Open mike 16/11/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 16th, 2011 - 92 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

92 comments on “Open mike 16/11/2011 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Dan1 1
    16 November 2011 at 6:43 am

    How come I haven’t heard the term ACC once this election? I thought the imminent sale of ACC due to the NACT party division of spoils would have been an election issue.

    • tc 1.1
      16 November 2011 at 7:22 am

      Because the MSM are a bunch of nat lackeys, you also haven’t heard dick about brash and banks being heavily involved in Hulich whos chief just pleaded guilty to kiwi saver fraud.

      Recall the total rollicking Parker got for a minor indiscretion which amounted to nothing yet the wealthy old has beens get no scrutiny at all.

      But hey when you can produce a budget with billions worth of holes, as rod oram restated, and get no sustained questioning or focused analysis what do you expect.

      Between this engineered distraction and another pisshead sportsman the media are far too busy for all that other stuff that determines our futures.

    • Carol 1.2
      16 November 2011 at 7:43 am

      Yes, I think Labour and the Greens have keeping ACC, and maybe improving it on their election policies. But the MSM haven’t taken much/any notice.

      • Ianupnorth 1.2.1
        16 November 2011 at 9:13 am

        Is that the same ACC that National said was nearly bankrupt and then returned record returns?

        • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1.1
          16 November 2011 at 12:57 pm

          Yep, the one that they want to sell off to their rich mates so that they can become even bigger parasites on us.

  2. Pete George 2
    16 November 2011 at 6:52 am

    Occupy Dunedin grapples with basic concepts of democracy and popular support – consensus of convenience?

    • chris73 2.1
      16 November 2011 at 7:04 am

      Since when do a bunch of drop kicks (sorry protestors and activists) give two hoots about popular support?

  3. Rodel 3
    16 November 2011 at 7:06 am

    What’s the bet that Key will invent an important day trip to Aus to be seen with Obama?

  4. mickysavage 4
    16 November 2011 at 7:19 am

    Ha  I have just heard Winston call Key a “young turkey” on National Radio.

    This election is getting really interesting.  “That nice Mr Key” may be a slogan consigned to history.

    The arrogance of Key ridiculing the elderly and discussion the deposing of Brash so close to the assembled media is breathtaking.

    Hopefully swing voters are now understanding what us on the left have always seen. 

  5. Jenny 5
    16 November 2011 at 7:56 am

    MANA MEDIA RELEASE
    15 November 2011

    The Maori Party’s close friend, ACT, is making a comeback after sitting down and having a cup of tea with John Key.

    ACT has always held deeply racist views and even though there’s been a
    change of leader from Rodney Hide to Don Brash, nothing has changed.

    In fact after John Banks’ rant on ‘The Nation’ it would seem that under Brash they are returning to the old National dogma of kicking people with brown skin in the guts. And what’s worse is that the Maori Party has said they will work with them in the future.

    Here’s what Banks had to say about Maori and Pacific Island youth: “We are all victims of crime. If we continue the bankrupt response of just paying young Polynesian, young Maori men in South Auckland, the dole to sit in front of TV, smoke marijuana, watch pornography and plan more drug offending, more burglaries, then we are going to have them coming through our windows regardless if we live in Epsom or anywhere else in Greater Auckland. We have to deal with the root cause of law and order.”

    “How on earth can the Maori Party work with people who think like that” said Mr Harawira.

    “ACT puts the boot into Maori and Pasifika and the Maori Party says nothing and just meekly hands them the keys to running the country!”

    “It’s a sad day when the Maori Party sacrifices their people’s needs just to get into government with a redneck like John Banks and his ACT buddies.

    “MANA have made it abundantly clear that we will not work with a party that hates Maori and Pacific Island people. The Maori Party might be Maori in name, but their ongoing relationship with ACT shows them up for what they are – a party desperate for power at any cost”

    Peter Verschaffelt

    Media Liaison

    Email media@mana.net.nz Web http://mana.net.nz

    • Ben 5.1
      16 November 2011 at 8:08 am

      Mana are going to have to be very careful who they call racist.

      The “white motherfucker” remarks have not been forgotten.

    • Bored 5.2
      16 November 2011 at 10:53 am

      Just love Banks….to hum some Dead Kennedy’s numbers “kill kill kill kill kill the poor”…..or perhaps with a subtle change of lyric ..”Aukalofa uber alles, uber alles Aukalofa…”

  6. logie97 6
    16 November 2011 at 8:00 am

    If there was just one quality we should expect from a person who has the power to commit a country to war, it is that person has grown beyond the school common room debater.
    Having a he said/he said mentality is not what we need to look after our interests.
    I wonder if he has ever engaged in philosophical discussions with “thinkers”. I wonder if he has “met” people like the Chief Justice. I wonder what these people really think of him.

  7. Salsy 7
    16 November 2011 at 8:09 am

    Something extremely fishy is going on with the Crafar farms. Normally, applications take up to 50 to 70 working days to process. It has now been seven months since Shanghai Pengxins lodged it’s application. Ministers dont seem to know who is responsible. The natural conclusion is that the Chinese have bought the farms, Key knowing the political fallout, has shelved the announcement until after the election.

    http://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/the-crafar-farms-why-the-delay-from-the-oio/

    • Ianupnorth 7.1
      16 November 2011 at 9:16 am

      There was a post recently about donations made to the Nats by some very  Chinese sounding people – of course very unlikely to be connected to this issue, surely!

  8. aerobubble 8
    16 November 2011 at 10:07 am

    Genorosity builds good will, good will is the backbone of any economy.
    As NZ falls farther behind despite having evrything going for it, Key
    demands that everyone who declines a drug test lose access to the
    basics od living.
    There is no genersity in Key’s National party, that’s why we aren’t
    getting ahead. Well that’s not entirely true Key is very generous
    when it comes to statements about his own prowess.
    Fair and balanced.

  9. Tiger Mountain 9
    16 November 2011 at 10:19 am

    http://mana.net.nz/press-releases/electoral-commission-racism-condemned/

    I’d like to say the above case was a rarity but it is not. It is common in the North. Conservative pākehā women tend to get these jobs. My partner was a polling clerk one year in the Far North, and when the others found out she was not a tory got the cold shoulder for the day.

    These bags misinformed and kept people waiting, were rude and racist to Māori voters and just nasty towards those they assumed (based on stereotyping of appearance) were ‘greenie’ pākehā. If you observe any such behaviour ask for their names and take it further as Hone and Mana are doing.

  10. aerobubble 10
    16 November 2011 at 10:23 am

    Should old people get the pension if they do dope?
    Should govt employees be fired on the spot?
    How about cheif execs whose companys take
    government contracts.
    One law for the elite another for the powerless.

  11. Jackal 11
    16 November 2011 at 10:49 am

    Lucy Lawless Fights Deep Sea Drilling

    “I’d urge anyone who wants to protect our coasts from an even worse oil spill than that which we saw in Tauranga, to sign this petition. By doing so, they’ll also be doing something positive about the climate crisis that this planet is facing,” said Lawless.

  12. Mark Wilson 12
    16 November 2011 at 10:55 am

    As usual the left are raging aginst the dying of the light instead of doing something.
    Still that is the natural order of things – the left insulting their betters and the right making the rules for the left to live by. Roll on the election.

    [lprent: It appears you are just a troll from the way you write rather mindless comments with no content of interest. You are also doing fire and forget trolling. You should go and find a blog that caters to that – try the sewer. Banned permanently. ]

    • Bored 12.1
      16 November 2011 at 10:59 am

      Are you taking the piss or is that just a fuckwit comment?

      • The Voice of Reason 12.1.1
        16 November 2011 at 11:05 am

        The TAB are offering odds of $1.01 on that Mark is a fuckwit. No second dividend.

        • lprent 12.1.1.1
          16 November 2011 at 11:15 am

          He has been doing these weird-arse comments on a fire and forget basis. I was thinking about leaving him in the mix for a comedy angle. But since he never responds to anything, I figured that dealing with someone in a semi-catatonic state wasn’t particularly useful.

          Added to auto-spam which silently swallows comments. Any bets on if he will

          A. Notice that his comments don’t get published
          Or
          B. Start crying about freedom of speech

    • Colonial Viper 12.2
      16 November 2011 at 11:01 am

      Haha I’m helping to erect several more Labour hoardings this weekend, as well as get another 500 flyers out into the electorate.

      Roll on the election.

  13. randal 13
    16 November 2011 at 11:01 am

    kweewee has turned into the worlds biggest whinger.
    he should loosen his underpants and stop using socks with the tight gaiters.

  14. TighyRighty 14
    16 November 2011 at 11:14 am

    Just a quick question, I thought labour and it’s supporters we’re going to fight this election on policy? Your front page has one article on a small policy, the rest is all attacks on national and key?

    [lprent: Why are you asking us? We aren’t the Labour party and certainly don’t follow their strategies (the authors would lynch me). Try http://labour.org.nz or http://blog.labour.org.nz.

    Of course your comment could be construed as a simple attempt at self-matyrdom (as is outlined in our policy). In which case let me know and I will assist to the best of my humble abilities. ]

    • Bored 14.1
      16 November 2011 at 11:22 am

      You thought….good one TR, did it hurt?

      • TightyRighty 14.1.1
        16 November 2011 at 11:54 am

        ahh originality, the hallmark of a cutting witticism.

        seeing as you’re so bored i would have thought that you could have enlivened your otherwise bleak existence with thinking up something truly offensive.

        • Bored 14.1.1.1
          16 November 2011 at 12:00 pm

          Nothing new under the sun TR, my concern for your mental health took precedence. Consider it a little bit of kindly ennui. If I really wanted to offend I would have in the bleakest manner.

    • TightyRighty 14.2
      16 November 2011 at 11:51 am

      well lprent, seeing as how the commentators and posters here crowed about the announcement, ( http://thestandard.org.nz/campaigning-on-policy-what-a-concept/ ) i would have though it would be a focus of the site seeing as while the site isn’t labour affiliated, the site certainly supports them.

      i love it when you get tetchy about these things, it shows someone hit a sore spot.

      [lprent: I am not responsible for the opinions of others on this site, just my own. However I am responsible for handling attacks on this site – and that is one of the more common ones. I get ‘tetchy’ whenever anyone tries to link the site to a political party, regardless who it is from.

      There has been rather too much of it over the years from all sides and I have long since lost any sense of humor about it. From the idiots inside Labour getting upset about what a author on a ‘Labour blog’ writes about their pet ideas. Usually that is when they are compared unfavorably with the Greens. From the dribbling right wing trolls who are stupid enough to believe that Whaleoil lies less often then Key. Usually I just give educational bans for a few months. But you usually don’t strike me as too much of an idiot. .

      Still it appears you didn’t take the warning seriously. Have an educational ban for 4 weeks so I can emphasize how little humor I have retained on this topic. ]

      • Lanthanide 14.2.1
        16 November 2011 at 12:00 pm

        I don’t see what the problem is with congratulating Labour for fighting on policies, and yet this blog running stories on other events?

        If anything, it means because Labour is focussing on the policies, this blog has to pick up the slack on the other aspects.

      • TightyRighty 14.2.2
        16 November 2011 at 1:46 pm

        oh come on, it’s just a question? I know you aren’t responsible for others as they aren’t responsible for you. it’s why i actually quite like this site, as if i needed any more reminders of the folly of man. But i did ask “the standard” as a matter of course as there was a definite deviation there. good to see a positive policy focus reappearing on the front page. that was what my comment related to, the sheer preponderance of attack material on the front page, and the front page only. I don’t troll stupidly, i try and show a little insight about things i speak on.

  15. randal 15
    16 November 2011 at 11:27 am

    hey tr.
    do a john kweewee and call the cops!

  16. vto 16
    16 November 2011 at 11:41 am

    So what’s going to happen when all the druggies get their meagre dole income removed? Do you think this will make them think “hmmm, better get a job then”, or will it make them think “hmmm, new scam needed – let me think ….”?

  17. Jackal 17
    16 November 2011 at 11:56 am

    Key storms out of media conference

    Prime Minister John Key has refused to answer reporters’ questions about the ‘tea tape’ and stormed out of a press conference in Wellington.

  18. felix 18
    16 November 2011 at 11:59 am

    The wheels are really falling off. Not a good look for Key and National at all: http://www.3news.co.nz/Teapot-tape-Key-storms-out-of-media-conference/tabid/419/articleID/232920/Default.aspx

    Storming out of a press conference is not the behaviour of a confident candidate. It’s the behaviour of someone who’s seriously rattled.

    FTA:

    New Zealand Herald reporter Derek Cheng called the response “extraordinary”, and Scoop’s Lyndon Hood tweeted: “The last National leader who walked out of a press conference in the late election period ended up leading ACT.”

    Did Key just get compared to Brash? Ouch.

    • Bored 18.1
      16 November 2011 at 12:04 pm

      Must be something very juicy on tape he is touchy about….did anybody get a photo?

    • vto 18.2
      16 November 2011 at 12:08 pm

      Get the lying bastard!

      Fucking not recalling his conversations – what a load of complete and utter bullshit. Liar Key liar..

      Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar

      Can’t recall his time during the ’81 Springbok Tour. Lying bastard.

      Can’t recall the number of Tranzrail shares. Lying bastard.

      Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar

      • Jackal 18.2.1
        16 November 2011 at 12:58 pm

        Can’t recall being a climate change denier.

        Said that breaking the BMW contract will cost us when it wouldn’t have.

        Said Standard & Poors more likely to downgrade under Labour… etc.

      • In Vino Veritas 18.2.2
        16 November 2011 at 3:00 pm

        Sort of like Phil Goff not being briefed about the Israeli spies. Sort of like Phil Goff saying CGT wouldnt appeal to labour if they were an incoming government, sort of like Phil Goff lieing about Helen Clark having DPS in parliament, would you like me to dig a few more out?

        • Jackal 18.2.2.1
          16 November 2011 at 5:33 pm

          1. It’s still Goffs word against Tuckers.

          2. He’s changed his mind because National has dug NZ into a hole.

          3. General Security or Clarks personal DPS… still not worth mentioning.

          • In Vino Veritas 18.2.2.1.1
            17 November 2011 at 12:45 pm

            Jackal, it is not Goff’s word against Tuckers. The documentation for the meeting of March 14 shows the topic as the 3rd item on the agenda. Again, on the 6th of April, the documents show that Goff actually raised questions regarding the issue. Ergo, to say he was not briefed is a lie.
            Do an OIA and see for yourself.

            Secondly, are you saying that Goff gets to “change his mind”? Not a liberty extended to John Key by many bloggers on this site.

            Thirdly, the DPS thing is worth mentioning about as much as vto’s springbok tour, and tranzrail shares. So I guess I agree with you on that.

        • Colonial Viper 18.2.2.2
          16 November 2011 at 5:34 pm

          All your lies are lies, what a surprise. Part of the NAT supporter pattern.

        • McFlock 18.2.2.3
          16 November 2011 at 5:40 pm

          Fell free to even bring one comparable case out.
           
          What was the clark/DPS one? don’t recall that. The others don’t seem to be actual evidence of uttering something known at the time to be an outright untruth. Claiming not to remember a conversation had 2 days before at a significant pr event is utter bullshit.

          • In Vino Veritas 18.2.2.3.1
            17 November 2011 at 2:37 pm

            McFlock, didnt even have to wait 48 hours for this one:

            Goff has said that Key’s walking out is “unprecedented in my time in politics. I can’t remember a Prime Minister going back to Muldoon that was so brittle that they couldn’t take the heat of answering valid questions from the news media. That’s his job.”

            That would be another Phil Goff lie, since Helen Clark walked out on a news conference in 2007 when she was being interviewed with John Howard, and in 2002, when in a rage, she walked out on ABC interviewer David Hardaker. That’d be brittle then Phil? Way to hang out and dry!

            And sorry, I cut and pasted this from an earlier response I made.

  19. felix 19
    16 November 2011 at 12:16 pm

    Now with video: Key’s feeble attempt to reset the agenda today. http://t.co/OzY6yoJ9

    If – as some have speculated – this teapot stuff has been a Nat distraction scheme all along, Key’s face today shows just how badly it backfired on them.

  20. Pascal's bookie 20
    16 November 2011 at 1:24 pm

    And now he’s cancelled a 130 meetup:

    John Key has pulled out of a planned media conference at 130pm to update on Apec and TPP

    https://twitter.com/#!/dchengnzh/status/136598271400476673

    As long as Garner gets bored with this by 6pm tonight, he might pull through ok.

  21. Pascal's bookie 21
    16 November 2011 at 1:26 pm

    Bit of a shame for him that Garner lives for days like this.

  22. randal 22
    16 November 2011 at 1:35 pm

    kweewee is a whinger and garner is dickylicker.
    they were made for each other.

  23. The Pink Postman 23
    16 November 2011 at 3:19 pm

    I bet Peter’s will come out with something spectacular. he’s going to plaster Brash. I don’t like Peter’s but one has to admitt he’s certainly on the ball when somebody is on the back foot. Im picking that he will crush Brash.

  24. Draco T Bastard 24
    16 November 2011 at 4:09 pm

    New Zealand log exports are heading for another record year.

    During the first eight months of 2011, log shipments were 25% higher than the same period last year and more than 50% higher by value.

    Greed pushing the price of rebuilding Chch up even more.

    • Colonial Viper 24.1
      16 November 2011 at 5:19 pm

      What are we doing still exporting raw unprocessed logs. Dumb dumb dumb.

      • Jackal 24.1.1
        16 November 2011 at 5:35 pm

        So much for Labour cutting down all the trees. Dumb!

      • Draco T Bastard 24.1.2
        16 November 2011 at 5:51 pm

        Yeah, that’s the bit that really pisses me off. We should have a ban on exporting raw resources especially when we’ve just had a natural disaster and will them ourselves.

  25. ianmac 25
    16 November 2011 at 4:10 pm

    Greens gets hit with the backlash over signage because the leader was a member of the Greens. Speculation that they may lose votes. Surely not.
    But wait on. If someone was a member of National and did some bad stuff, would that be sheeted home to Key or National? Doubt it.
    Farrar or Whaleoil get a free pass to dabble in whatever they like. Huh!
    How about Bank’s racist spiel?

  26. Jackal 26
    16 November 2011 at 5:34 pm

    Nick Smith lies again

    The EPA had not authorized the use of Corexit 9500, it simply fit into an existing section of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996. Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) authorized its use, meaning there’s no proper oversight involved…

  27. Draco T Bastard 27
    16 November 2011 at 5:49 pm

    Judith Collins is suggesting robbing Peter to pay Paul.

    “But I think think you also need to take account of the fact that the prison population is dropping for the first time since the 1930s and that Corrections has a bit of money we might be able to filch across.”

    This was in response to being told by Police Association president Greg O’Connor that holding police budgets at current levels was already having adverse affects on police operations.

    • Campbell Larsen 27.1
      16 November 2011 at 10:34 pm

      Phase one: Reallocate Corrections funding to police ops.
      Phase two: Keep on creating/ aprehending and imprisoning more crims with punitive legal changes/ measures and tougher sentences.
      Phase three: Claim that there is insufficient space in existing prisons and no budget to build more

      Eventual outcome: public private partnerships for prisons in NZ – the Nats plan all along.

      Make no mistake, keeping people in prison is big business in places like the US – there is no labour like slave labour, and no govt contract sweeter than a PPP.

  28. Keeshy 28
    16 November 2011 at 6:50 pm

    Here’s a private conversation, one I am having in my head…

    Twilight…how many of you are parents of 12-14 year old girls having meltdowns over the midnight screening tonight of ‘Part 1’? Our’s slept on the roof of our two story house in response to our ‘no, you can’t go, it’s a school night, and no, you can’t have the day off tomorrow because movies aren’t a good reason to have a day off school, and no, you can’t hang out with all your friends whose parents don’t mind their 13 year old’s going to the movies at midnight and having the day off…..

    What’s with the cinema’s and their 12.05am screening times aimed at 13 year olds on a Thursday night? What’s with parents who think it’s ok to have 13 years olds out till 2am in the morning on a school night….my daughter’s 7 closest friends are all going – and yes, I checked.

    Right, got that one off my bosomy chest.

    • millsy 28.1
      16 November 2011 at 8:40 pm

      Anyone who is prepared to sleep on the roof because their parents quite rightly wouldn’t let them go to a lame vampire movie in the middle of the night needs their head read anyway..

    • felix 28.2
      17 November 2011 at 8:05 am

      Staying up all night? Hanging out on the roof?

      Maybe your daughter is an actual vampire.

    • rosy 28.3
      17 November 2011 at 8:26 am

      Ah the joys of young teens – just like 2 year-olds, but bigger… and better at emotional blackmail 😉 It used to bug me that businesses and peer groups pressured them to pressure me too. The good news is they apologise for being such brats when they’re older 😉

  29. millsy 29
    16 November 2011 at 8:46 pm

    The Greens work bloody hard to gain credibility with the voting public then some idiot goes and undoes all that work in the space of one night by vandalising National Party billboards. Thanks mate, you probably cost the Greens thousands of votes because of your stupidity. Its like those idiots in the ‘Workers Party’ who think that burning flags and generally being disrespectful at ANZAC Day parades are going to launch a robust debate on NZ’s role in global conflicts and attitude to war and militarism in general.

    I know the Greens abhor lynching, but they need to make an exception for this guy.

    • The Voice of Reason 29.1
      16 November 2011 at 9:05 pm

      I would say these people might be inclined to be equally pissed off:
       
      Denise Roche, Holly Walker, Julie Anne Genter and Mojo Mathers.
       
      Or, as they are alternatively known, Green list candidates 11-14. I’m sure it’s entirely co-incidental that a reckless action by a thoughtless guy has damaged the career prospects of 5 women.

       
       
       
       
       

      • Sookie 29.1.1
        16 November 2011 at 9:58 pm

        While I laughed at the billboards when I first saw them, I’m not laughing about who arranged it. I think Russel and Meteria handled the situation the best they could, and its really not that big a deal in the scheme of things, but yeah I will be incredibly pissed if it has any effect on the magic 10%.

  30. Morrissey 30
    16 November 2011 at 9:24 pm

    PUNTING NEWS
    English, Ryall or Brownlee to lead Opposition?

    If, as looks increasingly likely, John “Rick Perry” Key’s dissembling and surly inability to intelligently explain himself leads to his party’s demise in ten days’ time, who will succeed him after the ritual bloodletting?

    At Daisycutter Sports Inc. they’re running a book on this. Latest odds are…..

    Bill “Double Dipton” English 4/1
    Gerry “Two Tons” Brownlee 5/1
    Tony “Dull but Dependable” Ryall 7/1
    Paula “Puttin’ on the Poundage” Bennett 10/1
    Judith “Crusher” Collins 12/1
    Simon “The Handsome Halfwit” Bridges 30/1
    Hekia “Errrrr, Ummmm, Ahhhh” Parata 33/1
    Wayne “Fuckwit” Mapp 100/1

  31. Jackal 31
    16 November 2011 at 9:31 pm

    Keys hit and run

    How do you like that? National’s campaign bus can drive into a parked car… and they just say that the dent was there already. They then get the Police to break into the parked car to shift it out of the way, even though it wasn’t illegally parked… then they just drive off…

  32. Jackal 32
    16 November 2011 at 11:11 pm

    This is worth checking out: Top ten political dummy-spits

    Everyone knows politics and drama go hand in hand – Parliament is the stage and the MPs are the players.

    But like all good theatre, the best moments come when things don’t go quite to script.

    Whether it’s a punch-up, a tantrum or a public dressing down, a fraught moment can make or break an election.

    Here’s our top ten dramatic showdowns from recent New Zealand history:

  33. Dave Kennedy 33
    16 November 2011 at 11:15 pm

    Charging a fee to take part in a local political forum, that excludes some candidates, is not supporting good democratic process.
    http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/11/commercial-interests-beat-public.html

  34. lprent 34
    17 November 2011 at 2:21 am

    For those few still on at this time of the morning (mostly our offshore brethren), the delays on the site are due to optimizing some of the data that runs the site. Both overweight images and the database which is somewhat non-optimal.

    It is chewing up more CPU than I anticipated. But of course this is also why I started it at 0100.