Open mike 21/05/2015

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 21st, 2015 - 70 comments
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70 comments on “Open mike 21/05/2015 ”

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  1. Charles 1
    21 May 2015 at 7:37 am

    In the same way that poverty is not just a lack of cash, being homeless is more complicated than living in a bush. Here’s how Shelter UK – a UK charity – describe the millions they work with:

    “Even if you have a roof over your head you can still be homeless, if you don’t have any rights to stay where you live or your home is unsuitable due to severe overcrowding or other reasons.

    You might be entitled to help as a homeless person if you are:

    temporarily staying with friends or family
    staying in a hostel or nightshelter
    living in very overcrowded conditions
    at risk of violence or abuse in your home
    living in poor conditions that affect your health

    You may also be considered to be homeless if you are:

    living somewhere where you have no legal right to stay, such as a squat
    living somewhere that you can’t afford to pay for without depriving yourself of basic essentials
    forced to live apart from your family or someone you would normally live with because your accommodation isn’t suitable”

    Kinda puts a bit of urgency back into government social policy and initiatives, yes?

  3. Rosie 3
    21 May 2015 at 10:01 am

    Well thank you Charles and weka for getting the ball rolling. Yes to you both.

    The tide has gone out on the craic on Open Mike in the last two days. Are you all bracing for the usual insipid we’re-trying-to-do-as-little-as-possible-for-you event that is a National Government budget announcement?

    I suggest a lie down and nice hot cuppa to get through it.

    (wonder if the spies will get loadsamoney again this year?)

    Sincerely,

    Observer,

    Wellington

  4. Clemgeopin 4
    21 May 2015 at 10:03 am

    I present you English and Key :

    One is a DDDD, Double Dipping Dipstick from Dipton, while the other is a PPPP, Pony-tail Pulling Prick from Parnell. Thick as thieves! Made for each other.

    Read what Tracy Watkins thinks about her heroes here ! :

  5. ianmac 5
    21 May 2015 at 10:13 am

    Noted last night on Back Benches, when Judith Collins was asked which was her favourite blog she muttered “Not the Standard!”. A good sign that the Standard is a bother to her which must be a credit to those here?

    • Colonial Rawshark 5.1
      21 May 2015 at 10:15 am

      Brilliant 🙂

      Mind you, the PM’s Office reads this nice little blog on a daily (hourly?) basis 😈

      • Tracey 5.1.1
        21 May 2015 at 10:25 am

        Hooton has it on alert… did you see the speed with which he responded the other day…. until Gosman took up the cudgels on his behalf

      • Anne 5.1.2
        21 May 2015 at 10:31 am

        I wonder how many of us have been ‘identified’ for the PM’s Office’s collective elucidation? Having no respect for anyone currently working there I couldn’t care less.

        • Realblue 5.1.2.1
          21 May 2015 at 7:55 pm

          Yet you comment about it?

          • Anne 5.1.2.1.1
            21 May 2015 at 8:08 pm

            Yes Fakeblue because it was an amusing thought. Very amusing thought!

            • Realblue 5.1.2.1.1.1
              23 May 2015 at 1:19 pm

              I doubt youve been identified, [Idiot comment – MS]. You have to have something to offer for anyone to be interested, but feel free to live out your days in a vortex of paranoia and bitterness. Now that’s amusing.

    • Chooky 5.2
      21 May 2015 at 10:17 am

      lol…congratulations ‘The Standard’

    • Bearded Git 5.3
      21 May 2015 at 10:29 am

      Badge of Honour that. I so hope they make Collins leader.

    • lprent 5.4
      21 May 2015 at 6:47 pm

      I have no idea why she would say that !

      😈

      BTW: I really do like the old devil better. I have a new 8 port disk controller and some more raid SSDs to plug in on the weekend. But I may indulge myself and override the purple monstrosity with a better original as the system dups.

    • felix 5.5
      21 May 2015 at 7:15 pm

      Nice to see that Metiria and Judith’s political differences didn’t stop them dropping pills together before the show, eh? 😀

  6. Chooky 6
    21 May 2015 at 10:28 am

    Where is the New Zealand Labour Party on the TPP?….the silence is deafening!….when even American politicians are ACTIVELY opposed to secrecy and a done deal for corporate takeover!

    ‘Show us the deal: Senators Warren, Manchin demand Obama disclose TPP’

    http://rt.com/usa/260197-warren-manchin-obama-tpp/

    “Two Senate Democrats have sponsored a bill demanding the White House reveal the terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to the public at least two months before Congress could give President Obama fast-track authority.

    Joe Manchin of West Virginia joined Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in proposing the two-page Trade Transparency Act, reports The Hill. If adopted, the bill would require the White House release the “scrubbed bracketed text of any trade agreement” no less than 60 days prior to a vote in Congress on fast-tracking the treaty….

    Congress is currently considering a bill giving the White House fast-track authority to negotiate the TPP, a trade pact that would include 11 Pacific Rim countries, notably excluding China. Warren and Manchin maintain that keeping the details of the agreement classified makes it impossible for legislators to amend the treaty, and difficult to block its final approval.

    • te reo putake 6.1
      21 May 2015 at 10:37 am

      “Where is the New Zealand Labour Party on the TPP?….the silence is deafening!”

      They have this thing called google on the interwebs these days, chooky. Sure, it can’t help the wilfully deaf, dumb and blind, but the rest of us kinda like it.

      http://campaign.labour.org.nz/our_position_on_the_tpp

      Have a look, chooky. The above link is just the first result of many you’ll find, if you can be arsed looking.

      • Chooky 6.1.1
        21 May 2015 at 11:20 am

        …they are not proactively opposing it like the Greens and NZF though

        …the NZLP should be jumping up and down on this issue that so direly affects NZ sovereignty!

        …the NZLP should be shouting their opposition to jonkey Nacts gross negotiations at every opportunity….publicly , loudly!

        ….not hiding away on a few websites which no one reads….pathetic of the NZLP….so pathetic they seem like a pale imitation of the Nacts and to be colluding on the TPP

        ….they a cant even shout in opposition like the American politicians ….and it will have far worse consequences on new Zealand and New Zealanders

        • te reo putake 6.1.1.1
          21 May 2015 at 11:34 am

          Translation from the original clucking: I don’t know what they’re doing, which means they’re doing nothing. And even if I did know what they’re doing, it wouldn’t be enough. And even if it was enough, I still wouldn’t like it, because Labour.

          • Chooky 6.1.1.1.1
            21 May 2015 at 12:04 pm

            trp…minimisation and ridicule and making out I am dumb ( chauvinism and sexism?) …is no answer….I am not the only one who has questioned the inaction and fence sitting by the Labour Party on the TPP issue, in comparison with the Greens and NZF….who state outright and unequivocally that they are opposed at the outset

            • te reo putake 6.1.1.1.1.1
              21 May 2015 at 12:18 pm

              I have no idea what gender you are, chooky. And I don’t think you’re dumb. However, on occasion, you make dumb statements. This was one of those occasions. The LP are active on the matter, but you continue to say they are not. Just because the LP position doesn’t exactly match your personal expectations, doesn’t mean that the issue isn’t important to the party and its members. If you think the LP position needs to be hardened up, instead of ignorant flailing, why don’t you join the party and work to make opposition to the TPP official policy? I’ll back you all the way and you’ll have plenty of other support, too.

              • Chooky …
                21 May 2015 at 12:32 pm

                sorry I wont get active in the Labour Party because I support real Left parties which are more active on issues like the TPP

                ( and btw i was once active in the Labour Party)

                • te reo putake …
                  21 May 2015 at 12:35 pm

                  No worries, chooky. I do think the LP could do with more members with your passion and drive, so if you ever change your mind … https://www.labourparty.org.nz/join

                  • Chooky …
                    21 May 2015 at 12:39 pm

                    I supported Cunliffe….he was the Labour Party’s hope for the future….but he got knifed in the back

                    • Rosie …
                      21 May 2015 at 1:25 pm

                      I felt the same too Chooky. I was behind Cunliffe 100% and was really saddened when he could no longer be leader of the LP.
                      Now I’m just being pragmatic and hope Andrew Little can galvanise voters into bringing a left coalition government to power in 2017.

        • tracey 6.1.1.2
          21 May 2015 at 11:40 am

          “… We will also back New Zealand First’s Members’ Bill that addresses investor-state dispute settlement to its first reading so that it can be considered and debated.”

  7. Chooky 7
    21 May 2015 at 10:36 am

    An Interview with a journalist on the ground about ISIS…

    ‘ISIS buys arms, ammo from US-supported rebels – investigative journalist’

    http://rt.com/shows/sophieco/259493-isis-terror-war-arms/

    “The Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) is an enigma: most of what we know about it comes from the brutal media apparatus of the IS itself. It lets everyone see executions and war the terrorists are waging – but still, how does life go under jihadist rule? One man decided to find out for himself, spending 10 days in the ‘capital city’ of the IS and coming back alive. Today, investigative journalist Jürgen Todenhöfer tells his story to Sophie Shevardnadze.

    Sophie Shevardnadze: … Now, recent events have seen several ISIS’ defeats, when the group moved into Shia or non-Arab territory, it was actually repelled. The Kurds score victories against them, the Shias, the Iraqi army – has the ISIS threat passed, in your opinion?

    Jürgen Todenhöfer: The situation hasn’t substantially changed since December, and if the Americans or NATO are saying that IS lost 25% of the territory – this is just not true. This is not the truth. Maybe, they have lost between 5 or 10%, but this doesn’t play any role in the guerilla war, when people are moving.

    • Colonial Rawshark 7.1
      21 May 2015 at 11:58 am

      Yep…Iraqi government forces are still reeling from the lack of local support and coordination which lost them the capital of Anbar province, Ramadi, which is located just 60 miles west of Baghdad.

      Or to frame it another way – the Baghdad government just lost control of a city just 100kms away from its own capital.

      This is the sectarian civil war that we’ve sent our own forces into.

      • Chooky 7.1.1
        21 May 2015 at 12:28 pm

        I so, so feel for the families and the NZ troops!….it was crazy immoral decision by jonkey Nact

        ….thank goodness Helen Clark never led New Zealand into attacking Iraq!…which is really the origins of the problems of ISIL

  8. te reo putake 8
    21 May 2015 at 10:43 am

    Anybody seen anything from Bomber Bradbury on his hint the other day of a further revelation about hairpulling? Was it just cynical click baiting? Anyone know?

    • Chooky 8.1
      21 May 2015 at 12:24 pm

      …you have a problem with Bradbury and the importance of this issue? ( sexual harassment is an issue of considerable importance to 50% of the worlds population of women who are the most marginalised and oppressed ..it should be an issue of great importance to the Labour Party )….sexual harassment is used to minimise women and deny them equality of opportunity in the workplace and financial independence .

      Lets not minimise Bradbury who broke this story sensitively and followed through with it…Bradbury is to be congratulated for breaking the story ….if there is more to come ….then well good….it is an issue which can not and should not be dropped, for as long as we value women’s equality

      • te reo putake 8.1.1
        21 May 2015 at 12:29 pm

        I have no problem with the issue or the good work TDB did on it. I even wrote a post on it. But a few days ago, Bomber wrote a teaser post on TDB suggesting there was more to come. So far … nothing.

        So does anyone know if it’s real or just puffery?

        • Chooky 8.1.1.1
          21 May 2015 at 12:35 pm

          yes you followed on with a post on the story he broke ( congratulations!)

          ….”puffery”? = insinuation derogatory …which is your point?

          • Rosie 8.1.1.1.1
            21 May 2015 at 1:19 pm

            Hi there Chooky.

            You’re right, the issue of sexual harassment is hugely important.

            That’s why I was a bit concerned that Martyn Bradbury sensationalised the issue by doing a teasey gossipy little post. It’s not an issue one should ever speak of in a salacious manner, and he did.

            I think it was a bad move and made him look foolish after the good work he did with Amanda Bailey. It will look especially foolish if nothing comes of it, and I hope it doesn’t. I really hope it isn’t true that another woman has been abused by Creepy Key.

            I only hope his part he played in her story hasn’t gone to his head, and that he hasn’t acquired a false sense of increased power because of his role. It’s the only thing I can think thats happened that would make him write such a post. It’s either that or he demonstrated poor judgement, in this instance.

            • Karen 8.1.1.1.1.1
              21 May 2015 at 1:41 pm

              + 1 Rosie.
              I had gave reading Martyn Bradbury late last year because he was becoming increasingly irrational and there was far too much grandstanding. However, I was really impressed at the way he handled the Amanda Bailey story.

              This teaser seems to be a return to grandstanding.

        • CnrJoe 8.1.1.2
          21 May 2015 at 1:31 pm

          far as I can tell it’s death by a thousand tugs
          a tug here, a flash of something tantalising, every poem by Andrew, photo-ops where its not a factory so no hair-nets to avert the gaze, nearly anything the wiggedly agogged Cherry Lazar reveals in her work.

          and then always there will be this “…involves the Prime Minister, a ponytail and.. some pinot noir”.

          • te reo putake 8.1.1.2.1
            21 May 2015 at 1:50 pm

            Just heard an ad on the radio for a plumbing firm offering great service and great prices with the line ‘we won’t pull your leg or your ponytail’.

            It’s not going away in a hurry.

  9. Philip Ferguson 9
    21 May 2015 at 11:43 am

    Tomorrow in the south of Ireland people will vote in a referendum on same-sex marriage. If passed, as seems very likely, this will be the first country in the world to have same-sex marriage as a result of the will of the people expressed directly.

    Last month, an attempt by Sinn Fein to bring in gay marriage in the north failed in the parliament there by several votes. The pro-British Unionist parties voted virtually to a person against and several MLAs (Assembly members) from the SDLP and Alliance parties absented themselves from the vote, so the Sinn Fein bill was narrowly lost by 49-47. A referendum in the north would have seen a different outcome, as polls indicate a massive majority there in favour of same-sex marriage. While the Catholic/nationalist parties both support same-sex marriage, the Protestant/Unionist parties are strongly opposed.

    For anyone in Dunedin who might be interested, there is a talk on the referendum and the changes in southern Irish society in recent decades which have led to the referendum and to massive support for same-sex marriage. (I think the referendum vote will be closer because the antis will be much more motivated to vote than a chunk of the people who support the right of same-sex couples to marry.)

    The talk is at 5pm, tonight, in Room 2 of the Clubs and Societies Building at 84 Albany St.

    See: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/05/19/talk-will-south-of-ireland-be-first-country-to-vote-for-same-sex-marriage/

    • Rosie 9.1
      21 May 2015 at 12:49 pm

      Thanks Philip. Always interesting to hear about whats happening in Ireland

      I have a question and I apologise for my ignorance at the same time. When you speak of the south of Ireland are you referring to the Republic?

    • Sans Cle 9.2
      21 May 2015 at 1:54 pm

      +1 Phil
      (Humour Alert) This is my favourite you tube clip from the Irish referenda (note plural – 2 decisions to be made tomorrow in Ireland!)

  10. Draco T Bastard 10
    21 May 2015 at 11:59 am

    Light falls on culture of impunity and immunity

    The thread that runs through three solid years of benchmark rigging cases is the assured way in which traders pushed around the prices of a whole series of financial products. They all seem to have believed they were immune from being rumbled for abusive behaviour.

    The private banks are rotten and need some serious consequences applied due to their outright thievery. We need to stop this corruption.

  11. Ovid 11
    21 May 2015 at 2:14 pm

    John Campbell departing Campbell Live.

    Sneaky move, Mediaworks, waiting to bury this under the budget.

  12. Clean_power 12
    21 May 2015 at 2:22 pm

    Campbell’s audience has dwindled too much for TV3 to keep him on. His demise was expected and surprises no one.

    Time for JC to join a political party.

    • Maui 12.1
      21 May 2015 at 2:26 pm

      He’s had some of his best ratings ever in recent weeks though? If the decision is ratings based he would still be there now.

    • Sans Cle 12.2
      21 May 2015 at 7:52 pm

      John Campbell for Mayor of Auckland!

  13. millsy 13
    21 May 2015 at 2:27 pm

    We are about to see what the political impact of increasing benefits are….

  14. joe90 14
    21 May 2015 at 2:42 pm

    C’mon Fullers, you can do it.

    Built in conjunction with shipbuilder Fjellstrand, Siemens installed the complete electric propulsion system and put up charging stations with lithium-ion batteries which are charged from hydro power. With the change to battery, shipowner Norled is reducing the cost of fuel by up to 60 percent.

    http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/worlds-first-electrical-car-ferry-in-operation

  15. Brendan 15
    21 May 2015 at 5:56 pm

    Here’s my theoretical blog piece on Campbell Live.

    “Campbell Live and its Discontents: The Culture Industry, Repressive Desublimation, and Investigative Journalism in New Zealand”

    http://potentialhumanist.blogspot.co.nz/2015/05/campbell-live-and-its-discontents.html

    *sigh* —At least we tried.

    • Chooky 15.1
      21 May 2015 at 10:50 pm

      thanks…thought provoking! ( I read this over on the Daily Blog earlier)

      • Brendan 15.1.1
        22 May 2015 at 8:26 am

        No problem. Well there is a problem… Not you. The cutting of Campbell Live.

  16. alwyn 16
    21 May 2015 at 6:54 pm

    How many New Zealander’s are so stupid that they really think that the car that they drive is important?
    When I read the headline of this story,
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11452536
    that a third of New Zealand people feel judged by the car they drive my first reaction was, uncharitably, that it sounded right as a third of the population live in Auckland.
    The I read it and discovered that it is universal and is, slightly, worse in Otago that anywhere else.

    Why on earth does anyone care?
    Personally I don’t think anyone thinks the worse of me because my car is a 2014 Mercedes S500 model and not this years 12 cylinder AMG version

    • Colonial Rawshark 16.1
      21 May 2015 at 7:00 pm

      True true

    • RedBaronCV 16.2
      21 May 2015 at 10:25 pm

      Nor Alwyn do they think any the better of you – and I get the feeling that there may be more upside here than downside.

    • Chooky 16.3
      21 May 2015 at 10:55 pm

      I hear good secondhand Mercedes are “cheap as chips” these days…that is what the garage lady told me about her ‘new’ secondhand Mercedes, when I admired it

      ….maybe this is the reason the gangs ride around in secondhand black ones?….you are not a gang member are you alwyn?

      • alwyn 16.3.1
        22 May 2015 at 12:18 am

        Oh dear, you really are a headless chicken aren’t you Chooky?
        You and the RedBaron really take things much to literally.
        Should I also tell you that my Porsche is only a 911 Turbo and not a 918?
        My Ferrari is only a 430 and not a LaFerrari?
        My Veyron is nearly two years old?
        What does it take to get through to you?
        I will have to take your word for what gang members get up to. You obviously keep up with such things.

        • RedBaronCV 16.3.1.1
          23 May 2015 at 11:24 am

          And “subtly” passed by on the other side of the street completely unnoticed. In some situations there is no downside regardless of the make of the car