Open mike 02/12/2013

Written By: - Date published: 6:42 am, December 2nd, 2013 - 97 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

openmike

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step right up to the mike …

97 comments on “Open mike 02/12/2013 ”

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  1. Ad 1
    2 December 2013 at 6:57 am

    Watch out for the petition from Su’a William Sio to be presented in Parliament this week, from people anxious about the East-West link. I think this is going to be quite a movement against this massive arterial/motorway, and a key organising issue leading to the election next year for southern Auckland.

  2. phillip ure 2
    2 December 2013 at 7:29 am

    “..16 Celebrities You Never Knew Were Vegan

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/01/vegan-celebrities_n_4351908.html

    Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson turned vegan in 2010 –

    – and has since loss 100 pounds.

    “Becoming a vegan gave me another opportunity to live a healthy life.

    I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine – I could hardly breathe –

    – [I had] high blood pressure, -[was] almost dying – [and had] arthritis.

    And once I became a vegan – all that stuff diminished” – said Tyson..”

    phillip ure..

    • infused 2.1
      2 December 2013 at 12:26 pm

      So maybe he should have stopped taking drugs instead? Being vegan doesn’t make you lose weight. Not eating sugary bullshit and exercise does.

      • dpalenski 2.1.1
        2 December 2013 at 12:56 pm

        +1 don’t need be vegan to be healthy but for some people it’s seems to be the only way they finally get how to do so. A bit like going gluten free did for me even though I don’t weight problem in the sense of being too heavy more not heavy enough. Of course unlike Vegans it’s not a lifestyle choice because a medical condition isn’t really a choice. Even though more crap food is becoming gluten free I built up such a great eating habit I don’t want eat that stuff.

    • Lanthanide 2.2
      2 December 2013 at 12:58 pm

      16 celebrities whose vegan-status means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.

      • phillip ure 2.2.1
        2 December 2013 at 1:09 pm

        @ lanth..

        ..given the environmental giant-boot-print from eating flesh and the multi-varied bye-products..

        ..’vegan status’ does actually mean quite a bit..

        ..and given the influence of celebrities on the opinions of others/popular culture..

        ..’in the grand scheme of things’..

        ..how can it not mean ‘something’….?

        ..phillip ure..

        • Zorr 2.2.1.1
          2 December 2013 at 1:22 pm

          As much as I appreciate some of the appeals of the vegan lifestyle, I personally view it as a diet of affluence even moreso than meat eating because the missing dietary requirements usually have to be met through supplements (it’s the only way I’ve ever managed it) or specific targeting of foods that aren’t easy to locally produce in any single environment.

          Meat-eating is still highly intensive but I have personally found that chickens will eat your vegetable scraps and scrounge around grass/garden areas very effectively (not requiring much maintenance), provide eggs and one of the best lean meat protein sources available.

          The issues with our food production is *how* we do it, not *what* we eat…

          • phillip ure 2.2.1.1.1
            2 December 2013 at 3:00 pm

            @ zorr..

            ..not having bought meat for decades..i occaisonally take note of current prices..

            ..and..whoar..!..eh..?

            ..nah..!..you are wrong..being vegan is not more expensive that being a carnivore..

            ..it is much cheaper..

            ..and you r eating chook arguments stand if only viewed thru a single lens..

            ..myself..and many others..are vegan for animal welfare/environmental reasons – as much as for personal health reasons..

            ..it’s a three-fer..eh..?

            ..personal health/wellbeing..not hurting any animals..and helping the planet..

            ..are the three legs of the vegan-stool…

            ..phillip ure..

            • Zorr 2.2.1.1.1.1
              2 December 2013 at 3:31 pm

              uh – I am not talking about “expense” in dollar terms. I was actually referring to the high-level technological/transport infrastructure that is required just to meet a vegan diet. It is a diet that in use only in affluent nations where the infrastructure exists to provide the necessary nutrition through more advanced means.

              • phillip ure …
                2 December 2013 at 6:56 pm

                @zorr..”.. I was actually referring to the high-level technological/transport infrastructure that is required just to meet a vegan diet…”

                cd u expand on that plse..i don’t understand what you are referring to..

                “..It is a diet that in use only in affluent nations..”..well..not really..if you take rice/vegetables as the basic third world diet..

                ..it is the first world diet rich in animal/bye-product fats that is causing the ‘first world diseases’..(as they are known as..and for good reason..)

                “..where the infrastructure exists to provide the necessary nutrition through more advanced means..”

                ..again i am usure as to what you are referring to..

                ..is it supplements..?

                ..factcheck:..i have been vegan for 15 yrs..i take no supplements..

                (..a vegan diet doesn’t mean having to neck handfuls of supplements..)

                ..i am on no meds of any kind..

                ..i had a recent health-check..(blood-pressure of a young man’ etc etc..)

                ..and i know people who have been vegan for twice as long as i have..

                ..who are in similar general good health..

                ..that is the evidence i lean to ..zorr..

                ..phillip ure..

                • Zorr …
                  2 December 2013 at 7:29 pm

                  If I may ask then, where do you get your B12 from?

                  • phillip ure …
                    2 December 2013 at 7:45 pm

                    @ b12..soy milk..marmite..etc..etc..

                    ..phillip ure..

                    • Zorr …
                      2 December 2013 at 9:32 pm

                      Sooooooo… basically you just confirmed my hypothesis. You are getting a necessary vitamin that is readily available through meat consumption from your local supermarket…

                      It’s what I was trying to point out – those food miles add up and they are a significant contribution to issues in the world. On top of that, these are food products available here and around the Western world in our supermarkets because we *are* affluent societies. We *can* go down to the supermarket and, as long as we have the cash, buy these things.

                      Others may argue about the health benefits, I could care less. I’m more concerned about the misrepresentation of veganism as a viable alternative in a low energy economy.

            • alwyn 2.2.1.1.1.2
              2 December 2013 at 4:24 pm

              You might be better to follow the other part of his advice. “I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine”.
              Better you gave up the drugs and see how much better you will be. Why you might even get a job and get off the benefit system.

              • phillip ure …
                2 December 2013 at 6:07 pm

                ‘drugs’..alwyn..?

                ..these days i use pot…that’s it..

                ..no booze..

                ..how about yrslf..?..there alwyn..?

                …(hic..!..)..what’s yr poison..?..(aside from ‘unjustified feelings of superiority’..eh..?..)

                ..looking forward to getting really pissed @ the xmas parties..?

                ..there..alwyn..?

                phillip ure..

    • QoT 2.3
      2 December 2013 at 7:47 pm

      Anyone actually win the heavyweight boxing championship while vegan?

  3. bad12 3
    2 December 2013 at 7:34 am

    And on it goes, the wailing of ex-Green Party candidate David Hay at the Party decision not to include Him on it’s 2014 Party Vote list just became farcical as Hay calls for Green Party activists and volunteers to ‘strike’ over what He sees as unwarranted treatment by the Party,

    It would seem that Hay is more than happy to use the NZ Herald in what can only be described as a futile attempt to split the Party,(and the Herald will more than happily indulge Hay in His elongated hissy fit),

    What the ongoing public display of child-like whining from Hay shows about Hay’s character to me is that it was the ME aspect of Hays character that lead His political ‘thinking’ and as his self advancement has been stymied He has no further use for the Party and is happy to attempt to ferment dissent within it,

    My view is that the sooner the Party makes the ex-candidate an ex-member the better for all it will be…

  4. Tracey 4
    2 December 2013 at 7:47 am

    Suggestion for labour or greens at nextyear campaign.

    Cartoon style billboards

    Two panels
    First panel

    Paula Bennet climbing a ladder labelled support for single mothers, retraining for single mothers, etc

    Second Panel

    Paula Bennet at top of ladder pushing away while others still on it

    Then another of Key climbing the career success ladder with State housing support, widow pension, free university education

    second panel

    at top pushing it away

    and so on…

    Simple to the point, highly visual.

    • Tiger Mountain 4.1
      2 December 2013 at 8:03 am

      Yep a narrative for people to relate to. Different approach to well lit guys in suits saying vote for ME! Many previous candidate ads could be mistaken for network tv or radio ads. Also put spot ads on facebook.

      The Green campaign a couple of elections ago using a young girl broke convention a little, ditch ad agency orthodoxy but don’t go too negative on the Key gang, go positive on Labour Green Mana–“you deserve better”.

    • jaymam 4.2
      2 December 2013 at 12:24 pm

      I was wondering about the legality of signs with just a face that people hold up in the street or at at political meetings or in the background of TV interviews. Do they need an authorisation statement? I hope not, because I want to make some.
      e.g. a Muldoon face in the background when Key is being interviewed on TV. I’m not actually going to do that one but you get the idea.
      http://i40.tinypic.com/2mdl7vr.jpg

      • alwyn 4.2.1
        2 December 2013 at 4:46 pm

        I doubt that anything about Muldoon would really work today. I suspect that only people near retirement age actually remember him. It will be, after all, at the time of the next election, 30 years since Muldoon was PM and about 22 since he died.
        Try finding someone under the age of 45, excluding the sort of people who remain glued to these blogs, who actually remembers Rob. Even the people of any age who do remember would be hard pressed to tell you anything bad about him. That is except for the ones that believe that Saint Roger Douglas cleaned up the mess Rob caused. Very old people would tell you he gave them super at 80% of the average wage and that you got it at 60, not like the 67 these evil Labour people want to impose.
        No it would be a bit like saying what a terible man Forbes was as PM.

        • Colonial Viper 4.2.1.1
          2 December 2013 at 6:59 pm

          I’d say that roughly half of all voters were 45 and over. So a fair proportion of voters will remember Sir Rob. And it’d be a good political economic history lesson for the young ones.

          • alwyn 4.2.1.1.1
            2 December 2013 at 8:28 pm

            I would say, having read many of the comments in “John Key is Rob Muldoons Doppelganger”, that most people do not remember Rob at all.
            To have such a lot of people equate Key’s and Muldoon’s behaviour proves my point that people simply do not remember Rob.
            In terms of their actual policy platforms Rob was very close to the currently expressed views of the Labour and Green parties. The worst thing he did for New Zealand was in his attempts to have the state control things like prices and salaries, and his attempts to pick winners in industrial companies. He also wanted the state to own many businesses and to set their policies. He also liked to force companies to do things he wanted, not things that were good for either the companies or New Zealand.
            Remember supplementary minimum prices, carless days, state insurance companies, Think Big? Remember him swinging a punch at people who had heckled him (Mallard anyone)?
            Sounds awfully like Norman and Cunliffe doesn’t it?

            • rhinocrates 4.2.1.1.1.1
              2 December 2013 at 8:58 pm

              NZ First would seem to me to be the zombie of Muldoon’s National Party: grey, rotting, bits dropping off, but still lurching on.

              • alwyn …
                3 December 2013 at 9:21 am

                Yes, that would seem to describe them very aptly. I guess that Winston must be the last MP who entered Parliament when Rob was PM. Dunne, Goff, Mallard, McCully were all in 1984 weren’t they. None of the veteran MPs except Winnie would remember Rob in his prime.

            • Draco T Bastard 4.2.1.1.1.2
              3 December 2013 at 1:20 am

              and his attempts to pick winners in industrial companies.

              Yeah and this government has been picking Warner Bros, SkyCity, Serco and a few others as winners.

              Car-less days were a result of the OPEC oil reduction. Pity that they didn’t continue it – we’d have excellent public transport now.

              As for state insurance companies, well, insurance is actually a natural monopoly. I know, I know, it doesn’t really seem that way as there’s plenty of companies in the market place but it’s one of those things that is what I term a demand monopoly – everybody needs it and when that happens the obvious economies of scale pertain only to a monopoly. There’s a few other reasons as well.

              Think Big would have been great – if Muldoon hadn’t borrowed to build it. Just printed the money and utilised our own resources effectively. It was the borrowing that killed Think Big, not the project itself. Oh, and a fixed NZ$.

              Remember him swinging a punch at people who had heckled him (Mallard anyone)?

              Nope, that was Bob Jones and we all had a great laugh at it at the time.

              • alwyn …
                3 December 2013 at 9:18 am

                Bob Jones certainly belted a TV reporter who chased him along the river when Bob was fishing.
                However Rob did take a swing at people who were heckling him after an election meeting in Auckland. He insisted on leaving the hall by the front door and then took some swings at people in the street. He wasn’t the boxer that Bob Jones had been though so I don’t think there was any damage done. In that regard Rob was like Mallard.
                Carless days were totally nuts. Muldoon was stupid enough to demand that Government owned vehicles must have their day between Monday and Friday so that it meant that some sacrifice be made. The sacrifice was the taxpayer’s of course because they then bought 25% more cars to cover the needs.
                I am sure we (wife and I) were not the only ones who bought a second car when the policy came in.

                • KJT …
                  3 December 2013 at 9:31 am

                  Something had to be done about the extremely high oil prices at the time, which were crippling our balance of payments.

        • Tracey 4.2.1.2
          3 December 2013 at 7:24 am

          what? Very old people remember he stole their pension. I guess you missed the baby boomer phenomenon.

          • alwyn 4.2.1.2.1
            3 December 2013 at 9:09 am

            I suggest that you put on your reading glasses and have another look at what I said Tracey.
            I said that “… old people will tell you he GAVE them super at 80% of the average …”
            I said GAVE Tracey, not STOLE. They would tell you that it was the Labour Government that stole it when they means tested it.

            • KJT 4.2.1.2.1.1
              3 December 2013 at 9:33 am

              It was 1984 Labour, sorry ACT, that stole our future.

              Douglas’ better future, remember, bit like Key’s really.

    • alwyn 4.3
      2 December 2013 at 4:31 pm

      They are probably too complicated for a billboard. It has to be a message that people can take in within a second or two whilst driving past.
      I am not going to get into a debate on them but the National party “Iwi/Kiwi” were absolutely superb in that regard. I don’t mean the content, I mean the speed with which the message could be absorbed.
      I think that it would take to long to register the meaning of the billboards you are proposing.

  5. One Anonymous Knucklehead 5
    2 December 2013 at 8:12 am

    What is wrong with The Standard? I thought I’d fixed it by deleting cache and cookies etc, but now it’s back to looking like shit again.

    • David H 5.1
      2 December 2013 at 8:52 am

      Is the same for me. All indented left and is the same on 4 different browsers, and on 3 different computers, one a brand new win 8 machine I am building. But at least the reply is now working, hopefully.

      • karol 5.1.1
        2 December 2013 at 8:58 am

        The TS is back to normal for me since last night. Before that it looked like a mid-to-late 1990s message board – low graphics, naff layout.

        It’s looking fine for me now on Chrome.

      • jcuknz 5.1.2
        2 December 2013 at 9:00 am

        Today it is Kiwiblog up the creek with just a single word below each contribution from Jadis and one cannot log-in.

  6. vto 6
    2 December 2013 at 8:42 am

    So have the Conservatives got any policies yet which are actually conservative?

    Or are they still all extreme? Like guns for all.

    Conservatives, my arse….

  7. karol 7
    2 December 2013 at 8:50 am

    NZ Herald editorial: anti-government regulation rant focused on core political issues /sarc.

    Portable swimming pools, no wine in dairies, “anti-smacking Bill”, lightbulbs, banning cell phones while driving, compulsory immunisation, water flow in showers, – cause they limit people’s “freedom” and can have unintended consequences, especially on the “economy” (does that mean the impact on business profits?).

    Still, it’s saying Key’s government is more “nanny state” than Clark’s government was.

    • Anne 7.1
      2 December 2013 at 9:40 am

      Where are the blazing DEMOCRACY UNDER ATTACK banners then?

    • Paul 7.2
      2 December 2013 at 9:52 am

      The Herald’s anonymous editor should have to repeat these words about too many rules to the families of. Pike River..

    • Draco T Bastard 7.3
      2 December 2013 at 2:26 pm

      The only problem is that the proposal is a further sign of a Government regulatory itch that is now of eczematous proportion.

      Ah, a jonolist learned a new word: eczematous

      and then used it incorrectly.

  8. bad12 8
    2 December 2013 at 9:12 am

    Blubber Boy, infamous in His own bathtub,(just ask the rubber ducky about it’s treatment),has made the RadioNZ news with the defamation case,(much higher none of us could expect Him to slither),

    Even Bryce Edwards, He of NZ Herald fame supports Blubber in His quest to have ‘wail oil’ taken by the Court as media,(Bryce has a point which after i have finished poking the stick i will get to),

    My thoughts this morning is that the Blubber should stand up for journalistic integrity,(stop that laughter),everywhere and refuse point blank any courts order to divulge the contents of and identify His sources which lead to Him claiming that an Auckland businessman was intimately involved with Bevan Chuang,

    Such a noble upholding of the journalistic ‘right’ to protect a ‘source’ in the face of the power of the judiciary would probably,(hopefully), result in Blubber Boy getting tossed in a jail cell and we might see a ‘Free the whale’ campaign start someplace,(go on Bryce make our day), while the rest of us sit around and laugh like loons as Blubber Boy eats cold wheat-bix in a jail cell where most of us think He belongs anyway,

    Oh and befor i forget, Bryce’s point about Blubber being ‘media’, it appears in this latest of court appearences,(serial offender or what),Blubber is being told by the Court that He aint ‘media’, however, in a previous case the offending offensive one was told after He published the name of someone who the Court had given name suppression that ‘wail oil’ was ‘media’,

    Seems at the least to be a little 2 faced by the judiciary, and damn i really want to see Him swing…

    [Agreed bad12 and I have just posted about this – MS]

    • phillip ure 8.1
      2 December 2013 at 9:45 am

      i never read whaleoil..(haven’t for at least a couple of yrs..i think..i stopped over the postings of pics of severed heads of animals he has slaughtered..)

      ..and i may be one of the few who have not read the (so i’m told) gripping/detailed accounts of len browns’ jism/seed/bodily-functions..(and no thank you..i’ll maintain that innocence..if you don’t mind..)

      ..but i am feeling uncomfortable over a court deciding what is or what isn’t ‘media’..

      ..and i see that ruling as a total orifice-pluck on the part of that judge..

      ..however much individuals may criticise slater for his choices of material/uses of that media..

      ..he..much as ‘truth’ was..is definitely part of the new media landscape..

      ..and to claim otherwise is a nonsense..

      ..phillip ure..

      • karol 8.1.1
        2 December 2013 at 9:51 am

        Agreed. pu. I also don’t read WO and haven’t read all that spurious Len Brown stuff. But am also not comfortable with the court ruling on what is media – especially given the current sad state of a lot of our so-called press and news media.

      • Tim 8.1.2
        2 December 2013 at 9:31 pm

        Nor me (1 ever visit to the wallowing Whale, and another to a site operated by some sort of Penguin – both by links from this site me thinks).
        I’m confident – relaxed even, that I’m not missing too much. The right wing view comes from various “horses’ mouths”.
        Strangely enough, they all seem very similar, as though they were singing some sort of chorus. Even the new lingo is the same. Where is it they face? – it’s not Mecca …. Helensville perhaps?, or maybe the direction of the nearest talk-back radio transmitter.

    • Tracey 8.2
      2 December 2013 at 10:39 am

      Agree, the judiciary can’t have to both ways.

      The media issue, I assume is important because if he is media he can rely on public interest but does the press have an obligation to research, avoid bias, and report any surrounding circumstances, would it include an obligation to at least put the allegations to them before publishing and print their response?

      Does the public interest have to be significant, and is it objective or subjective?

    • Ad 8.3
      2 December 2013 at 10:50 am

      If Whaleoil’s sources are not protected, is anyone writing on The Standard protected?

      With a slippery slope argument arriving any minute, let me put the question:
      If being a “news distributor” is the principle criteria for protecting source anonymity, could all contributors to The Standard be revealed if required to do so?

      Whaleoil’s (uncomfortable) interests are pretty similar to ours.

      **Hmm will shift this over to relevant debate**

  9. ianmac 9
    2 December 2013 at 9:15 am

    Cannot reply. Same on Firefox and Safari. Text for comments are OK but layout very basic. All other sites are as normal.

    • lprent 9.1
      2 December 2013 at 9:26 am

      Try pressing Shift + Refresh (the circled arrow). THis should force your browser(s) to reload the style sheets.

      There was a problem retransferring the DNS over the weekend. I was down with a dose of the flu (still am a bit) and didn’t deal with it early enough and then made a screwup on the time to live.

      • lprent 9.1.1
        2 December 2013 at 9:39 am

        I’ve purged all of the caches at the server end in case that is the problem.

        • veutoviper 9.1.1.1
          2 December 2013 at 9:48 am

          That seemed to work for me on IE as it suddenly righted itself without me doing anything.

          Thanks, lprent – and take care of that flu. We need you …..

      • Anne 9.1.2
        2 December 2013 at 9:52 am

        Sorry to be a nuisance 1prent. I have no “circled arrow” or any key resembling word “refresh” on it. Can you hazard a guess which key it should be?

  10. Ennui 10
    2 December 2013 at 11:29 am

    Quick note to McFlock, Karol, Weka, Bill, Rogue, Puddleglum….just reread the whole thread on 29 November Open Mike 18-18.5.1.1.1.2 excellent reading. Really enjoyed the insights and the easy debate. We may differ, disagree etc but hell , that’s one hell of a good read. Thank you all.

    • McFlock 10.1
      2 December 2013 at 12:04 pm

      cheers – yes, it definitely gave me a fair bit to mull over, too – thanks 🙂

      • greywarbler 10.1.1
        2 December 2013 at 12:29 pm

        Mulled wine at Christmas – is that your bag?

        • McFlock 10.1.1.1
          2 December 2013 at 1:31 pm

          If I were to be completely honest, my bag is probably anything with more ethanol than methanol in it.

          According to an oenophile friend, the problem really is what I’m drinking 🙂

          • Ennui 10.1.1.1.1
            2 December 2013 at 3:00 pm

            Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. (Proverbs 23:29)

            • McFlock 10.1.1.1.1.1
              2 December 2013 at 5:03 pm

              Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. (John 19:29)

              Although he promptly dropped dead afterwards, so the term “vinegar” might genuinely imply something even less palatable than a Central Otago vanity plonk.

    • Rogue Trooper 10.2
      2 December 2013 at 1:02 pm

      “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver”- 25:12

      Yaaaaaay, TS back to ‘normal’ (using that word plurally) 🙂

  11. greywarbler 11
    2 December 2013 at 12:28 pm

    Life in the 21st century western style (USA version). I just heard some consumer related news on Radionz item. Thanksgiving day trading, some stores have opened for the first time. 10 million transactions in one day I think. $54 billion I think taken. Protests by workers wanting more pay outside Walmart.

    The old kaleidoscope effect. Every time you shake it and look at it you get a different colour, perspective. Some in my family support NACTs. Looking at the same happenings in NZ we think about them entirely differently.

  12. Penny Bright 12
    2 December 2013 at 12:46 pm

    Hi folks!

    Concerned about the Auckland ‘daft lunatic Plan’ and ‘democracy for developers’?

    Live in the Eden-Albert area?

    Seen this?

    “You are welcome to attend a Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan Public Meeting.

    There will be a Presentation on the Notified Unitary Plan by independent planner David Wren – with particular emphasis on Albert-Eden area and topics which are likely to be of interest to locals.

    David Wren will speak for about 40 minutes followed by plenty of time for questions and answers.

    Date: Saturday 7 December 2013

    Time: 9.30am to 12 Noon (doors open at 9.30am and there is access to displays in the lobby and opportunities to discuss issues prior to the main presentation).

    Venue: Mt Eden War Memorial Hall, The Chamber Room, 489 Dominion Road, BALMORAL”
    ____________________________________________________________________________

    Kind regards,

    Penny Bright

    http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz/democracy-for-developers/

  14. Rogue Trooper 14
    2 December 2013 at 1:05 pm

    and while I’m here,
    “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of (philosopher? ) kings”- 25:2.
    Now, away to a tangi, people die, very moving.

  15. The Rogue Ferret 15
    2 December 2013 at 1:07 pm

    You’re back, format and all. Great, no more of John Key’s dirty deeds. Funny how the site crashed on the day of the by-election.

  16. amirite 16
    2 December 2013 at 1:46 pm

    Great listening on RadioLive right now – Cameron Slater and Michelle Boag arguing because he called her a lying poisonous scumbag, which is in itself ironic coming from someone like Slater. Also, Michelle once again stated that Slater is an ACC beneficiary, which is another irony when his favourite sport is beneficiary bashing.

  17. Penny Bright 17
    2 December 2013 at 1:51 pm

    Seen this folks?

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/your-views/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501154&objectid=11149526

    So far the greatest number of ‘likes’ on the NZ Herald for New Zealander of the Year article have gone to Graham McCready for taking a private prosecution against the ‘Not-So-Honorable’ John Banks – ACT Leader and MP for Epsom!

    YAY!

    dodgy john is going…. going…. 🙂

    Penny Bright

    http://www.dodgyjohnhas gone.com

  18. phillip ure 18
    2 December 2013 at 2:03 pm

    todays’ revelations are about/detail how australian spooks/govt offered unlimited raw data on australian citizens to their five eyes partners..to do with what they wished..

    ..whoar..!..eh..?..

    ..i wonder when our revelation will happen..?

    ..and is helen clark ‘sweating’ at all on these upcoming revelations..over there in noo yawk…?

    ..d’yareckon..?

    ..phillip ure..

  19. aerobubble 19
    2 December 2013 at 2:05 pm

    NR radio again. Imagine again that NR decries the lack of factual correctness on the internet. Yet a smidgen of common sense would stop a guest from spouting nonsense. Its known that the firepower of an army is key to its success, that soldiers are trained in rapid accurate fire, so when a former top shot in the US marines guns down the president, looking down on a log slow moving cavalcade in Texas, is it any wonder Oswald got three shots off. You can imagine the jokes had he missed, former Marine couldn’t shoot diddly. So to my surprise NR guest declares he couldn’t believe that a lone gun man could of gotten three shots off in quick succession. Has the man never seen war movies of lines of muskets, highly trained to do just that, rapid fire. No, imagination mixed with common sense is not a requirement in a guest on Moro.

  20. aerobubble 20
    2 December 2013 at 2:29 pm

    Cycling past this exit onto a cycle way, and keep meeting these aggressive drivers. Well turns out they were likely exiting a gym, didn’t make the connection until I heard about hormone abuses. I wonder do police stats show more accidents near gyms?

    • Naturesong 20.1
      2 December 2013 at 4:45 pm

      Are you in Auckland?

      I recently had the pleasure of driving from Wellington to Auckland.

      To maintain my sanity and ensure I didn’t do anything stupid like fall asleep at the wheel I divided the trip into 3 sections over 2 days.
      As a quick aside, I totally recommend checking out any one of the short walks in Tongariro National Park, it was my best stop of the trip.

      The traffic and behaviour of other drivers was pretty good right up until I hit the Bombay Hills. The increase of frequency of aggresive, rude and plain dangerous driving was stark.
      I saw one incident of a frustrated driver shortly before I left Wellington compared to almost a dozen between Bombay and Glen Eden.

      I ride a pushbike on almost a daily basis in Auckland so I am used to psychotic drivers, but this experience highlighted just how normalised bad driving is in Auckland compared to other cities and towns in New Zealand.

    • Ake ake ake 20.2
      2 December 2013 at 10:20 pm

      Hehe. Your comment brings to mind this piece that starts off:

      “My gym has begun to sound like the set of a porno. So much grunting and heaving and panting. It reverberates around the room in a testosterone-laden symphony of man clownery.

      “I’ve had enough. Grunty bloke, it’s time to shut up. I’m fairly certain I work out just as hard, yet you don’t hear me groaning like a constipated caveman on steroids every time I break a sweat.

      “Women deliver babies with less fuss than the way you puff and whine through a bicep curl.

      “Unless you’re attempting to pass a bowling ball through the tip of your urethra there’s really no reason for all the noise.

      “And I’m not buying your ”but grunting makes me stronger” nonsense.”

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/9399413/Grunty-gym-bloke-please-pipe-down

  21. Morrissey 21
    2 December 2013 at 4:23 pm

    Coming up on the Panel this afternoon: Neil Miller and Jordan Williams
    Another black day for Radio New Zealand National
    Monday, 2 December 2013

    Miller is a smug and conceited git who is on record touting the racist right wing “humorist” P.J. O’Rourke as his favorite writer. If Miller stuck to beer assessing, then he would be sufferable, if only just sufferable. Unfortunately, he tends to veer into political commentary, but he knows little about anything other than beer.[1] Jordan Williams is a junior colleague of the infamous ex-ACT M.P. and S.S. spokesman Stephen Franks, and is becoming well known to Panel listeners as a pretentious but shallow commentator—very like Franks and Miller, in fact. So far, Williams’ most infamously stupid contribution—and there are many to choose from—remains this classic, uttered on the Panel a couple of months ago: “Capping rents seems like a recipe for disaster”. [2]

    So look at what’s happened, whether accidentally or not: two government-friendly right wing commentators appear on the day that another right wing commentator, Cameron Slater, is one of the major topics of discussion. That represents another minor victory for the beleaguered National-led regime, which needs all the help it can get after the disaster (for National) in Christchurch over the weekend. But it represents another body-blow to the credibility of Radio New Zealand National.

    [1] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-2092013/#comment-690249
    [2] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12092013/#comment-695426

    UPDATE!!!

    Speaking right now is another guest on the programme—-Garth “The Knife” McVicar. By way of some kind of justification for giving this bloodthirsty lout airtime, Mora prefaced his appearance by saying this: “Okay, we’ve had CRIMINOLOGISTS on the programme before….”

    So treating violent psychopaths like McVicar respectfully is some kind of balancing manoeuvre.

    This programme is now beyond satire.

    • phillip ure 21.1
      2 December 2013 at 6:36 pm

      what really pissed me off about today..

      ..was how mora just sat by and let that clown mcvicar deny the provable-facts of the drop in crime here..

      ..(a drop that is but an echo of the international trend of sharply dropping rates of crime..)..

      ..mora makes no mention of that international trend echo..(does he not know..?..could someone tell him..?

      ..if he does know..?..huh..!..)

      ..why does he/mora just let these outright/easily provable lies go uncalled/unquestioned..?

      ..he does himself no favours by doing this..

      ..today i linked to a story on how sweden is closing four of their prisons..

      ..a combination of those dropping rates..and the swedish focus on rehabilitation..instead of being solely focused on retribution..as is practised here..

      ..i noted at the foot of that story/link..how at a time when sweden is closing four prisons..

      ..we are building a new super-prison..

      ..have handed our prison system over to the american private industry model..(now there’s a success story/role-model..eh..?..that american prison system..)

      ..and the cherry on top of this cake of fucken wrongheaded-incompetence/ignorance..

      ..is that the govt has signed contracts with these private prison spivs..

      ..guaranteeing to supply enough prisoners to fill their prisons..(!)

      ..now..that just fucken bends my head out of shape..that prisoner-guarantee..

      ..we are ruled by ignorant fools..

      ..phillip ure..

    • Paul 21.2
      2 December 2013 at 9:03 pm

      ACT – less than 1% of the voters
      25% of panel invitees.

    • North 21.3
      2 December 2013 at 10:03 pm

      Had to laugh at the “highbrow???” of Mensa Mora’s Mucky Show 4-5 pm today. The Mad Machiavellian Miller crapping on about whom, according to his girlfriend and others, he resembles.

      James McOnie and someone else and someone else apparently. One only has to Google a pic of said Mad Miller to know that the most striking likeness is to – wait for it – SlaterPorn. There must be whakapapa !

      Thought about you with anticipation Morrissey as in the course of a three hour plus drive home to the North I listened to the fascinatingly gross right wing fucks Jordan Williams, Mad Miller, and Garth McVictim. Gushingly hosted by The Nicest Man On Earth. Truly incredible !

      A passing comment by Mad Miller suggests he might’ve been a late call to today’s Mucky Show – you may well be correct in your suspicion that a troika of outlandish right wingers was rapidly assembled to provide “balance” in the wake of the Christchurch result.

      • Morrissey 21.3.1
        3 December 2013 at 9:19 am

        A passing comment by Mad Miller suggests he might’ve been a late call to today’s Mucky Show

        Miller replaced Mai Chen at the last moment. It’s a pity, because she has shown a willingness to contest lazy ideologists in the past. Her absence ensured that Jordan Williams got (yet another) free ride.

        – you may well be correct in your suspicion that a troika of outlandish right wingers was rapidly assembled to provide “balance” in the wake of the Christchurch result.

        As bad as Neil Miller and Jordan Williams are, what I found utterly insulting was bringing on that S.S. obergruppenführer to “discuss” law and order. Surely, if McVicar is acceptable to the producers of this programme, then Kyle Chapman has to be consulted next time the Panel has a discussion about arson.

  22. North 22
    2 December 2013 at 9:13 pm

    Probably already covered somewhere above but don’t have time to check – who would have thought it – forgive me the following words we’re not allowed to use – “G….y” Herald caning “N…y” National ???

  23. Tim 23
    2 December 2013 at 9:59 pm

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9466873/Work-starts-on-MacKays-to-Peka-Peka-expressway

    The award for MSM capabilities in photojournalism goes to ……
    c a m e r o n b u r r r N E L L ! ! ! for
    “Turning the Sod”
    (unassisted – the guy rolls over all on his own)

  24. ScottGN 24
    2 December 2013 at 10:57 pm

    The Guardian is picking up on the Government’s attempt to soften us all up for a fall in NZ’s Education Sector ranking in the OECD Pisa Report.
    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/dec/01/michael-gove-labour-international-league-table