Open mike 13/10/09

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 13th, 2009 - 33 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

mike

We’re trying a daily “Open mike”.

This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you…

33 comments on “Open mike 13/10/09 ”

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  1. Razorlight 1
    13 October 2009 at 7:12 am

    Discuss [Fixed link — r0b]

    • BLiP 1.1
      13 October 2009 at 7:18 am

      The link is as effective as National Ltd®.

      • Razorlight 1.1.1
        13 October 2009 at 7:22 am

        The link does not appear to work so I will paste one line from it that really surprises me after reading this blog every day.

        The Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating is at 155.5 (up 12.5 points and the highest recorded) with 72% (up 4.5%) of New Zealanders saying New Zealand is ‘heading in the right direction’ compared to 16.5% (down 8%) that say New Zealand is ‘heading in the wrong direction.’

        • Herman Poole 1.1.1.1
          13 October 2009 at 8:11 am

          National 57.5% up 6%
          Labour 28% down 5.5%
          Greens 6.5% down 1%

          Government 61.5% up 5.5%
          Opposition 38.5% down 5.5%

          Wasn’t there supposed to be a new trend that began last month? Where did it go?

          • So Bored 1.1.1.1.1
            13 October 2009 at 12:32 pm

            How very interesting, great commentary on us as a nation. If this is correct it would indicate to me that our tolerance levels for corruption and abuse of power are very high. Without pointing out the obvious (eg that National do not have a monopoly on untoward behavoir) the current governments sleaze and graft meter is running at a rate atleast 9 times as high as the previous administration. In one year they have managed what Labour managed in 9. But of course that doesnt matter if you have the best soundclip even if he doesnt know or do anything.

            • gobsmacked 1.1.1.1.1.1
              13 October 2009 at 12:48 pm

              There’s another story in the polls, which has been overlooked.

              Key said he would (in effect) ignore the smacking referendum, and then said he wouldn’t support Boscawen’s smacking bill.

              Cue much noise from the usual suspects, and … no noise at all from the general public. No surge in support for ACT, or any other protest party on the right. We’ve now had several polls since the referendum, and the message is clear: “John Key, how dare you, I’ll show you, um, I’m voting National anyway”.

              Smacking – all heat, no depth. The issue is dead.

              Good.

            • Herman Poole 1.1.1.1.1.2
              13 October 2009 at 1:27 pm

              So Bored,

              I think the result suggests that the electorate disagrees with your analysis.

              We are very tolerant of our governments and are willing to give them a fair go, as shown by the last lot lasting 9 years. But so far there is no indication that the majority of people have swallowed your line of attack.

              Note to Phil and Russell: must try harder

    • r0b 1.2
      13 October 2009 at 8:24 am

      I conclude that the polls are all over the place at the moment. Discuss:

      Curia’s September 2009 public polls newsletter is out. … As one can see the gap closed considerably in September between National and Labour.

      • Tim Ellis 1.2.1
        13 October 2009 at 12:03 pm

        r0b I don’t think that’s an accurate statement. Curia’s public polls newsletter is not a poll. It is a summary of all the main public polls published in the previous month. The only poll published in September was the Roy Morgan poll, which showed a closing of the gap. This was the same poll that some writers here at the Standard crowed about showing a trend. The most recent poll published last night from Roy Morgan tends to suggest that it wasn’t a trend.

        It doesn’t look like evidence that the “polls are all over the place at the moment”.

  2. BLiP 2
    13 October 2009 at 7:14 am

    There are one billion hungry people on Earth. The western world sends a rocket to the moon, complete with a Twitter from the bomb.

    What a clever bunch we are.

    • So Bored 2.1
      13 October 2009 at 7:56 am

      Well said BLiP, it is really amazing how most bloggers on political sites left or right refuse to leave their paradigms and see the world as it really is and is going to be. Basically the message is check every assumption you have because there may be (and really are) several large elephants in the room.

      Its all a bit like the Hitchhikers Guides SEP (somebody elses problem) something so obviously in front of you but not comprehensible so your mind just ignores it and pretends it is not there. Now lets think, population growth, environmental destruction, energy depletion etc etc

    • outofbed 2.2
      13 October 2009 at 8:36 am

      Ah but there is some sort of conjecture that the moon is made of cheese. Hence the rocket. If we could just find some way of getting back… No more hungry people

    • felix 2.3
      13 October 2009 at 8:54 am

      Whitey On The Moon indeed.

    • ieuan 2.4
      13 October 2009 at 9:00 am

      And if we didn’t send that rocket to the moon would these one billion people suddenly not be hungry?

      There are many reasons there are poor and starving people on planet earth and none of them have anything to do with the money that is spent on space exploration.

      If you want to point fingers start with;
      *overpopulation
      *corrupt governments
      *money wasted on military conflicts
      *droughts & disease

      • felix 2.4.1
        13 October 2009 at 9:06 am

        And if we didn’t send that rocket to the moon would these one billion people suddenly not be hungry?

        If the resources used were instead used to provide food for them then yes, of course.

        • Draco T Bastard 2.4.1.1
          13 October 2009 at 2:16 pm

          I suspect that the resources used for the moon shot would produce very little food.

      • rainman 2.4.2
        13 October 2009 at 10:30 am

        Sure, I’m happy to start with overpopulation and military conflicts. Did you have any solutions in mind for these issues?

  3. Lanthanide 3
    13 October 2009 at 9:56 am

    On National radio this morning they were saying that the date for ACC fully funding is going to be put back to 2019, as well as raises in levies and cuts in entitlements.

    How does this gel with this comment from yesterday’s article on ACC:

    “Now, it is going to be harder to complete the move to being fully funded by 2014, which is the Government’s target, without increases to levies. Pretty simple solution to that, push back the date. Labour was going to move the date back to 2019 and the Government has just announced it will adopt that idea. Take ten years to move to fully funded rather than doing it in five. It makes no real difference except there’s no need for big levy hikes.”

    It is implying that all we have to do is put the date back to 2019 and all the problems are solved, yet the government is going to do that *as well* as raise levies and cut entitlements? Why should they need to do that, if pushing back the date to 2019 is enough in itself, in your estimation?

    If your answer is “they’re doing it to build mistrust in the public in ACC”, then you’re saying ACC doesn’t actually need the money and that in a few years time ACC is going to have more extra money than it needs, and the levies in the future will therefore go down due to overfunding at present. If ACC does indeed actually need this extra money, how do you reconcile this with your position that “ACC is fine”?

  4. ieuan 4
    13 October 2009 at 10:12 am

    It’s very sad that little Aisling was found dead in a drain.

    But where does that leave Marty G and his post ‘Shame on TVNZ’?
    ‘When it is discovered that Aisling hasn’t ‘fallen in a hole’ as Webbers claims,TVNZ should cancel her show and stop helping rip-off merchants like her profiteer from others’ misery. I know it won’t happen though’.

    Of course Deb Webber was just making an educated guess but Marty G painted himself into a bit of a corner on this one.

    • gobsmacked 4.1
      13 October 2009 at 11:43 am

      My extraordinary psychic powers tell me that Ieuan is talking rubbish.

      They also tell me that later, he will reply to this comment.

    • The Voice of Reason 4.2
      13 October 2009 at 11:52 am

      Webber is a scammer. The most likely possibility was always that the poor kiddie had indeed ‘fallen in a hole’ so it didn’t take much psychic ability to come up with that. The usual response of these crooks is to say ‘look near water’ because that is also a dead set certainty. We are all, dead or alive, near water in one form or another.

      Webber, and the TVNZ fool who suggested using her, should be charged with wasting Police time. Or tarred and feathered if it would make for a more entertaining news item.

      • Tim Ellis 4.2.1
        13 October 2009 at 12:05 pm

        I agree TVOR. “falling into a hole” can mean all manner of things. In my view it was a major lapse of judgement for TVNZ to give this woman airtime.

        • The Voice of Reason 4.2.1.1
          13 October 2009 at 1:18 pm

          Cheers, Tim (and welcome back to the only site that matters!)

          What pisses me off about these con artists is the false hopes they raise in their victims. To exploit grief in this way is reprehensible and it’s not entertainment, it’s fraud and emotional blackmail disguised as a plausible belief in some sort of afterlife. I don’t think religion is much better, either, but at least the Pope has never claimed to be able to divine the location of the missing and taken money for lying about it.

          • Pascal's bookie 4.2.1.1.1
            13 October 2009 at 1:25 pm

            “but at least the Pope has never claimed to be able to divine the location of the missing and taken money for lying about it.”

            Hmm. They used to take money from folks on their death beds, to give them time off purgatory. Does that count?

            • The Voice of Reason 4.2.1.1.1.1
              13 October 2009 at 2:25 pm

              Yeah, that probably does count, PB and if I can deal to my own comment, I guess the bible does make a big deal about the body of an executed carpenter disappearing from a hole in the ground, so I suppose the Pope has indeed made money out of it.

              By way of penance, I’ll give myself three hail mary’s and a damn good thrashing.

            • travellerev 4.2.1.1.1.2
              13 October 2009 at 5:56 pm

              Oh, and you should really read the sex lives of the popes to get the whole picture. Makes taking money for time of purgatory positively pathetic.

              Hilarious and well documented. You’ll never look at the Catholic clergy the same way again.

  5. travellerev 5
    13 October 2009 at 10:32 am

    I have tried honestly, but this is just so tempting.

    On November 21th Richard Gage AIA will be making his presentation about the questions he has with regards to the freefall collapse of the three WTC buildings on 911. He will do so in the Sounding theatre at the Papa in Wellington. From 2.00 pm – 6.00 pm in the afternoon.

    Richard Gage AIA is the founder of Architects and Engineers for a new and independent investigation of the events that took place on 9/11.
    He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and a specialist in the design of steel framed buildings.

    I urge all of you, especially the sceptics to come and hear what he has to say. There will also be ample time to ask questions and confront Richard Gage with your doubt about what he is stating.

    In other words your chance to debunk his story.

    We are still awaiting if Prof Jones will be able to make it too.
    Prof. Jones is a retired Physics professor who is one of the founding members of scholars for a new and independent investigation of the events of 9/11.

    He works together with a group of international scientists: chemists,Physicists Nano specialists and laboratories from around the world who has\ve proven that unexploded particles of Nano thermite and high amounts of molton iron spheres (Signature of exploded Nano thermite) were present in the dust of the three towers which collapsed that day.

    However Richard Gage will present the photo material and the chemical rapports as part of his presentation if Prof Jones can’t be with us.

    So for all of you who want to know more this is a real chance to meet with some of the foremost 911 activists.

    Captcha: coming

  6. travellerev 6
    13 October 2009 at 10:34 am

    Is the subject censured now or was this just a fluke?

  7. Killinginthenameof 7
    13 October 2009 at 5:53 pm

    Any one else have a bit of a laugh at the symbolism of Redbaiter’s latest fetish over at Kiwiblog. Apparently the Chinese government is spending every cent it gets on building nuclear submarines. Submarines you know, they are out there, I swear, everywhere, you just can’t see them, cause they are under the water… (out there somewhere, you just cant see them, a bit like the reds under his bed)