Open Mike 14/02/2017

34 comments on “Open Mike 14/02/2017 ”

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1. Morrissey 1

   14 February 2017 at 7:54 am

   “Larry’s making his Ahmed Zaoui face!”
   Filthy bigotry and naked hatred continues to rage on NewstalkZB
   The Huddle, NewstalkZB, Monday 13 February 2017
   Larry “Lackwit” Williams, Bill Ralston, Trish Sherson

   Trish Sherson is one of those people who are famous for nothing much at all other than being always ready to share her (usually poorly informed and half-pie) opinions on any forum that will have her. One of those fora is RNZ National’s pisspoor From the Left and From the Right segment on Monday mornings. [1] Another is the one I caught her on during five minutes of auditory horror this afternoon: the almost comically bad Huddle segment on the notorious Larry Williams Drive. The other guest was poor old Bill Ralston, similarly FFNMAAOTBARTSH(UPIAH-P)OOAFTWHH. Ralston does more than merely offer up reflexive right wing observations, however: four years ago he was the subject of an angry harangue by his ghastly wife Janet Wilson. [2] (The ostensible target was Kevin Rudd; but he was clearly a substitute for Ralston.)

   But of course no one with an IQ above room temperature listens to this dreadful ten minutes of tendentiousness to hear what dull and predictable things the guests have to offer. The real attraction for those of us who consider ourselves aficionados of idiocy is to sit back and listen to Williams delivering another urgent tickertape from the hellish recesses of his warped and ignorant mind.

   Today he didn’t disappoint. I have to confess here that I only heard a couple of minutes of the program, so it might not have been foolishness and bigotry throughout. I might have missed all the good stuff and just heard the two minutes of utter balderdash. Anyway, here’s what I heard, and transcribed furiously and as accurately as possible after I hurriedly pulled the Breenmobile to the side of a very busy Onewa Road….

   LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: The screening process for state carers must have been APPALLING! And they tell me it still IS!
   …..

   LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: So what do you think of Mugabe’s HITMAN coming to New Zealand?

   TRISH SHERSON: Well he’s being represented by Deborah Maning—

   BILL RALSTON: Oh yes.

   LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Arrrrggghhhh!

   TRISH SHERSON: —who is probably New Zealand’s very best human rights lawyer. You’ll remember she fought and won the case for Ahmed Zaoui—

   LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: [snort] That’s right!

   TRISH SHERSON: Larry’s making his Ahmed Zaoui face!

   LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: Yeah. It’s just that it took a lot out of me, y’know. … [For the next ten seconds, the Lackwit is back in 2003 as he releases a formulaic stream-of-consciousness denunciation of Ahmed Zaoui]…. Bill Ralston and Trish Sherson, thanks for coming on the Huddle!

   ….At this point Williams pauses, and gathers himself for his final few rabid observations. This is where he riffs ad lib on whatever topic is covered in his email correspondence. Today’s final burst of verbal vomiting came after a listener had taken him to task over his support for Israel’s recent escalations of aggression in the Occupied West Bank….

   LARRY “LACKWIT” WILLIAMS: By the way, they’re DISPUTED territories. It’s COMPLEX. …. Gaza was passed back in 2005 I think it was…. The terrorists in the West Bank are trying to OBLITERATE Israel…. [mutters, drools, spits and snarls for another minute or so]

   This moronic vapouring ends, mercifully, as the Lackwit’s ranting is replaced by Beyoncé belting out: “if you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it”. One wonders what Beyoncé, who is an intelligent and socially concerned young woman, would make of her song being used as filler, or indeed for any reason, on such a deranged and hateful program.

   [1] http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20164020/political-commentary-with-trish-sherson-and-mike-williams

   [2] https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22032013/#comment-607420
   • tc 1.1

     14 February 2017 at 8:25 am

     Typical ZB low brow ranting red neck radio.

     Listen carefully and you’ll hear the knuckles being dragged across the floor at a furious pace in election year in order to invoke emotive responses.
     • Morrissey 1.1.1

       14 February 2017 at 12:06 pm

       Please don’t call bigots “red necks” or “peasants”. How much hard work in the sun do Ralston and Williams do? How much have they ever done?

       They are NOT red necks. Both my grandfathers were decent, hardworking farmers—rednecks, in other words. I never heard either of them speak like Larry “Lackwit” Williams, who is not a redneck, just a bigot.
       • In Vino 1.1.1.1

         14 February 2017 at 4:40 pm

         Sorry Morrissey, but I think you have to accept that the meaning of Redneck has changed from your now archaic definition. People now see Redneck as meaning backward (conservative) bigot, and that is all. This sort of thing happens to words.
         • Morrissey 1.1.1.1.1

           15 February 2017 at 9:30 am

           No, it’s a sniffy East Coast elitist dismissive term for working men. It came into vogue after Nixon garnered a lot of the working class vote in the rust belt in 1968. Infuriated, the Democratic establishment lashed out with the name-calling. But, pathetic as they were back then, at least they weren’t so desperate and devoid of ideas as to resort to fantasies about Russia directing the Nixon campaign.
       • garibaldi 1.1.1.2

         14 February 2017 at 4:41 pm

         Do you know what is worse than talk-back hosts?
         Answer… the people who listen to them.
         • In Vino 1.1.1.2.1

           14 February 2017 at 4:56 pm

           That’s a throwaway one, Garibaldi. It could be taken further (.. the people who call in and contribute.) I think Morrissey is right to check it out every so often and see if there are any new developments, and doing so he probably averts the danger of excessively low blood pressure.
   • North 1.2

     14 February 2017 at 8:21 pm

     What do you expect from former traffic cop (I raise the ante Morrissey) ‘Fuckwit’ (Sean Spicy) Williams ?

     Now, re Ralston – “…….his ghastly wife Janet Wilson”. Janet Wilson is actually a very good sort……got dazzled by The KeyDashian media-training crap……but a good, pleasingly real sort nevertheless. Of the like whom engage effortlessly, attractively and enjoyably, ‘even’ with ‘pleb’s’. Not a preening snob is what I mean.

     As to [2] – “(The ostensible target was Kevin Rudd; but he was clearly a substitute for Ralston)”. Mmmm…….once personally witnessed a devastating ‘happened in a flash’ as I could tell gratuitous excoriation that wife of that husband. Caused me and everyone present to draw breath and scuttle from the room. So you might be spot on there Morrissey.

     Since you’re a bit of a global wordsmith Morrissey…….can you give me the Russian for ‘Swampovich’ ?https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/13/michael-flynn-resigns-quits-trump-national-security-adviser-russia

     “Breenmobile……..on Onewa” Love it ! So Lady Pamela.
     • Morrissey 1.2.1

       15 February 2017 at 9:21 am

       Janet Wilson is actually a very good sort

       I agree with you North. In fact, in that account of her 2013 meltdown, I made the point that, after that, she spoke intelligently. She does seem a cut above most of the guests on the Huddle.

       Since you’re a bit of a global wordsmith Morrissey…….can you give me the Russian for ‘Swampovich’ ?

       Well, durak v bolote translates roughly as “a fool in a swamp”.

       And while we’re on Russian monikers, here’s one for our own splendid prime minister: двойное окунание уколом.
2. Cinny 2

   14 February 2017 at 8:19 am

   Thanks Jan Logie for doing something to save lives.

   You would have to be heartless to not vote for this bill to go ahead

   Imagine this, your abuser drops you off and picks you up from work, dictates what you wear, and threatens you with your life and the lives of others if you tell anyone. Because that is the reality of it for some. And the beatings are well hidden, especially when you are told what to wear, bruises and scars can be covered when they are selectively placed.

   This bill offers help and hope to those suffering from the sort of abuse others could not even imagine.

   Kudos Jan and to all those whom support and vote for this bill, THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart.

   To the outgoing government and any who vote against it, you are the type of people who perpetuate and excuse domestic violence, you are the enablers, the gutless, the cowards. You have no place in any parliament, especially in our parliament.
3. ianmac 3

   14 February 2017 at 8:49 am

   Has this important move been covered?
   “The Greens have dropped any plans to run a candidate in the Ohariu seat in a move aimed at giving Labour’s Greg O’Connor a better chance of winning the marginal seat – despite Green misgivings about his past views.”
   http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/89355662/greens-step-aside-in-ohariu-to-help-labours-oconnor–despite-misgivings
   Edit: OOPS! Antony has a post up.
4. AsleepWhileWalking 4

   14 February 2017 at 8:57 am

   The Oroville dam… hell seeing yesterday’s pictures and knowing how quickly a large mass of water can break through a weakened spot they should have evacuated yesterday.

   http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-12/thousands-are-evacuating-after-californias-oroville-dam-predicted-fail-minutes

   http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2017/02/13/governor-brown-evacuate-sacremento-or-one-million-could-die-from-oroville-dam/
   • Ad 4.1

     14 February 2017 at 10:50 am

     Hope this Los Angeles Times editorial is read by the President:

     “Southern Californians have been drinking from the Feather River — and washing in it, flushing with it and sprinkling it over their lawns — for nearly a half century without giving it much thought, so the emergency at distant Oroville Dam provides a jolting reminder of our dependence on the wetter, northern part of the state. A disaster there could easily become a crisis here.

     Oroville is the linchpin of the State Water Project, the massive engineering feat that brings Northern Sierra water from the Feather River to the Sacramento, through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, into the California Aqueduct, over the Tehachapis and to our faucets.”
   • Adrian 4.2

     14 February 2017 at 11:15 am

     The Republican governor , the great Arnie, in2005 refused to repair the spillways at the dam after representations from a lot of concerned groups and engineers.
     This is only framed as Jerry Browns fault as a Republican RWNJ diversion of their own appalling dereliction of duty.
     It only impresses idiots.
     Consider yourself one.
5. Glenn 5

   14 February 2017 at 9:25 am

   The worlds deepest ocean trenches are packed with pollution.

   “he and his colleagues sent an unmanned lander to the bottom of the Mariana trench and also to the bottom of the Kermadec trench, near New Zealand. In total, the lander was able to collect specimens from ten sites in the two trenches. The shallowest site sampled was 7,227 metres down in the Kermadec trench. The deepest was 10,250 metres in the Mariana. When the team looked for pollutants in the captured amphipods, they found that polybrominated diphenyl ethers were indeed present, but at moderate concentrations. Levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, however, were almost off the scale.
   In animals collected from clean coastal environments, polychlorinated-biphenyl levels do not normally exceed one nanogram (billionth of a gram) per gram of tissue. In grossly polluted areas, like the Liao River in China, that level may rise a bit above 100 nanograms. In the Mariana trench, Dr Jamieson found, amphipods dwelling at 10,250 metres yielded 495 nanograms per gram of the pollutant. Those 8,942 metres down yielded 800 nanograms. And at 7,841 metres he and his colleagues discovered the staggering level of 1,900 nanograms per gram of amphipod tissue analysed. Values from the Kermadec trench were more modest, but still pretty high—ranging from 50 nanograms to 250 nanograms per gram……..

   …What consequences all this has for the Mariana’s organisms is unclear. Polychlorinated biphenyls disrupt the hormone systems of some animals that dwell nearer the surface, and can also cause cancer, so the news is unlikely to be good. But what Dr Jamieson’s work shows beyond peradventure is that no part of Earth’s surface is insulated from the activities of Man.”

   http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21716891-nasty-chemicals-abound-what-was-thought-untouched-environment-worlds?cid1=cust/ddnew/n/n/n/20170213n/owned/n/n/nwl/n/n/AP/email
   • Antoine 5.1

     14 February 2017 at 11:25 am

     Thats a particularly gloomy piece of news

     I suppose it’s no great surprise that some heavy things sift to the bottom
   • greywarshark 5.2

     14 February 2017 at 12:08 pm

     That’s shocking Glenn. That can never be cleaned up.
   • Draco T Bastard 5.3

     14 February 2017 at 12:10 pm

     Unfortunately, at those depths and that spread, there’s not a lot that we can do about it. Nature will, eventually, get around to it.

     Thankfully, PCBs have been banned internationally now.

     Still, there’s probably some idiots around that still use it.
6. greywarshark 6

   14 February 2017 at 12:26 pm

   I am passing on the title ‘Daisy Chains’, of a book I have just read by Kevin Ireland.
   It’s a satirical novel of today’s business man, who sees himself as a hero if he makes money, no matter what he is selling. And self-justification and cunning, though not sufficient to prevent all legal vicissitudes, enables him to rise like a phoenix from whatever. I’m sure it would be a model for many coming from business school, besides reading the lives and thoughts of wealthy men in NZ as ornaments of the middle- and upper-classes.

   Also I just draw attention to an interesting discussion going on now in TS over aspects of the country’s economics. If your knowledge of this is wanting, and even if you aren’t wanting to improve it because thinking about it makes your eyes water, you might drop in and learn something. Nic the NZer and pat are having a long-form discussion in Open Mike of 7/2/17. When people with deep interests get going it gets interesting for all of us who want to learn more, whether they are completely correct or not.
7. Morrissey 7

   14 February 2017 at 12:29 pm

   Is this unpleasant woman going to be the ACT candidate for Waikato?

   https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/02/muslim-kiwis-attacked-in-huntly-get-out-of-my-patch.html
8. rhinocrates 8

   14 February 2017 at 1:03 pm

   John Oliver on Trump’s pathological lying (NSFW).
   • Macro 8.1

     14 February 2017 at 1:19 pm

     Tremendous! You gonna luv it! Trump a pathological liar! SO SAD.

     EVIL D

     /sarc

     Seriously a brilliant analysis.
     • rhinocrates 8.1.1

       14 February 2017 at 1:42 pm

       And this is why he’s Preznit:

       http://rare.us/rare-humor/jimmy-kimmel-live-went-to-the-street-and-discovered-that-nobody-is-paying-attention-to-whats-going-on-in-the-world/?utm_content=inf_10_3427_2&utm_source=socialedge&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Influencer&tse_id=INF_632291e0f20f11e6a03c354c456e1db2
       • Macro 8.1.1.1

         14 February 2017 at 2:19 pm

         It’s really quite scary.
         For those who haven’t watched the clip – here is a precis of some of the analysis Oliver does courtesy of that “fake news” site “The Guardian”

         Oliver examined the source of Trump’s information and compared his choice of language in tweets with similar terminology used on Fox News.

         “You would hope that as president, he would now be getting information from primary sources and briefings but Trump still watches a phenomenal amount of cable news,” he said. “His tweets frequently echo things that just aired on TV.”

         He played footage from the president on Air Force One as commercials played loudly in the background. “Trump just made the interior of Air Force One sound like the living room of an old person who died three days ago and who nobody’s found yet,” he said.

         But his favorite news organization appears to be the far-right site Breitbart, which Oliver said contained “the kind of headlines you see your old high school friend share on Facebook and think, ‘Oh that’s a shame, I guess Greg sucks now’”.

         He also discussed Alex Jones, the controversial head of Infowars who believes that water turns people gay and that Sandy Hook was staged. “If the government had actually hired actors, there is no way that their stage parents would have stopped talking about it,” he said.

         Oliver went on: “There is a pattern here: Trump sees something that jibes with his worldview, doesn’t check it, half-remembers it and then passes it on, at which point it takes on a life of its own and appears to validate itself.”

         He explained the troubling effect of this: “If you get your news from similar sources to him, as many, many, many people do, he doesn’t look like a crank, he looks like the first president to ever tell you the real truth.”

         When confronted by the president’s many falsehoods, his press secretary, Sean Spicer, frequently explains that Trump believes it to be true and that’s what matters.

         And this is what sensible and rational people in the US and around the world now have to deal with.

         Olivers solution to this? Create adds for prime time Faux news and other channels that actually tell the news as based upon verifiable fact. Maybe there is a way.
       • Macro 8.1.1.2

         14 February 2017 at 2:32 pm

         Oh it’s so true – there is a very sad vid by Jimmy Kimmel of what the people on the street thought about Obamacare v’s the Affordable Care Act!
         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6m7pWEMPlA
         Not one had any idea that these were one and the same!
         How the hell are you going to have a functioning democracy when people are so disengaged from the issues that ultimately affect them all?
   • Andre 8.2

     14 February 2017 at 2:04 pm

     The Chump can’t even shake hands without being a jerk. But Trudeau has his number.

     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/justin-trudeau-trump_us_58a1dc96e4b03df370d8a29b?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
   • Andre 8.3

     14 February 2017 at 2:10 pm

     Eeeee-mails! SECURITY! Oh wait, never mind protocols now I’m pres.

     Wonder if lil’ Kim specifically chose the moment the Chump and Abe would be at dinner to test his new missile?

     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-mar-a-lago-intelligence_us_58a20838e4b03df370d9007e?
   • marty mars 8.4

     14 February 2017 at 2:39 pm

     So good thanks John
9. Whispering Kate 9

   14 February 2017 at 1:28 pm

   About how precious our water is, today has been a blessed relief for Auckland gardeners. It is quite amazing how much water goes down the city’s storm water even with fine constant drizzle all day. We have filled 5 200 litre garden barrels, 3 60 litre rubbish bins and now we are on to the very large soft type flexi tubs which the contractors use on building sites. All from two of our down pipes off our city house. Beggars belief how much water is wasted which could be recycled and fitted with every new build for using in the toilets.

   Being gardeners and now having to pay dear for our water one appreciates how much waste there is. One thing I detest is having to pay out to the council ever more new charges, the rates are high enough and Water Care don’t help with their impost as well. I really do feel sympathy for families who have kids who sit under the shower contemplating their navels – it must be really difficult trying to make ends meet with all the tax on top of tax which is layered upon our lives and wages being stagnant now for such a long time.

   The garden plants will be feeling the relief today up here.
10. greywarshark 10

    14 February 2017 at 3:14 pm

    I noticed someone commenting here had a yawn in his name, and I started yawning.
    There is a reflex in our heads that makes us susceptible to that. Can this be used as a national trait? We seem to be rather somnolent and so have been worldwide leaders in going to extremes with neolib, so much that Roger Douglas gave a number of speeches around the world about how easy it is to operate on a country full of sheeple.

    What about a national yawn by those who want to change National or are just tired of them? All together at 11 a.m. on April Fool’s Day wherever you are! Organise it and get a group in the main street with a photographer to put it on Facebook and in the local paper.
11. Ad 11

    14 February 2017 at 4:17 pm

    Just in case anyone wants their own version of Donald Trump for New Zealand, as a protectionist, economic interventionist, anti-immigration, pro-infrastructure-spending populist, Bloomberg sets out what it looked like for us, back in the day, and recommends: Avoid!

    https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-02-13/feisty-protectionist-populism-new-zealand-tried-that
12. Leftie 12

    14 February 2017 at 9:25 pm

    “Ms Williams had promised Mr Little she would not speak publicly about the selection of the Labour candidate, but went on to hire a PR firm to help her voice concerns about Mr Jackson.”

    “We had a discussion about her concerns, and we talked about caucus being the opportunity to raise that, and that was the place to have those discussions”, Mr Little said on Tuesday.”

    “Generally speaking they’ve been disappointed in the way I handled the issue, but they’ve been very supportive of my view”.

    [the vid is worth a view]

    <a href="http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/02/labour-mp-poto-williams-defied-leader-to-speak-out-against-willie-jackson.html
    • NewsFlash 12.1

      14 February 2017 at 10:34 pm

      Leftie

      We’ve had this conversation, concurred on the what the outcome should have been, and eventually that outcome arrived.

      Just a shame so many missed the point and argued side line issues,(which to a point had some validity,) but condemnation of commenters putting forward an argument about how a political party should behave in the public arena is just plain ignorance, and, for those who just don’t really care about “changing the Govt”.

      I watched the interview between Little and Jack Tane on One on the aftermath , every time Little answered the question, but not with answer Tane wanted to hear, he interrupted and pushed in new question, I don’t think Tane realises just how unprofessional he appears on national TV, even his questions were pathetic, had a certain slant to them, these people can no longer be regarded as “journalists”, just opinionists.

      Keep up the good fight.
      • Leftie 12.1.1

        15 February 2017 at 9:27 am

        +1000 NewsFlash.

        Getting into government to make the kind of changes that will make a difference, should be the focus. It helps absolutely no one, when good principles languish on the opposition benches.

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