Open mike 09/03/2015

101 comments on “Open mike 09/03/2015 ”

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1. dv 1

   9 March 2015 at 7:03 am

   Does anyone know how the Nats copyright case is progressing?
   • Lanthanide 1.1

     9 March 2015 at 9:15 am

     The next court date is in June.
     • dv 1.1.1

       9 March 2015 at 7:25 pm

       Ta Lanth
2. Whateva next? 2

   9 March 2015 at 7:25 am

   Am I getting old and cynical, or is interviewing Mr. Dotcom in connection with surveillance issues going to simply ignite the usual allergic response from the public? Rather than an intelligent debate about an extremely pressing issue affecting our freedom to think for ourselves, let alone democratic government.
   • wyndham 2.1

     9 March 2015 at 7:43 am

     It is all part of the chickens and roosts scenario. KDCom was prominent in the spying revelations – – – sure he messed up and as well as being vilified by Key, his information had to get past a hostile and extremely biased MSM.

     As always with Key, when confronted by a difficult situation, he chooses the ad hominem path and revels in the unpleasantness. KDCom, Hager, Norman, Little; it’s all the same to Key. There’s a difference between constructive discussion with opponents and the nastiness that Key portrays.

     If ever I heard a lying dissembler, it was Key on Morning Report today. Incredible.
   • Hami Shearlie 2.2

     9 March 2015 at 9:05 am

     The interesting bit was when Dotcom revealed that the email from Warner Bros was not a document he had in the first instance – he saw it first in the Herald – so why did the Herald keep silent when the media were hounding Dotcom for releasing the email without the header info which could trace where it came from? And, letting everyone believe that Dotcom was presenting a false document? Why don’t the Herald release the FULL email so people can judge its authenticity for themselves?
     • Skinny 2.2.1

       9 March 2015 at 9:14 am

       Not part of the script of picking winners, nobbling Dotcom was. Nice start to week Key gets a strum up on RNZ.
   • Tracey 2.3

     9 March 2015 at 11:49 am

     It is to remind NZers that they can trust Mr Key
3. amirite 3

   9 March 2015 at 7:41 am

   Slippery again avoids giving assurance NZers not caught in eavesdropping

   http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20170076
   • gsays 3.1

     9 March 2015 at 7:57 am

     thanx amirite, what an example for us to follow by our dear leader.
     can you imagine being stopped by the constabulary and behaving like that.
     “well it depends on what you mean by show you my licence’
     “i dont even have a clue what you mean by what is your name”
     “that is a random definition of having a warrant of fitness”

     i would expect a better performance from a 5yr old with choc icing on the fingers and cake crumbs down their front.
   • Rodel 3.2

     9 March 2015 at 12:13 pm

     amirite
     Sorry I tried to listen but after 1 minute the critique centre in my brain cut out. Had to abort the interview.
   • Murray Rawshark 3.3

     9 March 2015 at 5:03 pm

     FJK has an amazing ability to convince run of the mill Kiwis that he’s on their side against FJK. I’ve never seen anything like it.
4. Arthur 4

   9 March 2015 at 7:42 am

   Oh dear, the PM has learned a new word.
   • weka 4.1

     9 March 2015 at 8:49 am

     what is it?
     • Arthur 4.1.1

       9 March 2015 at 8:52 am

       Critique.
       • McFlock 4.1.1.1

         9 March 2015 at 9:31 am

         Lol- new writer on the spin team?
       • Tracey 4.1.1.2

         9 March 2015 at 11:51 am

         I think he meant cricket
   • veutoviper 4.2

     9 March 2015 at 10:50 am

     From time to time he introduces a new word into his vocabulary – and then does it to death…. !

     But have to share this – for a laugh. Hitting the nail on the head is definitely not his strong point!

     https://twitter.com/sexnap/status/574435557536702464
     • adam 4.2.1

       9 March 2015 at 12:03 pm

       Sheesh, and he’s the common man?
       • fender 4.2.1.1

         9 March 2015 at 6:19 pm

         Yeah, the kind you can have a beer with, so long as you pour it for him..
   • veutoviper 4.3

     9 March 2015 at 10:50 am

     From time to time he introduces a new word into his vocabulary – and then does it to death…. !

     But have to share this – for a laugh. Hitting the nail on the head is definitely not his strong point!

     https://twitter.com/sexnap/status/574435557536702464
     • veutoviper 4.3.1

       9 March 2015 at 10:53 am

       Ooops – only hit the submit button once, but it popped up three times and was only able to delete one. Has been happening a lot recently but previously reply has come up twice with the ability to delete one.
       • lprent 4.3.1.1

         9 March 2015 at 12:25 pm

         The machine is running faster so you got three rather then the previous two. The problem originates with the browser hitting the ‘submit’ multiple times.

         Most likely at the server you hit a cached copy of the previous database query on a different instance so the de-duping didn’t work. The “you’ve already said that” didn’t show…

         What I need to do is to fix the client side so that the send is turned off as soon as the first first submit is started.
         • veutoviper 4.3.1.1.1

           9 March 2015 at 2:12 pm

           Thanks for the explanation; my comment was not intended as a criticism etc, but as an explanation of why there were two comments the same.

           And a belated thanks for all your work to recover TS the other day and maintaining the site on an ongoing basis. JUST watch your health ….

           Edit – success! Only one this time.
5. Whateva next? 5

   9 March 2015 at 7:48 am

   Full marks to Willow Jean for her stamina during interview on Morning Report.
   Her responses were calm and relevant in the face of growing frustration from Ferguson, desperate for that magical soundbite, similar to watching Q&A yesterday with Little.
   Amazed that media’s neediness is so blatant these days.
   • Chch_chiquita 5.1

     9 March 2015 at 10:32 am

     Watching Q&A I thought Andrew Little was very patient repeating the answer to the same question. At a certain point I thought, oh, come on, just tell her like you tell a child – ‘asked and answered’ now move on.
6. les 6

   9 March 2015 at 7:53 am

   at least Espiner is asking the right questions,not that John Spy appears to comprehend them!
   • Reality 6.1

     9 March 2015 at 11:45 am

     A Kiwi Blogger is complaining about left wing RNZ Guyon being so mean to PM. Chuckle time.
7. marty mars 7

   9 March 2015 at 8:01 am

   Loved watching the finals on Māori TV yesterday – so great.

   Te Matatini 2015 – First Place Winners: Te Kapa Haka o Te Whānau a Apanui.

   http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/te-matatini-2015/S01E001/te-matatini-2015-first-place-winners-te-kapa-haka-o-te-whanau
   • weka 7.1

     9 March 2015 at 8:50 am

     cheers marty. I was watching some of the coverage online last night but wasn’t sure which was the best place to start (there’s a lot of video there!).
     • Hateatea 7.1.1

       9 March 2015 at 10:55 am

       If you have limited time, choose the performances of Te Materae i o Rehu, Te Whanau a Apanui, Opotiki mai Tawhiti, Waihirere, Whangara mai Tawhiti and Te Iti Kahurangi. Also very good was Waka Huia. All of those were on finals day.

       Of course, there were some excellent performances in the heats from roopu who never made it to the finals but were nevertheless very entertaining.
       • weka 7.1.1.1

         9 March 2015 at 12:53 pm

         thanks Hateatea, I’ll do that. (It’s more an issue of limited data, so will have to figure out how much watching an hour of streaming will use)
       • Murray Rawshark 7.1.1.2

         9 March 2015 at 5:14 pm

         Te Whanau a Apanui also do great work against drilling and mining. Elvis Teddy is from there.
   • Hateatea 7.2

     9 March 2015 at 10:51 am

     I was there for a while on Thursday, Marty and watched the other three days on Maori Television. Absolutely magic.

     Maori Television proving themselves yet again as experts at getting television where the people are 🙂
8. adam 8

   9 March 2015 at 8:13 am

   Some things to think about as we are a heavily farmed country.

   http://libcom.org/blog/capitalist-agriculture-class-formation-metabolic-rift-06032015

   And – just a wow moment over the weekend. Who would have thought the bastion of the “Aussie bloke”, would have done this. My team Fremantle are in the game – so feel good news for me. I remember living in Western Australia through the 90’s, and being gay was a criminal offence.

   http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-03-05/afl-announces-pride-match
   • Draco T Bastard 8.1

     9 March 2015 at 9:10 am

     Ever since enclosures and colonialism began turning farming into capitalist agriculture around the world,

     Would be interesting to know what dates that they put upon that considering that our property laws are almost fully lifted from Ancient Rome. There’s been some adjustments but not that many and it still protects the rich rather than producing what society needs.
     • adam 8.1.1

       9 March 2015 at 10:10 am

       I agree Draco T Bastard, what I think they we point at was an exaltation of capitalism via enclosures and colonialism.

       Couple it with this and I think the argument gets stronger

       http://libcom.org/blog/china-land-grabs
       • weka 8.1.1.1

         9 March 2015 at 10:31 am

         Do we have any long term, modern examples of equitable land/resource management?
         • adam 8.1.1.1.1

           9 March 2015 at 11:35 am

           Thought this was a good start

           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture

           Also like this group

           http://www.wildfarmalliance.org/
           • weka 8.1.1.1.1.1

             9 March 2015 at 12:51 pm

             Ah, thanks, but I meant legally and structurally as alternatives to the capitalist, colonising systems (most of the permaculture type initiatives are working within fairly conventional land ownership models). So I was wondering about other cultures and countries and if anyone is doing this well. Will have a think on this today.

             I’m also thinking about traditional systems that Māori used where I think hapū had responsibility for areas where they lived and the resources were shared collectively. I don’t know a lot about it, but it strikes me that the belonging to a place and being responsible for it is a crucial aspect that is missing in our current systems.
     • Jo 8.1.2

       9 March 2015 at 10:12 am

       Jim Crace’s ‘Harvest’ was short-listed for the 2013 Booker Prize. A beautifully written and very dark novel set in a tiny medieval English hamlet . From one review: ‘ ‘Harvest’ is … a mesmerising slow-burner of a novel, both a paean to a lost way of life and a timeless cautionary fable.’
9. Penny Bright 9

   9 March 2015 at 8:47 am

   Anyone else hear John Key interviewed on Radio Live this morning?

   He had his ‘squeaky’ voice – the one that shows (in my opinion) that at the beginning of the day, he is anything but ‘relaxed’ and ‘comfortable’ about Winston Peters impending victory, in taking Northland off National?

   Had Winston Peters not stood in Northland, and if Winston Peters was not leading in (most of) the polls – would Simon Bridges now be making an a announcement this morning about roading in Northland – just before Winston Peters makes an announcement on Northland infrastructure?

   If this is the effect Winston Peters can have on Northland NOW – how effective for Northland is he going to be when storms home on 28 March 2015 and becomes their MP?

   Penny Bright
   • Clemgeopin 9.1

     9 March 2015 at 10:08 am

     +1.
     Well said. I agree.

     I am sure the voters from all sides of the political arena, including from National, will clearly see and laugh at National’s electorally expedient manipulations now. But if Key and Bridges will finally try to do something for Northland, that is good. They can’t fool most people any more. But if this magnanimous desperate gesture will impress many voters, if any, is a moot point the answer to which will be clear on Saturday, 28 March by 9 pm.

     It would be great if any of our magnificent on-to-it TV channels will broadcast live or at least on line as it will be a widely watched if aired.
     • Pascals bookie 9.1.1

       9 March 2015 at 10:13 am

       Peters easy line:

       “if this is what they do when I run, imagine what I can get you as your MP”
   • Tracey 9.2

     9 March 2015 at 11:53 am

     you mean other than those who posted about it an hour before you posted this?
   • Tracey 9.3

     9 March 2015 at 11:54 am

     he is squeaky at the beginning of the day cos his newly learned lines overnight are, well, new. By the end of the day he is repeating them with all the aplomb of a practised liar.
     • ma rohemo 9.3.1

       9 March 2015 at 12:47 pm

       Our Primed Minister
       • Colonial Rawshark 9.3.1.1

         9 March 2015 at 1:22 pm

         Primed Mincer
         • mac1 9.3.1.1.1

           9 March 2015 at 3:36 pm

           Is that the prime mincer who delivers fresh pork into Northland pork barrels by promising ten new bridges, or whatever.

           This scheme has not been so well thought through, as Simon Bridges and candidate Osbourne allege. It is shown to be an election bribe judging by the wide variance of cost for the bridges.

           The cost would be “between $32-69 million”, they say.

           If this has been part of the process and not a late addition into the pork barrel, surely costings would be more closely known, rather than be presented with a margin of over 200%.

           Northland voters are on a winner here. They get all these by-election promises at pork-barrel rates from the prime mincer, and then can turn around and vote for a non-National candidate, to show they cannot be bought, and that they despise the inference that they can- and then, still get the barrel’s contents all rolled out.

           I wonder if other rural National MPs might see the way to getting infrastructure work done in their electorates. Just resign and have a by-election. Best work they all could do!

           They could start with the one-way Hurunui bridge on SH1 down our way……..
           Stuart Smith, are you there?
   • Chooky 9.4

     9 March 2015 at 1:22 pm

     +100 Penny….the Nacts really are scared of Winston, especially John Key…and he was also scared of Hone Harawira
10. Philip Ferguson 10

    9 March 2015 at 9:41 am

    Veteran activist Don Franks on the left and Winston Peters’ Northland run: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/northland-by-election-worker-solidarity-or-winston-peters/

    And another veteran activist, Daphna Whitmore, looks at how ungrateful to the forces of the left – socialists, women’s liberation activists, trade unionists – right-wing women are. Without the left, the doors of opportunity would never have been opened to them.
    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/right-wing-women-ungrateful-whingers/

    And on the subject of hypocrites, the bosses are pretty quick to drop their “you can’t buck the market” mantra when ‘the market’ doesn’t work the way they want it to: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/03/07/so-much-for-bosses-support-for-the-free-market/

    Phil
11. The Lone Haranguer 11

    9 March 2015 at 9:50 am

    In 2015, is “opposition politics” and Labour politics” the same thing.

    Was reading the posts around Northland and Peters (complete with a bunch of insiders bitching at each other over stuff only they understand) and wondered if good “opposition politics” – the nod to Labour supporters to vote for NZF to undermine the Govt – was in Labours best interests.

    And assuming it was, then why, nearly 20 years after we got MMP, is it that Her Majestys opposition has a front bench all from the major opposition party? Why arent those who oppose the Govt of the day having a joint opposition front bench (a Govt in waiting so to speak).

    Or is it truly every (wo)man for himself in between elections?
    • Pascals bookie 11.1

      9 March 2015 at 9:58 am

      A coalition opposition? What would be the point?
    • Clemgeopin 11.2

      9 March 2015 at 10:56 am

      Have you ever attended a wedding? The Bride and Bridegroom parties sit in separate groups.

      After the marriage is consummated, they mingle. Some of them may even get into the cabinet and mingle some more.
      • Colonial Rawshark 11.2.1

        9 March 2015 at 12:14 pm

        Have you ever attended a wedding? The Bride and Bridegroom parties sit in separate groups. After the marriage is consummated, they mingle.

        Eh? Pop out the back after signing the register for a quickee? Will the photographer be there?
        • greywarshark 11.2.1.1

          9 March 2015 at 12:35 pm

          Sounds like my idea of a great wedding.
    • Skinny 11.3

      9 March 2015 at 12:00 pm

      Looking at your good question perhaps this will happen, there is no getting around to govern under MMP you need to be in a coalition. Between some people within opposition party’s there is a consensus that we need a handful of sound, exact policies where voters can vote confidently knowing the party’s are on the same page.

      An opposition cross party’s front bench with key portfolios spokepeople should strengthen public perception.
      Scrapping it out fighting for the same pool of voters is the problem.

      * apologies re. little tiff. I will put my hand up to that. Issues resolved.
    • Tracey 11.4

      9 March 2015 at 12:02 pm

      National has already corralled the left into a “coaltion” through his repeated memes. Seperate identities are crucial and does not preclude working together.
      • Colonial Rawshark 11.4.1

        9 March 2015 at 1:40 pm

        Then there needs to be clear examples visible to the electorate that the Opposition parties can indeed work together on specific issues. 1/2 year into this term already and examples are coming up short.
12. The Lone Haranguer 12

    9 March 2015 at 10:51 am

    Now you may be 100% right there Pascals Bookie, but isnt the nod to Peters, a coalition opposition move?

    Im struggling to see why the incumbent opposition parties are expected to act independently (and largely acrimoniously too for that matter) in a FPP mindset for 2 years and 10 months, and then are expected to work collegially in the buildup to an election to get rid of the incumbent government.
    • Pascals bookie 12.1

      9 March 2015 at 11:48 am

      The ‘nod’ seems pretty weak to me.

      he hasn’t endorsed Peters at all. It’s more a straight description of reality. Prime is fine candidate in a solid blue seat. If she is going to get in, it will be off the list. All he has said that I’ve seen is that it’s up to the voters and he isn’t going to play the game of saying Prime will win.

      The pundits hyperventilating about this being like Epsom are just fucking idiots.
13. lprent 13

    9 March 2015 at 11:05 am

    One of the things I managed to get to whilst repairing the server over the weekend was to finally get the dratted php5-fpm server system going on ubuntu 14.04. I have had several cracks at it previously, usually with the result that the system runs slower.

    For the techheads, it turns out that fastcgi isn’t available as a deb since ubuntu 13.x. When I upgraded to 14.04 it removed my old mod fastcgi.

    A new install Ubuntu 14.10 apache2 on the other system happily ran proxy-fcgi with php5-fpm, but my upgraded 14.04 server did not.

    The reason is that after the upgrade, apache2 on ubuntu 14.04 was defaulting to apache2 mpm-prefork rather than mpm-event.

    
apt-get remove apache2-mpm-prefork
apt-get install apache2-mpm-event php5-fpm
a2enmod proxy-fcgi


    The usual magic in the virtual site conf file to divert php
    
ProxyPassMatch ^/(.*\.php(/.*)?)$ fcgi://127.0.0.1:9000/var/www/mysite/$1


    and then restart

    
service apache2 restart


    And we were running happily on php-fpm.

    Most of the pages on the net assume a clean setup of ubuntu 14.04 rather than an upgrade. It may be that your upgraded version is running mpm-worker. I have no idea what happens then.

    I’ll leave this here for the search engines.
    • adam 13.1

      9 March 2015 at 11:31 am

      I had Firefox requesting I send you messages all weekend long Iprent. I did not, as why do you need an email to tell you what you were doing anyway.

      Thanks for all the back end work – running well on Chrome, Firefox, Opera and IE this morning.
      • lprent 13.1.1

        9 March 2015 at 12:21 pm

        Cool. Seems to be running pretty fast to me even via my cell. But I am in a 4G zone at present…
    • Tracey 13.2

      9 March 2015 at 11:56 am

      top work skipper
    • CnrJoe 13.3

      9 March 2015 at 12:41 pm

      straight over my head. But muchos muchos gracias for what you do lp
14. greywarshark 14

    9 March 2015 at 12:33 pm

    Simon Bridges couldn’t overlook the first new idea he has had for how long?, when he saw his name under the star on his door at his electorate office. Bridges, that’s the thing? There you are you thought I was just a pretty face.

    (Apologies to Simon if he isn’t as simple as I infer, and is the exception to the UNACT rule.)
    • Murray Rawshark 14.1

      9 March 2015 at 5:23 pm

      I think that was an unnecessary apology. His pretty face will fade with time, but so will his intellect. His eagerness to please his superiors makes him a Teina Pora in a suit and tie.
      • North 14.1.1

        9 March 2015 at 8:23 pm

        He’s a piss-arse little ex-Crown prosecutor. By and large they are a ‘type’ to which I add there are some (but not many) real and delightful people so vocated. In contrast to that distinct minority, how else would you expect the low-rent Simon to be ? It’s all about low-rent Simon. Always was. Not into your Teina reference there MR. Teina’s a decent person cruelly wronged.
        • Murray Rawshark 14.1.1.1

          9 March 2015 at 9:07 pm

          The police were able to frame Teina Pora because the foetal alcohol syndrome had stopped parts of his thinking developing. He was incredibly eager to please the detectives and gave them the answers he thought they wanted to hear. I think much the same eagerness to please saw Bridges rise through the ranks of NAct.

          As for Teina Pora being decent, maybe he is now. I find it hard to regard telling lies about five other men in a bid to get reward money and get himself out of trouble with them to be a wee bit on the nose. I don’t think a decent person does that, but that doesn’t take one iota of blame and revulsion away from what ngati poaka did. If anything, it makes it worse because they took full advantage of his deficiencies, probably knowing all along that he was just making stuff up.

          He should be compensated not because he was a decent person, but because the state acted in an appalling manner. Sometimes there are no good guys in a story, although I have a huge amount of respect for the Burdett family who wanted Pora freed and know that justice means something different to revenge.
15. greywarshark 15

    9 March 2015 at 1:12 pm

    Here is a real skilled workman hero, with high achievement in his valuable specialty equal with Hillary’s achievement, to put on any new banknote. David Fagan.

    Fagan, 53, holds five world championship titles, seven world team titles and has 632 open-class wins under his belt.
    The farmer from Te Kuiti has won the Golden Shears competition a record 16 times and has said that is probably what he will be remembered for.
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/265084/shearing-legend-fagan-to-retire

    New era dawns for Golden Shears ( 3′ 27″ )
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20170100
    08:53 It’s called the wimbledon of shearing, and on Saturday night the Golden Shears entered a new era, with the retirement of past winner David Fagan, and its first ever international winner.

    Golden Shears Title won – 16 times between 1986 and 2015, now 53 years old.
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/267807/golden-shears-begins-today
    “The big focus will be David Fagan of course, he’s announced recently that he’s retiring at the end of the season, so this will be his last Golden Shears. He’s won the title 16 times, the first time he won it was back in 1986 and here we are almost 30 years later, he’s now the favourite to win it again.

    “He’s actually won 12 finals at provincial shows around the country so far this season, in fact he’s won seven on the trot, just right up to the last weekend in which he completed a treble at Taumaranui and Apiti up in Manawatu there and Pahiatua on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, that’s the first time that’s been done for 18 years and of course he was the last one that achieved that.”

    Let’s hold more contests where workpeople can match their skills and win prizes and acclaim. Let’s bring making things and manual skilled labour back into the hallowed limelight where it should be and must be, when the frivolous butterflies of technology find they can’t eat, dress, have friendship, camaraderie, care for themselves, even experience love, by relying on machines.
    edited
16. Chooky 16

    9 March 2015 at 1:30 pm

    The Returned Service Association wants the New Zealand Flag to stay as is….and so does Winnie…John Key is disrespectful …..and NO credibility …and no mana to change NZ’s flag

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/268083/rsa-plans-to-fight-nz-flag-change

    http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/flag-change-progress-near-anzac-centenary-disrespectful-rsa-6249909

    http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/winston-peters-slams-flag-referendum-spending-6118950

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10624500

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11360114

    John Key plans to spend 26 million dollars on persuading New Zealanders to change their flag….where is his mandate for this?…
    • greywarshark 16.1

      9 March 2015 at 4:27 pm

      @ Chooky
      Yes where is the mandate for yek and henchpeople to spend on a change of flag when so much else is to be done? And who considered it was democracy for gummint of today to choose for decades to come, to pick out a few flag designs and present them to the people?

      The people should be able to have a great time designing their own with a time limit and a final group of about six which would be published in the Sunday newspapers and the Listener. Young college students, old college students could have a special section in this and put in short one-page summaries of the use of flags, what ours means to them, and the value of flags as symbols and disposable protest icons.

      Judging to bring down the options to say six would involve a wide panel including people who are in graphics, people who understand flag design where less means more, artists, Maori, Anne Salmond and Jane Kelsey and other political intelligentsia. That would be enjoyable and it could fill the time till the next election. Every time there was something sensitive an update on the progress of flag decision could be trotted out.
17. b waghorn 17

    9 March 2015 at 2:18 pm

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/trending/news/headlines.cfm?c_id=1503539
    $600+ a day to rich dick heads while they consider flag options , you’ve got to be joking
    • tc 17.1

      9 March 2015 at 2:41 pm

      Cheap diversion at the taxpayers expense in NACTs eyes.
    • Colonial Rawshark 17.2

      9 March 2015 at 2:47 pm

      Don’t forget the flights, buffet lunch and drinks at the end of a hard days deliberations.
    • rod 17.3

      9 March 2015 at 3:28 pm

      @ b waghorn I expect they were all shoulder tapped by the one man band,
      Nice work if you can get it, as the song goes.
    • Murray Rawshark 17.4

      9 March 2015 at 5:29 pm

      Once again, Labour nominated people for this troughing exercise. NZ First stayed out of it on principle. Disappointed in the Greens as well. Why participate in FJK’s games?
      • b waghorn 17.4.1

        9 March 2015 at 7:06 pm

        This is the sort of thing that causes people to opt out of politics and why people have no respect for government. Some people work there arses off all week and have to try and survive in a city on that amount of money ffs .
    • RedBaronCV 17.5

      9 March 2015 at 9:06 pm

      I really don’t understand why anyone would want this one no matter what they are paid. It’s a loser. Nobody is going to like you for what you do. And it all looks very expensive compared to putting flags up on a website so the really interested could have a quick vote to pick the front runners. Very yesterday.

      And what a weird mix of people – mainly you seem to have to have a name someone will recognise but artistic or visual skills, a sense of history, nah.
      • McFlock 17.5.1

        9 March 2015 at 9:12 pm

        cash. Probably a gong for all your “hard work”. And people will forget about it after a few years.
      • vto 17.5.2

        9 March 2015 at 9:16 pm

        Yep, the first three listed comprise a reality tv producer, an internet businessman, and an ad agency boss…….

        um
        did john key select these people?
18. felix 18

    9 March 2015 at 3:15 pm

    stuff.co.nz, march 6:

    Key, who will campaign in Northland tomorrow, said he would make three visits to the electorate.

    “That’s a bit more than I normally would in a by-election,” he said.

    John Key on tvnz, march 7:

    I’m going to be here three times in this election campaign. I am in every by-election

    From one day to the next. FFS.
    • Tracey 18.1

      9 March 2015 at 3:18 pm

      but he is not a liar
      • rod 18.1.1

        9 March 2015 at 3:32 pm

        John Key is not a liar, he just tells lies and believes them himself.
      • Murray Rawshark 18.1.2

        9 March 2015 at 5:34 pm

        What does “not a liar” even mean? How can he possibly be a liar when truth is a dynamic process? I suspect you’re a leftie pinko who never has anything nice to say about our leader. How can we expect him to make a critique of his position without stating every possible position as factual? That might be your truth, but he has others. etc…..
        • McFlock 18.1.2.1

          9 March 2015 at 5:39 pm

          He doesn’t do it, every politician does it, at the end of the day it’s “pretty legal”, [shrug] what eva…
        • RedBaronCV 18.1.2.2

          9 March 2015 at 9:08 pm

          Loved your comment, reminds me of a dog scratching it’s fleas. Wherever the dog is looking is where the flea used to be.
19. felix 19

    9 March 2015 at 4:05 pm

    Here’s a funny thing. As noted above, John Key will be making three visits to Northland during the campaign, but none of them will be in the crucial last week. According to Mike Williams he will be overseas, I presume he has an important baseball game to attend or some such.

    I’d have thought he’d want to be there. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that a “prominent NZer” is having their name suppression lifted on the 15th.
    • Murray Rawshark 19.1

      9 March 2015 at 5:35 pm

      There is no evidence that the case in question has anything to do with either Northland or FJK. It’s been suppressed.
      • vto 19.1.1

        9 March 2015 at 9:11 pm

        yes it has been suppressed down to gossip and innuendo
20. Macro 20

    9 March 2015 at 4:40 pm

    Nursery Rhyme for Northland…

    “John leads us a merry dance
    Gives “Mild Amusement”* not a glance.
    Conflicts of Interest are such a breeze
    When Judy goes for Tea and cheese.”
    etc

    http://www.rhymes.org.uk/nursery-rhyme.htm

    * Rhymes with 😉
21. millsy 21

    9 March 2015 at 6:59 pm

    EU army proposed
    • b waghorn 21.1

      9 March 2015 at 7:08 pm

      New cold war coming !
      • North 21.1.1

        9 March 2015 at 8:58 pm

        Just perfect for TheLittleChurchillKey !
22. Tautoko Mangō Mata 22

    9 March 2015 at 7:07 pm

    John Key argues that mass collection of data is not the same as mass surveillance.
    Surely this can only be true if the data is not mined.
    IMHO if the collected data is mined, then surely this constitutes mass surveillance,

    “The purpose of XKeyscore is to allow analysts to search the metadata as well as the content of emails and other internet activity, such as browser history, even when there is no known email account (a “selector” in NSA parlance) associated with the individual being targeted.”
    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/nsa-top-secret-program-online-data

    All the collected data is available to be searched in this fashion therefore this is mass surveillance.

    Resign, Mr Key!
23. greywarshark 23

    9 March 2015 at 7:31 pm

    I mentioned earlier a NZ hero David Fagan, top shearer.

    But just listening to Bryan Crump on Radionz interview scientist – a woman who knows about polio and mentioned Henrietta Lacks, an unsung philanthropist to us all.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks
24. North 24

    9 March 2015 at 8:02 pm

    FFS ! Audrey Young fancies she’s on the ramparts does she ?

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11414366

    Still……there does seem to be a ‘trending’ bizo happening. Is it too much to anticipate that TheGodKey will yield to TheYobKey ?

    They’re all however still largely a “digrace” the likes of.
25. te reo putake 25

    9 March 2015 at 8:18 pm

    A bloke in Florida has solved the climate change and global warming problem. They should probably make him Governor.

    http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/08/florida-banned-terms-climate-change-global-warming
26. logie97 26

    9 March 2015 at 11:48 pm

    Key is really dancing on a pin head now with trying to make the distinction of surveillance and collection. Never mind what a lawyer might interpret what he says. What did Key mean himself?
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/268202/mass-collection-vs-mass-surveillance

    Does anyone have the on-record statements of this duplicitous individual (apart from Blips exhaustive list of lies).
    It’s about time the journalists called him now.
    His “price of being a member of club” when he spelt out the 5eyes members and then within weeks says he meant to say all contributing nations. It is no longer good enough for the media to let him go on this.
    And a good one to start would be Hooten. Remember his stance at election time. Where is Hooton now. Surely he has had enough.
27. joe90 27

    10 March 2015 at 1:01 am

    Things in the world are complicated but geeze wayne…..

    https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/26/long-march-yellow/

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