Open mike 14/07/2014

Written By: - Date published: 6:57 am, July 14th, 2014 - 156 comments
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156 comments on “Open mike 14/07/2014 ”

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  1. phillip ure 1
    14 July 2014 at 7:10 am

    (this on stuff this morn..)

    “..How now Fonterra cow?..

    ..is the question for dairy farmers – the Government – and the multi-national dairy company co-operative –

    • after last week’s front-page news that a pseudo milk developed in a laboratory could threaten New Zealand’s $17 billion dairy export industry.

    Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy’s response to the threat of a new beverage made without the cholesterol, allergen lactose and bacteria in cow’s milk –

    • was both patriotic and blase.

    Without sampling it because its estimated time of arrival is approximately 2016 – Guy said:

    “I prefer our natural real milk produced from fantastic New Zealand pastures . . . I won’t be rushing out to buy a carton”.

    Meanwhile – animal advocates – environmentalists – allergen specialists – and rivers – streams – and waterways –

    • enraged and fouled by intensive dairy farming –
    • all breathed a sigh of relief and raised three cheers for Muufri –
    • the Californian milk research and redevelopment company riding in on its white horse to save the day and the waterways..”

    (cont..)

    (ed:..of course a minister from this govt. is just in denial over this..

    ..they can add it too their long list of other denials..

    ..climate-change and poverty being just two of their favourites..)

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10262917/Now-heres-an-idea-worth-milking

    • cardassian 1.1
      14 July 2014 at 10:16 am

      This is going to wipe out cows. After all if we don’t need them for milk or meat what’s the point? Not like they have a natural habitat apart from the farm. Shame as I always thought cows were kinda cool.

      • phillip ure 1.1.1
        14 July 2014 at 11:26 am

        cows are very ‘cool’..

        ..the ‘shame’ is how they are currently ‘used’…

        ..have you ever heard the mass crying for their mothers from calves taken from those mothers to be put in the ‘fattening’-yards..?

        ..before being sent to the slaughterhouse..to become veal..?

        ..it chills the soul..

      • McFlock 1.1.2
        14 July 2014 at 3:45 pm

        lol

        frankly, even if it’s a goer in the next few years rather than just investment hype, methinks yeast milk will wipe out cows just like tofu wiped out meat. As in the best and most expensive substitute might almost enter the same league as the cheapest and crappiest version of the real thing.

        • phillip ure 1.1.2.1
          14 July 2014 at 5:39 pm

          a special false-equivalence award to be struck 4 u..eh..?

          ..’lol’ away..eh..?

          ..fools always cackle in disbelief at change..

          ..it has always been thus..

  2. phillip ure 2
    14 July 2014 at 7:13 am

    (and this just in..)

    “..Laboratory-grown beef: meat without the murder – but would you eat it?..

    ..Growing meat in labs could cut hunger – tackle climate change –

    • and end animal slaughter –
    • but creator Professor Mark Post says the biggest beef will be convincing consumers..”

    (cont..)

    http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/13/laboratory-grown-beef-meat-without-murder-hunger-climate-change

    • Belladonna 2.1
      14 July 2014 at 7:47 am

      Such exciting times for vegans and all those who are uncomfortable with current dairy and meat practices. Never thought it would happen in my lifetime but seems like it will. Fantastic news.

      • phillip ure 2.1.1
        14 July 2014 at 8:00 am

        i know..!..i know..!

        ..i’m doing (metaphorical)-cartwheels here…

        ..for so long it has felt like pissing into a hurricane/slew of bacon-jokes…

        ..but no more..!

        ..now it is just around the corner..

        ..seachanges..coming soon to a dairy farm near you..

        • bad12 2.1.1.1
          14 July 2014 at 8:43 am

          Aaah its so good to see the resident Delusional has some company this morning, like swooping in to pick at bright and shiny things,

          Lab milk/meat won’t be happening in your lifetime, only utter fools would think that from petri-dish to mega industrial production plants would,

          Then you have to get past the industry power players world-wide, do you really think that the meat/milk industries will just sit still awaiting Moofri to continue with this bullshit,

          Should either of the products, milk/meat, climb over the hurdles of food safety which i doubt considering the Genetic Engineering involved the most likely scenario, especially in the Moofri milk ‘scam’ is that the dairy industry tosses the promoter a bone in the form of a large wad of cash to get him to go away,

          After that, do you really think that the global economy, much of it built around the financing/production/supply of meat/dairy products from farmers to banksters will allow an upstart such as Moofri to pull their whole playhouse down,

          How Moofri plans on getting the Calcium into this ‘product’, which is why its in demand the world over, the fact that it has Calcium that is, should prove to be hilarious…

          • phillip ure 2.1.1.1.1
            14 July 2014 at 8:58 am

            u r such a one-trick pony..

            ..and the only fact-check i can be bothered with..

            ..is that milk leaches calcium from the body..

            ..that is one of the big ‘it’s good for you!’ marketing-bullshit/lies you have been sold/swallowed..

            ..and which explains all of those heavy dairy-users..that have calcium-depletion issues..esp.when older..

            ..(and they left out the cancer-causing info..)

            ..it’s not called ‘white-death’ by those that know..for no reason..

            ..and it’s ‘muufri’..eh..?

            ..and a wedge of cash slipped to them will just make them go away..?..

            ..u need to go and join nathan guy/heads of fonterra/federated farmers..

            ..over there in the denialist/delusional-corner..

            (i understand you get issued with a special ostrich-hat..and yr own set of holes in the sand to stick yr head into…

            ..have fun..!..)

            • phillip ure 2.1.1.1.1.1
              14 July 2014 at 9:14 am

              and of course..the collapse of the dairy/meat-industries will also see a collapse in rural land prices…

              .those that are currently financially ‘stretched’ will be the first to go to the wall…

              • bad12 …
                14 July 2014 at 9:20 am

                Only in your delusion Phillip, so one dimensional at that, carry on tho, i like a laugh and you provide me with them daily…

              • cricklewood …
                14 July 2014 at 9:43 am

                I very much doubt that Phil… Productive land will remain valuable in the unlikely event that GE milk suddenly becomes popular and is somehow far cheaper than $1 80 per litre the crop will just change…

                Tell me… will you purchase and eat Lab Bacon or GE milk?

                • phillip ure …
                  14 July 2014 at 10:01 am

                  not the meat..

                  ..i haven’t eaten flesh for over 30 yrs..

                  ..and the taste/textures hold no allure for me..

                  ..and the smell of bacon/meat cooking makes my stomach churn..

                  ..so i don’t think so..

                  ..but i wd really have no reasons to refuse a meal offered to me that dad say..cruelty-free cheese in it..

                  ..and yes..land-prices will bounce back..after large parts of the country turn to growing real food..

                  ..but during that transition..land-prices will collapse..with the collapse in prices for ‘cruel’ flesh/dairy ensuring that..

                  ..and i think you are underestimating the potency of that ‘cruelty-free’-label..

                  ..it wd only be the most contrarian who would choose ‘cruel’..over ‘cruelty-free’..

                  ..and esp when it looks/tastes the same..

                  ..and i haven’t even factored in the return of the tyranny of distance..

                  ..with rising fuel/transport costs just speeding up that inevitable collapse..

                  ..and those going:..’nah..!..it’ll never happen!’…

                  ..are just fucken deluded…

                  • phillip ure …
                    14 July 2014 at 10:06 am

                    the animal-slavery era is drawing to a close..

                    ..woo-fucken-hoo..!

                    ..the animals/environment/land/waterways..

                    ..also join in that ‘woo-hoo!’..

                    • cardassian …
                      14 July 2014 at 10:18 am

                      Going to be big killing of cows. Similar to Cambodia. Massive killing fields. You cheer for this Phil? The mass killing of cows as they are no longer profitable. The extinction of the domestic cow.

                  • cricklewood …
                    14 July 2014 at 10:28 am

                    I think you underestimate the stigma the Genetically engineered label holds… I suspect it will be a considerable barrier to the success of these products.

                    I also suspect that keeping the on shelf cost low enough will be an issue for the foreseeable future as the production facilities required to fulfil huge demand will be immense , start up costs for large scale production facilities are a completely different kettle of fish to proving concept in a lab and manufacturing small quantities.

                    Not to mention getting FDA approval and ensuing court cases from the likes of big dairy, Monsanto et al to factor in to pricing.

                    Doubt we will see it over take naturally produced stuff in our life time.

                  • Clemgeopin …
                    14 July 2014 at 11:03 am

                    For Phillip…
                    A special MUUFRI receipe…

                    This thick and fiery ají de leche from Bolivar City is a superb accompaniment to fried fish and can be served as a condiment alongside empanadas and tamales or any tender lab meat…
                    It also acts as an amazing flavour picker-upper when stirred in to fish chowder. Store in the fridge…

                    750ml muufri milk
                    2-4 habanero or scotch bonnet peppers
                    2 spring onions, coarsely chopped
                    2 garlic cloves
                    4-6 tbsp coriander, coarsely chopped
                    2 tsp salt, or to taste

                    1 Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blitz until they have turned into a puree.

                    2 With a wooden spoon, force the sauce through a sieve into a bowl, pressing against the solids to extract as much of the liquid as possible. Store in an airtight jar and enjoy with a light joint till the cows come home. Bon appétit!

                • bad12 …
                  14 July 2014 at 10:15 am

                  Phillip drinks Genetically Modified Soy milk now so it is doubtful there would be the slightest qualm expressed in that quarter about GE manufactured Milk/Meat,

                  The hilarious whine this morning also includes a swipe at ‘Calcium’ in dairy milk ‘leaching’ calcium from the human body,(snigger), suggesting that ‘it’ read the label on the tetra-pac that the Soy Milk comes in would probably only result in more bluster,

                  A hint: in a 1 liter pac of Soy Milk 300mg of calcium has been added,

                  Soy flour, the genesis of all this, oh so healthy,Soy Milk is produced on an industrial scale in mills that have as a first product the production of Soy Oil, the products from this production then go on to be either animal feed or milled flour,

                  Does Phillip wonder how natural Soy Flour, yellow tinted in color, comes to be so Dairy Milk White in the tetra-pac bought from His local Pak’n’Slave,

                  Laughably it is ‘Bleached’ on an industrial scale, with the aid of one of these yummy production methods:
                  Benzoyl Peroxide
                  Calcium Peroxide
                  Chlorine Dioxide Gas
                  Azodicarbonmide
                  Potassium Bromate
                  Calcium Bromate
                  Nitrogen Dioxide

                  Mmmm, yummy stuff the chemical cocktail contained in industrially produced Soy Milk….

            • Shrubbery 2.1.1.1.1.2
              14 July 2014 at 10:44 am

              “is that milk leaches calcium from the body”

              Citation needed for this bullshit.

              • phillip ure …
                14 July 2014 at 11:13 am

                y’see shrub..this is just shit that i know..

                ..let google be yr friend..eh..?

                ..try asking this:..’does milk leach calcium from the body?’

                ..and there you will find all the evidence/’citations’ you will need..eh..?

              • bad12 …
                14 July 2014 at 11:14 am

                Google: Milk leaches calcium from the human body, there’s quite a cache of ‘literature’ to be read on the subject,(how much of it is conjecture and how much scientific knowledge of course is debatable),

                i should imagine that Googling the question on the side of Dairy adding needed calcium to the human body will turn up an equally large cache that supports that moot…

                • phillip ure …
                  14 July 2014 at 11:23 am

                  as happens with most topics..

                  ..then you need to weigh the credibility of said evidence..

                  .of course..having an education helps with this..

                  • The Al1en …
                    14 July 2014 at 11:32 am

                    “as happens with most topics..

                    you need to weigh the credibility of said evidence..”

                    You sure do, like genetically engineered milk becoming a market leader just like Quorn did all those years ago. 😆

                    I’m suspecting hope and dreams got the better of logic on this one.

                    Philip, changing the subject, tell me about possums. What would you do to solve the massive problem they have on our environment? Are you in favour of mass 1080 drops as a solution?

                  • bad12 …
                    14 July 2014 at 1:52 pm

                    Guffaw, in your case Phillip that i would suggest is highly debatable, elitist little arsewipe’s consider they have some form of advantage over the rest of the human race because of their supposed advanced education,

                    Everything you see wrong with this world was first proposed and then designed by such supposed advanced educations,

                    Yours in particular tho could be said to have been a waste of everyone’s time and money…

                • Belladonna …
                  14 July 2014 at 12:11 pm

                  I broke my arm not so long ago, it healed cleanly and in quick time. You dont need to eat animals to get your calcium. It is available from many vegan sources not just from soy products.

          • Wonderpup 2.1.1.1.2
            14 July 2014 at 11:39 am

            I’ve been injecting the product of genetically engineered yeast, much like this product, for the last 10 years. I have a sneaking suspicion getting this to market might be easier than you think, and the technology a lot more advanced.

            Oh, and the product is called insulin.

    • The Lone Haranguer 2.2
      14 July 2014 at 12:41 pm

      Now what I cant figure, is that everyone was up in arms about Monsanto GE seed made in a lab by their mad scientists, and that was bad – apparently very bad bordering upon pre-apocalypse bad, but GE milk stuff made in a lab by some other mad scientists is good.

      So is GE “milk” (cant really call it milk can we?) is good?

      • The Pink Postman. 2.2.1
        14 July 2014 at 4:26 pm

        Well is everyone going mad.
        Remember when we had the healthest kids in the world .They lived on Milk,butter,cheese and honey .Its called natural food. Nobody wants the animals concerned treated badly but good farmers treat there animals with respect and care. Good farmers also care for the land .Its the greedy born to rule tory farmers who need to wake up and change their ways.
        As for Lab made food well I predict that after a couple of years of eating such stuff a report will come out telling consumers that it causes cancer, foot- rot or some other mind boggling illnees.
        The fact is also that well treated cows always produce the most milk.

        • blue leopard 2.2.1.1
          14 July 2014 at 4:45 pm

          Well said Pink Postman

        • phillip ure 2.2.1.2
          14 July 2014 at 5:48 pm

          what complete and utter bullshit..pink postman..

          ..with yr bucolic ‘good farmers’ fairy-tale worthy of a particular laff..

          ..all of its’ own..

          ..and factcheck:..animal-flesh/fats/bye-products are already shown to cause cancer..

        • bad12 2.2.1.3
          14 July 2014 at 6:03 pm

          …And abused scared,frightened cows produce very little of the white stuff, so ‘tortured’ and continually abused they aint….

      • karol 2.2.2
        14 July 2014 at 4:33 pm

        The problem with Monsanto seeds, wasn’t so much that they are made in a lab. It’s that they were made in such a way as to restrict people harvesting and planting seeds for themselves.

        Monsanto has been aiming for monopoly. Also, the seeds can only be used once – the plants don’t produce the next generation of seeds themselves, so people would be endlessly dependent on the seeds manufactured by Monsanto.

        • bad12 2.2.2.1
          14 July 2014 at 6:08 pm

          The GE seeds are also importing into plants, and, leaving out of plants aspects which the plants in their natural forms either had or did not have,

          Such Plants are being engineered to do such things as withstand loadings of weed killing agents that previously would have killed the Plant,(the long term effects upon those who consume such crops,and, we all in some way shape or form do,are untested)…

  3. North 3
    14 July 2014 at 7:35 am

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11292897

    Collins heard “something” but not sure what or when ? Notably though she’s got an excuse all lined up already. “Historical”.

    You betcha it’s political. Very. Let’s look to ‘hysterical’ as the next stage.

    Looks like the election campaign boast – “National’s reduced crime…..” is gonna be a very dangerous number for the National Party to trot out. Ha…..couldn’t happen to a nicer person !

    • Belladonna 3.1
      14 July 2014 at 7:52 am

      Even Guyon is resembling something like a journalist this morning interviewing Judith Collins. Her comment about not knowing what Labour did about police numbers was pathetic but no doubt Labour will be bought up in every negative interview between now and the election.

      • Tracey 3.1.1
        14 July 2014 at 8:33 am

        2009 to 2012

        every interviewer needs to remind ms collins that was her watch not labours…

        as for her comment about historical.

        cunliffes letter was 2003 ffs

    • Tracey 3.2
      14 July 2014 at 8:30 am

      ms collins again… if ever someone has proven they lack the integrity to be minister of justice it is she… so while police minister the cops in her electorate cooked the stats… making her look good but its a coincidence.

  4. marty mars 4
    14 July 2014 at 7:57 am

    This shit is happening so often, too fucken often – ffs I am so over this.

    “Management at a Countdown supermarket have been forced to apologise to a pregnant woman after Hamilton staff falsely accused her of shoplifting over the instore intercom.”

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10263055/Store-regrets-shoplift-shame

    The staff members should be sacked – the management should be sacked – the shop should be picketed and shamed nationally – the woman accused should get free groceries for a year.

    Read that story and weep for the indignities heaped upon this innocent woman just because she is Māori.

    • karol 4.1
      14 July 2014 at 8:11 am

      Yes that appalling. And then there’s this bit:

      Ashley said it was not part of Countdown’s policy to use the intercom for suspected shoplifters.

      So it would have been OK for staff to chatter among themselves on the basis of their racist assumptions of shoplifting?

      There’s also the thing that not shopping with a car contributes to the staff racist and classist assumptions. Rikki Cooper said there were other people with bags. But, in my experience, the whole set up of supermarkets is based on assumptions of people shopping using cars: car parks that are not pedestrian friendly; trolleys that are awkward for one person to manage while carrying or wheeling shopping bags; check-outs focused on filling trolleys to wheel to cars…. etc, etc.

    • bad12 4.2
      14 July 2014 at 8:49 am

      Yep, some nice Racial Profiling going on at that particular supermarket chain, its not their policy to broadcast this over the intercom though,sarc/

      i would suggest that if anyone shops with that chain they do one more shop there and inform the management that it will be their last and why,

      The only way we have of showing our displeasure at such ugliness, like giving the NZHerald the message, is to take our money elsewhere…

      • Paul 4.2.1
        14 July 2014 at 9:09 am

        Sadly we only have 2 choices.
        Supermarket duopoly.

        • phillip ure 4.2.1.1
          14 July 2014 at 9:17 am

          and of course the other complexity with that one..

          ..is that the aussie-owned ‘baddy’ chain..

          ..they pay their workers above minimim-wage..

          ..whereas ‘our’ crew have no qualms about screwing over their ‘brothers and sisters’/fellow-country-people..

          ..they only pay their workers minimum-wage..

    • cardassian 4.3
      14 July 2014 at 10:23 am

      Real disgusting by countdown. That’s why I try and shop local. Between bin inn for dry goods and cheese, the butcher and the vege shop I hardly need to go to a supermarket anymore.

      • Macro 4.3.1
        14 July 2014 at 8:54 pm

        Same here – and I shop at a very good farmers market. One thing I have to buy at the supermarket is yeast for the bread. The stuff from Binn Inn I find just doesn’t work for me 🙁

    • Paul 5.1
      14 July 2014 at 8:29 am

      Such a pervasive sense of entitlement

      • Paul 5.1.1
        14 July 2014 at 8:46 am

        30 years of neoliberalism and NZ is reduced to this.
        Narcissistic behaviour and a totally selfish world view.

      • The Lone Haranguer 5.1.2
        14 July 2014 at 1:01 pm

        Listened to some radio station this morning & announcers suggested Key should cut his Maui holiday short and go visit Northland instead.

        Then they asked why there was no sign of the “Labour Teacher” Cunliffe up there either?

        Personally, I figure a fly over by any politician is just disaster tourism gone wrong.

    • joe90 5.2
      14 July 2014 at 8:36 am

      And a rich haole throwing the shaka doesn’t go down too well in Maui.

      • dimebag russell 5.2.1
        14 July 2014 at 9:31 am

        is he getting his chakra re-adjusted to cope with defeat?

      • dimebag russell 5.2.2
        14 July 2014 at 9:31 am

        is he getting his chakra re-adjusted to cope with defeat?

        • phillip ure 5.2.2.1
          14 July 2014 at 1:34 pm

          they are just off to the local pot-shop…

          • phillip ure 5.2.2.1.1
            14 July 2014 at 6:54 pm

            ‘going for a round of golf’..

            ..is code for ‘going to get baked’..

            ..and really..the man has $50 million to play with..and he is in hawaii..

            ..and he goes and plays fucken golf..?

            (and the fashion-crime that is that shirt..?..)

            ..he deserves to be booted out for his obvious dearth of imagination..

    • The Al1en 5.3
      14 July 2014 at 12:42 pm

      From the picture, the car is an automatic. Never trust a bloke who can’t work his own gear stick.

    • Rosie 5.4
      14 July 2014 at 1:18 pm

      I’m going to abandon any pretence at good manners and say what a knob, Key. The state of it! I mean…….c’mon you are the PM not Magnum P.I (minus the mo)

      And so Bush-esque, buggering off on holiday when we have a civil defence emergency in Northland.

      And do you ever holiday in NZ, Minister for Tourism?

    • Murray Olsen 5.5
      15 July 2014 at 1:15 am

      And someone’s not wearing a seatbelt. Different laws for their kids.

  6. RTM 6
    14 July 2014 at 9:19 am

    Still 0-0!
    From the last WC, the left-wing qualities of Argentinian football:
    http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2010/06/two-reasons-to-support-maradonas-men.html

    • Te Reo Putake 6.1
      14 July 2014 at 9:31 am

      There’s also a socialist element to German footy, too. A high percentage of local talent in the teams and all Bundesliga clubs have membership shareholdings. And Goetze scores!!!!

      • phillip ure 6.1.1
        14 July 2014 at 9:44 am

        and any leftwingers here sneering @ germany..should go and look at their social-support structures..and weep..and then still yr tongue..

        ..they don’t have one in four children living in poverty..

        ..they don’t have multi-thousands of abortions every year..

        ..because single-women cannot face that life of guaranteed approbrium/misery/poverty..

        ..that giving birth as a sole-mother in new zealand in 2014 will ensure..

        ..and re footy..?

        ..my half-german son is very very happy..

      • You_Fool 6.1.2
        14 July 2014 at 10:12 am

        Why Argentina, why! L:eave a man free in the 6 yard box and this is what happens!!! But don’t worry, I won’t cry for you…

      • RedLogix 6.1.3
        14 July 2014 at 1:32 pm

        Interesting that both Argentine and German football are well removed from the unconstrained big money model that has infested so much else of the game elsewhere.

        Great game and a great tournament. Well done FIFA.

        Now for the Tour de France. Last night Tony Martin broke away and time-trialed his way over the last 60km for a memorable and career defining stage win. Miguel Indurian he may not be – but it’s great seeing a strong cyclist putting his body on the line to show what he can achieve.

  7. RTM 7
    14 July 2014 at 9:19 am

    Still 0-0!
    From the last WC, the left-wing qualities of Argentinian football:
    http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2010/06/two-reasons-to-support-maradonas-men.html

  8. Jenny 8
    14 July 2014 at 9:32 am

    ‘

    In their determination to persist with deep sea oil drilling the New Zealand Labour Party are on the side of the enemies of humanity.

    “Please forward this to as many as you can”

  9. karol 9
    14 July 2014 at 9:58 am

    I usually find Deborah Hill Cone columns a must miss. However, here, she owns her own stupidity, and puts Cactus & Cam Slater in their place. Everyone, rich and poor, can do things that seem irrational to others, especially when under stress. Being poor results in extra amounts of stress.

    DHC owns her privilege in dealing with the things that cause her stress.

  10. dimebag russell 10
    14 July 2014 at 10:28 am

    the only place for cactus is the laughing academy and wailboil needs to crawl back under his rock before he gets stepped on like any common slug.

  11. greywarbler 11
    14 July 2014 at 10:40 am

    A possible new virus carried by mosquitoes that my arrive in our fair land now that some cases have been found in Texas. West by South West afficionados watch out. And it can be carried back here without the mosquitoes.

    The science thinks it evolved in the 1700s in Africa. It was found there in 1952.
    Since its discovery in Tanganyika, Africa, in 1952, chikungunya virus outbreaks have occurred occasionally in Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, but recent outbreaks have spread the disease over a wider range.</>

    Facts about its spread:
    By January 2014, the Public Health Agency of Canada reported that cases were confirmed on [various islands].[60] In April 2014, chikungunya was also confirmed in the Dominican Republic by (CDC).[61] By the end of April, it had spread to 14 countries in all, including…Haiti where an epidemic was declared.[62][63]
    By the end of May 2014, over ten imported cases of the virus… in the United States by people traveling to Florida from areas where the virus is endemic.[64]

    On June 2014 six cases of the virus were confirmed in Brazil,… The six cases are Brazilian army soldiers who had recently returned from Haiti, where they were participating in the reconstruction efforts.United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti.[65]
    On June 11, 2014, a case was reported in Forsyth County, North Carolina.[67]
    On June 16, 2014, Florida had a cumulative 42 cases.[68]
    On June 17, 2014, Mississippi State Department of Health…the first potential case in a Mississippi resident who recently travelled to Caribbean nation of Haiti. [69]
    By June 25, 2014, [the virus found in Georgia USA, Florida also.]
    The Arkansas Health Department confirmed one person from the Natural State is carrying Chikungunya. [71] (The Natural State – is that Indian Territory?)
    On June 26, 2014, a case was reported in Jalisco, Mexico.[72]

    Biological weapon[edit]
    Chikungunya was one of more than a dozen agents the United States researched as potential biological weapons.[73]

    Joy! The lack of prompt assistance in Haiti is hurting them even more as it has enabled this virus to get established and now it is being spread round the world to punish us for our lack of human kindness. And the military are onto it, the dealers in damage, disease and death.

    This is what can be expected. Medical people take note. If normal procedure in NZ is followed, we will be ignorant of this disease and our GPs will not be informed to look out for it, and we won’t use all this invasive form filling and checking to advise and monitor people from infected areas (an I say infected, not where it is regarded as endemic or having outbreaks.)

    Wikipedia –
    The incubation period of chikungunya disease ranges from one to twelve days, typically two to three. The majority of those infected will develop symptoms.[6] Symptoms include a fever up to 40 °C (104 °F), a petechial or maculopapular rash of the trunk and occasionally the limbs, and arthralgia or arthritis affecting multiple joints.[7]

    Other nonspecific symptoms can include headache, nausea, vomiting, conjunctivitis, slight photophobia and partial loss of taste.[8] Ocular inflammation from chikungunya may present as iridocyclitis. Retinal lesions may also occur.[9] Pedal edema (swelling of legs) is observed in many patients, the cause of which remains obscure as it is not related to any cardiovascular, renal or hepatic abnormalities.

    Typically, the fever lasts for two days and then ends abruptly. However, other symptoms—namely joint pain, intense headache, insomnia and an extreme degree of prostration—last for a variable period; usually for about five to seven days.[7] Patients have complained of joint pains for much longer time periods; some as long as two years, depending on their age.

  12. greywarbler 12
    14 July 2014 at 10:40 am

    A possible new virus carried by mosquitoes that my arrive in our fair land now that some cases have been found in Texas. West by South West afficionados watch out. And it can be carried back here without the mosquitoes.

    The science thinks it evolved in the 1700s in Africa. It was found there in 1952.
    Since its discovery in Tanganyika, Africa, in 1952, chikungunya virus outbreaks have occurred occasionally in Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, but recent outbreaks have spread the disease over a wider range.</>

    Facts about its spread:
    By January 2014, the Public Health Agency of Canada reported that cases were confirmed on [various islands].[60] In April 2014, chikungunya was also confirmed in the Dominican Republic by (CDC).[61] By the end of April, it had spread to 14 countries in all, including…Haiti where an epidemic was declared.[62][63]
    By the end of May 2014, over ten imported cases of the virus… in the United States by people traveling to Florida from areas where the virus is endemic.[64]

    On June 2014 six cases of the virus were confirmed in Brazil,… The six cases are Brazilian army soldiers who had recently returned from Haiti, where they were participating in the reconstruction efforts.United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti.[65]
    On June 11, 2014, a case was reported in Forsyth County, North Carolina.[67]
    On June 16, 2014, Florida had a cumulative 42 cases.[68]
    On June 17, 2014, Mississippi State Department of Health…the first potential case in a Mississippi resident who recently travelled to Caribbean nation of Haiti. [69]
    By June 25, 2014, [the virus found in Georgia USA, Florida also.]
    The Arkansas Health Department confirmed one person from the Natural State is carrying Chikungunya. [71] (The Natural State – is that Indian Territory?)
    On June 26, 2014, a case was reported in Jalisco, Mexico.[72]

    Biological weapon[edit]
    Chikungunya was one of more than a dozen agents the United States researched as potential biological weapons.[73]

    Joy! The lack of prompt assistance in Haiti is hurting them even more as it has enabled this virus to get established and now it is being spread round the world to punish us for our lack of human kindness. And the military are onto it, the dealers in damage, disease and death.

    This is what can be expected. Medical people take note. If normal procedure in NZ is followed, we will be ignorant of this disease and our GPs will not be informed to look out for it, and we won’t use all this invasive form filling and checking to advise and monitor people from infected areas (an I say infected, not where it is regarded as endemic or having outbreaks.)

    Wikipedia –
    The incubation period of chikungunya disease ranges from one to twelve days, typically two to three. The majority of those infected will develop symptoms.[6] Symptoms include a fever up to 40 °C (104 °F), a petechial or maculopapular rash of the trunk and occasionally the limbs, and arthralgia or arthritis affecting multiple joints.[7]

    Other nonspecific symptoms can include headache, nausea, vomiting, conjunctivitis, slight photophobia and partial loss of taste.[8] Ocular inflammation from chikungunya may present as iridocyclitis. Retinal lesions may also occur.[9] Pedal edema (swelling of legs) is observed in many patients, the cause of which remains obscure as it is not related to any cardiovascular, renal or hepatic abnormalities.

    Typically, the fever lasts for two days and then ends abruptly. However, other symptoms—namely joint pain, intense headache, insomnia and an extreme degree of prostration—last for a variable period; usually for about five to seven days.[7] Patients have complained of joint pains for much longer time periods; some as long as two years, depending on their age.

  13. Pasupial 13
    14 July 2014 at 10:44 am

    …boldly predicting it would not only stave off political extinction, but win all seven Maori seats… “We have been planning, and building like Maori ninjas operating in stealth mode”… “The Maori Party are serious contenders for a piece of political pie with very healthy appetites, thank you very much.”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11292882

    Flavell’s idea of; building like a ninja, is evidently to swipe policy from the other Parties and pass it off as his own idea. This at least has some consistancy with Feudal Japan’s historical Shinobi’s role in espionage, the winning all 7 Maori seats is as big a fantasy as Hollywood ninja walking on water :

    Maori Party election pledges [& Party who originated it]
    • Lift the minimum wage to the living wage of $18.80 an hour. [Labour]
    • Free health care for children up to 18. [Green]
    • Warrants of fitness for all rental houses, state and private. [Green]
    • Invest in trade training, apprenticeships and job skills. [Labour]
    • Nutrition education programme Food for Thought in all decile 1 to 4 schools. [MANA]

    • Lanthanide 13.1
      14 July 2014 at 11:09 am

      Yeah, I heard this myself and thought “why would anyone vote for MP instead of one of the others, if their policies are just the same?”.

    • Tiger Mountain 13.2
      14 July 2014 at 1:28 pm

      plus the pledge they made up all on their own that will likely see the MP disappear…

      • keep toadying up to National as much as possible

    • phillip ure 13.3
      14 July 2014 at 6:49 pm

      so much in ‘stealth-mode’..those ‘ninjas’..

      ..they are bloody invisible..

      ..(i have been chuckling over that one all day…still am..)

  14. Weepu's beard 14
    14 July 2014 at 10:55 am

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/find-a-home/10262953/Rental-agents-milking-tenants

    This is a frightening development. Quite clearly an anti-community policy, especially the reported trend for agents to prefer short tenancies in order to maximise letting fees. As for re-billing tenants for “lease renewals”, that is the lowest of the low.

    I’d be shocked if anyone in Christchurch votes National. The government is sleepwalking down there.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 14.1
      14 July 2014 at 11:40 am

      Sleepwalking? They’re complicit.

      • Weepu's beard 14.1.1
        14 July 2014 at 12:40 pm

        There seems to be no proper rule around this. It affects the most vulnerable section of society yet new rules seem to be made up by letting agents at the expense of those same vulnerable people.

        In order to boost their current account books the National government has made sure there is plenty of cheap money entering the country in the form of Chinese and Australian rental property speculators but next to nothing has been done to protect the most vulnerable New Zealanders caught in this new landlord/peasant society.

        Shocking really. I’m shocked.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 14.1.1.1
          14 July 2014 at 1:12 pm

          ‘The solution is best left to the market’.

          ‘Best’ for Brownlee, that is.

          • Weepu's beard 14.1.1.1.1
            14 July 2014 at 1:24 pm

            Ha. This is where “the market” fails isn’t it? The market fails at the bottom end of society where the most vulnerable live. It fails with respect to core services which are required for survival in our current business driven world:

            • Housing
            • Community
            • communication
            • Energy
        • Draco T Bastard 14.1.1.2
          14 July 2014 at 8:00 pm

          There seems to be no proper rule around this.

          I’d always thought that such fees were covered by the house owner and not the tenant. The rental is, after all, for the benefit of the owner and the agent works for the owner.

          • Weepus beard 14.1.1.2.1
            14 July 2014 at 8:14 pm

            Tenant pays one week plus GST letting fee upon entering a property which is standard for all but one company that I know of.

            Never heard of letting fees for rolling a lease over though. Sounds like a rort that some cruel real estate agent dreamed up and something that needs to be stopped.

  16. greywarbler 16
    14 July 2014 at 12:56 pm

    There are odd things happening on this site today. Couldn’t get a comment up. Then it was when I went through another browser.

    Searched for my comments and got archive search, same when I searched for lprent. I’m not happy with my system, old, but these things are intermittent so mine isn’t broken yet.

    Got this yesterday – The connection has timed out
    The server at thestandard.org.nz is taking too long to respond.

  17. greywarbler 17
    14 July 2014 at 12:58 pm

    There are odd things happening on this site today. Couldn’t get a comment up.
    Got – The connection was reset
    The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.

    Then it was up when I went through another browser.

    Searched for my comments and got archive search, same when I searched for lprent. I’m not happy with my system, old, but these things are intermittent so mine isn’t broken yet.

    Got this yesterday – The connection has timed out
    The server at thestandard.org.nz is taking too long to respond.

  18. greywarbler 18
    14 July 2014 at 12:58 pm

    There are odd things happening on this site today. Couldn’t get a comment up.
    Got – The connection was reset
    The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.

    Then it was up when I went through another browser.

    Searched for my comments and got archive search, same when I searched for lprent. I’m not happy with my system, old, but these things are intermittent so mine isn’t broken yet.

    Got this yesterday – The connection has timed out
    The server at thestandard.org.nz is taking too long to respond.

  19. phillip ure 19
    14 July 2014 at 1:20 pm

    mm..!..red is the revamped standard backdrop..?

    (it’s a loud one..if it is…)

    • lprent 19.1
      14 July 2014 at 1:24 pm

      That is the backdrop for the mobile version?

      There have been some caching problems this morning

      • phillip ure 19.1.1
        14 July 2014 at 6:08 pm

        it came up on my desktop..repeatedly there for awhile..

        ..just in open-mike..not on front page..

        [lprent: Fixed. While fiddling with the caching this morning, the list of mobile browsers got wiped. ]

  20. Rosie 20
    14 July 2014 at 1:36 pm

    I see the “Peter Dunne is likely to retain his seat” meme is still going strong. (And what’s with the “National are likely to romp home” line?) Time this got questioned but who will do it, when the media are working so hard to return National and Co for a third term?

    Aside from the electorate chances which aren’t a given and despite polling at zero, and having no relevant policy, Dunne believes a party vote for UF will help get National back in. And Dunne had the audacity to call People’s Power Ohariu “ever deluded” in the local paper a few weeks back. Time you had a look in the mirror if you’re calling others delusional Dunne!

    And even when given the opportunity to talk about UF policy he gives it up to the Greens, applauding them for their clean water policy and saying he could work with that and yeah, thats what UF is about, outdoor heritage an’ all that. Where’s your Green Taliban now Dunne?

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/national/94766.html

    • Draco T Bastard 20.1
      14 July 2014 at 1:42 pm

      He’s obviously concerned that he won’t be voted back in and if he is voted back in then he won’t be in government.

    • Rosie 20.2
      14 July 2014 at 4:40 pm

      I agree Drax. I believe he’s in a restrained state of panic at the moment. Apart from being an extra limb for National UF has nothing to offer and he knows it. His track record between 2011 and now surely has him on shakier ground then previously.

      Here’s an encouraging quote from Ohariu Labour candidate Virginia Andersen:

      “The vast majority of people I speak to are over Dunne.”

      https://www.facebook.com/virginia.andersen.ohariu

      I think he senses this. He’s been here in Ohariu long enough (30 years as MP) to gage when the mood is changing

  21. phillip ure 21
    14 July 2014 at 1:39 pm

    hoots on nat-rad is getting more and more hysterical by the week..

    ..the internal polling @ national must be dire..

    ..and he so owns that williamson..

    ..he talks over him/his answers..

    ..and williamson just nods along with him…

    ..’i agree with matty’..etc..etc..ad infinitum..

    • Once was Tim 21.1
      14 July 2014 at 6:31 pm

      It’s actually becoming bloody cringeworthy @ phil.
      Rinny the Ryan (apologies for my egregious, egregious, ‘she’s-not-the-worst-of-them’ appellation of the hostess) has picked him (little Matty) up on his hissy fits ONCE in the entire time I’ve listened to this trite/hackneyed/beltwayBOY load of kaka.

      He’s like the stereotypical (no – can’t say that – but what an acquaintance of mine-soon to be one of Rinny’s guests) might describe as a bitch/dramaqueen/………[censored]]

      I didn’t listen this morning – and nor will I, but I’ll put money on one or two of Williams “I tend to agree with Mathews” being present in all that sage-like commentary.
      Less certain of course would be Rinny’s efforts at self agrandisement ( a la I’m an experienced journalist au fait with the press gallery and all its foibles – even tho I haven’t been there for a long time and I rely now on what my frenz tell me ). I have to give up listening – can’t stand the affectations that go with it. (It’s a shame because it more often than not comes with things worthwhile and it’s a bloody shame she just can’t get over herself!!! – Oh well, the trials and tribs of a kethlik guuuuurl- eh?)

      Still – I live in hope. Come a change in gubbamint, there may very well be one bloody big shake up of the 4th Estate, and in particular PSB – depending how it all pans out. I’m hoping I’m still around to watch the exodus of jonolists at Auckland and Queenstown airline checkouts. The smart ones already fucked off to AlJazz while the getting was good.

      Do you reckon Rawdon will be begging sometime soon at Auntie’s door? He’d better do it bloody damn quick as well before there’s a change in gubbamint.

      To me ….. it’s all a bit like those ‘Shardonnay Socialists’ we once used to hear about have moved two goose-steps to the right (in a desperate bid to preserve their comfort zones).

      • phillip ure 21.1.1
        14 July 2014 at 6:42 pm

        williamson had a sneer @ mmp..(i think..!..i was half-listening..)

        ..obviously yearning for those simpler good ol’ days of first past the post..

        ..he is a man totally out of step with these times..

        ..that williamson..

        ..and ryan is an admitted fox news fan..(!)

        ..that explains why she is able to trot out far-right speaking-points at will..

        ..and kinda explains a lot more as well..

  22. Tautoko Viper 22
    14 July 2014 at 1:41 pm

    I recall Xtasy posting a list of adverse changes caused by the NAct govt and I wonder whether an updated list could be posted. I think the original post was on 5 May 2013.

  23. mikesh 23
    14 July 2014 at 2:08 pm

    A short while ago, in a comment I made on the Pundit wbsite, I linked to a blog by Paul Craig Roberts calling America “evil”. Here is the same author having another go. He makes a very good case.

    “It is difficult to imagine a country as wrong as the US, where government serves not the people but a tiny handful of the one percent, a government incapable of delivering any kind of justice, a government that if it uttered truth would destroy itself.

    Washington reeks of evil. And the world is beginning to realize it.”

    http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/07/11/self-destructing-empire/

    This is the crowd John Key likes to buddy up with.

  24. xtasy 24
    14 July 2014 at 2:32 pm

    So today we got the letter, from “Beverley Wakem”, the “Chief Ombudsman”, who backs up one of her staff, who did a SHOCKING job on assessing two complaints. Indeed that person, called Susan Gifford, who ignored black and white evidence in a complaint matter, should NOT HAVE A JOB!

    We have an overloaded “Office of Ombudsmen” where the left hand does not know what the right hand does, and we have one long serving “Ombudsman”, Miss Wakem (perhaps someone cares to “wake” her up), who is NOT up to the job anymore.

    This will go to MEDIA, and it will hopefully get investigated, outside government and the “hangers ons” of offices there are, like the supposedly “independent” Office of Ombudsmen.

    Indeed, the more I see and hear, the more it is proved to me, New Zealand is a CORRUPT country and society, it is NOT what the public are made to believe, it is a SHAMEFUL state of affairs, what has happened to this place. And this rotten government we have, they are at least partly responsible, as they do restrict funding for offices that are supposed to scrutinise what goes on, like the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, the Health and Disability Commissioner and so forth. I am afraid, ALL those Offices are now compromised, a laughing stock, are NOT doing what they are supposed to be doing, they are betraying the very people that still trust them and dare to file “complaints” with them.

    New Zealand is a disgrace, it is so not just for many migrants I know, who have nothing much good to say about this system here, it is increasingly becoming evident to the average Kiwi, that we have a system of LIES and DECEIT, and nothing else rule us here.

    Shame on the ones that administer a rotten and corrupt system in Aotearoa NZ, shame on this rotten government above all, if only Kiwis had the “guts” to take a stand and rebel, we would move forward!

    • bad12 24.1
      14 July 2014 at 4:35 pm

      But X, i am revolting, i was talking to someone the other day and when the conversation ended She went and had a conversation close by which i got to eavesdrop on, Her exact words,

      ”Oooh He’s revolting”….

  25. dimebag russell 25
    14 July 2014 at 2:33 pm

    who read the act list in the dimpost today.
    no 1 was a Dr jamie whyte.
    strictly speaking he is not a doctor at all.
    he only holds a doctorate of philosophy degree.
    it is merely an educational qualification.
    he would not be allowed under electoral law to use this honorific on a ballot paper and its use in the media is disingenuous not to say pretentious bullshit.

    • Blackcap 25.1
      14 July 2014 at 9:40 pm

      Sorta like Dr Russel Norman 😛

    • Draco T Bastard 25.2
      14 July 2014 at 11:40 pm

      strictly speaking he is not a doctor at all.
      he only holds a doctorate of philosophy degree.

      Holding the doctorate degree indicates that he is, as a matter of fact, a doctor. He’s not a physician.

      • Stever 25.2.1
        15 July 2014 at 5:37 am

        And what’s more, a lot of people who call themselves “doctor” (medics!vets!!! dentists!!!!!) do not have doctorates, they have bachelor degrees.

        “Doctor” in their case is a customary and honorary title.

  26. Jackal 26
    14 July 2014 at 2:48 pm

    Hi the Standard admin, the feed box on your website doesn’t seem to be working properly with many left wing blogs not having their posts come up. Also, the site is still not remembering that I signed in when moving to different posts and there are issues with loading the Standard’s pages today. I’m using Chrome.

    • lprent 26.1
      14 July 2014 at 7:24 pm

      Was fixing a caching problem that was causing no data screens and double comments. It was left over from the outage last week.

      One part of that was to tell the system to clean out the stored feeds and reload them (and their images). That also meant that what comes across is whatever the RSS feed sends through. If it only allows a few from the source, then that is what will display.

      Normally, TS picks up every 15 minutes for all 80 sites and then stores data from the RSS that it needs. That means you see more posts from sites than are being fed at any point in time.

      Similarly, the length of the “Feeds” has now been limited to displaying just the last 50 in each tab in time order because it was getting some ridiculously long query times to display the number of items we were displaying.

      That all being said. It looks like I’m not getting blogger feeds? Nope. I see 27 ! for Jackal.

      Oh Ok – the date/time on your last post is 2014-07-14 04:48 not 2014-07-14 16:48. That was 12 hours ago. I think there is a timezone problem somewhere

      BTW: For anyone interested, I isolated the issue that caused the outage last week to a particular problem RSS feed (not Jackals). Still haven’t had time to identify the underlying cause. I just turned that feed off displaying until I could have a look at the database.

  27. Draco T Bastard 27
    14 July 2014 at 2:48 pm

    This, despite being in the NZHerald’s Lifestyle section, is a fairly good article on sexism in advertising:

    As a lady who, um, dresses like a lady because she is one, being encouraged to ‘drink like a man’ struck a very uncomfortable chord with me. Gender stereotyping is everywhere and gendered marketing that buys into the stereotypes is something we should all be seeking to change and challenge.

    I really have no idea where this BS about woman only drinking wine and men only drinking beer came from. In my family the usual drink was the fine wines (referred to as plonk) from the fine vineyards of West Auckland which was drunk by everybody. We saw beer less frequently but everyone drunk that as well and there was no way that that bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label that my mother got from the duty free store on her return from England in 1978 for my father was going to be drunk solely by my father.

    • Rosie 27.1
      14 July 2014 at 4:48 pm

      lol, not the old “and a white woine for the laydee ta”.

      Reminds me of friends who went to the UK to live for a few years. She a beer drinker, he a wine drinker. He would order a pint and white wine and the bar staff would hand her the wine and him the beer, every time without fail, until fed up with swapping glasses, she had a stern talk with the regular bar man about gender stereotyping……………

  28. Weepu's beard 28
    14 July 2014 at 4:20 pm

    Goat shooter riding roughshod over the cauldron again. Can’t help himself. Goat shooter brings up phantom, non existent police official’s phantom emails as actual evidence.

    Blubs admits the corruption in the police under Judith Collins’ watch could be the tip of the iceberg. Wow.

  29. Weepu's beard 29
    14 July 2014 at 4:28 pm

    Whale killer is getting an absolute pounding on 1ZB. Good job.

    • lprent 29.1
      14 July 2014 at 7:05 pm

      What about?

      • Weepus beard 29.1.1
        14 July 2014 at 7:35 pm

        It was the tone of it. He kept interrupting other speakers as is his way and whenever he did try to make a point the other three collectively scoffed. Even Barry Soper.

        Edit: Success! Posting mystery solved, thanks.

        [lprent: Yeah that is a nasty quirk/bug. I will note that down and file a ticket for it. ]

  30. Morrissey 30
    14 July 2014 at 4:42 pm

    Terrifying tweets of pre-Army Israeli teens
    by DAVID SHEEN, Mondoweiss, July 10, 2014

    On Thursday, July 10, I entered the Hebrew word for “Arabs”, ARAVIM, into Twitter and searched for uses of the word over the previous few hours. What I found was young Israelis proclaiming their desire for all Arabs to die and in some cases be tortured to death.

    Some of these calls for genocide were from young men, but a majority of them seemed to be authored by young women. I began to tweet out translations into English of their words, including their Twitter profile pictures and links to their original tweets…..

    “Death to these fucking Arabs”
    “I wish a painful death to Arabs”
    “From the bottom of my heart, I wish for Arabs to be torched”
    “I spit on you, you stinking Arabs”
    “We wage war so this will be our land without any Arabs”
    “Hating Arabs isn’t racism it’s a commandment from God”
    “Arabs may you be paralyzed & die with great suffering!”
    “Stinking Arabs, may you die, Amen”
    “Kill them already, Arabs are whores”
    “Arabs are not human, they’re beasts”

    http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/terrifying-tweets-israeli.html

    • phillip ure 30.1
      14 July 2014 at 6:29 pm

      polling shows 90% of israelis support what is being done to the palestinians..

      ..they clearly don’t think ‘arabs’ are humans..

      ..i personally find the historical-ironies kinda overwhelming..bewildering..

  31. Paul 31
    14 July 2014 at 6:15 pm

    Dominion Post editorial today.
    Some highlights

    “Douglas used the economic crisis – massive internal and external deficits, a frightening overseas debt – to push through a Right-wing, top-down revolution which never figured in Labour’s election manifesto. New Zealand was hauled into the era of Thatcher and Reagan by stealth. At the end of six years, the government had a deserved reputation for failing to tell the voters of its real intentions.”

    “Douglas said his revolution would put New Zealand on a new, high-growth path. It didn’t. His excuse was that the job was left unfinished. Only ACT and Tea Party Republicans still believe that. The last 30 years have seen huge changes in economic theory that have demolished central parts of the Reaganite-Rogernome credo.”

    “The psychological model underpinning it, a crude form of Economic Man, was never plausible outside the lecture room and has now been comprehensively debunked inside it. Deregulation, especially of the finance industry, has proved anything but a saviour. It was an unchained finance industry that plunged the world into the Great Recession. And the Thatcherite indifference to economic inequality has proved socially and economically damaging and is now questioned even by the priests of the IMF and the World Bank.”

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/10263466/Editorial-Thirty-years-after-the-revolution

    Could someone tell our government this?

  32. deep throat 32
    14 July 2014 at 7:49 pm

    in 1984 everybody had a job.

  33. bad12 33
    14 July 2014 at 8:01 pm

    It appears that Green-Peace and the Electoral Commission are headed for an urgent date with the High Court,

    The Electoral Commission having ‘warned’ Green-Peace that recent published/broadcast material,(sorry i haven’t got the exact detail of that),was electioneering has had Green-Peace respond that the Electoral Commission is breaching that organizations right to free speech,

    Green-Peace have sought an urgent hearing at the High Court seeking a decision from the Judiciary on where the dividing line is between the two, electioneering or exercising the right to free speech…

  34. bad12 34
    14 July 2014 at 8:02 pm

    Maori Television are having a discussion about now on the type 2 Diabetes issue, might be of interest…

  36. Macro 36
    14 July 2014 at 9:22 pm

    “The government of an exclusive company of merchants is, perhaps, the worst of all governments for any country whatever.”

    Adam Smith

    Key – merchant banker
    Joyce – merchant
    Collins – spouse of merchant

    How many can you find?

    • Draco T Bastard 36.1
      14 July 2014 at 11:47 pm

      I suspect that all of National consider themselves businessmen whether they’ve been in business or not.

  37. deep throat 37
    14 July 2014 at 9:30 pm

    when two or more merchants gather together it is always a conspiracy to raise prices.
    adam smith.

  38. Jenny 38
    15 July 2014 at 4:18 am

    ‘

    You often see it floating on the top of concrete water tanks out in the country, I always thought it was pretty.

    But who knew?

    Can’t wait for part II

    http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060002785

  39. Jenny 39
    15 July 2014 at 4:34 am

    ???????

    While it is obvious from their blood chemistry and fossil record that all land vertebrae and invertebrae evolved from sea going creatures. All land plants on the other hand seem likely to have evolved from fresh water plants.

    And very few are able to cope with a saline environment. Those that have made this difficult transition like the mangroves have had to make some quite drastic and unique evolutionary changes.

    So how did a freshwater fern grow to such phenomenal numbers that it changed the climate?

    Why is still not floating on the oceans now?

  40. The Al1en 40
    15 July 2014 at 11:41 am

    “The damage to native forests can be seen all too clearly in many areas. Possums ignore old leaves and select the best new growth. In some areas they have eaten whole canopies of rata, totara, titoki, kowhai and kohekohe.
    Possums compete with native birds for habitat and for food such as insects and berries. They also disturb nesting birds, eat their eggs and chicks and may impact on native land snails.”

    http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/threats-and-impacts/animal-pests/animal-pests-a-z/possums/the-threat/

    Production losses due to possums have been estimated at $40 million/year, however that figure does not include intangible costs such as the intrinsic value of the environment and biodiversity, nor does it attempt to include the potential impacts on industries such as tourism should the “clean and green” image of NZ be damaged.
    At present, approximately $111 million is spent annually on the control of possums for conservation purposes and for the control of bovine Tb

    http://possumbiocontrol.agresearch.co.nz/

    Philip, as a veganaut, serial animal lover and banger on about the environment, what is your opinion on the culling of possums in NZ?
    Do you not agree that the annual budget of $111m could be better spent on providing for the homeless and deprived in our society?
    Do you think the cuddly critters should get a free pass and free reign to destroy our native flora and fauna?
    Do you think the corner I’ve backed you in to is as comfy as the ivory tower you are use to? 😉