Open Mike 02/11/2016

98 comments on “Open Mike 02/11/2016 ”

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1. Paul 1

   2 November 2016 at 6:16 am

   Washington’s Intent is Economic Destabilization and “Regime Change” In Venezuela

   Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy suffers greatly from low crude oil prices and US economic warfare – waged to destabilize the country, create enormous hardships, mobilize majority opposition to President Nicolas Maduro’s leadership, and end nearly 18 years of economic and social progress. The collapse in the price of crude oil was the result of a carefully designed speculative operation.

   Neocons in Washington want control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, among the world’s largest. With full US support and encouragement, the right wing opposition which controls the National Assembly want Maduros ousted – its latest tactic by recall referendum as constitutionally permitted.

   https://off-guardian.org/2016/11/01/31574/
   • Siobhan 1.1

     2 November 2016 at 11:49 am

     An old story to be accompanied by much teeth grinding and internal rage…..

     http://www.democracynow.org/2015/3/20/ecuadorean_foreign_minister_the_united_states

     Chris Hedges has some good coverage of Venezuela…you just have to ignore his ‘On Contact’ opening video credits which have a certain tinfoil hat look

     http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_empire_strikes_back_20161002
2. Paul 2

   2 November 2016 at 6:24 am

   Employer with appalling record of treating its employees buys thee mines.

   Did we learn nothing from Pike River?
   Did we not understand the Paris climate change accord?
   Do we not realise that have a pristine environement was our point of difference in the world?

   This government is corrupt .
   Arise, Sir Peter Talley.

   http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/317048/talley's-accused-of-risking-nz's-brand-with-mine-buy
3. Paul 3

   2 November 2016 at 6:25 am

   The BBC documentary that the Australian government doesn’t want you to see
   • tc 3.1

     2 November 2016 at 6:41 am

     The list of issues across the ditch is growing whilst Abbott continues to snipe away from within.

     Turnbull is a lame duck with a toxic senate containing One nation and Family First vote blockers to name a few, so he can’t get much passed.

     George Brandis, Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton are amongst the many liabilities along with their ‘stop the boats’ policy and Tony stirring via murdochs outlets.

     Serco are doing very nicely out of the detention centres though.
4. Paul 4

   2 November 2016 at 6:31 am

   This is what happens when you sign free trade deals.

   Inside the West Virginia steel town destroyed by Nafta – where 94% of jobs have gone and Trump is king

   There was a time, not so long ago, when this city on the Ohio River employed up to 15,000 people in the steel mills whose rusting warehouses still line the streets. Now the figure is closer to 800.

   First, it was costs associated with the repeated regulations imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Then, after 1994 and the passing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) it was cheaper competition from places such as Mexico. In the end, there was no way Weirton could compete, and an industry that has fed and clothed the city for generations essentially died.

   “Her husband introduced Nafta,” said a former steel worker, sitting at the the bar of the Columbia Club, located at one was once Gate No 1 of the Weirton Steel Corporation’s main factory. He had worked at the plant for 34 years. “If anyone in this in this state votes for her, they’re crazy.”

   http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/inside-the-west-virginia-steel-town-destroyed-by-nafta-where-94-of-jobs-have-disappeared-and-donald-a7389846.html
   • Garibaldi 4.1

     2 November 2016 at 6:54 am

     Four good posts there Paul .Thank you.
   • Draco T Bastard 4.2

     2 November 2016 at 9:44 am

     Exactly what was supposed to happen.

     FTAs aren’t there to make life better for the majority of people. They’re there to further enrich the rich by exploiting the poor.
5. ScottGN 5

   2 November 2016 at 7:34 am

   Greens should push hard on this issue
   http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/85943427/local-mps-at-odds-over-palm-oil-labelling
6. James 6

   2 November 2016 at 8:08 am

   Roy Morgan out today. Predicictions for Nat/Lab/Green/NZF?

   Closest guess wins 3 internets.
   • Puckish Rogue 6.1

     2 November 2016 at 10:18 am

     I guess if its not good for Labour it’ll be a rogue(ish) poll because no one has a land line and if its good for Labour it’ll be proof of a sweeping victory for Labour in the up coming election
     • I Feel Love 6.1.1

       2 November 2016 at 10:51 am

       & if it’s a good poll for National we won’t hear any gloating from you lot?
       • Puckish Rogue 6.1.1.1

         2 November 2016 at 11:21 am

         Probably not, we’ve gotten so used to good poll results over the last eight years we’ve gotten a bit blasé about them
7. I Feel Love 7

   2 November 2016 at 9:27 am

   WTF???? Warning distressing footage of a cow hung buy her hips? Why? Truly horrible & upsetting.

   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11740117
   • Psych nurse 7.1

     2 November 2016 at 10:29 am

     For the uninitiated, if you don’t treat the magnesium deficiency and get it back on its feet the cow will die. Choice of two evils, I know what I would prefer.
     • Puckish Rogue 7.1.1

       2 November 2016 at 10:39 am

       Hi Psych nurse excuse my ignorance but could you expand on this please, like is there a specific reason for what the farmer is doing?
       • marty mars 7.1.1.1

         2 November 2016 at 11:11 am

         The person is treating the animal cruelly. There is no reason for that other than the obvious ones. Guidelines are clear there is no mistake – carrying the cow across the paddock that way is wrong and unnecessary.
       • Brigid 7.1.1.2

         2 November 2016 at 11:15 am

         The hips clamps are to keep the cow on it’s feet. If left it will lie down and not get up. We don’t know why the cow was dragged to where ever it was dragged to. But it seems there was a need to move her and I don’t know how else you could move an 800 kg animal. Perhaps the person filming the event could have asked the farm worker. They could also have asked why the cow needed support to stand up. Was it magnesium deficiency? Or something else.

         They could also have asked the farmer worker what hours he works and what he gets paid, that might explain why he shows no empathy towards the cow.

         Magnesiun deficiency is common in newly caved dairy cows. These cows are bred to produce enormous quantities of milk and their systems just tend to fail if the delicate balance of micro nutrients is not correct.
         • Puckish Rogue 7.1.1.2.1

           2 November 2016 at 11:25 am

           Thanks, I didn’t know about magnesium deficiency in cows and yeah moving 800kgs isn’t exactly a simple thing to do
         • marty mars 7.1.1.2.2

           2 November 2016 at 11:43 am

           If she can’t stand she is fucked and will be shot – maybe they were just getting her close to the killing area. Anyway it is still cruelty to move her like that.
           • Brigid 7.1.1.2.2.1

             2 November 2016 at 12:21 pm

             No. If it is magnesium deficiency she’s suffering from, it’s very easily remedied with an infusion.
             How do you suppose is a more humane way to move her?
             What is this ‘killing area’ you speak of. If they were going to shoot her they would have already, dug a hole, and buried her there.
             Your ignorance of farming practices is woeful.

             The point I want to make is that filming farming practices under cover is all very fine, and possibly useful, but there is so much that this clip does not explain.

             I abhor the dairy farming industry incidentally.
             • marty mars …

               2 November 2016 at 12:28 pm

               I worked on dairy farms so I know what goes on. they wouldn’t dig a hole in the paddock would they? They’d shoot her, pick her up and either chop her up or put her down the hole at the back of the farm. not that complicated.

               Any deficiency remedy would be given where she is to get her up and if too long down – all over
               • Brigid …

                 2 November 2016 at 12:38 pm

                 The thing is we just don’t bloody know. Do we.
                 Because the person filming the event was not interested in obtaining additional useful information because they knew what they had would illicit the typical 20 seconds of ‘isn’t it awful’ buzz that most of the sheeple love.

                 I really doubt the person filming gave much of a fuck about the cow.
                 • marty mars …

                   2 November 2016 at 12:44 pm

                   They cared more than the scum farm worker. Maybe the ‘sheeple’ will rise up in disgust at more casual farm brutality – prob not though mores the pity imo.
                 • weka …

                   2 November 2016 at 3:32 pm

                   I would guess that if they got involved they would either be told to fuck off, or they’d be charged with trespass.

                   “These cows are bred to produce enormous quantities of milk and their systems just tend to fail if the delicate balance of micro nutrients is not correct.”

                   That is also cruelty.

                   If it was magnesium deficiency why could the cow not be treated in the paddock? Or lifted onto a trailer and transported to wherever it needed to go? The reasons are that that would cost money and what was being filmed was not a live being but a stock unit.

                   I agree with your point about how much fucks farm workers would give given their pay rates, but I suspect that we were also seeing someone with low empathy, a requirement of the job.
     • I Feel Love 7.1.2

       2 November 2016 at 10:49 am

       Dragging a cow across a paddock by the hips treats magnesium deficiency?
       • Robert Guyton 7.1.2.1

         2 November 2016 at 11:05 am

         It’s more a ethical-deficiency on display here.
   • marty mars 7.2

     2 November 2016 at 10:34 am

     Yep this is life down on the farm.
   • Jo 7.3

     2 November 2016 at 1:30 pm

     As a farmer (x dairy now drystock) the moving of the cow quickly and any distance while hip clamps are applied is totally unacceptable. If the cow needed to be moved a longer distance (to get her to a dryer and more sheltered situation) then a cow sling would normally be used. If the farmer had no sling and she had to be moved then it should be done very slowly and the cow given breaks. Also the dead calf should have been removed.

     Why does she have hip lifters on? When she has calved a nerve has been pinched and she has lost the ability to stand. This is usually caused by a large calf, breach birth or prolonged birth. If the cow continues to sit she will be become permanently paralysed. The hip lifters are used to get the blood flow in the legs and to stretch the legs out and hopefully she will regain the use of her legs. The lifters are usually used for about 30mins each time and then she is lowered, this is repeated several times a day and is very time consuming during calving. The cow also needs to be moved slightly each time to give her new grass and a clean area to sit (plus she needs water).
     Most farmers will spend up to 3 days getting the cow up, however if they cannot stand after this time, the damage will be permanent and the cow will need to be put down.

     Magnesium deficiency/ milk fever. When cows first calve they need a lot of magnesium or they can get milk fever, where they go down and can’t walk. To prevent this farmers either dust their paddocks, treat the troughs or drench the cows when they come into the shed. However some cows still go down and these are given mag directly using a specially formulated bag containing mag and glucose which is injected into the neck.
     • Puckish Rogue 7.3.1

       2 November 2016 at 1:44 pm

       This is quite interesting
     • Rosemary McDonald 7.3.2

       2 November 2016 at 2:50 pm

       Excellent explanation Jo. Up until the point the worker dragged the cow I was reasonably OK with what was going on.

       Dragging the cow like that is plain cruelty.

       Many years ago I happened to be on the phone to my neighbour trying to source some white faced calves for a friend to rear, when out in the neighbour’s paddock the wee drama involving a cow that had been ‘down’ since dawn reached a violent conclusion.

       The Mg had been given earlier, but with the calf trailer having got stuck in the mud and all manner of other issues it was about 11 o’clock by the time the manager returned on his motorbike with a couple of dogs to try and get the recalcitrant cow on her feet. (Why he hadn’t brought the hip clamps down when he brought the big tractor down to tow out the calf trailer fuck knows.) Anyway…barking dogs didn’t get her up so the next best thing was the time honoured trick of ramming her with the farmbike….so hard that he actually drove over the top of the cow.

       “Oh my goodness!” (or words to that effect) I exclaimed to the farmer’s wife….”is this the current best practice for raising a down cow?”

       Ten minutes later…one incredibly irate and indignant manager cum cow abuser was banging at our door reading us our pedigree. “I hope if I were sick like that someone would do that for me!” he cried.

       Tempting.
8. Obersever Tokoroa 8

   2 November 2016 at 10:05 am

   .
   . Hi Paul

   . Your articles are very good. Right on the Button.

   > The one thing I get uncomfortable about is attacking Australia for its policies. Yes they may seem harsh to us. But we have a duty to try and get our Nation NZ doing everything right.

   You see, our Government is deliberately sending numerous kiwis blind. They have not asked The Health Minister to treat Glaucoma seriously.

   We treat animals in a totally sadistic way.

   We deliberately allow our Farmers to poison our land and toxify every river and rivulet they can. We despoil our native forests.

   We have done nothing to reduce the horrific Violence of the NZ Culture. We are second only to the USA.

   We think we are great because a few people play rugby. Hardly anybody in the rest of the world plays the strange violent game. But we are not great are we. ?

   .Lets fix broken New Zealand before taking Australia down
   ..
   • BM 8.1

     2 November 2016 at 11:03 am

     Woe, doom, endless misery.

     Ever thought you may have depression?, might be a good idea to get along to your doc and get yourself checked.
     • I Feel Love 8.1.1

       2 November 2016 at 11:21 am

       Here you go BM https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3djj8jS0370cu_ghKs_Ong?v=CgFvSxIq-Z4 more your cup of tea?
       • Puckish Rogue 8.1.1.1

         2 November 2016 at 11:28 am

         This is better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYFRFyvhGRY
       • BM 8.1.1.2

         2 November 2016 at 12:00 pm

         Surrounding yourself with negativity is terrible for your health, it will knock many years off your life.

         Most important to try and maintain a positive outlook even when going through a tough patch, spending time around positive people or in a positive place is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
         • McFlock 8.1.1.2.1

           2 November 2016 at 12:54 pm

           lol

           People going blind on dhb waiting lists. Tory response: maintain a positive outlook.

           It’s funny coz it’s true 🙁
           • BM 8.1.1.2.1.1

             2 November 2016 at 1:07 pm

             Could be worse.

             On the topic of waiting lists, I don’t understand why we just don’t sub some of this work out to places like Thailand or India.

             For example laser eye surgery in NZ $3000 per eye, Thailand $150.00.

             Get a plane load together, send them across for a weekend and get it all done.
             • Draco T Bastard …

               2 November 2016 at 1:52 pm

               Much better, and actually cheaper, to just ensure that there’s enough doctors here to keep the waiting list minimal and timely.

               Going to Thailand to get the job done actually costs more in real terms. The fact that you think it would cost less proves your disconnection from reality.
           • Pasupial 8.1.1.2.1.2

             2 November 2016 at 1:21 pm

             On the plus side for the underfunded Health Boards; the more people who go blind, the less will be able to do the paperwork needed to complain. If they get really lucky maybe the patients will even die before getting treated – think what a saving that will be!

             ”I just haven’t been able to see anyone; they’re booking twice as many people as they can handle. It’s just a joke.” Waiting times at the eye clinic were nothing new, another patient said.

             Gerald Sides (65), of Dunedin, who has had operations on both eyes to remove glaucoma and has been dealing with the eye clinic for about 20 years, said he had been seeing an ophthalmologist every three to four months for the past few years, but his ”last few” appointment cards never arrived…

             Dunedin woman Deborah Whitty, whose eyesight needs to be monitored because of type 1 diabetes, told RNZ she finally secured an appointment for December after a year’s delay.

             Ms Whitty said she had not had any communication from the DHB and her appointment was made after her GP started chasing up the hospital about three weeks ago.

             https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/health/eye-clinic-treatment-lists-blow-out

             I’ve found in dealing with the SDHB, it is vital to have your GP chasing them up from that end while you keep ringing and flinging emails at them. But it’s not just us down South who should be concerned:

             When contacted, the Ministry of Health said only Southern, Nelson Marlborough and Counties Manukau had problems managing demand for age-related macular degeneration patients…

             The senior doctors’ union says the ministry is being selective in how it responds. ”If you focus on macular degeneration, you miss the point. I think that’s ducking responsibility. The college is the most authoritative voice on this,” Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell said…

             ”It does have a feel of spin doctoring,” Mr Powell said.

             The defunct National Health Committee had started to look at ophthalmology pressures before it was scrapped by the Government in March… [“]the disestablishment of that committee in the absence of a ready-to-run replacement has been very unhelpful and contributed towards the disaster that we now have,”

             https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/health/ministry-health-ducking
             • Rosemary McDonald …

               2 November 2016 at 3:00 pm

               There may be one wee positive aspect to this latest saga…declaring that the patients who had suffered vision deterioration while waiting for treatment as “serious adverse events” may qualify for patients for ACC Treatment Injury cover.

               http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/85933320/eyesight-of-patients-deteriorates-during-long-wait-for-treatment

               or maybe not….http://www.acc.co.nz/for-providers/lodge-and-manage-claims/PRV00032

               “Treatment injury does not include injury that is:

               ….caused solely by a decision an organisation made about allocating health resources.
     • Draco T Bastard 8.1.2

       2 November 2016 at 11:48 am

       Ever thought that you may be in denial of reality?
       • BM 8.1.2.1

         2 November 2016 at 12:01 pm

         Nope
         • Draco T Bastard 8.1.2.1.1

           2 November 2016 at 2:02 pm

           Well, perhaps you should start because you’re completely delusional 😈
           • BM 8.1.2.1.1.1

             2 November 2016 at 2:55 pm

             Funny stuff coming from you.

             You’re the King of delusional nonsense.
             • Draco T Bastard …

               2 November 2016 at 3:56 pm

               Reality isn’t delusional – capitalism and our monetary system that used to support it is.
               • BM …

                 2 November 2016 at 6:05 pm

                 Nuttier than squirrel poo 🙄
     • Siobhan 8.1.3

       2 November 2016 at 11:59 am

       Yeah, you know going blind just ‘cos you couldn’t get a regular appointment, well it’s not as bad as it used to be. They have some really good electronic readers out there. And self driving cars. If you can afford them. But anyway….
       • Pasupial 8.1.3.1

         2 November 2016 at 1:28 pm

         “Always LOOK on the bright side of life”; there is a problem right there for those who sight has been damaged through neglected treatment, if you think about it. This seems a better song to characterise BM’s contribution to any discussion:
     • reason 8.1.4

       2 November 2016 at 7:35 pm

       The real sad dick losers would be internet trolls ……………………. bm

       Does your doc know about your sick condition …. bm ???

       And if he does …….What is the going treatment for being a sorry dick pic ???

       Do tell bm ………….. not that we give a fuck 🙂

       … or maybe puckish could fill us in ,,,, if his doc knows about him
       • BM 8.1.4.1

         2 November 2016 at 8:12 pm

         You’re a very weird individual, everything you write seems to be about dicks and people in tight pants shitting themselves.

         You wouldn’t be German by any chance?
         • reason 8.1.4.1.1

           2 November 2016 at 8:42 pm

           … my posts about you and others wearing white disco pants and drinking john keys 100 % pure river water is to show how full of shit you and others who claim we are ‘going in the right direction’ are ……

           Because the water don’t lie ……..unlike you.

           Trolls being living embodiments of dick pics is one of those things which is so obvious ….. that it was only the fact I’ve never received a dick pic and they were not on my radar which prevented the realization from occurring earlier .

           You tick all the boxes … disturbed male … offensive …. unwanted filth of the internet etc etc …

           However I’m glad your finally brave enough to talk to me bm …. you never want to talk to me

           We can talk about things like how big the charity our bail out boy merrill lynch prime minister took from american tax payers when his merrill shares were becoming worthless …….

           Or the 2.2 billion dollar tax vehicle sold by smoking gun* john shewan ….which broke down in our high courts ….

           “Every dollar not paid by a tax dodger means there’s one less dollar for the schools or hospitals or roads or the multitude of other services our taxes pay for. At present it actually means one more dollar in debt and the interest on that debt for years to come.”

           Whats 2.2 billion divided by 22 million bm ?

           Can dic picks do math ?

           Because you sure cant drink the water ………………

           * shewans emails were the smoking gun slam dunk which won the crowns case ,,,,,
9. save nz 9

   2 November 2016 at 10:50 am

   Solve our transport woes???

   https://electrek.co/2016/10/31/hyperloop-prototype-taking-shape-gallery/
   • BM 9.1

     2 November 2016 at 11:09 am

     I really hope it works, it will revolutionize transportation.

     You’d be looking at 10 mins travel time between Auckland and Hamilton
     • save nz 9.1.1

       2 November 2016 at 11:49 am

       Yep, lets hope!! Even less, 5 mins
   • Draco T Bastard 9.2

     2 November 2016 at 11:58 am

     Probably not.

     It’s one of those things that’s almost a Good Idea. Still, we’ll probably learn a lot from it’s development which is all to the good..
10. save nz 10

    2 November 2016 at 11:02 am

    Natz can’t organise to stop the tax dodgers for their tax haven here, John Key very keen to push TPPA through even though no one else supports it including the US hopefuls… Key is desperate!!

    Trans-Pacific Partnership Bill returns to Parliament…

    “Labour and the Greens put in minority reports.

    “As it stands, we cannot support the ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, thus we oppose the passage of this bill,” said Labour, which has disagreed with it from the start.

    The Greens said the bill was flawed because it relied on a misleading analysis of New Zealand’s interests.

    “The Green Party calls on the Government to withhold ratification – we call for a fundamental review of trade and investment policy,” it said.

    The agreement covers 40 percent of global trade and 800 million people.

    To take effect it must be ratified by at least six countries that account for 85 percent of the group’s economic output, which makes the United States essential.

    Ratification by the US if far from certain and both presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, have said they oppose it.”

    http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/trans-pacific-partnership-bill-returns-to-parliament-2016102718
11. Seti 11

    2 November 2016 at 11:16 am

    Unemployment has fallen to the lowest level in almost eight years, as the economy creates more than 10,000 new jobs a month.

    Official figures show the unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 per cent in the the September quarter, the first time it has fallen below 5 per cent since December 2008.

    It comes on the back of a surge in the number of people employed in New Zealand.

    Statistics New Zealand said 35,000 more people were employed at the end of September compared to three months earlier, while the number employed climbed by 127,000 in a year.

    This meant the number of people employed in New Zealand rose 6.1 per cent in 12 months, which Statistics New Zealand officials said was possibly the fastest increase on record.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/85990200/unemployment-drops-to-lowest-level-since-2008-on-booming-job-creation
    • indiana 11.1

      2 November 2016 at 11:21 am

      You are only going to upset the armchair economists with this post….
      • Siobhan 11.1.1

        2 November 2016 at 12:08 pm

        Happy to oblige…

        ” Of those of us who earn wages and salaries, half have been employed in our present job for less than 18 months.”

        “The most-common amount of time we spend in our job is one to three months. This may reflect the number of people on shorter-term contracts and temping. However, there are many employees who have frequent job changes, with over 250,000 wage and salary earners starting a new role every three months.”

        so yep, we are ’employed’.
        But are we and society really benefiting from this type of employment?.
        Is this an environment that creates security for workers and their families?. Employment should be the path to security NOT uncertainty and fear.

        http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/yearbook/people/employment/job-change.aspx
      • greywarshark 11.1.2

        2 November 2016 at 12:09 pm

        Perhaps these wonderful job statistics are just people that have had to be accepted as employees with some real hours after having been on zero contracts.
        Or they could be people offered at least one hour’s paid work a week, the bottom line to get onto Statistics NZ slippery employment measure.

        In the meantime good old government creating confusion and disjunction amongst the helping agencies and the poor:
        http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/317076/budget-service-says-it%27s-been-hit-in-pocket-for-helping-working-poor

        Here are some real statistics.
        http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/Income/LabourMarketStatisticsIncome_MRJun16qtr.aspx
        Staticstics NZ
        (Median hourly earnings at June 2016 are still about 1% below June 2015.)
        There were more workers on full time (30) hours, and more hours being worked, and they pushed up the median earnings. But the chart shows that earnings are still at 2001-3 level apart from a high rise from 2005-2009 which was the time of the GFC crash.

        Also interesting is the lower rise in median weekly earnings of the South Island (2% to $880) to the North Island (7% to $944).
    • The Chairman 11.2

      2 November 2016 at 11:35 am

      Increasing employment is good. However, with so many living in poverty currently working, the next step is to get incomes up without adding to inflation.

      The living wage campaign is one way to help achieve this goal. Unfortunately, Key doesn’t endorse it.
    • Tory 11.3

      2 November 2016 at 11:46 am

      Quick, Paul, post a link that shows the data is a figment of John Key’s imigination and the National Government…..
      • Richard Rawshark 11.3.1

        2 November 2016 at 5:23 pm

        What, did you actually believe it..LMFAO, Tory dumb as the day is long..

        Bet you say it’s fiddled when labour posts unemployment figures.

        I like the way you Tory wankers link falling unemployment figures and somehow make the leap to more jobs and people employed.

        The rapidly aging population switching from supported living to pension has nothing to do with it

        and lastly..crow hard little man. The only piece of news you can find in 8 years that’s half true, and you came to the standard to gloat, I don’t think you know how pathetic you look.

        Now fuck off before I set my dogs on ya. Tosser.
      • reason 11.3.2

        2 November 2016 at 7:57 pm

        Typical tory with a bullshit story 🙂

        Meanwhile at http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/

        “The Labour Market Statistics were released today, showing that unemployment has dropped to 4.9% – the first time it has been under 5% in National’s entire 8 year term of office. And yet there are still 128,000 unemployed – 23,000 more than when they took office.

        Not that 5% unemployment is anything to crow about. Labour managed to get it down to 3.5% and less during their term … ”

        And in the spirit of Judith collins false crime stats …..http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/08/15/national-exploits-fudged-statistics-nz-unemployment-figures/

        … ” Despite being little more than a dressed-up “accounting trick”, politicians could claim with a straight-face that “unemployment was falling”.”

        Offshore John knows all the dodgy tricks ….
    • save nz 11.4

      2 November 2016 at 11:52 am

      A job is apparently 1 hour per week under National… even if you are in full time work, with minimum wages levels – try living in Auckland for $610 p/w before tax.
      • Draco T Bastard 11.4.1

        2 November 2016 at 12:01 pm

        A job is apparently 1 hour per week under National…

        It’s been that way for some time. Long enough that the last Labour led government could have changed it.
    • Puckish Rogue 11.5

      2 November 2016 at 11:54 am

      And its all John Keys fault!!! Oh wait hang on…*quickly changes record*

      Only 4.9%, under Labour it would be 3.9%!!!
    • Ad 11.6

      2 November 2016 at 11:57 am

      Really good news.

      Ling way before they get to Clarks record, but keep going.
      • Puckish Rogue 11.6.1

        2 November 2016 at 12:38 pm

        Well they’ll have another three years after the next election
        • Robert Guyton 11.6.1.1

          2 November 2016 at 1:35 pm

          You mentioned changing the record…
          • Puckish Rogue 11.6.1.1.1

            2 November 2016 at 1:49 pm

            I believe its called misspoke 🙂
12. Manuka AOR 12

    2 November 2016 at 11:18 am

    Hong Kong seems to have somehow seceded from China! 😮

    At least this is what I infer when reading the percentages of overseas land buyers (sorry, “foreign investment”) in Aotearoa. The news is, “US is the largest, with 17% .
    China purchased 11%; Hong Kong 7%.
    https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/us-largest-overseas-buyers-nz-land-kpmg-study-finds-b-196173
    • Draco T Bastard 12.1

      2 November 2016 at 12:03 pm

      Of course, it doesn’t which foreigners are buying NZ land – it’s still bad for us.
      • Manuka AOR 12.1.1

        2 November 2016 at 12:05 pm

        True.
13. The Chairman 13

    2 November 2016 at 11:47 am

    There is not enough money to ensure schools are safe?

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201822183/coroner's-inquest-told-funds-lacking-to-ensure-school-safety

    People living in cars.

    People going blind.

    The future is just getting brighter.
    • reason 13.1

      2 November 2016 at 8:16 pm

      The money is there ….. it’s just the ‘bad apple’ corporations ( just about all of them ), are using ‘offshore’ tax havens and banking tricks to escape paying their fair share …

      “THE PRICE OF OFFSHORE REVISITED*
      NEW ESTIMATES FOR “MISSING”GLOBAL PRIVATE
      WEALTH, INCOME, INEQUALITY, AND LOST TAXES”

      http://www.taxjustice.net/cms/upload/pdf/Price_of_Offshore_Revisited_120722.pdf

      “It is these core capabilities – secrecy, tax minimization, access, asset management, and security – that our modern “offshore”system offers. In the last 30 years a sophisticated transnational private infrastructure of service providers has grown up to deliver these services on an unprecedented scale. This “pirate banking” system now launders, shelters, manages and if necessary re-domiciles the riches of many of the world’s worst villains, as well as the tangible and intangible assets and liabilities of many of our wealthiest individuals, alongside our most successful mainstream banks, corporations, shipping companies, insurance companies, accounting firms and law firms ”

      “Ultimately, then, the term “offshore”refers to a set of capabilities. The key clients for the offshore system include the world’s wealthiest individuals and companies, as well as its worst villains. Numbering just a few million of the world’s 6.5 billion people, they are an incredibly diverse group, from 30-year old Chinese real estate speculators and Silicon-Valley software tycoons to Dubai oil sheiks, Russian Presidents, mineral-rich African dictators and Mexican drug lords. “
14. CnrJoe 14

    2 November 2016 at 12:52 pm

    Saudi Sheep report drops this arvo
    • Cinny 14.1

      2 November 2016 at 2:01 pm

      Good, interested as in it’s findings
    • Kevin 14.2

      2 November 2016 at 2:40 pm

      It’s now official, we are a banana republic.

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/86002263/auditor-general-report-into-governments-controversial-saudi-sheep-deal-set-for-release
15. greywarshark 15

    2 November 2016 at 1:55 pm

    A good news item from Radionz this morning about the Christchurch budget service losing funding from the government. This is following the neo lib government of National system to reduce funding of services from people’s taxes used to provide people’s services. So as the need grows greater, cut funding and take it more to Auckland leaving Chch to lurch on itself. They have not been advising enough beneficiaries, more the working poor and the gov’t doesn’t want to know about them.

    Also a feature of the neo libs is that they pretend that all problems are short term and will fund new services for a while and then, despite having made life harder every minute of the day and year, when the problems occur repeatedly that services deal with, they still close them down because they are not solving the difficulties. Really it is just a replay of the Greek myth about Sisyphus who eternally rolled a stone up a hill only for it to fall.

    I can’t find in the print version but I heard that many of the new providers were Christian operated. That indicates to me that the government is withdrawing to a charity model instead of a modern progressive model with social mobility and individual advancement encouraged. (Many of the newer Christian-business churches teach finaancial skills.) It sounds to me that the government is going with that old deceitful garbage that people with money problems are just bad managers.

    From Radionz bulletin:
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/317076/budget-service-says-it%27s-been-hit-in-pocket-for-helping-working-poor
    Budget advisors are now called financial mentors.
    The Christchurch Budget Service has provided provided financial advice for 50 years. It is one of about half a dozen budgeting services in Christchurch that receive annual government funding.

    Its chairman, Don Johnson, said last year was one of its busiest, dealing with 400 clients. “We deal with anybody … probably 30 percent of them were beneficiaries and that’s probably what counted against us,” he said.
    “But a large majority of our clients would be what we would call the ‘working poor’ which is a terrible expression, but people who are on the bare minimum wage.”

    Mr Johnson said it was clear from discussions with the Ministry where the new funding was going.
    “The criteria in the contracts was beneficiaries, clients of MSD [Ministry of Social Development], victims of family violence, and sole parents.”
    The budgeting service would remain open, he said.

    And a pertinent item from early October 2016 – http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/314808/nzers%27-debt-levels-at-%27amber-alert%27
    People are borrowing more money than at any time since 2000, new Treasury figures show. They are also borrowing more than people do in most OECD countries.

    Cameron Bagrie ANZ economist:
    We have seen credit growing at about 8.5 percent and that is about double the rate of income growth so household debt has grown from 159 percent of disposable income to a high of 165 percent.”

    The Treasury figures showed this was high compared with other developed countries, with New Zealander’s debt putting the country in the top quarter of the most indebted countries in a new OECD report.
    Mr Bagrie said this was negative for the economy.
    “When you borrow, you basically borrow from the future. But there is a limit as to how long you can play that card, because the more you borrow from the future, the less there is for the future.

    Raewyn Fox from Federation of Family Budgeting Services:
    She said they were often getting into debt for very basic things.
    “We are seeing it not for luxuries, but quite often essential household costs; the car breaking down or needing new tyres; you need to replace the fridge; or the children need new shoes.
    “They are earning at such a level that there is nothing left to pay for such things.”
    • greywarshark 15.1

      2 November 2016 at 3:31 pm

      “Let me make myself clear”, when I say it was a good news item I mean that it was a good (as in fully and clearly reported on an important matter) item.
    • millsy 15.2

      2 November 2016 at 4:44 pm

      The whole neo-liberal system depends on easy access to credit.
16. repateet 16

    2 November 2016 at 2:43 pm

    “Another concern was while Cabinet was told by McCully that Al Khalaf could sue the Govenrment for up to $30 million, “there was no assessment by Ministry officials on the substance of that legal risk”.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11740591

    Did McCully bullshit Cabinet? Did he mislead them? is that corrupt?
    • Richard Rawshark 16.1

      2 November 2016 at 3:09 pm

      If your in his party, and like him, it’s all sweet as bro, rules are made to be bent and as long as you carefully tread along the line of the law, well you can do anything.

      and if your a real person, he’s a shifty fucking piece of shit.
17. ianmac 17

    2 November 2016 at 3:24 pm

    Suppose McCulley will creep out from under. No Right Turn has a report now released:
    “McCully lied to Cabinet
    The Auditor-General has released their report into Murray McCully’s sordid Saudi sheep bribe. While they find it was not a bribe in the tightly criminal sense of whether Murray McCully is liable for prosecution under the Crimes Act (of course he’s not – he was the briber, not the recipient), they’re very clear that it was a payoff to Hmood Al Ali Al Khalaf to achieve a diplomatic objective …..”
    http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2016/11/mccully-lied-to-cabinet.html
18. greywarshark 18

    2 November 2016 at 4:12 pm

    Martin Bradbury has pinned down 10 basic points describing National’s decimation of
    NZ. Do you agree?
    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/10/25/top-5-examples-of-how-deeply-rotten-new-zealand-has-become-under-national/
    • james 18.1

      2 November 2016 at 5:17 pm

      Given that Martin Bradbury hasn’t gotten anything right in years – hes not about to start now.
      • greywarshark 18.1.1

        2 November 2016 at 9:24 pm

        James
        Even you can’t be right all the time. Martin can’t have been wrong for years.
        His points are well made. If you ease up the lens covers over your eyes and look about some more information can get in. I think the last lot has gone stale.
19. Puckish Rogue 19

    2 November 2016 at 4:17 pm

    Sure its like shooting fish in a barrel but its still amusing: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/85901382/kelvin-cruickshank-sensing-murder-im-sensing-comedy
20. save nz 20

    2 November 2016 at 5:12 pm

    New food scare is plastic rice.

    http://www.trendfrenzy.net/plastic-rice-china/
    • weka 20.1

      2 November 2016 at 5:39 pm

      Do you know how to recognise a spam site? Because that one is classic. I wouldn’t trust anything on that page.
21. Richard Rawshark 21

    2 November 2016 at 5:33 pm

    Gonna quote from someone at the daily blog called couyntryboy.

    I found his comment, hmm stimulating..,

    But NZ has always been ” … deeply rotten…” .
    I’m not defending the Natzi bastards, but it wasn’t only National that played dirty little games.
    The only thing that’s forcing change is the advent of the internet which allows people to freely exchange information and openly discuss the deviancy, amongst other things, that’s plagued NZ since 1922 following the creation of the NZ Meat Board, a quasi-government-esque mafia style group of rich, fat, old white men who discovered that ‘ trading’ in NZ meats was more profitable than producing it. I.e. Farming. It’s interesting to this writer that the UK has expressed an interest in reexamining export agreements with us. I fucking bet they will. A few UK farmers can’t feed 60 million three times daily in a Post Brexit shit fight.
    Ever since then, lazy deviants have been trading places aboard the gravy train that is our agricultural industry and if , suddenly, NZ farmers were to awake from the trance like state that National has cast over them? There’d be some serious fucking trouble in Gods Own Mate.\

    love it.
    • Draco T Bastard 21.1

      2 November 2016 at 6:13 pm

      a quasi-government-esque mafia style group of rich, fat, old white men who discovered that ‘ trading’ in NZ meats was more profitable than producing it. I.e. Farming.

      That’s been true for millennia. It’s actually the story behind Sinbad the Sailor, behind retail outlets and share-trading.

      And it always ends up the same way – with a society unable to support itself and thus collapses into the dustbin of history. The one we have now will do the same – unless we get the traders, the usurers out of government.
22. Richard Rawshark 22

    2 November 2016 at 5:41 pm

    Bono gets woman of the year award..wtf..and we can’t even convince John to give Helen a NZ’r of the year chance.

    Have I been transported to a universe made of nonsense..
    • Draco T Bastard 22.1

      2 November 2016 at 5:57 pm

      We’re on Planet Key.
      • Richard Rawshark 22.1.1

        2 November 2016 at 6:05 pm

        Cool! wanna play Golf..I heard there was no need to work on planet Key, finally I’ve made it Ma!
23. weka 23

    2 November 2016 at 11:13 pm

    [In order to keep OM and DR free for other conversations, all comments, link postings etc about the US election now need to go in the dedicated US election discussion here.

    If you are unsure, post in that thread rather than here. It’s not possible for moderators to shift comments from OM to there, so any comments here may get deleted – weka]

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