Open mike 04/02/2013

86 comments on “Open mike 04/02/2013”

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1. karol 1

   4 February 2013 at 7:33 am

   So Shearer probably slept well last night, but reckons he hasn’t sounded out his support for today’s vote.

   Hope it’s not a foregone 100%.

   • Colonial Weka 1.1

     4 February 2013 at 8:25 am

     CV said the other day that the ballot is secret, so theoretically we shouldn’t know the numbers afterwards.

     • rosy 1.1.1

       4 February 2013 at 8:33 am

       I can imagine Patrick Gower with a microphone in Shearer’s face… what’s the vote count, how can we believe it’s what you say if you don’t give us the vote count? Even though it’s a secret ballot. Then Shearer getting blasted all over the news if he doesn’t give the secret answer…

       • David H 1.1.1.1

         4 February 2013 at 9:56 am

         Yeah Gower is one of the new breed of ‘nasty make it up’ type of reporter. Can’t get a story then just make one up.

     • David H 1.1.2

       4 February 2013 at 9:55 am

       So if its a secret vote. How can anyone trust the outcome? As we don’t know what happened.

2. Skinny 2

   4 February 2013 at 7:46 am

   Which MP’s are going to be true to their beliefs that Shearer is not leadership material?

   It will be interesting to see how many, if any? of the Labour caucus back their convictions and cast a no confidence vote in Shearer as leader. Also there should be a number of MP’s taking direction from their LEC to force a wider vote from the party membership surely? I will find it hard to swallow if atleast 6 votes are not confirmed nay sayers.
       

3. KhandallaViper 3

   4 February 2013 at 7:47 am

   Each and every Labour MP has a choice today.

   Put their hand on heart, look at their colleagues, envision their membership, and

   say they have Confidence in the Leadership of the Labour Party or

   withhold that in favour of a Party wide 40/40/20 debate and democratic selection process.

   • ad 3.1

     4 February 2013 at 8:22 am

     +100

     • LynWiper 3.1.1

       4 February 2013 at 9:51 am

       And we have every right to expect that of our Labour MPs. +100

4. Te Reo Putake 4

   4 February 2013 at 7:49 am

   Beautiful day today! Winning the Labour/Greens government the country so badly needs takes a big step forward in a few hours. Well done to all those LP activists who helped democratise the party, particularly those like myself who wanted Cunliffe but will work for the good of the party and for the good of NZ even if he won’t be leader.

   The next step?

   Policy.

   • rosy 4.1

     4 February 2013 at 7:56 am

     “The next step?”

     Caucus reshuffle? Can’t do policy without the people in place.

     • Te Reo Putake 4.1.1

       4 February 2013 at 8:20 am

       Yep, but I wouldn’t expect major changes. Too early to dump dead wood like Mallard et al. That can wait till closer to the election, when it would be too risky to challenge Shearer’s call.

       • rosy 4.1.1.1

         4 February 2013 at 8:36 am

         “Too early to dump dead wood like Mallard et al.”

         It can be argued that it’s already too late rather than too early – just saying.

         • Elizabeth Bourchier Real Labour 4.1.1.1.1

           4 February 2013 at 8:50 am

           Deadwood does not dump itself. Trevor wants a comfortable retirement sorted.

5. fatty 5

   4 February 2013 at 7:55 am

   morning everyone…is this the day Labour dies?

   • just saying 5.1

     4 February 2013 at 8:42 am

     Apparently the only way to kill a zombie is to take out the head.
     Anyhoo, in lieu of Rogue Trooper:

     …Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
     The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
     Eight miles high and falling fast.
     It landed foul on the grass.
     The players tried for a forward pass,
     With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.

     Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
     While the sergeants played a marching tune.
     We all got up to dance,
     Oh, but we never got the chance!
     `cause the players tried to take the field;
     The marching band refused to yield.
     Do you recall what was revealed
     The day the music died?

     • karol 5.1.1

       4 February 2013 at 8:49 am

       And good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye,
       the day the music died.

     • Jokerman 5.1.2

       4 February 2013 at 12:55 pm

       note
       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology

   • Jokerman 5.2

     4 February 2013 at 1:51 pm

     That is an Excellent and Just saying

6. vto 6

   4 February 2013 at 8:03 am

   Hope someone has an attack on the National government lined up for running alongside the leadership vote. One inch up for labour (provided quality vote etc) and one inch down for national.

   Otherwise of course the only political news will be “more leadership conflict for labour”

7. karol 7

   4 February 2013 at 8:18 am

   The Independent (UK) this weekend has an article about an event “today” that commemorates the 2nd wave Women’s Movement in the UK.

   Today hundreds of the veteran activists from some of Britain’s most famous protests, ranging from Greenham Common to the miners’ strike, will gather for the first time. The worlds of social campaigning, politics and art come together today in a “Silver Action” event at the Tate Modern, London, where some 400 women campaigners aged over 60 will talk about their work.

   Damn! Wish I could be there. That was the context in which I truly became politicised while living in London. I recognise one or two names in the article of women I knew at some point back then. Also the women mentioned and the range of their activities back in the 60s and 70s, show just how strongly the UK Women’s Movement was embedded in the grass roots left: its origins in Ruskin College – a place for educating trade unionists and people from “disadvantaged” backgrounds, with no formal qualifications: initially set up for educating working class men.

   Although, I guess commemorations are fine, but there’s still too many crucial political struggles going on.

8. rosy 8

   4 February 2013 at 8:52 am

   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10863254&ref=rss

   More than 700 pedestrians have been hit by cars at Auckland intersections over the past four years, and most victims were not paying attention to vehicles around them, distracted by cellphones or music players or succumbing to their own impatience.

   When we moved to Vienna we couldn’t work out why drivers were impatient with our pausing before crossing the road at uncontrolled intersections, else they very courteously waited for us to cross. What a difference. Then we found out that cars must stop for pedestrians. It’s the law. The world didn’t end.

   • karol 8.1

     4 February 2013 at 9:04 am

     Indeed, while many drivers here are sensitive to pedestrians, many others are totally intolerant and/or oblivious. Since my accident the year before last (a result of my own carelessness), I am way more sensitive to how one careless moment can cause devastating impacts on the body. It continues to amaze me the number of drivers who speed across pedestrian crossings unaware that some of us are waiting to cross.

     When I took driving lessons in the UK, before going for my UK licence, I was strongly schooled to visually scan around up-coming pedestrian crossings, looking for pedestrians, and preparing to stop in case an unexpected pedestrian stepped out. It is now pretty much second nature to me to do that.

     • rosy 8.1.1

       4 February 2013 at 9:19 am

       Yes, we found UK drivers, in smaller cities in particular, very observant. I was actually talking about driver behaviour at intersections while walking today, which is probably why I picked up on the article. With a trip back to NZ imminent I’d strangely drifted back into stopping and waiting for cars at T-junctions, as I would do in NZ, without realising it, after about 4 or 5 crossings with drivers waiting for us to cross it gradually dawned on me what I was doing. I’ll have to be careful not reverse the error while back home.

   • Draco T Bastard 8.2

     4 February 2013 at 10:04 am

     I’ve almost been hit at intersections. It wasn’t because I wasn’t paying attention but because the drivers were running red lights.

     • vto 8.2.1

       4 February 2013 at 10:11 am

       Yep, the entire population sems to have forgotten that the streets were created for pedestrians. Cars came much much later and should be secondary in importance. Good luck with that though as today when that fact is mentioned people merely glaze over as it has never occured to them, such is the presumption that the streets were created for cars.

       The streets most places are pretty dismal today. Try walking somewhere and you will find hardly any other people walking the streets or even in public places. The streets are ugly places now with whizzing cars and fumes, grey-black tarseal and concrete covering as many square metres as possible, hard, glare, noise, danger.

       Bleeeaargh !

       • Draco T Bastard 8.2.1.1

         4 February 2013 at 10:16 am

         Yeah, I’d agree with that. IMO, it’s part of the reason that main-street is closing down. It’s just such a boor to actually go to them.

         The other reason is that online shopping is faster, easier and far far cheaper.

       • fatty 8.2.1.2

         4 February 2013 at 10:42 am

         Chch is great for cycling now…well, through the city it is. Shame that only happened after the city was flattened.

         Don’t underestimate how socially destructive the automobile has been, and continues to be

         More short documentaries on pedestrians here

         Some moron paid Stephan Fry to talk about how Wellington cyclists should bow down to drivers. Apparently drivers should be thanked when they do not kill those pesky/arrogant/arsehole cyclists. Whoever was involved in that video is a dick.

     • rosy 8.2.2

       4 February 2013 at 10:14 am

       +1
       I’m probably a little oversensitive to this issue because I walk a lot and have had a fair few inconsiderate drivers on controlled and uncontrolled crossings (it also really annoys me that the traffic light phasing doesn’t favour pedestrians, but that’s another story). It’s become sort of a hobby to compare drivers’ general attitudes toward pedestrians in different places.

       • ianmac 8.2.2.1

         4 February 2013 at 12:00 pm

         The car traffic seems to go very fast in Vienna. When the crossing is controlled by lights I think that car drivers (quite rightly) assume that there will be no pedestrians on the road nor any jaywalkers. Therefore traffic clears quickly until the next phase for pedestrians. I noticed that it was very unwise to cross without the green- angry drivers! Maybe we pedestrians should follow the rules, but after a lifetime of drifting across when I feel like it, hard to change.

         • rosy 8.2.2.1.1

           4 February 2013 at 12:19 pm

           On the arterial routes, yes they do. I don’t know if there are variable speed limits in town, but it’s likely given the difference between those roads and others. I guess also with pedestrians having the right of way every where else drivers are not too keen when you cross on a red on an arterial route. Same with driving slowly in the fast lane…

         • Foreign Waka 8.2.2.1.2

           4 February 2013 at 6:05 pm

           Having grown up and lived for many years in Vienna, my hometown, I agree that they do drive faster, especially the “professional traffic” after 8am and pedestrians are directed by a road code in the same way as drivers. Driving slow in the fast lanes will get the professional drivers to pressure you to change lanes. Of cause it all looks denser due to the sheer volume- Vienna has about 2 mil people on 400 m2, compare Auckland with 1.3mil people on 1000 m2 – and with it the amount of vehicles, private and company on that spec of land. The driver license is another point. It is obtained after a very rigorous process (expensive) and tests both written and oral. People need to be at least 18 and have to have a full license before being allowed onto the road – there are no learners licenses. All in all – certainly not a dreamy ride.
           However, the number of private cars is actually only 390 approx per 1000 people. This is mostly due to the fact that one really does not need a car in Vienna due to the excellent public transport service. I really mean that, not because I am from there but it is true.

           • rosy 8.2.2.1.2.1

             4 February 2013 at 11:43 pm

             I love your hometown Foreign Waka! Half time here and half in New Zealand would be perfect 😉

             Yes, we don’t have a car and use the integrated public transport (trains, buses and trams) or walk to get around. A reduction in car-parking has also reduced the value of car ownership. We were accosted once by a couple of FPO people to sign a petition against the reductions. We spent ages telling them how good the transport system was and how we didn’t need a car before we realised who they were and the answers they were after. Woops. Of course with the central city pedestrianised it also makes it easier to do without a car when living in the inner ring.

             The driver’s training does show. Drivers are observant around town and know what they’re doing.

     • TheContrarian 8.2.3

       4 February 2013 at 10:16 am

       Morning Draco!

       Hey look, I am sorry to be a bastard (ironic huh?) but as one of your favourite (and continual) assertions is that Labour is a right-wing party I really have to call you out on something.

       http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02022013/#comment-582948

       I look forward to your response

       • Galeandra 8.2.3.1

         4 February 2013 at 11:55 am

         Don’t humour the poor simple-minded soul, Draco. One of those post-menopausal late-developers who clog up lecture rooms and demand extra explanations all the time.

         • McFlock 8.2.3.1.1

           4 February 2013 at 12:55 pm

           lol

           Or the private school debater who oozes confidence and stupidity, only to be shell-shocked at university when their textbook (read “pro forma”) presentation is identified as failing to address the single fundamental factor that collapses their entire position.

9. bad12 9

   4 February 2013 at 8:59 am

   On RadioNZ National program the Slippery lead National Government’s focus for 2013 is to be discussed in terms of what the ‘life-time’ cost of beneficiaries is,

   In other words the present National Government having absolutely no idea how to stem the flow of red ink in the Governments accounts will now discuss in quiet polite voices how they plan to take away from those legal entitlements to welfare so as to be able to trumpet some bullshit balancing of the books as an election strategy for November 2014,

   Should be a good listen if only to see which group of those currently receiving benefits are about to get it in the neck the hardest during the next 12 months…

   • vto 9.1

     4 February 2013 at 9:54 am

     If that is the case then I hope opposition parties do similar on, for example, lifetime costs borne by wage and salary earners to support the little tax paid by businesses such as farmers who take their gains through tax-free capital gain.

     There are countless others.

     It is overdue for fire to be fought with fire. This government gets away with all sorts of bullshit and the oppositions just whimper around the edges like sooky cowards with no chutzpa. Wussies.

     • Draco T Bastard 9.1.1

       4 February 2013 at 10:12 am

       Not all the opposition. The Greens are seriously getting some good hits in but Labour are out to lunch.

       • Fortran 9.1.1.1

         4 February 2013 at 1:41 pm

         +1

10. mickysavage 10

    4 February 2013 at 10:10 am

    And Shearer has been confirmed as leader.

    • vto 10.1

      4 February 2013 at 10:11 am

      Thanks god thats over.

      Now discussions can turn to something interesting and useful

    • Draco T Bastard 10.2

      4 February 2013 at 10:13 am

      And now all those that were hoping for Labour to become more democratic can start looking for a better party without feeling any guilt.

11. Benghazi 11

    4 February 2013 at 10:22 am

    Long may the Stalinist purge continue with too many MPs scared to vote to give us a say. Now the King/Mallard cabal will come after you one by one.

    Andrew Little just forget Rongotai but be very worried about your list ranking too. The Stalinist cabal are going to centralise their power on list selection….you heard it here first! And all the others on the list, or with a seat they want to retire you from, just watch it…Prasad, Chauvel, Dyson, Robertson, Street….you’re going down.

    But I’m off, no more pamphlet deliveries, no more donations, wine auctions, fundraisers….not off to join another party but I won’t be voting for Labour again.

    • ad 11.1

      4 February 2013 at 12:12 pm

      Totally agree, for my partner and I as well.

      pathetic that they can think of nothing but those little jobs rather than find any courage.

      Shearer will deliver the polls in 2014 as they are, within a tolerance of 29-32%.
      The rest is now counterfactual history.

      just utter sadness.

      • JK 11.1.1

        4 February 2013 at 1:24 pm

        Yep – Ad, Benghazi, Draco – both of us are also sad, and resigned. At least it will free up any spare time over the next couple of years NOT feeling obliged to attend meetings, organise, deliver pamphlets, raise funds, etc.

      • CV - Real Labour 11.1.2

        4 February 2013 at 1:53 pm

        Labour should be able to form a government, with Winston’s help, even if it gets as low as 31% or 32%. But, the historic mission and purpose of the Labour Party seems to have been forgotten, at the very time that it is needed more than ever.

        • Foreign Waka 11.1.2.1

          4 February 2013 at 6:21 pm

          That is actually the point, especially younger ones have lost faith in a voting system where 32% with a bit of wiggle is perceived to be able to govern. Why? That is so far away from any majority that one can only wonder. Is that what Mr Shearer builds his confidence on? If it is even contemplated that 32% can go anywhere than FPP has never been changed.

          • CV - Real Labour 11.1.2.1.1

            4 February 2013 at 7:40 pm

            32% Labour 14% Greens 5% NZ First (and Hone out in the cold as being too left) is still over the line…but also a monstrosity in of itself.

    • McFlock 11.2

      4 February 2013 at 12:58 pm

      Stalin comparison right at the front.
      Yay.
      That cuts donw my “give a fuck” time allocation significantly.

12. bad12 12

    4 February 2013 at 10:36 am

    OK, that was all as enlightening as MUD, the only point of real interest was Paula, the Minister of removing people form their entitlements, giving as a reason for the disparity in the figures of actual unemployed and the number of those currently collecting the dole is that both Sickness beneficiaries and those who receive the DPB who also have children over the age of 5 are now being included in the figures of the unemployed,

    What tho of the heart of the discussion,

    This ‘discussion’ centers on the figures that if those currently receiving a welfare benefit were to receive that benefit for a ‘lifetime’ the cost to the Government would be 78 billion dollars, (shock horror spit),

    Lets put aside the little ‘fact’ for the moment that such a proposition FAILS at the first hurdle in that very few of those people as a % will receive those benefits ‘for a lifetime’, instead lets play the game as the Paula’s (Bennett and Rebstock) do, as monetarists,

    Remembering all the while that the GROSS COST of all those benefits over a ‘lifetime’ is 78 billion dollars,(gasp shock horror) we can judge this against Government revenue from the figure that this is currently 60.6 billion dollars a year, (leaving aside for the moment that we are in the middle of a recession),

    So, in ten years that Government revenue would have been 600 billion dollars set against a ‘lifetime’ welfare bill of 78 billion dollars,

    In fifty years of Government revenue the total Government revenue collected will be, excuses here as my riffmatic aint so hot, a ball park figure of 3000 billion dollars against a ‘lifetime’ welfare bill of 78 billion dollars, and, say that slowly to yourself to see just how ridiculous the Paula’s are being in using such a figure as a crude club to attempt to turn people against beneficiaries,

    Now being good little monetarists, (well just for this morning anyway), we in all honesty have to look at this equation from around all aspects of this 78 billion dollars GROSS that the Government in all it’s largesse will pay out over that ‘lifetime’ of payment,

    Taxation!!! yes TAXATION, the Paula’s (Bennett and Rebstock) are using GROSS figures to arrive at the figure of 78 billion dollars, SO, using back of an envelope figures we can ‘see’ that direct taxation of that 78 billion dollars will result in 15% of that 78 billion NOT being paid to those beneficiaries at all,

    Indirect taxation, you know the stuff, petrol tax, tobacco tax, tax tax tax etc, will result in the Government within 2 days of having paid out any of this 78 billion dollars recouping another 10% of the 78 billion dollars,

    And, last but not least GS fucking T, at 15% will mean that within 2 days of having paid out any of the 78 billion dollars the Government will have raked back in another 15% of that 78 billion dollars,

    But wait there’s more, yes sadly more, Beneficiaries spend what little monies they receive as part of that 78 billion dollars within 2 days into the local economy, what’s left after taxation is extracted that is, the goods and services bought by those beneficiaries from local providers are again taxed as profit from the pockets of those the beneficiaries buy the goods and services off of,

    So here’s the Paula’s(Bennett and Rebstock), equation again from a ballpark income of 3000 billion dollars over a ‘lifetime’, 78 billion dollars will be paid out in welfare benefits 40% of which the Government will have within 2 days of paying this money out recouped as TAXATION,

    What then to make of the 2 Paula’s(Bennett and Rebstock) shock horror 78 billion dollar ‘lifetime’ cost of welfare benefits, bullshit, simply blatant fucking bullshit is the best i can at this point muster from my limited vocabulary…

    • Jokerman 12.1

      4 February 2013 at 3:22 pm

      Yep

    • BLiP 12.2

      4 February 2013 at 5:12 pm

      .

      Yep. Bullshit alright.

    • Foreign Waka 12.3

      4 February 2013 at 6:27 pm

      Would such short statement not be the job of labor in the house when these figures are being thrown around and hence have to be reported in the same way as Mrs Bennets statement?

      • bad12 12.3.1

        4 February 2013 at 8:18 pm

        Lolz, i dont’t think Bullshit is a word allowed,(under standing orders), to be uttered in the House, i wonder tho if ‘equine defecation’ might slip through…

13. framu 13

    4 February 2013 at 12:20 pm

    “This ‘discussion’ centers on the figures that if those currently receiving a welfare benefit were to receive that benefit for a ‘lifetime’ the cost to the Government would be 78 billion dollars, (shock horror spit),”

    and any journo worth the title would respond with “yeah but thats a sack or horseshit and you know it”

    not holding my breath though

    • bad12 13.1

      4 February 2013 at 2:54 pm

      Paula, the Minister of parting people from what was once their legal entitlements, unintentionally painted Her and the other Paula’s (Rebstocks), monetary assertion of the ‘lifetime’ cost of beneficiaries as bullshit in the RadioNZ National interview this morning pointing out that the unemployment figures show that that benefit isn’t the ‘problem’ as the majority of those who access the unemployment benefit do so for short periods,

      So, we now know that Paula has no pressing inducement to further attack unemployment benefit recipients besides having them prove that they have been looking for work,

      She said as much also about the recipients of DPB, which just leads me to the conclusion that the most vulnerable cohort of mostly single people in our society are in the next 18 months to be subjected to Paula’s ‘help’ to move them off of that particular benefit,

      Paula a number of times during the interview pointed out that Invalids Beneficiaries are paid a higher rate of benefit than those who receive the unemployment benefit, this is of course because the invalids benefit is expected by those who receive it and the Medical Professionals who test these individuals for work capability befor signing the relevant paper-work do not expect such people to be in any condition to work for a number of years if ever,

      Paula tho knows best and we can assume that the National Government ‘plan’ to move 40,000 individuals ‘off benefit’ will be directed at these individuals, the economics of which National have given as much thought to as the 78 billion dollar ‘lifetime cost’ of benefits i will get down to discussing later…

      • framu 13.1.1

        4 February 2013 at 4:00 pm

        hope someones recorded that

        • bad12 13.1.1.1

          4 February 2013 at 4:09 pm

          Easily accessed i assume via the RadioNZ web-site /nine to noon…

14. Jokerman 14

    4 February 2013 at 12:36 pm

    😉

15. Jokerman 15

    4 February 2013 at 12:45 pm

    now, anyhoo, this is just for the locals, and then i will sit back out of your hair.
    an argillaceous liason around the ear as a scruffily draped phaethon parked a Malt magnesia exertion beneath the quasia dilantern.purslonely, it’s a bitter sweet sola number. Mind the salt Sister shiney washer, Let Robin save the day from the pun under your bed. To the emperor we dispose (please don’t let my tyre down; I enjoyed the walk) A pound a round The Globe. Beep Beep bop a loo bop
    a little melting. Talk about pissisting down a man’s deep furrows.tick The Other Kind a pair of brown eyes walk alone (to be Farr, I’ve always followed the news to see what’s blown up today)
    spinning wheel goes round and round the Gestalt chair, yet no bodies there.took the money and run.

16. Blue 16

    4 February 2013 at 2:36 pm

    Interesting to read this in the Herald today:

    On his way into the caucus, David Cunliffe said it was a secret ballot so he would not discuss how he would vote. In January he had said he would endorse Mr Shearer. Mr Shearer outflanked Mr Cunliffe in an effective challenge at the party conference last year.

    Many other MPs going in also refused to say how they would vote, saying it was a secret ballot.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10863308

    Where are the crowds of idiots screeching “OMG! David Cunliffe didn’t endorse the leader! He’s mounting a coup!”

    Why is his answer good enough today, but it wasn’t good enough at Conference?

    Is he going to be demoted again for refusing to endorse Shearer?

    • Foreign Waka 16.1

      4 February 2013 at 6:31 pm

      Chess, that is the name of the game. People who work like the last roman emperors lot have not got my vote.

    • McFlock 16.2

      4 February 2013 at 6:42 pm

      Slight difference between a frontbencher refusing to endorse the leader at conference while voting to change the election format into a form that might be advantageous for him (while the leader abstained from that vote), and a backbencher who has previously endorsed the leader walking into the caucus room on the day of what looks like a routine confidence endorsement.

17. joe90 17

    4 February 2013 at 2:47 pm

    Tax cuts for their own and a bedroom tax for others. Tory arses.

18. Jokerman 18

    4 February 2013 at 3:13 pm

    Slash and Burn Tyres
    http://www.rtcc.org/climate-ambition-could-slash-value-of-big-oil-firms/
    Zone O2out
    http://www.rtcc.org/ozone-hole-affecting-antarctics-ability-to-absorb-carbon-dioxide/
    Lawyers Bunsen Burners and Dunny
    http://www.opednews.com/articles/Money-Politics-and-the-Sc-by-Adnan-Al-Daini-130203-17.html
    Oh well.

    • BLiP 18.1

      4 February 2013 at 4:09 pm

      .

      The link to the Independent’s story makes for frustrating reading.

      A secretive funding organisation in the United States that guarantees anonymity for its billionaire donors has emerged as a major operator in the climate “counter movement” to undermine the science of global warming, The Independent has learnt . . .

      In my internet travelling, I often come across the denialist position that climate change is a conspiracy. Ironic situation is ironic.

      • Jokerman 18.1.1

        4 February 2013 at 8:27 pm

        yes BLiP, saw that article Independently a little while back.

19. Rosie 19

    4 February 2013 at 3:53 pm

    Well, after THAT news today it may be safe to assume that the only champagne corks popping tonight will be in the abodes of Team Shearer and those of the right wingers.

    Instead lets raise a glass of red to The Greens and give a nod to Mana. All power to you. All power to us as voters too. We need to rally togther and to unify. Its up to us as well. Collectively and individually we have to get those non voters educated and motivated. Its a big task ahead.

    • blue leopard 19.1

      4 February 2013 at 4:30 pm

      @ Rosie
      +1 😀

20. BLiP 20

    4 February 2013 at 4:00 pm

    .

    So, what happens in Australia when a couple of journalists reveal high-level corruption and cover up . . . that goes on and on and on? Well, government and its authorities ignore it then goes after the journalists and their sources.

    . . . Shooting the messenger is still a favourite pastime of despotic regimes and corporate institutions and their lawyers, who use various types of silencers on their weaponry, aimed at those who light even a candle to disturb the dark of corruption . . .

    • vto 20.1

      4 February 2013 at 4:06 pm

      .
      what a surprise

21. vto 21

    4 February 2013 at 4:48 pm

    Fuck, another wee whopper just whacked Chch. Guess 4.4, 8km deep, centred 5km east.

    • Rosie 21.1

      4 February 2013 at 5:03 pm

      Just for something different eh vto? You Cantabrians must be built of strong stuff. I’d have been a mess along time ago if I was in your shoes. The heaving earth beneath your feet is one thing but it must be something else to have the strength to take on insurers and cope with being treated like irksome peasants by a contemptuous govt. Kia Kaha.

      • vto 21.1.1

        4 February 2013 at 5:10 pm

        Ha, yeah cheers, but we are mere mortals and I think most populations would just deal with it all the same way. As for being a mess – yep, there is plenty mess in the population. Strung out and worn out. Especially when the Great Earth Monster lets loose right under your arse…

        • Copperhead 21.1.1.1

          4 February 2013 at 7:16 pm

          Great Earth Monster? Has Gerry the Hutt been given a new nickname I am not aware of?

22. Morrissey 22

    4 February 2013 at 5:42 pm

    “The Panel” continues its ghastly decline
    Radio NZ National, Monday 4 March, 2013
    Jim Mora, Jonathan Krebs, Tino Pereira

    We are already into the fourth week of this year’s version of Jim Mora’s program “The Panel”. Sadly, the producers have made no innovations or improvements to the format at all; Jim’s volubility is as insufferable as ever, his blithe condescension is if anything even worse, and the “talent” is drawn from the same stagnant pool of lacklustre sycophants as it was last year, and the year before.

    Today’s edition was typical….

    MORA: All right, the next subject is ACC payouts. Some of these claims to ACC are hilarious! There were fifty claims for sunburn! Hur hur hur hur hur!

    JONATHAN KREBS: Ha ha ha ha!

    MORA: Hur hur hur hur hur! Fourteen thousand claims for insect bites…

    TINO PEREIRA: Ha ha ha ha ha!

    MORA: There were one hundred and ninety-five claims for windsurfing and—hur, hur, hur, hur!—two hundred and eleven for bodyboard injuries!

    JONATHAN KREBS: Ha ha ha ha ha!

    JIM MORA: Hur hur hur! And 938 barbecue injuries! Hur hur hur hur hur!

    JONATHAN KREBS: Ha ha ha ha ha!

    TINO PEREIRA: Ha ha ha ha ha!

    MORA: Professor Grant Duncan from Massey University joins us. Hur hur
    hur hur!

    PROFESSOR DUNCAN: I am concerned about this apparent trivialization of injuries.

    MORA: Uhhhh….

    PROFESSOR GRANT DUNCAN: I don’t think these injuries are trivial. If you get stung by a swarm of wasps you need to get yourself to hospital. I think it’s dangerous if we start to trivialize injuries like this.

    MORA: Hmmmm. Inevitable with media reportage though….

    SOAPBOX….

    MORA: Now’s the time we find out what our Panelists have been thinking about. Jonathan, you want to talk about university fees?

    KREBS: Yeah, I don’t have anything that’s really NEEDLING me at the moment, Jim, but my daughter Harriet is off to university and I have had to pay $6,000 for her accommodation and $7,000 for course fees, which made me pucker up a bit!

    ….and so on, and so on, and so on….

23. Copperhead 23

    4 February 2013 at 7:11 pm

    Just started watching seven sharp… It’s fluffier than my bellybutton lint, what a joke of a current affairs show.

    • Tim 23.1

      4 February 2013 at 7:33 pm

      Thankfully rain fade brought me to my senses but it’s a doozy ain’t it? Poor buggers! Still, I guess it pays the mortgage aye and its cleaner than the usual form of prostitution. They can probably wait till they get home before they have to have a shower!

24. bad12 24

    4 February 2013 at 7:20 pm

    Slippery the Prime Minister will be having lots of fun at the Waitangi Marae tomorrow…

25. VivaciousViper 25

    4 February 2013 at 7:46 pm

    What if David Cunliffe started his own party, i’m sure he would get a truckload of
    support, who needs the s–t that has been dished out to him, just a thought.

26. Morrissey 26

    4 February 2013 at 8:43 pm

    UNWATCHABLE! SEVEN SHARP IS A DISASTER
    One’s dreadful new current affairs show will not survive

    SEVEN SHARP, Inaugural broadcast, Television One, Monday 4 March 2013
    Alison Mau, Greg Boyed, Jesse Mulligan and assorted others

    Alison Mau’s credibility, already pretty unimpressive, has plunged to an all-time low over the weekend, following her ludicrous few days of dishonestly lionizing “Sir” Paul Holmes as the greatest broadcaster who ever lived. It was ominous that she debased her currency so grievously just before this show’s opening.

    Anybody who has looked at his Twitter account or seen him try to ad-lib while reading the News knows that Greg Boyed is about as funny as a parking ticket. On the evidence of tonight’s show, his idea of humour is to make sarcastic remarks. Not funny sarcastic remarks, though; Boyed is no Charlie Brooker. His first contribution to the dreadful three-person opening remarks sequence, was to make a sarcastic swipe at Titewhai Harawira, smirking with derision as he called her “that paragon of reason.” It was the sort of remark that the late Paul Holmes would have made, but Boyed has none of Holmes’s leavening wit.

    Jesse Mulligan, who is billed as a comedian, decided to go for the big laughs: “Now we were going to have the Prime Minister cut a ribbon for the start of the show, but he wasn’t available.” Then he laughed: “Naaah, actually he WAS available, he just didn’t want to come on. Ha ha ha ha ha!” Tellingly, neither Alison Mau nor Greg Boyed could squeeze out a laugh to support the poor fellow. They were clearly wishing the ground would swallow them up. And so, no doubt, were most viewers.

    Barry Soper’s South African squeeze Heather Du Plessis-Allan announced that she was going to do a “puff-piece” on John Key. “What else would you expect?” she laughed. And that’s just what she did.

    I bailed after five minutes. It was simply unwatchable.

27. Jokerman 27

    4 February 2013 at 8:44 pm

    observing the political machinations (under the hood and on the deck) in this country, it is no surprise we have wrong-headed where we are going. Kubrick may be correct, no amount of writing on The Wall this season and as for roman Ghosts! In ADDition, any suggestions other than auto-pilot or Siberia? What is reaped is what is grown to make of no effect when one leg is shorter than the other or missing benignly. It’s a minefield on a moon lit night through vanity and vineyards across the red cod reef Clive; If not, a co-ordinated portamanto is being drawn as we pick up after others (my notes have been binned in the recycling, blown away like the sand of a mandala) I really don’t mind if we sit this one Out (we may make you feel but we can’t help but think…back to the scrap heap) 🙁
    Last Post for our loyal side-kick soldier.

    Get LAo Daily (this cat’s not comin’ back) arrivederci, auf wiedersehen pets. bye 🙁 🙂

28. Jokerman 28

    4 February 2013 at 9:22 pm

    observing the political machinations in this country, it is no surprise we have wrong-headed where we are going. Kubrick may be correct; no amount of writing will break down The Wall this season and as for roman Ghosts? In Addition, any suggestions other than auto-pilot or Siberia? What is reaped is what is grown to make of no effect when one leg is shorter than the other or missing altogether.It’s a mine-field on a moonlit night through vanity and vineyards across a red cod sand-Bar.If not a co-ordinated portamanto is being drawn.Picking up after others as I deposited my own notes in a recycling bin, blown away like a sand mandala. Really don’t mind if I sit this one Out
    (we may make you feel but we can’t help but think…off to the scrap heap again).

    Last Post for our trusty side-kick soldier.Get LAotea Daily. (this cat’s not coming back).

    arrivederci auf wiedersehen pets. bye. 🙁 🙂

29. David H 29

    5 February 2013 at 12:36 am

    Something for the late nite insomniac and other’s warning it could make you sick

    http://tvnz.co.nz/news

    2/3rd of the page down on the left side entitles Inside John Keys Office a nice little 4.5 min vomit fest of Key love in talk about 1 sided reporting. But they have to do somethinf after that crap 7 Sharp Maybe they could get Hooton on it a crap writer on a crap show.

    • felixviper 29.1

      5 February 2013 at 1:26 am

      lolz @ “I never drink in the daytime.”

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