Open mike 23/08/2012

79 comments on “Open mike 23/08/2012 ”

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1. Jenny 1

   23 August 2012 at 6:10 am

   I see that two of the soldier’s families that were killed in Afghanistan have called on Key to return the troops immediately because of the danger.

   Which is being ignored!

   Yet NZ troops in Syria part of the UN mission are being pulled out for the very same reason, even though none of them have been killed, or even injured.

   Though reportedly, they have had little effect in stemming the violence. The UN contingent is the only constitutional body on the ground, that are a witness to the events in Syria. With the UN gone, any remaining restraint the regime may have felt by having the UN witness there will be gone.

   Despite what all the leftist apologists for Assad claim.

   This shows the interest that the West have for Syria.
   • Colonial Viper 1.1

     23 August 2012 at 9:31 am

     As usual Jenny you are gravely mistaken in your information and your assumptions.

     The pull out of NZ (and UN) troops/observers signals an imminent escalation in the invasion of Syria as it safely clears the way for NATO airpower to be used against Assad in the overthrow of the Syrian government.

     Any claims that this is a “civil war” should be refuted. This is a foreign sponsored invasion of Syria.

     BTW you want to fight against oppression and government violence against their own citizens…ever wonder why the US doesn’t ever act against its good mates Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, but keeps propping them up instead?
     • Jenny 1.1.1

       23 August 2012 at 10:01 pm

       The pull out of NZ (and UN) troops/observers signals an imminent escalation in the invasion of Syria as it safely clears the way for NATO airpower to be used against Assad in the overthrow of the Syrian government.

       Colonial Viper

       What a crazy fantasist you are CV. An idiot can see that the Assad regime is already done for. It does not need a Western military invasion to “overthrow the Syrian government”.

       Any invasion by the West will be with the aim to subjugate the Syrian people and suppress their revolution. With the exit of the UN observer mission, the West has effectively turned it’s back on the Syrian revolution leaving Assad free to kill as many of the opposition democratic forces as possible. If Western forces enter Syria it will be to finish the job. The Syrian people are aware of this threat. And are not ignorant of the games being played.

       http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/syria-rebels-aware-of-games-the-world-is-playing-reporter/

       “Syrian rebels say Obama is all talk”

       Any claims that this is a “civil war” should be refuted. This is a foreign sponsored invasion of Syria.

       Colonial Viper

       If the West do invade Syria it won’t be done to depose Assad. It will be done to defeat the Syrian People’s genuine struggle for democracy and freedom from autocracy and tyranny. Which is threat to all autocrats and dictators and racist states in the region.

       A full meeting of the Israeli cabinet met to discuss the Arab Spring which they refer to as a growing “ring around Israel”.

       http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/15/world/meast/israel-defense-strategy/index.html?hpt=imi_c2

       If this all a US plot and not a genuine democratic uprising why would US client state the United Arab Emirates expel Syrian residents from the country when they dared to hold a rally in support of their brothers and sisters back home?

       http://www.scoopit.co.nz/story.php?title=uae-expels-pro-opposition-syrians

       Refusing to recognise the democratic nature of the Arab revolutions. And attacking the Arab Spring and the Syrian uprising as a creation of the US and their client Middle Eastern states consciously or not, CV you are actually helping to create the conditions for the right wing argument for Western intervention to attack the revolutionaries.

       And as such Colonial Viper you are an open enemy of all people who desire and value democracy and freedom.

       You should be ashamed of yourself. (It is incredible to me that you aren’t, and persist in supporting a proven torturer and mass murderer)

       
       [lprent: corrected bold. ]
       • Jenny 1.1.1.1

         23 August 2012 at 11:07 pm

         Thank you.
     • Jenny 1.1.2

       23 August 2012 at 10:10 pm

       The pull out of NZ (and UN) troops/observers signals an imminent escalation in the invasion of Syria as it safely clears the way for NATO airpower to be used against Assad in the overthrow of the Syrian government.

       Colonial Viper

       What a crazy fantasist you are CV. An idiot can see that the Assad regime is already done for. It does not need a Western military invasion to “overthrow the Syrian government”.

       Any invasion by the West will be with the aim to subjugate the Syrian people and suppress their revolution. With the exit of the UN observer mission, the West has effectively turned it’s back on the Syrian revolution leaving Assad free to kill as many of the opposition democratic forces as possible. If Western forces enter Syria it will be to finish the job. The Syrian people are aware of this threat. And are not ignorant of the games being played.

       http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/syria-rebels-aware-of-games-the-world-is-playing-reporter/

       “Syrian rebels say Obama is all talk”

       Any claims that this is a “civil war” should be refuted. This is a foreign sponsored invasion of Syria.

       Colonial Viper

       If the West do invade Syria it won’t be done to depose Assad. It will be done to defeat the Syrian People’s genuine struggle for democracy and freedom from autocracy and tyranny. Which is threat to all autocrats and dictators and racist states in the region.

       A full meeting of the Israeli cabinet met to discuss the Arab Spring which they refer to as a growing “ring around Israel”.

       http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/15/world/meast/israel-defense-strategy/index.html?hpt=imi_c2

       If this all a US plot and not a genuine democratic uprising why would US client state the United Arab Emirates expel Syrian residents from the country when they dared to hold a rally in support of their brothers and sisters back home?

       http://www.scoopit.co.nz/story.php?title=uae-expels-pro-opposition-syrians

       Refusing to recognise the democratic nature of the Arab revolutions. And attacking the Arab Spring and the Syrian uprising as a creation of the US and their client Middle Eastern states consciously or not, CV you are actually helping to create the conditions for the right wing argument for Western intervention to attack the revolutionaries.

       And as such Colonial Viper you are an open enemy of all people who desire and value democracy and freedom.

       You should be ashamed of yourself. (It is incredible to me that you aren’t, and persist in supporting a proven torturer and mass murderer)
       • Jenny 1.1.2.1

         23 August 2012 at 11:11 pm

         Doing the job the soldiers of the UN observer mission should be doing.

         A Japanese journalist, Mika Yamamoto is killed in Syria. Yamamoto was a photo and video journalist working for The Japan press.

         This is her last report, (English subtitles)

         http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9491546/Syria-last-footage-filmed-by-killed-Japanese-journalist-released.html

         In a sign of respect FSA freedom fighters provide an escort to take her body to Turkey where she is received by the Japanese embassy in Istanbul to be returned to her family.

         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U441XItRt-I

         Her husband and colleague Kazutaka Sato describes how despite being unarmed and easily recognised as a woman and a reporter she was shot down in cold blood.+

         http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9491716/Husband-of-Japanese-journalist-killed-in-Syria-speaks-of-attack.html

         “We want to show all of the world what is happen in Syria”

         Kazutaka Sato
         • Colonial Viper 1.1.2.1.1

           23 August 2012 at 11:42 pm

           In a sign of respect FSA freedom fighters provide an escort to take her body to Turkey where she is received by the Japanese embassy in Istanbul to be returned to her family.

           How easily the FSA move to and from Syria through the border of NATO controlled Turkey.
       • Colonial Viper 1.1.2.2

         23 August 2012 at 11:46 pm

         Obama and Cameron are now positioning for the official western invasion of Syria. “Chemical weapons” will again be the pretext, exactly as it was with Saddam.

         http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/aug/23/cameron-obama-syria-chemical-weapons
         • Jenny 1.1.2.2.1

           24 August 2012 at 12:12 am

           And you will continue to cheer them on.
           • Colonial Viper 1.1.2.2.1.1

             24 August 2012 at 12:18 am

             WTF

             I am simply making it clear that you are supporting an ongoing foreign invasion of Syria. First by Saudi, Turkish and Qatar sponsored fighters, and now the Great Western Powers are taking their own angle.
     • Jenny 1.1.3

       24 August 2012 at 12:10 am

       Civilian correspondents with no diplomatic immunity, armed with nothing more than cameras are bravely trying to document what is happening in Syria.

       While the UN observers with State of the art body armour and diplomatic status, with access to the authorities and entitled to carry arms for personal protection, and presumably, with far more freedom of movement than any civilian correspondent, have departed Syria. Leaving the regime to it’s own devices.

       Immediately after the UN’s departure, reports are coming in, that the regime is currently staging a nazi style pogrom in Damascus. Conducting house to house raids, dragging men and boys out of their homes and executing them in the street.

       http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-army-batters-parts-damascus-40-killed-115056556.html

       In tactics reminiscent of the Nazi assault on the Warsaw ghetto, columns of soldiers hiding behind tanks entered Damascus suburbs and began raiding houses summarily executing those they captured.

       If the the UN observers were there they could demand the right to investigate this war crime, instead, they have high tailed it.

       Unconfirmed reports claim a prominent Syrian journalist Mohamad Saeed al Odeh who had expressed sympathy for the anti-Assad revolt has been executed in the round up.

       Journalists are a particular threat to the regime because they expose the regime’s propaganda that the revolt is all Western and/or Al Qaida plot.

       The Reuters report carried by Yahoo.com directly links the raids to the exit of the UN observer mission.

       The army has this week used tanks and helicopter gunships in an offensive around Damascus that coincided with the departure of U.N. military observers…..

       Activists in the southwestern Damascus suburb of Mouadamiya said Assad’s forces had killed 86 people there since Monday, half of them by execution. It was not possible to verify that report….

       ….One of the dead was named as Mohammad Saeed al Odeh, a journalist employed at a state-run newspaper who was sympathetic to the anti-Assad revolt. Activists said he had been executed in Nahr Eisha….

       If apologists for the Assad regime like Colonial Viper had their way this sort of atrocity would be carried out right across Syria and not just the small area that Assad controls at present.

       Civilian correspondents with no diplomatic immunity, armed with nothing more than cameras are bravely trying to document what is happening in Syria.

       New Zealander Anita McNaught is one of those risking their life to get the facts. Assad apologist, Colonial Viper in a disgusting personal attack on McNaught suggested that she had sold her journalistic integrity to her current employer, Al Jazeera. He even suggested that she could have staged an explosion while she was interviewing a FSA soldier on the front line in Aleppo.

       I am bewildered by Colonial Viper’s dirty tactics and the motives behind his support for this murderous regime.
       • Colonial Viper 1.1.3.1

         24 August 2012 at 12:20 am

         McNaught’s current employer was founded and funded by Qatari aristocracy.

         Who happen to be funding and supporting the FSA to take down Assad. And who also happen to host a major US military presence in their country. Connecting the dots too much for you Jenny?
         • Jenny 1.1.3.1.1

           24 August 2012 at 3:51 pm

           Just like your hero you continue to attack the messenger.

           Where Assad murders them, while you have to be content to murder their reputation.

           I imagine you will not be satisfied until Anita is added to the list of journalists killed in Syria, then you and your dictator will have both achieved your common aim.
       • muzza 1.1.3.2

         24 August 2012 at 7:32 am

         Jenny do you actually bother to try and cover various possibilities which might assist in explaining how things are in the ME, or are you too busy on the crusade to understand that you are being lied to!

         As previously stated, it is not possible for anyone angle to be right or wrong entirely, but in the case of Syria, its really just take a look at the ME and so called “arab spring”, read some of the many links you have been provided with, read some history, and understand the support that “leaders” in the ME have had from the west over the past decades, then look at what those same leaders have had happen to them, recently. Notice that the same people behind the scenes in the US administration are the same folk who have been there for decades, or perhaps you don;t know that!

         The ME is the tragic playground of the imperialists, and the Arab people the pawns/collateral, and while your support of the people getting screwed is fair, and right, the energy you are pouring into believing that Syria is some organic uprising, is in fact supporting the dectruction of tha nation!

         The fact you can’t/won’t see that is unfortunate!
         • Jenny 1.1.3.2.1

           24 August 2012 at 5:00 pm

           An impressive amount of gobblygook completely divorced from reality. Spouting chapter and verse leftist theory and rhetoric about imperialism, from your living room in New Zealand.

           Have you ever been to Syria or the Middle East Muzza? Have you seen the regime of Mubarak, or Bashar Assad close up?

           If you had, even though it doesn’t fit your sterile theorising, you might better understand the Arab Spring.
   • Jackal 1.2

     23 August 2012 at 10:38 am

     I would be interested to see a link to any leftist Bashar al-Assad apologists Jenny, especially from New Zealand. Some commentators have argued for a third way, but I don’t think this should be misconstrued as apologizing for Assad’s crimes against humanity.

     Your point is well made though… The difference between the response to Syria and Afghanistan couldn’t be greater. I think this has a lot to do with the political beliefs of the Assad regime and the fact that it’s mainly Arabs killing Arabs.

     No western governments should be fooled by Assad feigning ignorance about what is occurring in Syria and in my opinion a political as well as limited military response needs to take place. The difficulty is that a western intervention is not likely to be successful on its own because there are too many factions and one in particular, Al Qaida, stands out for all the wrong reasons. It could be that interference coalesces anti-western sentiment even further and reunites the country against what could be seen as invading forces.

     Siding with Al Qaida against Bashar al-Assad to ensure his regime falls will be seen as a lose lose situation by many western governments, especially for the US. They will be loath to tell their forces to turn around and help Syria to restore democracy, and side with the army they’ve been fighting in Afghanistan for the last eleven years. That’s why there’s no action to remove Assad so far, and why I think the atrocities against the Syrian people will continue for the foreseeable future.
   • Fortran 1.3

     23 August 2012 at 1:19 pm

     Jenny

     Please advise where you got your information from.
     Not what I heard from one of the families – must be the other two ?
2. mickysavage 2

   23 August 2012 at 6:54 am

   The Herald is reporting that the sale of Mighty River Power will (not might) be delayed according to unnamed share market sources.  Rio Tinto is throwing its weight around and threatening to close down Tiwai Point.

   The smelter consumes 15% of all of New Zealand’s electricity so any such development would have significant effects.  I cannot but wonder if it is engaging in a bout of brinkmanship at an opportune time in an attempt to get an even better deal than it has right now.

   Norske Skog is also threatening to close its mill. It is the largest customer of MRP.

   Labour MPs today is the day to focus on your job and keep talking about this issue, about the chaos that the Government’s plans are in and about the hugh hole the Government has left in the country’s accounts. 
   • tc 2.1

     23 August 2012 at 7:59 am

     Wishful thinking Mickey with the Mallarfia driving the agenda.
     • David H 2.1.1

       23 August 2012 at 12:35 pm

       Yeah it will be yet another dull day in the house No labour fire as usual.
   • BillODrees 2.2

     23 August 2012 at 8:23 am

     RTZ are canny. They know that Key drops his trousers when a pet political project is under threat. They will have alalysed the Warner deal. 

     The puffing of Key as a “great deal maker” is garbage.  He could not win a poker game with a blind man.  Key shows his hand upfront and plays a predictable game.  

     I bet that Key will buy off RTZ somehow. He will do anything to get the Assets Sale underway!  
     • Sunny 2.2.1

       23 August 2012 at 8:55 am

       He’s not playing this particular game of poker with his money…it’s ours! And the game he’s playing is not the game he says he is/the media allow him to say it is.

       ‘Winning the pot’ means flogging off assets to mates for low prices not getting the best price for, what was it? NZ schools, hospitals, share investors, development of the asset itself, debt reduction, new infrastructure….

       Key is not a liar. Liars have to keep a logical narrative and may have a residual conscience which twinges from time to time allowing clues to emerge unbidden that we are being lied to.

       Key is a bull shitter, as has been observed before.

       Bull shitters stories change all the time, even within a sentence. There’s no keeping up with the lack of logic, the constant stream of garbage.

       We used to be good at spotting bull shit in this country….what happened?
       • Dr Terry 2.2.1.1

         23 August 2012 at 10:16 am

         Unfortunately Key’s bullshitting is a usually a winning tactic – would you believe it?
         • muzza 2.2.1.1.1

           23 August 2012 at 12:25 pm

           Yes DT, because those who “suuport” National, and/or JK are the either legacy voters who don’t know any better (same applies to anyone who votes for a party, because, “they just do”), or they are wannabe’s just like JK, and see themselves as him, hence they agree/support his, and his governments actions!

           Monkey see , Monkey do, Monkey is!
3. Zorr 3

   23 August 2012 at 7:22 am

   OMG John Key

   SHUT UP!!!

   http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7530298/Euthanasia-already-happening-in-hospitals-PM
   • Te Reo Putake 3.1

     23 August 2012 at 7:36 am

     It’s been updated:
      
     Euthanasia Already Happening in Cabinet – PM
      
     Prime Minister John Key says euthanasia already happens in our cabinet – and if his leadership was terminally ill, he would consider it.

     Spin doctors agreed with him last night, saying his view of the situation was typically simplistic.

     Mr Key said yesterday that he could understand the argument that legalising euthanasia might put pressure on the elderly to end their lives early, in the face of “rapacious Epsom voters”, but “I don’t really buy that argument, I buy overseas holidays instead”.

     “I think there’s a lot of euthanasia that effectively happens in our cabinet meetings,” he told Newstalk ZB.”Richard Worth, Pansy Wong, David Garrett, brave little Rodney Hide … the list goes on”

     “. . . If I had terminal voter apathy, I had a few weeks to live, I was in tremendous amount of pain – if they just effectively wanted to turn off the switch and legalise that by legalising euthanasia, I’d want that. And my loyal nurse Stephen Joyce agrees with me 100%. Well, 44% and dropping.”
     • Lanthanide 3.1.1

       23 August 2012 at 9:10 am

       This sums Key up in total:

       Doctors disagreed with him last night, saying his view of the situation was too simplistic.
       • gobsmacked 3.1.1.1

         23 August 2012 at 9:25 am

         It shows the arrogance of power. When he became leader 6 years ago, and then PM, Key was smart enough to know that he didn’t know much, outside his own background in finance. His favourite line was “I haven’t received any advice”.

         Now he sounds off on military and medical and scientitfic matters, and displays his embarrassing ignorance, on everything from meteorites to euthanasia.

         This brazen stupidity is the result of over-confidence, and sadly, that comes from looking across the floor of the House.

         (Imagine what would happen if he said something really out-there, like “the world was created in 7 days”. Oh hang on, one of his Ministers said exactly that, and … nothing happened. Home free, every time).
   • CnrJoe 3.2

     23 August 2012 at 12:55 pm

     Well I hope he never stops with the bullshit. Comedy gold all round and a great legacy for academics to pick over.
4. Carol 4

   23 August 2012 at 8:21 am

   The gradual erosion of privacy in NZ: the continuing spread of the surveillance society. Big Brother is indeed watching you.

   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10828819

   All motorists using toll roads will have personal information collected under new legislation which removes the requirement for a form of anonymous payment to preserve privacy.

   Civil liberties advocates have hit out at the move which they say is part of a pattern of increasing surveillance of the public which the Privacy Commissioner is not doing enough to oppose.
   …
   The requirement that a tolling scheme must include one method of payment that does not collect personal information will be removed “as an entirely anonymous, yet cost-effective method is impractical”, the Government says in its explanatory note for the bill.

   This bill is still progressing through parliament, so there is time to protest loudly about it…. or even make a submission:

   The Herald understands Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff has concerns about the change but she was unwilling to comment on them this week.

   She is expected to make a submission to the select committee that considers the legislation.

   A spokesman for Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee said the requirement for a tolling system that did not collect personal information “no longer reflects the working realities of modern tolling systems which collect vehicle information needed to apply tolls without disrupting traffic”.

   And wouldn’t you just know that Brownlee was in the midst of this?
   • Fortran 4.1

     23 August 2012 at 1:22 pm

     This Road/Vehicle information collection follows the Australian model which has been around for some years.
   • muzza 4.2

     24 August 2012 at 7:46 am

     No Carol, people won’t protest loudly, even then roads are sold/tolled, and peoples journey’s tracked, payments no longer in any form of cash, only trackable cards, and their mobile phones tracking their movements…..wait on!

     Sadly the invasion of privacy, while not subtle to those paying attention, has been somewhat incremental, via technologies and legislation over the past 20 years or so, and its really no accident.

     The question is, how far will it be allowed to go, before people are trapped, and all movements recorded and subject to monitoring.

     This is not something which I wish to happen, because it already has, its just something that having witnessed living around the world what is now in NZ, its a case of the horse has bolted!

     One can’t help but feel so sorry for the next generation, who by their digital existence, are already trapped, and will not put up a fight, because to them, privacy is not something they will ever have known!
5. Lanthanide 5

   23 August 2012 at 9:11 am

   I had a lot of connection problems trying to access this site last night. I started a ping running and it didn’t have any connection errors, and did a couple of tracerts too and didn’t find any slowness. So I guess the web server itself was having trouble serving pages or some-such?
   • King Kong 5.1

     23 August 2012 at 9:29 am

     It is always a bit of a headscratcher for me that the blog that has one of the giants of the computing world running it seems to be technically the worst performing. Never been able to access it properly on my iphone.
     • Colonial Viper 5.1.1

       23 August 2012 at 9:33 am

       That’s because your connection is routinely and deliberately assigned the lowest priority, I suspect.
       • King Kong 5.1.1.1

         23 August 2012 at 9:40 am

         So much for that left wing egalitarianism, comrade
         • Colonial Viper 5.1.1.1.1

           23 August 2012 at 9:42 am

           😎
       • fnjckg 5.1.1.2

         23 August 2012 at 7:35 pm

         larf? larf out loud i did!
         wotta u like? aye? aye?
     • Lanthanide 5.1.2

       23 August 2012 at 9:38 am

       Actually the site has been pretty damn stable, given the shoestring budget it is run on. Also Lynn does this very much part-time.
       • tc 5.1.2.1

         23 August 2012 at 9:59 am

         Agree that Lynn does a fantastic job however it is awful on an iPhone both in Safari and it’s own app.
     • Rosie 5.1.3

       23 August 2012 at 2:24 pm

       You know what? I’ve read about folks having difficulty with this site bit I’ve rarely had a problem. I don’t have any whizz bang gears, just a clunky old PC that runs internet explorer. Its what my budget allows and it works a treat.
       • fnjckg 5.1.3.1

         23 August 2012 at 7:37 pm

         works for moi
6. prism 6

   23 August 2012 at 9:59 am

   Ground breaking new legislation that will put controls on excessive alcohol consumption, and particularly on that by young adults still growing (up to 25 years according to brain research I think). NO. Collins, ushers in legislation that crushes hopes of rational legislation to bring limits on this product that many users have lost the ability to apply limits to. She and the lax governments we have had of recent years have delivered NZ youth to this debilitating addiction for the benefit of perks and cash that the large alcohol suppliers provide.

   Lion’s External Relations Director has spoken. A woman who can explain in such measured, well-bred tones how it’s all about educating the young not limiting them. Because it would limit her bosses money take and her salary if she couldn’t argue the unarguable. Well we know she has been bought lock stock and barrel. And her title ‘External Relations’ – is symptomatic of the size and importance of big, wealthy corporates so that they are like separate states within states requiring virtual diplomats to ensure their interests are paramount. The alcohol industry is prepared to play on our enjoyment of their product till we are addicted and can’t stop and ruin our brains. Suck our young people dry while the rest of their lives becomes compromised from the harm it causes. And make sure you have politicians in your pocket. It all seems to be well on that track for the industry.

   This from google – a summary of the proposed new law sounding promising.
   “23 Aug 2010 – The Government has announced sweeping liquor law reforms, with a new split alcohol purchase age the headline feature. Justice Minister Simon Power
   http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4049000/Government-unveils-new-alcohol-plans

   There was discussion earlier this year in Nelson by NACT MPs Nick Smith and Associate Min of Justice Chester Borrows. (Mr Borrows is a former Nelsonian and has worked as a police officer and lawyer, and also chaired the select committee responsible for tightening alcohol laws.)
   However what he must know from his police experience is ignored in the greater interest of strategic law making to suit powerful liquor interests.
   stuff Nelson Mail

   Current situation well covered from Dompost on stuff
   Dompost Editorial: Bill won’t change our booze culture
   • Dv 6.1

     23 August 2012 at 10:23 am

     I was interested in the line of self regulation that appeared in two RNZ interviews

     One was the liquor industry
     The next was the fracking industry.
   • vto 6.2

     23 August 2012 at 10:42 am

     I was astounded at the hypocrisy of Judith Collins when she said that there should be little need for this because 80% of people are responsible drinkers.

     Why does she and her lot not apply this logic to beneficiaries and do away with all the snoop and drug testing?

     They have no credibility.
     • prism 6.2.1

       23 August 2012 at 2:59 pm

       vto
       ” apply this logic to beneficiaries and do away with all the snoop and drug testing?”
       They have no logic. It’s hard to know that our policies are merely the slap reaction to the equivalent of being annoyed by a momentary mosquito bite.
7. Dave Kennedy (bsprout) 7

   23 August 2012 at 10:08 am

   Julie Anne Genter achieves an easy knockout against a struggling political heavyweight.
   http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/brownlee-suffers-knockout-in-transport.html
   • Southern Limits 7.1

     23 August 2012 at 11:51 am

     She’s doing a great job. It really is quite astounding the complete lack of argument that Brownlee is bringing to the table.
     • Dave Kennedy (bsprout) 7.1.1

       23 August 2012 at 12:13 pm

       I agree Southern Limits and what appalls me most is that when Brownlee makes things up to counter Julie Anne’s questioning MSM just accepts it as fact. When Julie Anne compared our investment in motorways with Greece’s, Brownlee claimed that it was expenditure on rail that caused the problem – this was an outright lie and yet it was quoted as fact in the Herald.
       http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7530165/Today-in-politics-Thursday-August-23
       Julie Anne does a great job in exposing the gaps in Brownlees thinking and this is all that is reported.
   • Kevin Welsh 7.2

     23 August 2012 at 12:37 pm

     I hope she keeps at it, although she needs to bear-in-mind:

     “Hutt skin is extremely thick, and when combined with their redundant organs and tough flesh, can result in Hutts being able to survive direct blaster fire hits. Hutts are also inedible by most life forms, including Sarlacci, resistant to the Force due to their unique thought patterns, and are able to see the ultraviolet and infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.”

     I say, put him on the next star freighter to Varl.
     • Colonial Viper 7.2.1

       23 August 2012 at 1:10 pm

       lolololol
   • fnjckg 7.3

     23 August 2012 at 7:40 pm

     J-A G: hot hot hot and very brainy
     • Colonial Viper 7.3.1

       23 August 2012 at 7:48 pm

       You said that, so I opened bsprout’s link, and all I got was an eyeful of Gerry Brownlee. Gee thanks mate.
8. tc 8

   23 August 2012 at 10:20 am

   Has the census deferred after chch been rescheduled?

   If so will the electoral seats/boundaries be reworked before 2014 to include extra population growth in akl.
   • Kevin 8.1

     23 August 2012 at 12:50 pm

     @tc
     At the rate that Kiwis are jumping ship for Oz we don’t need extra seats for Aucks, nope, we should be setting up seats in Perth W.A. for the Kiwis there.
     By the way what happened to Brash’s brain drain think tank, bullshit if there ever was.
9. prism 9

   23 August 2012 at 10:21 am

   King Kong – can’t resist.
   But you think you’re an intellectual, don’t you, ape?
   Otto West: Apes don’t read philosophy.
   Wanda: Yes they do, Otto. They just don’t understand it.
10. Southern Limits 10

    23 August 2012 at 10:44 am

    Another solid takedown of Leonardo Maugeri’s bogus report. Maugeri got far too much uncritical press with journalists blindly accepting his conclusions without any real analysis whatsoever. It appears as though the media is slowly picking up the other side with a recent article debunking Maugeri in the New Scientist as well.

    “This is a guest post by Sadad al-Huseini, now a petroleum consultant and formerly executive vice president of Saudi Aramco for exploration and production, and is a response to the recent article in PIW (Petroleum Intelligence Weekly) by Leonardo Maugeri on his new study Oil: the Next Revolution, challenging his optimism about future oil supplies (PIW Jul.2’12). This article originally appeared in the July 23, 2012 edition of PIW.

    Leonardo Maugeri’s recent paper Oil: The Next Revolution on the presumed future abundance of oil supplies rejects the pessimistic outlook of limited increases in oil capacity over the next decade. It suggests global oil capacity will exceed 110 million barrels per day by the end of the decade, putting an immediate end to concerns regarding constrained long-term oil supplies. This conclusion is based on an assessment of new projects with a reported capacity of 49 million b/d before a downward adjustment to 29 million b/d to allow for completion risks and reserves depletion. Maugeri holds two PhDs, one in Political Science and one in Economics, and has extensive executive experience with ENI in strategies and developments and in petrochemicals.

    In putting forth this optimistic thesis, Maugeri apparently sets aside a variety of technical realities, including the difference between natural gas liquids (NGLs) and conventional oil, reserves depletion versus capacity declines, and proven reserves as opposed to speculative resources.”

    http://www.theoildrum.com/node/9411
11. Jackal 11

    23 August 2012 at 12:28 pm

    Keys euthanasia gaff

    It’s bad enough to make up a story to try and justify his noncommittal to changing euthanasia laws, but to say that doctors are routinely breaking the law and the government knows about it while doing nothing is entirely unacceptable…
    • vto 11.1

      23 August 2012 at 12:30 pm

      I agree Jackal.

      Key is a buffoon and this proves it beyond a doubt
12. s y d 12

    23 August 2012 at 12:55 pm

    herald headline
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10828941
     
    but apparently its all due to the GFC…so nothing to be done then
     
     
13. TheContrarian 13

    23 August 2012 at 2:49 pm

    http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/south-african-consulate-auckland-protestors-and-media-confused-gb-126490

    Hahaha
14. bad12 14

    23 August 2012 at 3:19 pm

    Are we too poor to afford our own statistics these days, caught Health Minister Tony Ryall spreading fear and loathing on RadioNZ National the other day with the ”1 in 20 of those admitted to hospital in a year have smoking related illnesses”,

    Thought i would check out this latest of New Zealand studies only to find, laughably, that its from the UK,

    http://www.ic.nhs.uk/news-and-events/news/about-1260-hospital-admissions-a-day-due-to-smoking-figures-show

    It’s at the least entertaining to read such mind massaging figures, hell 11% of cancer admissions were so they say caused by smoking, shock horror,

    Stated another way tho, 89% of cancer admissions a year ARE NOT due to use of tobacco, you could almost be forgiven a quick puff on ya pipe,

    Of course if those 11% of smokers had never taken up the habit of smoking its likely that 89% of them would have still been admitted to hospital with cancer….
15. Monique Watson 15

    23 August 2012 at 4:19 pm

    South African miners stand together against poverty despite slaughter by local cops:
    w.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/72cb0f7c-ec7f-11e1-8e4a-00144feab49a.html#axzz24L3gojIz
16. AnnaLiviaPluraBella 16

    23 August 2012 at 4:44 pm

    Collins takes body blow over Pullar affair
    NBR| Jock Anderson | Thursday August 23, 2012
    “Auditor-General Lyn Provost delivered a body blow to ACC minister Judith Collins for her board-level botching of the Bronwyn Pullar affair.
    Without naming her, Auditor-General Provost makes severe criticisms of the circumstances surrounding Miss Collins’ hasty decision to sack experienced board members after the Pullar affair blew up in March.
    When the Pullar incident went public Miss Collins reacted by promptly removing the ACC’s most commercially experienced directors – chairman John Judge (recently appointed chairman of ANZ National Bank), deputy chairman John McCliskie and Rob Cambpell.
    Director Murray Hinder resigned soon after, as did ceo Ralph Stewart, who finishes in a few weeks.
    The expectation ACC board members would do two terms is supported by Auditor-General Provost.
    In her report Ms Provost says this:
    “The ACC board at the time was reaching this point of maturity. Most of its members had served about three years.
    “Its primary focus for that period, at the direction of the previous minister, had been to address ACC’s long-term liabilities, to ensure ACC’s viability into the future.
    “It had carried out that task, and was at the point of broadening its focus to ensure equal attention to all aspects of the business.
    “We consider that a new board member, even if that person is an experienced director, will take two to three years to understand key actuarial and financial aspects of ACC, as well as its culture,” Ms Provost says.
    Board members needed to understand these matters to be able to balance ensuring the fair and equitable treatment of its claimants and keeping ACC financially viable.
    Ms Provost also acknowledged a positive business plan for 2012 to 2015, prepared under chief executive Mr Stewart’s leadership, and the value of retaining highly experienced ACC board members.
    On the back of succesfully meeting their government brief to turnaround and improve ACC’s financial position, the directors were expected to be re-appointed for a second three year term.
    When Miss Collins did not renew their terms, she left ACC – arguably the Government’s biggest investment instutition handling billions of dollars a year – commercially rudderless.
    The jury is still out on how what is seen as a grave knee-jerk error of judgment will damage Miss Collins’ political future. “
17. Pascal's bookie 17

    23 August 2012 at 5:40 pm

    To the screen grab machine quick smart. Serious. Check this:

    http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/south-african-consulate-auckland-protestors-and-media-confused-gb-126490

    But that is not what TV3 reported when the story led its news bulletin that night.

    “Protesters have attacked the South African Consulate building in Auckland,” news presenter Simon Shepherd announced.

    “They used paint bombs to splatter the walls and windows and stuck a letter on the door for South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma.”

    Self-styled activist John Minto – better remembered as a pro-black anti-tour wrecker – was interviewed: “We’ve turned up here to send a message of absolute disgust to Jacob Zuma because we hold him responsible for this massacre.”

    Emphasis mine, racist editorialising all the NBRs.

    ‘He’s not an activist, he’s just pro-black’
    • weka 17.1

      23 August 2012 at 5:44 pm

      Is that journalism or an opinion piece? Or something else entirely?
    • Galeandra 17.2

      23 August 2012 at 7:26 pm

      Maybe that’s why The Contrarian was arf arf-ing? His critiques tend to work the one-way streets.
    • Colonial Viper 17.3

      23 August 2012 at 7:40 pm

      The work of the NBR editorial staff is going down the toilet
18. William Joyce 18

    23 August 2012 at 5:45 pm

    Some pics of our beloved leader
    • Ianmac from Vietnam 18.1

      23 August 2012 at 7:53 pm

      Many a true picture….. Clever stuff William. Handy to browse back over precious pics and remember.
    • Rosie 18.2

      23 August 2012 at 9:05 pm

      Thank you for the brilliant lol times:-)
19. Pascal's bookie 19

    23 August 2012 at 8:57 pm

    Oh. and Judith may be tough, but I’ll tell you who isn’t scared of her. John fucking Campbell, that’s who.

    http://www.3news.co.nz/ACC-report-authors-outline-systemic-failures/tabid/367/articleID/266561/Default.aspx

    marvelous.
    • Anne 19.1

      23 August 2012 at 9:33 pm

      Campbell leaves Sainsbury for dead.

      I thought the youtube clip was a lot like the Queen’s Xmas message only without the corgis

      – complete with string of pearls (or whatever) and sparkly lapel brooch.
      • weka 19.1.1

        23 August 2012 at 10:23 pm

        I wish someone would give him a proper job though.
    • deuto 19.2

      23 August 2012 at 9:57 pm

      Thanks for that link – have only just come up air after refridgeration problems since middle of the night last night. Can’t believe the arrogance of Collins – on second thoughts, yes I can but good on Campbell and calling her bluff.

      However, I also had real problems with the terminology used by Soella Cummings (?) from KMPG – people and their private information are ‘data’ and this is ‘assets’?
    • weka 19.3

      23 August 2012 at 10:28 pm

      “I don’t want to suggest there is a leek in your office”
       
      ROFL.
    • North 19.4

      24 August 2012 at 7:24 am

      Magnificent work Campbell ! And the parliamentary reporter’s mention of the Queen’s speeech. Priceless !

      Let’s hope the now very frequent RNZ refrain – “the minister was not available for comment…..” is identified as reflecting arrogant dereliction of duty by individuals picking up handsome pay and privileges from the people.
20. Rosie 20

    23 August 2012 at 8:58 pm

    When push comes to shove you’ve got to act

    Mayor of a Spanish town organises supermarkets raids to ease the burden of austerity

    http://edition.cnn.com/video/?iid=article_sidebar#/video/world/2012/08/21/pkg-goodman-spanish-mayor-robin-hood.cnn
    • weka 20.1

      23 August 2012 at 10:33 pm

      NYT blog http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/the-don-quixote-of-the-spanish-crisis/

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