Open Mike 22/09/2016
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6:00 am, September 22nd, 2016 - 57 comments
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The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...3 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...3 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...4 days ago
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A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...5 days ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...5 days ago
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The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...5 days ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...5 days ago
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The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...5 days ago
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With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...5 days ago
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For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...6 days ago
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The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...6 days ago
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All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...6 days ago
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The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...6 days ago
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The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...6 days ago
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The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...6 days ago
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New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...1 week ago
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The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...1 week ago
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Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
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Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
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The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...2 weeks ago
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Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
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After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
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Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
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Trump endorsed by another leading thinker
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/21/don-king-donald-trump-cleveland-rally
Victim of serial harasser vows:
“One day I’ll snap and I’ll punch him in the face”….
his Q&A with the media after his recent Emmy win is worth a watch.
So many dumb questions I thought he restrained himself and got a nice jab in about Oz’s treatment of migrants.
John Key would be proud of this innovative initiative ..
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/egan-170k-in-mint-gold-allegedly-smuggled-in-body-cavity-judge-hears
Negative interest rates are illegal – short version there is no consideration, therefore all sovereign bonds with negative yield or zero yield are sham transactions.
https://www.sprottmoney.com/blog/negative-interest-rates-the-tax-on-capital-jeff-nielson.html
of course there is “consideration” as you the investor is paying the money.
Investors pay to keep their money in banks, the more they have, the more they pay. So its like too much money hs been printed. And people who take out mortgages pay back at or below inflation? Sounds like rebalacing to me. Why would you care, if you are rich you stay relatively to others as rich, if poor you get cheaper money, seems like a good way as opposed to the bad, two world wars to reset the financal system. Are you one of those, the end of everything ring it on types? Sooner its all broke you can build you pathetic fiefdom.
How many more things can Nick Smith fuck up?
Reports of his “demotion” from the Kermadec negotiations are rife.
How does he survive, does he have photos of Creepy John and a goat with a ponytail or something?
Good news for The Standard community …………..Puckish Rouge has committed to do the John Key magical water challenge …..with only minor financial strings attached.
Or in the immortal words of Puckish ….”Well we can talk expenses later of course but if you’re paying I’m keen” … https://thestandard.org.nz/tpp-let-it-go-john/#comment-1234415
I’m impressed by Pucks commitment and hopefully he shames our other trolls into taking up the challenge too …………. Faith in John Key and the knowledge Mike Joy is no more than the foot and mouth of a vast left wing conspiracy will protect the true believers
I’d be prepared to pay if I get filming rights and can make a documentary …….. ‘Green River Disco Explosion’
But if Puck wants it to be off film then maybe other TS posters would like to chip in for Puckishs travel and toilet paper expenses etc …… make it a community thing.
Anyway Big ups to Puckish for putting his Bowels where his lips are…..I think its brave for him to undertake this personal poll on the health of our rivers ……….
The least we can do is pay for his service …. 🙂
http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/ecologic/river-stance/
Bollocks. Like our rivers, Pockish Rogue is full of shit.
He is a major troll and should be permanently banned.
Puckish Rogue actually changes his mind in the course of discourse, which is a helluva lot better than most of the filthy commies here.
don’t get sucked in by that – just another tactic for disseminating confusion and distracting from discourse.
That is part of his cunning plan
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/de/d4/84/ded484d1c22e4ca33a23fa0536a06ac6.jpg
Agreed.
Disagree
+1
LOLZ. We are most amused.
trouble brewing
“The Samoa Meteorological Service reports that it has recorded the country’s first hail storm.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/313632/samoa-records-first-hail-storm
Yes. This was nuts. As far as climate goes can you get more nuts than hail in Samoa? Ever get the feeling you’re entering into a tunnel that has no light at the end of it?
Coping with adverse weather conditions and it’s effects on food production is our future, and to a degree in lil’ ol’ nu zulund, it already is our present. It certainly is on continents such as Africa and India.
Just don’t want to go through a stinker of a summer like last one’s – I got heat stroke at one point as one very unwell. Had to look up our first aid book. But theres no going back now.
hail in Samoa? And people think global WARMING is real! Suckers!!!
/sarc
Yes, my favourite. “Brrrr, it’s so cold, global warming is a crock”……………… 🙄
Should read “I got heat stroke at one point and was very unwell”
Heat stroke is tough Rosie – I hope it goes better this summer for you. I think a hot summer again. Went to beach with dog today at rototai – council sign sewerage spill no swimming no kai Moana. But of a shock and again this will happen a lot as we move into the future
🙁
The loss of sunshine in general across our pacific neighbours is an issue and a CC outcome that often gets overlooked.
national cat management strategy being discussed on rnz at the moment.
the society for the proliferation of cat atrocities has its fingerprints all over this.
it gets hard to listen to an spca representative talk of humane treatment of these pests, when the silence around dairy stock and shelter is deafening, the ignoring of the inhumane death of anything that ingests 1080 is deafening.
You make some good points
…the ignoring of the inhumane death of anything that ingests 1080 is deafening.
Oh, won’t someone please think of the rats!?
rats, possums, dogs, horses, koura, cats, birds….
maybe if a few humans consumed some 1080 there may be progress.
i like the fake concern for the bird.
in the meantime we cut down trees, cover the country in 1080, kill keas cause they are pests to the point of extinction, concrete any little green space over for a carpark.
however what we don’t do
ban breeders – of any companion animals
any companion anmials to be adopted from shelters, rescues and the pound
make spaying/neutering of animals free or cheap as chippies – or free of charge
go after people that abuse animals in a meaning full way, that includes people that adopt a pet for Christmas and then abandoned them for summer holiday
provide funds for groups that trap/neuter/release or offer feral cats to adoption. (yes some feral cats especially young ones can easily be adopted out)
or in other words, what is the ‘news’ hiding from us today?
hi sabine,
yes, what is it that is really going on?
i thought that when the current bru ha ha at parliament broke out under brownlee’s excellent, competent stewardship.
The pendulum is beginning to change direction.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/09/21/un-fears-third-leg-of-the…
Simple? If you want inflation then first you need full employment. The way to get full employment is by spending more and taxing less, ie fiscal policy. Running a budget deficit puts money in peoples’ pockets which they can then spend.
Full employment was the government mantra for all before 1980.
If you run a budget deficit after you have have full employment you get inflation, hence the problems of the 1970s.
Eventually the idea of inflation targeting central banks was introduced and they proved effective at bringing down inflation by putting up interest rates and creating unemployment. Unfortunately they then tried to create employment by reducing interest rates which caused asset price inflation and debt bubbles not wage inflation. Duh.
link failed
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/09/21/un-fears-third-leg-of-the-global-financial-crisis-with-epic-debt/
Not a political matter, but something overlooked in the news: a short photo essay to mark the anniversary of the unsolved murder of Japanese tourist Kayo Matsuzawa in Auckland’s CBD in 1998.
I’m sure the police talked to all staff members with key access, and none of them had any police connexions at all.
finally found the opportunity to listen to this….well worth it.
Sound reasoning made abundantly clear (although surprisingly KR appeared to struggle at times)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201816970/crash-predictor-ann-pettifor-'we're-no-longer-citizens-we're-customers‘
+1
Why wasn’t Barak Obama in the Oval Office doing his job on 9/11 HUH?!!!!1!11!!!ELEVEN!!!!!
OMG! And these people are given the responsibility to elect the POTUS who has the finger on the red button.
🙄
Lord preserve us!
Shocking – we have a problem Houston…
Wow!! that is gobsmacking outrageous !!!
New Zealand BE WARNED…this is the result of the USA severely down- grading the State Education system and privatisation of education…ie Charter Schools funded by big money
…they turn out morons
…this is what jonkey nactional and Heke Parata want …this is what ACT is trying to foist on New Zealand
+100 Chooky.
This pretty much demonstrates that there is truth in the studies which found that right wingers have low IQ’s.
Right-wingers are less intelligent than left wingers, says study
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2095549/Right-wingers-intelligent-left-wingers-says-controversial-study–conservative-politics-lead-people-racist.html
“Five questions were asked, and those who watch Fox News exclusively got 1.04 correct, on average. Individuals watching MSNBC, on the other hand, got 1.26. NPR listeners? They got an impressive 1.51. The Daily Show? Surely a “fake news” program couldn’t make you more informed than “the most watched cable news channel in America.”
“Yep, as it turns out, The Daily Show viewers scored 1.42 on average. The best thing about this study, though? It asked questions to people who watch no news at all, and those individuals scored 1.22 on average. That’s right: Fox News makes you less informed than watching no news at all.”
<a href'="http://reverbpress.com/politics/proof-republicans-are-stupid/
<a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/millennial-media/201304/do-racism-conservatism-and-low-iq-go-hand-in-hand
<a href="http://www.livescience.com/18132-intelligence-social-conservatism-racism.html
<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/study-links-low-intelligence-with-right-wing-beliefs/article543361/
Demagoguery finds misogyny a useful tool.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/how-hillary-clinton-became-a-vessel-for-americas-fury-w440914
…recalls standing in the hallway at the American Spectator, looking at various cover stories with the magazine’s publisher, “and he says something like, ‘Can we find some more women to attack, because these Hillary covers are really working.’ “
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/downloads/sat/sat-20160917-0810-michelle_cottle_hillary_clinton_and_misogyny-048.mp3
From the Rolling Stone link: “Americans face a historic choice: Vote for a man who is widely considered one of the most unqualified people to ever run for president, or cast a ballot for a woman whose qualifications for the job exceed those of just about any other candidate in the modern era. Electing the first woman president of the United States will be a revolutionary act, as terrifying to some as it is thrilling to others, but her victory is anything but inevitable. There’s a very real chance the visceral hatred, or at minimum the visceral ambivalence, toward Hillary Clinton could hand the election to Donald Trump.” [emph added]
Experience as a warmonger regime changer $250K bankster dinner speaker perhaps
For every 12 American women polled who say that they prefer Hillary Clinton, another 10 say that they prefer Donald Trump.
I suppose that they must be self hating/ignorant/uneducated/red neck/gullible/naive women for choosing Trump instead of Clinton.
i must be one of them
The tax haven leaks just keep coming…
https://www.icij.org/offshore/former-eu-official-among-politicians-named-new-leak-offshore-files-bahamas
mmm…I see that Whitechapel Ltd, which has been linked to John Key in the past, crops up based in the Bahamas and is linked there to Wells Legal and Corporate Services Ltd.
Protests in Charlotte, US, over police shooting of a black person see another black person shot and killed during the protest.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2016/sep/21/keith-scott-shooting-charlotte-north-carolina-protests
seems to be police ‘open season’ on Blacks…not fair ….and will end badly
Who is bombing who in Syria?…Looks like the American warhawks wot did it and attacked Assad’s forces fighting Isis…why? Who doesnt want a solution in Syria?…Israel?….Saudi Arabia?
‘Ceasefireless’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/360096-russia-us-ceasefire-regime/
“What was a ray of hope has turned into a gaze into the abyss. The Russia-US ceasefire to end the Syrian conflict is in tatters. For many the American bombing of the Syrian military marks a process of mission creep and forced regime change.
CrossTalking with Ali Rizk, Nadim Shehadi, and Rick Sterling.”
…and from the New York Times:
‘Israel Denies Claims That Syria Shot Down Warplane and Drone’
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/world/middleeast/israel-syria-warplane-drone-golan-heights.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FGolan%20Heights&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection
‘As Syria Reels, Israel Looks to Expand Settlements in Golan Heights’
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/03/world/middleeast/syria-civil-war-israel-golan-heights.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FGolan%20Heights&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=collection&_r=0
‘Israel’s Vow to Keep Golan Brings ‘Deep Concern’ at Security Council’
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/world/middleeast/golan-israel-un-security-council.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FGolan%20Heights&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection
This is why we have such difficulty legalising medicinal marijuana or cannabis for pain relief in the elderly and others with chronic pain or cancer…It is corporate BIG PHARMA and their opioids in competition and they are wrecking the health of Americans…Is the same thing happening in New Zealand?
‘Big Pharma spent $880mn on keeping opioids available – report’
https://www.rt.com/business/360211-opioid-lobbyists-fight-regulation/
“In the midst of one of the worst drug epidemics in the US, a report found that the money spent on keeping painkillers regularly prescribed has overshadowed even anti-gun lobbying efforts and may be behind the opioid epidemic ravaging the nation.
The opioid crisis has reached a point where police officers carry Narcan when responding to calls due to the risk of accidental fentanyl exposure. But it may not have had to be like this, as multiple bills that would have limited opioid prescriptions were put in front of state governments.
However, very few of those bills passed, due to aggressive lobbying efforts from the drugmakers that rivaled in size those of anti-gun control groups. In fact, pharmaceutical companies spent more money lobbying against opioid restrictions than tobacco groups in 1998 when they were facing litigation from 40 states…
https://www.rt.com/usa/358809-fentanyl-cannabis-legalization-arizona/