Open mike 27/09/2010

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 27th, 2010 - 47 comments
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47 comments on “Open mike 27/09/2010 ”

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  1. Tigger 1
    27 September 2010 at 8:16 am

    Now we’re targets for terrorists when overseas. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10676343

    Gee, thanks Mr Key…

    • Murray 1.1
      27 September 2010 at 10:03 am

      Shouldn’t it be “Thanks Labour and thanks Helen Clark

      • NickS 1.1.1
        27 September 2010 at 10:22 am

        Except of course, even if we didn’t get involved in Iraq and Afghanistan NZ’ers would still be targets simply because we’re Westerners, and that means big fat ransom demands and “warnings” about not getting involved. Fundies aren’t exactly known for strong critical thinking skills, and the independent cell-structure of Al Qaeda means that the cells aren’t going to act all the same way, nor not incorporate criminal elements.

        Also, if you want someone to blame, blame Pakistan for creating the various Islamic terrorist groups as means of attacking India over Kashmir, and the Indian government’s pathetic treatment and protection of Muslim Indians that helps create a foot hold for the fundies.

        • Tigger 1.1.1.1
          27 September 2010 at 10:54 am

          Actually I’m an Arab…they’ll take you guys and hand me back or else my family will kill them…

  2. prism 2
    27 September 2010 at 10:02 am

    Dick Quax is pretty hard-nosed in his judgements and he thinks the Commonwealth Games have become an overweight extravagance. One reason is the amount of team sport involved displacing the individual athlete. He was quoting last week the cost of Games rising from earlier affordability on an exponential curve.

    It would be a sad day to see the end of these games as they bring small countries together – they could take the place of Ted Turner’s Friendly Games. But the costs are too high and the inability of post-fraud government finances to meet present demands means it is essential that Dick and other pragmatic thinkers should be listened to.

    • Draco T Bastard 2.1
      27 September 2010 at 1:01 pm

      Dick Quax is pretty hard-nosed in his judgements and he thinks the Commonwealth Games have become an overweight extravagance.

      I’d agree with that. I’d also throw in the Olympic Games, the RWC and the Americas Cup. They’re nothing more than vehicles to channel money to rich people now. They’re certainly not about the sport or camaraderie any more.

  3. Murray 3
    27 September 2010 at 10:07 am

    How long will it take Andrew Little to become leader of the Labour Party?
    With him in charge I would probably vote Labour

    • outofbed 3.1
      27 September 2010 at 10:51 am

      Nice bloke Andrew, not the most charismatic sorta guy though is he?

      • Tigger 3.1.1
        27 September 2010 at 10:55 am

        Well he might not make the girls of Chilton St James wet their knickers like rock-god Key but then again if I wanted a leader who could do that I’d vote Justin Bieber for PM…

        Actually Andrew is a charismatic guy, good on stage and likeable in person.

      • Blighty 3.1.2
        27 September 2010 at 2:52 pm

        when i want charisma, I look to Norman, eh oob?

    • the pink postman 3.2
      27 September 2010 at 4:02 pm

      By your comments I would presume you would never vote Labour, As for us being a target for terrorists being the fault of Helen Clark well you must be living on another planet.It was Helen Clark and the Labour Govenment that refused to go to Iraq.Key and his mates wanted to support Right-Winger Bush . Get your facts right!

      • Murray 3.2.1
        27 September 2010 at 4:58 pm

        “By your comments I would presume you would never vote Labour” What a stupid statement!
        I see Andrew Little as a future Leader of the Labour Party. Hopefully in the not to distant future.

        It was the Labour Govt (Helen Clark) that sent troops into Afghanistan to support Bush,s so called war on terror. This is where the present day threats are supposedly coming from. (Al Qaeda Teliban)

        • Jum 3.2.1.1
          27 September 2010 at 5:34 pm

          There were two Murrays before the 2008 election. One of them on the left and one of them a rabid rightie. So, is this Murray trying to cause dissension in the Labour ranks or is this Murray being a concerned Labour supporter.

          Whichever Murray he is, if he can’t tell the difference between sending in people to help rebuild Afghanistan and people to destroy it methinks he might be the …

          Pink Postman was right. Helen Clark said no to racing into Iraq with the Australians and the Americans and the British and the Spanish etc. Key’s crowd said in a heartbeat they’d go. She went against the chest-thumpers flexing their whatevers. We should have been proud of her. Instead we pilloried her.

          She certainly didn’t spread SAS pictures around the world and tell the world like Key did for his photo op. He and National show such a dangerous naivety to this world of war-making. Eventually, we New Zealanders who can’t trot off around the world will have to suffer from his bad decision-making.

          captcha: fortunes!

          • Murray 3.2.1.1.1
            27 September 2010 at 7:50 pm

            Yay Go Helen. Lets send those nice nonviolent SAS into Afghanistan to help rebuild it

            • Jum 3.2.1.1.1.1
              27 September 2010 at 8:08 pm

              Don’t be silly, Murray. You used the classic 1 + 1 = 5 and it wasn’t even clever. The SAS and the people doing the rebuilding are two separate groups.

              • Murray …
                27 September 2010 at 8:25 pm

                Nope I used the classic1+1=1
                Al Qaeda and Taliban apparently don’t make any distinction between combat troops and rebuilding, Infidels are Infidels, only good for killing.

                • Jum …
                  28 September 2010 at 12:55 am

                  No, you are now employing the double back and skew the scrotum method.

                  Men, whatever pretty title they kill under is one group.

                  Those who go in to build schools, give people a bit of hope (especially women) of a life in the future is another group.

                  Actually you’ve done me a favour, Murray. Sometimes we need to remember there are two types of men; they don’t all rape, and batter and kill.

  4. mickysavage 4
    27 September 2010 at 11:30 am

    Is it just me or is Matthew Hooton especially irritating this morning on 9 to noon. He is labelling Students Unions as “far left wing organisations” and keeps thinking that National will get 50% at the next election. Why don’t they get a right winger who actually thinks rather than one who continuously spouts slogans?

    • Anne 4.1
      27 September 2010 at 11:41 am

      Even Kathryn Ryan was irritated by him this morning. Didn’t quite catch what it was, but she made a snarky suggestion to him couched in humorous terms of course. Effectively told him to get himself sorted. 🙂

    • Lanthanide 4.2
      27 September 2010 at 12:31 pm

      “Why don’t they get a right winger who actually thinks rather than one who continuously spouts slogans?”
      Hen’s teeth, perhaps?

    • Vicky32 4.3
      27 September 2010 at 4:07 pm

      He did seem a bit testerical today (more than usual), I wonder what his problem was?
      Deb

      • Carol 4.3.1
        27 September 2010 at 4:14 pm

        Didn’t Hooton say it was possible that Key/National might only last one term? Maybe he’s getting over-anxious about Labour forming the enxt government?

    • Lanthanide 6.1
      27 September 2010 at 12:45 pm

      Frankly that policy makes me want to vote Green because it is tinkering round the edges and achieves very little. I am very interested to here what their other “tranches” (favourite buzzword of the new millennium?) they have up their sleeves.

      • Tigger 6.1.1
        27 September 2010 at 3:40 pm

        Lanth – vote Green! And candidate vote the most sensibly you can in your electorate. Quick, before Key takes MMP from us.

      • Bored 6.1.2
        27 September 2010 at 4:00 pm

        Dear God Lanthe, the language of business is all too pervasive, \”tranche\” eeeek!!!!!!!!!!!! Cut it out, we wont change anything if we adopt the language of those we oppose, it merely reinforces that their ideological grip and framing of the argument will killl ours.

  7. Jum 7
    27 September 2010 at 12:58 pm

    I hope the rightwing NActMU support posters on The Standard are not being paid by the taxpayers as part of the PM’s spin department.

    Word has it there were about 46 (posted on Colin Espiner’s On the House blog) before the election of John Key as PM; goodness knows how many there are now.

    Then there’s the shadowy CrosbyTextor web of experts at misleading (lying to) New Zealand voters.

    • ianmac 7.1
      27 September 2010 at 1:06 pm

      Jum: I suspected that there was a panel of righties on Colin Espiners blog during the 2008 election. They were consistent about damning every issue that might otherwise have been up for discussion. It was hard to debate because of the shouting, and I think the same ones appear here and on Red Alert. I suppose that they are just the hazards of free speech. Being paid for it? Dirt money?

    • the pink postman 7.2
      27 September 2010 at 4:20 pm

      Well said Jum. This is exactly how Textor-Crosby work.They are experts at spreading rumours and scare mongering .The problem is how to counter these falsehoods. Its important that the collective Left must make sure that the truth prevails..

  8. ianmac 8
    27 September 2010 at 1:10 pm

    A useful piece on Public Address by Graeme Edgler supporting MMP because the fall out chaps like Garrett have no choice but to resign when shamed where-as an elected member can stay on as an Independent.
    http://publicaddress.net/6865

    • Lanthanide 8.1
      27 September 2010 at 1:22 pm

      MMP is not the solution for shuffling people out of parliament because they were list MPs that did something stupid.

      The correct solution to that problem is to not them into parliament in the first place, either by not voting for them, or by the party properly vetting their candidates.

      • Draco T Bastard 8.1.1
        27 September 2010 at 3:13 pm

        That’s a little difficult. Sometimes people only become stupid after they’ve got into parliament and we then need to remove them. The list seats work in that regard as well as when finding out that people did stupid things in their past and hid them.

        • The Baron 8.1.1.1
          27 September 2010 at 3:18 pm

          True, but not quite as well as having that particular list MP directly accountable to the people. While I am a fan of MMP, you have to accept that it waters down the amount of control that the public at large have over the MPs in the chamber, and instead hands a lot more power to the parties and their memberships instead.

          Hence the recurring problem of “I like Party X, but hate the guy they have at #5”.

          There have been proposals previously to allow voters to rerank party lists, but none of them have ever struck me as being particularly workable or usable by the common voter.

          • Draco T Bastard 8.1.1.1.1
            27 September 2010 at 4:24 pm

            you have to accept that it waters down the amount of control that the public at large have over the MPs in the chamber,

            No, I don’t have to accept that as it’s complete bollocks. From what I’ve seen it increases the accountability and the control that the public at large have over MPs. It means we can put pressure on the parties to dump them and when that happens they’re gone.

            • The Baron 8.1.1.1.1.1
              27 September 2010 at 4:39 pm

              Here’s a memo – John Key hasn’t gone anywhere. Whereas time and time again we have seen embarrassments of MPs kept on by their party – “from what I have seen”.

              Doesn’t seem like bollocks to me.

  9. mickysavage 9
    27 September 2010 at 2:34 pm

    Over at ipredict people are dumping their John Banks for Mayor shares and buying Len Brown for mayor shares. Len is at 0.86c and Banks is at 0.13c. They were pretty even a week ago.

    Sometimes the market can be right!

  10. the pink postman 10
    27 September 2010 at 4:07 pm

    The news that Labour will remove GST from fresh food and vegetables is good news and is a vote puller. Key’s statement that it would be too hard to administer shows what a dick head he really is. If the PM of a country does not know what fresh veges and fruit look like he should not be the PM

  11. Draco T Bastard 11
    27 September 2010 at 4:29 pm

    <a href="http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2010/09/business-is-no-friend-of-democracy.htmlBusiness is no friend of democracy

    How utterly unsurprising: our local business community are enthusiastic supporters of the Canterbury Enabling Act:

    The Government’s response to the Canterbury earthquake is not only a welcome relief to local businesses, it also provides a model for the kind of legislative environment businesses want across the country, according the latest MYOB Business Monitor.

    That’s about it – capitalism is inherently dictatorial.

  12. Vicky32 12
    27 September 2010 at 6:04 pm

    Oh TV3 strike again! Tolley whining about “brain-washed students” with the help of the TV3 reporter, who makes a point of saying that the letters students have sent are hand-written, but all say the same thing.
    TV3, NACT’s mouthpiece… exactly what the American CEO ordered…
    Deb

  13. Draco T Bastard 13
    27 September 2010 at 6:44 pm

    China duties to hit US chicken imports”

    China’s government says it will impose import duties on US chicken products it says are being unfairly dumped on the Chinese market.

    Oh dear, wonder how that will go over in the US considering that they’re getting rather upset with China keeping the Yuan low.

  14. Draco T Bastard 14
    27 September 2010 at 7:12 pm

    Just saw on the news that some of our scientists in Dunedin have developed a way to photograph individual atoms (83% of the time is friggen awesome). Apparently there is already notifications of interest from overseas institutions for acquiring the technology. So, the question is, how long before this is sold overseas and we lose the benefit of that development?

    We lose far too much of what we develop to foreign interests.

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