Open mike 10/05/2010
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The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...2 weeks ago
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Sorry this was late up today. Lynn – another “missed schedule”…
I’ll put the MIA plugin back into action. I thought wordpress had fixed it in 2.9.2. But obviously not…
Opinion piece in the Age on Rudd comparing him with Nixon (which might be a bit of stretch but the author is an ex Liberal staffer). Apt description of Key. Let’s hope his popularity follows a similar trajectory and tanks next year:
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/who-is-kevin-rudd-no-one-really-knows-20100509-ulnt.html
“What makes Rudd so Nixonian, however, is that his flip-flops breed more doubt in people who already wonder where he’s coming from.
Whereas you always knew where Howard and Keating stood and what they were about, notwithstanding the odd policy U-turn, it is difficult to identify anything their successor seems genuinely to believe other than his own political success. He has no sense of philosophical identity, conviction and inner core.
. . .
There is always an air of detached calculation about his performances, a sense that in different circumstances he could just as happily be arguing the opposing case.
. . .
During his presidency more than a decade later, Nixon confirmed his opponents’ suspicions as well as his conservative base’s worst fears. One moment, he was a staunch anti-communist and red baiter; the next, he was doing detente with the Soviets and supping with Mao Zedong. One moment, he was fiscal conservative and supporter of states’ rights; the next, he was an unashamed Keynesian and centralist.
The friction of playing the role of conviction warrior while being in reality a malleable politician was one of many reasons for Nixon’s downfall.
Will this also destroy Kevin Rudd?”
RIP Walter Hickel, two time governor of Alaska and former Interior Secretary who made himself very unpopular with Nixon,
“I believe this administration finds itself today embracing a philosophy which appears to lack appropriate concern for the attitude of a great mass of Americans our young people.”
In 2006 he supported Sarah Palin in her bid to become governor of Alaska but in 2009 he stated that he doesn’t “give a damn what she does”
So, this was the first presidential style British election? Seems to be the same as the one in New Zealand where Ashcroft was weaving his nasty little plans. Do the people of Britain really want Ashcroft living off their jugulars like Key, Joyce, Hide and Ashcroft are doing here?
News is that the Lib Dems are giving the Tories 24 hours. Then they talk to Labour.
But at the end of the day will it make much difference for the citizenry of the UK and their upcoming reaction?
The banks tanked and the state bailed then applied the thumb screws to the citizenry’s state provided services.
Both Labour and the Tories have been posturing on how tough they will be in turning said thumb screws and I just think ‘Greece’ and wonder how far the British are from following their Greek comrades in (figuratively) pressuring the balls of the architects of globalisation and their domestic toadies in the jaggedy vice of demands arising from a public conscience being exercised back out on the streets?
A little light relief? Just had a thought as I checked out my kiwifruit, still hard and inedible.
Perhaps we could start a new trend in armaments – using unripe kiwifruit. They would require guns with big barrels (and a super one for the larger kiwifruit that have doubled around the core). Imagine Afghanis being hit by a sizable hard object covered with a scratchy coat, it would leave a large bruise and the prickles would rub into the skin. The enemy wouldn’t know what hit them!
They would then squawk and run away, and the children could come out from hiding, pick up the ‘bullets’ and take them home to be sliced into the pottage to make a nutritious stew. They could carry little stickers saying A Goodwill Gift from New Zealand.
(Written under the influence of my book Sein Language from Jerry Seinfeld.)
the 100 point glitch now has the super fast computers leading to cancelled trades
yes i meant thousand point glitch,
Well, if it can be done by computer – doesn’t that just prove that the financial industry isn’t worth as much as it’s losing us?
Greece Offers To Repay Loans with Giant Horse
by Andy Borowitz
BRUSSELS (The Borowitz Report)—In what many are hailing as a breakthrough solution to Greece’s crippling debt crisis, Greece today offered to repay loans from the European Union nations by giving them a gigantic horse.
Finance ministers from 16 EU nations awoke in Brussels this morning to find that a huge wooden horse had been wheeled into the city center overnight. The horse, measuring several stories in height, drew mixed responses from the finance ministers, many of whom said they would have preferred a cash repayment of the bailout.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she “welcomed the beautiful wooden horse,’ adding, “What harm could it possibly do?’
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/greece_offers_to_repay_loans_with_giant_horse_20100509/
Collins on the announcement of the privatisation of Mt Eden prison has been sipping the Kool Aid.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3677414/Auckland-Central-Remand-prison-to-go-private
“Mrs Collins said allowing private management of the two prisons would inject new ideas and new innovations into the corrections sector.”
The only new idea is that the prison needs to make a profit. Can she name ANY innovations private prisons will do to reduce reoffending or improve prisoner safety or improve rehabilitation?
It will very interesting to see if any of the Private Prison enthusiasts tender for the priviledge of running an archaic prison. Are they not better suited to state of the art, easy to-make-money place? There would have to be mighty improvements and mighty economies to justify the “no-privatisations in our first term!”
Another PPP bites the dust!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/3676454/London-buys-back-Tube
A couple of great anti-PPP quotes, one from Boris Johnson, here.
And note the buy-back figure of $600 million NZ!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10644049
No, it was ended because it cost more than doing it in house. As Ms Collins knows this that means she is outright lying. Why isn’t the MSM pulling her up on this?
Private prisons = prisons below standard so I don’t think we need to have them here.
Draco, dont know why you bother. I listened to Crusher on the radio and it is obvious that we are too thick to argue against her recieved ideological wisdom with either fact or falsehood. In short its mind over matter, she does not mind that we dont matter. Shes not listening. Yet another balls up to inherit I suppose.
All it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.
The prison-privatisation argument seems to be coming from that old repeat record of what government employees have been doing is not needed, or very badly done, or just inefficient.
If we treated governments in the same way we wouldn’t be able to stand the full three years of the botch-ups, gerrymandering, asinine fights and just refusal to set reasonable laws that assist the good running of the country.