Open mike 14/03/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 14th, 2016 - 103 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

openmikeOpen mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

103 comments on “Open mike 14/03/2016 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Paul 1
    14 March 2016 at 6:24 am

    We may be opening up our trade with Iran.
    The government should let our farmers sell milk to Russia too.

    • Chooky 1.1
      14 March 2016 at 10:31 am

      +100

    • ianmac 1.2
      14 March 2016 at 11:02 am

      Someone yesterday wrote of an American Lear jet also landing just after the Iranian plane then scuttling into a hanger. What to hide?

        • RedBaronCV 1.2.1.1
          14 March 2016 at 4:04 pm

          Was the little plane bringing that FBI bloke? The big one looks like the ones that head out to the Antarctic filled with stuff?

          • joe90 1.2.1.1.1
            14 March 2016 at 4:24 pm

            The Gulfstream could be law enforcement or perhaps forward party for a proposed POTUS visit.

            I think the Antarctic flight window closes mid February so the Globemaster could be equipment heavy lift in and/or cyclone relief to Fiji.

            • RedBaronCV 1.2.1.1.1.1
              14 March 2016 at 7:06 pm

              I would have thought most law enforcement would fly commercial unless it was a top dog

              I did wonder if some heavy equipment needed lifting somewhere and if so what?
              As far as I know the Fiji cyclone relief has been shipped

              • joe90 …
                14 March 2016 at 8:46 pm

                Seems it was a top dog and traveling light isn’t something top dogs do.

                When the hotel my brother managed in Oman hosted US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates they would have needed a Globemaster or two to carry the well over100 personal, vehicles and communication systems that arrived with him.

                Apparently, according to my brother, US military personal enjoying their R&R at the hotel were moved on to other hotels too because of security concerns.

    • Naki man 1.3
      14 March 2016 at 11:50 am

      Paul

      “The government should let our farmers sell milk to Russia too.”

      Paul the government are not stopping farmers from selling milk to Russia.
      Russia banned New Zealand milk products after the botulism scare.
      The ban has been lifted on AMF and butter and Fonterra is now selling butter and possibly AMF to Russia.

    • alwyn 1.4
      14 March 2016 at 12:44 pm

      I imagine that the usual suspects will be along shortly, claiming that we mustn’t trade with Iran because they have the death penalty and use it a lot.
      After all commenters like you, saveNZ and Colonial Viper have all said we shouldn’t trade with Saudi Arabia because they enforce the death penalty.
      Iran of course carries out far more executions each year than Saudi Arabia and at a higher rate per capita.
      Do you really want to trade with these people Paul? Surely you will be consistent?
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_by_country#Numbers_executed_in_2014

  2. The Chairman 2
    14 March 2016 at 6:50 am

    This needs to be addressed.

    The country is to broke to be giving away our natural assets.

    http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/free-nz-water-video-6452266

  3. Whateva next? 3
    14 March 2016 at 7:18 am

    Excellent opinion piece by Jacinda Ardern on Stuff website, telling Mark Weldon exactly what we all think of his vision for TV3, the urgent need for quality public broadcasting etc.
    Very nice work Jacinda, direct and to the point.

  4. joe90 4
    14 March 2016 at 7:34 am

    A montage of Trump inciting his supporters at rallies prior to the Chicago cancellation.

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/escalating-aggression-marks-trump-s-rhetoric-642743363967

  5. adam 5
    14 March 2016 at 8:16 am

    The internationalist in me.

    Why has the USA still got an embargo on books to Cuba?

    https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/end-book-embargo-against-cuba

    Chemical weapons in use by ISIS, this is sick.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3489199/Over-600-people-injured-ISIS-chemical-attack-jihadi-group-s-triple-suicide-bomb-attack-foiled-Kurdish-forces-Iraq.html

    And why the hell are we standing by whilst Turkey attack the Kurds???

    • Draco T Bastard 5.1
      14 March 2016 at 9:30 am

      Why has the USA still got an embargo on books to Cuba?

      The US doesn’t like successful societies that don’t kowtow to them.

      And why the hell are we standing by whilst Turkey attack the Kurds???

      Because they’re a member of NATO.

  6. Agora 6
    14 March 2016 at 8:43 am

    John Key wrapped in a NZ flag ?
    It looks more like a old man shivering in a thin blanket against the coming winter chill.

    • cogito 6.1
      14 March 2016 at 10:18 am

      Loving this….

      Funny how money-man Key failed to pay any attention to these points. Cabinet Club could see a drop in donations from rich Chinese if he isn’t careful….

      “Rival flag design is bad feng shui

      “The alternative to the New Zealand flag is “bad feng shui” and could bring bad luck, instability and even a stock market crash, a New Zealand feng shui consultant says.
      …………..
      “Auckland-based feng shui master Francis Lui said the new flag had a “yin” design, which wasn’t good, and black on top was a bad omen.

      “Black represents mourning, loss and implied loss, and it also resembles evil and sadness,” Mr Lui, 45, said.

      “In feng shui, black also represents water and water makes stock markets go down.”
      ………………………
      “Even the blue is a lighter blue to the current flag, a mark that the country could get weaker.”
      ……………………………..

      “What we have here is a yin flag with a fluttering silver fern that marks instability and no growth.”

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11605003

  7. dv 7
    14 March 2016 at 8:43 am

    Who’s the biggest mouth
    Kim Jong-un or Donald Trump

    With those two just across an ocean from each other what could possibly go wrong!!!!

  8. Tautoko Mangō Mata 8
    14 March 2016 at 8:52 am

    The TPP Roadshow is a Circus

    “Roll up, roll up to the amazing Todd McClay’s Flying Circus!”

    TPP Action Dunedin welcomed Trade Minister Todd McClay and MFAT officials with a Monty Python theme on the eve of their Dunedin TPP Roadshow.

    “The roadshow is a circus” said spokesperson Liana Kelly. “The government is not interested in hearing what New Zealanders think about the TPP. If they were, they would not be holding a roadshow after the deadline for submissions to the TPP Select Committee.”
    Rather than attending Minister Todd McClay’s Flying Circus Dunedin business people would do better to come to St David lecture theatre this evening at 7:30pm to hear Professor Tim Hazledine give the facts about the TPPA.” Ms Kelly said. “We deserve more than spin.”

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1603/S00209/the-tpp-roadshow-is-a-circus.htm

  9. esoteric pineapples 9
    14 March 2016 at 9:07 am

    The government is continuing inject more money in irrigation projects despite the dairy downturn. Last week it announced it was putting another $800,000 into the proposed irrigation dam for the Wairarapa – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wairarapa-times-age/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503414&objectid=11604196

  10. weka 10
    14 March 2016 at 9:16 am

    Some cultures do way better on gender than the West.

    In February of 1757, the great Cherokee leader Attakullakulla came to South Carolina to negotiate trade agreements with the governor and was shocked to find that no white women were present. “Since the white man as well as the red was born of woman, did not the white man admit women to their council?” Attakullakulla asked the governor. Carolyn Johnston, professor at Eckerd College and author of Cherokee Women in Crisis; Trail of Tears, Civil War, and Allotment, 1838-1907, says in her book that the governor was so taken aback by the question that he took two or three days to come up with this milquetoast response: “The white men do place confidence in their women and share their councils with them when they know their hearts are good.”

    Europeans were astonished to see that Cherokee women were the equals of men—politically, economically and theologically. “Women had autonomy and sexual freedom, could obtain divorce easily, rarely experienced rape or domestic violence, worked as producers/farmers, owned their own homes and fields, possessed a cosmology that contains female supernatural figures, and had significant political and economic power,” she writes. “Cherokee women’s close association with nature, as mothers and producers, served as a basis of their power within the tribe, not as a basis of oppression. Their position as ‘the other’ led to gender equivalence, not hierarchy.”

    http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/01/10/power-cherokee-women-3767

    • joe90 10.1
      14 March 2016 at 9:54 am

      Wouldn’t it be strange if we lived in a world with a history of men taking advantage of and suppressing women. Stranger still, a world where men contort their own faiths for their own social and political advantage.

      When Middle East correspondent Carla Power began studying the Koran with a conservative Islamic scholar, she wasn’t expecting to learn that it nowhere advocates the oppression of women – or that Islam has a rich history of forgotten female leaders

      http://s.telegraph.co.uk/graphics/projects/koran-carla-power/index.html

      (I might have just hurt myself with my own tongue)

      • weka 10.1.1
        14 March 2016 at 10:27 am

        Yep. The idea that we have that we are at the pinnacle of women’s rights is ridiculous. And we need to start listening to what women and non-white people have to say because the white men (sorry vto) with the pens and typewriters have been telling porkies.

        We can look far closer to home than the Cherokee and Middle East too 😉

        • Tim 10.1.1.1
          14 March 2016 at 11:23 am

          Brown and black and yellow men and women tell porkies too… just look at what that lady is trying to say about Islam tolerating women!

          • weka 10.1.1.1.1
            14 March 2016 at 11:35 am

            “Brown and black and yellow men and women tell porkies too”

            yes they do, but you missed the point. It’s the people with the power to write history that I’m talking about. It doesn’t matter if I tell lies. It does matter if someone who tells lies publishes an influential book that gets used as a teaching text in schools (not that I think it’s lies so much as extreme cultural bias that the person is blind to).

            “just look at what that lady is trying to say about Islam tolerating women!”

            Are you are scholar of the Koran? Care to dispute the actual points the reporter makes?

            • Tim 10.1.1.1.1.1
              14 March 2016 at 8:56 pm

              Haha, what nonsense, ‘womansplaining’ almost. The point is it doesn’t matter if women or brown or yellow people are in power – anyone can be a liar and it’s just sexism and racism under another guise to suggest otherwise

              • weka …
                14 March 2016 at 9:10 pm

                I think I’ll leave you to rant to yourself, you seem good at a one sided conversation.

            • Tim 10.1.1.1.1.2
              14 March 2016 at 8:58 pm

              I also like how you back off from calling people liars based on race and sex and just focus on cultural bias, nice back down! Plus thinking I have to be a scholar of Islam to critique it! Those are the last people who would want to criticise it. Are you sure your brain is working?

        • vto 10.1.1.2
          14 March 2016 at 7:09 pm

          Oh weka you funny old thing, yet here you were the other day telling me that white men did not have all the power or control all the institutions.

          Remember?

          In light of your own statements, best you amend the above to include women and people of non-white colour (don’t do it at the end of a hot suntannery summer eh).

          It was not white men responsible for the bad (and the good of course. Eh. Yep)

          It was white, brown, yellow.
          It was male and female

          • weka 10.1.1.2.1
            14 March 2016 at 7:16 pm

            Oh weka you funny old thing, yet here you were the other day telling me that white men did not have all the power or control all the institutions.

            Remember?

            Vaguely. Put up a link and I’ll respond to your comment.

            • vto 10.1.1.2.1.1
              14 March 2016 at 7:26 pm

              herewith http://thestandard.org.nz/old-rich-white-man-complains-about-another-group-receiving-privilege/#comment-1138655

              it goes above and below the link. My point was that if white men are responsible for the negatives they are equally responsible for the positives, to which you tacked away and claimed women and non-whites also had power and influence, just to a far limited extent (which I agree with of course – Kate Sheppard and her lot being good example).

              Please don’t respond at length though as I am of limited time and brain this eve

              • weka …
                14 March 2016 at 8:26 pm

                Short answer, you didn’t understand what I was saying in the other conversation.

                White men have historically had far more power than women. That doesn’t mean they had all the power or that women had none. It means that there was an imbalance, and it meant that men as a class were more privileged by that arrangement than women were. Because of that they got to write history from a white male perspective. This is pretty easy to demonstrate.

                • vto …
                  14 March 2016 at 8:29 pm

                  So they had only part of the power but wrote all the books?

                  • weka …
                    14 March 2016 at 8:32 pm

                    No, they had most of the power and wrote most of the books. Why are we even discussing this? Tally up the number of books written on NZ history by decade and the ethnicity and gender of the writers and then come back and tell me who is right about this.

                    • vto …
                      14 March 2016 at 8:35 pm

                      You are right weka, it is a part and part thing. Or a whole and whole thing.

                      same for bad and good

                      If white men were mostly responsible for the ills then they are equally mostly responsible for the goodies (not the tele programme, though they almost certainly were…)

                      In that light maybe some appreciation should be shown to the white man

                    • weka …
                      14 March 2016 at 8:38 pm

                      yeah, not interested in talking with someone who is basically talking to themselves. Have at it though and enjoy yourself.

                    • vto …
                      14 March 2016 at 8:39 pm

                      Sorry weka, one last point and I think this is why I have trouble with your writings sometimes….

                      You say this “Because of that they got to write history from a white male perspective.”…. now that is a very definitive statement weka. White men wrote the history. That is an “all” statement.

                      But then you say this “No, they …. wrote most of the books”…. and that is a “part” statement.

                      This is the problem. It is your problem.

                    • weka …
                      14 March 2016 at 8:47 pm

                      If I’d wanted to say ‘all’, I would have. I didn’t. I’m obviously making a generalisation, because we are talking about generalities. We’re not talking about NZ history in the decade of 1890, or 1990. If you think I mean all when I don’t use that word, then I suggest you’re not actually listening to what I say.

                      So let me rephrase,

                      “Because of that they got to control how history was written, i.e. from a white male perspective. That doesn’t mean they controlled every little thing, it means that the culture in general was hugely influenced by the white male perspective for a long time”.

                      This isn’t in dispute vto, for instance it’s pretty easy to prove that what I learnt about Māori hsitory at school in the 70s and 80s had a huge bias toward Pākehā and against Māori. Likewise, much history about women from native cultures was suppressed and/or obscured because many of the white men writing about those cultures simply didn’t see the women or understand them. The histories that did get written by those women were often distorted.

                      I really wish you would stop taking this personally.

                    • vto …
                      14 March 2016 at 8:52 pm

                      ok ok lets leave it for now. . .

                      I’ll just take it that most of the good things in society, not all, have arisen from the same place that most of the ills, not all, have arisen. The white man.

                    • weka …
                      14 March 2016 at 9:12 pm

                      Don’t let me get in the way of that prejudice vto.

                    • vto …
                      14 March 2016 at 9:16 pm

                      you got a real problem eh

                    • weka …
                      14 March 2016 at 9:22 pm

                      I sure do and now I’m going to stop talking to it.

                • vto …
                  14 March 2016 at 8:30 pm

                  Or did the part of power they had match the part of the books they wrote?

                • vto …
                  14 March 2016 at 8:31 pm

                  And did the part of their power match all of the good? Or just all of the bad?

                • vto …
                  14 March 2016 at 8:32 pm

                  Or some other combination of part and whole? It is another of those maths and logic things weka …

                  • weka …
                    14 March 2016 at 8:35 pm

                    Mate, there is absolutely nothing logical about what you are arguing. It’s nonsense. I’m happy to discuss this but not if you are going to ignore what I am saying and just make shit up.

  11. Bearded Git 11
    14 March 2016 at 10:09 am

    From Stuff today:

    “In Baden-Wuerttemberg in the southwest, a CDU stronghold for more than 50 years before turning to a Green-led coalition with the SPD in 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the Greens came home first with 32.5 per cent.”

    This is some result for the Greens.

    • Sabine 11.1
      14 March 2016 at 10:44 am

      while that is nice for the Greens in Baden Wuerttemberg (West Germany), the results for the other Party AFD Alternative for Germany is more worrisome.

      http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/13/germany-state-elections-test-merkel-refugees

      “An exit poll by ARD television showed the AfD winning 12.5% of the vote in Baden-Württemberg, 11% in Rhineland-Palatinate and 23% in Saxony-Anhalt, a relatively poor eastern region.”

      AfD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_for_Germany

      …. as for Sachen Anhalt (Saxony Anhalt) still being a ‘poor’ eastern region, this is chicken coming home to roost for Mrs. Angela Merkel and her Christian Democratic Party of Germany. What the CDU did to east Germany after the wall came down was nothing short of criminal and certainly not christian. But she did as instructed and mentored by Helmut Kohl, leader of the CDU and Chancellor of Germany who left his party and Germany over to Angela, peaceful in the knowledge that she will not allow any growth in East Germany that would impede Western German business interests.
      Germany has only itself to blame for what is happening in East Germany.

  12. Draco T Bastard 12
    14 March 2016 at 10:31 am

    UC Berkeley researchers raise corporate misconduct concerns regarding Trans-Pacific Partnership in report

    The report alleged failings of the TPP in three key areas: democratic participation, transparency and public accountability. Co-author of the report Hossein Ayazi, a graduate research assistant for the Haas Institute’s Global Justice Program, alleged in an email that the TPP would harm the livelihoods of millions of individuals internationally.

    “(The TPP is) the latest iteration of a global trend of political power being modeled almost entirely after the market-based economy (and) of national governments selling out the interests of the people they serve in order to instead serve the interest of corporations,” Ayazi said in an email.

    So much for the TPPA being a good deal.

    Well, great for the corporations whom our govts serve.

  13. Tautoko Mangō Mata 13
    14 March 2016 at 10:42 am

    More misinformation on TPP by PM
    “10% of dairy farms could fail – Key”

    “Up to 10 percent of dairy farmers could be forced off their land,” Prime Minister John Key says.
    “But the government could help farmers by making the business more viable through the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and irrigation”, he said.
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/298869/10-percent-of-dairy-farms-could-fail-key

    This article in NBR followed the notice that TPP negotiators had reached an agreement last year.

    Twelve Pacific Rim nations have reached a deal on the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership in the American city of Atlanta, ending more than five years of negotiations to create the largest trade and investment pact since the Uruguay Round of the GATT trade agreement 20 years ago.

    However, New Zealand has barely prised open the door for dairy exports to the highly-protected markets of the US, Canada, and Japan, with tariffs on some products proving too hard to overturn.

    http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/tpp-deal-gives-limited-win-nz-dairy-us-gives-way-drug-patents-b-179693
    The PM needs a colonic irrigation!

    • Tautoko Mangō Mata 13.1
      14 March 2016 at 10:55 am

      I tried to post this above my last comment so that it should read as below:

      “The government currently has around $120million of taxpayers’ money sitting in a fund, called Crown Irrigation Investments, which is earmarked for controversial irrigation schemes designed to expand industrial dairy agriculture. The government hopes to increase the amount of taxpayers’ money spent on these schemes to $400million. ”
      http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/03/14/john-key-should-resign-as-tourism-minister-greenpeace/#sthash.vfq9Pt8d.dpuf

      The PM needs a colonic irrigation!

    • vto 13.2
      14 March 2016 at 12:50 pm

      If 10% of dairy farmers go under that will mean absolute carnage…

      Key is likely being conservative too – in other words 10% would at the low end of the spectrum. Combined with Bill English’s rhetoric over recent days, we can take it this shit is really going to hit the flat-out fan.

      tough times, tough times

      • Reddelusion 13.2.1
        14 March 2016 at 2:54 pm

        No it won’t, it will simply be a reallocation of resources to a more productive use, Or allowing farms to continue without such high capital cost burden

        • McFlock 13.2.1.1
          14 March 2016 at 3:03 pm

          🙄

          And that perspective would also refer to the concomitant suicide rates amongst farmers and farm workers as simply the voluntary self-decommissioning of unproductive and obsolete economic units.

        • vto 13.2.1.2
          14 March 2016 at 3:17 pm

          Well it will reddelusion… 10% is a very large number. It will take carnage and massive upheaval to get to the point f reallocation. I agree it will get to that point of reallocation, but at very significant cost to people’s lives (remember them?) and the nations resources and business infrastructure and operations.

          • Reddelusion 13.2.1.2.1
            14 March 2016 at 3:37 pm

            No problem looking after mental well being of farmers or helping with transition to new employment etc, I just don’t think the solution is bailing out the farm if it’s not sustainable and it can be used more efficiently for other purposes or at a sustainable cost of capital position To do otherwise is a very dangerous precedent unless there is Financial system wide risk here to the whole economy of which there is not, ie SCF during GFC

            • McFlock 13.2.1.2.1.1
              14 March 2016 at 3:45 pm

              Well, apart from the banks that lent to anybody who owned a cow.

              But even if the banks were ok, one of the main cash injections into the regions has taken a massive hit.

              “Transition to new employment” is a nice buzzphrase, but if say 10% of people with similar backgrounds and experience are all looking to transition at once, their chances of successful transions reduce markedly.

              It’s not even the size of the “reallocation”, it’s the speed. That’s what’ll have flow-on effects beyond the farming sector. Milk farming at this level was always unsustainable in every sense of the word, but when bubbles pop (as this one seems to have) then a lot of people’s livelihoods get taken out as collateral damage. Much better to slow the deflation, but of course many ways of slowing the pop are lost to us because of various “free trade” deals. Can’t have government intervention, no sirree.

              Much better to just watch the fallout in the regions and do what we can for the banks /sarc

            • vto 13.2.1.2.1.2
              14 March 2016 at 3:50 pm

              I think we talking two different things. I agree with you about the transition away and all of that, my point was a particular one, namely that a 10% default and failure rate is very high. It is very high for any sector, but given the scale of this sector relative to the entire economy that very high 10% then doubles down to have an effect far greater than even that very high 10%. Hence why I think there is carnage around the next corner…

              wish there wasn’t
              it will affect us and our business
              quite dramatically
              in process of mitigation now…. not easy
              and don’t think we are going to avoid…

              • Reddelusion …
                14 March 2016 at 4:25 pm

                I don’t think banks will want carnage as value of farms overall will fall pushing other farms into balance sheet insolvency as liabilities exceed value of asset thus undermining quality and value of loans or assets on banks balance sheets. An norderly recalibration is in the banks and Fonterras best interests here. I agree gov oversite to ensure this happens is appropriate as is social assistance but bailing out long term unsustainable farms is not the way to go.

                • vto …
                  14 March 2016 at 4:36 pm

                  It is a curious one, this prediction of 10% failure, which is why it has piqued some interest….

                  It is a very unusual thing for politicians to do, especially the two like PM and Deputy dog. That is no small thing for them to come out and say. It is this which is the thing – this making of such statements.

                  As for the banks not wanting carnage, sure, but remember that the debt is owned by much larger aussie banks (and them by even larger fish). I don’t think the fact of carnage in widdle nz will worry them one iota. Heck, I’m sure some of the owners alone are worth more than all the dairy debt combined.

                  At least the price of milk at the dairy is dropping …. ? ?

  14. weka 14
    14 March 2016 at 10:52 am

    Anyone know what businesses are doing with Otago Anniversary Day this year?

  15. Tautoko Mangō Mata 15
    14 March 2016 at 10:59 am

    United against the TPP

  16. weka 16
    14 March 2016 at 11:25 am

    The Commies are coming!!!

    (Hooton accuses Kathryn Ryan of asking a socialist question).

    • The Chairman 16.1
      14 March 2016 at 11:29 am

      Where, when?

      What was the question?

      • weka 16.1.1
        14 March 2016 at 11:42 am

        Nine to Noon about 20 mins ago. They were talking about the looming financial crisis around farming and whether the govt should take some action. I came in near the end, was listening to the meta conversation more than the content. Hooton yet again getting to say “the left are CRazy” and Ryan letting him get away with it (she just gives up because he’s intractable, which means they either need a new presenter or a new right wing commentator).

        • aerobubble 16.1.1.1
          14 March 2016 at 12:43 pm

          Hooten starts with a unfound conclusion, he then works backward justifying his stance with appeals to myth, and adhom and any debating technique that would lose ordinarily, and funally should be be floored too obviously by reality he will defiantantly shug off and be back next week as he has won. Where does the anger come from support Trump, but from nuttters like Hooten in the US, who seize the benefits of the social collective and turn around to pull up the ladder, draw the bridge up, place flags they do not deserve to way on the parapets, and call us to arms though we sit seething outside want him to metaphorically linch him. If only we moved on, his castle is in a dark irrelevant forest of tired old fakery. Past generationsn would call him a boring drama prince.

          • ianmac 16.1.1.1.1
            14 March 2016 at 2:23 pm

            Hooten said repeatedly today that Labour wanted a “bailout for Dairy Farmers.” That was a flat lie. But it is what he does. Choose meme for the show and just repeats it ad nauseum. All the rest is fluff just as long as gets his repetitions in.

            • aerobubble 16.1.1.1.1.1
              16 March 2016 at 12:34 pm

              Key does not understand the global economy, incentivizing milk production would inevitably drawn in new or raised existing milk overseas production. Add to the cultural habit of Chineses to have their ine baby in the year of the dragon…

              Now Key says its good for NZ that Trump and Clinton are against TPPA. Free trade lifts all boats, thats why Labour are for them, Greens seem against them but nly beause they undermine environments, if they did not it’ll be think global act local.

              So why is Key, and his mouth piece Hooten, so disingenious, so arrogant, so willing ti attack the messenger, same reason all third term gvts are, out of ideas, wanting to move on, and just having fun at the nations expense.

    • Gabby 16.2
      14 March 2016 at 12:05 pm

      Is she a FAY BEE YUN?

    • TC 16.3
      14 March 2016 at 3:50 pm

      It is Newstalk ZB without the ads whenever any of the DP crew do a shift.

      If Ryan challenged his BS she would be moved on….well played griffin.

  17. Bearded Git 17
    14 March 2016 at 11:38 am

    What’s wrong with this Stephen Mills guy on the Nine to Noon Monday politics spot. Hasn’t he learnt to say “I think Mathew is right”?

    • Gabby 17.1
      14 March 2016 at 7:24 pm

      He is an unmannerly lout who hasn’t realised that neither Ryan nor Hootie Blowfish will ever, if left to their own devices, finish a sentence.

  18. Sabine 18
    14 March 2016 at 12:34 pm

    car bombs in Ankara.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ankara-turkey-explosion_us_56e59cdce4b065e2e3d6427b

    ANKARA, March 13 (Reuters) – A car bomb killed 27 people in the heart of the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday and wounded 75 more, the governor’s office said, less than a month after a similar attack killed 29 people just blocks away.

  19. Macro 19
    14 March 2016 at 1:43 pm

    I commented on this yesterday
    Big flat nothing zero…. 🙁
    But hey people this is something about which people should be sitting up and taking notice!
    Far more important than Trump, Key’s buffoonery, Dairy prices, and even dare I say The Middle East and ISIL.
    This is a wow! moment in human history, and we did it.
    Dr Jeff Masters at Wunderblog tells the story

  20. ianmac 20
    14 March 2016 at 2:17 pm

    Gordon Campbell (via Scoop) writes about how the EEC has trashed the proposed ISDS and instead put forward ” a new, judicially balanced and transparent system for resolving trade disputes.”….”The redrafted Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) creates a permanent tribunal, with members appointed by the two sides, as well as an appeal process to reverse potential legal errors. There is also tougher language enshrining the right of governments to regulate.”

    Sounds better to me for TPPA. No doubt Key would change the ISDS for our peace of mind, I hope!
    (2nd section) http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2016/03/14/gordon-campbell-on-the-aussie-banks/

    • Tautoko Mangō Mata 20.1
      14 March 2016 at 3:33 pm

      The German Magistrates disagree, Ianmac. While the ICS is some improvement in the ISDS, the court still sits outside of the justice systems of states. There is criticism of the appointment process as well in this statement released.
      blockquote><The German Magistrates Association rejects the proposal of the European Commission to establish an investment court within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The DRB sees neither a legal basis nor a need for such a court.
      The German Magistrates Association sees no need for the establishment of a special court for investors. The Member States are all constitutional states, which provide and guarantee access to justice in all areas where the state has jurisdiction to all law-seeking parties. It is for the Member States to ensure access to justice for all and to ensure feasible access for foreign investors, by providing the courts with the relevant resources. Hence, the establishment of an ICS is the wrong way to guarantee legal certainty.
      In addition, the German Magistrates Association calls on the German and European legislators to significantly curb recourse to arbitration within the framework of the protection of international investors.
      link
      Investors should have to work within the judiciary systems of the states in which they are investing. If they don’t trust the judicial system, then they should not invest in that country. The ISDS has been used as a bullyboy system and the ICS, while having some better features, is still unnecessary.

  22. travellerev 22
    14 March 2016 at 5:00 pm

    Just a bit of a brag. Made it to the top 15 blogs on Open Parachute blog in the Month of February. Considering No right turn is number 37 that should tell you something! Not bad in a field of some 300 Kiwi blogs! And not bad for a Tulip talking 9/11 and John Key 😆

  23. Anne 23
    14 March 2016 at 5:20 pm

    Breaking News.

    General James Clapper, head of the NSA has just landed in Wellington on his way to a Five Eyes meeting in Australia – Canberra I presume. Thought he’d pop in and say hello to John Key. Coincidence that it comes only days after a GCSB/SIS review is released?

    Someone correct me if I have the wrong person, but was Clapper the senior US security fellow who attended a top secret international meeting where SIS Minister, Chris Finlayson was also present? You know… the one that took place shortly before the Kim Dotcom mansion raid?

    • Chooky 23.1
      14 March 2016 at 5:57 pm

      watch out for drones and funny whistling noises in your telephone and Men in Black hiding behind trees…

      …the GCSB is now being taken over by those USA crooks to spy directly on New Zealanders

      …thanks Michael Cullen !

      • Kiwiri 23.1.1
        14 March 2016 at 6:15 pm

        Why is that I’m left with a peculiar feeling?

        The review of spy laws was to look into some of the seemingly dubious and questionable things that were done, which also included some aspects of the PM’s involvement, but …….. voila! ………. John Key gets Sir Michael Cullen on the job and the recommendations are now aimed to make spying easier and (?) broader.

        Talk about disaster opportunism. John Key pulls it off well.

        Btw, I hope that the National Government-knighted Sir Michael, who is far from living on the poverty line and indeed should be enjoying the pre-1999 post-Parliamentary perks, has generously donated his time to the review out of his genuine sense of public service and the kindness of his good heart.

  24. Morrissey 24
    14 March 2016 at 5:46 pm

    Nancy Reagan dead at 94

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ngZFRisurU

    “I don’t see why we should cancel the dinner party just because John Kennedy got himself shot.”—Nancy Reagan, telephone call to friend, Friday 22 November 1963

    • Chooky 24.1
      14 March 2016 at 5:54 pm

      …that really is a helluva quote !…will never forget it…this should be quoted at Nancy Reagan’s funeral…it is almost on a par with “Let them eat cake”

  25. weka 25
    14 March 2016 at 5:58 pm

    Twitter rumour that the ODT is going behind a paywall next month. That will be a real shame. The ODT is a reasonable paper by modern standards, and their coverage of local news, including issues that also have national significance like what is happening with the SDHB, needs to be freely available.

    • Slippery 25.1
      15 March 2016 at 1:29 am

      Nothing a good paywall blocker browser plug in / ad on won’t fix, or if you’re tech savy just appear as a Google bot ‘just browsing’ for an all access path, even better copy the page/post once your in & display it elsewhere for others that can’t (dont know how) on say pastebin.org or similar & share the link (paywalls don’t work)

      • weka 25.1.1
        15 March 2016 at 1:32 am

        Ok, I’ll check that out. Doesn’t really resolve the lack of community access though. Most people won’t be able to do what you suggest.

        • Slippery 25.1.1.1
          15 March 2016 at 4:38 pm

          That’s true, which is why I suggested for those able to add a simple plugin on their browser should cut & paste it, however I’d copy & paste it to my Google plus (G+) posts publicly as I have built up a large circle of like minded friends from NZ + beyond who share interesting posts as opposed to Facebook where you’ll be reading what people ate for breakfast ect, G+ is a great community for intellectuals.

        • Slippery 25.1.1.2
          15 March 2016 at 4:38 pm

          That’s true, which is why I suggested for those able to add a simple plugin on their browser should cut & paste it, however I’d copy & paste it to my Google plus (G+) posts publicly as I have built up a large circle of like minded friends from NZ + beyond who share interesting posts as opposed to Facebook where you’ll be reading what people ate for breakfast ect, G+ is a great community for intellectuals.

  26. Robert Atack 26
    14 March 2016 at 6:00 pm

    Israelis torturing non-Jewish children. Australian documentary film. Viewer discretion.

  27. Mike C 27
    14 March 2016 at 6:30 pm

    Is it true … that regardless of whether Clinton or Trump becomes President of the United States of America … that neither Hillary nor Donald support the TPPA ???

    If that is the case … then I am going with “The Donald” … because he is at least capable of negotiation … without having to check with his Campaign Donors first. LOL.