Open mike 05/11/2012

88 comments on “Open mike 05/11/2012 ”

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1. Chalupa Batman 1

   5 November 2012 at 6:37 am

   http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/national-support-holds-labour-slips-in-poll-5194717

   Don’t worry its just a rogue poll, everything is going to plan.
   • Te Reo Putake 1.1

     5 November 2012 at 7:15 am

     Yeah, another poll showing the opposition out polling the right. Note the desperate optimism and pisspoor mathematics in this bit of analysis:
      
     “National would get 58 seats, add three from the Maori Party and one each from Act and United Future and the centre-right would have a majority of 63.”
      
     A more marginally more accurate reading of NZF’s popularity totally changes the electoral outcome as well. Over 5% and Key loses control.
      
      
     • ad 1.1.1

       5 November 2012 at 8:09 am

       Agreed. A coalition government in the offing.

       Still perplexing to see little recent tracking progress for Labour.

       Annoying that Peters is getting up there in the Preferred PM stakes. Naturally I was pleased when he left Shipley’s government for the sale of Wellington Airport. But it’s still a shudder of instability in a government.

       A relief to see Key is far less of an asset to National than previous. If he survives into a third term, his government will be as smelly as a six month old whale on a beach, and as prone to having further bits fall off. I probably wouldn’t wish that on the country.
     • Chalupa Batman 1.1.2

       5 November 2012 at 12:39 pm

       So Labour going down and n/c for the Greens is a good thing? Relying on WinstonFirst is a good thing?
       • McFlock 1.1.2.1

         5 November 2012 at 1:14 pm

         Is the election to be held tomorrow? Nope.
              
         National have, support wise, lost half their governing majority in less than a year. Another year and they lose the other half. A year after that – oh look, election time…
         • Colonial Viper 1.1.2.1.1

           5 November 2012 at 1:18 pm

           Labour only need to sit tight and wait for the tide to go out on National to get back in. That’s what all the trends say.
           • McFlock 1.1.2.1.1.1

             5 November 2012 at 1:28 pm

             Indeed.
             But I grant you that they’d get farther, quicker, if they did more paddling themselves.
                
             I just see no reason to give them up as lost at sea quite yet.
2. Mr Burns 2

   5 November 2012 at 7:29 am

   Fox has released an excellent video that is bound to destroy the election chances of that damned new dealer Obama and return the control of America to the very wealthy.  God bless America!
   • Rogue Trooper 2.1

     5 November 2012 at 9:37 am

     what is interesting is the media coverage of thousands of people in ” the greatest city on earth” queueing for half a day on foot, or in their cars, for petrol (maybe for the ride-on mower); In large cities it appears a great deal of the population are totally enmeshed and dependent on services supplied by other concerns.
     Now it’s gonna freeze over the big apple and related fruit; sorta reminds me of Moscow before glastnost.
3. Logie97 3

   5 November 2012 at 7:41 am

   Many on here and elsewhere have tried to defend Key’s comments re Beckham.
   The simple fact is, those same people need to ask the question, What sort of person makes that sort of statement off the cuff to that sort of audience? And can they list what other country leaders would have made them.

   Obama? Thatcher? Howard? Bulger? Frazer? Menzies? Rowling? …

   The simple answer is none – except Joky
   • quartz 3.1

     5 November 2012 at 9:04 am

     Hawke.
   • ianmac 3.2

     5 November 2012 at 9:26 am

     So true Logie.
     • Chalupa Batman 3.2.1

       5 November 2012 at 12:25 pm

       Clinton
       • felix 3.2.1.1

         5 November 2012 at 2:16 pm

         For example?
   • Murray Olsen 3.3

     6 November 2012 at 12:43 am

     Abbott is capable of saying anything, but he’s only leader of the opposition.
4. Colonial Viper 4

   5 November 2012 at 9:53 am

   Top exec and businessman speaks out against outrageous executive pay

   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10845155

   Mr Taylor said a CEO’s remuneration “should be measured by how well he or she protects jobs and should bear a direct relationship to how well the employees … are paid”.

   In a letter to the Herald, he referred to a comment last week by former Nuplex chairman Fred Holland, who, when referring to a 26 per cent rise for non-executive directors, said: “You won’t get anything but monkeys if you pay peanuts.”

   Mr Taylor said: “If that means I have joined our fellow primates in his eyes then I know who I would rather spend my time with: Them and the countless other CEOs and management of small New Zealand companies who still live in the real world.”

   Mr Taylor’s business, established in 1990, is considered to be one of the top computer animation companies in the country.
   • prism 4.1

     5 November 2012 at 10:40 am

     CV 4

     a comment last week by former Nuplex chairman Fred Holland, who, when referring to a 26 per cent rise for non-executive directors, said: “You won’t get anything but monkeys if you pay peanuts.”

     This is the sort of cliche that a shallow thinker comes up with. Cliches can be handy but this situation requires more than a throw-away line. But he can’t justify his salary so the flip cliche works best. It doesn’t say much for the acumen and intelligence of Mr Holland, and yet I think it is likely to be the tone and extent of thinking of many of our CEOs. Probably psychopaths most of them, who are known for relentless self promotion, stealing any kudos that should have gone to others etc.
     • Colonial Viper 4.1.1

       5 November 2012 at 12:39 pm

       Since minimum wage workers are paid peanuts, minimum wage workers must be “Monkeys” QED

       Good to understand how the societal logic of the elites work, isn’t it.
5. karol 5

   5 November 2012 at 10:25 am

   Interesting to see that Andrew Little is putting forward the idea that ACC should be extended to cover illnesses and disease.  He also favours dropping the “fully funded” model, as it is only relevant when it is in competition with other systems.
    
   I’m for the extension, but I’m not so sure about dumping the fully funded model.
   • Colonial Viper 5.1

     5 November 2012 at 10:33 am

     Great to see new innovative proposals from Labour. Even if the details are not there its important to get Joe Public understanding that yes, there are real alternatives.
     • Dr Terry 5.1.1

       5 November 2012 at 11:37 am

       CV – of course there are always real alternatives to just about anything – but is Joe Public going to like them when details are spelled out?
   • s y d 5.2

     5 November 2012 at 1:53 pm

     holy shit, and i thought we had a social security system that looked after people if they became sick.
     I guess instead of this, we’ve just got to introduce an insurance based model and when it’s all nicely set up we can introduce a bit’o’competition……
     • weka 5.2.1

       5 November 2012 at 11:37 pm

       “holy shit, and i thought we had a social security system that looked after people if they became sick.”
        
       No. We have a social security system that deliberately sets benefit rates below the poverty line. And of next year, all sickness beneficiaries will be deemed unemployed ie available for work unless they can prove otherwise.
   • Vicky32 5.3

     5 November 2012 at 6:22 pm

     Interesting to see that Andrew Little is putting forward the idea that ACC should be extended to cover illnesses and disease.

     I am confused, I thought it already had been!
6. Rogue Trooper 6

   5 November 2012 at 10:36 am

   chanced across Chris Trotters’ article on violence in the Dom at the library; very timely if you have watched the development of violence in NZ over say, four decades. ( I watch less and less audio-visual now, de-sensitization, bias and all that) Though, I did see an article on the right-wing allegiences of the Greek police, and how painful that is turning out for left-wing demonstrators and activists; if Greek portrays the birth place of democracy (athenian) and its denoument, then Heaven help us!
   • prism 6.1

     5 November 2012 at 1:42 pm

     RogueT
     We do need to keep an eye on heaven which we might need to help us. In fact Bracken put it in our national anthem ‘God Defend New Zealand’. We should never get puffed up with the idea that we can’t get torn apart by implacable forces and need some greater aid.
7. prism 7

   5 November 2012 at 11:16 am

   There need to be more first names released from the lock-up for men in NZ. First there seems to be too many Davids and I have recently heard David Farrier speaking, not The David Farrar.
   Then there is Matthew Horton and Matthew Hooton.

   I have this interest in how many men’s names are from the bible. What about going to Greek mythology, gods etc. Zeus, Hermes etc. Or more stressing strength and son of the planet stuff, Rock, Cliff, Clay? Compost even.
   • Vicky32 7.1

     5 November 2012 at 6:26 pm

     Rock, Cliff, Clay? Compost even.

     My middle son has always insisted that he will call his son Horus. (Pity his wife doesn’t agree!) 🙂
     My youngest says his daughter will be called Storm (he has yet to meet her mother, but is confident that she will be persuaded).
8. Brett Dale 8

   5 November 2012 at 11:23 am

   Rowan Atkinson’s brilliant political speech.

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gciegyiLYtY
   • Uturn 8.1

     5 November 2012 at 12:55 pm

     Theoretically he is right, but in practice he forgets that the formats people would use to publish his call for “more speech” aren’t impartial in themselves. Facebook and twitter comments are taken from their original environment and then played with by existing forces within the mainstream media. The MSM has it’s bias and method and predestined outcome for matters, usually adhering to a particular cultural norm. Under that format, “more speech” will only ever favour one side of the equation. MSM is not a two way dialogue or a dialogue at all, it’s all statements dressed as enquiries.

     So while freedom of speech is a great idea in the abstract, it runs into problems in practice and not many people have the ability to create a format or environment suitable to hearing “more speech” in the way he would like.

     The next problem his request for “more speech” runs into is outlined in his story of the teen arrested for calling a police horse “gay”. This is one side of a particular line of argument that you often find LGBT, feminist and indigenous rights groups arguing: that however “normalised” a colloquial word has become, it started out as a prejudice that deeply effected, or currently effects, the lives of certain people in real and negetive terms. To hear such a word, even in passing, often raises strong emotions, from aggressive through to depressive, in the target.

     For people not affected by these words to then say, let’s hear more of this without any format changes or discretion on who may speak, in the interests of working it all out, is pretty insensitive. It would be a difficult balance to meet, with the clumsy media tools we have, between those that are aware and those that aren’t and be able to recognise the malicious attacks on both sides of those who just like to fight. There’d need to be some kind of harmonic global community, with a shared language and generous portions of goodwill – otherwise known as Utopia – for it work.

     The next problem with “more free speech” is that these days it is mostly considered as “freedom of unexamined opinion”. No one is obliged to think about what they say, or research the subject to the best of their ability. Choosing not to speak is hardly ever promoted, but having a critical opinion is regularly considered the highest form of communication. Expressing opinions may well be more than half the problem, but that is best solved on an individual basis. The immediacy with which anyone can publish an opinion could also contribute to the problem.

     It’s too hard for my brain to give a conclusive answer. If somone handed me a pen right now and said, here, write an anti-hate speech law for us, maybe it would be something along the lines of don’t tell people, or imply, that you want them dead or oppressed, or encourage other people to kill or oppress them. Penalties for implication over open calls would vary depending on the specifics of the situation.
     • Rogue Trooper 8.1.1

       5 November 2012 at 2:43 pm

       have ya checked out Jacque Ellul on “freedom”?
       personally, this entire project of “freedom” and “liberty” appears to have been a poisoned chalice!
       • ad 8.1.1.1

         5 November 2012 at 2:49 pm

         “God is dead but his locus has survived Him. Into that absence we now project the blueprint of freedom.” – Ernst Bloch.

         Or something like that.

         Bon mots to buttress up a worldview.
         • Rogue Trooper 8.1.1.1.1

           5 November 2012 at 4:22 pm

           very wise. 🙂
           it is very encouraging to have “decided” on such a “caring” “worldview”, do you think? After all, there are worse things I could do…. . Seriously though, for someone so knowledgeble, what have you determined to be a helpful “perspective” ? and do you think one could really “get in trouble” for asthetically bearing such ideas, here and now? After all, thinkers like these (loved Lacan, although a little wordy those Europeans) would be a great help in the further emancipation of our fellows, don’t you think? (or every body can just continue tearing themselves and others apart to fit the dominant hegemony / discourse?)

           and a person could be in a lot worse idea company than Ecclesiastes / Solomon or Tolstoy I was thinking as I weeded.
       • Uturn 8.1.1.2

         6 November 2012 at 7:44 am

         Re Jacque Ellul, nope hadn’t come across him. Last night I had a look on online sources of his ideas. Christian Anarchist sounds like an interesting mix.

         To stay in context of Rowan’s speech, I think that the issue of free speech in heavily populated and mixed culture cities is more one of crowd control than pushing for “liberty and freedom” and the inherent difficulties and impossibilities of that task.

         My only experience of the police at street level in the UK was in the mid 1990’s and they appeared to me like a confident and pragmatic type: seperating parties in dispute as a first measure and not diving for arrests and displays of authority just because they could. Things may well have changed; police forces are often politicised. In Australia police can issue “move on” notices and this also seperates and neutralises situations they see getting out of control without using more resources than necessary. Here, I’ve only come across “behaviour likely to cause violence” and for that you will likely end up in court. Anyone wandering around making an ass of themselves or abusing other people is likely to attract discretionary police attention without organised groups getting worked up about “thought control”.

         Top-down laws that say “thou shalt not be mean” aren’t likely to stop humans being humans and will take a few generations to become normalised at street level. Laws that say “don’t abuse people in public” won’t stop people being abused, but it may create a breathing space for certain groups of society that need it and I think that is a good progression towards offering an equal distribution of care by society’s keepers. The real problem may be centralised power and millions of people hearded together in confined areas, but that’s more difficult to address than crowd control.
   • prism 8.2

     5 November 2012 at 1:30 pm

     Brett D Thanks for giving us this. Rowan’s speech on free speech 18/10/12. Section 5 of a Brit Act that allows people to be censured for saying anything that others ‘might’ regard as offensive (or similar). There doesn’t have to be a specific complaint for the police to act. Words like censorious, new intolerance, authoritarian were voiced by Rowan and rightly.
   • LynW 8.3

     5 November 2012 at 2:10 pm

     Yes an interesting speech on the right to express yourself freely. I particularly liked Rowan’s acknowledgement, in summary, that ‘firstly we all have to take responsibility for what we say’.
9. Allyson 9

   5 November 2012 at 11:34 am

   In the June 2012 quarter compared with the June 2011 quarter:

   The seasonally adjusted number of filled jobs rose 1.9 percent.
   The seasonally adjusted number of FTEs rose 2.0 percent.
   Average ordinary time hourly earnings rose 2.9 percent.

   Source http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/employment_and_unemployment/QuarterlyEmploymentSurvey_HOTPJun12qtr.aspx

   Its all about the economy

   Good thoughts to all, Ally
10. Pascal's bookie 10

    5 November 2012 at 12:14 pm

    Those docs last week that showed the whole reason behind preventing elections for ECAN was to ensure that the ‘water for cows first’ policy gets bedded in?

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/7905535/Canterbury-water-quality-poses-risks

    wankers.
    • vto 10.1

      5 November 2012 at 12:51 pm

      Yep p’s b.

      There is only one conclusion – they (the relevant farmers and their political lackeys) don’t care.

      They don’t care that for the last dozen years or so the shit from their cows has leaked into the aquifers that supply people with their drinking water. These farmers don’t care for the people who drink that water, they only care for the $kg/butterfat.

      This is evidenced by the fact that there was no pause or hesitancy in loading up the paddocks with cows. Get the herd on and bugger the consequences. That was the starting attitude.

      This is also evidenced by the fact that none of these farmers are standing up and doing something about their shit in people’s drinking water. This is the continuing attitude.

      I would love to be shown how this is not and has not been the attitude …………. anyone?
      • kousei 10.1.1

        5 November 2012 at 1:51 pm

        Not South Island example but this from Forest and Bird site

        “One dairy farmer who has taken a different route to most is Jeff Williams from Manawatu, who has reduced the need for fertiliser and cut the number of cows his property carries. His methods mean he produces less milk but he is more profitable because his costs are much lower. He calls the heavy use of fertiliser and squeezing as many animals as possible on every paddock the “moron theory”.”

        Further reading about this farmer’s biological approach is around.

        As far as South Island, I can’t think off hand any exception to the “moron theory” not to say they don’t exist.
    • kousei 10.2

      5 November 2012 at 1:03 pm

      The rivers and streams are already polluted on the plains.. Nutrient levels set by asking the industry what they could manage are meaningless. By the time they enforce and test (years?) the system they are angling for most likely the situation will be much worse. Take more water out of the system and add more nutrient, guess what happens?
      • prism 10.2.1

        5 November 2012 at 1:35 pm

        Acshually there was a report on radionz this a.m. by a doc who said that babies were at risk from high nitrates that have built up in the Christchurch water. This is dangerous for bottle fed babies and can lead to ‘ble baby syndrome’ or similar, and even death was mentioned. These annoying side effects can occur when there is too much focus on what ‘I’ want to institute that will make money for ‘me’. And ‘we’ don’t worry about how ‘they’ might be affected.
        • kousei 10.2.1.1

          5 November 2012 at 2:10 pm

          Check out the Tait Cullen paper about External Costs of Dairy Farms in Canterbury.
          Love the line in the conclusion.

          “The consequences of the environmental risks of industrial agriculture are not entirely known or understood.”

          I would argue social, economic and environmental risks.
          Makes no odds to a corporate fascist government.
11. Jackal 11

    5 November 2012 at 12:34 pm

    Thicker than batshit

    Key weaseling around the issue of his undiplomatic slur is in my opinion further insult to injury. Why doesn’t he just admit the gaffe, apologize to the thousands of people he’s offended and move on? That’s what anybody else with an iota of credibility would do. The story would soon die in a ditch, and Key could focus on what a government is meant to be doing…
    • David H 11.1

      5 November 2012 at 4:38 pm

      Because in his mind that’s permanently on Planet Key, he has just made an earth shattering funny.

      Here on Planet Earth we all cringe.
12. Draco T Bastard 12

    5 November 2012 at 12:43 pm

    While i think to ask, how has it come about that people like you (in particular) and the many other informed people who comment here know so much, about such a wide range of topics individually?

    For me specifically, my interests are broad and I’ve looked into those interests by reading what’s available on the internet and in libraries. I’ve also worked in numerous industries and positions within those industries.

    And why aren’t some of you people running for parliament?

    Never wanted the job and, mostly I think, didn’t grow up in a politically active family. The way things are going though I may change my mind about going for the job though as it’s becoming obvious that we can’t leave the idiots that we have there in charge or nothing will change.
    • kousei 12.1

      5 November 2012 at 12:50 pm

      You’ve got my vote
    • Jackal 12.2

      5 November 2012 at 1:09 pm

      Who are you replying to DTB?

      Personally I’ve found that blogging has vastly increased my knowledge on certain subjects, and also removed some previous misconceptions. Although I’ve never actually blogged about my particular areas of expertise, I find the blogosphere to be an effective and cheap way of increasing my knowledge about how the world works and the way people think.

      As for being a politician… There’s always the problem of becoming the thing you want to change. Never underestimate the insidious effects of power and its ability to corrupt.
      • kousei 12.2.1

        5 November 2012 at 1:24 pm

        Someone who has a great desire to become a politician probably should be discounted. I think underestimating the insidious nature of power and its influence on our daily lives is the reason things are such a mess at the moment. The sneaky and the unscrupulous, the greedy and immoral have quietly taken over and now own democracy.
        I certainly enjoy DTB commentary and some others and share many views as well as changed my views on reflection.
        Debating is very important.
      • Draco T Bastard 12.2.2

        5 November 2012 at 1:53 pm

        Who are you replying to DTB?

        That was Rogue Trooper but it was OT so I moved it here.

        As for being a politician… There’s always the problem of becoming the thing you want to change. Never underestimate the insidious effects of power and its ability to corrupt.

        There is that problem but we really can’t leave it to those that have already been corrupted. Catch 22.
        • David H 12.2.2.1

          5 November 2012 at 4:40 pm

          So give em a time limit, like America, election every four years and only 2 terms or less if you are useless.
          • Draco T Bastard 12.2.2.1.1

            5 November 2012 at 10:01 pm

            And the US is so not corrupt…

            Oh, wait…

            Actually, the only one that has a two term limit is the president – the rest have no such limits so a two term limit on every elected official might work but it also has one other drawback – it means we lose the experience.
      • Rogue Trooper 12.2.3

        5 November 2012 at 3:04 pm

        Reading this blog, and appreciating it’s collective ethic of care (Habermas et al;) , which it conveys a significant portion of the time (and space), has REALLY developed my mind and established a security for the types of thinking I have always had; ya thrown into the world, dasein, which is something to be grateful for, and then the human distortions start, in your home and nuclear family first, and before long one may become a distortion distorting distortions.
        Thank God for helpful thinkers, helpful ideas and helpful stories and text, and the discernment to stick to what we understand.

        (I just love the revelation idea concerning The Propaganda of Man, Ellul; master that and we are getting somewhere )
        I do not know if that was your intention Ad, but some things are like “the garden path”; once you have been “down” there, you can never go back!

        now I better finish a book, and I really recommend The Great Partnership by Jonathan Sacks (it’s also got great bibliography)

        🙂 (i’m over wasting mental energy on our “sign of the times” pm; he’s not fooling anyone but the greedy and himself; I saw them trying to soften Collins’ portrayal in the MSM recently, softer than Power was the angle)
        🙂
        • ad 12.2.3.1

          5 November 2012 at 4:15 pm

          Oh it’s as much about a basic problem with this site: on the one hand, New Zealanders are often Heideggerian in that they are so often proud of their version of dasein – having so many of their own Black Forest equivalents to wander through, in which “regioning is a gathering and a sheltering within a resting and an abiding”. Heidegger, On The Way To Language.

          And yet New Zealanders are so in love with speed and travel, of which Habermas’s theory of communicative competence that strips out psychoanalytic depth is so well suited to this kind of anonymised site. Because we can be as free and fast as we like.

          We are free to be regioned, free to communicate, but resolutely generally unfree to join the two by naming – naming ourselves.

          So the realm of freedom gets pretty constrained pretty fast if one’s prosthetic selves stay so compartmentalised.

          I used to think that there were only two types of freedom: freedom from (against constraint), and freedom to (the generous and generative capacity). But the self-willed unfreedom of anonymity points to another freedom (a kind of sweet spot between belonging and communicating). Someone will have to theorise it at some point. Ellul is too deep into his atavistic surges into old analogue space to really get this.
          • Rogue Trooper 12.2.3.1.1

            5 November 2012 at 4:42 pm

            oscillation between anonymity and name has been practised, in situ, tabla rasa by moi, and considering the forum, was experienced as both exhile-arating and fear-arousing (but then i’m a sensitive sort of a chap), yet it was very empowering, what-ever-this-may-mean.
13. PlanetOrphan 13

    5 November 2012 at 1:35 pm

    I wonder if the Gnats’ are going to argue the TPPA with the USA re Kim Dotcoms’ new business venture ??

    What was the bloody document meant to do for us all again ?
14. ianmac 14

    5 November 2012 at 1:46 pm

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10845253

    A “funny” Gay remark from Key?? Surely not!
    • felix 14.1

      5 November 2012 at 2:46 pm

      I warned everyone the other day that Key would be going into 24/7 dickhead mode.

      It’s all he’s got left.
    • Vicky32 14.2

      5 November 2012 at 6:51 pm

      A “funny” Gay remark from Key?? Surely not!

      Now, he is really losing it!
15. prism 15

    5 November 2012 at 2:02 pm

    While looking at some of the youtube offerings I found this one of John Cleese with an instructional message for air travellers from AirNewZealand with a Hobbit theme. Watch for Peter Jackson.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_bsMGsBjWc&feature=related

    Don’t know where airnz went? http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/233376/air-nz-hobbit-video-draws-6-million-views
16. felix 16

    5 November 2012 at 2:32 pm

    Following John Key’s lead I’m going to start using “batshit” as an all purpose word, regardless of meaning or convention.

    It could be funny as batshit or it could get batshit confusing. We’ll see.
17. Sam Hill 17

    5 November 2012 at 4:03 pm

    Kate Wilkinson has resigned as Labour Minister in the wake of the Pike River report

    Here is a live stream of the Post-cabinet press conference

    http://www.3news.co.nz/LIVE-STREAM-Post-Cabinet-press-confrence/tabid/1568/articleID/275465/Default.aspx
    • Colonial Viper 17.1

      5 November 2012 at 4:11 pm

      Wow. Kudos to Wilkinson for stepping up and being accountable. Shes gone up in my estimation, significantly.
    • Te Reo Putake 17.2

      5 November 2012 at 4:11 pm

      Well, she’s shown she’s got more integrity than the Prime Minister. And unlike some of Key’s other incompetents, at least we know why she’s going.
    • David H 17.3

      5 November 2012 at 5:04 pm

      Good to see that someone in that party still has a sense of responsibility.
18. Tim 18

    5 November 2012 at 4:13 pm

    An occasional interloper only, so fuff shit any and all criticism] BUT re Poik Riva

    Cheers to Kate Wilkinsons who is the HONOURABLE Minsta.
    Not so however Ger Brownlee or the Proim Minsta (who was going to to “whatever i takes”)

    ALL have blood on their hands. At the very least, there’s one that I’d usually refer to as a pathetic silly bitch, that has the Honour to resign.

    Blubber boy is running for cover, meanwhile ………… itchim sssssmetchim, goan forwid ………etc.

    (The one that appeared on “BREAKFAST” this moring telling us there would be some “learnings” – After telling us all how thick as pig-shit Beckam was.

    Well Jonky – hopefully the Roil Kmishun has learned ya.
    And let’s hope – yea – you know what I mean………..but its all as shakey es waifa-thin.

    Ooh aaaaH Jonky hes jiss septid Wilksins resnashun.
    Oh well, then that makes it all ok yea?

    I need to replay the video right now to try and unna Stan shhhssh itsch schmozzz ssssss itch itch setch shmuzzz roit insayn scruptiv snatcah cha cha cha…….etc to make sure I unna STAN what the Proim Minsta is actually saying. (Generally I find it easier to understand most people that are completely pissed.
    Hissss schscsh smmmmmmmmmmmmmmmiz truncate truncate shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhwazz smiiiiizzzzzzzzzz neeeeeeeeeeese ta prove,,,,,,,,,,,,, veeeissssly un ssssssssssssssept BULL.
19. Draco T Bastard 19

    5 November 2012 at 4:20 pm

    MMP Review is out (PDF).

     The one electorate seat threshold for the allocation of list seats should be abolished.
     The party vote threshold should be lowered from 5% to 4%.
     There should be a statutory requirement for the Electoral Commission to review the operation of the 4% party vote threshold and report to the Minister of Justice for presentation to Parliament after three general elections.
     If the one electorate seat threshold is abolished, the provision for overhang seats should be abolished.
     Consideration should be given to fixing the ratio of electorate seats to list seats at 60:40 to help maintain the diversity of representation and proportionality in Parliament obtained through the list seats.
     Political parties should continue to have responsibility for the selection and ranking of candidates on their party lists.
     Political parties should be required to give a public assurance by statutory declaration that they have complied with their rules in selecting and ranking their list candidates.
     In any dispute relating to the selection of candidates for election as members of Parliament, the version of the party’s rules that should be applied is that supplied to the Commission under section 71B as at the time the dispute arose.
     Candidates should continue to be able to stand both for an electorate seat and be on a party list at a general election.
     List MPs should continue to be able to contest by-elections.
20. Tim 20

    5 November 2012 at 4:33 pm

    Jar rekin Meth Yootin kin spin this one eart on Noint Noon? I’ll bet he’s exploring all the ways possible along with a muppet called Farrar on Kwoiblog misinterpreting and spinning statistics (yea that’s roit: stat – isss-tiks) for all he’s worth
    Only problem is now we have Chris Finlayson who lost his balls somewhere along the high-road/left road junction on route 69 – the Bitter Old Queen Route to Eternity.

    Awake Sleepy Hobbits – or forever hold your ‘pieces’
    • Colonial Viper 20.1

      5 November 2012 at 11:14 pm

      The fact that they put Chris Finlayson on to the portfolio is a damn good thing. He is one of a small handful of seriously competent people in that Cabinet.
21. prism 21

    5 November 2012 at 6:10 pm

    This is an eye-waterer about city councils posturing as biiig important financial entities from Jim Mora’s guest Dr Robert Hamlin this afternoon. This is just a taste from google heading.

    Afternoons with Jim Mora: The Panel today [DCC interest rate swaps …
    dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/…/afternoons-with-jim-mora-the-pan…
    40 minutes ago – The two councils together may have lost up to $200 million of ratepayer funds. In Dunedin City Treasury’s case, interest swap rates may be being used to ‘assist’ … businesses and local bodies into high levels of interest ahead of those rates falling. …. DCC consolidated debt substantially more than $616m to June 30, 2012 …

    http://dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/afternoons-with-jim-mora-the-panel-today-dcc-interest-rate-swaps/
    also
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/7903907/Banks-plundering-society-globally
    • weka 21.1

      5 November 2012 at 11:49 pm

      What is an interest rate swap?
      • Colonial Viper 21.1.1

        5 November 2012 at 11:57 pm

        Basically, bad news for anyone who is not a professional trader. The fact that banks sold these derivative products to unsuspecting people and tried to position them as a kind of ‘insurance’ is, to my mind, fraud.

        Especially if they don’t inform the customer of the potential for massive losses should unexpected market movements occur.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interest_rate_swap

        In the US, derivative products like this were sold to unsuspecting municipal bodies and pension funds, causing massive losses to those organisations…while the banks reaped the upside on the other end of the trade.

        Scum.
22. Vicky32 22

    5 November 2012 at 6:17 pm

    Again I ask myself why 3 News in general and Patrick Gair in particular, are so desperately pro-Romney and against Obama? I mean, seriously, what’s in it for them?
    • Colonial Viper 22.1

      5 November 2012 at 11:34 pm

      Who owns TV3 these days?
23. prism 23

    5 November 2012 at 9:07 pm

    This international report on alternative studies for young people who aren’t getting a lot from school was interesting and could shed some light on possibilities for charter schools. If only the government wasn’t setting such low teacher numbers I could be almost positive about what they could achieve.

    Windows on the World
    Monday 5 November: School for Entrepreneurs
    The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) is a 25-year-old initiative started in the USA which now has programmes in India, China and Saudi Arabia. It goes into schools in deprived areas and teaches entrepreneurship from the age of 12. Peter Day finds out how it works and speaks to two female alumni, one from Calcutta and one from Chicago.
    • prism 23.1

      5 November 2012 at 9:58 pm

      I meant to note that the report on young entrepreneurs was on Radionz tonight.
24. Logie97 24

    5 November 2012 at 9:38 pm

    Just listening to the cacophony in the neighbourhood this evening (poor dog fretting and shaking like a leaf at our side) and cannot help wondering how many school lunches and pairs of shoes and trips and other unaffordables have gone up in smoke for the sake of a good bang …
    • karol 24.1

      5 November 2012 at 10:10 pm

      4 nights in a row in my neighbourhood.  I don’t mind so much tonight, but at the weekend it kept me awake when I had to get up for work the next day.
    • felix 24.2

      5 November 2012 at 10:24 pm

      Round here the Dog doesn’t seem to mind fireworks at all. Or even register them really. Which is odd for an animal who freaks out at the sound of rain on the roof.
    • Vicky32 24.3

      6 November 2012 at 4:38 pm

      cacophony in the neighbourhood

      Exactly. My neighbours had started ‘celebrating’ with fireworks on Saturday night, so my patience was in shreds by last night.
      “More money than sense” is what I kept thinking…
25. Dave Kennedy (bsprout) 25

    6 November 2012 at 12:48 am

    The shit is going down!
    http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/estuaries-shellfish-and-shit.html
26. xtasy 26

    6 November 2012 at 12:56 am

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fRVOew2WpA&feature=fvwrel
27. xtasy 27

    6 November 2012 at 1:00 am

    What is all this about?

    Better give up on sense and other “sensible” things, recommend some music, which is now mainstream anyway. So what the heck? It is not even worth mentioning. aye?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fRVOew2WpA&feature=fvwrel
    • xtasy 27.1

      6 November 2012 at 1:08 am

      just got a new news feed exposing that excitement is not well justified. Who can you trust and bother with now???
28. Rhinocrates 28

    6 November 2012 at 1:18 am

    What a hero!

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10845253

    Asked at his post-Cabinet press conference whether he was homophobic, Mr Key said: “No, I’m voting for gay marriage, I’m hardly homophobic – I led the charge on it.”

    Thought it was Louisa Wall who did that. Nah, turns out I was wrong.
    • xtasy 28.1

      6 November 2012 at 1:30 am

      Why not turn homo-amorphous, embrace, re-“marry”, indulge and share your “free” love full galore with Hone Key? He is desparate to be “loved”, after all that hostile treatment as of recent. I am sure, he needs a “fix”!
    • fender 28.2

      6 November 2012 at 1:41 am

      This guy Key is either mentally unwell or should be made to undertake a drugs test.

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