Open mike 04/09/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 4th, 2011 - 63 comments
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63 comments on “Open mike 04/09/2011 ”

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  1. happynz 1
    4 September 2011 at 7:41 am

    I’ve noticed that over the past several days that election signs are going up on fences around town. National is recycling its ‘For a Brighter Future’ claptrap and National’s electorate candidates are heavily promoting Key on their signage as well. In my electorate it is perennial also-ran Nicky Wagner’s mug to the right of Smile and Wave’s smug face with between a large exhortation to Party Vote National.

    Not in a million years would I tick the box for these creeps.

    • Jim Nald 1.1
      4 September 2011 at 7:45 am

      More appropriate for Nats to campaign ‘For a Bullshit Future’.

      • Hanswurst 1.1.1
        4 September 2011 at 8:28 am

        Especially taking their environment policy into account, I think “For a briefer future” is the best fit.

    • The Voice of Reason 1.2
      4 September 2011 at 7:57 am

      I saw some with ‘(Candidate x), a Strong Voice in John Key’s National Party’. It’s an obvious indication that the Nats have only one strategy; smiling and waving.

    • Draco T Bastard 1.3
      4 September 2011 at 1:23 pm

      Re brighter future:
      After the last three years of mismanagement we should now be able to sue the bastards for false advertising.

    • Puddleglum 1.4
      4 September 2011 at 1:34 pm

      I noticed that the Sam Collins/John Key Wigram billboard near the Sockburn overbridge was up for weeks then mysteriously came down when the spending period kicked in (I think). Obviously had to get rid of a few thou’ before the spending limits started deducting it from the allowable spend.

      The photo of Key on the billboard was not a good one (neither was Sam’s). Very tired and ‘non-Duchenne’ smile – surely there were better snaps (something commensurate with a ‘brighter/more vital future’) they could have put up? 

  2. Tiger Mountain 2
    4 September 2011 at 8:09 am

    Many good old fashioned demos will be scheduled if the Nats sleaze in again, it would save us all a bit of trouble though if someone would go through Shonkey’s trash and discover something interesting (ooh look at all those Oxycontin wrappers), or reveal his liking for 4 legged girlfriends or something…

    But yeah smile and wave is pretty much all they have got. And what NZ appears to have is a classic rural/urban tory divide akin to 1981. Thank goodness for mmp.

    • Jim Nald 2.1
      4 September 2011 at 8:41 am

      With one difference, perhaps, ..
      Once were Farmers
      Now are corporate Farmers .. and foreign owners

    • The Voice of Reason 2.2
      4 September 2011 at 8:58 am

      Funnily enough, in the rural town I live in, Key is not that popular. He’s seen as just another city slicker, though preferable to the socialists, of course. I find it interesting that ex farmer’s fed boss Don Nicholson is standing for ACT. In the past, he would have waltzed in to a safe Nat seat or list placing. It’s an indication that National are seen as meddling and soft on rural issues, I think.

      • kriswgtn 2.2.1
        4 September 2011 at 9:07 am

        Key aint that popular in Levin either-nor is that creepy Nathan Guy

      • tc 2.2.2
        4 September 2011 at 10:08 am

        Or simple positioning where Don N. can rant and act all indignant without upsetting the illusion of unity the nats like to portray….ACT is after all the ranting nutty granddads of national, backed and run by the same hollow men. being named Don or John also makes it easier for the senile old goats to get the names right.
        branding pure and simple,….same dog different leg action.

  3. joe90 3
    4 September 2011 at 9:09 am

    Rolling Stone: The GOP War on Voting.

    edit: Reading this brought Two Minutes of Hate to mind.

  4. ianmac 4
    4 September 2011 at 10:20 am

    “Muckraker Reveals Sad Truths About System”
    blares the header for Matt McCarten’s story about Nicky Hager’s book. “Muckraker?”
    The text of Matt’s article in no way reflected the header, but I guess the sub-editors (in Australia?) have their own agenda.
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10749281

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      4 September 2011 at 1:33 pm

      The agenda of the MSM is to denigrate everyone who questions the establishment and to turn into heroes their preferred politicians.

    • Vicky32 4.2
      4 September 2011 at 4:00 pm

      “Muckraker?”

      I recall (from my history studies at Uni) that ‘muck-raker’ used to be an honorable term – a muck-raker was considered a good guy/woman in the 1920s. Sadly, not any more! Oh yes, sub-eds have a lot to answer for..

  5. logie97 5
    4 September 2011 at 10:27 am

    So the charge is correct as it stands then… would appear that rugby is in fact played by cheats?

    http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-world-cup/everybody-cheats-not-just-mccaw-say-wales-boks-4382930

    • ianmac 5.1
      4 September 2011 at 10:41 am

      There are the laws of (any) game then there is what you do to win.
      And if it is OK for the All Blacks its OK for us Boy Racers.

  6. Hilary 6
    4 September 2011 at 10:27 am

    I would like to see that stats for a survey question that asked: “How likely are you to still vote National if John Key was no longer the Party leader?” I think it would quickly drop 20% or so.

    • ianmac 6.1
      4 September 2011 at 10:45 am

      Perhaps preface it with:
      ” Sources inside the National Party inform us that John Key is going to retire straight after the next election. Would you still vote for National…….”

      • Jim Nald 6.1.1
        4 September 2011 at 11:06 am

        That would be right.

        The country has just recently witnessed the puppet masters parachuting one Dolt in to hijack a party.

        Next, the country will see the puppet masters and their bankers helicoptering out a Jerk from another.

        Along the lines of that famous documentary “Someone Else’s Country”, supporters of the National Party can be powerless spectators to their political mandate being stolen by “Someone Else’s Party”.

  7. Dave Kennedy 7
    4 September 2011 at 10:53 am

    Are we wasting our waste? While spending huge amounts on chasing and digging up fossil fuels are we ignoring a potential resource that is hiding in our rubbish bins and dumping sites?
    http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/09/wasting-our-waste.html

  8. Hilary 8
    4 September 2011 at 11:29 am

    National Party list has been released. Few women and little representation of diverse NZ. Many current MPs have been dropped down list. Waiting for the howls of derision and personal attacks on candidates by media and others, as has met the release of other party lists.

  9. thejackal 9
    4 September 2011 at 11:35 am

    Owen Glenn’s Bribery Blues

    On Saturday the 3 September, Sean Plunket interviewed Businessman and multi-millionaire Owen Glenn, on The Nation Program. During the interview he was asked a question concerning donations to political parties. Owen Glenn stated that he would make a donation of $100 million to the government if the National and Act parties won the next general election. It was inferred that he would not make the donation if Labour won…

    • Ianupnorth 9.1
      4 September 2011 at 1:17 pm

      Why doesn’t he do the honourable thing and offer to fix the ChCh schools that are uninsured, pay the wages of the academics that have been made redundant, etc?

    • Vicky32 9.2
      4 September 2011 at 4:30 pm

      Owen Glenn stated that he would make a donation of $100 million to the government if the National and Act parties won the next general election.

      What on earth for? Did he say?

    • millsy 9.3
      4 September 2011 at 5:29 pm

      That is why we need things like education, etc to be funded through taxation, and we need to hit prize pricks like Glenn to pay for it.

      Otherwise we have this situation, in which filthy rich millionaires only fund things with a list of strict conditions, ie the right people being in power.

  10. prism 10
    4 September 2011 at 12:28 pm

    Sunday and today there is a chance for Auckland people to hear and talk to POLLY HIGGINS
    a lawyer with corporate and court background turned to environmental matters – capable, able speaker, interesting, with an exciting idea for a new approach to stopping earth deterioration that can work.)
    (Full background on Jim Nald 1/9 Open Mike 3.51pm)

    Confirming today’s meeting opportunity Jim Nald advises –
    Confirming the following and Google tells me the phone number for the contact person for the Sunday event, ie Helen McNeil, is (09) 832 8181:
    Sunday 4th September 1- 9pm, Auckland
    Eradicating Ecocide
    Earthsong, 457 Swanson Road, Ranui, Waitakere, Auckland
    Please email Helen McNeil, bagend (at) clear.net.nz
    to book a place ($20 includes dinner)

    If you can’t get to meetings I believe on Monday she will be interviewed by Radionz Kathryn Ryan 9toNoon which will go onto download so you can pick it up later at home.

    Also there is a meeting in Auckland city on Monday 7-9pm –
    Monday 5th September, 7 – 9pm, Auckland University
    Ecocide, the missing 5th Crime Against Peace (Facebook), Auckland
    Lecture Theatre 260-098, Owen Glenn Building, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

    (I note that the theatre is in the Owen Glenn Building and earlier on the blog it has been stated that he has announced a $100 million gift? grant? handout? to National/Act if they get in. I wonder if he will want to rename New Zealand too – Owen Glenn South Pacific Properties?)

    • Jim Nald 10.1
      4 September 2011 at 12:55 pm

      Polly Higgins & Ecocide
      People’s Book Prize Winner 2011

      Polly is brilliant. Not a time waster. Strategic, practical and visionary. And at various points, she provides surprisingly fresh insights.

      Google for reviews about the book. For eg, an extract from Univ College London:

      “Polly Higgins defined ecocide as the extensive destruction, damage to or loss of ecosystems of a given territory (whether by human agency or other causes) to such an extent that the peaceful enjoyment of the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished. …

      “The crime of ecocide should not be about closing down companies, she argued, but about ensuring that they are part of the solution.

      “Two hundred years ago industry said that the end of the slave trade was uneconomic and would lead to loss of jobs, and there was public demand for slaves as they were a necessity. Industry proposed that reductions in use of slaves should be left to market forces and self regulation, and that industry itself would improve conditions and limit numbers. Legislation against the slave trade led to the industries involved developing hugely successful technological solutions in very short timescales.

      “By legislating against ecocide, companies would develop new technologies and new ways of working far more rapidly than they would otherwise.”

      http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1101/11012501

      p.s. I don’t get a commission for this! Her arguments and intelligence stand on their own merits.

      p.p.s. It’s looking like the interview tomorrow (Mon) on RadioNZ will start from about 9:20am onwards (the interview should end by 9:50am)

  12. thejackal 12
    4 September 2011 at 12:48 pm

    Disabling Sporting Greatness

    New Zealand is a sporting nation that loves a good game. We punch above our weight and should rightly feel proud about our achievements. Through the good work of many volunteers, our young are engaged in sports, which is healthy for all concerned. However there’s something this sporting mad nation needs to be aware of; our terrible poverty levels are affecting New Zealand’s ability to produce great athletes…

    • Ianupnorth 12.1
      4 September 2011 at 1:15 pm

      If ever there was a case for ‘the spirit level’
      Toff’s school cherry pick the elite athletes; the private schools make it worse by having elite academies, professional coaches, etc, so that only the privileged get the best support.
      So unfair!

    • Brett Dale 12.2
      4 September 2011 at 3:07 pm

      Do we really push above our weight though????

      We seem to do well in sports that other countries dont care about or have heard of.

      Eg: Rugby, Netball, Lawnbowls, Squash, Boat racing.

      Although our basketballers and soccer players and sometimes rowers and swimmers and Track and field certainely push above their weight.

      • thejackal 12.2.1
        4 September 2011 at 6:55 pm

        You’re right to question my assumption of course. I note that Peter Blake is the only Kiwi to win a Laureus World Sports Award (Sport for Good Award and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002). So perhaps the media exposure sport receives is not relative to the countries sporting achievement.

  13. Ianupnorth 13
    4 September 2011 at 1:13 pm

    You know that the right in the UK is buggered when you read this!
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/scottish-politics/8739927/Scottish-Conservative-Party-set-to-disband.html

    Dramatic plans to disband the Tories north of the border were unveiled by the front-runner for its leadership in a move one senior party figure warned could encourage the break-up of the United Kingdom.
    The Prime Minister – who is spending the weekend in Scotland – faces the prospect of being the first British Prime Minister whose party has no Scottish MPs.
    Murdo Fraser, who is favourite to become leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, will announce that he plans to wind up the party if he wins a ballot of members next month.
    He would follow disbanding the party by launching a new Right-of-centre party that would contest all Scottish elections — council, Scottish Parliament and Westminster.
    Mr Fraser, a member of the Scottish Parliament, believes the Conservatives have become a “toxic brand” in Scotland since losing all 11 of their Commons seats in the 1997 Labour landslide.
     

     

  14. prism 14
    4 September 2011 at 1:38 pm

    A very thoughtful and well explained interview on Chris Laidlaw on Radionz this morning with Peter Hyde who was one of a pro-active group down in Christchurch who stepped into the hole of ineptness,and council and government PR with little commitment to actual services for the people suffering most destruction and deprivation, (as opposed to the CBD buildings destroyed.)
    Peter Hyde
    Is convinced that those in the Eastern suburbs have been given the thin end of the stick regarding the relief effort. (34′51″)
    Download: Ogg Vorbis MP3 | Embed
    More details –
    10:06 Peter Hyde – Tale of Three Cities
    Peter Hyde coined the ‘three cities’ phrase following the February quake – rescue city, shower city and refugee city. He warns there are lessons to be learned for the rest of the country from the experience of the residents of the Eastern suburbs.

    Peter made good points and gives examples of the lack of assistance given by Council, Civil Defence and the slowness of government to step forward. (I think that central government should have been on the spot to help these citizens of NZ more, not just leave it to Christchurch to organise and cope.)
    Peter talked of people being advised that water would be available at one spot which was soon cordoned off and inaccessible but that further information wasn’t made available. A civil defence person tried to open up one post but the key was missing so he/she went home. There were numerous examples of the lack of leadership and aid to the local community who could have manned permanent hubs of information and provided feedback.

    Chris Laidlaw was a bit odd. He tended to take the attitude of the organisation offered having been as good as it could be, when I would expect he would be asking for the reasons and solutions for the dissatisfaction expressed. When it was information needed he referred straight away to newspapers, not to the media he was on, radio which would be of prime importance.
    I would have thought there would have been an hourly update of useful news for stricken areas, the portaloos are coming tomorrow, water available here, go out to your gate at 9am till 9.30am if you need something and wave down the red car with white sign on sides in the Bexley area etc.

    It comes I think from a right wing attitude that has little respect for community, remember Thatcher said there was no such thing having absorbed toxic economic theory of the time.
    Therefore you manage the people from above, you map them as individuals and place the burden of coping on their shoulders by advising they need to be self-sufficient for a week, and having passed that responsibility, turn and get onto managing the really valuable matters, the buildings and properties.

    Instead of setting up aid and information points which the able-bodied can access that had services like electricity to charge cellphones, awaken battery radios with rechargeables, nothing was offered. He referred to the Student Army that came forward but could have done with more help, and there was no-one centrally placed to exchange, advise, report, request strategic information with. So much was ad hoc. The Farmy Army sacrificed time, also the students who had vital studies they will be paying for, and they gave up part of their limited time needed to prepare for their tests or exams.

    • Vicky32 14.1
      4 September 2011 at 4:41 pm

      There were numerous examples of the lack of leadership and aid to the local community who could have manned permanent hubs of information and provided feedback.

      I heard only the end of this, and just as Laidlaw’s programme ended, he read out an email from a renter, who talked about how the media have not given a tinker’s about the poor – but we hear constantly about home owners, businesses and even cafes in the CBD. I for one, want to hear about tenants, and the poor… How are they getting on? Spectrum was as usual, banging on and on about artists, cafes and musicians… Well yes, I am sure that’s interesting – especially to lovers of ‘bluegrass’ (how very Kiwi that is!) But what about real people who are trying to survive without having a $750 000 home to get compensation for?

  15. Dave Kennedy 15
    4 September 2011 at 3:37 pm

    It is an interesting exercise to compare party lists to see how well represented the diversity of our society is within each. I have looked at the top 15 on each list and am open to any corrections.
    http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/09/comparing-party-lists.html

  16. Draco T Bastard 16
    4 September 2011 at 7:53 pm

    Wonder how long before New Orleans is abandoned. It’s just not possible to keep a city that is half under water going.

  17. bigbruv 17
    4 September 2011 at 7:56 pm

    So, how about that Owen Glen then aye?

    Even Labour’s biggest fan has come over to the “right side”

    I almost feel sorry for you guys.

  18. Anne 18
    4 September 2011 at 8:46 pm

    Do you really think Owen can buy National into power. Pathetic!

    Joke Key is the big boy now and Glenn likes to curry favour with the big boys and girls. Thought he’d have an easy ride with the last lot but it didn’t work out so he got the sulks. He’s looking to score another plaque with his name on it!

  19. Drakula 19
    4 September 2011 at 9:48 pm

    ACT EXPOSED

    There was a very good article bt John Minto exposing the blatantly covert eliteism and racism that is the driving force behind ACT.

    ACT claim to be the party of property rights but Minto points out that they are ‘demonising as privilidged citizens and begrudging them even one percent of their claim.’

    I didn’t know this but South Canterbury Finance bailout (by NATS) was almost twice that of the total of the treaty claims.

    Interesting reading http://www.converge.org.nz or http://www.cafca.org.nz

  20. Brett Dale 20
    4 September 2011 at 10:01 pm

    Tonight here in chch we had a small reminder on what the past year has been like. Lets hope there wont be a big reminder. the lights are great in the sky, might I add.

  21. Adrian 21
    4 September 2011 at 11:32 pm

    Yeah, great lights! Designed by Bob Parker, personally built by Bob Parker, choir conducted by Bob Parker, script by Bob Parker, switched on by Bob Parker (snr), choreographed by Bob Parker, not paid for by Bob Parker ( fuck no ) , for the honour of Bob Parker.

  22. bigbruv 22
    5 September 2011 at 12:23 am

    Adrian

    Is that the same Bob Parker who thrashed Anderton in the mayoral Elections?

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