undisputed of the pantheon, war gods both, and exemplify all sorts of interesting shit, mythic character wise.

    Abe’s role as patron and Totem of the Grand Old Party has fallen away somewhat, due to reasons of electoral stategy, his essensce has been reduced and somewhat confused with that of Washington. Which is a shame, because they are distinct figures, and Abe is in many ways the more important in my view, which I readily admit, doesn’t count for anything.

    On this day though, and thinking of Wisconsin, this, from Abe’s 2nd ‘State of the Union’ encyclical, (a phrase that is nicely apposite, uncanny, how these things work out):

    “Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and probably always will be, a relation between labor and capital producing mutual benefits.”

    Now obviously, this sounds positively kenyan these days, which is heresy and agin the intent of the founders, but the ancients are not as they are portrayed , quite often.

    But that is not all, oh no that is not all.

    For a longer thing, which I won’t quote, which is still very relevant:

    you could do worse, in trying to understand the US today, than to read Abe’s Cooper Union speech, which regarded the problem a democratic republic has, with a minority that reneges on the deal.

    He’s a god for a reason, and war is the least of it, or rather the unfortunate symptom:

    http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/cooper.htm

    captcha: ‘symbols’, it knows, it knows.

    • Colonial Viper 3.1
      22 February 2011 at 9:11 am

      this sounds positively kenyan these days

      I’d be interested to know more about the links between Lincoln and the African continent 😛

    • Mac1 3.2
      22 February 2011 at 11:36 am

      I was in Manchester three years ago, in the year celebrating 200 years of the abolition of slavery BTW, when I noticed a statue of Abe Lincoln in a cenyral square. Interest piqued, I read the statement on the plinth.

      This recorded a letter sent to Lincoln from a large meeting of the Manchester guilds during the Civil War which encouraged Lincoln in his fight against chattel slavery even though there was huge deprivation in Manchester caused by the North’s blockade of Southern cotton, and his reply.

      Two things stand out. Firstly, the altruistic generosity and grasp of issues by the workers of Manchester, and secondly, the regard with which Lincoln was and still is held.

      Thanks, Pascal’s bookie, for that link and comment.

  4. Todd 4
    22 February 2011 at 9:36 am

    Phil u recently asked David Peter Farrar whether he on-sold the information Kiwiblog has been gathering through their Local Shared Object (SLO) cookie hack. To which DPF answered:

    [DPF: No – no one at all. And I have no idea what an slo cookie is]

    I’m interested to know why the Kiwiblog SLO cookie stopped deploying soon after I mentioned it here:

    http://blog.labour.org.nz/index.php/2011/02/20/farrar-a-loser/

    A post David was actively monitoring. If the KB SLO cookie is innocuous and legal (which it isn’t), they would not have stopped its deployment into visiting computers.

    I’m not saying people shouldn’t visit Kiwiblog, just that you should protect your system from the KB (currently offline 22/02/11) SLO cookie hack beforehand. Here is how I did it:

    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/betterprivacy/

    Unfortunately it is not possible for an addon to get the exact URL’s of the sites that stored those SLO’s.

    I undertook a simple test to see what SLO belonged to David Farrar’s Kiwiblog site:

    1. Install Better Privacy to find SLO cookies.
    2. Backup SLO folder onto external media.
    1. Prevent automatic deletion of trusted SLO using Better Privacy.
    2. Delete unchecked SLO from system by restarting Firefox.
    3. Revisit Kiwiblog and then check SLO cookie list again. Gotcha!

    This test will work for any site deploying SLO. I also purged many of the standard cookies through the Firefox preferences, but this was time consuming.

    I have now changed the settings in Better Privacy so that it informs me when a site installs an SLO cookie onto my computer, I can then decide if I want to prevent automatic deletion. Will keep you posted.

    • Lanthanide 4.1
      22 February 2011 at 9:58 am

      What is a SLO cookie and why should we care about it?

      • joe90 4.1.1
        22 February 2011 at 10:13 am

        Using chrome and when I checked here there was nothing from KB.

      • Todd 4.1.2
        22 February 2011 at 11:18 am

        Local Shared Object cookie (LSO) or .sol can potentially do anything on your computer. It’s mainly used as a tracking device to see where you go on the internet. It is not a normal cookie and cannot be removed through the browser preferences.

        http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/08/you-deleted-your-cookies-think-again/

        All modern browsers now include fine-grained controls to let users decide what cookies to accept and which to get rid of, but Flash cookies are handled differently. These are fixed through a web page on Adobe’s site, where the controls are not easily understood (There is a panel for Global Privacy Settings and another for Website Privacy Settings — the difference is unclear). In fact, the controls are so odd, the page has to tell you that it is the control, not just a tutorial on how to use the control.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Shared_Object

        LSOs can be used by web sites to collect information on how people navigate those web sites even if people believe they have restricted the data collection. More than half of the internet’s top websites use LSOs to track users and store information about them. There is relatively little public awareness of LSOs, and they can usually not be deleted by the cookie privacy controls in a web browser. This may lead a web user to believe a computer is cleared of tracking objects, when it is not.

        Several services even use LSOs as surreptitious data storage to reinstate traditional cookies that a user deleted, a policy called “re-spawning” in homage to video games where adversaries come back to life even after being “killed”. So, even if a user gets rid of a website’s tracking cookie, that cookie’s unique ID will be assigned back to a new cookie again using the Flash data as “backup.” In USA, at least five class-action lawsuits have accused media companies of surreptitiously using Flash cookies.

        In certain countries it is illegal to track users without their knowledge and consent. For example, in the UK, customers must consent to use of cookies/LSOs as defined in the “Guidance on the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003”:

        Cookies or similar devices must not be used unless the subscriber or user of the relevant terminal equipment:

        * is provided with clear and comprehensive information about the purposes of the storage of, or access to, that information; and
        * is given the opportunity to refuse the storage of, or access to, that information.

        http://techtrickz.com/web-browser/4-ways-to-remove-flash-cookie-or-super-cookies-from-your-pc/

    • Deadly_NZ 4.2
      22 February 2011 at 10:45 am

      I never go anywhere with out
      No Script
      Adblock
      Ghostery
      Better Privacy
      Flash Block
      Beef Taco
      Karbon
      Https anywhere

      plus the other stuff that makes life easier and safer lol Paranoid??? Me??? Naaa LOL

      • lprent 4.2.1
        22 February 2011 at 11:13 am

        Https anywhere

        I keep thinking about getting a wildcard certificate (obviously I’m not getting openSSH to make a user generated one and then suffer the inevitable queries from people worried about accepting it). But it seems like a lot of expense for little return – not to mention that I’d have to ramp up the server to handle the server side encryption.

  5. Carol 5
    22 February 2011 at 10:44 am

    Why are the MSM continuing to peddle this boring stuff about the wedding for UK’s royal bludgers? Wasn’t there an online news site poll that showed, even on the rightwing leaning polls, Kiwis really aren’t that interested?

    • Deadly_NZ 5.1
      22 February 2011 at 10:46 am

      Only Smile and Wave he need’s the invite for his CV and Photo Op..

    • the pink postman 5.2
      22 February 2011 at 4:33 pm

      Well Key and his wife will go over to the UK and bob up and down and touch their forelock to their” betters.” Bronwin will curtsey and Key will bow and all this to a couple of priviledged over rich parasites . Members of the most bludging family ever, Here we have the PM of Aotearoa going over to gorge at the taxpayers expenses when his government is about to put thousands of underpriviledged New Zealanders on the scrap heap.
      What makes it worse is that many New Zealanders will endorse all this
      achaic nonsense and even send their own presents. There are certainly more out than in!

  6. Bored 6
    22 February 2011 at 11:38 am

    Kunstler is always good for a snicker on a Tuesday morning. Interspersed with the usual wry and darkly amusing commentary are pearls of wisdom.
    I often rail against the techno salvation lobby for whom “cures” to all “problems” will be solved by an amalgam of human ingenuity and the holy “market” signal, despite an absence of material to utilize in the manufacture of this techno salvation. James take….

    New Technology is the New Jesus. It’s descending from out of the holy ethers to float us across the rivers of Babylon to the New Jerusalem

    Then a couple of classics about what happens after a revolution, and the implications…

    Likewise, the infantile idea that these nations in the throes of revolt will slide from disorder into natural democracy like falafels into a pita pocket.

    If the lands around the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea continue to fall apart politically, you can be sure that something required by the oil markets will get broken over there – whether it is an oil terminal, or a shipping channel, or a royal skull

    Cassandras don’t care much for popularity, they just like to say quietly to themselves “I told you that would happen”.

  7. ianmac 7
    22 February 2011 at 1:06 pm

    Sounds like another serious earthquake in Christchurch!

  8. lprent 8
    22 February 2011 at 2:29 pm

    Scubone acting like his normal pious arsehole self. He twitter linked to this post with:-

    New blog posting, Big quake hits Christchurch – Key blamed

    Someone remind me to seriously look at this little plonker after this. Frankly this little shithead gives Christians a really bad name.

    [lprent: This thread went political – moved from the Quake post to OpenMike. My bad (although I have to say that I’me seriously irritated with scubone) ]

    • kultur 8.1
      22 February 2011 at 2:39 pm

      What the fellow realises and is letting slip in a freudian manner – is that disasters are good for Key. They are vote-getters and photo-ops for him – and they are free of charge. You just watch and see how he manages this – it’ll be all polish and marketing and homilies – and the people of Canterbury will see nothing out of it. He’ll even spin it as an economic boon. Scrubone should be ashamed of itself.

      I feel very sad for the people of Canterbury. Saddest picture of all – a collapsing cathedral. That is an end of an era – i hope it doesnt become a metaphor for what will happen if Key and his cronies retain power.

      Not meaning to take anything away from this disaster folks – but i have this horrible foreboding about the propensity for this Government to hijack public opinion through others misery.

      • Colonial Viper 8.1.1
        22 February 2011 at 2:40 pm

        Now’s not the time mate.

        • Oscar 8.1.1.1
          22 February 2011 at 3:00 pm

          It’s definitely not the time, but the cynical part of me wonders if the government will be glad that the horrendous welfare working group report will be overshadowed by this tragic event.

          I just got a text from a friend saying that they’ve just pulled 10 bodies from a “busdg” in the cbd. Whether it’s a bus or a building, I don’t know, but today will be remembered in our national psyche forever.

          12:51 21/02/2011. Christchurch, you’re in our thoughts.

        • kultur 8.1.1.2
          22 February 2011 at 3:05 pm

          Now is possibly exactly the time CV … these cold fish pragmatists sitting in power have no qualms about it … Earthquakes, Finance Companies and Mining Fatalities. Its not politicking … its just facing in advance – the fact that Key and his cadre of spin doctors will make the most they can out of this. Key should send experts down under his instructions (and he can make capital media wise out of that?) – and then accept their reporting – instead he wants to press the flesh and be snapped and have members of the public and MSM saying “his response was absolutely spot on…” He trades on the sense of fair play of the Left in disaster situations – cynical showman that he is. He’s treating us and canterbury in his calculator like mind right now as an “option” or a “future” …. something to make capital out of … bet he’s phoning crosby textor right now to assess the gains.

          Christchurch needs all our support – and our prayers – what it doesnt need is the Key publicity machine making certain that it ‘garners’ a maximum of polling results. Guess thats the end of Phil being interviewed on State TV in the morning – it’ll be all that “nice man Key” …

          Still – i guess if the public are that dumb they get the politicians they deserve.

          Tragic pics on the TV coming out of the city – absolutely heartbreaking.

          • Colonial Viper 8.1.1.2.1
            22 February 2011 at 3:11 pm

            I know rust never sleeps lads. But first things first.

          • RedLogix 8.1.1.2.2
            22 February 2011 at 3:37 pm

            I’d normally moderate that comment out kultur. But I’m leaving it for several reasons.

            1. In this sort of event people’s perspectives gets skewed and folk are apt to say stuff that on sober reflection they’d realise was ill-judged.

            2. It’s best that other people can see what is wrong here and know why not to repeat the mistake.

            • Inventory2 8.1.1.2.2.1
              22 February 2011 at 3:56 pm

              @ RedLogix; with respect, you’re mistaken. You guys accused John Key yesterday of milking a tragedy. What Kultur has posted is infinitely worse. People are dead and dying in collapsed buildings. Christchurch’s CBD is totalled. The human cost of this is enormous. My daughter is at uni down there; she’s fine, but is frightened like a baby. She will be one of but many.

              Please reconsider, and remove that grossly offensive and factually incorrect post.

              • Jim MacDonald …
                22 February 2011 at 5:07 pm

                Overseas feng shui experts who are friends sent texts and email asking if we are ok. They’ve cast Key’s birthdate/year against the Year of the metal Rabbit and say his aura is dark for NZ (ie he’s jinx).

          • big bruv 8.1.1.2.3
            22 February 2011 at 3:46 pm

            You kultur, are a cunt.

            [lprent: You’re not helping. It has been dealt with and your comment seems designed to be more incendiary than useful. ]

      • Tel 8.1.2
        22 February 2011 at 2:50 pm

        True, now is not the time, but Key is making a visit to CC for no apparent reason, and it only further proves what a reprehensible human being this man is, using tragedy and death as a photo opportunity is as low as it gets.

        • billy fish 8.1.2.1
          22 February 2011 at 3:06 pm

          Please stop saying Now is not the time then carrying on with the comments
          Now is not the time
          cease and desist

        • kriswgtn 8.1.2.2
          22 February 2011 at 3:17 pm

          and he said whatever it takes to rebuild CHCH

          heard that before

        • Tanz 8.1.2.3
          22 February 2011 at 3:51 pm

          Come on, people. The man is the PM of NZ right now. Of course he should go, it’s just the right thing to do. And I’m sure, he would want to go. Credit where credit is due, I’m sure he’ll be of much help.

          Poor old Christchurch, and its residents. Blessings and best thoughts to them.

          • Draco T Bastard 8.1.2.3.1
            22 February 2011 at 5:53 pm

            Of course he should go, it’s just the right thing to do.

            No, really, he shouldn’t. There’s nothing he can do by being there and all he’ll end up doing is using up scarce resources that would have been better used helping the people of Chch.

        • Blighty 8.1.2.4
          22 February 2011 at 4:16 pm

          whatever you may think, such comments at this time allow the left to be tarred with a bad brush. So please keep it to yourself.

          not politic http://www.thefreedictionary.com/politic

    • Deadly_NZ 8.2
      22 February 2011 at 2:44 pm

      More like he gives Humans a bad name.

    • kriswgtn 8.3
      22 February 2011 at 2:48 pm

      What a vile disgusting fukwit

  9. Todd 9
    22 February 2011 at 3:04 pm

    Significant injuries and deaths confirmed in the Christchurch Earth quake. People are reported to be trapped under collapsed building. Most historic buildings have been destroyed. Lyttleton hardest hit.

  10. Colonial Viper 10
    22 February 2011 at 3:28 pm

    Oh as to why Fonterra agreed to freeze their milk prices: it appeared to be a purely political move and now we have confirmation:

    Fonterra has announced it is increasing its forecast payout for the current season by 60 cents per kg of milksolids. The new payout level is $7.90 to $8.00.

    Based on last year’s production figures, this forecast payout would mean Fonterra paying out just over $10 billion to its farmers shareholders.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10707926

  11. The Voice of Reason 11
    22 February 2011 at 4:02 pm

    Small beer, I know, but Stuff are reporting that the Maori Party have just expelled Hone Harawira.

  12. Nadis 12
    22 February 2011 at 7:06 pm

    You cocks damning key for going to Chch are morons blinded by ideology. If he didn’t go you’d bollock him for not going.
    it’s absolutely appropriate that key and goff and there and hopefully coordinating with each other to provide a united front
    They’re not stupid. They’ll be overly concious of not getting in the way. it is appropriae they are used to disseminate information.

    Any one that turns this tragedy into a political point scoring exercise before the bodies are even collected is a cunt and I would not piss on your face if it was on fire.

    [lprent: I will let it through despite the language because it actually makes a point. Ironically the same point I was making about scubone playing politics. ]

    • Draco T Bastard 12.1
      22 February 2011 at 7:45 pm

      Not ideology – just facts. He can’t do anything to help there (he’s not trained) but he will use up resources that would have been better used to help those who actually need it. He, and Goff, could disseminate any information from Wellington or Auckland.

      • Tigger 12.1.1
        22 February 2011 at 8:12 pm

        Actually Nadis, I’m concerned for anyone who chooses to go to a quake zone. What if there is another quake/aftershock that brings stuff down on them. Just saw Key in the middle of the city – whose to say the damn ground won’t open up under him. I question the wisdom of any politician, but especially our PM, heading to a danger zone like this. Not to mention the stress of taking his support services with him (what beds are his secret service taking up?).

        He just appeared on TV, speaking like a reporter and not the PM. Why on earth is he there?

  13. erentz 13
    22 February 2011 at 8:07 pm

    I came here to comment on this earthquake w.r.t. politics (as per lprent’s instructions in the quake thread), but I see there are some very-very angry responses to the few who have commented on this line claiming now is not the time. So when is it going to be ok to start calling out the various manouvers to exploit this tragedy for political gain as a bad thing? I really hope the MSM doesn’t also think they should avoid this. It’s not insensitive if someone shows concern for this now, this kind of thing is a reality, just look to Italy or the USA, just look to the first Canterbury quake, it’s disgusting and it needs to be checked and if you try to censor commentary on the subject on some grounds that it’s insensitive then it really plays into the hands of those who want to exploit it.

    • Colonial Viper 13.1
      22 February 2011 at 8:21 pm

      Whether people like it or not, the political element of this is certainly already in play. Even as rescue operations are underway, many businesses who were staggering after Sept are finished now. More workers will lose their jobs in the next few days.

      The families who have not been able to return to their homes after Sept now have 1000’s more in the same boat.

      I really sincerely hope that Key, Brownlee (once he is back in the country), English and co. can quickly and effectively help Christchurch. They must approve emergency spending and budgets in the next week or two, at the latest.

      NB New emergency powers exist for the Government to use

      Vested in Brownlee, no less. It will pay for all of us to keep our eyes wide open and ensure that this earthquake doesn’t also damage our democracy at the same time.

  14. joe90 14
    22 February 2011 at 8:50 pm

    News about Libya, nine twitters to follow.

  15. Nadis 15
    22 February 2011 at 9:14 pm

    I have to say I am quite astonished by the fact that these buildings in cc have collapsed. Without really understanding the engineering of earthquake design I had always believed the building code in NZ was sufficient to essentially survive even stronger quakes than this. Presumably the shallowness of the epicenter makes the actual force greater than the headline richter number indicates?

  16. Nadis 16
    22 February 2011 at 9:29 pm

    Oh and Erentz. It’s insensitive when its bullshit. When key starts behaving differently to how (say Helen Clarke or phil Goff) would behave then its ok. So far that hasn’t happened. But by all means accuse key of corpse cuddling, I think you’ll find 99% of NZers will think u are a tasteless dick. So go ahead but if I were you I’d wait until at least after the funerals. Just take a deep breath, make a cup of tea and come back to the blogs next week.

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.