Open mike 08/02/2011

37 comments on “Open mike 08/02/2011 ”

• Comments are now closed

1. Jenny 1

   8 February 2011 at 6:20 am

   -The protesters did it-

   Murray McCully

   While warning off Kiwis from visiting Egypt, Murray McCully spreads a slur to cover up for John Key’s favourite murderer.

   On Saturday, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully criticised the targeting of foreign journalists by Egyptian protesters.

   His comments followed the wounding of New Zealand news cameraman Olaf Wiig while dodging a molotov cocktail in Egypt as he covered riots for Fox News.

   “Govt repeats warning against travel to Egypt as Kiwis leave”
   The New Zealand Herald, Monday, February 7, 2011 A5

   (No link provided for this article on the NZ Herald website)

   Olaf Wiig and Greg Palkot who were fleeing a molotov cocktail attack on their hotel were assaulted by a crowd in the street, some of whom were Egyptian security personal, who as well as taking part in the assault on Wiig and Palkot blindfolded them, bundled them into an armoured personal carrier taking them into detention.

   Only direct intervention from the Fox Network through the American State Department to the Egyptian state was able to secure their release.

   Compare McCully’s lie that these journalists were attacked by protesters with the statement of U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowly:

   “There is a concerted campaign to intimidate international journalists in Cairo and interfere with their reporting. We condemn such actions.”

   By consciously trying to blur the lines over who is responsible for these attacks, McCully is giving succour to this murderous regime.

   Acting on Key’s public support for Mubarak, McCully (and NZ) are helping give the regime the justification for even greater bloodshed, against the protesters and the media.
   • Bored 1.1

     8 February 2011 at 7:18 am

     The Wests leaders are idiots. They are wishing beyond hope for the status quo to remain in the Middle East so as to not upset the cosy little system that makes the oil flow and the capital circulate around the “free” world. McCully apes them because he too is an idiot who thinks that truth does not ever see the light of day. By pinning our flag to the mast of this system we will make no friends in the Middle East of the future
     • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1

       8 February 2011 at 11:15 am

       They are wishing beyond hope for the status quo to remain so as to not upset the cosy little system that channels great wealth from the many to the few.

       FIFY
       • Bored 1.1.1.1

         8 February 2011 at 5:11 pm

         Indeed Draco, thats the whole point of the filthy money go round.
   • Rosy 1.2

     8 February 2011 at 8:21 am

     It looks as if the original media statement had it right…
     http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1102/S00069/mccully-condemns-violence-against-journalists-in-egypt.htm

     “Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully has expressed deep concern over reports that journalists in Egypt have been targeted by some pro-government elements”

     I wonder if Key & Co have noticed the only western “democracies” supporting Mubarak are Netanyahu and Berlussconi. Great company they’re keeping.
     • Bill 1.2.1

       8 February 2011 at 10:37 am

       Rosy. It might be true that Netanyahu and Berlussconi are the only people overtly supportive of Mubarak the person. But all the others are still very supportive of the institutions and basic foundations of power that Mubarak was a figurehead for.

       The last thing any of them want are genuine expressions of democracy. They all want a continuance of what is and has been. Watch for a ‘benign’ and ‘neutral’ army making a grab for power. If they’re successful, then things will carry on ‘as usual’.

       This is what has happened in Tunisia with the army overseeing a gradual release of pressure before getting back to ‘business as normal’.

       It’s the curse of ‘revolutions’; this endless game of musical chairs where new elites take the place of old elites and the basic foundations that allow the elites to excercise power remain intact.
       • Rosy 1.2.1.1

         8 February 2011 at 7:59 pm

         “The last thing any of them want are genuine expressions of democracy. They all want a continuance of what is and has been”

         I think that’s true. The west has done the risk analysis and know it’s better to have the change process happen quickly to avoid leaving a vacuum that may allow for more radical changes. That means they are negotiating with the head of secret services Omar Suleiman who is now the vice-president! This cannot be good for the protestors when it is all over. I’d love to be wrong about this, but the activist detentions are continuing.

         It appears the one of the choices of the would have been the ex-prime minister sidelined by Mubarak a few years ago. The west is scared of the Muslim Brotherhood but they seem to be keeping in the background and there is no indication of this being an islamic takeover. The west should be backing the people.
         • Rosy 1.2.1.1.1

           8 February 2011 at 10:43 pm

           And as if I ordered some context to the above…
           “Fascinating context for the US backing for vice-president Omar Sulieman has emerged from embassy cables published by WikiLeaks. They show that Israel has long regarded Suleiman as the preferred successor to Mubarak, Reuters reports”

           http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/feb/08/egypt-protests-live-updates

           Wikileaks shows the Israelis and the Egyptian intelligence service have had a good relationship for quite sometime.
     • Jenny 1.2.2

       8 February 2011 at 5:47 pm

       Thank you Rosy, for providing the link to the original statement from Murray McCully, which the print only, article in yesterday’s Herald was obviously based on.

       The Herald’s view that it was the protesters that committed this attack, was the Herald’s spin on these events not Mr McCully’s.

       My apologies to Mr McCully and shame on the Herald.
2. Bored 2

   8 February 2011 at 7:31 am

   On another note Serepisos the man who brought the cash to the Phoenix (and not to the IRD) has gone off to Switzerland to arrange finances. Will he be coming back? Is he going to meet David Henderson there? Could he be off to repatriate some Fay Richwhite plunder from the 90s?

   Who knows? All I care is that the IRD (aka you and I) recieve the cash and that any Wellington rates owed are recouped. To do that might not be accorded hero status, but it would be a statement of honest intent. Heres hoping.
3. Colonial Viper 3

   8 February 2011 at 8:49 am

   Jeremy Harris over at Red Alert is telling me that in the 1980’s, around the time income taxes were dropped from 66% to 33% by the first ACT Govt, overall Govt revenues went up as a result.

   http://blog.labour.org.nz/index.php/2011/02/05/when-a-smile-and-a-wave-are-not-enough/comment-page-2/#comment-148076

   I’d appreciate it if anyone here can help shed some light on this for me. To me its blatantly counter-intuitive but I’m willing to give it a go.
   • vto 3.1

     8 February 2011 at 10:53 am

     That’s a relatively well known reaction. Drop tax rates and the tax take goes up. I guess because if tax rates are dropped the money is spent by the person rather than the govt. And that is far more efficient (i.e. a dollar spent by private interests generates far more economic activity than a dollar spent by government. And thus the overall tax take rises). Which is entirely intuitive if thought is applied.
     • Colonial Viper 3.1.1

       8 February 2011 at 11:22 am

       Come one man, where is the reference that tax take went up, that’s what I am looking for.

       i.e. a dollar spent by private interests generates far more economic activity than a dollar spent by government.

       For starters this is bollocks. GDP counts $1 spent by the Government as $1, and it counts $1 spent by a private business as $1.

       GDP or even GNP has never seen a $1 spent by one party versus another party as having different economic value.
       • Lanthanide 3.1.1.1

         8 February 2011 at 11:37 am

         It’s talking about growth. Like if I spend $1 in the economy, then it might grow by $1.02 because of circulating money. It’s a common measure that is used.

         I’ve seen it applied to the US government, where they use government spending to stimulate the economy. The idea is that if the government borrows money at a 5% interest rate, then spending $1 in the economy needs to produce at least $1.05 worth of growth, otherwise they’re going backwards. In recent years it appears that for each extra $1 the US government spends, they are actually getting less than $1 in return, eg further government expense through deficit spending is shrinking their economy.

         I’m not terribly au fait with this, but that’s the gist of it.
     • Draco T Bastard 3.1.2

       8 February 2011 at 11:29 am

       Actually, a dollar spent by government generates more economic activity. That’s why tax cuts always fail to be stimulatory. If there was a tax take increase when the rules were changed it was probably because of closed loopholes widening the tax base.
       • prism 3.1.2.1

         8 February 2011 at 11:47 am

         I’m feeling how the gummint has widened their tax base with more burden on me. Doing necessary maintenance on the house. Painters cost $6,000 odd – will be paying $900 odd in GST. Now that hurts. It’s not as if it is a tax on luxuries. The right who like to run down tax as theft, probably support this consumption tax which really does seem like large-scale theft when on such expensive payments.
         • Draco T Bastard 3.1.2.1.1

           8 February 2011 at 1:39 pm

           GST is massively regressive – it makes up a huge amount on poor and middle incomes and almost nothing on the rich. As such it needs to be dropped and replaced by a financial transactions tax* and a capital gains tax.

           * I once thought that a FTT wouldn’t work as more people would just use cash but the answer to that is to get rid of cash. Getting rid of cash would also make criminal transactions almost impossible.
           • Lanthanide 3.1.2.1.1.1

             8 February 2011 at 5:07 pm

             “* I once thought that a FTT wouldn’t work as more people would just use cash but the answer to that is to get rid of cash. Getting rid of cash would also make criminal transactions almost impossible.”

             Cash generally comes out of a bank account these days, at an ATM or a branch office. Charge the tax at that point. I guess that would seriously increase the incidence of people not putting money into their bank account and keeping it as cash, but aside from getting rid of cash (which is ridiculous) there’s not much of a way around that.
             • Draco T Bastard …

               8 February 2011 at 6:00 pm

               Cash generally comes out of a bank account these days, at an ATM or a branch office. Charge the tax at that point.

               That’s been suggested as well – usually at a few times more than the FTT.

               but aside from getting rid of cash (which is ridiculous)

               No, it’s more than possible today to not need cash. There’s no reason to keep it and getting rid of it has some benefits as well.
               • Deborah Kean …

                 8 February 2011 at 7:26 pm

                 “No, it’s more than possible today to not need cash. There’s no reason to keep it and getting rid of it has some benefits as well.”
                 Despite that spending cash attracts a penalty (supermarket and other ’rounding’) I find I need cash… Being a beneficiary/casual worker, I can’t get a credit card – and with ATM fees and Eftpos fees, I find it’s cheaper to get a wad of cash out of the bank, and spend that as I go..
                 It’s possible not to need cash only if you’re middle class! (Aside from anything else, from my memory of a few years back – what do you give the kids for lunch money, school trips, a new 3B1 notebook etc, your credit card? 😀 )
                 Deb
                 • Draco T Bastard …

                   8 February 2011 at 9:27 pm

                   Being a beneficiary/casual worker, I can’t get a credit card

                   Why would you want one?

                   and with ATM fees and Eftpos fees, I find it’s cheaper to get a wad of cash out of the bank, and spend that as I go..

                   Kiwibank Free Up account. No fees at all and has the Visa Debit Card available through it. Of course, it also doesn’t pay interest but that’s what savings accounts are for.

                   It’s possible not to need cash only if you’re middle class!

                   Nope, it’s possible even on a benefit – unless you use buses because the silly buggers don’t yet have EFT-POS on them
                   • Deborah Kean …

                     9 February 2011 at 5:52 pm

                     “unless you use buses because the silly buggers don’t yet have EFT-POS on them”
                     Ah, there’s the problem! I use buses and trains… and although I get ten-trip tickets, I need cash to get them.
                     Then there’s the lawn-mower man, and sundry other things. IMO, cash will always be needed – and also, I think it’s safer to have cash. Money in the bank is simply ‘virtual’ anyway, and my experience has been that things in banks can go horribly wrong! (Not that long ago, a bank worker who made a trivial data entry error and transposed account numbers, emptied my account. It took me quite a long time to sort it out, but thankfully the manager of that branch helped me out..) However, I closed that account and have never been near Westpac again!
                     Kiwibank as soon as I can, yes..
                     Deb
4. prism 4

   8 February 2011 at 9:44 am

   The government has agreed to Telecom and Vodafone getting a major chunk of money to provide broadband for rural areas using fibre optic and copper wires. I wonder what consideration has been given to the problem of copper wire theft in remote rural areas.

   There is already a general theft problem rurally, cameras to provide evidence of the perps are themselves stolen, or their wires cut. We are going to spend lots of millions providing broadband for rural areas. Are we setting up another growth area in the crime industry with copper and fibre rather than wireless? If copper wire is stolen the service will go down in a wide area putting rural people back where they started, after much expenditure of money, I think by taxpayers. It’s not a public/private partnership is it?

   On googling copper wire theft it is obvious it is a big focus for crims who cause huge problems.
   The latest theft to make the international news.
   Lights out at FNB – Times LIVE
   3 Feb 2011 … The jewel in South Africa’s football crown was closed down last night – by thieves. … The venue, now knows as FNB stadium, was due to host an important Premier … But the cable theft forced the cancellation of the match. ….
   Earlier report from NZ –
   Radio New Zealand : News : National : Copper wire theft causes outage
   Copper wire theft causes outage. Updated at 4:40pm on 10 November 2010. Police say copper wire was cut from 10 transformers at Halcombe, north of
   Feilding,
   
   and Copper Theft at Florida School Interrupts Drinking Water Supply
   17 Nov 2010 … Events. All-Hazards/All-Stakeholders Summits … to stop! we have the product that is proven to stop copper wire theft from splice boxes

   Responses we need also to consider –
   Bill aims to stop copper wire theft in Alberta
   8 Nov 2010 … Stranger than Fiction: Events behind Inventor begged for operatic treatment ….. Bill aims to stop copper wire theft in Alberta …
   and a company that has multiple methods to combat the problem which we should know about and include in the work laying the wire to reduce what will be a certain problem for us.
   and
   Copper wire thefts from Oncor substations
   1 Sep 2009 … Oncor deters future copper wire thieves by replacing stolen wire with this type of … No single course of action will stop wire theft. …

   [lprent: Interesting bug. Fixed the italics. ]
   • Colonial Viper 4.1

     8 February 2011 at 10:48 am

     I thought theft of copper and fibre optic wire only happened in places like Iraq, Somalia and Zimbabwe.
     • lprent 4.1.1

       8 February 2011 at 10:57 am

       Nope. Increasing problem world wide. I saw an interesting article in the ?? the economist ?? (can’t find link) about people tearing out the copper from junction boxes in the british rail system with unpleasant consequences for train services.
     • Draco T Bastard 4.1.2

       8 February 2011 at 11:31 am

       Heard of a builder the other day that went for smoko, came back to the construction site sight to find all the copper spouting gone.
     • Lanthanide 4.1.3

       8 February 2011 at 11:56 am

       Fibre optic cable isn’t worth stealing because it can only be used as fibre optic cable.

       I guess if you’re after copper you could just dig up any old cable expecting it to be copper, though.
   • Bob 4.2

     8 February 2011 at 10:49 pm

     Used to happen here . buts thats when we were still on a 5 party line . Back in 93 .
     Then along came fibre , underground up the coast . the phone line never behaves like it used to.
     Even in strong winds . Chuurrrr
5. prism 5

   8 February 2011 at 11:10 am

   cv It seems to be just the copper wire that is in demand and attracts the thieves.
6. Colonial Viper 6

   8 February 2011 at 1:00 pm

   Left liberal leaning site Huff Post gets sold to AOL for US$315M

   http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ij4lB2LyqeN7lzDph6T8gWiYmNXg?docId=0966cf9d14f7440e91d37dbac575fd41

   Apparently there is money in being a left leaning liberal media site. Wonder if she would help fund a left leaning MSM in NZ. Well I guess if the business case was good.
   • Draco T Bastard 6.1

     8 February 2011 at 1:41 pm

     Yeah, saw that. Have considered to stop following Huffpost.
7. Draco T Bastard 7

   8 February 2011 at 1:52 pm

   Economic madness to leave rural New Zealand with out-dated broadband

   “These two companies, Telecom in particular have failed to acknowledge the importance of the rural economy for years with inadequate investment in rural communication, Damien O’Connor said

   That’s because they’re out to make a profit you fucken moron and there’s no profit in the rural areas due to there not being enough customers (actually, there’s just not enough customers in NZ to justify adequate investment from private providers which is why the NZ government has been dropping a few hundred million into the sector over the last few years and is now putting in another $1.5b). If you really want rational investment in telecommunications then you make it state owned and don’t leave it to private investors. Leaving it to private investors just results in inadequate investment where it’s needed most.
8. Anthony C 8

   8 February 2011 at 6:26 pm

   Looks like the Green candidate is out from the Botany by-election by failing to enter the nomination on time:

   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/front-page-top-stories/news/article.cfm?c_id=698&objectid=10704927

   I don’t know… If you can’t get this right perhaps it’s a very good sign you aren’t suitable to represent people in parliament.
9. bobo 9

   8 February 2011 at 7:37 pm

   Good interview on Closeup tonight with Hone, Sainsbury was trying hard to make Hone angry and make him look like a troublemaker , but it backfired as Hone came over cool calm and concise about his argument that the Maori party has moved away from its core values. At times he reminded me of a younger Winston Peters not letting Sainsbury put words in his mouth, best interview ive seen of Hone that I can remember without him coming over aggressive.

   On another note is interesting to see Tuku Morgan is in cahoots with Key over Tanui possibly getting access to state asset sales, Tuku wants Hone gone as he could upset the current cosy relationship which is bad for the Maori elite, interesting power games going on behind scenes.
10. lprent 10

    8 February 2011 at 9:04 pm

    There will be an upgrade of wordpress and the operating system after 11pm tonight. It should only take 10 minutes or so with minor interruptions, slow response from the server and a brief reboot.

    Hopefully they will have a few of the required bug fixes in so I can turf some of the kludges.
11. Carol 11

    8 February 2011 at 9:28 pm

    Nikki Kaye makes a bid for the Auckland GLBT vote:

    http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_9889.php

    Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye is pushing strongly for Auckland to create a Sydney Mardi Gras-style parade to celebrate the country’s biggest glbt community and provide economic benefits for the city.

    Cos being GLB orT is all about the money & business… of course.

    Some on the gaynz forum are not convinced… in fact, most aren’t convinced, I’d say. But there’s some who would support her… and the Nats.

    But some say things like, where’s Nikki been for the GLBT community for the last 3 years? And some are just not keen on the idea of a big parade. And someone asked, wasn’t there supposed to be a big cultural festival for the Rugby World Cup, and how’s that working out?

    http://www.gaynz.com/forum/index.php?topic=9508.0

Links to post

1. The Standard: posted on 7 February 2011 at 5:13 pm

• Comments are now closed

• Log in
• Donate
• Contribute post

• Articles RSS