Open mike 22/05/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 22nd, 2012 - 116 comments
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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…

116 comments on “Open mike 22/05/2012 ”

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  1. Bored 1
    22 May 2012 at 7:45 am

    2012 Premier RWNJ Darwin Award…Crimpie for “Have you ever had sex against a tree”?

    • Hateatea 1.1
      22 May 2012 at 7:50 am

      That was so gratuitously awful. What would make anyone think that was an okay thing to ask, let alone while there were cameras around?

      • Bored 1.1.1
        22 May 2012 at 7:53 am

        In the immortal words of Harold Steptoe, “You dirty old man!”

        • Hateatea 1.1.1.1
          22 May 2012 at 7:55 am

          LOL

          • Tigger 1.1.1.1.1
            22 May 2012 at 8:19 am

            Are we sure this man is in his right mind? Happy to sling mud at racists, not at someone who looks to me like he needs help.

            • Bored 1.1.1.1.1.1
              22 May 2012 at 8:30 am

              That thought had passed my mind: he guy is definitely a fruit loop. Suppose the question is how long has he been like this, is it dementia or a similar age related thing? Sad really.

              • Carol …
                22 May 2012 at 8:34 am

                Looked like dementia to me, because he was so slow in replying to questions. It took him a while to formulate answers and seemed like he was dredging up memories of what he has thought in the past.

    • vto 1.2
      22 May 2012 at 9:43 am

      Well Louis Crimp is clearly an ignorant pig of a man with shallowness in spades. In fact he sounds like he lives in a shallow mud estuary, all clogged as he is.

      But he expresses a background view which I frequently bring up around here. He clearly does not appreciate that there are two separate sets of rules for two types of people in New Zealand – Maori and non-Maori. This has led him to resentment and anger, which of course has led straight to the hatred that he has been subjected to and the hatred that he expresses.

      Two separate sets of rules are not sustainable. This should be patently obvious in most every community on the planet – white, pink, red, yellow, muslim, christian, spots and stripes. But we stick our heads in the sand here and think that it is somehow different down here. But it is not. We are no different we kiwis to any other people on the globe.

      Two separate sets of rules may be appropriate for a period of time (perhaps another generation or two) to assist in righting past wrongs and I don’t think most NZers have a problem with putting things back to a balance. But as a form of permanent setting it is completely and utterly flawed – and it leads directly to the some of the attitudes expressed by ignorant Crimp. It is a dangerous situation.

      However, I see no person in the particular Maori-nonMaori circles in New Zealand talking about this situation. Some honesty needs to be brought to this (very particular) issue.

      • Pascal's bookie 1.2.1
        22 May 2012 at 10:20 am

        What two sets of rules?

        If you are talking about the treaty, then I’m not sure what can be done, or why it’s so terrible.

        One thing’s fer sure tho, you won’t be able to renegotiate the treaty relationship into something else before Maori feel that the Treaty has been honoured.

        And blathering on about how unfair the deal we signed up to is, won’t go far in getting the feeling felt.

        • vto 1.2.1.1
          22 May 2012 at 11:51 am

          You miss my point P’s b. It is about having two systems for two peoples in one land – and based on birthright. Just doesn’t work. The point is simple.

          And in that context the treaty is also flawed in its structure. I didn’t say it is so terrible – I say its structure is flawed. It needs amending to fit a world that is entirely different from that which existed in 1830s NZ.

        • Fortran 1.2.1.2
          22 May 2012 at 2:17 pm

          What will happen when we become a Republic, and get rid of the Monarchy, (soon) to the Treaty as there will be no Crown to honour it.

          • Pascal's bookie 1.2.1.2.1
            22 May 2012 at 4:13 pm

            It doesn’t seem to raise too many issues I would think. The ‘crown’ in NZ is parliament.

            Assuming we become a republic via act of parliament, then we are doing so via the treaty, through which parliament gained its right to govern.

            If we become a republic via revultion, things might be different, but I don’t think that’s likely.

            • TheContrarian 1.2.1.2.1.1
              22 May 2012 at 4:22 pm

              I have the feeling part of us becoming a republic would be honouring the treaty as a contract between Iwi’s and the government. Monarchy or no monarchy.

      • ad 1.2.2
        22 May 2012 at 11:03 am

        I have plenty of friends and in-laws of the older persuasion further south than say Blenheim who when you mention matters Maori have a quick red veil cover their minds and all else following is non-repressed rage. I love them but that part of them disgusts me.

        That idea of all settlements complete by 2014 sticks in them like a nationally redemptive moment that they refuse to believe will ever happen. It’s just deep and hard in them, and often they don’t know which way they will vote until they get to the polls.

      • Augustus 1.2.3
        22 May 2012 at 11:36 am

        I have much more of a problem with having one set of rules for the economically disadvantaged and another (or rather none) for those who aren’t.

        • vto 1.2.3.1
          22 May 2012 at 11:52 am

          Of course Augustus, exact same thing and principles apply.

          Keep applying those principles across all and see what the outcome is

          • Bored 1.2.3.1.1
            22 May 2012 at 12:16 pm

            VTO, it is brave of you to bring up the issue. That you feel a need to is healthy because like you I think it needs debate, keeping it under covers will never resolve it.

            I have some real concerns touched upon by people above: the biggest is that I do not believe exclusive societies are healthy. For example access to services based upon ability to pay (the ACT way of doing things) or whanau ora (as opposed to universal delivery of welfare etc). There may be merit in some exclusivity but generally I believe it will lead to discord.

            Which is why we need to keep the debate live and in the open, even when we disagree.

          • Uturn 1.2.3.1.2
            22 May 2012 at 1:14 pm

            VTO as I understand it, the treaty was not about one rule for all. So there is a problem with you thinking there should be i.e. you are ignoring an existing treaty simply because it does not support your contention.

            All people of the world are not all the same, not personally, not culturally. The similar points are we all eat, sleep, shit, love, etc. One of the things that has steered you wrong in thinking there can be one rule for all is forgetting that many cultures do not recognise time and reality as we (pakeha) do. In certain cultures the dead never leave, events are not resolved until certain other acts are achieved and there is no “world that is entirely different from that which existed in 1830s…”.

            To have states within a nation is not unusual. To have multiple cultures within a nation is not unusual. Why do we need one rule for all if relative harmony can be achieved by making sure all have basic needs met and that a dominant party cannot not interfere with others needs? Is it necessary for me to able to wander freely across another person’s land, insult his local arrangements with immunity just so I can feel like I can do anything I want? Perhaps you can give a detailed expression of why you want one rule for all.

            The point about “birth right” I assume refers to maori specifically. As you know maori have got the short end of the stick from their “treaty partners” for some time. Just as a natural resource is not created by the man who mines it, and just as the natural resource will be changed but still exist (hopefully) after he dies, the prejudices and crimes of the past have twisted the “birth right” of maori in NZ. This is the basis for things like affirmative action, or in NZ, the idea that a certain amount of students should be maori at universities, for example. It is an acknowledgement that the losses of the past influence the future and that if pakeha hadn’t betrayed their words (yes that is underestimating what was done) maori would be in a better position today. If we refused to teach the next generation to read, just closed schools for ten years, do you think that would effect society? And when we opened them again, would we condemn the new underclass for not pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and educating themselves? Would that be fair, do you think? Just? Moral?

            Let me give you an example. You come from a family with long running cultural and community connections. There is a war, your family is killed, your culture is dominated by the foreign invader and the world as you know it changes overnight. Most of the time you simply move food to mouth, but have no idea who you are anymore because everything you hold dear, your ability to understand the world and reason you own identity, is rejected by the people around you. Symptoms of your distress are masked or emphasised depending ont he environment. After a while, the struggle becomes the new identity, and you are condemned for it. The struggle identity even encourages you to attack your own people. Your children react to your problems and compensate and extend them to their families. For the next 150 years, your family struggles to adapt. Tell me, if you had not been invaded, would these things have happened naturally? Now, if that same oppressor comes along and wants to right his forefathers crimes, where should he start? From today, discarding the past, or in discussion with you, including the past, from your point of view?

            If an oppressor was not foreign, if they shared the same culture as you, but were simply from another village, would that excuse and lessen the actions of a foreign oppressor that dominated all? No, because if any reparations were later made, the language and terms would be under the same culture. Understanding would be possible between the two parties. Even a prisoner of war, later made to be a slave, still within his own culture, will know his place. But an outcast in a foreign enforced culture experiences major psychological trauma.

            VTO, you cannot go into this discussion thinking that everyone thinks like you or begin with a conclusion and work backwards to an enforced rule. Do it that way and you simply repeat the political hostilities metered out to maori, and others, and expose the intent of making your own life easy, at the cost of others, by trying to claim the problem does not exist.

            • Sam Hall 1.2.3.1.2.1
              22 May 2012 at 7:17 pm

              Hello. The two books about The Tao have been “found”. Had them by my bed for a while. Reread your post. Belief that the journey has recommenced pace. Imagine posts will change now. Only started posting anywhere on NZ Herald last week. Once begun, Worth guiding others?

            • Sam Hall 1.2.3.1.2.2
              22 May 2012 at 7:34 pm

              I think I stuffed up my post. The Two Tao books were found today.Onwards and upwards. Worth in guiding others? Imagine posts will change. Thankyou

        • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1.2.3.2
          22 May 2012 at 2:14 pm

          So, you are against a progressive tax system then, Augustus?

      • Hateatea 1.2.4
        22 May 2012 at 5:36 pm

        The original premise of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, as sold to the chiefs, was that the chiefs would manage what was theirs (pretty much everything), according to tikanga māori and the tāngata tiriti (settlers) would make laws to manage their people. At the time there was great concern about the drunkenness and lawlessness of some of the sailors etc who were causing difficulties in and around Kororareka.
         
        That is where the debate around the words ‘kawanatanga’ = governance and tino rangatiratanga = chiefly authority or sovereignty come in. Whether by accident, misunderstanding or deliberate misuse, most of the early Treaty difference begins there. That so many do not actually know (or care) about these and other fundamental differences in what was promised and what the settler governments presumed / assumed to be their rights, is sad after so many years of genuine efforts to educate more widely about Te Tiriti.

    • Janice 1.3
      22 May 2012 at 11:29 am

      Was he instrumental in getting Hilary Calvert on the ACT list?

  2. Carol 2
    22 May 2012 at 7:58 am

    So Dunking Garner quit the Nation over “disagreements” with the producer – ongoing, but in the final instance it was about how to interview Hekia Parata. Given Garner always seemed like a National Government shill, I’d like to know more of the content of these disagreements.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10807392

    TV3 political editor Duncan Garner has walked out of weekend news show The Nation over a dispute with executive producer Richard Harman.

    Garner was due to interview Education Minister Hekia Parata on Saturday morning, but unexpectedly quit 24 hours earlier.

    Harman told The Diary the dispute was a “trivial blow-up over the allocation duration of the interview”. But Garner said it was a difference of opinion over Harman’s approach to the show and how he should interview Parata.

    • tc 2.1
      22 May 2012 at 1:00 pm

      It’s probably about Harmon wanting some probing and inquisition on the flaky Parata, it’s what you’re there for and it’s good TV getting a PR Spin only minister off their script.

      Garner probably took the ‘ my way or the highway’ approach which he’s known to do being an egotistical twat first and a political journo on rare occasions.

      Duncy wouldn’t like offending his idols by doing his job, easier to sling the hook. Harmon wouldn’t be worried as he’ll get someone better now.

    • Fortran 2.2
      22 May 2012 at 2:23 pm

      Rachael Smally did a good job in Garner’s absence I understand.
      And she does not look like a Garner, a slob.
      Much more pretty too.

    • Vicky32 2.3
      22 May 2012 at 4:27 pm

      Given Garner always seemed like a National Government shill, I’d like to know more of the content of these disagreements.

      Absolutely! Which is why I have never put any credence in anything he says…

      • TheContrarian 2.3.1
        22 May 2012 at 4:30 pm

        Garner is awful. Having meet him in person a few times I can assure you he is as bad in real life as he is on TV

        • Carol 2.3.1.1
          22 May 2012 at 4:34 pm

          I can never understand how he got the job as a political journalist, let alone as the head pol journo on TV3?

          • TheContrarian 2.3.1.1.1
            22 May 2012 at 4:36 pm

            Because he is knowledgeable and has his finger on the political process. Doesn’t make him a nice guy but he is politically adept.

            • Carol 2.3.1.1.1.1
              22 May 2012 at 4:38 pm

              Really? That’s not how he looks to me. It just looks to me like he has his finger on Key’s pulse. Rachel Smalley seems, so far, to be more open-minded and aware of diverse political perspectives.

              • TheContrarian …
                22 May 2012 at 4:41 pm

                Not liking what he says isn’t the same as him not being knowledgeable about what he is saying.

                • Carol …
                  22 May 2012 at 4:46 pm

                  In Garner’s case, I’d say his knowledge doesn’t go far beyond the slant he takes.

                  I think there are other journalists who are far more knowledgeable than him (e.g. Brent Edwards on RNZ).

                  • TheContrarian …
                    22 May 2012 at 4:49 pm

                    Garner, for all his faults, has been around for a long time and knows some real heavy weights. You don’t get that far without knowing a few tricks….again, that doesn’t mean he isn’t a…..”insert derogatory term of your choice”.

                    • Carol …
                      22 May 2012 at 4:55 pm

                      Knowing a few tricks from being around a while? In his case it may not be as much what he knows as who he knows?

                    • TheContrarian …
                      22 May 2012 at 4:59 pm

                      journalism and politics are based on both what you know and who you know. Again, just not liking him doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what he is doing.

                    • Jackal …
                      22 May 2012 at 5:11 pm

                      Seems strange that he’s gone soon after making up some shit about Shearer telling Cunliffe not to go on The Nation.

  3. AAMC 3
    22 May 2012 at 9:07 am

    Not sure if many of you got to see THE FOUR HORSEMEN at the doco film fest, but here’s a piece the director put out yesterday, the 27 principles of The Renegade Economist, a plan for a better future without Orthodox economics.

    “Creating a set of principles on which to base a successful process of global political and economic change has to be a collaborative project. To this end everyone is welcome to comment or make suggestions for their improvement.”

    http://www.renegadeeconomist.com/fourhorsemenfilm/the-27-principles.html

    • Colonial Viper 3.1
      22 May 2012 at 5:07 pm

      The RenegadeEconomist has a great channel on YouTube. Unfortunately our news media has a list of approved orthodox bank economists that they use, and alternative points of view are NOT aired.

  4. joe90 4
    22 May 2012 at 9:37 am

    The Take, a 2004 film about workers reclaiming a foundry in Argentina is on YouTube.

    • Kevin Welsh 4.1
      22 May 2012 at 11:12 am

      Fantastic movie and very appropriate to what is happening now with South American governments claiming back what rightfully belongs to their people.

  5. muzza 5
    22 May 2012 at 10:34 am

    World sharemarkets up on relief rebound

    “We sold off on some fear, and not all of that fear was realized,” Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading, told Reuters. “We’re in a bit of an oversold bounce in here at the moment.”

    — Never any mention of the High Frequency Trading in these articles!

  6. prism 6
    22 May 2012 at 10:53 am

    I suppose I will be berated for callousness but I am sick of hearing about the feelings of bereaved relatives after criminal court cases ad infinitum. There are people suffering sad deaths and injuries all the time needing caring attention and support.

    I don’t want to know every day how people looked in court and whether they seemed sorry, that’s not important to me after the rotten deed has been done. At the end is the predictable and tragically true quote, he/she only gets 10 years while my loved one has no life after this crime and I have lost family for ever. I feel sorry but this grief being publicly displayed is a gross and constant cliche. It is a response to the victim movement which is good when it supports the people around the abused person, and we want them to know we care and to get support but not at the cost of displaying them for media sales.

    Hearing a blow by blow account about Emily Langley who at 17 years (very young) was in another country away from her parents influence, attracted by a jealous, violent young man – a dangerous liaison from the first, is sad news. But it underlines the futility of the whole situation of putting oneself in danger’s way by taking up with somebody who would have given her as an older and wiser woman clues as to his volatility and lack of standards. Sad too is the drowning of the dinghy owner in Auckland, again putting himself and his children in danger’s way. The sadness of his wife who has lost so much in one day must be extreme.

    If only we could hear some ideas at the time of these tragedies that would help to prevent such things happening in the future but we are just encouraged to wallow in the sadness of each event. What about some organisation getting funding to have a small shop near boat ramps that hired out lifejackets so that boaties short of funds could enjoy the water more safely. There would need to be a deposit as well as the hire to avoid rip-offs, and perhaps money-strapped people could be given the opportunity to leave something of value with the shop to cover this and ensure the jackets return. And young women could be provided with self care classes perhaps so they weren’t drawn to macho men who want an icon on their arm rather than a loved person.

    • ianmac 6.1
      22 May 2012 at 11:41 am

      Then there is this terrible myth about “closure”. I imagine that the loss of someone close is a tragedy but the constantly repeated belief that closure will heal is to me, daft, and misleading. The way that Sensible Sentencing “Trust?” is allowed to abuse victims of crime by constant public repetitions, is a disgrace.
      Mind you, we have very little support for victims of crime whereas in some countries taxes are used to pay compensation automatically. A bit like ACC is supposed to be?

    • Uturn 6.2
      22 May 2012 at 12:06 pm

      “If only we could hear some ideas at the time of these tragedies that would help to prevent such things happening in the future but we are just encouraged to wallow in the sadness of each event.”

      You give two suggestions yourself and I’m sure other people would put two and two together and are now safe. But the frustrating thing is that before these events, there were thousands just like them, spelled out every night on the news: Women, stay aware of your lover’s influence; boaties, put on lifejackets. Perhaps asking people to make simple conclusions from case studies is too difficult, but I doubt it. It seems not be intelligence that is the problem. Seems to me that otherwise intelligent people get bullied, manipulated, suckered, caught-up and sleep walk into events that pull emotional strings they don’t know how to handle, and then can’t extricate themselves while also maintaining whatever cultural personal identity they have. Solving everyone’s personal psychology, everyday, and knowing exactly which triggers occur in an infinite range of possiblities, is going to be a huge task.

      To get back to the media angle, orgnaisations like triangle TV openly encourage people to create their own TV programmes, with their help, so if you wanted to begin a “lifeskills” show for pakeha, you or someone could look into that. At present there is a legal advice show running, there is the union report, there is one where the difficulties of polynesian culture meeting pakeha/palangi culture are discussed by people in the polynesian community and church. There is a resource out there. As you point out, it is just white six o’clock mainstream culture that thinks solutions and public service announcements aren’t sexy.

      The main pratfall of us whities trying it within the mainstream would be that eventually someone would come along and turn it into a propaganda machine – political or otherwise – because we just can’t help ourselves with all the social climbing crap that permeates everything now. There’d be theme songs and background music and shaky camera angles to jazz things up and close ups so close you can see into a person’s skin pores. A successful attempt would have to be a very stripped down approach to avoid an obvious bias either toward men, women, hetero’s etc etc. Mostly you can find shows of that type on student radio.

      I remember a great radio show mediated by Steven Grey in the early 2000’s on BFM about drug use. From the point of view of keeping existing users safe they discussed general guidelines to avoid overdoses, safe practices and what to mix and what not to mix and what to look out for in certain fads. And of course they talked about medical assistance and getting off the stuff too. A realistic/practical show, somewhat ahead of it’s time. Haven’t seen or heard anything like it since. Maybe something like that, but examining the drug-like effect of emotions on judgement would be useful.

      • John72 6.2.1
        22 May 2012 at 2:28 pm

        Uturn, U R right. The current moral standards that are so popular in current TV are not “modern” just fashionable and sell well. The Western world has been through it all before. King Henry VIII married 6 times. History repeats itself.

      • prism 6.2.2
        22 May 2012 at 7:34 pm

        Uturn
        Yes public good programs would help. And reshown each year, with updates etc. Instead the risky behaviour that leads to tragedy is often the favoured stuff for drama, made to seem exciting and populist (ie USA actors in and out of Betty Ford clinics) and played as reality. Compare to the staged performances of Shakespeare that spelled out human problems well but were obviously plays.

        Setting up real on the ground help systems that save people from themselves would also be good. We aren’t good at this in NZ. We are a judgmental little country. Talk about people receiving huge traffic fines and a man or woman will say primly that all the person needs to do is obey the law. Ridiculous comment when we know that there always will be mistakes or deliberate bad behaviour. That’s human FGS.

        We can prevent many road accidents by having median strips and rumble lines (which I hate) but we drag our feet because if people always drove more carefully we wouldn’t need them. This prating diatribe gives me the pip when we should do something useful. A trailer renting life jackets, an emergency number for unsafe girls and boys with an ‘angel’ to help them, a provision that bad drivers have to take driving theory and practical courses and attend drug rehabilitation if needed. Solid helpful kindly and firm. Not judgmental lazy fault-finding.

        • John72 6.2.2.1
          22 May 2012 at 8:18 pm

          For 20+ + years there has been a volunteer group out there, Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation. They are widely recognised in the industry but not in the media. These are people making a personal effort, not just pouring money in and sitting back. Now the Government is claiming credit. I am not familiar with the history of the group but they are nation wide, with full time offices and mentor type volunteers. Some people do care.

      • Sam Hall 6.2.3
        22 May 2012 at 7:41 pm

        Yep

      • Sam Hall 6.2.4
        22 May 2012 at 7:49 pm

        HeeHee

    • Bill 6.3
      22 May 2012 at 12:23 pm

      Gotta keep us a wee bit anxious. Other wise we might get it in our heads that there isn’t really any need for ‘protective’ state appartuses. And we might even begin to think that ‘the stranger’ is first and foremost benevolent and so bring down our own hostile protectionist barriers a little. And then (oh, lordy, lordy!) we might do something really crazy like conduct our affairs face to face and with some trust rather than have them mediated by lawyers and other various professionals out to look after our interests and protect us from the big scary world of misanthropic bastards….which must be the default position of most people (being misanthropic bastards) coz, like, I keep seeing it on the telly and reading about it in mags.

      • muzza 6.3.1
        23 May 2012 at 9:27 am

        “I keep seeing it on the telly and reading about it in mags”

        –Exactly Bill , this is the brainwashing which most people pour scorn on people for mentioning, claiming its conspiracy and the like..

        Of course the media is training your thought patterns, and programming your mind!

  7. Penny Bright 7
    22 May 2012 at 11:05 am

    Yersterday, three determined women ‘held John Bank’s feet to the fire’, with five banners on the Gillies Ave / Mortimer Pass intersection in Newmarket (Epsom electorate) explaining why we were there.

    Check out http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com ‘Give a grrl a banner’ 🙂

    Increasing numbers of motorists are ‘tooting’ in support, and there were a number of smiles and ‘thumbs up’ responses.

    FYI – below is a copy of the letter that was pushed into the gap between doors at John Bank’s empty Epsom electorate office at 27 Gillies Ave, yesterday, Monday 21 May 2012.

    “OPEN LETTER TO THE ‘HONORABLE’ JOHN BANKS, MP FOR EPSOM 21 May 2012

    Today, there is a protest being held outside your electorate office at 27 Gillies Ave, Newmarket from 12 noon till 2pm.

    The purpose of this protest is to encourage you to do the ‘honorable’ thing, and resign forthwith as the ACT MP for Epsom, and leave the NZ House of Parliament, before you bring it, and this country ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt in the world,(http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2011/results) into further international disrepute.

    How can you honestly consider yourself to be ‘fit for duty’ as either an MP or a Minister of the Crown?

    Why is it that former Labour MP Taito Phillip Field got sentenced for SIX years for ‘bribery and corruption’, for providing ‘immigration advice’ to Thai nationals in exchange for work on his properties – whilst yourself, the Minister of Regulatory Reform is effectively getting political protection from NZ Prime Minister John Key, after you have given ‘immigration assistance’ and Coatsville property purchase ‘assistance’ to a German/ Finnish national, in return for $50,000 donated to your 2010 Auckland Mayoral campaign fund, and gifts valued at over $500 which you failed to declare?

    Are you aware that Kim Dotcom’s ‘John Bank’s song’ has had over 140,000 ‘hits’ on You Tube, in my opinion, helping to make NZ an international laughing stock? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CvRSZxqk_I

    It is also of great concern to me, as a fighter also against ‘white collar’ crime, that ACT’s ‘one law for all’ has yet to apply to both yourself and Don Brash, current and former Leaders of the ACT Party.

    As former fellow directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd, you both signed Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009, which contained untrue statements, but you were never charged for so doing. This is a strict liability offence under s58(3) of the Securities Act 1978, but neither the old Securities Commission, the Finance Markets Authority (FMA), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) , nor the NZ Police arguably ‘did their job’ and charged yourself or Don Brash.

    John Banks, you are now the Minister of Regulatory Reform, yet four different ‘regulatory’ bodies failed to act against you, someone, who arguably couldn’t properly run a Kiwisaver Scheme, yet now has a key Ministerial post and you are supposedly helping to run the country ‘perceived’ to be the ‘least corrupt in the world’

    (Copies of this correspondence are available on http://www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz )

    Have you been politically protected at the highest levels, because this minority National Government has only 59 out of 121 MPs, thus no mandate for assets sales, because there is not a majority of National MPs, so is dependent on your pivotal vote?

    Is this why NZ Prime Minister John Key is arguably continuing to ‘defend the indefensible’ and still express ‘confidence’ in you, although former MPs, Richard Worth and Pansy Wong appear to have lost his confidence over a lot less?

    Penny Bright
    ‘Anti-corruption campaigner’’
    http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
    http://www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz “

  8. Dave Kennedy 8
    22 May 2012 at 12:27 pm

    John Key has been treated unfairly, he has never claimed to be anything other than what he is and he has remained true to his values and continued to use the skills that made him successful. Simple research would have revealed to voters that they would get what they voted for and what is really behind the “friendly” smile:
    http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/merrill-lynch-leopards-spots-and-mr-key.html

  9. Draco T Bastard 9
    22 May 2012 at 1:22 pm

    Fallacies of Composition Challenge America

    A fallacy of composition is defined as an illogical projection to an aggregate, based upon the assumption that a local relationship projects unchanged to the whole.

    Now, where do you think we see that…Oh, that’s right, economics as the micro is expanded to fit the macro.

    Remember that old quote? “If HP only knew what HP knows, we’d never have to worry about our stock price?” The same is even more true of an aggregate. If we would only take account in our policy discussions of what ALL PROFESSIONS know (instead of over-weighting the opinions of orthodox economists still stuck in fallacies of scale), then our nation wouldn’t have to worry about it’s fiat currency budget.

    An interesting thought but this is where it gets really interesting:

    Adaptive parsing is what democracies supposedly excel at, but at our present population scale, the democratic methods we once used simply aren’t propagating adequate outcomes. Every outmoded method demonstrates yet another fallacy of scale. Simple conclusion is that we need to reorganize, and do so faster.

    Bingo!
    Our present form of democracy is incapable of adapting to the changes needed in a modern society.

    • joe90 9.1
      22 May 2012 at 1:59 pm

      Most interesting, ta DtB.

    • prism 9.2
      22 May 2012 at 8:03 pm

      I had to look up fallacies of composition for meaning. This quote is interesting – we often hear it from right wing pollies and perhaps left I don’t know – the simplistic idea of running a country similar to some hypothetical household budget.

      In economics, the fallacy of composition takes on a special meaning. The fallacy occurs economist treats the economy as if it were a family or business. This leads to the assumption that a policy that will work for a business will work for the economy as a whole. When an economist assumes that what is good for a family is good for the economy, they fallacy of composition has occurred.

      http://www.kingwatch.co.nz/Christian_Political_Economy/fallacy_of_composition.htm

      • Draco T Bastard 9.2.1
        22 May 2012 at 9:32 pm

        And that’s the entire theory of the free-market:- individuals making choices aggregated out to everyone and every business. The end result isn’t rational but irrational.

    • prism 9.3
      22 May 2012 at 8:39 pm

      You are right DTB Our democratic system as shown by USA and UK no longer serve the people as was the modern ideal, they are self-serving. We sensibly brought in MMP but the pollies mainly NACT have gamed it to limit its viability. We wait in vain for better policies from each government. What do you suggest that would give us ‘leadership’ on the things we need like green sustainable business and future.

      • Draco T Bastard 9.3.1
        22 May 2012 at 9:28 pm

        More and faster democracy but that will mean online voting.

        IMO, ‘leadership’ is an authoritarian concept and needs to be got rid of the same way that we got rid of the dictatorships. We don’t need leaders, we need an educated and informed populace making collective decisions about our society and economy (the real economy, not the delusional one that the capitalists and economists dreamed up).

        • prism 9.3.1.1
          23 May 2012 at 11:18 am

          DTB I’ve tried working in an educated collective and as a concept it is far from being satisfactory as a way of making decisions and running things. At the least facilitators are needed to channel and list thoughts, and ensure that they are talked through in the way that experience and learning in decision making teaches – ie how implemented, what effect and outcomes etc. Reliable experts in various fields should fill in the lack of knowledge and understanding and be subject to close questioning about their assertions at such meetings.

          The trouble with collectives is that they often don’t realise that they don’t know what they don’t know, they are full of ideals and ideas tested somewhere far away and not suitable for the present and the project considered, and they groupthink to the most attractive idea and sometimes the most attractive speaker. This could be how cults work or start.

          Sorry but if leaders are not to be had, then the collective need to be aware of the need to elect somebody to facilitate them and others to advise them. Such wisdom is not universal.
          Hence leaders, often of the wrong type. Sorry to raise my realities which might be different to yours but there it is – ideals eventually give way to practicalities. The future needs pragmatic idealists who are wonderful people, and our education should be slanted to help such people arise.

          • Draco T Bastard 9.3.1.1.1
            23 May 2012 at 1:03 pm

            At the least facilitators are needed to channel and list thoughts, and ensure that they are talked through in the way that experience and learning in decision making teaches – ie how implemented, what effect and outcomes etc.

            Administration is needed, make no mistake about that but those administrators shouldn’t be the defined leaders. Ideas can, and should, come from anyone with the administrators/ministries then researching it to see if it’s viable or not and then getting back to the populace for the go ahead or telling the populace that it can’t be done.

          • KJT 9.3.1.1.2
            23 May 2012 at 10:45 pm

            “The trouble with collectives is that they often don’t realise that they don’t know what they don’t know, they are full of ideals and ideas tested somewhere far away and not suitable for the present and the project considered, and they groupthink to the most attractive idea and sometimes the most attractive speaker. This could be how cults work or start.””

            A very good description of our Government.

    • Draco T Bastard 10.1
      22 May 2012 at 2:44 pm

      Well, that’s one thing this government has done that I agree with. Now lets hope that they do it right but:

      Boats will have to be reflagged with New Zealand flags which will require them to meet New Zealand standards and requirements.

      I suspect that they won’t. Re-flagging won’t get rid of the abuses that have caused the foreign owned vessels to be banned.

  11. John72 11
    22 May 2012 at 2:41 pm

    Q. Oscar Wilde “Always love your enemys. Nothing annoys them so much.”

  12. Jackal 12
    22 May 2012 at 2:42 pm

    The Wong connection

    Key has struck while the media iron is hot but factual evidence is sparse…

    • TheContrarian 12.1
      22 May 2012 at 4:18 pm

      Oh jackal, you are so devoid of intellectual honesty and so full of partisan brouhaha that you seem completely unable to admit that Jones may in fact be in the wrong and could quite conceivably be guilty of something more corrupt than Banks is, instead focusing your attack on someone already tossed from parliament because they come from the rightwing side of the aisle. Come on man, show some backbone.

      Hugs and kisses,
      Your friend, TC

      • Carol 12.1.1
        22 May 2012 at 4:36 pm

        I thought Jones should be stood down immediately. however, it sounds like Shearer has quizzed him pretty thoroughly on the role he played in OKing that guy’s immigration. So I will now wait and see how things play out.

        Banks, on the other hand, looks a lot more dodgy to me.

      • Jackal 12.1.2
        22 May 2012 at 4:42 pm

        As usual your summery is irrelevant The Contrarian. Firstly I’ve already blogged about Jones needing to front, and I’m not saying that he’s off the hook… I simply think Yan was mainly talking about Pansy Wong when he said he had friends in high places. The Fairfax article also fails to report on some important facts, like for instance that what was implied to have been recently said in court of law actually happened four years ago. I guess such things are a bit too much for your wee mind to comprehend.

        You’re not my friend btw The Conformist. Stop being a smarmy git!

        • TheContrarian 12.1.2.1
          22 May 2012 at 4:45 pm

          Why can’t we be friends? I hold no ill will towards you.

          “I simply think Yan was mainly talking about Pansy Wong when he said he had friends in high places”

          So you think Yan meant an opposition MP with no real power in his citizenship case was in a higher place than the associate immigration minister who actually had some sway in his application and approved it? Wow.

          • Jackal 12.1.2.1.1
            22 May 2012 at 5:04 pm

            Why can’t we be friends you ask… because I think you’re a smarmy git!

            So you think Yan meant an opposition MP with no real power in his citizenship case was in a higher place than the associate immigration minister who actually had some sway in his application and approved it? Wow.

            You might note that Yan’s file was transfered to Jones because he apparently did not have a conflict of interest, and there has been no evidence to link Jones’ approval of that file to any kind of favours. I think Yan was likely to be talking about Wong at the time. But I guess we’ll have to just wait and see.

            • TheContrarian 12.1.2.1.1.1
              22 May 2012 at 5:20 pm

              “Why can’t we be friends you ask… because I think you’re a smarmy git!” Well, that is a shame.

              Anyway, so even though Pansy Wong was in no position of power, Jones was associate immigration minister and signed off on the application and Wong had no power to supersede DIA recommendation you still believe Yan thought Wong was the higher placed friend. Wow. That takes some reaching. Well done – there is no way I could mentally stretch like that.

              I am proud that we are friends.

              • Jackal …
                22 May 2012 at 5:31 pm

                I didn’t say Wong was the higher placed friend (read the post again), I said it is likely that Yan was talking about Wong. You are asking me to know what was in Yans mind when he made the statement pre 2008, which is ridiculous! You can speculate until the cows come home that he was talking about Jones, I’ve provided some information as to why it was likely Wong. It’s my opinion… don’t start telling me I’m not allowed an opinion again The Controlfreak!

                • TheContrarian …
                  22 May 2012 at 5:38 pm

                  You can have an opinion, sure. I don’t think anyone ever suggested you couldn’t – least of all me.

                  But in a public medium you can expect people to query your opinion. And your opinion seems rather divorced from reality. Luckily we can investigate and discuss opinions on this “Open Mike” forum.

                  • Jackal …
                    22 May 2012 at 5:50 pm

                    You seem to have a bit of memory loss there The Amnesiac.

                    Can you tell me when exactly Yan made his statement concerning friends in high places, and whether Jones was even in a position to influence the outcome when that statement was made? Saying that Yan was categorically talking about Jones when there is no evidence of this is spurious indeed!

                    • TheContrarian …
                      22 May 2012 at 7:09 pm

                      “whether Jones was even in a position to influence the outcome when that statement was made?”

                      Kinda irrelevant when it was Jones that OKed the citizenship, no? But don’t worry, I am sure in the end you’ll be proven right and Pansy Wong will be at fault.

                      Hey, when that no doubt happens, I’ll be happy to admit I was wrong. Just as I am sure you’ll be happy to admit you backed the wrong horse too….Jacky my friend.

                    • Carol …
                      22 May 2012 at 7:14 pm

                      I thought the “friends in high places” might have been the minister who knew Yan, claimed conflict of interest”, and so passed the case onto Jones.

                      Jones told 3 News tonight why he decided to allow Yan into the country:

                      http://www.3news.co.nz/MP-told-immigrant-would-be-jailed-and-executed/tabid/1607/articleID/255183/Default.aspx

                      Mr Jones says he was told that Mr Yan would be “jailed, executed and his organs harvested” if he was sent back to China.

                      “That to me comprised grounds for a humanitarian decision,” Mr Jones says.

                      He confirmed those were the words used to describe the situation.

                      “When a Government official in a minister’s office says such a thing so graphic that I actually wrote it down.”

                      Mr Jones says he has the words written on file.

                    • Te Reo Putake …
                      22 May 2012 at 8:21 pm

                      Just in case anyone is fooled by TheConservative’s desperate need for friends, here’s what he really thinks of posters here:
                       
                      “The Standard is a hideous place, filled with vacuous scumbags who just want to act like dictators. Worthless cretins”
                       

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      22 May 2012 at 9:30 pm

                      You mean the Contrarian?

                    • Te Reo Putake …
                      22 May 2012 at 9:36 pm

                      Aye.

                    • TheContrarian …
                      23 May 2012 at 9:04 am

                      The funniest thing about me being “a conservative/tory/right-winger” is that using the same metric Draco T Bastard uses to prove Labour is heading right-wing places me firmly on the left.

                      Not to mention the whole “He disagree’s with me therefore he must be a conservative” thing is completely ridiculous but, nevermind. As I said, it’s easier for you trolls to label those you don’t like instead of engaging.  

                    • Jackal …
                      23 May 2012 at 9:41 am

                      The real question is why you would want to engage with people who you think are “worthless cretins?”

                    • felix …
                      23 May 2012 at 10:13 am

                      People have tried to engage you in serious discussion, TC. Would you like me to link to an example of what you do in such situations?

                    • TheContrarian …
                      23 May 2012 at 10:49 am

                      @Felix – that was a general statement based on the fact that I am continually accused of being a tory or conservative as a pejorative when my political position are generally middle of the road and left of centre in most cases.

                    • felix …
                      23 May 2012 at 3:27 pm

                      And mine was a generalised statement that for all your bluster you run a mile from serious discussion.

                      And further that in spite of the general nature of the observation I’m happy to provide specific examples if required.

  13. Vicky32 13
    22 May 2012 at 4:09 pm

    Based on my experience in the past few days is this:
     
    Workfare, coming to a WINZ office near you? I have received letters (plural) summoning me to ‘job search seminars’ (plural) and so I rang the call centre 3 times today. As far as I have been able to find out, the first of them is about a ‘business initiative’ programme – I have already been signed up, and I am told that it starts 4th June, which is afaik, Queens Birthday!
    The call centre woman said something about ‘call centres and customer service’, which actually makes sense of it starting on a public holiday – it’s telemarketing and they want to catch people at home! This is called a ‘training programme, with the ‘company’ promising a job at the end of it. I want to know how voluntary it will actually be, and what the nature of the ‘training’ is? I will supply more information when I have it (the day after tomorrow – the seminar is tomorrow at 14.00, and no doubt it will run until 17.00), but it is very worrying that I have already been signed up to it. When I finally got in touch with someone at the actual WINZ office, she just kept making with the threats… you must attend, it’s your obligation, nothing else matters etc.”
    I suspect it’s all about getting the numbers right, pre-Budget, that is, if Petulant Bean can come up with some number of ‘long-term unemployed’ who are now in ‘training’ it will look good for the public. I told the woman that I had been told a few months ago by XXXXXXX X (name withheld) that I could be ‘self monitoring’ or whatever the phrase was, and she said “if you were capable of that, you’d have got a job by now’. I reminded her that even PB had admitted that there are not enough job, and her only answer was to reiterate the threats. “Benefit cancelled if you don’t turn up to the seminars” etc…

    • Carol 13.1
      22 May 2012 at 4:17 pm

      For goodness sake – it’s bad enough that I keep getting pestered by telemarketers (trying to get an unlisted number), now they are going to force the unemployed to join those pests? Really?

      I’d rather my taxes paid people the dole, than they are made to join such make-work schemes for the marketing parasites!

      • Vicky32 13.1.1
        22 May 2012 at 5:46 pm

        now they are going to force the unemployed to join those pests? Really?

        So it seems at the moment… in the guise of “training”… the thing is, that I’ve worked in call centres as a telemarketer on and off for decades! I don’t need any “training”, I have done it often and recently enough to know that I am woefully bad at the marketing part of it! (My most recent stint was about 13 months ago, maybe that’s why I have been selected for this?)

    • Uturn 13.2
      22 May 2012 at 4:52 pm

      Well if it’s turn up or die and you can get there without serious hardship, why not turn up… just until the soonest convenience after they take “roll”, then leave? If it’s boxes they want ticked rather than effective results, they won’t care. Another alternative is to be so utterly difficult to handle, but in the politest way, of course, that you prove their idiotic idea that you are long-term unemployable. Ask really dense questions, whistle a lot, stutter on the phone; phrase your nice CSR persona as if you were a stoic peasant or can’t tell the difference between private thoughts and speaking publicly. Hey, if they ignorantly go round telling people what they are, why not give it to them? Consider it an afternoon of acting class. Keep acting till they drop you off the list.

      • Vicky32 13.2.1
        22 May 2012 at 5:57 pm

        If it’s boxes they want ticked rather than effective results, they won’t care. Another alternative is to be so utterly difficult to handle, but in the politest way, of course, that you prove their idiotic idea that you are long-term unemployable. Ask really dense questions, whistle a lot, stutter on the phone; phrase your nice CSR persona as if you were a stoic peasant or can’t tell the difference between private thoughts and speaking publicly.

        Yes, that would actually be fun! 😀 The last time I had to go into the office, after a long-term teaching stint, and she had a notice up on the whiteboard for a ‘recruitment seminar’ for the very people I’d been working for from the end of 2010 to January 2011! I remarked then that I’d already worked for them – I suppose she’s forgotten, as I suspect tomorrow is about ‘recruiting’ for them!  (They can’t keep staff, no wonder they’re recruiting beneficiaries! Telemarketing for minimum wage – no thanks!)

        • Uturn 13.2.1.1
          22 May 2012 at 7:15 pm

          As a teacher you’ll have years of experience in how to drive instructors nuts. They don’t stand a chance.

          • KJT 13.2.1.1.1
            22 May 2012 at 8:42 pm

            Latest in the saga of the two teenage boys I am supporting.

            One was on the verge of finally starting a job, when he was charged for being in the same car as a boy racer. He was not driving and obviously terrified. Still lost his job though.

            Had two week stand down. Now 4 weeks later he finally got to see a WINZ officer.

            They turn up for appointments and are told to get in a line. If they do not get to the end of the line by their appointment time they have to make another appointment. It doesn’t matter if they haven’t even got the bus fare to get there numerous times. If they cannot attend any of the silly seminars for any reason, even doctors or court appointments, the dole is refused.

            The other one finally got to see a WINZ officer, but now has to go through the whole rigmarole again. He was on the independent youth benefit. Instead of the sensible thing, reviewing his case at 18, he has to have a stand-down and re-apply for the dole. And then prove he has applied for at least 6 non-existent jobs a week. He should really be on a sickness or invalids benefit. He needs treatment for depression before he can work.

            When they go in almost everything they are entitled to is refused, unless an adult goes with them.

            It is very noticeable how most WINZ staffers think they are working for the Gestapo, since NACT got in.

            • Jackal 13.2.1.1.1.1
              22 May 2012 at 9:17 pm

              Young people get a hard time of it these days. I sometimes wonder if the rightwing realise the detrimental impact of their policies. It’s all part of that Neo-Liberal agenda you wrote about… great article btw.

            • RedLogix 13.2.1.1.1.2
              22 May 2012 at 9:23 pm

              God awful dehumanising treatment KJT. Makes my teeth grind to read it.

              My younger brother who is deaf-blind and has thus had to deal with welfare in one form or another most of his adult life once said he always knew when National was in power…. by the way he got treated by WINZ.

            • Carol 13.2.1.1.1.3
              22 May 2012 at 9:38 pm

              This is disgraceful, on the part of WINZ and the government that set them on that route. What a way for young people to be starting out on their adult life!

              I can relate to that description of some WINZ staff being like Gestapo.

              I have had that kind of feeling about ACC staffers, when talking about having the requests for more physio for me rejected. And those requests came from my physio & specialist. But they made me feel like I had done something wrong – like trying to get something I wasn’t entitled to.

              But I persevered and protested, and in the end some ACC people that could authorise it, agreed I needed further help with a severe injury and approved more physio for me.

              It’s like they are not there to help people who need help, but to give as little help to people as they can get away with.

            • Nick 13.2.1.1.1.4
              22 May 2012 at 10:58 pm

              I am appalled but not surprised. There are about a third of under 25s out of work, and we treat them as the blame. Shame on WINZ staff colluding with the NACT arseholes. Good luck with the boys.

            • fatty 13.2.1.1.1.5
              22 May 2012 at 11:05 pm

              That sux KJT…

              “When they go in almost everything they are entitled to is refused, unless an adult goes with them.”

              That is the answer…nobody should go into WINZ on their own if at all possible. Two VS one and the WINZ workers seem to lose their superiority complex pretty quickly. I always suggest people go in with another person, even if the second person is not skilled or knowledgeable about WINZ.

            • Vicky32 13.2.1.1.1.6
              23 May 2012 at 6:18 pm

              When they go in almost everything they are entitled to is refused, unless an adult goes with them.

              At least they have you on their side, KJT, good on you for caring for them!
              I thought I had a bad time with WINZ, but it sounds as if these boys have it much worse! I suppose they’d  suffer even more  if they tried the sarcasm and dumb insolence I often resort to!

          • Vicky32 13.2.1.1.2
            23 May 2012 at 5:44 pm

            As a teacher you’ll have years of experience in how to drive instructors nuts. They don’t stand a chance.

            She started by insisting that it was all ‘voluntary’, but those who didn’t ‘fill out’ the form she handed around, were herded off somewhere for a ‘discussion’…
            Turns out her main desires were for bar staff, security guards and telemarketers.
            No, I have to wait to hear from her…

        • John72 13.2.1.2
          22 May 2012 at 8:32 pm

          Tele marketing. Listen polietly, show some interest, and then try to sell them something. I am selling Christianity.

  15. felix 15
    22 May 2012 at 6:02 pm

    Haha good on Dr Russel Norman calling Key a chicken in the house today. Totally worth losing a question for.

    He has gone up a few points in my estimation, now if he would just hurry up and grow a beard…

  16. William Joyce 16
    22 May 2012 at 6:12 pm

    I don’t like the name “Zero” Budget
    Here are some better suggestions…(journalists pay attention, you will need these words for your pieces).
     

    The Monotone Budget    –    The Inadequate Budget
    The phoned-in Budget    –    The Ineffectual Budget
    The Lame Budget    –    The Dead-Cat-Bounce Budget
    The Turning-a-Blind-Eye Budget    –    The Dumb Budget
    The “Blah Blah Blah” Budget
    – you get the idea.
     
    Here are some more suggestions….
    paltry, weak, ailing, shabby, uninspired, characterless, dishwater, stagnant, stale, dumb, do nothing, lazy…

    Suggest your own titles…
    p.s. we have been here before Link

    • Treetop 16.1
      22 May 2012 at 7:13 pm

      The directionless budget
      The desperate budget
      The lean and mean budget
      The no brighter future budget
      The run out of ideas budget
      The we got the mandate budget
      The go to Aussie budget

  17. Murray Olsen 17
    22 May 2012 at 7:14 pm

    I suspect the four year leeway given to the foreign vessels is so that Key can get NZ workers’ rights and conditions to somewhere pretty close to what’s happening on those boats anyway.

  18. Colonial Viper 18
    22 May 2012 at 9:43 pm

    Unemployed job seekers work in hospitals for free

    The UK Tories further develop the start of workfare, and job insecurity for employed labourer in hospitals just skyrocketed.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/may/21/unpaid-jobseekers-deliver-patient-care?INTCMP=SRCH

    • Carol 18.1
      22 May 2012 at 9:55 pm

      Next they’ll be re-opening the Workhouses!

    • Vicky32 18.2
      23 May 2012 at 5:55 pm

      Unemployed job seekers work in hospitals for free

      Oh my giddy aunt! Could there be a worse place for workfare? Those are HCA jobs, and in Welly hospital, HCAs are being laid off, and  my son for one is quite distressed about that. (One of them was a girlfriend) He suggested I become an HCA, and I enquired – a 6 month course at Unitec is required here, it’s not exactly work that can be done with no training or even 2 weeks… In fact, on L’s ward, it’s work that can be quite distressing.

  19. John72 19
    22 May 2012 at 10:00 pm

    If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world. (Chinese Proverb)

  20. fatty 20
    22 May 2012 at 10:52 pm

    If you are from Christchurch, have visited lately or are fed up with the way Christchurch is rebuilding itself as a corporate wasteland…then please act on this.

    Gapfiller are the best thing to emerge in post quake Christchurch. Life is shit down here. They make it better. This is copied from their facebook page;

    We need your help. We are in the process of applying for some funding to keep filling gaps in ChCh. If you have appreciated some of our gap filling work would you mind writing a brief letter of support for us? Why do you like Gap Filler’s work? What projects have you most enjoyed? Why is it important for you and for ChCh? Why is creating opportunities for people to express their creativity so necessary? If you’ve been involved in a project; what did it do for you? You get the idea. THANK YOU. Please email letters to fillthegap@gapfiller.org.nz by 28 May.
    thanks

    Please support these people!
    http://www.gapfiller.org.nz/
    http://www.facebook.com/GapFiller