Open mike 09/01/2010 to 11/01/2010

Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, January 9th, 2010 - 30 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

mike

Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

30 comments on “Open mike 09/01/2010 to 11/01/2010 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  2. Jenny 2
    9 January 2010 at 8:45 am

    Shock and Awe

    What kind of conservative government feels so confident that they think that they can get stuck into those who care for the severely handicapped?

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3216813/Govt-to-appeal-tribunal-decision

    • gitmo 2.1
      9 January 2010 at 8:54 am

      I agree, one would hope that the present government and Minister of Health takes a more reasoned view than the last lot, who appeared to treat caregivers of severely handicapped relatives with contempt.

      • quenchino 2.1.1
        9 January 2010 at 9:18 am

        Unfortunately those of us who are in the position to care for a handicapped child, know that while the previous Labour govt’s record in this area fell short of ideal, it was still a huge improvement over the 1990’s National regime.

        And it may seem a little thing to the rest of us, but very quietly and under the radar (I can’t find a link to it)… education policy changed this year to only allow mainstreamed special needs kids to remain at school until the age of 17yrs, rather than 21 yrs as before.

        • gitmo 2.1.1.1
          9 January 2010 at 9:27 am

          Yes and that was better than the 1980s labour regime ………… yadda yadda yadd ad absurdio.

          Anyhoo…… I wasn’t aware kids could be mainstreamed in school through to 21, interested to hear how that worked in the high school setting.

          • Mac1 2.1.1.1.1
            9 January 2010 at 1:21 pm

            Gitmo
            reply 8 comments below. Thought the longer reply had been lost entirely. Phew! I hope you think so.

  3. winston smith 3
    9 January 2010 at 10:15 am

    global warming??? Not here in New Zealand…

    Turns out NZ’s average national temperatures over the past decade are only a few hundredths of one degree Celsius higher than the previous warmest decade on record.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/3210444/Doubts-cast-on-warmest-decade

    to paraphrase : lies, damned lies and warmists

    • Andrei 3.1
      9 January 2010 at 10:47 am

      Look at the British Met service boss squirm. From the BBC of all places.

      I almost feel sorry for the guy

    • quenchino 3.2
      9 January 2010 at 10:47 am

      global warming??? Not here in New Zealand

      Not being able to tell the difference between his arse and elbow, Smith had no chance.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.3
      9 January 2010 at 11:21 am

      See, The global temperatures mustn’t be doing anything because the local temperatures aren’t

      /sarcasm.

      Another delusional CCD.

      • Armchair Critic 3.3.1
        9 January 2010 at 11:33 am

        And I predict that over the next six months there will be a trend of decreasing temperatures in NZ, which will prove to all beyond CCD’s beyond any doubt that there is no warming.

        /sarcasm – sort of.

  4. corkscrew 4
    9 January 2010 at 10:22 am

    It’s couldy today, therefore there is no global warming.

  5. Mac1 5
    9 January 2010 at 10:38 am

    @ Gitmo
    A decade ago I provided teacher support ( but not full-time) to a clever young man at high school through to the age of 21 who had a physical and speech disability with increasing blindness as well. While at school as a Year 14/adult student till 21 he began a degree which he completed this year. Those four years were important in that he got further scholastic support as he became fully blind and stayed in a familiar environment.

    It would have required a lot of extra support for him, if he had been forced to leave at the end of Year 13, which the school could provide since it was geared up for him and he had continuity of care as well. And we did care.

    He had a special desk/work station in rooms for special needs kids with talking computer, a magnifying device whilst he could still see and a good stereo for his music. He could use the school gym since weight was an issue and phys ed teachers provided support there. He also had the stimulus of secondary teachers with similar interests and academic training and he matured into an excellent and admirable young man.

    Maybe he would have done as well outside the High School but it would have required probably more money. Special needs kids require extra funding, I am not sanguine about his chances that this government would have turned on the same support for him outside of school, especially now with perceived financial restraints. I would say similar things about the previous government- it is just that the school provided something for those years which other social agencies might not have achieved, even with the excellent support his family and friends gave him.

    There have been other students who took two years to complete Year 13 courses for various reasons and adult students who came into school to complete a further year’s course. I do not know whether their attendance has been restricted as well, or whether it be restricted to mainstreamed kids only.

    A recent ACC support programme for special needs students has been introduced which for one student here that I know of has been very good after he left at the end of Year 12. So I hope that my fears for good quality funding and support are unfounded.

  6. jcuknz 6
    9 January 2010 at 5:47 pm

    Over at Kiwiblog is the report and DPF crit of Granny Herald plugging for compulsory third party motor vehicle insurance [ if you don’t have full insurance ]. He seems to be getting a bit of a pasting but there are folk writing about freedom to choose? How daft can you get … it is not freedom but responsibility that is the key to the question, along with proper enforcement.

  7. Kay 7
    9 January 2010 at 7:08 pm

    Rather than spend so much bringing the potty peer to Australia, the climate sceptics could have invited NZ’s own Rodney Hide to pop over. Since he is trimming his travels to avoid perks criticism he would probably appreciate some other than the NZ Government paying for an overseas trip. I’m sure the Aussies would be happy to pay for his girlfriend too. Rodney has told people he studied climate impacts at university, and as a Minister in the ACT/ National Government he must be a credible witness for the Aussies.

    • Pascal's bookie 7.1
      9 January 2010 at 8:31 pm

      And going by the price of those tickets to his luncheon a few months back, he’s a lot cheaper too.

  8. Bill 8
    10 January 2010 at 1:11 pm

    Shame we opted for the surgeon ’cause we didn’t call the doctor innit?

    Oh, but for a spot of time travel!

    It’s a shite source, a crap paper, a long cut and paste. And very uncanny…

    John Key is scarier than Cybermen, says Doctor Who’s David Tennant

    DOCTOR WHO star David Tennant has begged NZ to keep “terrifying” John Key out of government..

    The Scot dismissed the slick Nat leader as “a regional newsreader who looks good in a suit”.

    And he insisted Helen Clark was still a far better choice as Prime Minister, despite Labour’s “issues”.

    Tennant said: “I would still rather have Helen Clark than John Key.

    “I would rather have a Prime Minister who is the cleverest person in the room than a Prime Minister who looks good in a suit.

    “John Key is a terrifying prospect.

    “He’s a regional newsreader who will jump on whatever bandwagon flies past.

    “I get quite panicked that people are buying his rhetoric, because it seems very manipulative to me.”

    Bathgate-born Tennant, who grew up in Paisley, is a long-term Labour backer(….)

    And with the General Election five months away at most, he believes it’s time for all the party’s supporters to pull together and defeat the Nats.

    He admitted: “Clearly, the Labour Party is not without some issues right now.

    “I do get frustrated – you know, they need to sort some stuff out. But they’re still a better bet than the Nats.”

    Tennant said he couldn’t understand how any actor could ever support Key.

    He added: “It’s very weird that you can work in the arts, which tends to be about understanding the human condition and hopefully feeling some kind of sympathy for your fellow man, and still vote for the Nats

    “I do find that inconceivable. I don’t get it.

    “I meet actors who buy the granny Herald and talk about this terrible wave of immigrants.

    “You just think, ‘Where did that come from? Have you read King Lear? Have you read Hamlet?'”

    Tennant, (…) the Doctor (…), threw his weight behind Labour in the latest edition of the show’s magazine.

    The support of such a popular star is a welcome boost for Clark (….)

    And Doctor Who’s (….) supremo, Russell T Davies, is also backing Clark.

    Davies, who has been living in the US, fears that Key will wreck TVNZ (…)

    And he vowed: “I’ll come back and fight them at the barricades.

    “It’s going to be appalling. “They want the votes. But once they get in, they are going to be absolutely vicious.”

    http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2010/01/09/david-cameron-is-scarier-than-cybermen-says-doctor-who-s-david-tennant-86908-21953547/

    • gitmo 8.1
      10 January 2010 at 1:27 pm

      Have you ever seen a picture of Helen Clark and Davros next to each other ….. uncanny resemblance.

      Poor old poms a choice between Gawdon and Devy Cameron what a pack of twats.

      Have you taken any advice form Paris Hilton and Britney on how you should vote in the next election ?

      PS David Tennant was an excellent Dr Who but give me a bit of John Pertwee anyday.

  9. Quoth the Raven 9
    10 January 2010 at 3:07 pm

    Excellent news here: Pot clubs go nationwide. Ignoring the state is often the best strategy.

    “We wish to legalise cannabis, but we also wish to live like it’s legal,” Green said.

    “So in my home [Green lives at the Daktory] we have a motto `live like it’s legal’. We just think it’s wrong and there’s no reason to continue with serious criminality of something that is as relatively harmless as cannabis.”

    Excellent advice – live like it’s legal. Of course that violent criminal gang known as the police have started harassing them.

    • Bill 9.1
      10 January 2010 at 3:35 pm

      Ignoring the state is a good strategy, but so is maintaining a scenario where the state ignores you! At least until you are widespread, popular or powerful enough for them to continue wilfully ignoring you after you have been brought to their attention.

      Getting ahead of yourself will see your enthusiastic head handed back to you on the proverbial plate.

      Which is what I fear be the situation with the Pot Clubs.

  10. Tigger 10
    11 January 2010 at 9:09 am

    I heard that we are covering the entire costs of Clinton’s visit? Is this true? Typical? And given the huge numbers she will be bringing for her, justified for two days of ‘meetings’ when you could just pick up the phone?

    • Tigger 10.1
      11 January 2010 at 9:20 am

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10619470

      By the way, I’m betting that from this meeting we (a) send more troops to Afghanistan and (b) get zero from the US.

    • prism 10.2
      11 January 2010 at 9:15 pm

      It’s bound to be dear to host Mrs Clinton. Getting the full length of NZ in red carpet has got to be costly. And as for paying for everything, we will probably be actually charged something from them. The cost – maybe more troops?
      I believe that the USA authorities are dallying in allowing us to sell our surplus warplanes there which is why they are still sitting here costing us to keep them maintained. And USA didn’t want to sell us night goggles, they are regarded as weapons even though they have civilian uses. But they are our friends and we mustn’t mind. Perhaps they can find a way to break this trade obstacle they’ve set up.
      Just watching a historical clip on tv about ancient Egypt and how other kings and countries sent emissaries to them with gifts of goodwill or tribute. That’s us. Nothing changes.

  11. Bill 11
    11 January 2010 at 12:19 pm

    “John Key is keen to hear United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s views on what progress has been made towards getting a corruption-free Government established in Afghanistan.”

    Oh god! Had to pop down the hospital then. Get my split sides sewn back up.

    http://msn.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10619470&ref=rss

  12. grumpy 12
    11 January 2010 at 1:06 pm

    To all those apologists for the Japanese whalers, this video shot from the Ady Gil should end the argument as to who was responsible.

    http://tools.themercury.com.au/video/video_popup.php?vid=2991

  13. randal 13
    11 January 2010 at 4:13 pm

    just been to the site on the Daktory.
    good news indeed.
    about time pot was legalised and some sense prevailing in our increasingly demented society.
    ignore the bluenoses and the carrot clenchers.
    they are just against everything.
    they think being a part of the bourgeoisie gives them specail privilges when they are just obstructionists and ultimately enemies of a proper civil society.

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.