Open mike 06/09/2013

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, September 6th, 2013 - 136 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…

(sorry about our patchy record getting these up since r0b took a break. he was our rock)

136 comments on “Open mike 06/09/2013 ”

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  1. Pete 1
    6 September 2013 at 7:55 am

    A comparison of policy between Labor and the Coalition in Australia. Text NSFW.

  2. Sable 2
    6 September 2013 at 7:59 am

    Looks like Obama may not get his way in Syria. About time someone stood up to the bully.

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/04/obama-putin-syria-g20-summit

    • Rogue Trooper 2.1
      6 September 2013 at 2:48 pm

      Babylon 5 Splice
      a little Iran v US /Israel
      a pinch of Sunni / Shia sectarianism
      a dash of the Syrian state v “rebels”
      a region spread between the Saudis and Iran
      with an influence of Russian and US geopolitics.

  3. amirite 3
    6 September 2013 at 8:00 am

    TV3’s Rachel Morton says Aussie media is very biased in support of Abbott, but criticising every Rudd’s faux pas…sounds familiar?

    • Sable 3.1
      6 September 2013 at 8:06 am

      The Australian media are probably the most dishonest I have ever experienced (although I imagine the US is worse again). They make the two faced journo liars we have here look positively saintly. That’s the problem with having a media oligopoly run by rich neo liberals.

      • phillip ure 3.1.1
        6 September 2013 at 9:40 am

        “..That’s the problem with having a media oligopoly run by rich neo liberals…”

        um..!..isn’t that what we also have here..?..

        ..the only differences being in shading/subtleties/cultures..?

        phillip ure..

        • dave 3.1.1.1
          6 September 2013 at 12:18 pm

          I see today they have a poll with who readers are going to vote for on the age and smh. Its sitting on 41 percent labour and 34 liberal at present. Theres 30k votes so maybe an indication that it’ll be a lot closer than all Australia’s media are suggesting.

          I certainly hope so anyway.

          • amirite 3.1.1.1.1
            6 September 2013 at 12:36 pm

            This from Roy Morgan @ Twitter:

            Roy Morgan ‏@roymorganonline 22h
            The seat of Warringah, held by @TonyAbbottMHR, leads the nation on unhealthy alcohol consumption http://ow.ly/ozJ4g #ausvotes

        • Murray Olsen 3.1.1.2
          6 September 2013 at 5:00 pm

          “um..!..isn’t that what we also have here..?..”

          The difference is one of degree. Imagine a newspaper that was the collected scribblings of Michael Laws, Rodney Hide, Garth McVicar, and John Ansell, but without labelling any of it as opinion. That would be a Murdoch paper.

      • happynz 3.1.2
        6 September 2013 at 1:01 pm

        The Australian media are probably the most dishonest I have ever experienced (although I imagine the US is worse again).

        *sigh* This may be the default setting in good ol’ Nu Zild; “At least it isn’t as bad as the US.”

  4. Sable 4
    6 September 2013 at 8:03 am

    Meanwhile back home our so called leader is once again busy kissing Obama on the ass:

    http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/18802253/john-keys-focus-shifts-to-syria/

  5. Boadicea 5
    6 September 2013 at 8:15 am

    Labour compromised its soul when Robertson/King/Shearer used TV3 to knife Cunliffe at the Ellerslie Conference in 2012.
    Now they feel free to play games with the Party, says John Drinnan in the Herald

    “Mediaworks and TV3 are starting to sound like the Jones channel in covering the Labour leadership campaign.
    But I am betting it is about ratings and advertising dollars rather than a political bias.”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11120290

    • BM 5.1
      6 September 2013 at 8:37 am

      Shane Jones, he’s the best candidate by far and would probably beat John Key at the next election.

      • bad12 5.1.1
        6 September 2013 at 8:49 am

        That little proposition i am happy to say will never be tested in reality, keep tho dreaming that the right will be having any real say in who the next leader of the Labour Party is…

        • BM 5.1.1.1
          6 September 2013 at 8:52 am

          Which is why National will win the next election easily.
          Great for the blue voter, not so good for the red/green voter.

          • One Anonymous Knucklehead 5.1.1.1.1
            6 September 2013 at 8:59 am

            Yes, you’re a shoo-in. The John Banks trial won’t focus media attention on cups of tea, the referendum won’t stir up anti-Key sentiment, the Sky City deal won’t continue to throw up dead rats, the privileges committee will find that the PM’s office must be bcc-ed into all emails by law.

            The Labour party won’t feel rejuvenated by the party-wide leadership election. No-one will door-knock or stuff letter-boxes for them.

            None of these things will come to pass. You’ll see.

            • BM 5.1.1.1.1.1
              6 September 2013 at 9:05 am

              Only one flaw in your plan.

              The lefts candidates are complete crap who only appeal to the beltway.
              John Key could be caught rogering a goat and he’d still be a shoe-in.

          • Greywarbler 5.1.1.1.2
            6 September 2013 at 1:26 pm

            Is this the Red/Green voter that BM mentioned?

  6. Winston Smith 6
    6 September 2013 at 9:11 am

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/editorials/9131979/Time-to-talk-of-serious-things

    – I’m still of the view JC should take over but good on English, hes finally getting the kudos hes deserves for his performance

  7. bad12 7
    6 September 2013 at 9:21 am

    Does raising the minimum wage lead to higher unemployment, not according to this which tracks that very question through multi-decades of data,

    http://www.aneconomicsense.com/…/the-impact-of-increasing-the-minimum-wage-o...

    • One Anonymous Knucklehead 7.1
      6 September 2013 at 9:30 am

      Nice find Bad12 🙂

    • ianmac 7.2
      6 September 2013 at 9:42 am

      Must be sad for Mr English when facts get in his way! Well done bad 12.

    • phillip ure 7.3
      6 September 2013 at 9:47 am

      chrs 4 that bad..i’ve whoar-ed it..

      phillip ure..

      • bad12 7.3.1
        6 September 2013 at 10:12 am

        There’s a lot more links to the evidence surrounding the fallacy that raising the minimum wage causes rising unemployment available and i will put one up daily while there is a supply of them,

        i clicked on a comment yesterday which took me straight to Farrar’s rubbish dump with the usual whine of ”why not raise the minimum to $30 then”, and, ”a living wage will destroy massive amounts of jobs” bulls**t,

        At worst, when the minimum wage is raised it leads to a ‘knee-jerk’ from some employers and there are some job losses, however, within the year such job losses are no longer evident, the obvious reason being that employers realizing that there is more money in the economy take on more staff in an effort to secure a slice of this,

        ”16-17 year olds unemployment initially increased by 1.4-2.6%, BUT, that negative impact was not evident a year later in 2010”,

        http://www.blog.greens.org.nz/…/its-official–abolishing-youth-rates-did-not-increase...

        • Greywarbler 7.3.1.1
          6 September 2013 at 10:27 am

          bad12
          Did you catch up on the comment I put up relating to yours about a psychologist. This is the link to my comment which may have more information on your point?
          http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-5092013/#comment-691678

          • bad12 7.3.1.1.1
            6 September 2013 at 10:52 am

            Lolz, yes i did read the comment, tho as Fraser McDonald nor Kim Workman were the ‘Psychologist’ i was alluding to i failed to formulate a reply,

            Next time we here at the Standard get round to discussing alternatives to imprisonment i will put a bit more effort into digging out the actual name of the person i was seeking’s name…

            • Greywarbler 7.3.1.1.1.1
              6 September 2013 at 11:00 am

              That would be good bad12. It is a subject worth getting into.

              • idlegus …
                6 September 2013 at 3:55 pm

                fascinating new telly program from america called ‘orange is the new black’ set in a womens prison, the first episode didnt interestest me but i kept seeing hype up for it so i checked out a few more episodes & wow, it is really incredible, its a comedy but jeez it touches some real raw nerves & shows up the system in all its hypocritical glory. one the the black inmates is trying to write a letter to the parole board ‘i didnt mean to smack the bitch’…its hilarious but at the same time it can bring a tear to your eye coz the ppl are so screwed up & tragic & their lives are just so sad. its a good show if your like your comedy very dark.

                • karol …
                  6 September 2013 at 4:05 pm

                  I have been watching that show, and the Aussie show Wentworth, also set in a women’s prison and showing up some issues re-the prison system and society.

                  Orange is the New Black does have some funny moments. When the newbie inmate is getting advice from different people about the rules and systems in prison, she says to one of the women, “That wasn’t in anything I read about prison”. The woman replied: ‘You studied to come to prison?”

                  Primarily both shows are “entertainment”, though, and have some elements of voyeurism.

        • North 7.3.1.2
          6 September 2013 at 4:55 pm

          @ bad12 – so does this mean that my suspicions of The Fatuous Neil Miller on Mora Bora Afternoons was talking through the hole in his arse re 9000 lost youth jobs as a direct consequence ? Just a liar or a dunce or what ? Hmmm……….they’re not mutually exclusive of course.

          http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-2092013/#comment-690272

  8. travellerev 8
    6 September 2013 at 9:38 am

    John Kerry the secretary of state currently trying to start WWIII is like ex-president Bush a member of skull and bones so it should come as no surprise that he is of the same warmongering ilk. Here is a little video showing how that looks as he tries to convince some of the US Senators of the need to invade yet another sovereign state in order to satisfy his masters greedy needs.

  9. karol 9
    6 September 2013 at 9:53 am

    A Vote Auckland website is up, with a guide to the elections and a searchable list of candidates.

    Edit: oh. whoops! the “search candidates” and “how to vote” links don’t work properly.

    Edit 2: Found another way to bring up Whau Board candidates. I see there is a Mana movement candidate.

  10. Greywarbler 10
    6 September 2013 at 10:52 am

    Quote from Alice – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
    Alice: It was much pleasanter at home, when one wasn’t always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits.

    Today’s news – What’s up?
    Fri 6/9 news Black grass imported into NZ – it is a prohibited import species!! 20 to 30 kg of seeds spilled from a load of tonnes presumably of a bulk lot of seeds. Who was in charge of this abhorrence? Heads should be rolling, said the Red Queen.

    Fonterra placing blame on Agresearch has been rebutted. Agresearch advised of the suspicion of a presence of a baddie bug and advised further testing. It was – might be, but not able to state definitely.

    What about Abbott Oz party releasing its financial planning late in the day and last minute before elections. Should informatkon be out within two weeks of naming of election date? What is our rule on this?

    Norway rats. Could we try to compete in innovation and intelligence with Norway and their rats idea. They have more sensitive noses than dogs! Are being trained to sniff out all sorts of things. I think I’ve heard of bees being used for this. Don’t know if that is a reliable memory but anyway bees shouldn’t be used for such jobs, they are needed for their regular work.

    Snap thoughts on headlines –
    NZ Government deeply concerned about something today!
    Crown Fibre Holdings at present low in fibre – needs to eat more muesli.
    NZ government low in fibre – needs to stop running down the country’s enterprise capability in favour of sucking up to Australia and award contracts to NZ. If any finance required is refused by Australian-owned banks, then we will create our own.resources.

    The Auckland Philharmonia is among the first in what will be a growing practice of trying to mine funds that should be available for all NZ to instead be directed to advantage Auckland.

    Dotcom resigns from Mega and will focus on fighting extradition and building a political party.

    F..ing fr..ing waste is overwhelming agreed land sites in Taranaki – going to be our Fukushima? Which resulted from believing big talkers knew and cared about what they were doing and could be trusted.

    Street comments from South Auckland shows support for Robertson as politician to the fore – but which Robertson. There is confusion between Grant Robertson and Ross Robertson, present MP for Manukau East.
    (From The Daily Blog comment by John Minto 9/6/2013)
    On the other hand the unspectacular Ross Robertson, Labour MP for Manukau East, will leave parliament as quietly as he has done his 27 years of parliamentary service. By this I mean he has served parliament rather than his electorate….
    Throughout his time as MP his electorate has suffered through unprecedented attacks on New Zealand’s lowest income families. Robertson has been a silent witness to such things as high unemployment, emerging health crises and degraded housing while the parasites on poverty – unregulated loan sharks, fast food joints, pokies and booze shops – have preyed on the most vulnerable. Has Robertson done anything about any of these things? If he has there’s no public record of it. In reality he has coasted through the years without leaving a ripple.
    See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/06/09/peter-dunne-and-ross-robertson-the-smug-and-the-useless/#sthash.EYudmY6Z.dpuf

    – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/06/09/peter-dunne-and-ross-robertson-the-smug-and-the-useless/#sthash.EYudmY6Z.dpuf

  11. Tigger 11
    6 September 2013 at 11:03 am

    In praise of John Key’s…hair? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11120163

    Actual quotes from this apparently not satirical piece:
    “Helen Clark’s hair was threadbare. There wasn’t much happening up there, but at least its colour corresponded with her party’s colours.”
    “The Right Honourable John Key has a right honourable papal hairdo. As in the hair he has is shaped like the cap the Pope wears.”

    Clark is ‘threadbare’ but Key’s is ‘papal’ (a strange compliment but a compliment nonetheless. Key is clearly ‘threadbare’ (view shots of him in more extreme locations and his large bald patch is self-evident) along with the fact that he more than likely is colouring his hair somehow, despite claims to the contrary his colour pattern is suspiciously artificial.

    Also, as one comment already points out, no mention of Peter Dunne, who practically is just a haircut.

    • bad12 11.1
      6 September 2013 at 11:33 am

      i was always under the impression that Slippery the Prime Minister covered His bald spot by plucking the soft hairs from within the anal crevice of a blind donkey called Brucie,

      There’s either hair coloring being used on that one’s head or the dip-s**t is dipping it in it…

      • Rosie 11.1.1
        6 September 2013 at 1:47 pm

        “i was always under the impression that Slippery the Prime Minister covered His bald spot by plucking the soft hairs from within the anal crevice of a blind donkey called Brucie,”

        I strongly urge Brucie to seek the advice, support and representation of his Union Delegate on this matter.

      • yeshe 11.1.2
        6 September 2013 at 2:20 pm

        his goat called Brucie wasn’t it ?

        • bad12 11.1.2.1
          6 September 2013 at 2:47 pm

          According to BM above, Slippery would be too busy rogering the goat, perhaps He can multi-task…

    • Winston Smith 11.2
      6 September 2013 at 11:50 am

      and the msm wonder why people arn’t buying newspapers anymore

  12. Greywarbler 12
    6 September 2013 at 12:09 pm

    What is PGGWrightson doing having anything to do with bringing infested grain into NZ? How can the bloody pathetic government controls have allowed this? Have we been invaded by malicious secret anarchists determined to destroy our country and denude us of our ability to make our living?

  14. Greywarbler 14
    6 September 2013 at 12:56 pm

    Damien O’Connor has said that contaminated product should be stopped at the border and returned. And that is what other countries do which have concerns to protect their own resources against contamination and below standard imports.

    But MPI allowed PGG Wrightson to truck the stuff to some seed handling facility. Mates eh! Wouldn’t want to put on mates overbearing controls even pest destruction, that would cost. Light-handed regulation is the name of the game! Feather light, hardly can be felt.

    As MPI says about the seed which they apparently are well informed about:
    Ministry spokesperson David Yard said the seeds are a low biosecurity risk and not many are likely to germinate because they are immature and most landed on barren ground.
    Immature, and wise advice about regulation and extreme caution, has landed on barren ground – true when applied to the Minstry of Primary (first and just about only) Industry.

    More unpleasant details. Read and treat like medicine, bad first but perhaps enabling an improving outcome.
    Black grass is notorious in Europe where it’s highly resistant to herbicide, spreads rapidly, and reduces the yields of wheat, rapeseed, forage legumes and barley….

    Federated Farmers grain and seed chair Ian MacKenzie of Ashburton said farmers are furious that MPI allowed PGG Wrightson’s shipment of imported fescue seeds from Denmark to be driven though their region, when they knew it was contaminated with black grass seed. (on 3 July 2013)…

    The ministry has confirmed black-grass seed spilled on State Highway 77 in mid-Canterbury from a PGG Wrightson truck travelling from Ashburton to Methven.
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/220586/farmers-furious-after-bad-grass-seed-spilled

    3 July to 6 September. It has taken a long time to surface, the seeds might have surfaced by now! Black seed, white milk powder, what colour disaster next. Fonterra, Government of the supposed farmer’s party, I would suggest farmers stop voting along the bottom of the trough and help get Labour in and make them work for your betterment – you small farmers.

  15. Rogue Trooper 15
    6 September 2013 at 1:42 pm

    Cracked :
     most online encryption.

    • Murray Olsen 15.1
      6 September 2013 at 5:28 pm

      I suspect it’s more a case of bypassing than cracking. The internet companies will be providing the NSA with back door access. The codes based on the factorisation of products of huge primes are still unbreakable on any reasonable timescale, which is why the US and Australian governments are spending so much on quantum computing research. Despite what some of the proponents say, quantum computing is funded precisely because it has potential intelligence and military uses. I personally don’t think it will ever work in the way the proponents suggest, but it won’t be the first time the military has wasted our money.
      Quantum encryption is uncrackable in principle and you can even tell if someone has had a look at it, but as far as I know it’s only used by a smallish number of banks.

  16. Rogue Trooper 16
    6 September 2013 at 1:51 pm

    well, that was pleasant, yet we can get too much of a good thing, Black Grass seed spread on Canterbury asphalt for example, “She’ll be right” from the Ministries of Primary Industries and Bio-security, we wouldn’t want trade with China to “cease” or ‘dry up now, would we Michael.

  17. amirite 17
    6 September 2013 at 2:29 pm

    Is Hooters trying a reverse psychology method now? This from Twitter in response to Paddy teh Handsome:

    Matthew Hooton ‏@MatthewHootonNZ 48m
    I know that the candidate @johnkeypm is least afraid of is @DavidCunliffeMP. Wants him as leader

    yeah right, Hooters.

    • Te Reo Putake 17.1
      6 September 2013 at 3:02 pm

      Does that mean that Key is scared of all three candidates? Good times!

      • Winston Smith 17.1.1
        6 September 2013 at 4:07 pm

        Yes of course hes scared after all he got soundly beaten by Cullen, Clark, Goff, Campbell and Shearer so hes probably shitting bricks over Cunliffe, Robertson or Jones

    • bad12 17.2
      6 September 2013 at 3:19 pm

      Hooten is sounding desperate, he can obviously see the wheels falling off His gravy train after November 2014…

      • tc 17.2.1
        6 September 2013 at 6:50 pm

        Hooten has enough nuts stored away and many troughs to feed from regardless of the 2014 result.

        • felix 17.2.1.1
          6 September 2013 at 7:10 pm

          I think there are results-dependent aspects to some of his contracts. He’s shitting himself.

    • Rhinocrates 17.3
      6 September 2013 at 8:10 pm

      Proof that Hoots only ever tells the truth when he wants it to be taken as a lie.

      I imagine that he thinks that he’s being clever and that we’re gullible – also proof of the maxim that mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself.

    • QoT 17.4
      6 September 2013 at 10:13 pm

      I’ve started to wonder if Hooton isn’t so much a troll as a marketer. He doesn’t give a fuck what he says as long as a TV or radio producer can look at it and go “That’s new! That’ll make a great headline/spice up the panel!”, because many of them don’t give a fuck as long as it’ll keep the audience half-engaged.

  18. North 18
    6 September 2013 at 2:58 pm

    I despise the way these self important arseholes are all taking to Twitter. Twitter’s the new black is it ? Shouty Boy and Paddy Te Handsome. My God !

  19. Tim 19
    6 September 2013 at 3:07 pm

    …. and as he off-fucks, (fuk fuk fuk fuk waddle waddle waddle ) watch him squeal like a stuffed pig when his grand plan and final solution doesn’t come to pass.
    It’s 93 Octane arrogance complete with all the desperado additives BM and his MSM egotist mates think they can get away with – without appearing too obvious. (Not working so far though)
    “The left[‘]s candidates are complete crap who only appeal to the beltway.” [beltway – where-ever that ekshly is; prolly Molesworth, Hill St., the resting place of Broadcasting House, and the other, very vulnerable tunneled otherside) …..

    whilst the right’s candidates are loved and cherished by all, trusted & concerned for all (including that majority that are now struggling in their 90%edness), perceived as honest and up-frent by all, and in touch with “The New Zealand People”. The ‘right’ are desperately hoping that those “New Zealand people” aree now all so disengaged with poltiks that they don’t give a fcuk.
    (btw – watch them start to trot out all that “New Zealand people this”
    & the “New Zealand people that” before too long).
    Pretty bloody obvious that BM’s been to the Hooten School of Media Manipulation, Self-Promotion and Ego”

    The guy’s a frikken charleti

    Could be wrong BM … but I’m picking your hopes and esprayshuns aren’t going to pan out that well.

  20. Tim 20
    6 September 2013 at 3:17 pm

    oooooow geee Jum…
    Afternoons with the Earth’s nicest man is going to get Rad!

    I’ll rely on Morissey B’s interpretation because I fear I won’t be able to listen. I’ll lay down now in anticipation – I just HOPE like HELL sleep doen’t kick in.

    Upcomming – “The Panel” with Jerome Corbett and that – umm hoe fella – you know…. the one that doesn’t take shit….. yes….. Joe Bennett – the contributor to the life of Lyttleton.
    Anyway … Rad!!!! Jum.
    Make sure your production team has all their cardboard coffee cups, their overwhelming expertise in commentary of all matters political – indeed, just in all matters – make sure they’re pumped and ready!.

    Meantime I’ll take your’e wine expert’s advice and supp the Thornbury Merlot – except it’ll have to be a grape juice non alco equiv.

    Can’t wait MB – don’t let me down

  21. Rogue Trooper 21
    6 September 2013 at 3:32 pm

    Syrian letter to US warns of “catastrophic” consequences, civil to regional to global.
    Oh, and the price of oil. Good thing that the Indian government is considering closing fuel stations at night-time…
    http://web.orange.co.uk/article/news/syrian_letter_pleads_with_us_not_to_attack

    • Tracey 21.1
      6 September 2013 at 3:40 pm

      I note that after days of telling us he will be speaking to Cameron soon or in 24 hours, they have finally spoken… for Key to get Cameron’s views on Syria, which have been widely publicised… could have saved time and money on the call

      I also note that following contact with the US a few days ago Key spoke of having no faith in the lack of the Security Council to meet… Today I note the US saying the security council have been ridiculous.

      Key was asked to throw a bit of criticism to the security council as his “part” in the US move to get countries onside?

      I havent been shocked, but disappointed, at how hard our PM has tried to NOT have an opinion on this topic until he spoke to the USA.

  22. bad12 22
    6 September 2013 at 3:47 pm

    The people of Porirua’s Brandon Intermediate and Corrina Primary School wish me to especially thank Education Minister Hekia Parata for the withdrawal of funding for children with specific learning disabilities,

    What an abysmal ugly mess of the Education Portfolio Parata is, a complete and utter waste of space, schools have to go through a rigorous application to be allowed extra funding for teaching these special kids which is designed to greatly improve their education when compared with the rest of their class,

    Since 2012 more testing of these kids capabilities has been a requirement of receiving the funding, kids that have shown an improvement have then had the funding withdrawn in a pathetic act of ‘saving’ from Parata’s Ministry,

    Of course once the funding is withdrawn the kids don’t get the extra help they need to keep up with the rest of the class and so fall behind,

    The stupidity brought about by Hekia Parata means that once the kids have fallen far enough behind in their learning the schools can then re-apply for the funding,

    i can only conclude that Hekia is hell bent on producing at least some kids from these schools with an intellectual ability on a par with Her’s, which to all extents and purposes seems to be non-existent…

    • Tracey 22.1
      6 September 2013 at 3:53 pm

      No place for the vulnerable in this government’s view of NZ. I am surprised she didnt sack their teachers for not getting them to NS level.

      • bad12 22.1.1
        6 September 2013 at 5:17 pm

        Ssssh, i think that once the charter schools are up and running that such will be the next plan…

  23. Morrissey 23
    6 September 2013 at 4:40 pm

    Quoting NZ’s shallowest, most self-involved man.
    Jim Mora sinks to an incredible new low
    Afternoons with Jim Mora, Radio NZ National, Friday 6 September 2013

    Anyone with a taste for the absurd, the creepy and the pretentious should check out the “inspirational” website of Saatchi advertising supremo “Doctor” Kevin Roberts. The man who has, to this writer’s knowledge, never uttered a sentence that is not complete and unmitigated bullshit, offers up, for our edification, the complete list of his public speeches and his exciting, radical and deep personal philosophy, which can be summed up thusly: New Zealand is “on the edge”, and we’re all CRA-A-A-A-A-A-AZY, ma-a-a-a-a-aan, and that’s COOL. That, and something even dopier, about “love brands”.

    In 1999, Roberts attracted almost universal condemnation and ridicule by somehow persuading Air New Zealand to have one of its jumbo jets painted with a huge, grotesque, distorted mural of the All Black front row. This mortified, shamed and humiliated the players, angered the All Black coach John Hart, and disgusted the fans. However, Roberts, having clout because of his inordinate influence and power on the NZRFU board, forced it through, and the jet was daubed with the atrocity.

    Two years after that, on September 11, 2001, Roberts watched the WTC collapse from the Saatchi offices, in a nearby building. Undaunted by any notions of common sense or legality, he then wrote an open letter to the New York Times urging the governor George Pataki to suspend the law and extend the reign of the criminal, Mafia-connected mayor Rudolf Giuliani. Of course, Governor Pataki ignored the inane petition.

    Shortly after that embarrassment, Roberts was back in New Zealand, appearing as a guest on the dismal TV3 chat show, The Panel. Even his half-drunken fellow-panelists were visibly shocked by Roberts’ performance that night: putting aside such troublesome notions as
    restraint, sensitivity or decency, Roberts said this: “You know what New Zealand should have done after September 11? We should have sent a planeload of soldiers in an Air New Zealand jumbo jet, all dressed in black bomber jackets with a silver fern on them, and taken them to Ground Zero, because we’re good at urban disasters. And they would have danced a haka on the site and then started digging. The WORLD’S MEDIA would have filmed this, and the publicity would have been absolutely PRICELESS.”

    At this point, there was utter silence on the set. The usual guffawing and chuckling had stopped. You could truly have heard a pin drop. Every panelist, including the inebriated Pam Corkery, was struck dumb.

    Eventually one female panellist spoke up: “Isn’t that…. isn’t that a bit…..cynical?”

    The normally smiling Roberts mien clouded over wrathfully: “No, it’s not cynical,” he snarled, clearly angry that anyone had had the temerity to question his brilliance. “It would have been a massive gesture of LOVE.”

    So, quite clearly, Roberts is a bad joke amongst the smart set (this writer, i.e. moi, etc.) and indeed anyone who has the ability to spot an odious self-promoting blither merchant. He is like some hideous character dreamed up by the likes of Tom Robbins or David Lodge to embody monstrous hypocrisy and monumental silliness.

    Depressingly, though, he seems to have a number of acolytes. There is of course, his NZEdge “partner” Brian Sweeney, but then you’d expect Sweeney to faithfully parrot his master’s gibberish. More depressing is the number of people who have written letters in support of Roberts’ crap pseudo-philosophy and empty, mindless boosterism. Check out these boobies and their idiotic letters by clicking on the FEEDBACK section on….
    http://www.nzedge.com

    Thankfully, Roberts is pretty much forgotten or ignored these days. But not by EVERYONE. So who would be shallow enough and credulous enough and uncritical enough to seriously cite the Bullshit-Meister? Well, if you were listening to Afternoons with Jim Mora shortly after 3 o’clock today, you would have heard the Friday wine expert (a woman whose name escapes me) talking about the way that wine labels have a fiercely loyal following. And then you would have heard host Jim Mora chirp up with this gem: “That’s what Kevin Roberts was talking about in his book Lovemarks, wasn’t it!”

    We’ve heard him laughing at the victims of brutal state repression, we’ve heard his guests windily pontificate about the need to respect racist white juries in America’s Deep South, and we’ve heard him declare that bag of wind Barack Obama to be “the greatest orator of our time”. But quoting the infamous Bhagwan of Bullshit might just be the most idiotic thing that Jim Mora has ever done.

    – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
    Here’s a little something I wrote eight years ago about New Zealand’s worst bullshitter….
    http://nz.general.narkive.com/oJGkqRWj/purveyors-of-bullshit-no-1-kevin-roberts

    • North 23.1
      6 September 2013 at 5:18 pm

      Enjoyed very much your Mora/Roberts observations Morrissey.

      Went to the Roberts link in your narkive.com post and found this pearler from said lunatic –

      “The REAL world of business is anchored by Respect at one end and inspired by Love at the other. ”

      ????????????? WTF unmitigated shit talk is that ? Against everything we now know.

      Still Morrissey I reckon ex-lord of the realm and jailbird Jeffrey Archer takes alot of beating in the arsehole stakes. Your appraisal of that scum……..?

  24. amirite 24
    6 September 2013 at 7:16 pm

    Campbell Live tonight – a sad story about a sickness beneficiary amputee in a wheelchair, who was being forced by WINZ to attend a budgeting course.
    The harassment and humiliation by WINZ of the sick, poor, disabled and powerless is just getting worse.
    Bring on the 2014 elections!

    • karol 24.1
      6 September 2013 at 7:24 pm

      And amazing what a bit of media attention did in terms of getting WINZ to do the right thing!

    • North 24.2
      6 September 2013 at 9:28 pm

      BEFORE the 2014 election there should be vigorous responses to this sort of treatment. on every occasion it occurs. It is happening increasingly. It is the result of deliberately conceived and executed government policies. Fatso and her officials. All of them knowing what havoc it wreaks in peoples’ minds and souls. But they keep on pushing the envelope. It has to be resisted !

  25. Ron 25
    6 September 2013 at 9:24 pm

    WTF was TV3 News about tonight re the so called poll of Labour Leadership.
    They made no mention of where or how the poll was conducted. They seemed to imply that Jones would be King maker because he could give his second preference votes to whoever he choose.
    What gives with this rubbish.
    They took no account of union vote and I have no idea how they could have polled Labour Party members with any degree of certainty.
    When Labour regains the Treasury benches they need to give some urgency to overhauling the whole Broadcasting scene in NZ

    • karol 25.1
      6 September 2013 at 9:40 pm

      There was a snippet of info about the poll in 3 News’s press release earlier today.

      Conducted by Research Now, the 3 News poll sampled 500 voters from around the country, asking them to name their preferred Labour leader from contenders David Cunliffe, Grant Robertson and Shane Jones, who have been on a nationwide road show stating their case.

      • Ron 25.1.1
        6 September 2013 at 9:46 pm

        But we’re they members of the Labor Party or just whoever answered the phone

      • North 25.1.2
        6 September 2013 at 10:14 pm

        Well, Labour “identifying” repondents were at 45.6% for Cunliffe. It’s inconceivable that of the Labour affiliates and members overall there would be less than that to start with. Cunliffe is our next leader. And judging by ShonKey Python’s risibly studied efforts to confide his mock eruditions with the New Zealand nation, the now bored, entitled little rich boy is privately considering his heart of hearts.

        All that’s in it for him is the trophy of a prime ministership of three terms. It’s at risk. He knows it. Helen went to New York as an outsider more or less. ShonKey Python returns to New York with the badge of having owned a country.

        Imagine the reunion – that famous picture of Reagan and his inner circle drinking and cracking up big time – ” We told them the wealth would trickle down……..”

        Sad aye ? Lot’s of people thought that we had a PM who really, specially cared for Aotearoa and her people.

    • Olwyn 25.2
      6 September 2013 at 9:43 pm

      Yes, I found it odd that they should say what they did about second preferences, since Shane Jones has no control over the second preferences of the people who vote for him, and no one has made any suggestions along those lines.

    • bad12 25.3
      6 September 2013 at 9:57 pm

      My preference would be for the next Government to simply pull all State funding from TV3, Gower, Garner and Espiner seem to want to use TV3 as their personal political plaything let them f**king pay for it…

      • North 25.3.1
        6 September 2013 at 10:23 pm

        @bad12 – Paddy The Handsome and Duncan Gooner have already got theirs’.

        Look at them. The minds reflect into the physical I’m sure……..one’s an overweight, rugby club late Saturday afternoon, blowhard…….the other’s just…….well……startlingly weird.

        Sorry, forgot Lispiner. Yeah he’s still got a desk at Scots’ College. Pretty little private school boy.

    • Tim 25.4
      6 September 2013 at 9:58 pm

      “When Labour regains the Treasury benches they need to give some urgency to overhauling the whole Broadcasting scene in NZ”

      They do. I’m not sure Clair Curran should be the one to do it however.

    • Clement Pinto 25.5
      6 September 2013 at 11:01 pm

      I agree. Only genuinely random polls that can be verifiable by an ombudsman and approved (for a hefty fee) should be legal so that the public are not deceived and manipulated.

  26. weka 26
    6 September 2013 at 9:27 pm

    Russia’s Federal Protection Service (FSO), the Kremlin agency that protects state officials like the president and the prime minister, has ordered 20 typewriters in an apparent bid to avoid leaks and surveillance like those revealed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

    http://themoscownews.com/russia/20130711/191758523/Russian-security-agency-to-buy-typewriters-to-avoid-surveillance.html

  28. Draco T Bastard 28
    6 September 2013 at 10:15 pm

    Robber Barons

    It’s the silence that puzzles me. Last week, the Chancellor stood up in parliament to announce that benefits for the very poor would be cut yet again(1). On the same day, in Luxembourg, our government battled to maintain benefits for the very rich. It won. As a result, some of the richest people in Britain will each continue to receive millions of pounds in income support from taxpayers.

    Why am I not surprised? Oh, that would be because we see the same thing happening here especially under National governments.

  30. miravox 30
    6 September 2013 at 11:44 pm

    Bloody mongrels, too much free time and access to weapons, taking the law into their own hands. Ruining the neighbourhood and costing the taxpayer money. You know when this stuff happens it’s bad parenting – people like this need a short sharp shock in a boot camp or something. That’ll teach them for resorting to violence and injuring someone.

    A gardener blowing leaves in one of Auckland’s most upmarket suburbs was shot with an air rifle as he worked.

    The man was outside a property on St Stephen’s Avenue in Parnell – the street Prime Minister John Key lives on – when he felt a sharp pain in his arm about 7.40am yesterday, a police spokeswoman said.

    He was taken to Auckland City Hospital, where an airgun pellet was found embedded in his arm.

    It is understood he underwent surgery today to remove the pellet.

  31. xtasy 31
    7 September 2013 at 2:32 am

    Breaking News – ‘The Australian’:

    “Landslide win for Liberals in Australian General Election. Labour thrashed in historic defeat…..”

    Oh, dammit, embargo breached, 20 hours too soon. Sorry, swiftly wrap it up, hold back, and release again when due…

    For explanations read:
    “Australian TV networks refuse to run anti-Murdoch ad days before election”

    http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2013/09/australian-tv-networks-refuse-to-run-anti-murdoch-ad-before-election/

    http://www.scoopit.co.nz/story.php?title=pilger-murdoch-press-keeps-australias-dirty-secret

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

    “Precursor” or “trial run” for the general election 2014 in New Zealand, perhaps? Check out what NZ mainstream media report already – on ‘Labour’, the leadership road-show, the candidates and so forth!