Open mike 28/03/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 28th, 2021 - 42 comments
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42 comments on “Open mike 28/03/2021 ”

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  1. Ad 1
    28 March 2021 at 8:03 am

    There are only two places I've seen Kokako; one is on Titiritiri Matangi Island and the other is on an obscure track up from the Fairy Falls in Auckland's Waitakere Ranges.

    But after near-extinction and monumental volunteer and iwi and DOC efforts, there are now 2,000 of them.

    https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2103/S00208/milestone-for-kokako-as-population-soars.htm

    This is what they sound like:

    Simply, congratulations to all who worked to ensure that species doesn't die.

    One day I will get to the Pureora. It was a mighty fight to save that forest. So congratulations also to those who fought successfully to preserveit.

  2. Obtrectator 2
    28 March 2021 at 9:12 am

    Interesting analysis that cites Sinead Boucher's decision to pull Stuff's advertising from Facebook a couple of years ago (scroll to the end):

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/27/is-online-advertising-about-to-crash-just-like-the-property-market-did-in-2008

    • Graeme 2.1
      28 March 2021 at 10:19 am

      The same can be said for all forms of advertising, it's a giant leap of faith that you will get some return on your spend. Often you don't.

      • arkie 2.1.1
        28 March 2021 at 10:46 am

        Measuring the effectiveness of advertising isn't scientific, and most of those doing the measurement want to demonstrate ROI for their client.

        • Graeme 2.1.1.1
          28 March 2021 at 1:46 pm

          Yeah, especially when it's very obvious to the client that the campaign hasn't worked and may have even been negative.

          We got this jem in the inbox from Destination Queenstown last week explaining the summer marketing flop. We turned over 1/10 of our rent through December and January, gather that was typical for retail around town, Wanaka and Stewart Island had record months…

          • pETER 1 2.1.1.1.1
            28 March 2021 at 4:36 pm

            The thing I dont understand is why would you buy something a sports person advertises.

    • Treetop 2.2
      28 March 2021 at 8:10 pm

      Walking through residential areas I see a lot of signs on letter boxes. Posted letters only, no junk mail, no circulars…

    • AB 3.1
      28 March 2021 at 3:30 pm

      Perhaps he has a little team of hackers trying to penetrate Govt systems, as with the leaked details of the 2019 budget? One can imagine the type – young fogey script kiddies with the words of Ayn Rand still coursing hot through their veins. If they find anything at all, Chris then gets to shout “scandal” from the rooftops.

  4. Forget now 4
    28 March 2021 at 10:22 am

    The irony – it burns!

    After being pressed by reporters about more transparency, Little took a swipe at the media.

    "With all due respect to some of the organisations you guys represent, the public debate as expressed in some of our media outlets isn't actually, in my view certainly, not very well informed,

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/439078/andrew-little-defends-sis-criticises-media-coverage

    • Incognito 4.1
      28 March 2021 at 10:50 am

      The irony is lost on many, I’d imagine. Little’s comments apply to much of what passes as ‘public discourse’, including on this site, IMHO.

      For example, it would help if people quote in full rather than selectively to suit their narrative, as that is conducive to mature and intelligent debate on complex issues.

      "With all due respect to some of the organisations you guys represent, the public debate as expressed in some of our media outlets isn't actually, in my view certainly, not very well informed, and it's not a particularly mature attitude towards a very difficult function of government, which is security and intelligence.

      "You can't just focus on little bits that give you a media headline, you've got to look at everything," he said.

      "The way we have a debate about security and intelligence is not to focus on the titillation, but to actually look at everything that's going on."

      Good luck with that, Mr Little, you can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.

  5. greywarshark 5
    28 March 2021 at 10:48 am

    Listening to Queen and the Bohemian Rhapsody I realised that it could be the anthem for present day NZ. Was Freddie Mercury divine and we didn't recognise him as such? He drew crowds, put out great messages, died early.

    Bracken's God Defend New Zealand reflects our past centuries, like the Christchurch cathedral. Have we the strength of mind to look at the B.Rhapsody and turn to change our tune, so to speak. Not so much 'my' end but it will be 'our' end if we don't start acting positively, rationally, and away from the leitmotif of growth, profit, and louche theories that play with our minds.

    "Bohemian Rhapsody"

    Is this the real life?
    Is this just fantasy?
    Caught in a landslide
    No escape from reality

    Open your eyes
    Look up to the skies and see

    I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
    Because I'm easy come, easy go
    Little high, little low
    Any way the wind blows
    Doesn't really matter to me, to me

    Mama, just killed a man
    Put a gun against his head
    Pulled my trigger, now he's dead
    Mama, life had just begun
    But now I've gone and thrown it all away

    Mama, ooh
    Didn't mean to make you cry
    If I'm not back again this time tomorrow
    Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters

    Too late, my time has come
    Sends shivers down my spine
    Body's aching all the time
    Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go
    Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth

    Mama, ooh (Any way the wind blows)
    I don't want to die
    I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

    I see a little silhouetto of a man
    *Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
    Thunderbolt and lightning very, very frightening me
    (Galileo) Galileo
    Galileo Figaro
    Magnifico-o-o-o-o

    I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
    He's just a poor boy from a poor family
    Spare him his life from this monstrosity

    Easy come, easy go, will you let me go?
    *Bismillah! No, we will not let you go (Let him go!)
    (Repeats)
    Oh, mama mia, mama mia (Mama mia, let me go)
    Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me

    So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?
    So you think you can love me and leave me to die?
    Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby
    Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here

    Nothing really matters
    Anyone can see
    Nothing really matters
    Nothing really matters to me

    Any way the wind blows…

    *Bismillah (Arabic: بسم الله‎) is a phrase in Arabic meaning "in the name of God", it is also the first word in the Qur'an, and refers to the Qur'an's opening phrase, the Basmala.

    *Scaramouche or Scaramouch (from Italian scaramuccia, literally "little skirmisher") is a stock clown character of the 16th-century commedia dell'arte (comic theatrical arts of Italian literature). (Both references from Wikipedia)
    https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/queen/bohemianrhapsody.html

    • mac1 5.1
      28 March 2021 at 4:32 pm

      When I left teaching, my farewell speech to the staff was based on the premise that the lyrics of "Bohemian Rhapsody", a song that I taught in a semester class on song lyrics, was not about a young man about to be executed for murder but the last thoughts before retirement of a secondary teacher as he reviewed his teaching career.

  6. Tony Veitch (not etc.) 6
    28 March 2021 at 10:49 am

    A little bit of levity on a Sunday morning: I reckon this should become NZs National Anthem (apart from the unfortunate appearance of Richard Prebble who did his best to make this country a carbon copy of the US!)

    • greywarshark 6.1
      28 March 2021 at 10:56 am

      edit
      Tony V – Snap as we used to say when thinking the same thing. I thought about NZ anthem separately – great coincidence. John Clarke moved from NZ because we loved him too much and Australia offered more opportunities of revving up the government. He will always have a good message for us, to cheer us along the right path. Looked at objectively was he a greater asset to NZ and the world than Rutherford? Heresy!

      • Tony Veitch (not etc.) 6.1.1
        28 March 2021 at 2:04 pm

        Agreed, Greywarshark. Just listened to the dirge being played before the NZ vs Bangladesh T20 match.

        The English words written by the arch misogynist Thomas Bracken. Hardly inspiring!

        • greywarshark 6.1.1.1
          28 March 2021 at 4:36 pm

          Bracken, was a man of his time I think. We need to ensure we don't drive the Tardis to another 19th century scenario.

        • Stuart Munro 6.1.1.2
          28 March 2021 at 6:29 pm

          I agree about the dirge – I was always embarrassed singing it. This would be a good one I reckon – fit for a country of stoic people that build things.

          Shame the movie was rubbish.

    • Incognito 6.2
      28 March 2021 at 11:02 am

      I’d start with changing the flag and go from there.

      • Gabby 6.2.1
        28 March 2021 at 11:38 am

        I'd start with building some cheap rentals and leave adjusting the bunting til later.

        • Incognito 6.2.1.1
          28 March 2021 at 11:48 am

          Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best. [my epmphasis]

          ― Otto von Bismarck

          How ironic that you of all people missed the irony, but it seems that you might not be the only one. I guess I’ll have to start including little emoticons and tags again <sigh>.

          • greywarshark 6.2.1.1.1
            28 March 2021 at 4:34 pm

            Yes by all means give us a guide to what you mean Incognito. I rely on measured comment when I read you to feed my need to see reasoned comment, or humour, whichever is appropriate for the subject. There is little enough around so yours is appreciated – too ironic and we lose the thread.

          • Gabby 6.2.1.1.2
            29 March 2021 at 1:27 am

            So you're casting or revealing yourself as a cynic?

            • Incognito 6.2.1.1.2.1
              29 March 2021 at 7:12 am

              Nope, I have my moments, but this wasn’t one of them. Just pointing out that irony is often lost on many, as was evident here on TS yesterday.

        • RedBaronCV 6.2.1.2
          28 March 2021 at 1:58 pm

          Agree that $25 mill would have given us about a 100 units. Key was an idiot wasn't he.

  7. greywarshark 7
    28 March 2021 at 11:12 am

    Flag – bit of coloured cloth, representation of a national entity.

    Song for NZ – sung individually to affirm our belief in NZ and our humanity – comes from the brain, heart and soul, it is spoken, is an action.

  8. greywarshark 8
    28 March 2021 at 11:14 am

    RIP to those in Myanmar now dead, and how can we bring a cessation to this action in Myanmar now? Concentrating on this and not looking at other horrors in the world.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/439314/114-killed-in-myanmar-s-deadliest-day-of-coup

  9. mauī 9
    28 March 2021 at 12:18 pm

    Interesting comments by Bernardi on Biden

    • Incognito 9.1
      28 March 2021 at 12:46 pm

      Who is Bernardi?

      Why is it interesting?

      Why should we click and watch a YT clip?

      Where is your own opinion and political analysis contribution besides calling it “interesting”?

    • Drowsy M. Kram 9.2
      28 March 2021 at 12:56 pm

      Is Bernardi’s ‘analysis‘ entirely disinterested? These pejoratives suggest not: "crazy Nancy Pelosi"; "hapless Chuck Schumer"; "cackling Kamala Harris" – it’s sour grapes imo.

      Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is a former Australian politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party he founded in 2017 but disbanded in 2019. He is a former member of the Liberal Party of Australia, having represented the party in the Senate from 2006 to 2017. Bernardi is a staunchly conservative Roman Catholic and author of The Conservative Revolution.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Bernardi

    • Ad 9.3
      28 March 2021 at 4:16 pm

      What a pathetic waste of time.

      Biden is generating a masterclass on how to get elected as a centrist then go hard on policy as soon as you get into power.

  10. Jester 10
    28 March 2021 at 5:43 pm

    Hopefully this guy is on a plane out of NZ in July then.

    Karel Sroubek given date for deportation hearing | Stuff.co.nz

    • KSaysHi 10.1
      28 March 2021 at 8:12 pm

      While he is a piece of work I fail to see why he is any different from the 501s we continue to take in.

      • greywarshark 10.1.1
        28 March 2021 at 10:16 pm

        10.1 We don't have a choice with the 501s expelled from Australia. But we must have some rules about foreigners in NZ being of good behaviour – though I don't understand just how it works. For instance the Joanne Wotsername who was imprisoned for defrauding the country, and seems a seasoned liar and finagler; she was jailed but just a tap on the hand and has been sent back to UK. We can't allow foreigners of bad repute to accumulate here and rip us off, better if we act early. We have enough woes to deal with.

        There are stirrers, particularly females at present, protesting in our streets about hurts to their sisters in the USA, and adding to that NZ information that seems exaggerated from what I read.

        Mar.27/21 https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/439300/rally-protests-against-anti-asian-violence-abuse-in-us-and-nz

        More than a thousand people have turned out for a rally in central Auckland calling for discrimination against Asians to stop.…

        Organiser Steph Tan is calling on the government to do more to prevent hate crime, especially toward Asian communities.

        During an interview with Afternoons this week, she said the march was a chance to express solidarity with Asian-Americans as they grieved over the loss of six Asian women among the eight people killed by a gunman in Atlanta…

        She said during 2020 hate crimes committed towards Asian-Americans had risen by 1900 percent during the Covid-19 pandemic as they were blamed for the origin of the virus.

        I think that the USA needs to deal with their problems. Why are we dragged in to blame for their shonky culture? Is NZ evidence being talked up, with individual instances becoming inflated? I was annoyed at the church which refused to co-operate with the government which then led to a lockdown in Auckland? If I criticise and express annoyance does this go down as showing intolerance, and if the people were Asian is that racism for the purposes of the Race Relations Commissioner? I think there is a possibility that each occurrence is regarded as evidence of widespread attitudes, wrongly.

        • RedBaronCV 10.1.1.1
          29 March 2021 at 11:10 am

          I too have wondered if we are importing grievances that are not really our own. We surely have enough of our own issues to be going on with. Plus the framing of them seems to usually be "the locals treat us badly". I have certainly seen instances, particularly in employment, where the locals have been hit by racist, sexist or other poor or non legal attitudes that have external cultural bias. Of course the behaviour and the framing is not acceptable from either group.

      • Noel 10.1.2
        29 March 2021 at 12:29 pm

        He is different. He was only in NZ for 7 years before his conviction. But then again he came in on a false passport so that my be enough.

        Unlike Australia if you were here 10 years or longer we accept we may have some responsibility.

    • RedBaronCV 10.2
      29 March 2021 at 11:14 am

      Looks like he has cost the country a compliance fortune.Not the first person who appears to have made it in here under a false name.

  11. greywarshark 11
    28 March 2021 at 8:25 pm

    Important announcement from business on housing resource – https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/439342/concerns-cost-of-timber-will-rise-as-major-supplier-halts-local-sales

    Carter Holt Harvey has stopped supplying structural timber to Bunnings, ITM and Mitre 10.

    Master Builders president Kerry Archer said the move came as a surprise, and was probably because the export market was more lucrative.

    Archer said while Carter Holt Harvey was not the only timber supplier, it could mean construction projects cost more as builders try to source supplies elsewhere.

    "You can't blame people if they're getting better prices for their logs overseas. It makes it hard to compete I guess, and it's just going to ramp up prices once again.

    Who do we blame then? This is the most recent example of a bloody poor business and economic system that NZ citizens have been prevailed on to work under for decades, when it could be seen it was taking us on a hiding to nowhere!! And how can we make change to having to compete with the rest of the world for our own resources needed here???????

    We can't put up with this any more. We are being ruined by these shits running the country whoever they are, and their little lapdogs the polly poodles.

    • Sabine 11.1
      29 March 2021 at 8:05 am

      oh well, surely we can pivot to some other buildings material. Right? We should have planned for that type of greed to not fall into a monopoly trap? Right?

      Never mind building is literally the only sector other then politicians and their consultants that still make money.

      But we are lucky, we have a majority government that will come to the aid of the distressed builders and home fixer upper doers, right?

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