Open mike 07/07/2012

88 comments on “Open mike 07/07/2012 ”

• Comments are now closed

1. RedFred 1

   7 July 2012 at 7:01 am

   Wondering if we are being screwed, me too.

   “The New Zealand dollar LIBOR (bbalibor) interest rate is the average interbank interest rate at which a large number of banks on the London money market are prepared to lend one another unsecured funds denominated in New Zealand dollars” and

   “The New Zealand dollar LIBOR interest rate serves as a base rate for all sorts of other products such as savings accounts, mortgages and loans”

   http://www.global-rates.com/interest-rates/libor/new-zealand-dollar/new-zealand-dollar.aspx
   • Flying Kiwi 1.1

     7 July 2012 at 12:43 pm

     From http://www.economist.com/node/21558281 – “The rotten heart of finance”

     “The FSA has identified price-rigging dating back to 2005, yet some current and former traders say that problems go back much further than that. “Fifteen years ago the word was that LIBOR was being rigged,” says one industry veteran closely involved in the LIBOR process. “It was one of those well kept secrets, but the regulator was asleep, the Bank of England didn’t care and…[the banks participating were] happy with the reference prices.” Says another: “Going back to the late 1980s, when I was a trader, you saw some pretty odd fixings…With traders, if you don’t actually nail it down, they’ll steal it.””

     Wasn’t our popular, esteemed leader a money-market trader during this period?
     • marsman 1.1.1

       7 July 2012 at 7:11 pm

       That’s right and he’s now trying to steal our State Assets.
     • locus 1.1.2

       7 July 2012 at 7:58 pm

       This article from Seumus Milne from The Guardian on the the thieving lying manipulative ‘get away with it if you can’ culture endemic in private sector banks…

       http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/03/private-banks-failed-barclays-scandal

       Barclays bank and others fixed the lending rate on trillions of pounds of debt holdings. The result of this: borrowers & lenders pay more or receive less than they should have. Ultimately it’s consumers, companies & the economy that picks up the tab.

       And the bank directors simply can’t see – or agree – that this is corruption on a massive scale….
       • Colonial Viper 1.1.2.1

         7 July 2012 at 8:15 pm

         And the bank directors simply can’t see – or agree – that this is corruption on a massive scale….

         To them its not corruption, its business as usual.
2. Pete George 2

   7 July 2012 at 7:15 am

   Dope to dope

   A soon to be released study will show that the use of cannabis when young can lead to impaired intellectual ability at age 38 – this was mentioned last night during a debate by the director of the Dunedin Study.

   It wasn’t made clear whether dopes smoke dope, or dope smoking makes you dopey – probably both.

   The same may be said about excessive alcohol use – booze to bozoness?

   http://yournz.org/2012/07/07/dope-to-dope/
   • mike e 2.1

     7 July 2012 at 10:05 am

     PG the hairpiece smoked when he was young explains it all .
     Alcohol does similar damage to formative minds.
     The WHO research shows that putting up the minimum price reduces consumption significantly.Stopping glamorization (advertising ) also reduces consumption.
     Nactuf don’t care about the harm it does their more worried about the harm to their electoral chance’s.
     By george its about time they grew some.
     • Pete George 2.1.1

       7 July 2012 at 10:22 am

       What I care about is penalising many to address the abuses of a few.

       CHAUVEL JUMPS GUN ON ALCOHOL LAW REFORMS

       There are rumbles within Labour over MP Charles Chauvel promoting a minimum pricing regime for upcoming alcohol law changes as party policy.

       TVNZ reported Labour had the numbers to pass the minimum pricing regime but it appears Mr Chauvel may not have all his colleagues on board, let alone the crucial votes of United Future and ACT.

       http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7237511/Today-in-politics-Saturday-July-7

       It sounds like some in Labour have already woken up to how unpopular doubling the price of wine and beer will be amongst there own voters.

       Problems should be targeted, nanny state shouldn’t be imposed on everyone.
       • Pete George 2.1.1.1

         7 July 2012 at 11:51 am

         The Green Party hasn’t looked at the Labour proposals yet (according to spokesperson Kevin Hague).

         They support “all the measures in Te Ururoa’s SOP” – the Maori Party proposals.
         • mike e 2.1.1.1.1

           7 July 2012 at 12:09 pm

           pathetic Grovelar your just like an alcoholic.Every excuse under the sun.
           You and your Tory mates are drug pushers.
           Alcohol is NZs 2nd most dangerous drug.
           PG your tacky coalition has no morality at all.
           Allowing the Alcohol Industry to Glamorize and push
           Cheap Alcohol onto young people so they get addicted.
           Puts you up their with the likes of the mongrel mob black power bikie and other gangs
           morally.
           You live in Dunedin and see the results in the main St and university should know better but just keep pushing the pushers(alcohol industry) propaganda against a thorough cross party enquiry and over whelming evidence no wonder your so hated by most people on this site.
           PG your in their back pocket.
           • Pete George 2.1.1.1.1.1

             7 July 2012 at 12:41 pm

             It’s a pity your rant isn’t based on anything factual.

             I’m looking for information, asking for information and promoting discussion. It’s a big and complex issue with no simple solutions. I’m aware we have massive problems with alcohol and as a society we need to address them better.

             Throwing an over the top spaz like you’ve done here is about as counterproductive to getting anywhere that you can get.

             What do you want to see happen in the Alcohol Reform Bill? I’ve got no idea, you’ve been too busy hallucinating.
             • Colonial Viper …

               7 July 2012 at 1:24 pm

               What I care about is penalising many to address the abuses of a few.

               Good minimising of the massive harm and costs alcohol inflicts across ALL of society.
               • prism …

                 7 July 2012 at 5:59 pm

                 But I like to buy a bottle of wine at $7 or $8. When Lianne Dalziel starts getting zealous about reducing alcohol consumption so people don’t get trashed I think she should be concentrating on RTDS and spirits and high alcohol fortified wine, sherry etc. I don’t think wine is so bad and it would take a lot for that quick feeling of silly, stupid, funny and don’t care that I think is the desire of binge drinkers.

                 It’s all very well for her on nearly $100,000 a year salary and reimbursements.
                 I get considerably less and like my Corbans white Muller Thurgau (although Austin Whatsisname said that was very passe’ when he came back to NZ. Wine snob!) The delicate traces of passionfruit flowers and hay with a touch of honey or whatever that I get from my cheap wine is pleasant and good enough for me. I don’t want to pay the price that Lianne would consider cheap.
                 • Colonial Viper …

                   7 July 2012 at 6:05 pm

                   MP base pay is $141K pa or thereabouts.
                   • prism …

                     7 July 2012 at 8:57 pm

                     How would it be that the pollies base pay is whatever the averge is for all NZs. Then add reasonable allowances, uses of taxis, transport etc with a cap on those. I think they need a reality check. And can we say that we haven’t got monkeys now that we are paying them quality nuts.
                 • belladonna …

                   7 July 2012 at 8:23 pm

                   Quite agree. How many Labour voters have few pleasures left these days apart from a glass of wine here and there. Labour are determined to lose votes one way or another. Sort it out Labour, I cannot believe where they are coming from at times.
                   • Pete George …

                     7 July 2012 at 8:29 pm

                     It’s not just Labour – in fact it’s not all Labour according to reports, there’s mixed feelings amongst Labour MPs and it’s a conscience vote for them – it’s a Green Party position and also a Maori Party position.
             • mike e …

               7 July 2012 at 3:05 pm

               PG you should give up politics and start a waffle business.
               How long did the parliamentary enquiry go on for.
               How many tax payers Dollars were put into it.
               Waffle on troll.
               • yeshe …

                 7 July 2012 at 3:47 pm

                 ‘What I care about is penalising many to address the abuses of a few.’

                 This is exactly how most of us feel about you and your party’s support of asset sales.
               • Pete George …

                 7 July 2012 at 3:57 pm

                 no wonder your so hated by most people on this site.

                 mike e, it’s got nothing to do with how I am, you hate the image you’ve created because that’s something you want to hate. But it’s nonsense. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you enter into a reasonable discussion here.
               • Vicky32 …

                 8 July 2012 at 6:14 pm

                 Waffle on troll.

                 Mmm, waffles, delicious! (Keep the troll though, it’ll spoil the taste.) 😀
     • Flying Kiwi 2.1.2

       7 July 2012 at 12:49 pm

       I read that a couple of cretins managed to put themselves in hospital last week after ‘hufffing’ gas from a 9kg bottle, so we clearly need to increase the price of filling gas bottles.
       • mike e 2.1.2.1

         7 July 2012 at 3:14 pm

         No petes solution would be to glamorise it on TV And make sure its available to as many young people as possible.Only maybe 1’000 people huff inNZ several million drink.
         Alcohol damage is much worse its been identified in the enquiry as costing 5to6 billion dollars a year huffing even as a flying kiwi you must be huffing all the time would have a harm factor of less than a $million a year .
         Now deaths attributted.Alcohol over 10 years 5to6 thousand deaths
         Huffing 10 deaths.
   • freedom 2.2

     7 July 2012 at 11:39 am

     for those who would like a more balanced breakfast than the current bowls of reefer madness that are being offered. . .

     http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/05/study-the-gateway-drug-is-alcohol-not-marijuana/
     • muzza 2.2.1

       7 July 2012 at 12:14 pm

       One of the most obvious deflections of all time of its type, is the lie that pot is the gateway drug..

       Alcohol, has been, and will always be, the gateway drug to other substances, whatever they might be.

       The blantant spin and lies around this disgraceful, as if alchohol is not the first drug that most will encounter!
   • weka 2.3

     7 July 2012 at 5:42 pm

     What exactly is the point of comment 2? Apart from providing an opportunity for Pete to link to Pete’s blog, the comment is almost entirely useless. Without the actual research (which hasn’t been released yet) in front of us, there is nothing to discuss. And people can’t resist reacting to Pete’s hooks, so yet again we have another round of Georgiandrivel clogging up the start of Open Mike.
      
     I’m grateful to RedFred for having gotten up earlier this morning than Pete.
3. muzza 3

   7 July 2012 at 8:09 am

   Of course trade agreements involve concessions over the sovereign rights of countries to do things,” he told the Weekend Herald. ” That’s the point of international law.”

   “We needed to control their sovereign right to do whatever suited their fancy. The whole point of international law is to put limits around countries’ sovereignty on the basis of negotiated understandings.”

   Little Timmy Grosser, the corporate poodle, and global government cheerleader!
   • Carol 3.1

     7 July 2012 at 8:29 am

     And, of course, Groser’s focus is all on “free trade” benefiting NZ.

     New Zealand’s problem had been the “excess sovereignty” other countries had exerted over it, such as introducing export subsidies, when it tried to diversify its markets away from Europe.

     “Because we have operated in agriculture, in particular, where there were such inadequate legal frameworks internationally, people have just screwed us.
     […]
     He said increased domestic wealth generated by free trade agreements meant New Zealand would be less reliant on foreign investment.

     But the people who opposed foreign investment also opposed free trade agreements.

     Concerns have been mounting over part of the deal which gives foreign investors power over countries.

     The article doesn’t report him as saying anything about impact of social welfare, health, environment, etc. So which Kiwis benefit most from these deals, and which ones overall lose out?

     Sound tom me like a benefit for the wealthy, losses in the extent of access to social welfare, health, clean living environment, affordable housing etc, for the majority.
     • muzza 3.1.1

       7 July 2012 at 10:07 am

       Will be able to keep its labour/employment laws, or will they be “in the way”?
     • Dr Terry 3.1.2

       7 July 2012 at 10:21 am

       Absolutely, Carol. I think a great deal could be added to your “etc” as concerns the majority! This morning’s Herald right wing columnists are in full flourish and as sickening as ever. Key is restored to all his (supposed) glory as he triumphs over the Aussies.
       • muzza 3.1.2.1

         7 July 2012 at 11:14 am

         DT – Just read FOS’s article,

         I am at a loss as to whether she is actually , completely clueless or corrupted now that these type of writings are all she is capable of!

         Fran genuinely seems to believe that “business” and “winning”, are important, and use of quotes such as “NZ Envy”

         “After years of “big brother little brother” sentiment about the transtasman relationship, it is good to see NZ politicians once again footing it in a competitive fashion”

         Fran really does not (want to) see that what the Ozzies are holding out on in regards to the TPPA is, in fact the right thing. Too busy looking for anything that resembles “a win” by her team, even when that means selling out the country to business…

         Well done Fran, you are a bloody idiot!
     • Draco T Bastard 3.1.3

       8 July 2012 at 12:39 am

       Quoting article:

       But the people who opposed foreign investment also opposed free trade agreements.

       Yeah, there’s a reason for that – they’re essentially the same thing.
   • AnnaLiviaPlurabella 3.2

     7 July 2012 at 8:45 am

     +1 Muzza. Groser’s loyalty is to Trade Agreements in themselves, not to New Zealanders and any advantage they might get from clever competent negotiation.
     Putting Groser, a pure Trade wonk, into this role was stupid. Unlike Labour’s Jim Sutton or Phil Goff, who have mandates and experience as publically elected politicians, Groser would find gaming a negotiation for the benefit of working Kiwis abhorrent.
     Key has sent a wee flawed mon into the TPPA gunfight armed with a butter knife.
     http://nzh.tw/10817941
     • muzza 3.2.1

       7 July 2012 at 10:14 am

       I would say it was deliberate to send Groser to the negotiations, because they would have already “vetted” him in advance to see how weak he was, and know what his push back was going to be. These guys are all brothers, in it for themselves, thats as far as it goes. Little Timmy being on the world stage is about all he cares about, the fellating goes on, and the damage is going to be to the rest of this country, outside the few.
       Once consessions are made, the door is open, and we can be reasonably sure what way the traffic flow!

       Its just a stage in which the outcomes are already known…I understand that people don’t want to believe it, but how much more obvious does it have to bget, until people are going to stand up to these sorts of abuses?
       • mike e 3.2.1.1

         7 July 2012 at 10:24 am

         Muz they will just give growsum a reefer and he will just agree to everything including the spin(dope Pun not intended).
         They will give him the propaganda (spin again) lines to remember and he will blatantly lie to the public as these negotiations will not be released for 4 years because of commercial sensitivity the same old rip off bullshit that the US body corporate con us every time!
   • North 3.3

     7 July 2012 at 8:52 am

     Maybe Petey George’s soon to be released study above is superfluous………Little Timmy Groser is ample proof.

     No, Petey in his sneaky round about way is saying he supports dope testing for those ghastly beneficiaries. Groser doesn’t even address the matter of those ghastly beneficiaries.
     • Pete George 3.3.1

       7 July 2012 at 9:18 am

       That’s a blatantly false attribution, I didn’t say (or intend to say) anything like that.
       • Te Reo Putake 3.3.1.1

         7 July 2012 at 9:38 am

         Harden up, Pete, it’s an opinion, not an attribution. You know the difference, being a proven liar yourself.
         • Pete George 3.3.1.1.1

           7 July 2012 at 10:09 am

           You’re proving yourself to be the repeat liar there, absent any proof as usual. That’s not an opinion, it’s a fact.

           Your stalking attack obsessions have been going for, what, nearly a year? That you seem to have a free pass to continue with immunity says quite a bit. Funny telling me to harden up from cowardly cover.

           I guess you’re angling for me to be labelled the thread disruptor again. Try a mirror. What you keep doing reflects on you.
           • mike e 3.3.1.1.1.1

             7 July 2012 at 10:17 am

             PG stalking and lying about alcohol and Dunny can’t do anything.
             Yeah right right you need winding up. when youcan’t stop blatantly BSing .
           • Te Reo Putake 3.3.1.1.1.2

             7 July 2012 at 10:17 am

             Ho ho, Pete. You can easily prove me wrong by supplying the evidence you claim to hold, yet, oddly, you don’t. That’s because you are a liar, Pete, and you can’t fudge that fact.
              
             The good news is that it doesn’t affect your credibility; you have none.
             • Pete George …

               7 July 2012 at 10:32 am

               I don’t have to prove anything – you repeat accusations with zero proof.

               micky knows but has chosen to remain silent on it. I wouldn’t trust you with information because you have a record of ignoring facts to continue your cowardice. That’s not a good look with your Labour connections, is it.
               • Te Reo Putake …

                 7 July 2012 at 10:43 am

                 Don’t blame other posters, Pete. Put up or shut up. If you aren’t a liar, defend yourself.
                  
                 *For the benefit of younger readers, Pete lied about having the support of the Labour Party for his weak Super discussion site and has consistently refused to put up the evidence that he claims will clear him. This, despite the obvious fact that if Labour had endorsed it, there is no reason why the method of endorsement should be hidden. It can’t be both a public endorsement and a priviliged communication.
                 • Pete George …

                   7 July 2012 at 11:06 am

                   This is one of your more pathetic lines of attack, and as usual you don’t know when to give it up. Your accusation, no proof. I don’t have to do anything, with you especially.

                   I have contact with MPs. An email from Trevor Mallard yesterday (and others), from Charles Chauvel the day before. You just sound hissy, is that because it’s your party who talk to me? Do they ignore you?
                   • mike e …

                     7 July 2012 at 11:14 am

                     PG Are you sure you didn’t talk to your mummy as well.
                   • Te Reo Putake …

                     7 July 2012 at 11:27 am

                     You can stop me any time you choose to post the evidence that you are not a liar. But you can’t, you silly goose, because the evidence doesn’t exist.
                      
                     Anyhoo, must dash, championship threepeats don’t win themselves and I’ve got to go do my weekly red faced, red nosed Alec Fergusson impression down the park. Hairdryers and squeaky bum time!
           • Vicky32 3.3.1.1.1.3

             8 July 2012 at 6:18 pm

             Try a mirror. What you keep doing reflects on you.

             Seconded, Pete! (One of the few times I agree with you). He drives me mental, and gets away with all sorts of nastiness, I have no clue why!
       • mike e 3.3.1.2

         7 July 2012 at 10:24 am

         Satire poor little pete!
       • North 3.3.1.3

         7 July 2012 at 10:47 am

         Sorry to upset you Petey………it was just a comment on your extraordinary ability to have dollars each way on everything……….but end up rooting for the right wing anyway……..usually. Just like your boss. Because despite your sham earnestness you’re a right winger who just wants power.
   • jaymam 3.4

     7 July 2012 at 8:55 am

     Having just read Gordon Campbell on Maher Arar (Google him), I now think that the Yanks cannot be trusted for anything and we should not sign any agreements with them.
     I would go further and suggest that NZ get Dotcom to set up a file sharing system to distribute US music and US movies for free.

     http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2012/07/05/gordon-campbell-on-the-lack-of-context-and-love-of-tears-in-our-news-bulletins/
     • Draco T Bastard 3.4.1

       7 July 2012 at 2:39 pm

       That’s a good article and spot on about the memories of the MSM. As for the US administration, I realised some time ago that they habitually break both international and their law and get away with it. As they get away with it it becomes even more embedded in the corrupt culture that is the US administration and it then gets copied to other administrations – our present government is a case in point. Being able to do so is part of the trappings of the height of power in every empire ever recorded.
4. Pete George 4

   7 July 2012 at 9:10 am

   A sign of economic improvement??

   Bigger tax take puts doubt on Treasury figures

   Doom and gloom merchants may have to take a back seat for a month or two after the Government accounts released yesterday showed an improvement in both corporate tax and GST for the 11 months ended May.

   The accounts show that core Crown tax revenue in the 11 months was $50.54 billion, up 1.3% on the Budget economic fiscal update figure of $49.87 billion.

   More startling was that the tax take in the year to May was 6.7% higher than the $47.4 billion collected in the previous corresponding period – again throwing doubt on the accuracy of Treasury figures.

   The May 2012 operating balance before losses and gains (obegal) was an improvement at a deficit of $5.9 billion compared with a Treasury forecast of $7 billion.

   Finance Minister Bill English has been one of the most conservative commentators on his own figures but was moved yesterday to call the reduction in the operating deficit “encouraging” – with a caveat.

   “But the global environment remains uncertain, leading to a number of fluctuations in the tax take from month to month.”

   Perhaps another sign that we are coming out of the worst of the economic woes. We just have to keep hoping the wider economic world doesn’t custardise.
   • muzza 4.1

     7 July 2012 at 10:18 am

     No dickhead the global situation is in fact deteriorating!

     We are not immune down here!

     How is our debt situation looking!
     • Colonial Viper 4.1.1

       7 July 2012 at 1:27 pm

       Yeah. Peak debt and peak oil are landing body blows on the global economy. PG: about the world economy, even a dead body can twitch.
5. Robert Atack 5

   7 July 2012 at 9:13 am

   Now we have the green “I don’t drive a car” politician Gareth Hughes flying to Europe on a tax payer funded junket, for what? They are all the same ……… bloody politicians are full of shit
   • higherstandard 5.1

     7 July 2012 at 10:01 am

     Suckling on the taxpayers tit for their own personal benefit is one thing that they all agree on.

     http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/215353/speakers-tour-cost-158000

     Damn their eyes !!
   • mike e 5.2

     7 July 2012 at 10:08 am

     Pathetic Grovelar RA thisOne quarter of economic growth in seven years as finance minister still makes Dipstick the worst finance minister ever.
6. mike e 6

   7 July 2012 at 10:13 am

   RA this parliamentary exchange has been occurring for maybe 50 to 60 years.
   Its apart of helping democracies flourish at 160,000 dollars its cheap compared to the bio security fuck up on nationals cost cutting at bio security of $400 million which the government could be liable for as they made many mistakes which allowed the psa virus to damage the kiwifruit crop. now farmers are suing biosecurity .
   Because of staff and funding cuts.
   • Robert Atack 6.1

     7 July 2012 at 1:36 pm

     Regardless of how long it has been running – Gareth Hughes – the green MP likes to go on about how good to the planet he is by not owning a car, yet he is responsible for helping to create at least 2 more humans (the most environment destroying species on the planet), and he is lying to us about Kiwi Saver, and flying to Europe. We are in the age of video conferencing and Skype, surly a GREEN MP doesn’t have to fly anywhere?
     Maybe the greeds can launch an inquiry into the size of each party’s foot print? Over what they actually do in parliament verses what they consume.
     Anyone remotely concerned that the money people are turning our natural gas into methanol and exporting it, I guess as the population starves to death we will not need to heat empty houses.
     • mike e 6.1.1

       7 July 2012 at 2:47 pm

       RA the synfuel plant has been moth balled for many years as far as I know.
       Most of our excess of natural gas that’s not used for heating commercial or domestic is being used for generating electricity
       • Robert Atack 6.1.1.1

         8 July 2012 at 11:10 am

         Mike, they have just spent $100 million de mothballing it, and don’t New Zealanders use electricity to heat their homes?
         Oh and if he does own a car, it wouldn’t surprise me that he lied about it, you know politician and all that, maybe the car is in the dogs name, and they just borrow it?
     • Hayden 6.1.2

       7 July 2012 at 5:07 pm

       I’m pretty sure he does own a car, at least there’s one parked outside his house and I’m sure I’ve seen his family getting into it.
7. rosy 7

   7 July 2012 at 10:23 am

   I’m not sure whether it’s irony, humour, cynicism or silliness…
   Karl Marx was recently chosen from a list of 10 contenders to appear on a new issue of MasterCard by customers of German bank Sparkasse in Chemnitz.
   • Foreign Waka 7.1

     7 July 2012 at 10:43 am

     Perhaps these quotes may shed light on the rebirth of some ideas:

     Necessity is blind until it becomes conscious. Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.
     Marx

     The more the division of labor and the application of machinery extend, the more does competition extend among the workers, the more do their wages shrink together.
     Marx

     Political Economy regards the proletarian … like a horse, he must receive enough to enable him to work. It does not consider him, during the time when he is not working, as a human being. It leaves this to criminal law, doctors, religion, statistical tables, politics, and the beadle.

     Marx, Wages of Labour (1844)
8. marsman 8

   7 July 2012 at 10:35 am

   Little Johny Howard talking to Little Johny Key on TV last night about State Asset sales ” Private ownership is always more efficient, that’s a truism” . Gordon Campbell on Private Public Partnerships so favoured by Shonkey and his lot, in England they cost 12 times more than purely State run Assets!
   Funny that.

   http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2012/07/06/gordon-campbell-on-private-sector-delivery-as-an-inter-generational-scam/
   • marsman 8.1

     7 July 2012 at 10:36 am

     Hope the morons in Treasury take note.
     • Foreign Waka 8.1.1

       7 July 2012 at 10:46 am

       I doubt that, this is about acquisition of assets and the “little folks” will be swept aside either by persuasion or forcing circumstances to lead to the same goal. Watch and learn.
   • North 8.2

     7 July 2012 at 10:52 am

     You mean aged blowhard Ozzie fuck black liar “they throw their babies overboard” Little Johnny Howard ? A prime candidate for the Ponce’s affections, of course.
   • DH 8.3

     7 July 2012 at 1:11 pm

     They really are a scam. One of the parties in the partnership that won the Hobsonville school PPP contract is an Aus property management company. They get a guaranteed income for a quarter of a century. So much for competitive tenders.
   • the pink postman 8.4

     7 July 2012 at 4:25 pm

     The whole bunch were pretty scary.Certainly Key was looking very comfortable with Howard and his far Right cronies. I rememeber Yasmin Brown saying on “Dateline London ” that the two most dangerous men in the world were Bush and Howard. I have said before that Key is dangerous and watching him with Howard confirms that. The nuclear issue , privatisation , low wages are what they have in common ,and dont forget their ghastly beliefs on refuges, in nutshell as both have said “we
     dont want you here. Even if it means drowning.
   • the pink postman 8.5

     7 July 2012 at 4:25 pm

     The whole bunch were pretty scary.Certainly Key was looking very comfortable with Howard and his far Right cronies. I rememeber Yasmin Brown saying on “Dateline London ” that the two most dangerous men in the world were Bush and Howard. I have said before that Key is dangerous and watching him with Howard confirms that. The nuclear issue , privatisation , low wages are what they have in common ,and dont forget their ghastly beliefs on refuges, in nutshell as both have said “we
     dont want you here. Even if it means drowning.
9. prism 9

   7 July 2012 at 12:25 pm

   On Radionz this morning grilled by Kim Hill – he was some hot potato! Be ready to think important and uneasy thoughts.
   (There were many good thinkers and talkers this a.am.)

   http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday
   11:05 Guy McPherson http://guymcpherson.com/
   Conservation biologist Guy McPherson is Emeritus Professor, Natural Resources and the Environment, at the University of Arizona, and lives off the grid in a straw bale house in New Mexico, raising small livestock and interacting with his rural community. He is visiting New Zealand as keynote speaker for the School Executive Officers’ Conference 2012 (4-6 July).
   • weka 9.1

     7 July 2012 at 9:34 pm

     Very interesting, and a good mix of political and environmental understanding as well as having intelligent solutions.
      
     “The industrial world is irredeemably corrupt”
      
     Interesting he doesn’t like public health via tax.
10. Huginn 10

    7 July 2012 at 12:30 pm

    When MoM goes bad . . .

    Public pays for court clash over flats

    The case has been described as “destroying the savings and affecting the mental health” of a group of people whose retirement plans have been ruined . . the scheme was an early public-private partnership using private money to underwrite a public project.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10817969
11. prism 11

    7 July 2012 at 1:08 pm

    We’re usually compliant with anything said from ‘overseas’ and especially the USA. But now overseas scientists, according to Steven Joyce are ‘silly’ to complain that a drop in NIWA scientists doing important climate change ozone hole monitoring will make a hole in the science network studying this. ‘Silly’, a new scientific word for describing low scientific priorities. Meanwhile SPARC will probably get big bucks as usual.
    • Jim Nald 11.1

      7 July 2012 at 4:38 pm

      Quite frankly, Stephen “Juvenile and Silly” Joyce should desist from name-calling and, in his own word, “respect” the comment from the internationally respected Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS), as well as explain how job cuts will not compromise the valuable work NIWA has been doing.
12. Clashman 12

    7 July 2012 at 3:14 pm

    Is this what we can look forward to after the sale of our energy companies?
    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jul2012/heat-j06.shtml
13. jaymam 13

    7 July 2012 at 3:55 pm

    Here’s a pic of the auction held at John Key’s house today:
    http://i49.tinypic.com/167p8gp.jpg

    It was announced that the house was bought by Kim Dotcom.
    • deuto 13.1

      7 July 2012 at 8:11 pm

      Wonderful, LOL! And is that a cardboard cutout Bennett that I can see there? Not an Aucklander, so a little more info would be welcome………..
      • chris73 13.1.1

        7 July 2012 at 11:13 pm

        Another outstanding turnout
      • jaymam 13.1.2

        9 July 2012 at 12:04 am

        Yes there were several cardboard cutouts:
        http://i49.tinypic.com/2hxvv4p.jpg

        It was an excellent protest. It was covered by TV1 and TV3 and Radio NZ and Sky and the Herald and Stuff.
        • Jenny 13.1.2.1

          9 July 2012 at 6:15 am

          Good one Jay.Great work. Would have liked to been there. (Had to work that day.)
14. prism 14

    7 July 2012 at 9:03 pm

    Memo to Bronagh – next house should have a front and back driveway. Oh, don’t worry we’ll be out of here soon anyway.
15. joe90 15

    7 July 2012 at 10:35 pm

    Who would’ve thunk.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-02/wildfire-tests-police-force-in-colorado-anti-tax-movement-s-home.html

    The city where the Waldo Canyon fire destroyed 346 homes and forced more than 34,000 residents to evacuate turned off one-third of its streetlights two years ago, halted park maintenance and cut services to close a $28 million budget gap after sales-tax revenue plummeted and voters rejected a property-tax increase.

    The municipality, at 416,000 the state’s second-largest, auctioned both its police helicopters and shrank public-safety ranks through attrition by about 8 percent; it has 50 fewer police and 39 fewer firefighters than five years ago. More than 180 National Guard troops have been mobilized to secure the city after the state’s most destructive fire. At least 32 evacuated homes were burglarized and dozens of evacuees’ cars were broken into, said Police Chief Pete Carey.

    “It has impacted the response,” said Karin White, a 54- year-old accountant, who returned home June 28 to a looted and vandalized house, with a treasured, century-old family heirloom smashed.

    edit: this too

    http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=753
    • locus 15.1

      7 July 2012 at 11:48 pm

      i’m truly sorry for those who lost their homes, but will the libertarian mayor and populace recognise that the ‘market’ isn’t going to help them to fight fires and rebuild their city… or will they just see what they can screw out of the US federal system…
      • Colonial Viper 15.1.1

        7 July 2012 at 11:51 pm

        I hear the invisible hand materialising new subdivisions as we speak.
16. joe90 16

    7 July 2012 at 10:52 pm

    Good riddance.

    Google translation

    The sentence is in addition to others that had already received the former dictator.

    The former dictator Jorge Videla of Argentina (1976-1981) was sentenced Thursday to 50 years in prison, while the former dictator Reynaldo Bignone (1982-1983) to 15 years in prison, guilty of a systematic theft of babies, children of prisoners -disappeared, said the court.

    “Sentencing the former general Jorge Videla (86 years) to 50 years imprisonment (…) and the former general Reynaldo Bignone (84) to 15 years,” read the court’s president, Mary Roqueta, before a packed room in the presence Estela de Carlotto, the leader of the humanitarian organization Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo.

    Hundreds of relatives of the victims, grandmothers and grandchildren recovered by humanitarian activists celebrated the verdict with shouts and chants, amid scenes of tears and relief against a giant screen installed in the door of the Courts.

    For the implementation of the system and change of identity theft of minors were other judgments to different jail terms between 40 and 15 years, other agents exjerarcas and dictatorial (1976-1983), including a military doctor that operated on midwife clandestine maternity scheme.

    Videla just confessed in a book “about 7 or 8 thousand people had to die” in the repression of opponents and is serving two life sentences in common cell for crimes against humanity, so that the Court decided on Thursday to unify the penalties to maintain life in prison.

    About Bignone (84 years) also weighs a sentence of imprisonment and a sentence of 25 years in prison in two other trials for serious human rights violations.
    • Jenny 16.1

      9 July 2012 at 6:23 am

      A far more satisfying and just outcome than that for the dictators of Iraq and Libya. Who were murdered judicially (or ex-judicially) keeping their crimes and their accomplices secret.

      All human rights abusers take note. No matter how much you think you have the support of the rulers of your nation and your backers and supporters. One day all your support networks will fall away and you will be held to account for your actions

• Comments are now closed

• Log in
• Donate
• Contribute post

• Articles RSS