Open mike 28/11/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 28th, 2024 - 33 comments
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33 comments on “Open mike 28/11/2024 ”

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  1. Jenny 1
    28 November 2024 at 6:47 am

    MPs in the European Parliament, (MEPs) debate whether or not to abide by the warrants issued by the ICC for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

    The other person named in the ICC warrants is Mohammed Dief

    (Despite repeated attempts on his life, Hamas claim that Deif is still alive. According to wikipedia the IDF have managed to kill Deif's brother, his nephew, his niece, his wife, his 3-year-old daughter, and his 7-month-old son.[8][52]. Apparently Deif hadn't been hiding behind them, so despite wiping out his family members, the 'Where's Daddy' AI ap, was no help at all in locating and killing Deif himself)

    Weirdly, no one on either side of the debate disputed that the EU should abide by the ICC arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif. One can only assume that all sides considered it a given that the EU countries must abide by the ICC arrest warrant for Dief.

    The weirdness didn't stop there.

    Lukas Mandl MEP, Österreichische Volkspartei (OVP), Austrian Peoples Party.

    Nov 27, 2024

    @32:59 minutes;

    ……Dear colleagues, defence of democracy and rule of law, separation of powers, independent justice, freedom of speech and opinion, freedom of the press, these are pillars of our civilization. And who is fighting at the utmost frontier for this civilization and for these values?
    It is is the Israeli Defense Forces, and it's the Israeli government, and it's the Israeli people in the first place.

    So I very much listen to courts, but I also very much use my right to say my opinion in the framework of freedom of speech, freedom of expression and I think Churchill won the Second World War not alone, but he was the leader.

    Netanyahu will win the war for this civilization not alone, but he is the leader and he will be politically defined by the people of Israel in the first place, because this is a democratic country. And this is one other of the pillars of our civilization. And this is also what people, the decision makers here should understand.

    From the Chair: Thank you very much Mr Mandl

    If a colonial settler apartheid state is one of the pillars of our civilisation, what does this say about our civilisation?

    Freedom of expression is not a feature of Israeli society.

    https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-war-palestinians-dissent-protest-849cc9250534b5bae98cea89e6f4d35e

    Neither is freedom of the press.

    MEP Lucas Mandel can't be unaware that Al Jazeera is banned from reporting in Israel and from the Palestinian territories. That Israel doesn't allow journalists into Gaza and regularly murders those that are there?

    Mr Mandl must have heard that Israel's oldest newspaper Haretz has just been sanctioned by the Knesset. Either that or Lucas Mandel has the attention span of a goldfish, or he could just be a far right liar and propagandist.

    I wonder, when the New Zealand MPs finally get around to debating this issue, will any one of them be stupid or ignorant enough to claim that Israel champions the free press?

    Weirdly the New Zealand parliamentary MPs haven't even discussed this issue yet. Weird because New Zealand is a favourite destination for Israeli travelers, and weird because the ICC is likely to be issuing more international arrest warrants for Israeli citizens identified as being involved in committing war crimes.

    Just ignoring the issue won't make it go away.

    So what are we to think of this?

    Israeli war criminals with ICC warrants out for them, will be able to come here and wander around freely and not face arrest?

    What does this say about this country's respect for the rule of law?

    • Subliminal 1.1
      28 November 2024 at 12:53 pm

      We will most likely find that the world bifurcates along the line of old settler colonial instigators and outposts.

      At present in NZ we are finding these attitudes resurfacing with force. We are not yet a free and independent nation as can be seen by the racist introduction of David Seymours bill.

      Why racist? Simply because David asserts property rights for any corporation or individual that wishes to pay to exploit our home but denies them for agreements signed by the indigenous population.

      Accepting our role in this ongoing colonisation means accepting all the premises of the "legitimacy" of displacing, assimilating and killing indigenous people so as to claim property rights that enable the selling and destruction of the natural world. This "legitimacy" means accepting Netanyahu as one of us and rejectiing Mohammed Deif as the indigenous other.

      The US is making clear that they would enact the "Hague Invasion" act to free an arrested Netanyahu. France has rejected following the ICC indictment with a refusal to arrest him if he were to travel to France. Your examples above show that much of Europe would like to follow. The UKs Starmer may face some minor headwinds in his party but as a self declared Zionist would be unlikely to allow an arrest of Netanyahu.

  2. koina 2
    28 November 2024 at 8:42 am

    The UN has backed the illegal Jewish invasion of Palestine for 75 years.

    Now they are threatening to call the leader into the headmasters office an issue a warning and reduce his pocket money by half for a week.

    Would the arrest of Netanyahu lead to the expulsion of Israel from Palestine?

    No.

    Would that prevent all the damage done and lives lost?

    No.

    Its like sending the fire engine after the house has burnt to the ground.

    So the world can say we did our best.

    Of course you did.

    The arrest warrant for Putin will go nowhere. He is a Russian National hero.

    Just like the major criminal Trump was punished by being elected president a second time.

    Maybe we should put a warrant out for Hitler.

    That will help, right?

  3. Dennis Frank 3
    28 November 2024 at 9:00 am

    Outlaw ethos lures many in the US still, even if money works better than guns now. Trump's popularity seems to escalate in proportion to the number of laws he breaks:

    Trump has won more votes in each of the elections in which he was a candidate. Viewed in raw numbers, he got about 63 million votes in 2016, 74 million in 2020 and nearly 77 million in 2024.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/27/politics/election-voters-harris-what-matters-dg/index.html

    The romance mystique that boosts the charisma of those who flout the establishment definitely has an enduring appeal in the USA. Yet the Supreme Court can only support outlaws covertly so far – too many still see it as establishment.

    Republicans won the popular vote in 2024 for the first time in 20 years. Taken as a share of the citizen voting-age population, Trump and Harris each won the votes of about a third of the potential electorate. Another third did not vote at all.

    The third of the electorate repudiating democracy are even more anti-establishment than Trump's third, of course. They know all you ever get is the same old shit so why bother voting. CNN's triad of analysts claim that Harris under-performed. I disagree. Trump would explain their claim by pointing out that CNN is leftist establishment media.

    it’s clear that fewer people voted in 2024 compared with 2020. Comparing the two elections, Donald Trump added about 2.8 million votes to his total in his 2024 victory. Vice President Kamala Harris, on the other hand, underperformed by about 6.8 million votes compared with Joe Biden in 2020, according to CNN election results as of November 25.

    Those 7 million folk just saw no reason to continue supporting democrats. Pure self-interest drives most non-aligned voters. Incentives to motivate weren't there.

    • Bearded Git 3.1
      28 November 2024 at 9:39 am

      The US was split down the middle. Trump 49.9 Harris 48.3 at the last count I saw.

      • Dennis Frank 3.1.1
        28 November 2024 at 10:44 am

        Only in your mind. The stats I cited prove that it's a 3-way split, and the same one that political scientists first publicised during the Reagan presidency. The third of the electorate who don't participate in democracy could be recruited by the left, but that option remains unused. Normalcy, as usual…

  4. dv 4
    28 November 2024 at 9:05 am

    Interesting stat

    If musk gave each person in the world a billion $ he would still have 300b$

    • Bearded Git 4.1
      28 November 2024 at 9:38 am

      Calculation please.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 4.2
      28 November 2024 at 9:40 am

      If musk gave each person in the world a billion $ he would still have 300b$

      Musk is obscenely rich, but giving "each person in the world a billion $" would require
      ~8 billion billion = ~8 quintillion dollars = $8,000,000,000,000,000,000.

      If Musk’s 'worth' is about $263 billion, then he could afford to give each person ~US$33.

      It might be 'fun' to invent a new (variable) unit of wealth – the amount of wealth controlled by the wealthiest person on spaceship Earth. Currently the ‘Musk'.

      ~30 millions 'Musks' would be needed to give "each person in the world a billion $".

  5. Nigel Haworth 5
    28 November 2024 at 9:30 am

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360500540/how-labour-plans-win-back-auckland-and-next-election

    Working people? Populism? Mr. Hipkins is using the correct vocabulary for a changing world. It should lead to a important reassessment of Labour's settings. That reassessment starts with tax reform, but moves on to look at broader settings within what may become a modern version of import-substitution in a world heading into protectionism and instability.

    This article also implies that the forthcoming conference must address the need for a new consensus in the Party around policy and direction. This, in turn, requires mutual respect between Party and Caucus, laying a foundation for policy development and organisation around new policy settings.

  6. tsmithfield 6
    28 November 2024 at 10:02 am

    The first test against England today.

    I think serious consideration should be given to dropping Philips to bring in Young.

    Young is a better batter, and in great form. With seam friendly conditions, Philips isn't likely to get a lot of bowling, and NZ does have Ravindra who can bowl spin if required, and Mitchell who can roll his arm over with a bit of medium stuff if required. So, it isn't like NZ will be lacking bowling by dropping Philips.

    • tsmithfield 6.1
      28 November 2024 at 10:40 am

      Well, that comment hasn't aged well. Philips in. Young out.

    • SPC 6.2
      28 November 2024 at 2:22 pm

      An echo of a decision made yesterday …. like a ripple that eventually reaches all sides of a pond.

    • Bearded Git 6.3
      28 November 2024 at 7:46 pm

      I was at Hagley today and have tickets for all 5 days.

      Phillips an excellent 40 not out. As you know he is also a very useful if not quite front line spinner. That and his fighting spirit/enthusiasm makes him preferable to Young.

      I would drop Devon Conway and pick Young instead.

  7. tWig 7
    28 November 2024 at 10:36 am

    Big Hairy News dissect Luxon's interview with RNZ on the government KPIs after a year in power. From 1h12min.

    "Luxon takes credit while refuses responsibility"

    And the price of throwing working people under the buses is about to double, as NZTA removes subsidies.

  8. joe90 8
    28 November 2024 at 11:17 am

    CoC muppets strike again.

    //

    @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social‬

    Of course, much more nuanced in the full story. As for the holdback, it's noticeable that Blakely says the report's most important planning recommendations are bulking up health infrastructure and workforce, especially IT and public health. Massive planned cuts to both have just been announced.

    @covidsafenz.bsky.social‬

    Headlines from a briefing with Professor Tony Blakely, New Zealand Royal Commision Covid Inquiry chair look ominous 👀 The report is being delivered today, but Min Brooke van Velden has signalled that the report might not be released for several months.

    https://bsky.app/profile/covidsafenz.bsky.social/post/3lbxbxcem5k2a

    https://bsky.app/profile/tzemingdynasty.bsky.social/post/3lbxfwtzs7s2t

  9. Tiger Mountain 9
    28 November 2024 at 1:18 pm

    I often call the blue bellies “plods” online to appear somewhat reasonable, but they are back to being Pigs and Popo now after sending 70 of their motley crew to a Tangi on the back of “snatch the patch” law.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/535033/three-gang-patch-arrests-as-police-brace-for-mongrel-mob-funeral

    NZ Police culture remains racist, misogynist, macho, violent, and regularly acts illegally, unaccountably–and holds grudges.

    • I Feel Love 9.1
      28 November 2024 at 5:25 pm

      Had a helicopter haranguing the residents too, 3+ hours apparently. Also in Rawiri Waititi's electorate.

      FTP!

    • Janice 9.2
      28 November 2024 at 5:29 pm

      I wonder where the extra court time to prosecute these gang patch arrests, and what will happen if they all refuse to pay the $5,000 fine and opt for jail instead? Also the police will have to be off the beat to go to the court prosecution I guess.

  10. Dennis Frank 10
    28 November 2024 at 1:21 pm

    Spinoff has this Greens vs Greens saga: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/28-11-2024/privatisation-lost-the-green-party-vs-the-green-party

    It's also a councillors vs public servants saga, with historical context:

    On April 10 1992, The Dominion revealed a decades-long conspiracy at the heart of Wellington City Council. Since the 1960s, a select group of senior officials had operated a secret society known as the “Order of the Rabbit”.

    Bound by arcane rituals and a shared hostility to elected councillors, members swore an oath to protect the interests of the order and keep its existence hidden. Members claimed it was all just fun and games – “a team building exercise” – but to mayor Sir James Belich, it had “more sinister implications”. Whatever the order’s true intentions, the scandal highlighted an often obscured part of the political process: the role of public servants in shaping political outcomes.

    Fetishing a 19th-century immigrant species is kinda weird, but officials are capable of any wackydoodle thing you can think of…

    • Obtrectator 10.1
      28 November 2024 at 6:27 pm

      I remember that "Rabbits" business. At the time we had one of those senior council officials as a next-door neighbour. He certainly was what Obtrectatrix likes to call "a piece of work", and I'm quite ready to believe he was capable of indulging in that sort of nonsense with underlying serious intent.

      • Dennis Frank 10.1.1
        28 November 2024 at 7:47 pm

        smiley Well the report says the bunnies began in the 1960s & were still rabbiting on in the 1990s. Not too much of a stretch to imagine some still operating deep within the warren, huh? Our own deep state structure, albeit local to the capital.

  11. Vivie 11
    28 November 2024 at 1:48 pm

    Slanted news coverage of political issues is sometimes evident on TV One and TV 3. The newsreaders' summaries of the items to follow can encourage watching, but Chris Hipkins and other Opposition MPs don't always get TV coverage of their earlier radio broadcast opinions on Government announcements, policies and other topical issues; or Opposition MPs' comments are edited, so are less impactful or meaningful.

    Last night TV 3's Jenna Lynch reported on the recent Talbot Mills poll. She showed graphs of which party the public thinks controls the direction of the Coalition Government, and public opinion on whether the country is "going in the right direction" – 40% agreed and 46% disagreed.

    Lynch omitted the poll results of support for each party in Parliament, maybe because National is on 34% and Labour is on 33%.

    So much for objective political reporting.

    https://x.com/RawiriTaonui/status/1861477523990659139?mx=2

    • Dennis Frank 11.1
      28 November 2024 at 3:03 pm

      ACT on 10% suggests Seymour has pulled 3% back from Luxon. Demonstrates how soft that part of the Nat support base actually is. You're right to point out her reporting slant: she's ignoring Nat/Lab parity in that poll.

      There's likely to be a poll on ONE News sometime soon. If it also has that parity within the margin of error Lux may have a dismal xmas.

    • SPC 11.2
      28 November 2024 at 3:42 pm

      It would be because the coalition still has a clear majority.

      But if it continues, then someone will have to note the claim made in 2017 (by National), that the largest party has the right to form the government.

      So the risk of National losing its wings (and majority) by 2026 may not be true. It might well be that National will fail to hold in the centre (with the same effect).

      The election in 2026 may come down to 2 issues.

      1. Labour vs NACT on governance.
      2. Green vs NZF on the future direction of the economy (sustainability vs resource exploitation).
      • Bearded Git 11.2.1
        28 November 2024 at 7:56 pm

        The silly and illogical idea that the largest party should form the government was comprehensively destroyed in 2017 when Winston went with Jacinda.

        • SPC 11.2.1.1
          28 November 2024 at 8:12 pm

          It was a claim made because of frustrated "entitlement" to perpetuate class war as an order of rule.