Open mike 28/10/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 28th, 2011 - 60 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step right up to the mike…

60 comments on “Open mike 28/10/2011 ”

    • Jenny 1.1

      Could also be for the receding chance of a left coalition government.

      • Tigger 1.1.1

        Actually Jenny Labour is finally getting some traction and getting people talking about their policies…To say receding at this point is a little premature…

        • Tiger Mountain 1.1.1.1

          Phil Goff was good re Super on RNZ this morning. “We’ve got the balls, John Key hasn’t and won’t debate me” evidenced by ShonKey’s usual absence from Morning Report.

          The PM prefers radio shows featuring backbuster Vietch, mad as a snake Paul Henry and any other sycophants he can muster.

          Someone has got through to Phil and the language generally is feistier and exactly what will be needed for a counterpunching style on the upcoming TV debates, of course Labour having some “ackshull” credible policy is a major help too.

          • millsy 1.1.1.1.1

            Yeah well, not really keen on forcing people to work for another 2 years. There are a lot of people who going to be shafted by this policy, mainly those who see NS as at last some economic security over a hard 20-30 years of layoffs and wage cuts.

            • Tiger Mountain 1.1.1.1.1.1

              Yeah but millsy 67 is when nat super payments would kick in, not neccessarily when you have to ‘retire’. I say anytime from 55 is good. People don’t totally retire much anyway these days preferring to be in denial about their mortality or even do something useful.

              Goff did say that exemptions and variations would be looked at for some people. Hopefully those with broken and or worn out bodies and minds.

              My post was more about Goffs better debating style as the details of a raised super age are years away. Don’t forget when it jumped 5 years from 60 to 65 in one hit. The 65 to 67 will be a more managed process. The boomers have done enough to wreck todays young peoples chances already without leaving the ultimate sting in the tail with NS.

  1. logie97 2

    Just getting the sense the “Now what?” feeling is already kicking in.
    The RWC is history, and the afterglow may indeed be fading – not the wild endless party the revelers hoped for at all.

    I guess that is a symptom of a society that thrives on instant gratification. Dependent on being entertained rather than making its own entertainment. All tinsel and no substance.

    • Uturn 2.1

      There is a banner above the local TAB that excitedly exclaims: Now posting fixed odds on RWC!

      I wouldn’t be surprised if people are still placing bets.

    • millsy 2.2

      Actually youll find a lot of people, like myself thinking ‘glad that’s over’.

      It all wore off Monday morning for me.

    • Draco T Bastard 2.3

      The RWC is history, and the afterglow may indeed be fading…

      Fading? It’s already gone. Life really is that hard under this government for most people.

      • Deadly_NZ 2.3.1

        Apart from the $39 Mil hole in the wallet, it never even made me glow.

      • Vicky32 2.3.2

        Fading? It’s already gone. Life really is that hard under this government for most people

        For those of us who despise rugby, the end of it is simply a blessed relief!

  2. Dv 3

    Has any one got an analysis of the Mana parties proposal of
    No gst
    27k tax free
    hone heke finacial tax

    • Deadly_NZ 3.1

      Let me see if I can, as I understand it. There are millions and millions of financial transactions every day. What the Hone Heke tax will do is charge all of those transactions that have to do with NZ. The tax rate will be something minuscule like 0.001%. But that will bring in billions. And hopefully stop the speculators from screwing with our currency as well. And it probably would help pay for a lot more as well. There you go my take on it Now we will get it all explained in detail now as the correct everything I have said LOL

      • Chris 3.1.1

        The problem with it is leveraging the tax. I would have thought it would be next to impossible to tax two american traders who trade NZD between themselves but that is what the tax is implying it will do.

        • KJT 3.1.1.1

          That part will only work if other countries all come to the party on FTT as well.

          The European union are already discussing it.

          Given the mess, unrestricted capital flows, are making it is possible we will get a consensus between countries.

          May take a long time before the USA does it though. They are still in reality denial, like NACT.

          • Chris 3.1.1.1.1

            Yeah that’s pretty much what I thought and is basically my main problem with it.

            If it is that hard to get then it will not be able to remove the other taxes as Mana want. Also even if other countries come to the party the amount of money it will cost to supervise would be quite restrictive I would have thought. Particularly with the IR shedding jobs like it currently is.

  3. toad 4

    Nats “incentivise” young people off welfare and into work by cutting youth wages
     
    Dumb and discriminatory.

  4. Campbell Larsen 5

    The Herald serves up MK-ULTRA for breakfast again with it’s front page lead article ‘how the all blacks shook our world’ and the accompanying ‘seismic’ graphic in Canterbury colours.

    Any thinking person has to be now totally turned off by the never ending barrage of quake this, quake that, and the equally unending rugby rugby rugby – if I see that bloody trotie again I’m going to scream.

    The attempts at manipulation grow ever more bold – the MSM must be held to account – if we sit by and let this sort of shit go unchallenged then we deserve the future we get.

    • Deadly_NZ 5.1

      And hopefully there will be a lot of like minded people out there, who would just love to see Jonkey with that trotie trying to get another photo op.

      I dunno if its real or DPF had a brain fart. But he said nice things about Phil AND the super thing.

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10762233

      • Rob 5.1.1

        Wow Campbell, you are a genius, you should really go public and have a go at the All Blacks and really dampen down everyones excitment on winning this tournament,  after alienating the entire league community, it probably makes sense to you to dis the rugby scene as well.

        You really are an asset to the cause.

      • millsy 5.1.2

        He only supports the super thing because it involves taking money off non-rich people…

  5. Carol 6

    It seems a container ship has run aground at Mt Maunganui:

    http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/17899-ship-grounded-on-mount-maunganui.html

    Port of Tauranga tugs are on their way to attempt to tow the vessel clear, after which it will be brought back into port.

  6. Weekend Social has not been posted and is not always posted.

    Operation 8 Maori TV Sunday 30 October on at 8.30 pm until 10.20 pm. Says starts today.

    Have wanted to see it for ages and hope I do not forget.

  7. William Joyce 8

    The OSCAR goes to John Key

  8. Tiger Mountain 9

    Good grief! Sir Peter (Lord) Jackson claimed he is “not really a political person” while being visited on site at Matamata Hobbiton set by the PM. Hello what other country in the world has legislation with the word “Hobbit” in it?
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10762255

  9. Tiger Mountain 10

    Indeed hs. The Tell Tale Heart also perhaps?

  10. Further to recent discussion on ipredict.
     
    Today a sell order for 1,000 Labour shares was placed at 31%, betting Labour will poll 31%.  This would have cost the punter, presuming one person placed the order, $690.  If Labour polls above 31% then this punter will lose, if Labour polls below 31% this person will win.  The loss and gain will not be much however unless Labour is well over 31%.
     
    It will stop Labour’s share price going up for a while and ipredict is used to make comments on the chances of each party.  Ipredict obviously favours the rich and generally the right wing in stating who is going to win the election.
     
    Market manipulation anyone?
     

    • Chris 11.1

      Do people pay attention to iPredict outside of you and David Farrar I know I don’t.

      • Carol 11.1.1

        iPredict always seemed like a Tory propaganda machine to me. Don’t follow it.

        • ak 11.1.1.1

          As the merest glance at ACT scores shows, it’s always been a tool for the well-heeled to buy the “self-fulfilling prophesy” poll effect.

          The staggering thing is Mallard’s wide-eyed lycra-panted complicity in publicising it – redolent of his inane gullibility to Tau’s taunts in 07 that began the poll-slide that delivered us wee Slippery.

      • Puddleglum 11.1.2

        Matthew Hooton does, and he has a regular slot on Nine to Noon, tv politics shows, etc.

        It adds a bit of rhetorical support, especially when the usual “it’s better at predicting than polls because people are playing for real money and it includes ‘insider’ knowledge” line is trotted out. 

      • Lanthanide 11.1.3

        The specific party vote % contracts are used for their seat generator on http://www.electionresults.co.nz/home

        The party votes % are also recorded in their weekly updates.

        Incidentally, viewing the seats right now shows Act and NZFirst both out of parliament. Seat makeup: 59 National, 3 UF, 40 Labour, 14 Green, Maori 3 Mana 2, total 121.

        The interesting thing is that on those numbers it’s 62 National/UF vs 59 for the rest. A very slim majority. If UF doesn’t get in…

        The Left can still win this election, provided the Greens keep their vote up and not too much is wasted on NZFirst or others.

  11. Burger King’s got gas

    Burger King has been given the green light to reopen and start serving its valuable customers after many businesses had to close on Tuesday because of the Maui gas pipeline leak…

  12. Draco T Bastard 13

    Now, after spending $690m of taxpayer to buy it back, the new management are now talking about asset stripping KiwiRail.

    Can we fire the idiots now? Please? Before the fuckwits do any more damage.

    • Chris 13.2

      Where does it say it is asset stripping the business?

      • William Joyce 13.2.1

        Have you not been paying attention for the last thirty years?
        You section off part of the company that can’t be sold (or in this case would be bad politically) and create a company that can be sold, or leased, to a private company.
         
        It is so formulaic and common that I am not surprised you slept through it.

        • RedLogix 13.2.1.1

          Incidentally my internal Kiwirail source of gossip and rumour, tells me that the new Chinese DL locos are rubbish. As one of the guys maintaining them put it, these new DL’s will be scrapped while the 45 yr old DC’s will still be running.

          • millsy 13.2.1.1.1

            Add the Aratere to that list. A flash new upgrade and the things running like a dog. Breakdown after breakdown.

    • millsy 13.3

      The first thing I thought when I saw that article, was ‘here we go again…’.

      This is what Prebble and the ACToids did back in 1990 when they split off NZ Rail – the tracks, trains, etc. from the NZ Railways Corporation, the land and the debt. NZ Rail was sold in ’93, and the NZ Rail Corp flogged of railway land to developers and speculators.

  13. randal 14

    ipredict huh?
    whats the odds on John Keys spitting the dummy completely before the election is over?
    I predict he will and furthermore I will put money on it.

  14. Draco T Bastard 15

    The US, following in China’s footsteps.

    here are no two ways around this simple fact: this is an attempt to build the Great Firewall of America. The bill would require service providers to block access to certain websites, very much contrary to US official positions on censorship and internet freedom, and almost certainly in violation of the First Amendment.

  15. jaymam 16

    I would like to support a campaign to keep MMP. I see that there are one or more groups wanting to do that.
    I can only find the one, http://www.campaignformmp.org.nz
    Can someone please tell http://www.campaignformmp.org.nz that their website is completely useless and unusable. I can read almost any other website, e.g. The Standard (which has its own problems with unnecessary Flash animations).
    Why don’t people just have straightforward html on their sites? Then I could help them. Otherwise I won’t bother.

  16. randal 17

    all john keys can talk about today is bananas.
    I hope he hasn’t been drying out banana skins and smoking them.

  17. John 18

    Socialism built the All Blacks 2011 victory . The Modern N.Z game is a built on a centralised Soviet style deligation of teams and supporters and leaders (coaches). The state has a very heavy hand in our rugby succesess, I’d like to see the parties that don’t want continued state contribution to our most immense sporting world achievement, excellence in the sport of Rugby, as played by fanatically by Che G himself

    • Colonial Viper 18.1

      Moron. Socialism HAS built the All Blacks and HAS built the Rugby World Cup.

      Neither would have happened without shitloads of tax payer funding and shit loads of tax breaks.

  18. John 19

    Moron. I know, stop with the abuse.