Open mike 19/09/2013

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 19th, 2013 - 115 comments
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step right up to the mike…

115 comments on “Open mike 19/09/2013 ”

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  1. tracey 1
    19 September 2013 at 6:35 am

    Us fed reserve today decides to continue its funny money looney economic policy. THE PM of nz has yet to offer his view of their policy to the president and he has put it on his agenda wirh david cameron.

    • bad12 1.1
      19 September 2013 at 7:53 am

      Tracey it appears one persons ‘funny money loony economic policy’ is another’s economic orthodoxy,

      What i would like to know is exactly where is all this supposed hyper-inflation in the US economy from the 80 odd billion dollars a month of money production by the Federal Reserve, the current means by which the US government is staving off the (inevitable???) collapse of it’s economy has so far caused insignificant amounts of inflation,

      An economist would tell you that such inflation cannot occur when after a collapse of economy ‘money production’ is restrained inside the parameters of the economies highest point befor that economic collapse,

      In other words X amount of money was in circulation at the point immediately prior to the collapse of economy, such a collapse reducing the money in circulation to x,

      Remembering that to have reached the higher X amount of monies in circulation Y amount of inflation would have also occurred previously, by only ‘producing’ the monies to take that amount back to the previous X amount and no more, further inflation is avoided simply because that inflation occurred in previous years as the economy grew to have that X amount of monies in circulation.

      The debatable point here in New Zealand is whether it would have been far more economically astute for the Government here after the GFC to simply ‘print’ the monies it has so far borrowed to keep the Government’s ‘spend’ at the same level as it was pre-GFC…

      • Colonial Viper 1.1.1
        19 September 2013 at 12:26 pm

        Its extremely difficult to generate hyper-inflation by issuing new money. What has happened in the US due to the Fed stuffing the financial system with excess reserves however is asset price inflation eg a share market bubble and the reflation of the housing bubble. This does most for the wealthy who hold these financial assets, and absolutely nothing for the unemployed person on the poverty line.

        Funny that.

        • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1.1
          19 September 2013 at 7:04 pm

          Its extremely difficult to generate hyper-inflation by issuing new money.

          Actually, it’s very easy – just issue it to the workers instead of the banks. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen as the money was being issued solely to make the rich richer rather than having them fall over and become poor from all the “risk” that they took.

          • Colonial Viper 1.1.1.1.1
            20 September 2013 at 11:48 am

            Actually, it’s very easy – just issue it to the workers instead of the banks.

            I’ll counter this by saying that it doesn’t ever happen this way, unless there has also been widescale war, destruction of productive/human capacity, or a currency collapse forced by debts in foreign hard currency.

      • srylands 1.1.2
        19 September 2013 at 8:10 pm

        Good grief.

    • Steve 1.2
      19 September 2013 at 9:00 am

      Yes Bernanke keeps priming the presses. After nearly 5 years of QE and interest rates close zero the US economy continues to need it’s fix and the Wall Street party continues.

      I suspect Benanke’s doing a “Greenspan” and attempting to keep the ship afloat just long enough for him to get out when he stands down as chairman in January 2014.

      Meanwhile he continues to hand cheap funny money to his mates to gamble in the Wall Street casino while robbing middle class savers, debasing the greenback and handing future taxpayers the bill.

      This will all end very, very badly – I suspect Bernanke’s biggest concern is whether he can make it to January?

      • geoff 1.2.1
        19 September 2013 at 10:56 am

        It does seem like madness that looks like it could implode at anytime. But Japan has been doing the same thing for decades and their zombie economy hasn’t imploded yet so maybe this will be the status quo for a very long time?

        • Steve 1.2.1.1
          19 September 2013 at 12:16 pm

          Geoff, yes I agree Japan have been doing a similar thing for decades but that has been in isoltaion. Trouble is that now US, UK, ECB & Japan are all doing it in a vain attempt to keep things afloat and there is no real evidence it’s working.

          It’s not creating jobs or reflating economies. What it’s doing is allowing the market to mis-price risk and blow up unsustainable asset bubbles directing capital into asset speculation rather than business creation.

          It’s taking from the 99% who are the very people needed to fuel the economy and who will ultimately pay the price for this madness.

          The end game will come quickly when the reef fish turn and swim the other way – trouble is they will be swimming a damn sight faster away from the “shark” than they did towards the “food”.

        • Colonial Viper 1.2.1.2
          19 September 2013 at 12:30 pm

          Japan has been doing similar for a couple of decades, yes. But they were always backstopped by a strong trade and payments surplus.

          As of a year or two ago that is now over, destroyed by China, Sth Korea, and also the many ongoing effects of the Fukushima disaster.

          Bottom line: Japan is screwed. Kyle Bass expects a financial implosion there within 2 years, partly driven by the above, largely driven by the awful and shrinking demographics of the nation.

      • Rogue Trooper 1.2.2
        19 September 2013 at 1:17 pm

        Alan Greenspan: The Age of Turbulence and the ‘creative destruction’ it makes.

  2. tracey 2
    19 September 2013 at 6:55 am

    This is what hardship looks like for one of the 1% when they have been caught doing something against the law.

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11126767

  3. Sanctuary 3
    19 September 2013 at 6:57 am

    Looks like Nick Smith has been caught telling porkies in parliament. Again.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/222109/minister-voiced-dam-submission-concerns

  4. Saarbo 4
    19 September 2013 at 6:59 am

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11126754

    In this Herald article, a Kelly Global Workplace Index states that New Zealand has the highest workplace turnover, I found it interesting how the article tries to twist the narrative that the driver of our nations high job turnover is due to positive factors such as people changing jobs for personal growth and advancement, this is an example of quote:

    “But now [they] can go out and get the jobs they want. Humans develop and want to be challenged and I see an increase in job turnover as a sign people are moving on and the economy is recovering.”

    But I think the reality is the attached excerpt, from an advertisement from the situations vacant on Tuesday in our local paper, for a position in one of NZ’s largest freight companies:

    “Applicants must be physically fit; have good writing and communication
    skills; be capable of undertaking the duties expected of a truck driver; and be
    prepared to work any day of the week with early starts and/or late finishes.”

    • muzza 4.1
      19 September 2013 at 7:08 am

      Nothing to do with growth, everything to do with some of the poorest work conditions in the oecd!

      Then there is the lowest quality of management seen anywhere in the world I’ve ever experienced!

      Truly so awful, it defies belief.

      The articles premise, is ridiculous!

  5. bad12 5
    19 September 2013 at 7:04 am

    The other day i made a comment referring to Russell Norman’s innate ability to get Ministers in this Slippery National Government to lie to Him at the Parliaments question time either with deliberation or by omission,

    i was at the time having a good old laugh at the victim of Russell’s latest inquisition Conservation Minister Nick Smith who under a barrage of queries from Russell seemed to have denied ever asking to see the Draft of DOC’s report on the damming of the Tukituki River while if my memory serves me right denied ever reading the 40 odd page document,(later whittled down for some strange reason to just 2 paragraphs),

    This morning RadioNZ National are reporting that they have seen a leaked email from a senior manager of DOC which directly instructed senior staff at DOC to send a copy of the full report to the Minister Nick Smith,

    ‘Didn’t ask to see the report’, ‘never read the report’, ‘never knew the draft existed’, naughty naughty Nick Smith expect Russell Norman to not only continue the inquisition but also to claim that the Parliament has deliberately been mislead…

    • David H 5.1
      19 September 2013 at 9:21 am

      “Didn’t ask to see the report’, ‘never read the report’, ‘never knew the draft existed’,”

      Must have been taking lessons from the same guy that Shonky uses. Next will come the convenient brain fades.

      • bad12 5.1.1
        19 September 2013 at 9:32 am

        Lolz, being as charitable as possible to Nick i have to point out there is no evidence of Him being in possession of one in the first place…

        • Draco T Bastard 5.1.1.1
          19 September 2013 at 11:54 am

          True, but there is now evidence that he did know that it existed and that he asked for it.

  6. tracey 6
    19 September 2013 at 7:08 am

    Sarbo

    I thought that too until I read who put that perspective on it… head of employers and manufacturers . Further down a professor has a different perspective.

    I also read the bishop of wellington who earns 60k pa plus a house is taking a pay cut to assist people working for the church to earn a living wage. Compare that with fletchers policy here

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11126712

    • Molly 6.1
      19 September 2013 at 10:24 am

      Jonathan Ling (previous CEO), reacted to the GFC with decisive action and put a freeze on wages and salaries for eighteen months. (Cannot find link for this reported in media, just knew someone who worked there at the time).

      Of course, this impacted on his income …. not at all. His bonuses went up to compensate.

      Did look for link for above, and instead found this – interesting that the Herald and Stuff has two contradictory headlines within the space of one day:
      Ling’s pay doubles, but bonus suffers Herald – 25 Sept 2010
      Fletcher’s boss gets profits back as profits return Stuff – 24 Sept 2010

    • billbrowne 6.2
      19 September 2013 at 10:56 am

      Yeah, but don’t those guys take money out of people’s pay packets to build their funny buildings so they have somewhere to mumble to themselves on sundays?

  7. tracey 7
    19 September 2013 at 7:11 am

    Bad and sanctuary. Nick is slow to learn from tge boss. He should have prefaced with…

    I have no recollection of…

    I may have but I dont remember…

    anyone its just the environment… right?

  8. Red Rosa 8
    19 September 2013 at 7:12 am

    At last we have in John Key a Prime Minister who is a genuine world-class statesman.

    Right up there with Nixon and Berlusconi…

    • phillip ure 8.1
      19 September 2013 at 8:24 am

      an amusing snippet of vid on tvone breakfast..

      ..key tugging his forelock/clasping his kness..while cameron lectures him..

      ..a serial-bullshitter..being fed bullshit..by another serial-bullshitter..

      ..and funny story..!..key looked uncomfortable..at being bullshitted to..

      ..(you’d think he’d be more ‘quite-relaxed’ in that ouvre..eh..?..)

      ..and funny story part two:..both the bullshitter and the bullshittee..

      ..they both know it is all total bullshit…eh..?

      ..in fact..it was/is ‘literally’.. a masterclass in bullshitting..

      ..phillip ure..

    • veutoviper 8.2
      19 September 2013 at 8:49 am

      “At last we have in John Key a Prime Minister who is a genuine world-class statesman.”

      Not according to the Pacific News report on Morning Report today!

      http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2569790/pacific-news-for-19-september-2013

      Starting at 2.58 in, remarks made by a Marshall Island Cabinet Minister about Key’s attitude at the recent Pacific Island Forum included

      – “did not seem connected in an impressive manner”,

      – “seemed odd”

      – “offhanded and not in good form”.

      Does not bode well for his weekend with the Queen!

      • Hami Shearlie 8.2.1
        19 September 2013 at 6:05 pm

        Even the corgis will want to give the Key the old ankle chomp! Imagine being invited (only because you are PM) and then having the gall to ask if your family can come too – The newspapers are full of this in the UK!! – This is supposed to be an official trip to Balmoral isn’t it? I can’t imagine the Queen invited Jonkey because they are bosom buddies! And why does John Key always remind me of a Fagan/Uriah Heep hybrid? So many questions!!

    • Martin 8.3
      20 September 2013 at 7:52 pm

      Nixon and Berlusconi . . . and Mussolini

  9. Ad 9
    19 September 2013 at 7:57 am

    Great to see Julie Ann Genter serving it to Brownlee in the House yesterday re transport in Auckland particularly delays to the City Rail Link. Brownlee forgot to oppose her tabling Auckland Trnasport’s report on the matter, so now the costs of the delay are on record.

    Transport Blog is carrying the footage today so no need to repeat it. Also seemed pretty coordinated as a Parliamentary question with Labour’s Ian Lees-Galloway. Dare I hope for cooperation?

    • Te Reo Putake 9.1
      19 September 2013 at 8:24 am

      Well spotted Ad, I think we are going to see more obvious signs of cooperation between Labour and both the Greens and NZF till we win the election. Cunliffe said something along those lines earlier this week.

      And can I just give a shout out to Iain Lees Galloway? Only halfway through his second term in parliament and entrusted with one of the top jobs. His work in his electorate is top class, something John Key acknowledged in the Epsom tea tapes when he told Banks the Nats had no chance of winning Palmy back (“he’s knocked on a lot of doors”). And he has built a huge activist base in a provincial town in a time where the LP has only two MP’s outside the big cities.

      • lprent 9.1.1
        19 September 2013 at 8:27 am

        Yeah. It has been impressive to watch.

        • Colonial Viper 9.1.1.1
          19 September 2013 at 12:05 pm

          Have talked to Iain a fair bit and he has definitely impressed me. My relations and friends in his electorate always see him out and about at the local markets and other events. He’s been yet another talented Labour MP kept on the back burner due to the ABC bullshit.

      • Rogue Trooper 9.1.2
        19 September 2013 at 1:22 pm

        I have observed Iain Lees Galloway to be cogent speaker.

  10. phillip ure 10
    19 September 2013 at 9:09 am

    yesterday i did a bit of a rant in this forum about just how dismal gower et.al. are/were at that basic journalistic-responsibility ..actual accurate ‘reporting’/’reportage’..

    (citing their ‘it’s robertson!..it’s robertson!’..no..it’s jones..!..it’s jones..!..cunnliffe who?’-coverage of the recent labour leadership race..)

    ….i.e….reporting (hopefully) being a relating of as near as possible (given the limits of the time?format) of what has actually happened wherever to/by whom..

    ..and something at which gower et.al fail miserably..in their constant searches for gifs/angles to sneer along to..

    ..last nite in america..on the daily show..

    ..jon stewart said it all so much better..

    ..as he ripped into the american versions of gower et.al..

    http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/tue-september-17-2013-jake-gyllenhaal

    phillip ure..

  11. Ad 11
    19 September 2013 at 9:49 am

    Oh Fuck unless Labour-Greens win next year John Key gets both the opening of the National Convention Centre but also get the homecoming and series of the America’s Cup.

    This more than Cunliffe actually makes me want to start donating again. I just won’t be able to stand that amount of patriotism. (Unless Cunliffe got to front it! 😉 )

    • binders full of women 11.1
      19 September 2013 at 7:00 pm

      Agreed– the sport & politics mash sometimes throws up upsets (like a tighthead scrum). Helen & Tana pitched for RWC and John Key got to give the three-way. Trev opened the chequebook for Deano & Dalton and John will be at welcome home.
      Speaking of Trev- if Cunliffe can confirm that Wainuiomata man won’t be speaker then this Waitakere man might be tempted back. 🙂

  12. tracey 12
    19 September 2013 at 10:12 am

    veutoviper. he will be fine with the queen, he expects to receive a knighthood from her, pacific leaders are merely savages diverting him from trips to the states. i agree he appeared disinterested and as though he could smell something offensive.

  13. NickS 13
    19 September 2013 at 11:08 am

    http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/push-change-verdicts-mentally-ill-5587162

    Fuck the Sensible Sentencing Trust.

    How hard is it for these idiots to grasp that the law is based on a person’s ability to make the right choice and that some mental illnesses remove a persons capability to make the right choice?

    Also, it’s not like people who are ruled not guilty due to mental illness get off, often they’re committed to mental health institutions or have to live with the realisation of what they’ve done (which can lead to self-harming/suicide) on top of living with their condition(s).

    Plus for maximum irony these muppets support the political parties which love to underfund mental health services resulting in less support hours and beds in mental health facilities…

  14. ultra-left 14
    19 September 2013 at 11:23 am

    Is the year’s biggest Hollywood blockbuster a Marxist polemic?
    http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/floating-to-elysium.html

    • Rogue Trooper 14.1
      19 September 2013 at 1:39 pm

      An interesting, and sad article thanks ultra-left.I always find the articles at readingthemaps very interesting and expansive to the world-view.

    • Te Reo Putake 15.1
      19 September 2013 at 12:29 pm

      Whadda loada crap!

      Firstly Soper has no proof that this is as direct a question as he claims and secondly, even if it were, the jobs are explicitly tied to the leadership. You don’t think Key kept Brash’s staff do you? Or that Judith Collins will keep Key’s?

      Jonolism at its finest!

      • Winston Smith 15.1.1
        19 September 2013 at 1:32 pm

        Thats why I’m saying its good, hes having a clean out of dead wood and replacing with his own people which will strengthen his grip on the party

      • weka 15.1.2
        19 September 2013 at 2:05 pm

        “Labour Leader David Cunliffe, who championed the workers’ case against the Government’s industrial reforms, could be breaking the law himself.

        Mr Cunliffe has been asking his staff who they supported during the leadership race and if it wasn’t him, then they’ve been sacked.”

        [citation needed]

        “More than 20 staff run the risk of losing their jobs now that Mr Cunliffe’s taken over.

        Most of them are contracted to the Labour leader of the day which means all staff have to reapply for their jobs.”

        So which is it Soper? Staff on contracts who have to reapply when the Leader changes, or Cunliffe sacking people who didn’t vote for him? And is it all staff or most staff?

        I agree TRP, jonolism at its finest.

  16. karol 16
    19 September 2013 at 1:20 pm

    Where is Shearer?

    • veutoviper 16.1
      19 September 2013 at 2:36 pm

      I spotted him sitting in a backrow seat on TV in Question Time today looking very relaxed. Question 3 or 4 from memory.

      • yeshe 16.1.1
        19 September 2013 at 9:50 pm

        he was also on the front bench last night for Lianne Dalziel’s valedictory .. two seats along
        ( away from the speaker) from where he used to sit and his body language suggested he would rather have been anywhere else on earth.

      • captain hook 16.1.2
        20 September 2013 at 12:49 pm

        so when are the proles with only a uhf aerial going to get parliament on freeview or is it restricted to disc and sky subscribers only?

  17. Tamati 17
    19 September 2013 at 1:36 pm

    Looks like another National minister is about to be slaughtered.

    https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=contract_detail&contract=MIN.DEPART.2013.2

    Any guesses who it is?

    Nick Smith? Can’t see him surviving another scandal!

    • Rogue Trooper 17.1
      19 September 2013 at 1:42 pm

      stab the puff-adder. Even a reptile like him should be able to understand the importance of these Heretaunga rivers and aquifers. I could see him squirming this way and that in Question Time Tuesday.’s Gone with the Wind.

      The superphosphate the sheep and beef cockies have been dumping on the place for a 100 years has accumulated to be released over the coming hundred already. Dick!

  18. captain hook 18
    19 September 2013 at 2:12 pm

    Time for a campaign to get Parliament available on freeview with the aerial.At the moment you can only get it if you have a disc and open yourself up to the pay per view channels.
    Is Parliament going to become pay per view too?
    Why is democracy becoming a two tier system in New Zealand?

    • Colonial Viper 18.1
      19 September 2013 at 2:21 pm

      And Select Committee hearings should be televised.

      • millsy 18.1.1
        19 September 2013 at 11:32 pm

        And radio broadcasts of Parliament extended beyond the main centres, the god botherer station kicked off its frequency and a youth/iwi/access RNZ2 implemented.

    • Rogue Trooper 18.2
      19 September 2013 at 2:21 pm

      i Have an aerial for freeview (just no decoder at the mo’), yet I could watch Parliament on 22 (until it was returned to the lender). Now gotta save for a Freeview installed TV.

      • Ron 18.2.1
        19 September 2013 at 2:54 pm

        You can buy plain decoders for under a $100
        or $500 if you want to record stuff

        • tc 18.2.1.1
          19 September 2013 at 3:07 pm

          plain decoders that take a flash drive/USB stick, all done for less than $150

        • Rogue Trooper 18.2.1.2
          19 September 2013 at 3:37 pm

          have to confess a weakness for these new LED Flatscreens; they can be quite hypnotic.
          Compromise is such a b*tch at times. Still one cannot complain about the amount of connection possible with the rest of the world; Foreign News channels, The web, Google, Wikis, Youtube. And to sit in ones’ own warm abode with ready access to references. We are so privileged with opportunity when the necessary Scaffolding
          (that was a rung) is made available. 😀

          (even Greenspan laments the neglect of educational focus on maths and the sciences). It is not by accident that the Jewish faith, with their ongoing reconciliation of science with scripture are so successful economically: Ties that bind (Literally, and figuratively).

    • karol 18.3
      19 September 2013 at 4:13 pm

      I don’t understand. I have freeview with a UHF aerial and a freeview box/myfreeview, and can watch parliament..

    • billbrowne 18.4
      19 September 2013 at 4:23 pm

      Try doing a full re-scan on your Freeview box. It should be there. Have a look at this page:

      http://www.freeviewnz.tv/tv-guide/freeview-channels.aspx

      And click on Freeview | HD

      These should be all of the channels you can get (except some that are regional)

    • Hami Shearlie 18.5
      19 September 2013 at 6:11 pm

      I don’t have sky or any pay tv , I have a UHF aerial and a satellite dish and a tv with freeview built in and I can get Parliament TV on everything!!

  19. Ron 19
    19 September 2013 at 3:00 pm

    I was watching the a bill going through committee stages last night and if there were six people in the house that would probably be an over estimation.
    What is the point of passing legislation if so few MP’s are in the house. This seems to be a constant feature of NZ parliament and I guess it is owed to the stupid system if allowing MP’s to vote courtesy of the whips. I wish we would go back to teh system of all members being required to be in house with a few exceptions made via ‘pairs’ which the opposition agree to allow government to effect its business. In all other cases if government wants to pass legislation they will need to endure a majority of their MP’s are present in the house

  21. Rogue Trooper 21
    19 September 2013 at 4:24 pm

    SST vs “the ongoing failure of mental health support systems”- Coroner-referring cases to the Law Commission.
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11127145

  22. Greywarbler 22
    19 September 2013 at 5:29 pm

    Here’s a great music video from a film way back with George Harrison and Ringo Starr on the music side. Freedom We Want our Freedom. Handmade Film.

    • ghostrider888 22.1
      19 September 2013 at 5:43 pm

      ears are burning to Get Back to Ave Verum.
      Let us pierce A la Chapelle Sixtine
      (we’re all in the Lists).

  23. tc 23
    19 September 2013 at 6:50 pm

    I see aunty amy is providing 15m for a new internet cable into nthland.

    where was the govt when business was trying to get one into the middle of the north island where diversity is assured, and she says stn cross is good til 2020.

    She will be slammed over this hopefully, FFS it must connect south of the current cable and stn cross is fine, you just have to get its owners to light it up.

    Incompetant and easily led like alot of govt ministeds.

    • Colonial Viper 23.1
      19 September 2013 at 10:26 pm

      So the cable extends from NZ to Oz to US right? How much is the NSA contributing to the cable hmmm?

  24. David Cunliffe 24
    19 September 2013 at 6:52 pm

    Hi folks just to let you kow that from 7pm tonight I will do a special live skype on The Daily Blog. I would like to invite all Standardistas to visit The Daily Blog.

    • Colonial Viper 24.1
      19 September 2013 at 7:05 pm

      Awesome, watching now.

    • Rogue Trooper 24.2
      19 September 2013 at 7:07 pm

      but I just put a DVD on Dave. Man! Anyway, to all appearances, Tory spin aside, you and the team are doing well. IMO, breathe and think. You are your team are way smarter than your opposition. and Russel Norman is very capable in his role attacking those Ministers.

    • the pigman 24.3
      19 September 2013 at 7:20 pm

      A great piece of advice I always give to clients before cross-examination is probably applicable to any media appearances – if you need to think about the answer for a bit, take a sip of water first. However, if that happens too often you’ll soon be seeking an adjournment for a toilet break 😀

    • karol 24.4
      19 September 2013 at 7:42 pm

      Watched it. Great interview, in spite of the squeaky technology!

      Like the ideas on NZ as part of the Pacific and a Pacific TV (or was it radio?) channel.

    • Colonial Viper 24.5
      19 September 2013 at 9:59 pm

      Daily Blog skype interview with Cunliffe now up on YouTube.

      • Chooky 24.5.2
        19 September 2013 at 11:33 pm

        @ CV …re David Cunliffe interview with Daily Blog…..thanks for YouTube link…

        Very interesting….Very clearly and succinctly expressed on a number of crucial issues facing the country.

        Would like to see more of these interviews, say once a month as a regular feature

        …….Have great confidence in David Cunliffe to lead a coalition with the Greens to victory in 2014! .

        ( He looks very tired though and needs to take at least a day off ….imo)

        • Colonial Viper 24.5.2.1
          19 September 2013 at 11:44 pm

          The leadership hustings schedule was pretty merciless…and for David he had a full Sunday of events after the announcement, then straight into it on Monday in Wellington. And as he said, working to the early hours of every morning. Crazy shit.

        • Pasupial 24.5.2.2
          20 September 2013 at 12:54 am

          No wonder Cunliffe looks so tired with all those chirps of feedback constantly haunting his words! Bomber seemed to be transmitting from a place several seconds away on the temporal dimension. Whereas Manning was almost jarringly well presented – which just made the other two’s tech glitches even more evident.

          I ended up mostly just listening while browsing other pages (a sure recipe for missing bits, and much rewinding). However, I far prefer that discussion; with all it’s technical teething problems, to something like “The Vote” with much higher production values, but an impoverished discourse.

          • felix 24.5.2.2.1
            20 September 2013 at 1:47 am

            Seemed to me that Cunliffe and Manning were very clear and in focus while Bradbury was low-resolution, distorted, crackly and screechy.

            And then there were the technical issues…

  25. xtasy 25
    19 September 2013 at 11:54 pm

    What the hell is wrong with NZ Aoteaora?

    Here we have a communist, socialists, conservatives and others, also tertiary experts, discuss for a long time educational policy on public TV in Chile, which is hardly a “leftist” country these days.

    So we can see that there, I can show you heaps more and better from Europe and other places, but we here in NZ are told such “public broadcasting” costs too much, we get brainwashed and inundated with commercial ads.

    Nobody here seems to even bother with this, all being brainwashed to death. Are there any Kiwis, awake and caring about their sound states of mind, and independent thinking and information? Or are most of you happy with being brainwashed and dumbed down consumerist instruments?

    I am shocked and dismayed, and I wish to be dead at times, as this society we have, is NOT worth living in.

  26. xtasy 26
    20 September 2013 at 12:21 am

    Viva Camilla!

    Free education in NZ also, we are not getting it, at least the gifted and otherwise “deserving” must get it, but we now have fee payments and privatised education in NZ.

    Division and segregation rule in NZ, once a country supposedly “egalitarian”, what a sick joke the present reality is.

  27. xtasy 27
    20 September 2013 at 12:37 am

    Victor Jara – Chile, one of the assasinated by fascist general Pinochet, an interesting audio with his popular songs:

  28. xtasy 28
    20 September 2013 at 12:53 am

    Victor Jara –

    Yo no canto por cantar, etc

    Pay respect for one in the “stadium” in Santiago de Chile who were shot, tortured, and disposed off at open sea, off the shores of Chile!

    Human rights is one thing, and there are other reasons, sadly too many in NZ are too scared to take a stand, while civil rights and so are transgressed daily, where are you Kiwis, got to care, do you care??? Too busy with America’s Cup, rugby and self fulfilling careers? I once thought this country stood for something, apparently no more?!

    Viva el pueblo unida!!

  29. xtasy 29
    20 September 2013 at 1:00 am

    Shame on MOST NZ and NZers – for cowardice and never speaking out and up, it is the endless repeat of shame, that is what I see and read here and on every NZ blog! I wish I had never come back to this horrible and soulless place!

    • xtasy 29.1
      20 September 2013 at 10:20 pm

      Sorry, distress has many words, sometimes over the top, and I suffer from ill health that expresses itself as above at times. I must admit that there are progressive people in this country, but sadly also many that do not care so much, and it is the latter that tend to drive me to despair and harsh criticism.

  30. xtasy 30
    20 September 2013 at 1:19 am

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xRJ6jbCv1o

    Viva Chile, viva Victor Jara!

    Few understand, but this is the subtle voice of peace and social unity, who cares these days, especially in NZ??

    People who stand up, take a solid stand, dare to be hit and attacked, and stand their ground, and fight back, that is what free and democratic societies are made of, I see nonone in this country be gutful enough to care and take a stand! X

  31. Chooky 31
    20 September 2013 at 11:00 am

    @ xtasy …you are being heard!!!!!…..many NZers have great sympathy for what the Chilean people went through after Allende was assasinated and under Pinochet…..In my 20s I used to work in a department building on the Terrace in Wellington with an older Chilean communist leader who was left for dead in Chile after a gunshot to the head….(he still had the scars)…..but was smuggled out by his friends ……and eventually came to NZ…He used to come into my office and tell us what had happened in Chile…..He was a very quiet , determined , inspiring man…..very strong

    …..It is very hard for people who have never been through what Chileans have been through to understand the trauma……but we are sympathetic!!!!!.

    ….. To really get understanding it is best you talk to other Chileans who have been through the same thing

    • Colonial Viper 31.1
      20 September 2013 at 11:07 am

      Thanks USA

      • Colonial Viper 31.1.1
        20 September 2013 at 11:07 am

        And UK/Thatcher of course.

        • xtasy 31.1.1.1
          20 September 2013 at 10:22 pm

          They have buckets of blood at their hands, as we know, but it is all “legal” according to “their laws”. Sad this is, what is though nothing new in the world, and which history proves.

    • xtasy 31.2
      20 September 2013 at 10:09 pm

      Chooky – I despair at times, hence my “ranting” again last night. I met three young Chileans tonight, at a supermarket in Downtown Auckland. I had a chat and mentioned Camilla Vallejo, the former student leader there, and they all know her, and they all liked her! They had nothing good to say about the way capitalism is applied there.

      Yes, I met a few Chileans on my travels, also in NZ. What excites me about Chile is that there people do dare to go out on the streets, and take a vocal stand, young and old. Of course the capitalist system that is out of control keeps many intimidated, also in Chile. Also Chileans love music and culture, and I respect them very much for that.

      I am doing my bit of “stirring” up emotions and ideas, to hopefully get more locals here woken up and also take a stand, as you appear to be doing very well already.

      A friend of mine has just been dealt out an appalling decision by the Health and Disability Commissioner, letting off the hook the worst hatchet doctor in Auckland, that is a WiNZ hatchet doctor. This will go public soon, and he will be named and shamed!

      So he went out this afternoon to do a personal protest outside the HDC Office in Queen Street. We need much more of this to happen, otherwise we will lose the battle to commerce, the corrupt government and more.

      Kia kaha all!

  32. Chooky 32
    21 September 2013 at 10:27 am

    @ xtasy….keep in touch with those vibrant Chileans… they know how to party and dance and make music and enjoy life!!!!…..NZers, many of us originated from that Blairite nation of “small shop keepers” …. but also have the Maori warrior class gene and the Celts’ …..So initially and superficially we may seem to be a bit ‘slow’ ….but once the going gets tough ……then…..(as was shown in the ’81 Springbok Tour)….the tough get going

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