Open mike 14/09/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 14th, 2024 - 33 comments
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33 comments on “Open mike 14/09/2024 ”

  1. Sanctuary 1

    First lady Laura Loomer?

    • Ad 1.1

      Bringing a 9/11 conspirator to a 9/11 memorial is a move.

      Cabinet Homeland Security post?

    • Anne 1.2

      A matter of time before she becomes Laura Loony.

    • joe90 1.3

      The press would be apoplectic if Harris was traipsing around the country canoodling with a party operative younger than her children while her husband was in California.

  2. ianmac 2

    Bernard Hickey sure knows his stuff. The actions of this Government in rejecting Treasury advice regarding Debt has killed off so much for so many.

    Using blunt instruments and magical thinking to ignore evidence of harm

    A Saturday soliloquoy on how the new Govt’s laser-like focus on debt reduction and use of blunt instruments and magical thinking is wreaking havoc in hospitals, schools & the economy.

    • The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to reduce net public debt to an arbitrary range of 20%-40% of GDP and could instead borrow up to $80 billion in coming years to create an investment pipeline to grow productivity………

    Don't know how to link to the whole post as it is an email to members.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 2.1

      $80 BILLION?!!!

      We got a big dump of budget documents this week, from Treasury and other departments, with all of the advice they gave the government in the three or four months before the release of the budget on May the 30th. In it, we learnt a bunch of things, including that the government’s story, about the books being in a mess and having no choice but to cut spending, was out of line with what Treasury was actually telling it. And that the government’s decision, to set a new 20-to-40% net debt target range, was actually not in agreement with what Treasury was saying about what a prudent level of net debt was – it was saying 50% was about right, and the difference between around 30% and around 50% is about 80 billion dollars…

  3. Anne 3

    Aussie Malcom. Wouldn't be surprised . Never liked him back then. An arrogant b….

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350414745/former-national-party-minister-accused-historical-child-sex-abuse

    • Jilly Bee 3.1

      A disturbing read – what a horrible person he allegedly was. Of course nothing in NZ Herald – but if it was a Labour, Green or Te Pati Maori ex MP. . . need I say more.

      • David 3.1.1

        Malcom passed away a few days ago. My understanding, these allegations became public yesterday. It is not surprising other news agencies have no mention of the allegations. Most people have a sense of decency in these situations. Any form of abuse is bad enough without being sullied for political purposes.

        • Anne 3.1.1.1

          Trying to sully the story with an accusation of "political purposes" is pathetic. And for the record its up on the RNZ site and also the Herald. No doubt it is also appearing on the other news agency sites.

          The victims have had to live with what was done to them for 30 to 40 years. In the case of some of them at the least it would have ruined their lives. Yet what you are inferring is they have no right to have the alleged perpetrator's name made public – something that would have likely occurred had it gone through the court system.

          • David 3.1.1.1.1

            Time and place Anne, time and place…

            Malcom was MP 40 years ago, but lost his seat in 1984. He passed away only a few days ago.

            The media reporting on the allegations against him will be due to his death and presumably name suppression lapsing.

            It could be argued that Malcom was a thorn in Muldoon's side and he helped bring an end to Muldoon’s tenure as PM. Malcom was one of the more socially liberal politicians, certainly ahead of his time for a traditional national party MP.

            I know little of the allegations against the man. However I have felt and lived with the effects of abuse for all my life.

            Two things I know to be true.

            1st, perpetrators of abuse come from all walks of life, all sides of the political spectrum.

            2nd, should your abuser be involved in politics, the apparatchiks will do anything to smear your name, with no concern for morality, or for what is right.

            You have a political axe to grind, which is fair enough, we all do to a greater or lesser extent. However your writing contained a certain distasteful glee, the passing of Malcom, a former national party MP and cabinet minister, had been under investigation for historic abuse of young men.

            You only care about abuse when the perpetrators are identified as being your political opponents, victims of crime and abuse are for political point scoring, nothing more, nothing less.

            That is what I meant by distasteful.

            • Drowsy M. Kram 3.1.1.1.1.1

              Former National Party minister Anthony 'Aussie' Malcolm accused of historical child sex abuse [14 Sept 2024]

              "He was a really big personality, and he impacted positively hundreds of lives through immigration, through his work with refugees, there will be a lot of people whose lives he will have touched…

              But Stuff can reveal Malcolm was the subject of multiple complaints of historical child sexual abuse, which police were investigating at the time of his death.

              It's understood the investigation was launched as a result of matters raised during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.

              "The tōtara has fallen" – too soon for some, not soon enough for others.

              Poor man likely had his demons, and fostered more – RiP, you poor man.

              "I cannot take away your pain, but I can tell you this: you are heard, and you are believed. I say to the survivors, the burden is no longer yours to carry alone. The state is now standing here beside you, accountable and ready to take action." – Luxon

            • Anne 3.1.1.1.1.2

              Your judgements on my intentions, and my supposed lack of empathy and understanding disgusts me almost beyond words. You are an ignorant fool. The man in question is dead and buried – so to speak. Yes, the circumstances will be very difficult for his family but the victims take precedence. They have lived with the awful shame for decades.

              I have been in their predicament – although not quite in the same way but just as distressing – so I think I have an understanding of how the victims are feeling. They will have suffered an enormous blow with the death of the alleged perpetrator. They will know there only hope now of full closure will be to go public and tell their stories. Be prepared for those stories because it will start happening very soon.

              Will you apologise? I doubt you have it in you.

              • David

                Sorry who should I apologise to?

                Certainly not to any victims of abuse, especially those who are linked to Malcom. You are the one who is attempting to make political capital from their experience of abuse, not me.

                That feeling of disgust you have, is indignation, you’re acting appallingly, most grown adults would know this.

                There are people involved with politics who would never speak for the victims of abuse. The only concerns will be, is the perpetrator from our side, if not, can we make political capital from it? This is what many people will find distasteful about politics, regrettably all political parties have the bottom feeders, those on the left are just as bad as those on the right. But back to the (alleged) victims of Malcom. This is their story to tell in their own time, not yours. I’ve been in their shoes, I will keep my advice quiet, but for this. It only makes the trauma worse when others get involved in order to further their own agenda.

                As for the victims having precedence, we know that is a lie, they don’t. It all depends on who is the victim and who is the perpetrator, who can make political capital, and who can look virtuous.

            • tWig 3.1.1.1.1.3

              It IS important to continue this after his death, as there may be more people he abused as children who haven't yet come forward. Even knowing that they were not the only ones can help. Just because he's dies, doesn't stop the harm he did.

              • David

                Well of course certain investigations will continue even after Malcoms death, as usually happens in these circumstances when a PEP is involved.

    • Obtrectator 3.2

      No time for him at all. Helped kill off Skybus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skybus_(Aqua_Avia) (invoking legalistic measures while making no secret at all of his intentions), and as Immigration Minister granted visas for the 1981 Springboks. "Goodnight Aussie."

    • A friend of ours was at Dilworth. He told my partner once that Aussie Malcolm was his rugby coach. I wonder if the two things are connected?

  4. Barfly 4

    Uuuugh. Bought stuff from Trade Depot what a stuff around…

    Get text saying will deliver friday stay home all day …nothing

    Get text Satuday saying they were unable to deliver please reschedule

    Phone them – speak to an an asian lady with faux american accent (not in nz) oh they were to busy they will deliver today. Uugh I'm not optimistic. Third party contracting what a pain in the arse.

    • Kay 4.1

      At least you weren't speaking to someone in Asia with a faux Aussie accent who answered my call to Qantas. She had no idea where Wellington was, and very surprised to learn it's the capital of NZ…

    • Bought a few things from there 6 years ago. Not been back since and never will.

  5. Muttonbird 5

    Why do some articles not have a byline? Some articles have no attribution and so are written by no-one. Or perhaps by ChatGPT? Or, maybe they are written by someone who wants to remain anonymous, someone who is probably not a reporter, someone who wants to make promotional or publicity material look like a news article, someone in a government agency or in the office of a minister?

    Here's one, with quotes and everything, explaining how safe NZ's drinking water will soon be, but the identity of the author remains a mystery…

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/527970/half-a-million-people-on-track-for-safer-drinking-water-by-end-of-year

    I'm surprised RNZ does not have a policy of bylining all published material so readers know from where it was motivated.

    Everyone might like to watch out for this to see if there's a pattern.

  6. Joe90 6

    Ouch

    @dieworkwear

    These things still exist. In London, there are over 50 gentlemen's clubs. There's over that number across the United States. But "return to the past" trad accounts don't know about them because they are not part of the socio-economic class that's allowed into these clubs

    @Bocc_accio

    we must bring back the Gentlemen Only Clubs of the 1960s, where men can sit together and set the world to rights.

    https://x.com/Bocc_accio/status/1829558889396002935

    https://x.com/dieworkwear/status/1834748031222374448

  7. joe90 7

    The world is riddled with maggots, the maggots are getting fat

    They're making a tasty meal of all the bosses and bureaucrats

    They're taking over the boardrooms and they're fat and full of pride

    And they all came out of the woodwork on the day the Nazi died

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