Open Mike 05/10/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 5th, 2016 - 117 comments
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117 comments on “Open Mike 05/10/2016 ”

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  1. dv 1
    5 October 2016 at 7:40 am

    I am confused.
    Key says hard to measure count the kids in poverty,
    BUT YET
    the moe can measure kids at risk for school funding!!!!

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11722436

    PS well done LPent

  2. ianmac 2
    5 October 2016 at 8:25 am

    Yes. Thanks Lyn. Absence makes the heart grow fonder- or something. 🙂

  3. pat 3
    5 October 2016 at 8:36 am

    National government strategy on CC resembles its plan on the Auckland housing crisis….a lot of spin and no action….”its complicated”

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201818700/nz-ratifies-paris-agreement-to-fight-climate-change

  4. Richard Rawshark 4
    5 October 2016 at 8:39 am

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11722306

    Heralds apparently spent some money on a proper opinion writer. One who writes an article in the style I quite like, sarcasm that is poignant and makes you think a little.

    yep I like their new opinion writer, should add a little required balance that nanny had been so lacking for so long if she stays on this sort of mid ground tune.

    • Puckish Rogue 4.1
      5 October 2016 at 8:53 am

      Shes just another ranty hypocrite in my opinion but if you like her writing then its all good

    • Cinny 4.2
      5 October 2016 at 8:54 am

      Oh dang, what a read, loved it. Thanks so much for posting the link. Looking forward to reading more from her in the future.

      This part had me in stitches…

      “Our own Prime Minister is pretty much off his rocker but, hey, let’s not labour the point. Unless, it’s all Labour’s fault. Which it probably is. It’s just got to be their fault he got in that cage and bent down and picked up the soap on command. Or that he’s overseen the new and unprecedented era of wadeable versus swimmable rivers. Or that children living in poverty are way harder to count than rodents. Even if they don’t move as fast. Even when you offer them $5000.”

    • Draco T Bastard 4.3
      5 October 2016 at 9:12 am

      But there’s another kind of covert madness at work. A potentially apocalyptic one.

      It’s not really covert. We’ve just been conditioned to accept it, to worship those who are it and to chase being it…

      …and that’s being rich.

      We cannot afford rich people and chasing being ever richer is destroying society and the environment around us.

    • alwyn 4.4
      5 October 2016 at 9:18 am

      Did they really have to put her photo at the head of the article?
      I clicked on your link and the first thing I found was a photo that looked just like Donald Trump! Same eyes and hair tone.
      Poor thing. She deserves sympathy.
      Quite put me off my breakfast.

      • Draco T Bastard 4.4.1
        5 October 2016 at 9:24 am

        Ah, a typical nasty RWNJ.

        Doesn’t like what the person said and so attacks her looks.

        Tell me, would have done that if the author had been a male?

        • alwyn 4.4.1.1
          5 October 2016 at 9:39 am

          I made no comment at all about what I thought of the article.

          Your imagination is therefore running completely out of control when you claim “Doesn’t like what the person said and so attacks her looks”
          I neither said that I didn’t like what she said and I didn’t “attack” her. I sympathised with her.

          And yes, if any other journalist’s photo reminded me so strongly of Trump I would have sympathised with them too.

          Actually I have previously commented that one of the Wellington City Council candidates has a photo on his billboards that appears to have been copied from the John Key photo from the last election. I don’t know whether Simon Woolf is going to gain or lose from the resemblance.

          • Draco T Bastard 4.4.1.1.1
            5 October 2016 at 10:42 am

            I neither said that I didn’t like what she said and I didn’t “attack” her. I sympathised with her.

            Why would you need to sympathise with how people look?
            The answer is that you don’t, don’t even have to bring it up, and thus it was an attack on her and what she wrote and not sympathy.

            • Puckish Rogue 4.4.1.1.1.1
              5 October 2016 at 10:51 am

              I actually agree on this, you see this all the time (on the left and right) where people feel free to point out other people physical attributes

              Its not right, its not helpful and its just plain wrong

            • alwyn 4.4.1.1.1.2
              5 October 2016 at 10:54 am

              When I saw her photo I was reminded of Donald Trump.
              That man is so appalling that it would put anyone of their breakfast.
              Do you seriously expect me to think kind thought about “The Donald” rather than be totally horrified by the man?

      • Puckish Rogue 4.4.2
        5 October 2016 at 9:31 am

        Not cool bro, not cool at all.

        Can we all please stop making reference to what people look like and focus on what they say/do instead

      • Reality 4.4.3
        5 October 2016 at 9:49 am

        Oh Alwyn – so presumably when you look in the mirror there is a face looking back at you that is stunningly attractive, with a great hair style, wearing smart attire. So you have therefore given yourself the right to judge someone’s appearance who does not match your gorgeousness. How shallow.

        I thought the column was brilliant and so refreshingly clever.

        • alwyn 4.4.3.1
          5 October 2016 at 10:48 am

          “looking back at you that is stunningly attractive, with a great hair style, wearing smart attire”.
          Well no. I see someone who is getting distinctly old, wearing old clothes and looking like anyone else of my age.
          The only thing I can claim is that I still have my hair, although it is now totally white.

          I didn’t even say she was not gorgeous, did I? I merely commented that she reminded me very strongly of Donald Trump. Could it be that you don’t approve of The Donald’s looks? How judgemental of you.

          Oh well, I assume in the future no one on this site will describe Cameron Slater as being fat and everyone will ignore Gerry Brownlie’s excessive weight.

          • framu 4.4.3.1.1
            5 October 2016 at 12:10 pm

            “I didn’t even say she was not gorgeous, did I?”

            you definatelky implied it.

            Just stop digging the hole and admit that it was a low blow

    • TheExtremist 4.5
      5 October 2016 at 9:39 am

      Too ranty for me – kinda like Bomber. Much rant with little substance.

      Also:
      “Our own Prime Minister is pretty much off his rocker but, hey, let’s not labour the point. Unless, it’s all Labour’s fault.”

      It should be ” let’s not belabour the point”. Grinds me gears!

      • Richard Rawshark 4.5.1
        5 October 2016 at 9:43 am

        ahhh but using the word labour instead of belabour ie sarcasm was deliberate do you not think?

        • TheExtremist 4.5.1.1
          5 October 2016 at 10:02 am

          Possibly, but could still have worked spelled correctly.

          As a former journo and comms manager I am a self-confessed grammar Nazi

  5. Morrissey 5
    5 October 2016 at 8:52 am

    Jesse Mulligan: “Sometimes when I read this stuff I get
    the sense that Russia are L-L-L-LOOKIN’ for trouble…”
    RNZ National, Tuesday 4 October 2016, 4:47 p.m.
    Jesse Mulligan, James Nokise, Chris Wikaira

    Incredibly, RNZ’s sorry light chat show The Panel just keeps getting worse. I’m sorry to have to say that in his occasional hosting stints, comedian Jesse Mulligan has shown himself to be as ill-informed and smug as the regular host Jim Mora. The following farcical exchange was horrible to listen to, not only because of Mulligan’s abysmal ignorance—it’s obvious he has read virtually no “stuff” on Syria—but also because of Professor Gillespie’s mealy-mouthed performance. It seems he’s more concerned with avoiding a browbeating from his notorious right wing Waikato colleagues Ron Smith and Dov Bing than he is with informing the audience. The end effect of five minutes of Al Gillespie is similar to sitting through five minutes of a Donal Trump speech—you feel you’ve wasted your time, and you actually feel stupider at the end of it…..

    JESSE MULLIGAN: So let’s move on as well, and we’ll go international now, with a look at the world with Al Gillespie. The United States has suspended Syrian ceasefire talks with Russia, and they made the call after frustrations with Moscow and its ability to live up to a ceasefire agreement. That announcement comes two weeks after the most recent attempt at a ceasefire fell apart, when a humanitarian aid convoy trying to reach besieged areas of rebel-held Aleppo was destroyed by an air strike. Al Gillespie of the University of Waikato joins us now. Al, hullo there, how ARE you today?

    PROFESSOR AL GILLESPIE: Hey Jessie, I’m well. Thank you.

    JESSE MULLIGAN: [extended intake of breath to convey how serious he is] Who do we believe: United States or Russia?

    PROFESSOR AL GILLESPIE: Well, there’s two sides to it. The Americans said they’ll only go back into the talks if the Russians stop bombing Aleppo, and the Russians say they can only stop bombing Aleppo if the Americans distinguish between the moderate rebels and Al Qaeda, which is a legitimate target.

    JESSE MULLIGAN: Aaaaand is your understanding that the Russians have a POINT in that respect or do the United States deny it?

    PROFESSOR AL GILLESPIE: I, uh, I, …[baffled world-weary sigh]… there’s no-o-o-o-o black and white any more in, in Syria, especially in Aleppo. And often the sides, some of those that are moderate and not meant to be targeted, blend with the ILLEGITIMATE, more religious extremists which CAN be targeted. It’s pretty hard to get a clear dividing line.

    JESSE MULLIGAN: How bad news IS this, that talks have broken down between the U.S. and Russia?

    PROFESSOR AL GILLESPIE: It’s very bad, I mean we can’t even get a ceasefire at the moment, so we can’t, you need a ceasefire before you can start talking about a peace plan. We need to be thinking that this conflict could go on for many years from here.

    JESSE MULLIGAN: Why do ceasefires break down, Al, if uh, if no one enjoys war? [snickers nervously]

    PROFESSOR AL GILLESPIE: There’s no trust on the ground. No one believes that it’s safe to bring in aid, water, or food, and so unless you can get the most basic modicum of trust, you can’t build up.

    JESSE MULLIGAN: So how do you CREATE it?

    PROFESSOR AL GILLESPIE: You get the teams, well you need two things. One, people have to get tired of fighting, and neither side has to believe that they can WIN. At the moment, there’s so much money, men, and ammunition going into the fight, both sides believe that they still have the upper hand. And then you need to have confidence-building measures, and right now they can’t even achieve THAT.

    JESSE MULLIGAN: [speaking very slowly, to convey thoughtfulness] Sometimes when I read this stuff I get the sense that Russia are L-L-L-LOOKIN’ for trouble, are L-L-L-LOOKIN’ to create tension with the U.S. Is that fair?

    ….Long pause….

    PROFESSOR AL GILLESPIE: [slowly, deliberately, to convey deep thinking] Ahhhhhmmm, partly, partly not. I mean, Russia’s there by a treaty it had with Syria from the early 1970s, a legitimate treaty for a defensive alliance, and Assad is still to a degree in power, so Russia’s doing what it was bound to do by treaty. The problem is, that at some point, as long as you’re propping up these sides the war will continue and you may have to, everyone just back out and see what the actual outcome is.

    ….Long pause…

    JESSE MULLIGAN: Meanwhile, there’s this OTHER story around today, that Russia have walked away from the protocol on weapons-grade plutonium control. Can you give us a bit of background to that, Al?

    PROFESSOR AL GILLESPIE: Certainly. So the nuclear arms treaty’s like a collection of documents which regulate nuclear weapons. One of the protocols was about the reduction of plutonium, surplus plutonium, so it would not be diverted to create more nuclear warheads. The Russians have suspended their talks in this protocol exactly the same day as the Americans suspended their talks about the ceasefire in Syria. It’s a blow to nuclear arms control, it’s not MASSIVE, but it’s certainly starting to wobble the architecture.

    …Long pause…

    JESSE MULLIGAN: And once AGA-A-AIN, if we look at both parties, do both parties have some culpability here, or is it the Russians MAKING TROUBLE?

    PROFESSOR AL GILLESPIE: U-u-u-u-u-ummm, both parties have some —the Russians are saying that they can’t trust the Americans with the technology that they’re using to turn their plutonium into a safe form of nuclear material, and the Americans are saying that if they work together they can come to a compromise. So there’s good and bad on both sides.

    JESSE MULLIGAN: Mmmm-kay. Finally today, the Colombian peace deal veto. You better give us some background to this as well, Al, it’ll be the first time a lot of people have HEARD about this….

    …ad nauseam…

    Anyone wishing to, unlike Jesse Mulligan, do some serious study of what is happening in Syria, should bypass the likes of Al Gillespie and read or listen to someone who knows what he’s talking about. There is no one better on this than Noam Chomsky….
    http://www.democracynow.org/2016/5/17/noam_chomsky_on_syria_conflict_cut

    • Adrian Thornton 5.1
      5 October 2016 at 9:39 am

      Typical of the relentless dumbing down of National radio, it drives me fucking crazy.
      I have emailed 9-noon a number of times the about pointlessness of having that private prison loving centrist Mike Williams on the voices from the right and left on Mondays, what a complete waste of time, he more often than not ends up agreeing tacitly with Hooten’s position, and why wouldn’t he, they are basically two sides of the same coin….don’t get me started.

      • Morrissey 5.1.1
        5 October 2016 at 10:30 am

        Williams doesn’t “tacitly” agree with Hooton, Adrian, he makes a point of saying “I agree with Matthew” several times in every show, almost as often as he chortles along with Hooton whenever a politician like Jeremy Corbyn is mentioned.

        Maybe he learned to ingratiate himself with superior personalities when he was a high school classmate of Paul Holmes.

        • Adrian Thornton 5.1.1.1
          5 October 2016 at 11:29 am

          I know I was trying to be diplomatic, I have also replied to quite a few of Williams opinion pieces in the Hawks Bay today, however our local newspaper isn’t that interested in community conversation so only publish comments spasmodically.
          I can’t understand RNZ’s logic of not actually having a hard hitting left intellectual on the show to challenge Hooton, and spark real debate. Surely even from their own rating perspective that must make sense?

          • Morrissey 5.1.1.1.1
            5 October 2016 at 11:45 am

            They have occasionally put decent opponents up against Hooton, much to his evident discomfort. Laila Harré never let him get away with anything, and Andrew Campbell stymied him regularly.

            I’m sure the RNZ National management had a role in getting rid of those difficult people and replacing them with patsies like Williams.

            Ratings aren’t important: conformity is all that matters.

      • Adrian 5.1.2
        5 October 2016 at 11:10 am

        Thanks Adrian for sorting out thre ” 2 Adrians ” thing.

    • Wensleydale 5.2
      5 October 2016 at 1:05 pm

      JESSE MULLIGAN: Why do ceasefires break down, Al, if uh, if no one enjoys war? [snickers nervously]

      That alone should get him thrown out of a window. I mean, does he come to work drunk or something?

  6. Colonial Viper 6
    5 October 2016 at 8:59 am

    Thanks for getting the site back up and running, lprent.

    • Draco T Bastard 6.1
      5 October 2016 at 9:25 am

      +1

    • alwyn 6.2
      5 October 2016 at 9:31 am

      I think it was a very opportune outage. It will have saved red faces all round.
      The more devoted Andrew-philes would have been in a terrible dilemma if they had been able to comment yesterday morning.
      After listening to Little’s repeated promises on Morning Report to pay all parents a $60/week benefit for the first year of a babies life there would have been paens of praise about what great leadership Labour were offering and that we now saw what a wonderful man Little was.
      Then, about four hours later they would be stuck with having to explain how he had never said any such thing and that he was being grossly misinterpreted.
      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11722111
      Even the Herald seems to have decided he had stuffed up again.
      Only four hours from cock of the walk to a feather duster.

      I must admit I was quite surprised how much I missed the presence of this site though. I think I need to take a holiday. Thanks for fixing my fix.

      • Bearded Git 6.2.1
        5 October 2016 at 9:49 am

        Little’s interview was way better than John Key’s pathetic effort. Little said it would take 2 terms-6 years- to make a real difference to child poverty, which is about right, and floated the old Labour $60 policy as one way of alleviating this. So at least he committed Labour to do something about this scandalous situation-nobody announces actual policies this far out.

        Did we see a massive article in the Herald critisising Key’s pathetic do-nothing, the market will sort it out, what about the rodents, interview response? No.

        p.s Great to have TS back!

        • Colonial Viper 6.2.1.1
          5 October 2016 at 10:01 am

          ittle’s interview was way better than John Key’s pathetic effort. Little said it would take 2 terms-6 years- to make a real difference to child poverty, which is about right

          Meanwhile, that poverty permanently damages the life prospects of 300,000-400,000 children, while the six figure types in Wellington fret around in the Koru Club.

          How long does it really take to raise benefits by $30/week and make the first $5,000 earned in wages/salary exempt from income tax and WINZ calculations?

          • Draco T Bastard 6.2.1.1.1
            5 October 2016 at 11:19 am

            How long does it really take to raise benefits by $30/week and make the first $5,000 earned in wages/salary exempt from income tax and WINZ calculations?

            And how long would it take for the capitalists to raise prices so that they could grab all the extra money for themselves thus ensuring that it would make no difference for the poor?

      • Chuck 6.2.2
        5 October 2016 at 9:52 am

        Yep Andrew Little reversed away faster from his earlier comments than a Italian tank driver in WW2 from the front line.

        Little clarified the “policy” needs more work, as in who / how they were going to pay for it.

        • Puckish Rogue 6.2.2.1
          5 October 2016 at 9:56 am

          No no you don’t understand, John Key tells lies, whereas Andrew Little is the victim of the MSM reporting what he says

          • reason 6.2.2.1.1
            5 October 2016 at 5:49 pm

            The two most interesting things about John key are….

            His bailout and the amount of money he took from u.s.a pension funds …

            2008: 2 Interests (such as shares and bonds)in companies and business entities
            Little Nell – property investment
            MerrillLynch – investment banking
            JacksonMining – gold mining ……………………

            And after then the bailout ………….

            2009: 2 Interests (such as shares and bonds) in companies and business entities
            Little Nell – property investment
            Bank of America – banking
            Jackson Mining – gold mining

            The other interesting thing is how the media, wikipedia and his biography do not mention his good fortune and millions in charity ……..

            The truth looks like a millionare taking millions in charity from ordinary citizens for his worthless investment in ponzi merrill lynch ( merrills share price had been climbing rapidly before imploding )

            Key seems to support fraud both overseas and here in NZ ……….. “” a contentious exemption of professional services firms – mostly lawyers, accountants and real estate agents – from being covered by anti-money laundering laws passed in 2009.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11706741

        • halfcrown 6.2.2.2
          5 October 2016 at 11:26 am

          “Yep Andrew Little reversed away faster from his earlier comments than an Italian tank driver in WW2 from the front line.”

          I find that comment in very bad taste,

          Have you heard or read anything about the Italian Frogman during the second would war? They would be some of the bravest people in the conflict

          • Gabby 6.2.2.2.1
            5 October 2016 at 12:47 pm

            The Italian frogmen had the sense to stay well away from tanks. Well, not oxygen tanks. Or water tanks probably.

    • Puckish Rogue 6.3
      5 October 2016 at 9:34 am

      5 eyes just letting everyone know they’re lurking in the shadows and can strike at any time…

    • Infused 6.4
      5 October 2016 at 9:36 am

      Time to stop hosting it in his sex dungeon and put it on something like aws, hell even digital ocean. Isn’t The Standard a charity?

    • Chooky 6.5
      5 October 2016 at 10:00 am

      +100%…but why do I always have to repeat my name and mail in the box every time?

      • Puckish Rogue 6.5.1
        5 October 2016 at 10:03 am

        So we can track you more easily…

        • Chooky 6.5.1.1
          5 October 2016 at 10:07 am

          lol…sqwark…it didnt know there were other Chooky imposters out there

          • Puckish Rogue 6.5.1.1.1
            5 October 2016 at 10:15 am

            We have eyes everywhere, we see everything…nice top you have on today, the colour suits your eyes and the pattern is quite fetching

            • Chooky 6.5.1.1.1.1
              5 October 2016 at 10:17 am

              obviously you can’t see me!

              • Puckish Rogue …
                5 October 2016 at 10:26 am

                Maybe that’s what I want you to think, underestimate our true power…you’ll never see us coming 😉

                • Chooky …
                  5 October 2016 at 10:53 am

                  lol…i can see you…you are a person of interest …and how do yu know who I am and what my real beliefs are?…I could work for the government and the secret service…i may not even be a Chooky

      • left for dead 6.5.2
        5 October 2016 at 6:30 pm

        Chooky have you had an answer, it means no reply button above, cant see whos being giving cheek. Ha

        • Chooky 6.5.2.1
          5 October 2016 at 8:13 pm

          has someone been giving me more cheek?…and yes I can’t see any reply button to the The Mikado’s Little List

    • Richard Rawshark 7.1
      5 October 2016 at 9:39 am

      Bit like English’s budgets then?

      Or Murray McCully’s Saudi deal

      Or the CHCH convention centre

      etc

      • Puckish Rogue 7.1.1
        5 October 2016 at 9:47 am

        I think the difference is though that KDC was attempting to help National lose the election (like it seems Julian Assange is with Hilary Clinton) whereas National has been trying to win elections

        On that score Assange seems to be as successful as KDC

        • Richard Rawshark 7.1.1.1
          5 October 2016 at 10:09 am

          Without media traction or faux outrage, no one gave a shit.

          ..,and just because the government and media didn’t take it on, doesn’t mean what they said wasn’t true.

          • Puckish Rogue 7.1.1.1.1
            5 October 2016 at 10:21 am

            What did KDC have? Some dodgy email that couldn’t be proven, wow

            • Draco T Bastard 7.1.1.1.1.1
              5 October 2016 at 11:21 am

              Ah, no, he had Edward Snowden and all of his facts to back up what he said and a couple of award winning journalists as well.

              • Puckish Rogue …
                5 October 2016 at 11:34 am

                Ah yes “facts” (see what I did there?) and all those “facts”, all the money, all the hype and all the journalists and yet it was a big fat nothing

                The truth will out and KDC got outed

              • james …
                5 October 2016 at 12:18 pm

                Really – so what facts did he have to back up that fake email again?

    • Chooky 7.2
      5 October 2016 at 10:09 am

      diddums…I know it was a disappointment to you but Julian is not going away..despite Hillary’s drone threat

      ‘Assange: WikiLeaks will publish all US election docs by Nov. 8’

      https://www.rt.com/usa/361533-assange-documents-elections-usa/

      • Puckish Rogue 7.2.1
        5 October 2016 at 10:19 am

        I’d actually prefer Trump over Clinton to win the presidency by the way

        I think Clinton has more knowledge of how to cause damage then Trump does

        I’m more ticked off that nothing was released, like KDCs moment. I want to see…something but all its been is one big let down

        “We’ve got something and we’re going to show it, not today but soon”

        and it never happens

      • TheExtremist 7.2.2
        5 October 2016 at 10:45 am

        Hillary’s drone threat?

        You mean that completely unsourced and unverifiable claim from a single “news” source? The Clinton conspiracies get wilder by the day.
        I wouldn’t be surprised if pretty soon someone claims she used HAARP to make Chemtrails rain GMO gluten seeds on Haiti.

        Seriously, Clinton as a poor choice for president is obvious, there is no need to make shit up when her record speaks for itself.

        • marty mars 7.2.2.1
          5 October 2016 at 11:43 am

          Clinton has caused all the bad shit that has happened over the last THIRTY, I say again, THIRTY years. From fukashima, plastic gryes in the ocean, earthquakes, mountineers not making it, famines, reruns of pissweak UK shit series, all the way to mass murderers, drinking games that arent really games, the middle east and the west and east east too, racial and sexual intolerance, the mullet haircut putin having inappropriate liasons with that tiger. The list – endlist ///sarc

          Wake up Clinton is everwhere – check out the video and change Elvis to Clinton –
          https://youtu.be/mpb4ZAAP6Z4

        • Colonial Viper 7.2.2.2
          5 October 2016 at 12:05 pm

          Not sure about Clinton wanting to drone Assange – but given that Assange is an enemy of the US security state that would seem likely.

          Also you seem to have forgotten that Sec State Clinton was a leading figure in the Obama Administration’s record breaking use of illegal/extra-judicial drone assassinations – under Obama the US droned far more people than GW did.

    • joe90 7.3
      5 October 2016 at 11:40 am

      We wus trolled. (video inside)

      Alex Jones went absolutely insane over Wikileaks, and it was REALLY fun to watch. (by @MattBinder) pic.twitter.com/CuVYznqs7j— CAFE (@cafedotcom) October 4, 2016

  8. Cinny 8
    5 October 2016 at 9:20 am

    Is anyone else on the unpublished electoral roll?

    The Tasman District Council are making it very difficult for me to cast a special vote. Apparently I have to drive to their HQ in Richmond (30mins on the open road) and cannot cast a special vote from their service centre in Motueka. I was wonder if any whom live over the hill in Golden Bay on the unpublished roll, and if they have to go all the way to Richmond to vote (an hour and a half drive on the open road), because they aren’t allowed to cast their special vote from the Golden Bay service centre, just like I’m experiencing.

    To bad if people on the unpublished roll can’t get to Richmond to cast their special vote.

    Are other councils making it difficult for those on the unpublished roll? I didn’t have this problem with the general election.

    And they wonder why voter turn out is low.

    • james 8.1
      5 October 2016 at 11:54 am

      Did you apply to the local electorial officer at the local council to be issued with a special declaration vote?

  10. rhinocrates 10
    5 October 2016 at 9:37 am

    On the crisis of relevance for the social-democratic beige left parties:

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/03/europe-centre-left-spain-socialist-party-leader-coup

    Essentially, if they just try to be fluffy tories, real tories do a better job of being tories and those they’ve abandoned for their Pt Chevalier dinner parties look to the far right or radical left. In order to keep either out of office, they find themselves directly complicit with the tories as junior partners. The problem for the radical left is that its still too fragmented and incoherent to achieve much effect in parliaments and finds itself blocked.

    • Olwyn 10.1
      5 October 2016 at 10:18 am

      The problem for the radical left is that its still too fragmented and incoherent to achieve much effect in parliaments and finds itself blocked.

      The deeper problem is that the right now have all the levers. The right, having persuaded populations that they would all end up as shareholders, and that unemployment etc. were just temporary pains, changed tack as soon as they had what they wanted (all the levers). This left the centre left parties, who had geared themselves toward making sure the shareholder society would be inclusive, with nowhere to go. One of two things has to happen. Either the right themselves will start to reconfigure their aims, fearing that being top dog in a fractured, disabled society makes one vulnerable to worse threats than mere trade unions, or the left will build up the numbers to give them a run for their money even without the levers. While the lack of levers keeps the left fragmented, things have come a long way from movements like “occupy” to Sanders, Corbyn, Podemos, etc.

  11. Bearded Git 11
    5 October 2016 at 9:56 am

    Real Clear Politics has Clinton with a poll lead of 3.8% and a 322-216 lead on the state by state electoral vote map. Not quite a real clear lead but the trend is good.

    • Colonial Viper 11.1
      5 October 2016 at 9:59 am

      A passing blip 🙂

      • Chooky 11.1.1
        5 October 2016 at 10:18 am

        hope so…hope Clinton goes down the gurgler

        • Chooky 11.1.1.1
          5 October 2016 at 10:41 am

          ‘Hacked Clinton Foundation files show ‘pay to play’, bank ties’

          https://www.rt.com/usa/361608-clinton-foundation-hacked-guccifer/

          “Documents reportedly hacked from the Clinton Foundation servers have identified major Democratic donors and troubling ties between TARP aid given to banks and their political contributions. One folder is outright labeled “Pay to Play.”

          A Hacker calling himself “Guccifer 2.0,” who claimed responsibility for previous breaches of the Democratic National Committee and the congressional Democrats, published the documents on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the vice-presidential debates.

          “I hacked the Clinton Foundation server and downloaded hundreds of thousands of docs and donors’ databases,” the hacker wrote on his blog. “Clinton and her staff don’t even bother about the information security.”

          The Clinton Foundation has denied the hack, with president Donna Shalala saying that “none of the files or folders shown are ours.”…

      • Lanthanide 11.1.2
        5 October 2016 at 1:21 pm

        Taken a long time for it to pass…

  12. Penny Bright 12
    5 October 2016 at 10:34 am

    Your future Auckland ‘Peoples’ Mayor – in action!

    😉

    http://councillive.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/video/240216-governing-body-meeting-part-3

    Scroll through to 8 minutes for my presentation to the Auckland Council Governing Body Meeting of 24 February 2016.

    This is where I outline why I think Auckland Council failed to follow lawful due process regarding the ‘out of scope evidence’ provided to the Independent Hearings Panel, and I defended the lawful rights of citizens from ‘the leafy suburbs’.

    (This is one of the 27 Auckland Council Governing Body meetings to which I have presented since 1 November 2010).

    Kind regards

    Penny Bright

    2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.

    • Chooky 12.1
      5 October 2016 at 10:56 am

      Penny…I wish I was in Auckland so I could vote for you!…you would be a brilliant democratic colourful people’s Mayor!

      • Chooky 12.1.1
        5 October 2016 at 12:40 pm

        All chookys of Auckland unite to support Penny for Mayor!

        …she would be much better than any of the boys …in the past

        …she would sort Auckland out with style and flair and democracy

    • james 12.2
      5 October 2016 at 11:50 am

      Penny,

      Ill bet you your outstanding rates bill that you are not our next Mayor.

    • Richard Rawshark 12.3
      5 October 2016 at 1:49 pm

      Penny, I only have a couple of words

      alalalalalalalalallalalalalal

      lolz, never seen anything so out there in my entire life as that video of the live university debate.

      after that, no one could possible ever take local elections seriously again.

    • Sacha 12.4
      5 October 2016 at 7:46 pm

      “I defended the lawful rights of citizens from ‘the leafy suburbs”

      Thank goodness someone is defending our coastal nimbys from their future. Imagine if they had to rely on their own meagre resources to hold back change. Will someone think of the lawyers?

  13. Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster 13
    5 October 2016 at 11:16 am

    Clinton vs Trump . . . again!

    Just watched Max Keiser – at about 10 minutes in, an interview with David Stockman, Ronald Regan’s budget advisor.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evVewdUHcIg

    A couple of quotes:

    “[Trump] hasn’t spent 30 years in the system, he hasn’t memorised the playbook, he’s not part of the status quo and therefore he is the disrupter that we need in the environment that we’re in today,”

    “[Hillary] talked about a basket of deplorables, I think you really need to turn the tables, the basket of deplorables are the policies that she’s been associated with and her generation of leaders ever since the 1980s.”

    An intersting interview.

  14. The Chairman 14
    5 October 2016 at 11:54 am

    So Key asserted the Government is committed to reducing the number of children in poverty (albeit without setting targets).

    Therefore, if National are genuinely committed, will they be extending WFF to all low income children (as called for by Professor Susan St John)?

    Will they adjust WFF for past inflation and index it annually to wages?

    While Labour are committed to setting targets, unfortunately they’ve yet to commit to the WFF measures mentioned above. Therefore, we can’t expect Labour to apply political pressure on this one just yet (and perhaps not at all).

    It’s a shame Labour haven’t got their policy together yet, it results in a weaker opposition.

  15. xanthe 15
    5 October 2016 at 11:56 am

    http://thehackernews.com/2016/10/wikileaks-google-election-leak.html

    Wikileaks 10 year anniversary press conference with assange and others, Somewhat long winded but I learned some new stuff. Well worth it

    • joe90 15.1
      5 October 2016 at 12:01 pm

      I learned some new stuff

      Really?…..do tell…

      • xanthe 15.1.1
        5 October 2016 at 1:09 pm

        watch and learn 🙂

        • joe90 15.1.1.1
          6 October 2016 at 11:56 am

          I watched a fund raiser, was harangued about a new book and eventually trolled by an alleged rapist who revealed nothing new about Clinton, and he seemed to throw cold water on the notion that any revelations he had in store would destroy Clinton’s campaign.

          You?.

  16. The Chairman 16
    5 October 2016 at 1:17 pm

    Trump (the so-called anti-establishment presidential candidate) wants to slash the corporate tax rate by over 50% with no strings attached.

    The reasoning for this is he hopes to attract businesses back to the States to help boost employment and stimulate the economy.

    Unfortunately, Trump made no mention of stipulating criteria (living wage, employment expectations, etc) companies would have to meet to receive the tax cuts while ensuring his objectives are met.

    Wonder how his anti-establishment supporters feel about that one?

  17. Bill 17
    5 October 2016 at 1:31 pm

    fyi Lynn.

    Could only sign into the back end of the site. Every time I hit the front end, it appeared I was automatically signed out. Then I submitted a comment and I was suddenly signed in again. Sort of.

    Still can’t access private posts on the front end. Can access them on the back end, but not to comment .

    And depending on how I navigate around the front end, I appear to be variously signed out or signed in.

    windows 7 chrome

    • Colonial Viper 17.1
      5 October 2016 at 3:10 pm

      I’ve been hitting the “Exceeded the maximum global requests per minute for crawlers or humans” locked out warning all day.

    • Anne 17.2
      5 October 2016 at 4:00 pm

      Same here. If I’m allowed access to TS , comments also deleted. Except (hopefully) this one which I’ve sent via Firefox rather than google chrome.

      • Manuka AOR 17.2.1
        5 October 2016 at 4:33 pm

        I couldn’t access the site for a few days – till today. See if this goes through..

  18. Manuka AOR 18
    5 October 2016 at 4:41 pm

    I was locked out so changed browser – This message:

    Your access to this site has been limited

    Your access to this service has been temporarily limited. Please try again in a few minutes. (HTTP response code 503)

    Reason: Exceeded the maximum global requests per minute for crawlers or humans.

    Important note for site admins: If you are the administrator of this website note that your access has been limited because you broke one of the Wordfence firewall rules. The reason your access was limited is: “Exceeded the maximum global requests per minute for crawlers or humans.”.

    If this is a false positive, meaning that your access to your own site has been limited incorrectly, then you will need to regain access to your site, go to the Wordfence “options” page, go to the section for Rate Limiting Rules and disable the rule that caused you to be blocked. For example, if you were blocked because it was detected that you are a fake Google crawler, then disable the rule that blocks fake google crawlers. Or if you were blocked because you were accessing your site too quickly, then increase the number of accesses allowed per minute.

    If you’re still having trouble, then simply disable the Wordfence firewall and you will still benefit from the other security features that Wordfence provides.

    If you are a site administrator and have been accidentally locked out, please enter your email in the box below and click “Send”. If the email address you enter belongs to a known site administrator or someone set to receive Wordfence alerts, we will send you an email to help you regain access. Please read this FAQ entry if this does not work.

    This response was generated by Wordfence.

    [lprent: That usually happens when you have too many calls to the site within too short a timeframe. It is there to prevent the site getting overwhelmed by bots masquerading as human. But I’ve been playing with the cache, and didn’t really have time to fine tune it last night. I’ll have a look at it after I get home and make some dinner. ]

    • Manuka AOR 18.1
      5 October 2016 at 4:42 pm

      There was also a link to click and a box to put your email address – these are not showing on the c/p

  19. The Chairman 19
    5 October 2016 at 8:12 pm

    The disclosure bill, which is now under review by select committee, has the singular feature that it arguably does not increase disclosure.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/85000994/john-key-keeps-lid-on-hidden-billions

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