Open mike 06/07/2019

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1. A 1

   6 July 2019 at 7:40 am

   Fake beggars busted making bank in Melbourne

   – people are flown in to beg for profit
   – clothing/props are shared between people
   – suspect a Chinese group are behind it

   https://www.news.com.au/news/national/chinese-beggars-revealed-to-be-professional-after-police-crackdown/news-story/5c743d10e9d1cf1c7745ecfa8dc31b8e
   • WeTheBleeple 1.1

     6 July 2019 at 8:46 am

     There's a few ways to authenticate homelessness but it's probably better to authenticate a fake, as the homeless receive enough bashing from the fearful lately. In the US in some parts it is illegal to feed them. Cops are forced to bully their fellow man out of town. The authorities and those backing them merely cowards.

     Cowards? – COWARDS!

     "Lot of homelessness. It's confronting. Like that. Snap. Your life's fucked. A divorce, an illness, a mental illness, an accident… Some stupid decision or a cruel twist of fate. It could be us – they are us. You can't hate on the homeless, man. That's not hate, it's fear."

     So we find cons have infiltrated this sector of society to bleed funds. That's no surprise the thieving self-entitled infiltrate every strata of society. Theirs is not a stratified world, it is a free for all. These people are no worse than the Hisco's of the world and do a lot less financial damage. Also reprehensible bastards: like the Hisco's of the world.

     Fake homeless? Look for:

     • cleanliness
     • orderliness
     • refusal of food offering
     • sole operator/s (no feral mates in vicinity)
     • polished story (or laminated placard…)

     If you live on the streets: you know the street people, and they know you.

     I'm not sure if our beat cops have regular routes? Community Constables are/were in some areas and their ties with community strengthen over time. They'd quickly spot new transients on their beat, and in a relatively short space of time the veracity of their claims. In addition to this a familiar authority figure allows lines of communication to be set up over time with folks whose mistrust of strangers is very high.

     Be wary of the tired right-wing schtick bashing all homeless as con-artists and ne'er-do-wells. They are our housing crisis in bold relief. They are a mental health system that is failing us. They are a welfare system run by accountants. They are the fallout of domestic and political violence.

     "We ate fungi, watercress, seafood, rustled sheep, pilfered fruit, garden raids, dumpster diving and homeless handouts. We never thought about how we were homeless, we were surviving. Mental health, abuse, alcoholism, addiction, abandonment. It was all there, and it was all intertwined. We absolved ourselves with three Fuck You's and a bottle of grog."

     I am deeply suspicious of this articles motives. You only have to view their front page to see where their loyalties lie. No effort to distinguish who is who. Just 'raising awareness' of a con that's been going on since Christ.
     • veutoviper 1.1.1

       6 July 2019 at 1:49 pm

       I have always considered the role of Community Constables to be of immense importance for the reasons you have mentioned above (and many other reasons), but these roles seem to have diminished to almost the point of extinction in most cities at least. We still have a couple in Wellington (I think) but you don't hear about them nearly as much as in the past.

       There is plenty of homeless bashing etc – "get them of our streets", "they are an embarrassment", "they harass tourists" etc – but here in Wellington we also still have a number of good support services still available such as the City Mission, the men's Night Shelter, Soup Kitchen etc. Wellington City Council also now employs a group of Local Hosts whose job is to:

       • assist the public and visitors to the city
         support Police on the street, particularly at night
       • liaise with retailers, bar and restaurant staff
       • keep an eye out for what's going on
       • report safety hazards, graffiti, or issues with city infrastructure.

       https://wellington.govt.nz/services/community-and-culture/community-safety/safety-in-wellington/local-hosts

       As part of their daily routine, these Local Hosts also walk the beat talking to and checking on the homeless, and reporting back to the Outreach Team, who provide support to people who are homeless or who are on the fringes of homelessness.

       I am not suggesting that these services are nearly enough, a lot more could and should be done but this is at least something by the local council aimed at making connections and offering some level of support.
     • greywarshark 1.1.2

       7 July 2019 at 5:25 pm

       I wonder who the people were? It says Chinese, but people from Asian countries could all be Chinese who had settled there, so from many countries. Or they could be Asians being labelled Chinese. I wonder if they begged in China, what treatment they would receive? They could be very poor people given the chance of getting money for their family back home, and not have much say in what they do in Australia.

       It appears that there is plenty of money in Oz, so why can't they accept more of the refugees that turn up penniless and without hope where they came from? And why chuck NZs out because some of them have been petty crims? They wouldn't be any different percentages than for the working class Australians.
   • AB 1.2

     6 July 2019 at 9:12 am

     Imagine a pathogen so cunning that it created not only sick people, but also people who looked sick but actually weren't. And also imagine that the imitation was so good that doctors couldn't tell the difference consistently, and ended up withholding treatment from the actually sick people.

     We'd be shaking our heads at the highly evolved cruelty of this pathogen. But we'd know what to call it – "capitalism"
   • ianmac 1.3

     6 July 2019 at 9:22 am

     In India kids are trained to be beggars and with sometimes young bodies are being deliberately damaged to look the part, and in they go in coordinated teams to beg especially from tourists. Around the corner waits the "boss" perhaps in the comfort of his car.

     Or so I read a few years ago. True?
     • WeTheBleeple 1.3.1

       6 July 2019 at 9:42 am

       There is some truth to this. Opportunists (aka capitalists) – guess what – they seize on opportunities. A buck to be made often outweighs any moral imperative – if it was ever there to begin with.

       Some countries are still full of land mines – and thus amputees. Should we abandon all in case they've tricked us out of a few bucks – while bankers steal billions?

       There are also reports of parents who maim the child. This is a world we can barely grasp let alone understand. I've known more hardship than you've had hot dinners, and I am stunned by the lengths some are driven to.

       What level of hardship brings such practice about?

       What level of psychopathy is prevalent in (the society and) the capitalists who use such hardship to capitalise?

       We can't even imagine that world, but we sure like to judge it.

       We definitely need to move the con artists along. From government, civil service, business, banking, media…

       We need better opportunities and less opportunists. A systemic overhaul from top to bottom.
       • OnceWasTim 1.3.1.1

         6 July 2019 at 12:44 pm

         Btw @ WtB…..no truer comment ever spoken! (especially the "……..we sure like to judge it".

         AND the next bit as well: "We definitely need to move the con artists along. From government, civil service, business, banking, media…"

         We actually have/or have had till recently, people in our civil service who couldn't tell the difference between a Muslim or a Sikh, or indeed a Hindu or a Christian with a sweat band! They're all bloody "rag" or "onion heads" to them. (I've heard it first hand! Nor can they tell the difference between arranged marriages and forced marriages; or scam relationships and the genuine; or exploiters and the exploited – LET ALONE why and how it's all become normalised.

         As a Koiwoi, I feel the shame at our allowing it all to happen, and worse still why we're so bloody slow to fix it – even when a few simple things could be done tomorrow
     • OnceWasTim 1.3.2

       6 July 2019 at 10:12 am

       Depends entirely where you are. Large cities with extreme poverty. In many rural areas and smaller cities and downs, if parents or anyone else got caught doing this, they'd be driven out of town – possibly worse
       • ianmac 1.3.2.1

         6 July 2019 at 5:13 pm

         The pressure to survive causes some people to kill elephants. Others use their kids to beg and maybe live another day. Hard to imagination in our country but there must be some families who feel totally helpless.
2. vto 2

   6 July 2019 at 8:23 am

   Unbelievable that the government was considering bailing out Westland Milk Products if the Yili sale failed…

   ffs, corporate welfare and bailouts for big capital, just like the global financial crisis where those that caused the problem got bailed out…. what a fikkin' yoke

   rinse and repeat

   save big capital, shit on the little people

   is about time big capital had some of its ownership and rights peeled away if it expects little people to save it all the time
   • alwyn 2.1

     6 July 2019 at 10:13 am

     The problem with your analysis is that Westland Milk Products is not a "Capitalist" organisation as the word is normally interpreted. It isn't "big capital" at all. If it was it could have survived.

     It is a co-operative. As such it finds it very difficult to raise more capital if it is required. A normal firm can issue new shares to people who are willing to buy them. A co-operative like this one can't. They can only raise money by withholding it from the payout to their suppliers. That means all of them equally, rather than selling new shares to willing buyers.

     Anyone who believes that co-op's are the way to go should keep that fact in mind. They can crash very easily.
     • Pat 2.1.1

       6 July 2019 at 10:36 am

       "It isn't "big capital" at all. If it was it could have survived."

       Probably not…poor decision making led to its demise, its structure wasnt the cause but it did limit its options.

       Indeed if it was owned by 'big capital' it probably would have been sold years ago, or been wound up.
     • Blazer 2.1.2

       6 July 2019 at 12:04 pm

       Was CBL Insurance,Dick Smith,Feltex,Mainzeal ,Wynyard…could go on all day Big Capital?

       Theycouldn't survive,but luckily all the principal players did O.K!All done in the best…possible taste!
     • KJT 2.1.3

       7 July 2019 at 12:31 pm

       So can shareholder companies.

       But they seem to be able to access bank loan, "capital" even to pay "unearned" dividends, or for share buy backs.

       The banks attitude to co-ops, and indeed many small businesses, when they can lend at far less risk, on speculative land, appears to be part of the problem.

       An argument to revive a State "development bank".

       Looking at North Dakota, where local banks have been legislated to serve the community, not the other way around.
   • Chris T 2.2

     6 July 2019 at 3:25 pm

     This is one of the dumbest posts on here for a while
     • Incognito 2.2.1

       6 July 2019 at 3:51 pm

       IYO
3. Dennis Frank 3

   6 July 2019 at 8:24 am

   Thor, the scandinavian storm god, rarely features in local politics and culture here – despite escalating climate change. News that Stuff got rapped over the knuckles for connecting him to the Chch mosque massacre is a bit of a surprise.

   "The Media Council has ruled that Stuff's linking of a Thor-worshipping group with the Christchurch mosque shootings was unfair". https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113961735/thorworshipping-article-unfair–media-council

   Perhaps time's a-coming when burnt offerings to Thor will be used by coastal folk to ward off tornadoes coming in from the Tasman. Magical thinking has been resisting attempts by the upstart, rationality, to dislodge its hegemony for several centuries now. Ramp up those barbies, you westies!
   • Gabby 3.1

     6 July 2019 at 11:50 am

     Perhaxis not franko.
   • greywarshark 3.2

     7 July 2019 at 2:23 pm

     DF

     Enjoyable read. When we can't achieve anything because of sloth from fellow human beings, and the might and power of the Wealth-Cult not willing to do anything that can't produce a profit, then it will be good to have gatherings where we can offer prayers and offerings, exchange ideas for coping, have some songs and fermented stuff, and give and get some hugs and handshakes. Not a bad idea.
4. soddenleaf 4

   6 July 2019 at 9:19 am

   So National are aiding criminals, their leave it to market ideology, let private charity keep the homeless fed. General welfare, homes to live in, and if we don't, Chinese gangs fait homelessness! begging is now a income! Thanks National. Suppose we put them in jail at considerable cost. GDP spikes up. Wow what a unimaginable cretinous ideology.
5. reason 5

   6 July 2019 at 9:33 am

   foreign media have reported information showing our sub-humane mass murderer seems to be more connected ………… than our 'lone wolf ' media would have you believe …

   Who knows what is behind the lack of NZ reporting on this support network of his ….but he was friendly with the fascists our Govt and the west supports. .,…

   links have emerged between the shooter and a Ukrainian ultra-nationalist, white supremacist paramilitary organisation called the Azov Battalion. The shooter’s manifesto alleges that he visited the country during his many travels abroad, and the flak jacket he wore during the assault featured a symbol commonly used by the Azov Battalion.

   https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/3002927/was-christchurch-shooter-part-white-supremacist-network

   during the massacre he donned the SS wolf’s hook symbol used by the right wing paramilitary group Azov Battalion

   The Azov Battalion is emerging as a critical node in the transnational right-wing violent extremist (RWE) network. This group maintains its own “Western Outreach Office” to help recruit and attract foreign fighters that travel to train and connect with people from like-minded violent organisations from across the globe.

   In the US, several RAM members (all American citizens) who spent time in Ukraine training with the Azov Battalion were recently indicted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for their role in violently attacking counter protesters during the August 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

   Known as a bastion of neo-Nazism, Ukraine’s Azov Battalion has received teams of American military advisors and high powered US-made weapons.

   https://thegrayzone.com/2018/04/07/the-us-is-arming-and-assisting-neo-nazis-in-ukraine-while-congress-debates-prohibition/

   Indeed, the Azov Battalion is forging links with RWE groups, hosting visits from ultranationalist organisations such as members of the Rise Above Movement (RAM) from the United States and National Action from Britain, among other white supremacists from around the world. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/3002927/was-christchurch-shooter-part-white-supremacist-network

   Did our media tell us that the Avoz neo nazis were involved in the ukraine election … https://freedomhouse.org/blog/why-militia-monitoring-ukraine-s-presidential-election With Avoz neo nazi goons hanging around polling stations

   how can Ukrainians feel certain that they will be safe at the polls, particularly those who have been targets of violence in the past?

   Our media kept quiet about a few things to do with the Ukraine election

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N85l3G7P3c

   Also …. did our media inform us of this …. And I wonder if the Turkish people knew??

   On [deleted] rifle was written the Greek word meaning “Turk-eater” or, metaphorically, “Turk-slayer.” https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-zealand-mosque-shooting-suspect-reportedly-visited-israel-in-2016/

   His passport should have raised red flags …. Afghanistan ,Pakistan, turkey, Israel …. Bulgarian intelligence said he was reported to have visited Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Croatia in December 2016.

   France, Spain and Portugal.

   north fucking Korea ???

   The blend of such considerable travel activity while stockpiling a cache of semi-automatic firearms with a digital footprint espousing his extremist views online makes the likelihood that [deleted] managed to remain under the radar of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) difficult to believe.

   A secret review of the failings of Jihadi Rebecca Kitteridge .and our blind five white eyes cyber spooks will be a white wash
   • WeTheBleeple 5.1

     6 July 2019 at 10:44 am

     Good work.
     • reason 5.1.1

       6 July 2019 at 2:37 pm

       Cheers WTB ,,,, Although I agree with the media blackout of any fame towards our subhuman civilian murderer …. It could also play into the hands of any cover up.

       He did have a media profile … on the non encrypted open web….. yet he seems to have been looked at with a blind eye and deaf ear…. But then again I suppose its not just us

       https://www.propublica.org/article/white-hate-group-campaign-of-menace-rise-above-movement

       Racist, Violent, Unpunished: A White Hate Group’s Campaign of Menace

       They train to fight. They post their beatings online. And so far, they have little reason to fear the authorities.

       The death threat against Winston also takes on a higher threat level ….. still low, but no longer at the level of being a mocking or laughing matter from National party supporters.

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpt3ImXIImY

       and 2 mins 27 secs …. bombs on mosques … on a guitar

       …. At a Azov youth camp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wAgTGZ0FHY
       • WeTheBleeple 5.1.1.1

         6 July 2019 at 3:03 pm

         It's particularly despicable bringing children in to this but that is the MO – influencing susceptible minds to their nonsense. A sound mind aint wearing a bar of it. Then there's all the patriotic idiotic chest thumping and imaginary threat assessments to continue the lie they're all victims…

         Same shit the wannabe Nazi's here do, only the weaponry is not so prevalent.

         Apparently I am a RACE TRAITOR! The marrees are gonna get us!

         But really, they are delusional dim-witted shitheels. Any with half a clue are there for the money/ties, not the beer soaked chanting sessions. Unfortunately now very dangerous with social media lending them a distorted echo chamber to validate their moronic views, and the ability to network with purely evil players and finance.

         Capitalism's new toy. Nationalism – and the sociopaths it attracts.
         • reason 5.1.1.1.1

           6 July 2019 at 4:45 pm

           The Christchurch shooter was not simply a lone actor, but the product of a broader network of right-wing violent extremists. If the evidence ultimately proves that ******* went to Ukraine to train with like-minded individuals, then the attack in New Zealand was possibly the first example of an act of terrorism committed by a white supremacist foreign fighter. And unless the international community recognizes the danger posed by these transnational networks, the New Zealand attack is unlikely to be the last.

           https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-the-transnational-network-that-nobody-is-talking-about/

           Personally I think the truth is somewhere in the middle between "lone wolf" and "a white supremacist foreign fighter" … Arse covering in a secret Nz investigation ….does not encourage me that we will get the full truth.

           our media is shit …. and it seems you get better more informative reporting on NZ …. from overseas sources

           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VuLILCu6vs

           http://spitfirelist.com/for-the-record/ftr-1073-azov-on-our-mind-ukrainian-fascism-extends-its-tentacles-return-of-the-prodigal-black-sun/
   • Gabby 5.2

     6 July 2019 at 11:57 am

     Do you know what the Ukraine is? It's a sitting duck. A road apple. The Ukraine is weak. It's feeble. I think it's time to put the hurt on the Ukraine.
   • mpledger 5.3

     6 July 2019 at 1:34 pm

     It would be to Russia advantage to demonise the Ukraine. So, I'd take all this with a grain of salt considering how much fake news spews out of Russia.

     People on the internet are quite happy to tell lies about what symbols people are wearing or making.
     • reason 5.3.1

       6 July 2019 at 2:17 pm

       I believe john Pilger … who is not russian

       Responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews, Poles and Russians during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Ukrainian fascism was rehabilitated and its "new wave" hailed by the enforcer as "nationalists".

       This reached its apogee in 2014 when the Obama administration splashed out $5 billion on a coup against the elected government. The shock troops were neo-Nazis known as the Right Sector and Svoboda. Their leaders include Oleh Tyahnybok, who has called for a purge of the "Moscow-Jewish mafia" and "other scum", including gays, feminists and those on the political left.

       …. And Azov ….. self proclaimed fascists

       http://johnpilger.com/articles/why-the-rise-of-fascism-is-again-the-issue
     • Francesca 5.3.2

       6 July 2019 at 2:20 pm

       Which links were to Russian media?
       • reason 5.3.2.1

         6 July 2019 at 4:24 pm

         Bloody russians …. they even control facebook …. 😉

         Neo-Nazi groups allowed to stay on Facebook because they ‘do not violate community standards’

         Exclusive: International white supremacist groups remain online, spreading same conspiracy theory that inspired New Zealand attack

         https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/facebook-new-zealand-neo-nazis-white-supremacists-a8837886.html

         Facebook refused to remove the content and told researchers to unfollow pages if they found them “offensive”.

         https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/facebook-britain-first-page-far-right-advert-paul-golding-adverts-a8828386.html

         was functioning as Britain First’s official page and had more than 7,300 followers, with Golding posting pictures from a “Britain First defenders” training day and telling people to “pray for churches” in response to the Christchurch mosque shooting.

         He shared a link to a conspiracy theory claiming the alleged culprit 'sub-human civilian murderer*', a white supremacist who deliberately targeted Muslims, was “linked to left-wing groups”.

         …. and BM may have repeated that lie here at TS
6. Dennis Frank 6

   6 July 2019 at 9:33 am

   Dumb kiwis keep making same stupid mistake, due to business-as-usual. "A radical division between exotic commercial forests and indigenous conservation forests in Aotearoa New Zealand has meant that the possibility of truly sustainable, 'close to nature' silviculture has been almost entirely ignored." https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/113901209/listen-to-what-the-history-of-our-trees-is-telling-us

   "From the late 1980s, when privatisation took hold and many state forests were sold to private enterprise, even those exotic forests that had been planted to stabilise highly erodible landscapes were sold, and harvested. In regions like the East Coast, with some of the most fragile soils in the world, this led to devastating erosion, choking rivers and coastlines with sediment and slash, flooding, and ruining farmland."

   "In 1988, after Cyclone Bola ravaged the region, more exotic forests were planted in an effort to stabilise the land, and these are now also being harvested, with predictably disastrous effects, as we saw in Tolaga Bay last year. That kind of planting is still going on."

   Adapt to survive thinking cannot enter heads if business & govt planners continue to ignore the changing world around them. Relevant ministers need to signal a change of course to all involved.

   "In New Zealand, almost all silvicultural research, expertise and commercial forestry is devoted to exotic, short-rotation monocultures, despite the devastating environmental impacts seen in regions such as the East Coast, Coromandel, Northland and Marlborough. Back in the 1950s, on the other hand, countries like Germany realised that 'close to nature' silviculture, based on indigenous mixed forests, with no clear felling, little spraying and an emphasis on natural regeneration, was a smart alternative to exotic plantation forests. Today almost three quarters of German forests are in mixed stands, with an emphasis on biodiversity and soil enrichment."
7. Blazer 7

   6 July 2019 at 9:38 am

   some more 'hardworking Kiwis at it again'..where there's muck,you'll always find a Sir!

   https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12005410
8. WeTheBleeple 8

   6 July 2019 at 10:02 am

   Brits seize Iranian oil tanker on behalf of US BS.

   https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/114029327/british-commandos-seize-iranian-oil-tanker
   • Blazer 8.1

     6 July 2019 at 10:06 am

     Apparently there's a name for that-piracy.
     • greywarshark 8.1.1

       6 July 2019 at 10:29 am

       Perhaps Britain needs to get a supply of guillotines from the French and systematically start chopping off the heads of the crazies who try to run the country …into the ground. Reading Ellis Peters and the Cadfael series of the 12th century they were eternally fighting between themselves – two contenders Stephen and cousin Maud – or with the Norman French I think. Eight centuries later we still haven't got things sussed. But there is a difference, we haven't got eight centuries left to bugger around, fail, try again,,,,in endless iteration. WW2 was the extreme example of this, we didn't learn from it except use modern technology to make better trebuchets.

       The bloody elites are only happy when other people's blood is being spilled. There have been recent comments about the USA elite getting their waivers from serving in their Forces. I suppose it is the same in the UK though the Royal men do take part in soldiering, flying etc.

       But learning how to live and let live sustainably, that hasn't happened and the well educated UK parliament haven't learned how to do that so they think they will start a new wave of trials and failures as if they have centuries of stable climate, resources and demographics ahead of them.

       Just bloody disgraceful that Britain would renew tensions and not seek viable agreements. They haven't the strength of mind and body to show the finger to the USA, who are so off-compass that they will fall over the Rim soon. (TP Discworld people will have a better grasp of political maneouvering than the well-paid pollies. Their payment system gives the wrong signals – they should be paid on good results that lead to a happy working nation.)
9. Andre 9

   6 July 2019 at 10:03 am

   I must confess to some mild curiosity about why convergence moonbats are going gaga over Tulsi, but Marianne Williamson is getting ignored.

   https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/05/politics/marianne-williamson-vogue-photoshoot-trnd/index.html
   • Morrissey 9.1

     6 July 2019 at 10:05 am

     You'd be a Marianne Williamson type. She's a flake, insubstantial as hell.
     • greywarshark 9.1.1

       6 July 2019 at 10:13 am

       Morrissey You seem to be getting into the hard stuff when it comes to criticism. You might have to limit your spleen Breen, for the sake of maintaining a healthy mind, too much negativity dumbs down others or makes everyone unhappy. Try singing Bobby McFerrin at least once a day, he is being both satirical and realistic:

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fCqG8QJIAU
       • Morrissey 9.1.1.1

         6 July 2019 at 10:22 am

         Fair comment, my friend, but I would remind you that this fellow "Andre" attacked—not criticized, simply attacked—one of the few decent politicians in the western world, and called her supporters "convergence moonbats". I merely challenged his complacent and dishonest post, and reminded him that he is not going to get away with such inflammatory nonsense on this forum.

         [I cannot see the “attack” @ 9 on “one of the few decent politicians in the western world”, which is simply your opinion. You did not “merely challenge[d]” but posted some of your own “inflammatory nonsense” @ 9.1. Please do not start flame wars on this site – Incognito]
         • RedLogix 9.1.1.1.1

           6 July 2019 at 10:30 am

           I haven't the faintest idea what a "convergence moonbat" is supposed to be, and now I is one
           • Morrissey 9.1.1.1.1.1

             6 July 2019 at 10:33 am

             It’s a facile concept, desperately posited by the suffering survivors of the doomed Clinton campaign of 2016. Another version of it is the “horseshoe theory.”
             • WeTheBleeple …

               6 July 2019 at 10:51 am

               It’s a [] concept, [] posited by the [] survivors of the [] Clinton campaign of 2016.

               FIFY – still iffy about the word survivors.

               See how many pleas to emotion I removed from your one sentence. I'm not saying don't emote, I'm saying you go OTT.
               • Morrissey …

                 6 July 2019 at 11:03 am

                 Thanks, Bleeple. Yes, it does work just as well without all the adjectives. Have you considered a career in publishing?
                 • WeTheBleeple …

                   6 July 2019 at 11:18 am

                   Been there done that editing a community paper. Then went on the 'last great drinking jag' culminating in hospitalisation and loss of job.

                   I'm a shocker myself at times with overly emotive language. It can just flow aye. Folks here have been instrumental in helping me rein it in, which ultimately helps me be a better communicator.

                   The message is lost when ears are burning.

                   Sometimes I find it nigh on impossible to turn it off. Misinformation especially deliberate gets the blood boiling.
                   • Morrissey …

                     6 July 2019 at 12:33 pm

                     Agree, Bleeple. I know I write better when I discipline myself, and cut back on the abuse.

                     Keep up your writing, by the way—I've enjoyed your little vignettes of Wellington bowery life—shades of George Gissing, Geoff Cochrane, and Charles Bukowski!
                 • greywarshark …

                   7 July 2019 at 2:26 pm

                   Morrissey Have you – why not normalise your daily output?
         • greywarshark 9.1.1.1.2

           6 July 2019 at 10:35 am

           I did wonder about convergence moonbats – what are those, and why is he so qualified to throw soubriquets around so freely? (I had to look up google for that one – love these odd words. Sounds like small bricks in French and fits the niche well!) Bobby McFerrin is great. And i use him to lighten me quite often, have to follow my own advice!
           • Morrissey 9.1.1.1.2.1

             6 July 2019 at 10:37 am

             He throws around the soubriquets all right, Mr Shark. That's all he's got, however. Le pauvre garçon est un peu poney à un tour.
           • WeTheBleeple 9.1.1.1.2.2

             6 July 2019 at 1:30 pm

             All Bats are moon-bats.

             Similar to Demi Lardner's line. Night Owl, which, by the way, is just an owl.

             P.S. It's not true – all bats being nocturnal. There are day bats. I've met a few silly old day bats myself!

             https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/11/daytime-bats-help-explain-nocturnal-evolution/
         • Incognito 9.1.1.1.3

           6 July 2019 at 10:40 am

           See my Moderation note @ 10:22 AM.
           • Morrissey 9.1.1.1.3.1

             6 July 2019 at 10:42 am

             Seen and noted. Thanks for the warning, sir!
   • Bearded Git 9.2

     6 July 2019 at 11:00 am

     Tulsi is a right wing democrat being pushed by a well organised social media campaign. Beware.
     • Morrissey 9.2.1

       6 July 2019 at 11:08 am

       She's an intelligent and gracious Democrat who has, like anyone with a brain, expressed grave skepticism about the decision of the Democratic "leadership" to pursue this mad fantasy of Russian meddling. That is, by itself, enough for her to incur the hatred and enmity of Nancy Pelosi and her cronies.

       She has also pointed out there is no evidence to support the insistence of the Democratic “leadership” that Syrian government forces, and not the U.S.-backed Al Nusra and Al Qaeda terrorists, used chemical weapons.

       Now, how is she "right wing", exactly?
       • Bearded Git 9.2.1.1

         6 July 2019 at 3:21 pm

         morrissey….she has fought long and hard against lgbt rights and was a staunch supporter of the bill that condemned the boycott israel movement
   • Gabby 9.3

     6 July 2019 at 12:39 pm

     Whodat dredre?
     • Andre 9.3.1

       6 July 2019 at 1:12 pm

       Tulsi Gabbard is a pro-military, pro-droning, pro-hindu-nationalist, pro-authoritarian, ok with torture, homophobic (historically at least) Representative from Hawaii who holds social positions now fairly common within the Democrats such as $15 minimum wage. She's twigged to the idea that mouthing a few anti-interventionist words is sufficient to attract loud and blinkered support from a few vocal enthusiasts (including the likes of David Duke, Richard Spencer, Steve Bannon etc) that happily blind themselves to her unsavory positions on other topics. She got a massive poll boost from her debate performance, lifting her from 0.6% support all the way to 0.7%.

       https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/where-kamala-harriss-new-voters-came-from/

       Marianne Williamson is indeed "a flake, insubstantial as hell" as the mozzie aptly described her. She's apparently some sort of anti-vax New Age self-help guru that has worked for Oprah, and is running as a Democratic candidate for president. Although it's in no way apparent why, as she doesn't seem to have any ideas or even opinions around most topics a president has to deal with. Currently sitting around 0.2% in polling.

       https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primaries/democratic/national/

       I would have thought the residual “crystal energy” set would still have been quite a lot larger than 0.2% of Dems, but hey, maybe they’re a lot more pragmatic and holistic in choosing who to support.
       • Dennis Frank 9.3.1.1

         6 July 2019 at 1:26 pm

         Hey Andre, I know it's too early but are you forming any impression of a likely winner emerging from the rather nondescript pack of contenders?

         Warren seems to have said a few intelligent things in the past, yet was apparently unimpressive in recent performance, and Sanders likewise failed to impress in the debate. If you feel picking a winner at the stage is too much like going out on a limb, I agree, just wondering if the Dems are competing to underwhelm the third of the electorate who are non-aligned…
         • Andre 9.3.1.1.1

           6 July 2019 at 1:44 pm

           Looks to me like Bernie and Biden are running on their set-in-stone ideas and reputations locked in over their decades of service, and that's starting to show to an electorate that's moved past what they have to offer. They're both dropping in the polls, and I don't think either has the mental flexibility anymore to turn it around.

           At the moment it looks to me like it's between Warren and Harris. Warren offers preparation and plans and enough experience in DC to prove she can get things done, but is sadly a bit dry and boring, professorial even, to be really broadly appealing and inspiring.

           Whereas Harris is more dynamic, better able to react accurately on the fly, enough government experience to be credible, but on the downside there are things in her backstory that a determined troll campaign could blow out of proportion to smear her.

           Buttigieg is the dark horse running the outside lane, but it's hard to see him having enough on his own merits to come through unless all four ahead of him crash and burn.
           • Dennis Frank 9.3.1.1.1.1

             6 July 2019 at 2:02 pm

             Interesting that you don't rate Beto. A while back I saw videos of him performing quite well, enough to work a crowd successfully, but I gather he didn't impress in the debate. Wouldn't rule out a tactical move toward caution explaining that. Allow others to get front-runner status, come from behind in a late run.

             If I was a wealthy bank-roller of the Democrats, I'd give them all intensive media training. Problem with the primadonna syndrome is you get contenders who don't believe they need it. However that just polishes any gloss. What the Democrats really need is better ideas – particular those likely to trigger the zietgiest.
             • Andre …

               6 July 2019 at 2:15 pm

               My impression of Beto is his backstory and the things he likes to talk about are a good fit for representing Texas interests in the Senate. But he doesn't seem to have much to show he's up to the challenge of grabbing leadership of the country and steering it in a new direction.
             • WeTheBleeple …

               6 July 2019 at 2:36 pm

               Beto has the ability to fail to answer questions in English and Spanish – surely a politician's politician.

               I reckon he's not a bad pick. But he shot himself in the debate.

               I'm a Mayor Pete fan, but don't value his chances much.
10. Pat 10

    6 July 2019 at 10:08 am

    A demonstration of why the RBNZ is correct to call for increased reserves

    https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/100549/kiwibank-chief-economist-jarrod-kerr-why-fiscal-austerity-our-greatest-mistake
11. Muttonbird 11

    6 July 2019 at 10:35 am

    $33.5m to Tauranga Airbnbs in 11 months.

    The equivalent earned from residential letting at $30K per annual long term tenancy is 1000 houses not available for local workers to rent.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=12241396

    There is no debate. There is inaction borne of both greed and fear from authorities though. You see this a lot with new disruptive technologies – decision makers wracked with indecision and too scared or unwilling to govern.

    See more about Airbnb’s effects here
    • greywarshark 11.1

      6 July 2019 at 10:59 am

      You've pinned this nasty boring insect Airbub which with uber is a new disruptive technology that will steal our very lives if we don't control them.

      White anting a society and its forms of work and mutuality that is what they do. And the government has been blackmailed by the uncaring c-off to let them get on with whatever they want to do, squeeze us till it hurts, and then sell our blood. Sound OTTT, the examples are there and will increase.
    • Adrian 11.2

      6 July 2019 at 12:10 pm

      `But is it? The people staying in the $600 a week AirBnbs need to stay somewhere, the motels etc aren't exactly empty. If it is all long term rentals accessed through AirBnb it must be for people who need long term accommodation with out paying rapacious bloody "letting agents " their huge cuts. Maybe the hysteria is being fueled by these self same ethnicly bypassed letting agents fucked off with missing out on their cut. Even the language and media manipulation has all the hallmarks of a professional PR bullshit campaign.

      Take into account also how much of the take is individual rooms for a day or so in private houses, which would not be available for long term tenancies anyway. We use AirBnB and meet some interesting locals and get a good take on local conditions. For older superannuitants or young couples trying to buy their own home or even a bit of spare income to help out with the kids AirBnb is a small Godsend for people to help them out .
      • David Mac 11.2.1

        6 July 2019 at 12:38 pm

        In Muttonbird's 2nd link is a snapshot of the Airbnb scene in New York. 57% of listings are for the entire home. 53% of listings let for 60 days or more a year.
      • greywarshark 11.2.2

        7 July 2019 at 2:33 pm

        Interesting Adrian Think on Air bnb for me.
    • David Mac 11.3

      6 July 2019 at 12:32 pm

      In the coastal Far North an Airbnb/Bookabach etc property returns about a third of the income when compared to letting the property to a long-term tenant. The overheads take a big hike if going the Airbnb route. Admin, power, internet, water, gas, garden maint, providing linen, laundry, cleaning, sundries (shampoo, toilet paper etc). Little recourse for damage or theft and doubled management costs.

      The main advantage is that owners can continue to enjoy the holiday house. Few people want to know about a stay in the Far North for about 7 months of the year. Airbnb returns seem stronger when centrally located in our major centres.

      I don't blame Airbnb operators for trying to get the best return they can on their assets. Is this not something we all do? I'm after the best price I can get when I'm flogging off unused gear on Trademe.
      • Adrian 11.3.1

        6 July 2019 at 2:00 pm

        Exactly David. attacks on AirBnB and Uber simply for being are misdirected, AirBnb is simply a letting agent with actually a bit more security for damage etc as nobody will let in someone with a bad record and Uber is just a another taxi service, the like of which have existed for decades like Mini-cabs in London.
        • Graeme 11.3.1.1

          6 July 2019 at 5:53 pm

          The difference being that Airbnb has developed some sort of social conscience and appears to be profitable for most participants.

          Uber, on the other hand seems to be about destroying everything in an attempt to create a global monopoly, without which they will never be profitable. Before too long that model will run out of investor and supplier confidence, and social license.
        • greywarshark 11.3.1.2

          7 July 2019 at 2:37 pm

          Uber – just another taxi service. It is more like levering up the paving stones on a footpath that have been there for ages providing a service and the new replacement doesn't match the input of ages into the past, or those whose job has been to maintain the service. Companies just can't be welcomed to take over a system that serves the community and recycles the money put into it around that community.
    • Graeme 11.4

      6 July 2019 at 2:01 pm

      Airbnb to their credit are facing up to the effects their platform has on communities. In Queenstown they are fully supportive of the council's efforts to introduce a 5% levy on commercial accomodation providers We had a postal referendum on this and the the result was overwhelmingly in support, 42% voted, 81% in favour Some of the traditional providers were't quite as supportive.

      Airbnb's advent coincided with the usual accomodation pinch point this cycle and fingers were vigorously pointed in Airbnb's direction. That's quietened down now with Council enforcing existing planning rules and doing some fine tuning of those rules. Airbnb have been active participants in the process to look after their and their hosts interests, but are pretty open with Council about what is going on. It's not in Airbnb's interests for it to turn into a shitfight.

      In previous times cribs would have been let out during periods when the owners didn't need them. This resulted in a situation where a large proportion of the rental market was out in the street (literally) every school holidays. My partner grew up here and talks of moving house many times in the rental shuffle through the 70's and 80's. Queenstown's rental market has traditionally been either cribs (holiday houses) or rundown properties slated for re-development, neither terribly secure or long term. There's never been any real development of long term rentals. This is changing with a developers entering the rental market now, Kiwibuild, and possible extensions thereof are helping.

      Another aspect of our rental market is the 1-24 month lifestyle resident, or long term tourist. These are generally more up-market and may not take employment, and are just as disruptive of rental market. This group takes a proportion of the Airbnb properties.
12. Bearded Git 12

    6 July 2019 at 11:00 am

    Tulsi is a right wing democrat being pushed by a well organised social media campaign. Beware.
13. Incognito 13

    6 July 2019 at 11:14 am

    This may have appeared here before but it is too important to miss IMO:

    Open letter: Oranga Tamariki social workers in 'terrible, almost untenable position'

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113731528/open-letter-oranga-tamariki-social-workers-in-terrible-almost-untenable-position
    • veutoviper 13.1

      6 July 2019 at 11:55 am

      I totally agree that this is a Must Read, Incognito. Thanks for bringing it to attention as I had not picked it up earlier. Don't often visit Stuff, Herald etc these days.

      Any thoughts of upgrading it to a post – just 'as is', as it speaks very strongly without need for summary or explanation?
      • WeTheBleeple 13.1.1

        6 July 2019 at 12:03 pm

        I agree this could do with more exposure. It's a rock-and-a-hard-place for people doing a bloody hard job. Oversight is all good and well. 'Media oversight', on the other hand…
        • Rosemary McDonald 13.1.1.1

          6 July 2019 at 8:12 pm

          'Media oversight', on the other hand…

          Even the writer of the article conceded all was not proper in the 'uplift' filmed by Reid. I'd not be too quick to condemn a journalist trying to get some much needed attention to what is going on.

          "…a court-ordered custody order and the managed removal of a child. I'm aware that this is not always done perfectly, and I'm glad the publicised uplift in Hastings is being reviewed. The doco appears to show serious procedural issues in that instance, but it's also heavily edited and completely one-sided. Let's see what the review says and keep an open mind. "

          What struck me was the level of professional disrespect shown by the CYFS(by any other name) to the two midwives. And the lawyer. These were professionals with direct involvement with the family (unlike the social workers in the uplift squad) and their opinions were completely ignored. this was unforgivable behaviour from the social workers and I hope they all are sent for re training.

          The other aspect of this is the number of people who came forward and said….'Yes, sometimes kids are not safe with their birth family and no, we don't want anymore Kahui twins or Lillybings….but we've seen how too many social workers behave like lazy, ignorant bullies or incompetent twits.' Or words to that effect.

          The good social workers will be fine. The ones who are capable of seeing the bigger picture and the ones who don't just uplift children and dump them with foster parents….who actually think about the long term.

          After nearly a decade of fostering for CYFs, including being directly involved with a case remarkably similar to the Reid article, I feel qualified to say I see much accuracy in what was depicted. Shame on them.
          • marty mars 13.1.1.1.1

            6 July 2019 at 8:21 pm

            + 1 yep – the video showed massive disrespect for mana and that is not acceptable really. This will improve things I believe and it needs to because it is BROKEN now imo.
            • Rosemary McDonald 13.1.1.1.1.1

              6 July 2019 at 8:48 pm

              And if or no other reason…it is a textbook scenario known to all in the child protection field….remove a baby from a young mum and give her little hope of ever having her baby returned and she'll just go off and get hapu again. You can practically bank on it.

              On the other hand, put a plan in place where mum and baby live in suitable surroundings with support and supervision (as was the plan for this young mum) and better still engage the wider whanau…like'… clean up your collective shit for the sake of the next generation.' (like seemed to be happening in the Reid article) and the odds of a much more positive outcome increase exponentially.

              But. Good old CYFS. Buggers it up again. And they talk about inter-generational dysfunction in these families….seems like one generation of social workers are passing their bad practices down to the next.

              Now what's that saying about keeping on doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same result?

              Madness.
              • marty mars …

                6 July 2019 at 9:17 pm

                I don't believe Māori will tolerate 3 Māori babies being taken off their mothers or whānau every week anymore.
                • Incognito …

                  6 July 2019 at 9:46 pm

                  Do you and/or Rosemary want to do a Guest Post on this? Both of you can provide a unique angle, which does not get adequate representation in MSM and thereby help to change things for the better for Māori and the children involved.
                  • marty mars …

                    6 July 2019 at 10:12 pm

                    For me – thanks – I am working night shifts and I look after the kids during the day so I'm very busy and don't think I could do the topic justice. And I feel distinctly uncomfortable either putting myself, or Māori vulnerabilities, under the spotlight on this forum – apart from my comments which I put up when I can.
                    • Incognito …

                      6 July 2019 at 10:51 pm

                      I fully respect that, thanks.
                    • Sacha …

                      7 July 2019 at 12:15 am

                      Good judgement.
          • WeTheBleeple 13.1.1.1.2

            6 July 2019 at 9:06 pm

            What I was trying to imply…

            There's a big difference between a bit of investigative journalism to raise awareness – and a media pile on.
    • ianmac 13.2

      6 July 2019 at 5:32 pm

      I read that the other day and have concerns that there seems to be a concerted effort by Media and pressure groups to ridicule Oranga Tamariki. Melanie Reid is on a damaging course. It seems to be simplistic to paint the uplifting as purposeless and vindictive. I hope that the Enquiries paint a balanced fair picture.
      • Rosemary McDonald 13.2.1

        7 July 2019 at 9:01 am

        You will have read this ianmac…. https://orangatamariki.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/OIA-responses/children-in-care/20190628-Babies-and-children-entering-Oranga-Tamariki-care.pdf

        …found here… https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/393208/oranga-tamariki-stats-increase-in-maori-children-taken

        The misrepresentation starts early…

        We are a new Ministry… No. You're not new. You have been rebranded.

        …that bringing a child into our care can be traumatic for the child and their whānau. It is not a decision we take lightly, and there are, quite rightly, a strong set of checks and balances in the process to ensure that the right decision is made.

        No. The checks and balances were not strong enough in the case that Reid focused on.

        Wherever it is safe and possible to do so, the child’s parent(s), whānau and other people supporting the whānau will be involved in this decision. Well, er, no. Not in the case highlighted by Reid. CYFS (by any other name) were not the only professionals intimately involved with the young mother and her baby. The input of the midwives and the lawyer was treated with contempt by the social workers.

        We are strengthening our confidence and competence to engage more effectively with Māori to improve outcomes for their tamariki and whānau, and fulfil our responsibility to better understand and reflect the people and communities we work with.

        Doing better for Māori children is a key priority for Oranga Tamariki and there is new legislation requiring this coming into force from 1 July 2019. Section 7AA is a new section of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989, which sets out our responsibilities to improve outcomes for tamariki Māori and their whānau, and requires Oranga Tamariki to report annually on the progress made. At this heart of this is working with whānau, hapū, iwi and kaupapa Māori providers to ensure we uphold the mana and whakapapa of tamariki Māori and the whānaungatanga responsibilities of whānau, hapū and iwi.

        All this planning and all this insight yet you, CYFS (by any other name), failed to see the shit storm gathering force on the horizon.

        Back in February 2017 The New Zealand College of Midwives submitted to the The Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Oranga Tamariki) Legislation Bill and expressed the concern that..

        The College has noted that early supportive intervention and preventative work has been seriously underfunded, and this has unfortunately led to the main intervention focus of child protection and the removal of children from their families/whānau. Alongside this is a focus on what is described as the ‘most vulnerable children.’ Extending the focus to support and protection of families/whānau and early help, requires a serious commitment on behalf of government to adequate funding and recognition that whānau who are struggling need support before their situations become acute. It signifies a failure of the system if it becomes concerned only when the family/whānau are at the point where social workers and services are unable to support them to ‘turn the curve.’

        Bearing in mind that that submission was made under National Rule, how did you think, CYFS(by any other name), the midwives were going to react when the word got around that the uplift of newborns was continuing unabated under the so called Coalition Of Lovingkindness?

        An intelligent and sensitive organisation would have made damn sure that those checks and balances were done doubly properly and all professionals close to the mother and baby were involved. Especially the midwives.
        • ianmac 13.2.1.1

          8 July 2019 at 3:27 pm

          No. The checks and balances were not strong enough in the case that Reid focused on.

          Funny that that baby removal which was painted as without warning, and yet Reid and a camera team were there ready and waiting.

          We do not know what the causes were, just the effect. Privacy trumps public interest?
14. Drowsy M. Kram 14

    6 July 2019 at 11:23 am

    “Only the poor break laws – the rich evade them.” – T-Bone Slim

    David Hisco, Nigel Murray, Jenny Shipley, Peter Whittall – are their enough rich people to save the world? If we 'feed the rich', will we grow more?

    https://prospect.org/article/what-taxing-rich-could-yield

    “New details from the Panama Papers show how a stream of foreign cash became a torrent flooding into New Zealand trusts in order to avoid tax offshore.”

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/79731038/panama-papers-whistleblower-calls-out-john-key-over-silence-on-fraud-mecca
    • ianmac 14.1

      6 July 2019 at 5:35 pm

      The first thought of people reaching dizzy highs in employment must be, "Phew. I am very rich and very important so I will be exempt from prosecution no matter how much I cheat."
15. adam 15

    6 July 2019 at 12:03 pm

    If you need a laugh

    
    
    
16. Morrissey 16

    6 July 2019 at 12:14 pm

    Simon Schama frothed and ranted against Jeremy Corbyn this morning, while Kim Hill maintained a silence closely resembling collusion and agreement.

    RNZ National, Saturday 6 July 2019, 9:10 a.m.

    The first part of this interview by Kim Hill goes as you would expect it to: Simon Schama is a smooth talker, and formidably well informed about art. He sports an impressive résumé, and he loves telling a good story. One of the stories he tells is of meeting Henry Kissinger, who when Schama arrived at his apartment was preoccupied with feeding his dog. "I tried my best not to like him," Schama remembers fondly to Kim Hill, but he was charmed by the great man. "Kissinger is not all bad."

    That endorsement of a notorious war criminal is a brief hint of the moral vacuum at the heart of this glib and superficially clever chatterbox. At one point he criticizes President Trump—"stupid", he sniffs contemptuously—for moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; this was wrong, Schama claims, because it "undermined even further the Palestinian Authority." Schama doesn't care a jot for the people of the Occupied Territories; a ferocious supporter of the Israeli state, he is merely concerned about the influence of the collaborationist P.A. After that, he slips smoothly into equating opposition to Israel with being anti-Jewish. The attack on Corbyn, equally dishonest, flows naturally from that.

    Following are selected highlights, or lowlights, of the interview, starting with his arch and pretentious comments about art and climaxing with that mad blitzkrieg against the leader of the British Labour Party….

    KIM HILL: Um, "the besetting sin of contemporary art," you have said, "is its callow, orgiastic narcissism."

    SIMON SCHAMA: I don't know about "narcissism." I wouldn't defend that over-fearfully.

    KIM HILL: You were involved in the Paris protests in 1968! You have described yourself in those days as "a barbarically feckless youth, stoned on self-righteousness."

    ……….

    SIMON SCHAMA: I reviewed Henry Kissinger's book Diplomacy. I didn't think it was as good as it could have been. He rang me and invited me to his apartment to talk about it. I was thinking of the bomber of Cambodia, and I tried my best not to like him. But when he answered the door, he was feeding his dog. Kissinger is not all bad. ….

    SIMON SCHAMA: The Russians and the North Koreans have got Trump to do exactly what they want…. By and large since 1945, America's commitment to its alliances has actually kept the peace. But Trump doesn't know anything about diplomacy. …dismantling the hard-won Iran Nuclear Deal…. moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has undermined even further the Palestinian Authority. …

    KIM HILL: Do you think there is anything to these allegations of antisemitism against Jeremy Corbyn?

    SIMON SCHAMA: There are very, very good people in the Labour Party, like Tom Watson. Jeremy Corbyn has been extraordinarily culpable in not paying attention to the POISON coursing through the veins of the Labour Party. … Young MPs like Luciana Berger have been subjected to DEATH THREATS! … I don't think he wants to drive Jews into concentration camps, I'm sure he doesn't. … Criticism of Israel morphs into anti-Semitism. …. He's dug his heels in SO MUCH. I don't know quite what we call it, but it amounts to vicious, malignant intransigence. … The Protocols of Zion, that terrible forgery, has never had so many readers—-

    KIM HILL: Seriously?

    SIMON SCHAMA: Yeah. On the Web.

    KIM HILL: Oh, the Web is making us STUPID, and believers in mad conspiracy theories….

    … ad nauseam.

    After this abortion, I sent Kim Hill the following email, which she read out on air just after the 10 o'clock news….

    Dear Kim,

    Simon Schama, admirer of Kissinger, spouter of lies against Corbyn

    Simon Schama's extraordinary partisan broadside against Jeremy Corbyn, full of invective but devoid of evidence, was one of the ugliest few minutes of radio, on any station, this year. It's a pity you didn't ask him to back up his wild accusation that Corbyn is guilty of "vicious, malignant intransigence." It would have been almost as interesting, perhaps, as listening to him explain how he came under the thrall of Henry Kissinger.

    Yours in contempt for smooth and sinister liars,

    Morrissey Breen (Northcote Point)

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018702951/simon-schama-historian-and-author-s-love-affair-with-words
    • Psycho Milt 16.1

      6 July 2019 at 12:30 pm

      Schama is Jewish, you pillock – of course he doesn't think Corbyn's done enough to combat anti-semitism in the Labour Party. That doesn't make him a "smooth and sinister liar," it makes him "someone with an opinion Morrisey doesn't like."
      • Gabby 16.1.1

        6 July 2019 at 12:34 pm

        I'm not quite sure what morsissey wants of the palestinian authority – suicide stone thrower squads and tunneling bombers praps.
        • Morrissey 16.1.1.1

          6 July 2019 at 12:40 pm

          That statement was as flagrantly dishonest and offensive as anything said by Simon Slick this morning. Shame on you, Raggy.

          By the way, what’s a “suicide stone thrower”?
          • Gabby 16.1.1.1.1

            6 July 2019 at 1:05 pm

            That was the empty flatulating gumflapping you seem to employ to boost your sense of moral selfworth morpissey. What do you expect the palestinian authority to do?
          • reason 16.1.1.1.2

            6 July 2019 at 3:41 pm

            
            

            By the way, what’s a “suicide stone thrower”?

            https://preview.redd.it/z1voyshh4yaz.jpg?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=91a180f49171faf82ac7b34827da66c898ed0c6c
            • Morrissey 16.1.1.1.2.1

              6 July 2019 at 5:28 pm

              Thanks for that photo, my friend. It also serves as an analogy for Kim Hill's effectiveness in that "interview" this morning. Except, of course, that she didn't even throw a pebble at that engine of lies and propaganda. A pity, because his statements were almost all false, and would have collapsed if he had been asked to back them up with any evidence.
              • reason …

                6 July 2019 at 7:18 pm

                Our media frustrates me ……. as it allows a level of ignorance that allows the Gosmans , wayne mapps or SIMON SCHAMAs …. to peddle bullshit.

                Kim Hill could have actually informed New Zealanders …and held the dishonest zionists feet to the fire ….. with questions about ….

                Dozens of Palestinian journalists protest to demand the release of 21 of their colleagues currently imprisoned by Israel.

                https://972mag.com/israel-arrests-six-palestinian-journalists-for-incitement/137093/

                The Israeli Supreme Court refuses to hear arguments in a case about whether Palestinian minors imprisoned by Israel should be allowed to speak to their families on the phone.

                https://972mag.com/palestinian-minors-israel-prison/142144/

                Azov Battalion online propaganda shows Israeli-licensed Tavor rifles in the fascist group’s hands, while Israeli human rights activists have protested arms sales to Ukraine on the basis that weapons might end up with anti-Semitic militias.

                https://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-arming-neo-nazis-ukraine/24876

                She could have even asked about Israels Apartheid Bomb ….. the nuclear weapons they co-developed with South Africa … and usa moles

                The CIA had evidence that this was a joint nuclear test conducted by Israel and the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

                US suspicions were based on the already established nuclear cooperation between Israel and South Africa during the 1970s, which included sharing knowledge, materials and scientists.

                https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/US-suspected-Israeli-South-African-nuclear-test-474765

                Israel proved “absolutely vital” to South Africa’s apartheid regime 30 years ago in building six Hiroshima-size bombs

                https://www.theglobalist.com/how-israel-helped-a-then-rogue-state-go-nuclear/

                http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/decay-third-kingdom-israeli-nuclear-development-and-future-negev-desert-part-two

                Maybe kim hill thought she was mike hosking …. and Schama became John Key …. he got a soft stroking in a pony tail of an interview ,,,
      • Morrissey 16.1.2

        6 July 2019 at 12:37 pm

        Jews in Britain don't "of course" think that at all. You've—no doubt deliberately—conflated right wing haters of Corbyn with Jewish opinion.

        https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47322921

        https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/jewish-labour-supporters-write-letter-support-corbyn
      • Adrian Thornton 16.1.3

        6 July 2019 at 2:08 pm

        Are you really serious, it is and has always been the Tories who have had a long a sordid history of anti-semitism in the UK, when was the last time Kim Hill, The Guardian or for that matter any MSM outlet has done a piece on that?

        Man if you don't understand that this is purely an ideological battle for the media who are cynically using the racist Israeli lobby for their own purpose, it has sweet fuck all if anything to do with anti-semitism, then all I can say is.. well sir, can I sell you a used car… one lady owner….
        • Psycho Milt 16.1.3.1

          6 July 2019 at 2:28 pm

          I don't recall endorsing Schama's opinion or sharing it, just pointing out that it's unsurprising he holds that opinion. I expect he's none too chuffed with the Tories when it comes to ethnic bigotry either.
          • Morrissey 16.1.3.1.1

            6 July 2019 at 5:32 pm

            You claimed that Schama was "of course" obliged to spout vicious nonsense because he's Jewish. If that's not endorsing him, then what were you doing?
            • Psycho Milt 16.1.3.1.1.1

              6 July 2019 at 7:12 pm

              You claimed that Schama was "of course" obliged to spout vicious nonsense because he's Jewish.

              In some alternate Morrissey-fantasy universe, perhaps. In this real, actually-existing one, of course Schama isn't happy with Corbyn's response to complaints of anti-semitism, because British Jews are highly likely to be unhappy with it. "Vicious nonsense" is your personal opinion, which has a net value of $0.00 outside your own head.

              You could also usefully ponder the question of how members of other ethnic groups might take your view that their thoughts on the bigotry they're subjected to is "vicious nonsense." Just for once, as an experiment, like.
          • Adrian Thornton 16.1.3.1.2

            6 July 2019 at 5:46 pm

            " I expect he's none too chuffed with the Tories when it comes to ethnic bigotry either. "…Funny how we wouldn't know that. probably because he never mentioned it..no just the usual bullshit about Labour/Corbyn…that's the point.
      • greywarshark 16.1.4

        6 July 2019 at 6:08 pm

        Morrissey Kim may have stayed quiet because she wanted to let him explain himself with few prompts. She operates differently to you, can be quite subtle.
        • Morrissey 16.1.4.1

          6 July 2019 at 6:16 pm

          I agree with you, Mr Shark: she can indeed be quite subtle. I do enjoy her programme, and I think she is far superior to her godawful temp. Noelle McCarthy.

          She does have some grave faults, though, such as a propensity to automatically and uncritically recycle official bilge, and a certain degree of indolence, which was disastrous for her when she came across someone really sharp sixteen years ago….

          https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/face-to-face-with-kim-hill-john-pilger-2003
    • Gabby 16.2

      6 July 2019 at 12:31 pm

      stoned on self-righteousness – how does that feel morsissey?
      • Morrissey 16.2.1

        6 July 2019 at 12:38 pm

        Dunno, Baggers. Ask Simon Schama. But don't expect an honest or enlightening answer, despite the fact he'll keep talking and talking and talking.
    • Dennis Frank 16.3

      6 July 2019 at 1:34 pm

      "the besetting sin of contemporary art," you have said, "is its callow, orgiastic narcissism."

      I'd vote for a) the whore of commerce

      or b) totally irrelevant to culture.

      But that's just knee-jerk stuff. I'd hope to come up with a more profound dismissal given time…
      • Morrissey 16.3.1

        6 July 2019 at 6:03 pm

        A pity it wasn't you interviewing him, Dennis. You rightly have divined that there's not a lot of substance behind Schama's scholarly front. Kim Hill was putty in his hands, and treated him with the same deference she showed for other scoundrels from that part of the world, like Jonathan Freedland, Luke Harding, and A.A. Gill.

        https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/04/freedland-uncritically-interviewed-by.html

        https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/07/kim-hill-derided-peter-boykin-but-fawns.html

        https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/07/letter-to-kim-hill-after-she-failed-to.html
    • Adrian Thornton 16.4

      6 July 2019 at 5:58 pm

      Thank you Morrissey, your letter on RNZ this morning is the best thing I have heard on Kim's reactionary show for quite a while..quite a highlight,, actually I was at first surprised that she read it out, as it pointed out quite nicely her obvious flaws, but then on reflection I came to the conclusion that she has gone so far down the rabbit hole of just parroting and giving unquestioned platform to that kind of bullshit, that wouldn't be able to see anything wrong with it..sad really, I used to admire her greatly.
      • Morrissey 16.4.1

        6 July 2019 at 6:08 pm

        Thanks, Adrian. Actually, to give Kim Hill her due, she almost always reads out my emails to her—and no, I don't write one to her regularly! She's only expressed consternation or anger towards me on one occasion….

        https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/who-is-more-violent-and-despicable.html
    • Bearded Git 16.5

      6 July 2019 at 7:13 pm

      morrissey….thank you for that….i can never quite understand why kim hill doesnt take these people to task….corbyn has been anti racism all his political life….meanwhile the genuine racism against moslems from the Tories is swept under the carpet.

      But attacking Corbyn as a racist is all they have….he will be PM before xmas
17. mosa 17

    6 July 2019 at 12:16 pm

    I wonder how the S.F.O is dealing with the investigation of the National party's violation of electoral law over the donation from Zhang Yikun ?

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/07/05/dave-macpherson-serious-fraud-office-sends-terrible-message-over-former-waikato-dhb-ceos-200k-ripoff/
    • Gabby 17.1

      6 July 2019 at 12:32 pm

      Far too expensive to even investigate mosy. SFO lookin after the taxpayer as per.
18. greywarshark 18

    6 July 2019 at 12:17 pm

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018702949/dr-merlyn-hay-vet-who-discovered-m-bovis

    This scientist, and woman, for a NZ Order of Merit and also a Damehood.

    She has done more for NZ than Roger the dodger.

    Dr Merlyn Hay, a name with special powers?
19. greywarshark 19

    6 July 2019 at 12:22 pm

    This will be really interesting when the audio goes up on Radionz. He has something very interesting to say about managing predators and where cats useful place is in the chain; there is a chain to consider, not just knee jerk 'cats are bad'.

    11:05 John Flux – Lifelong ecologist

    

    John Flux in Iran in 1977 with a road kill hare Photo: Supplied

    Internationally respected New Zealand ecologist John Flux has spent his life studying hares, starlings, and even his own cats.

    His study of starlings in Belmont Regional Park, near Wellington, has become one of the longest continuous ecological studies in the world, running from 1970 to today.

    At its peak he and his wife Meg would examine 500 starling nest boxes, located in munitions bunkers built by the US military in 1942.

    John still climbs a ladder each year to check on 50 nesting boxes to see what effect climate change is having on the timing of egg laying.

    He's recently authored a paper in the European Journal of Ecology about what humans might learn from the fate of feral populations of domesticated rabbits.
    • Dennis Frank 19.1

      6 July 2019 at 1:52 pm

      humans might learn

      Always possible, I suppose, though past experience doesn't give us much hope…
20. mosa 20

    6 July 2019 at 3:22 pm

    The Auckland ratepayers open ended cheque for the Americas cup and the cost to the environment in dumping sludge dredged for the village outside Great Barrier Island.

    Oh if you don’t want to pay then maybe no event !
    Sounds familiar.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/377659/aucklander-ratepayers-to-fork-out-another-14-point-5-million-for-america-s-
21. Poission 21

    6 July 2019 at 4:11 pm

    7.1 (preliminary est) hits ridgecrest 6.4 was a foreshock.

    https://twitter.com/LastQuake/status/1147351492111847424
    • Poission 21.1

      6 July 2019 at 4:17 pm

      oh.

      https://twitter.com/CavasShips/status/1147357989428506624
22. Dennis Frank 22

    6 July 2019 at 7:02 pm

    I'm not impressed by Trump's blame game today: "Trump blamed a faulty teleprompter for his claim during remarks he made at a July 4th event that the Continental Army "took over the airports" during the Revolutionary War."

    He claimed it broke down. So that technical malfunction caused him to describe the American troops occupying airports in 1775, he expects viewers to believe. I suspect few viewers will detect any causal logic connecting the two things…

    https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-trump-revolutionary-war-airport-memes-20190705-story.html

    “Our Army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports” [NBC]
    • Dennis Frank 22.1

      6 July 2019 at 7:20 pm

      I imagine the Iranian regime's top guys are trembling in fear right now. The Supreme Leader is likely to have a message descend from his prophet in paradise: cease provoking the infidel, looks like his brain is dysfunctional, he could do anything!
    • joe90 22.2

      6 July 2019 at 7:24 pm

      People are noticing.

      https://twitter.com/gregolear/status/1146377905783607296

      https://twitter.com/TomJChicago/status/1146435213070934016

      edit: Having been the primary carer for a dementia patient, this from a couple of days ago clinches it for me.

      https://twitter.com/ShotgunZen/status/1135453852617052161
      • Dennis Frank 22.2.1

        6 July 2019 at 8:40 pm

        Gee, eh? Dementia onset sometimes sporadic?? The guy can seem lucid enough most of the time then it kicks in for a wee while? Pence must be rubbing his hands in glee…
        • joe90 22.2.1.1

          6 July 2019 at 9:08 pm

          Sufferers know early on that something is up and when they're sure, they never stop trying to cover up their decline. As things get worse they get more and more determined to pull the wool and refine their tactics to deceive outsiders. This can last for years but eventually, the mask drops and their decline becomes obvious to everyone, not just those closest to them.

          The last leg is when they forget they’ve forgotten, believe me, it's a blessing, and it's all down hill from there.
          • Dennis Frank 22.2.1.1.1

            6 July 2019 at 9:25 pm

            Well, I guess we just wait till a diagnosis becomes official. It's a national security issue as soon as Pence consults with the Secretary of Defense. He'll probably involve Pompeo, since they are both fundamentalists. Watch for a catastrophic Wall St plunge real soon…
        • Anne 22.2.1.2

          6 July 2019 at 10:38 pm

          @22.2.1
          Frying pan to fire stuff.
      • arkie 22.2.2

        6 July 2019 at 9:34 pm

        Shades of Salazar

        Time, Friday, Oct. 31, 1969

        Though the 36-year rule of Portugal's António de Oliveira Salazar ended last year, the old man is not yet aware of it. Still immobilized after a stroke and a coma 13 months ago, Salazar calls Cabinet meetings, and his old ministers faithfully attend—even though some of them are no longer in the Cabinet. No one has found the courage to tell the 80-year-old dictator that he has been replaced.
        • joe90 22.2.2.1

          6 July 2019 at 10:26 pm

          Therapeutic lying is a thing.
        • Anne 22.2.2.2

          6 July 2019 at 10:52 pm

          Reminds me of a story about Ronald Reagan in his declining years.

          His Secret Service detail used to toss bags of leaves on the ground at one end of the swimming pool. Reagan would come along and laboriously sweep them up and while he was doing so, his detail would be at the other end of the pool tossing more bags of leaves on the ground. It was a way of keeping the old boy occupied while at the same time giving him some physical exercise.
      • mosa 22.2.3

        7 July 2019 at 1:15 pm

        Caption contest please.
    • joe90 22.3

      6 July 2019 at 8:38 pm

      Lotsa people having fun.

      https://twitter.com/GetLostWithVivi/status/1147235346054336512

      https://twitter.com/Chudlife75/status/1147231379844997121
      • Dennis Frank 22.3.1

        6 July 2019 at 8:44 pm

        Love that one! We're bound to get a real flood of them tomorrow. The media ought to frame it as a competition of satire, nominate their favourite contender for top satirist.
23. Exkiwiforces 23

    6 July 2019 at 7:14 pm

    For those unfamiliar with the China Lake Air Weapons Range or it geography? This geothermal/ volcanic area is to the NW/ NNW of China Lake AWR and the most of the valley has numerous fault lines.

    https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/coso_volcanic_field/
    • veutoviper 23.1

      6 July 2019 at 8:27 pm

      Totally out of my depth, but is this the one mentioned at 21.1 above?
      • Andre 23.1.1

        6 July 2019 at 8:45 pm

        Yup. Lots of cool geothermal/volcanic stuff going on all the way up the east side of the Sierra Nevadas.

        Then there's Death Valley just to the northeast of China Lake.

        Fun fact, the highest (Mt Whitney) and lowest points (Badwater, Death Valley) in the 48 states are both in Inyo County, just to the north of China Lake. Both are due to all the faulting and ground movement continually happening there.
    • Poission 23.2

      6 July 2019 at 11:55 pm

      NAWS China Lake is not mission capable,non essential personnel evacuating to safe haven.

      NON ESSENTIAL active duty, drilling reservists, civilian employees, and dependents are authorized to evacuate to a radius of 100 miles from safe haven Naval Base Ventura County (NVBC).

      https://www.facebook.com/NAWSChinaLake/photos/a.1268422873184518/2819705194722937/?type=3&theater
24. Eco maori 24

    7 July 2019 at 11:44 am

    https://youtu.be/qQfetkoGrpU
25. Eco Maori 25

    7 July 2019 at 6:16 pm

    Kia ora Newshub.

    It's cool that our Coalition Government is funding family care people looking after there disabled family and tamariki 25 a hour sounds good.

    A big Earthquake in Los Angeles 7.1 is quite high let's hope that not to much damage is caused by the EarthQuake.

    Eco Maori favorite charity The Salvation Army is offering free doctors visit in Waitakare Auckland yes a lot of people can not afford to go to the doctor's.

    Yes power is wasted and power bill grow during winter luck our government has given a winter power payments .Eco Maori is going to get Free power from a Micro hydro turbines run from a stream . Ka Pai Tomorrow for showing te tangata how to save money by saving power. Good on Newshub for this positive story

    Ka kite ano
26. Eco Maori 26

    7 July 2019 at 6:42 pm

    Kia ora Te Ao Maori News.

    I don't think that whakapapa should be sold anyone's whakapapa.

    It's good that the Kohanga reo has settled with Tony Waho.

    Awesome that Kaitahi superfood company has won te whanganui business awards.

    Ka kite ano
27. Eco Maori 27

    8 July 2019 at 7:57 am

    Kia ora The Am Show.

    That is awesome our government paying carer's looking after there Whanau who need constant care there are a lot of people struggling to care for there Whanau.

    Energy mate hopefully will save people struggling with big power bills a lot of stress.

    Cyber security is a very good topic everyone's data can be harvested by the state or others

    Ka kite ano
28. Eco maori 28

    8 July 2019 at 9:55 am

    https://youtu.be/u9Dg-g7t2l4
29. Eco maori 29

    8 July 2019 at 11:52 am

    Eco Maori agrees with the United nations we see destruction caused by human caused climate change all the TIME these days

    One climate crisis disaster happening every week, UN warns

    Developing countries must prepare now for profound impact, disaster representative says

    Shares

    3,155

    

    Climate crisis disasters are happening at the rate of one a week, though most draw little international attention and work is urgently needed to prepare developing countries for the profound impacts, the UN has warned.

    Catastrophes such as cyclones Idai and Kenneth in Mozambique and the drought afflicting India make headlines around the world. But large numbers of “lower impact events” that are causing death, displacement and suffering are occurring much faster than predicted, said Mami Mizutori, the UN secretary-general’s special representative on disaster risk reduction. “This is not about the future, ka kite ano link below

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/07/one-climate-crisis-disaster-happening-every-week-un-warns
30. Eco Maori 30

    10 July 2019 at 7:48 am

    Kia aro The Am Show.

    Jeremy Corbin finally making a commitment to abandoned Brexit Eco Maori backs Britian staying in the European Union.

    It's good that I'll people could access medicine weed

    The smoke tax has good side effects and bad ones imagine if they were banned ????????.

    Some people think they have a higher IQ than they actually have it good for there confidence but that phenomen is easy to read.

    A fuel tax on gas guzzling cars is needed good on our government for implementing it they are planning to use the tax to make owning electric cars cheaper subsidy from carbon to clean energy user.

    Ka kite ano

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