Open mike 17/06/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, June 17th, 2016 - 51 comments
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51 comments on “Open mike 17/06/2016 ”

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  1. Paul 1
    17 June 2016 at 6:08 am

    Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
    We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.

    Yet there are people who still care and who are unselfish.
    More than 500 cars park up to support homeless families in south Auckland

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/306582/park-up-for-homes-brings-in-hundreds
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11657982
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/81153216/hundreds-expected-to-camp-in-cars-in-south-auckland

    • Paul 1.1
      17 June 2016 at 6:18 am

      Here’s the cruel part.
      Barry Soper and people like him.
      He has written this article.

      ‘Political grandstanding in the carpark’

      Mr Soper
      Was supporting the anti-tour movement in 1981( if you weren’t actually living in South Africa and suffering from apartheid) political grandstanding?
      Were people who joined the Civil Rights movement (who weren’t black) political grandstanding?
      Was supporting the miners in the UK in 1984 (if you weren’t a miner) political grandstanding?
      Is marching against the Israeli treatment of Palestine ( if you don’t live in Gaza ) political grandstanding?

      It’s called solidarity, Mr Soper.
      Not political grandstanding.
      Rich privileged white old men like you are part of the problem.

      I realise the party you slavishly support in your sycophantic articles is failing the country.
      But does that mean you write a piece deflecting from the failures of the Key, Bennett and Smith to provide homes for our most vulnerable citizens?
      Shame on you.

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11657874

      • mauī 1.1.1
        17 June 2016 at 6:31 am

        Disgusting and childish attack by Soper, that was not journalism. How many tired right wing memes can you stuff into one pathetic hack piece.

        • Paul 1.1.1.1
          17 June 2016 at 6:50 am

          Journalists should be putting the spotlight at politicians who make a joke out of homelessness, rather than those who show solidarity with the dispossessed.
          But in North Korea and New Zealand, that is not the case.

      • Paul 1.1.2
        17 June 2016 at 6:53 am

        Next time I support the nurses when they want a pay rise, will I be political grandstanding?

      • Olwyn 1.1.3
        17 June 2016 at 9:21 am

        The Soper article looks like a scramble to claw back a narrative that has worked like a charm for seven years, but is now slipping from their hands. It is a narrative that goes something like, “Most people (at least the ones that matter) are doing just fine. Yes, there will always be about five percent (really closer 30%) that don’t make the grade, and most of them are either morally or psychologically deficient. So don’t sully your own gorgeous life by dwelling on the negative. Have a coffee. Have a gluten-free croissant. Have some me-time. Take a selfie. Have a nice day.”

    • mauī 1.2
      17 June 2016 at 6:19 am

      +500!

      • Paul 1.2.1
        17 June 2016 at 6:33 am

        Soper’s article is repulsive.
        His sinecure in the mainstream media makes him a pathetic defendant of Key and his nasty regime.

        For a start, what about these ad hominem attacks?
        Playing the man, not the ball.

        ‘Martin Luther Cunliffe may be ashamed of being a man but he’s not too proud to spend a night in his car, it seems. It was likely parked some distance away from the local MP, Su’a William Sio’s saloon for the night though, who apparently had a shout-out snout, a snore that even the best car stereo wouldn’t be able to silence.’

        Some other lowlights in his piece.

        ‘But they claim they’re drawing attention to the problem which presumes we’ve all had our heads buried in the sand in recent weeks, drowning out their constant howls about housing.”It’s just plain silly to say, as they have been, that a Government, regardless of its political hue, doesn’t care about the homeless.’
        ‘The finger pointing gets us nowhere and MPs, rather than sleeping in cars, should wake up and work together to come up with a solution.
        The reality is though that there are only so many houses that can be built in a day’

        The media is a major part of the problem.
        Soper needs a job in North Korea.

        • Hanswurst 1.2.1.1
          17 June 2016 at 3:43 pm

          I don’t understand how Mr. Soper even remains employed. He never provides any kind of decent analysis, instead just recycling a tired repertoire of lame writing tricks that he seems to think lend his pieces literary flair (“Martin Luther Cunliffe”, “Luigi Peters”, “The Bear Pit, “The Mother Bear”, “The Baby Bear”… he’s been rinsing and repeating the same stuff for years). His thinking is woolly on all levels. How would a car stereo “silence” snoring? Drown it out, maybe, but wouldn’t that wake more people up? The fellow can’t even scrape together a decent metaphor to make up for his lack of content. It’s tempting to see the Dunning-Kruger effect at work; he doesn’t even understand enough about politics to realise that he has no idea, or enough about writing to realise that he can’t hold a pen straight. Now what does that have to say about those who continue to employ him after having let so many more talented and perceptive writers go?

          • Gangnam Style 1.2.1.1.1
            17 June 2016 at 10:22 pm

            “Now what does that have to say about those who continue to employ him after having let so many more talented and perceptive writers go?” – writers of the truth are ‘shown the door’.

    • Snakeoil 1.3
      17 June 2016 at 8:17 am

      The Right Hon. Bill English – residing in a former Ambassadorial residence in Kelburn – should be the last person to disparage people sleeping in cars as winter comes.

  2. Paul 2
    17 June 2016 at 7:07 am

    ‘The finger pointing gets us nowhere and MPs, rather than sleeping in cars, should wake up and work together to come up with a solution.’

    Does this man doing any research?
    They are working together!


    ‘

    • Pasupial 3.1
      17 June 2016 at 7:44 am

      Paul

      I get that you are all aflame with indignation at this government and its media enablers, and maybe you only have the time before you go to work in the morning to post. But your firsting of the first few Open Mike threads every day is getting a bit spammy at this point. I did quite like your daily overnight temperature/ homelessness routine, but really I just scroll past your posts these days so am probably missing a lot.

      Maybe it’s just me, but could look at spreading out your posts over the day? It’d probably give them more impact.

      • Sabine 3.1.1
        17 June 2016 at 8:08 am

        well, i don’t think it matters if Paul’s Posts are on the first place, in the middle or the last post of the day.
        Fact is, that last night so many slept in cars that had no house to go to.
        But yes, it is uncomfortable to wake up, open a thread and see the misery of this country being spelled out in plain english. Day after Day after Day without end in sight, and a political Party – National Party of Misery for NZ, that really can’t be paid to do the job, can’t be shamed to do the job, and is out and proud in telling you and me that we are suckers that don’t count.

        So please Paul, go on.

        • YNWA 3.1.1.1
          17 June 2016 at 8:55 am

          Agreed, x10

        • Pasupial 3.1.1.2
          17 June 2016 at 9:49 am

          Sabine

          I’m not trying to stop Paul having his say, but it’s a bit pointless for him to do all that typing if his bulk posting means less people read it. For people with limited time to engage in online political discourses brevity and succinctness are definite advantages (when it doesn’t lapse into slogan recitation).

          It does matter who post first (and for that matter last) on a given forum, because those are the posts most likely to be viewed. Sure; what Paul says is important, but are; Ad & Rhinocrates’ posts not also worthwhile?

          Also, I have to agree with ScottGN that Soper is pretty irrelevant. I would scroll past posts about him no matter where the occurred.

          • Sabine 3.1.1.2.1
            17 June 2016 at 10:15 am

            well in that case a lot of things are pointless.
            Maybe Paul is not posting for us, but for those that read and don’t comment.
            Maybe we all should be posting this on our Twitters, Facebooks and other forums where we hang out to socialise in the virtual world.
            Its not as if the NZ Herald would be doing it, despite the Home of Journalism being the one place where this tally should be done.

            What Paul posts here should be the Frontpage on every newspaper in NZ , on the News in NZ before they do anything else.

            As these are our people that live in cars/vans/containers with no plumbing/heating, in tents behind in the bushes near our highways.

            AS for Ad and Rhinocrates they to post, and their points are equally valid, and if they are the first to open a thread they would then the first to post.

            Are you saying that Paul should wait for someone else to be the first to post?

        • TC 3.1.1.3
          17 June 2016 at 11:06 am

          Right on sabine, keep it up Paul.

      • ScottGN 3.1.2
        17 June 2016 at 8:59 am

        I pretty much scroll past them too now, though if it’s any consolation Paul, I don’t think anyone much reads Mr Soper in the Herald either.

      • Brigid 3.1.3
        17 June 2016 at 11:33 am

        Parsupial
        I just think your declaration that “… your firsting of the first few Open Mike threads every day is getting a bit spammy at this point.” is just silly. Just because you choose to scroll past Pauls postings because they are the first (I assume), you believe everybody does. Why do you assume that?

        The first posting does not need to define the discussion, I thought the purpose of Open Mike was that any contributor can initiate any discussion.

        I’d like Paul to continue to post where and as often as he sees fit.
        If I want to read it I will. If I don’t I’ll scroll past it.
        Isn’t that what everybody does?

      • mary_a 3.1.4
        17 June 2016 at 3:58 pm

        @ Pasupial (3.1) … It doesn’t matter what time of the day (or night) that Paul posts his comments, or when they appear, the point is they are based on facts, always supported with evidence of his information.

        Paul’s opinions are not rants or the sake of it. Nor are they “pretty” stories either. What they are, is the dark truth about what a hell hole NZ has become.

        We should appreciate the great efforts of posters such as the likes of Paul, to keep the distasteful, ugly truth out there, keeping us informed, something msm is failing to do.

        Paul being one of many, is the voice of those who are unable to speak out, NZ’s vulnerable.

      • weston 3.1.5
        17 June 2016 at 4:37 pm

        id have to agree repetition just becomes brainwashing after a bit …

    • Halfcrown 3.2
      17 June 2016 at 9:18 am

      “Some more reading for Mr Soper”

      Thanks, but no thanks

      • Halfcrown 3.2.1
        17 June 2016 at 9:50 am

        “Thanks, but no thanks”

        Paul apologies and I retract that statement. I quickly misread that as
        Some more reading BY Mr Soper

  4. Ad 4
    17 June 2016 at 9:08 am

    A nice U.S. state-by-state index of deprivation and income share of the 1% against everyone else:

    http://www.epi.org/multimedia/unequal-states-of-america/?utm_source=Economic+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=9c279245cd-Unequal_States_06_16_20166_16_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e7c5826c50-9c279245cd-58385193

    Would be great if Treasury did this kind of anaylsis over New Zealand.

    • weka 4.1
      17 June 2016 at 9:29 am

      Good graphics too. The past 100 years is interesting esp the peak from just before the Depression compared to now.

  5. rhinocrates 5
    17 June 2016 at 9:23 am

    On Radion NZ Nine to Noon now:

    09:20 Ninety day trial law failure: report
    The 90 day trial period introduced by the government in 2008 has done nothing to boost employment, the conclusion of a comprehensive analysis commissioned by Treasury.
    We speak to one of the authors of the study, Dr Isabelle Sin, an economist at Motu Research and Dr Stephen Blumenfeld, the director of the Centre for Labour Employment and Work at Victoria University.

    Note: it doesn’t work, it’s cruel to workers and the so-called “Labour Party” supports it.

    Oh yeah, Little wants to “make it fairer”, whatever that means. 91 days perhaps?

  6. cogito 6
    17 June 2016 at 9:24 am

    Overheard….

    “Mum, what does LGBT mean…?”

    “It means Little Girls Brush their Teeth…. Off you go love….”

    🙂

  7. joe90 7
    17 June 2016 at 10:08 am

    Cracker idea.

    Milwaukee congresswoman Gwen Moore, though, is “sick and tired, and sick and tired of being sick and tired, of the criminalization of poverty” she said in an interview on Wednesday. And, she added: “We’re not going to get rid of the federal deficit by cutting poor people off Snap. But if we are going to drug-test people to reduce the deficit, let’s start on the other end of the income spectrum.”

    Moore plans to introduce a bill on Thursday that she thinks will even the playing field or, at least, “engage the wealthy in a conversation about what fair tax policy looks like”. The bill, called the Top 1% Accountability Act, would force taxpayers with itemized deductions of more than $150,000 – which, according to 2011 tax data compiled by the IRS, would only be households with a yearly federal adjusted gross income of more than $1m – to submit to the IRS a clear drug test from a sample no more than three months old, or take the much lower standard deduction when filing their taxes. (In 2016, for comparison, the standard deduction for single people or married people filing separately is $6,300.)

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/16/gwen-moore-drug-test-rich-for-tax-deductions

  8. reason 8
    17 June 2016 at 11:28 am

    Propeganda —- how much does it affect your thoughts and emotions ????

    Here’s a quick self test involving a small bit of reading followed by asking yourself three questions …….. repeated twice

    Here’s the first bit of reading ….
    ***********************************************
    ” What are the trends in alcohol advertising?

    Many researchers have identified the following trends in New Zealand and overseas:

    1. More money is being spent on alcohol marketing, pervading more areas of life:
    • Use of newer media often popular with youth, such as the internet and cell phones (see http://www.lionred.co.nz; www. tui.co.nz; http://www.42below.co.nz).

    • Alcohol sponsorship more common in key areas of popular culture such as music, film, fashion (eg Big Day Out, Bicardi Beats, Smirnoff Fashion Awards, Speights orientation…).

    • Sport a particularly large focus of alcohol sponsorship; growing association with youth-popular sports such as surfing; sports clubs and events financially dependent on alcohol companies.

    • More alcohol-branded merchandise: t-shirts, caps etc enabling the public to become “walking advertisements’.” …

    **************************************************

    Your three self questions are ……

    1) Is what I just read propaganda ???

    2) Is my understanding of what I just read biased by my previous exposure to propaganda ??

    3) What is your general feeling towards alcohol advertising particularly regarding young people, sports sponsorship etc ??

    There are no tricks in this test and it is not a measure of intelligence so don’t over think the three questions………………

    • reason 8.1
      17 June 2016 at 11:30 am

      I decided to put this post up after seeing CV trying to educate Add on the prevalence of propaganda in a thread a few days ago ….

      I think CV said the best propaganda is the stuff you don’t even know your getting …. which Add wouldn’t/couldn’t get …..and CV struggled for a specific example to show him…

      Hopefully stage two of this self test serves as a good example…………

      • reason 8.1.1
        17 June 2016 at 11:37 am

        Stage two involves an almost identical bit of reading but this time we are going to start of by being more factually accurate and recognize Alcohol is a drug …..which is exactly what it is ….:
        *******************************************
        Alcohol is a Drug.

        ” What are the trends in Drug advertising?

        Many researchers have identified the following trends in New Zealand and overseas:

        1. More money is being spent on drug marketing, pervading more areas of life:
        • Use of newer media often popular with youth, such as the internet and cell phones (see http://www.drugred.co.nz; www. drugtui.co.nz; http://www.42drugsbelow.co.nz)
        .
        • drug sponsorship more common in key areas of popular culture such as music, film, fashion (eg Big Day Out, Bicardidrug Beats, Smirnoffrussiandrug Fashion Awards, drugs orientation…).

        • Sport a particularly large focus of drug sponsorship; growing association with youth-popular

        sports such as surfing; sports clubs and events financially dependent on drug companies.

        • More drug-branded merchandise: t-shirts, caps etc enabling the public to become “walking
        advertisements’.” …

        **************************************************************

        Now ask yourself the three questions again ……. and if your inclination is to say “ but Alcohol is not like drugs” ……….then you are 100% mind fucked.

        If you honestly claim no difference in your reactions I’d like to hear from you as I’ve always wanted to talk to a Vulcan….. I’m aware of the propaganda and I still have a reaction such is the strength of lifetime indoctrination.

        And then you can start asking who benefits by the propaganda surrounding the drug alcohol and its relation to other recreational drugs ….

  9. M. Gray 9
    17 June 2016 at 11:35 am

    There is something seriously wrong with our Justice system when a young Chinese women Jieling Xiao gets 17 months jail for killing Rhys Middleton and yet the Dutch visitor Johannes Jacobus Appelman who killed 3 NZers because he failed to stop at a stop sign in Christchurch gets reparation. This in my view is racist and discriminative and this is simply not fair one killed 1 the other person killed 3. Who does our justice system seem to favour I find this to be disgusting and there are other examples of the blatant unfairness in our justice system. Also how many more Teina Poras are sitting in our prisons?

    • Draco T Bastard 9.1
      17 June 2016 at 12:50 pm

      Our justice system is inherently racist and favours white people. There was an excellent article about it in the NZHerald a few years ago by a lawyer. She put forward a few like cases where it was obvious that people of colour were being more heavily punished than white people.

  10. Chooky 10
    17 June 2016 at 1:30 pm

    ‘Switzerland withdraws longstanding application to join EU’

    https://www.rt.com/news/346884-switzerland-eu-membership-application-rejected/

    “The upper house of the Swiss parliament on Wednesday voted to invalidate its 1992 application to join the European Union, backing an earlier decision by the lower house. The vote comes just a week before Britain decides whether to leave the EU in a referendum…

    • Puckish Rogue 10.1
      17 June 2016 at 2:59 pm

      Well from their point of view what would be the point of joining? They won’t gain anything and they’ll lose some of their sovereignty.

  11. Bearded Git 11
    17 June 2016 at 1:52 pm

    Toby Manhire on Trump in the Herald today:

    On this I agree with Donald Trump, who said: “The biggest problem we have is nuclear, having some maniac, having some madman go out and get a nuclear weapon.” Speaking for the world, we’re worried about that, too, which is why we don’t want him to have the opportunity to single-handedly order the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal [to attack]. And that’s not hyperbole: in a long feature this week for Politico detailing the process by which a nuclear attack is launched, nuclear security expert Bruce G Blair writes that a President Trump “would be free to launch a civilisation-ending nuclear war on his own any time he chose”.

    Gawd ‘elp us.

    • Colonial Viper 11.1
      18 June 2016 at 1:18 am

      utter bull shit. The President cannot launch a nuclear attack without agreement of the Joint Chiefs.

      Further, Clinton is far more likely to construct war against China or Russia, or China and Russia.

  12. AsleepWhileWalking 12
    17 June 2016 at 2:07 pm

    Bernie Sanders not endorsing Killary yet! Still in the running….

    Thought he was selling out and for sure would run as VP. Respect dude.

  13. b waghorn 13
    17 June 2016 at 3:20 pm

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/306632/auckland-to-get-59-new-state-houses

    Iwi must not donate as much to national as fletchers does!

  14. ianmac 14
    17 June 2016 at 3:24 pm

    Salisbury Special school for girls? Parata vowed to get them sunk.

    “Despite assurances to keep the school open after the school’s successful High Court case in 2012, the Minister has allowed her ministry to initiate a sinking lid process regarding enrolments, [saying] that parents enrolling for the IWS aren’t choosing Salisbury.

    “This is simply not true. Parents tell us they were not even offered Salisbury when applying for the IWS, and they had to go to extreme lengths to be allowed to choose Salisbury.”
    Dirty tricks?
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11658356

  16. weka 16
    17 June 2016 at 5:10 pm

    The United States Senate voted to pass a defense bill today that would require young women to sign up for a potential military draft for the first time in U.S. history. The vote was 85-13 in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act, a $600 billion defense spending bill that had a host of other controversial provisions in it, including prohibiting the closure of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and denying the Pentagon’s attempt to close military bases.

    Republicans were divided about whether the U.S. should require women to register for the draft when they turn 18. Sen. Ted Cruz told Politico it was a “radical change that is attempting to be foisted on the American people,” while Sen. John McCain said “a large bipartisan majority on the Armed Services Committee agreed that there is simply no further justification to limit Selective Service registration to men.”

    The Senate and the House will now meet to compare and resolve differences between the two versions of the defense spending bill. The House version does not have the female draft requirement in it.

    http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2016/06/14/senate-votes-to-require-women-to-register-for-the-draft/

  17. Paul 17
    17 June 2016 at 5:32 pm

    From Daily Blog.

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/06/17/breaking-priviledge-to-the-max-watch-max-key-get-exclusive-access-to-all-blacks/

    Privilege to the Max – Watch Max Key get exclusive access to All Blacks

    • Gangnam Style 17.1
      17 June 2016 at 10:36 pm

      Party Political Broadcast, the Nats have really started already, early election maybes?

  18. Paul 18
    17 June 2016 at 5:37 pm

    Another of the privileged offspring of the wealthy in the news.
    For assualt.
    I wonder if his sentence is tough…

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11658323