Open mike 26/01/2014

123 comments on “Open mike 26/01/2014 ”

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1. Jenny 1

   26 January 2014 at 7:24 am

   Panui! Panui! Panui!

   Wanting something fun, worthwhile, altruistic, artistically creative, and political, to do on Auckland Anniversary Day? Tired of listening to politicians making boring speeches excusing BAU? Sad at the damage climate change is doing to our world?

   Join the fight against coal, the number 1 cause and most easily preventable cause of global greenhouse gas emissions.

   Auckland Coal Action is calling for the public to rally to protest Fonterra’s proposed new coal mine.

   Building on our series of successful on Labour Weekend, at Easter Weekend and Queens Birthday Weekend, help us make this Monday’s Auckland Anniversary Day our most successful protest ever.

   By continuing to build these protests we will make sure that Fonterra gets the message that the world can’t afford more new coal mines.
   This holiday Monday 28 January, starting at 3pm (set up from 2pm) On the Auckland-bound side of State Highway 2 next to the site of the proposed new coal mine on the Mangatawhiri straight.
   Meeting at the corner of Homestead Road (motorway overbridge) and Bell Road.

   Coming from Auckland you will need to take the Mangatawhiri exit from State Highway 2 onto Mangatawhiri Road (incorrectly shown as Mangatangi Rd on Google Maps).

   Coming from the East, you will need to take the Golf Road exit.

   Click here for a map of the area: http://www.wises.co.nz/l/waikato/mangatawhiri/bell+road/#c/-37.221375/175.148721/15/

   What should I bring?

   Just bring yourself and your friends. We have lots of colourful banners and signs, that they can hold, stating opposition to climate change, and coal mining.

   bearing these messages:

   No New Coal Mines
   Coal Cooks the Climate
   Back Off Fonterra
   Use Wood Waste Fonterra
   Coal Causes Drought
   Coal = Climate Chaos = Drought
   Coal Dried Milk = Climate Dried Paddocks
   Coal Free Mangatawhiri

   But if you or your friends want to bring along your very own creative climate change messages to present to the public and Fonterra this would be very welcome also.

   What can I do?
   There will be lots of returning holiday crowds for you to interact with, Bored out of their minds sitting in the traffic and interested by anything you do, to bring attention to the danger of coal to the environment.

   Can anyone come?
   Yes. If you are returning from your holiday why not stop and join the rally? You will only be stuck in traffic anyway!

   Support the campaign against new coal mines!

   If you need transport and or want to be part of our car pool or for updates on this activity go to our website or facebook page.

   http://aucklandcoalaction.org/

   https://www.facebook.com/groups/aklcoal/
   • Lanthanide 1.1

     26 January 2014 at 12:04 pm

     Oh, Jenny’s back.
2. chris73 2

   26 January 2014 at 8:10 am

   http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/9650581/School-ditches-rules-and-loses-bullies

   – Heres something I think we can all agree on
   • karol 2.1

     26 January 2014 at 8:20 am

     chris73 – born again anarchist.

     I suspect a lot of collaborative engagement, and less competitive jockeying for positions of power.
     • chris73 2.1.1

       26 January 2014 at 8:25 am

       Naah its just common sense that kids need to burn off energy
       • karol 2.1.1.1

         26 January 2014 at 8:36 am

         There was more going on there than burning energy – collaborative games (bullrush) – creating stuff in the junk pit. Rather than trying to structure children’s play through rules, just structure the environment and leave them to it. That’s what happens in early childhood education – kindergartens etc. Somehow that changes with many school playgrounds for older children – they are left with big open spaces and little in the environment to work with other than each other.
         • Colonial Viper 2.1.1.1.1

           26 January 2014 at 1:44 pm

           I think the PC brigade had bullrush banned years ago, or did that get reversed?
           • chris73 2.1.1.1.1.1

             26 January 2014 at 2:48 pm

             My mum hated bullrush but only because of the damage done to our clothes (three boys)
   • David H 2.2

     26 January 2014 at 1:41 pm

     Oh yes, the more energy they go through at school, means more peace in the home.
3. Chooky 3

   26 January 2014 at 8:17 am

   @ chris 73….+100 …interesting….I agree with this….kids need to explore all avenues of creativity in the playground…eg. war games, climbing trees and gettiing into hedges…water and sand play ….even so-called risky behaviour ….because this is how they learn to set their own safety limits

   ….mind you there always needs to be some loose teacher playground supervision …to ensure no bullying or real harm to kids
   • chris73 3.1

     26 January 2014 at 8:26 am

     See I knew there could be cross-party support 🙂
     • Chooky 3.1.1

       26 January 2014 at 8:29 am

       we’ll convert you yet…you do seem to be a frequent visitor….maybe you like our company?( ha ha)
       • chris73 3.1.1.1

         26 January 2014 at 2:53 pm

         I liked what Shane Jones had to say…
         • McFlock 3.1.1.1.1

           26 January 2014 at 6:08 pm

           Of course you did.
     • Paul 3.1.2

       26 January 2014 at 8:34 am

       It’s a great idea.
     • Molly 3.1.3

       26 January 2014 at 10:06 am

       Yes – great idea.

       If you want to spread those new wings of yours – have a look at
       Forest kindergartens – and Adventure Playgrounds.

       Kids burning off energy indeed.
   • millsy 3.2

     26 January 2014 at 6:13 pm

     I remember years ago, when I was in primary school, we had this massive (in the minds of us kids) 2 story playhouse, with an outside ladder to the second story, a pole, slide, balcony with a swing bridge out the back. It was on ‘stilts’ so you could play under it as well as on it. And it had a heck of a view when you climbed up top. Us kids loved it, and upshifting to the “Standards” (not to be confused with this site), meant playing on the other side of the school, and confidence course-like arrangement of high ropes, hanging tires and swinging logs.

     The playhouse was demolished not long before I left that school. Probably around the same time as the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms came in. It was replaced by some plastic looking lego type thing that seemed totally boring.

     Should also remind everyone that it was National that brought in all the OSH red tape stuff.
4. phillip ure 4

   26 January 2014 at 8:25 am

   just fuck off..!..shane jone..!

   http://whoar.co.nz/2014/shane-jones-proves-what-a-reactionary-arsewipe-he-truly-is/

   (excerpt:.)

   “.. (ed:..and seriously..!

   ..an obese/fat/porn-addicted pisshead..

   ..saying cannabis ‘is a problem’..?

   ..is kinda beyond irony..eh..?..”

   shane jones..putting the ‘act’ in reactionary…
   • Chooky 4.1

     26 January 2014 at 8:36 am

     …speaking of pissheads ( I am not one) ….but recently instead of an occasional glass of red wine( which is supposed to be good for you)….i have switched to Guiness Stout ….and omg….it really is good for you! ….full of iron and Vit Bs..( got rid of my creakiness and I feel miles younger….. ha ha) …..supposed to be good for hypertension also…….just what the doctor ordered…..so i am now drinking a glass of Guiness every night ….while my partner drinks his red wine

     ….also Guiness is less fattening than red wine or a glass of milk

     Go the Irish!…..at last I have found my drink
     • Paul 4.1.1

       26 January 2014 at 8:39 am

       Jones is a dinosaur.
       • Pasupial 4.1.1.1

         26 January 2014 at 9:40 am

         I just hope he doesn’t go all Jurassic Park on us after the election this year. Labour can’t go with the Nats, however closely certain members of their caucus agree on most issues. But I could almost see Jones leading a breakaway faction of blue-reds (such an ugly bruised colour) that could congeal with NZF to give C&S to “the greatest party” (ie the one with most votes). Still, with the impending annihilation example of Dunne (and the MP) to show what happens to exLabourites who hook up with the Tories, such a course may not appeal.

         One of a long list of prognostications about which I hope I am in error.
         • phillip ure 4.1.1.1.1

           26 January 2014 at 9:56 am

           @ parsp..

           “..But I could almost see Jones leading a breakaway faction of blue-reds (such an ugly bruised colour) that could congeal with NZF to give C&S to “the greatest party”..”

           i agree…jones is in the wrong party..

           ..and the cherry on the cake is..

           ..that he is generally deemed to be short-listed for the ‘laziest-mp-in-parliament’-award..

           ..he just turns up to collect his paycheck..

           ..his performances in portfolios has been beyond dire..

           ..which is part of the reason there was so much hilarity when he stood/played-stalking-horse for the right/neo-libs..in his claim on the labour..leadership role..

           ..with most claiming that jones probably ‘couldn’t be bothered’ putting in the necessary hard work..

           ..an exercise by jones that was only given any credence by the paid-for corporate/access-media hacks..

           ..jones is also most famed for long-lunching..being over-fed by his lobbyists..

           ..(rapers of the environment/exploiters of third-world workers..all of them..)

           ..jones is the worst kind of greedy/self-interested reactionary tory in labour drag..

           ..he belongs on nationals’ back bench..

           ..up there with that other self-serving clown..henare..

           ..peas in a fucken pod..

           ..those two..

           ..eh..?

           ..phillip ure..
         • alwyn 4.1.1.1.2

           26 January 2014 at 12:59 pm

           Out of curiosity what is your success rate on your long line of prognostications?

           As far as Dunne goes he is merely another example of what happens when they get into the governmental bed with a larger party. They get crushed.
           National or Labour, it doesn’t matter. Tell me where the Alliance Party, a Labour supporter went too.
           • phillip ure 4.1.1.1.2.1

             26 January 2014 at 1:17 pm

             nah..!..alwyn..

             ..it’s those mesh-stockings/suspender-belts/fanny-flashing micro-skirts/crimson-painted-lips he wears/affects ..

             .. that make dunne different..

             ..but most importantly..

             .it is that ‘for sale/hire – short-time ok!..eftpos-accepted’ sign dunne has hanging around his neck..

             ..that makes him stand out from the others..

             ..phillip ure..
           • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1.1.2.2

             26 January 2014 at 2:42 pm

             The Alliance cracked internally and not because of outside pressure from a larger party. They have, unfortunately, forgotten the reason for being a party though. This seems to be a problem with most left leaning small parties.
             • alwyn …

               26 January 2014 at 3:53 pm

               I think it is a bit more general than that. If you have a look at what happens to parties other than Labour and National in the election that follows their first term in Government you find that the smaller parties all crash in popularity. I’ve only looked at what happened at the election in which they first enetered Government, not what might have happened in later elections. I mean Jim Anderton dropped from 2 to 1 but it was their first term in Powerr that did them in.

               ie 1996
               New Zealand First was part of the Government with 17 seats. In the next election they dropped to 5 seats.

               1999.
               The Alliance, in Government with 10 seats. Next election they got 2.

               2002
               United Future had 8 seats. Next election they got 3

               2005.
               New Zealand First had 7 seats. Next election none.

               2008
               ACT had 5 seats. Next election 1
               Maori Party 5 seats. Next election 3.

               In the mean time the Green Party, never part of the Government, went along, starting in 1999, with 7,9,6,9,and 14 seats. It looks as if NOT being in Government helps if you are small, don’t you think.
     • alwyn 4.1.2

       26 January 2014 at 2:05 pm

       Poor Chooky. Conned by the Irish.
       You say “Guiness Stout ……full of iron …”
       I’m sorry to say but the benefits of iron from drinking Guiness are a myth.
       As an example I will point you to an example of the dietician’s comments on the subject.

       You would have to drink three pints of Guiness to get as much iron as a single egg yolk.
       You would have to drink fifteen pints of Guiness to get as much iron as two Weetabix.
       Not being English I don’t know what a Weetabix is but I assume it is like our Weetbix.

       http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1222684/Dont-believe-say-Guiness-isnt-good-you.html

       I won’t suggest you check any of the other claims. Assume they are right and you can go on drinking with a clear conscience. If you check them you may have to settle on drinking it because it tastes good.
     • Molly 4.1.3

       26 January 2014 at 2:54 pm

       Many years ago… stout was my choice of tipple, so I can appreciate your enthusiasm. But was a Murphys or Beamish aficionado myself.

       Didn’t stop me visiting the Guinness brewery in Dublin though, and discovering that for many years a glass of Guinness was given by Dublin hospital to women after childbirth to revitalise them.
       Don’t even recollect a cup of tea after delivering here…
     • McFlock 4.1.4

       26 January 2014 at 6:18 pm

       I play it safe and try to have both 😉
     • David H 4.1.5

       26 January 2014 at 6:18 pm

       But Guiness is out of most beneficiaries price range. Also Paula won’t like us drinking on the benefit even if it is good for our health.
       • Colonial Viper 4.1.5.1

         26 January 2014 at 6:22 pm

         1L a month ration for all NZers over 18, I say.
   • Chooky 4.2

     26 January 2014 at 11:06 am

     @ phillip ure on ..”saying cannabis ‘is a problem’..?”

     News form USA debate:

     http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/jan/24/patrick-kennedy/has-potency-pot-changed-president-obama-was-high-s/
     • phillip ure 4.2.1

       26 January 2014 at 11:43 am

       @ chooky..

       re yr link..

       ..this is the current ‘scary’ lie that prohibitionists peddle (with some effect..) to parents of today who smoked pot back then..

       ..(which instill (justifiable) concerns in those parents…)

       ..on an anecdotal-level..from one who smoked pot then..and smokes pot now..

       ..yes..as confirmed in yr link..the average-quality has increased..

       ..but that is just ‘cos of blackmarket vagaries/forces..as in ‘cabbage’ can’t be sold now..the maket is more sophisticated..there is ‘better stuff’ just down/across the road..

       ..but the strength/potency of good-pot has not changed between then and now..

       ..(facts actually confirmed in yr anti-pot link..)

       “..But while the average is up due to the availability of marijuana with a higher THC count –

       – the high mark in potency (somewhere around 25-27 percent) remains relatively unchanged in the last couple decades –

       – and isn’t likely to increase..”

       see..!..

       ..court forensic records here in new zealand also confirm that fact..

       ..as weed busted has to be checked for potency..

       ..and those records show minimal (if any) increases in the potency/thc-levels of good quality dope then..

       ..and good quality dope now..

       ..basically..(back to anecdotals again) good dope has always been good dope..

       ..and the ‘skunk’ of today..is no stronger than the thai-sticks/afghani-hash/whatever of their youth..

       ..this ‘potency’-argument is almost the last rearguard action the prohibitionists/piss-pimpers have to hand..

       ..and like so much else peddled about marijuana over the years..

       ..this too is a puff of smoke/bunch of lies..

       ..eh..?

       ..and but/hey!..as those former pot-smoking parents of today will attest/remember..

       ..when the pot is ‘good’..you smoke/need less..

       ..i can reassure them..

       ..that this has not changed..

       ..and there are not nasty/super-hybrid versions of pot out there..

       ..neither then..nor now..

       phillip ure..
   • QoT 4.3

     26 January 2014 at 11:34 am

     My god, he’s obese AND fat? That must make him the worst human being ever!!!! There are certainly no other things we could criticise Shane Jones for at all!!!! 🙄
     • phillip ure 4.3.1

       26 January 2014 at 11:52 am

       good old qot..

       ..can always be relied upon to get it wrong..

       ..’fat-addicted’..as in addicted to animal-fat/flesh..

       ..mm-kay..?

       ..just like yr good self..eh..?

       ..any other questions..?

       ..as by any measures..

       ..he is clinically-obese/prime candidate for the nasty-outcomes from that adopted pakeha-diet/addiction-pattern..

       ..eh..?

       ..phillip ure..
       • Zorr 4.3.1.1

         26 January 2014 at 2:08 pm

         Looking at the parts you have quoted in your blog post and what you have put here – how about try giving up these ad hominem attacks. If you actually had a point it was completely obscured for me by your bullshit personal attacks.

         Reading your blog post – Shane Jones was making an argument from the other side of the aisle of the cannabis debate. He chose to highlight the issues that Maori culture has with legal and illegal drugs as well as confronting the fact that a pro-cannabis white guy was able to speak on the marae when their own women weren’t afforded the same courtesy. From the sounds of it, he was making a responsible, progressive and inclusive speech against the promotion of cannabis – and you choose to personally insult him for it rather than attempt to rebut any of the points he raised.

         I guess it just goes to display that ad hominem is the only sustainable level of “debate” you’re capable of
         • phillip ure 4.3.1.1.1

           26 January 2014 at 2:42 pm

           @ zorr..if you read the actual report..there..zorr..

           ..you will find that jones just adhom-ed the pro cannabis speaker..

           ..for being ‘pakeha’..(!)..and for daring to make that case..(!)

           ..and you are just fine with that..eh..?

           ..and everything i have said about jones is true/fact..

           ..please point me at what i have said that you think is untrue..

           ..jones is what he is..

           ..i am just pointing that out..

           ..and his hypocrisies in pimping the drug that does the most harm to maori/nz..

           ..and just making up lies/bullshit about the least harmful intoxicant of them all..

           ..unpleasant facts do not necessarily translate to ad hominems..

           ..eh..?

           ..phillip ure..
           • phillip ure 4.3.1.1.1.1

             26 January 2014 at 2:53 pm

             and zorr..you get a special conflate/strawman-argument award..

             ..first you bracket pot and alcohol together..’

             ..when/whereas alcohol is most certainly a problem..

             ..(and is advertised/glamourised on tv/by the likes of jones.. etc..)

             ..but the main problem with cannabis for maori communities..

             ..is people getting busted/jailed for it..(doh..!..)

             ..and then you somehow drag the women speaking on marae issue into it..

             ..w.t.f.has that got to do with the pot-debate/the lies/bullshit of/from jones..?

             ..phillip ure.
           • Zorr 4.3.1.1.1.2

             26 January 2014 at 2:55 pm

             He wasn’t actually attacking the speaker for being white but pointing out the issue within Maori culture where an outside male can get up to speak to promote whatever they so wish but Maori women are ignored and do not have the right to speak on the marae – so not an ad hominem (from your blog “It was particularly “galling” that a Pakeha man could make such a speech on a marae when Maori women were not accorded that privilege”)

             And, despite what you say about Shane Jones being true, it does not make your argument any less of an ad hominem. What does his weight have to do with the argument for decriminalization of cannabis?
             • phillip ure …

               26 January 2014 at 3:02 pm

               @ zorr..

               “..from your blog “It was particularly “galling”..”

               just be clear..zorr…they are jones’ words…

               ..not mine…as yr comment cd read..

               ..and he said of the pro-cannabis-speaker..whose name is macdonald..

               ..he called him a ‘half-stoned creature from Macdonald’s farm’..

               ..and this ignorant-prick pretends to be fit to head a ministry..?

               ..and if we are riffing on names..

               ..jones sure needs to do a lot of ‘jonesing’..

               ..to shed his suite of life-threatening addictions..

               ..eh..?

               phillip ure..
             • phillip ure …

               26 January 2014 at 4:21 pm

               @ zorr..

               “..What does his weight have to do with the argument for decriminalization of cannabis?..”

               ..because of the fact he lies about the most harmless of intoxicants..

               ..and pimps for the most harmful intoxicant..to/for nz’ers..

               ..from a body showing all the outcomes from his life spent feeding his addictions to animal-flesh/fats/sugar/alcohol..

               ..his screaming hypocrisies/ignorances make his body-shape/personal-addictions entirely relevant..to the debate..

               ..he is the walking example of all that is wrong about/with that adopted pakeha-diet/addiction-patterns..

               ..he make himself relevant..

               ..phillip ure..
         • bad12 4.3.1.1.2

           26 January 2014 at 2:52 pm

           Zorr, and got caned on that same Marae for His outlandish attack on the Pakeha speaker, looks like we will have to add to the ‘crimes’ of Jones ‘closet racist’ as well…
     • Brett Dale 4.3.2

       26 January 2014 at 2:27 pm

       Qot:

       So let me get this right, its wrong to have a go at someone’s weight (I agree)

       You have bought this up regarding, Jesse Ryder and Shane Jones.

       But its okay to have a go at someones height. (judging by what you said on Twitter).

       Dont you think that is hypocritical?
       • weka 4.3.2.1

         26 January 2014 at 9:06 pm

         Link please Brett.
         • Brett Dale 4.3.2.1.1

           26 January 2014 at 11:29 pm

           weka:

           On her twitter page she said.

           That’s up to you, I personally have no space to sympathize for entitled little men who demand women’s attention.

           So she has a go at anyone who makes fun of someones weight, but she is okay with
           taking pot shots at someones height.
           • weka 4.3.2.1.1.1

             26 January 2014 at 11:41 pm

             You will have to put a link so I can see it on context, but on the face of it I don’t think she is talking about height. It would be like me saying something like ‘what a little shit’. Would you think I was referring to a short person?
             • weka …

               26 January 2014 at 11:45 pm

               She was referring to this?

               http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11192295

               He doesn’t look short to me.
             • Brett Dale …

               27 January 2014 at 10:24 am

               weka:

               Why bring in height though? Shes is making a negative reference.

               You cant link to a particular twitter quote, unless your sign it to that
               page or something. I think it had to do with the guy who used the internet
               to hunt down a woman he meet overseas.
5. Paul 5

   26 January 2014 at 8:44 am

   Key appealing to the born again christian vote
   What will Colin say?
   http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9650503/PM-snags-votes-at-Parachute-music-festival
   • mickysavage 5.1

     26 January 2014 at 9:36 am

     I hear that David Cunliffe also attended but was refused permission to go on stage. The whole thing was a Key love in. Strange that Key, who is a self confessed agnostic, should be heralded in this way.
     • phillip ure 5.1.1

       26 January 2014 at 10:39 am

       @ m.s..

       re cunnliffe spurned..

       is that correct..?

       ..i wd like to report on it..

       ..so confirmation would be appreciated..

       ..phillip ure..

       .
     • ropata 5.1.2

       26 January 2014 at 8:58 pm

       Parachute also hosted Sue Bradford a while ago, to talk about the S59 Amendment, so I don’t know if this was deliberately partisan.

       There are zero reasons for thinking Christians, or people of conscience, to support the two-faced bankster Key. Christian values cohere much more with original Labour policy as enacted by Mickey Savage and his “applied Christianity”.

       (Jesus talked about loving thy neighbour and helping the needy … not the legalistic and weird traditions from the old testament, or the anti science insanity popular in US churches)

       IIRC Cunliffe is a churchgoer of some description?
6. Paul 6

   26 January 2014 at 8:50 am

   The big lie being sold this election.

   “However, the Government points to the annual study by the Ministry of Social Development, Household Incomes in New Zealand, to support Key’s claim that the gap is diminishing, rather than widening.

   The Government says that while there is no doubt some families are in difficult circumstances, the income survey shows there is no evidence of rising income inequality over the past two decades. It argues that inequality is actually lower now than a decade ago according to internationally accepted measures.

   http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9648389/Rich-and-poor-in-election-focus
   • Pasupial 6.1

     26 January 2014 at 9:26 am

     Paul

     It’s certainly a big lie, but I think I’ll wait for a while before awarding the title of: “The big lie being sold this election”. They are only warming up and sound-checking at this point of the election year.
   • Molly 6.2

     26 January 2014 at 9:43 am

     Yes. John Key refers to a extrapolated study taken from the Household Economic Survey to give credit to his lies.

     The HES is compiled by using data from interviews and surveys – hardly likely to appeal to the full demographic of NZ – but more likely to skew the data in favour of massaged numbers in his favour. This samples only 5000 households – so Key can legitimately claim “In NZ we have 5,000 households who indicate that they are faring well”.

     You would have thought he didn’t have the full statistics department with census figures, along with IRD, MSD etc at his disposal.

     If the media can’t do this basic research before reprinting his claims, then Cunliffe needs to address it clearly tomorrow – and stop the meme.
   • Chooky 6.3

     26 January 2014 at 9:43 am

     …thanks Paul….says it all

     According to Labour’s figures, the top 1 per cent of income earners own 16 per cent of the total wealth, worth around $77 billion, while the bottom 200,000 income earners are, in contrast, $4.7b in debt.

     No-one in the bottom 20 per cent owns more than $6000 in assets, its figures show.

     Labour’s figures also suggest that incomes at the top have increased while those in the middle and bottom have stagnated 30 years on from the 1984 election that installed the fourth Labour government and unleashed a wave of economic reforms.

     After-tax incomes for the bottom 10 percent were $9700 in 1984 and had only increased by $11,000 in 2011 – a 13.4 per cent increase, according to Labour.

     But incomes for the top 10 per cent had increased 78 per cent to $100,200 over the same period.

     [Key’s response: “Despite what our political opponents try to claim, it is simply not true that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer,” Key told a business audience during his state-of-the-nation speech on Thursday.]
     • Naki Man 6.3.1

       26 January 2014 at 7:40 pm

       After-tax incomes for the bottom 10 percent were $9700 in 1984 and had only increased by $11,000 in 2011 – a 13.4 per cent increase, according to Labour

       $9700 increased by $11000 is 13.4 % increase, Labour’s maths is crap

       According to Labour’s figures, the top 1 per cent of income earners own 16 per cent of the total wealth, worth around $77 billion, while the bottom 200,000 income earners are, in contrast, $4.7b in debt

       The 1% ( business people) have a lot more debt than 4.7b
       • bad12 6.3.1.1

         26 January 2014 at 9:10 pm

         There is tho a huge difference between the money making debt racked up by the 1% and the money draining debt racked up by the 10% at the bottom of the income scale…
       • McFlock 6.3.1.2

         26 January 2014 at 9:16 pm

         $9700 increased by $11000 is 13.4 % increase, Labour’s maths is crap

         But bang-on if Watkins should have written “to” instead of “by”.
   • freedom 6.4

     26 January 2014 at 10:00 am

     We often blame the owners and the editors, but perhaps we should lay as much blame with those who let their names be printed atop the lies.

     Journalism without credible fact is propaganda
     and New Zealand is drowning in it
     • phillip ure 6.4.1

       26 January 2014 at 10:47 am

       @..freedom..

       ..media ‘names’..

       ..that was one of the takeaways i took from the media scrum after key spoke last week..

       ..at that fat-cat lunch..

       ..how despite key spouting a litany of easily proveable-lies..in speech/transcript..

       ..those corporate/access-media types just didn’t call him on it..(they never do..)

       (‘cleaner-rivers’..’no poverty/inequality’ being just two of them..)..

       ..yet were cunnlife to not dot one ‘i’..not cross one ‘t’..

       ..these access-media types..

       ..would be all over him..

       ..(a bit like what happens to a meat pie that comes within coo-ee of shane jones..eh..?..)

       ..were they all absent the week journalistic-ethics/imperatives were taught at journalism-school..?

       ..you’d hafta ask..

       phillip ure..
       • Chooky 6.4.1.1

         26 January 2014 at 11:01 am

         …he would be better to try a Phillip Ure Vegan Sausage
         • phillip ure 6.4.1.1.1

           26 January 2014 at 11:19 am

           aye chooky..never a truer word spoken in jest..

           ..it isn’t just the bone-headed/piss-merchant-pimper arguments jones posits that piss me off…

           ..it is that he..as an animal-fat/sugar-addict..(washed down by the product he pimps/celebrates consuming on-air..booze)

           ..is a walking/textbook example of all that is wrong with the ‘pakeha-diet’ so many maori are addicted to..

           ..and the cause of the off-the-wall health-problems/premature-deaths that plague maori..

           ..and that this obese fat/sugar/booze-sodden/burping/farting walking example of ill-health..

           ..points at cannabis as being a ‘problem’ to/for maori..

           ..the eye-watering hypocrisies/ignorances that displays..

           ..does kinda take the breath away..

           ..eh..?..

           ..just the facts that ending prohibition would see less maori jailed..

           ..less maori with alcohol-induced/fostered violence/health problems…

           (as legalising/regulating/taxing cannabis means alcohol-consumption would plummet..a fact pimp-jones and his booze-pushing paymasters are very well aware of..)

           ..just those two facts should totally dispel any ideas that jones works in/for the interests of maori..

           ..shane jones works in/for the interests of shane jones..

           ..and his scum corporate-paymasters/death-pushers..

           ..end of story..

           ..and it has always been thus..

           ..phillip ure
           • Chooky 6.4.1.1.1.1

             26 January 2014 at 11:59 am

             …well get on with making your Phillip Ure Vegan Sausage alternatives to pies then….and offer the likes of Shanes Jones an easy alternative( he can eat them while he fantasises about his fillies)

             ….for most people boiling up beans and rice is a chore…but a baked, boiled ,barbequed or fried sausage is easy
7. AsleepWhileWalking 7

   26 January 2014 at 9:01 am

   Disabled people are getting poorer. Noticed they weren’t mentioned at all.
   • Chooky 7.1

     26 January 2014 at 12:04 pm

     …yes I do hope that attention from Labour and the Greens will be put on to the plight of the disabled….they are doubly disadvantaged
   • aerobubble 7.2

     26 January 2014 at 12:55 pm

     Long term benefitaries savings get eaten into when inflation and so interest rates push savings into the $80 week threshold, when 70% is taken off. $80 has not moved in decades for most.
     • Will@Welly 7.2.1

       26 January 2014 at 2:12 pm

       ’81. Had friends whose husband was laid off, and while he was looking for a job, she had to be careful, not to cross the $80.00 threshold. They had three children, and she could easily have earnt more, but they would have been worse off. It was the same with him, the old Labour Dept. kept “offering” him the odd day’s work here and there, which meant they would have been worse off. To be better off, he needed 3 days work a week, not 1 or 2, due to tax and abatements.
   • alwyn 7.3

     26 January 2014 at 2:10 pm

     Where does this statement come from? Is there any documented evidence for it on the web?
     If so, where can I find confirmation for what you are saying?
     • bad12 7.3.1

       26 January 2014 at 2:46 pm

       Oh shut up alwyn, your nonsensical whining is a total bore, perhaps you think people with disabilities are all getting richer…
       • alwyn 7.3.1.1

         26 January 2014 at 3:11 pm

         Nothing forces you to read what I say bad12. I guess that you are merely pissed of because I have in the past pointed out when YOU have made statements that had no basis in fact.

         In the meantime I hope that the person who did make this statement will tell me where it is documented so that I can look up the details. It sounds quite appalling.

         As for bad12’s proposal “perhaps you think … are getting richer”. Where on earth do you get such strange ideas about the things you “think” I believe?
         • bad12 7.3.1.1.1

           26 January 2014 at 3:34 pm

           alwyn, of course you have every right to say whatever it is that you continue to whine about and my shut up was merely a rhetorical reaction to your latest snivel knowing it was hardly going to silence you,

           Your propensity to whine appears to be brought about by your ‘snatching of defeat from the jaws of victory’ in your haste to attempt to negate a point i made, ‘only’ a 58% rise in the party vote for the Green Party between elections 2008 and 2011 in the Auckland City electorates held by National is hardly something victorious for a ‘wing-nut’ to want to have published and the fact that you have has me continuously going Ha Ha Ha at you,

           If you have a further comment to make in relation to a comment i have made perhaps you could stop the cryptic bullshit and link to it, i realize that gobbledygook is your language of choice but such having been imported from the planet of the stupid most here would have no means of translation,(in relation to your last little whine)…
           • alwyn 7.3.1.1.1.1

             26 January 2014 at 4:07 pm

             You might as well give up you know. After all I was the one who told you that the Green vote went up by 58% between elections wasn’t it? You never did seem to realise that did you? All you could seem to do was to make up a b.s story about how well the Greens did in the National held Auckland electorates, claiming that they had DOUBLED their vote in those electorates. The truth of course was that they had exactly the same percentage increase there as they did everywhere else.
             How, by the way do you think that anybody could not realise that the party had a 58% increase in the nationwide vote? You do realise don’t you that they increased their seats from 9 to 14 and that that requires a percentage increase of the magnitude that occurred. Perhaps the details of the MMP system are beyond you.

             It is rather difficult to come up with any further link for your benefit. I offered you the simple to understand elections.org.nz but that appeared to be too difficult for you to follow.
             Finding any site that contains material that supports your fantasies is of course impossible. There aren’t any because they are just that. Fantasies.
             • One Anonymous Knucklehead …

               26 January 2014 at 4:22 pm

               Alwyn, you espouse right-wing policy. Therefore, you are either stupid, delusional, or venal, and your opinions are of no use in this forum.

               Bad12’s point that the Greens are taking votes off the Foreign Corporations and Farmers Party renders your bad faith statements about what you say you believe about Dotcom’s constituency moot, and the fact of your bad faith makes them irrelevant.
               • alwyn …

                 26 January 2014 at 4:31 pm

                 Jolly good old fellow. As I said to bad12, you are not required to read what I say and there won’t be an exam on the material.
                 If reading things that present a viewpoint that differs from what you want to believe upsets your delicate little stomach don’t bother. You are quite entitled to believe that the world is flat, and was created in 4004 BC if it makes you happy. As long as lprent et al, don’t object I shall contribute occasionally.
                 “Pip, pip and toodle ooh” as Bertie Wooster would say.
                 • One Anonymous Knucklehead …

                   26 January 2014 at 9:13 pm

                   I didn’t say your opinion is challenging, or uncomfortable, I said it’s worthless and irrelevant, rendered so by your bad faith.
             • bad12 …

               26 January 2014 at 4:44 pm

               alwyn, did you like my faux outrage, as good if not better then that which you usually exhibit don’t you think, the proof of that is that you bit and bit on it big time, more fool you,

               Oh the link i mention, your answer to that little last point i made in my previous comment shows you up as belonging in the Dunce’s corner,(a fact not lost on most here),and my pointing this out is simply as an educative hint to you,

               Most people would have realized that as an answer to your post of 3.11pm i was eluding to the last two lines of your relevant whine as ‘cryptic bullshit’, not you of course which is why i consider you to be a virtual dummy,(a useful tool is a dummy),

               Laughably i knew all along what you were referring to even if you havn’t the nous to have worked it out, and, as a wing-nut i believe your sole use here is simply to provide me with the pleasure of laughing at you, so along with the faux outrage i used a little pretense of not understanding for my personal amusement,(at you),

               As far as the particular last two lines of your comment at 3.11pm goes do you not understand the ‘interrogative’ nature of the words ”perhaps you think”, its a question not a statement…
             • bad12 …

               26 January 2014 at 5:03 pm

               Psst, was the nationwide, Ha ha ha, increase in the Green Party vote of the magnitude that occurred ALL from National held electorates,(you are just so hilarious)…
     • weka 7.3.2

       26 January 2014 at 9:14 pm

       Alwyn:

       http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/newsroom/factsheets/future-focus/abatement.html
8. bad12 8

   26 January 2014 at 1:15 pm

   Listening to RadioNZ National this morning it was a little disquieting to learn that radiation shown to have emanated from the Fukushima disaster has now been shown to have reached the west coast of the US and Canada,

   Given that it is only a matter of time, with large amounts of contaminated water still spewing into the Pacific ocean after 3 years, that such contamination will be taken up by seaweed and hence move into the fin-fish and bi-valves resident in the ocean and from there into the human food chain,

   Of course as fish are all part of their own food chain and considering the fact that fish do not necessarily remain in the one hemisphere sooner or later it’s pretty much a certainty that we are all going to get a dose high enough to be not good for our health from our seas,

   On a related topic we would think that those workers involved in the cleanup of the mess at Fukushima would be treated like hero’s in Japan for agreeing to go anywhere near the failed nuclear plant let alone work in the place,

   Not likely, the link below explains just who these workers are and what happens to the extra $100 dollars a day the Japanese Government is said to have provided for each worker at the site of the actual melt-down and in the surrounding radiation zone,

   If the link doesn’t work which is quite often the fate of the ones i attempt try Googling: Homeless used by Japanese in Fukushima cleanup,

   http://www.reuters.com/…/us-fukushima-workers-idUSBRE9BT00520131230
   • Draco T Bastard 8.1

     26 January 2014 at 3:00 pm

     Special Report: Japan’s homeless recruited for murky Fukushima clean-up
9. middxkea 9

   26 January 2014 at 1:18 pm

   Just got back from Metiria speech in Wellington.

   The Greens have unveiled a new policy which would see schools in lower income areas turned into hubs which would meet all the health, social and welfare needs of poor families.

   http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9651543/Greens-unveil-school-hub-plan
   Brilliant
   • Colonial Viper 9.1

     26 January 2014 at 1:24 pm

     That’s really really awesome…in fact, it’s a total game changer for communities.

     One small issue is that in the new economy, education is not the game changer that it once was. I hope the Greens realise this. Without a full employment policy, a phenomena we are going to see more and more of from now on are educated unemployed with student debt.
     • bad12 9.1.1

       26 January 2014 at 2:38 pm

       What i would call a ‘good start’ from Mets and the Green Party, perhaps a little light in the vein of treating the symptoms and not the cause, but, nothing there to scare the middle class who would buy into Slippery the Prime Ministers ‘devil beast’ and ‘Green Taliban’ rubbish,

       i totally agree with CV in that at some point the fact that there is not enough employment for everybody in our economy has to be addressed either by the State providing a lot more of it or providing a lot more to those effected by it,

       Given that, an election year might not be the best time to start such a debate but for the parties of the left to just accept the status quo is simply unacceptable and amounts to marking time befor the next attack upon the unemployed and beneficiaries in general occurs,

       The ‘Hubs’ in secondary schools sounds promising, i have a long held belief that the children of the poor miss out hugely in terms of socialization where their parents cannot afford the cost of fees for sports clubs, music lessons and a myriad other activities where the kids show a real skill and the school cannot offer a raised level of training/learning,

       My view is that either through the schools or through a direct partnering with the particular organization the fees for inclusion of the kids who’s parents cannot afford their participation along with any uniform, instruments etc should be included in the activities of such proposed secondary school ‘Hubs’,

       Good start to the year Green Party, with David Cunliffe set to launch tomorrow the scene is set for a ‘real’ fight in 2014,(as opposed to the mainly rear-gaurd action i feel 2011 was),

       My vote with the Party numbers and the polls on the up is still leaning toward the Mana Party, but, the Green Party will be the recipient of my ‘political budget’ for the year which should help provide advertising and electioneering worth far more than just my one vote…
       • Draco T Bastard 9.1.1.1

         26 January 2014 at 3:08 pm

         Given that, an election year might not be the best time to start such a debate but for the parties of the left to just accept the status quo is simply unacceptable and amounts to marking time befor the next attack upon the unemployed and beneficiaries in general occurs,

         Actually, I think the beginning of an election year is a great time to start the debate – especially after 5 years of National which came after the preceding 25 years of neo-liberal failure.
   • ianmac 9.2

     26 January 2014 at 1:58 pm

     Excellent idea middxkea. Wasn’t that the same principle behind Whanau Ora? (Sp?) The disconnect between agencies has defeated past efforts to coordinate help.
     • ianmac 9.2.1

       26 January 2014 at 1:59 pm

       And it is a much better way to spend taxpayers dollars as well!
   • phillip ure 9.3

     26 January 2014 at 4:08 pm

     @ greens..

     ..that is all good-policy..

     ..and i like how labour are supporting it..

     ..and how with this policy..the greens have trumped a key tory policy-plank..

     ..(their re-invented scout-troop approach to problems on education..

     .their .’and if you get five pips..you get to be assistant troop-leader’-bullshit..)

     ..well done there..those greens..

     phillip ure..
     • phillip ure 9.3.1

       26 January 2014 at 4:55 pm

       pretty sucky/blowy on that pot-issue tho’..eh..?

       ..and how about that cunnliffe/labour..?

       ..whoar..!..

       ..cunnliffe just ‘won’t say’..

       .phillip ure..
   • millsy 9.4

     26 January 2014 at 6:17 pm

     Now this is a much better policy. Will do more for the education of our young people than something that has been lifted from a movie script.
   • Molly 9.5

     27 January 2014 at 9:04 am

     I’m all for the educational/community hubs – just a couple of points about having them at schools.

     1. Many of the disengaged have had disastrous experiences at schools – and will be loathe to return to them in a positive way later on in their lives. You may miss out on reaching those who have the most to benefit – just because of the choice of venue.
     2. Schools are already underresourced and overcrowded – where are the facilities and capacity that will allow this to happen without capital investment?
     3. You are introducing the community – many of whom are unknown individuals – into the school environment – how do you then ensure safety for both those individuals and the students of that school?
     4. Future governments – using the MoE – can destroy these programmes even if they are successful by claiming they are focusing on “getting back to basics”

     Alternatives:
     1. Adjust the stated policy to deal with these potential problems and ensure that the continuation of these programmes is strengthened.
     2. Create community hubs in local community facilities that are underutilised – obvious choice is to use local sports facilities that are not in use during the weekdays. Ensure cooperation between schools and hubs but try to set up hubs so that the communities own them – makes it more likely to survive long-term.
     • just saying 9.5.1

       27 January 2014 at 10:11 am

       Most of the furniture is the wrong size for adults in schools and the layout is usually wrong. They tend to feel a bit officious and formal
       Sports facilities make more sense – they are built for a more similar purpose ( often from lotteries grants), and could possibly be extended or adapted for wider use.
     • millsy 9.5.2

       27 January 2014 at 10:12 am

       Hi Molly,

       Just in regards to your point #3 — this can easily be solved by utilising the facilities after hours and on weekends/school holidays.
       • Molly 9.5.2.1

         27 January 2014 at 10:22 am

         Hi millsy,

         Yes – it is a possibility – if the school is not having after school activities.

         And is that time optimal for those we wish to engage? I would assume that some will be at home looking after their returning school aged children, and those delivering the services will also be working outside of “normal hours”.

         Local sports facilities are often empty during school days and most evenings. For the amount of investment and maintenance they are often underutilised.

         Note: I impatiently reposted my previous comment on
         today’s Open Mike and see Karol has since posted on the Green Party educational policy. If there are further discussions, may pay to transfer there.
10. middxkea 10

    26 January 2014 at 1:35 pm

    Metiria, said the election was shaping up to be about inequality. It was a very passionate speech and very well attended despite the crap Wellington weather.
    Talking to Green activists from around NZ it seems that people are ready for change, meetings are very well attended and membership is up. There is a buzz that I haven’t experienced before.
    Keys days are numbered
    • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 10.1

      26 January 2014 at 2:10 pm

      Thanks for the update Middxkea, that is very good to hear 🙂

      [I just posted this and it disappeared, so hopefully there is not going to be a double up]
11. PapaMike 11

    26 January 2014 at 2:17 pm

    I note that the Indonesian Coal contract has been cancelled and that any coal required for the standby generator at Huntly will be now be locally sourced.
    Work for miners in Huntly, rather than overseas sourced.
12. joe90 12

    26 January 2014 at 3:55 pm

    They really are awful people.

    Regarding your editorial “Censors on Campus” (Jan. 18): Writing from the epicenter of progressive thought, San Francisco, I would call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on its “one percent,” namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American one percent, namely the “rich.”

    From the Occupy movement to the demonization of the rich embedded in virtually every word of our local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, I perceive a rising tide of hatred of the successful one percent. There is outraged public reaction to the Google buses carrying technology workers from the city to the peninsula high-tech companies which employ them. We have outrage over the rising real-estate prices which these “techno geeks” can pay. We have, for example, libelous and cruel attacks in the Chronicle on our number-one celebrity, the author Danielle Steel, alleging that she is a “snob” despite the millions she has spent on our city’s homeless and mentally ill over the past decades.

    This is a very dangerous drift in our American thinking. Kristallnacht was unthinkable in 1930; is its descendent “progressive” radicalism unthinkable now?

    http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304549504579316913982034286

    http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/01/25/vc-firm-disavows-founders-letter-comparing-outrage-against-rich-to-nazi-view-of-jews/
    • joe90 12.1

      26 January 2014 at 4:59 pm

      Josh Marshall on the Perkins’ fuckwittery.

      http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-brittle-grip-part-2
13. blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 13

    26 January 2014 at 4:39 pm

    It appears that Perce Harpham is giving a lecture on Universal Basic Income

    http://binews.org/2014/01/wellington-new-zealand-reducing-inequality-through-universal-basic-income/

    Would be great to hear about it from anyone in Wellington who is able to attend

    DATE: Friday, 31 January
    VENUE: Rutherford House, Lecture Theatre 3, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, Victoria University of Wellington
    TIME: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
14. Meg 14

    26 January 2014 at 5:04 pm

    Well, it is finally official. Whale oil is banning anyone who disagrees with his views. For a long time it has been very obvious Cameron Slater’s little site had been nothing but a national party platform, but now he is making it official by blocking anyone who holds a different view.

    Yes it is his own website and he gets to make the rules. However he can no longer pretend he is anything but a national party mouthpiece.
15. the pigman 15

    26 January 2014 at 5:50 pm

    See there is some discussion related to the Jones foot-in-mouth re: cannabis above.

    To put another spin on it, there is a good opinion piece in Granny today regarding the ongoing prohibition on cannabis. Which of course creates crime and social dysfunction where there should otherwise be none.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11191645

    Judging by the comments below (not all from fellow NORML supporters, I assume) the opinion piece, a position on the ongoing prohibition would be my top “nice-to-have” in Cunliffe’s state of the nation.

    Meanwhile Dunne retains political oxygen by bowing down to legal-high manufacturers. Those who argue that “pot has gotten so much stronger” would be well-advised to try a quick taste test of street cannabis vs. that synthetic cannabinoid shit.

    …eh?… (apologies to phillip ure)
    • millsy 15.1

      26 January 2014 at 6:20 pm

      People are starting to realise that dragging people through the justice system for having a few joints in their pockets is a waste of time and resources.
    • phillip ure 15.2

      26 January 2014 at 6:27 pm

      @ pigman..

      ..wow..!..on that comments-thread..

      ..i really hope it is brought to the attention of those too-scared-to-do-anything..labour mp’s..

      ..i am heartened by the overwhelming approval for ending prohibition..

      ..and the large number arguing for legalisation/regulation/taxation..

      ..and not that halfway-house worst of both worlds decriminalisation the greens are pushing (ever so softly..ever so softly.)

      ..taken as a poll..these comments must surely embolden them to go the whole hog..?

      ..you’d think..?

      ..and to call for the colorado-model..

      ..and to actually argue passionately for it..(as do the commenters in that thread..)

      ..(not as turia does it..handling it like a smelly-object on the sole of the shoe..

      ..best to be wiped-off/hosed-down..and never mentioned again..)

      ;;having turia ‘arguing’ this..

      ..is like expecting the mad butcher to make the vegan-case..

      ..it ain’t gonna happen..

      phillip ure..
    • bad12 15.3

      26 January 2014 at 8:39 pm

      The Green Parties Russell Norman on Prime News tonight refused to back away from Green Party policy that Marijuana should be decriminalized saying that like all policy, the decriminalization policy will be ‘on the table’ in any future coalition negotiation with Labour…
      • millsy 15.3.1

        26 January 2014 at 11:15 pm

        I think it was a bad idea about the MJ issue. They should have instead raised the possibility of a Royal Commission that would look into our drug laws. Nice and safe — at least they could get a dialog going about it with the possibility of backing away from it if things got too hairy, and it would let everyone have their say about it all.

        Now they are going to leave themselve vulnerable on this issue, and probably let this over shadow their education reforms.
        • bad12 15.3.1.1

          27 January 2014 at 9:12 am

          Millsy, the Green Party are not willing to back away from policies hammered out by the Party members over many years just for political expediency,

          If we simply trade away everything we stand for nothing, as indicated by both Metiria and Russell this is hardly a ‘die in a ditch’ policy that the Green Party would try and push Labour into and i believe that David Cunliffe, cleverly, believes that this should be a conscience vote by the Parliament…
16. Paul 16

    26 January 2014 at 5:59 pm

    Herald bias in reporting. Part 478.

    Green education policy headlined as $90 million.
    National education policy headlined as $ 357million.

    Only later in articles does one read Green policy is per annum and Nat policy over 3 years.

    What a rag.
    • Tony P 16.1

      26 January 2014 at 6:20 pm

      Yeah and TV 1 lead story is Lorde at the Grammys. Green’s education announcement comes 2nd.
17. freedom 17

    26 January 2014 at 6:20 pm

    In a wonderfully manipulated news cycle last week, John Key Bill English and numerous talking heads told us all in breathless antici . . . . pation of exciting times ahead and how HSBC declared we were going to be a rockstar economy in 2014.

    You might want to wait before buying tickets to the show . . .
    https://topinfopost.com/2014/01/25/hsbc-bank-may-collapse
18. Tim 18

    26 January 2014 at 7:37 pm

    Interesting Open Mike today….
    perhaps I should have a shot at flogging off my van-load of pre-twisted, pre-loved knickers (at knock down prices).
    All sizes …. all colours.
    Make me an offer- job lot. And if your name is Shane, I’ll even throw in a few feelthy pictures.
19. vto 19

    26 January 2014 at 7:52 pm

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9651543/Greens-unveil-school-hub-plan

    Go the Greens. Keep the faith and fight hard. You might be surprised at the following.

    But I do think Metiria looks better in glasses. She is a kiwi treasure that woman.
    • karol 19.1

      26 January 2014 at 8:25 pm

      On this, I agree with you, vto.
    • bad12 19.2

      26 January 2014 at 8:31 pm

      Indeed, Mets was educated amidst the anger of the beneficiary movement surrounding the Shiply/Richardson TINA of benefit cuts as well as getting the formal stuff from Uni all the while a solo-mum,

      It’s a good start to the election year with more to come from David Cunliffe tomorrow, ”it’s not a matter of IF this happens it’s a matter of how and when” so said Labour’s Jacinda Adhern on Prime News tonight so it appears that with this policy Labour and the Green Party see eye to eye,

      Expect Slippery the Prime Minister, finding no division to be exploited, to throw a hissy fit, simpering along the lines of the ‘devil beast’ as National’s education policy is made to look like the neo-liberal orphan dressed in rags begging for an audience…
20. joe90 20

    26 January 2014 at 8:27 pm

    Despite overwhelming support for Euromaidan Yanukovych seems to be hanging on with Putins support.

    18 regions – against the current government!

    […]

    As of 25 January in seven areas captured RSA, the other eleven of these institutions or blocked, or people preparing for such protests. Only two regions – Lugansk and Crimea – openly oppose Yevromaydanu* and express their support for Yanukovych.

    Euromaidan*

    Google translation
21. Pete 21

    26 January 2014 at 8:29 pm

    Those clever Aussies behind Juice Rap News are at it again http://youtu.be/0VD33jRpeMM
22. bad12 22

    26 January 2014 at 9:19 pm

    Algood Karol, time to square the eyes with a bit of television, tomorrow is another day which should belong to David Cunliffe with His addition of another nail in the coffin of Slipery’s god-awful government…
23. Xtasy 23

    26 January 2014 at 10:02 pm

    Wow, what is “wrong” with Prime TV now, they have put out a small series of excellent programs under the title ‘Keeping it Pure’. It seems that they have given in to the “Green Talibans”, and allowed them to spread their “radical” “ideology” promoting a more “sustainable” and “environmentally balanced” economy and society.

    What a brilliant and enlightening program, I cannot believe that the MSM is allowing this.

    Maybe it is time for David Farrar to chat to Key and tell him to put the pressure on Prime TV, we cannot have this, can we? The truth being presented to the people?! It must be the Green Party behind it.

    Tune in 08.30 pm next Sunday, for the next piece.
24. Draco T Bastard 24

    26 January 2014 at 11:51 pm

    Groser sells out – not even for 30 pieces of silver

    Washington Trade Daily has reported that ministers from all TPPA countries, except one developing country, have dropped their objections to the US-based intellectual property chapter, with some modifications.

    So, the US corporations got what they wanted and NZ is truly fucked courtesy of this government.
25. Draco T Bastard 25

    27 January 2014 at 12:04 am

    Syriza Succeeds in Greece by Challenging European Left
26. Xtasy 26

    27 January 2014 at 12:57 am

    We need SPIRIT, and MORE in this election year, for the labour movement and “the left” to win, so take heart, keep up the fight and talk, involve, share and spread. Some great spirit comes from stuff like music. Here a taste of a “left” band from Chile, Illapu, great stuff, invigorating, I think:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkU-iYEsvHc
27. Xtasy 27

    27 January 2014 at 1:16 am

    El concierto completo de Illapu 2013:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v515tCAzE5g
28. North 28

    27 January 2014 at 7:06 am

    Look who’s not akshilly smiling.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9652303/Key-preaches-to-the-converted-at-festival

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