All at sea

60 comments on “All at sea ”

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1. marty mars 1

   13 October 2011 at 10:59 pm

   brand key bland key blankey

   time to take that smirk off his face cos the shit is starting to stick to him, at it should, and he is not enjoying it, not one little bit.

   This election is on!
   • Tangled up in blue 1.1

     14 October 2011 at 7:33 am

     You’d think so.

     I would like to finally see some movement in the polls away from National. This little bit of momentum might be all that’s needed to start to remove the public stigma of voting against a party that everyone else likes.
2. fender 2

   13 October 2011 at 11:16 pm

   Yeah hes losing his sea legs now, green around the gills, and green behind the ears of politics. Looks like he wants to slit his own throat.
   • Zetetic 2.1

     13 October 2011 at 11:47 pm

     yup. that’s a pretty forced grin.

     Sums up his dilemma. He’s the good times guy. But now he’s afraid of looking too happy go lucky. When he does smile, it looks strained as he tries to get the balance.
3. gobsmacked 3

   13 October 2011 at 11:26 pm

   TVNZ reporter banned from the “launch” party, for asking non-party approved questions on behalf of the taxpayer …

   http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/controversial-plastic-waka-open-4463483

   No doubt Guyon Espiner will stand up for his colleagues at TVNZ and take National to task for this disgraceful act of censorship

   … nah, just kidding.
   • fender 3.1

     13 October 2011 at 11:53 pm

     How spiteful to single out One News when the whole country were concerned about the back- room deal done on this one, no tender process undertaken, the smell of vote buying, and the suspect aspect of ownership of the waka afterwards. This is really dodgy and gives weight to dickhead attitudes of the Brash variety.
   • Draco T Bastard 3.2

     14 October 2011 at 12:00 am

     Ah, someone asking questions – quick, ban them.

     /sarc

     Yeah, I think that proves that the tapawaka was Pork Barrel politics.
   • Deadly_NZ 3.3

     14 October 2011 at 11:36 am

     Pic of Key in front of his latest acquisition, to be named Johns Folly VIII
4. Afewknowthetruth 4

   13 October 2011 at 11:28 pm

   Key only ever was a showman, a clown who thought he could be king.

   The show is getting extremely tedious now.

   However, he’s got a long way to fall yet.

   O’Bomber is still hanging in with 9.11 unemployment (read 25%) and a collapsing economy.

   Macaroon is hanging in with nearly 3 million unemployed and a collapsing economy.

   Does anyone know or care who is in power in Japan or Belgium these days?
   • alex 4.1

     14 October 2011 at 12:12 am

     Actually Belgium is doing fine without a political government, every now and again the political class whips themselves into a frenzy over not being in power, but the parallel civil services are doing a perfectly adequate job without political oversight.

     Who (and why the nickname) is Macaroon?
     • happynz 4.1.1

       14 October 2011 at 5:43 am

       Who (and why the nickname) is Macaroon?

       I’m guessing he means David Cameron.
     • Chris 4.1.2

       14 October 2011 at 9:00 am

       This is always my least favorite part of any political blog – the nicknames that people come up with and think are hilarious (I assume they think they are funny not sure why else they would do them). I’ve yet to see any that are slightly amusing or clever – Whaleoil is the worst at it.
5. Pete George 5

   14 October 2011 at 7:09 am

   This warning may be too late:

   Rena oil-spill emergency winds up political leaders

   Mr Mallard said campaigning around disasters was a finely balanced thing and “parties seen to be over-egging or blatantly taking advantage of a situation for political purposes will be punished”.

   It’s wound up some political bloggers and commenters too. There could be a problem with overwinding.
   • Zetetic 5.1

     14 October 2011 at 7:44 am

     labour is running a very careful line. as are the greens (see they’ve stopped using dispersant).

     what’s peter dunne’s position on offshore drilling? Does he take donations from oil companies like he does from the booze barons and tobacco firms?
     • Pete George 5.1.1

       14 October 2011 at 7:58 am

       You don’t seem to be taking such a careful line. Bradbury got the bums rush from Radio NZ for similar insinuations – no facts to back them up I presume?

       You might be lucky this blog is such a bastion of free speech.
       • Colonial Viper 5.1.1.1

         14 October 2011 at 8:11 am

         PG. You didn’t answer Zetetic’s question on whether United First took money from oil companies.

         You spout on about accountability but don’t believe in it.
         • Pete George 5.1.1.1.1

           14 October 2011 at 8:56 am

           I presume you know as well as I do that’s not intended as a question. I don’t know who donates to the party – and I doubt Zetetic does either, if he/she did they would be doing more than trying to smear dirt here.
           • Ianupnorth 5.1.1.1.1.1

             14 October 2011 at 1:27 pm

             United future – who are they?
       • Zetetic 5.1.1.2

         14 October 2011 at 8:13 am

         I said Labour and the Greens are running the careful line. I’m not Labour or the Greens.
6. tc 6

   14 October 2011 at 7:19 am

   Everyone listen to uncle pete g and do what he suggests ……yeah right. Morning troll.
7. SukieDamson 7

   14 October 2011 at 7:34 am

   “developing a severe list” LoL
   • Pete George 7.1

     14 October 2011 at 7:40 am

     A severe list of posts trying to talk up political mayhem?
8. Carol 8

   14 October 2011 at 7:43 am

   From the TVNZ article on the waka:
   “We always wanted it to symbolise unity, …

   Working well so far then!
9. Sanctuary 9

   14 October 2011 at 7:51 am

   Key was making jokes about the Rena to a breakfast corporate wank-fest yersterday. Amongst his “own people” he asked if anyone had “magic wand” or a “really big crane,” all to gales of laughter. A very charming and funny man, apparently.

   Memo to the Prime Minister: Lots of people really, really care about their beaches. And making jokes when things are so raw is stupid when lots and lots of people actually don’t think the MV Rena is a trivial, joking matter. Making jokes right now makes it look like you are fishing for sympathy from a friendly audience and you don’t actually give a f**k.

   Key has been so cack-handed about this and his political management really off tone. It is like his primary emotion is annoyance at being blamed for something he thinks isn’t his fault rather than worrying about the pollution. His stupid jibe about picking up a spade turned a risky photo for Goff into a TV news win by implying he thinks that he is far to important to roll his sleeves up and muck in with the volunteer army.

   Long may it continue!
   • Colonial Viper 9.1

     14 October 2011 at 8:08 am

     damn I wonder if anyone recorded his appearance…most any phone can do it nowadays.

     On YouTube that would be election gold
     • Deuto 9.1.1

       14 October 2011 at 9:07 am

       Perhaps Audrey Young? Nah, her phone/camera has probably been confiscated after last week’s photo in the house.
   • Zetetic 9.2

     14 October 2011 at 8:14 am

     do you know where the breakfast was?
     • Sanctuary 9.2.1

       14 October 2011 at 8:15 am

       No – second hand info. But anyone can check the PM’s diary and ask him if that is what he said.
   • insider 9.3

     14 October 2011 at 10:37 am

     Well you sensitive souls had better not read the DomPost today then either because Tom Scott made a joke not just about one major national disaster but two. I nearly collapse with embarassment and shame. Be warned, this humour is not for the faint of heart

     http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/tom-scott-cartoons/1251886/Tom-Scott
     • felix 9.3.1

       14 October 2011 at 1:27 pm

       Well that’s the last time I vote for Tom Scott.
       • insider 9.3.1.1

         14 October 2011 at 1:35 pm

         Well I never picked you as a John Key voter
         • felix 9.3.1.1.1

           14 October 2011 at 1:46 pm

           And I never picked you as someone too thick to know the difference between a PM and a cartoonist.
           • Mac1 9.3.1.1.1.1

             14 October 2011 at 2:14 pm

             Muldoon did. Same bullying tactics now, as then.

             Good to see Tom Scott as ironic as ever.
10. Peter 10

    14 October 2011 at 8:06 am

    Unbelievable that the tax payer bankrolls this project yet the State owned broadcaster cannot provide news coverage.

    There is a pattern emerging here. Criticise (Bomber) in an open democracy and you are banned.

    [lprent: What are you blathering about? Read the about. The state has never funded this site (which is what I think you said in your opaque comment that appears to have been written by a late period syphilitic without any clarity of thought). It would probably also help if you were able to find the reply button so we could figure out who you were responding to.

    I doubt that whatever response you got from criticising bomber (I do frequently) has much more to do with your inability to string a coherent argument together so it is intelligible to anyone. As you’re probably aware from experience, people don’t like idiots preaching at them where the most cogent arguments are the flying gobbets of spittle. ]
11. Fair and Balanced? 11

    14 October 2011 at 8:35 am

    Every time a government spends money it is buying votes. At election time they point to the spending and say, “There you go group X, we spent some money on you, aren’t we a good government? Now vote us back in!” Whether the government spends money on The America’s Cup or the Rugby World Cup, a big plastic canoe, student loans or the health system, it’s vote buying. TVNZ are being obtuse. They are right in their report: the 2 million here is just a ripple in the ocean of money being spent… in Auckland… during the RWC… on votes. I think they’re picking on this because it breaks the rules of government vote buying. When buying votes, a government must be careful when making payments to easily identifiable parties, such as maori, students, beneficiaries etc. For example, had they bought a rapid response oil spill vessel, it would be hard to target a single group of immediate beneficiaries, but think of all the environmentalists who would be happy right now. You might even be hearing noises about the Greens and National working together. And of course it wouldn’t be called a vote buy, it would be called good forethought for the whole nation. When deciding who to buy next, the government has to weight up the dollar cost of buying people now, with the cost of convincing people they don’t need to be bought and the cost of fixing any future shortfalls in the likely outcomes with the immediate voter “return on investment” from the people they buy. It’s easy to blur the edges of vote buying when you have projects like environmental protection, or the Rugby World Cup – it has mass appeal, but with specific beneficiaries. Governments don’t make money, they borrow it and take it from taxes. Later they hand it back to its source with a smile and wave of benevolence and expect thanks in the form of future votes. Strange, but true. Leaving the scene of the oil spill to plan further vote buying isn’t valueless, not to National, or any party next in line for the payout. They’re just doing their job.
    • Lanthanide 11.1

      14 October 2011 at 9:53 am

      Try using paragraphs next time and people might read your comment.
      • Akldnut 11.1.1

        14 October 2011 at 1:36 pm

        Fuck yes!
      • Fair and Balanced? 11.1.2

        14 October 2011 at 3:01 pm

        OH yawn you condescending cunt.
        • felix 11.1.2.1

          14 October 2011 at 3:04 pm

          Beautifully demonstrated, F&B.

          That was uncluttered and very easy to read.
        • Carol 11.1.2.2

          14 October 2011 at 3:07 pm

          Actually, I agree with Lanthanide. Continuous writing with no paragraphs is hard on the eye and interferes with comprehension. I tend to not read comments with that kind of layout.

          Your choice though, if you want to write like that.
12. ak 12

    14 October 2011 at 9:02 am

    Interesting snap….there’s a definite list to starboard and an ugly “hungry horse” aspect to that hulk….and if you look closely there’s an ominous oily slick appearing near the keel that someone’s tried to mop up with a blue suit…
13. Caernarfon 13

    14 October 2011 at 9:20 am

    As an outside observer, I find your politics a quaint exercise in wish-fulfillment.

    Ian Llewellyn at

    http://www.electionresults.co.nz/will-ministerial-heads-fall

    has it that

    “The chance of a minister losing their job before the election has stabilised around the 10 percent mark after rising as high as 22 percent”

    and Matthen Hooton predicts that

    “National is still overwhelmingly favoured to win the election. But the Rena disaster has taken the lustre off its prospects.

    Since the events of 2.20 am on Wednesday 5 October, and the Government’s failure to demonstrate publicly it was in control of the situation (whether or not it actually was) the probability John Key will remain prime minister has fallen from its recent average of around 95% to more like 93% – not exactly a political disaster for Mr Key but a message nonetheless.

    The slip in Mr Key’s prospects reflects a drop in National’s forecast party vote. In the days leading up to the disaster, it was expected to win over 50% of the party vote. That has now dropped back to 48%. Again, this is hardly a bad result – it would be better than Jim Bolger achieved even in 1990 and National’s best result since 1951. But it is a warning that the Rena issue has been mismanaged.

    Labour has gained at National’s expense since last Wednesday, now above 30% again, as have the Greens, moving up from the 9s to over 11% at times.

    There has be no material change in the likelihood that National will win the electorates most likely to be affected by the disaster – Tauranga, Rotorua and Bay of Plenty – but there has been change in the probability that the party’s Tauranga MP Simon Bridges and Bay of Plenty MP Tony Ryall will increase their majorities.”

    ….since when is it an exact science ?
    • Lanthanide 13.1

      14 October 2011 at 9:55 am

      That’s all based on iPredict, which is primarily based on publicly published poll results. We haven’t had any polls published since the Rena, since John Key’s throat slitting or his S&P lies.
      • Ianupnorth 13.1.1

        14 October 2011 at 1:35 pm

        Bridges is a buffoon, but is loved by the middle aged women in God’s Waiting room, plus the 20% of Yappies and 20% of POM’s who see him as a fresh faced young bloke – so he is likely a shoe in.
        McClay, son of expenses fiddler, might have a little harder job. There are pockets of consituency that he has no respect in (Kawerau, etc). I don’t know if Steve Chadwick will have the resolve to challenge, but I expect the party vote will be interesting.
        Ryall – the biggest clown, but probably safe, again because his voters are all ready to push up daisies.
        The other thing is that the majority of Maori are on that roll, therefore will not using their votes to threaten the main stream candidates. That elctorate could be interesting though. mana has a strong presence, especially around the Tuhoe areas, and Te Ururoa Flavell was the protaganist in Hone departing, so there could be a bit of payback.
14. the sprout 14

    14 October 2011 at 9:50 am

    What an utterly worthless, incompetent, self-serving prick John Key really is.
    What use has he been to this nation in times of need?
    • Rob 14.1

      14 October 2011 at 2:00 pm

      More use than you or The Standard will ever be.
      • lprent 14.1.1

        14 October 2011 at 2:44 pm

        Pretty weak considering he gets overpaid for being a useless prick and we don’t get paid for this at all (in fact if the advertising money doesn’t come though shortly I’ll be paying for much the servers myself this month).

        I think that the sprouts other activities are of considerably more worth to the country than the job John Key is screwing up on. I could probably make a good case that his voluntary work here is pretty damn useful as well.

        Since you don’t know what the spout does in his paid time, or even his unpaid time outside of this blog – you’re just going to have to take my word for it. And I’d advise you at this point it may be advisable to read the policy before replying.
    • Deadly_NZ 14.2

      15 October 2011 at 12:48 am

      You said it .. He served himself, and fuck the rest of us.
15. Afewknowthetruth 15

    14 October 2011 at 10:12 am

    Chris.

    What a pity you cannot enjoy poking fun at the ‘idiots’ in power: the vast majority of them are utterly contemptible puppets of the money-lenders, sociopaths and opportunists. Practically all of them are psychotic and are compulsive liars. It utterly baffles me how anyone can take them or anything they say seriously

    I’m all for keeping company with people like Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell etc. whom I would never lampoon.

    Long live ‘I never had sex with that woman, she had sex with me’, Tony B Liar, Macaroon, Shonkey etc. The mental images created as an important componenet of deprogramming those caught in the web of deceit spun by the neuro-linguistic ‘spiders’ of officialdom.
    • insider 15.1

      14 October 2011 at 12:27 pm

      “I’m all for keeping company with people like Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell etc. ”

      Well that will be a fun party if somewhat smelly…
16. Caernarfon 16

    14 October 2011 at 10:48 am

    Erm .. “neurolinguistic spiders” ?

    What have you been taking recently ?
    • Afewknowthetruth 16.1

      14 October 2011 at 12:14 pm

      Q. ‘What have you been taking recently ?’

      A. Information.

      You might like to try it some time. Take care though. Once you’ve seen the truth you cannot unsee it.

      Of course many people prefer to remain blissfully ignorant of the system, how it works and the ‘triple tsunami’ that is thundering up the beach which is about to wipe them out.
17. Brett Dale 17

    14 October 2011 at 11:01 am

    Did anyone from labour complain about the cost of the tupperwaka?
    • PJ 17.1

      14 October 2011 at 11:05 am

      06/04/11

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4852407/Govt-funding-of-plastic-waka-slammed

      ”This is about $2 million for an 18-day project, so in my estimation it works out about 180-odd K a day for a blow-up waka and, really, in my view, from a plastic party. It’s a joke,” he told Radio New Zealand. ”
      -Shane Jones
      • Bunji 17.1.1

        14 October 2011 at 11:31 am

        And Shane has kept up the criticism. His latest:

        “While the nation’s attention is on another waka threatening the Bay of Plenty coastline, John Key and Pita Sharples will be at party central celebrating the launch of a project which has been nothing short of an electoral gift to Pita Sharples to try to allow him to claim some mana from Maori participation in the RWC.
        …
        “The reality is that the $2m should be declared as an electoral gift by Dr Sharples,” Shane Jones said.
        • Afewknowthetruth 17.1.1.1

          14 October 2011 at 12:22 pm

          It’s hardly surprising that esteem for Pita Sharples has fallen so sharply amongst the informed: he’s just another bought-and-paid-for lackey of the system.
    • Colonial Viper 17.2

      14 October 2011 at 12:20 pm

      Did anyone from labour complain about the cost of the tupperwaka?

      More importantly, did anyone from National?
18. tsmithfield 18

    14 October 2011 at 12:33 pm

    I don’t think the left should count their chickens before they hatch over this one.

    Firstly, I think people have got armageddon priced into their minds over this issue. If it turns out that those in charge of the operation are able to remove the remainder of the oil successfully, and there is a relatively minor clean up operation required then there will probably be a surge of relief. According to the recency effect, most recent items tend to be remembered, so in this case, a more positive outcome than expected might favour National.

    Secondly, once the danger has subsided, information will probably come out on the complexity and dangers involved with this operation that will probably give considerable context to the problems that faced those in charge at the time that will provide context for the initial delay. For example, my understanding is that considerable internal re-piping was required before pumping could even begin. If this turns out to be the case then there is a very plausible explanation for the initial delay in removing the oil.

    Thirdly, film-shots of Goff shovelling oil come across as trifling and opportunistic. I have to agree with Key’s take on this one.
    • Akldnut 18.1

      14 October 2011 at 1:47 pm

      “Thirdly, film-shots of Goff shovelling oil come across as trifling and opportunistic.”

      Ha! you’ve got to be joking me, John Key = Minister of opportunism
      Short memory there mate, remember the throat cutting/ blame game incident last week
    • Reality Bytes 18.2

      14 October 2011 at 2:41 pm

      Yeah if anyone is an expert in photo opportunities it’s Key. Mind you at least Goff was actually doing something useful with the shovel unlike the guy in this photo:

      http://www.comsdev.canterbury.ac.nz/news/2010/100915a.shtml

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