Open mike 08/03/2015

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 8th, 2015 - 83 comments
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openmike Open mike is your post.

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Step up to the mike …

83 comments on “Open mike 08/03/2015 ”

  1. Bearded Git 1

    Rodney Hide concludes Peters wants to come second in Northland. They pay this guy for this drivel?

    see: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11413598

    • DH 1.1

      It’s the Herald. Hide is just one of many commentators the Herald will parade telling Northlanders not to vote for Peters.

      The media will be one to watch here. They’ve been taken by surprise a bit by the polls and they don’t have much time to influence the by-election. They’ll be spitting tacks if their nemesis wins

      I think we can expect to see an upsurge in negative comments about Winston Peters from the media over the rest of the month. The next weekend Herald will be one to watch, Roughan and O’Sullivan were busy defending their Godboy this week but I suspect they’ll have a different target next time.

      Midweek I’m guessing we’ll have the likes of Armstrong and Trevett putting the boot in to Peters, with advice for Northlanders from the likes of Hoskings and the odd cameo appearances.

      • Bearded Git 1.1.1

        @ DH
        agreed-and which will simply boost Peter’s profile.

        • DH 1.1.1.1

          I’d like to believe that but experience shows the media have more power and influence over voters than we can be comfortable with. The corporate media will certainly have been quietly congratulating themselves over the hatchet job they did on David Cunliffe… it worked.

          • Bearded Git 1.1.1.1.1

            @dh

            totally agree but the TV1 poll just published says Winston 36 Nats 36 Lab 20. Some tactical voting and a few subtle hints by Little (and others) should see Winston sail home. Lets see what Little says on TV1 in 2 minutes…..and he is subtly saying vote Winston.

            • Clemgeopin 1.1.1.1.1.1

              Neck and neck. it seems! I was keen to watch but having ‘signal’ problems! Hazy. Thanks for the info. Would like more info if possible.

            • jenny kirk 1.1.1.1.1.2

              Interestingly, Bearded Git, Andrew Little was saying exactly what Willow-Jean has on her leaflet for distribution around Northland households ie “Its time to send a message to the government that Northland deserves better”. This leaflet was printed out well before Winston appeared on the scene with a similar message on his bus !

              • Bearded Git

                Oh come on Jenny-he didn’t say vote Labour. He said vote for the person who is likely to beat National, which is the only way a message can be sent. And that person is Winnie.

                It was a clever piece of repositioning. Little sounded like a PM in waiting to me.

                • jenny kirk

                  Yep – Bearded Git – he sounded like a PM in waiting to me, too !

                  • Clemgeopin

                    Andrew Little is a good man. Fair and thoughtful. What more does anyone want? He will be a very good Prime Minister, liked by people of all persuasion. Trust me on that. You heard it here first!

                    • ScottGN

                      I hoped it first in my heart Clemeogin when I voted for him at the leadership ballot after the election.

                    • Clemgeopin

                      @ScottGN

                      Good on you. Shows that great minds think alike. [although fools seldom differ too!]

    • Anne 1.2

      Bearded Git @ 1

      Hide has as an obsessive hatred of Peters which goes back to the Winebox saga. He was a full time economic adviser to Alan Gibbs prior to him entering parliament, and was an integral part of that whole tax evasion/avoidance scene in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was placed in the ACT headquarters by Gibbs for the express purpose of becoming… Gibbs’ man in parliament. It worked for a while then it all (thankfully) turned to dust. I wouldn’t be surprised if they blame Winston Peters for that too.

      • Chooky 1.2.1

        +100…thanks Anne …very interesting!

      • Rodel 1.2.2

        Anne
        Thanks for that historical snippet.
        Most people don’t know or have forgotten Gibb’s puppetry with Rodney Hide.
        We need reminding every now and then.
        We need reminding of Key’s support for the invasion of Iraq, his taking out a new mortgage for an apartment he already owned because of a parliamentary perk, English’s Wellington home etc….etc..

  2. Northsider 2

    Andrew Little needs to enforce standards in the Labour Party on matters surrounding donations. A scandal in this area could undo his good works.
    Letting Mallard, Cosgrove and Nash get away with dodgy donations is not a good precedent.

    • tc 2.1

      Mallard Cosgrove and Nash are like manyoo centre halves, wear the red shirt but regularly gift the opposition goals.

      They should be nowhere near a labour ministerial team sheet when the time comes.

      • Northsider 2.1.1

        Sadly Robertson counts on them as supporters. If Robertson gets a top 4 role in the November reshuffle, following King’s planned step-down, Robertson will rehabilitate Cosgrove. Cosgrove has tooooo much on Robertson.

  3. halfcrown 3

    Just seen Corrin Dan on Q&A announce that Andrew Little would be the next speaker
    I do like the unbiased introduction by Dan, Andrew Little, former Union Boss. Perhaps next time Key comes on he will introduce Key as the former, and still is money trading spiv

    • “Union boss” is such a telling phrase, isn’t it?

    • tc 3.2

      That instruction went out the day little won, TVNZ use it across the board at times heard the blonde evening news muppet use it recently.

      Imagine if it was done consistently….former curreny trader, former disgraced policeman, former treasury analyst/Nat party leader, former hologram etc

      • Murray Rawshark 3.2.1

        former disgraced policeman? I prefer disgraced former policeman.

        • tc 3.2.1.1

          Wait till the process runs its course…..it’s just a question of where the disgraced goes….before policeman, minister etc.

      • rawshark-yeshe 3.2.2

        former office ?? ( sorry, can’t resist!)

      • halfcrown 3.2.3

        “former hologram”

        I like that, but he Still is, and if Dan Dan the lavatory man has to introduce that prat from Epsom (Rimmer) they play the signature music of Red Dwarf

  4. nadis 4

    As predicted, the Chechens did it!!!!

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/102485952

    Thank god for scapegoats

    • Colonial Rawshark 4.1

      The Ruskies think that Nemtsov was followed the whole day by several cars who interchanged positions as they tracked him. So there is much more yet to come.

    • joe90 4.2

      Russian speakers on another forum posted about the killers Chechen/Putin connection.

      google translate;

      Here, Rashid Nurgaliev and Kadyrov was awarded the military government awards of the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic.

      http://www.chechnya.gov.ru/page.php?r=126&id=8314

      google translate:
      Kadyrov collects Basmachi the stadium , then one of the leaders of his combat unit kills the leader of the opposition

      Георгий АлбуровVerified account ‏@alburov

      Кадыров собирает басмачей на стадионе, затем один из руководителей его боевого подразделения убивает лидера оппозиции

      https://twitter.com/alburov/status/574301485762232321

  5. fisiani 5

    So Andrew Little wants to keep the 90 day right to prove yourself law. Whodathunkit?

    • Wake up, fisi, you’re dreaming. Little has just confirmed on Q+A that the Fire at Will provision is going.

    • jenny kirk 5.2

      That is NOT what Andrew Little said, fisiani. He said instead that NZ had previously had a fairness in legislation that allowed for a trial period at a workplace, and that is what he wants to see reinstated.

    • vto 5.3

      So the nasty tories want to treat people as if they are a tradeable commodity like plastic buckets.

      No wonder their lives are so shallow – they have no humanity (or rather they are incapable of recognising it)

    • vto 5.4

      This is what you and your people have done and continue to do fisiani.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDd64suDz1A

      In NZ Ernie Abbot 1982
      In NZ Fred Evans 1912

      Your lot are scum. Rot in hell.

  6. Penny Bright 6

    When Labour Party supporters ‘do an Epsom’ and vote strategically in Northland, Winston Peters will romp in.

    When Winston Peters takes Northland off National, they will be left with 59 out of 121 MPs and will be politically ‘wing-clipped’ in terms of passing their pro-corporate / anti-worker legislation.

    Why on earth would Labour not be pulling out all the stops in order to help this happen – by promoting ‘STRATEGIC’ voting in Northland?

    I for one am not saying Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime should ‘stand aside’ or not continue to advocate and publicise Labour’s policies.

    But this Northland by-election is FAR bigger than Northland.

    Labour – do NOT stuff it up for the majority of New Zealanders!

    The nation is watching ….

    Penny Bright

  7. Philip Ferguson 7

    Redline collection of articles on women’s liberation, socialism. . .
    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/marxism-and-womens-liberation/

  8. Chooky 8

    Why Obama wants to broker peace with Iran. Why Israel is opposed . Who is supporting ISIL?….a very good discussion with Peter Lavelle moderating:

    “So close, yet so far. Iran and the West are close to accomplishing what so many in Washington and Tel Aviv are terrified of – a negotiated end to the Western standoff with Iran. Israel’s Netanyahu has made it clear: war is better than peace. Can Washington finally say ‘yes’ to peace?”

    CrossTalking with Mohammad Marandi, Gareth Porter, and Chuck Freilich.

    http://rt.com/shows/crosstalk/238281-bibi-iran-war-peace/

    • Colonial Rawshark 8.1

      Saudi Arabia would also hate US corporates having full access to Iran to help Iran fully develop its vast oil and gas fields to compete with it.

      Another example of how Israel and Saudi Arabia’s interests line up very neatly.

      • Chooky 8.1.1

        ….and support of ISIL ?…but they better be careful because ISIS could be a snake by the tail…and mutate into something which has a nasty back bite

      • Murray Rawshark 8.1.2

        Saudi Arabia would also hate US corporates having full access to Iran to sack Iran’s resources and send profits from its vast oil and gas fields back to Wall St.

        FIFY

    • b waghorn 8.2

      My very amateur over view on Israel’s position around its neighbours is to keep them unstable , divided and weak.
      I bet Iran and Iraq working together on the IS problem is worrying Israel big time

  9. Shane Le Brun 9

    My last blog post on medicinal Cannabis for a while, this time not based around pain, but the Anti Nausea and appetite stimulating effects and their positive impact on a patient suffering from HIV

    http://yournz.org/2015/03/08/medical-marijuana-munchies-vs-hiv-munchies-wins/

    Alternate address for those not fond of beige.
    https://mmj4chronicpain.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/medicinal-marijuana-and-the-munchies-vs-hiv-munchies-wins/

    • weka 9.1

      Sorry, but have stopped reading until the entanglement with Pete George is gone. By all means post on his site too, but when you link like you do, here of all places, it’s a distraction and plain rude (I suspect you don’t fully understand the extent of the trouble PG has caused here).

      • Shane Le Brun 9.1.1

        To this day I am still blissfully unaware sorry. I only sign in to write my piece, then i’m out again until next week….

        • weka 9.1.1.1

          I think it’s been pointed out to you a number of times. My comment isn’t about you posting at yawnz, it’s about how you link here. Your choice of course.

          • tc 9.1.1.1.1

            He chooses to not heed good advice so rather apt he continues to points to the beige site as a sure sign of fingers in the ears going la la la la….

  10. vto 10

    I would have thought it important for the people of Northland to understand the implosion around the National Party people in Northland, and in particular Mike Sabin. The reasons he left. And what and when the National Party people knew about it.

    Otherwise it is nothing but a bullshit-extension of the same….

    • weka 10.1

      yes but what is your comment in reference to vto?

      • vto 10.1.1

        northland election

        • weka 10.1.1.1

          I know that, it just seemed like it was in reference to something someone had said, or a news report, or something.

          • vto 10.1.1.1.1

            Oh, no nothing like that, just important facts concerning the organisation so many people in Northland seem hell bent on electing back in. i.e. the National Party

            • rawshark-yeshe 10.1.1.1.1.1

              It is the GIANT elephant in the room making so much difference — seemingly not to be mentioned or even alluded to by msm. I’m thinking Winston is somehow going to challenge the silence — it is after all, the sole raison d’etre for this by-election. He tried several times in the House but Carter cut him off at the pass … maybe this week or next in the House ? Winston is surely more canny than the rest of them combined.

              (Have been wondering if a an airplane towing a message drogue would constitute breaching name suppression — is it publishing in the air ?? And yes, I am half-serious.)

              • Murray Rawshark

                I am sure it could be done in a way that didn’t breach any suppression orders. You’d probably need your own plane, because I suspect anyone renting them out in Northland would be an ardent Tory. If I was still there, I’d be putting up signs at night. Or maybe even during the day. The legal situation is very unclear.

              • b waghorn

                I’ve been slipping a few Sabin comments into the stuff comments it’s surprised the hell out of me that some of them are getting past the moderaters .

  11. A brilliant article by guest author Sam Goldham at the Daily Blog shows clearly why Tony Abbott and John Key are criminals and even worse, war criminals.

    I would like to add multiple cases (past, present and future) of the criminal act of financial terrorism to John Key’s name!

    On Andrew Krieger, Currency Wars And Financial Terrorism Or Why John Key Is A Criminal In More Than One Way.

  12. Draco T Bastard 12

    Fran Lebowitz: Capitalism Triumphed Over Both Communism and Democracy

    This, in large part, is the triumph of capitalism over democracy, as Lebowitz calls it. Through the corporate mass media – particularly television news (and particularly cable TV news) – the “masters of the universe” capitalists embed a world view in enough voters to create the semblance of a democracy. In reality the real decisions are being made upstairs, where the money is counted and continues to pile up to the rafters.

    But I believe that people mistake when capitalism triumphed over democracy:

    In order to do this, the Patriot leaders of the Revolution used ‘a language inspiring to all classes, specific enough in its listing of grievances to charge people with anger against the British, vague enough to avoid class conflict among the rebels, and stirring enough to build a patriotic feeling for the resistance movement’ (1999: 68). But this was a difiicult game for the Patriot leaders to play because it required a balancing act, maintaining broadly popular support for the War of Independence and Revolution by appealing to universal notions of liberty and democracy, on one hand, while simultaneously defending the sanctity of property and the rule of a rich capitalist minority, on the other.

    History of Democracy by B. Roper

    It can. IMO, be said that we’ve never had democracy because the rich didn’t want us to have it and they still fight against it whenever it pops up. A good example of this fight against democracy by the rich is the firing of ECan by this government.

  13. dv 13

    See that Key was in the parliamentary library this am and his pant caught on fire.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/67098957/fire-in-parliament-library

  14. Colonial Rawshark 14

    Hmmmm perhaps we could give this wee little topic a breather for a few days?

  15. Clemgeopin 15

    I happened to be in Palmerston North yesterday and attended the TPP march which was pretty well attended I think. At least not less than 500 in my guess.

    There were lots of people with videos and cameras and two people who took my picture with my nice placard told me they would be putting the photos on line and one said it would be on face book. I wonder if any one of you knows where I can find the photos from Palmerston North to see if I am there !

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    P.S :

    There was a lovely band which played there with great music. The female singer was very talented and very pleasant to listen to. Well done, singer, who ever you are. Great job!

    The male singer was good too with quite clever political songs. well done!

    • Colonial Rawshark 15.1

      I know people who went to the Palmerston North protest 🙂

      BTW did you see any National Party signs around???

      • Clemgeopin 15.1.1

        No, I didn’t. (or as Banks and Key would say, “I don’t recall”. “Don’t remember”. “I am too clever”. ‘I wasn’t born in a cabbage boat”. ” Amnesia”!)

        Curious as to why you asked that?

        Can you ask your Palmy friends if they have URL links for those photos?

  16. Michael 16

    Great article from CNN advocating for a universal basic income: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/01/opinion/sutter-basic-income/index.html

    It also shows the effects a universal basic income has had on many Native American communities. Many Native American reservations operate casinos and pay every resident a dividend, which has reached $10k a year in some communities. The benefits have been amazing.

  17. Colonial Rawshark 17

    Turkish government gives senior ISIS commander hospital care

    Says that it is what any Turkish citizen deserves. (The ISIS commander is one of approx. 1000 Turkish citizens currently fighting with ISIS).

    Meanwhile a Turkish medical student who went to give medical assistance to the Kurds in Kobani is being arrested by the Turkish Government for terrorism.

    And this is what NZ is stepping into.

    http://rt.com/news/238713-isis-commander-turkey-hospital/

    • GregJ 17.1

      Turkey would rather support AL-Nusrah & probably even Da’ish than the Kurds and various autonomous cantons. They want Assad gone, the Kurds suppressed, a Sunni state in Syria, and the Syrian refugees sent home. They’re hovering dangerously around wanting to have their cake and eat it as well. Erdogan is showing every sign of being a Turkish Mubarak or even a Turkish Putin.

      That said it seems unclear what the fate of the Da’ish commander ultimately will be. Receiving medical treatment is of course the humanitarian thing to do – if he is then released to re-cross the border that would be another thing entirely.

      It’s a f*@king shambles though.

  18. weka 18

    Help save this 500 yr old kauri tree.

    Local Auckland ‏@LocalAuckland

    Auckland City, New Zealand

    @AklCouncil Hey guys please comment on the Kauri issue, is there anything that you can do? https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=445615775587060&id=379993285482643&substory_index=0 … How was consent given?

    https://twitter.com/LocalAuckland/status/574442538691530753

    SJT
    ‏@simonjtapp
    URGENT: Protest to SAVE this 500 yo kauri. 40 Paturoa Rd, Titirangi. 7am TOMORROW Monday 9th March. Pls RT & attend!

    https://twitter.com/simonjtapp/status/574437699802681346

  19. joe90 19

    An interview with NSA whitleblower William Binney.

    • Colonial Rawshark 19.1

      Our Labour Party branch down here in Dunedin South watched part of that interview. Just outstanding. Binney is incredibly talented and moral. People like him give me huge respect for some of the citizens of the USA.

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