Daily Review 30/04/2015

Written By: - Date published: 5:58 pm, April 30th, 2015 - 46 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

John Key ponytail

Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standarnistas the opportunity to review events of the day.  The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other.

46 comments on “Daily Review 30/04/2015 ”

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  2. AsleepWhileWalking 2
    30 April 2015 at 6:46 pm

    Don’t forget to say “no” to McDonald’s tommorrow.

    !!

  3. Draco T Bastard 3
    30 April 2015 at 6:47 pm

    “Unworkable” Environment Court Decision Will Not Be Appealed

    The court’s decision to uphold an appeal from Ngati Kahungunu in Hawke’s Bay was based on the interpretation of the words “maintenance and enhancement” of freshwater bodies.

    The Court says those words mean the water quality within every single water body must be managed in a way that water quality is maintained or enhanced.

    So, the industry body that should be celebrating this decision because it will protect their members livelihoods is complaining because it will stop them from further damaging the environment in the race for more money.

    • vto 3.1
      30 April 2015 at 7:27 pm

      Yep it is truly bizarre …..

      ….. that Horticulture NZ is not happy to maintain and enhance waterways

      truly

      bizarre

      eat ya seed potatoes why dontcha – idiots

    • ianmac 3.2
      30 April 2015 at 7:54 pm

      “…every single water body must be managed in a way that water quality is maintained or enhanced. ”
      Wow! How good is that! Wouldn’t it be great if that was the way the whole country was treated.
      Unless changes to the RMA watered down the effect.

      • weka 3.2.1
        30 April 2015 at 8:05 pm

        and this,

        “Because the way it reads now, activities like regional development, greenfields subdivision and infrastructure development can all be challenged if they have impacts on water quality,” Chris says.

        Good.

        Strange statement from HortNZ though. This decision is going to make horticulture economically unworkable yet they won’t spend the money to appeal? I find myself suspecting this is to do with excess profits, not inherent economic viability.

        • vto 3.2.1.1
          30 April 2015 at 8:12 pm

          “I find myself suspecting this is to do with excess profits, not inherent economic viability”

          well spotted you sharp-eyed weka

        • Hanswurst 3.2.1.2
          30 April 2015 at 10:29 pm

          I suspect that statement is intended in the context of the implied appeal towards the end of the article that central government should change the law to suit HortNZ’s intentions. In effect, the statement is, “$100,000 for an appeal would be wasted, since the government’s actions should/will render such court action superfluous.”

  4. Tautoko Mangō Mata 4
    30 April 2015 at 7:01 pm

    This could be good news regarding the TPPA.
    From the Huffington post titled
    “Hillary Clinton Opposes Major Obama Trade Policy”
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/hillary-clinton-trans-pacific-partnership_n_7173108.html
    Hillary has been very cagey and hard to pin down on the issue of Fast Track and it is pleasing to see that at least she is opposed to the ISDS- Investor State Dispute Settlement system.

    “Hillary Clinton is opposed to a critical piece of the Obama administration’s Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would give corporations the right to sue sovereign nations over laws or regulations that could potentially curb their profits.

    The policy position is contained in her book Hard Choices, and was confirmed to HuffPost by a spokesperson for her presidential campaign. Obama and congressional Democrats are locked in a bitter public feud over TPP — a deal between 12 Pacific nations — with much of the controversy derived from concerns it will undermine regulatory standards.

    Clinton writes in her book:

    Currently the United States is negotiating comprehensive agreements with eleven countries in Asia and in North and South America, and with the European Union. We should be focused on ending currency manipulation, environmental destruction, and miserable working conditions in developing countries, as well as harmonizing regulations with the EU. And we should avoid some of the provisions sought by business interests, including our own, like giving them or their investors the power to sue foreign governments to weaken their environmental and public health rules, as Philip Morris is already trying to do in Australia. The United States should be advocating a level and fair playing field, not special favors. (Emphasis added.)

    Another interesting article contrasts Hillary Clinton’s statements on TPPA with those of Elizabeth Warren
    http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/29/hillary-clinton-tpp-lurking-elizabeth-warren.html

  5. Weepus beard 5
    30 April 2015 at 7:42 pm

    Fonterra dropped the payout again. Now below the cost of production. Farmers not in a good place, blah, blah, blah.

    A University academic whose name escapes me was on Larry Williams before six advocating for more powers to be handed to Fonterra! Farmers are leaving them in droves (heh) she said and the fact they have to compete with start-ups (by law) in the domestic market is causing all this.

    • ianmac 5.1
      30 April 2015 at 7:57 pm

      Does this mean that Market forces are not a pretty scene for Fonterra so they need a law change to protect them against competition. Really?

  6. Atiawa 6
    30 April 2015 at 8:22 pm

    Should political parties on the left be concerned by the steady decline in private sector union membership?

    • Murray Rawshark 6.1
      30 April 2015 at 9:30 pm

      Yes. All workers should be as well. Political parties on the left will be heavily lobbied and threatened by corporate interests whenever they look like getting elected. Organised unions can at least provide a bit of a restoring force and keep the politicians a little less dishonest.

      • Atiawa 6.1.1
        30 April 2015 at 10:46 pm

        Workers concerns would be allayed if they joined.
        The NZLP must adopt policies that strengthen the rights of workers and their unions. The previous Labour government through the introduction of Working for Families (for e.g.) weakened the role of organised labour.
        In the long run there is a greater appreciation of the value of things that are won then things that are given.

  7. ianmac 7
    30 April 2015 at 8:23 pm

    Just listened to Russell Brand/Millibrand from Paepae by Peter Aranyi at the sidebar. The summary from Russell at about 13:25 would be grand in NZ eh! Unpaid taxes. The 1% power. Media throttle hold etc. Will Millibrand actually do it?
    Gutsy interview, Like the unwavering intense Russell stare at the interviewee. Be afraid!
    http://www.thepaepae.com/russell-brands-quieter-ed-milibrand-interview/35954/

  8. Philip Ferguson 8
    30 April 2015 at 9:43 pm

    It’s interesting watching AlJazeera’s coverage of the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Their news actually tells it like it is, mentioning “Vietnam’s victory over the Americans”. What a breath of fresh air.

    Here’s my own effort:

    On April 30, 1975 the revolutionary forces of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and of the supporting North Vietnamese Army (NVA) sent the last US personnel in Saigon scurrying ignominiously to their helicopters at the US embassy and fleeing the country.

    What is known in the West as the Vietnam War, but in Vietnam itself as the 30-year long Great Patriotic War, was finally over. The masses had seen off the French and then the Americans. Vietnam was finally liberated and not only had the French been delivered a crushing defeat but US imperialism had too, suffering its first defeat in war. . .

    full at: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/04/29/vietnam-40th-anniversary-of-the-triumph-over-imperialism/

  9. Pasupial 9
    30 April 2015 at 10:24 pm

    Tonight is when the antipodean neopagans celebrate Samhain (celtic death festival later christianized as Halloween). I’m not much of an advocate for the spiritual side of that, but it does make a lot more sense to have; the seasonal rituals aligned with the seasons, rather than with; colonial nostalgia for the motherland.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_the_Year#Samhain

    There doesn’t seem to be a Māori equivalent (eg the correspondence of Matariki and Yule), but; Ruhanui seems close.

    http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/leisure-in-traditional-maori-society-nga-mahi-a-te-rehia/page-3

    Unfortunately, I imagine anyone with better knowledge of this than myself will be out around a bonfire this evening. So for them, and everyone else; have a superb Samhain, and don’t get too disturbed by contemplations of the dead.

    • weka 9.1
      30 April 2015 at 11:31 pm

      thanks Pasupial.

      Ruhanui
      1. (personal name) personification of leisure activities – known particularly from Ngāti Porou.
      Ka rere a Whānui ka tīmata te hauhake i ngā kai; te potonga o ngā kai ka mahia ngā mahi a Ruhanui, koia ēnei: ko te tūperepere, ko te tōreherehe, ko te kai whakatāpaepae, ko te kokomo, ko te tūmahana, ko te kaihaukai, ko te haka, ko te poi, ko te whakahoro taratahi, ko te tā pōtaka, ko te pōtēteke, ko te taupiripiri, ko te mū tōrere, a te whai, a te pānokonoko, o te tararī, a te kīkīporo, a te pākuru, a te tārere, a te kūī, a te kūrapakara, a te rere moari, me ērā atu mea katoa (TWMNT 11/9/1872:110). /

      When Vega rose the harvesting of the food began; and when that was done the activities of Ruhanui were carried out, which were these: the ceremony and feast to celebrate the storing of the kūmara crop, tobogganing, the displaying of food, the exchanging of gifts between hosts and visitors, feasting and presenting food, performing haka and poi, flying kites, whipping spinning tops, doing somersaults, racing arm in arm, playing draughts, performing string games, playing the pānokonoko string game, playing the jewsharp, beating the time to songs with pieces of wood held against the cheek, playing the mouth resonator, swinging, calling kūī, playing kūrapakara, swinging on the moari, and all those other games.

      http://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/15628

      • Pasupial 9.1.1
        1 May 2015 at 12:16 am

        weka

        Actually, in retrospect, Ruhanui would be a better match for Mabon (Autumnal Equinox)/ Easter, especially with time of year:

        An early European visitor to New Zealand, J. S. Polack, noted that ‘the harvest feast was celebrated in March

        Would rather be out at a bonfire tonight myself, but it’s also a good season to harvest colds and flus. Next year when the kids will be old enough to enjoy it, I’ll have to carve up some pumpkins and make a night of it (though probably not go trick or treating).

        • weka 9.1.1.1
          1 May 2015 at 10:45 am

          Yeah I got that too about the equinox, although presumably that depends on where you are in NZ. No kumara growing south of Chch and harvests here would be on a different time frame.

          I couldn’t find anything closer other than the lunar month calender, and I think that also depends on what part of the country you are in. I think this is the last lunar month before the rise of Matariki in June (although we are midway through the lunar month right now so not sure which side of that the lunar month would fall).

          12. Haratua (April–May). Crops are now stored in pits. The tasks of man are finished.

          http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/maramataka-the-lunar-calendar/page-1

    • Atiawa 10.1
      30 April 2015 at 11:02 pm

      That seems to be a long time to wait for justice. Are the courts clogged? Time heals?

      • Potato 10.1.1
        30 April 2015 at 11:05 pm

        Perhaps just hoping the public and the media will forget by then ?

        • Atiawa 10.1.1.1
          30 April 2015 at 11:31 pm

          Kinda perfect timing. 14 months since the public became aware and 18 months+_
          before a general election. Tugger’s.

        • Pasupial 10.1.1.2
          30 April 2015 at 11:58 pm

          There’s not a lot that the media can do:

          Justice Paul Heath confirmed the man’s continued interim name suppression through to trial.

          Perhaps this is a different Prominent NZr, as the article states; “to protect the identity of the alleged victims”. If it is the one I’m thinking of; the victims have expressed no such wish for identity protection, and even said that they want the alleged molesters name known [edit Anne at 10.2.1 seems to confirm this].

      • McFlock 10.1.2
        1 May 2015 at 12:00 am

        I’m intrigued as to why it would be so long – any lawyery types know what the reasons in general might be for such a long delay in any court case?

        Court overcrowding is one possibility, but forensic decryption of electronic storage devices also springs to mind. Or maybe dealing with other matters facing the defendant before that trial, or … ?

    • Clemgeopin 10.2
      30 April 2015 at 11:34 pm

      Bloody hell! Postponed for 1 year! Stupid! What is wrong with our courts and our justice system!

      • Anne 10.2.1
        30 April 2015 at 11:55 pm

        What is wrong with our courts and our justice system!

        Pandering to the wishes of the John Key government that is what is wrong with them.

        I understood the victims wanted suppression of the identity of the alleged perpetrator lifted… but of course they are female so their interests don’t count for much. Only the perpetrator counts because he was a high flying NAct politician.

    • Draco T Bastard 10.3
      30 April 2015 at 11:42 pm

      That’s absolutely ridiculous. I think we need a law that ensures that all legal proceedings are finished within 6 months of charges being laid.

      • Lanthanide 10.3.1
        1 May 2015 at 8:52 am

        “I think we need a law that ensures that all legal proceedings are finished within 6 months of charges being laid.”

        Wow, really?

        You don’t want to give the prosecution sufficient time to find evidence and mount their case?

        You don’t want to give the defense sufficient time to find expert witnesses to rebut prosecution evidence?

        • Draco T Bastard 10.3.1.1
          1 May 2015 at 9:13 am

          Just how much time does someone need to find the evidence? This case, once it gets back to court next year, will have been going on for how many years?

          Sure, we need to allow time to gather that evidence but we also want justice done in a reasonable time both for the victims and the defendants.

          • McFlock 10.3.1.1.1
            1 May 2015 at 10:28 am

            Yes. But compulsory time limits are a dumb way of doing it – e.g. what if the evidence is encrypted, or the sheer volume of evidence takes time to process for both prosecution and defense?

            I’m interested as to what the reasons are for this specific delay, but am in favour of leaving it to the judges to schedule cases.

            • Lanthanide 10.3.1.1.1.1
              1 May 2015 at 10:41 am

              +1

              “Sure, we need to allow time to gather that evidence but we also want justice done in a reasonable time both for the victims and the defendants.”

              Justice isn’t done for the victims if the offender gets off because the prosecution wasn’t able to mount a robust case.

              There is the case of the murder of Blessi going on right now in Auckland. The evidence seems incredibly damning – they tracked the defendant via his GPS anklet to the cemetery and found the body there, and found many of her personal belongings at his apartment, her blood there and in his car, as well as semen. Even given all this, the court case is scheduled to last 3 weeks, as the prosecution calls up witnesses and experts, so that they can have as ironclad tight case as possible, to ensure they put the best case in front of the jury.

              Other high-profile cases recently in the media have lasted for fairly lengthy times, such as the Mark Lundy trial and David Bain’s retrial. To put an arbitrary time limit on when *all* cases must be scheduled is pretty ridiculous.

              It’s best left up to the judges. They know more about the system and what is happening than we do.

    • tc 10.4
      30 April 2015 at 11:48 pm

      Sounds like it went ‘what’s the furthest possible date we could set…’

      • Potato 10.4.1
        1 May 2015 at 12:23 am

        Optimistically, I’m hoping its because the PM has said that he’ll be gone by then

    • Murray Rawshark 10.5
      1 May 2015 at 12:31 am

      It is at the longish end of delays for High Court trials, but isn’t unheard of for someone on bail. Of course the question is “How many on those charges get bail?”

      In the meantime, Stuff should get their story straight: “Most details of the case are suppressed to protect the identity of the alleged victims.” The suppression had been dropped, but the rock spider was allowed to appeal the decision. Since suppression for underage sex cases is automatic except when the victims don’t want it, those who were sexually assaulted had asked for it to be lifted. The suppression is not to protect the identity of the alleged victims, unless this bloke is as bad as FJK with tantalising ponytails and is trying to paint himself as a victim. Although we don’t know who he/she is, if the prominence were, for example, associated with Tory politics, this is what we would expect. They never take responsibility for anything.

      • weka 10.5.1
        1 May 2015 at 10:49 am

        Doesn’t that depend on the age of the assaulted? For instance does the court allow young children to make the decision? (I doubt it).

        • Murray Rawshark 10.5.1.1
          1 May 2015 at 3:02 pm

          I assume it would be their legal guardian.

          • weka 10.5.1.1.1
            1 May 2015 at 3:36 pm

            Which means we don’t necessarily know what the assaulted people need or want.

            I can see the continued name suppression as political interference, or old boys network. But I can also see it’s possible the court is making a judgement in the best interests of minors.

  11. John Shears 11
    1 May 2015 at 5:21 pm

    The Ports of Auckland Saga

    IMO the POA Chairman and Board need to be fired. The Government needs to change the ridiculous arrangement that they allowed Rodney Hide to put in place with the governance
    three times removed through the appointed so called boards.

    The POA is referred to as “A Company” NO IT IS NOT it is a CCO {Council Controlled Organisation] but the Council is unable to control it, or so it seems.

    Of course shifting the wharves and other facilities required to handle future cargoes both in and out of the greater Auckland area will cost money and the nearest best site will most likely be Marsden Point which has sufficient space and deep water for really large vessels.

    The cost of that development together with the development of the rail system to transport the containers to Auckland will surely be offset by the sale of the prime real estate currently
    occupied by the POA ( and they insist on grabbing more}.

    Why have we not seen a properly calculated study examining this possibility?

  12. jenny kirk 12
    1 May 2015 at 5:48 pm

    Good idea, John Shears. Can you pass it on to someone like Andrew Little please.

  13. John Shears 13
    1 May 2015 at 10:16 pm

    Jenny
    Comment passed on as suggested