Open mike 10/10/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 10th, 2012 - 69 comments
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

69 comments on “Open mike 10/10/2012 ”

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  1. karol 1
    10 October 2012 at 7:02 am

    And now it seems, Aussie speaker Mr Slipper has done the right thing and resigned (as speaker only I assume).  But well done, Gillard for calling out Aboott on his own misogyny and double standards re-sexism.
     
     

    • David H 1.1
      10 October 2012 at 10:15 am

      I watched her ‘tear Abbott a new one’ But she just seems to be too quiet, and polite to do a real Ass rip on Abbot.

  3. seeker 3
    10 October 2012 at 7:49 am

    Loved TV3 news last night reporting that Winston Peters had called for Key to sack himself . If only……. it could solve so many problems…

    • muzza 3.1
      10 October 2012 at 9:03 am

      While it would be good to see the back of Key, and we will as soon as the puppet masters feel there is no more use for him.

      Rest assured that the succession plan for the Nats will already be in place, and the requisite training (brainwashing) being given. Keep an eye on those who off to the USA for “educational opportunities”, such as Nikki Kaye and co were on earlier this year.

    • Enough is Enough 3.2
      10 October 2012 at 9:13 am

      The caucus can sack him though.

      As the rot sets in over the coming months those ‘do nothing’ back and middle bench MP’s will begin to realise their time on the gravy train is nearing an end. When Labour steams ahead of them in the poles watch the knives come out as the factions go to war on each other.

      The National caucus will do what every National caucus does. PANIC and sack their leader.

      I can’t wait for it happen. When that day finally comes it will be momentus in the history of this country. The most corrupt, nasty and evil leader to have ever been in charge will be gone and we will be able to celebrate his demise.

      It will be like a new dawning when the people of this country can finally say goodbye to their current miserable lves and look forward to colective prosperity and hapiness.

      • Rosie 3.2.1
        10 October 2012 at 10:38 am

        E is E. Shonekys demise and in fact the entire National Govt’s demise is something I fantasise about on a regular basis. I hear what you say about the caucus having the ability to sack him and we’ve seen it done before during a National term, however, will this really happen? Who would replace him?

        Its apparent he doesn’t like his job anymore and its not the fun he was thinking it might be but he’s the head puppet at the moment and the one that has all the moves that his parasitic masters need. He is their servant, not ours and his responsibility is to them so he’ll just continue to lie and deny until his term dies a natural death. And until then he’ll just be all:

        http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/alfred_e_neuman(2).jpg

        In saying that E is E, if your vision came true then the champagne is on me!

        • freedom 3.2.1.1
          10 October 2012 at 10:42 am

          busted link rosie 🙁

        • Enough is Enough 3.2.1.2
          10 October 2012 at 11:49 am

          Rosie the 2008-2011 term was the first term since 1993-1996 that the Nats have not sacked their leader. It is what they do when things get tough.

          You say ask who would replace him? They throw any mug in. Shipley, English, Brash were never going to win and election but were propmoted by their caucus. They panic and put in anyone who is making headlines at the time.

          Collins or Joyce will never win an election but I would put a lazy fiver on it that one of them will lead the Nats to defeat in 2014.

          • Rosie 3.2.1.2.1
            10 October 2012 at 11:58 am

            Agreed they would “throw any old mug in”. My money would be on a woman. Probably Collins as you suggest. In their minds they might think that would soften the blow for the voters. Then it would be more of the same crap and a long wait until 2014.

        • David H 3.2.1.3
          10 October 2012 at 12:48 pm

          And if you listen very carefully you can hear the hiss of steel on steel just ready to stab him in the chest. Yes so please please Nacts panic. Just ignore the Hitchhickers guide to the Galaxy and PANIC!!!

    • Red Rosa 3.3
      10 October 2012 at 3:07 pm

      The old Warhorse Winnie has his mojo back! You can see him just lapping this up.

      Key is seriously rattled over the whole Dotcom affair. With the Peters shark, smelling blood and ferocious in cross-examination…hell, I’d be scared too.

      Those Key denials are only lasting 24 hours. There is much more to come out, and it will be ugly every step of the way.

  4. just saying 4
    10 October 2012 at 9:01 am

    http://dimpost.wordpress.com/

    I hope Danyl of the Dimpost wont mind me reproducing most of the concluding paragraph from his post on the “Starting Out” youth wage, below.

    An excellent read. Am I the only person who is furious at the continuing moves to appropriate resources that are supposed to support the poorest, to put them into the pockets of business? I see Labour intends to continue its own sojourns into business-welfare from when it was last in government, with its latest policy of ‘pay the dole to any business taking on an apprentice worker’ employer bonus.

    Anyway, Danyl:

    ….(which means that the crucial 15-19 year old ‘youth unemployment’ category goes down in the HLFS stats). Only for six months though, although – and here’s the beauty of it – along with the sub-minimum wage offer you can insist on a 90 day fire-at-will clause in their contract and they can’t refuse the job, because if they do they’ll lose their benefit. Which means you can sack that worker long before they’re eligible for a higher wage and employ another youth worker on the same terms (you have approximately 32,000 to choose from). Permanent 20% discount on your labour costs!

  5. Jokerman 5
    10 October 2012 at 9:02 am

    Hammer the Scots
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10839473
    (i am a son of Robert myself, but this is just haggis)
    😉

    • Draco T Bastard 5.1
      10 October 2012 at 1:01 pm

      Mr Shiels estimated that 65 per cent of Pakeha in New Zealand were of Scottish descent,

      Really? Even if they are how many of them know that? How many of them would care?

  6. David H 6
    10 October 2012 at 10:13 am

    And it didn’t take long for this to happen. Imported American film workers taking Kiwi jobs!

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10839444

    Only in NZ. who else has a fuckwit for a PM ?

  8. Jackal 8
    10 October 2012 at 10:57 am

    Rena’s toxic legacy

    You’ve got to wonder if the bad news about the Rena disaster is only going to get worse…

  9. marty mars 9
    10 October 2012 at 11:30 am

    I’m very concerned about the proposed open-cast mine on the Denniston Plateau and also the Crown Minerals (Permitting Crown Land) Bill. The supporters of the mine base their arguments on economic growth but that is just hope and pray. The opponents of the mine offer facts in abundance. As I conclude after outlining some of those facts,

    “These are FACTS. The opposite of the wishes and hopes of the economic growth fantasists, and they won’t change their minds, no. Their minds are made up. But they need the acquiescence of the people to do it. They can only do it if we let them.”

    http://mars2earth.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/if-we-let-them.html

  10. starlight 10
    10 October 2012 at 11:58 am

    Joe Bennett has an opinion peice in the christchurch press today,which includes
    the goings on of key’s visit to hollywood etc,good humour for the day and so
    apt.

  11. starlight 11
    10 October 2012 at 12:07 pm

    Just released on tv3 news the deficit has gone from $18 bil to $9 bil,garner
    passing comment on us, the taxpayers being ‘moaners’ etc, for myself
    i ask shonkey and blinglish to ‘show us the money trail’ the paper work
    as well,the timing is too convieniant.

    • David H 11.1
      10 October 2012 at 12:51 pm

      Yeah the word Bullshit did spring to mind and then there’s the 50 billion of loans that they have and still are racking up

    • muzza 11.2
      10 October 2012 at 1:07 pm

      Oh look, a higher deficit, how did that happen…

      The government has posted a deficit of $9.2 billion for the year to June, about $800 million higher than forecast on Budget day.

      The operating deficit before gains and losses was half the $18.4b the previous year.

      But it would have come in lower than forecast but for a $1.4b hit in the latest year from the write down of KiwiRail’s assets.

      In the year to June 30 tax revenue rose $3.5b as the recovering economy underpinned consumption and wages.

      Core crown expenses fell by $1.4b driven by lower costs from the emissions trading scheme and the leaky homes assistance package.

      Net Crown debt was $50.7b (24.8 per cent of gross domestic product), up from $40.1b last year.

  12. Gosman 12
    10 October 2012 at 1:07 pm

    Why more borrowing? That article suggests less borrowing.

  13. Dv 13
    10 October 2012 at 1:09 pm

    The headlines in stuff and herald are interesting

    stuff
    Deficit running higher than forecast

    Herald
    Headline on front page
    deficit halved to $9.2b last year

    on the article when you click through
    Govt says deficit halved to $9.2b last year

  14. muzza 14
    10 October 2012 at 2:01 pm

    Land of the free….wait on!

    A school district in Texas came under fire earlier this year when it announced that it would require students to wear microchip-embedded ID cards at all times. Now students who refuse to be monitored say they are feeling the repercussions.
    Since October 1, students at John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School in San Antonia, Texas have been asked to attend class clasping onto photo ID cards equipped with radio-frequency identification chips to keep track of each and every pupil’s personal location. Educators insist that the endeavor is being rolled out in Texas to relax the rampant truancy rates devastating the state’s school and the subsequent funding they are failing to receive as a result, and pending the program’s success the RFID chips could soon come to 112 schools in all and affect nearly 100,000 students.

  15. Uturn 15
    10 October 2012 at 2:26 pm

    Man goes for run to stay healthy. Comes back to a hotdog lunch. AAhh the mystery of life. I blame the Germans. (No, not really) Is 2pm too late for lunch?

    Still, if you have the means Fritz’ Wieners are quite delicious. I think they even have a vegetarian option, non-gender specific, though clearly anti-vegan, culturally oppressive as the product of a colonial power and the serving bench is the wrong height for people in wheelchairs.

    You decide.

  16. Dave Kennedy (bsprout) 16
    10 October 2012 at 3:25 pm

    The odds are always stacked agains’t the gambler, Key’s lucky run is drawing to an end.
    http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/keys-compulsive-gambling-revealed.html

  17. Jokerman 17
    10 October 2012 at 3:55 pm

    Maybe this is the beginning of madness.
    Maybe it’s your conscience:
    a knot of life in which we are seized and known
    and untied for existence.

    So in cathedrals of crystals not found on earth
    the prudent spider of light
    draws the ribs apart and gathers them again
    into one bundle.

    And gathered together by one thin beam
    the bundles of pure light give thanks.
    One day they will meet, they will assemble
    like guests with the visors up,

    and here on earth, not in heaven,
    as in a house filled with music,
    if only we don’t offend them, or frighten them away.
    How good to see to live it!

    Forgive me for what I am saying.
    Read it to me quietly, quietly.

    -Osip Mandelstam (USSR)

    ( ” People fall drunkenly from scaffolding into machines, beams collapse…ladders come crashing down, what ever is lifted up falls down, whatever is spread on the ground people trip over, and it gives one a headache. To think of all those young girls in china-ware factories who keep falling down stairs with huge piles of dishes in their arms.”)

    • Uturn 17.1
      10 October 2012 at 5:49 pm

      That poem is pretty explicit, terrifying, or warming, depending on your point of view.
      (Beware the government voucher for free holidays!)

      We are lucky that the internet brings people that should never meet, closer apart.

      “…it takes many years to learn the skill of archery and as a result the birds fly higher…”

  18. Jokerman 18
    10 October 2012 at 4:13 pm

    Have Some “Sympathy For The Devil” (Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a Man of Wealth and Taste….”)
    http://books.google.co.nz/books/about/The_Natural_History_of_the_Rich.html?id=q8HGjT8KnJkC&redir_esc=y

    these low wages do not Smell Like Teen Spirit
    Smack of I-GT

    (school holidays
    children head down on scooters
    too small for them
    heads into I-phones

    learning about
    the wind in their hair
    cycling)

    Its a Sign, A SIGN
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudrillard

    Struggle Without End
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranginui_Walker

    Hypnotic Deception
    http://books.google.co.nz/books/about/Cosmopolis.html?id=uMU0jQ8EjnIC

    scriptures are a way forward
    begin with humility

  19. ScottGN 19
    10 October 2012 at 4:29 pm

    Interesting polling in Brisbane’s Courier Mail today which shows that Queenslanders are so resolutely opposed to Asset Sales they would likely turf Campbell Newman’s new(ish) Liberal/National Party government out of office if he proceeds with sale of the State’s electricity assests. Also it seems his popularity has declined to the point that he might well lose his Ashgrove seat in an election.

  20. gobsmacked 20
    10 October 2012 at 5:57 pm

    Check out Campbell Live, 7 pm tonight.

    More revealed about Key-Dotcom …

    • ianmac 20.1
      10 October 2012 at 8:30 pm

      Crikey! First time that a TV journalist has put the whole saga together dating from 2011. Again and again it is so hard to believe that Key knew nothing when so many officials and others, knew such a lot.
      There are fairies at the bottom of our garden. Believe that? Believe anything.

      • Jokerman 20.1.1
        11 October 2012 at 9:23 am

        Fairies Wear Boots and ya gotta believe me, I saw it I saw it with my own two eyes…

  21. gobsmacked 21
    10 October 2012 at 6:11 pm

    And the latest poll is out:

    http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2012/4831/

    National down.

    Greens and Winston up.

    Labour static.

    Voters desert government for opposition. No surprise there!

    [lprent: Links to the graphs added. Love the GCR ]

    • ScottGN 21.1
      10 October 2012 at 6:56 pm

      Actually Labour is up slightly 0.5%. Most interesting though is that Labour/Greens is essentially tied with National/NZFirst.

      • gobsmacked 21.1.1
        10 October 2012 at 7:29 pm

        0.5% is statistically meaningless.

        What is meaningful is the long-term trend, which clearly shows Labour stuck, and has done for a long time.

        Look at the graph. In 2 years Labour have not moved. Meanwhile the Greens and NZ First have picked up around 10%.

        Of course Labour are on track to be part of the next government. But the voters’ message is clear and consistent, across many polls, for many months – they are increasingly turning against National, not to Labour.

        • Te Reo Putake 21.1.1.1
          10 October 2012 at 7:36 pm

          Er, actually, Labour have gained 6% in less than a year. The Greens and NZF have gained 2.5% between them over the same period.

          • gobsmacked 21.1.1.1.1
            10 October 2012 at 7:49 pm

            So Labour will be fine, unless there’s an actual election? We’re all familiar with the dead cat bounce … Bill English got one after 2002. It’s irrelevant.

            When Key was flying sky-high, with fawning media coverage and Goff struggling, Labour were … where they are now.

            It has never been easier for an opposition party. It is almost impossible not to benefit from free gifts dropping into the lap. If Labour had any drive or leadership or focus or even basic competence, they would be at 50%.

            • Colonial Viper 21.1.1.1.1.1
              10 October 2012 at 8:00 pm

              Shearer’s leadership has made a big difference mate, don’t you forget it.

              I’ll be pleased to see these Tory fuckers out of office…but what kind of Government will we have in there instead? A mildly less bad one?

            • Te Reo Putake 21.1.1.1.1.2
              10 October 2012 at 8:03 pm

              6% in 11 months, GS. That’s actually pretty impressive, if you think about it. And it’s not dead cat bounce, it’s 11 months of regular incremental increases. Shearer’s a genius!

              • chris73 …
                10 October 2012 at 8:23 pm

                Are you allowed to say things like that? I thought this site was devoted to Cunliffe?

                • Te Reo Putake …
                  10 October 2012 at 8:43 pm

                  Yeah, channelling Withnail there (Danny’s a genius!). I’d have gone with DC meself and lord knows where Labour would be if he’d got the gig. But this ain’t a bad result.
                   
                  ps Speaking of Withnail … separated at birth?

    • Te Reo Putake 21.2
      10 October 2012 at 7:12 pm

      Converted to seats its:
       

      National 51
      Labour   41
      Greens   16
      NZF         8

       
      Assuming Mana, ACT, UF and the Maori Party retain their electorate seats, then its a 122 seat Parliament. National + cling ons = 56 seats, one less than Lab/Green combined.
       
      However, if the MP drop to one seat and National pick up Epsom, as seems likely for both, then it’s 121 seats, Nat bloc = 54, Lab/G = 58.
       
      In both scenario’s, NZF can join one or the other bloc or simply passively support a minority Government. However, if Lab/Greens pick up 2% more between them, they have a one seat majority whatever Winston does. Just 2% more folks and we have the coolest Government in a generation.
       

    • Poission 21.3
      10 October 2012 at 8:07 pm

      . Love the GCR

      -14% In 7 weeks,that is a real problem,the unsure component is up to 18% which is where some policy needs to be defined,eg protecting savers etc,

    • David H 21.4
      10 October 2012 at 8:09 pm

      A question? Have Labour taken any notice of any of the polls, that say Nats and Labour Down or static, they both have the same problem. The Leaders.

      edit:
      And don’t you think that after the all the probs the NACTS have had that Labour with a decent leader would be polling over 40 now

      • Poission 21.4.1
        10 October 2012 at 8:22 pm

        Personally I dislike the presidential style of politicking,where you have leadership by papal doctrine and infallibility and which can clearly backlash on you when you blame your team.

        I think this actually goes against the NZ pysch,if you compare say against leaders in sports,such as McCaw,who always emphasis the importance of the team,ie a cooperative system as opposed to credit takers.

      • Colonial Viper 21.4.2
        10 October 2012 at 8:22 pm

        Labour happy to wait for the tide to go out on National and to form a ‘Left’ government with a couple in majority.

        • Olwyn 21.4.2.1
          10 October 2012 at 9:02 pm

          I cannot take heart from poll results until such time as I can take heart from the Labour Party. One heartening thing is the work being done by Parker and Cunliffe with the manufacturers and the EPMU with a view to reviving manufacturing. Less heartening are Hooten’s suggestion that Cunliffe be sacked for undermining the leader, the possible return of John Tamihere, who was recently on Close Up defending Charter Schools, http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/2012-10-09-video-5124125 and the fact that with this mooted cabinet reshuffle, I have absolutely no idea what might count as under-performing. Where there is no defined position, there is no clear standard, and so no real basis for measuring performance.

  22. Jokerman 22
    10 October 2012 at 7:01 pm

    What Is Industryous about Pushing Synthetic Highs?
    Who ever is Behind this New Legislation-God Bless You
    (freakin junk)

    you dont scare me, you dont scare me I said.. to whatever it was echoing around my head…
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69BozyMnVSg

    it was The Ghost of A Texas Ladies Man

  23. weka 23
    10 October 2012 at 7:48 pm

    Lynn, twice today I’ve had an error on posting a comment. Instead of the comment posting, I go to a page which says “ERROR: please type a comment.”. Unlike previous mishaps with posting, on using the back button I find I’ve lost the whole comment from the text box 🙁 Seems like a new problem (Safari).

     

  24. Draco T Bastard 24
    10 October 2012 at 9:23 pm

    Should the Market Alone Determine Parking Supply?

    That conclusion isn’t going to satisfy everyone. The evidence here overwhelmingly suggests that parking minimums do distort the supply of spaces, but exactly what ceiling to replace them with remains open to interpretation. The un- (or, at least, less-) regulated market in London does seem to give people the parking they want. Whether it gives London what the city wants — namely, increased transit and decreased congestion in the places that need it most — is a different question.

    I have mentioned before that the market is irrational haven’t I?

  25. Jokerman 25
    10 October 2012 at 9:48 pm

    You can go back to the scene of a perfect crime.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory

    night John-Boy, night Elizabeth.

  26. Draco T Bastard 26
    10 October 2012 at 10:08 pm

    Media are feeding Americans WMD ‘propaganda’ again to lead us into war with Iran

    Above all Liz I feel that the American public is not being fed the true story of what’s going on in this region and it’s very dangerous because when the public is constantly fed messages that are potentially leading us into a war that may not be necessary it’s not fair to the American people and it’s not fair to journalism because the truth isn’t being told here what’s being told here is the way these networks want to spin the truth and that’s leading us into another potential conflict with Iran…

    Translation: The MSM spin lies to get people to believe what the elites want them to believe so that the elites can do what they want.

    • Jokerman 26.1
      10 October 2012 at 10:30 pm

      The Cat Came Back
      (if only for a little while.. Deep Purple, howz that for Alpha and Omega, Child In Time?)
      https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/229956_485479288152189_395693849_n.jpg

    • Colonial Viper 26.2
      10 October 2012 at 10:48 pm

      US go to war with an opponent far larger and far more internally cohesive than Iraq? Yeah that’s going to end very well.

      • mike 26.2.1
        11 October 2012 at 2:52 am

        The U.S. could “win” by dropping hundreds of nuclear weapons on Iran’s military bases, nuclear facilities and industrial centres (i.e. cities) and killing five to 10 million people, but short of that, nothing works. On this we have the word of Richard Clarke, counter-terrorism adviser in the White House under three administrations.

        In the early 1990s, Clarke revealed in an interview with the New York Times four years ago, the Clinton administration had seriously considered a bombing campaign against Iran, but the military professionals told them not to do it.

        “After a long debate, the highest levels of the military could not forecast a way in which things would end favourably for the United States,” he said. The Pentagon’s planners have war-gamed an attack on Iran several times in the past 15 years, and they just can’t make it come out as a U.S. victory.

        http://www.pakalertpress.com/2010/08/19/no-way-can-us-win-a-non-nuclear-war-with-iran/

    • mike 26.3
      11 October 2012 at 3:01 am

      Thanks for that Draco, interesting to hear about the wonderfully named Amber Lyons. While I already had no doubt that the US MSM was propaganda, it’s nice to hear an award-winning former employee spell it out like this.

      “CNN is being paid by governments worldwide to produce and air sponsored programs disguised as news with minimal to no disclosure to viewers.”

      “Info-mercials for Dictators”

      http://amberlyonlive.com/2012/10/09/cnns-info-mercials-for-dictators/

      Most people only know what they are told, and what they are told is bullshit.

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