Open mike 02/09/2010

25 comments on “Open mike 02/09/2010 ”

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1. Jenny 1

   2 September 2010 at 9:18 am

   .

   News Flash:

   New Zealand’s biggest welfare beneficiary revealed in a shock horror NZ Herald exclusive expose’.

   To find out who it is, click here.

   Will this individual’s personal file be read out in Parliament by Paula Bennet?

   Will this beneficiary’s sex life be investigated by WINZ as grounds for disqualification?

   Will this beneficiary be required to go to through an endless round of “Work Ready Assessments”?

   Will this beneficiary’s neighbours be asked by WINZ to spy on them?

   Will the contents of their shopping trolley be scrutinised by check out operators to make sure they are not buying any “treats” for their children?

   Will this benefit be cancelled without notice if this beneficiary misses or is late for one of their job ‘re-training’ appointments?

   Will this beneficiary be called on to provide all their banking account details to WINZ?

   Will they be required to wait the statutory stand down period before receiving their benefit?

   Will this beneficiary have to wait two hours in a queue at WINZ with all the other deserving cases for government support, only to be told that their paper work had been lost and could they come back tomorrow?

   Will this idler have to prove that they are actively engaged in seeking work?

   If they can’t prove this, will their benefit be withheld?

   (The usual criteria when seeking financial support from the government is that you have to prove you have no other means of support, or savings or investments. In this case this criteria seems to have been waived, so I won’t even ask, whether this beneficiary will be required to show proof of any other income or means of support.)

   News Flash #2:

   In a completely unrelated story from yesterday’s news, a rich businessman loses $70 million in a bad investment.

   But luckily for him the Prime Minister was so personally touched by his sad story that the government have decided to make up his loss, plus generously give him another $30 million on top for hurt feelings.

   On behalf of all taxpayers, I would like to take this opportunity to pen a public thank you letter to express our collective gratitude, for letting us make up this unfortunate man’s loss:

   Dear Mr Kerr,
   We can only hope that this small gesture from us all, will make up for all your suffering.

   Yours in Gratitude,
   The Taxpayer

   PS. It would be a terrible injustice if a Knight Hood or other Crown Honour was not winging your way shortly.

   Is New Zealand not the most humane and generous Welfare State in the world, where citizens like George Kerr are protected from the inhuman vicissitudes of uncaring market forces?”

   Shame on all those petty nay sayers who criticise our Social Welfare system for being unnecessarily intrusive, and punitive, with the benefits begrudgingly given and miserly.
   • mickysavage 1.1

     2 September 2010 at 9:25 am

     Good comment about the bludger Jenny.

     His pay out is the equivalent of approximately 4,000 annual DPB payments …
   • prism 1.2

     2 September 2010 at 9:50 am

     After your details Jenny on payouts to these poor little rich boys I think they should get night hoodies rather than knight hoods. The difference in the spelling is small, the difference in intent and outcome is the same but with great advantage of scale to those at the knight end.

     But the government do make a case for why they want to be in charge of the unwinding of SCF which they can control if they pay out these others first. Closing the door after the horse is bolted really. Perhaps we should have better horse whisperers in NZ.
   • Bill 1.3

     2 September 2010 at 10:03 am

     If anyone reading this hears of a torchlit mob forming, can I ask that I am informed straight away?

     Cheers.
2. just saying 2

   2 September 2010 at 9:22 am

   Go Jenny!!!
3. joe bloggs 3

   2 September 2010 at 9:27 am

   Interesting release from the International Monetary Fund overnight:

   http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/spn/2010/spn1011.pdf

   Gives a big plus to the current NZ fiscal policy and notes we have the second smallest government debt out of the 23 advanced economies it analysed. The indications are that our budget is well-placed to deal with future shocks.

   The IMF concludes that NZ has a high level of fiscal space – or ample room for adjusting fiscal policy to achieve or maintain debt sustainability.

   One thumb up to Cullen for riding the wave of the global economic boom during the mid-2000’s and two thumbs up to Bill English and John Key for keeping us on the crest of the wave despite the global economic crisis of the past two years, despite all the naysayers.
   • Bill 3.1

     2 September 2010 at 9:55 am

     More public debt couldn’t be taken on if Labour hadn’t paid it down in the first place and NAct are probably, unnecessarily eroding that ‘fiscal space’ with their helter skelter of ideologically driven policies that have taken the place of intelligent policies that have an eye on the ‘really existing’ world.
4. prism 4

   2 September 2010 at 9:27 am

   Sunday a.nm. listening -Ken Douglas is being interviewed by Chris Laidlaw on Sunday RadioNZ.

   For those of you who like a witty political book and haven’t read John Mortimer’s
   Paradise Postponed, the first of the three Rapstone chronicles about the social rise of Leslie Titmuss to become a Tory MP, there are some of this title reasonably priced on Trade Me.
   Interesting bit from The Telegraph Mortimer cheerfully admitted to being a champagne socialist; genial and unruffled as ever, he held that he wanted everyone to have champagne and was pro-hunting. Naturally, he was a founder member of the 20th of June Group, which first gathered in Harold and Lady Antonia Pinter’s Campden Hill Square drawing room on that date in 1988 to plot the downfall of Thatcherism.
5. The Voice of Reason 5

   2 September 2010 at 9:37 am

   A small aside.

   I had a look at the link to the Herald page Jenny gives above, which was interesting in itself. However, I noticed the ‘changing world’ graphic in the top left corner and I’m wondering why The New Zealand Herald is so keen on Australia? Probably a question for Editing Teh Herald, but I can’t help thinking it’s a subtle insult to the NZ readership from the APN, the Aussie owners.

   Rather like the citizens of an occupied country being made to salute the flag of the conquerer, eh what?
6. prism 6

   2 September 2010 at 10:44 am

   Looking up Wikipedia about an English peasants revolt from Kent against Henry VI in 1450 led by Jack Cade. Interesting wording that echoes how we feel in NZ in 2010. Think Key or other PMs and the feeling is the same.
   These fears and continuous unrest in the coastal counties inspired many of the Englishmen to rally in an attempt to force the King to address their problems or abdicate his place on the throne so that someone more competent may take his place (Mate 673).
7. john 7

   2 September 2010 at 11:39 am

   Hi another link from the neo-liberal disaster zone of the US. I keep on about this because our Right wing get their garbage ideology from there. The US Rogernomes have well and truly screwed their country which is now an economic basketcase. The US is collapsing while Wall Street continues to party.
   http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20833

   The US collapse is a very major historical event of the last 100 years yet one network news pays a correspondent over there good money to report trivia, like who cares about Tiger Woods pay out on his failed marriage? Or trivia such as the latest Hollywood awards. News as entertainment! While real news is ignored!
   • john 7.1

     2 September 2010 at 11:51 am

     Another facet of the capitalist-socialist argument is that capitalism favors the rich. In a perfect world, the rich would help the middle and lower classes. The reason for this is not just for altruistic reasons; it’s a necessary part of preserving capitalism itself. A system that only works for the upper echelon of the society can’t possibly survive if the majority of the people can’t survive. It seems that in America, the upper class of this society has forgotten this. Maybe that is the reason why the the bottom 80% of Americans only has 7% of the wealth. That’s right, the bottom 80% of this nation only hold 7% of its wealth! When I came across that statistic I was floored. As far as the top 20% of Americans, the top 1% of Americans holds 42.7% of this nation’s wealth, while the other top 19% hold 50.5%.
   • john 7.2

     2 September 2010 at 4:45 pm

     A brilliant interview with Ralph Nader who says Obama (Relevant because our john calls him when he wants) is either an Uncle Sam for the American people or an Uncle Tom for the corporations.The same issue pertains to our politics is john an uncle tom for the business elite or an Uncle Sam for all New Zealanders? It’s incredible how Nader bursts the sneering smug BS of the Interviewer and panel!!! A must see.
     
   • Vicky32 7.3

     2 September 2010 at 7:54 pm

     I just “shared” that link on Facebook, john, though I am not convinced the teens in my family will care…
     Deb
8. Draco T Bastard 8

   2 September 2010 at 3:30 pm

   A good speech by Russell Norman about economic sovereignty.
9. the pink postman 9

   2 September 2010 at 3:32 pm

   A couple of days ago I mentioned that Hubbard had said that if Key was in the country the Canterbury scandal would have been cleared.
   Later he said he was writting to Key regard this issue.Now what is the relationship between Key and Hubbard? This surely needs looking into.
   There must be someone out there who has the whyfore to expose this.
   • Kevin Welsh 9.1

     2 September 2010 at 5:02 pm

     Maybe Key has SCF bonds?

     Oooops I mean his “blind” trust.
10. outofbed 10

    2 September 2010 at 6:45 pm

    Meanwhile
    Military Study Warns of a Potentially Drastic Oil Crisis
    http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,715138,00.html
11. Carol 11

    2 September 2010 at 7:15 pm

    John Key in 1987 on Close Up. Aggressive, cocky, child-men who want to win at all costs. It’s crying out for a parody… the hair, the over-sized glasses, the low-key seriousness of the narrator in a bygone era:

    http://www.3news.co.nz/Whizz-kid-John-Key-in-1987—video/tabid/423/articleID/173895/Default.aspx

    If it can be captured, it’d be open to all kinds of viral…

    PS: How did a Close Up camera happen to be in JK’s bedroom when he was sleeping & got a phone call in the middle of the night?
    • The Voice of Reason 11.1

      2 September 2010 at 8:26 pm

      Oh, God, that phone call was extraordinary! The pompous voice over (“calls like this … demand that John Key, straight out of a deep sleep, be instantly on the ball!”) while our hero does a midnight deal yawning, eyes shut and talking shit in a boring monotone is dead set comedy gold. Labour could have ditched their entire ad campaign last election and just run that clip over and over, if only they’d known.

      Post please, Standard overlords, the world needs to see this!
      • just saying 11.1.1

        2 September 2010 at 8:39 pm

        Bit suspicious that his kiwi accent is thicker after all his time overseas.
      • Kevin Welsh 11.1.2

        2 September 2010 at 10:53 pm

        This just reinforced for me what a completely useless and unnecessary occupation Forex trading is.
    • Draco T Bastard 11.2

      3 September 2010 at 12:04 am

      Saw that advertised and thought, “Ah, another Jonkey promotion from our MSM, le sigh”

      WTF do these idiots come from?
12. outofbed 12

    2 September 2010 at 8:06 pm

    If you can be bothered
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Campaign-for-MMP/116140725086769?ref=mf

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1. The Standard: posted on 1 September 2010 at 7:54 pm

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