Open mike 21/11/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 21st, 2023 - 26 comments
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26 comments on “Open mike 21/11/2023 ”

  1. observer 1
    21 November 2023 at 6:38 am

    As so often, it's the fake apology that makes it worse:

    New National MP Cameron Brewer celebrated victory for 'stale, pale males' after defeat of Sri Lankan-born rival | RNZ News

    "minor offence … humour …" – and he's only disappointed that it has been reported. Not for being an obnoxious bigot.

    Reply
    • bwaghorn 1.1
      21 November 2023 at 7:23 am

      I guess he's just depowering a racist sexest slur!

      Reply
    • AB 1.2
      21 November 2023 at 9:03 am

      Brewer's not disclosing anything we weren't already aware of, What he's expressing is a large part of the deranged animus we saw predominantly from men towards Lab-Green. The viciousness of threatened privilege/wealth/hierarchy/power (whatever you want to call it) is a constant in human affairs.

      Reply
    • Terry 1.3
      21 November 2023 at 12:19 pm

      I’ve been openly described as a “pale, stale male”, by several younger activist types at my company. I think initially it was because I stopped them from getting into trouble with a project that they were working on.

      Do what’s the issue?

      Reply
      • observer 1.3.1
        21 November 2023 at 12:21 pm

        Were you celebrating the defeat of a brown woman?

        Reply
        • Terry 1.3.1.1
          21 November 2023 at 1:55 pm

          If it’s okay to be called “A stale pale male” then surely if you actually are one, and you win an election, then you can celebrate it and describe your self as a stale pale male.

          But we know that is not the point. The intent behind calling someone a pale stale male is to insult that persons age, skin colour and gender.

          I you want to insult me please have the courage to use offensive language

          Reply
          • observer 1.3.1.1.1
            21 November 2023 at 2:08 pm

            When did Vanushi Walters call Brewer a "stale pale male"? Or anything personal and derogatory? Please let us know. You seem to have some info about her that nobody else has.

            Or perhaps, much like Cameron Brewer, you seem determined to invent an insult that didn't happen.

            Reply
            • Terry 1.3.1.1.1.1
              21 November 2023 at 2:47 pm

              I’ve always found it interesting that certain types of people (eg bullies etc) insult people, then get upset when an insult is returned.

              Some people then get upset when the recipient of an insult, takes ownership of said insult and makes fun about being insulted.

              This then shows the true nature of the insulter, they are a bit of a dick, and of no consequence

              Reply
              • observer …
                21 November 2023 at 6:32 pm

                So you have nothing.

                Only Cameron Brewer referred to his race and gender. Vanushi Walters did not. The insult was invented by Brewer.

                It's good that you have finally acknowledged this undisputed fact.

                Reply
                • Terry …
                  21 November 2023 at 7:45 pm

                  I really don’t understand what you’re issue is about this

                  plenty of white middle aged men have had derogatory comments made about them, due to their race, age and gender, especially if someone believes they are on the right of the political spectrum.

                  It does get a bit tiresome.

                  There was nothing wrong with what he said, because describing a white middle aged bloke, as pale, stale and male, is apparently perfectly acceptable. So if he describes himself that way, what is the problem?

                  Reply
      • AB 1.3.2
        21 November 2023 at 12:51 pm

        The issue is that Brewer is pretending (only half in jest) that he's a member of an oppressed minority and his victory in the seat is redressing an injustice. He's nothing of the sort.

        The appellation "pale, stale, etc." is certainly pretty dumb. The "pale" is irrelevant and the "stale" might also be irrelevant if it refers just to age – rather than (say) adherence to a failed set of ideas. The young people who called you that are likely to be immature kids and probably best treated with amused detachment – which I expect you did.

        One of the great manufacturers of this fake oppression was the Top Gear guy Jeremy Clarkson. He was a multi-millionaire with a huge media platform that enabled him to say virtually anything he liked. But in his heyday, he liked to present himself as the haggard, downtrodden victim of the authoritarian plague of "political correctness". In the end he over-reached and it turned out that he couldn't say absolutely anything he liked. There was indeed a limit, but that limit was so far short of oppression that the whole thing was a joke.

        Reply
    • Tiger Mountain 2.1
      21 November 2023 at 8:05 am

      A nice example of a most effective meme this one…those two will have Baldrick begging for mercy, if he is not already.

      Reply
    • Chris 2.2
      21 November 2023 at 8:56 am

      "One too many Weet-Bix" – wow – Seymour must be feeling way too aquired and not very merged right now.

      Reply
  3. pat 3
    21 November 2023 at 7:37 am

    " The electorate doesn’t vote for designations, it votes for ideas. 38.6% is what Christopher Luxon got for not being Chris Hipkins. It isn’t enough."

    https://www.interest.co.nz/public-policy/125293/chris-trotter-looks-whether-christopher-luxons-corporate-leadership-style-can

    Reply
    • Bearded Git 3.1
      21 November 2023 at 8:34 am

      The Nats got 38.1 not 38.6.

      Reply
    • Ed1 3.2
      21 November 2023 at 10:08 am

      Chris Trotter makes a good point about Luxon. Before the final count he acted as though it was holiday time. We know that he and others he wished to involve will have received public service briefings – and in a few cases departments have some idea of likely changes, but there is no excuse for Luxon effectively shutting down public comment on international issues, where there is a long history of largely bi-partisan approaches to New Zealand policies. I was pleased when Hipkins made his statement – it was not controversial, but gave a priority to saving lives without entering into arguments about rules and grievances and alliances – Luxon's response indicated he put deals before people's lives. But Trotter's criticism could be said of many leaders; the sooner Labour get out from under 'caretaker' conventions the better. .

      Reply
  4. Sandra Le Cron 4
    21 November 2023 at 9:09 am

    Three parties in Cabinet together…..how long will it last ? Who will be the first to de-camp? If it works, it will be a fantastic success!

    Reply
    • Descendant Of Smith 4.1
      21 November 2023 at 11:00 am

      If it works, it will be a fantastic success!

      Seriously what actual policies do you think they have that will make it successful and for whom.

      Increasing immigration will further push up house prices, unemployment and rents and likely homelessness. Tax cuts and interest deductions will benefit the well off more than the poor and will push investment into housing.

      Like John Key's government the whole point of this governments policies is to increase housing demand against supply. A government designed by landlords for landlords. A capitalist's wet dream.

      Retail will continue to suffer as more workers money goes into rent and mortgage and other debt servicing as people borrow to live. As power bills go up due to service the debt incurred from borrowing to pay dividends, as water is more privatised and meters go in to follow the same return to shareholder priority as with electricity and the British experiment.

      The company town has become the company country.

      1. Own everything
      2. Suppress wages to increase profit
      2. Steal capital from company through high salaries
      3. Use that capital to buy workers houses
      4. Charge high rent to get pittance wages back
      5. Own the businesses where workers have to shop
      6. Own shares in the banks where workers take on debt to live and get more wages back through share dividends
      6. Workers working for nothing

      Anyone would think Queen Victoria is still on the throne.

      Reply
  5. joe90 5
    21 November 2023 at 12:14 pm

    Meet Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel's Minister of National Security. Kahnist youth coordinator, exempted from national service because of his extremist right wing background, convicted supporter of a terror organisation, anti-peace activist, settler terrorist, and renowned for a TV appearance a few weeks before Rabin was assassinated waving an ornament that had been stolen from Rabin's car, declaring: "We got to his car, and we'll get to him too."

    This is who governs Israel.

    https://bsky.app/profile/eladn.bsky.social/post/3ken6rbavvp25

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/20/families-of-gaza-captives-reject-talk-of-death-penalty-for-hamas-detainees

    Reply
  6. Macro 6
    21 November 2023 at 1:07 pm

    Earth briefly exceeded more than 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial benchmark this weekend, preliminary data showed. When compared with the 1991-2020 average, the global mean on Friday was 2.07 degrees Celsius above average preindustrial levels, and 2.06C above preindustrial on Saturday. This year is on track to be the hottest on record globally, with temperature records set in July, August, September, and October. November is on track to be the hottest such month on record.

    https://www.axios.com/2023/11/20/earth-2c-warming-threshold-passed-report

    Reply
  7. SPC 7
    21 November 2023 at 2:34 pm

    The Broadcasting Standards Authority has found a comment made about striking teachers on Mike Hosking’s NewstalkZB Breakfast show was inaccurate and breached broadcasting standards.

    The thing is that his is a fact free show based entirely around his reckons, there was however a court decision in the USA which said that people who hardly ever say anything truthful should not be held to the same standards as others.

    The case of Tucker Carlson.

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/judge-rules-fox-news-tucker-carlson-not-source-of-news-defamation-suit-mcdougal-trump.html

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/301012628/bsa-finds-mike-hosking-breakfast-breached-broadcasting-standards-with-striking-teachers-comment

    And there endeth the lesson.

    Reply
  8. ianmac 8
    21 November 2023 at 4:45 pm

    Luxon is no stranger to dodging stuff!

    Don't know how to link to Andre Vance's book about the National Party Blue Blood, but I did note this:

    By 2016, the airline was earning record profits, helped by

    weak fuel prices and booming tourism. He had big plans. The

    airline signed new code-share agreements and alliance deals and

    opened new international routes. With New Zealand's tourism

    sector booming, there were record profits and Air New Zealand

    placed orders for the latest aircraft.

    He shat all over (former CEO)Rob Fyfe in one interview when he said that when he took over

    it was basically a disaster' a former colleague says. "It wasn't. Rob

    Fyfe did a fantastic job to get it to where it was. Luxon benefited

    from a worldwide tourism boom, the source says. When you

    you're making many million dollars a year that covers up many

    sins, including probably opening up too many routes, buying too

    many aircraft, and Greg Foran [Luxon's successor) hinted at that

    quite recently in public!

    The colleague points to Luxon's impeccable timing. He has

    been pretty tinny in getting in on the good times and leaving

    before the bad. Very John Key-esque. Although the tourism boom waned in 2016/17, Air New Zealand made an enormous

    purchase of aircraft in 2019. “Everything was geared towards

    growth, growth, growth and didn't understand that the music

    stops eventually.” By 2019, even before the arrival of Covid-19,

    cuts had to be made. "To be slightly unkind, maybe part of that

    was he didn't want a story of decline so he kept the music running

    A bit too long. And then got out,” the colleague says.

    Reply

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    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • The New Government: 2023 Edition
    So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • The unboxing
    And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the tree with its gold ribbon but can turn out to be nothing more than a big box holding a voucher for socks, so it ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • A cruel, vicious, nasty government
    So, after weeks of negotiations, we finally have a government, with a three-party cabinet and a time-sharing deputy PM arrangement. Newsroom's Marc Daalder has put the various coalition documents online, and I've been reading through them. A few things stand out: Luxon doesn't want to do any work, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Hurrah – we have a new government (National, ACT and New Zealand First commit “to deliver for al...
    Buzz from the Beehive Sorry, there has been  no fresh news on the government’s official website since the caretaker trade minister’s press statement about the European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement. But the capital is abuzz with news – and media comment is quickly flowing – after ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Christopher Luxon – NZ PM #42.
    Nothing says strong and stable like having your government announcement delayed by a day because one of your deputies wants to remind everyone, but mostly you, who wears the trousers. It was all a bit embarrassing yesterday with the parties descending on Wellington before pulling out of proceedings. There are ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Coalition Government details policies & ministers
    Winston Peters will be Deputy PM for the first half of the Coalition Government’s three-year term, with David Seymour being Deputy PM for the second half. Photo montage by Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: PM-Elect Christopher Luxon has announced the formation of a joint National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government with a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • “Old Coat” by Peter, Paul & Mary.
     THERE ARE SOME SONGS that seem to come from a place that is at once in and out of the world. Written by men and women who, for a brief moment, are granted access to that strange, collective compendium of human experience that comes from, and belongs to, all the ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 23-November-2023
    It’s Friday again! Maybe today we’ll finally have a government again. Roll into the weekend with some of the articles that caught our attention this week. And as always, feel free to add your links and observations in the comments. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    7 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s strategy for COP28 in Dubai
    The COP28 countdown is on. Over 100 world leaders are expected to attend this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which starts next Thursday. Among the VIPs confirmed for the Dubai summit are the UK’s Rishi Sunak and Brazil’s Lula da Silva – along ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    7 days ago

  • Coalition talks: a timeline
    Media demand to know why a coalition government has yet to be formed. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    7 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Nov 24
    Luxon was no doubt relieved to be able to announce a coalition agreement has been reached, but we still have to wait to hear the detail. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Passing Things Down.
    Keeping The Past Alive: The durability of Commando comics testifies to the extended nature of the generational passing down of the images, music, and ideology of the Second World War. It has remained fixed in the Baby Boomers’ consciousness as “The Good War”: the conflict in which, to a far ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2023
    Open access notables How warped are we by fossil fuel dependency? Despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 35-40 million cubic meters per day of Russian natural gas are piped across Ukraine for European consumption every single day, right now. In order to secure European cooperation against Russian aggression, Ukraine must help to ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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