Open mike 14/03/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 14th, 2012 - 58 comments
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58 comments on “Open mike 14/03/2012 ”

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  1. Jenny 1
    14 March 2012 at 6:11 am

    The Urewera Trial

    Are you a terrorist?

    Exposing a deeply twisted and paranoid world view, and undermining his own case, police prosecutor Ross Burns defames the New Zealand Anti-Apartheid movement in court.

    Burns compared the actions of the accused to the “violent protests against the Springbok tour”.

    Mr Burns said by combining all the different bits of evidence against the accused including footage of people patrolling the bush, throwing molotov cocktails, a thermite bomb recipe found in the home of one of those formerly accused in the case, and conversations between some of the accused talking about war and killing people the jury would see what the group’s true motives were

    He compared the camps to the violent protests against the Springbok tour in 1981 no-one wanted to believe it was happening in New Zealand, but it was..

    stuff.co.nz

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6569723/Urewera-trial-Maori-people-plus-guns-equals-crime

    All those who took part in the acts of civil disobedience and protest, honoured and celebrated across Africa and around the world, should be deeply offended at Burns comments.

    • Te Reo Putake 1.1
      14 March 2012 at 9:40 am

      It’s an interesting comparison, Jenny. Clearly there were incidents of organised protest that went beyond mere civil disobediance, the flour bombing of Eden Park being the most well known example. So perhaps there may be some thin grounds to say there are similarities.
       
      For me, the most offensive comparison in court was saying Tama Iti was just like Nelson Mandela! An own goal in two aspects; one, Iti’s a buffoon and secondly, Mandela was convicted of trying to blow things up, hardly a link that a defence lawyer should be drawing attention to, I would have thought.

    • David H 1.2
      14 March 2012 at 4:02 pm

      I might have believed their headline. If said Maori were sitting outside a bank, in a stolen car, with balaclava’s and guns. But people living in the back blocks need firearms to sustain them selves and their families.

  2. dan1 2
    14 March 2012 at 7:11 am

    A query: why is it that when looking at fairness and long-term viability of superannuation and welfare generally, people discuss age of eligibility and capital gains tax, but no mention is ever made of trusts which are set up to dodge tax, and to qualify for a range of government handouts.

    • ianmac 2.1
      14 March 2012 at 9:30 am

      Trusts = Elephants? So true but how likely would it be that MPs would pursue this as it would be a conflict of interest? 🙂

  3. Arthur 3
    14 March 2012 at 7:56 am

    As I recall it the violence in 81 came almost exclusively from police and supporters.

    • Bored 3.1
      14 March 2012 at 10:25 am

      Actually Arthur, I was at several demos in 81 when the violence came from all sides. As the Tour progressed it became very evident to some of us that the Police (Red Squad in particular) were deliberately inciting violence as were Police “agents provocateurs”. On the protester side it also became evident that some groups within the protest movement were becoming willing to mix it. You can only take so much violence before you respond, I saw it close up. Had the tour gone on any longer I think the most protesters would have all met fire with fire.

  4. Rosie 4
    14 March 2012 at 8:45 am

    True – Jenny.

    Just on another note I’m passing on a petition to support locked out Afco/Talleys workers, for those of you who are interested:

    http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/campaigns/show_campaign.cgi?c=662

    The petition originates from IUF, a collective of agricultural, food and hotel industry Unions based overseas. You don’t have to be a Union member to sign the petition.

  5. phillip ure.. 5
    14 March 2012 at 9:27 am

    http://whoar.co.nz/2012/got-propaganda-why-all-of-the-milk-industrys-health-claims-have-been-proven-wrong/

    “…Marketers have been trying desperately for over a decade to increase the public’s consumption of milk –

    – but they keep failing.

    Here’s why…”

    (cont..)

    phil-at-whoar.

  6. Jackal 6
    14 March 2012 at 9:34 am

    ACC’s accident?

    Clearly an independent inquiry is required…

    • Treetop 6.1
      14 March 2012 at 1:37 pm

      The timeline is not a good look either.

      Personal information emailed to an unauthorised person in August 2011.
      ACC know of the error in December 2011.
      New ACC minister in December 2011
      Media reports the incompetence in March 2012

      Without an independent inquiry, when ACC knew of the error may not be correct.

  7. phillip ure.. 7
    14 March 2012 at 9:44 am

    http://whoar.co.nz/2012/no-medical-value-27-studies-show-pot-kills-pain/

    “…Cannabis and its active constituents appear to be safe and modestly effective treatments in patients suffering from a variety of chronic pain conditions –

    – including neuropathy (pain due to nerve damage) –

    – according to a literature review to be published in The Clinical Journal of Pain…”

    (cont..)

    phil-at-whoar.

  8. Bored 8
    14 March 2012 at 11:15 am

    Yesterday I commented upon the intellectual vacuity of ACT candidate Stephen Franks. Today I will comment upon the diatribe that passes for informed journalism in our MSM publications.

    Have you ever noticed that when members of the status quo, and in particular the “successful” (aka wealthy and rich) have their comment published you invariably get given a line or two about them being “first class minds”?

    Last night I had the misfortune to glance at the Listener (angst mag for the well healed classes). An article on Alan Gibbs described him as a “first class mind”. It went on to outline his career, from being a “communist” at university to being a “free market radical”, and an acknowledged business maestro. I have no doubt that Alan is extremely clever and successful, what gets to me is the blanket categorization of him as a “first class mind”.

    Lets break it down a bit: he was a communist, he is now a free market radical…which says that he is a radical ideologist, both dogmas being the bastard off spring of mechanistic rationalism. That is a bit like being good at arithmetic, 1+2=3, yet you are not required to ascertain what 1,2 and 3 quantify or relate to. To me that does not signal a first class mind, merely the ability to think narrowly and act accordingly.

    Gibbs was also extremely good at business: some people are extremely good at taking risk, which in itself is not a good basis for judging them a first class mind. This too is a narrow discipline, as is the ability to make radical decisions which impact on other peoples lives. This too indicates more about temperament. Ideological apparatchiks were extremely good at slinging people into the Gulag, ideological economic rationalists with MBAs excel at making others redundant whilst citing a narrow viewpoint that justifies exorbitant salaries. The pain caused is always “justifiable” within the bounds of the ideology as being for the greater good. These are both successful individual behaviors within an environment, they do not however indicate a “first class mind”.

    I am sure Pravda used to promote “first class minds”, here in NZ the MSM needs a big kicking to dispel this lazy behavoir.

    • Uturn 8.1
      14 March 2012 at 3:14 pm

      Succinct and true. Bravo.

    • Vicky32 8.2
      14 March 2012 at 5:59 pm

      Gibbs was also extremely good at business: some people are extremely good at taking risk, which in itself is not a good basis for judging them a first class mind.

      Last night, I watched the (old) detective series New Tricks on Prime. The episode was about a University lecturer who had been fired as the new chancellor wanted to concentrate on offering business degrees… to idiots, as shown in an hilarious scene where the retired detectives were given an assignment to hand in to a lecturer.
      My point is that the new chancellor was one of those narrow business men. He’d shut the library (replacing it with a few dozen computers) and got rid of the History and philosophy of science faculty (for one example.) I think the series is about 2-3 years old (maybe 4, which is the norm for British programmes on NZ TV) but it was very relevant!

  9. phillip ure.. 9
    14 March 2012 at 11:30 am

    given the increasingly proven cancer/premature-death etc.-causing properties of our main exports..

    ..(animal bits/bye-products..)

    .(we really..as a country..are the merchants of death..eh..?..)

    ..hand in hand with the soon-to-be production of lab/warehouse grown meat..(with no animals/cruelties involved..in countries of consumption…)

    ..wouldn’t it make some sense to flog all the meat-farms off to foreigners..?

    ..and then to sit back and watch/wait for them to go (inevitably) broke..

    ..then we can buy the farms back cheap..

    ..and start growing real food on them..?

    ..(just saying..!

    ..it’s a plan..!..)

    the alternative of course is to start switching to growing real food now..eh..?..)

    phil-at-whoar.

  10. just saying 10
    14 March 2012 at 12:00 pm

    http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/owen-jones-my-father-and-the-reality-of-losing-your-job-in-middle-age-7546015.html

    Found this on scoop. Well worth reading the real-life stories of those who are being made to pay for the deficit via cuts to public sector jobs. I’ll just post the author’s conclusion:

    A couple of years ago, people getting in touch were worried about services disappearing under George Osborne’s scalpel. Now, as thousands lose their jobs, it’s fear about living off credit cards, and making ends meet until the end of the month. Many of these middle-aged workers being thrown out of work are watching their children becoming adults with little prospect of getting a secure job, too. One text was from a woman whose husband had just lost his job; their unemployed 20- and 24-year-old kids couldn’t afford to leave home. The lost and forgotten generations are increasingly living under the same roof.

    This generation of unemployed is forgotten, but not accidentally so. Much of the media enthusiastically backs the biggest cuts since the 1920s. They have little interest in exposing the human reality: after all, if it is widely realised that the deficit is being paid off with people’s futures, then passive acquiescence to austerity can hardly be taken for granted. The Government is counting on the anger and despair of the forgotten generation to remain unseen, contained, confined to the dignified privacy of their homes. But if the forgotten and the lost organise, join forces, and make their voices heard, the Cameron Project could be sent hurtling into reverse.

  11. Pete George 11
    14 March 2012 at 12:08 pm

    A certain blog has posted a very valid point about current Labour. The intolerance of diversity.

    This is, in my opinion, one of the major challenges Labour has – to be an inclusive party with broad appeal, rather than one where different opinions are seen as heresy – especially when you are in opposition.

    This can also apply to blogs.

    • Colonial Viper 11.1
      14 March 2012 at 12:47 pm

      Labour being accused of the intolerance of diversity – lolwut.

    • lprent 11.2
      14 March 2012 at 12:58 pm

      Ah no. The problem with both you and David is that both of you seem to think that disagreements should be polite or silent (unless of course you’re the one doing the disagreeing). That arguments should be held behind closed doors.

      That isn’t exactly how Labour or any left-wing party operates. I view that “polite” behaviour is almost the defining behaviour of the right (it vies with short-term thinking). It is in my view extremely hypocritical and usually evasive to try to pretend that disagreements don’t happen in public.

      In Labour and just about every organisation I’ve ever been in, the disagreements tend to be aired in public or near public. But I guess you don’t particularly like that.

      Josie understands that and is (and was) quite capable of defending herself. Like the young labour person that Farrar was ‘defending’, she doesn’t need the assistance of minor political figures who really seem have no frigging idea about how politics operates on the left.

      I’d point out that I’ve spent decades in Labour with economic and social views that look like an old ACT manifesto, a non-unionist, and someone who views the government as primarily a infrastructural development system than anything else. I just happen to lack the ability to think only in the short-term like a true conservative and I’m not scared of verbal conflict in the way that you and Farrar appear to be. I get in regular disagreements both inside Labour and outside. It really isn’t an issue.

      Quit moaning and just defend your ideas. In fact based on what I have seen you do recently, the first thing you should do is actually lay out some ideas that you will defend.

      • Pete George 11.2.1
        14 March 2012 at 1:25 pm

        I don’t usually get criticised for my silence on blogs, I’ve been involved in more than a few disagreements “aired in public or near public” – and I’ve been prepared to be open about my identity which is more than many will do.

        So trying to give me the silent treatment falls a bit flat.

        Sometimes I pormote and defend my ideas – but I also like to test and explore other people’s ideas, sometimes a nudge helps that happen. There’s a lot less tolerance of that in some blogs than others, and that lack of tolerance seems to be more to the left. I get plenty disagreement elsewhere, but much less personal attacks.

        • McFlock 11.2.1.1
          14 March 2012 at 1:34 pm

          testing and exploring other people’s ideas without offering specific ones of your own is pretty selfish at best.
              
          At worst it is simply a guise for undeclared sophistry – ask for a proposition or “evidence”, when it is offered reduce it to absurdity or misinterpret it, ask for more propositions or evidence, reduce that to absurdity or misinterpret it, and so on. Meanwhile try as hard as possible to avoid providing your own propositions or evidence for all except the most patently obvious things, then crow about how smart you are (Gosman) or – when people finally get bored with “debating” with a propositional vacuum – complain that people refuse to engage in polite discussion (sound familiar, pg?).

        • lprent 11.2.1.2
          14 March 2012 at 2:16 pm

          It has been notable around here, and many have commentated on it, that you seldom present your ‘ideas’ in a form that can be discussed.

          What you do instead is wave some vague aspirations around with no detail about how they’d be implemented and then try to tell everyone else off for not agreeing with something that is so vague that they make clouds look solid. In other words you don’t put up any ideas that are worth agreeing with, disagreeing with, or even discussing because they show no signs of being thought through. My great nephew at just over one year old, has ideas that have more substance than those I have seen from you. He at least has a observable tangible goal and a process when I see him figuring out his next bit of mischief…

          In effect what you seem to call ideas, I view as being meaningless waffle. But I’m not really into ‘ideas’ that show no signs of being obtainable without a religious miracle.

          But have a look around the comments you’ve left here. Point to an “idea” that shows any kind of plan of the process towards implementation.

          • McFlock 11.2.1.2.1
            14 March 2012 at 2:41 pm

            Lynn, was that to me or pete? Or possibly both (damn, that would have me meditating on self-reflection for longer than usual)?  

            edit – argh – just remembered to follow the comment numbers. it’s the little gravatar that throws me occasionally 🙂

        • Kevin Welsh 11.2.1.3
          14 March 2012 at 2:28 pm

          and I’ve been prepared to be open about my identity which is more than many will do.

          Oh really Pete?

          Or should I say… Secret Squirrel…

          • Pete George 11.2.1.3.1
            14 March 2012 at 2:56 pm

            Funny. That’s one of the weaker criticisms I’ve had. Was anyone not aware of who I was then for a few days?

            I used a pseudonym on Redbaiter’s blog for about 10 days but then made it obvious who I was (he said he knew all along but banned me as soon as he actually knew). I used a pseudonym for my first month or two on KB. I got reporteed for telling someone who I was when they asked on Trademe.

            But I might be any number of other identities, mightn’t we.

    • McFlock 11.3
      14 March 2012 at 1:19 pm

      Unless the Kiwiblog post is actually applauding intolerance within Labour, the H-word seems painfully inadequate…

  12. just saying 12
    14 March 2012 at 12:33 pm

    I give up Pete. Which blog are you trying to bolster visitor numbers for with your link?

  13. Akldnut 13
    14 March 2012 at 1:19 pm

    Drilling for natural gas, take a look its a bit freaky

  14. lprent 14
    14 March 2012 at 2:06 pm

    On another post PG was trying to say that controversial post titles cause changes in readership. It ain’t so…

    The titles of posts don’t substantially change the numbers of people reading a particular post. Obviously we can test that pretty easily here because of the format we shifted to in 2010 with a drill down front page.

    The rough order of effect is (from my testing)

    1. How many people usually read your blog daily.

    2. Topicality – ie is it really newsworthy.

    3. How good the post is in it’s content

    4. What is happening in comments (ie lively discussion)

    5. The author (on multiauthor sites). There are authors who get more reads.

    6. How many links and references you get from blogs, facebook etc (ie from people who read the post).

    7. What the excerpt reads like where it is displayed (eg facebook).

    8. What the graphic looks like (eg facebook).

    9. What the title is (the main place that has an effect is on post rolls – minor).

    I’ve tested this several times over the years as we keep shifting formats and social media (I’m due to do it again when I get some time to test the effect of the RSS feed changes – which saved 50GB of overseas traffic last month).

    It is additive, so if you get everything right then you’ll get about 3-4 times the first one. There are a few post that go somewhat larger than that – they tend to be the ones that have a strong topicality.

    I have a strong suspicion that your site fails on the first one, which impacts on most of the others. If it isn’t seen and spread then it drops into a bit of an abyss.

    • Pete George 14.1
      14 March 2012 at 3:25 pm

      You’re comparing dissimilar things. The major blogs are first or a regular port of call for many people, so it can depend much more on what’s topical and whats on the main page. Small blogs work differently. There are obviously many factors but on lower volume blogs the title can make a big difference (at least quadruple with the one I tried today). I don’t expect many hits unless I do something to attract them.

      4. What is happening in comments (ie lively discussion)

      That’s an interesting one. Activity attracts activity, people like to go where it’s popular. I suspect that here you’ll get a lot of hits off the recent comment list.

      And if you have a look at Whale’s latest interface which lists the topics with number of comments very clearly the topics with numbers attract more numbers.

      I don’t expect big numbers because most of what I do is elsewhere to my blogs, they are just useful tools. If I wanted to attract a lot more hits I’d post regularly about abortion, aliens, global warming, religion, homosexuals, David Bain, John Key Sucks and Labour are Labouring. But I think there’s enough of that elsewhere.

      • lprent 14.1.1
        14 March 2012 at 5:01 pm

        I suspect that here you’ll get a lot of hits off the recent comment list.

        I tend look at most of this statistically..

        Less than 5% of post views come via the comments list (closer to 1-2% on a average day). However if you are talking about commentators then it is about 20-30%.

        On most days, people who comment regularly are about 20% of the clicks to posts and usually less than 10% of the visitors. The majority of people are lurkers who read the posts. Some will then go on to read the comments (you can tell when they never or seldom leave comments, but do read a post several times). That been steadily increasing and looks like it is getting to be something like 20% of non-commenting regular readers.

        Quite simply a lively debate isn’t that much interest to the vast majority of readers unless it is topical. Even then, you’ll get a flood of page views if you’re off first with it rapidly tailing off to the usual commentators plus the people interested in the topic.

        I suspect that the commenting behaviour here is a bit different on whale’s site. I’ve noted before that the people coming into this site from there are typical pack animals. Where one goes you find a pile of pack members following, a spate of quick piddling (ie rubbish comments) to mark territory, and then departure. Most of them have been banned from here in the past for trolling meaningless twaddle, but you can still observe their marking behaviours on whale’s site – short comments with a lack of content reflecting their high thought levels.

        The pack behaviour is distinctive. We can get a hundred or even two hundred page views coming from whale’s site in an hour if whale is upset with something on our site. It then drops to nothing. But on average it is minimal compared to search (ie topicality) or facebook (ie references) or several other sites.

        If I wanted to attract a lot more hits I’d post regularly about …. (no particular substance)

        ie the Whale strategy (currently with more posts). It isn’t particularly useful. It is kind of hard to see with Whale artificially bumping his page views at present (which I’ll look at sometime when I have time). But what he doesn’t get from that strategy is the the first item on my list – numbers of regular readers. He has a pretty minimal (if ardent) regular audience and has to keep doing more and more and more frantic activity all of the time. Not a good technique for pacing yourself.

        Whereas we’ve been slowly dropping the posts over the last few years back to sustainable rates and so people can comment before the posts disappear. It isn’t often that we have more than 10 posts in a day (whereas that was more common a year or two years ago) and the average is closer to 5 per day. But while that shift has been happening, the numbers of readers has kept climbing. Over xmas was pretty classic. The numbers of posts dropped like a stone (because authors out of network or constrained by family), but page views and comments merely dropped to last years usual weekend levels. People are coming to read and write the comments in OpenMike if nothing else.

  15. Treetop 15
    14 March 2012 at 2:48 pm

    I’m a little perplexed regarding the legislation for the selling of energy assets. Section 9 of the SOE Act gives Maori treaty rights under section 9. Key has compromised and will cover Maori concerning 51 % (government shares).

    This morning on Nine to Noon (first slot) I learn that with the sale of energy assests that a person will no longer be able to access information OIA or go through the ombudsman. Auckland Airport info cannot be obtained through the OIA or the ombudsman. Private prison info will be able to be obtained through the OIA and the ombudsman.

    What perplexes me is how will Maori be able to get info regarding their treaty rights being recognised in the governments 51 % energy shares?

    Without transparency there will be skullduggery.

  16. Draco T Bastard 16
    14 March 2012 at 5:22 pm

    Prime Minister to re-organise office to boost economy

    The government is to focus its efforts on re-arranging the furniture in John Key’s Beehive office, the Prime Minister announced today, ending months of speculation about National’s plan to reduce the deficit and grow productivity during their second term.

    In a speech that is expected to set the political and fiscal agenda for the next two years, Key made the announcement at a breakfast meeting of the Waitakere Business Club, who greeted the policy with sustained applause.

    ‘This government will form a high level committee to carry out this task, consisting of myself, Finance Minister Bill English, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Northland electorate MP Mike Sabin who used to shift pianos when he was a student and is still in pretty good shape.’

    • Treetop 16.1
      14 March 2012 at 7:17 pm

      May I suggest a Hawaiian theme, complete with sand, a few jelly fish and a hammock. The hammock is for Key to ponder on why he said in 2008 that he would not cut public service jobs or sell state assets during a speech.

  17. Campbell Larsen 17
    14 March 2012 at 6:17 pm

    One news talking about Otago Rugby Union:

    … blah blah “a stay of execution” and ….blah blah “death sentence”

    We don’execute people in NZ, and we don’t have the death sentence – to compare the financial difficulties of the ORU and decisions over its future to a human life is just bad taste churnalism.

    The MSM has gone totally tabloid and its only Wednesday – sheesh.

    • Morrissey 17.1
      14 March 2012 at 9:03 pm

      …talking about Otago Rugby Union

      Actually, it’s the Otago Rugby Football Union.

      …the financial difficulties of the ORU…

      It’s the ORFU.

      The MSM has gone totally tabloid and its only Wednesday

      One News seems particularly poor at the moment—and that’s really concerning to anyone who cares about television.

  18. KATY 18
    14 March 2012 at 6:38 pm

    TV3 news Has just shown The Donkey Saying he will not cut public service jobs,or sell our state assets. This going to take some deflecting on his part eh ?.
    http://www.3news.co.nz/Labour-Key-promised-no-job-cuts-asset-sales-in-2008-speech/tabid/1607/articleID/246600/Default.aspx

    • Chris 18.1
      14 March 2012 at 7:15 pm

      Yeah especially since there hasn’t been another election since then and he never indicated at all that they were planning on cutting public service jobs or selling assets, oh wait…

      • Carol 18.1.1
        14 March 2012 at 7:33 pm

        I think it was Key’s arguments as to why selling assets was a bad idea that are significant…. the reasons still hold, and he doesn’t have a better argument for the asset sales..

    • ianmac 18.2
      14 March 2012 at 7:32 pm

      Remakable broadcast Katy but unfortunately Duncan National apologist made excuses at the end to help let his mate Key down gently.

    • Reality Bytes 18.3
      14 March 2012 at 9:16 pm

      As remarkably ironic as that video is, I recon Key will confidently shrug and tell us “we live in a dynamic world” and sadly most Nat supporters will accept that feeble excuse. The guy has had plenty of practice shrugging off previous broken promises. It’s what the teflon meister does best, making excuses and blagging his way out of things.

      The amazing thing about that video is he could have been an opposition candidate campaigning rather effectively AGAINST Nationals policies. Amazing how fickle his policies and commitments are.

      Agreed Ianmac, Duncan’s apologetic analysis was utterly pathetic, the guy added absolutely nothing to the story other than ‘I like National, and I’ll make excuses for them, that is all’.

      Shame it wasn’t revealed before the election when it mattered, could have swayed a percent or 3 fence sitters. Will make excellent ammo for the opposition come next election though.

      • burt 18.3.1
        14 March 2012 at 9:40 pm

        Will make excellent ammo for the opposition come next election though.

        Lets hope that Mallard’s not the campaign manager or that excellent ammo will only be used to shot himself in the foot.

  19. burt 19
    14 March 2012 at 8:20 pm

    Stuff: Kiwis to sue over faulty hip replacements

    About 30 New Zealanders were being interviewed by British barrister Hugh Preston after learning they could sue under English law, TV3 News reported.

    Preston said not everyone would be aware they could sue and urged more New Zealanders to come forward.

    So let me guess, they couldn’t sue under NZ law because we have ACC….. .

    • muzza 19.1
      14 March 2012 at 8:53 pm

      What is your beef with ACC burt, thats a couple of things today…All ok mate. or have we had a bad experience when your counsin the dodgy doctor was inspecting your pre season groin strain..

      • burt 19.1.1
        14 March 2012 at 9:37 pm

        Couple of things today…. After my first comment of the day. Your credibility muzza – shot to shit.

        Yeah, and that’s real funny about inspecting the groin strain… were you mailed my case file to try and help ACC find a way of wriggling out of their responsibilities ?

    • Draco T Bastard 19.2
      14 March 2012 at 10:21 pm

      DePuy spokeswoman Melissa Tyndale-Biscoe said in January that the company regretted the impact the recall had on patients, their families and surgeons.

      It was now providing support for more than 4000 patients in New Zealand and Australia.

      It would pay “reasonable” costs for any patient who needed testing and treatment, including the full cost of any revision surgery required.

      X-rays and other scans, travel, and temporary home care after surgery would also be covered for patients who needed them.

      So, what was your actual problem? Because I can’t see any reason to sue.

      • burt 19.2.1
        14 March 2012 at 11:16 pm

        Yeah, not having the right to sue completely works for a monopoly state provider… of course we shouldn’t have that right.

        • Draco T Bastard 19.2.1.1
          15 March 2012 at 12:22 am

          The monopoly state provider wasn’t at fault and the company that was is paying the damages.

          That said, not being able to sue is the most efficient system as most people can’t actually afford to sue and so being able to won’t achieve the desired result. Regulations keep things in check better than lawyers.

          • burt 19.2.1.1.1
            15 March 2012 at 8:11 am

            Right… so the monopoly state health and accident insurance systems completely fuck up and the best thing is that you take the one size fits all recourse they offer – yeah… that’s the most efficient for them.

            Yep, it’s all about what’s efficient for them… ease of administration is so much more important than anything else.

            Hey I hear if they send your private case details to other people they …. well they… umm, they give you a phone call to say sorry.

  20. Morrissey 20
    14 March 2012 at 8:58 pm

    DEAKER-WATCH No. 2
    Notorious race-baiting broadcaster Murray Deaker is in the news for yet again using racist language on air. The target this time was Muslims, but longtime Deaker-watchers know that he has been making brutal, demeaning comments about Māori and Polynesian athletes for more than twenty years.

    The DEAKER-WATCH series is designed to bring Deaker’s bigotry to the notice of those people who are not bored enough, or sad enough, or dull enough to listen to one of his programmes. Here then, like a sulphurous blast from seven years past, is the first in the series…

    Deaker still concerned about “dumb” Polynesian players
    by MORRISSEY BREEN, Daisycutter Sports Inc.
    Monday, August 29, 2005

    Great test match on Saturday, in spite of it being played at night-time in Dunedin. A thrilling late try by Keven Mealamu means we beat the Springboks and are in line for the Tri-Nations title.

    New Zealand fans and New Zealand media commentators would be elated at that, surely? Well, yes, they are… mostly.

    You’ve been thinking the All Blacks have played brilliantly this season? Think again, buddy. Deeper, cleverer minds than you or I have been cogitating, and they are gravely concerned.

    Minds like Murray Deaker’s, for instance. As ever, the man grandiosely billed on his radio station’s promos as “New Zealand’s number one sports broadcaster” is again giving voice to his perennial theme, viz., the All Blacks, being full of Polynesian and Maori players, are just too…. well, …. too dumb.

    Tonight, in tones of deep seriousness, he informs his listeners that “our players are faster, stronger, better athletes — but they’re not BRIGHTER.”

    A caller named Mark is in full agreement with the great man: “They’re BRAINLESS, Murray! Why are they so THICK?”

    Deaker develops his theme: “Umaga — a GREAT player. But I question his judgement. If only he had somebody like Grant Fox inside him — a player with BRAINS. These guys play with fantastic athleticism but they don’t play with NOUS.”

    Got it, New Zealand football fans? No matter how good they look, those darkies are just too st00000-pid to play rugby football at the top level. They are constantly being out-thought by smarter white players, as we saw demonstrated in Paris last November, and during the Lions series earlier this year.

    When are the All Black selectors going to LISTEN to real, passionate, BRIGHT fans like Murray Deaker and “Mark”, and get rid of those darkies? Can’t they see how they are DESTROYING the All Blacks? Deaker and “Mark” can, for Chrissakes!!! What’s WRONG with Henry, Hansen and Smith? Are they blind?

    – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
    DEAKER-WATCH is a series dedicated to highlighting the contributions of Murray Deaker to New Zealand public life.

    DEAKER-WATCH No.1…
    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13032012/#comment-446445

  21. Morrissey 21
    14 March 2012 at 9:11 pm

    http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/9/beautiful_souls_eyal_press_on_the

    Why is Obama’s regime persecuting whistle-blowers?
    Democracy Now!, March 9, 2012

    From corporate whistleblowers to Army refuseniks, a new book, “Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times,” explores what compels ordinary people to defy the sway of authority and convention for the greater good. “I feel like we have two very different discourses about whistleblowers in this country,” says the book’s author, Eyal Press. “On the one hand, when you see them cast in Hollywood movies, they’re invariably heroes, played by leading actors and actresses, and everybody salutes them… On the other hand, when we have whistleblowers actually speaking up in real time, the response is very different.” [includes rush transcript]

    JUAN GONZALEZ: We turn now to whistleblowers and the unprecedented attack they’ve come under during the Obama administration. Evoking the Espionage Act of 1917, the administration has pressed criminal charges against no fewer than six government employees, exactly twice as many as all previous administrations combined. Their crime? Leaking classified information to reporters.

    Last month Jake Tapper, the White House correspondent for ABC News, questioned the Obama administration for applauding truth-seekers abroad while simultaneously prosecuting them at home. Tapper raised his concerns shortly after White House Press Secretary Jay Carney lamented the deaths of journalists Marie Colvin and Anthony Shadid, saying they had given their lives “in order to bring truth” while reporting in Syria. This is Jake Tapper.

    JAKE TAPPER: How does that square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistleblowers to court? You’re currently—I think that you’ve invoked it the sixth time. And before the Obama administration, it had only been used three times in history. This is the sixth time. You’re suing a CIA officer for allegedly providing information in 2009 about CIA torture. Certainly that’s something that’s in the public interest of the United States. This administration is taking this person to court. There just seems to be a disconnect here: you want aggressive journalism abroad; you just don’t want it in the United States.

    PRESS SECRETARY JAY CARNEY: Well, I would hesitate to speak to any particular case, for obvious reasons, and I would refer you to….

    Read more by clicking on this link….

    http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/9/beautiful_souls_eyal_press_on_the

  22. Dave Kennedy 22
    14 March 2012 at 10:15 pm

    National’s purpose for DoC is “Conservation leadership for a prosperous New Zealand”. Protecting our natural heritage for perpetuity no longer features. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/neoliberalism-infiltrates-doc.html

  23. rosy 23
    15 March 2012 at 1:39 am

    Goldman Sachs executive director of European equity derivatives business grows a conscience and quits. Greg Smith writes a public letter as a farewell present to the bank’s management…

    He said junior analysts are absorbing a culture in which the most important question is “how much money did we make off the client?”, and that hearing talk of “muppets,” “ripping eyeballs out” and “getting paid” will not turn them into “model citizens”.

    …He claims the fast-track to a Goldman promotion involves persuading clients to invest in stocks or other products “that we are trying to get rid of because they are not seen as having a lot of potential profit”; getting clients to trade “whatever will bring the biggest profit to Goldman” – referred to internally as hunting elephants and securing a job trading “any illiquid, opaque product with a three-letter acronym”.