Open mike 12/03/2010

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 12th, 2010 - 29 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

Comment on whatever takes your fancy.

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

Step right up to the mike…

29 comments on “Open mike 12/03/2010 ”

  1. Pascal's bookie 1

    As bookie junior might well say, if he gave a toss,

    bok bok bok bokerk!

    Anyone’d think banksie feels he might lose if he gives the people time to think about his agenda.

  2. freedom 2

    i certainly hope no money from jackson and co is going to save the hollywood sign as a sweetener to erect a wellywood sign
    http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2010/03/11/4006927-group-still-needs-millions-for-hollywood-sign-land

  3. Pascal's bookie 3

    To… B.obama@whitehouse.gov

    Cc… us.senate

    subject : FYI, No comment necessary

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/world/middleeast/10briefs-Iran.html

    Twelve suspects accused of torturing to death three anti-government protesters during the widespread turmoil after the June presidential election went on trial on Tuesday, the official news agency IRNA reported. Iran’s judiciary last year charged 12 officials at the Kahrizak detention center in Tehran for involvement in the deaths of three protesters held there….

  4. willaspish 4

    Sound familiar – http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/11/conservatives-technology-manifesto

    Can someone warn them before it’s too late?

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1

      Well, there is one difference that I would like to see here before we FTTH (which we’re not getting anyway) and that’s this bit:

      and improve access to government data

      • Bright Red 4.1.1

        we’re quite good in terms of the stats site, which is worldleading, and there’s all kinds of information on some of the other sites (traffic volume info is on the auckland council city for example)

        but plenty of room for improvement

  5. Pacific Island Affairs Ministry has an annual budget of $7.6 million (includes Pacific Business Trust). Employs 45 staff. Caters for 270,000 Pacific Island people (2006 census figure). Te Puni Kokiri Has an annual budget of $173 million (includes Crown entities Te Mangai Paho, Maori Television Service and the Maori Potential Fund). Employs 353 staff. Caters for 565,329 people who identify as Maori (2006 census figure).

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3438061/Leader-threatens-hikoi-if-Pacific-funds-cut

    Whats Georgina the PI affairs ministerette got to say ? Hey there Georgie Girl…Georgie ? Say something, anything !. Maybe someone should check her pulse and see if she’s still breathing ?

    To quote Prince from his classic ‘sexuality’ tune…”Reproduction of a new breed of leaders. Stand up organise”

    And these new breed leaders need to be able to rebuild the common cultural bridge between Maori and polynesians in general that was burnt in the great divide and conquer policies of the early colonists. On Maori’s part they need to spread the love as part of being good hosts. We are whanau after all and its in all our interests to ensure our ‘ora/aura’ is vibrant.

    Sure, let’s start in NZ but the bridge needs repairing in Tahiti with their french occupiers and Hawaii with their american ones and a few other places where the ozzies and kiwis are sheltering…dunno bout them crazy Fijians though, but if the rest of us got together and invaded them under the banner of ‘democratization’ it might be for the better. I’ve always fancied a United States of Polynesia with a single currency that isn’t the ozzy or kiwi dollar. Maybe we could institute a duo currency starting in NZ with the Maori dollar, much like the euro, which would be accepted across polynesia as legal tender ?

    Back to the article. Choice they got some press coverage but threatening a hikoi ? Nah thats not how we role. Our past pacifist protests such as the Mau movement in pre independent Samoa predicates a sit in and good old singalong all over the country on the doorsteps of power, where ever that might be. I mean c’mon, most of our elders and youngers are too fat to hikoi anywhere and our voices when tuned are hard to ignore.

    Still, at least they’re saying what i been saying. Keep it up, go hard brothers..or go home ?

  6. Name required 6

    I was unaware of this:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/3434754/New-Zealands-internet-filter-goes-live

    I’ve no problem with a child-porn filter, although the tech-savvy aficionado will have little problem getting around it, but an internet filter under Government control? How long before thestandard.org suddenly starts becoming slow to load, or disappears entirely?

    • Draco T Bastard 6.1

      That thing shouldn’t have been drawn out of the suggestion box. It’s just a waste of money as it won’t work at all never mind the abuse that that is possible with it.

    • lprent 6.2

      If it does, then I get a chance to demonstrate some of my programming skills. Internet filters aren’t that hard to program around from the server side. If needs be I can make everyone have their own personal standard site on many domains routed via encrypted tunnels to one of the actual servers.

      Fortunately I’m not on either of those two ISPs. However if it comes to my ISPs then I will be changing them.

      • Draco T Bastard 6.2.1

        I’m with Orcon ATM and if they take it up I’ll be looking for a new ISP. The problem, of course, is that the ISPs don’t have to tell people that they’re using the filter.

  7. prism 7

    The sunday star times (doesn’t deserve capitals) apparently dressed some people up to be terrorists and carry a fake bomb and go to sports events.
    Stuff link – http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3439743/Rugby-terrorist-stunt-sparks-crackdown-warning

    Ha ha what fun – trying to create panic, use up police time, ruin a sports event and bring anxiety and uncertainty in general to future events, and cost everyone money. They wanted to upset and disrupt the spectators, the events organisers, the teams, the funders, everyone. Strange how the rage against this irresponsible, shallow, publicity-no-matter-what attitude rises in me. Maybe it’s similar to the strong emotions that real terrorist attacks would bring on.

    How bloody stupid of the sunday star times how mindlessly juvenile if they had brains they would be ashamed of themselves. The people who managed and published this stunt deserve to go down the drain along with their rag of a paper which should go out of publication, not good enough for fish and chips. Hand in your chips and leave sunday falling-star times you are pathetic.

  8. PeteG 8

    I had thought I’d check out the Axe the Tax tour – I was genuinely interested in finding out for myself how the campaign was being presented and what it was saying.

    Problem is, where will it be. The only thing I can find is: Friday, Dunedin North and Dunedin South.
    (http://www.labour.org.nz/axethetax)

    I sure as hell ain’t driving all over town seeing if I can find it. Is it only going to select audiences?

    • Draco T Bastard 8.1

      I had the same problem

      Sunday 28 February
      Auckland, Pukekohe, Ngaruawahia

      In Auckland? WOW, whereabouts and when? Auckland covers a couple of hundred square kilometres so just saying “Auckland” isn’t really all that informative.

    • lprent 8.2

      Try on facebook. They appear to have actual information on there about where it is (sometimes).

  9. PK 9

    ***Pacific Island Affairs Ministry has an annual budget of $7.6 million (includes Pacific Business Trust). Employs 45 staff. Caters for 270,000 Pacific Island people (2006 census figure). Te Puni Kokiri Has an annual budget of $173 million (includes Crown entities Te Mangai Paho, Maori Television Service and the Maori Potential Fund). Employs 353 staff. Caters for 565,329 people who identify as Maori (2006 census figure).***

    If they’re going to have these other ethnic ministries, why is there no Asian affairs Ministry? Their NZ population according to the 2006 census is 354,552. Also, they provide a huge number of students and business connections as that region becomes increasingly influential.

    • Bright Red 9.1

      that story is just about boosting Micheal Jones, who is going to be a national candidate next year, and Sam Lotu-Ligi’s images in the PI community.

      • pollywog 9.1.1

        Yeah i figured as much but at least they’re saying something. Ah invisible Sam who loves to linger in the shadows.

        Come out, come out wherever you are…

        As for an asian affairs ministry ? Do you need one ? Just cos we’ve got one doesnt mean it does anything. It might sound flash and give the obsequious house n*ggas somewhere to play til they can claw their way up the list but mostly its just a place to have a whinge about how hard done by we are outside of airing the dirty laundry in public.

        Bit of a joke really and as for new breed leaders. I dunno if either of them 2 could build a bridge with Maori. Key Should look good for next year having the iceman beside him at church rallies though.

        As for the Labour’s poly’s. They need to up their game, put the heat on Georgie and keep it on. See if they can draw Sam ‘loves to linger’ in on a stoush and get him to say something stupid in front of the elders, then shame his ass.

  10. Pascal's bookie 10

    Someone doesn’t know what National Standards are:

    Schools rebelling against the new national standards will have to explain to parents why they are prepared to allow children to leave school without adequate literacy and numeracy skills, Prime Minister John Key says.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3438282/Key-prefers-to-work-with-rebel-schools

    • I dreamed a dream 10.1

      He doesn’t need to know anything. All he needs to know is Smile and Wave. They’ll all still love him. Even if he speaks Martian and nobody understands what he says, just Smile and Wave and they’ll love him.

    • Bright Red 10.2

      He has to explain how national standards will solve that problem

  11. randal 11

    the tory myrmidons squealed long and hard and loud when their squadron of toy skyhawks was disbanded but I haven’t heard a word about the orions going.
    I suppose it doesnt really matter after you have sold out all the fish stocks in the economic zone and the southern ocean.
    and when you gone you cant come back.
    when you are out of the blue and into the black.

    • prism 11.1

      The orions seem to be really useful and help our neighbours when they get stranded in the big wide Pacific. Surely if they are old they are going to be replaced by similar reliable planes.
      Good move to get rid of the Skyhawks otherwise the USA would always be dragging us into their little conflagrations for a bomb here and there, though they actually use drones for those now. You sit at a desk in Houston or somewhere and drive them by wire. Reckon that is what the good old USofA airmen were doing when they flew into the skilift in an Italian ski resort valley. Probably practising to see if they could slalom their planes for real like they did in simulation.

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