Open mike 13/11/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 13th, 2024 - 28 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step up to the mike …

28 comments on “Open mike 13/11/2024 ”

  1. Dennis Frank 1
    13 November 2024 at 6:21 am

    Leading conspiracist bankrupt Alex Jones, reportedly worth $270 million, has yet to be appointed Minister of Propaganda by Trump, so watch this space.

    An auction for Infowars’ intellectual property is scheduled for Wednesday, November 13. Judge Christopher Lopez approved auctions for Infowars and its assets in a ruling in September, despite objections from Jones’ attorneys, according to court filings. The auctions will include Infowars’ website, social media accounts, broadcasting equipment and trademarks owned by Free Speech Systems and other property belonging to the company, including an armored truck and video cameras, Lopez said in a court filing earlier this year. The court selected “qualified” buyers to a live, in-person auction on Wednesday after bidders submitted offers before a deadline ended last week. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/11/12/alex-jones-infowars-will-be-auctioned-this-week-to-help-pay-sandy-hook-families-15-billion-heres-what-to-know/

    It would make sense for Musk to be top bidder. He could then relaunch the Infowars brand because the concept remains timely.

    Reply
  2. Koina 2
    13 November 2024 at 7:55 am

    I am the first to call it.

    Lefties are back.

    Having Trump to blame for the worlds problems is super dooper.

    The next five years we can blame National/NZF/Act for all the problems here.

    We are back in our lefty comfort zone.

    The evil rich White right wing is the "cause" of everyones problems

    Only the diverse left can save the country.

    2025 will see the relaunch of leftyism.

    Again we can all wear our "LOVE" lefty cap with pride.

    LOVE.

    Let Our Vision Excite.

    I can feel the vibe already. heart smiley

    Tino pai rawa atu.

    Koina

    Reply
    • higherstandard 2.1
      13 November 2024 at 8:11 am

      Sarcasm?

      Reply
    • Patricia Bremner 2.2
      13 November 2024 at 8:22 am

      Slowly but surely, we are exposing the harm, the motives and attitudes of these three CoC parties and their monied backroom friends. Their objectives are not people and community based, so we are working together to remove them and build a people centered Government, not one the uses people like pawns on a chess board, and places money ahead of everything. heart

      Reply
  3. dv 3
    13 November 2024 at 8:14 am

    Re compo for state abuse.

    I read recently (can't find it now) firm was fined 300$K for a death they were found responsible for.

    Could be a starting point!!!!

    Reply
  4. Bearded Git 4
    13 November 2024 at 8:15 am

    Great Tiriti turnout in Dunedin yesterday-the video worth a look.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/over-1000-attend-octagon-rally-toit%C5%AB-te-tiriti

    Reply
  5. Nic the NZer 5
    13 November 2024 at 10:13 am

    Does anyone have an idea why the tweets at the end of this post were deleted?

    Monday: Hili dialogue – Why Evolution Is True

    Reply
  6. tWig 6
    13 November 2024 at 10:25 am

    Heard on RNZ late news last night that an Israeli government minister had come out and said that Israel would now put into plans for annexation of Gaza? Or at least part of it. I think. Guess they were just in a holding pattern until Trump's election. A very cynical person would say it was never about the hostages.

    I must say that I have yet to see this piece of news in the international press, and it’s not available on the RNZ website. Why it would pop up and then pop away suggests either a fleeting bit of misinformation, or a disclaimer by Israel, whether truth or not.

    Proof of the pudding is in the eating. But the push to rid the north of Gaza of Palestinians suggests the statement reflects the longterm aims of the Israeli government when it started its campaign against Palestinian civilians.

    Reply
  7. Dennis Frank 7
    13 November 2024 at 10:27 am

    Christian indoctrination has required physical discipline for plenty of centuries but at times the torture was milder in different places:

    Beatings of 100 strokes for masturbation, 400 for pride, and one of 800 strokes for some undisclosed “fall” are recorded.’

    I chose to open with this quote so nobody can be under any doubt why Justin Welby has resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury. The quote is from 1982. That’s how long this has been going on. Back then senior figures within the evangelical movement, which ran Varsity and Public Schools holiday camps, held an inquiry into whether one of their leaders, John Smyth, was systematically abusing boys and young men in their trust.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-justin-welby-had-to-resign/

    Church leaders absorb a sense of normalcy from tradition like anyone else. The cultic mass psychology they are immersed in is never apparent to them. Even apparently good people succumb to normalcy. What interests me is why the usual robotic apology incantation used here by the left & right in govt was viewed as insufficient.

    Reply
    • tWig 7.1
      13 November 2024 at 11:29 am

      Because Welby failed to follow up in 2013. “The Makin review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth. When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow."

      Welby had attended Smyth's evangelical camps in the 70s and 80s, and so was also linked to him personally.

      Reply
  8. Dennis Frank 8
    13 November 2024 at 10:35 am

    Greens get it right: https://thespinoff.co.nz/the-bulletin/12-11-2024/a-national-apology-and-whats-left-unsaid

    Greens’ spokesperson for children, Kahurangi Carter, who said in a statement that “an apology without accountability – or worse, actively perpetuating the same harms – is nothing more than empty air.”

    The speaker changed his mind after sufficient negative feedback, but required the stroppy journo to have a nursemaid:

    Smale had “unapologetically exposed the extent to which current and past state officials and governments have tried to bury information and adopted tactics to ensure that survivors would not receive justice”. Thankfully, common sense prevailed, and his access was restored by mid-afternoon – though RNZ reported that it came with the inexplicable and paternalistic proviso that he be accompanied by a Newsroom reporter at all times.

    Pointing out that Labour & National have been operating in collusion with evil-doers in the public service was felt to be uncool. Speak truth to power?? What temerity!

    Reply
  9. tWig 9
    13 November 2024 at 11:08 am

    It's not collusion with evil-doers: the Ministers involved at the time must have either directly initiated the action to hamper cases before the courts; or have tacitly approved of officials' options regarding dirty tactics. Which makes the government of the time the evil-doers.

    And which also explains Hipkins's defence of the Attorney-General over this issue. Policy is the driver of such decisions lower down, and policy is set, and is nominally overseen by the Minister.

    Reply
    • Dennis Frank 9.1
      13 November 2024 at 11:11 am

      So you're validating my point. Thanks. I get that collusion can be tacit rather than explicit – it normally is – so any of the activities you describe may involve the establishment offenders wriggling off the moral hook in their own minds.

      Reply
      • tWig 9.1.1
        13 November 2024 at 11:39 am

        I think it would be quite clear to any Minister with knowledge of the law what was going on. At the very least, the AG must regularly inform Ministers of critical public cases as part of their job.

        I posted on this topic from the survivors' viewpoint a few days ago, where they are very keen to see her go. It gave me pause when I saw Hipkins's defense of her, which suggests more info than we have access to.

        If the dirty tactics were going on while at the same time the Labour-initiated Commission was convening, then that's troubling. The Commission did list the below-par legal tactics of the Crown Law Office in their review.

        Chewie on BHN on this topic last night made the comment that as soon as they knew the Commission was established, the rats, the real evil-doer officials, were busy shredding documents and making plans to hive off overseas.

        Hipkins is making an important point of Ministerial responsibility: the buck stops there. The Public Service cannot be made scapegoats if they have been essentially forced to follow Ministerial decisions. Of course, the question becomes “how forced?”

        Reply
        • Dennis Frank 9.1.1.1
          13 November 2024 at 12:09 pm

          Indeed. Well-framed, & I share your overview. yes

          Reply
        • gsays 9.1.1.2
          13 November 2024 at 12:12 pm

          It's horrifically sounding like a 21st century, Aotearoa Nuremberg Defence.

          Reading Aaron Smale's excellent work on this last night, I was getting madder and sadder.

          Successive governments, from both sides of the aisle, decided to lie, obfuscate and retraumatise victims just because of money.

          Reply
    • SPC 9.2
      13 November 2024 at 1:01 pm

      The hidden issue is on-going abuse 1999-2018.

      If they were hampering pre 1999 investigations in the 1980's and then 1990's (as the current SG is aware in her early career), this was SOP at state level (as well as in churches – the reason being reputation).

      And one could conclude they would not be investigating and prosecuting perps still in these institutions in the 2000's – maybe removing them on the quiet, or if not – culpable for crimes that then continued.

      Labour began the reform of MH care (post 2017) for a reason.

      Reply
  10. Dennis Frank 10
    13 November 2024 at 11:24 am

    Ron Paul must be bouncing up & down with excitement:

    Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has supported President-elect Donald Trump’s attempt to include the president in the formulation of Federal Reserve policy. https://www.fxleaders.com/news/2024/11/11/elon-musk-backs-trumps-call-to-end-the-fed-in-latest-economic-debate/

    Musk, a key Trump backer who is expected to have considerable sway in helping shape Trump’s policies, included a “100” emoji while resharing Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah’s post on X calling for ending the Fed. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/12/business/elon-musk-federal-reserve/index.html

    End the Fed is a 2009 book by Congressman Ron Paul of Texas. The book debuted at # 6 on the New York Times Best Seller list and advocates the abolition of the United States Federal Reserve System "because it is immoral, unconstitutional, impractical, promotes bad economics, and undermines liberty." [Wikipedia]

    Seems significant due to a looming warp away from neolib orthodoxy, toward libertarian ethos. If it happens, we'll see the right challenging Seymour's timidity as zealot.

    Reply
    • SPC 10.1
      13 November 2024 at 1:06 pm

      I suspect Ron Paul might regard POTUS involvement in setting Fed policy as making it worse.

      Reply
      • Dennis Frank 10.1.1
        13 November 2024 at 1:30 pm

        Yep, at least re Trump. Depends on advisor(s) too. Does raise the possibility of a principled non-establishment policy though, which is good for evolutionary change.

        Reply
  11. Dennis Frank 11
    13 November 2024 at 1:42 pm

    Young feller nominated as T's defence minister: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-host-pete-hegseth-serve-defense-secretary-under-trump

    received his Bachelor of Arts at Princeton University in 2003. In 2013, he received a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University

    Hegseth formed the political action committee MN PAC in 2012. An APM Reports analysis found that while Hegseth ran the MN PAC political action committee, one third of its $15,000 in funds were spent on Christmas parties for families and friends. Campaign finance laws in Minnesota do not prohibit such spending. Less than half of the PAC's resources was spent on candidates, and as of March 2018, the PAC had closed its account with the state board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Hegseth

    So he knows how to have a good time, & he's clever enough to get political supporters to fund his partying. Hedonic trumpism masterclass dude.

    Reply

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