Open mike 22/12/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, December 22nd, 2024 - 28 comments
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28 comments on “Open mike 22/12/2024 ”

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  1. Jenny 1
    22 December 2024 at 7:44 am

    George Orwell

    “You asked me once,' said O'Brien, 'what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world.”

    ― George Orwell, 1984

    "what is in Room 101?" is a way of asking someone what their deepest, most terrifying fear is, as the answer is inherently personal and unique to each individual.

    Orwell's most personal fear, is revealed by the name he gave to this torture chamber. Room 101,
    The name of this torture chamber was based on an actual room 101 at the BBC where journalists like Orwell were lectured on how to bend their reporting of the news to the benefit of the British Empire and Western imperialism generally,

    The real room 101 is still functioning.

    Beginning @0:39 minutes

    At one editorial meeting in November 2023, where there were lively heated disagreements,

    In an effort to regain control, Deborah Turness the CEO of BBC News, declared, "We've got to all remember this all started on the 7th of October."

    That caused a furious response from BBC staffer Lillian Lander….

    [transcript lightly edited for clarity. J.]

    • Incognito 1.1
      22 December 2024 at 10:59 am

      Irony is lost on you.

      [comment lightly edited for clarity. I.]

      • Jenny 1.1.1
        22 December 2024 at 11:19 am

        Incognito @1.1

        22 December 2024 at 10:59 am

        Irony is lost on you.

        [comment lightly edited for clarity. I.]

        Fair comment,

        The following is the raw unedited machine generated transcript,

        You're also welcome to watch the video and listen to the audio, to point out any errors you think I may have made, or editing you don't consider to have been done lightly

        [‘edited’ to save precious space on TS and protect readers from having to scroll past repetitive redundant noise]

        • Incognito 1.1.1.1
          22 December 2024 at 11:31 am

          You proved my point, surpassing all expectations.

          I have zero interest in the content matter; your inconsistent commenting, for one, here has been problematic for some time.

          • Jenny 1.1.1.1.1
            23 December 2024 at 8:19 am

            Incognito @1.1.1.1

            22 December 2024 at 11:31 am

            ……I have zero interest in the content matter; your inconsistent commenting, for one, here has been problematic for some time.

            Inconsistent?

            What does that even mean?

            Do you mean that sometimes my commenting is good and sometimes my commenting is not so good?

            As long as my comments don't break the site rules or are abusive or false, how is their alleged inconsistency problematic?

            I am sorry, if my comments are 'inconsistent'.

            Maybe you are right and my metaphor comparing the Beeb's bias to the Ministry of Truth, fell flat, I can accept that. But I don't think the Palestinian victims of this bias would think so.

            I am also sorry that my 'alleged' inconsistency has been bothering you for some time.

            Is this one of those times?

            OK so you don't like my metaphor., comparing the Beeb's biased reporting to 1984 OK I get it. You are possibly right this comment could have been a flop.

            If I could I will try to explain my reasoning;

            101 was a real place, Orwell feared it because it represented a real moral crisis for him, should he go along with the British Empire's self serving propaganda and keep his well paid position at the BBC?
            Or should he tell the truth as he saw it, and damn the consequences?

            The heavy irony is all Orwell's. 1984 is partly written as a warning and partly written as an exaggerated parody of Orwell's experience at the BBC.

            Orwell's character in the book, Winston Smith, works at an institution that calls itself the Ministry of Truth. The irony being that Winston's job at the Ministry of Truth is to lie, to destroy or rewrite news stories to reflect better on the Western imperialist bloc known in the novel as Oceania .

            As a piece of real world dark irony you couldn't beat the Beeb's official statement of reply to the allegations of biased reporting on Palestine and Israel made by 13 of its own reporters.- In their official statement denying any bias in relation to its reporting on the war in Gaza, the Beeb described itself as "the world's most trusted international news source," In this statement of reply to the accusation of bias made by their own staffers, the BBC cited, that many more people trust the BBC's reporting over their nearest competitor. This proves nothing.

            Because millions of German people trusted Goebbels reporting, didn't make it true. It just exposes the magnitude of the crime.

            I my opinion, the other comparison to the BBC's propaganda and the novel 1984. is Owen Jones appeal and warning to Western journalists not to betray themselves by going along with propaganda they know to be slanted or untrue,

            From the transcript @8:38 minutes;

            ….I know there are many journalists at other media outlets who are angry about the coverage that their outlets offer……

            …..I'd ask you to follow the example of these BBC journalists, because do you want to be complicit in this crime?

            10:28

            ……So bluntly, this is my message to fellow Western journalists;

            Pull yourselves together, stop being cowards, stop being complicit.

            Time is running out before you're damned forever as someone who helped facilitate one of the worst crimes of our age.

            Do something.

            Do something, but do it now…..

            P.S. I still don't really understand what you actually mean when you write my comments are "inconsistent" You write that you are not interested in the content of my comments. I might ask, how do you know my comments are "inconsistent" (whatever that means) if you are not interested in their content?
            Is it that you are not interested in the contents of my comments because you disagree with them?
            I accept that my views and opinions are "inconsistent" with your views and opinions. But that is not a bad thing in itself. Reasoned debate and critique of each other's "inconsistent" views and opinions is the point of all political debate. If all our views and comments were consistent with each other there would be no point in my raising or debating our inconsistent views and opinions.
            Maybe if we keep debating our inconsistent viewpoints we might arrive at some objective truth.

  2. Subliminal 2
    22 December 2024 at 8:44 am

    Yesterday in Nelson, our walk through town in support of those subjected to genocide in the Occupied Territories was in silence apart from an eerie rendition of Silent Night.

    The walk moved first through an area where a reenactment of the birth of Jesus was taking place. All the actors in this play were dressed as Palestinians.

    At one point, the song changed to one about the baby Jesus. An Israeli supporter became apoplectic and insisted on identifying Jesus as a Jew.

    But, at this time of year, as once again the most famous story of Palestine is retold around the world, it is worth remembering that Jesus was born in Palestine and was first of all, a Palestinian, and that a living Jesus today would walk with Palestinians and be steadfast on their side.

    The birth of Jesus would be in the wreckage and rubble of Gaza or one of the wrecked and under siege hospitals, if it occurred today.

  3. aj 3
    22 December 2024 at 9:58 am

    Yes. Even if you take religion out of this conflict, the inhumanity is mind boggling.

  4. ianmac 4
    22 December 2024 at 10:23 am

    For the final episode of the year of On the Tiles, the Herald’s politics podcast, host and deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan is joined by Newstalk ZB politics editor Jason Walls and NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny to recap the events of the year…..A key winner for National this year was their tax cuts.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/on-the-tiles-recaps-the-year-in-politics-which-politicians-performed-the-best-and-who-needs-work/37G3BFKZ4NGKBMK4OW3DUESUT4/

    Warning. The text of this is sheer unadulterated bollocks. Don't bother reading it. No wonder the Government gets a free media pass from the Herald.

    • Muttonbird 4.1
      22 December 2024 at 11:21 am

      Here's another ignorant puff piece absent comprehension. Lots of questions, no answers from right wing opinion writer, Bruce Cockrill:

      Then, Thursday’s news confirmed what many of us in business are already feeling. The announcement that New Zealand’s gross domestic product decreased by 1% in the September 2024 quarter confirms that our recession is deep and difficult…

      …At the heart of our problems is the level of government spending.

      How is a 1% drop in GDP (13 Billion wiped off the economy in one year) the result of government spending levels? It's solely the fault of mass sackings and three years of negative commentary from the National Party.

      But we need to make it easier for our farmers, not harder. We need to incentivise them to double down on livestock and crops, rather than the forestry conversions that return so little potential by comparison. If our cows fart, so be it. We’re not going to turn around climate change on our own. Our economy needs those cows, farts and all.

      Ok, mate.

      • SPC 4.1.1
        22 December 2024 at 3:07 pm

        Then you'll like this one then …

        The argument that we cannot run a tax funded government anymore so TINA.

        Mrs Barry Soper opines. For the sake of her gated community raised daughters.

        They need to rip, sh*t and bust. Slash unnecessary spending. Cut tens of thousands more public service jobs. Scrap ministries we don’t need. Bring in private money to pay for things so we don’t have to. Do something brave to attract international investors.

        https://archive.li/s9QQ9#selection-4839.0-4924.1

        The only nation in the OECD without a CGT. 2/3rd have an inheritance/estate ta (ours was removed by Richardson). The UK and Ireland have both and also gift duty (removed by Key so he could pass on money to his child without any tax on it) and stamp duty.

        They want a class divided New Zealand. Where foreign corporates extract profit from owning hospital and school buildings and rental property (once bought up this would destroy our balance of payments) and foreign investors seeking untaxed CG on bidding up the price of our coastal land (local well to do getting the first windfall).

        • Incognito 4.1.1.1
          22 December 2024 at 4:03 pm

          Rob Campbell wrote another excellent opinion piece a few days ago.

          https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/12/16/somewhere-along-the-line-someone-always-pays/

          The title alone is self-explanatory.

          The Government seems to think – incorrectly – if they stop funding something in favour of private provision, then the cost disappears

          For convenience, here’s the link to the article in Financial Times: Happy 400th birthday to the world’s oldest bond

          The Dutch applied Draconian but effective (and arguably, necessary) measures to ensure upkeep of vital infrastructure including “branding, flogging, banishment and execution […] gallows and a whipping post […]”.

          CoC is getting away with murder; not even a spanking with a wet bus ticket …

        • Muttonbird 4.1.1.2
          22 December 2024 at 4:55 pm

          Yep, I couldn't bring myself to reference that one.

          She, like the mother who murdered her three children in Timaru, is white South African and therefore has no issue with gated communities separating peoples. The Timaru woman couldn't handle it when that separation was taken away.

  5. joe90 5
    22 December 2024 at 11:02 am

    Just like dad; fake it until you make it and when you don't, lie.

    /

    The economy and the cost of living are important issues for many constituents. It was fantastic to have Finance Minister Nicola Willis make a second visit to Whanganui in December, having presided over some welcome good news on the economic front.

    As 2024 ends, inflation is back within the Reserve Bank’s target range and interest rates have been reduced three times in recent months by a total of 1.25 percentage points. As I write this, I have also just heard that farmer confidence is now at its highest level since 2017. This all provides real encouragement for 2025.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/whanganui-midweek/whanganui-mp-carl-bates-reflects-on-the-year-as-whanganui-midweek-closes-permanently/NW4HAMPRZBF3RLDE6SFBUZMYYA/

    Last year there was a sense of optimism with a new Government elected, and although 2024 has been a difficult year for many, there have been real results that are creating a sense of positivity.

    Our Stratford and South Taranaki dairy farmers are pleased with Fonterra’s forecast payout reaching the magic $10/kg number. There is optimism in town as well.

    Inflation is back within the Reserve Bank’s target range, interest rates have fallen by 1.25 percentage points in the last three months and farmer confidence is at its highest level since 2017.

    For a rural town like Stratford, that is great news: when the farmers are happy, the town is happy as well.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/stratford-press/news/opinion-christmas-under-the-mountain-a-year-on/PV3YHP3GHJFAFDQGMIP33A7DAM/

    • Mike the Lefty 5.1
      22 December 2024 at 1:17 pm

      Farmers when things are bad:

      Under National – oh well, you have to take the bad with the good, we farmers don't want any handouts, we will survive.

      Under Labour – This government is waging a war against farmers. They do nothing for us and everything against us.

      • joe90 6.1.1
        22 December 2024 at 9:05 pm

        Jumping for AfD.

        Washington (dpo) – He's simply a creative genius! The multilmilliards, oligarch and secret US President Elon Musk today presented a new jump to the public, which he has practiced in recent days. It is intended to replace the previously known X-shaped jump, which Musk has so popularly shown so far.

        "I am convinced that this form is even better than a simple X," Musk commented on his innovation. "It is not just a cross, but a cross with hook. I call this jump the Swastika Jump. Pretty badass, right?"

        https://www.der-postillon.com/2024/12/musk-sprung.html

    • SPC 6.2
      22 December 2024 at 2:52 pm

      Musk Grok the new Feng Shui on Capitol Hill.

      "Trump has got himself a handful with Musk," John Mark Hansen, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, said in an email. "Trump’s done this kind of thing before, blowing up a bill at the last minute. This time, though, it looks like he was afraid of Musk upstaging him. Now there’s a new social media bully in town, pushing the champion social media bully around."

      Hansen added: "We’ll see what Musk’s influence is when he runs up against reality — like when he proposes cutting off 'wasteful' spending for other people but not NASA contracts for Space-X."

      https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/12/22/musk-helped-kill-a-congressional-spending-bill-with-misinformation/

      Musk won't drain the swamp, he'll create a pipeline from the White House to the Potomac River. Decades of work undone on inauguration day 2025.

      The Commanders should provide a late night welcoming committee.

  7. joe90 7
    22 December 2024 at 11:59 am

    A small sample and all that but hooboy, if human to human transmission ever gets legs..

    Most pregnant women who contract bird flu will die, according to an Australian review of infections that found most unborn babies with the virus also die.

    […]

    “A pregnant woman’s immune system doesn’t work in the same way as it does prior to pregnancy,” Purcell said. “Unvaccinated pregnant women who get other viruses such as Covid-19 or seasonal influenza often get more sick than non-pregnant women, but we really didn’t know much about what happens to women with avian influenza.”

    Purcell and her colleagues examined more than 1,500 research papers to identify any confirmed cases of bird flu in pregnant women. They found 30 such cases across China, Vietnam, Cambodia and the US associated with different strains and outbreaks.

    Published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, the review found that 90% of women infected with bird flu during pregnancy died, and almost all of their babies (87%) died with them. Of the babies who survived, most were born prematurely.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/dec/20/australia-bird-flu-pandemic-risks-pregnant-women-unborn-babies

  8. SPC 8
    22 December 2024 at 2:43 pm

    Some sort of condition, someone failed to diagnose? Physicians should seek a second opinion.

    In his time in Germany, the migrant would have observed the arrival of Syrian refugees, growing anti-migrant sentiment and more recently the end of the Damascus regime.

    Police haven't publicly named the suspect, but several German news outlets identified him as Taleb A., withholding his last name in line with privacy laws, and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy.

    Describing himself as a former Muslim, the suspect appears to have been an active user of the social media platform X, sharing dozens of tweets and retweets daily focusing on anti-Islam themes, criticising the religion and congratulating Muslims who had left the faith.

    https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/12/22/death-toll-rises-as-germans-mourn-after-christmas-market-attack/

    If there was motive, maybe this person was trying to create a reaction to drive Moslem migrants back to Syria?

  9. SPC 9
    22 December 2024 at 3:20 pm

    ACC.

    An article by the libertarian apology Damien Grant, who exploits the vulture capitalism legacy (monetarianism combined with government spending cuts in a mad betrayal of Keynesian economics) via his receivership business.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360530697/acc-uniquely-kiwi-success-story-we-need-ask-questions-about

    Should its operating losses be removed from OBEGAL. Yes.

    And so should its assets go off the governments books.

    Then it needs to finance itself properly.

    National made this mess, something that should not be hidden.

    https://www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax/income-tax-for-individuals/acc-clients-and-carers/acc-earners-levy-rates

    They wanted rates too low for the good of ACC.

    Now they have to fix the mess.

    https://www.interest.co.nz/insurance/131234/acc-minister-matt-doocey-reveals-big-hikes-acc-levies-and-announces-review-scheme

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/527644/acc-needs-to-cover-1-billion-revenue-hole

    And those in business who want competition for ACC (for private profit) should be told to naff off till this mess is sorted.

    • Muttonbird 9.1
      22 December 2024 at 4:59 pm

      They wanted rates too low for the good of ACC.

      That was that absolute genius, Steven Joyce, if I recall correctly.

  10. SPC 10
    22 December 2024 at 3:29 pm

    Researchers are having a look at conspiracy theory, is it something to do with narrative and finding meaning and identity?

    https://archive.li/4ql60#selection-3919.0-3984.1

    They should look at the case of Candace Owens, she explained to Piers Morgan a day or two back, her CT that Benjamin Netanyahu knew about the Oct 7 attack in advance and yet did nothing.

    This is based on a story known for nearly a year that there was intell to Israel that Hamas was planning an attack, It was determined that the attack was beyond known Hamas capacity. A second report came in that Hamas was training for the attack and got the same response, not anytime soon. To conclude that BN made this call, one would have to first determine that the intell ever got to the Cabinet.

    • Nic the NZer 10.1
      22 December 2024 at 9:08 pm

      Netanyahu as the PM is ultimately responsible for the occupation. He is also responsible if the occupation is implemented with such a racist attitude to resistance capacity that the IDF is completely over-run.

  11. SPC 11
    22 December 2024 at 5:07 pm

    Dubois is now seeking to be the third British fighter to lose twice to Usyk.

    The first AI judge awarded a win to Usyk over Fury 118-112. Giving Fury only 2 rounds with 2 draws. The 3 human judges all scored it 116-112 (8 rounds to 4).