Open Mike 20/01/2019

82 comments on “Open Mike 20/01/2019 ”

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1. Jenny - How to get there? 1

   20 January 2019 at 7:13 am

   Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.

   The silence of Kelvin Davis.

   Australian commentary begins at 3:00 minutes

   ….The Australian Border Force say that there is no mass hunger strike in Western Australia. But our sources inside are adamant that there is. And we’ve heard leaked audio that backs that up.

   We’ve also asked for comment from the New Zealand Government. This is of course has been a diplomatic issue between the two countries for several years now. And one that Corrections Minister, Kelvin Davis, has been very vocal about in the past. But there is no word tonight from the New Zealand Government. And many detainees feel they could do more.

   ,

   https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2019/01/kiwis-at-australian-detention-centre-claim-hunger-strike-could-affect-chances-of-release.html

   Kelvin Davis was “very vocal about this in the past”. That is true. But that of course was during the lead up to the last election, before he was returned to his seat in parliament as the member for Te Tai Tokerau.

   Since then Kelvin Davis has been virtually silent on the issue.

   “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies … but the silence of our friends.”─ Martin Luther King
   • The Chairman 1.1

     20 January 2019 at 9:43 am

     Labour, the party the left can count on to let them down.
     • sumsuch 1.1.1

       20 January 2019 at 9:23 pm

       No one with any sense voted for Labour after 84. For the lack of choice , spoiled my ballot in 87.

       It is a continuing theme of radical propaganda and back-tracking in power. Can someone suggest a good analysis of Lee’s ‘Simple on a Soapbox’. Definitely Lee had an ego but all the figures of that time appear conservative in his vista without the caucus’s voting. ‘We’ll be the laughing stock of the world’ said MJS about the 30 shilling old age pension.
   • Wayne 1.2

     20 January 2019 at 9:51 am

     Do you really expect the New Zealand government to tell Australia how it should run its prisons/detention camps?

     The PM has certainly been quiet on the issue when she advocated the whole issue of detainees/illegal immigrants around 12 months ago. The pushback from Turnbull was quite severe. I think the (then new) government got the message loud and clear not to tell the Australians how to run their country.
     • The Chairman 1.2.1

       20 January 2019 at 10:29 am

       One would have assumed someone with your experience Wayne would know the difference between telling another country what to do and standing up for your own citizens.

       The latter being what one assumes Jenny was implying.
       • Wayne 1.2.1.1

         20 January 2019 at 10:45 am

         Fist point; The australians do run a first world justice system and expect New Zealand to understand that.

         Second point, and really the key one I was making; the New Zealand government very quickly learned not to lecture Australia, and that seems to include Kelvin Davis.
         • The Chairman 1.2.1.1.1

           20 January 2019 at 11:40 am

           The treatment and conditions resulting from this first world justice system is what is in dispute.

           To not be seen standing up for your citizens (or to even bother to comment) will create flak at home. More so, if one was previously immensely vocal before being elected into power.
         • AB 1.2.1.1.2

           20 January 2019 at 2:55 pm

           “The australians do run a first world justice system”
           No – they run a two-tier system – a first worldish one for Oz citizens and a different one for everybody else. They do this unashamedly in order to deter backdoor immigration, because Australia is still a place that lots of people want to get to. With 2.5 to 3 degrees of warming it will be a place people are desperate to leave. That will be a grim sort of poetic justice.
           “Do you really expect the New Zealand government to tell Australia how it should run its prisons/detention camps”
           No – I expect it to kowtow to superior economic and military power. But while doing this, I don’t expect it to utter the sort of dull, grey, turgid, privilege and injustice-defending bromides that would make it sound like Wayne Mapp.
     • Pete 1.2.2

       20 January 2019 at 12:23 pm

       Do you really expect the New Zealand government to tell Australia how it should run its prisons/detention camps? Of course.

       Why? So then the likes of those who say Davis is silent would be able to criticise him, accusing him of butting into Australian affairs and how he’s an embarrassment to our country for doing that.
       • The Chairman 1.2.2.1

         20 January 2019 at 1:08 pm

         The flaw in your logic is it’s not just an Australian affair.

         With so many Kiwis affected, it has become a diplomatic issue between the two countries. Hence, a NZ Government response is largely expected.
         • Pete 1.2.2.1.1

           20 January 2019 at 7:04 pm

           Diplomatic issue? The issue is that Davis has to make a choice between being attacked mercilessly for outwardly putting the boot into the Aussies or for not overtly putting the boot into the Aussies. Attacked by the same people.

           He isn’t in the headlines about it so he’s doing nothing. Let’s attack him about that too. And if he is in the headlines saying he’s doing something and there’s an outline of constructive steps towards some constructive resolution, lets attack the media outlet as a mouthpiece for the left.

           And if constructive steps get the people put on planes to New Zealand and one of them does something wrong, stupid or bad, let’s blame Davis for getting them into the country and boot him again.

           It’s a political issue. That’s when you get someone saying, “Evil triumphs when good men do nothing. The silence of Kelvin Davis.”
       • Jenny - How to get there? 1.2.2.2

         20 January 2019 at 9:12 pm

         Hi Pete, I really can’t understand where you are coming from.
         Without any evidence at all you slyly accuse, myself, and presumably others, of criticising Kelvin Davis when he is silent about the plight of the detainees, and also when he speaks up for the detainees, saying, “how he’s an embarrassment to our country for doing that”. This is a complete lying smear. For the record I was very much in support of Kelvin Davis’ early advocacy for the detainees, and would be very pleased to see him take up their cause again..

         In future Pete, instead of engaging in broad smears, you need to say exactly who it is you claim is criticising Kelvin for standing up for the detainees, and who also criticise him for not standing up for the detainees. And provide some sort of evidence to back up your claims.
2. Tamati Tautuhi 2

   20 January 2019 at 7:37 am

   Do you really think the Australian Authorities are going to admit what is going on in their Detention Centres. The Australian Government has not had a good history of dealing nicely with indigeneous races, and come to think of it we have not been super good here in New Zealand as well IMHO ?
3. marty mars 3

   20 January 2019 at 8:17 am

   we must not forget who and what is waiting in the wings…

   … Because we’re all so obsessed with Trump I don’t think we take enough time to reflect on how deeply terrifying Pence is. Trump may be a bigot, but Pence is a zealot – he believes his discriminatory views are justified by a higher power. Trump may not care about morals but Pence has a dangerous view of what morality entails. He refuses to eat alone with any woman who isn’t his wife, for example, because he apparently views women as nothing more than dangerous sexual temptations. And despite his beliefs about moral purity, he has no problem associating himself with Trump, a man who pays off porn stars. Also, he reportedly calls his wife “Mother” – which is just really creepy.

   The Pences, of course, should be free to believe whatever they like. What they shouldn’t be free to do, however, is impose their bigoted views on everyone else, which is exactly what they’re doing. It is not entirely improbable that Pence might be president soon. If that happens then it seems clear he’ll do his best to turn the country into a real-life version of The Handmaid’s Tale.

   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/19/president-pence-women-week-in-patriarchy

   and some lightness from that article

   Congratulations to Mariah (Carey) for having the best response to the nauseating #10YearChallenge that is currently everywhere on social media. “I don’t get this 10-year challenge, time is not something I acknowledge,” she tweeted alongside two identical pictures of herself. This will now be my go-to line for my editor every time I file copy late.
   • Draco T Bastard 3.1

     20 January 2019 at 1:58 pm

     Sometimes the worst that can happen is what is required to nudge people back onto the right path.
4. Adrian Thornton 4

   20 January 2019 at 8:25 am

   America, in a yet another public display of it’s new role as now unashamed authoritarian world bully boys and corporate enforcers which of course leads to it’s complete lack of regard for free press (when it suits them), has detained with out charge Press TV’ s journalist Marzieh Hashemi for over six days so far.

   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/american-journalist-iran-press-tv-jailed-190117085325166.html

   And while we are on the subject of free press, here is a piece well worth reading from Aaron Mate on The Nation dismantling more of the increasingly hysterical and unhinged ‘Russia Gate” conspiracies…

   The Manafort Revelation Is Not a Smoking Gun
   Proponents of the Trump-Russia collusion theory wildly overstate their case, again.
   https://www.thenation.com/article/manafort-no-smoking-gun-collusion/

   Of course you wouldn’t know that the whole Russia Gate conspiracy just one huge smoke screen reading or listening to msm, and unfortunately many on this site.

   So while we have all had to hear endlessly week after week to this conspiracy theory (which is all it is at this point) that always goes nowhere, the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton have had to take exactly zero responsibility for losing to a half brain dead z grade TV game show host, why is that?
   If you are a Russia gate believer, maybe this is the question you should start asking yourself…
   • Psycho Milt 4.1

     20 January 2019 at 8:39 am

     The Manafort Revelation Is Not a Smoking Gun

     Well, duh. If it was, Trump would be making a prison cell look even uglier than it already did, and we’d all be contemplating President Pence and thinking you really do need to be careful what you wish for. Most criminal investigations don’t feature a “smoking gun,” that’s why we have juries – and why they take longer than five minutes to reach a verdict. That doesn’t make those criminal investigations “conspiracy theories.”
     • Dennis Frank 4.1.1

       20 January 2019 at 9:17 am

       And that’s an important point. Juries are often advised by the judge to arrive at a decision based on `the balance of probabilities’, aren’t they? Which is just as elegant way of saying `take your best guess, folks’.

       So, in practice, courts decide more often on the picture painted by circumstantial evidence than on proof. Which is where Mueller III’s unprecedented breaking of media silence comes in.

       “Cohen was sentenced in December to three years in prison for lying to Congress, campaign finance violations and financial crimes. He said he took full responsibility for his crimes, but said he acted out of blind loyalty to Mr. Trump, who he said “led me to choose a path of darkness over light.””

       “During his nomination hearing this week to become attorney general, William P. Barr was asked if the president would have committed a crime if he had coached a witness to testify falsely — or not to testify at all. “Yes,” Mr. Barr said. “Under an obstruction statute, yes.”” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/us/politics/buzzfeed-cohen-russia-tower.html

       The day before Buzzfeed reported evidence that Trump had committed that crime. Mueller III yesterday denied that was accurate. He obviously felt he had to – because of that bunch of calls for him to act by leading congressmen. Looks like he doesn’t have a basis to act against Trump. He’s been gathering circumstantial evidence to paint the picture for two years. Not enough.
       • Wayne 4.1.1.1

         20 January 2019 at 9:54 am

         As I presume you know “balance of probabilities” is about civil trials. Anything to do with impeachment/Russia collusion is on the criminal standard of “beyond reasonable doubt.”
         • Dennis Frank 4.1.1.1.1

           20 January 2019 at 10:20 am

           Thanks Wayne. No, I’ve never studied legal process. Just have the view of the average layman – a general idea of how the system works picked up from long-term observation. Beyond reasonable doubt sounds like a requirement of proof to me.

           Buzzfeed used the agreement of two ex-govt officials as basis for their claim that the proof exists. Mueller III denied that their claim was accurate. Sounds like the evidence is debatable: proof to some, not to others. This discord around evidence has long been a phenomenon in science: evidence can be interpreted as proof, but opinions often differ. Even between experts!
         • veutoviper 4.1.1.1.2

           20 January 2019 at 10:44 am

           Thank you, Wayne. I was about to ‘blast’ Dennis for that …. LOL.

           Very best wishes and positive thoughts for your health battle.
         • Andre 4.1.1.1.3

           20 January 2019 at 11:34 am

           Uhhh, when it comes to impeachment and conviction, it’s whatever at least 218 House Representatives and at least 67 senators agree are impeachable “high crimes and misdemeanours”, to whatever standard of proof they agree on. Impeachment and conviction is not a criminal proceeding, and it’s different to a civil matter as well.

           It is literally correct to say that if said numbers of Congresspeople agreed that what Individual-1 does with his ties are impeachable “high crimes and misdemeanours”, he’d be outta there. Article 1 of impeachment could be the way he wears them way too long to point at the wizened Toad lurking in his trousers. Article 2 of Impeachment could be the way he uses sellotape to vainly attempt to hold the two dangly bits together.

           John Roberts as the presiding justice over the senate trial could put as much effort as he wanted to into pointing out how fkn ridiculous it was, but in the end, if 67 senators voted to convict. it’s a done deal. The more likely procedural way to protect Individual-1 would be for the Senate Majority Leader, aka Yertle McConnell, to refuse to even bring the matter to the senate floor for consideration.
           • Andre 4.1.1.1.3.1

             20 January 2019 at 11:50 am

             Or as Gerald Ford put it much more succinctly,

             “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers to be at a given moment in history; conviction results from whatever offense or offenses two-thirds of the other body considers to be sufficiently serious to require removal of the accused from office.”
     • Siobhan 4.1.2

       20 January 2019 at 9:28 am

       Funnily enough the powers that be seem to (so far) be entirely relying on the public believing the “smoking gun” theory.
       You seem to not realise that “Smoking gun” refers to the strongest kind of circumstantial evidence, as opposed to direct evidence. ie…
       The smoking gun theory is as follows….

       “Trumps been to Russia and wanted to build a Russian Trump Tower;
       There are Russians on the internet putting up adverts and #fake news supporting Bernie/Trump/Stein and these have been amazingly successful at…
       getting disenfranchised whites in the rust belt all rilled up (which makes no sence ‘cos there lives/wages/housing/health and that of their children are getting better and better with each passing year)
       and getting African Americans all rilled up and resentful (which also makes no sence ‘cos there lives are sweet as too);
       Bernie and Trump did well;
       Its simply not possible that the public no longer believe in the Corporate Democrats ability to deliver change and (cough) ‘Hope’, and that the public would willingly vote for the likes of Trump or Bernie or Stein, therefore……Trump is a Russian stooge.”

       (The smoking gun theory also involves ignoring how much the Democrats/Hilary spent, because apparently the Russians are way way better at pushing their message than any of the agencies working for Hilary)
       • Psycho Milt 4.1.2.1

         20 January 2019 at 9:49 am

         …the powers that be seem to (so far) be entirely relying on the public believing the “smoking gun” theory.

         Now, there’s a conspiracy theory. Who are these “powers that be,” and on what evidence do you make this claim about them?
     • Adrian Thornton 4.1.3

       20 January 2019 at 10:53 am

       Oh it’s a conspiracy theory alright, and why any critical thinking person is still buying into it’s bullshit constructed narrative is for me the strangest part of the whole thing..quite disheartening really.

       With that in mind I think we need tolay out the cards here and face the facts, Russia gate conspiracists are willing to accept, defend and support the narrative of Ex Bush FBI head Robert Mueller and his various (seriously) dodgy co conspirators over established truth tellers like Glenn Greenwald, Robert Fisk, John Pilger, etc etc….

       Well as the old saying goes, ‘you make the bed you lie in’

       But I guess on the bright side you always have the in depth hard hitting reporting of the liberal turned war hawk Racheal Maddow to keep you up to date ha.
       • Psycho Milt 4.1.3.1

         20 January 2019 at 1:34 pm

         “People whose opinions I share” != “established truth tellers.”
       • Bazza64 4.1.3.2

         20 January 2019 at 1:50 pm

         Robert Fisk as an established truth teller? Isn’t he the discredited journalist who was found to have made up stories & treated them as investigative journalism? Maybe he now works for Buzzfeed ?
         • Adrian Thornton 4.1.3.2.1

           20 January 2019 at 1:56 pm

           @Bazza64
           Would you care to put up a link or links to support your claims re; Fisk please.
         • Adrian Thornton 4.1.3.2.2

           20 January 2019 at 2:29 pm

           @Bazza64
           Oh you must mean this discredited journalist…
           Robert Fisk
           27 December 2018
           Trump vs Mattis: Watch out when men of war come to the rescue
           https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/jim-mattis-donald-trump-mad-syria-israel-egypt-arafat-sharon-a8700276.html
           10 January 2019
           The US media has lost one of its sanest voices on military matters – so let’s hope William Arkin’s absence is brief
           https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/william-arkin-nbc-donald-trump-military-war-pundits-israel-media-a8719956.html
           January 17, 2019
           Lessons from the Armenian Genocide for Saudi Arabia in Yemen
           https://mirrorspectator.com/2019/01/17/lessons-from-the-armenian-genocide-for-saudi-arabia-in-yemen/
           3 January 2019
           Judge Richard Goldstone suffered for turning his back on Gaza – but not as much as the Palestinians he betrayed
           https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/israel-gaza-war-judge-richard-goldstone-palestinian-conflict-a8709211.html
           • Bazza64 4.1.3.2.2.1

             20 January 2019 at 2:51 pm

             I remember reading in the NZ Herald quite a few years ago how Robert Fisk came in for some heavy criticism from other journalists, who said he always seemed to get a very detailed story, when others said they were always suspicious of him.

             Googled a couple of things:

             https://honestreporting.com/independent-admits-robert-fisk-story-was-false/

             https://pulsemedia.org/2016/12/03/robert-fisks-crimes-against-journalism/

             Definitely not an expert on Mr Fisk, but when I see his name I always remember this.
             • Adrian Thornton …

               20 January 2019 at 3:38 pm

               The first link is to an apology by Fisk for writing an article in 2011 in which he quoted from a forged document (unknown to Fisk at the time), hardly a reason to discredit a journalist with decades of solid war reporting.

               BTW your linked source HonestReporting (Defending Israel from Media Bias) also defends Israeli violence against unarmed civilians..detaining children in prison..etc etc
               HonestReporting’s Top 10 Posts of 2018
               https://honestreporting.com/honestreportings-top-posts-of-2018/

               As far as Idrees Ahmad’s (whom I admire) piece goes, that is more problematic, the Syrian conflict is so complex, that I personally try to stay at some distance from it, so i can’t really comment on that article.
               But I can see your position re’ Fisk if that is your view on the Syrian conflict nonetheless.
               • Bazza64 …

                 20 January 2019 at 3:46 pm

                 Not sure about the Syrian conflict, but seems some people are now saying Fisk is a stooge of Assad & the Russians. Have no idea if this is even true & in the end all journalists have to be paid by someone. Truly being independent is maybe a difficult thing for journalists to achieve.

                 Difficult to know re Fisk, but I do remember a lot of journalists saying that he always seemed to get the perfect story which seemed to be embellished.

                 Thanks
   • mauī 4.2

     20 January 2019 at 9:40 am

     What a breath of fresh air, thank you Adrian.
5. Yorick 5

   20 January 2019 at 8:37 am

   Tamati is right – we live in societies still struggling with their colonial past. In Aotearoa it is hard to appreciate that there was once a time when it was considered acceptable to exterminate indigenous people.

   In Australia ‘Kriol’ is a relatively new Aboriginal language with upwards of 20,000 speakers in the Northern Territory and the neigbouring Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is a creole language – meaning it is a kind of emergency language with specific origin.

   It arose early this century when surviving members of decimated language groups congregated at the Roper River Mission in order to escape killings being carried out by cattle station companies. Many adults were multilingual – but not in the same languages. Children had often not developed full language competence .
   In this situation the only form of communication was a pidgin which had entered the Northern Territory a few decades before with the cattle trade.

   It is easy to forget this history in urban centres but like an old coral reef it repeatedly resurfaces when conservative parties with a strong rural base hold sway in Canberra.

   [Adapted from Balzer et. al., “Pidgin”, 2nd ed., page 149, Lonely Planet, 1999]
6. joe90 6

   20 January 2019 at 9:40 am

   “Murica, where a group of vile, MAGA capped racists gleefully harass a Native American elder at an Indigenous Peoples March.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIG5ZB0fw1k&feature=youtu.be
   • joe90 6.1

     20 January 2019 at 9:45 am

     https://twitter.com/UncededClothing/status/1086677183458934784
     • greywarshark 6.1.1

       20 January 2019 at 2:45 pm

       I notice the self-satisfied expression of the one young white man who stands in front of the American Indian (Nathan Philips of the Omaha Nation). His tight smile says you can’t make me move, and you can’t touch me.

       MAGA means – according to a Reddit? post:
       https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/5b6a7x/what_does_maga_mean/

       The_Donald Rules.

       This list is a wonder to behold for the USA.

       What does MAGA mean?

       I keep seeing the left criticize Trump for stating MAGA. Claiming he wants to bring back racism, slavery and segregation. What a bunch of cucks.

       Let’s set the record straight. We are going back to a Great America.

       An America where the people trust the government.

       An America where we are proud of the USA.

       An America where we don’t fear terrorist, but terrorist fear us.

       An America where getting a job and livable wage is easy.

       An America where we create wealth and prosperity.

       An America with a tax surplus and not a multi-trillion dollar deficit.

       An America where anyone can afford to go to the hospital.

       An America where everyone can go to college.

       An America where people aren’t afraid of police.

       An America with more schools than prisons.

       An America that upholds the bill of rights.

       An America that spends money to fix itself before “fixing” the world.

       An America where “Made in USA” is cheaper than “Made in China”.

       An America that doesn’t have one way tarrifs.

       An America that doesn’t allow threats of war from other nations. Looking at you North Korea.

       An America that stands for Freedom and Democracy.

       That’s the America we are going back to. That is the future. No more free rides for fake allies. No more fake diplomacy while Americans die to terrorist. No more corrupt secret deals. No more profit at the expense of American lives.

       MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!!

       FUCK YOU CLINTON, CTR, DEMOCRATS, AND ANY OTHER FREEDOM HATING TRAITORS!
   • Psycho Milt 6.2

     20 January 2019 at 10:47 am

     No end of potential nominees for the Supreme Court there, by the look of it.
   • marty mars 6.3

     20 January 2019 at 2:00 pm

     Those thick youth look like cardboard cutouts compared to the native elders. Those young adults are nothing, not even dust, gone, evaporated back to their nothingness.
     • marty mars 6.3.1

       20 January 2019 at 2:43 pm

       “The students, many of whom were wearing “Make America Great Again” caps, from private, all-male Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills were in Washington for an anti-abortion rally on Friday when they were filmed surrounding Nathan Phillips and mocking the Native American’s singing and drumming.”

       https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/20/outcry-after-kentucky-students-in-maga-hats-mock-native-american-veteran

       Christians sadly were participants in many colonisations where they tried to exterminate indigenous people.
       • joe90 6.3.1.1

         20 January 2019 at 2:58 pm

         Frankie the Pope has a message for the little shits.

         Pope Francis on Friday addressed a video message to the world’s young indigenous people holding their World Indigenous Youth Gathering in Soloy, Diocese of David, Panama, from January 17 to 21. The young people will then move on to Panama city to join the World Youth Day (WYD) 2019, January 22-27, which the Pope is joining on January 23.

         Speaking in Spanish, the Pope is encouraging the indigenous young people to hold on to their cultures and roots by fighting marginalization, exclusion, waste and impoverishment that is threatening them and build another world that is possible and that is more just and human.

         […]

         Return to native cultures. Take care of the roots, because from the roots comes the strength that will make you grow, prosper and bear fruit. It must also be a way of showing the indigenous face of our Church in the context of WYD and of affirming our commitment to protect the Common House and to collaborate in building another possible world, that is more just and more human.

         https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-01/pope-francis-video-message-world-indigenous-youth-panama.html
       • Psycho Milt 6.3.1.2

         20 January 2019 at 8:14 pm

         …were in Washington for an anti-abortion rally on Friday…

         Farkinell, it’s the trifecta…
   • joe90 6.4

     20 January 2019 at 3:27 pm

     https://twitter.com/dcpoll/status/1086666326033293313

     https://twitter.com/riotwomennn/status/1086721329573830656
   • Tamati Tautuhi 6.5

     20 January 2019 at 4:48 pm

     Look’s like a nice kid ?

     Guess he would be a Republican Trump Supporter no doubt ?
7. joe90 7

   20 January 2019 at 11:27 am

   Bye bye Good Friday agreement?.

   https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/police-in-northern-ireland-report-suspected-car-bomb-in-derry-1.3764233
8. Bruce 8

   20 January 2019 at 12:07 pm

   Bit more about the Russian girl and how she got there.

   https://www.andrew-drummond.com/2019/01/19/so-who-did-the-dirty-on-oligarchs-girl-nastya-rybka/
9. marty mars 9

   20 January 2019 at 1:55 pm

   Fun and learning. Puts it ALL into perspective.

   “But lesser known are the (Monty Python) troupe’s other feature-length films, including 1983’s “The Meaning of Life.” Amidst a dinner party with Death and a machine that goes “ping!”, audiences are treated to one of the weirdest, most catchy astronomy tunes out there: The Galaxy Song…

   … just how accurate is the science? Let’s take a look!

   http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/08/fact-checking-the-galaxy-song
10. Poission 10

    20 January 2019 at 2:01 pm

    Manawatu river at Foxton

    http://www.horizons.govt.nz/HRC/media/Data/WebCam/Foxton_latest_photo.jpg?ext=.jpg

    [What’s going on, cobber? Your last few comments look like you’ve walked away from the laptop and your pet hamster has tap danced on the keyboard. If you want to put a link up, please add a short explanation of its relevance. Don’t want to waste people’s time, ae? TRP]
11. millsy 11

    20 January 2019 at 2:05 pm

    Anyone watch Go South on Prime last night? Really awesome piece of TV. Hopefully this will manage to get on TV networks all round the world. Do more to promote NZ than anything else.
12. Poission 12

    20 January 2019 at 2:15 pm

    of course.

    https://www.google.com/search?q=askew&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b
    • Draco T Bastard 12.1

      20 January 2019 at 2:45 pm

      You know, Ed got banished for that type of shit.
      • Tamati Tautuhi 12.1.1

        20 January 2019 at 4:53 pm

        Where is Ed ?
        • Andre 12.1.1.1

          20 January 2019 at 5:53 pm

          Commiserating with Paul somewhere.
13. Jilly Bee 13

    20 January 2019 at 2:26 pm

    A predictable opinion piece in today’s Herald website by Lawrence Yule National MP for Tukituki and spokesperson for horticulture. Nowt, zip, yadda, nil, nothing about the orchidists paying their workforce a decent wage – but he reckons the Government has a role to play to help them out. Poor petals.
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12193308
    • millsy 13.1

      20 January 2019 at 2:38 pm

      Essentially a copying and pasting of previous talking points.
    • Poission 13.2

      20 January 2019 at 2:43 pm

      Not exactly in full hiring mode only small producers who do not contract out.

      https://www.trademe.co.nz/browse/categoryattributesearchresults.aspx?140=5&154=5015&144=-1&144=200000&search=1&sidebar=1&cid=5000&rptpath=5000-
14. Draco T Bastard 14

    20 January 2019 at 2:42 pm

    Voters less likely to back Labour with ‘stop Brexit’ policy, leaked poll suggests

    A leaked poll commissioned by the pro-EU Best for Britain campaign suggests that voters would be less likely to back Labour if the party was committed to stopping Brexit.

    According to the poll, passed to the Guardian, almost a third of respondents said they would be less likely to vote Labour, a similar number to those who said it would not make a difference. Twenty-five per cent said it would make them more likely to back Labour, with the rest saying they did not know.

    Can’t have your cake and eat it too.
    • CHCOff 14.1

      20 January 2019 at 5:47 pm

      it is not cake and eating it too, rather it is combining representative democracy and direct democracy.

      So with that in mind in this case: An election is held that combines the Tory platform with the favored brexit approach of it’s support base (which is looking for the maximum separations with the EU) & the Labour combines it’s platform with the favored brexit approach of it’s support base (which is looking for a continuation of partnership with the EU as much as possible).

      Then the representatives of the election result, negotiate their balances to the differences and trade offs with the EU and their supoort base platform, so it remains a winning process for the electorate’s involvement in the process. And either way the election goes, there remains strong bargaining power for the British side.

      And i believe, at heart, it is probably that simple in how to complete the process started with the referendum in a way that is diplomatic to all concerned.
15. Draco T Bastard 15

    20 January 2019 at 2:54 pm

    Like everyone I’d always believed that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. And then I read this:

    The Black Horse

    When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” (Revelation 6:5-6)

    And realised that the The Black Horse wasn’t famine at all.

    It’s free-market capitalism.
16. marty mars 16

    20 January 2019 at 3:25 pm

    I am not a Christian and don’t believe in the bible or sin so… nice symbolism though.
    • Draco T Bastard 16.1

      20 January 2019 at 9:09 pm

      Neither am I.

      But look at all the people who are.
17. Morrissey 17

    20 January 2019 at 5:06 pm

    Good riddance to New Zealand’s Biggest Bogans
    by E. KERR McROVI, The N.Z. Gerald, Sunday 20 January 2019

    You would have to wonder what this country’s Biggest Bogans were doing when they chose the New Zealand taxpayer to fund their calumny from 2008 until we gave them the arse in 2017.

    Did they think we were complete saps, willing to roll over and accept their appalling anti-social and criminal behaviour? That we were too primitive and unsophisticated to galvanise ourselves into a posse of right-thinking community policemen and women? A little bit of homework would have shown that we have spectacularly good form in bringing down even highly trained criminals, far less amateurs.

    But just to recap … That bunch of foul mouthed, bribe-taking, snitching, backstabbing, housing expenses-rorting, cigar smoke-blowing, hairpulling louts made headlines on a daily – nay, hourly – basis. Since award-winning journalist Nicky Hager exposed to the nation in 2014 that their leader had allowed his office to be the command centre for an illegal, secret campaign of character assassination and vilification run by the infamous and disgusting Cameron FailAll Slater, assisted incompetently and pathetically by his stumble-tongued slave Jordan Williams, this gang of reprobates ran our country’s reputation into the ground with the same lack of concern as their dirty dairy friends foul the water the rest of us used to drink and swim in.

    The gang of thugs parked up at the Beehive for nine terrible years quickly drew the attention of Kiwis thanks to their filthy language and their filthy behaviour. [1] When a local woman suffering from asthma asked one of them to stop smoking a cigar in their enclosed box at a football match, the feral fellow turned particularly nasty. Instead of ceasing to smoke, he walked up to the woman and blew smoke in her face. This led to the woman’s husband nearly knocking Coleman’s brains out. [2] And thus it began.

    As a result of the publicity over the cigar fracas, a number of people approached the Herald with their own horror stories of encountering the nation’s Biggest Bogans.

    A man who had the great misfortune to share a flight with one of these appalling humans recounted his bad behaviour at Christchurch Airport in 2014. It was hours of misery for everyone involved, when the fattest and most unpleasant of all the Bogans bumptiously bypassed security to board a domestic flight. He was fined $2,000 for that bit of idiocy. [3]

    Next, a young waitress from Parnell came forward to complain about the leader of the Unruly Gang. She recognised the lout from his many appearances in the media and told how he and his people had come to her cafe and repeatedly pulled her hair while his wife just watched. [4]

    Another of these antisocial and repulsive pests was caught by one of our leading artists in the act of befouling our waterways, along with his horrid dirty dairying amigos. [5]

    This Unruly, Unholy Mob had no idea just how effective New Zealanders can be at monitoring aberrant behaviour. Those of us who are honest will remember that the gangsters who ran that vicious and secret campaign of character assassination from Wonky John’s office were exposed not by this country’s counter espionage agents or even our investigative police officers. The hapless bumbling tossers in charge of the operation were exposed thanks to a concerned computer expert (“Rawshark”) who had clocked a number of odd incidents and reported them to the renowned journalist Nicky Hager.

    So this group of professional louts never had a chance of slipping under the radar. The reaction to these no-hopers was an excellent example of what can happen when we work together.

    [1] https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/l/f/i/z/s/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.1240×700.1lfi0o.png/1504501119377.jpg

    [2] https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10413574

    [3] https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/63297518/null

    [4] https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/67949918/null

    [5] https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/l/f/i/z/s/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.1240×700.1lfi0o.png/1504501119377.jpg

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12192586
    • Tamati Tautuhi 17.1

      20 January 2019 at 6:49 pm

      Spoke to my m8 yesterday who’s grandfather played for Liverpool, about the Liverpudlian gypsies touring New Zealand he reckons they are Northern Ireland protestants one of the worst breed of people on the planet.
      • Morrissey 17.1.1

        20 January 2019 at 7:04 pm

        Who’s your mate’s grandfather, Tamati?
    • Blazer 17.2

      20 January 2019 at 8:48 pm

      just wonderful..Morrissey.’👌

      ‘ That bunch of foul mouthed, bribe-taking, snitching, backstabbing, housing expenses-rorting, cigar smoke-blowing, hairpulling louts made headlines on a daily – nay, hourly – basis. Since award-winning journalist Nicky Hager exposed to the nation in 2014 that their leader had allowed his office to be the command centre for an illegal, secret campaign of character assassination and vilification run by the infamous and disgusting Cameron FailAll Slater, assisted incompetently and pathetically by his stumble-tongued slave Jordan Williams, this gang of reprobates ran our country’s reputation into the ground with the same lack of concern as their dirty dairy friends foul the water the rest of us used to drink and swim in.’
      • Tamati Tautuhi 17.2.1

        20 January 2019 at 9:40 pm

        Wow that’s a mouth full but 100% correct.
18. Morrissey 18

    20 January 2019 at 7:05 pm

    Worse than the “Unruly Tourists” are these Yobs taunting them in Hamilton

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12191765
19. Tamati Tautuhi 19

    20 January 2019 at 9:03 pm

    M8’s name is Murphy not sure what his grandfather’s name was but I will ask him the next time I talk to him and let you know, probably feeding me B/S, never thought to ask.
    • Morrissey 19.1

      21 January 2019 at 7:05 am

      Thanks Tamati. Let us know!
20. joe90 20

    20 January 2019 at 10:08 pm

    Thread.

    https://twitter.com/keith_ng/status/1086759055127924739

    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1086759055127924739.html
21. Eco Maori 21

    21 January 2019 at 8:27 am

    Kia ora the am show There you go duncan kicking the poor vulnerable people.
    Its a lollie scramble in the house building boom in Taungara that’s the capitalist way charge what ever one can get from the buyer.???????????????????????????????.
    simon you way of running the country into the ground look at what has happened hundreds of people under the bridge and you spout about they way shonky run the country. national sold half of the power companys and in just 5 years the money raised buy the sales of those crown jewels has been losted in capital gain’s and dividend’s a gift to their wealthy share market m8 of 5 billion tipcal national kick the poor vulnerable people.
    Alcohol related death’s in NZ IS 600 to 1000 how many die from weed can not find any from consumeing it enough said.
    Jason its quite hot in Australia at the minute can cook a egg on the bonnet of a car and your prime minister wants to build more coal power plants that burns heaps of carbon and use heaps of WATER.
    I say Michael Mosley diet will be good .Drop the sugar and have porridge in the morning is a good way to to stop the hunger pangs and lose weight it makes the body work to digets it to .
    The biggest hitts the tax system’s get is fraud that comes from the white collar crime there was a figure of $1 billion in the media .Goverments and council’s fraud. I say that figure is the tip of the Iceburg.
    Global warming it the biggest threat enough said Ka kite ano P.S Mahi ki hoariri
22. Eco Maori 22

    21 January 2019 at 9:46 am

    Unequal income distribution is what causes a lot of our society problems health crime slow economy low education levels also Unequal income affects Wahine the people whom raise our tamariki the most .
    How unequal is New Zealand?
    In New Zealand, income (and probably wealth) was being shared out more and more evenly from the 1950s up until the 1980s – but for the next two decades we had the developed world’s biggest increase in income inequality.

    As the graph (at left) shows, in that time, the average income of someone in the richest 1% has doubled, from just under $200,000 to nearly $400,000 (adjusting for inflation). In contrast, the average disposable income for someone in the poorest 10% is only slightly higher than it was in the 1980s. (More details and the source of this graph can be found in Wealth and New Zealand, published by BWB.) That means many New Zealanders struggle to pay their bills and lead a decent life.
    Another way to put it is that someone in the richest 10% used to earn five times as much as someone in the poorest 10%; now they earn eight times as much.
    Wealth is also very largely in the hands of a few. As the graph (below) shows, in New Zealand the wealthiest tenth own nearly a fifth of the country’s net worth, while the poorest half of the country has less than 5 per cent. That leaves many people in poverty, lacking the resources they need to participate in society and follow their dreams. (Again, further details are available in Wealth and New Zealand.)

    What is the connection with poverty?
    Inequality connects both ends of the spectrum, wealth and poverty, and argues that they have to be looked at together. The fundamental issue is distribution: how are the economy and society structured, and where do they deliver their rewards?
    In other words, poverty doesn’t exist in isolation: people are poor, in part, because the economy directs much of the country’s resources to those who are already doing well. For instance, within a company, pay for ordinary staff can be low because so much of the company’s income goes to senior management and shareholders.

    Wealth and poverty can’t be separated.Polling shows New Zealanders have consistently rated inequality as the single biggest issue facing the country since 2014. Over 80 per cent of the country say they are concerned or very concerned about income and wealth imbalances. Internationally, all the world’s major economic bodies – including the IMF, the OECD and the World Bank – have argued for some time that inequality is a major problem and must be addressed. Ka kite ano links below

    http://www.inequality.org.nz/understand/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYwirUUlb9U
23. Eco Maori 23

    21 January 2019 at 11:43 am

    Here you go the goverments don’t mesure the % of income that the people pay and in the poor peoples case with gst at 15 % we the poor pay the higest % of taxs to income ratio. And the rulers wonder why MAORI are so upset with OUR lot this system is dishing us up Ana to kai
    Do the rich really pay the most in tax?
    The rich don’t really pay that much in tax – and to the extent that they do, it’s because they get the biggest chunk of the income
    The government likes to say that the richest 15% of households (those earning over $150,000) pay three-quarters of all the “net tax” .
    The problem with this measure is that it isn’t really about tax. It does start with the amount of income tax paid by different groups – but it then does complicated calculations about how much those groups received in benefit payments, the accommodation supplement, paid parental leave and Working for Families. Those figures are subtracted from the amount of tax paid by each group, to arrive at a strange sort of “net financial contribution to the government’s books” measure.
    More useful figures about income tax are in the graph below, which shows how much of our national income goes to each of the country’s ten income groups – and what proportion of the total tax take they contribute
    None of these figures, of course, includes capital gains (income made from selling assets such as houses and shares), because we don’t for the most part either tax or record those capital gains.
    If we did, since those capital gains will go largely to the richest tenth, the truth about tax in New Zealand is that the rich almost certainly pay less of their income in tax than the poor do. ka kite ano links below

    http://www.inequality.org.nz/understand/rich-really-pay-tax/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs5MhLiQEKM
24. Eco Maori 24

    21 January 2019 at 12:05 pm

    You see people 4 % is what drips off the wealthy’s plates for maori to fight over and some still have the gaul to moan about what Maori/minority cultures get from the system . TIMES ARE GOING TO CHANGE.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAqskSo-NIg
25. Eco Maori 25

    21 January 2019 at 12:24 pm

    Eco Maori say mandatory voting is what is need to get a fair representation for all Kiwis at the minute the pollies are to scared to tackle the big issues that will upset the retired babyboomers whom 98% vote . If everyone votes the politicians will listen to the poor people more.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu3AZ1Hjw0c
    • Gosman 25.1

      22 January 2019 at 9:02 am

      Why do you need mandatory voting? Can’t you convince people to vote just be explaining how it benefits them?
26. Eco Maori 26

    21 January 2019 at 6:43 pm

    Kia ora Newshub Some of those Wai falls around Auckland has some old Maori history.
    House prices are expensive in Aotearoa at the minute all part of shonkys plan.
    I saw that video of that old Native American that was being taunted by that boy so disrespectful those young people are Alot of people are disrespectful these days the old fella was a War veteran to. Public expenses in Aotearoa was one of the lowest in the world so was our grocery prices low as compared to the rest of the World 10 years ago.
    If the trees are dangerous ie fall over in bad weather they should be felled but one would think the council would follow dew process after all they set the examples.
    That was lucky that no one was hurt in that bombing in Ireland I smell something.
    The Orca video under the artic ice is really cool see those Orca have smaller dorsal fins than the ones around NZ. I did not see much publicity on the marine sanctuary being set up around the Ross Sea??????????.
    Ka kite ano.
27. Eco Maori 27

    22 January 2019 at 8:22 am

    Kia ora Newshub it’s good for our farmers that Jacinda has got a export deal with Britain I still say Britain should stay with the European Union. As for the Air forces Gropper its the same as the roast busters the state white coller people bending the laws to protect there m8. That’s why there is a status of limitations LAW to protect government people from getting held accountable for all the cheating they did while in power.A new government find there dirty deeds cannot litigate against the cheats. The man made drug problem the pills what ever man made drug problem is here and now because the state spent all its resources farcicaly fighting weed that is practically harmless when compared factual with other forms of drugs and ignore these other drugs that has killed many people shonkys the ring leader is the ring leader. duncan your a alt right red neck who thinks a Wahine place is behind a MAN your views change like your underwear. Like I have said the world’s laws are made to protect the ruling classes and hammer the poor people that’s a fact. I have all read put a post up about the gropper ropper CASE.
    I won’t wait for shonky who should be hiding under a rock after the Big mess he has made of Atoearoa. Ka kite ano P.S to busy with our Mokopunas
28. Eco Maori 28

    22 January 2019 at 8:40 am

    Yea wealth is OK so long as shonky doesn’t have control of it and give it to the few while the many have to struggle to survive its OK if wealth is shared it is well documented that a equal society is much happier and healthier when your share the lollipops I get it wealthy people get a logical block from their $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Quite a common phenomenon around Papatuanukue that has caused all the ills of Papatuanukue don’t worry common people money is going to be a thing of the past we will have a currency that has a consciousness connection to it any cheating people will go broke. Ana to kai Ka kite ano
29. Eco Maori 29

    22 January 2019 at 8:53 am

    There you go shonky is a alt right trump supporter trump is ripping of the poor common people like shonky did and giving it to his rich m8 bullshiting about trumps popularity in America Ana to kai Ka kite ano
30. Eco Maori 30

    22 January 2019 at 6:42 pm

    Kia ora Newshub It’s cool Jamie Lee Ross is OK more drama for national I see one of their biggest spin doctors is not in good shape.
    A tree falling on people picnicking at the shot over river condolences to the people who were involved in the incident Tawhirirmate is a powerful force.
    Jacinda is determined to keep Aotearoa exporters to Britain in the good tradition trading partners Ka pai.
    Aotearoa is a haven but trying to sail hear in over loaded unsafe boat is a risk to great to make we get some big seas here in the Pacific.
    national flogging the same horse weed benefit bashing sorry they won’t get anyone attention but there 25 %core voters 65 % of kiwis support weed laws reforms only fools and horses /bridges.
    We seen The Marama /Moon last night at the Farm she was showing off her beauty.
    That was awesome that lady Lee had her treasure returned to that were stolen she looked wrapped she was lucky the boys who found them found her Ka kite ano

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