Open mike 02/03/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 2nd, 2011 - 59 comments
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59 comments on “Open mike 02/03/2011 ”

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  1. Rosy 1
    2 March 2011 at 9:38 am

    What was Judith Collins saying? Something about all looters should be put in cells with really horrible people? Well here’s her first A man with Aspergers syndrome

    “Smith is alleged to have stolen two lightbulbs and an antique light fitting from a quake-stricken home. But Shannen Davis said her foster brother has Aspergers syndrome, a form of autism, and other mental disabilities that “make him” collect light fittings.”

    • Colonial Viper 1.1
      2 March 2011 at 10:12 am

      “Police Minister Judith Collins said the actions of looters was akin to “people who rob the dead”.

      She expected to see the judiciary throw the book at looters.

      “I hope they go to jail for a long time – with a cellmate.”

      I think the inference is one of daily prison rape.

    • weka 1.2
      2 March 2011 at 10:28 am

      That’s really sad, Rosy.

      I wonder if The Standard commenters the other day who thought looters should be shot and gutted would like to see that happen to this man.

      I”m sure there are opportunists out there stealing in Chch. But it doesn’t take much to also see that some of the most vulnerable people in Chch will have a big incentive to steal as well (for all sorts of reasons).

    • Rosy 1.3
      2 March 2011 at 9:47 pm

      And speaking of the real looters – letting agent phoned my son the day after the quake, he rents in the inner-city, to remind him of his obligations to pay his rent and the penalties of breaking his newly re-signed 12 month lease (obviously he is a tenant who has met his previous obligations – otherwise the lease wouldn’t have been renewed)…. despite him being told to leave by the emergency response teams (the address is in the cordoned-off area) and house is damaged, but not stickered yet. He is lucky – his job in an inner city hotel is obviously not there any more, but he’s moved for the last week to work at another site for the company that has been full of Christchurch refugees, but as of tomorrow is homeless, paying rent, and like many, many others is effectively trapped in a broken city with no idea of future plans with the greedies looking for windfall $$$ if breaks he the lease.

      captcha: sad 🙁

      • Deadly_NZ 1.3.1
        2 March 2011 at 10:17 pm

        Got 2 words for the Greedys especially these letting agents, and as agents they only lose their cut of the rent so tell em to…

        SEX and TRAVEL
        A politeish way to say EFF OFF

  2. joe90 2
    2 March 2011 at 10:17 am

    A new study says thawing permafrost will accelerate global warming in decades to come.

    One- to two-thirds of Earth’s permafrost will disappear by 2200, unleashing vast quantities of carbon into the atmosphere, says a study by researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
    “The amount of carbon released is equivalent to half the amount of carbon that has been released into the atmosphere since the dawn of the industrial age,” said NSIDC scientist Kevin Schaefer. “That is a lot of carbon.”

  3. lprent 3
    2 March 2011 at 10:20 am

    I broke the search last night. It will be sometime later in the day or evening before I get it operational again. Didn’t bring my laptop to work….

  5. ianmac 5
    2 March 2011 at 10:29 am

    Thinking about the focus of seismic energy and the way it travels in waves as discussed on Nat Radio this morning. It apparently helps explains the fall of some buildings when those nearby were untouched. The energy from a seismic event can be turned and focussed by landform similar to the way that water is turned and waves made more or less powerful. It will be a factor when they consider the reasons for the worst collapses.

  6. ianmac 6
    2 March 2011 at 10:34 am

    This may have already gone the rounds. If so sorry.
    It shows a set of 4 aerial photos before after by a clever sideways slide.
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/infographics/christchurch-quake/beforeafter.htm

  7. ianmac 7
    2 March 2011 at 10:35 am

    Simon Powers has announced his retirement at the next election. Nat Radio 10:30. Wonder why? Pity.

    • Carol 7.1
      2 March 2011 at 10:37 am

      see link a couple of comments above to Power’s press statement on Scoop.

      • Colonial Viper 7.1.1
        2 March 2011 at 10:45 am

        Awful. The man has a conscience, which means that National is planning some evil shit against the bottom 95% of NZ’ers in the coming time.

        • Lanthanide 7.1.1.1
          2 March 2011 at 10:53 am

          Then he should have come out and said he “doesn’t like the future direction of the party”. That might be considered bridge-burning, though.

      • ianmac 7.1.2
        2 March 2011 at 11:02 am

        Thanks Carol. The message overlapped. Katherine Ryan is hoping to speak to Simon Powers in the next hour- Nat Radio.

        • Carol 7.1.2.1
          2 March 2011 at 11:16 am

          That’s OK ianmac. We have all been taken by surprise by this announcement… it’s breaking news. Listening to Power & Ryan right now.

    • Richard 7.2
      2 March 2011 at 11:43 am

      Unless there is glaring evidence to the contrary I think I would take the initial statements at face-value.

      He feels like he has better/more profitable work to pursue in the private sector. Especially now that he can write Minister of XXX on his CV.

      Which I guess a cynic would say was symptomatic of why he became an MP in the first place.

  8. felix 8
    2 March 2011 at 11:22 am

    Make no mistake: Power is out because he can’t stomach the ugliness to come.

    Simple. As. That.

  9. weka 9
    2 March 2011 at 11:28 am

    Similar sized quakes in Welly and Chch last night.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4720071/Tremors-shake-Christchurch-Wellington

    Are these related?

    I see that many people rushed outsite. What is the current recommendation on what to do in a quake? Doorway? or get outside if you can? or?

    • Zorr 9.1
      2 March 2011 at 11:33 am

      In a big quake, doorways aren’t so useful.

      One of the suggested safe places to bunker down is against a couch because it will prevent large objects from striking you.

      • Colonial Viper 9.1.1
        2 March 2011 at 11:36 am

        In a big quake, doorways aren’t so useful.

        And definitely not useful if the door way is in a non load bearing office partition wall.

        • weka 9.1.1.1
          2 March 2011 at 11:47 am

          So essentially it’s just luck then. Unless I learn to assess the doorframes of every building I go into.

          Does anyone know if there is an official recommendation?

          Where I live now I’d probably go for outside if I could – lots of big empty spaces there, some trees too though. Do they tend to fall in quakes? Anyone know what’s happened to trees in Chch?.

          The doorway one was well indoctrinated as I was growing up, maybe I’d just do that on instinct.

          • Colonial Viper 9.1.1.1.1
            2 March 2011 at 12:05 pm

            Strong, preferably steel framed tables are good for hiding under. Lie flat, not crouched.

            • DS 9.1.1.1.1.1
              2 March 2011 at 12:31 pm

              Be careful when getting under the table though. I was sconned in the head by my big steel framed table when it jumped up to attack me.

              And yeah – we had trees fall down in Hagley Park, apparently.

          • Lanthanide 9.1.1.1.2
            2 March 2011 at 12:49 pm

            Very very few trees have fallen over here, and very few powerlines too.

            The civil defence advice is to take shelter under a desk or table, but that often isn’t available. I’d shelter under a doorway, and I don’t think they are that ‘unsafe’ in a big quake. What you have to realise is that the violent shaking can easily throw you off your feet, out from the doorway. So you need to brace yourself firmly in the doorway with your arms and legs – put both feet at the corners of the doorway and push out, and brace your arms parallel to the frame and push outwards, and hold onto the top of the frame with your hands. Such a stance means only 1 person can really shelter in a doorway, but if there are two of you just brace yourself as best you can.

            As roofs and ceilings are more likely to fall into the center of the room (especially if something drops onto the roof like a chimney), I think even if you’re standing in a doorway that is in a wall that isn’t structural you’ll still be better off than being in the middle of the room. Ideally you’d be under a strong and sturdy desk or table, of course. Glass tables are an obvious no-no to hide under, which is a problem as glass topped dining tables are fashionable these days.

            As to whether you should run outside – in really depends on your circumstances. If you’re right by the door, then I would consider it, but it depends what sort of buildings are around you; brick ones are an obvious hazard. I wouldn’t run through a room to get outside, and I also wouldn’t run upstairs to find children (as many people did in the 7.1 quake) as you’re likely to be hit by falling objects or injured if you’re thrown off your feet – better to wait for the shaking to substantially subside before going after them (be aware that quakes can come in quick succession however). You should of course arrange everyone’s bedroom so that if large furniture falls over, it’s not going to land entirely on top of the bed. I remember a decade ago civil defence had an ad on TV where they talked about securing all of your heavy furniture to the walls with straps and ties, and putting nylon across book cases so the books didn’t fall out etc.

            • ianmac 9.1.1.1.2.1
              2 March 2011 at 1:46 pm

              In a bedroom one should lie down beside a bed rather than under it. The idea is that the bed takes the falling stuff leaving you in a space. Not under the bed as it could fall under the load and squash. So I have been told.

  10. joe90 10
    2 March 2011 at 11:44 am

    Trotters postscript sums up these pricks.

    The Government’s assistance package, announced on Monday, 28 February, further highlights the curious distinction our political leaders continue to draw between Acts of God and Acts of Man. If you’ve lost your job because of the earthquake you’re immediately entitled to receive $500.00 per week (close to the minimum wage). But, if you’ve lost your job because your employer has just been bought out by a multinational company, you’re entitled (after a stand-down period of 12 weeks) to an unemployment benefit of just $294.00 per week (56 percent of the minimum wage). Nothing could better illustrate the punitive assumptions built into our welfare system.

    • Draco T Bastard 10.1
      2 March 2011 at 1:59 pm

      And he even got the UE benefit wrong (although probably just a typo) as it’s $216.89 gross or about 42% of the minimum wage.

      Other than that, I agree with him.

      • ak 10.1.1
        2 March 2011 at 2:23 pm

        yep, $198 in the hand….and under 25yrs old it’s $165, and under 20, $132. Raking it in. Who’d want to work when you’re creaming it like that?

    • Linaka 10.2
      2 March 2011 at 11:13 pm

      Actually its ONE ninety four for UB at the moment, and as regards to the earthquakes safe place, my advice is grab a tinny from the fridge, and head to the bee-hive there is plenty of air-heads there.

  11. todd 11
    2 March 2011 at 11:46 am

    What are you all HAARPing on about?

    http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-are-you-all-haarping-on-about.html

    Haven’t heard of HAARP before? That’s OK! Neither had I. It stands for High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program and has been around since the 70’s. Some say it is based on Nikola Tesla’s technology, but what we do know for sure is that HAARP has had billions of dollars in development spend and is surrounded in army secrecy.

    • The Voice of Reason 11.1
      2 March 2011 at 12:26 pm

      Todd, much as I like being updated on what’s on your rather promising site, don’t you think you should at least make a donation to the Standard if you are going to continually advertise in this manner?

      • lprent 11.1.1
        2 March 2011 at 12:55 pm

        He is ‘advertising’. But so far he has remained within my personal “toleration of new sites advertising” limits. He hasn’t put in bloody great swaths of quoting, has tried to be either relevant to the post or dropped it in OpenMike, has engaged in commenting, and generally been pretty good about it IMHO. It is a rather nice change from some of the other proud owners of new sites.

        But I am known to be more tolerant about this than others. It is always a bit of a risky strategy to promote a site on other sites because you have to watch out for the grumpy moderators having a bad day. They have a cast iron reason to vent their irritation. As an extreme example you could look at whoar in days gone by.

        Donations for the reason you’re describing would tend to be frowned upon. We’re really only interested in the donations that people give freely with zero expectations about what they get for them. You could just imagine Whale’s approach to donating to this site (assuming he had some spare cash that is). That is all laid out in the donations page.

        • todd 11.1.1.1
          2 March 2011 at 4:08 pm

          Hi, I do tend to get a few people checking out The Jackal from here. I’m not trying to poach though, just that I’m writing about things that might be of interest. I would spam the hell out of KB and Oil Lards sites if they hadn’t banned me. I can donate my time and thoughts 🙂

  12. higherstandard 12
    2 March 2011 at 1:44 pm

    PB has posted audio of Gary McCormick’s poem before – the video plus audio is worth another look and listen.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/video.cfm?c_id=1&gal_cid=1&gallery_id=117054

  13. William Joyce 13
    2 March 2011 at 1:46 pm

    It wasn’t rampant self-interest, greed, incompetence or even the down side of free enterprise….
    It was terrorism.
    Yes, the $11 trillion US financial “down turn” could well have been the result of terrorism. It could even be part of China’s three phase plan to become the supreme economic power.
    A least, so says a Pentagon contracted report.
    Food for thought?

    • Lanthanide 13.1
      2 March 2011 at 3:23 pm

      There might be some truth in it, but it seems convenient. “We did nothing wrong, it was the terrorists! They’re out to get us! We can keep abusing the environment and our profligate use of energy because they aren’t the problem, it was the terrorists!”

  14. Vicky32 14
    2 March 2011 at 6:35 pm

    Listening to TV3 talking about the Welly one, and people buying water to stock up – just a thought – how hard to TV3 reporters look until they find an American to interview? Vox pops always start with an American, and in this case, the American was the only one shown!
    Do they ask heaps of people then throw the non-pretty, non-middleclass and in 3’s case, non-Americans on the cutting room floor? (Yes, I know it’s probably digital these days, but the old-fashioned terminology sounds better..)
    The exception is if it’s a story about welfare, then vox pops show only Maori with large families, cos only Maori or Island families with 8 kids are on benefits or low wages…
    Deb

  15. KJT 15
    3 March 2011 at 8:52 am

    Data for CEPR from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) shows that unemployment is due to poor demand and that stimulus by cutting taxes at the high end has failed.

    http://kjt-kt.blogspot.com/2011/03/kia-ora-shows-that-unemployment-is-due.html

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