Open mike 13/09/2015

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 13th, 2015 - 30 comments
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30 comments on “Open mike 13/09/2015 ”

  1. Tony Veitch 1

    Well done Jeremy!

    The response of our own Labour Party will be very interesting to behold.

    There can be no doubt that there is a great underground swell of desire for a new way of doing things – of making democracy functional again, of taking power from the financial elites and returning it to the people. This can be felt in New Zealand as well as in the UK and the USA.

    But where is the Jeremy Corbyn or the Bernie Sanders in our own political system? God knows, we have need of one!

    But, the future, for all that, has just got a little less dark and depressing!

  2. Wairua 2

    Memo to the psychology profession:

    Julius Caesar used to think positive

    .. until he got turned into sashimi.

  3. swordfish 3

    I’d say for many it’s been a revelation.

    This whole UK Labour Leadership contest has shone a very harsh light not only on the smug, arrogant, born-to-rule New Labour Grandees, gruesomely paraded before the public (“the end is nigh !!!!, the end is nigh !!!!”) by a highly complicit media, but also their equally vile enablers, the cheerleaders, the bottom-feeders in the MSM, academia and the fringes of the Westminster Bubble.

    The contempt and outright aggression shown towards Corbyn and his burgeoning support-base from these ruthlessly-ambitious Courtiers on the fringes of power is truly something to behold.

    At the moment they appear to be torn between (1) going on the offensive and spitting a never-ending stream of venom at these impudent outsiders, (2) retreating into a kind of morose shell-shock, and (3) clutching their pearls in high alarm as, right in front of their very eyes, the great unwashed, the riff-raff, the young, the previously alienated, the ordinary members of the public outside of their cosy little establishment circle usurp all the power and privilege they’ve come to believe is rightfully theirs.

    The sheer arrogance of these people is perhaps exemplified by a tweet from pol sci Professor Tim Bale (the BBC’s favourite strictly-independent post-election analyst) immediately after Corbyn’s win was announced.
    “Question for Labour moderates: better to roll Corbyn after 2017 locals or let him go all the way to 2020 so lesson is truly learned “

    Ahhhh, always pleasant to see the intellectual integrity of our strictly-impartial academics, holding those in power to account.
    Now, I like Tim, he was my former lecturer in pol sci during his years in NZ. But he was always a Blairite with a visceral disdain for Labour’s Left and this tweet just highlights the utter contempt the Blairite/Brownite establishment and their intellectual enablers have for democracy. It’s all about their power and control.

    And, of course, precisely the same sort of ruthless contempt (at times bordering on the unhinged) emanating from NZ’s wannabe Blairites like Phil Quin.

    • Muttonbird 3.1

      Ah yes, Phil Quin. He must be even more depressed than usual this morning.

      • Anne 3.1.1

        Thank goodness neither Quin nor Josie Pagani – or Matthew Hooton – are on the Q+A panel this morning. Can you imagine It? Howling and sobbing on each other’s shoulders. In those immortal words from Dad’s Army:

        We’re doooomed everybody…. we’re doooomed!

    • Morrissey 3.2

      Our own media are just as on-message with the disparaging remarks. First thing intoned by National Radio’s Warwick Burke on the 8 o’clock news this morning was: “Mr Corbyn is an admirer of Karl Marx.”

  4. b waghorn 4

    http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/71995098/Red-Peak-flag-design-strikingly-similar-to-North-Carolina-engineering-firm-logo
    There’s a poll at the bottom and while I voted for my favored red/blue fern n stars flag ,red peak is leading at the moment.

    • Muttonbird 4.1

      I bet those emails Peak Engineering received were all from Blinglish.

      • b waghorn 4.1.1

        No doubt it will be someone from the other side causing mischief .
        Have to say the peak is growing on me now so will have to have a rethink if it gets added to the mix.

    • Clemgeopin 4.2

      The Koru has the least votes: 1%.
      Therefore, for those that feel this has been a manipulated, unasked-for stunt by John Key, and to those who wish to retain the current flag for now, a good strategy would be to select only one option, this Koru (hypnoflag), in the first referendum (make a a valid vote), and select the current flag in the second referendum. I am thinking of doing that, rather than making an informal vote in the 1st ref by ticking 0,0,0,0. Not sure which is the better option. What do you think?

      Poll result
      ——–
      Which new flag option would you vote for?
      ——–
      I don’t like any of those new options
      (3970 Votes) 9%
      ——–
      Silver fern (black & white) (938 Votes) 2%
      ——–
      Black and blue with silver fern and Southern Cross (5035 Votes) 11%
      ——–
      Red and blue with silver fern and Southern Cross (3600 Votes) 8%
      ——–
      Koru (599 Votes) 1%
      ——–
      Red Peak (19430 Votes) 44%
      ——–
      Stick with the current flag (10977 Votes) 25%
      ——–

      • b waghorn 4.2.1

        Looking at those stats keys shafted any way.
        70% either want no change or want a flag that isn’t in it, ad to that the fact that if the one people do vote for isn’t in the second referendum they will, like me vote to keep the old one ,keys on a hiding to nothing.
        As the flags just I side show in my view.Its almost worth 26 mill to see the shit head eat humble pie.

        • Clemgeopin 4.2.1.1

          ‘In the end’, at the ‘end of the day’, he may ‘awcktully’ not care much at all and ‘on one level’, may be ‘comfortable’ with the result, whatever it may be, because, I suspect, he set up this whole un-asked -for flag referendum stunt, dreamed up by Crosby Textor, as a cunning distraction for the masses from the government’s RW rogue agenda and the unleashing of their pro-wealthy, anti-poor social and economic evil policies.

          • b waghorn 4.2.1.1.1

            Maybe I’m naive but IMO this flag ,like the convention center is key stroking his ego no more no less.
            Most people arnt paying enough attention or like me struggle to get there heads around all the other agendas they are running so they don’t need an expensive diversion.

  5. RedLogix 5

    Here is an interesting read. I have to say I’ve sat on the fence on this issue for a long time. But this has brought me down off it:

    Like many, Hari believed the prevailing wisdom that drugs contain powerful chemical hooks which inevitably lead to dependency.

    The theory came from early 20th-century experiments in which caged rats were given two water bottles – one with water and the other laced with heroin or cocaine. Invariably the rats preferred the drugged water and would compulsively go back until they overdosed and died.

    But Hari questioned the chemical hooks theory, wondering why hospital patients who are routinely given high-dose medical heroin for pain relief simply stop upon discharge, with very few going on to develop addiction.

    He found the answer in a 1970s Canadian experiment called Rat Park. This time instead of being left in sparse cages the rats were offered clean or drugged water in a caged playground of coloured balls, wheels, playmates and abundant food. They showed little interest in the drugged water and none became addicted.

    “It’s not the chemical that’s your cage. The overwhelming reason for addiction is the pain and isolation the individual feels. The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It’s human connection,” Hari said.

    Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/chasing-the-scream-author-johann-hari-explains-why-we-cant-win-the-war-on-ice-20150911-gjkqjt.html#ixzz3lZ42de1s

    • weka 5.1

      That’s pretty much my understanding (although some drugs do have actual physiological pathways that are addictive too). It’s also the basis of most addiction recovery that I’ve come across – you have to deal with the context the drug was taken in as well as the physical addiction.

  6. Morrissey 6

    Why we need Jeremy Corbyn—and President Bernie Sanders

    Corbyn has condemned the Labour Government’s complicity in the crimes that have led to the refugee crisis in Europe. Senator Bernie Sanders is another leader with the courage to tell the truth. Soon, maybe there’ll be a positive addendum to such grim items as the following….

    Noam Chomsky – The Crimes of U.S. Presidents

  7. rawshark-yeshe 7

    A few years old, but Michael Moore’s film on how we are here with corporatocracy is brillantly done ..

    • aerobubble 7.1

      Rat poison sales rise if you get rats, there is therefore an incentive in the market for someone who sells rat poison to breed rats. Similarly spray paint aerosols to minors. Or car noise to increase sleep deprivation and so increase retail sales (unwary sleep deprive are more likely to be influenced to buy crap).

      Capitalism centered around growth for growth sake and deregulation,like councils lowering noise; or failing to stepping in to deal to rat plague, or pass on cost of gaffitti to hardware stores etc. Will inevitable screw the ecology of the planet up.

      Regulation that passes the externalities back to the producers is essential for a sustainable future. If you don’t inform and regulate the real cost back on the producer then we are all going to lose. Rich and poor alike.

      So please tell Hamilton council to have a zero noise overnight policy, part of the reason for obesity is food retail pushing sugar, fat and salt due to sleep deprived customers. I would not be surprised that there was a correlation between the lapsed noise standards and the cheapest food supermarkets in the area.

    • Dialey 7.2

      Thanks for posting this. Good to see again, especially now with what has happened in NZ since Key took power.
      Health and safety in the workplace – I wonder how many of our companies have insurance on the death of their employees.
      The popularity of Corbyn and Sanders might just finally be the waking up of the sleeping giant the 1%ers have managed to keep in chains for so long.

    • Clemgeopin 7.3

      @ rawshark-yeshe.
      My goodness! What a great documentary. Very educative and such an eye opener. I have seen about half so far. Will continue a little later.
      EVERY one should see it. Seriously. Thanks for the link.

  8. millsy 8

    Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders treat people like they are citizens, and not target markets.

    And the right should take note: their Corbyn’s and Sanders’ are waiting in the wings as well.

    Politics will not be the same. The bland beigeness of the past 20-30 years is on its way out.

  9. Draco T Bastard 9

    Remember this?

    The mother of a toddler whose death has been blamed in part on the poor condition of the family’s state house says she repeatedly asked Housing New Zealand to fix their family’s cold, damp home before her two-year-old daughter got sick and died.

    Remember all that National said about it being the tenants and Labour’s fault? Well:

    Despite claims that Housing NZ has “the money is there to be spent on the maintenance” – the facts prove otherwise. Housing NZ’s own statement condemns two ministers and the Prime Minister as manipulative liars;

    “To mitigate this overspend, we deliberately reduced the planned maintenance programme, which decreased the percentage of maintenance spend on planned activity.”

    Yep, the truth came out – HNZ hasn’t been doing the maintenance required because this government has been pulling out huge dividends to pay for the tax cuts that they gave to the rich.

    We, quite simply, have a set of murderers for government.

  10. The Chairman 10

    Does anybody else receive this message (below) when trying to view Labour’s website?

    Your connection is not private.

    Attackers may be trying to steal your your information from campaign.labour.org.nz (for example passwords, messages or credit cards).

    • Ron 10.1

      Nope but I guess if you look at top of page when you get the error message it will have a url of https: with the https crossed out. I think it is just telling you that if you were after an ssl connection the site does not have such a connection

      • The Chairman 10.1.1

        Thanks, Ron. Yes, it seems to be a browser problem. Quick fix, using alternative browser – works fine now.

      • lprent 10.1.2

        What it means is that something in the keychain for the SSL certificate is untrusted OR that the certificate is SHA1 which is being deprecated on an accelerated schedule.

        Most likely the latter, but possibly any certificate in the chain that is still on SHA1.

        https://support.servertastic.com/deprecation-of-sha1-and-moving-to-sha2/

        Early 2015 – Chrome 41: Sites with end-entity certificates that expire between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2016 (inclusive), and which include a SHA1-based signature as part of the certificate chain, will be treated as “secure, but with minor errors”.

        Sites with end-entity certificates that expire on or after 1 January 2017, and which include a SHA1-based signature as part of the certificate chain, will be treated as “affirmatively insecure”. Subresources from such domain will be treated as “active mixed content”. The current visual display for “affirmatively insecure” is a lock with a red X, and a red strike-through text treatment in the URL scheme.

        I came up with the same problem a few months ago when I tested the SSL on this site.

        In this case it appears that Cloudflare has implemented some enforced deprecation?

  11. Ron 11

    For those interested in Television I can recommend Channel 4 UK new programme called Hunted. Its premise is a number of people are told to live off grid for 28 days and a team of security experts try to locate them using modern technology such ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) and using the large number of Video cameras scattered through out UK. The ability of software to identify people in a crowd by facial or even by their style of walking is amazing.
    It is becoming very hard for anyone to completely disappear.

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