Open mike 06/07/2013

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 6th, 2013 - 93 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

93 comments on “Open mike 06/07/2013 ”

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  1. Morrissey 1
    6 July 2013 at 6:30 am

    The “Ouch!” file
    
No. 2: Te Reo Putake gets served by Professor Longhair

    Friday 5 July 2013
    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-03072013/#comment-658247

    The “Ouch!” File is dedicated to public slapdowns of the hapless, the hopeless, the horrible and the hypocritical.

    Feel the humiliation one more time….
    No. 1 ratesarerevolting gets served by L. Prent
    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27052013/#comment-639510

    • karol 1.1
      6 July 2013 at 7:34 am

      Classy.

      • Morrissey 1.1.1
        6 July 2013 at 8:10 am

        Classy.

        Classy indeed. Made even classier by Te Reo’s response. One couldn’t make that up.

        • karol 1.1.1.1
          6 July 2013 at 8:18 am

          Take it outside. Schoolboy playground stuff. Why continue to perpetuate it on open mike?

          • Morrissey 1.1.1.1.1
            6 July 2013 at 8:31 am

            Fair comment, karol. I urge Te Reo Putake to take heed of your admonishment and refrain from further comments on this issue.

            • karol 1.1.1.1.1.1
              6 July 2013 at 8:46 am

              Thanks, Morrissey.

              While it may seem to be of central interest to the people involved, for me it is something that exploded from out of my peripheral vision – actually, pretty much outside of my vision altogether.

              I’m more focused on some significant political issues.

              • Morrissey …
                6 July 2013 at 8:47 am

                Keep up the good work, karol. Your contributions are always worth reading.

              • weka …
                6 July 2013 at 10:45 am

                +1 Karol.

                And it doesn’t even make sense (the opening post and links).

                • Morrissey …
                  6 July 2013 at 12:36 pm

                  And it doesn’t even make sense (the opening post and links).

                  Errr, yes it does.

                  Come ON, weka, I didn’t think you were that unhip.

                  • weka …
                    6 July 2013 at 3:09 pm

                    Sorry, I must be really unhip, because I read the comment and the link again, and all it looks like to me is the usual abuse between two people that regularly abuse each other on ts. What am I missing?

                    • Morrissey …
                      6 July 2013 at 4:26 pm

                      What am I missing?

                      You just missin’ that slight bit of bein’ hip enough.

            • Te Reo Putake 1.1.1.1.1.2
              6 July 2013 at 9:11 am

              Piss off, noddy.

  2. Colonial Viper 2
    6 July 2013 at 8:04 am

    UK Labour selection dispute worsens; police called

    there is the fact that a row over selections between the Blairite right and the Unite-led left says a huge amount about Labour’s moribund model of organisation. If constituency Labour parties are open to abuses from those factions of the party – the Westminster-endorsed parachute in the case of the former; the packing of local memberships when it comes to the latter – that’s simply more proof that Labour cannot go on with a dwindling membership, and processes that tend not to reach beyond the walls of damp meeting rooms on Wednesday evenings.

    Sooner or later, the people in charge of the party will have to face facts: the orthodox mass party is a dead idea, and Labour will have to reorganise itself and be reintroduced to a pluralistic, politically sophisticated world. A party machine essentially run along the same lines as it was before the second world war no longer cuts it: the Falkirk controversy is merely the latest evidence. On Tuesday, I advocated open primaries as a way out of this mess: a remedy also proposed by the Times and that great leftist Daniel Hannan MEP. It’s the right solution.

    http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/04/tom-watson-resignation-labour

    • karol 2.1
      6 July 2013 at 8:09 am

      Interesting.

      This:

      Labour is leaving the political foreground dangerously empty, which is also why the Unite brouhaha and every utterance from Len McCluskey have acquired such clout.

      • Colonial Viper 2.1.1
        6 July 2013 at 8:23 am

        Yep- its a vacuum which then gets filled by Tory media spin doctors. It has this annoying familiarity about it.

        • Rogue Trooper 2.1.1.1
          6 July 2013 at 12:11 pm

          jolly politically sophisticated and plural of your bad self Viper 😉

  3. vto 3
    6 July 2013 at 8:27 am

    .
    John Dow and other directors at Pike River…

    Corporate pigs.

    Human pigs.

    Didn’t even attend. Haven’t fronted up. Didn’t do their job. Killed 29 men dead.

    Greedy pigs.

    Fuck off Dow, never return to the Coast.

    • Jenny 3.1
      6 July 2013 at 10:04 am

      When this disaster first struck, before the miners bodies had even cooled, and the mine manager was still being lauded in the MSM as a hero in the face of adversity, and before the problems in restarting the mine had become apparent. I remember reading that, (still feeling bullish), Pike River directors and investors said that they were able, and prepared, to put up $70million to restart the mine.

      Now in the grim grey light of the aftermath, when even the bodies of the dead are proven beyond recovery. And now that the Company has been convicted of criminal disregard of these workers safety. And the MSM hero of the time, is facing individual charges for which he is also likely to be convicted. These same directors and shareholders have long since removed their money from the company, no hardship has been visited on them. As the report below shows while the families of the miners are doing it hard, those found guilty are living it up in “opulent” splendor.

      The Weekend Herald can reveal that Mr Dow is the director of four companies, and owns four properties in Nelson and Whangaparaoa totalling $3,525,000. The most expensive is valued at $1,675,000.

      Mr Nattrass is listed as a director of eight companies and owns at least five properties in Christchurch and Geraldine worth a total of $8,943,000. According to QV, one of those is in the upmarket Christchurch suburb of Fendalton and has a rateable value of $2,320,000. The property next door, worth $658,000, is also owned by Mr Nattrass.

      Of the other directors, Mr Radford owns a luxury home in Sydney which a local real estate website estimated was worth between A$1,469,800 and A$1,657,800.

      And Mr Jagatramka, a major player in the Australian mining industry, reportedly spent $5 million on a property in Illawarra.

      According to the Illawarra Mercury, he built a two-storey “palace” on the site, boasting an underground carpark and marble flooring imported from India. He held an open day to show off the “opulent” house and invited local personalities and a sports team he sponsors, the newspaper said.

      Anna Leask for the Week end Herald

      In the face of this cruel injustice, Judge Farish was moved to say that, (the winding up of the company by the directors), that let the shareholders get away with paying for their crimes “showed a total lack of remorse”.

      In my opinion there should be grounds to corral that $70million that was initially put up in greed by these same shareholders, this would be lesson to all those who hope to make money from the blood of workers.

      Pike River Coal says there is no cash in its coffers to pay court-ordered compensation to the families of victims of the 2010 mine explosion – despite the personal wealth of its former directors and the assets of its biggest shareholder.

      We are the 99%.

      An on-line poll conducted by the Herald showed that a combined total of 89 percent of respondents thought the directors and shareholders should pay up. A further 11 percent thought the government should put in money as well. A combined grand total of 99%.

      Taking the discretionary $70million investment that these investors and directors said they had available to reopen the mine, as a base line. This would see a more realistic compensation of $2million per family. While no amount of compensation will heal the wound suffered by these families, this amount would be more in line with the losses of these men’s income for the their expected working lives.

      Instead the families are being offered $5,000. This risible amount is comparable to the amount the company would be expected to pay in the case of a wrongful dismissal and for which they are insured for. In effect these men’s deaths have cost these investors nothing. And the dead miners and their grieving families, suffering hardship at their loss, are subsidising the rich investors and directors luxury lifestyles.

      In light of the “total lack of remorse” and zero cost of human life for investors and directors. Nothing has been learned, and death and disaster is made easy and cost free, and therefore more likely.

      What is also more likely is the growing loss of legitimacy for a government and a society that puts the interest of the 1% above everyone else.

      • vto 3.1.1
        6 July 2013 at 10:19 am

        Good points Jenny, especially when it comes to the shareholders willingness to pump $70 million into the company to do more mining….

        yet they are unwilling to pump $4 million into the company to put the families to right….

        Pigs.

        Fucking pigs.

        There is no other description. Their pigness has been described almost completely by their actions post-deaths, not pre-deaths. And that is the telling thing……

        Stuart Natrass is a pig

        John Dow is a pig.

      • Rogue Trooper 3.1.2
        6 July 2013 at 12:18 pm

        Moving post, Jenny.
        Major shareholder, NZ Oil and Gas, reported a recent full-year profit of $19.9M.

      • Draco T Bastard 3.1.3
        6 July 2013 at 1:45 pm

        And the dead miners and their grieving families, suffering hardship at their loss, are subsidising the rich investors and directors luxury lifestyles.

        That has always been true. You don’t get rich by being held accountable.

        In light of the “total lack of remorse” and zero cost of human life for investors and directors. Nothing has been learned, and death and disaster is made easy and cost free, and therefore more likely.

        QFT

        We need to change legislation so that companies, the directors of those companies and the shareholders when their companies cause such disasters.

        What is also more likely is the growing loss of legitimacy for a government and a society that puts the interest of the 1% above everyone else.

        We can hope so as it makes it easier to change the system if everyone has become sick of the way things are done now.

      • DavidC 3.1.4
        7 July 2013 at 12:36 am

        utterly vacuous post Jenny…

        What debt do they have against the properties?

    • David H 3.2
      6 July 2013 at 10:07 am

      This is a perfect reason why companies such as this, that have a massive Event (there is NO such thing as an accident, (There are Incidents, that when combined make a huge event,))

      We should make the directors (and the list of riches is spectacular) Pay the damages. And it’s not as if they would miss it. They also should NOT be able to run a company in NZ, until they pay it and they should also lose ALL directorships, lets hit this scum where it hurts in the pocket, as they HAVE no other love except money.

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10895115

      Also it had 2 mil in insurance I see the leeches(lawyers) have hoovered up their fees insultingly quickly, so that the 2 mil is about 150k. This from the Herald.

      “It had $2 million worth of liability insurance, but after legal fees were paid, just $156,000 – or about $5380 a family – was still available for compensation payments.”

      • Draco T Bastard 3.2.1
        6 July 2013 at 1:48 pm

        They also should NOT be able to run a company in NZ, until they pay it…

        Actually, I think it should be that they lose all their wealth as fines and that they never be in a position of management again.

  4. Colonial Viper 4
    6 July 2013 at 8:28 am

    http://guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jul/05/women-publishing-gail-rebuck-victoria-barnsley

    Women chiefs being dumped from throughout UK publishing houses. My cynical comment – there may certainly be a problem here, perhaps an industry quota will solve it?

    • McFlock 4.1
      6 July 2013 at 7:09 pm

      personally I’d be in favour of a “quota” that all boards of directors are 50% female.

      • weka 4.1.1
        6 July 2013 at 7:38 pm

        Jan Logie linked this today

        http://www.europeanpwn.net/files/women_on_boards_canada.pdf

        This report touches only briefly on the how, so ably dealt with elsewhere,42 choosing instead to focus more on ‘why there should be more women on boards.’

        These data support twin conclusions: that the service of women on boards is symbolically impor- tant, particularly as the face of culture, society, and the workplace change so rapidly, and that the service of women on boards makes a practical difference to how the board functions, the strength of its governance, and how this contributes to better overall performance.

        In short, women on boards is not only the “right” thing to do, it is also the “bright” thing to do.

      • Colonial Viper 4.1.2
        6 July 2013 at 10:15 pm

        Sure McFlock, which political party would you like to push for this boardroom gender quota?

        • McFlock 4.1.2.1
          6 July 2013 at 10:23 pm

          don’t care which party.

          • Colonial Viper 4.1.2.1.1
            6 July 2013 at 10:33 pm

            Make it a party you hate, and don’t want around any more.

            • McFlock 4.1.2.1.1.1
              6 July 2013 at 10:41 pm

              Ah, because addressing inequality is electoral suicide.

              Given that you’re a self-loathing Labour member, I’m surprised you haven’t volunteered your own party. Make it “electoral disaster” number three or four. According to you, the sky has fallen so many times for Labour that they’d need to open-cast mine just to have a sunny day.

              • Colonial Viper …
                6 July 2013 at 11:16 pm

                More BS from McFlock

                “Ah, because addressing inequality is electoral suicide.”

                Not that I ever said that. Of course if you do it in a shockingly hamfisted and ineffective way, it certainly is. Gets played out again in a few months, so enjoy the experience.

                • McFlock …
                  6 July 2013 at 11:47 pm

                  My apologies. Over the last few days you have been a champion in forwarding solutions to gender inequality in parliament, in the boardroom, and in society as a whole.

                  Oh no, wait, over the last few days you’ve been channeling the tortured soul of Henry Wright.

        • Alanz 4.1.2.2
          6 July 2013 at 10:40 pm

          Mmm, that’s an idea. Gender quota for stock market and foreign exchange traders.

          “Testosterone and high finance do not mix: so bring on the women”

          “Gender inequality has been an issue in the City [of London] for years, but now the new science of ‘neuroeconomics’ is proving the point beyond doubt: hormonally-driven young men should not be left alone in charge of our finances…”

          http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/19/neuroeconomics-women-city-financial-crash

  5. Colonial Viper 5
    6 July 2013 at 8:33 am

    For all those in the Assange dispute who view Sweden as such a trustworthy paragon of EU human rights.

    1) a few weeks ago news came to light that Sweden cooperated with the US in the extraordinary rendition of two Swedish citizens of Somali decent. Thanks Sweden.

    2) Sweden has just helped the UK veto a broad European inquiry into the US/UK electronic surveillance scandal against various EU governments including France and Germany, and the EU itself.

    Conclusion – Sweden is deeply cooperative with US intelligence and internal security activities.

  6. Morrissey 6
    6 July 2013 at 8:38 am

    Humbug Corner
    

No. 13: Toyota New Zealand

    Dear Morrissey,
    For over 21 years Toyota has been supporting Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) in the quest for the America’s Cup. And this year we are urging all Kiwis to show their support during our ‘Lean with us’ campaign!

    

Why lean?
    
’Lean with us’ is a play on the boat’s ability to lean at an incredible angle before it foils at spectacular high speeds. The more Emirates Team New Zealand can foil, the faster the boat goes. And the same goes for your support. The more Kiwis that lean, the more motivated our ETNZ crew will be to win. It’s a simple, fun way to show the team that you’re really behind them. 



    Emirates Team New Zealand Director Grant Dalton knows the magical power of having the whole country supporting you, telling us: “It’s no coincidence that our greatest America’s Cup successes over the years have come on the back of nationwide support from Kiwis, and that’s what will make the difference in 2013.” …..[continues]…..

    —Letter from Toyota New Zealand, 4 July 2013

    Humbug Corner is dedicated to gathering, and highlighting, the most striking examples of faux solicitude, insincere apologies, and particularly stupid recycling of official canards. It is produced by the Insincerity Project®, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.

    More humbug….
    No. 12 Pem Bird: “We’re there to do the business of advancing our people.”
    No. 11 Whenua Patuwai: “They’re my brothers and to see one of them goes [sic]—it’s tough.”
    No. 10 “Sir” Owen Glenn: “I do care that every person, especially children, have [sic] the right to feel safe.”

    No. 9 “Sir” Owen Glenn: His abuse inquiry is floundering after revelations he was accused of physically abusing a young woman in 2002.

    No. 8 Barack Obama: “…people standing up for what’s right…yearning for justice and dignity…”
    

No. 7 Barack Obama: “Nelson Mandela is my personal hero…”
    
No. 6 John Key: “Yeah well the Greens’ answer to everything is rail, isn’t it.”
    
No.5 Dr. Rodney Syme: “If you want good, open, honest practice, you have to make it transparent.”

    No. 4 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton’s… integrity beyond reproach…such great character…”


    No. 3 Dean Lonergan: “Y’ know what? The only people who will mock them are people who are dwarfists.”
    

No. 2 Peter Dunne: “What a load of drivel and sanctimonious humbug…”




    No. 1 Dominic Bowden: “It’s okay to be speechless.”



  7. North 7
    6 July 2013 at 8:54 am

    $3.41 million – small change the ex gratia payment of which would do nothing to displace the hell the families endure.

    No, we and our accountants and our lawyers and our brokers have expressed our sadness many, many times.

    Be uncorrupted by the lippy Judge Farish. There might easily have been a judge with a contrary view.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10895115

    “Total lack of remorse” indeed !

    • vto 7.1
      6 July 2013 at 9:10 am

      Yep North, the stinking rotten stench of the worst of human behaviour….

      The New Zealand corporate man.

      In all his glory – exposed for the cruel and dirty pigs they are…

      Never trust the corporate world. Never. Always keep an escape route up your sleeve and never ever trust them with your money……

      How many times do we need be shat on by these c…ts?

      ……..

      NEVER TRUST CORPORATE MAN

      • Tigger 7.1.1
        6 July 2013 at 9:53 am

        Money was in charge at Pike River. And money feels not loss nor remorse.

        • vto 7.1.1.1
          6 July 2013 at 10:10 am

          Overly simplistic Tigger. But, on that simplistic take, if it is solely money then why do so many corporate men receive knighthoods for their services? Surely the knighthood should go to the money.

          ——-

          Money was not in charge at Pike River, people were. They were driven by money – or more accurately, they were driven by greed.

          G R E E E E E E D

          This is the way our world (or rather, their world) is today. You may also have noticed the comment by Yes somewhere here where hisher vote for National was right because it made hisher house worth one million dollars. The world is awash with lust for money. Money money money.

          As highlighted by our very own Prime Minister. The fact of his popularity also indicates how far this lust has permeated into our core. Watch his slimy eyes light up when any converstion turns to money and its making.

          So, Tigger, I suggest that it is not money that was the problem at Pike River (in the sense you speak) but rather it was the inability of corporate men to control their greed and lust for money.

          And that is why you should never trust corporate man. Corporate man cannot control the lust and greed such is the pedestal upon which money has been placed today.

          And that is why the New Zealand corporate man is a pig. Pike River paints the pig.

          • Tigger 7.1.1.1.1
            6 July 2013 at 9:16 pm

            So from what you’re saying I get that ultimately money was in charge at Pike River.

  8. joe90 8
    6 July 2013 at 9:57 am

    Is NZ post doing this?.

    Mr. Pickering was targeted by a longtime surveillance system called mail covers, a forerunner of a vastly more expansive effort, the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program, in which Postal Service computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United States — about 160 billion pieces last year. It is not known how long the government saves the images.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/us/monitoring-of-snail-mail.html?hp&_r=3&

    • Te Reo Putake 8.1
      6 July 2013 at 10:07 am

      Good question, Joe! There is no recording device in the sorting machines themselves, but a similar scheme to that applied to Pickering’s mail is possible. But I would assume that would require a warrant in NZ. Though given what we now know about our spy agencies loose engagement with lawfullness, who knows for sure?

      • Ianmac 8.1.1
        6 July 2013 at 11:52 pm

        This might sound a bit weird but… A chap who manages a fruit packing shed says as every apple enters the system it is photographed 3 different ways and this decides the ultimate bin it ends up in. Once it has been processed washed, fumigated etc, that individual apple ends up with identical apples ready for export.
        So for people sorting, the technology is there but…

  9. Tiger Mountain 9
    6 July 2013 at 10:14 am

    “Jaffa city” (not pejorative, moving back for a couple of years) mayor “Lenslide” is on a downslide.

    Minto for Mayor!

    All working class people of Auckland should vote for him. It is a postal vote so prob half the population have never posted a letter in recent internet days. So if more candidates pop up from the right it would not worry me if John got in on a minority vote given the participation rate.

    Looking back things like Ports of Auckland only survived thanks to the likes of Bruce Jesson. Auckland needs to go left.

  10. yeshe 10
    6 July 2013 at 10:48 am

    A provocative read for a Saturday morning .. a view into the crystal ball of what is happening here in precious Aotearoa … from Le Monde Diplomatique, English edition

    http://mondediplo.com/1997/09/marcos

    “In this new war, politics, as the organiser of the nation state, no longer exists. Now politics serves solely in order to manage the economy, and politicians are now merely company managers.

    The world’s new masters have no need to govern directly. National governments take on the role of running things on their behalf. This is what the new order means – unification of the world into one single market. States are simply enterprises with managers in the guise of governments, and the new regional alliances bear more of a resemblance to shopping malls than political federations. The unification produced by neoliberalism is economic: in the giant planetary hypermarket it is only commodities that circulate freely, not people.”

    and more …

    “Neoliberalism thus imposes the destruction of nations and of groups of nations in order to fuse them into one single model. The war which neoliberalism is conducting against humanity is thus a planetary war, and is the worst and most cruel ever seen.

    What we have here is a puzzle. When we attempt to put its pieces together in order to arrive at an understanding of today’s world, we find that a lot of the pieces are missing. Still, we can make a start with seven of them, in the hope that this conflict will not end with the destruction of humanity. Seven pieces to draw, colour in, cut out and put together with others, in order to try to solve this global puzzle.

    The first of these pieces is the two-fold accumulation of wealth and of poverty at the two poles of planetary society. The second is the total exploitation of the totality of the world. The third is the nightmare of that part of humanity condemned to a life of wandering. The fourth is the sickening relationship between crime and state power. The fifth is state violence. The sixth is the mystery of megapolitics. The seventh is the multiple forms of resistance which humanity is deploying against neoliberalism.”

    Superb clarity. I am so pleased I found it this morning.

    • Rogue Trooper 10.1
      6 July 2013 at 12:22 pm

      Seven

    • Draco T Bastard 10.2
      6 July 2013 at 2:27 pm

      Good link

      • yeshe 10.2.1
        6 July 2013 at 2:51 pm

        Then you might dive deep into this excellence also, DTB … once again, a clear and horrible perspective of exactly what it is we are facing with new GCSB legislation …

        http://www.golemxiv.co.uk/2013/07/nsagchq-the-new-praetorians/

        “In a democracy rule is by consent. In a dictatorship it is by control.

        Which do we have in the West? It seems to me, it is no longer clear. We certainly still have the rituals of rule by consent. But behind the elected front men and women is a shadow state. It’s people ritually swear allegiance to those we elect. They declare themselves there to serve and protect. But when it is us they spend their time spying on, whose interests are they protecting? Can you really serve those you do not trust?

        In 2008 we discovered that behind the banking system we knew about, there was a vast shadow banking system whose size most of us never suspected. In 2013 we have glimpsed not only the scale of the shadow state but the degree to which it, like the shadown banking system, is out of control and not working for us at all.”

        Concluding, he writes:

        “But what I want to emphasize is that there is a New Cold War but it is not like the old one. It is not country against country. It is the shadow state in every nation against its own people, with the collusion of an inner core within the regular State. If this is correct, and I believe Mr Snowden has made it very difficult to believe otherwise, then we must not allow ourselves to be distracted by politicians and media barons telling us stories in the familiar mold of the old cold war, of one whole country against another, America against Germany, Britain against France, or Greece against Europe. There are, of course, still real rivalries between nations and they do compete with each other and do try to destabilize each other – but this is not our most pressing problem as citizens, as free men and women. I believe our real problem is what I have called the New Cold War. Because our enemy in that war is here among us.

        Nominally we live in democracies but the trust which makes government by consent work is eroding fast. Distrust, fear and control are replacing it. And it is not you and me pushing that change. It is the shadow state allied, as I believe it is, with the shadow financial world, which is pushing it.

        As I have said before, we are at war – a frighteningly cold war – of austerity and spying, poverty and trial without jury – but the lines are not between nations any more. They are between you and me on one side and an elite who style themselves as technocrat experts and cyber praetorians, here to help, but in reality here to control us and do away with democracy wherever they can.”

        And the comments in reply are magnificent to read. Gives me hope !

  11. Penny Bright 11
    6 July 2013 at 10:54 am

    FYI:

    6 July 2013

    Press Release from Auckland Mayoral candidate Penny Bright:
    “Leave the poor beggars alone!”

    “I support the following protest, in support of the homeless, who, because of their circumstances, beg for money, in order to live.”

    https://www.facebook.com/events/384259328352958/

    Saturday 6 July 2013
    Outside Smith and Caugheys
    253-261 Queen St Assetkeepers Auckland
    12:00pm until 1:00pm

    Smith and Caughey’s have asked Auckland City Council to ban all beggars from the streets. We’re going to beg Smith and Caughey’s to leave the beggars alone. Bring a sign to beg with, but beware the Millionaires Against Moochers, dressed to impress with top hats or formal gowns who may try to sweep us all under the carpet and out of their sight.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10894464

    ___________________________________________________________________________

    “The ‘Heartless’ of the City must stop this war on the poorest of the poor,” says Auckland Mayoral candidate Penny Bright.

    “For homeless beggars, especially in winter, how can Auckland be the ‘most liveable city in the world’, particularly when this corporate-controlled Auckland Council wants bylaw changes to move them ‘out of sight – out of mind’?”

    “This is not the first time that this corporate-controlled Auckland Council has attempted to deny the lawful rights of citizens to what I consider to be ‘freedom of expression’.”

    “As an Auckland Mayoral candidate – I support those who are amongst the most marginalised of the 99%, who choose to make the world aware of their plight through signage and some container for those who care and are able to make personal donations to help them.”

    “During the Occupy Auckland movement, a number of Auckland homeless became involved in our struggle against the 1%.

    At Aotea Square, we lived together, ate together, learned about each other, and collectively made decisions about how we could improve the lot of the 99%. – the public majority.”

    “At Occupy Auckland, the homeless had a home, shelter, food, community and above all hope – for a genuinely ‘brighter future’.”

    “Auckland Council, representing the corporate 1%, in whose interests the Auckland region really operates, attempted to crush the Occupy Auckland movement, by removing us by an injunction, which was eventually deemed unlawful in the Auckland High Court.”

    http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz/?p=113

    “As one of the two successful Appellants in the Occupy Auckland vs Auckland Council Appeal – I am prepared to help challenge the ‘legality’ of Auckland Council’s proposed by-law, by raising this matter directly with Council.”

    ” I do hope that Auckland Council have not been taking legal advice from their General Counsel, Wendy Brandon, who, in my considered opinion, is unprofessional, incompetent and has proven to be a LIAR (over the amount of Auckland Council public monies that were spent on Occupy Auckland legal proceedings).”

    http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz/?p=130

    _______________________________________________________

    Penny Bright
    ‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation’ campaigner

    2013 Auckland mayoral candidate

  12. Molly 12
    6 July 2013 at 11:51 am

    Banned TED talk from 2012 (who knew there was such a thing? perhaps not published is more accurate):
    Nick Hanauer “Rich people don’t create jobs”

    Worth the five minute watch – if only to see the mix of responses in the audience afterwards….

    • Colonial Viper 12.1
      6 July 2013 at 11:59 am

      Yeah they eventually unbanned it. Nick said in a later interview that his friend who is the head of TED was actually sympathetic to the message, but felt pressure from his elite peer group to suppress the talk.

      • Alanz 12.1.1
        6 July 2013 at 12:13 pm

        Goodness me, who is this Nick chap. That is such a mumbling, stumbling, mumbo, jumbo geeky presentation. Let’s wait till Shearer starts his political campaigning with ‘Operation Stun and Awe’ and show how he will be far more articulate, fluent and persuasive.

        • Molly 12.1.1.1
          6 July 2013 at 12:24 pm

          Use Google – he does provoke discussion (or as you demonstrate: affronted indignation with no actual points) but he is firmly in top income bracket he speaks of, part owner of a venture capitalist group based in the Seattle area.

          Also, what do you expect from a five minute presentation, especially one that is intended only to invite people to think differently, rather than provide a nuanced, and completely spun debate on the issue? Isn’t that the premise of TED talks?

          • Alanz 12.1.1.1.1
            6 July 2013 at 3:05 pm

            Thanks for pointing out the clip, Molly. Much appreciated, truly. My comments at 12:13pm could have been clearer but then I may not be as practised as a certain political so-called leader with mumbling, stumbling, fumbling and bumbling.

      • Molly 12.1.2
        6 July 2013 at 12:19 pm

        Tried to search Hanauer on the TED site, and only came up with the comments regarding it’s non-posting. But found references that it had been published later on, although still can’t find it through the search engine, – there may be a direct link.

        Did come across this reference to an email from Chris Anderson (TED) regarding the original choice not to publish on one of the YouTube posters –

        ” Published on May 2, 2013

        A TED Talk on Income Inequality by Nick Hanauer…

        Chris Anderson, director of TED, refuses to release the video of the talk on its website, saying that the message is overtly controversial and too partisan for broad consumption.

        In an email sent to Hanauer and shared with Jim Tankersley at the National Journal, Anderson wrote:

        “… even if the talk was rated a home run, we couldn’t release it, because it would be unquestionably regarded as out and out political. We’re in the middle of an election year in the US. Your argument comes down firmly on the side of one party. And you even reference that at the start of the talk. TED is nonpartisan and is fighting a constant battle with TEDx organizers to respect that principle….

        “Nick, I personally share your disgust at the growth in inequality in the US, and would love to have found a way to give people a clearer mindset on the issue, without stoking a tedious partisan rehash of all the arguments we hear every day in the mainstream media.

        “Alas, my judgment – and it is just a judgment, and that’s why my job title is ‘curator’ – is that publishing your talk would not meet that goal.””

    • Draco T Bastard 12.2
      6 July 2013 at 2:41 pm

      The real big problem I have with that is that he subscribes to the ever increasing, and thus unsustainable, use of resources.

  13. captain hook 13
    6 July 2013 at 12:05 pm

    kweewee and kit.condom are birds of a feather.
    they both think its ok to go through life taking what they want and to hell with anybody who gets in the way.
    losers and counterparties are expected to just flake off and security at the door keeps them from becoming a nuisance
    however in a democracy everybody has a say!
    .condom thinks he can steal the intellectual property of anyone and escape to the south seas but they are gonna get him.
    tough luck to both I say

  14. Rogue Trooper 14
    6 July 2013 at 12:56 pm

    Could Mecca’s Kaaba become a massive petri-dish for Mers
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10895122
    already found to be residing in a bat population reservoir.

  15. marty mars 15
    6 July 2013 at 2:11 pm

    Just when I thought I couldn’t like or respect shane jones less he says this shit,

    Mr Jones said he had spent yesterday in and around Kerikeri and Kaitaia talking about the proposal, “and the overwhelming response is the public doesn’t want the country run by geldings”.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10895113

    What does that actually mean?

    This is what gelding means

    A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday working animal. As a verb, “gelding” or “to geld” refers to the castration procedure itself.

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

    I may have it wrong but I cannot remember any proposal to castrate men. It may seem extreme but I really wish shane jones would politically fuck off forever.

    • Rogue Trooper 15.1
      6 July 2013 at 2:15 pm

      he is embarrassment (but then, that’s Nu Zillund for ya). Give the fillies a run.

    • weka 15.2
      6 July 2013 at 3:14 pm

      What it means is that Shane wants the country run by men who will put women in their place, by whatever means necessary. He really is in the wrong party*, but I tend to agree, it would be better if he just fucked off out of politics altogether.

      *although it’s hard to see exactly what party he would fit in. Maybe he could start his own – the macho shithead party, except I think he would find that most of the members wouldn’t want a maaari for leader.

    • tc 15.3
      6 July 2013 at 3:55 pm

      Jones continues his corporate behavioural ways as an MP.

      Labour has picked some real lazy self serving troughers over the past 10 years, none more typical than Shane. The fishing industry I heard were happy to see the back of him, one nasty piece of work is Mr jones.

    • DavidC 15.4
      7 July 2013 at 12:45 am

      maybe geldings was the wrong term..I think he was talking of emasculation…..

    • Draco T Bastard 15.5
      7 July 2013 at 1:56 am

      He’s doing us all a favour in helping show just how out of touch Labour is.

  16. Rogue Trooper 16
    6 July 2013 at 2:11 pm

    Egypt:
    Ultra-conservatives see an opening
    http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-egypt-nour-20130706,0,6204110.story?

    ‘historical, social and economic conditions (have) laid the groundwork for society to return to religion”- Geneive Abdo
    http://www.opednews.com/articles/Egypt-s-revolution-betraye-by-Eric-Walberg-130705-644.html?
    -Islamaphobes imperialist backed?
    -a civil war like in Algeria, US supported secularists?
    A need for Egypt to disconnect from the US- dominated world order (while their Navy requires the canal).

    • Rogue Trooper 16.1
      6 July 2013 at 2:20 pm

      oh, forgot, Obama instructs a review of American aid to Egypt- The Spectator.

    • UglyTruth 18.1
      6 July 2013 at 11:08 pm

      “Accelerating.”

      Nope.

      … the largest change (or even second or third largest) change is not to the most recent decade. And, in fact, the largest observed decadal increase is actually from the average of 1987-1996 to the average of 1997-2006, at +0.24K.

      … 2001-2010 is the warmest 10-year period in the instrumental record. This is evidence enough of a warmer climate, but NOT of an accelerated warming rate.

      http://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/2013/wmo-report/

  19. Rogue Trooper 19
    6 July 2013 at 3:11 pm

    A Long History of Untruthfulness by US Security Intelligence- Tim Weiner.

  20. weka 20
    6 July 2013 at 8:17 pm

    Here’s a hint Vodafone – if you put the link to the network status back on the front page of your website in an easy to find place, then when you have a network problem your call centre won’t get overloaded.

    And btw, the word ‘communication’ in the term telecommunication actually means something. Look it up.

    • karol 20.1
      6 July 2013 at 8:25 pm

      +1

      Yes, I noticed there “network status” link became invisible a while back.

  21. Brett Dale 21
    6 July 2013 at 9:18 pm

    Was their a sonic boom in christchurch tonight?, people who live in
    chch are saying their was a huge boom, but it wasnt lightening
    or an earthquake?

  22. Brett Dale 22
    6 July 2013 at 9:25 pm

    P Lab explosion in chch, apprently.

  23. Brett Dale 23
    6 July 2013 at 9:28 pm

    now lightening. next it will be aliens.

  24. Brett Dale 24
    6 July 2013 at 9:47 pm

    Or that time traveller who went to mars with President Obama and then went to see Lincoln.