Open mike 27/11/2010

41 comments on “Open mike 27/11/2010 ”

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1. jcuknz 1

   27 November 2010 at 7:34 am

   A bit shorter than yesterdays … from the NYT today.
   “We are the front lines of climate change. No one who has a house here is a skeptic.”
   JIM SCHULTZ, of Norfolk, Va., where tidal flooding is a growing problem.
2. jcuknz 2

   27 November 2010 at 7:51 am

   If the auto obsessed city of Los Angeles is doing it why not Auckland? In a near bankrupt state of California whereas here we have a savings based recovery to pay for it.
   http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/us/26transit.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a23
3. Red Rosa 3

   27 November 2010 at 8:14 am

   http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4396541/Professor-and-team-take-top-prize

   Compare this remarkable high-tech achievement with the current NACT obsessions – lowering real incomes, restricting civil liberties, encouraging natural resource exploitation………..

   We seem to be ‘aspiring’ to something like the southern US, maybe Arkansas. A trailer trash economy of low wages and crony capitalism, with all that implies.
   • gingercrush 3.1

     27 November 2010 at 8:24 am

     And they wouldn’t have fucking won such a prize had this National government not implemented the prizes in the first place.
     • Descendant Of Smith 3.1.1

       27 November 2010 at 8:51 am

       Twit – it’s not about the prize.

       Self promoted as the Prime Minister’s science prize. More it’s all about me from the PM. I take it he’s not giving away his own money.

       It’s actually the support they’ve received in the last 30 years that made this possible and they show more humanity in this statement that you ever can muster.

       For the grants he had received in the last 30 years, the taxpayer could have funded 30 hip replacements. “How do I justify that to someone who cleans buildings at three in the morning and earns $30,000 a year?”

       You’re obviously having an angry day – that’s quite a bit of vitriol for a pretty innocuous post.
4. Jenny 4

   27 November 2010 at 8:31 am

   .
   The finger pointing is already starting and surprise, surprise, it’s the Maoris and the Greenies, who the right want to put in the frame.

   A deep probe needed to get all the answers -Business Herald

   It is important that the Cabinet displays the utmost integrity and announces a royal commission headed by an independently minded judge and at least two other commissioners……..

   ……..to probe major issues which impact on Government. Particularly whether “green mining” can be done in an environment underscored by an old faultline.
   And whether mine bosses took their eye off the ball as they “cut and tucked” their project to meet demands of the Department of Conservation and local Maori to put environmental preservation centre-stage.

   Fran O’Sullivan

   .
   • gingercrush 4.1

     27 November 2010 at 8:34 am

     Maori not Maoris. There is no S in the Maori language.
     • Jenny 4.1.1

       27 November 2010 at 8:35 am

       I know that Ginger.

       It’s also Greens not Greenies, I was trying to emulate the talkback radio audience that Fran is aiming her pitch at.
   • Jenny 4.2

     27 November 2010 at 8:34 am

     To paraphrase Fran: Let’s have a fair trial and then hang you.

     capcha – “political”
   • Marty G 4.3

     27 November 2010 at 11:37 am

     that really is disgraceful from Fran O’Sullivan: ‘if you had only let us open cast mine on national park land then these people would be alive today’
5. jcuknz 5

   27 November 2010 at 9:09 am

   Over at the unmentionable blog there is a farmer complaining about the problem of dairy effluent and how to deal with it and being dictated to by regional councils … it sounds serious until you appreciate the crux of the problem “the problem is not what you do with it but that the cows are doing it in the first place. It may be natural what they do but it is un-natural that we have so many of them doing what comes naturally. All in pursuit of more exports to buy trinkets from overseas.”
6. ianmac 6

   27 November 2010 at 9:36 am

   Dr Caldwell Esselstyn is a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, one of the top four hospitals in the United States,……… on how oil, dairy and meat exacerbate the thickening of the walls of arteries, triggering heart disease.
   On Kim Hill this morning. His research would wipe out all dairying, meat production, fish farming. Always a bit cautious about “new studies” but this research is pretty compelling healthwise, let alone the implications for our primary production. No wonder Japan blocks our dairy imports!
   http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday
   • Jim Nald 6.1

     27 November 2010 at 9:41 am

     We’ve got land, water and brains. We can adapt our production.
     • ianmac 6.1.1

       27 November 2010 at 9:53 am

       But Jim. Can you see farmers backing off dairying, or an elected Government supporting a vegetable only NZ? The tobacco Industry have a pretty strong lobby, but imagine Federated Farmers! Ha!
       • Colonial Viper 6.1.1.1

         27 November 2010 at 10:39 am

         ianmac its a case of the Left getting more organised and bringing more voices together. Even the PM had to take notice of the save NZ farms campaign.
       • Alexandra 6.1.1.2

         27 November 2010 at 10:56 am

         I heard that and wept, so started the day off with salsa on toast for breakfast but now I’m heading off to the beach where the snapper and pipi will be cleaned and waiting for me. I can easilly give up red meat and dairy but the doctors recipe for health is a little extreme for me. No olive oil, nuts, yogurt and cheese. When Kim Hill asked if he drank alcohol he replied yes. I felt my heart lift and then fall when he added …..a small glass of beer each week.
       • KJT 6.1.1.3

         27 November 2010 at 11:14 am

         Federated farmers have more power than the Government. Remember the “Fart Tax”.
         • Colonial Viper 6.1.1.3.1

           27 November 2010 at 11:17 am

           Have more will power than the Government, perhaps.
           • KJT 6.1.1.3.1.1

             27 November 2010 at 11:33 am

             True.
         • millsy 6.1.1.3.2

           27 November 2010 at 11:33 am

           ..someone called Federated Farmers the National Party in gumboots. I think it appears more to be the ACT party in gumboots now..

           I would love someone to set up a alternative farmers organisation which doesnt promote intergenerational theft (I bet when they were kids, Don Nicholson, Charlie Pedersen and Ele Ludemann of Homepaddock fame used to love swimming the the rivers they want to poison and trash so today’s and tomorrow’s kids cant swim in them.).
           • KJT 6.1.1.3.2.1

             27 November 2010 at 12:07 pm

             There are farmers like that.
             I remember one cocky proudly showing me the stream life on his farm, discussing how stream life in most parts or the world had gone and the measures he was taking to keep his stock from polluting the streams..

             Unfortunately those guys do not seem to join Federated farmers.
             • millsy …

               27 November 2010 at 6:54 pm

               “Unfortunately those guys do not seem to join Federated farmers.”

               Why would they want to?

               There is nothing inherently wrong with profit, but too much of our farmers and business people have the same attitude to it as drug dealers and pimps do, that is make as much money as they can and who gives a fuck about the impact on the communities they live in.
   • Draco T Bastard 6.2

     27 November 2010 at 11:37 am

     More studies showing that dairy is bad for you the better IMO. We can alter our economy but it’s going to take cold hard facts (which the RWNJs in NACT will deny as they always do) to get people to change
7. Tigger 7

   27 November 2010 at 11:24 am

   Interesting piece on Pike River CEO PeterWhittal. Most telling quote: “Tragedy seeks heroes (and villains)”. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10690395

   Isn’t the media who do that? And history probably.

   This appears to be a piece designed to make us think highly of Whittal. So much about how wonderful his wife is, how clever his daughter is…would prefer he wasn’t canonised just yet thanks Granny Herald, give us some facts about the but stop trying to sell me on what a great person he is. I can figure that out on my own.
   • ianmac 7.1

     27 November 2010 at 11:59 am

     And remember the tragedies visited upon the more than 300(?) who die from work related accidents each year. Wonder who their heroes/villians are?
8. dave brown 8

   27 November 2010 at 12:33 pm

   Yeah suck it up Coasters, if you handnt had mining disasters
   every 20 or 30 years were would you be? Here not eternity?
   Nah just another dull backward province with no identity.
   Now son, you have realised your dream of making the world’s wealth
   that of the worlds workers which you will find in heaven.
   Death maketh the man. Rugby and Beer don’t make boys men.
   You have that special quality of learning to live with disaster.
   Wish all workers in NZ could aspire to this as we face austerity together.
   You set an heroic example. Disaster is the price of ‘freedom’ going forward.
   We make our choices and live by the market outcomes and state bailouts.
   And as PM im telling you we feel for your loss because we can read balance sheets.
   We have to cry and believe this otherwise people might think its a National Party Disaster
   and that we are the really the useless sort of Coasters that sit under your beer glass.
9. the pink postman 9

   27 November 2010 at 3:11 pm

   Among the sorrow of Pine Creek let us spare a thought for Peter Whittal. This man has carried the burden of the whole tragedy . I salute this man I wish him well and hope he will shed the horror from his thoughts soon. let us all honour this thoughtful man.I have not the words to fully honour him. .
10. M 10

    27 November 2010 at 4:03 pm

    Couple of excerpts from Dimitri’s blog:

    America – the Grim Truth

    ‘Americans, I have some bad news for you:

    You have the worst quality of life in the developed world—by a wide margin.

    If you had any idea of how people really lived in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and many parts of Asia, you’d be rioting in the streets calling for a better life. In fact, the average Australian or Singaporean taxi driver has a much better standard of living than the typical American white-collar worker.

    I know this because I am an American, and I escaped from the prison you call home.

    I have lived all around the world, in wealthy countries and poor ones, and there is only one country I would never consider living in again: The United States of America. The mere thought of it fills me with dread.

    Consider this: you are the only people in the developed world without a single-payer health system. Everyone in Western Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand has a single-payer system. If they get sick, they can devote all their energies to getting well. If you get sick, you have to battle two things at once: your illness and the fear of financial ruin. Millions of Americans go bankrupt every year due to medical bills, and tens of thousands die each year because they have no insurance or insufficient insurance. And don’t believe for a second that rot about America having the world’s best medical care or the shortest waiting lists: I’ve been to hospitals in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Singapore, and Thailand, and every one was better than the “good” hospital I used to go to back home. The waits were shorter, the facilities more comfortable, and the doctors just as good……’

    and

    ‘No, the United States of America is not going to change for the better. The only change will be for the worse. And when I say worse, I mean much worse. As we speak, the economic system that sustained the country during the post-war years is collapsing. The United States maxed out its “credit card” sometime in 2008 and now its lenders, starting with China, are in the process of laying the foundations for a new monetary system to replace the Anglo-American “petro-dollar” system. As soon as there is a viable alternative to the US dollar, the greenback will sink like a stone.

    While the United States was running up crushing levels of debt, it was also busy shipping its manufacturing jobs and white-collar jobs overseas, and letting its infrastructure fall to pieces. Meanwhile, Asian and European countries were investing in education, infrastructure and raw materials. Even if the United States tried to rebuild a real economy (as opposed to a service/financial economy) do think American workers would ever be able to compete with the workers of China or Europe? Have you ever seen a Japanese or German factory? Have you ever met a Singaporean or Chinese worker?’

    http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/

    Anti-spam: lucky
    • KJT 10.1

      27 November 2010 at 4:09 pm

      And all these RWNJ’s want us to be more like the USA as they rapidly head for third world status.
      • Colonial Viper 10.1.1

        27 November 2010 at 4:20 pm

        In fact the RWNJ’s are still wanting us to imitate Ireland, the world’s Celtic Cat Rug.

        Clearly Ireland’s current woes stem from the fact that their 12.5% company tax rate is far too high. Why punish hard work and innovation by taxing it? Get rid of company tax – in fact all taxes – and watch that Celtic Tiger spring back to life on an ever increasing growth curve! The commoners meanwhile can eat cake in the soup kitchens. 🙄
11. M 11

    27 November 2010 at 4:05 pm

    Tent city cut down:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrPdZmPB36U

    Anti-spam: houses
12. prism 12

    27 November 2010 at 4:51 pm

    I recently mentioned Raymond Briggs satire and cartoons and freedom remembered Gentlemen Jim book and film. There’s a book offered on Trademe of G.Jim for someone who would like to get hold of it, also one on his parents life and he also has done children’s books and films. Some talent.
13. Colonial Viper 13

    27 November 2010 at 7:26 pm

    Born to Rule Slips Out into the Open

    Flight told today’s London Evening Standard: “We’re going to have a system where the middle classes are discouraged from breeding because it’s jolly expensive … But for those on benefits, there is every incentive. Well, that’s not very sensible.”

    This is the second time Flight, a former Tory deputy chairman, has fallen foul of the party leadership. He was barred from standing as a parliamentary candidate by Michael Howard in 2005 after suggesting that Tory spending cuts did not go far enough.

    The remarks by Flight, an outspoken figure popular in Tory circles, echo an infamous warning 36 years ago by the late Sir Keith Joseph, Margaret Thatcher’s intellectual guru. Joseph said in 1974: “The balance of our population, our human stock, is threatened.” A recent study, Joseph added, had shown “a high and rising proportion of children are being born to mothers least fitted to bring children into the world and bring them up”.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/25/david-cameron-howard-flight-breeding
    • Vicky32 13.1

      28 November 2010 at 6:23 pm

      Tee hee! (I have been on Frogblog this morning, arguing with someone called PhotoNZ, who says exactly the same things! )
      Correct me if I am wrong, but hasn’t he been here as well?
      Sadly, he’s not the only one who’s a thorough little eugenicist…. Shame!
      Deb
14. ianmac 14

    27 November 2010 at 9:21 pm

    “Meanwhile, Asian and European countries were investing in education, infrastructure and raw materials.”
    But not in NZ. We just have National Standards.
    • Descendant Of Smith 14.1

      28 November 2010 at 8:29 am

      Unfortunately some Asians were investing in our Private Enterprise Education system:

      Private Enterprise – being socially responsible since 1642

      “Kraidy said the school had promised the students a good qualification if they paid their fees of about $15,000 to $20,000. She said some students treated the “guaranteed-pass” course as a shortcut to permanent residency, though a few students did genuinely want to learn. ”

      Still that’s slightly better than the Auckland English Schools who send their “students” to pick fruit in Hawkes Bay.
      • Vicky32 14.1.1

        28 November 2010 at 6:47 pm

        Which school’s that, DofS? I have been relieving for various schools in Auckland, and have always suspected that some were dodgy…
        I’d love to know which ones to avoid!
        Deb
15. ianmac 15

    27 November 2010 at 9:35 pm

    “The Auckland-based financial institution (Equitable Mortgages) has around 6000 depositors and approximately $178 million in Crown-guaranteed deposits.”
    Wot the heck? Another bail out and the directors will escape? Herald tonight:
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10690406
    • Colonial Viper 15.1

      27 November 2010 at 9:46 pm

      Seems the Crown has no trouble finding funds when it needs to. By the way thats $30K avg per depositor, meaning that a lot of those depositors in this shonky firm will probably have >$100K.
    • Draco T Bastard 15.2

      28 November 2010 at 7:56 am

      So much for “risk”.

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1. The Standard: posted on 26 November 2010 at 5:02 pm

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