Open mike 18/05/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, May 18th, 2019 - 132 comments
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132 comments on “Open mike 18/05/2019 ”

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  1. vto 1
    18 May 2019 at 7:42 am

    If there is going to be a new Conservative / Christian Party ..

    Then they will need renounce those parts of the Bible that condemn Gays to hell ..

    Like the Israel Folau outrage expressed..

    But it wont happen will it. So neither the christians nor the outraged have credibility.

    Over to Bridges and Ngaro…

    • Observer Tokoroa 1.1
      18 May 2019 at 8:13 am

      Hi Vto

      I do not recall Christ sending Gays to Hell.

      Nor do I recall Christ playing Rugby Union.

      However, HIV is still a big problem in our Society. Have you heard of that ?

    • Fireblade 1.2
      18 May 2019 at 8:36 am

      Split the National Party vote.

      Blue/Greens, New Conservatives, Ngaro Christian Party, Act Party.

      That's a great plan. National might poll in the 20's on a good day.

    • JohnSelway 1.3
      18 May 2019 at 12:28 pm

      Funny how the religious right are so selective in their reading of the Bible.

      "Gays are unnatural and doomed to hell!"

      The whole rich man going to heaven thing…..silence

  2. Dennis Frank 2
    18 May 2019 at 7:49 am

    "Talks between Labour and the government aimed at breaking the Brexit impasse have ended without an agreement." https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48304867

    What's stopping them find common ground? Corbyn "said his party had negotiated "in good faith and very seriously, and put forward a lot of very detailed arguments", which he thought was "the responsible thing to do". He added: "The issue [is] that the government has not fundamentally shifted its view and the divisions in the Conservative Party mean the government is negotiating with no authority and no ability that I can see to actually deliver anything.""

    "Speaking after meeting Tory activists in Bristol, Mrs May said: "There have been areas where we have been able to find common ground, but other issues have proved to be more difficult. In particular, we haven't been able to overcome the fact that there isn't a common position in Labour about whether they want to deliver Brexit or hold a second referendum to reverse it."

    In other words, there's obvious common ground: equivocation & disunity in both wings of the establishment. A common quicksand – no basis upon which to proceed.

    • RedLogix 2.1
      18 May 2019 at 8:04 am

      Or to return to a frequent theme, this is a direct consequence of globalisation lacking common principles and democratic accountability.

      Our physical reality is a world with 7 billion people that is one species rapidly converging as a single geo-social polity. Trade, travel, communication and a myriad of legal, commercial and technical mechanisms compel us into connection, yet the nation states have been unable to deliver an effective political mechanism to match.

      Until we do expect more quicksand everywhere.

      • Ad 2.1.1
        18 May 2019 at 8:50 am

        We've lived in an era in which there have been more and more powerful multilateral organizations and binding agreements across the known world than since the Christian church. Most of them formed in the last 70 years.

        May and Corbyn simply don't believe in the best and most complex of these: the E.U.

        • RedLogix 2.1.1.1
          18 May 2019 at 9:04 am

          Good point. You are quite correct, I carelessly glossed over that.

          May and Corbyn simply don't believe in the best and most complex of these: the E.U.

          Yet neither of these people are fools, nor all the aprox 50% of Britons who voted for Brexit. The question has to be why do they not believe in it? My answer is that we have yet to fully embrace the idea of globalisation as an moral idea. We believe in our families, our communities (whatever form they may take) and the nations we're citizens of yet somehow the next logical step, a belief in the organic unity of the human race, eludes us.

          • Ad 2.1.1.1.1
            18 May 2019 at 9:12 am

            Stiglitz' 'Globalisation And Its Discontents' covers most of this ground.

            I think we're about as unified as a human race as we are going to get, and we've done pretty well at it. Importantly we prefer the nation-state a the most powerful and enduring of the collective.

            And honestly we expect too much from any one cross-national agreement, the CPTPP being a fairly strong recent one with buckets of extra moral suasion thrown in at the end to keep us happy.

            • RedLogix 2.1.1.1.1.1
              18 May 2019 at 9:33 am

              I certainly expect the nation state to endure. Human history can be roughly modeled as successive extensions of our ability to unite. We started with modest family clan and tribal units, then built layers onto them, the village, the city state and currently the nation. It's crucial to recognise that each new layer incorporated and enhanced the ones that came before.

              For instance, when the family/tribal unit is the largest political unit you have to work with, everything must be solved at that level. The appearance of the nation state far from being a constraint, liberated the family unit.

              At this moment in history all the big problems we face are global in nature. Only when we have the political mechanisms at that scale to address them, will the nation states be liberated to reach their full and unsuspected potential.

              And thanks for the Stiglitz link. Yes worth a read by the looks.

              “The main message of Globalization and its Discontents was that the problem was not globalization, but how the process was being managed. Unfortunately, the management didn’t change. Fifteen years later, the new discontents have brought that message home to the advanced economies.”

              https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/globalization-new-discontents-by-joseph-e–stiglitz-2016-08

              • Ad …
                18 May 2019 at 10:19 am

                The global agreements that will bind nations to reverse the great global problems won't exist. We've pushed human cooperation as far as it's going to get. There's plenty of juice left in the existing organizations if they were supported. You can probably name good examples.

                But there are plenty of other mechanisms that are more powerful than national and multinational agreements. The most powerful of them are markets, and many of those are already regulated in the broader interest very well.

                Other mechanisms exists in only two of the most powerful countries we have: China and the United States. China's Belt and Road initiative for example. Plenty of faults, but no lack of international ambition or will.

                Further mechanisms for global consensus exist in social media. Trump has led the way on how strong this mechanism is.

                Even Ardern+Macron's Christchurch Call shows that agreement can simply start from fresh events. It's not a breakthrough, but it's a dent.

                I don't think there's any need to wait until a global government arrives.

              • RedLogix …
                18 May 2019 at 10:45 am

                We've pushed human cooperation as far as it's going to get.

                Yet this same statement could have been made by any of the tiny warlord duchy states prior to the emergence of say the unified German state.

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historic_states_of_Germany

                Britain went through much the same turbulent era, such as the War of the Roses, as it transitioned from city state level of social unity to the nation state. Achieving a broader level of social cohesion never an easy process, and encounters much resistance. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; not all new forms are necessarily a good thing. It's wise that we should test the new before we commit irreversibly.

                Yet there is a deep paradox in human social organisation. We value our freedom and independence, yet in isolation we perish. It's a terrible contradiction, but in order to gain true liberty we must first surrender part of our freedom. For example, in order to make the best use of a road we must collectively abide by the constraints of a road code. If we each retained the right to randomly choose whichever side of the road to drive on each morning, collectively the result would render them catastrophically useless.

                Collectively we all share a planet and the nation states have reached the point where each must surrender a part of their sovereignty in order to evolve to their next step. Until then we're stuck in escalating cycles of mismanaged globalisation, confrontation and conflict.

                I do agree with your last sentiment; waiting for a fully functioning federated global government is not necessary; there are many incremental steps along the way that can be achieved. The EU was as you say one of the better attempts.

                • Ad …
                  18 May 2019 at 11:56 am

                  Germany is a Federation within a Community.

                  It is Germany's sense of postwar cross-national amity that sought a structure of cooperation that would stop all future wars, and that evolved from the EC to the EU we have today.

                  The E.U. is still expanding, so that impulse is still alive. But barely.

                  So the historical circumstance is pretty different to what you point to.

                  I'm still waiting for the Pacific Islands to figure that their tiny non-sustaining little fiefdoms are better amalgamated into a pan-national confederation. They've got plenty to fight for after all.

                  In the meantime New Zealand needs to keep dear, dear hold of that special relationship with Australia. That's as close as we're going to get to Federation with something of any heft.

                  • RedLogix …
                    18 May 2019 at 12:30 pm

                    So the historical circumstance is pretty different to what you point to.

                    In the normal course of events you are right, the impulse toward higher levels of cooperation is fitful and unsatisfying.

                    But every now and then, such as in the aftermath of WW1 and WW2, we have a moment of clarity, when in horror and shame at what we have done, we take a decisive step.

                    We have a choice, doing this the hard way, or the very horrifyingly traumatic way. But it will happen, because the alternatives to my mind are not acceptable.

          • Dennis Frank 2.1.1.1.2
            18 May 2019 at 9:16 am

            Seems to me it's the difference between ideal & reality. United Europe is an excellent idea. The consequent eurocracy has alienated too many people. Just as the United Nations was an excellent idea, discredited by dysfunction.

            What's necessary in high-level political organisations is appropriate design, followed by smooth operation. Design flaws and malfunctions must be eliminated as they appear. Instead, the human tendency to instutionalise such problems kicks in. The tacit assumption `fixing it is too hard' prevails. We need to empower fixers. Democracy selects non-fixers.

        • Poission 2.1.1.2
          18 May 2019 at 5:13 pm

          We've lived in an era in which there have been more and more powerful multilateral organizations and binding agreements across the known world than since the Christian church. Most of them formed in the last 70 years.

          Very powerful and ubiquitous these new religions eg Harari (sapiens)

          “The capitalist and consumerist ethics are two sides of the same coin, a merger of two commandments. The supreme commandment of the rich is ‘Invest!’ The supreme commandment of the rest of us is ‘Buy!’ The capitalist–consumerist ethic is revolutionary in another respect. Most previous ethical systems presented people with a pretty tough deal. They were promised paradise, but only if they cultivated compassion and tolerance, overcame craving and anger, and restrained their selfish interests. This was too tough for most. The history of ethics is a sad tale of wonderful ideals that nobody can live up to. Most Christians did not imitate Christ, most Buddhists failed to follow Buddha, and most Confucians would have caused Confucius a temper tantrum. In contrast, most people today successfully live up to the capitalist–consumerist ideal. The new ethic promises paradise on condition that the rich remain greedy and spend their time making more money and that the masses give free reign to their cravings and passions and buy more and more. This is the first religion in history whose followers actually do what they are asked to do. How though do we know that we'll really get paradise in return? We've seen it on television.”

  3. Dennis Frank 3
    18 May 2019 at 7:56 am

    I've been waiting to see how long it would take for kiwi entrepeneurs to rise to the challenge of waste recycling since the early eighties. It's finally happened!

    "New Zealand's soft packaging recycling scheme is about to start up again on Monday, after being suspended last year when global recycling options dried up." https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/05/soft-packaging-recycling-scheme-relaunches-in-new-zealand.html

    "When China stopped taking plastic in 2018, it had a knock-on effect. Our soft plastics had been going to Australia but with a global market flooded with plastic, we can no longer rely on overseas processors and are forced to manage our own waste. Soft plastic has no commercial value and is difficult to repurpose."

    "That's where Jerome Wenzlick steps in. He's a farmer and fencer who came up with an idea while putting up fencing at a rubbish dump. "We were putting wooden posts into the ground and the posts were snapping and we thought why don't we make some posts out of the plastic that's in the ground," he told Newshub. He's set up a company called Future Post and since the start of the year, he's recycled 300 tonnes – that's 75 truck loads."

    "The soft plastic is sorted and granulated, then mixed with milk bottles, before going through a New Zealand-designed and built extruder to melt and reform it into fence posts. The equivalent of 550 plastic bags goes into making each post."

    • gsays 3.1
      18 May 2019 at 8:36 am

      Thanks Dennis, a bit of good news that includes atypical ingenuity.

      Is is going too far to call it plastic sequestering?wink

      • Dennis Frank 3.2.1
        18 May 2019 at 9:00 am

        Fancy a district council being that enterprising! "It's up to the Manawatū District Council to persuade the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment after the provincial development unit handed it $81,000 to put together a business plan."

        I hope the economics is viable. Fits in with regional development too eh? Not many jobs but they all help. I wouldn't trust the MBIE to necessarily get it right though.

        If they fail to approve it, the MDC ought to pay a leading economic consultancy to appraise the plan too, to identify whatever the design flaw is, or it exists merely in the minds of bureaucrats, formulate a contrary analysis in support of it which the MDC could then submit directly to the minister for regional development – or the minister for the environment, perhaps. Because a viable scheme could be copied in other regions…

        • gsays 3.2.1.1
          19 May 2019 at 10:02 am

          This, or any other proposal, when a district council is involved, can only succeed when it doesn't clash with councillor's own vested interests.

          So to have councils being the ones to tackle climate change, doesn't fill me with hope especially the provincial councils.

          • Dennis Frank 3.2.1.1.1
            19 May 2019 at 10:41 am

            Yes, that's a realistic view of local body politics. And why the MDC initiative is so unusual. To be optimistic, one could also anticipate a copycat effect, which is likely if the scheme works. That would provide a progressive trend.

  4. Jenny - How to get there? 4
    18 May 2019 at 8:23 am

    Is the Christchurch killer a terrorist, or a white person?

    • JanM 4.1
      18 May 2019 at 8:38 am

      Both I would have said.

    • Sabine 4.2
      18 May 2019 at 8:42 am

      he is both,

      a white supremist terrorist.

      there, that was not hard.

      • Jenny - How to get there? 4.2.1
        18 May 2019 at 11:06 am

        The White supremacist shooter is only being charged with 'murder'.

        Tam Iti, who is not white, was charged with terrorism.

        Despite not killing, or even threatening to kill, anyone.

        A double standard?

        Guilty of terrorism until proven white?

        I will repeat the question, and enlarge on it.

        Is the Christchurch killer a terrorist, or a white person?

        Are white people, not terrorists by definition?

        How can anyone explain this discrepancy?

        • JanM 4.2.1.1
          18 May 2019 at 11:44 am

          While agreeing that the way Tame Iti was treated was appaĺling and most certainly had a racist element to it, the major flaw in your argument is that he couldn't be charged with murder, having not killed anyone! Besides, the murder charge for the Chch perpetrator is, as I understand it, only an initial charge and there is more to come. I think you are comparing apples with oranges

          • Jenny - How to get there? 4.2.1.1.1
            18 May 2019 at 12:24 pm

            …the major flaw in your argument is that he [Tama Iti] couldn't be charged with murder, having not killed anyone! JanM

            Hi Jan,

            I didn't argue, that Tama Iti should have been charged with murder. That would have obviously been completely ridiculous, (almost as completely ridiculous as charging him with terrorism).

            I contended that if Tama Iti could be charged with terrorism, (despite not terrorising anyone), then the Christchurch white supremacist must be charged with terrorism, after oganising and planning an attack that killed 51 innocent New Zealand men women and children.

            I further contend; that to not to charge this white supremacist with committing a terrorist act would represent a racist double standard.

            ….the murder charge for the Chch perpetrator is, as I understand it, only an initial charge and there is more to come. JanM

            Jan you are absolutely right, the police can bring extra charges under the Suppression Of Terrorism. But will they?

            Can a white person be a terrorist in New Zealand, or not?

            The whole world is watching.

            I am hopeful that this white supremacist mass murderer, will face extra charges laid under the Suppression Of Terrorism Act.

            I hope that I am not proved wrong.

        • Sabine 4.2.1.2
          18 May 2019 at 2:15 pm

          to be honest you need to take that up with the current government not me.

          to me he is a white supremacist and a terrorist and a mass murderer and an all around shitheel.

          Any other question you may have you need to address with those that make the rules and that ain't me.

          As for the privilege that white people have i have on more then on occasion addressed the fact that us white people have it, want it and are currently crying big tears about the fact that we are loosing it. And again, my position is that white people should never have had that privilege in the first place and in the case of many countries only got to be the top dog by systematically killing and eradicating the first nations by point of gun, with the help of chicken pox invested blankets, starvation, stolen generations and so forth.

          As for those that cry over lost 'equality' in this country of any other 'white' country, i would like to point out that people of color, and women/children of all colors never were considered 'equal', never had 'equal rights' and certainly did not have the 'equal protection' accorded to white men in the courts of law and public opinion.

          I hope this answers all your question for now.

        • Andre 4.2.1.3
          18 May 2019 at 6:20 pm

          You haz questions. The esteemed and learned Professor Geddis haz answers.

          Go to https://www.pundit.co.nz/ and scroll down to March 16, 2019. (the URL for the article contains the fuckwit's name so it gets caught in the moderation trap here)

          tl;dr Charging the fuckwit with terrorism involves trying to prove stuff like state of mind that's much more difficult to prove than the bare facts of his murderous actions. In any case, getting a conviction for terrorism on top of the murders won't have any material effect on what his sentence is likely to be. So yes, that shows the terrorism law is not fit for purpose and needs to be changed.

  5. Sabine 5
    18 May 2019 at 8:47 am

    currently in the US

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/5/17/1858446/-Republican-Party-Is-on-the-Road-to-Mass-Lockups-for-Women-Who-Have-Miscarriages-by-Thom-Hartmann?utm_campaign=recent

    "During Mike Pence’s first year as governor of Indiana, his state put a young woman in prison for having a miscarriage, alleging that she’d taken an abortion-causing drug. Purvi Patel didn’t have a trace of such a drug in her system, but Pence’s state sentenced her to 20 years in prison anyway. Just a few years earlier, Indiana had also held Bei Bei Shuai for 435 days in the brutal maximum security Marion County prison, facing 45 years to life for trying to kill herself and, in the process, causing the death of her 33-week fetus.

    Utah charged 28-year-old Melissa Ann Rowland with murder because she refused a C-section, preferring vaginal birth for her twins, and one of them died. Sixteen-year-old Rennie Gibbs was charged by the state of Mississippi with “depraved heart murder” when her baby was born dead because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck: her crime was that she had cocaine in her bloodstream, according to prosecutors. Angela Carder was ordered to have a C-section to deliver her baby before she died of cancer; both she and the baby died from the procedure."

    yeah, lets all just mock the idea of some religious zealots having a party in NZ and getting a say in Parliament because the Party of No mates is run by wet toast covered in margarine.

    Cause we absolutely should not look to what happens in other countries and wonder if we want the same shit happening here.

    • dv 5.1
      18 May 2019 at 9:08 am

      Geez, that is horrific Sabine..

    • mary_a 5.2
      18 May 2019 at 2:28 pm

      Sabine (5) this is shocking! Yet they are out there, those "Christian" zealot conservative white males, wanting complete control over vulnerable women and girls. Demonstrating total ignorance of the highest order!

      I'd be interested to know if the same cruel rules and actions would apply to the wives, daughters and granddaughters of the sadistic, vile Mike Pences of the world, whose rabid and dangerous mindsets belong back in the dark ages and before that even.

      NZers have to be very alert as to who/what creeps into our political system, particularly when it comes to electing representatives.

      • Sabine 5.2.1
        18 May 2019 at 2:56 pm

        the whole point is not to give married women grief (at least for now), but to harrass unmarried women who may only have sex for fun or so and force them back under the tutelage of Daddy until given over to Hubby at the church. Ownership over women and children is the whole point. The fetus is just the tool to achieve that.

        in saying that, if you look at south america you will see that many women already are in prison for having miscarriages/or self induced abortions as the doctors don't want to incriminate themselves or simply report them to police and ……..locking up some poor women is just easier then proving solutions that would allow women access to science based healthcare, prenatal care, and / or simply the right to live a live save of sexual predators.

        https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24532694

        https://www.thenation.com/article/ecuador-abortion-miscarriage-prosecution/

    • JanM 6.1
      18 May 2019 at 9:29 am

      She certainly managed to demonstrate an inteĺlectual bypass. Facile and disingenuous

      • OnceWasTim 6.1.1
        18 May 2019 at 10:12 am

        Indeed

        "Clark moved in artistic circles but probably didn't have an arty bone in her body" (pfft!)

        and of Key "Behind the humour and optimism was a sharp financial brain" I presume she means in a Nick Leeson kind of way

        I'm hoping she's not going to be put on the RNZ goto list of rent-a-voices – it's been under a big enough threat as it is.

    • Sacha 6.2
      18 May 2019 at 12:05 pm

      Humbling to realise that decades of experience in a job does not necessarily make you any wiser. We deserve better.

      • JanM 6.2.1
        18 May 2019 at 1:03 pm

        We do deserve better, but we rarely get it. Most journalists, in this country anyway, are certainly members of the B team 😣

  7. Rosemary McDonald 7
    18 May 2019 at 9:30 am

    Modern, innovative learning environment in re-born Christchurch.

    Police have been called in after a pig in the school's petting zoo had a stick stuck up its bum.

    At the very least the children should have been taught how to slaughter and prepare the pig before putting it on the spit.

    Seriously, is this school an anomaly, or is this the reality for education today?

    An in depth article which gathers opinions from both sides.

    Many staff who had their own children enrolled had since removed them, they said.

    "I know those leaders were really intent on believing in the school philosophy but at the end of the day, after under two years, they just couldn't sacrifice their beloved kids.

    "They [Haeata management] developed a philosophy without knowing the kids. They left out the most important thing."

    Kai Fong said that every staff member had the opportunity to give feedback and meet face to face with the board if they chose.

    Relief teacher Nadine Garrett liked Haeata's environment but said it wasn't right for everyone.

    "I felt really sorry for the traditional teachers, they felt like they were just floating."

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/112671944/pet-pig-assaulted-by-christchurch-school-students

    Personally, I'd find the noise in a classroom of 300 self -directed learners unbearable and while its laudable for the school to use incidences of bullying as a learning opportunity it appears it is not doing much to reduce the level of violence.

    • vto 7.1
      18 May 2019 at 9:44 am

      Shameful experiment tried out on the poorest people in town

      Unbelievable

      Why didn't the education department try it out in Remuera? Or Fendalton? Or Max Key's school?

      Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

      We all know the answer. Fuck the rich.

      • higherstandard 7.1.1
        18 May 2019 at 10:38 am

        'We all know the answer. Fuck the rich.'

        Do tell – how is this 'the rich's' fault ?

        While you're at it who are there 'rich' ?

        Perhaps in this instance the MoE was trying to do the right thing and the school in question just lacked the appropriate leadership and governance.

        • JanM 7.1.1.1
          18 May 2019 at 1:27 pm

          It's going to take a while and a lot of training to bring mainstream teachers to a point where they can operate successfully in an environment like this. Its basic kaupapa would appear to be similar to the ec Te Whariki curriculum and is common sense to us (I am ece trained ) but very scary, I would think, to a lot of the 'chalk and talk' brigade. By the way, I would never leave animals unprotected in any environment around children, no matter what their backgrounds. The inability to show kindness and compassion is most emphaticaĺly not confined to any one class or ethnicity.

          • Rosemary McDonald 7.1.1.1.1
            18 May 2019 at 2:11 pm

            Headmaster…

            Kai Fong said there was no evidence to suggest the rate of violence was higher at Haeata than other schools and he believed there was an "inherent bias" against the east side of Christchurch. "I think the preconception of more violence here is unjustified."

            However, he said a proportion of Haeata's pupils struggled to "engage consistently in learning" and some "do not have the requisite social and emotional skills to be fully functional in learning".

            A former teacher recalled incidents in 2017 when a glass object was thrown near an itinerant teacher and smashed. She was also told to "f… off, you b….," while being swung at with a traffic patrol pole by a 5-year-old. Children threw scooters, rode bikes inside, and there was constant swearing and verbal abuse.

            As a result, the teacher took two terms off with post-traumatic stress, and had private counselling for 12 weeks.

            The following year, the school sought police help to change the culture. The "highly successful initiative" focused on "pro-social behaviours" with girls at Haeata.

            It seems counterintuitive to have a bunch of kids with known behavioural and learning difficulties in such an open plan environment. Too much noise and distraction and it would be damn near impossible to concentrate. I wonder if (in these days of mainstreaming kids with learning/behavioural issues) they have a squadron of teacher aides,or if they have 'special' rooms where those kids that are struggling can go for quiet time.

            It would be interesting to know the make up of the kids being pulled from Haeata.

      • James 7.1.2
        18 May 2019 at 5:19 pm

        ”We all know the answer. Fuck the rich.”

        thats the the kind of comment often made by people who are far from rich and normally because of their own actions.

        Stop being so bitter.

        • vto 7.1.2.1
          19 May 2019 at 11:00 am

          Experience in how politicians and government interact with the rich, relative to how they interact with the poor, points directly to such a school never being allowed to be experimented in Remuera or Fendalton.

          Wake up.

          No apology, but yes plenty of bitterness. All very real. Is why society is cleaving down the middle. Fuck the rich and their politicians.

      • bewildered 7.1.3
        18 May 2019 at 6:04 pm

        An inane response that one can only pontificate a real looser that is looking for sone one to blame re their lot

      • greywarshark 7.1.4
        18 May 2019 at 6:57 pm

        This quote confirms a comment I made the other day about the difficulties that teachers have these days.

        But a former teacher said teaching was impossible because they would spend their time wrangling naughty students. "I can't believe what a bad teacher I became," they said.

        If this is an experimental school it has too big a roll. Nearly a thousand children can't be thrown together with the emphasis on them finding their own preferences.

        I was waiting in the library at school while one of my children was in a class decades ago and the kids were supposed to be using the library facilities and looking at the range of books. One boy got out a motor magazine and turned the pages making vroom,vroom noises. I was helping another who couldn't concentrate his mind because he wanted to watch his friend. Encouraging him to work out a plan for a short piece on what he remembered from a trip to California was very difficult. Distraction is no good for the 10 second attention span generation.

  8. Fireblade 8
    18 May 2019 at 10:12 am

    Is the National Party tearing itself apart? Here's a letter posted on kiwiblog today.

    Chuck Bird

    It will be interesting to see which National MPs respond.

    To all National MP’s
    As a National supporter for the past 47 years, I wish to voice my disgust at your actions in supporting the Government in the passing of the recent bill to make criminals of law abiding gun owners. I attended a recent meeting in Te Awamutu where MP’s Bishop and Kuriger were speaking about this very topic. I have never been in a group of people so hostile to anybody, let alone MPs. I would venture to say that about 300-350 people were there. Most would have been National party supporters. For how long, I can only guess. If they are like me, not for much longer, unless you change the way you are heading.

    Your actions were despicable in casting aside the rights of law abiding citizens. All in the name of socialist ideology. I thought that was the purvue of the left. How wrong I am.

    This will be posted on my blog site http://www.ysb.co.nz . It is a blog dedicated to upholding free speech and WAS a National Party support blog. Your actions mentioned above have seriously bought this support into question.

    Your replies will be appreciated

    Regards
    Chris Roberts

    MAY 18, 2019 9:10AM

    • Sabine 8.1
      18 May 2019 at 11:46 am

      well that is a bit of a stretch would you not think?

      Consider that the only one type of weapon was outlawed and a few tools around ( i am not a gun enthusiast so am not too versed in that lingo) and that he still can own chickenshit loads of other weapons for his hunting and collecting needs.

      So no, legal gun owner have not been criminalised, but a legal gun owner has mowed down 50 people and maybe he should think about that too.

      But he is lucky, soon he can vote for a bunch of "Not National – but almost" Parties and all is good again.

    • Muttonbird 8.2
      18 May 2019 at 1:04 pm

      Diddums to Chris. He can't be Rambo this weekend.

    • Fireblade 8.3
      18 May 2019 at 8:12 pm

      The 37 odd comments criticising Simon and the National Party are very telling.

      https://ysb.co.nz/email-to-all-national-mps/#comments

      • Incognito 8.3.1
        18 May 2019 at 8:57 pm

        Earlier today, I read the then 25 comments and they were so stereotypical of RWNJs that I thought that blog was an extremely well done parody of KB. Fact is stranger than fiction and reality is scarier than nightmares.

    • Bearded Git 9.1
      18 May 2019 at 1:47 pm

      Watch the Oz election live here:



      Hope the "Bob Bounce" carries Shorten home but GO THE GREENS.

      • OnceWasTim 9.1.1
        18 May 2019 at 3:54 pm

        Thanks!. I've been suffering Skoi News Stray ya.

        They just had some fukwit on called Poida Duddin, Minstafa Homo Fears

  10. CHCoff 10
    18 May 2019 at 10:23 am

    The means of exchange need to be regulated as otherwise when it becomes an end to itself, value systems and directions are lead by donkeys towards cliffs.

    https://www.dw.com/en/eu-fines-major-banks-1-billion-over-currency-cartels/a-48759642

    • One Two 10.1
      18 May 2019 at 11:43 am

      The means of exchange need to be regulated

      It already is.

      The systemic failing is that the regulators are the financial institutions.

      They exist in a mutual symbiotic relationship to ensure the flows.

      $1bn dollar fine is simply… good business for all involved.

      • CHCoff 10.1.1
        18 May 2019 at 3:23 pm

        It would seem likely that the majority of collusion that takes place with the use of financial bubbles in unproductive predatory capitalism would involve relatively concentrated/substantial actors rather than such endeavours being the co-operation of multitudes, so a small financial transaction tax system could be a good way to provide tag and trace info to that, which can then be graduated up down the chain when critical thresholds start to be traced before such acts are able to be followed through to completion.

        • greywarshark 10.1.1.1
          18 May 2019 at 4:07 pm

          FTT you think there is hope to get that?

          Or are you just continuing the legendary oral history tradition so you can recite it to your great-grandchildren about the inglorious past.

  11. Morrissey 11
    18 May 2019 at 11:45 am

    "I don't know what the POINT is. … I don't think that it HELPS."

    Incredibly, Jeremy Rose contends that Ben Shapiro was treated unfairly by Andrew Neil

    Lately, RNZ National, Wednesday 15 May 2019, 10:30 pm

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/lately/audio/2018695310/midweek-mediawatch

    Midweek MediaWatch

    Jeremy Rose is this weeks Midweek Mediawatcher.

    Rose delivers his mostly banal ruminations in a croaky basso profundo, his words larded with an extraordinarily high "um" and "y' know" count. Donovan's role is to meekly underscore Rose's philosophical gems occasionally with a supportive "Mmmm, mmmm."

    EMIL DONOVAN: It's time for Midweek Media Watch, our weekly catch-up with the Mediawatch teeeeam, one of the Mediawatch team, to talk about all things media. Today it's Jeremy Rose's turn in the chair. Hullo, Jeremy.

    JEREMY ROSE: Gid-daaaaay Emil, how ARE ya?

    EMIL DONOVAN: Very well thank you. Ahhhh, what've you got for us this week?

    JEREMY ROSE: Well I THOUGHT I'd start with the "power of the signature" you were just talking, y'know, about….

    Rose spends an inordinate time talking about a woman's Facebook petition to change the Milo recipe. Donovan thinks this is a very serious topic: "It taps into the cultural zeitgeist, doesn't it," he observes.

    Next topic: a Russian blogger called "Stalin Gulag" who operates on a site called Telegram. "It shows the importance of social media for holding the powerful to account," says Rose.

    Rose says something about the need to break up Facebook, and then moves on to the distasteful topic of white supremacist sites like 8chan. He praises recent work on this by Max Towle and Patrick Gower. Rose plays a clip of Gower in fighting mood: "I'm ready for ANOTHER go with Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern." That cuts no ice with Jeremy Rose, however. He reckons that interviewing people like Molyneux and Southern is unwise—"these people are nonentities"—and akin to a prizefight.

    So far, so humdrum. Then the interview with Jeremy Rose, who's billed as a media "expert", becomes foolish, bizarre, almost inexplicable. It turns out that Rose, who just a couple of minutes earlier talked grandly about "the importance of social media for holding the powerful to account", does not think that the mainstream media, i.e. the BBC, should hold the powerful or the influential to account at all. In fact, he says, there's no "point" in holding the words of a brutal racist against him in an interview. "I just don't think it HELPS", he croaks to an obviously unconvinced Donovan. Here, for those who can stomach pretentiousness and bewilderment dressed up as media commentary, is four minutes of Jeremy Rose's dire and dismal vaporing….

    (For those listening on the audio link, the horror starts at the 19:33 mark)

    JEREMY ROSE: …..so I really wanna know WHY you'd bother getting them on. And that kinda brings us to ANOTHER one that's had a bit of a sporting overtone. I think you were quite keen to talk about, which is the Ben Shapiro—

    EMIL DONOVAN: Yes.

    JEREMY ROSE: —interview. A well known, American, ultra-conservative, right wing commentator with a LOT of Twitter followers, I think, y'know, well over a million—

    EMIL DONOVAN: Mmmm.

    JEREMY ROSE: And he was interviewed on the BBC byyyyy, um—-

    EMIL DONOVAN: Andrew Neil, the notorious hard-nosed interviewer Andrew Neil. Yeah this was a FASCINATING interview, wasn't it.

    JEREMY ROSE: It, it really was. Shall we—let's, let's have a listen to a BIT of it.

    ANDREW NEIL: Some of the ideas that are popular in YOUR side of politics, ahh, would seem to take us back to the DARK AGES. These GEORGIA new ABORTION laws, ahhh, which YOU are much in FAVOUR of, ahhhh, that a woman who MISCARRIES could get THIRTY YEARS, A Georgian woman who travels to another STATE for an abortion procedure could get TEN years! These are EXTREME hard policies.

    BEN SHAPIRO: Well, okay, a couple of things. One, I'm not sure, I mean frankly I don't know whether you're a s— , ARE you an objective journalist or are you an opinion journalist?

    ANDREW NEIL: I'm a journalist that asks QUESTIONS.

    JEREMY ROSE: Y-y-yeah, ha, so y' know, uh, it's gone VIRAL on the internet. Everyone, including ahhhh, Shapiro, say that it, that it was a DISASTROUS performance by him. He's tweeted, though, "Neil one, Shapiro zero." Again, that sporting kind of metaphor.

    EMIL DONOVAN: Mmmmm.

    JEREMY ROSE: Wanting a rematch. I don't think there was much in it, I don't think you LEARNT much, and I ACTUALLY think he had a KIND of point, whe-e-e-ere, that there was, y'know, when he was accused of being from the Dark Ages—

    EMIL DONOVAN: Mmmm.

    JEREMY ROSE: —which is obviously a metaphor. But it wasn't actually that HELPFUL, and it ended UP just being …. [long caesura]…. for want of a better word, a shit fight.

    EMIL DONOVAN: Mmmm, mmmm.

    JEREMY ROSE: A-and I'm NOT sure that that REALLY serves ANYBODY.

    EMIL DONOVAN: Yeah, I know it was fascinating stuff wasn't it. It's um, yeeeahh, the idea that—I mean, it's a TEMPTING metaphor. Sporting metaphors ARE tempting when it comes to, to interviews like tha-a-a-at, because the, a confrontational interview can sometimes be NECESSARY, right? Y' know? And, and sometimes there IS a winner and a loser out of an interview. And sometimes people are satisfied by seeing that. But it's not necessarily a HELPFUL metaphor.

    JEREMY ROSE: No-o-o-o. And I, and I, and that whole idea of kinda punching OUT and a winner. And that was how it was portrayed, because he kept THROWING these ABSOLUTELY obnoxious quotes which he had ma-a-a-ade—

    EMIL DONOVAN: Mmmm.

    JEREMY ROSE: —in the past at him, and asking him to DEFEND them. ….[long caesura]…. I don't know what the POINT is. If I hadn't seen the interview, I wouldn't know that this guy had made these racist, revolting comments about Arabs, about—- And I don't think that it HELPS, knowing that.

    EMIL DONOVAN: Mmmm, mmmm.

    JEREMY ROSE: Ahhhm, and he did have a BOOK out, I've got NO idea what he says in the book. There was nothing in it in the interview.

    EMIL DONOVAN: Well I think this was the thing about it, that the book was about the rise of, um, extremist discourse, and, and, and ANGER within sort of SOCIETY and I think that Andrew Neil was pointing out the hypocrisy of the idea that Ben Shapiro would write a book about anger and society when he had contributed to it himself through his previous kinds of statements. But it's a very interesting kind of issue, isn't it—

    JEREMY ROSE: Yeah.

    EMIL DONOVAN: —and one that I imagine we won't see go away, because they always seem to be held up as SPECTACLES, these interviews, y'know….

    JEREMY ROSE: I think that's exactly right. It, it, it's interviewers' performance. I think when we're dealing with things that matter as much as white supremacy, THAT's not the time to do that. To me-e-e-e-e, THAT's actually exactly what white supremacist type people would ENJOY.

    EMIL DONOVAN: Mmmm, mmmm. It's sort of, yeah, the fuzzy line where information blurs into entertainment. Yeahhhh. Well, uh, Jeremy, thanks so much for that. Really appreciate it.

    JEREMY ROSE: Oh thanks very much.

    EMIL DONOVAN: Mediawatch's Jeremy Rose.

    More Mediawatch mediocrity….

    https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/01/liars-of-our-time-no-27-lyse-doucet-i.html

    • Shadrach 11.1
      18 May 2019 at 12:42 pm

      Morrissey

      1. Andrew Neil is an excellent interviewer. He has variously made mincemeat of Jeremy Corbyn, Diana Abbot, Natalie Bennett and many others. Andrew has no problem tackling those on the right of politics, it is just that generally the left provide easier targets.

      2. Andrew underestimated Ben Shapiro's intellect, and his attack dog line about Georgia's abortion law was ill-informed and justified Ben's response. At the same time, Ben was clearly ill-informed about Andrew's interview style, and came across as petulant. That's a shame, because Ben is intellectually the superior of virtually anyone Andrew will have interviewed, and the exchange could have been far more productive if both men had been better prepared.

      3. For anyone to suggest Ben Shapiro was treated 'unfairly' by Andrew Neil is nonsense. Ben has been interviewed countless times, he has spoken to openly hostile audiences and has faced de-platforming by the lefty snowflakes on US campus's. In short, he is tougher than the person you quote gives him credit for.

      4. Take time to listen to what Ben Shapiro says. You might not agree with him, but unlike some of the crazies on both the left and right of politics, Ben is a sound thinker, who speaks a rational, conservative voice into the issues of the day.

      • Morrissey 11.1.1
        18 May 2019 at 1:39 pm

        He "made mincemeat" of Corbyn, did he? That seems unlikely.

        I and I'm sure many others got a laugh from your comical assertion about Shapiro's great intellect.

        • Shadrach 11.1.1.1
          18 May 2019 at 5:25 pm

          Corbyn is a lightweight. No, I'll go further, he's a fool.

          And it's a shame you have judged Shapiro without listening to him. You're the one missing out on that score.

          • Morrissey 11.1.1.1.1
            18 May 2019 at 5:42 pm

            I've listened to Shapiro, sadly. Unlike you, I've listened to him with a critical ear.

            Your comment about Corbyn is as ridiculous as your insistence that Shapiro, that canting, brutal racist, is "a sound thinker."

            • Shadrach 11.1.1.1.1.1
              18 May 2019 at 5:46 pm

              Provide a single example of Ben Shapiro being 'racist'.

              • Morrissey …
                18 May 2019 at 5:55 pm

                Watch the disastrous (for Shapiro) interview with Andrew Neil again. Neil reels off example after example of Nazi-quality filth, all of them direct quotes from Shapiro.

                • Shadrach …
                  18 May 2019 at 6:18 pm

                  Disastrous? You are joking right?

                  And just over 16 minutes of video and you still haven't given a single example of Ben Shapiro being racist. Quote just one, Morrisey.

                  • adam …
                    18 May 2019 at 10:07 pm

                    rofl, Oh my – just one.

                    "Arabs like to bomb shit, and live in garbage" – yeah that is racist.

      • Gabby 11.1.2
        18 May 2019 at 4:36 pm

        Clearly nearly everything you've stated is wrong shadders. Lies or stupidity?

    • greywarshark 11.2
      18 May 2019 at 4:09 pm

      You are excoriating Morrissey of all in broadcasting and media generally.

      I hope someone pays you for all that. I don't think TS does, so whom?

      • Morrissey 11.2.1
        18 May 2019 at 5:33 pm

        You are excoriating Morrissey of all in broadcasting and media generally.

        Your statement is demonstrably incorrect. A quick review of my oeuvre shows I am more than happy to praise ethical, talented and conscientious journalists—both locally and internationally. On this forum and on many others I have praised: Julian Assange, Max Blumenthal, Mihi Forbes, Juan González, Amy Goodman, Glenn Greenwald, Nicky Hager, Amira Hass, Paul Jay, Caitlin Johnstone, Gideon Levy, Selwyn Manning, Abby Martin, Aaron Maté, Matt Nippert, Paula Penfold, John Pilger, Laura Poitras, Jeremy Scahill, Jon Stephenson….

        That's just a few off the top of my head, in alphabetical order. I've praised every one of them at least once, some of them many times.

        I hope someone pays you for all that. I don't think TS does, so whom?

        What difference does it make? Mike Hosking gets paid to produce his rubbish; all the easy money in the world doesn't give him an ounce of credibility.

  12. cleangreen 12
    18 May 2019 at 1:54 pm

    Godbye world.

    https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/16/headlines/arctic_ocean_temperatures_soar_as_nearly_all_old_arctic_sea_ice_has_vanished Arctic Ocean

    Temperatures Soar as Nearly All Old Arctic Sea Ice Has Vanished HEADLINEMAY 16, 2019

    In climate news, temperatures near the entrance to the Arctic Ocean in northwest Russia reached a record-shattering 84 degrees Fahrenheit over the weekend, in an area where high temperatures are normally 30 degrees cooler this time of year. This comes as the National Snow and Ice Data Center recorded a record-low sea ice extent for the Arctic Ocean in April, noting that almost all of the sea ice more than four years old is gone. Over the weekend, meteorologists measured carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere at over 415 parts per million — the highest level in human history, and a concentration that’s not been seen on Earth in over 3 million years.

  13. greywarshark 13
    18 May 2019 at 2:53 pm

    Some horribly fascinating things.

    https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/16/moment-man-fined-90-hiding-face-police-facial-recognition-cameras-9571463/ The man pulled his jumper up above his chin as he walked past Met Police officers trialling Live Facial Recognition software in east London. BBC cameras filmed as officers swooped on the man, told him to ‘wind his neck in’ then handed him the hefty penalty charge.

    A campaigner from Big Brother Watch – who were protesting the use of cameras on the day – was also filmed telling an officer: ‘I would have done the same.’

    This not so bad. I am thinking that's a good design for a simple bus shelter. https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/17/bus-shelter-built-road-no-buses-9582629/

    https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/15/bike-handle-stuck-woman-two-years-husband-shoved-vagina-9556829/ My summary – This shows how women get treated when they are not respected in a society and become helpless pawns. Husband intoxicated by alcohol – such a common drug abuse. Woman 30 has six children, can't have any more. Might be good for her in the long run – depends on husband. If she hasn't had boys he might put her aside.

    https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/17/middle-class-murder-millions-birds-vacuumed-death-olive-picking-9584002/

    Millions of birds are being sucked out of trees and killed each year to feed our olive oil habit. Iconic birds such as robins, warblers and wagtails have seen their numbers decimated because of intensive farming practices. Experts have warned the international community that it needs to act before legally-protected species disappear for good. During the winter months, birds from central and northern Europe, flock to the Mediterranean basin. At the same time, the olive oil harvest happens in Spain, France, Italy and Portugal…

    Farmers use large and intensive harvesting machines at night to strip the trees of their fruit. However, the birds are sleeping in the trees and are getting sucked into the machines on a ‘catastrophic scale.’…But, 96,000 birds are known to die in Portugal every winter as a result of this technique.

    RSPCA director of conservation, Martin Harper, said: ‘Numbers of farmland birds in Europe have plummeted by 55% over the last three decades and this is another shocking example of how modern agricultural practices are impacting our bird populations, including some UK species passing through the region.’

    And koalas. This cant' be.

    The Australian Koala Foundation has confirmed that, with only 80,000 members of the species left in the wild there isn’t enough to support a new generation.

    They’ve declared the marsupial ‘functionally extinct’ which means the population has dropped so low it no longer has any effect on its surrounding environment. Koalas have too few breeding adults left to support the species and any kind of genetic disease or pathogen would put the final nail in the coffin.

    Koalas are dying out due to effects caused by climate change. Rising temperatures are causing heatwaves that kill thousands of koalas through dehydration. The species has also suffered hugely from deforestation. According to the Australian Koala Foundation, there are no koalas left at all in 41 out of 128 Federal environments where they have known habitats.

    https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/16/koalas-now-functionally-extinct-9565982/?ico=pushly-notifcation-small&utm_source=pushly

    I suggest NZ sets up a fund to support the Koala Foundation and give the Australians a message that they need to both support their own vulnerable animals and the Kiwi people who live there and who they have arbitrarily arrested on spurious grounds and hold in camps against international law precedents. Maybe there will be some politicians who have integrity to do something for the Koalas and the Kiwis.

  14. greywarshark 14
    18 May 2019 at 3:04 pm

    From the UK political scene.

    Latest on Brexit and May-not. 17 May 2019

    https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/17/prime-minister-theresa-may-tears-forced-say-will-quit-9580917/

    Summary – May must go before June 30. Boris has put his name forward. Jeremy says that talks are not getting anywhere.

    https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/17/neo-nazi-plotted-murder-mp-rosie-cooper-jailed-life-9583420/ 17May 2019 Summary – Young white youth – his ideas poisoned by evil ideas was planning to knife a woman MP. (Remember one woman MP was shot a few years ago.)

  15. joe90 15
    18 May 2019 at 4:23 pm

    When you think these pricks had hit peak vileness.

    Oklahoma state legislator Rep. Justin Humphrey is sponsoring a draconian bill, HB 1441, that would require a woman to get written permission from her sexual partner if she wants to have an abortion.

    Attempting to justify the despicable legislation Rep. Humphrey told The Intercept that women have no right to bodily autonomy once they are pregnant because they are merely “hosts”:

    I understand that they feel like that is their body. I feel like it is a separate — what I call them is, is you’re a ‘host.’ And you know when you enter into a relationship you’re going to be that host and so, you know, if you pre-know that then take all precautions and don’t get pregnant.

    https://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2017/02/oklahoma-lawmaker-men-must-approve-abortion-women-hosts/

    • The Al1en 15.1
      18 May 2019 at 4:37 pm

      As Colbert put it, "it's either an overreach by the Alabama gop or some pretty intense viral marketing for the new season of Handmaid's tale.

    • Sabine 15.2
      18 May 2019 at 4:55 pm

      it goes hand in hand with 'co-parenting rights for rapists ' . Cause …..something, reason, god, bullshit, and such.

      well at least he understands that the dears actually believe they have a right to their bodies.

      also hosts get pregnant and men have nothing to do with it until the host is pregnant and then the host needs permission from the man.

      They used to call that shit slavery.

    • Psycho Milt 15.3
      18 May 2019 at 7:00 pm

      Rep. Humphrey told The Intercept that women have no right to bodily autonomy once they are pregnant because they are merely “hosts”:

      That phrase "once they are pregnant" is redundant in context, said context being Rep. Humphrey's fucked-up opinions.

  16. Sabine 16
    18 May 2019 at 5:29 pm

    i know i know germans don't have a sense of humor, and they always only shout and the language is hard and what not….but

    https://twitter.com/dw_sports/status/1128306663226843137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dw.com%2Fcda%2Fen%2Fgermanys-women-we-dont-have-balls-but-we-know-how-to-use-them%2Fa-48776813

    quote: we don't need balls, we have ponytails (actually Horsetails but then english:) ) .

    is funny.

    • Incognito 16.1
      18 May 2019 at 5:48 pm

      Some subtleties are always lost in translation. Good ad!

    • Morrissey 16.2
      18 May 2019 at 5:51 pm

      Who said Germans don't have a sense of humour?

      If you're looking for someone without a humorous bone in her body, and lacking even a rudimentary sense of the ridiculous, you can't go past this thoroughly Anglo, non-German, fool (unfunny fool)….

      • Sabine 16.2.1
        18 May 2019 at 5:57 pm

        you are one boring shit stirrer aren't you?

        • Morrissey 16.2.1.1
          18 May 2019 at 6:01 pm

          Sorry, I should have made it clear that some Germans do lack a sense of humour. You're a case in point.

          • Sabine 16.2.1.1.1
            18 May 2019 at 7:39 pm

            no, you just looked for a reason to again post one of your pointless video clips.

            it has nothing do to with what i posted, and it is so far removed from anything that really it is just your typical posting a shit video so that you can post a shit video.

            and when it comes to you and your shit videos i am just bored and bored, and bored, and bored, and bored.

            • Morrissey 16.2.1.1.1.1
              18 May 2019 at 7:58 pm

              no, you just looked for a reason to again post one of your pointless video clips.

              "Pointless"? You didn't get the point? Frankly, I'm not surprised.

              it has nothing do to with what i posted,

              In fact, it has everything to do with what you posted. In a fit of self-deprecation, you repeated the stupid falsehood that Germans "don't have a sense of humour." I helpfully steered you to an example of someone—a non-German— completely lacking any sense of humour, or absurdity, or even increasingly—it's been clear for more than two years now—any grasp of reality.

              and it is so far removed from anything that really it is just your typical posting a shit video so that you can post a shit video.

              ???? You really can't understand that clip? Really?

              and when it comes to you and your shit videos i am just bored and bored, and bored, and bored, and bored.

              There are German writers I admire tremendously: Mann, Sebald, Roth. Your embarrassing and awkwardly phrased rants are not quite in their company, I'm sorry to say. Perhaps you should read a bit more, think a bit more, see if you can pick up a few stylistic tips from some of your compatriots who can actually write.

              • Andre …
                18 May 2019 at 8:32 pm

                Fuck me, you asserted something I agree with! Jimmy Dore is indeed completely lacking in humour or even any grasp of reality.

                I feel a bout of introprobation coming on.

                • Morrissey …
                  18 May 2019 at 8:43 pm

                  You're a funny guy, Andre. Sharp as ….. oh, Sabine?

                • Incognito …
                  18 May 2019 at 8:59 pm

                  That sounds pretty serious, Andre.

                  • Andre …
                    18 May 2019 at 9:03 pm

                    It'll pass quickly. I hope.

                    • Incognito …
                      18 May 2019 at 9:12 pm

                      It is gut-wrenching when it goes on for too long. Some sufferers are never the same again after a severe and long bout.

                    • Andre …
                      18 May 2019 at 9:23 pm

                      Laughter really helps alleviate the symptoms. The mozzie is doing sterling work supplying that.

                    • McFlock …
                      18 May 2019 at 9:24 pm

                      And there's no warning when the impacted matter flares up to cause a fresh attack.

                  • Morrissey …
                    18 May 2019 at 9:10 pm

                    It's extremely serious. See, Andre is afflicted by these Russian bots, controlled by those Russian masterminds who control Trump, and …. hell, you know the rest. It's what Rachel Maddow says.

                    Thoughts and prayers, Andre. That evil Putin, darn him.

                    • Incognito …
                      18 May 2019 at 9:32 pm

                      When somebody talks of Russian masterminds I always think of chess. Maybe one of my hypnotherapy sessions went wrong.

            • greywarshark 16.2.1.1.1.2
              18 May 2019 at 10:17 pm

              Hi Sabine It might have been one of my videos that you didn't like. Sorry. But I put them in as changes when the tone is too dark or it seems we need some light relief. They are just a break in between bouts of seriousness, or indeed slapstick occasionally.

              • Sabine …
                18 May 2019 at 10:22 pm

                I have no idea what you talk about.

                Seriously. I actually don't watch tv, listen to the radio generally because it is full of shit and nothing much else.

                I usually scroll by Morrisey as i don't see why i should read stuff that i don't listen or watch.

                and when Morrisey posts a video i don't expect humor nor slapstick as generally he/she is about outrage and i can't be bothered.

                So really i have no idea what you talk about. Sorry.

                • greywarshark …
                  18 May 2019 at 10:38 pm

                  Well I did wonder about the video reference which seemed very strongly negative.

                  and when it comes to you and your shit videos i am just bored and bored, and bored, and bored, and bored.

                  And i thought it might be some of mine you were thinking of. But not. So I'll forget about it. Sorry to have confused you.

                  • Morrissey …
                    19 May 2019 at 7:38 am

                    Sorry to have confused you.

                    You're a real gentleman, Mr Shark. But rest assured: unser guter freund Sabine has been confused and bewildered for a good two and a half years now. Sie kann dich nicht dafür verantwortlich machen.

    • I feel love 16.3
      18 May 2019 at 6:38 pm

      Germans have a great sense of humour! Usually very dry and dark, but very funny.

      • Psycho Milt 16.3.1
        18 May 2019 at 6:56 pm

        Yep. I used to love one NDR programme in the mid-90s, can't remember what is was called now – everything absolutely deadpan, no clues you were supposed to find it funny, fuck it was good. Morrissey just lacks the self-awareness to recognise bigotry when he's indulging in it.

        • Morrissey 16.3.1.1
          18 May 2019 at 8:01 pm

          Sorry Milt, you've got the wrong end of the shoe here. It's our friend Sabine that's running down Germans, not me. I stuck up for them, having appreciated their music, literature, art, cinema, food, beer and, yes, their sense of humour for as long as I can remember.

      • cleangreen 16.3.2
        18 May 2019 at 7:00 pm

        Shit I shared a flat with one German in Toronto and he was the most "wooden "person with absolutely no detectable chararter at all.

        • Sabine 16.3.2.1
          18 May 2019 at 7:41 pm

          was he from hamburg?

          that would explain a lot.

          • Psycho Milt 16.3.2.1.1
            18 May 2019 at 8:27 pm

            Harrumph. Hamburg was full of highly entertaining loose units when I lived there. Maybe it's become more spiessig in the last 20 years?

            • Sabine 16.3.2.1.1.1
              18 May 2019 at 8:33 pm

              nope, but they are special. Usually very formal, quite uptight until they know you. I guess its the cold and the rain.

              Compare Bavarians and Hamburg'ers and its like English and Italians. Bavarians being the Italians. 🙂

              but yeah, the northern humor is something to behold. I lived there for a while and it was a good time.

  17. joe90 17
    18 May 2019 at 6:38 pm

    Does that include Israel?

    The Trump administration has taken its war on abortion worldwide, cutting off all funding to any overseas organisation or clinic that will not agree to a complete ban on even discussing it.

    The Mexico City policy, dubbed the “global gag” by its critics, denies US federal funds to any organisation involved in providing abortion services overseas or counselling women about them. It was instituted by the then US president Ronald Reagan and has been revoked by every Democrat and reinstated by every Republican president since.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/17/trump-takes-war-on-abortion-worldwide-as-policy-cuts-off-funds

  18. A 18
    18 May 2019 at 6:53 pm

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/112826745/parliaments-lone-protester-will-be-on-its-lawn-until-a-climate-emergency-is-declared

    Cool guy. Follow him on https://www.instagram.com/thathumbleman/

    “For the past three days, Ollie Langridge has sat on the lawn of Parliament, sitting on a bolster pillow wrapped in plastic, and holding a sign calling on the Government to declare a climate change emergency.

    Langridge is a self-employed father of six, living in Thorndon with no political affiliation or ties to climate change advocacy groups – just a man worried about the future he's leaving for his children.

    "I just see myself as a normal guy that doesn't know what to do and this is the best thing I could think of.”

  19. Morrissey 19
    18 May 2019 at 8:27 pm

    DUM BRITONS
    Exhibit 4: Kirsty Wark

    Is there a stupider person in Britain than Kirsty Wark?

    https://azvsas.blogspot.com/2019/05/eurovision-2019-madonnas-total.html

    DUM BRITONS is compiled by Hector Stoop, for Daisycutter Sports Inc.
    Collect ALL the Dum Britons….
    1 Michael Gove; 2 Chris Leslie; 3 Sir Mark Thatcher.
    https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/11/dum-britons-exhibit-3-sir-mark-thatcher.html

  20. Morrissey 20
    18 May 2019 at 8:53 pm

    Not all Germans lack a sense of humour, and not all Fox News hosts lack a heart and brain. Case in point: Geraldo Rivera

    Poor old Dan Bongino is as bewildered and nasty as any of our own NewstalkZzzzzB hosts, however.

    http://normanfinkelstein.com/2019/05/16/bongerinos-how-americans-talk-about-palestine/

  22. joe90 22
    18 May 2019 at 9:42 pm

    'Murica threatens to shoot down commercial airliners in the Arabian Gulf.

    https://twitter.com/AJENews/status/1129657916116672513

  23. adam 23
    18 May 2019 at 10:03 pm

    So the US is officially a rogue state.

    Arresting the last 4 peace activists in the Venezuelan Embassy in DC.