Open mike 04/05/2010

36 comments on “Open mike 04/05/2010 ”

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1. Pascal's bookie 1

   4 May 2010 at 6:32 am

   Moonie Times: Rest in Pieces

   It has long been amazing that Official Washington has been so blasé about the curious case of the Washington Times, where a Korean theocrat known for brainwashing his followers and for maintaining close ties with international drug cartels and foreign intelligence agencies has been allowed to spend billions of unregulated dollars to influence U.S. political decision-making.

   The fact that Moon wrapped himself in “conservative’ political garb and was quick to denounce any investigations of his organization as “religious bigotry’ helped fend off inquiries into exactly where his money was coming from.

   But what proved most important was how Moon made himself useful to Ronald Reagan, the Bush Family and other Republican heavy-hitters often by putting into play propaganda smearing their political enemies. These Republicans, in turn, helped protect Moon, at least since the late 1970s….
2. Bored 2

   4 May 2010 at 7:53 am

   Religious nutters one and all, both justifying their priveleged positions as a natural outcome of the favour of God. Somebody please administer the last rites.
   • prism 2.1

     4 May 2010 at 6:53 pm

     LOL
3. Bored 3

   4 May 2010 at 8:23 am

   http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=21071

   The above link tells the rather sad story of a British girl who recently committed suicide because she could not find work. meanwhile the fat bloated classes got fatter. This is the backdrop to the British election.

   It has resonance here for our youth and our skilled workers. On our news you hear that our aspirational government does not aspire to keeping the skill sets of railway workers here in NZ building trains. You hear word that our both of major telecommunications corporations want to “off shore” jobs to call centres and tech cities in India. Meanwhile you know that we are going to hear the NACTs say that we cannot afford the student loan scheme and educations as we know it.

   What future for our children when we saddle tham with debt so that they have the skills that employers previously paid for them to get, or the country invested in? What lack of vision are our political and economic classes showing? As Cromwell said “you have sat too long, begone”.
4. Pascal's bookie 4

   4 May 2010 at 8:42 am

   Attorney General Troy King has asked BP to cease circulating settlement agreements among south Alabamians. Alabama Attorney General Troy King said tonight that he has told representatives of BP Plc. that they should stop circulating settlement agreements among coastal Alabamians.

   The agreements, King said, essentially require that people give up the right to sue in exchange for payment of up to $5,000.

   King said BP’s efforts were particularly strong in Bayou La Batre.

   Cartoon evil.
5. Tigger 5

   4 May 2010 at 9:12 am

   The press are doing their best to paint John (GI Joe) Key as a commander in chief. Pity no one is questioning what the hell we are doing there.
   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10642645
   Also love this article’s use of ‘terrorist’ and ‘insurgent’…
   • Jim Nald 5.1

     4 May 2010 at 9:16 am

     I so love the secret squirrel thang!
     NZ’s PM gets the Obama treatment for Afghanistan.
     Feeling so speshhhial.
     rw
6. Jim Nald 6

   4 May 2010 at 9:14 am

   The Wellington Chamber of Commerce CEO seeing waste all the time, seeing plenty of waste everywhere, and eloquently articulates what he means by ‘waste’ with a string of very persuasive examples. Plenty of room to move in that space to cut more waste; there is scope right through government for further pruning.

   http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/mnr/2010/05/04/jobs,_investment_at_risk_unless_company_tax_is_cut

   Other soundbytes there which contributors here might wish to comment? … aah ahhm erm uhhmm uhhmm just as effectively for less aah ahhm erm uhhmm uhhmm
   • uke 6.1

     4 May 2010 at 9:35 am

     Isn’t profit a form of waste?

     As the gap between what it costs to produce a good and what you pay for it, it represents a waste of money for the consumer.

     Therefore, the higher the profits, the higher the waste.
     • ianmac 6.1.1

       4 May 2010 at 10:32 am

       Wow uke! It follows I suppose, that the one who profits from profit is a Waster. 🙂
       • uke 6.1.1.1

         4 May 2010 at 10:47 am

         “Wasters”, yes, also in the sense that they are wasting their lives, which would be much better spent on good deeds.
7. Jim Nald 7

   4 May 2010 at 9:43 am

   Hehe I am really enamored by Colin *smirk*
   Did you notice, my dear enemies from the left, that he wrote:
   “it’s probably the biggest march in the last couple of years”

   yeah, probably. quite probably. possibly, perhaps. that could be true, maybe. just maybe.
   and, oh yes, “in the last couple of years”. yes, just a couple. one, two.
   imagine if he were a rabid right economist – he would have such fun with figures that you on the left will be thrilled.
8. ianmac 8

   4 May 2010 at 10:38 am

   Hey Jim. Not sure who Colin is but does it suggest that by diminishing the numbers, the right-ists are spin-ists trying to diminish the significance of the march? Must be a worry for them????
   • Jim Nald 8.1

     4 May 2010 at 10:47 am

     They would be worried.
     Anyway, while the people were out on the streets marching in full force, didn’t we notice some spin-ists being busy here?

     By the way, what’s happening to Paula Bennett?
     • ianmac 8.1.1

       4 May 2010 at 1:55 pm

       Aha. That Colin, Jim!
       It is not hard to estimate crowds by sampling and then multiplying. During the Diana drama there were hugely differing estimates of numbers. A crowd was estimated between 25,000 and 100,000.
       I guess that the fact that there was a “large” crowd on Saturday is still significant – especially as a warning to the Government!.
       • Jim Nald 8.1.1.1

         4 May 2010 at 2:13 pm

         Thought you were pulling my leg, Ianmac. I’ve just realised I forgot to paste the link after copying it. Sorry, folks. Rob is covering it more fully!

         I would think if people were coming on to Queen Street while others were already at the other end, that would be a very significant size crowd?

         I had coincidentally, well accidentally, bumped into the black-shirted male ‘enough is enough’ bunch at the bottom of Queen St years ago. The media made a huge song and dance about that march which looked to me like a wee boy scout group on a Saturday outing.
     • freedom 8.1.2

       4 May 2010 at 2:02 pm

       not everyone lives in Auckland , its called solidarity
     • Anne 8.1.3

       4 May 2010 at 5:09 pm

       “By the way, what’s happening to Paula Bennett?”

       Watched Question Time today because Annette King said last week “she would be asking questions of Paula Bennett next week”. Was distracted at one point, but as far as I could tell… not a thing. Perhaps there have been some OIAs submitted, or maybe King is waiting to see what is going to happen with the Commissioner’s report. If Labour let Bennett off the hook I, for one, will be furious.
       • gingercrush 8.1.3.1

         4 May 2010 at 5:21 pm

         Maybe that’s before she Annette King actually watched the news item.

         Anyway there’s this piece: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10642684

         When this happened the first time it was Chauvel that was asking questions so theoretically it could happen Wednesday or Thursday. Still the TV 3 piece was shit so why would a Labour MP touch it?

         And I’m not entirely sure what you expect to be OIA’d and its highly unlikely the bulk of the commissioners report will be made public.
         • Armchair Critic 8.1.3.1.1

           4 May 2010 at 9:44 pm

           I heard this reported on the radio and wondered how long it would be until the report on Paula Bennett would be released.
       • felix 8.1.3.2

         4 May 2010 at 5:57 pm

         Perhaps you missed question 4 today.
9. freedom 9

   4 May 2010 at 12:08 pm

   would anyone else like to join in presenting a thiry foot high middle digit to Telecom today
10. gobsmacked 10

    4 May 2010 at 1:25 pm

    A good piece in the Guardian on social changes in the UK under Labour.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/03/labour-indelible-mark-british-culture

    It’s worth a read. Labour did a lot – a lot – wrong (Iraq top of the list), but that doesn’t mean people should fall for the lazy notion that “they’re all the same” and it just doesn’t matter if the Tories are in power. It will.
    • Quoth the Raven 10.1

      4 May 2010 at 7:43 pm

      That piece deprecates the work of gay activists. Recognition of gay rights and acceptance didn’t just come from the top down thanks to graciousness of the peoples’ betters. It has been a long hard struggle for recognition and acceptance from the grassroots. And that piece has the temerity to laud the feeble ‘same but different’ civil unions.
11. vidiot 11

    4 May 2010 at 4:04 pm

    Zero Impact eh ?

    I guess that’s why all those people are up in arms at the ‘zero impact’ that Freedom Campers have on the environment.

    It’s not really a scandal, just another example of double standards.

    [lprent: Moved to open mike as this appears to have nothing to do with the post you put it in. You didn’t connect the dots with something as basic as a link. One part of your pseudonym is correct. ]
12. vidiot 12

    4 May 2010 at 4:11 pm

    lynn – you missed the point, nothing is Zero Impact. Everything has an impact in some way or form.

    To claim that gold panning is zero impact is fairy dust. It only takes one gold panner with ‘rock snot’ on his shoes to bugger up that environment.

    [lprent: Perhaps you should have explained that. As far as I could see, it just looked like a troll-style first comment diversion, and didn’t appear to be addressing the post at all..

    Can’t be bothered moving it back. So this can go to OpenMike as well.

    Perhaps you should try again. ]
13. gingercrush 13

    4 May 2010 at 5:10 pm

    Claire Browning from Pundit has a very interesting piece. Can’t say I like her politics but she is a very good writer. Labour are well hypocrites. Too bad you can’t repeat that stuff in the house.
    
    [lprent: A link would be nice. I presume you mean this post? ]
14. prism 14

    4 May 2010 at 7:04 pm

    Have tried to put a comment on Mike and first didn’t seem to come through. Thought I would try again, make sure I put the antispam word, but got message that it was a Duplicate, have tried again after a break with same message.
    The comment was LOL. Nothing controversial there I think.
15. Anne 15

    4 May 2010 at 7:21 pm

    Having same problem. Also Comment details up the shoot. Have to fill in each time. See if this comment works
16. Fisiani 16

    4 May 2010 at 8:42 pm

    Today in Parliament QT
    Chris Tremain: How will the Budget 2010 outlook compare with that of 18 months earlier?

    Hon BILL ENGLISH: Fortunately, this Budget will be prepared against a background of 12 months of sound management by this Government, rather than 9 years of mismanagement by the previous Government. In October 2008 the pre-election forecast showed net debt climbing rapidly; by December 2008 the forecast showed net debt soaring past 50 percent of GDP, and permanent deficits. In this Budget we will not have to take action to improve that kind of mismanagement.

    Sums up 18 months of action.
    • Jim Nald 16.1

      4 May 2010 at 9:00 pm

      “9 years of mismanagement by the previous Government” – when he said that, for a moment I thought he was talking about the part he and his colleagues played in 9 years of mismanagement by the previous National Government (Oct 1990 – Nov 1999).
    • ianmac 16.2

      4 May 2010 at 10:02 pm

      And Fisiani. You would think that Bill English would have a bit more imagination. He trots out the same old answer over and over again and I suppose there are those who like little kids enjoy listening to the same old nursery story.
      “To the Minister of Finance: How much money should the Minister of Corrections spend on petrol for her self-drive car?”
      “Mr Speaker: The answer lies in 9 years of mismanagement by the previous Gov……………”
      Boring! 😈
17. Pascal's bookie 17

    4 May 2010 at 10:29 pm

    Digby, whose blog y’all should read, has written a whole bunch on tasers over the years. She’s shown numerous examples of police and security guards using tasers to gain compliance.

    Examples I remember include various people stopped at roadside who get tasered for not co-operating to the officer’s satisfaction, a drunk guy at a baseball game, and most weirdly, a guy who was representing himself in court. The last one was most surreal, and unfortunately I can’t find the link, but from memory this guy was a a uni proff and a tad ‘eccentric’. The court case was a nuisance style one and the judge was clearly pissed off that the courts time was being ‘wasted’. So when the guy, who was well within his rights, wouldn’t stop making his case, he got tasered and dragged from the court.

    All of this is compliance. None of a one of them a threat to anyone at the time they got bolted with the voltage.

    Digby, fairly enough in my view, calls this torture.

    She also has written many times about fatal cases.

    The latest story is not a fatal one, but has her saying she may not be writing about it anymore. A 17 year old kid, running onto the field at a sports game.

    The fans seemed to enjoy the spectacle.

    http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/hilarious-torture.html
18. Lazy Susan 18

    4 May 2010 at 11:03 pm

    Anyone see Paula Bennett’s little performance on TV3 Nightline? Looks as though she’s pretty close to losing it. John Key note to himself – “book more media training and anger management classes for Paula”
    • Jim Nald 18.1

      4 May 2010 at 11:27 pm

      Is this the one?
      http://www.3news.co.nz/Bennett-tight-lipped-on-privacy-breach-case/tabid/370/articleID/154121/Default.aspx

      (How do you guys do that fancy stuff by linking without displaying the string of letters in the url?)

      [Jim – see: http://www.thestandard.org.nz/faq/comment-formatting/ –r0b]

      I find Bennett’s constant regurgitation about ‘process’ quite nauseous and really indigestible.
      She certainly didn’t stick to an ethical process when she bullied those two citizens. Now she is such an apparent stickler for process. Sigh.
      As for the legal issue, the time must surely be nigh for the Privacy Commissioner to open things up and tell us whether or not Bennett had done the right thing.
      • Lazy Susan 18.1.1

        5 May 2010 at 6:55 am

        Yes, thanks Jim that’s the one. Couldn’t find it on the web last night.

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