Open mike 03/06/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, June 3rd, 2011 - 53 comments
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step right up to the mike…

53 comments on “Open mike 03/06/2011 ”

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  1. mickysavage 1
    3 June 2011 at 7:33 am

    The Prime Mincer is at it again.

    “Prime Minister John Key has no objections to lignite being dug up and turned into briquettes near Mataura and thinks a balance can be struck between environmental impact and economic development.
    Speaking in Invercargill yesterday, Mr Key said he supported Solid Energy’s plan to dig up lignite and turn it into briquettes, saying the Government wanted companies such as Solid Energy, which is Government-owned, to expand.
    “At the moment companies like Solid Energy are growth companies and we want them to expand in areas like lignite conversion,” Mr Key said.

    Don’t you love National.  Slip the word “balance” into a policy and anything is possible.  Can someone, anyone, educate him about climate change.

  2. ianmac 2
    3 June 2011 at 9:23 am

    Under proposed Legislation Celebrities can be fined up to $1,000,000 for giving misleading or incorrect advice on a product.
    Would John Key fall into that category?

  3. prism 3
    3 June 2011 at 9:29 am

    This morning’s radio news has some provoking aspects.

    Ecoli. First the Spanish, now Europe wide, vegetable growers have had a terrible hit and dreadful publicity and loss of orders, money and had to deal with huge wastage because of the finger pointing done by the WHO. Who had some reason to think that it was ordinary ecoli, serious in itself, and somehow Spain and cucumbers were the main suspects. Now they have found that it is a new strain and they can’t dose the patients with antibiotics which would affect part of the infecting germs, and the remaining ones could develop as separate threats. They have to rely on the body’s natural immune systems and just treat the symptoms.

    Imagine where our country would be if something like that was connected with us??? We have had foot and mouth scares, including one from Waiheke Island that was someone’s idea of a joke or retaliation to MAF or some idiotic ignorant idea. The connecting thing that I see between the British foot and mouth and the cucumber debacle, is the drive for larger markets, for efficiencies such as in Britain where they trucked animals long distances to giant abbatoirs instead of having local hubs. Large crowds carry a likelihood of spreading disease. On a small scale in NZ poor people are catching and spreading Third World diseases because of too many people in one house.

    Our free market system of earning national income from a few industries in which we have expertise and advantage and buying in necessities from others who have special advantages,, makes us vulnerable to the cucumber syndrome. Beekeepers are pointing out how our government department MAF has a free trade bent. How far they are bent I don’t know, but the gummint seems to be cock-sure about our biosecurity adequacy despite notable failures. These include apple moth causing aerial spraying of large areas, people and animals and clover weevil eating a major pasture plant, varroa mite that can’t be contained, and the list goes on. Nobody can have confidence in our biosecurity authority’s ability to keep out dangerous nasties, and the gummint is prepared to open us to more with free trade open slather and then in the name of ‘saving money and efficiency’ to reduce trained personnel and stations.

    I hear that gummint is having legislation that will punish celebrities for bad endorsements of products that cause us to lose money. Can we apply this law to bloody politicians who get chosen by their respective parties because they have a facility with public speaking (Paula Bennett) who then become celebrities, and cost NZ more than can be counted in millions of dollars? I have been thinking about personal responsibility for these charlatans and adventurers for some time. Let’s get ’em.

    • ianmac 3.1
      3 June 2011 at 10:27 am

      The Spanish Cucumbers were blamed at first, but now they have been cleared. It seems that the e-coli is spread by other means and the best I have heard is to wash fruit and vegetables and maybe steer clear of salads. Though that seems to be uncertain. Hope it is not spread by contact or, horrors, airborne!

      • odysseus 3.1.1
        3 June 2011 at 1:47 pm

        A good case for giving up on veg and being 100% carnivore.

        • ianmac 3.1.1.1
          3 June 2011 at 1:56 pm

          Yeah. And just when washing up after a roast dinner, I was going to become a vegetarian.

          • The Voice of Reason 3.1.1.1.1
            3 June 2011 at 2:14 pm

            You still should, Ianmac. As prism points out, the production and transport of food is the problem, not the food itself. Fresh food bought locally is the answer. Plenty of farmers’ markets and similar outlets around these days that will provide you with nutritious, tasty food at reasonable prices.
             
            My thoughts on vegetaianism here. 3 decades on, I’m still pretty damn pleased I made the switch. Don’t have a cow, man.

            • marty mars 3.1.1.1.1.1
              3 June 2011 at 9:12 pm

              Good on you VoR – like you I saw the truth 30 years ago and I am very pleased i made the switch too. For years all I got at functions were asparagus rolls – luckily i liked them 🙂

            • Vicky32 3.1.1.1.1.2
              3 June 2011 at 9:22 pm

              I have got as far as ‘semi-veg’… I am getting there! 🙂

    • mickysavage 3.2
      3 June 2011 at 10:31 am

      I would prefer that the gummint beefed up the various Government departments so there was more oversight of the business sector and the directors carry the can if there is any breach.

      Aiming at the celebrities at the front of ads is off the point. 

      That ecoli outbreak is scary.  Gaia anyone? 

      And talking about Radio New Zealand I am sure I heard Stephen Joyce and Len Brown on morning report talking about the Rail Tunnel but cannot find any sign of the recording on the website.  Anyone know what happened to it?

    • KJT 3.3
      4 June 2011 at 7:06 am

      Bio-security has been almost forgotten. Containers used to be steam cleaned when landed at ports and inspected for pests. This no longer happens even with containers from overseas. Since successive Governments have destroyed NZ shipping most coast-wise cargo is now carried on overseas ships, increasing the risks, while the precautions have been reduced to cut costs.

  4. Morrissey 4
    3 June 2011 at 10:07 am

    Andrew Jennings condemns NZ soccer chairman: “asinine and stupid”
    Friday, June 3, 2011

    BBC journalist Andrew Jennings, an expert on corruption in sport, this morning condemned the “asinine and stupid” comments of New Zealand soccer chairman Frank Van Hattum.

    Yesterday, in the face of a storm of international anger, Van Hattum defiantly insisted: “We’re backing Blatter. He’s done a lot of good for the game.”

    Speaking to Kathryn Ryan on National Radio this morning, Jennings said Van Hattum was an ill-informed dupe, and belonged in the company of the minnows who had voted for the notoriously corrupt Blatter: “These bums, these idiots, 168 stupid men, dimwits…”

    The last New Zealand soccer chairman to draw such scathing criticism was the doddering Charlie Dempsey, whose pro-Blatter shenanigans robbed South Africa of the hosting rights to the 2006 World Cup.

    • Brett Dale 4.1
      3 June 2011 at 1:34 pm

      And with the trouble South Africa had getting their venues for the 2010 world cup, they were right not to award them the thing in 2006.

      • Morrissey 4.1.1
        3 June 2011 at 8:34 pm

        No they weren’t. The only reason South Africa missed out was because of Blatterite Charlie Dempsey. Maybe you’ve forgotten the fury and contempt that old fool whipped up by his antics.

  5. Blighty 5
    3 June 2011 at 10:37 am

    The country’s embarrassing dad

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5095731/Stuffs-Top-Ten-John-Key-moments

    reminds me of George W

    • Bunji 5.1
      3 June 2011 at 10:49 am

      Ah, beat me to it!

      Our favourite, though, was his determination not to prejudge MP Richard Worth, insisting he would not be “Judge Judy and executioner”. Apparently the reality TV court show has got a lot meatier.

    • Lanthanide 5.2
      3 June 2011 at 11:07 am

      Yeah, was coming to post this myself (how could anyone resist?).
       
      Has Key finally managed to jump the shark in the mainstream media?

    • Blighty 5.3
      3 June 2011 at 11:28 am

      this, I think, is how the strength can be turned into a weakness, which is vital.

      Look at how Clark’s competency and steeliness was re-framed as aloofness and being out of touch.

      Key’s ‘every man’ act can instead be framed as try hard.

    • Vicky32 5.4
      3 June 2011 at 10:35 pm

      That’s brilliant, I am “sharing” it on Facebook…

  6. The Voice of Reason 6
    3 June 2011 at 11:10 am

    A significant ruling for Aussie workers. Oh, to have industrial law here that actually advantages workers instead of pretending there is a level playing field to be found if we’d all just play fair.
    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/unions-can-strike-first-talk-later-fair-work-australia-ruling/story-fn59niix-1226067533308
     

  7. freedom 7
    3 June 2011 at 11:33 am

    have the Gremlins taken over or has the ‘comments’ censorship at Stuff gotten out of hand?

    one example is last night and this morning i tried to post a comment on the EPA appointment of KP and it has still not been posted, yet other comments have appeared, posted well after my submissions.

    my comment was…”with a crew like that in control i am confident full dilligence will be employed on all Oil and Mining Permit luncheons, i mean applications.”

    hardly worthy of censorship i would have thought, compared to what is normally expressed on Stuff

    p.s and yes i realise by posting this here i breach the T&C of Stuff so they will not post it anyway.

    • Lanthanide 7.1
      3 June 2011 at 4:26 pm

      I think Stuff just sucks. Certainly that statement wouldn’t have anything worth censoring – I’ve posted things of similar inflammatory/sarcastic nature and not had them censored.
       
      Their comments are frequently re-numbered and re-ordered, eg at 9am your comment might be #5, and then at 11:30 it’ll be #14 and a bunch of new comments are posted with timestamps earlier than your own.

      • Sookie 7.1.1
        3 June 2011 at 10:59 pm

        I’ve often had comments which are disparaging of the government not posted on Stuff, despite not having obvious swearwords. And did you see that article yesterday ‘Man Killed at Windfarm’? They made the bloody thing sound like the windfarm killed him, and not falling off a cherry picker. I’m sure the article was sponsored by the Koch brothers. Fricking disgrace of a site.

        • Deadly_NZ 7.1.1.1
          3 June 2011 at 11:19 pm

          Yeah, same I been censored by stuff too… Yes it did sound that way I almost expected to read.
          Today A man Was killed on a wind-farm when 1 windmill picked up said man and threw him into another mills spinning blades.

          They do like the dramatic, but the real story whilst tragic was not really news worthy until it was revealed that the company had just won a nice award at sky city for being safe or something. Hmm, A bit premature there with the awards there.

        • R 7.1.1.2
          3 June 2011 at 11:23 pm

          agreed, Stuff has always been crummy but it’s really been heading to the bottom of the barrel lately, to the degree that I check it in the same way I check Kiwiblog: take deep breaths, wade in, hold your nose, control rage, wade out before you suffer a rage-induced aneurysm. Know Your Enemy is the only real reason to read it (aside from assuaging pre-ad-dominated TV cravings).

  8. jackal 8
    3 June 2011 at 11:52 am

    The week that was 28 May – 3 June

    http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/06/week-that-was-28-may-3-june.html

    The majority of people would have heard about Germany’s plans to go Nuclear Free by the year 2022. This caused some New Zealand media outlets to wheel out the kooks to say Germany would need to burn more coal or purchase electricity from France, which derives over 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy and has no plans to change. All they really had to do to get their facts straight was find an article on the net that quoted what the German Chancellor Angela Merkel actually said:

  9. jackal 9
    3 June 2011 at 3:06 pm

    Friday Fun with Photos #3

    http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/06/friday-fun-with-photos-3.html

    “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”

  10. Bunji 10
    3 June 2011 at 3:19 pm

    What fun ACT have had with statistics.

    To make filibustering cost $453k / hour they’ve added up all MPs & Parliamentary staff’s salaries and divided by normal sitting hours of the house. So many things wrong with that.
    a) there’s plenty of work done outside sitting hours of the house – MPs should be doing a good chunk of work in their constituencies for a start, before policy formation, committees etc.
    b) it’s not like all the MPs will be in the house for members’ bills…
    c) everyone gets paid anyway, whether the Opposition does their job and opposes or not…

    • ianmac 10.1
      3 June 2011 at 3:31 pm

      By the time the headline is read and absorbed and Trevor’s comment is just tacked on at the end, the damage has been done. Oh for a headline.

  11. ianmac 11
    3 June 2011 at 3:39 pm

    When my wife says, “I’ve been thinking.” Then I look for an excuse to escape.
    When I say, “I’ve been thinking,” then its serious.
    I think that the next election will hang on one word.

    MANDATE

    National will offer a few juicy acceptable items.
    They will hint at small changes to ACC.
    Small changes to Welfare “to prevent bludgers.”
    Small cuts to Public Service.
    But if re-elected then those little changes will be a mandate to release an avalanche of big “reforms.”
    So how can you pick the gift of Mandate with only one man one vote?

  12. prism 12
    3 June 2011 at 7:46 pm

    I was just listening to radionz and the host was talking about emperor penguins. The males stay and incubate their egg at 30oC in a pouch they have and the temp might fall to -50oC I think. They have eschewed territorial efforts and work co-operatively to manage their duty of nurturing.
    They huddle and move round slowly, each one taking a turn on the outside ring that bears the brunt of the cold winds.

    I think that we should adopt the Emperor Penguin as our mascot and their approach as our precept or maxim for a living example of our future approach to life – co-operation as much as humanly possible.

    • M 12.1
      3 June 2011 at 9:36 pm

      prism, the March of the Penguins doco is great – I’ve watched it twice.

      The film shows so well that sacrifice should be evenly borne so even Key et al would have trouble protesting they didn’t understand what that entails.

      • Jim Nald 12.1.1
        3 June 2011 at 9:54 pm

        Sounds like too much effort and needing to be around for the long haul.
        Quicker, easier and more lucrative for Key to sell the eggs.

  13. Brett Dale 13
    3 June 2011 at 10:35 pm

    Surly Murray Deaker has to be fired, its no good that sky boss is saying “hes from that generation” Im suprise the media arent all over this, if Deaker was a junior A journalist he would be fired.

  14. M 14
    3 June 2011 at 11:41 pm

    Can only be a matter of weeks before the EU implodes and then the UK and US join the conga line:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/business/global/16drachma.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3

    • Colonial Viper 14.1
      4 June 2011 at 2:50 am

      Germany and the other EU creditor nations want their money back with interest.

      If the Greek public have to suffer for it, and a few thousand people take their own lives over the next five years, too fraking bad. Its just business.

      BTW where are all the Goldman Sachs types who helped finance the Greek Government into this convoluted debt ridden morass? I guess they got all their commissions in cold hard cash already and left town early.

  15. Bruce 15
    4 June 2011 at 2:47 am

    So they can do it why the hell can’t we? Australia is now $2.51 ahead of our minimum wage at $13.00

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/5097951/Australia-raises-minimum-wage

    …and why won’t Stuff let us comment on it?