Open mike 18/12/2010
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6:00 am, December 18th, 2010 - 66 comments
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Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Ka mihi ki te mana whenua ko Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. Kia ora and good morning everyone. Thank you Fran and Simon for inviting me here today, and importantly your leadership of this forum over several years now. I want to acknowledge David Gehrenbeck, Deputy ...22 hours ago
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Has Goff paid the money back yet?
Has Goff resigned in disgrace?
Will creepy Pete be asking questions about Goff’s blatant lie?
Big bruv you have been watching too much Fox News.
Will you be paying your debts, bludge?
Has “big bruv” kept its word and paid its debt yet?
Has it owned up to the disgraceful lies it told to avoid paying up?
Has it developed the ability to respond to and engage with other beings?
Or should it just be treated as a bot?
A good read: The Inequality That Matters.
As many others have pointed out, the great fiscal crisis of the last several years has in reality been nothing more than a massive transfer of wealth from the ordinary person to a tiny wealthy minority.
Like 99% of Public Servants…….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4472229/Expensive-paperweight-fired-after-Facebook-posts
Yep, another idiot.
1 in many thousands doesn’t = 99%
A lesson for today, as if we didn’t already know it …
“what happens when an ideology backed by vast wealth and immense power confronts inconvenient facts. And the answer is, the facts lose. ” Paul Krugman.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/opinion/17krugman.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a212
Writing about the commission set up to find the cause of the bubble breaking.
Then there is another about the crazy situation where a Judge and likely the Supreme Court is going to upset the requirement that every American must buy health insurance.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/opinion/17mazzone.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a212
Of course if they were not so mortally afraid of communism and its near relative socialism
they could say the present compulsory insurance was un-constitutional and provide government health care like civilized countries do. ie. NZ for one 🙂
Personally I believe that health insurance is a con the way the premiums vary to match the likely payout and the only satisfactory system is a state organized system with payment based on one’s income as a proportion of the total need on a whole of life basis. So healthy younger people do not free-load but pay a premium based on whole of life expectations of sickness. With perhaps payments going to their estate in the case of early death, before say 60yo., to help their surviving family cope with the loss of their support.
How do you moderators reconcile your presence on this site with the ‘buttonhole’ advert on the right of the page? 🙂
Simple. Freedom of speech is not the same as being free to say any damn thing you please.
It’s a paradox that few people understand: that true freedom lies in abiding by the rules.
We really don’t ‘censor’ ideas apart from those that fall outside the bounds of the policy – although I will get pretty damn sarcastic sometimes. We do moderate the standard of behavior for those who appear to be incapable of doing it themselves. Notably the trolls. And generally to most peoples relief who comment and read here.
The difference is that between a censorship office (which we don’t do) and that of the police.
And before someone goes on about ‘bias’ (the usual next play in this tactic), I’d point out that the people on the ‘left’ don’t seem to mind that this site exists – even when they strongly disagree with authors. Whereas it is extremely easy to find comments where many of those on the right do find that they don’t want this site to be exist, and the behavior towards that end gives them the responses listed in the policy.
freedom of speech is not the same as being allowed to say whatever you like wherever you like. This site is our property and we set the rules. That doesn’t stop someone setting up their own site to say things we don’t allow here. For instance, freedom of speech gives paul henry the right to say racist or homophobic things but it doesn’t oblige tvnz to employ him to say those things
I have had a bewildering few days trying to work out the Savings Commission’s recommendation that raising GST will increase savings. Surely it will mean that (poor) people will have less to save. Could someone please put me out of my misery so and explain how this will work so I can get on with the Christmas shopping. Have I got the wrong end of the stick again, or did I mishear?
Anti spam: policies
No, you seem to have it right.
GST is a consumption tax which is supposed to penalise buying stuff. Unfortunately, the poor actually have to spend their entire income on living (food etc) and so all it does is put the price up for the poor.
The people with enough money to save already do so and the GST won’t make any real difference to their consumption.
A former MP facing fraud charges involving nearly $2 million will find out next week whether he can keep secret his identity.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4470204/Former-MP-facing-fraud-charges
So which team does this ex MP bat for…RED, BLUE, BLACK, YELLOW or GREEN ???
If the rumour’s I’ve heard are true, this will be a very interesting week in the blogosphere.
Pity I’ll be off doing the Xmas things, so unless it’s covered by the mainstream media, I’ll miss it.
Prolly National. I imagine most here know who it is anyway.
…just please don’t let it be Jeanette Fitzsimons
I think lighting a fire without notifying the council will remain the biggest ‘scandal’ of her life.
ps the clue was in the word ‘blogosphere’ – but the rumour may turn out to be just that.
wouldn’t it be just all shades of awesome to clone the altruistic Fitzsimon gene and bake it into our daily bread…*sigh*
captcha : honest
I don’t think she’d let us.
🙂
so as an organ donor does one get a say on what one’s organs may be used for ?
Its been said plenty before but she is probably the nicest old lady in New Zealand. If I ever cam across her I would walk straight up to her and ask for a hug.
I wish her valedictory speech would run instead of the queens message this year. It deserves to be heard by everyone.
Come to think of it, almost anything would be an improvement.
It could be worse, It could be Charles 😛
Here’s to him skipping the crown.
Jimmy – I am probably a similar age to Jeanette and if you told me I was an old lady, you certainly wouldn’t get a hug from me!!!
Ha! Too right JB! You are not old until you are in your grave.
As a card I got recently said “Just Youthfully Challenged”
lol, yeah I guess ‘old’ was not the best choice of words but I meant it in a respectul way (i.e. her wisdom and probable similarity to my grandmother who is always good at spoiling me).
‘Nice young lady’ just doesnt have the same connatations.
http://whaleoil.gotcha.co.nz/2009/09/22/of-rugby-balls-and-mileage/
captcha : suffice (to say, team blue FTW)
http://whaleoil.gotcha.co.nz/2009/09/22/of-rugby-balls-and-mileage/
captcha : suffice (to say, team blue FTW)
Hi Polly, tell me what industrial detergent do you use to clean your hands after typing that url? Just reading it makes me feel unclean.
heh…then you won’t want to see what i been doing over there either
he’s even threatened to ban me :0
Well hush my mouth, you must be some real bad black mutha….I should go and get a ban on my lilly white honky arse too. Yessir….doing real fine, get harpooned.
PS What did you do to piss the cretacious slime off?
…held a black mirror up to him and his circle of jerks 🙂
Team Red-Black unless I’m confused by it all.
And I bloody am. I saw the electorate and thought Labour when it wasn’t. Blue-Black then.
I wonder if Cameron has paid his last fine yet? Looks like he is heading for another.
BTW: if anyone mentions the name or plays silly buggers with the suppression order then I will help them to understand Camerons upcoming pain for a repeat offense with a long holiday from the site.
Which reminds me. I must write a post about some stupid suppression orders with a bit more at stake than Camerons obsession with gossip.
Some bad news for all us ageing hipsters. Don van Vliet has died of complications from MS.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/18/captain-beefheart-dust-forward-back
Hoping he is sitting on a cloud right now chewing the fat with Frank Zappa right now. Once saw them together, he was a complete fruit loop, talented but….
Have we discussed Goff’s current scandal and if not why not. He’s not as bad as John Key but really that is not a seal of approval. And Labours website aiming at middle New Zealand well that’s not me. That should be changed to include everyone thanks. Quite a mess isn’t it really. Theres no one in Labour to fill his Goff’s shoes and now he’s tainted plus also shown to be a hypocrit. Bring back Helen and Michael is all I can suggest.
Old labour supporters will look at the party website and think I don’t fit into Labour any more. Does this new pitch to middle New Zealand come from the party or their advertising guru, cause I’ll tell you something, any corporate media agency who got Labour elected would be shunned by the corporate media and they very likely know it. That advertising agencie’s business would dry up if the corporate sector lost their tax cuts. Thats the way it goes, the corporate sector must look after the corporate sector and getting labour elected is not their priority.
Admittedly I have no idea who Labours advedrtising people are. I can tell you that highly qualified media people working in organisations that support unions and workers are fish out of water. The reason being is that they must consider job opportunites in the corporate sector should they need to get a new job. E.G. TVNZ staff will know if they leave TVNZ then the only job opportunities are those in the corporate media. That will often influence how far they are willing to go in fully reporting corporate corruption or being fair to a union etc etc.
There was a post on it the other day. Lots of rather boring comments
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/4472206/More-beaches-unsafe-for-swimming
Lolwut?
You only get high bacteria levels when you’ve got significant nutrient fluxes in water systems, say ye olde leaking sewerage pipes, so how the hell does the manager of environmental monitoring for Wellington not know this? Even the ever inept Christchurch City Council admits that sewerage leaks into Christchurch’s streams and rivers isn’t helping bacterial counts and doesn’t blame it on the rain alone and then there’s the road run off that shouldn’t be occurring. That and slow flowing streams and grassy river banks are prime water fowl pooping habitat.
I strongly suggest Ted would agree with you. More likely his words have been misrepresented by a reporter who didn’t understand what they were typing up.
Of course whenever it rains the measured bacterial counts will rise, but that statement alone is entirely mute about the source of that contamination.
And the winner of the Te Atatu Labour candidate selection is ………..
/drumroll/
Phil Twyford. All the best to Phil and best of luck with the election.
And commiserations to the other candidates.
Nice one. Now we wait for the RWNJ’s to start claiming it was a head office fix …
You should see what they are saying over at the sewer.
These guys have no idea how the Labour Party works, were not at the selection meeting, know none of the locals or the candidates or even understand the process or the local dynamics and yet they feel qualified to spout all sorts of conspiracy reasons for what may or may not have happened. And they do not even have the decency to be embarrassed when it is proved conclusively without a doubt that they are wrong.
RWNJs don’t believe in reality or facts. They only believe in their opinions and, because they’re their opinions, they’re always right. Oh, and their opinions can only be changed by their leaders telling them that they’ve changed.
Fox ‘news’ syndrome.
If you tell each other bullshit often enough, you have faith that the lie will overcome reality.
Kind of silly really.
The Bible would be a good example of that Iprent.
Not really. It actually works. In that if you repeat something often enough it becomes fact. Even people from the left who should know better are buying into the Neo-lib mantra that benefits and pensions are unaffordable. I.e. We cannot afford to feed and house all our population even though we export 90% of the food we produce.
I’m currently reading Susan Howatch’s “High Flyer” and I love her lead character’s expression ‘nutterguff’ 🙂
Draco .. can I remind you of the Krugman quote I posted earlier today.?
Good. Phil will be good for Te Atatu, he is a hellishly good campaigner, and having a electorate base will help us in the overall Auckland campaign.
Post is up…
An interesting article by George Monbiot, about right wing astroturfing of online forums, especially as seen on The Guardian website & on some US forums & websites. Monbiot claims there is evidence that some of the disruption and shutting down of debates is organised, and maybe sometimes paid for:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/dec/13/astroturf-libertarians-internet-democracy
Hugo Chavez gets the same powers as Gerry Brownlee.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/12/2010121805014892694.html
Symphony of Science
Quotes by well known scientists set to music.
Hey OM – how about a “Whatever happened to ?” section.
We could start with !! Tony Resnick !!
And next – ! Matthew Wilkin !
ShhhhSIS
and maybe ! Kees Klein !
and then we never heard any-else regarding this assault in Coromandel; ! Naked Israeli tourist !
http://www.jpost.com/home/article.aspx?id=102597
and that Asian guy being attended by Ambo’s on the Rosedale tarmac outside Heletranz in the Kees / Police wake? Encountered all this during an interlude in Lance J trial @ Albany.
Hey LP – this is your backyard.
Me? Been in the shaky city for the last week.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/01/04/wikileaks-japan-japanese-spy-flights-pressure-whaling-deals/
Omeka – Sardonyx -> OS Enterprises Limited – Glenn and Andre -| Hey Gav – how was your Aussie holiday last New Year??
.
Andre and Gav – have done previous business – ?
AGM Investments ??
http://www.sardonyxint.com/seaMarshal.htm
and references to Lockforce ?