Open mike 13/07/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, July 13th, 2019 - 152 comments
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152 comments on “Open mike 13/07/2019 ”

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  1. Xanthe 1
    13 July 2019 at 8:34 am

    Still having tons of problems with commenting from my tablet usually cant get focus in comments pane, sometimes can make new comment but not reply, often there is no replies sidebar …. then exit reload and get a working unit

    • gsays 1.1
      13 July 2019 at 1:42 pm

      Hi Xanthe, I have the same problem in Chrome but followed someone here and their advice and use Brave.

      No probs with commenting.

  2. johnm 2
    13 July 2019 at 8:35 am

    GUEST BLOG: Bryan Bruce – What is the purpose of an economy?

    Last week RNZ reported on two stories that should give us all pause to think about who we are , what we stand for and the ACTUAL rather than the pretend economic policy by which our country is run .

    The first was on the queues of people lining up at the Manurewa MSD office on Thursday to get emergency assistance .Some had been there, in the cold and rain since 2 am.

    The Minister Carmel Sepuloni put the blame on the Auckland Action Against Poverty group because that’s the day they have their advocates there to advise people about their rights and they won’t spread out their advocacy over the week, through pre appointments and at other offices

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/07/08/guest-blog-bryan-bruce-what-is-the-purpose-of-an-economy/

    • ianmac 2.1
      13 July 2019 at 8:53 am

      A good opinion piece Johnm but I wonder how the wealth of the two richest could be undone.

      our richest two citizens now own as much wealth as the bottom 1.5 million of us-

      • greywarshark 2.1.1
        13 July 2019 at 4:01 pm

        Bullet points from Bryan Bruce's article. Really to the heart of it. And no bullets in sight, may we get there and without any shooting.

        …the fact that so many people are so desperate for assistance the government itself has had to increase the amount it has allocated for hardship grants to $128.5 million, tells you there is something very wrong with the way we are running our economy…

        Again the problem lies in the way we run our economy . The government, for all it’s recent PR about wellbeing is still running to the neoliberal agenda which promotes selfishness and competition over cooperation and the common good…

        neoliberal economics has turned us into a low wage economy – a Gig economy – where many people have to work 2 and 3 jobs just to make ends meet.

        It [the Government] is still running an austerity budget with $3.5 Billion surplus when food parcel distribution at the Auckland City Mission is up 50% on last year…

        What do we want? We want our economy (I think) –

        …to deliver the greatest good for the largest number of our citizens over the longest time? (Progressive economics)

        I’m for the progress ‘greatest good’ approach to running our economy.

    • Observer Tokoroa 2.2
      13 July 2019 at 9:50 am

      Johnm

      Why did you Tell Lies about Work An Income ?

      You are so untrustworthy –

      Your friends the Landlords place excessive Rents on people in New Zealand. You should have a chat to your Wealthy mates.

      • johnm 2.2.1
        13 July 2019 at 10:53 am

        I'm not a landlord. If I had my way there would be at least a CGT of 60% on this social parasitism which is a blight on all societies. So bad our young couples cannot afford to buy starter houses. I believe in social housing and keeping house prices as low as possible including restricting immigration. NZ had it right until Roger the pig farmer came along! 🙁 It's a disgrace the capital Gain these types get away with. This Government refuses to address the problem.

        • bewildered 2.2.1.1
          13 July 2019 at 11:46 am

          There’s the crux of it Johnm what you believe and reality There is a capital tax on housing and CGT is not the prime reason for supply and demand issues in housing, nor as history show us is communism or rent : price controls the answer. The government can’t build houses cheaper than the market as kiwibuild has shown , start their and work backwards

      • greywarshark 2.2.2
        13 July 2019 at 3:47 pm

        Observer why do you attack JohnM for stating truths. And make up stories about him. You seem unreliable.

        Please state exactly what JohnM said that was lies. And how do you come to say that his friends are landlords?

  3. ianmac 3
    13 July 2019 at 8:46 am

    Newsroom has a very interesting story about farmers being "shafted" by ANZ over "interest rates swaps." Even quoting for Sir John's head:

    Newsroom’s Nikki Mandow tells the extraordinary story of the Taranaki dairy farmers who unwittingly got caught in the world of high finance, got shafted by the ANZ Bank following the global financial crisis, refused to take a Commerce Commission-brokered settlement because it was worth only a tiny fraction of what they had lost, took the country’s biggest bank to court – and against the odds, won.

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/07/12/678226/the-taranaki-farmers-who-took-on-a-2bn-bank-and-won

    • greywarshark 3.1
      13 July 2019 at 3:50 pm

      Still, all the three MPs in the Taranaki area are National Party. Seems they are pretty happy with being shafted overall.

  4. johnm 4
    13 July 2019 at 8:52 am

    How 2030 is the new 2100: Global Food Yields Already Dropping from Abrupt Climate Change

    2030 is the new 2100. Climate change is ALREADY reducing global food yields TODAY, with an average 1% annual reduction in the worlds top ten global crops, providing 83% of food calories to humanity: top ten food crops: barley, cassava, maize (corn), oil palm, rapeseed (canola), rice, sorghum, soybean, sugarcane, wheat. Most reduced: oil palm (-13.4%); increased: soybeans (+3.5%). Negatively affected regions are Europe, South Africa, and Australia; +ve is Latin America; mixed is Asia, North and Central America. Growing season temperatures over all harvested areas is up 0.5 to 1.2 C since the early 1970s.

  5. johnm 5
    13 July 2019 at 9:06 am

    David Attenborough speaks in parliament about climate change

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv3DPaMaS2g

    Dr. Respect

    Dr. Respect 2 days ago

    They will happily spend 30,000,000 on one bomb yet will not spend a penny on healthcare and the environment. This world is going down the pan very very fast and whoever is at the top you know the one that holds all the cards and has all the money. well they too will also diminish you could ask the question are they even human, because in my experience humanity is a collective and at the moment is falling apart. is anyone going to do anything? I doubt it

  6. Adrian Thornton 6
    13 July 2019 at 9:08 am

    Here is a very good piece from the ever reliable FAIR on NYTimes peddling more bullshit and disinformation…seems one of the most important things do do during the coming US election cycle will be sorting through the mountains of misdirection, disinformation and straight out lies that the so called liberal MSM will spew forth in their vain attempt to derail the progressive wave building in the USA…keep your eyes peeled and your bullshit detectors set on high!

    For NYT, Inconvenient Facts Equal ‘Russian-Style Disinformation’
    https://fair.org/home/for-nyt-inconvenient-facts-equal-russian-style-disinformation/?awt_l=CnT3e&awt_m=gcztzYGTwIR._TQ

  7. WeTheBleeple 7
    13 July 2019 at 9:36 am

    In the future (and today's research), conventional plastics will be biodegradeable.

    Scientists have already discovered an enzyme that breaks down PET, and within a wireworms microbiome lies the secrets to breaking down polystyrene. The search is on for more promising enzymes, and how we might harness them upon discovery.

    Leading the charge is consumer demand for sustainable products. Those without the tech will lose more and more public support, and as alternative options become available, consumer led protest over polluters will see government support withdrawn and even government opposition to recalcitrant industry.

    While we see enormous resources today dedicated to PR and legal fees to hide/justify industrial activities, the far easier and cheaper way will be to work with ethical and environmental consideration.

    Nature to aid tech:

    https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/plastic-bottle-waste-eating-enzyme-mutant/

    Leading vehicle manufacturers are switching to EV production. Oil companies to carbon capture techniques and investment in renewable research and development.

    In the interim, we need to plant 1.2 trillion trees.

    Tech to aid nature:

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/treeplanting-drones-could-help-restore-world-s-forests-a4116376.html

    • James Thrace 7.1
      13 July 2019 at 10:10 am

      If the boomers could understand the difference between hemp and marijuana, what a difference that would make.

      2 crop cycles of hemp remove the same amount of CO2 from the atmosphere as 30 years of pine trees.

      Hemp is also a far more sustainable, low impact crop. It also regenerates the soil and isn't required to have rotation planting like so many other crops do.

      Hemp is wonderful. There are so many functional uses for hemp, and way more sustainable than trying to develop enzymes.

      • WeTheBleeple 7.1.1
        13 July 2019 at 10:21 am

        Excellent thoughts/facts. It was the cotton growers started the whole reefer madness/hemp ban to my (limited) knowledge.

        Using hempcrete, hemp fibre… we could sequester the carbon FAST using hemp crops for building. And the seeds make top notch oils.



        The enzymes are required to remove the enormous volume of plastic pollution we have.

      • marty mars 7.1.2
        13 July 2019 at 10:23 am

        So true – hemp is a wonderful plant – you can pretty well use all of it – I can't understand why farmers aren't getting serious about creating diversity by laying some hectares in hemp – get out of the way regulation – and for the numbnuts – your dope people don't like being near the hemp too much – too much pollen floating around.

        Flax too – we used to have a whole industry for this and we can get it back again – get ready to create more wetland, plant more flax, clean more rivers for transport, fix up the old docks and so on and before you know it we will have travelled back in time to the future.

        • WeTheBleeple 7.1.2.1
          13 July 2019 at 10:38 am

          Here's a relatively comprehensive talk on industrial hemp for some history, historical application and potential for applications.

          We have some farms trialing hemp now, and I believe legislation has allowed its use for human food now? Is going to?

          I can make a hemp (seed meal) & honey steam pudding that's pure goodness!



        • bwaghorn 7.1.2.2
          13 July 2019 at 3:39 pm

          They should use Jones fund and build a hemp plant in the Canterbury plains . Gaurentee a purchase price for any cockies that want to grow 5 % of their farm area in hemp for 10 years . Get the ball rolling.

      • Cinny 7.1.3
        13 July 2019 at 10:57 am

        YES !!!! A thousand times yes 🙂

        • WeTheBleeple 7.1.3.1
          13 July 2019 at 4:43 pm

          Perfect for the area. Get rid of (at least some of) the dairy and put trees back on the land to shelter the crops.

          • greywarshark 7.1.3.1.1
            13 July 2019 at 4:46 pm

            Who has the ear of Jonesy? That idea should be rounged out, and fed to him, along with his favourite beverage, plus a goody bag filled with hemp products which seem to be varied and extensive.

            • WeTheBleeple 7.1.3.1.1.1
              13 July 2019 at 4:53 pm

              He looks like he'd be partial to some of the hemp steam pudding.

              Not tonight though, rhubarb crumble it is. Serve with vanilla ice cream for the tart/sweet combo. Luscious. A favorite.

              I do think he'd go for something so progressive if someone made a sound business case. A group of farmers/landholders might do very well to pursue such a thing.

              We don't have a hemp seed de-huller in the country either, so we'll be wanting an industrial one of those too.

              • greywarshark …
                13 July 2019 at 7:58 pm

                This is a clear case for another viable industry, perhaps we could slow down the dairy and diary for targets for hemp – a five year plan. Let's have some Chinese central planning, it seems to have done them good as far as economic progress is concerned.

  8. One Two 8
    13 July 2019 at 9:41 am

    LDL-C does not cause cardiovascular disease

    Introduction: For half a century, a high level of total cholesterol (TC) or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) has been considered to be the major cause of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD), and statin treatment has been widely promoted for cardiovascular prevention.

    However, there is an increasing understanding that the mechanisms are more complicated and that statin treatment, in particular when used as primary prevention, is of doubtful benefit.

    • WeTheBleeple 8.1
      13 July 2019 at 10:15 am

      Yay for me being stubborn and refusing the statins. Trying to contain my pie addiction and sweet tooth while awaiting further research…

      Seems they've been flogging 'sugar pills' again. Wonder how much was made after the dodgy studies.

      Possibly inflammation raising platelet counts… I'll stop already. Not a doctor…

  9. marty mars 9
    13 July 2019 at 9:45 am

    bernie gold

    I found this the other day – it sorta shows (in a funny way) why bernie won't get there – this is the truth of it – no big conspiracy. He is consistent, he is on message, he is who he is. lol

  10. phantom snowflake 10
    13 July 2019 at 9:49 am

    There's been a lot of talk lately about the Titirangi Village chicken infestation, but there's something important missing from the discussion. About a year ago I had a chat with the woman who feeds the chickens. (The one referred to by Andre as the "crazy duck lady".) She told me that she regularly arranges for chickens to be rehomed on a farm, but that the Titirangi population is maintained by regular dumping of chickens/roosters in the village by members of the public. Thus, a one-off removal of the entire chicken population will not solve the problem.

    • Rosemary McDonald 10.1
      13 July 2019 at 10:07 am

      …I had a chat with the woman who feeds the chickens.

      What?! You actually went and engaged with this person? You held a conversation with her? You found out from her information not as yet in the media? Oh, the horror!/sarc wink

      I was having a chuckle yesterday thinking how much easier it is going to be to round up these chooks if they are being regularly fed. Even better if this lady is catching and re homing them. "Crazy" indeed.

      If one has no problem with chooks becoming food, then there are no doubt lots of folk more than happy to take unwanted chooks of the hands of the dumpers. Or have we all become too precious to even think about folks killing their own chickens to eat?

      Onya phantom snowflake, and thanks for sharing that information.

    • WeTheBleeple 10.2
      13 July 2019 at 10:09 am

      That's more like it. Some truth to the matter rather than sneering contempt.

      The same occurs at Western Springs (Pet dumping). I view turtles in the lake, chooks all over the place, and if you go there on a moonlit night, rabbits and guinea pigs mowing the lawns.

      With a Zoo next door housing many carnivores, I can think of a sustainable solution…

      But the public would rather dump pets and have exterminators do the job, rather than think Fluffy has been eaten by a lion. As for the chook populations, some culling of the roosters (wherever dumped animals form flocks) would be an efficient way to keep numbers down. That and infrequent round-ups.

      The homeless cull some of them cheeky

      • phantom snowflake 10.2.1
        13 July 2019 at 10:37 am

        Rosemary & WtB: Similarly clichéd mental health-related slurs about the woman concerned are thrown about in the Titirangi community as are on this site, sadly. In person, what is most striking is her huge love and compassion towards chickens in particular, and I can't see why that's something to sneer at. In my view, when it comes to the chicken issue she is definitely a stakeholder, and I hope that the Waitakere Ranges local board will engage with and involve her as they seek a solution.

        • Cinny 10.2.1.1
          13 July 2019 at 11:01 am

          Apparently there will soon be an egg shortage, so the 'chicken lady' could have the last laugh as she may get the opportunity to charge top dollar for her rescued chickens eggs 🙂

          Now that would be a cool ending.

          • Jilly Bee 10.2.1.1.1
            13 July 2019 at 1:43 pm

            Very true Cinny. Mr Jilly Bee and I recently became the owners of a couple of scrawny looking Red Shaver hens – we went on an hour and a half drive to pick them up, and back again. After a comfortable night in their new home, there were a couple of eggs in the nest and they have continued to each lay regularly (the more scrawny one, who is just coming out of her moult, manages one every second day. We're getting about a dozen a week at present. All good, and they're weeding the gardens for us as well – including getting rid of the accursed violets, which had pretty much taken over everywhere. Looking to plant some goodies for them to feast on. I believe they like comfrey – we've fenced off the rhubarb as they had started to eat the leaves, which can are toxic.

      • Sacha 10.2.2
        13 July 2019 at 11:13 am

        Locals have engaged with this woman for many, many years. Her views are well known. Her behaviour is antisocial and if she were living in earlier times the village would have ousted her by now. She has earned any contempt people here are divining.

    • Andre 10.3
      13 July 2019 at 10:28 am

      First up, why I call her "crazy duck lady": she goes out of her way to create traffic hazards in front of her home. One time I was going down the hill in front of her home in my old-skool Landrover with a moderately loaded trailer on behind, and she marches out into the road from behind a flaxbush to shake a roadkill duck at me. She did it when I was way too close to have stopped even if I hadn't had the trailer on, so I had to swerve around her into the other lane.

      Her habit of feeding ducks at home means there's often ducks crossing the road where the road narrows, there's vegetation close to the road reducing visibility and the ducks have zero road sense so they will walk out directly in front of you so it can be difficult to avoid them, even if you're going unreasonably slow. The duck carnage on the road directly in front of her is all on her, not the drivers, yet by her behaviour she seems to have no comprehension of that.

      Then there's the health hazard and other nuisance she's creating for her neighbours by encouraging the massive concentration of ducks. There have been times I've gone past and the concrete of her driveway was literally completely covered in duck shit and ducks.

      When it comes to her and the chickens, I've seen her feeding the chickens numerous times. I have never seen her in any activity that even vaguely looked like trying to capture them for rehoming. Over the past few months, there have been many of the chickens in various stages of juvenile development (possibly a majority of the chickens). They are breeding prolifically, not just being dumped. And her regular feeding encourages that successful breeding.

      • WeTheBleeple 10.3.1
        13 July 2019 at 10:49 am

        While some of her activity might need to be curtailed, so does the lack of understanding.

        It is the Mast season allowing prolific rat breeding, a nationwide phenomenon in which Titirangi is no special case except they've found a scapegoat who has pissed a few people off by the sounds of things. The dumping of unwanted roosters and mast year is causing the prolific breeding of chooks. Clutch numbers rise as food availability rises, hence this is not such an issue in non-mast years, years this lady is still feeding the flocks.

        It would be good to seat this lady at the table with others and work through these issues. Creating a traffic hazard is not on, dismissing her as a kook is also not on.

        How we see things is not necessarily how others do. Context required, understanding required. For all stakeholders.

        • Andre 10.3.1.1
          13 July 2019 at 11:01 am

          The rats in the village have been knocked back to normal levels by a combination of poisoning and trapping. A few months ago I too had the worst rat and mouse problem I've ever had in my 19 years there (possibly not having any cats anymore contributed), but a solid campaign of poisoning and trapping has knocked them back around my place, too.

          Crazy duck lady's habits of feeding pest animals and creating traffic hazards are simply anti-social. Why should her foibles be accorded any more respect than those who have obnoxiously loud parties into the wee hours, or enjoy doing burnouts on public streets? As just a couple of examples of obnoxious anti-social behaviour that society curtails.

          • Ad 10.3.1.1.1
            13 July 2019 at 11:51 am

            The South Titirangi Environmental Network has got specials on the gas-fired rat traps. Mostly our cats get them, but on occasion it gets a mouse or two.

            • Andre 10.3.1.1.1.1
              13 July 2019 at 11:58 am

              My Timms trap dealt to the rats quite satisfactorally. But lately the local possums seem to be treating it as the signpost to their bonking tree directly above it. Bastards.

      • Rosemary McDonald 10.3.2
        13 July 2019 at 11:08 am

        Hell's teeth Andre. You're so overflowing with compassion and understanding for others in your community that I wonder what on Earth you are doing hanging around on a left wingish blog site.

        All of us with vision clear enough to see have people who are 'different' living in our communities.

        The real lefty trick is to not only to tolerate difference but to endeavor to understand the factors that make these individuals, well, different.

        • Sacha 10.3.2.1
          13 July 2019 at 11:18 am

          The bigger lefty challenge is knowing when to support the community when shared interests are threatened by individuals. The quirky underdog is not always in the right.

          • One Two 10.3.2.1.1
            13 July 2019 at 12:29 pm

            when shared interests are threatened by individuals….

            Threatened. Shared Interests.

            Not much of a community then, is it.

        • One Two 10.3.2.2
          13 July 2019 at 12:34 pm

          The intolerance is as palpable as it is unsurprising.

          Smears and insults indicate the levels of intolerance on display.

          Edit: Titirangi many decades ago, used to be a bush surrounded vibrant hub of all wonderful flavours and types of folks…some of them possibly still remain in the area…

          …But as the housing markets have gone up, the areas will have been overrun by the intolerant types who moved into those once eclectic bush suburbs in the Waitakere Rangers …

          Same as can be seen in other areas in that part of West Auckland….areas which families had generations of heritage…very few likely remain…

          • Rosemary McDonald 10.3.2.2.1
            13 July 2019 at 12:45 pm

            Don't you worry One Two, next time there's outrage at yet another 'clean up' of the indigent Out West, I'll be reminding 'em.

            https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11466807

            Perhaps if this lady is living with health issues the Waipareira Trust could reach out?

            • One Two 10.3.2.2.1.1
              13 July 2019 at 12:54 pm

              I mean who are these types…what actual benefit would those who use insults, bigoted smears against others inside their own community bring to that community with such intolerant traits…communities which they have only recently moved into no less…

              The language being used to describe the circumstances is symptomatic of the very real problems which all communities are facing…that being the hypocritical do-gooders …who are anything but….

              Why should her foibles be accorded any more respect than those who have obnoxiously loud parties into the wee hours, or enjoy doing burnouts on public streets? As just a couple of examples of obnoxious anti-social behaviour that society curtails.

              and

              Her views are well known. Her behaviour is antisocial and if she were living in earlier times the village would have ousted her by now. She has earned any contempt people here are divining.

              What in the absolute f***

          • Incognito 10.3.2.2.2
            13 July 2019 at 12:52 pm

            That’s a colourful picture you’re painting there, in B & W or is it shades of pink?

          • greywarshark 10.3.2.2.3
            13 July 2019 at 8:05 pm

            One Two back in your favourite role of acting as Lord High Announcer of Correctness and Rightness and negativity.

      • Cinny 10.3.3
        13 July 2019 at 11:15 am

        She sounds like a hard case. That's the shitty thing with poultry, the sloppy poo.

        Go to any park/Queens gardens in NZ with a pond and it's sloppy poo city, just like the ladies drive way. Part of the parcel and all that.

        Maybe you could make her a ducks crossing sign. Actually you might be able to pick one up at a garden centre or Farmlands etc. We've one up at the commune in a certain location on the driveway. Lolz there are places I do not walk in bare feet up there even in the summer due to poultry poo, it's always runny lmao. Peacocks are the worst, that's super sized runny shit that stuff.

        Re the breeding…. too many roosters huh? Roosters can be eaten, the trick is once you've caught them, to lock them up in the coup for about a week, then they aren't using their muscles as much tearing around the place, helps to tenderise the meat as such, then off with their heads and let the plucking begin.

        Are people just giving up on keeping chooks and dumping them at Titirangi? Must be super annoying for the locals. WTB is correct in suggesting to seat the lady at the table with others to form a plan.

        • Sacha 10.3.3.1
          13 July 2019 at 11:20 am

          What do you think Greg and the other local leaders have been doing for years?

          • greywarshark 10.3.3.1.1
            13 July 2019 at 11:35 am

            Why respond sourly to an informative thought-through comment from Cinny? I see you taking potshots quite often Sacha. Doesn't add anything to the discussion.

        • Andre 10.3.3.2
          13 July 2019 at 11:24 am

          There used to be at least one homeless guy apparently living in one of the bush patches currently over-infested with chickens. But I haven't seen any of them since what used to be a carpark right next to the bush patch became a construction zone. Maybe he/they had something to do with controlling the chicken population…

          • Cinny 10.3.3.2.1
            13 July 2019 at 11:32 am

            Wouldn't that be ironic 🙂 There's a rest stop up the valley that seems to be a popular place for rooster dumping. Friends have been gathering up the roosters when they see them.

            Maybe it's as innocent as a child wanting a chicken and to hatch it from an egg and then hello it's a rooster. I know in the suburban areas of our district that people aren't allowed to keep roosters. So maybe the most sympathetic way they think to get rid of them is to drop them off at a lush looking rural area, like Titirangi. And then it literally all turns to shite.

            • Rosemary McDonald 10.3.3.2.1.1
              13 July 2019 at 11:43 am

              And then it literally all turns to shite.

              An intelligent and resourceful person might see that shite as the most awesomest fertiliser for one's crops.

              Pause on the way past and leap out with one's shovel and load up that trailer. Kill two birds with one stone. So to speak.

              • Cinny …
                13 July 2019 at 12:12 pm

                Good thinking Batman 🙂 There's the silver lining, love that type of thinking Rosemary heart

        • Andre 10.3.3.3
          13 July 2019 at 11:48 am

          Oh, and as far as a duck crossing sign, there's proper official duck signs at the correct distance going both ways. They got put in a few years ago.

          I'll speculate it was the result of a deal the council made with her to stop her lining up and displaying roadkill on the side of the road encroaching into where buses need to use the full width. Or even occasionally hanging roadkill ducks (guts hanging out and all) from trees on the side of the road.

          • Cinny 10.3.3.3.1
            13 July 2019 at 12:10 pm

            Dang… ok now I can feel the frustration.

            • WeTheBleeple 10.3.3.3.1.1
              13 July 2019 at 3:43 pm

              Got a couple of neighbors I'll trade for the duck lady. Specifically the gang members who like to intimidate other neighbors. While they don't mess with me I've had to call them off their treatment of others a couple of times. That's anti-social. Eccentricity is different.

              In a perfect world that lady would be working at an aviary, or a free range farm.

              • Andre …
                13 July 2019 at 3:54 pm

                Well, Peter "Pedro" Cleven was just a couple of driveways down from my place for years, and he was less of a worry than someone attracting pest animals to that house and feeding them would have been.

      • greywarshark 10.3.4
        13 July 2019 at 11:49 am

        She may have always been eccentric, or she may have dementia. There are more people with dementia than ever before living amongst us.

        They cannot be reasoned with, their remaining strength of mind is focussed on their own drives. Soon every second person will have a slightly mad old person living near them. Get used to it.

        We oldies are living longer, and those of us with a desire to be living all the time they are alive, would also like to be able to decide when we realise it is time to arrange our affairs and pass away otherwise it will only be medical intervention that keeps us going at cost to the state, and great emotional cost to our families or carers.

        I've got a mildly demented old being just behind me. We disagreed about something, and he got an axe and chopped it down. My friend has one who constantly stares out of the windows opposite to my friend's house, sometimes apparently kneeling on the floor to peek. The woman has accused her and neighbours of stealing things from her garden. It is unpleasant and annoying and the delusions from the mentally incapacitated take many forms. This woman's one is feeding the dear birds, without consideration for the dear people affected. Watch out you people working for the environment, for signs that you or fellow advocates, don't become as narrowly focussed and then have bad faith to ordinary humans, ignoring the needs of people suffering and without help and consideration. I'm already hearing people comment scornfully, almost with hate, about people having children – they are 'breeding' and are to be despised as (bloody) irresponsible.

  11. greywarshark 11
    13 July 2019 at 11:32 am

    I wrote a comment the othr day on the spread of retirement villages and who might own them.

    There was a recent news item about some owners finding that they are required to pay an extra $100 a week they hadn't realised they were liable for. Apparently the small print is extensive. Perhaps it is as bad as that coming with your cellphone.

    https://www.cffc.org.nz/news-and-media/news/cffc-demands-greater-clarity-from-retirement-village-operators/

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/394199/retirees-paying-up-to-100-a-day-in-surprise-care-fees-report

    http://www.sharechat.co.nz/article/aec06adf/retirement-village-watchdog-calls-for-clarity-on-rules-costs.html

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/69112545/

    Now there is a piece from the latest Nelson Mail about Australian experience headed Care residents abandoned.

    This source info from the Brisbane Times that I found quickly online.

    https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/retirement-home-ransacked-by-disgruntled-contractors-residents-abandoned-20190712-p526lq.html

    Federal Aged Care and Senior Australians Minister Senator Richard Colbeck thanked Queensland Health, local emergency services and the staff members who took care of residents.

    "It appears that this incident arose from a contractual dispute between the approved aged care provider and a sub-contractor who was providing administrative, nursing, catering and other support services," he said.

    "It appears that the sub-contractor, without notice, withdrew all services and proceeded to remove equipment from site, leaving the facility unsuitable for residents to occupy.

    Government response:

    "I will be using the full suite of resources available to investigate the circumstances of this matter and I have issued instructions to that effect to my department last night.

    That's if they don't contract out of doing anything responsible for their citizens. I wonder how Oz people will feel as they become aware that their government cares as little for them, as the citizens do for the refugees held on island penitentiary hellholes, shades of French penal colony Devil's Island and Papillon.

    A petty criminal, Papillon is wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in a French penal colony in 'Guiane' (French Guiana, South America).

    Papillon (1973) – Plot Summary – IMDb

  12. Morrissey 12
    13 July 2019 at 11:41 am

    "I'm pretty sure our text machine is going to get very BUSY with this choice." Yadana Saw nervously transgresses the fatwa against Michael Jackson. Music 101, RNZ National, Saturday 29 June 2019, 4:10 p.m.

    Over many years, RNZ National has played host to some of the most heinous people imaginable. Kim Hill has provided an open platform for liars and propagandists such as the odious hatchet-man Alex Gibney [1] and the discredited Grauniad hacks Luke Harding and Jonathan Freedman. [2] Jesse Mulligan last year gave the war criminal Alistair Campbell half an hour—uninterrupted by any troubling questions like "Why did you expose Dr. Kelly?" or "How do you sleep at night?"—to talk about his incessantly self-advertised "battle with depression." Jim Mora and his producer sat schtum one day as that malevolent old sod Michael Bassett croaked, ludicrously, that Nicky Hager was "a holocaust-denier." Noelle McCarthy conducted a fawning interview with a former U.S. Navy SEAL, nodding along vacantly as he enthused: "Everybody wanted a piece of Grenada!" [3]

    As I type this out, Kim Hill is interviewing the "Australian academic and media artist" Mitch Goodwin about "the history and cultural significance" of David Bowie's pop song "Space Oddity."

    KIM HILL: Bowie, I mean he KNEW what he was talking about didn't he.

    MITCH GOODWIN: He did, he was one of the cultural commentators of our time…. zeitgeist…. The space race and the Cold War, I mean Bowie saw both of those. et cetera.

    Kim Hill knows as well as anyone that Bowie was notorious for preying on young, under-age girls. I wonder if she'd be so unabashed in her admiration for him if he was a black American instead of a white Englishman with a Home Counties accent; four years ago, she and the chatty "theatre-maker" Stella Duffy were in carnival mode as they enthusiastically expressed their support for the Key government's refusal to let black U.S. rapper Chris Brown into New Zealand. [4]

    This peculiar and highly selective corporate "morality" at RNZ National reached its nadir two weeks ago, when the grimly chirpy Music 101 host Yadana Saw became very nervous about playing a song by that monster Michael Jackson….

    The Mixtape: Ardijah. As Ardijah celebrates 40 years of making music, lead singer Betty-Anne Monga reflects on her life of waiata and whānau for the RNZ Mixtape.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018701828

    YADANA SAW: [brightly and chirpily] Kia ora koutou, this is the RNZ Music Mixtape, with me-e-e-e, Yadana SAW, and joining us as the selector for THIS episode of the Mixtape is Ardijah's Betty-Anne Monga. Kia ora ehoa!

    BETTY-ANNE MONGA: Kia ora, Yadana.

    YADANA SAW: Aaaaaahhh, it's SO LOVELY to have you as our Mixtape selector this, um, this afternoon, ahhhh…..

    ….. and so on. Betty-Anne Monga had many interesting things to say about living in Otara, singing in a band while still at school, and the music business. The talk was interspersed with musical selections, including Ardijah's cover of the Phoebe Snow hit "Every Night" and Freddy Fender's "Before the Next Teardrop Falls." Then she told Yadana Saw that she left school to join the band—"I ran away from home," she laughed.

    YADANA SAW: [carefully, delicately] All right, well let's get to your—speaking of CONTROVERSY, this one sounds quite controversial for a, y' know, a YOUNG WOMAN to be doing that in those times, in South Auckland, um, I hope you don't mind me saying that your NEXT song is a LITTLE bit of a controversial CHOICE, a-a-a-a-and….

    BETTY-ANNE MONGA: Hmmmmm.

    YADANA SAW: I'm really interested why you were brave enough to be choosing a MICHAEL JACKSON track—

    BETTY-ANNE MONGA: Oh, okay.

    YADANA SAW: — at this time.

    BETTY-ANNE MONGA: Well, you know, for me, once I joined the band and I was able to buy music, you know, that I quite loved, Michael Jackson, yeah he was the—I think I only purchased that album. That was about it, but everything else has been— hmmm, it's the era. That song there and that album is quite influential for me, anyway.

    YADANA SAW: Betty-Anne, the—w-w-what will happen is that, I'm pretty sure our text machine is going to get very BUSY with this choice.

    BETTY-ANNE MONGA: Hmmmm.

    YADANA SAW: [very delicately, nervously] What would you SAY to-o-o-o listeners, and to our audience, who may say "We CAN'T listen to this music any more"?

    BETTY-ANNE MONGA: Yeah. Well you know I think that's everybody's prerogative, you know, and I respect that, and I think it is about people making that choice for themselves. You know what, and honestly, Yadana, I didn't even think. I was looking at the music, the journey, you know, that I've walked, and that I know that other people have as well. But bringing it, discussing it, and talking about it now, um, yeah, I can't really, gosh, you know, but people have their—it's freedom of speech. And share it, you know, so we can see where others are coming from, and how they feel about it. It's okay to talk about it.

    YADANA SAW: Uh, thank you, Betty-Anne! Umm, fro-o-o-om the album Off the Wall, this is Michael Jackson's "Rock With You."

    …. Cue three minutes of music from the Devil Incarnate, according to Yadana Saw and no doubt the chatty "theatre-maker" and scourge of Chris Brown, Stella Duffy. *

    YADANA SAW: That's "Rock With You" by Michael Jackson, from the album Off the Wall, the choice of Betty-Anne Monga from Ardijah, who's our Mixtape selector today-y-y-y.

    et cetera….

    [1] https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-hatchet-man-speaks-alex-gibney.html

    [2] https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/04/freedland-uncritically-interviewed-by.html

    [3] https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/noelle-mccarthy-interviews-ex-navy-seal.html

    [4] https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/who-is-more-violent-and-despicable.html

    • greywarshark 12.1
      13 July 2019 at 11:57 am

      Bloody hell Morrissey. I can't stand saints. Or are you a whited sepulchure that is going to find fault with all those we know and appreciate and be the one to triumphantly show them up? I think this is a terrible burden for you and will warp your life. Certainly you are beginning to warp mine.

      • Morrissey 12.1.1
        13 July 2019 at 12:00 pm

        I don't claim to be a saint, Mr Shark. The people closest to claiming such status are the likes of Stella Duffy and Yadana Saw, with their highly selective emphasis on the crimes of black singers —-of course the crimes are totally unproven in the case of Michael Jackson, but that hasn’t stopped the likes of Ms. Saw from expressing her disdain and disapproval.

        Quite the contrast with the treatment of David Bowie.

        • veutoviper 12.1.1.1
          13 July 2019 at 12:12 pm

          Are you suggesting that Yadana is being (gulp) racist?

          • Morrissey 12.1.1.1.1
            13 July 2019 at 12:28 pm

            No, I'm not. And neither is Kim Hill. But they and others in the media lack the courage to speak out against or refuse to accept these informal and unwritten kinds of groupthink. It's interesting, and disturbing, to see how readily people will join in with an ostracism or a denunciation as long as it has the imprimatur of a few opinion gauges such as —God help us— Grauniad or BBC “journalists.” We've seen—or heard— how ostensibly decent people can be led into laughing at the suffering of a prisoner, and expressing contempt for him in the manner of Red Guards in 1960s China.

            https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/an-unusually-inane-and-depraved-edition.html

            That fear of standing up to the prevailing political climate is what leads to such otherwise inexplicable phenomena as Kim Hill's willingly providing an uncritical audience to the most ridiculous and obscene conspiracy theories as peddled by the likes of Alex Gibney and Luke Harding.

            That fear of falling out of favour with the mob is the reason that Yadana Saw was so nervous when she brought up the subject of Michael Jackson and made that ludicrous comment about "our audience, who may say 'We CAN'T listen to this music any more'."

            • veutoviper 12.1.1.1.1.1
              13 July 2019 at 2:20 pm

              I am pleased that you don’t consider either Kim or Yadana racists, because your first comment was a bit ambiguous.

              Moving on to what you have said in your reply about Yadana Saw, I laughed.

              While you are obviously entitled to your opinion, your claim that “fear of falling out of favour with the mob” is so off the mark in relation to Yadana; and I therefore assume that you possibly know very little about her (other than as a RNZ Music 101 host), her ethnicity, her background as an activist, and that of her older whanau.

              Although part pakeha,Yadana is in fact one of a very small community of Burmese here in Wellington. As well as being known for her activism and leadership in saving a well loved Crossways Community Creche a couple of years ago, she is now on the Board of Trustees of my own first primary school Newtown School, well known for its multiculturalism and leadership in the local community – and is apparently doing a very good job in that role.(Note – she is young enough to be a daughter or probably a granddaughter of mine!)

              More than that, however, she is also known for being active in standing up for human/civil rights in Myammar. While 12 years ago now, Yadana was organizer and MC of a Vigil for Burma back in 2007 which saw a very big turnout in Wellington from a wide range of the community and political leaders.

              http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0710/S00082.htm

              This activism is very much in her blood, as she is the granddaughter of one of Wellington’s most loved restauranteurs, “Aunty Mabel” who ran Wellington’s only Burmese restaurant the “Monsoon” for many years after arriving in NZ in 1976. Aunty Mabel was well known for her outspokenness and support of refugees and others of all ethnicities.

              Even better known however, was Mabel’s older brother, Bill Maung. Bill (Yadana’s great uncle, a former judge and high level political figure in Burma) arrived in NZ as a political exile in 1967; and went on to become a political force in his own right – known for standing up to Muldoon, becoming a good friend of James K Baxter, and going on to be a friend and very active supporter and mentor to Rei Harris and Black Power.

              For many years, Bill was a well known figure and friend to many in the Southern suburbs of Wellington, including me. He was also a good friend of Bruce Stewart (founder), and active supporter and member of my local marae, Tapu Te Ranga Marae (which sadly burnt down a couple of weeks ago). The work Bill Maung did over many years through the marae and Black Power in relation to Maori men and gangs is immeasurable, despite the difference in ethnicities, religious beliefs etc. .

              So, with that family background, Yadana afraid “of falling out of favour of the mob” or “lacking the courage to speak out”– No way!!!!!!! LOL.

              —————————————————————————–

              Here is an interview in 2014 with Yadana where she goes into more detail (mainly in the second half).

              https://bsidestories.org/2014/05/09/yadana-saw-holding-onto-independent-childcare-and-being-a-burmese-kiwi/

              Bill Maung:

              https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-dominion-post/20110611/282153582892373

              https://www.nzedge.com/magazine/kia-pakeke-ahau/

              • Incognito …
                13 July 2019 at 2:29 pm

                heart

              • Sacha …
                13 July 2019 at 3:23 pm

                Thank you. What an interesting background.

              • Morrissey …
                13 July 2019 at 7:55 pm

                Thanks for that very interesting info, Viper. I had guessed she was Burmese, going by her surname, but I had no idea she was related to the legendary Bill Maung.

                I don't agree with you, however, that her ethnicity or her activism means that she is not susceptible to the very real pressure of hivemind syndrome. She had no good reason to make those ridiculous comments about Betty-Anne Monga being "brave" in choosing that song by Michael Jackson, and her fanciful, entirely unjustified suggestion about the thinking of "our audience, who may say 'We CAN'T listen to this music any more'."

                I'm sure that Yadana Saw has devoted practically no time at all to following the fantastical and spectacularly unsuccessful attempted takedown of Jackson by James Safechuck and Wade Robson; what she does know, however, is that many of the chattering set in Wellington have made their minds up that he must have been guilty, and she's decided not to swim against the tide.

        • greywarshark 12.1.1.2
          13 July 2019 at 4:09 pm

          Why are we so fixated on everything USA. As if we don't have much to talk about at home and in Oz. Up the USA, they have more citizens than we have and more furores in the news therefore. But I am concerned about NZ and what is going on with us. You sound Irish Morrissey, have you always lived in NZ, or did you come from another country and remained pulled between the two, lost at sea virtually.

  13. beewee 13
    13 July 2019 at 11:51 am

    Looks like democratic eating their own Pelosi now is also a racist ( ouch) which is simply what you are if you don’t agree with anybody to your left, no matter how left you maybe

    • WeTheBleeple 14.1
      13 July 2019 at 4:24 pm

      Quite the dishonest post there.

      Tuhoe have been investigating – and have developed – a natural non-toxic road sealer.



      That video comes with the article.

      Meanwhile, the locals are having conniptions with regards to not getting their road sealed. Some have business that would benefit, and are not prepared to wait, or are afraid funding will vanish.

      So there's concern on both sides. One trying to do it right, the others wanting to just get on with it. Both understandable.

      We've tried business models of just get on with it to the detriment of the environment forever. It's made the whole planet untenable run the way it is. This new road seal could open an entire new (global) industry for the region. The same region Tuhoe detractors say is only good for tourism, and that they're 'wrecking it'.

    • mauī 14.2
      13 July 2019 at 6:47 pm

      I thought kiwis didn't want their parks overrun by tourists and freedom campers? Here we have Tuhoe leading the way, limiting numbers. Thank god someone is doing it, and building green roads to boot, amazing! Or are you happier with green washing BS like charging a tourist levy…

      Sux to be the white minority who can’t blindly reap profits from Te Urewera I guess. lol

  15. Morrissey 15
    13 July 2019 at 12:46 pm

    Their constant smears and attacks on Corbyn don't seem to be working

    Britain Elects
    @britainelects
    · 5h
    Westminster voting intention:

    LAB: 29% (+3)
    CON: 23% (-1)
    BREX: 20% (-)
    LDEM: 19% (-)
    GRN: 3% (-2)

    via @Survation, 10 – 11 Jul
    Chgs. w/ 20 Jun

    • Ad 15.1
      13 July 2019 at 2:34 pm

      Corbyn did a massive policy shift on Brexit and managed to pull precisely 0% off the Libdems.

      • Sanctuary 15.1.1
        13 July 2019 at 5:30 pm

        Do yourself a favour and buy a dictionary and look up "plurality".

      • Morrissey 15.1.2
        13 July 2019 at 8:15 pm

        Brexit could well see the end of Corbyn as well as many other British politicians. However, the main point here is that the infernal machinations of old Yenta Hodge, Tom Watson, and the rest of the Blairite rump have had virtually no effect on the voters. The Blairites think that the British people are stupid; they're not, and they can recognize crude political smearing when they see it. Clearly no one with an I.Q. above room temperature believes a word that comes from the mouth of Yenta Hodge and her cronies.

  16. Sacha 16
    13 July 2019 at 1:15 pm

    Wellington needs more roads! – Nat party local election offshoot reckon they're onto a winner: https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/114209468/rightwing-wellington-party-to-contest-council-elections

  17. adam 17
    13 July 2019 at 1:50 pm

    Nice deconstruction of conspiracy theories – worth your 7 and a half minutes.



  18. Andre 18
    13 July 2019 at 2:14 pm

    Degrees of separation creepiness. It seems one of Epstein's first jobs was teaching at a private school in New York, headmastered by a Donald Barr, whose son is the ultimate overseer of Epstein's prosecution, William Barr …

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jeffrey-epstein-math-science-students-memories_n_5d28cf17e4b0060b11ebf987

  19. Herodotus 19
    13 July 2019 at 3:39 pm

    Just as well the attack was on Christianity and Jewish faiths otherwise some would be asking for a lot more than as mild a response as you can possibly make.

    “That was not my intention and I unreservedly apologise. " so what is Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman apologising for. So we can make offensive statements but not have that intention and it is OK ??

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/114200033/new-zealand-jewish-council-accuses-green-party-mp-of-antisemitism

    I will wait for the lack of response and most peoples credibility will also go into the void of principle.

    • WeTheBleeple 19.1
      13 July 2019 at 3:50 pm

      Faux outrage!

      Cry me a river.

      • Herodotus 19.1.1
        13 July 2019 at 4:21 pm

        Buy a plant so that you will be doing some good to the plant, and you can tell the world, because just occupying a space does nothing for anyone.

        • WeTheBleeple 19.1.1.1
          13 July 2019 at 4:39 pm

          They're arguing about the pedigree of a fictional character.

          Definitely we should be outraged. They fight wars over these lies.

          Make yourself useful: a case with evidence Jesus actually even existed.

          Take a read of the Gospels. Matthew and Luke plagiarise Mark. Mark and John contradict each other…

          And the bible is pretty much it for 'evidence'.

          Yet now, even questioning the origin of this persona is an insult. Where's the evidence for any of it? Palestinian or Jewish. Where is it?

          • Herodotus 19.1.1.1.1
            13 July 2019 at 5:02 pm

            But as you know SOOOOO much I shouldn't have to direct you.

            The Antiquities, Josephus for one, even the Koran has references.

            Yes questioning is because that then goes against the link between the old and new testaments.

            I am yet to see anything from you that is proactive, Just all negative. I hope it makes you feel worth something and gives you some self worth.

            • WeTheBleeple 19.1.1.1.1.1
              13 July 2019 at 5:36 pm

              The Quran was written about 600 years later so has zero eye witnesses to the 'prophet not God or son of God' [according to the Quran] portrayed as Jesus.

              "although some scholars had in the past supported the Slavonic Josephus, to my knowledge no one today believes that they contain anything of value for Jesus research"

              Chilton, Bruce; Evans, C.A. (1998). Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research.

              Iterations of iterations. Chinese whispers by believers over centuries.

              • Herodotus …
                13 July 2019 at 6:21 pm

                Ok then what are your thoughts of an MP mis representing religion and history to further her own agenda ?

                And when it was pointed out her errors that her comments were offensive, gives what some could consider the bird ? and what contrite has been displayed ?

                • greywarshark …
                  13 July 2019 at 7:53 pm

                  Please God don't let them fight over whether you exist from their puny position on earth. If someone tried to believe in someone good and lasting over centuries, and in general that person also tries to be good inspired by the belief, then please don't start trying to unpick the belief either of you.

                  • Herodotus …
                    13 July 2019 at 8:12 pm

                    Well GG and I both agree that Jesus existed, WTB goes off tangent (and takes me with them) diverting from the issue. Making a statement and then making the IMO the worst form of apology and The Green's leadership also seem to fail that what was commented on is wrong and Both The Greens Leadership and GG should have appreciated that for some how offensive such a comment is.

                    apology lacks accountability when you focus on how the other person feels instead of what you did.

                    • solkta …
                      13 July 2019 at 8:26 pm

                      It really is a silly discussion, everybody knows that Jesus was Anglo-Celtic.

                    • greywarshark …
                      13 July 2019 at 9:08 pm

                      Edit:
                      Why do you have to fight about your religion. It is important to you but Christianity is about bringing peace surely.
                      It seems that the Jewish spokesperson has a set approach which gets wheeled out. She said that the woman said that Jesus was not Jewish. Actually she made the point that Mary and Joseph were refugees (in their own land). They were escaping Herod weren’t they!

                      What about arguing for others being treated badly in NZ – about getting things better for people. Argue for people rather than dogma.

                      I've just been reading this. It is possible you already advocate for people having a rough time. If so please do more – there is such a need.

                      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/114190512/im-doing-my-best-but-work-and-incomes-support-is-practically-nonexistent

                      …I'm now 37, and I've been on and off the benefit since I was 18. I've done odd jobs, but they mostly haven't lasted long either because the role was temporary or I didn't fit in with the other workers….

                      When my parents died suddenly in 2010, I got no empathy from Work and Income. In fact, they told me to let it go and move on just two weeks after it happened, and kept threatening to cut my benefit.

                      READ MORE:
                      * No new clothes, no haircuts, no fresh veg – the harsh reality of being a working poor mum
                      * My illnesses make it hard to live – WINZ makes it impossible
                      * Treated like a criminal for being on a benefit

                      They did end up cutting it for two weeks, which left me eating beans and rice or nothing. That was traumatising and hurtful.

                      Cut to 2019, I recently asked if they would be able to help me pay for a course I wanted to do, because it didn't fit in with Studylink funding and didn't qualify for the training allowance. They refused to help me. This course could have got me an internship and a paid job in a position I would love, and be happy to do every day. They wouldn't even loan me the money.

                • WeTheBleeple …
                  13 July 2019 at 9:30 pm

                  Some people think Jesus was an Alien. Is that anti-semitic too?

                  The only agenda here is you pushing the Gharaman-bad bandwagon.

                  Really, look at the issue; there is no issue – except people stirring it up.

                  Those poor victims.

                  Jesus was an Albanian punk rocker.

    • Morrissey 19.2
      13 July 2019 at 8:09 pm

      Even for the muddled and discredited NZJC, that was a moronic press release. The NZJC does not speak for Jewish people of New Zealand; it is an extreme right, racist organization that promulgates hatred and supports apartheid. The fact you quote that discredited organization is not at all helpful to your reputation, my befuddled friend.

      18.) The so-called “friends of Israel”, who support Israel automatically and blindly: this has nothing to do with friendship. They are enemies of Israel—they corrupt us. The Jewish establishment in Australia kept saying to me: “Israel right or wrong.” Well, Israel is wrong and they need to stop supporting it. Continuous support by Western governments and by the Jewish establishment is anything BUT friendship.

      —- Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, speaking in Auckland, Dec. 3, 2017

      https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2017/12/soon-even-notion-that-israel-is.html

      • Adrian Thornton 19.2.1
        13 July 2019 at 11:29 pm

        "The fact you quote that discredited organization is not at all helpful to your reputation, my befuddled friend."

        Great line.

        • Herodotus 19.2.1.1
          14 July 2019 at 11:58 am

          That GG was placed in the naughty corner by her leaders, gave an apology and directed to work closer with the Jewish community doesn’t say much about how others have viewed her actions. Perhaps some within the greens are attempting to hold to their principles.

          Funny how those who espouse tolerance are sometimes found lacking 😉

  20. The Chairman 20
    13 July 2019 at 3:55 pm

    The new Christchurch City Council chief executive's $495,000 pay packet trumps that of Prime Minister.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/114189193/christchurch-city-council-chief-executives-salary-just-higher-than-pms

    As most ratepayers oppose these profuse salaries, how do councils continually get away with paying out so much?

    • greywarshark 20.1
      13 July 2019 at 7:54 pm

      Good question The Chairman. What are your reckons?

      • The Chairman 20.1.1
        13 July 2019 at 9:39 pm

        Grey, ponder this. If you walked down town and asked people who their local council CEO is, most wouldn't even know, let alone know what they are paid. More could probably name the contestants on the Block. And that is most likely a big part of the problem.

        Most are looking the other way and it becomes like taking candy off a baby.

        • The Chairman 20.1.2.1
          14 July 2019 at 11:15 am

          Is The Chair agitating for cheaper local government?

          In this instance, I'm questioning profuse CEO salaries.

          The new CEO is from the United Kingdom and her new pay is $100,000 more than the £210,000 ($NZ397,000) she earns in her current role as chief executive of Birmingham City Council – despite the British city being more than twice the size of Christchurch (see link above).

          • Drowsy M. Kram 20.1.2.1.1
            14 July 2019 at 11:49 am

            Local government organisations aim to provide public services and facilities at or below cost – they're not in the business of making a profit.

            "Chief executives at New Zealand's biggest companies got a 2.2 per cent pay rise last year, taking their average earnings to $1,755,352 in the 2017 financial year."

            "While CEO earnings increases were modest compared to some previous years, 38 of the 50 chief executives in the survey still received more than $1 million in remuneration, and their average was 55 times the median annual income Kiwis received in that year, recorded at $31,928, according to Statistics NZ."

            https://www.nzherald.co.nz/personal-finance/news/article.cfm?c_id=12&objectid=12134854

            Some of those 'private' companies have been bailed out by the NZ taxpayer, and some receive generous corporate welfare so that they may continue to return a dividend to their shareholders.

            But by all means take a pot shot at local government – it’s your “lefty” choice.

            • The Chairman 20.1.2.1.1.1
              14 July 2019 at 12:02 pm

              It's not only local Government where CEO salaries are profuse, but unlike the private sector, the public have far more say. But they don't seem to be using their power to slow down these outrageous salaries. A sustained media campaign is required.

              Do you support the new CEO salary? If not, why have a go at me?

              • Drowsy M. Kram …
                14 July 2019 at 12:58 pm

                If you consider that new CEO's salary to be "outrageous", then you must have been ‘positively’ apoplectic about Speiring's $8,000,000+ renumeration package, for all the good he did!

                Could you use Givealittle to fund your "sustained media campaign"?

                "Since 1989 New Zealand has witnessed a gradual reduction in the number of locally elected positions." [see table & figure on page 7]

                https://www.lgnz.co.nz/assets/21be72b868/Elections-Fact-sheet-19.pdf

                "The Taxpayers’ Union, in collaboration with Fairfax Media, this morning launched "Ratepayers’ Report" hosted by Stuff.co.nz."

                "For the first time, New Zealanders now have an interactive online tool to compare their local council to those of the rest of the country. Go to http://www.ratepayersreport.nz/ to compare your local council including average rates, debt per ratepayer and even CEO salaries."

                • The Chairman …
                  14 July 2019 at 1:25 pm

                  Could you use Givealittle to fund your "sustained media campaign"?

                  Alternatively, the fourth estate could just do their job and hold power to account.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    14 July 2019 at 1:46 pm

                    Good point about the media holding power to account – been making that point long, have you?

                    I absolutely agree that the lot of most NZers would improve gradually if Labour turned (more) left, but given MMP (which I support), keeping National (aren't they just stinkers) out requires continued broad public support. Bridges is doing a fine job in that regard.

                    If, in changing tack, Labour fails to take enough voters with them, then it's back to asset sales, setting up public services for failure and privatisation, tax cuts for the wealthy (actually that'll be first, just like last time), GST increases, inequality increases, flags, tax havens, etc. etc.

  21. greywarshark 21
    13 July 2019 at 4:44 pm

    This report on Matata, Bay of Plenty and its residents, many elderly, being shunted around by an inept local Council displays that small Councils are out of their depth in trying to get their heads around climate change and its effects. It is full and factual by Nikki Macdonald on Stuff and is another example of Stuff doing a great job of informing us about our country's challenges and triumphs.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/114151717/mismanaged-retreat-the-lifelimiting-limbo-of-matats-red-zone

    It shows graphically how remiss our Local Government central body is. They should have seen this coming because they have seen for decades central government withdrawing from responsibility and local govt is still noting that there is more being pushed on them, more expectations. Years ago Local Government should have had square-table meetings laying the problems on the table and the consequent costs and difficulties.

    Without that careful thinking their Council has misled Matata people after one weather event to invest their insurance money back into their homes and land, only to tell them to shift and offer them inadequate money for their homes which will be abandoned.

    It's time for government to consult with Councils and people affected, set up a system that enables a coastal retreat, and erects shelters for emergencies and a fund must be set up to provide for alternative housing.

    Forethought of some sort by voters, not to keep electing a Party whose leader was willing to play the clown to amuse the hoi polloi would have given us three years extra to start facing such problems, part of our dire future. But no, why shift yourself when you aren't forced to. Others can go and jump. And many Councils seem to have caught the same Rip-van-Winkle sleeping sickness.

    Listen to MP Eugenie Sage saying little Westland will have to pick up all its own rubbish, yet it is known that it needs to be done quickly now before the historic spring rain. Of course that might not happen, because of disruptive climate change, but as the saying goes about being flummoxed, 'Expect the unexpected, but remember you can't count on it'.

    Can some wealthy triad put their money in and buy them out? The wealthy have had a go at banner businesses that traditionally have been bought by the kingpins of finance, eg Bill Gates bought into a Canadian railway. But Stuff is there and presumably still for sale. It's not a big building that you can put your name on, but Murdoch made his name with newspapers and anyone who had a desire to own a newspaper that runs well and supports the country and both sides of Parliament, would be a god to many of us. All our wealthy can't be warped lightweights morally?

  22. Sacha 22
    13 July 2019 at 6:31 pm

    Faithful stenographer Stacy Kirk returns with a briefing from the Nats election campaign prep in Australia: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114171219/still-fatigued-from-the-last-election-gird-your-loins-for-2020–parties-deep-in-planning

  23. CHCoff 23
    13 July 2019 at 6:47 pm

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-jobs-vonderleyen-explainer/explainer-von-der-leyens-rocky-path-to-confirmation-as-eu-commission-chief-idUSKCN1U71M3

    Would have thought that the democratic processes of the collected representatives of the directly elected E.U. govt. nations, would take precedent over that of the E.U. elecs

    &

    that the results of the E.U. elecs. would take precedent over those in national parliaments in the arrangements of rewarded working majorities to those proportions.

    Would seem like the basic win win default convenant of all pro E.U. vote reps. to their support bases, that would carry the best guarantee of getting a good shake of the stick at some point.

  24. David Mac 24
    13 July 2019 at 8:17 pm

    I’ve been thinking about the left and their plight.

    For me, being left is pretty simple, it’s people vs money and things.

    We all like money and things, lefties place people at the top.

    A standard contributor recently posted the observation that 2 of us have as much wealth as 1.5 million of us.

    It’s an imbalance that can’t be conducive to the betterment of New Zealand. Rich and poor alike can only predict calamity ahead.

    I think the inevitable rise of the left will not come from stomping our feet and demanding houses, food grants and dollars. It will come from stomping our feet and demanding humanity. "Hello my friend"

  25. David Mac 25
    13 July 2019 at 8:47 pm

    He Tangata He Tangata He Tangata

  26. greywarshark 26
    13 July 2019 at 9:46 pm

    Can someone tell me if you can make two submissions on a bill. I have made one myself but would also like to sign Forest and Bird's for the Zero Carbon Bill. It's not like a vote is it. I have put in a different submission than Forst and Bird with different points in each.

  27. Eco Maori 27
    14 July 2019 at 6:27 pm

    Kia ora Newshub.

    Thanks to national for the Tsunami of homeless people. Eco Maori just about end up in a motel but I didn't want to put up with all the actors the sandfly's throw at me .

    A black out in New York wow that must have been fun .

    It's cool to see all the people enjoying All the beautiful sight that Aotearoa has to offer like hump ridge track I have a awesome view were I'm going to build.

    There you go Whanau these puppets are using the Orange tamariki problems like they used the forshaw and sea bed issue to try and discredit our government that treats Maori and the poor common tangata better than the last lot wake up you puppets .

    Ka kite ano

  28. Eco Maori 28
    14 July 2019 at 6:47 pm

    Kia ora Te Ao Maori news.

    I don't think that Google te reo will be that accurate in translating te reo as the dialects are different for each Iwi.

    Bullshit any person with a brain know don't go to war unless you are going to win. taniana last war you lost the forshaw and seabed and gave national the power to stuff up Maori and the poor people for NINE YEARS FOOL you will cause more harm to tangata whenua that good if there actions let national back in power .Ngati Porou own our sea bed right.

    Awesome to see Maori getting into online video gaming that is the industry to chase it ten times the revenue of Hollywood. Ka kite ano

  29. Eco maori 29
    15 July 2019 at 5:33 am

    Its was quite windy on the ranges

    A "perfect storm" of earthquakes and high winds triggered Mt Ruapehu's eruption alarms on Sunday.

    The mountain's Eruption Detection System (EDS) was activated after a cluster of earthquakes near Turangi, north of Mt Ruapehu, and strong wind gusts.

    GeoNet reported 20 small earthquakes near Turangi on Sunday morning, ranging from magnitude 4 to 2.2.

    "Nature is testing the Ski Area eruption alarms on Mt Ruapehu this morning," a post on the ski area's Facebook page explained

    Ka kite ano link below.

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/114233236/mt-ruapehu-eruption-alarms-triggered-by-earthquakes-and-wind-gusts

  30. Eco Maori 30
    15 July 2019 at 6:29 pm

    Kia ora Newshub.

    It was a exciting day for Papatuanuku Cricket Lloyd.

    Our Blackcaps Stars did Aotearoa fine even with the final results.

    Banks is just a national puppet . national are desperate for a win in any political seen.

    trump is just showing his true colors.

    It is cool that China is going to help save the Godwit bird . China is going to preserve some mud flats in the yellow sea were the Goodwit stop halfway on there yearly migration ka Pai.

    Ka kite ano

  31. Eco Maori 31
    15 July 2019 at 6:46 pm

    Kia ora Te Ao Maori News.

    It's cool our government is going to change some system in Whanau Ora to consult with the Whanau more .

    Those people and culture that are in Oranga tamariki are the same ones that the national party you back so you need to stand up and take responsibility for YOUR Actions Tainana .

    It cool to see plastic being recycled to in Aotearoa and seeing it being turned in New products.

    Eco Maori is a birdwatcher they are such beautiful creature.

    It's awesome that our government is going to put money into normalising Te reo in Aotearoa society you should see heads turn when I say ki Ora in A shop .

    Ka kite ano

  32. Eco maori 32
    16 July 2019 at 10:50 am

    Some Eco Maori music for the minute.

    https://youtu.be/hlfQVvsNLFk

    These Hawksbay sandflys must have a bee in their bonnet I see heaps of marked cop cars in my travels around the place

  33. Eco maori 33
    16 July 2019 at 2:31 pm

    Some Eco Maori music for the minute.

    https://youtu.be/h4DFXUndvbw

  34. Eco maori 34
    17 July 2019 at 9:46 am

    Some Eco Maori music for the minute.
    https://youtu.be/mOFvJVroAJE
    Eco Maori story keeps getting Reka it will be worth heaps thanks

  35. Eco maori 35
    17 July 2019 at 10:28 am

    Awesome to see a Wahine elected as European union commission President. Congratulations Ursula

    Ursula von der Leyen has been confirmed as the European commission’s first female president and the first German in the job for more than 50 years.

    In a secret ballot, MEPs voted narrowly to support the German defence minister as a replacement for Jean-Claude Juncker when he steps down on 31 October She won the support of 383 MEPs, nine votes more than required to secure an absolute majority but below the 400 threshold that would have given her a stable majority to get her policies through parliament over the next five years

    Ka kite ano link below.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/16/ursula-von-der-leyen-elected-first-female-european-commission-president

  36. Eco maori 36
    17 July 2019 at 1:55 pm

    Eco Maori tau toko supports Equality for Wahine equality for all. KIA KAHA stay strong all Wahine championing this cause

    This is a huge problem with charity's all the money doesn't make it to the cause. Its burned up by administration and other things .

    Only 1% of gender equality funding is going to women’s organisations – why?

    There’s been a $1bn boost in support in the last two years, but only tiny pots of money are trickling down to feminist groups

    In the past two years alone, governments and international institutions have announced more than $1bn (£0.8bn) in new commitments to support gender equality globally.

    These include: €500m (£440m) for the European Union and UN’s joint Spotlight Initiative, €120m by France for its feminist foreign policy and $114m by Norway to end sexual and gender-based violence in conflicts. Canada has announced CAD$490m (£290m) towards three programmes: women’s leadership($150m), the LGBTQ2 Fund ($40m), and the Equality Fund ($300m). This fund was among the nearly $600m committed to women and girls in June at the Women Deliver conference.

    Ka kite ano link below.

    https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jul/02/gender-equality-support-1bn-boost-how-to-spend-it