Open mike 29/11/2012

99 comments on “Open mike 29/11/2012 ”

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1. Te Reo Putake 1

   29 November 2012 at 6:54 am

   Nice signs of a fightback against the age of austerity. This is the second factory occupation in Taranaki in a week, after a group of metal workers also held a sit down strike to get their company to recognise their delegate’s right to represent them at pay talks:
    
   http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/8011469/Unionised-Tegel-staff-push-for-5pc
    
    
    
    
    
   • One Tāne Huna 1.1

     29 November 2012 at 7:23 am

     Some context:

     The latest annual accounts from Tegel’s parent company show total comprehensive income for the year to April 25, 2010 of NZ$18.3 million up from NZ$10.2 million the previous year. The profit rose as revenue fell to NZ$401.7 million from NZ$464.3 million and cost of sales dropped to NZ$282.9 million from NZ$340.8 million.

     My emphasis.
     • Te Reo Putake 1.1.1

       29 November 2012 at 7:43 am

       Yep, belt tightening is for workers only. Bonuses and trebles all round for the bosses!
       • KJT 1.1.1.1

         29 November 2012 at 11:24 am

         And. Ports of Tauranga made a record profit. Guess who is now trying to get staff to take wage cuts and sit around on call.

         Along with POAL trying to make the rest of their skilled staff, planner, pilots etc. take cuts to help pay for Gibson’s 34 mill fuckup. And presumably his 750k salary.
   • karol 1.2

     29 November 2012 at 8:54 am

     I have been thinking lately, that it’s worth looking more at local newspapers, because they often print articles more relevant to ordinary people than the big dailies.
     • Rosie 1.2.1

       29 November 2012 at 9:19 am

       A fair comment Karol. The regions do appear to get ignored by City newspapers and TV news in general unless theres a mountain exploding or a multiple car crash involving tourists. News seems to be shaped into a top down format. People/community centred news that is still relevent to the country as a whole probably never makes it out the area.
     • vto 1.2.2

       29 November 2012 at 9:34 am

       Local dailies always have the juicy bits and they are pretty much all I read when trundling around our vast country. They are also very entertaining.
     • Fortran 1.2.3

       29 November 2012 at 1:15 pm

       Karol

       Agreed, but the Herald has already morfed into a small minded Auckland local paper.
       Others in the same ownership only repeat what the Herald says, so why waste money ?
   • millsy 1.3

     29 November 2012 at 9:34 pm

     Ahhh Tegel, those were the days…back in early 04 I did 2 weeks there as a casual worker. At that time, Allied Workforce (which was in a great growth period under the supposedly worker-friendly Labour government), had a contract with Tegel to supply casual workers to the plant, it bascially involved sitting by the phone, waiting for AWF to ring for you to come into work — if you missed the call, too late, someone else got the work, anyway, the guys at AWF would tell you about how their workers would be subjected to nasty harrasment by the permanent workers, but I experienced none, though in the cafeteria the AWF workers and the permanent workers tended to keep apart, with the permanent workers having the luxury of having purchases from the cafeteria deducted from their next pay slip.

     But anyway, the work was hard, and one would come home at night very sore and stinking of chicken. Also, I found training to be more or less a senior worker spending 5 mins telling me what to do, and then leaving me to it to bumble round.

     After being shifted to about 4 different departments (and having the privilige of pulling innards out of dead chickens), I left after getting chemical burns on my wrist when I was washing out dixie creates — something that I was responsible for, as I had deliberately not worn correct PPE when working, in the belief that it would be easier. The scars sometimes still itch to this day. And I havent been to Tegel since — the office job that I have spent 7 years in is more suited to me.

     I belive Addeco has the contract now, but Tegel is a shit place to work. I dont blame the workers for striking for more pay — the money is the reason why so many people work there.
     • Te Reo Putake 1.3.1

       29 November 2012 at 10:02 pm

       Cheers, millsy, that’s a good summary of the place from what I’m told. And also testament to the need for a living wage.
2. KhandallaMan 2

   29 November 2012 at 7:30 am

   Mallard’s appallingly prepared and badly communicated Auckland Waterfront RWC Stadium Proposal comes to mind. 
   Did Annette get coaching on her Auckland Housing Solution from Mallard?

   Annette and Mallard have had their last Hurray’s too many times.
   Shadbolt should be retiring in Invergiggle soon, Trev!  
3. felix 3

   29 November 2012 at 7:59 am

   Nothing looks more desperate than someone trying to start a meme.

   I had to laugh when I heard Vogon Commander Joyce in parliament yesterday claiming that Labour have been nicknamed “the hobbit haters” by the nz media.

   I’ve never noticed anyone in the media use the term, unless they were directly quoting a script-reading Nat MP. Has anyone?
   • Pascal's bookie 3.1

     29 November 2012 at 8:06 am

     Noted entertainer John Key has been using it a lot. Maybe that’s what he meant?
   • Professor Longhair 3.2

     29 November 2012 at 8:30 am

     I’m a Hobbit-hater, and not ashamed to say so.
     • Pascal's bookie 3.2.1

       29 November 2012 at 6:20 pm

       http://t.co/80MRdynR
   • Tiger Mountain 3.3

     29 November 2012 at 8:44 am

     “Hobbit Love” is more of a worry, when a union buster is celebrated by thousands of grinning kiwis.

     Hobbit hater is attempted code for ‘unkiwi’, or not sticking to the default kiwi setting of twisted nationalism and subservience. The type that sees support for troops in Afghanistan, youthful trips to Gallipoli and ANZAC day, tears during Dave Dobbyn songs as patriotism.

     Key and business has been “storming the shire” since ’08 and the kiwi hobbit lovers do not seem to care a bit.
     • Tiger Mountain 3.3.1

       29 November 2012 at 9:15 am

       More on the H****t. quite good from Tom Scott.
       http://www.stuff.co.nz/blogs/opinion/cartoons/6736460/Tom-Scott-2012
       • weka 3.3.1.1

         29 November 2012 at 9:52 am

         Scott got one thing wrong though – Key didn’t pay for some of it, we did.
         • Tiger Mountain 3.3.1.1.1

           29 November 2012 at 10:14 am

           @ weka, the implication I took via Lord Jackson’s shifty look was that “you” (The Prime Minister) by implication meant “us” (the taxpayers). Jackson knows well it did not come out of Key’s pocket, and that he was the bagman for Warners.
         • Mary 3.3.1.1.2

           29 November 2012 at 10:24 am

           According to Key, it was Peter “Jackshon” who made the “Hobbits”. Our very own George W. Scott should do a cartoon about that.
           • Rogue Trooper 3.3.1.1.2.1

             29 November 2012 at 8:56 pm

             “I’m goin’ back in Jachshon…Jackshon’s who I want to be…”

             -in Key j minor
     • Rosie 3.3.2

       29 November 2012 at 9:30 am

       Hey TM. That unpatriotic vibe you’re referring to was disturbingly evident on 3’s coverage of the hobbit premiere last night. The whole angle on “if we didn’t act (meaning bend over for Hollywood) we wouldn’t be here today” was devisive and nauseating. Key was so fill of ‘told you so” smugness and was smirking and grinning like the cat who got the cream. Ugh!
       And yes, the Tom Scott cartoon in todays dompost was a good leveller.
       • muzza 3.3.2.1

         29 November 2012 at 2:28 pm

         Hi Rosie,

         The whole thing is disgusting, and seeing the thronging masses fawning over the event makes me shake my head.

         These are the spells weaved by the “magic” of hollywood, which is what people seem to “care’ about these days.
         • Rosie 3.3.2.1.1

           29 November 2012 at 2:56 pm

           Kia Ora Muzza:-)
           Yep. Ignorance is bliss.
           Its’ been particluarly tiresome here in Wgtn with the whole Jackson adoration and “isn’t the Hobbit great for Wellington, blah blah blah” going on ad nauseum.
   • karol 3.4

     29 November 2012 at 8:57 am

     Seen it used a lot by right wing blog commenters. Does Joyce consider them to be part of the media?
   • Enough is Enough 3.5

     29 November 2012 at 9:06 am

     Stop being so precious.

     Does anyone in the media use the meme “Planet Key”?

     Does it matter?
     • karol 3.5.1

       29 November 2012 at 9:20 am

       The point was, that Joyce was trying to claim the term is used by the media.
       • Enough is Enough 3.5.1.1

         29 November 2012 at 10:41 am

         And my point is – so what…?

         The media has reported the “hobbit Hater” meme.

         There are big things to worry about and legitimate things to crticise this corrupt government about. But the message gets lost when we cry about Mr Joyce saying nasty things in Parliament which may not be true.
         • felix 3.5.1.1.1

           29 November 2012 at 11:49 am

           No, the media has reported that Key has used the term “hobbit haters” to describe Labour.

           Joyce is pretending that the media themselves used the term to describe Labour which is an entirely different thing altogether.
           • Enough is Enough 3.5.1.1.1.1

             29 November 2012 at 12:47 pm

             and…
             • felix …

               29 November 2012 at 7:16 pm

               …and it’s the opposite of what you said, yet just over an hour later you’re agreeing with it. Duh.
         • Ant 3.5.1.1.2

           29 November 2012 at 3:20 pm

           I don’t think any ‘message’ is going to get lost due to an open mike discussion.
       • QoT 3.5.1.2

         29 November 2012 at 9:29 pm

         Hey now, Joyce has a point. The media does use it. When reporting on how it was entirely coined by the Nats. But that still totally counts!
     • Lanthanide 3.5.2

       29 November 2012 at 9:41 am

       “Does anyone in the media use the meme “Planet Key”?”

       Actually, yes. And that meme was created by Key himself (and picked up by the Greens), which is quite different from an opposition party manufacturing a meme entirely, as National are now attempting to do.
4. Professor Longhair 4

   29 November 2012 at 8:29 am

   http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/ambassadors-rage-doesnt-dispel-facts-20121128-2ae99.html

   Ambassador’s rage doesn’t dispel facts
   by Elizabeth Farrelly, November 29, 2012

   ‘Swedish ambassador goes berserk over Assange,” read Monday’s Wiki-tweet. It rang a bell, as it bounced around the globe, for while most diplomats are polite to the point of somnambulism, my sole encounter with the Swedish ambassador had been distinguished by rage (his). This rage, rooted in WikiLeaks, had itself been Wikileaked.

   Sven-Olof Petersson is Sweden’s man in Yarralumla. By now he may be wishing he’d followed the advice I give my 13 year-old.

   It’s this. If you have something savage to say, sleep on it. Then, if it really must be said, pick up the phone. Say it in person. Shout it from the rooftops, if need be. But under no circumstances commit it to cyber-space. Cyber-speech, seemingly ethereal, is etched in stone.

   Back story: last April I wrote a column about Julian Assange. ”It’s quite clear,” I said, ”that Assange is not guilty – not of rape, not of treason”, but it was more a logical deduction (from the definition of these things) than a claim to knowledge of the events. In particular, I wrote of my dismay at what can happen to speakers of truth, especially at the hands of those who pretend to uphold it.

   It made the Swedish ambassador mad. Really mad. We now know it made him, by his own admission, out-of-control mad.

   Read more….
   http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/ambassadors-rage-doesnt-dispel-facts-20121128-2ae99.html
   • kiwi_prometheus 4.1

     29 November 2012 at 11:32 am

     “In particular, I wrote of my dismay at what can happen to speakers of truth, especially at the hands of those who pretend to uphold it.”

     You can include the hands or should I say paws of “Cry rape!” Feminists like Felix and QofT who are CIA dupes. They’ve jumped on board the trial by media smear campaign against Assange like good little toadies – “Rape culture! Rape culture!” they wail on cue, like professional mourners.

     Of course what makes Julian Assange ‘guilty’ in their eyes is A) he is a man, B) his political activism against the rich and powerful that dwarfs anything Team Feminists and other Assange haters, have or ever will accomplish.
     • felix 4.1.1

       29 November 2012 at 7:18 pm

       Not sure I’ve passed any opinion on those matters, k_p.

       Care to show where I have? Otherwise an apology and retraction will be fine, thanks.
     • QoT 4.1.2

       29 November 2012 at 9:32 pm

       Still really, really desperate to deny there’s rape culture, k_p. Interesting.
   • McFlock 4.2

     29 November 2012 at 12:22 pm

     How can one logically deduce that someone did not commit rape without any knowledge of the events? 
          
     That entire piece is moronic. But thanks of regurgitating the “sex without a condom is illegal” lie. Just to remind us that even nice anti-establishment people will perpetuate rape myths if they think it will piss of America.
     • Rogue Trooper 4.2.1

       29 November 2012 at 12:24 pm

       carry on Shrek?
       • McFlock 4.2.1.1

         29 November 2012 at 12:48 pm

         you calling me fat? 😉
         • Rogue Trooper 4.2.1.1.1

           29 November 2012 at 1:18 pm

           naaaah, not at all, just wondering if there is any merit in offloading some more sociological precis allah 🙂
           Ellul, which I have to share, is dead on the money; everything he thought and wrote across the 20th
           Century, Fox, (she’s a twentieth century fox) came to fruition and he is referred to as the prophet of
           the 21st; sees social phenomena corresponding to waves, currents and depths 😉 ; present events and
           personalities which the MSM and increasingly the academic social scientists focus on, deeper abstract philosophical concerns and of course, his interest in the middle of the trending currents.

           His corpus has a foundation in Marxist analysis but it goes way beyond money and settles on technique
           so I’ll search for a link and tell me what your thoughts are; many of the Sounds of Silence tell me it’s all
           happening at The Zoo 🙂

           interestingly there is a work entitled Presence amidst consideration is given to
           lived experience
           “common places”
           and the
           Sacred (isn’t it interesting where the teleology of one’s ontological project can lead?)

           I really recommend this text Living the Word, Resisting the World: The Life and Thoughts of
           Jacques Ellul, there are rooms in the reason for everybody, but then what would I know, I am
           just a weary gardener 😉
5. Lanthanide 5

   29 November 2012 at 9:45 am

   So how about those ridiculous predictions of 100,000 people turning out for the premiere? Seems the actual turnout was around 20k.

   As Wellington City itself has a population of approx 200,000, that would have been half the city turning out and squishing into downtown, just to see some famous people walk on a red-coloured carpet and hear the same old suspects have some speeches.
   • Enough is Enough 5.1

     29 November 2012 at 10:58 am

     look at what the world thinks of us

     http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/blistering-cnn-report-calls-kiwis-desperate-over-hobbit-5247237

     John Key has made us the laughing stock of the world.

     New Zealand truly does suck while he continues to embarass us all
     • TheContrarian 5.1.1

       29 November 2012 at 5:20 pm

       “John Key has made us the laughing stock of the world.”

       Clark did the same thing with Return of the King don’t forget.
       • McFlock 5.1.1.1

         29 November 2012 at 5:38 pm

         Clark did what? Rewrite employment law or just build an international reputation as a suck-up?
       • felix 5.1.1.2

         29 November 2012 at 10:21 pm

         Really The Contrarian? Helen Clark drew the ridicule of international media for sucking up?

         Do go on…
     • BM 5.1.2

       29 November 2012 at 6:33 pm

       Article written by a one Pattrick Smellie

       http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1209/S00629/pattrick-smellie-wins-scholarship-to-london.htm

       Once again Labour aligned people taking a dump in the Hobbit punch bowl, in a feeble attempt to sling shit at John Key and National

       Notch another one up for the “Hobbit haters”
       • Pascal's bookie 5.1.2.1

         29 November 2012 at 6:46 pm

         Fark.

         2 and one half internet points for trying there son, but a 15 point deduction for trying to pull some shit that might fly on a trade me forum in the wee small hours but otherwise should have sent the abort abort woop woop sirens ringing well before you got the actual typing part.
         • BM 5.1.2.1.1

           29 November 2012 at 7:08 pm

           Trade me forums aye.
           I assume you post in opinions, what handle do you go by over there?
           • Pascal's bookie 5.1.2.1.1.1

             29 November 2012 at 7:11 pm

             Don’t.
             • BM …

               29 November 2012 at 7:23 pm

               You should do, the left side could really do with some help.
               • Pascal's bookie …

                 29 November 2012 at 8:58 pm

                 Reckon seeing how Trademe forums are for people who can’t figure how to make Stuff comments work, losing a flame war is the least of their probs.
                 • Jackal …

                   29 November 2012 at 10:33 pm

                   I wouldn’t be too down on Trademe forums Pascal’s bookie… They have a huge readership if the large amount of hits are anything to go by whenever somebody links to a Jackal post there.

                   Besides, BM’s reasoning is far more simplified… How else to explain him/her thinking that CNN article is the only negative international attention Key and the Hobbit has recently received?

                   The trend is very worrying indeed, with the world clearly starting to think New Zealand is backwards and run by morons. Unfortunately people like BM and the politicians he/she supports do nothing but encourage people to form those beliefs.
                   • Pascal's bookie …

                     30 November 2012 at 7:35 am

                     Do you know haow many people drink Coke? Neither do I, but it’s an imperial shit-tonne. Doesn’t mean I’m going to start drinking it, and it doesn’t mean there’s any reason for me to start trying to get them to make it drinkable for me.
       • felix 5.1.2.2

         29 November 2012 at 11:00 pm

         BM: “… Labour aligned people …”

         lolwut? From your link, the only mention of Labour is this:

         Pattrick Smellie is a co-founder of BusinessDesk an independent business news wire agency. He has spent 21 years working in journalism in New Zealand and for publications across the Tasman. He also was a press secretary for Labour’s Finance Minister Roger Douglas from 1985 to 1988 and has worked in corporate communications with Fonterra and Contact Energy.

         Damn libril medja.
   • Janice 5.2

     29 November 2012 at 11:08 am

     The phrase “bread and circuses” came to my mind. The film evidently cost each and every one of us $8.00/head and then they will still expect us to pay full price for admission should we really want to go.
     • prism 5.2.1

       29 November 2012 at 12:33 pm

       Cripes Janice – can’t you lift your sights above your personal cost to attend the film. If you want to comment why don’t you have something to say about the multiplier effect for every $8 (or whatever) spent. And that it comes from an continuing film making niche here providing opportunities for creatives and actors. And that it raises our profile overseas so we seem like a vital alive and beautiful country, which objectively, we probably still are.

       But people grousing about the cost of any initiative and heaping loads of brown stuff on ‘the man they love to hate’ helps to drag us down to the boring, conservative, dour sadarse place we can still morph into.
       • Rogue Trooper 5.2.1.1

         29 November 2012 at 12:44 pm

         very waltzing in black, strangle the life out of me there is plenty more I could say to make you change
         your mind, didn’t have much money but I had a morrie thou’ sand ways to leave your lover and step out
         the back Jack White is a very talented man with a beat full of eye candy. (deep inhalation) Shandi,
         say goodnight and gooo home because you Sure Know Something ahaaa…
         • prism 5.2.1.1.1

           29 November 2012 at 1:07 pm

           Rogue Trooper
           Your special weirdness gives an interesting counterpoint to our often banal comments. What are you on? Is it legal? Watch your dosage.
           • Rosie 5.2.1.1.1.1

             29 November 2012 at 3:04 pm

             Yes, I like RT’s style. I like the song titles woven into the free form conversation. Even if they’re bad songs I still like it. Keep on truckin’ RT.
             • Rogue Trooper …

               29 November 2012 at 3:45 pm

               “cos we gotta mighty Convoy truckin on through the night, come join our convoy…see what’s outta
               Sight. Breaker 1 9 you got your ears on? I seen a cab-over Pete with a Reefer on and a PM hauling hogs”
               • Rosie …

                 29 November 2012 at 4:14 pm

                 Yeah, I got my ears on RT! Thigh slappin’ and hat doffin’ right back at ya:-)
             • just saying …

               29 November 2012 at 4:22 pm

               I’ve had “send me an angel” playing in my mind, off and on, since you mentioned it a couple of days ago 🙂
     • millsy 5.2.2

       29 November 2012 at 11:02 pm

       Im going to download it myself, down the track.

       This whole Hobbit-hater thing is getting a bit overboard though. Anyway, the same people who go on about this stupid movie and the jobs that it will create are the same people who support the closure of the rail workshops at Hillside, the jobs there were secure, high wage and high skilled. They turned out some pretty good stuff. KiwiRail flash carriages being the latest — could have exported them to other countries as well.\

       But oh no, appareantly we should all be independent contractors on Lord Jackson’s Tolkein adaptions.
6. JazzaBelle 6

   29 November 2012 at 10:18 am

   http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/your-word-labours-leadership-problems
   Duneding Labour Supporters are unhappy with the state of the Leadership.

   90% of poll believe Cunliffe’s demotion does not address the Leadership problems.

   Clare Curran has her work cut-out.
   • Bill 6.1

     29 November 2012 at 11:25 am

     That was a remarkable contrast to the ‘Campbell Caravan’ or whatever they call it where (if we are to believe the editing was done in an even handed way) absolutely everyone sampled in Lower Hutt was of the opinion that Shearer was ‘the man’…if they knew who he was… and most didn’t know who Cunliffe was.

     http://www.3news.co.nz/Who-should-lead-Labour/tabid/367/articleID/277266/Default.aspx
     • karol 6.1.1

       29 November 2012 at 3:23 pm

       The TV3 news straw poll asked a different question – quite a narrowly defined one: basically Shearer or Cunliffe? – and that was immediately after the MSM was giving Cunliffe bad press, while Shearer was identified as the legitimate leader.

       The Dunedin-9 poll asks whether the  Labour leadership problems have been ended with Cunliffe being sent to the back benches.
   • Crimson Tide 6.2

     29 November 2012 at 4:35 pm

     It’s hard to understand what David Cunliffe’s demotion was actually supposed to achieve for the Labour Party, or for the chances of a Labour Government getting elected. I took a look at the latest Roy Morgan results but the next one will be telling, I believe.
   • Anne 6.3

     29 November 2012 at 5:53 pm

     Yeah well, rumour has it that Clare Curran’s electorate members clearly indicated a preference for Cunliffe at the time of the leadership contest 12 months ago and she ignored them. What does that say about Clare Curran I wonder?
7. BLiP 7

   29 November 2012 at 11:26 am

   .

   Can’t say you weren’t warned, eh John?

   7 December 2011

   To:

   The Honourable Kate Wilkinson, MP

   The Director General, Department of Conservation, Mr Al Morrison

   We wish to register our collective dismay at the current restructuring of the Department of Conservation. The effect of these changes is of particular concern with regards to science and technical support staff. The dedicated staff in these positions are intimately involved in planning and advising field based conservation management and research. Therefore, to suggest that rangers and field based staff will not be affected by these changes, as the Minister and Director General claim, is ludicrous.

   The Department of Conservation is characterised by an incredibly dedicated staff who are passionate about their jobs. Unfortunately, this dedication to conservation is not reflected by government. There is an ongoing reduction in capacity, support and funding for New Zealand conservation, along with the continual threat of restructuring and reprioritisation of resources. The loss of positions coupled with those who chose to leave an under-resourced and uncertain future within the department is to the detriment of New Zealand Conservation and ultimately to New Zealanders.

   New Zealand has an outstanding international reputation for innovative and effective conservation management.

   This reputation has been hard won through snatching iconic species from the brink of extinction the Chatham Island black robin, kakapo, takahe and saddleback. Many more species and ecosystems teeter on the edge of oblivion. We have the expertise to prevent this from happening but the experts require funding, support and job security.

   This week over 1300 conservation biologists from more than 75 countries will converge on Auckland for the International Congress on Conservation Biology. As academics and scientists with intimate links to New Zealand-based conservation management, science and research what will we say when our international colleagues ask about conservation in New Zealand? We have many good things to tell them because conservationists are, by necessity, a dedicated and determined group of people. But we cannot say that this commitment is reflected by our government and we will doubtless relay our fears for the future of New Zealand conservation.

   100 per cent Pure New Zealand has to be more than a marketing slogan to attract tourists and buoy exports of our agriculture products. It requires a well-funded Department of Conservation and secure roles within the department for the dedicated staff to simply get on with their job of protecting New Zealand’s biodiversity. We acknowledge the current economic challenges facing the globe but we also ask that conservation management and science be properly acknowledged as a strategic asset for the wealth of all New Zealanders and funded as such. Recessions come and go: extinction is forever.

   Kind Regards

   107 top scientists and academics
   .
8. kiwi_prometheus 8

   29 November 2012 at 11:46 am

   More pro gay “marriage” propaganda in the NZ Herald.

   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10850682

   Some homosexual, celebrity hairdo working as a “reporter” for the ET! channel “Close Up!” program, blubbering about Daddy not being able to see his son get married – boo hoo hoo!

   Looks like Team Pro Gay are really scraping the bottom [ no pun intended ] of the barrel now in their social engineering attempts.

   Well when the whole pro gay marriage crusade hinges on flakey Academic Left deconstructionist mumbo jumbo like Carol’s “binary opposites”, what else can they do?
   • BLiP 8.1

     29 November 2012 at 11:53 am

     ^^^DFTT
   • Pascal's bookie 8.2

     29 November 2012 at 6:34 pm

     Fuck that “no pun intended” crap.

     Pretty much the only legitimate use of that phrase is here:

     http://t.co/80MRdynR

     That’s ‘pretty much’ because possibly, (possibly), you could come up with some word that is the only possible word to use, and it makes a pun that makes no sense, or that conveys some shit you don’t want to say.

     Your case here?

     Total tool move.

     If you didn’t like the pun, get fucking rid of it. If you don’t want to get rid of it, own it, especially if you go out of your way to highlight the lame arsed piece of weak.
   • QoT 8.3

     29 November 2012 at 9:35 pm

     Holy shit, you found a homosexual person who’s in favour of gay marriage? I’m fucking stunned. Oh, wait, you meant “homosexual” as a perjorative. Interesting.
9. joe90 9

   29 November 2012 at 12:24 pm

   Seems our resident doom sayer Robert A isn’t the only one crying wolf.

   http://www.businessinsider.com/were-headed-for-a-disaster-of-biblical-proportions-2012-11?op=1
   • kiwi_prometheus 9.1

     29 November 2012 at 1:01 pm

     70 million extra human beings squeezed onto the planet every year.
     • Daveosaurus 9.1.1

       29 November 2012 at 6:04 pm

       If you are genuinely concerned about overpopulation, then you should support gay marriage. The simplest, least invasive way of curbing overpopulation is not having so many children in the first place.
       • Populuxe1 9.1.1.1

         29 November 2012 at 6:45 pm

         Logical fallacy – same sex couples are no less likely, and quite probably more likely, to pursue having children if married. Gay people have all the functioning bits, and what we don’t have we can go get. You’re actually being a bit patronising – especially if you are assuming that gay marriage will make more people gay, or whatever weird idea you have in your head.
         • Lanthanide 9.1.1.1.1

           29 November 2012 at 8:35 pm

           A culture that accepts gay people will see fewer of them live unfulfilling heterosexual lifestyles. I would suggest it probably isn’t uncommon for closeted gays to shack up and have children under some mistaken belief that it might ‘fix’ them or whatever. So there’s that.

           But otherwise, yeah, doesn’t really make any sense.
   • KJT 9.2

     29 November 2012 at 1:17 pm

     Well he is not wrong. Except I think he is just as bad as the deniers in one way.

     Why bother doing anything if we are doomed anyway!
10. RedLogix 10

    29 November 2012 at 12:28 pm

    And on a lot more modest scale, those of you who’ve ever been tramping will get a mild chuckle from pg.2 of the latest FMC Newsletter:

    http://www.fmc.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Newsletter/Club1210.pdf
11. Rogue Trooper 11

    29 November 2012 at 12:32 pm

    Well, Hope the MSM responsibly broadcast this to the people joe
12. prism 12

    29 November 2012 at 12:58 pm

    Another giant step forward for NZ on radio today! No. Sorry just another case of the wealthy playing monopoly with NZ people’s money. RAM otherwise Ross Assets Management or some lying name, has gone belly up with just $400 million somewhere and about $10 million assets can be found and another $67 million that might be raised from the dead hands of investors paid out with newcomers money, also the IRD receiving real tax on mythical profits. When will this stop!!!!!!

    We can’t get anywhere in this country if we allow some bloated, calaculating business fatneck to swan along and pick our pockets. Who can you invest with and trust? When is there going to be close monitoring and regulation of financial entities from government? We don’t want the Goldman Sachs copycats doing an Antiques Roadshow on our bits and bank balances and then conniving to acquire them, and we don’t want the Standard and Poors acting stable assessing our businesses. We want integrity, and by god if we have to pay for it we should shut up and fork out. It would be advantageous in the long run.

    The ASB has just done a city by city chart as to the most financially active business centre and Aucland wins – why because they have more housing start ups. I would like to see two separate lots of figures, one for housing only and the other for real business which would include commercial buildings. Housing masks other activities and it is a relatively easy option for business investment. We need reassurance that there is actitivity and investment in other areas of enterprise in NZ.

    And another ruined golden goose – the kiwifruit debacle continues. All those great people mortgaging themselves, doing hands on productive work, refining methods to meet quality standards – putting muscle and thought and innovation into a growing market have been severely checked if not wiped out by this pollen business. Bring back hanging? No no that’s the wrong attitude but directing passion to introducing tight precautionary actions to prevent this sort of commercial sabotage, whether un- or intended, is where strong feelings should be channelled.
13. Dave Kennedy (bsprout) 13

    29 November 2012 at 1:12 pm

    This is as good as we can expect under this National led Government:
    http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/aspiring-to-become-average.html
    • Draco T Bastard 13.1

      29 November 2012 at 5:46 pm

      This government isn’t even aspiring to average – they want to keep as as backwards hicks.
14. Rogue Trooper 14

    29 November 2012 at 2:02 pm

    I been for a wonder and a quick look at the BBc before communion. The options before the UK
    parliament at the mo’ are to either get the press to self-regulate or be under government regulation.
    According to RT television, which is really a humurus watch at times, the Spaniards are loosing
    1000’s more Jobs in an exchange for MORE bankier support from EU Central and the French
    are exibiting fears of disenfranchised Islamists; remember Algeria? oui oui
    Remember when you walked home from school for lunch and Mum had made fresh ham and chicken
    sandwiches while Dad pulled up out front in the bright Red CA Bedford van. Family home for Lunch.
    and the son of the men who founded the company died recently in an industrial accident, along creep
    of increasing competitiveness and Size in the Transport Industry; very sad,

    Oh well, there is always Question Time for a laugh 🙂
15. Rogue Trooper 15

    29 November 2012 at 3:25 pm

    The things they say in parliament are interesting because they go in the Hansard and and not to mislead
    i wear baggy pants and i can not lie Stag and me ‘ad our own litle mag with Stars on Radio with
    Pictures in our eyes like Talking To A Stranger sow the NZIER also recognise that NZ imports to ausie
    are down non-people anyways “she’ll be right” and the germ Joyce acknowledges NSW and Queen Vic.
    economies are “struggling” while the MC assail the Battered seas Power Station. Russell was sowing
    them memes Pa, sure did look purty Metiria (although there are burgeoning Mass Body issues in NZ)
    we seem a “fattist” society as a generalization, which thankfully has been reframed thanks to Pacifica
    30 Years Tenure, figurative rhetoric bites them apples deep.
    Unbelievable boiled lolly behaviour over a hard-to-swallow sweetie we’ll modify statistical reporting
    frequently to maximize the fleece between Shares.
    Funny fred Brown-stone just needed Pebbles-dash splattered down his tie; Wilmah!..Wilmah!

    ugh Gee Fred.

    -Barney Rubble
16. Rogue Trooper 16

    29 November 2012 at 3:36 pm

    f.ism = Mob Rules thats why ya’ need the Hounds Of Love Running Up That Hill to see Black Sabbath
    playing April. Fools in Cuba? Alright! Alllllright! as Tool?s have always boot-strapped the apex predator
    wannabee a Hot Child In The City as National lampoon democracy.

    -All Fred Einstein Gary Numan 😉 (craig, you’re a fossil alright yeah, just lay your hands on me…lay your hands on me Alright Yeah)
17. Professor Longhair 17

    29 November 2012 at 3:57 pm

    How morally blind is Stevie Wonder?

    You might have thought that his tuneless singing of this witless, plodding campaign tribute in 2008 was the low-point of Stevie Wonder’s foundering career….

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

    But you would be wrong. He’s sunk about as low as anyone who is not Clint Eastwood could sink….

    http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/alexander-billet/will-israeli-apartheid-steal-stevie-wonders-soul
18. higherstandard 18

    29 November 2012 at 4:06 pm

    Interesting thoughts.

    https://www.streettalklive.com/component/content/article/9-off-the-street/1302-a-capitalists-dilemma-whoever-wins-on-tuesday.html
    • Draco T Bastard 18.1

      29 November 2012 at 6:02 pm

      Typical RWNJ with no solutions just more suggestions on giving the rich even more wealth.
19. Herbert 19

    29 November 2012 at 4:47 pm

    I have just sent this letter to the Honourable Lockwood Smith.

    “Dear Sir
    I am deeply disappointed by what took place during Question Time, no.4 today (29/11/2012). I am astonished that you allowed the derogatory phrase “shut it sweetie” to pass by without stern censure. This type of language is more likely, for example, to be found in the build up to a bar room brawl between drunk females, or by an adult trying to bully a child into submission. “Shut it sweetie” is neither appropriate nor fittting language for use in the House, and especially by a Minister of the Government. I expect far greater competence from those in positions of great responsibility.
    Whilst there may be loud and rude comments made in the to and fro of the House’s business, I find this comment to be quite offensive.
    The Minister of Social Development has an important portfolio to care for some of the weakest and most vulnerable people in our country. This is especially pertinent in the context of today’s question dealing with vulnerable youth. As you will no doubt be aware, many of these youth are the victims of abuse, both physical and verbal. The Minister just compouded that abuse by her offensive remarks
    Furthermore, I would suggest that there was very little provocation that caused this gross remark. The remark was not just “less that ideal.” The remark is offensive.
    I found this interchange disgusting and your involvement was especially disappointing. Both the dignity of the House and the responsibilities the House has to the people of New Zealand were seriously belittled today.
    I expect more that to hear Ministers of the Crown say “shut it sweetie.”!”
20. Populuxe1 20

    29 November 2012 at 5:20 pm

    To the tune of “Little Buttercup” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance

    For I’m called Paula Benefit — plump Paula Benefit, 
    Though I could never tell why, 
    But still I’m called Benefit — plump little Benefit, 
    Though benefit no one do I!

    I’ve slashed solo mothers and plenty of others, 
    My clothing puts Bett Lynch to shame; 
    I hiss “Zip it, Sweetie,” at all who’d defeat me, 
    And ethics can go to the flame.

    I’m a leopard-print manatee, I lack all humanity, 
    My office leaks like a sieve;
    All of those unemployed just make me so annoyed, 
    I strike them wherever they live.

    Then ask for a Benefit – beg for a Benefit; 
    Of jobs there are never enough; 
    So, come to your Benefit — plump little Benefit; 
    So I can say go and get stuffed!  
    • Red Rosa 20.1

      29 November 2012 at 7:41 pm

      +2 !
    • prism 20.2

      29 November 2012 at 10:43 pm

      +9.9 Populuxe1
21. Rogue Trooper 21

    29 November 2012 at 7:37 pm

    cool Pop Music M People “movin’ on up yes we’re movin on up…”
    2.2M FB users in NZ and only 15K tax after “legitimate tax avoidance” save Facebook now!
    Horan, what a cheeky wee dog; is the forecast for cloudy or fine?).The Retirement Watchdog
    Commission warns that housing affordability for the smothering litter will be in the dog-house
    (of course) while MFAT is further trimmed we’re givin the dog a bone just givin the dog a bone
    The New Demons
    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1362676.The_New_Demons
    they sound attractive
    nothing tautological about it Word
    you reap by the technique you sow with language sticks to mark out the rows, all in all we are just
    bricks in a wall from Te Mata peak look down where The Mushroom Farm grows beneath a
    Golden Gate Ellulian arche, underline, that spans civilisation, modernity and technique employing
    the tools of a christian Post-Christian ethique.
    There was some excellent representative television on Close-UP 7PM in my view.
22. Draco T Bastard 22

    29 November 2012 at 9:16 pm

    ACTUALLY, THE RETIREMENT AGE IS TOO HIGH

    Third, we don’t need the workers. Productivity gains and cheap imports mean that we can and do enjoy far more farm and factory goods than our forebears, with much less effort. Only a small fraction of today’s workers make things. Our problem is finding worthwhile work for people to do, not finding workers to produce the goods we consume.

    Which is what I’ve been saying for a long, long time.
    • Colonial Viper 22.1

      29 November 2012 at 10:53 pm

      Yeah. Labour’s policy of increasing the retirement age is dumbass.

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