Open Mike 07/10/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 7th, 2017 - 84 comments
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84 comments on “Open Mike 07/10/2017 ”

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  1. Pete George 1
    7 October 2017 at 6:27 am

    That’s what seems to commonly be attempted here, like now, with OAB leading the dishonesty and divisiveness.

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

  2. reason 2
    7 October 2017 at 8:05 am

    I heard this for the first time yesterday ….

    Another exceptional talent ….. Giving voice on another deadly problem.

  3. bwaghorn 3
    7 October 2017 at 8:28 am

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11930260

    since when is it ok for nz to harbour a kidnapper.?

    • patricia bremner 3.1
      7 October 2017 at 8:43 am

      What kidnapper??

    • weka 3.2
      7 October 2017 at 9:12 am

      Sounds like she’s about to be deported so not sure what you mean.

    • joe90 3.3
      7 October 2017 at 9:12 am

      since when is it ok for nz to harbour a kidnapper.?

      When doing otherwise would be an “intolerable situation” and “cataclysmic”, for the child.

      • bwaghorn 3.3.1
        7 October 2017 at 1:20 pm

        the judge is an arse, if it was the father who ran off the result would be very different

        • JanM 3.3.1.1
          7 October 2017 at 1:31 pm

          I disagree, sorry. I don’t think he was focussing on the deeds of the parents, but what is currently in the best interests of the child

        • joe90 3.3.1.2
          7 October 2017 at 1:33 pm

          Mother, father, arse or otherwise, primacy of the child rules.

  4. Ad 4
    7 October 2017 at 8:39 am

    Everyone ready for Prime Minister Boris Johnson?

    “If a leadership contest happens, it will – yet again – be a proxy battle over Europe, the same issue that has poisoned the Tory party, and with it British political life, for decades.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/06/tories-destroying-themselves-hard-brexit

    No clearer lesson exists for those countries wishing to further fracture the European Union than the UK today.

    • Bill Drees 4.1
      7 October 2017 at 8:58 am

      “When he [Boris Johnson] was lying his way through the referendum campaign, we knew little about what Brexit Britain would look like. Now we are beginning to know more.
      The pound worth less – because of Brexit. Rising prices – because of Brexit.
      Our falling standing in the world – because of Brexit.
      From the top of the G7 growth league to the bottom – because of Brexit.
      The investors making plans to move – because of Brexit.
      EU workers leaving our NHS and our schools and universities, not welcome – because of Brexit.
      Fruit unpicked in East Anglia – because of Brexit.
      The Irish border question unresolved and imperiling stability and peace there – because of Brexit. The rights of millions uncertain – because of Brexit.
      The most complex negotiations imaginable in the hands of a cabinet incapable of meeting for five minutes without splurging their differences through the media to the other side of the negotiating table. ”

      A foreign secretary driven by ego alone; a Prime Minister too weak to deal with it.”
      Alastair Campbell in the NewEuropean.
      He doesn’t miss and hit the wall.

    • repateet 4.2
      7 October 2017 at 9:57 am

      Boris according to Pie:

    • Peroxide Blonde 4.3
      7 October 2017 at 1:33 pm

      The support Boris Johnson has is from the English Nationalist fans.
      Here is Fintan O’Toole’s insight to this movement.

      “The problem with English nationalism is not that it exists but that it is incoherent, inarticulate and immature. This underground torrent has always been there, but it was buried for centuries beneath two powerful constructs: the British Empire and the United Kingdom. With the empire gone and the union under strain from rival nationalist movements in Scotland and Northern Ireland, English nationalism has flooded to the surface with great destructive force.”

      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/opinion/britain-ireland-brexit-leo-varadkar.html

  5. The Fairy Godmother 5
    7 October 2017 at 8:46 am

    ‘….But Gandalf lifted up his arms and called once more
    in a clear voice. “Stand, Men of the West! Stand and wait!
    This is the hour of doom”…….

  6. The Chairman 6
    7 October 2017 at 8:47 am

    Welcome to reality.

    Low income Wellington families choosing between food and public transport
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/97530715/low-income-wellington-families-choosing-between-food-and-public-transport

    • Ed 6.1
      7 October 2017 at 8:56 am

      And some more reality.
      As Fran O’Sullivan says, big business isn’t scared of a NZ First/ Labour government.
      Notice how she observes a Lab/Green government would have scared the corporates…

      ‘But it is important not to become hysterical over the eventual deals. Business will adjust – as it always does – and get on with things. If policies are perceived as detrimental to various interests, there is always the ability to lobby Government to modify them.
      Importantly, if Labour and the Greens had emerged with more than 50 per cent of the vote at the election, there would have been substantial change to a number of settings – among them immigration, environmental rules, the Reserve Bank Act and taxation.
      Although National had to swallow some dead rats when Jim Bolger and Peters formed the first coalition Government, the former National Prime Minister said recently that it was workable.’

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11930547

  7. Nick 7
    7 October 2017 at 8:57 am

    Today is the start of the Labour Greens NZ First Coalition.
    Today is the end of the shitty human natz party and those other 2 people era.

    • Ed 7.1
      7 October 2017 at 8:58 am

      I doubt this will be sorted today.

    • CLEANGREEN 7.2
      7 October 2017 at 9:24 am

      I love the hope Nick,’

      We do need a new beginning as civil unrest is bubbling on the surface of the present national swamp now and beginning to overflow.

    • tracey 7.3
      7 October 2017 at 10:37 am

      OR is this going to be like the misjudgment of how high nats would poll on 23 Sept? And the specials will not be what we hope.

      • CLEANGREEN 7.3.1
        7 October 2017 at 11:16 am

        Tracey,

        We need to be vigilant that the national folks will do anything to keep in power and it is not above the possibility that they would falsify the votes here at all, because when we asked the Electoral Commission in 2016 if the voter can recheck to ‘verify’ if their paper vote was accurately recorded the Commission said no way can anyone under the “Electoral Act” see any result of the voter due to “Privacy Laws” so no-one would ever be able to find out if their vote was tampered with????

  8. The Chairman 8
    7 October 2017 at 9:07 am

    “This is the first time since 1994 that there has been a complete shutdown of the Wellington metro system,” he said.

    “In fact, it has taken 15 years for us to get an employer who has angered the workers sufficiently to cause a strike.”

    Transdev, a French-headquartered multinational company, took over the contract to run Wellington trains from KiwiRail last year.

    Mr Butson argued Transdev had mishandled negotiations and risked bringing New Zealand back to an earlier age of industrial turmoil.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/340965/rail-union-threatens-further-strikes-over-wgtn-deal

  9. savenz 9
    7 October 2017 at 9:18 am

    Shocking story and immigration will not investigate or prosecute the scam.

    Migrant worker describes ‘modern day slavery’ scam

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/339373/migrant-worker-describes-modern-day-slavery-scam

    • Once was Tim 9.1
      7 October 2017 at 10:17 am

      Unfortunately @savenz, the horse bolted a long time ago.
      https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-04102017/#comment-1395782
      and comment above.
      If you go through media reports over the past few years, there are countless examples – and that’s aside from those (probably the vast majority of instances) that go unreported.
      Check out Dr Christina Stringer’s report too on exploitation, or engage with some of the various bodies doing their best to provide support (such as Immigrant Workers Association).

  11. joe90 11
    7 October 2017 at 9:22 am

    How America was poisoned – from Trump. Bannon, and Mercer’s Cambridge Analytica, all the way down to the Charlottesville goons and their tiki torches.

    .
    These documents chart the Breitbart alt-right universe. They reveal how the website — and, in particular, Yiannopoulos — links the Mercer family, the billionaires who fund Breitbart, to underpaid trolls who fill it with provocative content, and to extremists striving to create a white ethnostate.

    They capture what Bannon calls his “killing machine” in action, as it dredges up the resentments of people around the world, sifts through these grievances for ideas and content, and propels them from the unsavory parts of the internet up to TrumpWorld, collecting advertisers’ checks all along the way.

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/heres-how-breitbart-and-milo-smuggled-white-nationalism?utm_term=.joB888rmg2#.juo222g9NK

  12. Cinny 12
    7 October 2017 at 9:36 am

    No more sleeps 😀 Roll on 2pm

    Was reading the right wing blog yesterday, wondering how they are feeling about today. Gosh they are a nasty, negative bunch over there, so vile, the spinners of propaganda and the pushers of put downs.

    Needless to say they aren’t as excited today about the special votes as those on TS are.

    I wonder how Maureen Pugh is feeling today? Rock on 2pm

    • Reality 12.1
      7 October 2017 at 10:23 am

      I just had a look at KB out of curiosity. Weird and warped and inarticulate. Would not like to personally be a friend or neighbour of any of them. They made Wayne seem almost reasonable.

      • Cinny 12.1.1
        7 October 2017 at 11:01 am

        KB is toxic.

        An ego driven pissing competition of nastiness and greed, selfishness preventing the sharing and supporting of differing ideas for the good of all, infested with bully boys the back bone of the national party movement.

        No matter the results it’s an exciting time for NZ, makes me wonder why the KB participants are all bitching hard out.

        ‘Cinny skips off and carries on being excited, 3hrs to go, just 3 hrs to go’ 😀

      • millsy 12.1.2
        7 October 2017 at 11:20 am

        I haven’t been there since about 2005.

    • Pataua4life 12.2
      7 October 2017 at 1:00 pm

      Pot, kettle, black, me thinks

  13. adam 13
    7 October 2017 at 9:41 am

    Gotta love Scotland

  14. ianmac 14
    7 October 2017 at 10:00 am

    Wow!
    “Details have emerged of yesterday’s preliminary coalition meeting between National and New Zealand First, with confirmed reports that Winston Peters did not utter a word during the thirty minute meeting, to which he arrived late.”

    Gotcha.
    http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/winston-peters-said-nothing-in-talks-with-national-just-walked-around-room-with-a-box-cutter/

  15. tracey 15
    7 October 2017 at 10:36 am

    We are often told about how hard the wealthy in NZ work for their money. Funnily enough, bankers, CEO’s, financiers do not make the top 4 hardest (overworked) working kiwis…

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/97613190/what-are-new-zealands-most-overworked-jobs

    • Draco T Bastard 15.1
      7 October 2017 at 11:14 am

      We need to bring back Penal Rates.

    • Incognito 15.2
      7 October 2017 at 11:17 am

      OMG, I’m losing it! For one moment I thought that was Jacinda Ardern in that photo …

    • marty mars 15.3
      7 October 2017 at 11:38 am

      Interesting comments under that article – seems like everyone’s working their guts out. May be it’s like when I used to ask a room full of people to put their hand up if they considered themselves a better than average driver. What rough percentage of hands went up?

      • Graeme 15.3.1
        7 October 2017 at 1:03 pm

        I’ve noticed a lot (like most) of people who are stuck on the hamster wheel. Going harder and harder but going nowhere.

        Sustainability will become a factor very soon for a lot. You can’t keep this low wage / long hour stuff up for ever, something quite small will tip you over.

  16. veutoviper 16
    7 October 2017 at 11:33 am

    Test – Is it just me, or are other people experiencing long delays in comments coming up? Have submitted two this morning and neither have come up.

    • veutoviper 16.1
      7 October 2017 at 11:57 am

      Thanks if someone released my comments. Don’t know what has happened being a non-tech idiot but my identicon or whatever has now changed … No problem but cannot work it out as I did not re-enter my name or email etc.

      Will be changing my email in the near future as it is currently an old Vodaphone one soon to become redundant but will cross that bridge another day.

    • weka 16.2
      7 October 2017 at 12:11 pm

      I have a feeling your comments are going via the spam filter. It happens randomly to some people, or it becomes a habitual thing for some others who have TS logins they’re not using. I’ll keep an eye out and see what’s happening with your comments.

      • weka 16.2.1
        7 October 2017 at 12:13 pm

        just had a look in the back end and it does look like all your comments are going via the moderation filter.

        Have you ever had a login at The Standard?

        • veutoviper 16.2.1.1
          7 October 2017 at 12:21 pm

          Had a login years ago but rarely used it and no idea of password! Since we are on it at the moment, will send a test using my new gmail address and see if we can get that to work as no point in reactivating login for the email address that needs to go in the bin anyway.

          • weka 16.2.1.1.1
            7 October 2017 at 12:39 pm

            Some people who have had logins in the past, if they use the same details in the comment fields will start getting caught in moderation. I don’t know what triggers this.

            Yes, the simplest option is to change your email address in the comment field. Doesn’t work all the time, but it does for some. You can make up an email address too, doesn’t need to be real.

        • veutoviper 16.2.1.2
          7 October 2017 at 12:22 pm

          Test, using new email address.

          • weka 16.2.1.2.1
            7 October 2017 at 12:40 pm

            Did that appear straight away?

            • veutoviper 16.2.1.2.1.1
              7 October 2017 at 1:53 pm

              Not sure as raced out to get back home before special results, but from the time seems to have been quicker. Will stick with new email as per this reply and check.

              EDIT – almost instantaneous !!!!!! Many thanks!!!

      • veutoviper 16.2.2
        7 October 2017 at 12:16 pm

        Thanks Weka. Sent an earlier reply to my own test to say comments now up but different identicon. Also said will be changing my email as exisitn one is a soon to be redundant Vodaphone one, and already have another legit gmail one anyway. If problems continue etc, can change to the gmail email and see if problems disappear.

        • BM 16.2.2.1
          7 October 2017 at 12:46 pm

          It doesn’t have to be a valid email address you could just write

          veutoviper(at symbol)veutoviper.co.nz

  17. Cinny 17
    7 October 2017 at 1:29 pm

    30 minutes to go… just a little bit excited 😀

  18. Brigid 18
    7 October 2017 at 1:54 pm

    I fear we will have Michael Cullen as finance minister.

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/10/07/adults-in-the-room/

    “Don Richards and Sue Hamill, describe a “surprising and somewhat disappointing” exchange of views with Sir Michael Cullen at an election meeting in Whakatane on Friday, 15 September:

    ” Sir Michael, the former Labour Finance Minister during the Helen Clark-led government was with Grant Robertson, the Labour Party’s current Finance spokesperson and Kiri Allan, our local Labour Party candidate.

    I asked Grant Robertson if he was aware of what was happening in Japan with the Central Bank buying up a significant portion of their national debt. Inflation in Japan was close to zero and the real economy was thriving. Had he considered instructing the Reserve Bank to do the same, thereby saving taxpayers money for social and infrastructure projects?

    Grant asked Sir Michael to answer the question and he said that Japan had been experiencing negative growth for some time and so the two economies were not similar. I reminded Sir Michael that the Japanese economy was now thriving and the Central Bank was still buying up their national debt. I was told that a Labour government would not be doing that.

    Sue then asked Grant Robertson if he had thought about doing what the first Labour Government did in the 1930s, using the Reserve Bank’s balance sheet to fund the building of housing and infrastructure? The question received a few claps from the audience.

    Sir Michael once again fielded the question. He said that we had to be fiscally responsible otherwise we could end up with an economy like Germany after World War One, Venezuela or Zimbabwe. Sue carried on with a second question stating that as private banks create most of the money in the economy, why not let the Reserve Bank do it as well. Sir Michael responded by saying the banks do not create money.

    The meeting finished with an invitation to meet at a local café for a chat. We went home and printed off the Bank of England’s article and the IMF’s discussion paper that stated categorically that banks create money in the act of lending. Sue went back to the café and had a further conversation with Sir Michael. He dismissed the Bank of England paper as not relevant and that it did not mean that banks created money. He also dismissed the IMF paper saying that banks lend out people’s savings.

    It was a frustrating experience and if Sir Michael has the ear of Grant Robertson, as he appears to have, then no difference will be made to the way our money is created, should the Labour Party come to power.””

  19. Craig H 19
    7 October 2017 at 1:54 pm

    Are we getting a new post for the final election results?

  20. eco Maori/kiwi 20
    7 October 2017 at 1:57 pm

    looking after sick grandson an no time to post we will see a major shift in the way OUR country is run today Kia Kaha

  21. lprent 21
    7 October 2017 at 2:01 pm

    Worth waiting for…

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/341051/live-election17-final-results-are-coming

    This is the Electoral Commission’s media release

    The Electoral Commission has declared the official results for the 2017 General Election.

    Main points:

    · The number of seats in Parliament will be 120.

    · The National Party has 56 seats compared with 58 on election night.

    · The Labour Party has 46 seats compared with 45 on election night.

    · The Green Party has 8 seats compared with 7 on election night.

    · There are no changes to the number of seats held by New Zealand First and ACT New Zealand which remain at 9 and 1 respectively.

    · All electorate candidates leading on election night have been confirmed as winning their seats.

    · The total number of votes cast is 2,630,173. 47% of votes were cast in advance.

    · The turnout as a percentage of enrolled electors is 79.8% (2014 – 77.9%). This is the highest turnout since 2005 (80.9%).

    · The final enrolment rate is 92.4% (2014 – 92.6%).

  22. Cinny 22
    7 October 2017 at 2:02 pm

    YES! YES!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bye bye Maureen Pugh.

  23. roy cartland 23
    7 October 2017 at 2:05 pm

    You beauty! Go Golriz and Angie you good things!

  24. RedBaronCV 24
    7 October 2017 at 2:29 pm

    Doesn’t all this make the Nats more vulnerable overall – with 41 constituency seats
    to Labour’s 29 are they not more likely to lose seats during the next term to say scandal or resignation than Labour thereby being the more unstable partner

  25. ianmac 25
    7 October 2017 at 2:32 pm

    Wonder what Mr English is saying? Will he resign from his list seat if it becomes NZF/Labour/ Green?
    If NZF sits on the cross benches who will be PM?

    • red-blooded 25.1
      7 October 2017 at 2:42 pm

      The PM will be the leader of whichever party/bloc NZF gives backing to, in terms of confidence and supply (or even just confidence – a possibility, but an uncomfortable one).

  27. Andre 27
    7 October 2017 at 6:22 pm

    I see The Trots has had another squirting spray all over Bowelly Road.

    http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2017/10/adults-in-room_7.html

    He can’t help himself, can he? Just has to find something to interpret as badly as possible and have a pre-emptive whine about.

    • Incognito 27.1
      7 October 2017 at 6:45 pm

      He is not my favourite either. One of his very recent pieces riled me no end but (luckily) it did not get one mention here on TS AFAIK and I didn’t need to let rip … Shame though because I really felt like it!

    • veutoviper 27.2
      7 October 2017 at 6:52 pm

      Afraid to say this latest Trots spray has already been mentioned in this very OM at 18 above.

      Not my best response but the response was triggered by seeing it posted at 2.00pm while awaiting the special vote results. Fear that Cullen is going to be Finance Minister? Really ???????

      • Andre 27.2.1
        7 October 2017 at 6:57 pm

        So it was. I guess I just saw Daily Bog and just skimmed straight on past…

      • Andrea 27.2.2
        7 October 2017 at 10:01 pm

        Oh dear. Bad. Very bad.

        Perhaps we could invite Paul Keating to nip across and lend a hand.

        Poor old Labour: doesn’t matter who’s at the top. It’s a patriarchal middle class construct. People who get all wussie at the thought of decent unions and have to hide the facts from the sweet innocent voting public.

        Trouble is – there’s nothing better on offer.

        Disappointing, Mr Cullen. Very disappointing.

      • The Chairman 27.2.3
        8 October 2017 at 8:01 am

        One must admit allowing Cullen (an unelected has been) to take and answer his questions (at an election meeting) does make Grant look like a puppet.