Open mike 28/04/2013

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 28th, 2013 - 152 comments
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step right up to the mike…

152 comments on “Open mike 28/04/2013 ”

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  1. Jane 1
    28 April 2013 at 9:39 am

    Quiet here this morning, or has there been a hiccup?

    • Lanthanide 1.1
      28 April 2013 at 10:03 am

      There was a hiccup.

      • Lanthanide 1.1.1
        28 April 2013 at 10:04 am

        Just tried to delete this message as I see that Lynn has commented below about the problems, clicking on the “delete” link takes me to an otherwise blank page that says “-1” in the top left corner.

  2. AsleepWhileWalking 2
    28 April 2013 at 9:41 am

    “The dignity of work” – Is it just as dignified if our labour will be worth less than those on a collective contract?

    • Bill 2.1
      28 April 2013 at 10:38 am

      Work has its own dignity and reward built in. Jobs on the other hand? Can’t see any dignity there at all…just a tawdry exchange that attempts to mask blatent theft while promoting various human traits associated with selfishness that in turn cast us in the role of adverseries to one another … A waste of life and living.

    • Lefty 2.2
      28 April 2013 at 11:11 am

      There is no dignity in creating surplus value for some capitalist prick to steal.

      Until this myth is rejected there is no viable pathway to a fair and sustainable society based on the allocation of resources according to need, and of individual contibutions according to ability and meeting the requirements of the community.

      The first step is to start differentiating between jobs and work.

  3. lprent 3
    28 April 2013 at 9:43 am

    Outage this morning. The database server jammed up at 03:35 (cleared itself at 0449) and at 06:05 (I hard rebooted at 09:34) in a pattern I have seen a couple of irritating times now. I got some more logs on what the problem is.. I’ll have a look at them after breakfast.

    I was hoping that upgrading and cleaning up the database would either fix it or make it clearer what was going on. Hopefully the latter has happened.

    Damn I set my phone to silent whilst watching Warm Bodies last night (you can just see the pitch – romeo and juliet in the zombie apocalypse)

  4. Morrissey 4
    28 April 2013 at 9:44 am

    Hypocrisy Watch: Ali Williams criticizes the referee
    Queensland Reds 12 defeat Auckland Blues 11, Brisbane, 26 April 2013

    Ironic quote of the weekend, probably of the whole year, comes from the Auckland Blues captain Ali Williams, after his team went down by one point in Brisbane:

    ****************************************************

    “It comes down to what the referee sees. That hurts, that sucks.”

    ****************************************************

    The referee he was complaining about was the notorious CRAIG JOUBERT. Just eighteen months ago, not a peep was heard from Williams after he and his All Black team-mates had been effectively gifted the World Cup not by one marginal call, but by Joubert’s defiant refusal to penalize their flagrant repeated fouling of a superior Tricolors team.

    This time, though, after Joubert had actually done what he is always supposed to do, and refereed a match honestly, Williams is whining and bitching about not a systematic refusal to do his job, as happened to Williams’ benefit in the RWC final, but one marginal decision.

    As any French fan would say: quelle hypocrisie.

    And as local observers of Ali Williams, that tiresomely childish streak of narcissism, would say: fucking idiot.

    • Foreign Waka 4.1
      28 April 2013 at 11:05 am

      Maybe Williams can only win when he cheats?

      • Morrissey 4.1.1
        28 April 2013 at 1:09 pm

        Almost any player will cheat if given the opportunity. The fault in the 2011 RWC final lay with the referee, or (to be accurate) the non-referee.

        This is a good summary, from British television, of Joubert’s outrageous failure in that match….

        There are, of course, many more exhaustive French analyses of the catastrophe.

        • Jim Keith 4.1.1.1
          29 April 2013 at 4:38 am

          Absolute rubbish there – you cherry pick analysis that has been completely disowned except for whinging French fans.

          You don’t have a clue about rugby do you? At least come up with some examples instead of posting to something thats been completely discredited.

  5. AsleepWhileWalking 5
    28 April 2013 at 9:47 am

    If professional sports “stars” are having difficultly with the pressure that their job entails they should resign from their position before taking their mental issues out on other people…and then blame the pressures of their job.

    Screen out the weak ones BEFORE you sign them and create a climate of zero tolerance rather than offer up pathetic excuses for abuse.

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/04/28/stop-pretending-the-all-blacks-are-just-normal-ordinary-guys/

    Pressure of the game crap: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/all-black-granted-bail-but-barred-from-contact-with-partner-20130422-2i9qb.html

    • AsleepWhileWalking 5.1
      28 April 2013 at 9:54 am

      AND FYI, if it really were the pressure of the job why aren’t they hitting each other? Because

      – it is much easier to take your anger out on weaker females
      – it isn’t an acceptable thing to smack around a fellow sports star
      – the coach wouldn’t allow it to happen. They might lose a game.

  6. muzza 6
    28 April 2013 at 10:01 am

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/26/september-11-landing-gear-found-nypd

    A 5ft (1.5m) piece of landing gear believed to be from one of the planes destroyed in the 9/11 attacks has been discovered wedged between a mosque site and another building near the World Trade Centre.

    The piece of equipment was discovered on Wednesday by surveyors inspecting the lower Manhattan site of a planned Islamic community centre, at 51 Park Place, on behalf of the building’s owner. The inspectors called police who secured the scene, documenting it with photos.

    Got to keep those anti *muslim/islamic* emotions, well fired up, at all times!

    The propganda war, NEVR sleeps!

    • Lanthanide 6.1
      28 April 2013 at 10:05 am

      How is it propaganda to report the facts?

    • marty mars 6.2
      28 April 2013 at 10:11 am

      is the propaganda that they have found a bit of a plane with identification or something to do with the planned Islamic community centre I can’t work it out.

      Edit – I see you’ve added a bit but it still seems pretty murky in regards to the propaganda imo

      • David H 6.2.1
        28 April 2013 at 10:14 am

        Or the fact that they can call it Evidence, and tie up the building of said Mosque for a few years?

      • muzza 6.2.2
        28 April 2013 at 10:41 am

        Marty the propagada is in the timing of these *factual news releases*.

        They are designed to keep the racial/religious tensions ratcheted right up, an to provide constant programming of fear into the minds of the people, these are all techniques, make no mistake about it!

        The convenience of this *find*, being so soon after the Boston Bombings, and coming hot on the heels of the latest financial (rate swaps scandal).

        Such *news*, has multi facted distractions to fend off/to provide cover/support for, and ensure the focus remains firmly on the muslims/islamic *terrorists*, everywhere….because they’re everywhere, Marty!

        Never forget that, the news media certainly won’!

        This is more bankers sponsored *news*, just like the bankers sponsored *wars*, all of them!!

        • marty mars 6.2.2.1
          28 April 2013 at 10:58 am

          Fair points muzza although I’d imagine if they were holding onto this ‘evidence’ they could have found a few good (for them) moments over the last few years to ‘find’ this and report it.

          Interesting point about there being terrorists everywhere. If the definition of terrorist is defined by them then they can find terrorists everywhere and, based on their definition, they are correct, they are everywhere, and that certainly maintains and amplifies the fear.

          • muzza 6.2.2.1.1
            28 April 2013 at 11:04 am

            Exactly Marty – It like Key claiming WMDs in NZ, well under those who control the definition, about what constitutes WMDs these days, Key can easily claim he was not lying!

            Let’s not forget NZ’s shameful part in the history of chemical warfare!

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ranch_Hand

            EDIT: I’ll be following with interest, the progess of the landing gear, and how it turns out to related/unrelated to 911.

    • Ugly Truth 6.3
      28 April 2013 at 1:22 pm

      Managing the Boston actors:

      • One Anonymous Knucklehead 6.3.1
        28 April 2013 at 1:34 pm

        Yes, there are some twisted sad individuals out there, eh. Ghouls, preying on horror to satisfy their own limited understanding, and bolster their pathetic alternative histories. Are you one of them?

        • Ugly Truth 6.3.1.1
          28 April 2013 at 1:53 pm

          Yes, there are some retards out there, uncritically accepting the MSM narrative. Are you one of them?

          • marty mars 6.3.1.1.1
            28 April 2013 at 2:21 pm

            Good that you have admitted that you are twisted and sad ugly – that is the first step in sorting it all out – good luck with that.

          • One Anonymous Knucklehead 6.3.1.1.2
            28 April 2013 at 2:22 pm

            No, but then I’m not attempting to draw attention by exploiting victims of a bomb attack, I’m the one expressing my contempt and disgust for those who do.

            • Ugly Truth 6.3.1.1.2.1
              28 April 2013 at 2:45 pm

              Which victims?

              The 12 supposed dead reported by the NY Post, from a “trusted law enforcement source”?
              The people who suffered shock, disorientation, and possibly temporary hearing loss after the first explosion (supposedly loaded with shrapnel), which was just a few feet away from them?
              The man with shredded clothes who immediately ran from the epicenter after the first explosion?
              The Saudi national Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi, who was reported to have suffered a leg injury from shrapnel, yet was able to run from the scene and was later held in custody in hospital?

              • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                28 April 2013 at 2:52 pm

                No, the ghoulish trash who seek to draw attention to themselves.

                • Ugly Truth …
                  28 April 2013 at 3:26 pm

                  Why can’t you identify any victims, are you retarded or something?

                  • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                    28 April 2013 at 3:44 pm

                    All of them, collectively, are being exploited by attention-seeking trash.

                    • Ugly Truth …
                      28 April 2013 at 3:48 pm

                      So you are both a retard and a liar. Glad we’ve got that sorted out.

                    • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                      28 April 2013 at 4:07 pm

                      What do we call those creatures who feed on corpses? Ah, that’s right, we call them maggots, but maggots are just following their nature. What’s your excuse?

        • ghostrider888 6.3.1.2
          28 April 2013 at 1:59 pm

          good questions : disturbing.

        • Murray Olsen 6.3.1.3
          28 April 2013 at 5:00 pm

          Well put. Limited understanding and a digital world where there are only two options. Question the smallest element of their narrative and it’s “OMG OMG Another sheeple who believes everything in the MSM!!!”
          Small minds and a messianic complex, overflowing with hatred, they place watching youtube well before organised militancy in their arsenal of methods to change the world. In fact, they don’t even want to change the world. The horror is so all pervading and everything is so tied up in these enormous conspiracies that nothing can be changed. In their world, marching against asset sales = ignoring the non existent chemtrails; saving some whales = supporting the Kenyan Obama as he disarms us (forgetting in the transfer from Alex Jones to The Standard that we don’t live in the US and A); feeding kids = supporting Agenda 21 (whatever that is, it’s not a plan for world government and overly pigmented helicopters)……….
          Ghouls is too nice a word for them.

    • Ugly Truth 6.4
      28 April 2013 at 2:31 pm

      DOVER — New Hampshire State Rep. Stella Tremblay is calling for answers about whether the American government was involved in detonating explosives at the Boston Marathon last week, killing three people and wounding more than 170 others.

      In an interview with Foster’s Daily Democrat Tuesday, Tremblay said she can’t rule out the possibility the government was involved in carrying out the bombings.

      Tremblay’s remarks came a few hours after she was criticized by the New Hampshire Democratic Party for a comment she posted on Facebook several days earlier, in which Tremblay wrote that the marathon attack on April 15 was carried out by “Black Ops.”

      http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130423/GJNEWS_01/130429720/-1/FOSNEWS

      • One Anonymous Knucklehead 6.4.1
        28 April 2013 at 2:38 pm

        Yes, she’s a fucking idiot alright.

        • Ugly Truth 6.4.1.1
          28 April 2013 at 2:54 pm

          Why do you think she’s an idiot?

          http://www.freepatriot.org/2013/04/20/glenn-beck-says-he-has-proof-boston-bombing-is-inside-job/

          Glen Beck has claimed that he has proof the federal government has covered up the Boston bombing as being carried out by Chechnya terrorists. He says that the bombing was actually carried out by Saudi nationals and that he has the evidence to prove it.

          • One Anonymous Knucklehead 6.4.1.1.1
            28 April 2013 at 2:58 pm

            Morans unite.

            • Ugly Truth 6.4.1.1.1.1
              28 April 2013 at 3:02 pm

              So you were lying about uncritically accepting the MSM narrative, then?

              • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                28 April 2013 at 3:05 pm

                Skepticism, you’re doing it wrong.

                • Ugly Truth …
                  28 April 2013 at 3:11 pm

                  I’ll take that as a yes.

                  If you were skeptical of the MSM account you would have been able so say what was wrong with Glenn Beck’s position.

                  • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                    28 April 2013 at 3:15 pm

                    What’s right about Glenn Beck’s position would be a shorter list:

                    1. Nothing.

                    I think he’s a waste of oxygen, but you knock yourself out.

                    • Ugly Truth …
                      28 April 2013 at 3:57 pm

                      I don’t give a shit what you think, OAK.

                      In relation to Glenn Beck’s position, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano refused to answer questions on the subject by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) on Capitol Hill on April 18, saying the inquiry was “so full of misstatements and misapprehension that it’s just not worthy of an answer.”

                      Duncan’s question was:

                      “Wouldn’t you agree with me that it’s negligent for us as an American administration to deport someone who was reportedly at the scene of the bombing and we’re going to deport him, not to be able to question him anymore?”

                    • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                      28 April 2013 at 4:26 pm

                      Yes. No doubt you find that significant. I suggest you spread your faith in Mr. Beck far and wide, especially in your workplace and to random strangers at the bar. Make a sign, a sandwich board perhaps. You’ll gain everyone’s undying respect, I promise.

                    • Ugly Truth …
                      28 April 2013 at 4:31 pm

                      I have no faith in Beck, retard.

                    • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                      28 April 2013 at 4:33 pm

                      You just find his ramblings significant enough to bear repetition, maggot.

                    • Ugly Truth …
                      28 April 2013 at 4:49 pm

                      Beck’s position as an argument is supported by facts, it is more than rambling.

                      I find it ironic that you accuse me of feeding off death when that is the defining characteristic of the industry of war which is being exposed by people who are challenging the MSM narrative.

                    • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                      28 April 2013 at 4:54 pm

                      That’s because you have no more clue about irony than you do of scepticism.

                      PS: Thinking you to be a witless maggot ≠ support for the MSM

                    • Ugly Truth …
                      28 April 2013 at 5:11 pm

                      Another lie from OAK, the retarded MSM sycophant.
                      http://www.dailywritingtips.com/what-is-irony-with-examples/

                      The relationship of the war industry to all this is that the empire depends on the existence of a adversary, real or perceived. The adversary could be something as simple as a noun, like “terror”, or as complex as a foreign religion like Islam or a shadowy organisation like Al Qaeda. The Boston narrative provides Islam from Tamerlan and Chechnya, and has the potential to supply Al Qaeda from the Saudi national at the heart of Glen Beck’s campaign.

                    • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                      28 April 2013 at 5:22 pm

                      Really???? Gosh, that sounds just like Orwell’s vision from 1984, can you teach me to suck eggs too???????

                      Speaking of eggs, that the US has sewn dragons’ teeth is old news around here, but the notion that it’s part of some sort of coherent strategy is beyond stupid.

                    • Ugly Truth …
                      28 April 2013 at 5:38 pm

                      Whether or not the strategy is coherent is irrelevant. What matters is whether or not it exists and what the implications are if it does. The fact that it exists is implied by the repeated behaviour of the US empire regarding manufactured threats. Beck’s position is a problem for the empire because the response of the Obama administration to the exposure of AbdulRahman ali Al-Harbi only makes sense if he was a potential asset.

                    • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                      28 April 2013 at 5:43 pm

                      Argh, the stupid, it burns.

                      “…potential asset.”

                      The term is “political football”.

                    • Ugly Truth …
                      28 April 2013 at 6:15 pm

                      Speaking of stupid, who was the fuckwit who was engaged in a knee-jerk attack on Beck’s position not so very long ago?

                    • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                      28 April 2013 at 6:27 pm

                      You do understand the term political football, don’t you?

                      PS: You think Glenn Beck is a credible source of anything? I pity you.

  7. Morrissey 7
    28 April 2013 at 10:06 am

    The shallow, foolish, rhythmically challenged TV chatterer Ellen DeGeneres is championing Maurice Williamson, who along with his other National Party colleagues took secret payments from the gay-hating Brethren cult, as a hero for the gay cause. She is going to go ahead with the booking of Williamson despite the efforts of many New Zealand gay activists to inform her of Williamson’s record. As shown by that incident and the following story, gay politics are little different from “straight” or “mainstream” politics: the people who get to the top of organizations are generally corrupt and/or cowardly individuals….

    Bradley Manning is off limits at SF Gay Pride parade, but corporate sleaze is embraced
    A seemingly trivial controversy reveals quite a bit about pervasive political values
    by GLENN GREENWALD, The Guardian, 27 April 2013

    News reports yesterday indicated that Bradley Manning, widely known to
    be gay, had been selected to be one of the Grand Marshals of the
    annual San Francisco gay pride parade, named by the LGBT Pride
    Celebration Committee. When the predictable backlash instantly ensued,
    the president of the Board of SF Pride, Lisa L Williams, quickly
    capitulated, issuing a cowardly, imperious statement that has to be
    read to be believed.

    Williams proclaimed that “Manning will not be a grand marshal in this
    year’s San Francisco Pride celebration” and termed his selection “a
    mistake”. She blamed it all on a “staff person” who prematurely made
    the announcement based on a preliminary vote, and she assures us all
    that the culprit “has been disciplined”: disciplined. She then accuses
    Manning of “actions which placed in harms way the lives of our men and
    women in uniform”: a substance-free falsehood originally spread by top
    US military officials which has since been decisively and extensively
    debunked, even by some government officials (indeed, it’s the US
    government itself, not Manning, that is guilty of “actions which
    placed in harms way the lives of our men and women in uniform”). And
    then, in my favorite part of her statement, Williams decreed to all
    organization members that “even the hint of support” for Manning’s
    action – even the hint – “will not be tolerated by the leadership of
    San Francisco Pride”. Will not be tolerated.

    I originally had no intention of writing about this episode, but the
    more I discovered about it, the more revealing it became. So let’s
    just consider a few of the points raised by all of this.
    First, while even a hint of support for Manning will not be tolerated,
    there is a long roster of large corporations serving as the event’s
    sponsors who are welcomed with open arms. ….

    Read more….
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/27/bradley-manning-sf-gay-pride?commentpage=1

    • muzza 7.1
      28 April 2013 at 10:59 am

      Mozza – Which war/envionmental/human suffering sponsoring media empire does DeGeneres work for – Oh look its NBC Universal, who owns NBC, COMCAST/GE

      Who owns COMCAST

      Who holds large positions in Comcast

      Vanguard owns 110.12M shares worth $4.63B
      STATE STREET CORPORATION owns 97.84M shares worth $4.11B
      Dodge & Cox owns 72.42M shares worth $2.71B
      Wellington Management Company owns 63.25M shares worth $2.36B
      Inves owns 59.26M shares worth $2.12B
      JPMORGAN CHASE & CO owns 38.36M shares worth $1.23B
      TIAA-CREF Investment Management owns 24.78M shares worth $886.31M
      T. Rowe Price Associates owns 24.68M shares worth $922.53M
      Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owns 23.27M shares worth $831.81M
      Norges Bank Investment Management owns 22.99M shares worth $859.50M
      ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN owns 18.76M shares worth $788.32M
      Geode Capital Management owns 17.87M shares worth $669.95M
      Name Goodman & Company, Investment Counsel owns 16.04M shares worth $579.61M
      Aberdeen Asset Management owns 13.53M shares worth $568.06M
      Ameriprise Financial owns 12.16M shares worth $388.90M
      Jennison Associates owns 12.07M shares worth $431.73M
      ING Investment Management Co Address: 10 State House Square owns 10.23M shares worth $382.15M
      New York State Common Retirement Fund owns 9.81M shares worth $366.72M
      Bank of America Corporation owns 9.33M shares worth $348.42M
      CITADEL ADVISORS owns 9.21M shares worth $344.17M
      Legal & General owns 9.11M shares worth $340.59M
      Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings owns 9.08M shares worth $272.62M
      American Century Companies owns 8.85M shares worth $371.91M

      Who owns GE

      who holds a large position in General Electric Company.

      Vanguard owns 480.97M shares worth $11.12B
      STATE STREET CORPORATION owns 410.02M shares worth $9.48B
      T. Rowe Price Associates owns 112.53M shares worth $2.36B
      Inves owns 99.38M shares worth $2.26B
      Dodge & Cox owns 97.58M shares worth $2.05B
      Wellington Management Company owns 88.63M shares worth $1.86B
      Norges Bank Investment Management owns 84.87M shares worth $1.78B
      Franklin Resources owns 82.00M shares worth $1.90B
      GOLDMAN SACHS owns 78.96M shares worth $1.66B
      Bank of America Corporation owns 69.90M shares worth $1.47B
      TIAA-CREF Investment Management owns 56.73M shares worth $1.29B
      JPMORGAN CHASE & CO owns 51.22M shares worth $1.07B
      Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss owns 50.60M shares worth $1.06B
      Legal & General owns 47.95M shares worth $1.01B
      ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN owns 40.28M shares worth $931.18M
      Ameriprise Financial owns 37.10M shares worth $773.51M
      New York State Common Retirement Fund owns 36.20M shares worth $759.89M
      Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings owns 35.29M shares worth $721.35M
      Institutional Capital owns 34.22M shares worth $718.37M

      Maurice Williamson’s speech was a fraud, and I expect was written as part of the playbook!

  8. Lionel 8
    28 April 2013 at 10:13 am

    Morresey i,m a referee Joubert,s refereeing of the tackle was poor went both ways, you are right on the World Cup Final had that game been refereed properly France win

    Just watched Q&A if you need reminding what a out of touch dinosaur Michelle Boag is catch it on demand or on TV1later tonight her echoing of Key and Joyce,s rant during the week had to be seen to be believed Jon Johansen,s reaction to the crap that came fron her mouth is a must see

    • David H 8.1
      28 April 2013 at 10:21 am

      Yep I just watched her as well. I did send them an E-mail.
      “Why oh Why do you keep giving Boag credibility by allowing her to spout Nationalistic rubbish on National TV???”

      No wonder they laughed at her.

      • Morrissey 8.1.1
        28 April 2013 at 1:11 pm

        Why do you keep giving Boag credibility by allowing her to spout Nationalistic rubbish on National TV?

        You meant to write “National Party rubbish”. If Michelle Boag was in any way nationalistic, she would oppose the flogging off of our national assets.

        • David H 8.1.1.1
          28 April 2013 at 3:43 pm

          Yeah Sorry I was being distracted by my 2 year old. But yeah, that’s what I meant.

    • ghostrider888 8.2
      28 April 2013 at 1:24 pm

      I have no need to reference her in my study of Q + A; what’s the word, oh yeah, irrelevant, and a week late with the commentary.(get all current and up-to-date political commentary right here from The Standard, your one-stop-shop for laughs and barffs.

      Shane Jones- “comfortable with Greens now”. 😉 (you cheeky man).

      Joyce releases a press statement to the effect-“that centrist Labour MPs being isolated by the shift to the Greens”.
      (well, OK, her spin was “giving ground to the Greens is very scary for most New Zealanders”).Really?

      David Round (man who does not like The Treaty and fears the current constitutional review)- “countries can ruin (ruin none-the-less, ruin we tell you) themselves through their own folly.” Well…

      John Minto (Excellent composure if you are reading this).- a “furious, hysterical reaction to NZPower by vested interests”. (well, near enough).

      There is an Excellent article by Eugenie Sage in the links column on the dodgy dealings behind the H.B Irrigation Scheme development.

      • Morrissey 8.2.1
        28 April 2013 at 2:03 pm

        David Round (man who does not like The Treaty)…

        They put DAVID ROUND on this programme? As anybody who saw this pretentious bow-tied ninny on Willie Jackson’s Eye to Eye will know, Round is an extreme race-baiter, almost pathological in his detestation of Māori culture. Round often teamed up with the S.S. advocate and ACT benchwarmer Stephen Franks to scoff, sneer and disparage any liberal speaker on the programme. I thought that, with the death of Paul Holmes, we had seen the end of racist louts being given the run of the studio on TVNZ; clearly I was wrong.

        Why don’t they just hire Kyle Chapman as a commentator and be done with it?

  9. Colonial Viper 9
    28 April 2013 at 10:24 am

    Americans increasingly cynical about official promises of progress.

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-starting-to-realize-new-era-of-american-inn,32156/?ref=auto

  10. Rhinocrates 10
    28 April 2013 at 10:49 am

    How many Labour front benchers does it take to change a light bulb?

    Two.

    First, Shearer announces that he, as Leader of the Labour Party that he’s leader of the Labour Party and Party of as the Leader, he’ll um, well, consider hiring a glow worm to replace the light bulb, no um, ah as Learer of the Paybour Larty, ah, he personally, himself, as Pay TV of the Leaper is personally responsible for providing a source of continual heat and light that will be available to all for half of every day and it will be called “The Sun” and it was his initiative, as a television.

    Second, after hearing Hooton screech that sunlight is communism and it made his budgie explode, Robertson will promptly wet his pants and announce, so as to protect budgies everywhere, there will be no more sunlight.

    Oh, and then the lightbulb doesn’t get changed after all.

    • McFlock 10.1
      28 April 2013 at 2:01 pm

      It’s always a tragedy when passion destroys a sense of humour

      • ghostrider888 10.1.1
        28 April 2013 at 2:13 pm

        or a giggle puts you off your stroke

      • Rhinocrates 10.1.2
        28 April 2013 at 7:52 pm

        It’s always a tragedy when careerism destroys a once-great party.

        Humour is a raft I’m clinging too, and it’s in danger of falling apart.

        The fact is, a few people have been repeating the canard that the right-wing LINO is “opening up space on the left”, but that dollop of custard Robertson has shown – as I predicted – that LINO will use the Greens to get superficial cred, but kill their initiatives once they threaten to change the status quo. Instead, they’re going to smear yet more lipstick on the neoliberal pig.

        • Rhinocrates 10.1.2.1
          28 April 2013 at 8:04 pm

          Just to make things perfectly clear. This isn’t LINO “opening up space on the left”, this is LINO announcing that they want to use the Greens and possibly Mana to get the numbers, and to appease them, they’ll let their initiatives get a hearing, but don’t worry, my dear, dear, precious markets, we won’t let them get to the status of law. We are never, ever going to disrupt the status quo.

          We’re safe!

          For the rich.

          • Colonial Viper 10.1.2.1.1
            28 April 2013 at 8:08 pm

            OK, what’s a LINO again?

          • marty mars 10.1.2.1.2
            28 April 2013 at 8:11 pm

            What is LINO rhino?

            edit – snap cv

            • Rhinocrates 10.1.2.1.2.1
              28 April 2013 at 8:12 pm

              Labour In Name Only

              If they were honest, the front benchers would call the party “Middle-Class Baby Boomer Technocrats Who Mainly Work in Media, PR and Law”, but it doesn’t really have much of a ring to it.

              There is a real Labour party, a progressive socialist party, and it’s on the back benches.

              • Colonial Viper …
                28 April 2013 at 8:35 pm

                Ahhhh of course

                Can we realistically expect a mainstream political party with membership invested in the current socio-economic hierarchy to throw out or revolutionise the very same status quo?

                It’s not going to happen. By definition, a mainstream party must be conservative to exist in the mainstream*.

                But maybe life will be made a bit more tolerable for the bottom 50%?

                *The key here is realising that too often, political parties aim for the mainstream of the media, not the mainstream of the nation.

                • Rhinocrates …
                  28 April 2013 at 9:14 pm

                  Too long speaking to the media, they mistake the media for the nation.

                  But maybe life will be made a bit more tolerable for the bottom 50%?

                  Fingers crossed. Keep the pressure on, I say. They’ll never be perfect, but keep the pressure on, and maybe they’ll be just a bit better.

                  It’s all Bellamy’s fault, I say – metaphorically – the nice meals for free, the comforts and the limousines breed complacency (Hell, look at he effect BMW 7-series limos have had on the Maori Party – they must be automotive heroin). I representative should never be complacent. Making excuses for them is never going to work.

                  It was an old Roman custom to have a slave riding with a triumphant general in his victory parade to whisper in his ear “remember that thou art a man”.

                  • ghostrider888 …
                    28 April 2013 at 10:06 pm

                    we like that custom

                  • McFlock …
                    28 April 2013 at 10:34 pm

                    Um
                    If your critics are obsessive or nuts, they don’t apply any pressure whatsoever.

                    But more specifically, your joke was too long and too niche.

                    A better version would be:
                    How many labour mps does it take to change a lightbulb?
                    Two: shearer to change the bulb, and robertson to promise that labour has no further territorial demands on the free market mechanism.

                    But even that is a niche taste.

  11. johnm 11
    28 April 2013 at 10:55 am

    “I keep being kicked in the gutter”: the cruelty of multiple disability cuts ~ That should shame Britain to the core

    “Thousands of people with disabilities or long-term illness are now being affected by simultaneous cuts. As the welfare state undergoes unprecedented changes, the same people are being hit over and over again, says Frances Ryan.”

    http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2013/04/18/i-keep-being-kicked-in-the-gutter-the-cruelty-of-multiple-disability-cuts-that-should-shame-britain-to-the-core/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BlackTriangleCampaign+%28Black+Triangle+Campaign%29

    • johnm 11.1
      28 April 2013 at 3:48 pm

      ‘Benefits withdrawal led to man’s suicide’

      http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2013/04/17/man-partially-paralysed-with-brain-haemorrhage-shot-himself-after-benefits-stopped/

      “During the first half of our marriage he suffered a brain haemorrhage and although he was ok and could still do things, one side was quite paralysed and he was not able to work,”

      Mrs Barker told the inquest.

      “I know he had been on some sort of benefit for a number of years.”

      Mrs Barker said she had last seen Mr Barker on December 8 when he had called to see her at work.

      “He was going for a drink and seemed happy but he wanted me to help him go through his benefit papers because he was worried that he was going to be sent back to work,”
      Shame on the fascist scum tories! Camoron and Untergrupenfuhrer IDS.

  12. Foreign Waka 12
    28 April 2013 at 12:08 pm

    Not just in Britain:
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8606036/Appalling-plight-of-elderly-revealed
    Its a worldwide phenomena that the elderly and infirm are basically killed by neglect and abuse as the law will not persecute this at all, neither as neglect nor abuse and let alone deliberate homicide. What people don’t seem to comprehend: we will all be old one day – or hopefully not.

    • marty mars 12.1
      28 April 2013 at 12:49 pm

      Sickening report that. I feel rage but don’t know who to rage at – politicians, the owners of these hellholes, the exploiters of elders, our society, the mirror.

      • Foreign Waka 12.1.1
        28 April 2013 at 8:22 pm

        Rage at the institution would be appropriate. As for me, I would rather die in the ditch then be holed up in a home where people with such disregard for dignity and life join to make someone else’s last days full of misery. Mind you I saw an article today (stuff) where it is noted that Gay adoption and Euthanasia are the final frontier for the Government.
        Seems that the Government is already working on plan B – Euthanasia. It will lead to some vigorous debate – but only because these sadists will loose their job if the elderly need “too much care” and it is “better” to not have them suffer. Still, ditch for me….

    • Bill 12.2
      28 April 2013 at 1:00 pm

      ffs! Get shot of the private providers! Universal state provisioning of aged care with properly paid and resourced staff wouldn’t sort out all of the problems. But it would be a damned sight better than the ‘ship ’em in, rip ’em off and trundle ’em out’ culture that’s all the rage at the moment.

    • ghostrider888 12.3
      28 April 2013 at 2:03 pm

      after only another day of events, ICAP / ISDA, rest-home reports, and OIA obstruction, and viewing an S.A promo fo their current mission, I despair, I really do. For example, the army is charting the social decline of the casualties of the “free” markets, yet by their very nature and function are well-enmeshed in that decline; phenemona measured and token-funded.

    • muzza 12.4
      28 April 2013 at 7:23 pm

      And yet this is nothing new, has been happening a long time – We have all allowed this to happen, and collectively each and every number, will at some stage in the timeline, reap what has been sowed!

      When will the people rise!

  13. Belladonna 13
    28 April 2013 at 12:19 pm

    How despicable the tories are. This had me in tears.

    • ghostrider888 14.1
      28 April 2013 at 2:11 pm

      it’s only the biking and walking they fear joe, (oh, and the hippie mind-control). 😀

  15. tc 15
    28 April 2013 at 1:24 pm

    Just finished dealing with Orcon’s Call Centre, now in the Phillipines…….what used to be relatively good local experience is now just like Vodafone, Telecom etc

    Smaller has significant merits in service and quality, I’m seeing this with what were good local tradeys. They can’t say no to work they should turn away, employ whoever they can and then hope for the best as they are too busy quoting, demanding deposits and eagerly collecting the money without checking the quality of their new employees or often their qualifications.

    Isn’t deregulation and toothless industry bodies just wonderful. I’ve had the plumbers board basically toss their arms up over ripping a family member off and not completing the job and the vet association did same over a vet who ignored a direct instruction from the pet owner which could have resulted in the Pets death except the owner went to another Vet who did as asked and diagnosed/fixed the problem.

    • ghostrider888 15.1
      28 April 2013 at 1:30 pm

      Small IS Good (dark days indeed)

      • tc 15.1.1
        28 April 2013 at 2:04 pm

        Yup a colleague asked me about Telstra clear and moving across, once I explained who had bought them and what comes next they decided against it, an easy call if you study history.

  16. Arthur 16
    28 April 2013 at 1:48 pm

    Gerald Hensley. “Richard Prebble told me ——-“

    • Morrissey 16.1
      28 April 2013 at 2:07 pm

      “Richard Prebble told me ——-”

      Says everything you need to know about Hensley’s integrity, and his reliability.

      I must say, though, that Hensley’s books are extraordinarily good reads. He could have been New Zealand’s John Le Carré.

      Just a pity he doesn’t seem to be able to differentiate fiction from truth….

  17. McFlock 17
    28 April 2013 at 2:15 pm

    Lol
    banks are pissed that new loansharking legislation will apply to them, even though they assure us that they don’t do any of the nastythings mentioned.

    And I am outraged that laws against bank robbery apply to me, even though I would never rob a bank.

    • One Anonymous Knucklehead 17.1
      28 April 2013 at 2:29 pm

      Have you no heart, McFlock? Think of all the bankers who will be made redundant now their day job is illegal.

    • ghostrider888 17.2
      28 April 2013 at 2:33 pm

      in historical times I imagine my people and I would have. sadly, I have met and socialized with former armed bank-robbers; regrettably , once a fire-arm is concerned, the outcomes can be (yet were not in these cases) irreversible.

    • ghostrider888 17.3
      28 April 2013 at 2:46 pm

      feck! that Instant Finance promotes some arrears dunnit. All this lending in a context where nearly half of all NZ households live week to week. The mind boggles! and with Winter coming…so many threads to the tapestry of the future yet they are all being woven into a web together.

      • Lanthanide 17.3.1
        28 April 2013 at 4:02 pm

        I found those numbers pretty shocking too, I would’ve thought no more than 25% in arrears.

        But probably the worse part is that he says that if they turn the customer down, they’ll just go to another lender and get the money instead.

  18. One Anonymous Knucklehead 18
    28 April 2013 at 2:44 pm

    The ongoing cataloguing of right-wing buffoonery continues apace. NASA faked the moon landings, therefore climate science is a hoax.

    Our findings parallel those of previous work and show that endorsement of free-market economics predicted rejection of climate science. Endorsement of free markets also predicted the rejection of other established scientific findings…

    • ghostrider888 18.1
      28 April 2013 at 2:49 pm

      findings too abstract for free-market adherents; if you cannot steal it it can’t be real.

    • kiwi_prometheus 18.2
      28 April 2013 at 3:36 pm

      “The ongoing cataloguing of right-wing buffoonery continues apace.”

      As compared to the Left wing 9 11 conspiracy about the deliberate demolition of the twin towers by the US Government.

      • lprent 18.2.1
        28 April 2013 at 3:39 pm

        I wouldn’t call it “left-wing”…. I believe that it originally started in some right wing groups in the US.

        • kiwi_prometheus 18.2.1.1
          28 April 2013 at 3:45 pm

          No mate, its definitely a Left Wing number, own it.

          Right wingers are more than happy to accept its Muslims who did it.

          Of course many Muslims say it was the Jews, so maybe some Christian Yank right wingers would pay attention to that…

          I just LOVE multiculturalism, LOL.

      • Murray Olsen 18.2.2
        28 April 2013 at 4:50 pm

        Most people who believe conspiracy crap seem to be incredibly right wing once you scratch them. They also tend to believe in Zionist/Illuminati conspiracies, Obama as a Kenyan, chemtrails, scientists conspiring to make a buck out of global warming, and similar nonsense. Explaining everything as a conspiracy, they explain nothing. Irrespective of country, they seem to think the second amendment holds.
        If they’re left wing, it’s not any left I recognise.

        • One Anonymous Knucklehead 18.2.2.1
          28 April 2013 at 5:07 pm

          +1

        • ghostrider888 18.2.2.2
          28 April 2013 at 5:07 pm

          the search for the location of anti-matter goes on I guess

        • kiwi_prometheus 18.2.2.3
          28 April 2013 at 5:09 pm

          “If they’re left wing, it’s not any left I recognise.”

          Really?

          Well then, let me help you recognise it.

          On this thestandard.org.nz page under the Links menu there is a LEFT Blogs list with the link below to a LEFT blog, scroll down the page a bit and in the right hand column of this LEFT blog page is a big picture of the collapsing towers with the heading:

          “As seen in this revealing photo the Twin Towers’ destruction exhibited all the characteristics of destruction by explosions:”

          http://aotearoaawiderperspective.wordpress.com/

          How was that, you ‘recognise’ it now, Mr Olsen?

          • Murray Olsen 18.2.2.3.1
            29 April 2013 at 12:00 am

            There is absolutely nothing left about that blog, so thanks for the help. I will refuse it in the same bad faith with which it was offered.

        • joe90 18.2.2.4
          28 April 2013 at 5:25 pm

          ++1

          • ghostrider888 18.2.2.4.1
            28 April 2013 at 5:37 pm

            there sure is some nuttiness on the net joe; takes a bit a discernement from the average bear. 😀

        • muzza 18.2.2.5
          28 April 2013 at 7:47 pm

          Still no geo-engineering reading done, eh Murray, come along, you can’t just keep poking holes in what you know nothing about!

          I see your comment attracted some approval from OAB, shame man!

          Should be all the catalyst you need to get yourself informed eh!

          Edit, I see you got Joe90 too, unlucky!

          Edit 2 – Do you believe the constitution, should be completely openly trashed, or are you losing your marbles with that second amendment comment, or perhaps in general!

          • Murray Olsen 18.2.2.5.1
            29 April 2013 at 12:15 am

            I realise that the second amendment of the US Constitution doesn’t have any status in law in any country I live in. That already gives me quite a few more marbles than you.

            As for reading anything you’d recommend on geoengineering – I’d rather clean my eyes with a cheese grater, thanks. If something smells like shit and looks like shit, I don’t actually have to taste it just to be sure, let alone try to make a golden calf out of it.

      • One Anonymous Knucklehead 18.2.3
        28 April 2013 at 5:35 pm

        K_P has a point though, there are certainly left-wing conspiracy theorists. The difference being that their ravings don’t become policy statements.

      • muzza 18.3.1
        28 April 2013 at 7:35 pm

        As opposed to the likes of Maddow, and the network she spins for Joe?

        If your point was that the narrative is controlled, you would be correct..

        Or were you simply making some idle noise..

        Hows SFO coming along, you know, geographically speaking?

  19. Morrissey 19
    28 April 2013 at 6:12 pm

    TV3’s tame—and untrustworthy—news department
    That $43 million bribe to MediaWorks has worked well
    TV3 “news” preview, Sunday 28 April 2013, 5:50 p.m.

    CAROLYN ROBINSON: Coming up tonight on Three News! The public’s take on political BRAIN FADES, like those suffered by John Key and David Shearer…

    Excuse me? Shearer “suffered” a “brain fade” like John Key did? They are trying to suggest that Shearer belatedly declaring his overseas bank account—not hiding it, just being tardy—is equivalent to John Key’s systematic, massive, scandalous pattern of dishonesty?

    Yes, I think they are.

    I guess they justify such rancid bias, such partisan distortion, such open, shameless and sycophantic support for their major sponsor by calling it “balance”. The rest of us will remember that, less than two years ago, TV3’s parent company was gifted forty-three million dollars by the Key government.

    • The Al1en 19.1
      28 April 2013 at 6:18 pm

      It certainly appears someone in the editorial team is a bit of a yes man… or woman.
      I’m surprised some of the senior presenters would read the stuff they’re given, but then I guess they don’t want to get kicked off air and have to get real jobs.

      • The Al1en 19.1.1
        28 April 2013 at 6:37 pm

        Imagine how that poor lady from N Korea must feel when she’s reading out how kim lil dong is gonna nuke it all unless psy teaches him the dance steps in person – Pyongyang style.

    • Lanthanide 19.2
      28 April 2013 at 6:21 pm

      “They are trying to suggest that Shearer belatedly declaring his overseas bank account—not hiding it, just being tardy—is equivalent to John Key’s systematic, massive, scandalous pattern of dishonesty?”

      You’re being disingenuous there. He failed to declare it 4 years in a row, while declaring it on his tax return each year. That’s more than “just being tardy”. Yes, he was upfront about it – so he handled the outcome well, but that doesn’t excuse the behaviour.

      Shearer: bad behaviour, good response
      Key: bad behaviour, bad response

      See how that works?

      • Morrissey 19.2.1
        28 April 2013 at 7:10 pm

        You’re being disingenuous there. He failed to declare it 4 years in a row, while declaring it on his tax return each year. That’s more than “just being tardy”.

        I’m not being disingenuous; you are being provocative. I shall, however, take the advice of our good friend “dumrse” and refrain from (to use a John Banks expression) “tearing your wings off”.

        So let’s get back to the matter in hand: Shearer failed to include his overseas bank account on his parliamentary declaration. The fact that he declared it to the Inland Revenue shows that it was an oversight, not a deliberate deception. It is immensely different to, say, taking secret payments from a fanatically anti-democratic, anti-homosexual, anti-women religious cult.

        Yes, he was upfront about it – so he handled the outcome well, but that doesn’t excuse the behaviour.

        I’m not trying to excuse his behaviour, I’m pointing out what you already know, viz., Shearer’s behaviour was not comparable to Key’s systematic dishonesty.

        Shearer: bad behaviour, good response
        Key: bad behaviour, bad response

        I never suggested anything different.

        See how that works?

        I sure do, although I’m a little concerned that you can’t quite understand how grave Key’s dishonesty is.

        • Lanthanide 19.2.1.1
          28 April 2013 at 8:40 pm

          So now you’re acknowledging that Shearer did indeed have a brain fade.

          Sure, everything about it wasn’t as bad was what Key did, but it still happened.

    • dumrse 19.3
      28 April 2013 at 6:27 pm

      Bloggers only get so many key strokes in life. You could lengthen your life considerably if you took the emotion out of your post.

      • Morrissey 19.3.1
        28 April 2013 at 7:00 pm

        Bloggers only get so many key strokes in life. You could lengthen your life considerably if you took the emotion out of your post.

        Thanks for the advice. I’ll try to stay cool.

    • Northshoreguynz 19.4
      28 April 2013 at 6:34 pm

      First the first time Morrisey, I agree with you. Patrick Gower is to journalism as Craig Joubert is to refereeing.

      • Morrissey 19.4.1
        28 April 2013 at 6:59 pm

        First the first time Morrisey, I agree with you.

        Thanks, buddy. That’s the best news I’ve had all year.

        Patrick Gower is to journalism as Craig Joubert is to refereeing.

        He may well be, but my criticism was directed at the delectable but dim Carolyn Robinson and whoever wrote her outrageous script for her.

    • karol 19.5
      28 April 2013 at 7:02 pm

      Yes, I agree TV3 is partly following the (flawed) logic of “impartiality – showing both sides. But it’s a false equivalence. They only seem similar (Shearer brain fade compared with Key and Banks), because of another feature of “neoliberal” infotainment – lack of background context.

      If they were to look more deeply into each of the “brain fades” they’d see that Key’s and Banks relate to some crucial issues of democracy, and accountability on intelligence services, cronyism and funding of political campaigns.

      Shearer’s brain fade seems to relate more to personal savings, possibly individual tax dodging – not a good thing but it’s peripheral to NZ”s political structure.

      • Populuxe1 19.5.1
        28 April 2013 at 10:46 pm

        Well no, it is actually important to the political narrative and the perception of voters as to trustworthiness and hypocrisy.

  20. Elizabeth Bourchier 20
    28 April 2013 at 6:13 pm

    I just saw that silly vain self centred has-been Shane Jones on the news.
    What an embarrassment to the Party.
    I look forward to hearing that he has been strongly admonished for his publicity seeking antics.
    He has contributed nothing to the Labour Party. Yet he is allowed to speak on TV on a wide range of topics.
    I loose my appetite just hearing him.
    No doubt that stellar deputy and action Leader Grant Robertson will whip Shane’s ass.

    • tc 20.1
      28 April 2013 at 6:50 pm

      Yes between DS, the mallarfia old guard, Jones arrogance and lightweight brown noses like Curran, Hipkins etc the hollowmen just have to keep the shonkey one in check and 2014 is a shoe in.

      Of course having the media on your side helps which makes the need to have an effective opposition so vital, sadly these are not the droids we are looking for to biff out the evil empire.

  21. ghostrider888 21
    28 April 2013 at 6:53 pm

    from the tele;
    Key: on ChCh, “this 40B may not be the ” ceiling for rebuilding ChCh. (but won’t affect surplus targets, oh no…)

    Joyce- “Labour going further left is bad for New Zealand”.

    …now there is this Russian state telephone surveillance of the Boston Bomber’s family in 2010?

  22. prism 22
    28 April 2013 at 7:18 pm

    I wondered which RWNJ had driven the comments to over 100 and see ‘ugly truth’ has been busy. When there is a high count it’s often a case of an annoying mosquito. Some are resistant to spray and require the quick, hard bash. At one time when mosquitoes were bad I had numerous bloody marks on my bedroom wall. It was satisfying and worked – till the next outbreak.

    Dunno though only 31 with ut and knuckle

    • muzza 22.1
      28 April 2013 at 7:32 pm

      Yet no mention of the other half of that conversation , OAB

      You think the count can rise on the back of one person only Prism!

      Come on Prism, keep it balanced!

      • marty mars 22.1.1
        28 April 2013 at 8:02 pm

        come on muzza why are you sticking up for ugly or do you agree with his repetitive use of the derogatory and disgusting term ‘retarded’. On that basis alone, let alone his fawning of beck, he/she should be treated as a lowrider and given the short shift, as OAK has done. Just because OAK has not treated your views with much respect or credence in the past doesn’t mean that who he/she opposes is correct or valid.

        • muzza 22.1.1.1
          28 April 2013 at 8:10 pm

          Marty, Marty, Marty…

          Prism mused that the comment count had gone up, then went on to throw insults at UT.

          My only contention, was to point out, that there were two invovled in a long conversation, the other happened to be OAB. I would have called prism on that one regardless, because his comment was unblanced!

          Not sure where you read support in there bro, or the part where I am concerned about what OAB makes of my posts here…

          I moved past most the usual hangups people grapple through their lives with, from a very young age!

          • marty mars 22.1.1.1.1
            28 April 2013 at 9:03 pm

            sure mate but I think you’ll find that prism did mention ‘knuckle’ in the comment. And the fact is that often a high comment count is a RWNJ getting dealt to, as has happened today.

            it’s cool that you have got through the usual hangups at a very young age although I’m not sure what you are meaning there, but whatever…

            • prism 22.1.1.1.1.1
              29 April 2013 at 9:57 am

              marty mars
              Thanks for bringing some light to muzza’s page. How can people write here frequently commenting on others stuff yet not even read it all. It is really important to glance over the whole thing to get the actual message, the whole thought. I added at the bottom in plain sight that it was UT and knuckle and gave the count I had just made, with a one-word observation that I might be wrong in my original statement.

              @muzza
              So muzza get with it, brain warmed up, running nicely before going into gear – and do start off at first for a smooth takeoff. Those kangaroo hops are a telling sign that here there is a practitioner still evolving in skills. That’s going to get up your nose probably but hey you can’t win them all.

  23. joe90 23
    28 April 2013 at 7:28 pm

    It’ll probably take the extinction of their beloved Chesapeake oysters before rising sea temperatures are taken seriously.

    Sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem during 2012 were the highest recorded in 150 years, according to the latest Ecosystem Advisory issued by NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC). These high sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are the latest in a trend of above average temperature seen during the spring and summer seasons, and part of a pattern of elevated temperatures occurring in the Northwest Atlantic, but not seen elsewhere in the ocean basin over the past century.

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130426115614.htm?

    • ghostrider888 23.1
      28 April 2013 at 10:18 pm

      love the intro joe

    • Murray Olsen 23.2
      29 April 2013 at 12:26 am

      They’ve only just cleaned up a lot of the growing areas enough to make the oysters edible again as well. Contamination of oysters around New York especially provided a big impetus to cutting down on dumping crap straight into the water. Hmmm. Too late.

      Personally, I’d kick all the NAct voters’ yachts out of Opua as well to preserve the oysters up there, then carry on with the rest of the country.

  24. Paul 24
    28 April 2013 at 7:42 pm

    I am not normally impressed by him, but Shane Jones’ performance on Q and A was impressive.
    It was particularly heartening to hear a Labour MP use such language as:
    ‘The merchant bankers have gone absolutely nutty’
    The rhetoric of the merchant bankers is “tainted”
    Taking advice from them is like taking grooming advice from Frankenstein”

    • muzza 24.1
      28 April 2013 at 8:01 pm

      Tough talking Shane O will take on the global banking cartel then I expect…

      Nah , thought not!

    • lprent 24.2
      28 April 2013 at 9:39 pm

      Yeah, but the problem is that if you remove the “merchant bankers” and substitute in “shane jones” (after the last years of screwups at least since the GFC), then guess what – you have a match!