Open mike 18/01/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 18th, 2011 - 29 comments
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29 comments on “Open mike 18/01/2011 ”

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  1. Pete 1
    18 January 2011 at 6:48 am

    Peoples perceptions more important than policies?

    Why voter’s feelings matter more than policies

    Labour Leader Phil Goff makes us feel nervous, Act’s Rodney Hide makes us angry, and Prime Minister John Key makes us hopeful. And, according to some political analysts, those feelings could be more important at election time than a candidate’s policies on serious matters such as the economy, education, health, or selling state assets.

    Horizon Research asked more than 2000 New Zealanders to rate a range of 12 potential political leaders on how strongly they evoked four positive feelings – did the candidate make them feel hopeful, proud, excited or comfortable, and four negative emotions – did the candidate make them concerned, nervous, afraid or angry?

    The full list of politicians discussed in the “feelings” poll was David Cunliffe, Bill English, Goff, Hide, Shane Jones, Key, Annette King, Russel Norman, Pita Sharples, Tariana Turia, Metiria Turei and Winston Peters.

    The research follows data collected for decades by the American National Election Studies, which showed voters’ feelings toward politicians could often influence voting more strongly than policy detail.

    I suspect manufactured images and putting on acts can also be negative, I think people want to see politicians acting naturally and sounding genuine. Poliwaffle is a turnoff.

    • Blighty 1.1
      18 January 2011 at 11:57 am

      there’s actually no evidence in that article to back up the claim in the title.

      • Deadly_NZ 1.1.1
        18 January 2011 at 5:42 pm

        Yeah right

        More like
        English makes us mad .
        Key is an Airhead
        Tolley is a spoilt brat
        King Another sit back and get paid
        Hide Double crossing back stabber
        Peters Guaranteed to stir the Pot
        Goff yeah makes me nervous
        Jones Ahh the reformed porn king Great things are expected of him
        Cunliffe WHO?
        And the rest of the bunch Maori Party Well i’ll read the Hone article because they are the NACTS lapdog.
        Greens Need to up their game
        NZ First Dunno
        And as to the other one seat wanna be parties they need to be ditched all they do is Feed at the trough.

        Over all a Fail rate for our politicians. Not one of them really inspire confidence, I am sorry to say

  2. Pascal's bookie 2
    18 January 2011 at 7:32 am

    Steve Hynd collects good links and ties them up doubleplusgoodwise.

    Instead, the American Left’s strategy must be to re-create itself wholesale – a project likely to take at least two decades. It will have to eschew the Democratic party in the same way that, back at the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries, European labor had to eschew the various liberal/whig parties which shared only a part of the Left’s agenda and had no intention of ever delivering on anything else no matter how often Lefties voted Whig. It will have to begin to see the neoliberal pundits of today as political rivals, rather than as outright allies. It will have to mobilize, turn into voters, the 30% or more who are currently able to vote but do not do so. They come overwhelmingly from the poorest segment of society and do not vote purely because they see neither mainstream party as having anything for them. The Left must build its own electorate and its own party, and leave the Democrats to sink or swim as they are able

  3. Pascal's bookie 3
    18 January 2011 at 7:34 am

    GOP got new chairman.

    QOTD

    If you take all the vowels out of the name of the new RNC Chairman Reince Priebus you get RNC PR BS. Seems about right.

    http://twitter.com/CamSullivan/status/26406907589697536#

    Heh.

  4. mickysavage 4
    18 January 2011 at 8:10 am

    Just to add to the recent debate concerning the Pike River mine, I wonder what the Labour Department is doing.

    I came across this section after a quick read of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992.

    26 No interference at accident scene

    (1) Where a person is seriously harmed while at work, no person shall, unless authorised to do so by an inspector, remove or in any way interfere with or disturb any wreckage, article, or thing related to the incident except to the extent necessary—

    (a) To save the life of, prevent harm to, or relieve the suffering of, any person; or

    (b) To maintain the access of the general public to an essential service or utility; or

    (c) To prevent serious damage to or serious loss of property.

    (2) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply where a person is seriously harmed by—

    (a) An accident involving a motor vehicle on a public highway; or

    (b) An accident being investigated under Part 8 of the Shipping and Seamen Act 1952, the Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971, the Civil Aviation Act 1990, [the Transport Accident Investigation Commission Act 1990, the Electricity Act 1992, or the Gas Act 1992]; or

    (c) An accident being investigated by a member of the Police.

    “Seriously harmed” includes death.

    Now that the police have washed their hands surely a HSE inquiry should be conducted and surely, surely the company should be prevented from doing anything to the accident site.

    • PG 4.1
      18 January 2011 at 8:25 am

      If nothing is done to the site the Labour Department can do nothing with the site. Catch 22.

      • mickysavage 4.1.1
        18 January 2011 at 8:34 am

        But PG the receivers are planning to do something with the site.

        From today’s Herald,

        A plan to stabilise the Pike River coal mine has been developed, but the receivers of the company that owns the mine say it is unlikely the bodies of the 29 miners in it will ever be recovered.

        …

        They said the plan was aimed at establishing a stable atmosphere and did not allow for recovery of the bodies or guarantee the mine’s future.

        It might take up to two years before the mine could be re-entered.

        Looks to me like they are doing something with the site.

        The article is at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10700348

        • PG 4.1.1.1
          18 January 2011 at 8:43 am

          Something’s been happening to the site since the first explosion. Doing nothing would have meant they couldn’t have even attempted recovery.

          And note:
          2) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply where a person is seriously harmed by—
          (c) An accident being investigated by a member of the Police.

          Have the police stopped investigating? Or just stopped recovery? The police have handed over the site to the company receivers so they must be satisfied it won’t interfere with investigations.

          • Colonial Viper 4.1.1.1.1
            18 January 2011 at 9:02 am

            26 (1) does not stop ambo officers turning up and taking machine wreckage off a guy who has been crushed.

            But after those emergency events have been sorted out, it disallows the company from coming in and cleaning the site up, taking away and effectively preventing access to all the physical evidence.

          • mickysavage 4.1.1.1.2
            18 January 2011 at 12:51 pm

            Presumably, they have therefore been authorisied to do whatever they are doing (or are in the process of gaining that authorisation). I don’t see why they wouldn’t be given authorisation.

            It seems to me the intent of the section is to stop people and companies from mucking up crime scenes and affecting the evidence. If approval has been given they I would like to know by who and when. If it has not been given then Wilkinson should step in.

            • Richard 4.1.1.1.2.1
              18 January 2011 at 1:11 pm

              I think that your supposition of the intent of the section is correct.

              You seem to be implying that the receiver does in fact have access to the mine (or a feasible plan to gain that access), and that there is a risk they will use this access to deliberately or accidentally confound an investigation of causes. I think that is unnecessarily paranoid.

              In this case, I don’t see any reason why they would not, if they did gain access to the mine, call upon the police (or other appropriate investigators) to resume investigation/recovery operations.

              An OIA request would presumably answer your questions about what approval has been given and by whom.

        • Richard 4.1.1.2
          18 January 2011 at 12:16 pm

          But PG the receivers are planning to do something with the site…
          26(1) …no person shall, unless authorised to do so by an inspector…

          Presumably, they have therefore been authorisied to do whatever they are doing (or are in the process of gaining that authorisation). I don’t see why they wouldn’t be given authorisation.

    • higherstandard 4.2
      18 January 2011 at 9:46 am

      Suggest you consult a lawyer to get a professionals opinion – I’d think this is pretty clearly legislation designed to stop ”cover ups” at a accident/crime scene and nothing more.

      edit – oops I see the point has already been made – best to read the whole thread next time.

  5. orange whip? 5
    18 January 2011 at 8:46 am

    http://seanbonner.tumblr.com/post/2715437787/july-2008-a-gunman-named-jim-david-adkisson

    But of course each one happened in its own convenient vacuum. No need for society to turn a critical eye to itself, no siree.

  6. joe90 6
    18 January 2011 at 9:24 am

    The Sarah Palin battle hymn.

    • M 6.1
      18 January 2011 at 10:14 am

      Dang, them critters is crazier than a bunch of sprayed ‘roaches.

      Palin’s appeal to many male voters I suspect is the whole secretary shtick – prim in a suit and up-do but remove the glasses loosen the hair and….

      • prism 6.1.1
        18 January 2011 at 10:23 am

        M LOL I think you’ve pinned the lady’s appeal (in a very amusing comment).

      • Colonial Viper 6.1.2
        18 January 2011 at 10:49 am

        I think I saw a video featuring the ummmm, acting, of a Sarah Palin look alike on sale once…I understand it sold very well all through the 2008 campaign lol

  7. Draco T Bastard 7
    18 January 2011 at 2:56 pm

    MIT OpenCourseWare introduces courses designed for independent learners

    For the first time, MIT OpenCourseWare is introducing courses designed to serve the needs of independent learners, visitors to the site who have no affiliation with academic institutions. These “OCW Scholar” courses address a need the MIT faculty never envisioned in 2000 when the idea for OCW was first conceived. At that time, the expectation was that other educators would use the syllabi, lecture notes, assignments and exams from MIT courses to design their own courses. But in this first decade of MIT OpenCourseWare, independent learners have emerged as the primary users of these materials.

    We should be looking at doing something similar. To encourage people who don’t have the time or funding to go to university or just don’t do well in that type of environment to still have access to the materials to learn.

  8. Deadly_NZ 8
    18 January 2011 at 6:49 pm

    What a pity they cant teach them to catch Criminals, instead of sitting on the side of the road eating donuts and collecting revenue.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4553994/Changes-to-police-culture-stall

    But no it’s just the same old culture the ‘inside’ gang. And they wonder why they are not trusted, there’s only about 2 lower on the list politicians and Insurance Salesmen.

  9. Treetop 9
    18 January 2011 at 7:47 pm

    Obvious to me where the next police commissioner has to start in April, within his own team at PNHQ. Good luck cause ya going to need it.

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