Open mike 23/04/2013

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 23rd, 2013 - 176 comments
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176 comments on “Open mike 23/04/2013 ”

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  1. Jenny 1
    23 April 2013 at 6:17 am

    There can be no excuse for this.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8583103/Garage-family-reaches-breaking-point

    The psychopaths at Housing New Zealand are telling this mother that there are people in worse circumstances.

    Are their families living in the Avon, or under hedge rows?

    That there are lots of good houses standing empty in Christchurch is undeniable.

    http://www.realestate.co.nz/residential/all/canterbury/christchurch-city

    The government can give $100 million dollars to cover Roger Kerr’s losses in SCF. And he wasn’t living in any damp flooded garage. If Housing New Zealand really has no rental stock available. Why can’t the government order Housing New Zealand to buy up some of these empty houses to house the homeless?

    • geoff 1.1
      23 April 2013 at 7:12 am

      Yep, this is a picture postcard of how National would like all us serfs to be. Garage family nation, willing to crawl over hot coals just to lick the shit of a rich tory if it means we can move the kids out of the marshes of the mice-infested, flooded garage-land.

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1
        23 April 2013 at 11:57 am

        +1

        That’s exactly what they want – they just can’t come out and say that so they say other things like calling people bludgers and layabouts and then put in place policies that bring about what they want.

    • weka 1.2
      23 April 2013 at 9:47 am

      “The psychopaths at Housing New Zealand are telling this mother that there are people in worse circumstances.”

      The people who work at HNZ are not psychopaths 🙁 Bear in mind that they’re also people living in chronic/acute stress that we can’t imagine. From what I can tell everyone in Chch is having a hard time.

      “Are their families living in the Avon, or under hedge rows?”

      I don’t know Jenny, are they? What makes you think that staff at HNZ don’t have family in Chch having a really hard time?

      “That there are lots of good houses standing empty in Christchurch is undeniable.

      http://www.realestate.co.nz/residential/all/canterbury/christchurch-city”

      What are you suggesting? That the govt nationalise private homes? HNZ takes its direction and policy from the govt, that’s where your anger and concern should be directed.

      • NickS 1.2.1
        23 April 2013 at 5:12 pm

        +1

        And frankly, National should have done what was done in Japan after the Fukishima earthquake and build plenty of decent temporary housing, instead of the lip-service village in Linwood Park.

    • NickS 1.3
      23 April 2013 at 5:08 pm

      The comments on that article…

      It’s always lovely to be reminded what talk-back radio’s like, where rank ignorance mixes with inability to realise ones own ineptness and morons pat each other on the back for their “cleverness”.

  2. Jenny 2
    23 April 2013 at 6:40 am

    Press Release by ACT Party President & ETS Spokesman John Boscawen
    Monday, April 22 2013

    Labour Finance Spokesman David Parker’s neat and succinct criticism of Labour’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) piles contradiction on contradiction, ACT Party President & ETS Spokesman John Boscawen said today.

    “In a press release this afternoon, Mr Parker said ‘gas and coal generators’ carbon costs are incorporated into the price paid to hydro, wind and geothermal generators, despite the fact they have zero or low carbon emissions.’

    “In other words, Mr Parker is conceding that Labour’s ETS allows hydro, wind and geothermal generators to make windfall profits at New Zealanders’ expense,” Mr Boscawen said.

    “Time and again I stood up in the House and said that Labour’s ETS would create windfall profits for renewable generators and it would hurt those on low-comes the most. But Labour didn’t care.

    “In the same release, Mr Parker goes on to say that ‘under Labour’s [new energy] policy only companies whose generated electricity emits carbon will be able to charge for it.’ What this means is Labour is now trying to sell itself as the saviour of a problem it created.“The point of introducing Labour’s ETS was to push the price of electricity up so that New Zealanders used less of it.

    “Mr Parker needs to explain why he favoured giving renewable generators a windfall gain two years ago, and what has changed in the past two years to make him change his mind?

    “I would wager that this has nothing to do with caring about energy prices for households and everything to do with Labour’s campaign to upset the asset sales programme,” Mr Boscawen said.

    ENDS

    The Labour Party should call Boscowen’s bluff and put in a private member’s bill to abolish the failed ETS. No doubt this unloved piece of corrupt legislation will be dumped by the vast majority of parliament leaving us free to consider some really worthwhile legislation to rein in Green House Gas emissions.

    • Draco T Bastard 2.1
      23 April 2013 at 12:14 pm

      It’s the free-market model that allows and encourages the less costly productive process to charge out at the higher price. This is to produce super profits so as to encourage higher investment in the less costly process both bringing down the price that the product is on the market and eliminating the more costly process. As an Act devotee Mr Boscawen should know that.

      Of course, it’s all bollocks. We won’t see more investment in generating capacity because that would lower profits.

      Mr Boscawen should also be aware that Labour tried to introduce a carbon tax which would have only applied to the specific dirty generators rather than the ETS and his party and National stopped it.

      And, yes, Labour should be calling him on it.

    • Descendant Of Sssmith 2.2
      23 April 2013 at 10:24 pm

      Having read those two post sings one after the other all I can think of is this:

      I don’t wanna hear about what the rich are doing
      I don’t wanna go to where the rich are going
      They think they’re so clever, they think they’re so right
      But the truth is only known by guttersnipes.

      I’m pissed off with their lack of compassion for anyone and their bullshit tonight.

      http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=7eSld2QCciY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D7eSld2QCciY

  3. Jenny 3
    23 April 2013 at 6:42 am

    Despite all the rain. The officially declared drought has not been lifted in all areas. Parts of the far north and some parts of the South are still officially in drought.

    Record breaking drought, followed by heavy rains is what we should come to expect in a warmer world. Warmer air holds more water vapour when it finally does condense we can expect the sort of down pours resulting in flooding that we have just witnessed.

    But is all this extreme weather a cllimate change signal or not?

    US and british scientists are trying to find out.

    “Climate’s role in US droughts is under scrutiny”

    Better methods to determine the causes of extreme weather events should be on the way. A team led by Peter Stott of the UK Met Office’s Hadley Centre in Exeter is developing a system for attributing the causes of heatwaves, cold spells, floods, droughts and storm surges, under a new European Union project. It should make preliminary answers available immediately after an event. “We’ve got the potential, with models of improving resolution, to do much better,” says Stott.

    In the light of these developments: I wonder if any effort to determine the cause of these events will be made here?

    Is the drought and following floods we have experienced here the result of, or worsened by, climate change?

    Will any money be released to fund such a study?

    Despite the added burdens, ignorance will put on our rural sector and the economy.
    Does a government firmly in the pocket of the fossil fuel lobby, rather we not know?

  4. karol 4
    23 April 2013 at 7:14 am

    Hmmm, the young man in custody for the Boston bombing is being charged with “using a weapon of mass destruction to kill”.

    A woman on Al Jazeera has said something to the effect that such bombs are considered by the US authorities to be WMDs.

    So that kind of puts John Key’s scare mongering in perspective. Key said:

    “There are people within our country who have links to offshore terrorist groups,” the prime minister said.

    That included cyber attacks and covert attempts to use science and technology for projects involving weapons of mass destruction, Key said.

    So maybe some people in NZ have a pressure cooker and some explosives?

    • Salsy 4.1
      23 April 2013 at 7:26 am

      You would find those items on pretty much every farm in the country…

    • Chrissy 4.2
      23 April 2013 at 8:24 am

      Or recipes of degusatation.

    • ianmac 4.3
      23 April 2013 at 10:08 am

      Rather wondered just what is a WMD. The thousands of rounds fired by the SWAT teams in Boston must be WMD too?

      • vto 4.3.1
        23 April 2013 at 10:13 am

        Yep, if those are WMD then the weapons used by the US police in the US and by the US Armed Forces in all those foreign countries are most definitely WMD. (like, WMD x 1,000).

        It then follows, if this person is being charged with using WMD so too should the police and armed forces.

        Which reminds me, isn’t the US one of the only countries that refuses to abide by some international war crimes court?

        There is clearly one rule for the US and another rule for everybody else. Doesn’t do anything for their credibility.

        • Colonial Viper 4.3.1.1
          23 April 2013 at 12:40 pm

          So, a 1960 US Army claymore anti-personnel mine would now be counted as a WMD. Shit, NZ probably has a few of those stocked somewhere – NZ has WMD!!!

          Stupider and stupider.

      • McFlock 4.3.2
        23 April 2013 at 10:19 am

        I believe one of the problems – many problems – with the patriot act is that yes, “wmd” are defined so broadly as to be a meaningless term with exceptionally long prison sentences attached.

        • Draco T Bastard 4.3.2.1
          23 April 2013 at 12:20 pm

          I believe that, not long after the passing of the Patriot Act, the legal definition of terrorism in the US was changed as well because the former definition clearly included the US as a terrorist state.

    • Ennui 4.4
      23 April 2013 at 12:19 pm

      So who is a terrorist? All depends methinks upon where you are in relation to the bomb.

      The really interesting thing about Jihad-ism is that it does not fit nicely into the Western concepts of political enemies based upon economic differences (e.g Anarchism or Marxism), nor does it fit national or ethnic enmities. And it really has no real fit in NZ.

      So Shonkey’s scaremongering is all rather offensive because he obviously has no concept of who “offshore terrorist” groups actually are. He merely uses them to associate Jihadist “terrorism” with internal economic “enemies”. Means somebody challenging a property “right” becomes a “terrorist”. Or any environmentalist challenging private development becomes a “terrorist”.

      That is the real key to understanding the role of the SIS in the Dotcomm affair, or the newly appointed number one spy coming from a corporate rather than military background. Terrorism is now economic, anybody who challenges the status quo (“property rights, IP etc”) is a “terrorist” in Key talk.

      Think about it logically, all of these “free trade” agreements need “teeth” in the form of local government agencies and judiciary etc to enforce their terms and conditions which invariably protect / advance the “rights” of international capital (multinationals) against local competition etc. Key is a mere cypher for these rats.

    • Populuxe1 4.5
      23 April 2013 at 1:20 pm

      Apparently US domestic federal law has always been fairly loose about making a distinction:
      http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/weapon_of_mass_destruction_charge_explained/

      • ianmac 4.5.1
        23 April 2013 at 2:34 pm

        Maybe a good thing that the question has at least been raised in USA. Wonder if a drone delivering a huge bomb causing those collateral damages would be WMD?

  5. Pascal's bookie 5
    23 April 2013 at 7:39 am

    More leaks. This time from the NZ Defence Force, right in time for ANZAC day:

    http://www.3news.co.nz/Low-military-morale-a-huge-worry/tabid/1607/articleID/295224/Default.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

    One in five Defence Force staff would rather be working elsewhere, results of a new morale survey show.

    Findings of a leaked NZDF Ongoing Attitude Survey have confirmed many in the military are unhappy. One fifth of personnel, 21 percent, are actively looking to get a new job due to low morale, Radio New Zealand reports.

    Only 10 percent say they think highly of their occupation and about the same low number would recommend the military as a great place to work.

    • Ennui 5.1
      23 April 2013 at 12:41 pm

      My family do / have done the military thing. All is not well, the 10% referred to probably consists a large portion of the careerist NCOs (sergeants, / petty officers) who IMHO routinely abuse their position to impose discipline upon an increasingly demoralised rank and file. below their rank and seniority the turn over of personnel has become extreme. The troops are using old gear, the boats are tied up with no sea time, the government cuts funding. Why would anybody stay when after all the training and promises of a career they can only twiddle their thumbs and scrape rust?

  6. jenny kirk 6
    23 April 2013 at 7:43 am

    Can anyone remember the name of the group set up by Anne Salmond, Fiona Kidman, Sam Neill a couple of months ago – opposing what the current Govt is doing ? thanks.

  7. Te Reo Putake 7
    23 April 2013 at 7:47 am

    Some good work from David Shearer on 3News last night. A simple, effective quote that gets to the heart of the matter: ‘people can choose to buy sharers, they can’t choose about buying electricity’. Ok, still slightly mangled language (should have been ‘they have no choice’), but much much better.

    http://www.3news.co.nz/Kiwis-can-withdraw-from-MRP-share-offer/tabid/370/articleID/295169/Default.aspx

    • karol 7.1
      23 April 2013 at 7:52 am

      Good on Shearer for getting his sound-bite line right, kinda. But he still fails to spark in any way, or act like he’s strongly motivated to improve things for Kiwi strugglers.

      And I still don’t know what he stands for apart from being into third way style PPPs.

      • Te Reo Putake 7.1.1
        23 April 2013 at 8:10 am

        Oooh, a bit harsh Karol! The NZPower proposal is aimed straight at kiwi battlers, isn’t it? That $300 saving will mean more to someone on a fixed income than anyone else. I’d like to think that Shearer is evolving politically, or at least, being positively encouraged to head in the direction the bulk of the party membership want him to go. Certainly, the polls now suggest that NZ sees him as a serious contender, which is a big move forward in the six months since conference.

        • The Al1en 7.1.1.1
          23 April 2013 at 8:18 am

          “Certainly, the polls now suggest that NZ sees him as a serious contender”

          Or not.
          The unscientific Herald on-line preferred pm poll, has Key at 51% DS at 20% and ‘someone else’ on 25%

          http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10878947

          • Te Reo Putake 7.1.1.1.1
            23 April 2013 at 8:22 am

            Nope, that’s actually a reasonable result. It’s the Herald after all! If he’s making traction in the national party’s daily newsletter, then he really is a contender.

            • The Al1en 7.1.1.1.1.1
              23 April 2013 at 8:28 am

              Since when is reasonable being twice and a half behind your opponent and 5% behind ‘someone else’ ?

              If it looks, smells and tastes etcetera…

              “If he’s making traction in the national party’s daily newsletter, then he really is a contender.”

              That means nothing as I’m not a tory and I voted.

              • Te Reo Putake …
                23 April 2013 at 8:32 am

                It’s all about you!

                • The Al1en …
                  23 April 2013 at 8:37 am

                  The main point is the fact it’s the herald means nothing. Just by looking at the amount of linking and copy/pasting that goes on here at TS, by lefties, sort of disproves the relevancy of being tory rag, being as it’s an on-line poll.

                  But I do agree, it is always about me 😉

                  edit… And shearer being a crock.

                  • McFlock …
                    23 April 2013 at 11:50 am

                    So because most people who comment on site A are are lefties, there is a left-wing bias to online polls on site B?

                    Not so sure of your logic there.

                    • The Al1en …
                      23 April 2013 at 5:59 pm

                      “So because most people who comment on site A are are lefties, there is a left-wing bias to online polls on site B?

                      Not so sure of your logic there.”

                      I don’t know if that’s to me, but if it was…

                      The Herald poll had shearer languishing behind ‘someone else’, making my point DS is not at all, in any way, considered as a “serious contender”, well not by 80% of voters anyway.
                      The retort was it’s a tory rag, so 20% is reasonable.
                      Now while I agree the herald is a tory rag, the fact that I, not tory, read it daily like no doubt many others here also do, judging by the amount of copy/paste and linking by contributors, means it unscientific poll isn’t available just to tory rag sympathisers, and that it’s findings, sprinkled with salt, are quite probably more representative than imagined.

                      That’s logical enough, surely?

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 6:28 pm

                      the fact that I, not tory, read it daily like no doubt many others here also do, judging by the amount of copy/paste and linking by contributors, means it unscientific poll isn’t available just to tory rag sympathisers, and that it’s findings, sprinkled with salt, are quite probably more representative than imagined.

                      But we don’t know what percentage of tories read it daily, vs percentage of lefties, or whether the ratios are similar to the wider population. And we don’t know whether tories are more likely to respond to an online poll on the herald site more than lefties (e.g. tories might be happier with the stories and therefore more likely to contribute to online polls). And I wonder whether the order of the options and the fact the accompanying article started with “Prime Minister John Key” affected the responses.

                      Survey design. It’s a gas.
                      The poll might be accurate. I seem to recall that historically MSM online polls are pretty conservative to actual outcomes, but whatever. We just have no basis for giving a tinker’s damn either way.

                    • The Al1en …
                      23 April 2013 at 6:43 pm

                      “But we don’t know what percentage of tories read it daily, vs percentage of lefties, or whether the ratios are similar to the wider population.”

                      So then you’d agree with me that because it’s the herald means nothing much at all, which was my point.

                      Aside. I dunno, if people want to think third, and behind ‘someone else’ is reasonable, then carry on. I’m not stopping anybody, but that’s why Labour are and have been so shit for so long – They’re being enabled to fail.

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 6:57 pm

                      “So then you’d agree with me that because it’s the herald means nothing much at all.”

                      No.
                      Because it’s the herald, we know it’s probably not a random sample of the population. Therefore it’s got a sample bias. But we don’t know in which direction.
                      “We don’t know what the bias is” does not equal “it is unbiased”.

                      This is the same paper that said Banks and Brown were too close to call in 2010.

                      A survey of BusinessNZ members putting Shearer behind Key? Who gives a shit.
                      A survey of Labour party members putting Key in front of Shearer? Much more serious.
                      A survey of [who the fuck knows, but an apparently massive socioeconomic selection bias] puts Shearer third? Why should we give a damn? It’s just bumf produced by the media to report itself, as well as creating an emotional investment between the reader and the web page. pfft.

                      Gimme a long-standing, regular survey with consistent methodologies over a long period over the herald online fart any day.

                    • The Al1en …
                      23 April 2013 at 7:11 pm

                      You can call it ‘The Herald factor’ and quote how they were wrong in calling the Auk mayor race, but this is an on-line poll, (for a time) on the front web page of the biggest daily in the nation, and despite the bias of it’s journos, which have nothing to do with the result at all, and shearer lost it by a country mile, 5% behind ‘Someone (fucking) else’.

                      Kin el, that’s shit 😆

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 7:59 pm

                      Well, get depressed about it if you want. Even if it’s as useful as a weather report from planet key.

                    • The Al1en …
                      23 April 2013 at 8:06 pm

                      “Well, get depressed about it if you want.”

                      That’s all right, accept mediocrity and enable away, if you want.

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 8:21 pm

                      Lol
                      Valid criticism is valid criticism.
                      But wringing your hands over an online snap poll with no demographic comparators is like saying that you don’t think your diet is working because your shaman says your aura is still blue.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      23 April 2013 at 8:23 pm

                      Well that’s just silly, when you can simply read your own aura.

                    • The Al1en …
                      23 April 2013 at 8:29 pm

                      “Lol
                      Valid criticism is valid criticism.”

                      I’m sure I’ll know it when I hear it.

                      “But wringing your hands over an online snap poll with no demographic comparators is like saying that you don’t think your diet is working because your shaman says your aura is still blue.”

                      Again, that’s all right. It’ll all be over soon and we can unite behind the next pretender on the list, ready for ’17

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 8:42 pm

                      Well, the surveys that make an attempt to have halfway decent sampling methodologies are beginning to suggest nact days are numbered. Buy the mood-ring is still blue, so key will almost certainly win in 2017, too.

                    • The Al1en …
                      23 April 2013 at 8:43 pm

                      Oh, and just because 😉

                      “But wringing your hands over an online snap poll with no demographic comparators is like saying that you don’t think your diet is working because your shaman says your aura is still blue.”

                      And saying it’s reasonable is okay. Just so we all know all the rules. 😆

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    23 April 2013 at 12:43 pm

                    Shearer did noticeably better than 31 year old Greens list position no. 7 MP Gareth Hughes in the media last night, so things are looking up mate.

                    • Populuxe1 …
                      23 April 2013 at 1:26 pm

                      My unwashed sock could do better in the polls than that muppet.

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 1:28 pm

                      So how has Key been doing lately?
                      Compared to Gareth Hughes, of course…

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      23 April 2013 at 1:32 pm

                      Key? 40%-45% personal popularity and dropping…

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 1:44 pm

                      Lol.
                      Nice dodge. Try to focus.

                      How have his sound-bites been? Compared to Gareth Hughes, of course.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      23 April 2013 at 2:41 pm

                      Shearer did better in the media than a relatively new but admittedly talented 31 year old MP, ranked 7 in the Greens line up, one who hasn’t yet completed a single full term of parliament yet.

                      I think it’s important to note that and I’m glad that you did, McFlock.

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 5:26 pm

                      lol

                      and Key?

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      23 April 2013 at 7:14 pm

                      What;s your Gareth Hughes fetish? Any reason that you’ve chosen him as your idol benchmark?

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 7:54 pm

                      Benchmark. Good word for it. Objective measure used to compare length consistently.
                      Would you say dunnokeyo has been, oh, 20% better than hughes of late?

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      23 April 2013 at 8:24 pm

                      When did you decide that Gareth Hughes was your benchmark for all performances political?

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 8:37 pm

                      When you decided to bend over backwards to defend a single fluffed interview when if shearer had done it you’d be saying he shouldn’t be in parliament. Ad nauseum.

                      You just can’t bring yourself to say “good job by shearer” even once, can you?

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      23 April 2013 at 9:39 pm

                      Oh I’ve said several times now that Shearer is definitely on the improve.

                      And I haven’t disagreed with you once when you said that Shearer did better on camera than the 31 year old Greens third year MP who is no. 7 on the Greens list. Shearer did indeed do better than him.

                      So I’ve agreed with the conclusion of your comparison from the start, what’s your problem?

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 9:48 pm

                      Lol

                      Did he do a good job yesterday?

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      23 April 2013 at 10:00 pm

                      Relative to Gareth Hughes, he certainly did. I agree with you McFlock, I agree with the comparison you made, comparing Shearer to a 31 year old third year MP, no.7 on the Green list, so yes to answer your question I agree with your conclusion whole heartedly, without reservation 😉

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 10:10 pm

                      Yep.
                      And you ask why I bothered with hughes. It’s the only way you can actually get past saying that shearer is unadulterated, constant and pure incompetence in a league of his own. I suppose the fact that you didn’t start making excuses for key’s performances of late like you did for hughes is promising.

                      With another few years of therapy you might be able to give shearer credit where it’s due.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      23 April 2013 at 10:17 pm

                      You’re the most adament completely neutral non-Shearer supporter supporter that I know ha

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 10:31 pm

                      I’ve said that shearer has fluffed something badly, when he did.
                      I’ve said other labour caucus members and other party mps have done well in speeches or interviews when I thought they had.

                      You, obviously, just can’t bring yourself to simply say that shearer has done something well in the past year, especially past six months or so. You need to belittle a green mp just to say shearer was anything less than abysmal.

                      Try to get over your bile.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      23 April 2013 at 10:42 pm

                      Hey dickhead.

                      Not my stenographer.

                    • McFlock …
                      23 April 2013 at 10:46 pm

                      Turn away from the dark side, Anakin. Let go of your hate…

          • ianmac 7.1.1.1.2
            23 April 2013 at 10:14 am

            The “someone else” is made up with multiple others. A few for Helen, A few for Winston, a few for Colin King, a few for Russel. At this time of the Electoral Cycle, for a Leader of the Opposition to be at 20% is great. Watch this space.

            • mac1 7.1.1.1.2.1
              23 April 2013 at 10:17 am

              Colin King for PM?

              “Le Roi Faineant” aka as the Do-Nothing King?

              • ianmac …
                23 April 2013 at 2:35 pm

                Here! Colin writes a good piece in the Marlborough Press outlining his adventures with his grandchildren. Magic 🙂

              • Clockie …
                23 April 2013 at 4:09 pm

                With your “Le Roi Faineant”, you’ve just made me waste an hour reading up on the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties.. 🙂

                • ghostrider888 …
                  23 April 2013 at 4:13 pm

                  not time wasted; I do that sorta stuff all the time; in fact I can remember doing a Merovingian dig last year some time. hmmm

                • mac1 …
                  23 April 2013 at 7:36 pm

                  There is a story “Qui a casse le vase de Clovis”. Clovis I was the Merovingian King who won the battle of Soissons in 486. After the battle there was the usual plundering and pillaging, including a vase stolen by a soldier who broke it with his battle axe in defiance of Clovis.

                  The story goes that an inspector of French primary schools visited a school where during the History lesson the teacher asked the question “Who broke Clovis’s vase?” The kids couldn’t answer. Nor could the inspector who returned to his office and asked a colleague who was similarly mystified.
                  The upshot was that the question went right up through the layers of the considerable French bureaucracy through department, provincial and finally national levels until finally an official document was laid on the Minister of Education’s desk becoming part of official papers sent to cabinet.
                  Finally, the answer came back from the President of the Republic.
                  “We do not know who broke the vase of Clovis but we will have to take up a collection.”

                  A story of bureaucracy, ignorance and Wellington.

              • ghostrider888 …
                23 April 2013 at 4:19 pm

                FFS “visiting family”; where do they get these people from? under the boards?

            • The Al1en 7.1.1.1.2.2
              23 April 2013 at 6:10 pm

              “At this time of the Electoral Cycle, for a Leader of the Opposition to be at 20% is great. Watch this space.”

              I disagree, I think he should be on par with Key the same number of months out from Key v Helen.
              I don’t know the numbers, but sure some one must.

              What % was Key on at the same point from election night?
              Was he at 20%, 5% behind ‘someone else’ ?

          • ghostrider888 7.1.1.1.3
            23 April 2013 at 3:39 pm

            I’m available, After Forever 😀

        • karol 7.1.1.2
          23 April 2013 at 8:26 am

          TRP. The polls seem to indicate Green-Labour is a serious contender. Parker (and Russel Norman)look to be the architect of NZ Power, Shearer seems to be associated with that, but I’m not sure what his role has been.

        • Anne 7.1.1.3
          23 April 2013 at 5:08 pm

          And I still don’t know what he stands for apart from being into third way style PPPs.

          I think that’s a bit unfair karol. Shearer and co. do see a role for PPPs but – as far as I can tell – it’s in very selective areas only. One of those is ‘science and industrial innovation’ and I agree with them. It makes sense that scientists and innovators from both the public and private sectors should – and can – combine their resources and knowledge in the interests of the country as a whole. At present our best and brightest (and we punch way above our weight in the sciences) have to move off-shore to continue their research and development programmes because under the present system they don’t have access to sufficient resource material in NZ. That means other countries reap the benefits of their efforts and not NZ.

          We need to provide the right climate that will attract these ‘best and brightest’ back to NZ, and a public/private partnership arrangement is probably the only practical way it can be achieved.

      • North 7.1.2
        23 April 2013 at 8:32 am

        TVOne Breakfast this morning: Shearer quoted giving reasons for the timing of release of Labour power policy. Not seen the text of his actual words but the way it came across there was the suggestion of an apology.

        If , if, Shearer intended that, what’s that all about ? Own the potency of the policy, assert the necessity for it for God’s Sake. Don’t apologise, seemingly in deference to Shonkey Python’s fraudulently mythical “Mum and Dad” investors and the two-bob Tory cargo-cultist Shonkey Python lickers who are now feeling windy about purchasing MRP shares.

        Key treats the populace with contempt and we apologise for the policy necessitated by that contempt ???

    • Ad 7.2
      23 April 2013 at 8:08 am

      Oddly, even though I don’t agree with the new policy, I am definitely beginning to see why I would campaign for them again. On the policy I’m for buying them back.

    • ghostrider888 7.3
      23 April 2013 at 3:35 pm

      have used that quote in discourse myself today and heard agreement TRP

  8. vto 8
    23 April 2013 at 8:28 am

    I think Key rose above his level of competence on the day he became PM. It has just taken a while for it to become apparent.

  9. freedom 9
    23 April 2013 at 8:38 am

    translated into Parata speak: It’s working. Quick, better destroy it 🙁
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/8583135/Cost-cutting-trumps-education-achievement

    • ianmac 9.1
      23 April 2013 at 10:20 am

      Appalling freedom.
      Put the relatively minor cost of making a difference to the “priority” group, against the millions given to Wanganui Collegiate to keep the rich kids playing polo.

      • Descendant Of Sssmith 9.1.1
        23 April 2013 at 10:56 pm

        At my kids school Maori students results were extremely god this year despite the school losing well over $150,000 in funding since this government came to power.

        Imagine what they could do with a tenth of the additional funding given to Wanganui Collegiate.

        No past pupils association or PTA either, families struggle to pay school fees.

        The rich and the religious set up their schools because they did not want to be part of the public system. Oh how the high and mighty have fallen.

        Ironic isn’t it. The more they have kept themselves apart from society the fewer of them they are – both the religious and the rich.

        Rather than succumb to the market forces they purport to love so much it’s save me save me. The increased wealth the few have, they don’t want to spend on maintaining their privilege – nope they want to taxpayer to do that. Despite paying lower taxes than they ever have.

        How it must feel to use “save the poor” as the excuse to admit that your isolationist policies have failed. That you can’t stand alone and that you need the non-blessed to maintain your existence.

        Charter schools are just a guise for this privilege. It’s about staying private but without the constraints that integration puts on the school.

        Let em fail and let em have no funding.

        Taxpayers should only be paying for non-secular public education. Let us never forget you set your schools up so as not to be part of the public system.

    • joe90 9.2
      23 April 2013 at 7:26 pm

      Is this what they’re really up to with the push for charter schools?.

      http://voices.yahoo.com/alabama-public-school-employees-students-under-gop-12101290.html?cat=4

  10. Polish Pride 10
    23 April 2013 at 9:00 am

    There has been a lot of talk over the past year about how ineffective Labour are in opposition this term.
    Well they have just got two bills passed whilst in opposition and have just managed to derail Nationals jewel in their crown policyand got everyone on the Right running around frothing at the mouth with one policy announcement.
    Perhaps credit where credit is due.
    It also shows that when you work together you can achieve great things.

    • Lanthanide 10.1
      23 April 2013 at 9:09 am

      They’ve been railing against the asset sales this whole time, with repeated press releases about how evil and silly National were being. Absolutely none of it stuck. Until now.

    • Colonial Viper 10.2
      23 April 2013 at 10:46 am

      Kiwi Build – No Greens involvement – flop

      NZ Power – Greens involvement – traction

      Also remember the little ol’ Greens collected the majority of the asset sales referendum signatures.

  11. TheContrarian 11
    23 April 2013 at 9:03 am

    Not sure if this has bee posted by anyone yet but this really tickled me.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RLTCl83R9KE

    Ho ho ho…

    • felix 11.1
      23 April 2013 at 9:44 am

      Clumsy Gareth. You’d expect politicians of his generation to know that the camera is always rolling and nothing is off the record.

      • TheContrarian 11.1.1
        23 April 2013 at 9:49 am

        I know, his response to ‘Clint’ was pretty funny. His face said it all.

        • felix 11.1.1.1
          23 April 2013 at 9:54 am

          “Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday, you will be a real boy.”

    • tinfoilhat 11.2
      23 April 2013 at 10:50 am

      Idiots like Gareth and career politicians like Russell make it difficult to be a Green at times.

    • Bill 11.3
      23 April 2013 at 12:18 pm

      Well, maybe he just wasn’t sure whether the Green Party should be seen to be skyting but was comfortable with that position on a personal level. (I’m guessing the question was about whether he (or the Greens) were pleased that the asset campaign is sinking due to the policy release?)

      “Not why we released the policy” (paraphrase) is nice and neutral. “Yup! Fuck em.” maybe a bit more honest but, well….a tad distasteful in the land of political eggshelledness.

      • Colonial Viper 11.3.1
        23 April 2013 at 4:35 pm

        Say “ass” when you mean “ass” and not “mouth”. Thing with a young pollie like Hughes, he should just say what he means, because he’d get away with it from the older crowd AND score points with young voters. And some older ones too 😈

        • ghostrider888 11.3.1.1
          23 April 2013 at 4:39 pm

          he is doing all right, for his age, perception-wise (I’ve watched him for a while in the House)
          (talk about carpet, Baggers!) 😀

        • Bill 11.3.1.2
          23 April 2013 at 4:44 pm

          “arse”

          • Colonial Viper 11.3.1.2.1
            23 April 2013 at 4:48 pm

            Like that. You have no problem saying what you mean eh, Bill 😀

            • Bill 11.3.1.2.1.1
              23 April 2013 at 6:44 pm

              Meanwhile, for not saying that which he didn’t say and wanting others to be sure about that fact, Colini Craig has embarked on a legal stouch with ‘the civilian’. Funny and un-be-fucking- lievable (or somesuch word)… http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/maurice-williamson-looking-pretty-stupid-after-floods/

              • weka …
                23 April 2013 at 8:31 pm

                In this article, The Civilian published a statement which it attributed to Colin Craig regarding Maurice Williamson, “big gay rainbows” and the passing of the gay marriage legislation. We accept, upon further review, that Mr. Craig never made the statement attributed to him. We retract the statement and apologise to Mr. Craig for any harm we have caused to his impeccable reputation.

                We would like to note that we have also taken the additional measure of bolding the statement in question so that everybody knows which thing it was that Mr. Craig did not say.

                ROFL. I hope they have a good lawyer.

  12. felix 12
    23 April 2013 at 9:50 am

    Here’s a funny thing.

    If the NZ Power announcement can really affect the MRP share float price as English, Joyce, Key et al seem to be saying (or as Matt Hooten says “CRASH THE SHAREMARKET!!!!!)…..

    …. then that means no-one expects National to win another election.

    Interesting.

    • Pascal's bookie 12.1
      23 April 2013 at 9:55 am

      Yeah. Floating the rest would be economic sabotage basically. They should call a snap election to see if the country wants MOMs or NZPower.

      • ianmac 12.1.1
        23 April 2013 at 10:24 am

        A snap election might help National more than the Opposition at this stage, though snap-election-callers do not do well usually. Marilyn Waring was a convenient scapegoat then, but who can be scaped now?

        • Morrissey 12.1.1.1
          23 April 2013 at 10:34 am

          The party control over MPs is now so complete that, even with this corrupt and controversial regime, there is not one dissenter to be seen in the caucus. Muldoon had to worry constantly about independent and intelligent trouble-makers like Mike Minogue, Ian Shearer and Marilyn Waring; there is just no sign of such independence or intelligence in the National Party now.

          • Anne 12.1.1.1.1
            23 April 2013 at 10:56 am

            Another was Ian Quigley. A neo con (at the time) but intelligent nevertheless.

            Of course in those days they didn’t have in-house brain-washing schools disguised as candidate training courses, so I guess there was an element of independence of thought within the National Party that no longer exists.

            Edit: oops Derek Quigley. Ian Quigley was a Labour MP around the same time. I was told they were related…

            • Morrissey 12.1.1.1.1.1
              23 April 2013 at 10:57 am

              Derek Quigley.

            • Lanthanide 12.1.1.1.1.2
              23 April 2013 at 12:34 pm

              I don’t think it’s really “brain washing” stuff that’s going on per say.

              More that we’re now in MMP, so list MPs absolutely rely on their party to get back in, and electorate MPs also need the resources of their party behind them to get back in. Going against your party’s wishes are a good way to get tossed out at the next election.

    • freedom 12.2
      23 April 2013 at 10:32 am

      it’s odd, last week you would have thought the main message from the ninth floor would have been, ‘As there will be no change in Government in 2014, we have no concerns with this 11th hour hail mary dropkick of a policy from the looney left’

      Instead we get headless chooks and frothing hootens and Blinglish just this very morn let slip that 4-6 billion is the new number they are working on. At what level is the return number low enough that National admits it has to cancel this suicidal policy?

      Always satisfying when those drop kicks sail through the uprights

      • vto 12.2.1
        23 April 2013 at 11:05 am

        The return on capital that sprung out of this privatisation model pre-NZpower was abysmal to such an extent that it in fact was going to cost the government to sell it (I know, mad, but true).

        Now that the capital value has been sliced by about 10-20% the return is even worse.

        Selling MRP is going to cost the taxpayer, not benefit it.

        These nat shitheads are neaderthals. Thick man, plain thick headed.

        • Lanthanide 12.2.1.1
          23 April 2013 at 12:36 pm

          “Now that the capital value has been sliced by about 10-20% the return is even worse.”

          Erm, no, if the capital value has declined, but the return has stayed the same, then the ROI is better.

          In fact the capital value has been slashed because the expected return is being slashed, which actually could mean the ROI is better, worse, or the same, depending on how the two variables move in relation to each other.

        • Draco T Bastard 12.2.1.2
          23 April 2013 at 12:46 pm

          These nat shitheads are neaderthals. Thick man, plain thick headed.

          No, they’re socio/psychopaths and they’re intelligent. They know that selling the power companies/generators will be bad for NZ but it will be good for them and their rich mates and so they will sell them.

  13. Morrissey 13
    23 April 2013 at 10:29 am

    There ARE bright and articulate commentators out there
    So how come we hear them so rarely on the media?

    I heard Geoff Bertram on Kathryn Ryan’s show this morning, calmly and logically destroying the arguments for privatization of state assets. One almost felt sorry for poor Carl Hansen, chief executive of the Electricity Authority, who lamely failed to mount any coherent response.

    Some questions:

    1.) Why do we never see Geoff Bertram on television?
    2.) Why do we never hear him on NewstalkZB?
    3.) Why is he never a guest on Jim Mora’s Panel?
    4.) Why don’t politicians like David Shearer study what he has written and use it to bolster their own arguments?

    • tinfoilhat 13.1
      23 April 2013 at 10:52 am

      I studied under him at Vic, he’s a brilliant man in all respects.

    • Matt 13.2
      23 April 2013 at 12:49 pm

      “2.) Why do we never hear him on NewstalkZB?”

      Ha, good one!

    • geoff 13.3
      23 April 2013 at 1:49 pm

      Just listened to it. Labour/Green’s would be fools not to get Geoff Bertram to help them flesh out their policies. I think he said he’s been working on these ideas for 20 years?

      Loved how he cut to the core of the price rises. That the lack of a regulator of either the generators or the lines company meant they could hugely write up the book value of their assets and therefore they could justify raising prices because the price of the assets determined how much profit they should expect. The blame should be laid on both 90’s National and Clark Labour government for that.

      Here’s the audio:

      http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20130423-0908-the_state_of_state_asset_sales_percent_differing_electricity_policies-048.mp3

      Bertram starts about 20mins in, the first guy is pretty much a turd polisher.

  14. ghostrider888 14
    23 April 2013 at 12:28 pm

    Faraway, yet so close.(back on form I see Flockie, we miss that razor sharpness)
    “we are not numbers, we are free…”
    anyway, To the muztang of sanity reports;
    from The Gospel Of Thomas;

    Jesus said,
    “I will reveal to you
    what can’t be seen,
    what can’t be heard,
    what can’t be touched,
    what can’t be thought.”

    “In the dreaming state and the waking state we think we know what’s going on, but really we don’t.
    In the dreaming state and the waking state we appear to experience a world of solid things, (but are they really there), as science has shown.
    In the dreaming state and the waking state the world we inhabit seems to have a real existence in space and time, but actually, this (may) be an illusion.
    In the dreaming state and the waking state we appear to be characters in a story, but our deeper identity is awareness witnessing the story.
    In the dreaming state and the waking state we appear to be a physical body, but essentially we are intangible awareness.
    In the dreaming state and the waking state we experience seeing, hearing and touching, yet we can’t see or hear or touch our deeper identity as awareness.
    In the dreaming state and the waking state we are the spacious presence of awareness, within which all of our experiences are arising.”

    Lucid Living.
    “Something similar to lucid dreaming happens when we are awake.
    Often we are consciously engrossed with our life story.
    Yet if we become more conscious we realize that life is like a dream.
    This experience of “lucid living” is comparable to lucid dreaming.
    When we live lucidly we see the paradoxity of our identities.
    From one perspective we appear to be persons within our life stories.
    From another perspective we are spacious awareness within which our experience of life is arisng.
    When we live lucidly our life story continues as before, yet our experience of living is transformed, because we see that we are both in the world and not in the world.”

    Meaningless and Meaningful”
    “When we live lucidly, the stories of our lives seem both meaningless and meaningful like a dream. On the surface , things may seem random and without consequence. Yet we sense hidden meaning, which expresses itself symbolically in the flow of events. Strange synchronicities punctuate our adventures.Patterns emerge suggestive of a secret significance.
    The more awake we are, the more dreamlike life becomes. The more conscious we are that ‘Tim’ is a character in the life-dream, the more magical his story is. Then the idea that life is simply the unfolding of chance events seems patently absurd.We may not be able to divine the meaning of events, but that something momentous is happening…of that we can be quietly confident.”

    The world is a passing dream,
    Which the sleeper is convinced is real,
    Until unexpectedly the dawn of death,
    Frees him from his fantasy.
    -Rumi.

    (sometimes, when alone, the Deceiver whispers in my ear, “J., now that you understand, there is no more you can do, it is time you came home.”; he is persuasive, yet we are stronger than his lies.)

    …and like a Blaze, he was outta there!

  15. Draco T Bastard 15
    23 April 2013 at 12:33 pm

    Video obtained by Global News reveals Calgary developer’s plan to control city council

    Whatever makes anyone think that the same isn’t happening here?

    National’s elimination of democracy in Canterbury would indicate that it is.

    • Te Reo Putake 16.1
      23 April 2013 at 2:31 pm

      That’s sad news, he was a fantastic performer with just a voice, a gat and a big right foot keeping the beat.

      Also sad that Chrissie Amphlett has died. She was the singer and co-writer in Aussie band the Divinyls. Did pretty well to get a song about intimate female sexuality to number one round the world!

  17. mickysavage 17
    23 April 2013 at 2:36 pm

    There is a rumour that Maurice “gay icon” Williamson may have a tilt at the Auckland Mayoralty. Could be by election time …

    • samwise 17.1
      23 April 2013 at 3:31 pm

      Maurice Williamson or Len Brown what has Auckland done to deserve these morons ?

    • Morrissey 17.2
      23 April 2013 at 3:43 pm

      ….Maurice “gay icon” Williamson may have a tilt at the Auckland Mayoralty.

      Will he be taking secret payments from the (gay-hating) Brethren again?

    • JK 17.3
      23 April 2013 at 3:56 pm

      “There is a rumour that Maurice “gay icon” Williamson may have a tilt at the Auckland Mayoralty.”

      MS – Williamson must be about the sixth Nat MP to deflect (or get dumped), if that is what happens ? What’s going on in the Nat caucus ? ?

      • Rhinocrates 17.3.1
        23 April 2013 at 5:12 pm

        You know, strange as it may seem and while I hate the Nats, Williamson at least I respect for having principles. Sometimes they seem to overlap with my own, as opposed to the likes of Key, who has none, or Browlie who’s simply a childish bully or the likes of Joyce who see only opportunities for profit. I suppose that’s the very reason why the party has relegated him to the backbenches.

        In an alternative universe, it would be Williamson vesrus Cunliffe and that would be a worthy debate. Instead we have Mumblefuck backed by the walking dead versus a sleazy used car salesman.

        Life is second-rate. God, if you’re listening, do better!

        • Northshoreguynz 17.3.1.1
          23 April 2013 at 5:46 pm

          The man who gave us leaky buildings, great choice.

        • geoff 17.3.1.2
          23 April 2013 at 7:19 pm

          Ironic that you chose Williamson and panned Joyce seeing as how it was Williamson who sold broadcasting rights to Joyce which made him a millionaire…

  19. Pascal's bookie 19
    23 April 2013 at 5:03 pm

    LOL @ Colin Craig, feel a bit sorry for Chap Trip, which is an odd fucking feeling. They’ll console themselves with a fat cheque though so they’ll be right;

    http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/chapman-tripp-legal-notice-23-april-2013/

  20. Morrissey 20
    23 April 2013 at 5:04 pm

    “I don’t recall any swamis being present!”
    Yet another largely wasted hour on The Panel
    Radio NZ National, Tuesday 23 April 2013
    Jim Mora, Rosemary McLeod, Chris Wikaira

    This morning, National Radio listeners had the rare treat of hearing someone knowledgeable and articulate speaking about the politics of power generation, when Kathryn Ryan interviewed Geoff Bertram.

    This afternoon, however, Jim Mora’s producers have made sure that we were transported back to La La Land. Forget about speaking to someone who has an established academic reputation, who speaks with authority and without political bias; the order was obviously to get someone who “balanced” out the experts. The man chosen for this necessary task was Brian Leyland, a climate-change denier and hard right ideologue. Leyland even repeated the government’s (i.e. Steven Joyce’s) outrageous lie that the Labour-led government will “expropriate” the money of people who are foolish enough to still buy these shares.

    Sadly, however, the Panel today consists of Rosemary McLeod, who had already announced that she was “impressed” by a pro-privatization article in the Dominion-Post, and Chris Wikaira who, on his many appearances on this programme, has never uttered a single word that indicates he thinks seriously about anything. No wonder that he has often been touted as a likely addition to the National Party list.

    True to form, Jim Mora failed to challenge anything Leyland said. So we had a voice from the most irrational reaches of the far right given a free platform for the best part of ten minutes, without a word of contestation by anyone on the Panel. Yet again.

    Next, media pop psychologist Marc Wilson from Victoria University vapored on trivially and uninterestingly for five long minutes about teenagers’ “addiction to electronic devices”. Mora was evidently bored and almost had to be jolted awake after Wilson stopped talking….

    MORA: Mmmm, yeah, that’s a very good point. As USUAL from you, Marc Wilson. Chris Wikaira, anything on your mind?

    CHRIS WIKAIRA: Anzac Day. We have our soldiers coming back from Afghanistan where they’ve been doing some fantastic things.

    MORA: I see Annie Goldson’s documentary about the New Zealand deployment in Afghanistan will be on Maori TV tomorrow night.

    WIKAIRA: I’m looking forward to it.

    MORA: Rosemary?

    Rosemary McLeod’s contribution is to clench her teeth and snarl, denouncing some people who have raised concerns about white crosses being the default memorial for fallen soldiers. “I don’t recall any swamis being present!” she quips. Neither Mora nor Wikaira laughs.

  21. Draco T Bastard 21
    23 April 2013 at 5:47 pm

    Now, this is why we need either a life imprisonment (i.e, you come out in a box) or the death sentence.

    He was certainly not in the flight mode of a desperate killer on the run. How many desperados would pause to pay the rent on their flat?

    He wasn’t a desperate killer or a desperado – he’s a psychopath going about his everyday life. He’s not affected by killing people as most other people would be as he doesn’t have a conscience.

    • joe90 21.1
      23 April 2013 at 6:51 pm

      Had a look around but couldn’t find any mention of McLaughlin but the killing of Phillip Vidot appears to have been an awful crime committed by three young thugs.

    • Colonial Viper 21.2
      23 April 2013 at 7:01 pm

      Nope.

      We already have preventative detention for those who are likely to reoffend in a grevious way.

      For people who are highly unlikely to reoffend in such a manner, a ‘coming out feet first’ sentence is wholly inappropriate.

      • Draco T Bastard 21.2.1
        23 April 2013 at 10:38 pm

        For people who are highly unlikely to reoffend in such a manner, a ‘coming out feet first’ sentence is wholly inappropriate.

        As I understand it in NZ when you get a life sentence for murder what happens is that you go to jail for a time but when you’re released you’re still on parole for the rest of your life. If they don’t re-offend then they stay out but if they do (and I’m talking murder here, not some non-violent crime) we could, and should, say that they obviously won’t change, add the new sentence on to the original sentence and throw away the key.

        I’m all for being forgiving and giving people a chance but we also need to draw line to ensure that they don’t continue to harm society due to our being too forgiving.

        • Colonial Viper 21.2.1.1
          23 April 2013 at 10:50 pm

          http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/publications-archived/2002/the-sentencing-act-2002-monitoring-the-first-year/sentencing-for-murder-and-high-risk-offenders

          The Act also introduced a minimum non-parole period of 17 years for murders committed where certain aggravating factors are present (section 104). This more flexible approach recognises that circumstances in murder cases can and do vary markedly, which can impact on the culpability of an offender.

          That’s enough I think; a slow death sentence is to my mind still inappropriate unless preventative detention is called for, and that is an avenue which certainly exists and is rightfully used.

          I could perhaps be convinced of an eventual “throw away the key” policy if the state put in place significant ongoing post-release support systems for first time offenders. Far far more than it does now. But these days people get released from prison, and often have no where left to go apart from straight back to their criminal mates they started out with.

  22. McFlock 22
    23 April 2013 at 6:06 pm

    I’m not a fan of “life means life” imprisonment, but he certainly makes it pretty difficult to hold that opinion.

    There are any number of indicators there – the obliviousness to what other people notice, the belief that the jury would go for the “massive coincidence” line, the refusal to acknowledge his actions, the past history.

    But still, I’m not sure that the number of lives people like him would ruin or end is comparable to the number of lives that would be ruined by a society with permanent detention policies.

    The tragic math is that a psychopathic society will always be more dangerous than the few genuinely psychopathic people it permanently imprisons by happy coincidence.

  23. geoff 23
    23 April 2013 at 6:22 pm

    Who just saw TV1?!

    Fucking tory scumbags trying to push the line that interest rates could go up as NZ loses its credit rating.!! These tory fuckwits are desperate!

    • muzza 23.1
      23 April 2013 at 6:50 pm

      Were they conflating issues there Geoff?

      Sounds like they were from your words…

      • geoff 23.1.1
        23 April 2013 at 7:08 pm

        It didn’t go into detail (TV dumbing shit down), but the suggestion from some hack analyst was that somehow the Labour/Green electricity plan could cause the country’s credit rating to fall which would cause interest rates to rise.

        These crooks will say anything to hold onto their stolen wealth.

        • Alanz 23.1.1.1
          23 April 2013 at 8:43 pm

          And they are trying a variety of lines to try to hold the country to ransom.

          • Paul 23.1.1.1.1
            23 April 2013 at 8:53 pm

            Which the left can ridicule. I think a hilarious post could be written on this.
            Will check the Civilian over the next few days to see if they decide to get Key and Joyce suing them with an article about some North Korean energy plan secretly foisted on the country by the Greens…but maybe not, you don’t need to parody what the hysterical right is saying at the moment. It is ludicrous without making up!

    • kiwi_prometheus 23.2
      23 April 2013 at 6:51 pm

      I don’t watch Tee Vee, why do you waste your time doing that?

      Here’s a good interview between Julian Assange and Google’s Eric Schmidt. It actually requires literacy skills, which seem to be rare these days:

      “…dealing with a man by the name of Nahdmi Auchi. A few years ago was listed by one of the big business magazines in the UK as the fifth richest man in the UK. In 1980 left Iraq. He’d grown rich under Saddam Hussein’s oil industry. And is alleged by the Italian press to be involved in a load of arms trading there, he has over two hundred companies run out of his Luxembourg holding unit. And several that we discovered in Panama. He had infiltrated the British Labour political establishment to the degree that the 20th business birthday in London he was given a painting signed by 146 members Commons including Tony Blair. ”

      http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/04/21/highlights-from-the-incredible-2011-interview-of-wikileaks-julian-assange-by-googles-eric-schmidt/

    • Colonial Viper 23.3
      23 April 2013 at 7:09 pm

      Simple retort:

      Asset sales worsen our long term balance of payments. If National was at all serious about our credit rating, they would cancel asset sales tomorrow.

      • Draco T Bastard 23.3.1
        23 April 2013 at 10:50 pm

        +1

        Of course, National doesn’t give a fuck about anyone else and they’re quite happy for the interest rates to go up as it means that they’ll get more unearned income.

  24. Morrissey 24
    23 April 2013 at 7:49 pm

    By their books ye shall know them
    Catherine Isaac’s idea of intellectual reading
    Campbell Live, TV3, Tuesday 23 April 2013

    A couple of years ago, in an apparent attempt to impress his listeners, sports pundit and loudmouth Murray “Deaks” Deaker announced that he was going to spend his Christmas break reading. This unexpected news was somewhat marred a few seconds later, when Deaker went on to list the books he was going to read: Lance Armstrong’s autobiography (Deaker used to be Armstrong’s most aggressive booster) and Absolute Power by the crank Ian Wishart.

    I thought of this as I watched a very good feature about charter schools on Campbell Live tonight. It had lots of interesting speakers and footage from both New Zealand and the United States. Amongst everything else, however, one thing struck me as particularly interesting, and worrying: Catherine Isaac‘s books.

    As the sinister ACT mastermind croaked some hoary platitudes, I couldn’t help but look at the scanty collection of books on the shelves of her office. I could clearly make out only two; assuming they are representative of her reading, they underline just how how lacking in seriousness she is. One of them was America Alone by the absurd Canadian chickenhawk Mark Steyn. That Isaac is reading this whacky extremist is not a surprise, and nor is it a surprise to see the subject of the other book I could make out: RONALD REAGAN. I doubt that it was anything other than an adulatory tome.

    I looked hard but couldn’t spot I’ve Been Thinking by Richard Prebble or Unfinished Business by “Sir” Roger Douglas or Free to Choose by Milton Friedman, but I’m sure they were there.

    And what’s the bet that at least two of the other books on those thinly-stocked shelves were by that intellectual colossus Ayn Rand?

    • Ennui 24.1
      23 April 2013 at 8:25 pm

      Funny that, I was doing the same looking, same result. She really is a scary old trout is she not? Then there was the odd ornament on the shelf…….maybe an homage to St Ayn.

      • Paul 24.1.1
        23 April 2013 at 8:39 pm

        Those neocons just love using the word liberty….
        They never explain it means liberty to exploit as many people as possible, without worrying about any of the social costs.

        • Colonial Viper 24.1.1.1
          23 April 2013 at 9:15 pm

          It’s all about freedom (for the rich)

          • Paul 24.1.1.1.1
            23 April 2013 at 9:30 pm

            Catherine and her friends never mention the last 3 words.
            I must say she has much more of an aura of real power than any of the government ministers. Might be one of the powers behind the throne?
            After all, how do you impose a policy on the National Party with only 1% of the vote, unless you are actually have much more influence than that?

    • Pete 24.2
      23 April 2013 at 9:08 pm

      The right wing hasn’t had anyone who could really articulate their philosophy since William Buckley died. Have you ever ventured into the intellectual wasteland that is The National Review? It’s full of reactionary clap-trap.

    • North 24.3
      23 April 2013 at 9:38 pm

      Morrissey – my faith in you is redoubled – “hoary platitudes”. Beautiful !

      That crazy, scrawny, bottle blond, mutton-dressed-up-as-lamb old bag thinks it’s cool to make profits out of disadvantaged kids. Well of course it’s very cool if you’re of that vile mind-set. And what a good deal it is. The taxpayer provides the vehicle for the making of the profits.

      It’s the crocodile tears and the vaunted aspirations for the disadvantaged kids that make me chunder.

      Bitch !

  25. Kevin Welsh 25
    23 April 2013 at 8:27 pm

    Only one small step away from your very own Volkskartei…

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/8585746/National-census-could-be-scrapped

    • Draco T Bastard 26.1
      23 April 2013 at 11:00 pm

      I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising. People who believe in the ‘free-market’ are delusional and so will be predisposed to disbelieve anything that proves their beliefs wrong.

  27. vto 27
    23 April 2013 at 8:55 pm

    what if the labour-greens get in and do all sorts of stupid and bad things like this current national lot?

  28. North 28
    23 April 2013 at 9:13 pm

    Wow ! The Artist Taxi Driver talking about the Margaret Thatcher Museum. And the Nasty Old Snob Bitch Rot-in-Hell and her Strap-On-Cock. FIFTEEN MILLION POUNDS on the Margaret Thatcher Fucking Museum ! While disabled people in the UK (like that girl Meena) who’re in wheelchairs who can’t even fucking talk are getting letters from Atos telling them to report to the local Stasi Office to “explain” why they haven’t taken employment. Otherwise they lose their FIFTY THREE POUNDS a week fucking handsome benefit. Exchange rate. $106 lousy bucks a week. To live ???

    The fucking FIFTEEN MILLION POUNDS Tory wank-fest museum promoted by that pathetic Hurrah Henry Arsehole Cameron who calls the evening meal, that’s what we call tea, he calls it “supper” – good mates of Shonkey Python. Just waiting for The Taxi Driver to drop the “C” word = Ceaucescu. How could a decent person actually disagree ?

    It’s written. Those bastards – Shonkey Python is one of them although scoffed at by them because he ain’t got no graces about him and he’s a callow embarrassment – they can’t ultimately get away with it.

    Shonkey Python The Big Ponce simpers on about terrorists. Jesus, who are the fucking terrorists really ?

    Him and the likes of him, that’s whom !

  29. geoff 29
    23 April 2013 at 10:03 pm

    Just read this gem from commenter countryboy on thedailyblog. (good article too):

    I really like the way you Chris can peel the neoliberal agenda like a sour old grape .
    But I reckon it’s a simpler and even less noble thing than one might imagine . I don’t think neoliberalism is what might be regarded as simply seeming like a good idea at the time . I reckon it was a script for fraud and treason in the beginning and now that the pillaging has been done and there’s nought left but crumbs , the proponents of neoliberalism have to ease themselves out of the picture along with our money as safely and with as little fuss as possible lest they arouse suspicion from the stupefied masses . It’s my view that neoliberalism was a great con job . An almost unbelievably complex thing that’s spanned generations , has involved a cast of thousands and has seen to make a few good ol boys multiples of billions of dollars . I also believe that Labour is duplicitous in their desperation to slip out the back door .
    You yourself wrote about the ancient history of it . A deviant tangle of truisms to play out in the hearts and minds of the gullible and unquestioning . Like comfortable , post war Kiwi’s with hearts of gold and sea sponges for brains .
    Has anyone experienced a bludging hippy ? Now , if you were to meet the same person but this time wearing a fancy suit , you might then think ‘ Hang on a minute mate ! ? ‘ It’s your shout isn’t it ? ‘
    roger douglas should be investigated by the Police . All the Police . The Peruvian Police , the Welsh Police , the buddhist Police , the Police of the Serengeti , that one lone cop in Bluff . The SIS , the SAS , the FBI , the CIA , the NSC , the KGB , Mi’s 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , and 9 . He should be probed by a blunt fisted proctologist then by a nervy , jumpy urologist , and by a French man more accustomed to ramming grain into a goose . Roge should be stripped naked under bright lights by beautiful women with a keen sense of humour and a camera each . He should be paraded about as a warning of what can happen as a consequence of unprotected sexual intercourse between a mustache salesman and a rain forest pigmies pet sloth . I remember well the unfeeling lies that farted out from beneath that sparse thatch stretched over his meat eating teeth . A warm gust of brain fart containing every bombast’s tools of the trade . Well rounded vowels . The liars most essential affectation . His nasal entrenchments reaching out of the tele like a virus looking for a compromised immune system . Or a frail memory and/or an instinct to trust rather than not . We New Zealanders , we good Kiwis . We trusted him and then as if he were the Beast of Blenhiem with a sack of licorice all-sorts at a pet show he set upon us trusting souls and took our innocence away . He started a well documented thirty or more years of dysfunction and spiritual disease which has led this writer on a hobby career of alerting anyone who would listen to his greedy dysfunctions and insanities . The ‘ Free Market’ dogma he espoused was a lie . It’s that simple . He conned us completely . Neoliberalism was the perfect vehicle to use to rob us of our shit to use a common parlance . It’s not good enough to dissect neoliberalism for the sake of it . It’s not enough to say ‘ Oh well , never mind . It seemed like a good idea at the time . ‘ There needs to be an inquiry . A public inquiry . And it needs to be now .

  30. vto 30
    23 April 2013 at 10:08 pm

    I like the way good old Mr Shearer is standing firm in this nzpower thing. Hand up, no, we are doing it our way, refuse to buy into the govt frame-setting. Saw it repeated couple places.

    • Colonial Viper 30.1
      23 April 2013 at 10:53 pm

      Not bad from the Shearer man. (Oh McFlock, I didn’t commend him with the word “good”, but live with it)

      • McFlock 30.1.1
        23 April 2013 at 11:01 pm

        It’s okay CV, I understand you’re going through a slow and painful process.

        • Colonial Viper 30.1.1.1
          23 April 2013 at 11:22 pm

          mate, you Shearer Bearers have no idea 🙂

          • McFlock 30.1.1.1.1
            23 April 2013 at 11:43 pm

            No idea? You mean you’ve been suffering in silence?

            Funny name though, “shearer bearers”. It rhymes and everything.

    • felix 30.2
      24 April 2013 at 8:07 am

      Yes vto, the framing is all important. Good to see.

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