Open mike 23/05/2010

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 23rd, 2010 - 28 comments
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28 comments on “Open mike 23/05/2010 ”

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  1. Kaplan 1
    23 May 2010 at 8:53 am

    Record depth of Bryers’ debt revealed

    This guy is pure scum and still continues to lie his way through everything.

    “Bryers, who issued a statement on Friday apologising for his actions, had an “immense” sense of responsibility for the company failure and the losses that followed.”

    No he doesn’t, if he did he’d be living in a modest house driving a second hand modest car and paying back whatever he could earn to the people he robbed, since he feels so ‘responsible’. Actually, ideally he’d be in jail, but that chance is gone.

    $80,000 that he doesn’t have to pay until after his bankruptcy and 75 hours community work. pfffftttt. What a bad joke.

  2. Bill 2
    23 May 2010 at 10:01 am

    I don’t know the political leanings of the Dutch government that undertook to see that all food procured by local and regional authorities was produced in a sustainable fashion by 2015.

    I don’t know the make up of the Hospital Boards in Cornwall where ‘increasing’ amounts of locally produced and organic food is being sourced and served to visitors, staff and patients.

    I don’t know the politics of the relevant authorities in East Ayrshire where 90% of school meal ingredients are unprocessed 30% organic and 70% is locally sourced.

    But I do know the basic ideology of the Tory Party in the UK.

    And while our government scraps healthy food in schools initiatives and drags its feet on animal welfare reform, the Tories in Britain have a task force set to recommend that the “government and public sector’s £2bn annual food budget to be spent on produce that is organic, has been produced nearby and meets animal welfare standards.”

    Allowing that this might not eventuate in policy, the question remains as to why NZ is so determined to don it’s ’20 odd years behind the times’ mantle on this issue as well others.

  3. ianmac 3
    23 May 2010 at 10:44 am

    “Historian Dame Judith Binney has slated John Key’s refusal to return ownership of Te Urewera National Park to Tuhoe, saying his claim that it created a precedent was “quite wrong”.
    and:
    “Moreover, in 1896 the Liberal government of Richard Seddon had passed a law giving the tribe a large degree of self-government or tribal authority over its area a measure that was “absolutely unique”, Binney said.”
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3728685/PM-quite-wrong-on-Tuhoe-claim

    • marty mars 3.1
      23 May 2010 at 10:53 am

      Such great news that dame judith is on the mend from that accident – we need all of us working together for justice and fairness to take their place as the ethos for this country.

  4. ianmac 4
    23 May 2010 at 10:50 am

    There are ads on TV that have a warm friendly person inviting people with money problems to “come to us and all your problems will be solved with short and long term loans are very low cost”. Smile. Cuddles.
    Now I realised why they annoy me so much. “Smile and wave” is a parody of those loan sharks! Smile. Trust me. I smile as I strip you of your wealth.

    • Tigger 4.1
      23 May 2010 at 6:08 pm

      Let’s see what the NACTs do to Carol Beaumont’s loan sharks Bill if it’s ever pulled out of the hat. Wanna bet they cry ‘too much regulation, let people decide for themselves…’?

  5. Quoth the Raven 5
    23 May 2010 at 11:32 am

    Another broken campaign promise from Obama it’s sixteen months since Obama was elected and America is still in Iraq (I suppose that can be filed with the campaign promise not to hire any former Washington lobbyists). Of course when Obama got elected he changed that to 19 months. What’s to bet that date will roll around and there’ll still be troops in Iraq. This is of course excluding the 50,000 troops he plans to leave there. Like the Iraq war the promised date to close Guantanamo bay passed months ago. It’s still open and men are still held at Obama’s pleasure. Word to Obama it doesn’t really make a difference if you close one Guantanamo just to expand another (Bagram). That’s progressivism for you.

  6. Alexandra 6
    23 May 2010 at 11:53 am

    Great watching Guyon Espiner doing his job on Q & A today. He was dogged as English persistantly side stepped giving the straight answers. The best was Espiner asking whether English wanted to float shares in Kiwi bank to private investers. English again side stepped and Espiner finally put it to English whether he agreed with himself, referring to the recent announcement English made about floating kiwibank shares.

    • Lazy Susan 6.1
      23 May 2010 at 12:58 pm

      Yes, Tumeke! said this was good too so I went to TVNZ On Demand but it is strangely missing. Was it in Part 1? The On Demand version just starts with Holmes doing a “Welcome back” and then back referring to English interview. Do I smell a rat?

      • just saying 6.1.1
        23 May 2010 at 1:02 pm

        In my experience the link appears in ‘Scoop’ on Monday.

        • Lazy Susan 6.1.1.1
          23 May 2010 at 1:53 pm

          Found it here. Guyon did a great job. Funny watching Blinglish contort like that – well yes it is black Guyon but I think I prefer to call it white!

    • jason rika 6.2
      23 May 2010 at 1:28 pm

      Yes it was good to see both bill english and maurice williamson sqirming. Did you however catch the english fruedian slip, “I’m not a tax expert.” I was astounded, what the hell are you doing setting these punitive tax rates then, idiot?

    • Fisiani 6.3
      23 May 2010 at 2:08 pm

      But did you actually listen to Bill English’s great answers. You lefties have to turn down the angry voice of envy and learn to listen. Thank goodness we finally have a Finance Minister who understands how to get growth. Guyon was stumped time and time again. Banging on and on about fairness when Budget 2010 was about prosperity and tax cuts for all which is far more important for New Zealand. Watch the end of the clip and see the wry smile on Bill’s face knowing that he has triumphed in his message of hope and transformation.

      • Lazy Susan 6.3.1
        23 May 2010 at 2:13 pm

        Yes, but I wouldn’t call them answers.

      • Willie Maley 6.3.2
        23 May 2010 at 2:59 pm

        Seroius question here Fisiani. If National had won in 05 and English was Finance Minister, how would we have survived the Global Recession in 08?

        • Fisiani 6.3.2.1
          23 May 2010 at 6:32 pm

          National could not never have won in 2005 because Labour screwed the scrum on electoral financing and illegal spending

      • ianmac 6.3.3
        23 May 2010 at 3:38 pm

        @Lazy Susan. Thanks for the link. I watched it both as a left and as a right leaning person, which Fisiani wanted.
        I think that Guyon did an excellent job on our behalf.
        I think Bill was unable/unwilling to answer the specifics. eg: Will it cost parents more for ECE? Ans: Spending has tripled. (You mean higher standards and big increase in number of Centres cost more. Surprise?)
        If you were Fisiani you would applaud Bill for his perseverance and ability to avoid difficult questions, (but he might feel uncomfortable deep down that the fish-hooks in the Budget are real.)
        By the way notice how Bill gives a little nod to his right whenever he is discomforted? Smugness too?

  7. Name 7
    23 May 2010 at 11:58 am

    Apropos the budget, nice little piece I’d recommend reading:

    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/05/schama-are-the-guillotines-being-sharpened.html

    • ianmac 7.1
      23 May 2010 at 12:23 pm

      Thanks Name. Well worth the time to read. History bound to repeat?
      “Unequal societies, in other words, will remain unhealthy societies and also unhappy societies no matter how wealthy they become.”
      We are heading that way aren’t we. Gaps growing. Crime. Dependency. Unrest.

    • just saying 7.2
      23 May 2010 at 12:23 pm

      Thanks,
      What a brilliant summary.

    • uke 7.3
      23 May 2010 at 1:48 pm

      Yeah – good read, cheers

    • pollywog 7.4
      23 May 2010 at 2:46 pm

      ain’t sayin’ nuthin slick to an oilcan…

    • RedLogix 7.5
      23 May 2010 at 4:52 pm

      Same here..great link.

      And the comment thread has some real gems too.

  8. frustrated 8
    23 May 2010 at 2:33 pm

    Pythonesque ……….

    “A blonde model was having a relationship with disgraced Bridgecorp boss Rod Petricevic when he allegedly signed off more than $1 million in “dishonest” payments to her, according to investigators.”

    Wright told the Dominion Post this week the money from Bridgecorp was fairly earned: “I worked my butt off for that company, seven days a week.”

    Bridgecorp collapsed in 2007 owing 14,500 investors almost $460m….. one can only hope the both gave each other varying types of clap.

    Petricevic’s lawyer Paul Davison, QC, last night said: “I’m trekking in the Himalayas at the moment, and am not in a position to comment.”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10646900