Open mike 06/01/2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, January 6th, 2020 - 49 comments
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49 comments on “Open mike 06/01/2020 ”

  1. Jenny How to get there 1

    Life imitates art.

    What did you do to the snow. Shit on it?

    Just one more horror': Iconic South Island glaciers stained by Aussie bushfires

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/118563496/just-one-more-horror-iconic-south-island-glaciers-stained-by-aussie-bushfires

    If God came back.



  2. Sacha 2

    On Chump's mob money connections. Click on the tweet below to see the rest of the brief thread.

    https://twitter.com/blakesmustache/status/1213486665139937282

  3. francesca 3

    Time for our troops to come home from Iraq right now instead of waiting for June

    https://www.dw.com/en/iraqi-parliament-votes-to-expel-us-troops-awaits-government-approval/a-51892888

    And Afghanistan

  4. Wayne 4

    A very interesting article. Though to my knowledge the UK uses drone strikes in much more restrictive circumstances than the writer says. I would note that in the war against ISIS normal rules of war apply. You can target enemy fighters even if they are not literally planning an imminent attack, provided they are generally involved in the war

  5. pat 5

    "My assessment is that values in Canterbury are now down around 20 percent from the peak, or perhaps a little more, but still trending down from there.

    In Southland, there have been minimal recent sales although I do know of one sale of a large high-quality farm. It has been sold to an existing farming group who have brought in additional external equity capital.

    In Westland, at least half the farmers would get out if they could. My assessment is that values are now down by at least 50 percent from the 2014/15 peak but farms are still not selling."

    "Below the radar, there is still some foreign investment money coming in, but limited to overseas investors purchasing a 24.9% equity stake in existing farming groups, with this not needing approval from the Overseas Investment Office. Hence, there is no public notification of the restructure, or the underlying land price. I know of multiple situations where this is occurring, and there will be many others that I am not aware of."

    https://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/103163/ten-years-banks-incentivised-staff-help-farmers-grow-their-business-led-over

    A rural downturn that may impact NZ First support …..Winston will have everything crossed

    • McFlock 6.1

      Not sure Al-Shabaab are supported by / connected to the Iranians?

      But who knows, politics in ME/North Africa makes for strange bedfellows sometimes.

      • Poission 6.1.1

        It would be like the UDF and IRA having a joint operation

        • McFlock 6.1.1.1

          Yeah, but then the yanks were fighting ISIL with the Iranians were doing the same, while helping bomb the Houthis who the Iranians were supporting.

      • Sabine 6.1.2

        as strange befellows as NZ having forces in Iraq for not other reason then ……..something something something.

        And yet, here we are with Troops in all the theaters of wars started by the US under false pretenses and outright lies.

        • McFlock 6.1.2.1

          Bit stranger than NZ's lego army clipping on to someone else's effort, as Poisson alluded to.

          • Sabine 6.1.2.1.1

            It does not matter in the end, fact is they – the Kiwis are – are where they should not be, supporting a roque nation that illegally invaded a nation, bombed it to smithereens, killed several hundred thousands of its population, destroyed any and all infrastructure, did nothing when the looting of hte museums went on, and covered the whole country in depleted uranium dust, never mind Abu Grhaib and all of that unpleasant jazz.

            Lie with dogs get up with fleas. NZ best get all its troops out of any of these fucked up adventures and bring them home.

            Surely they can be put to good use here or be honorably discharged and join civilian live.

            Also your enemy is my enemy so lets work together and kill our common enemy and when that is done we can go back to fighting each other. But then there is no one in the US that would ever think that far. They just think, enemy, bomb, . ………..rinse repeat.

  6. joe90 7

    Old white southerner says black/brown people are racists for opposing the murder of brown people.

    Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) blasted NFL player Colin Kaepernick and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) after they criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of the assassination of Iran military leader Qasem Soleimani.

    In a tweet on Saturday, Kaepernick suggested that the attack on Soleimani was part of a history of “American terrorist attacks against Black and Brown people.”

    https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/look-in-the-mirror-lindsey-graham-calls-colin-kaepernick-a-racist-for-opposing-murder-of-brown-people/

  7. joe90 8

    I guess this is why they're scuttling out of Iraq.

    https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1213834724889767936

  8. Fireblade 9

    The military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader has stated that Iran will retaliate directly against US military sites.

    "He told CNN that reprisals would come from Iran itself, not its allied militia in the region".

    https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/05/middleeast/iran-soleimani-khamenei-adviser-intl/index.html

    • Sabine 10.1



      Mark Twain, the war prayer.

    • joe90 10.2

      *shakes head*

      What he's saying: "We've spent a lot of money in Iraq," Trump told reporters, according to a pool report.

      • "Iraq, was the worst decision, going into the Middle East was the worst decision ever made in the history of our country … We're not leaving unless they pay us back for it," he said of the joint air base.
      • On the targeting of cultural sites, Trump said, "They’re allowed to kill our people. They’re allowed to torture and maim our people; they’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural site? It doesn’t work that way."

      https://www.axios.com/trump-threatens-iraq-iran-sanctions-sites-06abb035-1eaf-42ec-8135-b9f82269529c.html

      • Sabine 10.2.1

        he said that well before the election, in 2016 'we should have gotten the oil' 'we should get paid'. Never mind that it is our society, the western society that has fucked up the middle east for the longest of time. But hey her fucking emails Joe90, her fucking emails.

  9. Muttonbird 11

    Scomo's social media strategy during the bush fires is coming under huge criticism.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/118599660/scott-morrison-mocked-for-video-message-showcasing-wildfire-aid

    Could it be that Topham Guerin's silly videos will bring down the man they built up?

  10. Ian 12

    Haven't heard from the Prime Minister for a long while.I trust she is finding the long holidays relaxing and therapeutic.

    • Anne 12.1

      It's a little over two weeks since she delivered her Xmas wishes from the PM's office in the Beehive. I expect she'll be back there in about a week's time. That'll be 3 weeks to recuperate from a hectic 2019.

      A darn sight less than John Key used to take. He disappeared off to Hawaii several times a year and a month over Dec/January.

    • Muttonbird 12.2

      What a mean-spirited little polluter you are.

      To deny the Prime Minister a couple of weeks to spend with her brand new family, like most other Kiwis, is truely evil.

      A National voter for sure.

    • Peter 12.3

      Don't worry, when the therapeutics have worked their magic on her she'll be back to administer the same to those who miss her so. Sorry I can't tell you where the needy will have to queue.

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