Open mike 19/05/2013

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 19th, 2013 - 116 comments
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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

Step right up to the mike…

116 comments on “Open mike 19/05/2013 ”

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  1. North 1
    19 May 2013 at 7:51 am

    Yet another example of a news headline not conveying the substance of the article beneath it. Thank you Fair-And-Balanced-Fax ? Fox ? Faux ?

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/8571096/Young-Bridges-shuts-down-power-play

    The frequency of this sort of thing from the MSM starts to look deliberate.

    Take the example a few days ago from someone Chapman and journalist extraordinaire Tracy Watkins. The headline was something to the effect “Gain after five years of pain”. Oh really ?

    Three out of four private citizens quoted in the article spoke the reverse. Worse, the one out of four who said things are “better overall”, a lady from Khandallah, well she was the one, the smiley one to prove the headline, her and her three kids, whose photograph sat directly below the bullshit headline.

    To my amazement later that day or the next Khandallah Lady’s photograph had been replaced by one of Blinglish in full flight. Headline and article remained ???

    “Young Bridges shuts down power play……..” ? Forgive me but that’s suggestive of a measure of parliamentary elan on Wee Simon’s part. When you read the article – Not !

    “I was 12 at the time”. You’re STILL 12 at THIS time you self-serving, entitled little dupe-prick.

    My how things have changed. Sir Keith Holyoake’s vaunted advice to youngsters used to be – “Breath through your nose”.

    ShonKey Python’s advice to youngsers – “Talk OUR shit out your mouth……you’ll be looked after”. And so it will be. Elevation in cabinet, flash job somewhere if not there, ambassadorial post. “Whatever – you’ll be looked after”.

    You’ve cracked it Simon Bro’. Trough Forever !

    • Lanthanide 2.1
      19 May 2013 at 8:46 am

      Then again, is NASA placing animals from tiny cryogenic chambers inside the rover onto the surface of Mars to conduct tests?

      Yes, that’s what I want to know. Is NASA doing that?

      • Te Reo Putake 2.1.1
        19 May 2013 at 8:59 am

        That line made me laugh, too, Lanth. Even if NASA had perfected cryogenics without telling anyone, I’m thinking the lack of oxygen would make any such experiments a tad pointless, don’t you?

        • Morrissey 2.1.1.1
          19 May 2013 at 10:16 am

          Wasn’t Michael Jackson going to be cryogenically frozen? What happened to that plan?

          • Te Reo Putake 2.1.1.1.1
            19 May 2013 at 10:31 am

            I recall some talk about it at the time of his death, but it was probably just wishful thinking from fans or the media. If cryogenics could ever work, I would have thought freezing the healthy would have more likelihood of success. It’s funny that the names associated with cryogenics are pretty much always wealthy and ego driven; most people accept their fates in more sanguine way.

            • pollywog 2.1.1.1.1.1
              19 May 2013 at 10:48 am

              Aunty Wiki says…

              Cryonics is the low-temperature preservation of humans and animals who cannot be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future. Cryonics is not cryogenics.

      • Populuxe1 2.1.2
        19 May 2013 at 3:53 pm

        To quote one of the comments in that “article”: It’s a rock, Dumbass.”

  3. ak 3
    19 May 2013 at 8:00 am

    Arrogance chickens coming home to roost and rotting on Chinese wharves. Describe the PRC as having “tentacles” and snuggle up to Taiwan, and sure you’ll get away with it Johnny boy, everyone loves you, remember?….using North Korea and Chavez et al as terms of “devil beast” insult helped too, I’m sure. Smell the fear from here, and watch the media hide its head.

  4. Polish Pride 4
    19 May 2013 at 8:30 am

    wanted to post this as many will not know about it and many here are still caught up in old world solutions to problems such as poverty and war that have never and will never eliminate these things.
    There are however solutions that will eliminate them if we change the way we think and the system we live under……
    If this resonates with you please sign the charter and let others know.

    http://www.freeworldcharter.org/en

    • Tim 4.1
      19 May 2013 at 8:53 am

      @ Polish…. interesting (I’ll have another look when I get more time). First time round though, much to agree with but others not so much – including “greed is a basic human response to scarcity” – when did that happen?

      • Polish Pride 4.1.1
        19 May 2013 at 9:19 am

        “greed is a basic human response to scarcity”
        Yes agree with you completely But felt it better to overlook it given the significant benefits such a shift would bring or everyone.
        More and more people are starting to talk about and understand the overall concept, but this is the first time that I have seen it presented in a way that lets people show their support for such a change to our world.

        • Tim 4.1.1.1
          19 May 2013 at 10:09 am

          @ Polish – pardon the intermittent nature of replies (ankle biters about).
          Yep – agree.
          I have a big concern though when, on one hand really punitive and restrictive practices are applied to people simply trying to survive and preserve their rights to protest and contest (in supposed ‘1st world democracies’); yet on the other hand, the greed, the theft, the usury of the likes of politicians and ‘banksters’ is minimised somehow by putting it down to human nature.
          There’s something not quite right there.

          • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1.1.1
            19 May 2013 at 10:21 am

            Our system has been designed by the few to reward the few. As such it can’t then go and punish the few for what the system rewards.

            Our present system is corrupt by design.

            • Tim 4.1.1.1.1.1
              19 May 2013 at 10:43 am

              Btw DtB – interesting discussion on Natrad atm – Weber et al.

              back in a while

          • Polish Pride 4.1.1.1.2
            19 May 2013 at 11:03 am

            Yes agree with that too. and I think that what DTB has put (above) would be a much more accurate way of communicating the problem. The only concern I have is whether putting it that way would be more, or less acceptable to the audience (i.e. everyone) that it is intended for.
            Example: the three of us have been looking at this for some time and can see the System for what it is. The question is would someone who is completely new to the concepts be able to take your comment DTB…..

            “Our system has been designed by the few to reward the few. As such it can’t then go and punish the few for what the system rewards.

            Our present system is corrupt by design.”

            … and be able to accept that as correct (which I agree it is) or is it a step too far and would it risk alienating them from the overall concept. Even though stating the problem as being one of human nature is not exactly correct, does it put it in a context that is easier to accept and understand for someone who is new to the concepts. Many who are new will be able to look at this, understand it and envisage the different and better world they are talking about but may never have the time or inclination to look a little deeper and understand the true causes for the problems that we have in our world today.

            • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1.1.2.1
              19 May 2013 at 11:34 am

              Possibly, possibly not. I know that there are people out there who are successful in the present system who aren’t corrupt but also won’t accept that their wealth is due to systemic corruption. This would mean that we have to show that the present system is corrupt.

              • Polish Pride …
                19 May 2013 at 12:21 pm

                It would but then does it matter if you can obtain the desired outcome without having to do so..

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  19 May 2013 at 7:02 pm

                  I don’t think that’s possible. You have to do two things:
                  1.) Point out the failings of the present system and
                  2.) Paint a vision of a better system

                  Now, people will be getting upset with the present system due to increasing poverty and they’re seeing the increase in corruption as well but we still need to make it clear that these things aren’t acceptable and then we have to show that a better way is possible.

      • Draco T Bastard 4.1.2
        19 May 2013 at 10:16 am

        IMO, for the majority of people that happens to be true. It’s the minority that happen to be driven by greed and they’re the minority that we shouldn’t be listening to but who our government does listen to.

  5. Jenny Kirk 5
    19 May 2013 at 8:45 am

    Another Seminar/Panel discussion on “Current Threats to the Resource Management Act” – this time in Wellington – Saturday 25 May 1.30pm to 5pm. St Andrews On the Terrace (hall behind church). Hosted by Maryan Street, Labour MP for the Environment. All welcome. Gold coin koha to help cover costs. Speakers : Sir Geoffrey Palmer (original author of the RMA), Neil Deans (NZ Fish & Game) , Guy Salmon (ecologist). Please pass this message on to people in Wellington.

    • Morrissey 5.1
      19 May 2013 at 8:57 am

      “Sir” Geoffrey Palmer is a coward, a toady, an utter disgrace to this nation; he should be shunned by all decent people.

      • Jenny Kirk 5.1.1
        19 May 2013 at 3:10 pm

        whatever you think of Geoffrey Palmer, Morrissey, its more important that people get to know what is going to happen with the govt changes to the RMA – huge changes, a huge emphasis on economic growth instead of sustaining the environment – an encouragement for developers to just come in and “rip, shit and bust” what remains of the NZ landscape and waters.

      • DH 5.1.2
        19 May 2013 at 5:01 pm

        “Sir” Geoffrey Palmer is a coward, a toady, an utter disgrace to this nation; he should be shunned by all decent people.”

        What’s Palmer done to deserve that level of vitriol? He’s never struck me as a controversial person…

        • Morrissey 5.1.2.1
          19 May 2013 at 5:48 pm

          What’s Palmer done to deserve that level of vitriol? He’s never struck me as a controversial person…

          Thanks for asking, DH. At last someone with a bit of curiosity. Have a read of the following….

          http://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/the-palmeruribe-report-another-attempt-by-israel-to-whitewash-murder.html

          • DH 5.1.2.1.1
            19 May 2013 at 6:59 pm

            I am aware of Palmer being involved in that but can’t see why the rage against him over it. Palmer is a lawyer with a pretty solid professional reputation and he appears to have interpreted the law as he saw it in the framework he was given to operate. Perhaps he wasn’t very wise to get involved in the first place but his actions there don’t seem to justify the vitriol you’ve directed at him.

            It was Palmer who authored our anti-smacking legislation, he’s one of the last people I’d think of being pro-Israel so maybe your angst is midirected there.

            • Morrissey 5.1.2.1.1.1
              19 May 2013 at 7:46 pm

              Your comments show only that you have done no reading on this scandalous topic at all. That was, of course, obvious when you expressed bewilderment that the saintly fellow should be criticised at all.

              Your reference to the removal of Section 59 as “anti-smacking legislation” is similarly confused.

              • DH …
                19 May 2013 at 8:18 pm

                You weren’t criticising Palmer, you were abusing and vilifying him. Big difference there. I was wondering at the display of naked malice & spite but I need wonder no more. I’ll leave you to it.

                • Morrissey …
                  19 May 2013 at 8:39 pm

                  You weren’t criticising Palmer, you were abusing and vilifying him.

                  I was pointing out that Palmer allowed himself to be used as a stooge of a criminal, outlaw regime—something about which you were, incredibly, unaware. The reading I supplied for you was a fair, balanced and scholarly review of Palmer’s failure to act as a responsible and moral citizen; I could offer my own writing on the subject, of course, but I thought I’d leave it to Mondoweiss. (Not that that would impress you, of course; your comments show that you didn’t bother to educate yourself on this matter.)

          • Murray Olsen 5.1.2.1.2
            19 May 2013 at 8:13 pm

            Palmer didn’t exactly cover himself with glory with that report. Agreeing to participate, given the terms of reference and the presence of Uribe, was only the first bad move. What he ended up commenting on was a hypothetical situation which had very little to do with the actual events, but was eagerly used by the Israeli government to justify their actions. His performance was that of a toady.

  6. Enough is Enough 6
    19 May 2013 at 9:31 am

    Shearer v Norman on Q&A

    Norman has to be the next Finance Minister.

    So articulate with answers rather than just whinging from Parker

    • Herodotus 6.1
      19 May 2013 at 10:27 am

      He did come across better than Parker, even managed his by pass of the greens need in printing money policy question well, ( pity would like to have heard a response)
      Liked Parker in that labour will “listen” to good ideas – should labour not act and work into their policies these good ideas.
      On the nation there was discussion on not only a cgt but also acting on the deductibility of interest for tax purposes on investment properties, this 2nd aspect appears to have been lost on labour and the greens. Instead it is this myopic vision to the answer. Better to be perceived as doing something than providing a real solution.

      • Saarbo 6.1.1
        19 May 2013 at 2:45 pm

        Yes, CGT is important but I would imagine that if Interest on loans used for investment properties was no longer tax deductible we would get a good number of additional properties immediately on the market increasing supply and reducing the cost of housing. In fact the Greens/Labour have nothing to lose by introducing this, they have already lost any voter who has investment houses through introducing CGT.

        Regarding Parker, the more I hear him the more I like him. He is certainly a big step up from Shearer. Labour will not win in 2014 with Shearer as Leader, heard him speak recently, he is hopeless. Parker would be infinitely better leading Labour into 2014 than Shearer (if Cunliffe isn’t available). Labour need to do something about Shearer soon, time is running out.

        • The Al1en 6.1.1.1
          19 May 2013 at 4:40 pm

          “Yes, CGT is important but I would imagine that if Interest on loans used for investment properties was no longer tax deductible we would get a good number of additional properties immediately on the market increasing supply and reducing the cost of housing.”

          Sounds like a win win, and we might not have to gut the rma to build homes for the middle classes.

          “In fact the Greens/Labour have nothing to lose by introducing this, they have already lost any voter who has investment houses through introducing CGT.”

          Chris Tremain, minister for fuckstickery has 16 properties and a few parcels of land. He won’t vote for a cgt.
          He really won’t agree with having to pay taxes on his investments, but then he’s tory scum. No worry.

          • ghostrider888 6.1.1.1.1
            19 May 2013 at 5:33 pm

            cut you some American Recordings black at the base of last night’s white Soul Train.

        • DH 6.1.1.2
          19 May 2013 at 5:23 pm

          Parker looks to be another who’s all mouth & trousers. He’s just been quoted as stating that stopping foreigners buying NZ residential property isn’t Labour policy;

          http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10884650

          He’s fobbed it off with excuses about there being not enough information on it but Labour are supposed to have a research team and they could start by reading the ‘papers which often make references to properties being bought by foreign investors.

          • ghostrider888 6.1.1.2.1
            19 May 2013 at 5:31 pm

            “residential”; 8% at current rates, though expected to inflate.

          • Draco T Bastard 6.1.1.2.2
            19 May 2013 at 7:09 pm

            He’s just been quoted as stating that stopping foreigners buying NZ residential property isn’t Labour policy;

            Yep, that would be Labour – not trying to scare the wealthy in any way. This, of course, results in NZ continuing to decline and increasing poverty.

            • ghostrider888 6.1.1.2.2.1
              19 May 2013 at 8:58 pm

              speaking of which; “interest rates likely to rise sooner, rather than later.” -Bill English, today.

    • felix 6.2
      19 May 2013 at 12:21 pm

      Parker could be finance minister. But only if National win.

    • Lefty 6.3
      19 May 2013 at 3:57 pm

      Jeez

      I cannot believe anybody can think the gobblygook combination of neo liberalism and magic Norman spouts is articulate – let alone offers anything to anybody other than those who already have more than they need.

      • Colonial Viper 6.3.1
        19 May 2013 at 4:47 pm

        Please, some specific policy criticisms, or specific criticisms of his statements, if you have any.

        • Lefty 6.3.1.1
          19 May 2013 at 8:21 pm

          An obsession with debt and balancing the books as per neo liberal agenda.

          A further obsession with a capital gains tax which might help a bit as part of a package on housing but won’t lead to the hundreds of houses that need building being built. That will take a government spending money and paying people to actually build them.

          A total committment to capitalism which is dependent on growth to survive while still pretending to care about the environment.

          Treating treasury projections and figures as if they can be taken seriously when getting it right is a very rare thing for them.

          And so it goes.

          • Colonial Viper 6.3.1.1.1
            19 May 2013 at 8:31 pm

            But why pick on Norman? All our MPs and all our political parties (with the partial exception of Harawira/Mana) are capitalist parties. And the Greens have never stated they were socialist or communist in their political economy.

    • North 6.4
      19 May 2013 at 9:39 pm

      Didn’t see it but can easily imagine. “OK you Aussies, we’ll let you keep Phar Lap (stolen by yous guys anyway) but we keep Norman OK ?

      Norman is rather real, that’s the overall sense in my guts when I hear him. Voted Winston last time to ensure the 5%. Otherwise voted Labour all my life.

      Sometime I’ll vote Green.

  7. stever 7
    19 May 2013 at 9:46 am

    This is a great article…and guy has nailed “creativity”, and what can go wrong with teaching under the dead hand of politicians.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/17/to-encourage-creativity-mr-gove-understand

    • ghostrider888 7.1
      19 May 2013 at 11:44 am

      semantic, as opposed to declarative, understanding.

    • Puddleglum 7.2
      19 May 2013 at 11:40 pm

      That’s a pretty good, concise rebuttal from Ken Robinson of the whole notion that subject-related basic skills (reading, writing and ‘rithmetic) are the essential prior building blocks of learning. They aren’t.

      So far as any relevant literature on learning – and certainly creativity – that I’m aware of is concerned, the building blocks are curiosity, intrinsic motivation and an environment that supports exploration and provides the available knowledge about, and resources for, whatever the child becomes curious about. The desire to gain a facility with reading, writing, etc. follow as a consequence of that process.

      I just can’t fathom the intellectual ineptitude – and lack of evidential basis – that underpins decisions to impose approaches like National Standards upon young children.

      • ghostrider888 7.2.1
        19 May 2013 at 11:46 pm

        curiosity, intrinsic motivation and supportive environments life-long effects. 😀

  8. Morrissey 8
    19 May 2013 at 9:55 am

    “Don’t You Know Who I Am?”
    No. 1: JAMIE McKAY

    Short item on today’s Mediawatch programme on the hypocrisy of Radio Live’s bumptious farming show goon Jamie McKay. This low and insalubrious excrescence from Gore actually had the nerve to pass judgment on ex-National MP Aaron Gilmore for his drunken shenanigans in Hamner Springs; it now transpires that McKay himself has been censured for the same behaviour: threatening bar staff who failed to appreciate his genius and significance.

    In the 1990s, McKay used to write a pisspoor sports column in the Southland Times. He was preoccupied with Jonah Lomu, who he pilloried week after week as unintelligent. McKay mocked Lomu’s way of talking, his lack of education (according to McKay) and his “laziness”. In other words, McKay had not watched Lomu play very much, but he had listened to, and absorbed every word spoken by, the motherlode of sporting opinion, Murray Deaker.

    Radio Live has a horrifyingly bad line-up of substandard talent, but McKay is arguably the most obnoxious of all of them.

    • tc 8.1
      19 May 2013 at 11:17 am

      The entire radio rant landscape is awash with folk whose best attribute is their arrogance and bias, leighton, Larry, mike, Danny , Kerry at ZB, basher Veitch and Deeks at Talk Sport then more of the same at key and Joyce’s own radio live soapbox where they specialise in former pollies or wannabe pollies like WJ/JT, laws (don’t worry he will be back) watch out for others like Henry/Hide etc

      • ghostrider888 8.1.1
        19 May 2013 at 11:45 am

        that is interesting; Laws had been pleasant to listen to in his absence.

      • Morrissey 8.1.2
        19 May 2013 at 12:19 pm

        The entire radio rant landscape is awash with folk whose best attribute is their arrogance and bias, leighton, Larry, mike, Danny , Kerry at ZB…

        Kerre Woodham is repellent. Just by chance, in the same Mediawatch programme, Colin Peacock recounted an incident from some years ago, when an intoxicated Woodham was in the limousine of former Deputy P.M. Don McKinnon, proceeding along a street in Wellington. She wound the window down, stuck her head out the window and bawled at a young man: “SHOW US YOUR WHIZZER!”

        • Populuxe1 8.1.2.1
          19 May 2013 at 3:48 pm

          Yes, well she’s been off the sauce for quite some time now, and while it’s probably not in the nature of a poisonous fungus like you to have empathy, I think it’s pretty poor form to keep throwing someone’s past mistakes in their face when they have overcome them.

          • Morrissey 8.1.2.1.1
            19 May 2013 at 5:19 pm

            Good to see our gallant friend Populuxe1 deciding to gallantly take a little time off from reiterating the lies of the United States and U.K. governments’ spin doctors and gallantly spring to the defence of la hellish dame sans merci….

            Yes, well she’s been off the sauce for quite some time now, and while it’s probably not in the nature of a poisonous fungus like you to have empathy, I think it’s pretty poor form to keep throwing someone’s past mistakes in their face when they have overcome them.

            If you’re looking for a poisonous fungus, you can’t go past Kerre Woodham; over the years on her godawful radio show, she has….

            1.) run a malignant campaign against Chinese dissidents that could have been scripted by the Chinese government;

            2.) run an even more malignant campaign against Kirsten Dunne Powell, the woman who was paralyzed after a frenzied kicking by Woodham’s friend and colleague Tony Veitch;

            3.) spoken out firmly against the people of Gaza for getting themselves and their homes, hospitals, schools and water mains blasted apart by Israeli air raids and their children roasted alive by Israeli White Phosphorus bombs in early 2009;

            4.) delivered a prim lecture via her horrendous Herald on Sunday column to the mother of a boy who had been stabbed to death on a Manurewa street; Kerre Woodham was affronted—not by the murder, but by the mother’s unseemly grieving;

            5.) continued to stupefy and depress those unfortunate enough to stray onto NewstalkZB whenever she is snarling forth her sulphurous rancour.

            All of this behaviour was, of course, after she came “off the sauce”.

            If you like—in fact, even if you don’t like—I’ll post links to all of the above, but for now I’ll let you fulminate a little more and see if you can come up with something a bit more effective than fungally-themed abuse.

            • mac1 8.1.2.1.1.1
              19 May 2013 at 5:28 pm

              Reading this, ah, discussion, makes me think of Keats, and sympathise with his character in “La Belle Dame sans Merci”.

              “And this is why I sojourn here, 45
              Alone and palely loitering,
              Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
              And no birds sing.”

              Except I’d use a question mark.

              • ghostrider888 …
                19 May 2013 at 5:43 pm

                “Stand ye calm and resolute
                Like a forest close and mute
                With folded arms and looks which are
                Weapons of unvanquished war.

                What is Freedom? Ye can tell
                That which slavery is too well
                For it’s very nature has grown
                To an echo of your own.”

                -P.B.S

              • Morrissey …
                19 May 2013 at 5:43 pm

                “And this is why I sojourn here, 45
                Alone and palely loitering,
                Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
                And no birds sing.”

                Well, if the belle dame is 45, still alone and still palely loitering, she needs to get on with it. No wonder she’s accosting wandering knights.

                • mac1 …
                  19 May 2013 at 6:00 pm

                  That was line 45, Morrissey.

                  But yours was a good line, too- though I was not happy with the earlier discussion.

                  Merci.

                  • Morrissey …
                    19 May 2013 at 7:55 pm

                    That was line 45, Morrissey.

                    Yeah, I knew that; I was just joshing you. I used to be able to recite that poem off by heart once, along with a whole lot of other Keats poems; it was the main part of my schtick back then.

                    But yours was a good line, too- though I was not happy with the earlier discussion.

                    I’m sorry to hear that, mac. Do you think I could have handled the poor fellow more civilly?

                    Merci.

                    Pas du tout, mon ami.

            • The Al1en 8.1.2.1.1.2
              19 May 2013 at 5:36 pm

              That’s a pwned if ever I saw one 😆

              • Morrissey …
                19 May 2013 at 7:41 pm

                That’s a pwned if ever I saw one.

                Hope you enjoyed the public execution, my friend. Although I must say, it gave me no pleasure at all. Putting down poor old Populuxe1 was a task I did not enjoy, but neither was it one I was prepared to shirk.

                It was the internet equivalent of shooting a rabid dog: it had to be done, but it’s not an occasion for pleasure.

            • Populuxe1 8.1.2.1.1.3
              19 May 2013 at 11:43 pm

              Go on, tell me she’s a Mossad agent as well. No doubt she bleeds Christian babies to make motza balls as well, you horrid little puffball of spite.

              • Morrissey …
                20 May 2013 at 7:22 am

                Go on, tell me she’s a Mossad agent as well. No doubt she bleeds Christian babies to make motza balls as well, you horrid little puffball of spite.

                Nope, you’re still not hitting the spot, buddy. That’s desperate. You’ve got nothing left in your quiver of tiny arrows.

              • Professor Longhair …
                20 May 2013 at 9:14 am

                This “Populuxe1” specimen had several hours to formulate a response to Morrissey, and all he has come up with is that lame and cranky nonsense. It is funny, really, but not for Populuxe1 and those who care for him.

                For them, these must be desperate times.

  9. veutoviper 9
    19 May 2013 at 10:20 am

    So just a month after John Key’s Saviour of the Universe trade trip to China, things are not looking so hot on two fronts – meat and kiwifruit.

    Stuff has a couple of good articles up this morning.

    Firstly, a revealing and detailed article on the NZ meat shipments being held up at the Chinese border which is well worth reading in full

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/sheep/8690268/China-customs-issue-keeps-NZ-meat-off-shelves

    “Chinese supermarkets are beginning to run out of New Zealand beef and lamb as Kiwi meat remains stuck at ports around China. …

    It emerged on Friday that all meat exports to China have been blocked from entering the country, possibly since the end of April.

    The Government was told of the problem on Tuesday, but made no public statement until yesterday. On Friday it was left up to the Meat Industry Association to insist that there was no food safety issue.
    …
    The stop at the border could mean thousands of tonnes of New Zealand sheepmeat will either be stuck at port or on the water en route to China. Every Kiwi meat company exporting to China is believed to have been affected.

    A top meat-industry source said certification was being used by Chinese authorities as an excuse to protect local pork and poultry industries, noting that China had continued to allow imports of both dairy products and beef hides.

    Meat Industry Association chief executive Tim Ritchie said the issue could cause long-term damage to the industry.

    DEAL WITH ‘OTHER CHINA’ ON BRINK OF BEING SIGNED

    New Zealand is poised to sign its first free-trade agreement in more than three years, with an announcement of a deal with Taiwan expected in the coming months.
    …
    Factors said to have complicated the passing of the deal are both New Zealand’s relations with China, where trade has soared since a free-trade agreement was reached, and Taiwan’s own trade negotiations with mainland China.

    Trade Minister Tim Groser declined to comment.”

    And on the kiwifruit front, two detailed articles on some pretty shonky dealings involving Zespri exports to China – also well worth reading for their revelations.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/8690353/Suitcases-of-cash-in-kiwifruit-scandal

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/cropping/8686533/Something-rotten-in-our-kiwifruit-exports

    • Dv 9.1
      19 May 2013 at 11:58 am

      I wonder if the meat shipment shoddy paperwork resolution is related at all to the Zespri situation?

      • Colonial Viper 9.1.1
        19 May 2013 at 12:00 pm

        Ahh of course. Looks like the Chinese might get their missing Kiwifruit import duties (with interest) sooner rather than later…

    • dumrse 9.2
      19 May 2013 at 3:24 pm

      Switch off the milk powder, play the game and see what happens.

      • Colonial Viper 9.2.1
        19 May 2013 at 3:43 pm

        Play a game of brinksmanship against China?

      • Murray Olsen 9.2.2
        19 May 2013 at 8:39 pm

        No need to see what would happen. Fonterra would go broke, for a start. On the positive side, a few Tory business types might end up in Chinese prisons as well.
        Thanks for giving us an insight into the intellectual capabilities of the right.

    • Tim 9.3
      19 May 2013 at 6:49 pm

      “So just a month after John Key’s Saviour of the Universe trade trip to China, things are not looking so hot on two fronts – meat and kiwifruit.”

      All I can say is for Christ’s sake keep him away from India (though I note Joyce has already had a go), as the NActs try and have a bob each way with the BRICS.

      Not much has come of the Sth American jaunt either, despite Key’s trumpeting.

      Key is the New Zealand version of Sir Les Patterson although many don’t seem to see it. (Wood and trees perhaps)

      • veutoviper 9.3.1
        19 May 2013 at 9:23 pm

        Put India to one side for the moment – Indonesia is next on the “hit (or miss”) list

        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10884543

        “A 52-strong trade mission is flying to Indonesia this weekend for two weeks of intensive briefings and meetings.

        It is being led by Maurice Williamson and Sir Ken Stevens, who’s chairman of Export New Zealand.

        … …. … ”

        Probably compensation to MW as he is no longer to appear on Ellen Degeneres’ show as they have not been able to come to agreement and the current series is about to end…. thank goodness. Not at the end of the series – but that MW is not going to appear.

  10. ianmac 10
    19 May 2013 at 10:24 am

    Good to hear Andrew Geddis’s point about the Government banning of Court examination on the Payment to parents of Severely handicapped adult children, getting an airing on National Radio News this morning. See Andrew’s item on Pundit
    http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/i-think-national-just-broke-our-constitution

    • muzza 11.1
      19 May 2013 at 11:14 am

      Just find a way to dupe countries into seeping it into the water supplies, tell them its good for health get them to pay you, to save on the cost of getting rid of it!

      Job Done!

    • ghostrider888 11.2
      19 May 2013 at 11:51 am

      “Assumption Park” in Motor City.

  12. Penny Bright 12
    19 May 2013 at 11:44 am

    PUBLISHED ON THE NBR 🙂

    http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/breakfast-schools-it-just-doesnt-work-ck-140329

    Breakfast in schools: it just doesn’t work

    Eric Crampton | WEEKEND REVIEW

    #4 by Penny Bright 24 hours ago

    Ever been hungry at school yourself Eric?

    Have you bothered asking hungry kids who have been receiving ‘food in schools’ to find out what THEY think about this issue?

    Penny Bright
    ___________________________________________________________________________

    ‘Anti-corruption /anti- privatisation’ campaigner

    2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate

    • ghostrider888 12.1
      19 May 2013 at 11:54 am

      discussed in Poverty Watch, HMS Illustrious, Invincible Class (R06).

    • David H 12.2
      19 May 2013 at 8:51 pm

      “Ever been hungry at school yourself Eric?” It’s the same as the Panels on The Nation and Q+A. They don’t have a clue on how the real world works. Apart from maybe Bradford.

  15. Jenny Kirk 15
    19 May 2013 at 3:15 pm

    Does anyone know how to reply to Robert Guyton’s blogsite ? I just get a blank screen and no action when I try to comment on his clever pics.

  16. NickS 16
    19 May 2013 at 3:47 pm

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22579346

    No 10 has denied that “anyone in Downing Street” made comments reported in several newspapers describing Tory activists as “mad, swivel-eyed loons”.

    lawl

  17. Lefty 17
    19 May 2013 at 4:33 pm

    David Parker really let the cat out of the bag on Q&A today when he said National, Labour and the Greens are all the same really.

    At least he is honest!

    • Pascal's bookie 17.1
      19 May 2013 at 4:37 pm

      That’s not what he said, he was talking about the language coming from the government about North Korea and Polish ship yards and Albanian devilbeasts and what have you, and made the point that while there are real issues being debated between NZ parties, the differences are well within the norm for western democratic liberal societies.

      • Draco T Bastard 17.1.1
        19 May 2013 at 6:57 pm

        … the differences are well within the norm for western democratic liberal societies.

        Which is the problem especially considering that that norm has been moving to the right for the last 30+ years.

        • ghostrider888 17.1.1.1
          19 May 2013 at 7:26 pm

          from the side-view mirror Draco, Google Glass

        • Populuxe1 17.1.1.2
          19 May 2013 at 11:41 pm

          Not really supported by increasing social liberalisation, technological democritisation and a number of other things, but then again we know you have very little interest in living in awestern democratic liberal society.

      • Lefty 17.1.2
        19 May 2013 at 8:28 pm

        If there were real differences to be debated between the ruling elites’ a, b and c teams he would have welcomed the talk of North Korea and Polish shipyards as a way of emphasising the scale of the differnces.

  18. Rhinocrates 18
    19 May 2013 at 7:48 pm

    The corporate flag is dullest beige,
    It shrouded oft our heartless fools,
    And ere our limbs grow stiff and cold,
    Our hearts never run bold.

    Then hold the dull standard low.

    (chorus)

    Within its shade we pretend to live,
    As cowards we flinch and as traitors sneer,
    We’ll leave the beige flag lying here.

    Look round, the consultant loves its blur,
    The venal lawyer chants its praise,
    In Wall Street its hymns were sung
    Chicago School swells the dull throng.

    (chorus)

    It drooped above our dullest blight,
    When all ahead seemed full of light;
    It witnessed many a press release,
    We must not change its dullness now.

    (chorus)

    It well recalls the dogmas past,
    It gives the hope of Bellamy’s at last;
    The menu bright, the cuisine plain,
    Of venal right and gastric gain.

    (chorus)

    It suits today the weak and base,
    Whose minds are fixed on self and face
    We cringe before the rich man’s frown,
    And haul the of what the fuck I can’t remember what it was down.

    (chorus)

    With head uncovered swear we all
    To bear it onward while we fall;
    To boardrooms dark and consultancies dim,
    This song shall be our parting hymn.

  19. North 19
    19 May 2013 at 10:45 pm

    Hey Morrissey Friend. Thought you might like this. Sorry, I don’t have the vigour anymore to respond.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/8680530/Ex-TV-hosts-new-recipe-for-success

    You do know the identity of the Spouse/Mouse ? Or perhaps /House, depending ?

    • Morrissey 19.1
      20 May 2013 at 4:30 pm

      Hmmmm…. Mrs Mora looks in very good nick for someone who works in fast food all day.

      [Insert silly joke about foot-longs…]

  20. Jilly Bee 20
    20 May 2013 at 12:20 am

    Hey North – spouse of Mary Lambie is Jim Mora host of The Panel on Nat Rad week days from 4 – 5pm.

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