Open mike 22/07/2010

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 22nd, 2010 - 42 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

Comment on whatever takes your fancy.

The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

42 comments on “Open mike 22/07/2010 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. mickysavage 1
    22 July 2010 at 7:38 am

    Don Brash on Morning report this morning essentiall accused John Key of being “disingenuous”.

    He advocated changes to National Superannuation to make it more affordable and acknowledged that pressure on the scheme will increase with the advent of baby boomers starting to turn 65.

    He then said that it was disingenuous for people to pretend that changes did not have to be made. Key has on a number of occasions said that his Government will not adversely change people’s entitlements to super.

    Brash did not name Key but the comments were so pointed there may as well have been red flashing lights and a neon arrow pointing at JK.

    Signs of disunity in National’s ranks?

    • Bored 1.1
      22 July 2010 at 7:50 am

      Don uses disingenuous when what he really means is mendacious. Of which both stand accused (by me).

      • mickysavage 1.1.1
        22 July 2010 at 8:48 am

        Just had a further listen and I am not sure if he said the word “disingenuous”. What he did say however was

        I think politicians are being less than fully honest with the public by pretending that we can keep it [the retirement age] at 65 indefinitely. We can’t.

        • Bored 1.1.1.1
          22 July 2010 at 9:35 am

          For maximum efficiency and productivity wage slaves must be worked into the ground.

  2. Bored 2
    22 July 2010 at 7:41 am

    Geo political news of significance….the US for the first time in 100 years has been outconsumed in energy use by China… http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53528 which has some fairly major implications. And just as the US struggles with the impact of oil on the Gulf environment China has its own spill http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-19/china-yellow-sea-oil-spill-may-be-cleaned-in-5-days.html

  3. deeeer 3
    22 July 2010 at 7:50 am

    http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2010/07/christian-bigotry.html

    Can’t post a comment on norightturn so thought I’d do it here. It’s quite interesting to note that once the new 90day law bullshit becomes law he could have been fired for being gay and nothing could have been done. Brilliant

    • Carol 3.1
      22 July 2010 at 8:40 am

      Under the proposed 90 Day Law, it would still be possible to make a grievance against discriminiation/harassment that targeted a person because of their sexuality. However, it would be harder to get evidence if the employers don’t need to put their reasons for terminating employment in writing.

      Most employers these days are not so blatant about discrimination on grounds of sexuality though. The school board of trustees in question are just plain ignorant.

  4. vto 4
    22 July 2010 at 8:59 am

    So the Hurunui River gets a reprieve under a proposed moratorium for 14 months, which takes the ugly water theft for that river out past the next election… how convenient.

    I dread the thought of this lot getting back again next year – the changes being wrought on NZ will multiply several-fold. Despite a preference for rightish policies, this govt has left me cold. A second term will be like a whirlwind of massive change.

    Key et al seem to have two MO’s – one, propose something nasty and then compromise by peeling it back to a smaller version; and two, feel out various issues and prepare for full scale assault in the second term.

    • Bored 4.1
      22 July 2010 at 10:51 am

      Interesting and dastardly tactic by Jonkey and crew to avoid divisive vote gobbling debate about the rivers .and then do the dirty deed after the next election. What I find of major concern is the tenure of water rights granted, 35 years seems standard.

      My take is that the agricultural lobby throughout NZ will continue to privatise the public domain to the detriment of the environment for as long as there are dollars to extract. What pisses me off most is that these are “our dollars’, not theirs. It’s “our’ environment, not theirs. I know that the current agricultural model is unsustainable without free water to add to the artificial inputs and the ability to dump pollution onto the environment. Why the hell should we allow the agricultural sector to subsidize itself by not paying the true costs of their industry? If we did it they would call us “bludgers’ post haste.

      • vto 4.1.1
        22 July 2010 at 4:22 pm

        Yes bored… take one chunk of 500ha smewhere in NZ’s countryside, add some grass seed from England, some fertiliser from Nauru, some cows from Jersey, some palm kernel from Malaysia, some machinery from the USA and Germany, some oil from Iraq, some labourers from Phillipines, some money from China, and finally some water from the Rakaia.

        Place ingredients inside the 500ha and stir furiously.

        • Rob A 4.1.1.1
          22 July 2010 at 5:45 pm

          New Zealand is a net grass seed exporter, A large percentage of fertiliser is developed and produced here. Cows from Jersey? Are you mad? NZ cow genetics are sent all over the world. A large percentage of machinery on farms is manufactured in NZ, not to mention all those employed maintaining them. Some labourers from Phillipines, yes but lets not forget the thousands of NZers working the land the the thousands more whose jobs rely on them.

          Poor attempt vto, I expected better from you

          • Bored 4.1.1.1.1
            22 July 2010 at 9:31 pm

            Actually Rob A, VTO is onto it in terms of agricultural methodology, where the inputs come from is of little consequence. Its a high energy input soil destroying industrial attack on the ecosystem. And lets get the people thing right, the labourers and farmers on the land could not do their work without the thousands of people who provide the infrastructure for this venture, not to mention the markets, you can forget any riciulous notion of productive primacy for farmers. Its always the same old crock of shit.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.2
      22 July 2010 at 1:41 pm

      Key et al seem to have two MO’s one, propose something nasty and then compromise by peeling it back to a smaller version; and two, feel out various issues and prepare for full scale assault in the second term.

      Posters and commenter’s said that here before the election so why are you surprised?

      • Bored 4.2.1
        22 July 2010 at 3:30 pm

        Too right Draco, its always been war, always thought that this would be the “velvet glove ” term, next session the “iron fist”. Means when we vote the pricks out there wont even be any health system etc left to cope with the casualties who “aspired” to better treatment.

      • vto 4.2.2
        22 July 2010 at 3:39 pm

        Not saying it is surprising. Even they made it clear that the second term will be when heftier stuff happens if they get elected on a changed ‘manifesto’. And MO one is not uncommonly seen on the menu of politicians hardware.

        It will be interesting to see whether this becomes apparent to the public and be reflected in a turning voting base.

  5. jcuknz 5
    22 July 2010 at 9:05 am

    Cannot resist passing this on ….
    States Embrace National Standards for Schools
    By TAMAR LEWIN
    States that adopt the standards by Aug. 2 win points in the Obama administration’s Race to the Top competition for a share of the $3.4 billion to be awarded in September.

    Bribes?

    [Note security word is ‘Amused’ ]

  6. Pascal's bookie 6
    22 July 2010 at 10:12 am

    Yet another Terrorist attack in the US.

    No doubt Fox will be all over this, blaming it on Obama and teh Democrat Party for ignoring and appeasing an ideology of hatred.

  7. marty mars 7
    22 July 2010 at 10:20 am

    Advanced spin

    Your position gets swamped with opposition so what to do – turn it around, take the defeat and turn it into what you always wanted anyway. kingkey has been contorting himself to get the spin the right way round.

    For instance, the public said NO to taking land out of schedule 4 – means that the public is really keen on more mining.

    “New Zealanders have spoken reasonably strongly that they actually do support the expansion of our mining and exploration activities, but they don’t support them on pristine parts of the national parks … ”

    “… both he and Mr Brownlee made it clear that they now considered the Government had a green light to allow mining on any areas outside schedule 4. “As the discussion has progressed, it’s identified very clearly where the industry can go and where it can’t go in the future,” Mr Brownlee said.

    The Government would fund a significant aeromagnetic survey of non-schedule 4 land in the West Coast and in Northland to identify mineral deposits, with an “expectation” of increased mining.”

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3938403/Heritage-site-at-risk-of-mining
    http://mars2earth.blogspot.com/2010/07/kingkey-turns-no-into-yes.html

    So NO mean YES in kingkey’s world.

    • Pascal's bookie 7.1
      22 July 2010 at 10:35 am

      “Mum, can we have ice cream and chocolate cake for dinner?”

      “Heh. Your Da’s making dinner tonight, ask him. And good luck with that.”

      Pitter patter pitter patter.

      “Da, can we have chocolate cake for dinner?”

      “Not gonna happen”

      Pitter patter pitter patter.

      “Da said ice cream for dinner”

      “Whatever you say kid. Let’s just see what hits the table shall we?”

  8. prism 8
    22 July 2010 at 10:53 am

    Mmmm chocolate cake and ice cream my favourites. I’d do anything to get lots of that stuff. Can I come to your House?

  9. Pascal's bookie 9
    22 July 2010 at 11:55 am

    That party central business.

    Remember how it wasn’t Key’s idea, so it couldn’t be his fault, contractually obliged to make it happen, blah blah blah

    http://publicaddress.net/default,hardnews.sm

    Turns out: not true.

    I’ll guess we’ll be seeing retractions for that meme, all over the place.

  10. Lanthanide 10
    22 July 2010 at 12:16 pm

    Hmm, latest email from my kiwisaver provider says this, which I hadn’t heard anything about till now:

    “Two new contribution rates will be introduced in October, so
    KiwiSaver members who contribute through their job will be able to
    contribute at 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%. These changes give members more
    flexibility about how much they contribute, giving older savers an
    opportunity to contribute more near their retirement, or for younger
    savers to contribute more in saving for a first home deposit. ”

    The two new rates are 6% and 10%. Surely this would’ve been part of the Budget, but I didn’t see anything at all about it, until now. Seems eminently sensible, anyway.

  11. Carol 11
    22 July 2010 at 3:11 pm

    Will this improve The Nation on TV3, or will it reveal Sean Plunket to be just another right wing ideologue?

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv/3946153/Sean-Plunkets-new-job-revealed

    • Tigger 11.1
      22 July 2010 at 3:36 pm

      I love how it says the show “is in competition with TV1’s Q+A”. Competition for what? Vapidity?

    • the pinkpostman 11.3
      26 July 2010 at 3:46 pm

      Of course ! It’s interesting to see how the TV companies are changing news readers and current afairs/political are gradually moving Right-Wing commentaters into top jobs. Anyone who show any inclination to the Left is moved out. Shane Tairi , Parker, and others have gone. There is no doubt there is a move to make sure the right (no pun intended ) people
      are in key positions. Its all about an election next year. Watch the good “” news start coming in . How much longer before the verbal advertising from the Nats starts to appear.With Garner and Plunket on TV3 and Holmes on TV1 there will be no Labour/Green voice.

  12. Ben 12
    22 July 2010 at 3:27 pm

    I am curious about who are the finacial backers of the John Banks campaign to win the mayoral race (heaven forbid)?

    Tried the magic of google search but to now avail. Happy to follow the links.

    Thanks

    • Anne 12.1
      22 July 2010 at 8:01 pm

      @ Ben
      I think you will find they are the same financial backers who assisted ACT to gain access to parliamentary representation in the 90s, and who transferred their loyalties back to National when Brash came on the scene…, and who are now wanting to gain a right-wing, big business stranglehold on the new Auckland Super City. For names and occupations refer to Nicky Hagar’s “Hollow Men”.

  13. Pascal's bookie 13
    22 July 2010 at 4:16 pm

    Nice long piece on Afghanistan from William Dalrymple. It’s a bit old, but not much has improved AFAICT.

    Spends a lot of the piece drawing the same hackneyed comparisons with the British war there, but does it with more style and detail than most, and has some great anecdotes to back it up. Not a lot that’s new in there, but it’s a real good overview of a story that isn’t getting any coverage.

    Short version,

    COIN is hard, we’re not doing it right, we are losing, we should get out now while we can still do so on something like our own terms.

    One of them there anecdotes: (The Anwar Khan Jegdalek mentioned is a former commander from the soviet invasion era Hezb-e-Islami mujahedin group, a tribal leader, and a (former?) minister in the Karzai government)

    During lunch, as my hosts casually pointed out the various places in the village where the British had been massacred in 1842, I asked them if they saw any parallels between that war and the present situation. “It is exactly the same,” said Anwar Khan Jegdalek. “Both times the foreigners have come for their own interests, not for ours. They say, ‘We are your friends, we want democracy, we want to help.’ But they are lying.”

    “Whoever comes to Afghanistan, even now, they will face the fate of Burnes, Macnaghten and Dr Brydon,” said Mohammad Khan, our host in the village and the owner of the orchard where we were sitting. The names of the fighters of 1842, long forgotten in their home country, were still known here.

    “Since the British went, we’ve had the Russians,” said an old man to my right. “We saw them off, too, but not before they bombed many of the houses in the village.” He pointed at a ridge of ruined mud-brick houses.

    “We are the roof of the world,” said Mohammad Khan. “From here, you can control and watch everywhere.”

    “Afghanistan is like the crossroads for every nation that comes to power,” agreed Anwar Khan Jegdalek. “But we do not have the strength to control our own destiny – our fate is always determined by our neighbours. Next, it will be China. This is the last days of the Americans.”

    I asked if they thought the Taliban would come back. “The Taliban?” said Mohammad Khan. “They are here already! At least after dark. Just over that pass.” He pointed in the direction of Gandamak and Tora Bora. “That is where they are strongest.”

    Emphasis mine.

  14. prism 14
    22 July 2010 at 9:13 pm

    Climate change news – Exon Mobil admitted to paying $2 million to CCDs in past year/recent times. (Hard facts may show variation – this has come from my memory.) I was listening tonight to Brian Crump talking to Massey Centre for Energy Research academic who mentioned it, Ralph Sims who explained things well.

  15. Bunnykinz 15
    23 July 2010 at 12:04 am

    I am sure no one will read a comment so far down the list, but if anyone wants evidence of the sheer stupidity of Stuff’s reporting, they need look no further than here:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3943218/Parker-defends-wifes-role-in-his-duties

    You can practically see the point sail by the reporter with nary a sidewards glance.I don’t know how they manage to make a story about the meddling of a spouse into democratic affairs into a story about “WHO IS THE FAIREST MAYORESS IN THE LAND?”

Links to post

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.