Open mike 30/06/2012

81 comments on “Open mike 30/06/2012 ”

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1. muzza 1

   30 June 2012 at 7:10 am

   —The below response (cut and paste from pre written material), via Nikki Kaye…

   “There is currently no conclusive evidence that depleted uranium poses a significant threat to health or the environment. In 2005, the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee considered a petition to ban depleted uranium, and concluded that there was no consensus in the international scientific community as to the effect of depleted uranium on human health, but that New Zealand should continue to monitor the international research on the health consequences of its use. For this reason, the Government supports continued monitoring and research into the effects of depleted uranium, but will not take further action without clear scientific evidence.

   Whenever New Zealand Defence Force personnel are deployed in theatres of operations where depleted uranium munitions may have been used, more stringent health monitoring has been untaken on those personnel. To date, there have been no adverse health effects identified in NZDF personnel. Most reports also conclude that any health and environmental risks associated with depleted uranium can be controlled with simple counter-measures by national authorities such as monitoring, clean-up operations where depleted uranium has been used, and further research.

   New Zealand is closely following studies by international agencies on the potential health impacts of depleted uranium, and The Government will continue to monitor international developments, reports and studies on depleted uranium and potential health risks. New Zealand also supports a United Nations General Assembly resolution passed last year encouraging Member States to facilitate and Monitor studies and research on depleted uranium by relevant international organisations.

   The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

   The IAEA has participated with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Health Organisation (WHO) in several international appraisals of depleted uranium, with the objective of these assessments being to draw conclusions regarding the toxic and radiological safety of depleted uranium, and to make recommendations to mitigate the hazards of the population and the environment.

   In general, the results of these assessments indicated that the existence of depleted uranium residues dispersed in the environment does not pose a radiological hazard to the population of the affected regions. The IAEA estimated that annual radiation doses from depleted uranium would be very low and of little radiological concern, with cases of prolonged skin contact with depleted uranium or fragments being the only possible exposure pathway leading to significant risks. Provided access to where these fragments exist remain restricted, the likelihood that members of the public come into such contact is low.

   An IAEA assessment came to the same conclusion in Southern Iraq in 2010, and provided recommendations for safe management of fragments of depleted uranium.

   I hope you find this information useful, thank you again for your email.”
   • Bill 1.1

     30 June 2012 at 9:56 am

     fucking incredible
   • freedom 1.2

     30 June 2012 at 11:55 am

     i double dare Nikki Kaye to type three little words* into any image search engine and then try to spout that bullshit ever again

     * depleted uranium iraq
     • muzza 1.2.1

       30 June 2012 at 10:03 pm

       The response came back within 24 hours of the original email, which suggests that there is someone/something monitoring her inbox, and spewing back this garbage, as I would be surprised if it were NK, even though I have had responses which I can tell are actually from her previously.

       Either way whether cut and pasted by her hand, or by someone else, it is her endorsement of the vote she cast againse the bill, and then this attempt to vindicate her choice.

       NK is the chair of the education and science select committe, so the email signature states…

       This is truly staggering that we are into such dangerous territory now, with the blatant bowing to those who control NATO, which we have recently signed up for…

       I will post my response to her on open mike tomorrow, and ecourage people to get onto any and all NACT members, and those who voted this bill down, and in no uncertain words let them know that this is beyond reproach!
       • Vicky32 1.2.1.1

         1 July 2012 at 6:23 pm

         Either way whether cut and pasted by her hand, or by someone else, it is her endorsement of the vote she cast againse the bill, and then this attempt to vindicate her choice.

         Appalling! Idiot woman…
     • Roger 1.2.2

       5 July 2012 at 9:14 pm

       Kevin, Freedom and others who have fallen under the spell of the anti-depleted uranium jihad and have not taken the time to do actual scientific research as opposed to a YouTube or Google look up where everyone just repeats the same lies that first were presented in about 1992 – some are sincere lovers of peace, but others are just con artists who seek to profit from the lies or are professional propagandists. Sadly, I expect that MP Phil Twyford has had his compassionate side mislead by these people as well.

       The Phil Twyford Private Member’s bill is full of false and misleading information. There has been an active worldwide campaign against depleted uranium since Saddam Hussein’s regime decided to kill two birds with one stone. They did not like the fact that their vaunted Soviet built tanks could be killed by US/UK tanks at long range with a single shot of a depleted uranium kinetic energy penetrator round from the main gun of the M1 Abrams Tank or the UK’s Challenger Tank. They also did not want to be subject to the UN Sanctions that ended the Gulf War. As a result, all birth defects and cancers were blamed on that horrid radioactive weapon, depleted uranium. How many readers of this have ingested some DU today? All of you! Why, because DU is naturally occuring Uranium-238, and every being on this planet ingests, drinks in or breathes in a fraction of a microgram of U-238 every day of their life. Uranium is a toxic chemical if you take in too much of it and the first sign of a toxic dose is kidney failure, something that surprisingly has seldom been alleged by any of the people who claim to have been made ill by claimed depleted uranium contamination. The toxic radioactive dose of U-238 is unlimited according the IAEA’s Dangerous Quanitities of Radioactive Material (D-values) page 11
       http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/EPR_D_web.pdf

       If anyone would like to write to me, I will gladly correspond with you about my independent research (paid by no one) over the past seven plus years. I even tried to make MP Twyford aware of grave errors in his Bill when he first presented it in 2010 but his comments during the first reading on June 27th and his comments about the Maaori Party since then have led me to believe that he cares little about facts and just wants to believe that he is making a better world. You can write me at owner at the Yahoo group that is linked to this comment. There are a number of public links at this Yahoo group to actual scientific reports by the IAEA and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and others.

       PS – Kevin, there is overwhelming evidence that depleted uranium has not been used in Afghanistan and I would be glad to discuss that with you.
2. Stephen Doyle 2

   30 June 2012 at 8:23 am

   John Armstrong in today’s Herald. The man must write speeches for the Nats.
   Some interesting points though. “There is no indication Labour has woken up to the fact that some of the targets – such as boosting child immunisation rates, lifting the numbers getting trade qualifications and tackling youth crime – amount to an invasion of its traditional domains.”
   • tc 2.1

     30 June 2012 at 9:06 am

     JA is part of the NACT spin machine as is O’sullivan/Roughan etc not much intelligence or rigour just CT authored rhetoric presented as if it’s objective comment.

     It’s a large reason they got back in as the sheeple take this crap as wise opinion rather than paid for advertorial pieces from the 4th estate dinosaurs.
3. Policy Parrot 3

   30 June 2012 at 8:32 am

   The Armstrong piece demonstrates National’s way of doing things.

   1. Announce big and important targets (so it looks as if you care and are doing important things)
   2. “?”
   3. Success (or er.. Profit) – see “Underpants Gnomes” for reference.

   No interim goals or benchmarks – nothing to measure progress against, and no responsibility. They will claim the incidental wins as their own and ignore the failures that they perpetrated.

   Hmmm… speaking of underpants gnomes – I need some coffee.
   • higherstandard 3.1

     30 June 2012 at 8:38 am

     More insider information on national here.

     http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/John_Key
     • LynW 3.1.1

       30 June 2012 at 9:12 am

       That’s given us a chuckle for the morning!
     • deuto 3.1.2

       30 June 2012 at 9:28 am

       LOL = well worth a read on a cold Sat morning – especially after stupidly reading Armstrong and Roughan on the Herald site.

       Mind you, I was surprised at Fran O’Sullivan’s column today – calling for an independent enquiry into the police conduct of the raid on Dotcom.
4. Rosie 4

   30 June 2012 at 9:49 am

   And some more interesting reading…..From the Nation: NAFTA on steroids. The Americans are also worried about the Trans Pacific Partnership. Here’s an article about the damaging effects the TPP will bring to democracy, from an American perspective. I couldn’t agree with their applause for New Zealand though. Even the Nats accept, after much persuading, that loosening Pharmac’s role would be bad for them, not to mention us as people. The article seems to allude to our govt being principled.

   http://www.thenation.com/article/168627/nafta-steroids#
5. millsy 5

   30 June 2012 at 10:34 am

   TVNZ 7 winds up today.

   A pity really, with its older forgotten sibling, TVNZ6, was an anchor for a new improved digital TV era. But its fate was more or less sealed on election night 2008. If you want to get anything that is remotely public service, you have to fork out for Sky, which IMO is crap for what you pay for. You dont have to worry about missing anything because it would be on again in a few days/weeks/months.

   Oh well, at least I have torrents.
   • Half Crown Millionare 5.1

     30 June 2012 at 2:06 pm

     “You don’t have to worry about missing anything because it would be on again in a few days/weeks/months.”

     Years. I am seeing repeats of the repeats of the repeats I saw repeated 3 to 4 years ago.

     And I agree it is crap and I have told sky as soon as I can download good stuff via the infernalnet they can shove it right up where the sun doesn’t shine.

     Like everybody else I got a letter advising me what a WUNDERFUL JOB they were doing and how I can now look at about 50 million channels (complete with adverts every 5 minutes) of the Olympics.(Couldn’t give a toss about the Olympics), and how fortunate as a sky subscriber I already have HD and don’t need to do anything else when all television goes digital in NZ.

     Because of this utopia that Sky is supplying my fee has to go up by about 6%. for the same crap I have seen for years.
     This is why Channel 7 has been killed off. It was a threat to Keys fat cat mate’s future advertising revenue,
6. millsy 6

   30 June 2012 at 10:39 am

   The left sweeps to power in France, gaining control of all branches of government for the first time, well ever, and that is the first thing they do?

   Gay Marriage!

   Trotter is right, the left today seems to be more worried about racial minorities and gay marriage than public ownership, the welfare state, workers rights and poverty.
   • Draco T Bastard 6.1

     30 June 2012 at 3:08 pm

     I have no problem with that. Sure it’s a minor issue compared to some others but it is also easy to do and shows that the new government will be doing and not just saying which has been the problem of left governments for the last few decades. Now the real test comes, now they need to enact legislation to start to undo the damage that neo-liberalism has done.
   • chris73 6.2

     30 June 2012 at 3:17 pm

     As a right winger I have no problem with gay marriage, in fact I’d say it should be a non-event. Supporting marriage and (hopefully) fidelity should be looked as something good for society as a whole, I’d have thought.
   • QoT 6.3

     30 June 2012 at 3:48 pm

     You mean the French government is only capable of passing a single law at any one time? They only have one ministry/department operating at any one time and all the rest go on holiday?

     Or … oh noes, their first *announcement* of policy was something that hetero white middle-class Waitakere Myths couldn’t benefit from? Gosh, how terrible.
     • Grumpy 6.3.1

       30 June 2012 at 9:57 pm

       How can they benefit? It’s in furking France for gods sake!!!
       • QoT 6.3.1.1

         30 June 2012 at 10:06 pm

         I’m sure France has its equivalent “waaaa, the nasty gays and wimminz are takin’ our jobs!” leftwing whingers.
   • Bill 6.4

     30 June 2012 at 10:17 pm

     Not like people ‘fought’ to have the state and church removed as ‘licensing’ authorities over relationships. But hey. Nothing like a bit of ‘progressive’ conservatism to galvanise folks.
   • Vicky32 6.5

     1 July 2012 at 6:32 pm

     Trotter is right, the left today seems to be more worried about racial minorities and gay marriage than public ownership, the welfare state, workers rights and poverty.

     Agreed! (I’m delighted too, that someone here other than me said it first! 🙂 )
7. Dv 7

   30 June 2012 at 10:42 am

   This is the new plan.
   http://www.make-everything-ok.com/
8. millsy 8

   30 June 2012 at 10:50 am

   The housing crisis in Christchurch really shouldn’t be allowed to happen. But I believe that the government is allowing this to happen to enrich private landlords, who are the only ones who will benefit from a housing crisis.

   The changes to state housing underlines this. Throwing thousands of vulnerable tenants out of state housing and off waiting lists, will only add to a large pool of people in the private rental market chasing a scare number of homes, and thus lead to rents being pushed up, for even grotty dives.
   • mike e 8.1

     30 June 2012 at 10:12 pm

     creating another housing bubble something the right always try to blame on the left.
     the only people who benefit are the banks and the don’t tax me capital gaingsters
9. millsy 9

   30 June 2012 at 10:55 am

   Maori are lodging a claim on water, and the left shoudnt really support this. Water is a public ownership owned by everyone, not a private asset owned by the few.
   • freedom 9.1

     30 June 2012 at 12:00 pm

     even John key says no-one owns water,
     http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10783913
     http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbnat/2038498866-Water-ownership-a-no-brainer—Key
     http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/6655601/Water-ownership-hearing-threatens-asset-sales
     etc

     for how much longer he says that ???
     • Draco T Bastard 9.1.1

       30 June 2012 at 3:15 pm

       Until he can sell it.

       And, yeah, water is owned by the whole community and not just one small sector of it. Go that route and we will see massive deprivation for the sector that doesn’t own it.
   • Rob 9.2

     30 June 2012 at 12:45 pm

     160 odd years ago, Maori may have stated they owned the water that was laying around on what they refer to as their land.
     The water came from rainclouds they do not have any claim to.
     The water that arrives today may have come from clouds that travelled from Antartica airspace so I am at a loss to understand Maori logic that is their water.
     • Fortran 9.2.1

       30 June 2012 at 1:28 pm

       Rob

       Easy “Just follow the money”.
       • mike e 9.2.1.1

         30 June 2012 at 1:41 pm

         Fartrain the money ended up in Anglo Saxon hands mainly.
         Now in courts that has been proven and Maori have been generous to us by accepting
         between 1 and 3% seettlements.
         Fartrain I smell the politics of envy from you and your cohorts and it stinks.
         • Foreign Waka 9.2.1.1.1

           30 June 2012 at 8:03 pm

           You must be joking! NZlaenders have paid BILLIONS in the last few years out of their meager pay packets and have forgone proper healthcare, increase on minimum wages, pensions etc. It seem you are one of those who only will be happy when the pakehas are in rags and begging on street corners.
           • mike e 9.2.1.1.1.1

             30 June 2012 at 10:17 pm

             feigning Weka the settlements haven’t past $2billion and are closer to $1 billion.
             envy.
             Some Maori tribes have turned their 1to3% settlements into very large portfolios
             jealous
             Stop being an ignoranting idiot and get your facts right before you
             promote your redneck racist attitudes.
             • Colonial Viper …

               30 June 2012 at 10:38 pm

               Estimate of the “Maori economy” = $36.9B of value.

               http://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/in-print/our-publications/fact-sheets/the-maori-economy/download/tpk-maorieconomy-2012.pdf
             • Foreign Waka …

               1 July 2012 at 5:05 pm

               Feigning Weka, wrong name – Foreign Waka, as in we are all foreign (just a degree on seperation in years) and came on a Waka.

               http://www.nzcpr.com/guest275.htm excerpt from NZ Centre of Political Research:
               ..total redress agreed to and mostly paid to February 1 this year is $2.455-billion. The Treaty Negotiations Vote in last year’s Budget contains a multi-year appropriation of $1.4-billion for the five-year period 2011 to 2015. Since we listed a total of $2.079-billion last July, if that $1.4-billion Budget appropriation were added to our last year’s total, expected redress would reach $3.479-billion.

               Interestingly the same number pops up in this report:
               http://www.getfrank.co.nz/editorial/nz-politics/treaty-transparency-settlements-1989-2012

               Envy? Jealous? Of what? I think that the majority of Maoris know very well that the money comes from working people who struggle all the same. The claim however is directed to the crown, or the Queen, so to speak. This seems to pass you by and my assertion is that you have a mighty handout mentality.
     • mike e 9.2.2

       30 June 2012 at 1:37 pm

       Maori were promised the same rights as British citizens but were these rights were under mined
       By shonkey traders taking full advantage of Maori illiteracy .
       Maori have a Different value system than Tory Anglo Saxons.
       • ropata 9.2.2.1

         30 June 2012 at 1:55 pm

         It depends on the substance of the Maori claim. People everywhere should have access to clean water as a basic human right. It should be a public utility not a source of monopoly power for a wealthy elite.
         • OneTrack 9.2.2.1.1

           30 June 2012 at 3:19 pm

           But it’s ok if that wealthy elite is Maori.
       • Foreign Waka 9.2.2.2

         30 June 2012 at 8:20 pm

         Maori have access to schools? Yes? Illiteracy is an issue of neglect within the family, so don’t roll this on to someone else. By what my experience is, Maori do have the same rights. In fact, there are many more benefits available to Maori than to any other race. This seem to be based on a legislated “affirmative action” model stemming from the Treaty, albeit equality was a key word.
         As to the use of water – we all need to drink water in order to survive. And this should be freely accessible.
         However, it is also clear that the drawing of ground water for irrigation has to have strict monitoring if not levies imposed as any depletion will lower the water table and salinate the ground water. This would make it unusable – forever. I doubt that the value system is very different on that point.
       • Vicky32 9.2.2.3

         1 July 2012 at 6:48 pm

         Maori have a Different value system than (sic)  Tory Anglo Saxons.

         NB – Anglo-Saxons are Germans, and calling white gentile people Anglo-Saxons, is another dill-brained American* habit. It’s as absurd as saying ‘caucasian’ instead of Pakeha, as the police and media do now.
         http://raaw.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/caucasian/
         and
         http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2011/01/stop-using-the-word-caucasian-to-mean-white/
          
          
          
         * Do try to limit your Americanisms. “Different than” is an Americanism New Zealanders (including Don Brash) use, as they hear it on TV., but even some Americans admit it’s actually wrong…
          
     • weka 9.2.3

       30 June 2012 at 1:57 pm

       Maori 160 odd years ago had concepts of land and land ‘ownership’ distinctly different than European concepts then, or Pakeha concepts how. Until you understand what those differences are, and how Maori treaty rights have been undermined because of those differences (amongst other things) then you are ignorant and you have no basis on which to express an opinion.

       Instead of indulging in Maori bashing, why not educate yourself? You might be surprised at how interesting and useful Maori views about land are.
       • OneTrack 9.2.3.1

         30 June 2012 at 3:24 pm

         Such as how Taniwha’s know to appear at the most convenient time?
         • weka 9.2.3.1.1

           1 July 2012 at 12:19 pm

           I think you are confusing Taniwha with Trolls OneTrack.
   • lefty 9.3

     30 June 2012 at 5:00 pm

     The Greens want to commodofy water because Russel Norman believes in a curious version of market theory that says putting a price on water will magically clean up our waterways.

     I would much prefer it to be put under Maori guardianship/ownership/protection to prevent that sort of nonsense in the future..
     • Colonial Viper 9.3.1

       30 June 2012 at 5:42 pm

       I would much prefer it to be put under Maori guardianship/ownership/protection to prevent that sort of nonsense in the future..

       Would this be similar to the Maori guardianship/ownership/protection of our fisheries, using poorly paid foreign fisher labour in appalling and dangerous working conditions?
       • Salsy 9.3.1.1

         30 June 2012 at 8:14 pm

         I would much prefer it to be put under Maori guardianship/ownership/protection to prevent that sort of nonsense in the future..

         Oh really? I’d say they would sell to the Chinese in a heartbeat, then lease back for the 3x the sale price on the condition they couldnt complain
10. AnnaLiviaPlurabella 10

    30 June 2012 at 12:11 pm

    Which politician would have pushed the Police to behave so over-the-top with Mr Dotcom?
    Groser is 100% Pure on the American approach to Trade. He will concede to the intrusive anti-sovernitu terms the Americans have in the TPP.
    The little man should not be in-charge of Trade any more than he should be in charge of Climate Change. He is a 100% Pure Liability.
    • Treetop 10.1

      30 June 2012 at 4:30 pm

      “Which politician would have pushed the Police to behave so over-the-top with Mr Dotcom?”

      I think the immigration minister.

      I have noticed that Collins has not repeated her mistake (covering up incompetence as she did with the CEO and Chairman of ACC) with Judge Winklemann’s ruling re Dotcom. Collins knows she has to tread carefully because Dotcom has the cash when it comes to litigation.

      When it comes to Collins fixing ACC I feel that she will not walk the talk. An inquiry is required and then RECOMMENDATIONS from claimants/their legal advisor and non ACC health professionals could be implemented.

      What did Collins do to implement Bazley’s recommendations into police culture?

      There was an independent report criticising the police dragging their heels and all I heard from Collins was tut tut, they need to be hurried along.
11. AnnaLiviaPlurabella 11

    30 June 2012 at 12:13 pm

    Which politician would have pushed the Police to behave so over-the-top with Mr Dotcom?
    Groser is 100% Pure on the American approach to Trade. He will concede to the intrusive anti-sovereignty terms the Americans have in the TPP.
    The little man should not be in-charge of Trade any more than he should be in charge of Climate Change. He is a 100% Pure Liability.
12. Kevin 12

    30 June 2012 at 12:15 pm

    I listened to the tail end of the debate in parliament on Wednesday evening where Richard Prosser of NZFirst gave a quick fire but detailed resume of the dangers of depleted uranium from his experience having being involved in the missile business.
    It is to New Zealand’s detriment that the debate on this bill did not make waves in the media because the implications of cross shipping yellowcake uranium through New Zealand from Australia is fraught with potential dangers that New Zealand is underprepared to deal with in the event of an accident or worse terrorist activity.
    Second to that is the exposure New Zealand Military are exposed to in Afghanistan and Iraq where depleted uranium has been deployed in an armour piercing capability thereby exposing all in close proximity to possible toxic dust.
    Depleted uranium is considered in the same light as Agent Orange of the Vietnam era with the same insidious genetic damage and prevalence of cancers.
    • Foreign Waka 12.1

      30 June 2012 at 8:45 pm

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/5876622/Radioactive-uranium-passing-through-NZ-ports
      Large amount of yellowcake uranium is being shipped in and out of NZ ports since 1996. This material is regarded as useful for manufacturing of weapons.
      Health effects to prolonged exposure include chromosome aberrations, cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, bronchial, bone, connective tissue, kidney and liver.
      • muzza 12.1.1

        30 June 2012 at 10:15 pm

        Sure Ben Vidgeon referenced this among other things in the 2 state secrets books he wrote many years ago!
13. calltoaccount 13

    30 June 2012 at 12:59 pm

    People reading the Christchurch Press re the CTV rescue 22/3 Feb this morning?? Truly tragic for trapped survivors.

    In the account of a husband in cell phone and physical (voice/tapping) contact with his trapped wife, he feels he locates her exact position. The news doesn’t, apparently, galvanise rescuers.

    He is removed from the site and, hours later, his wife and others die. The article asks why efforts were not made to cut a hole through the concrete slab trapping her, as well as why her location was not protected from approaching fire.

    Lessons, responsibility, compensation… Post Pike River etc, let’s hope.
14. ropata 14

    30 June 2012 at 1:50 pm

    Thanks to whoever mentioned this documentary by John Pilger… The War on Democracy I have only been watching it in small pieces, so many crimes against democracy and the Venezuelan people are documented.

    Pilger may be the last real journalist left in the world…

    It is as if writers as watchdogs are extinct, or in thrall to a sociopathic zeitgeist, convinced they are too clever to be duped. Witness the stampede of sycophants eager to deify Christopher Hitchens, a war lover who longed to be allowed to justify the crimes of rapacious power. “For almost the first time in two centuries”, wrote Terry Eagleton, “there is no eminent British poet, playwright or novelist prepared to question the foundations of the western way of life”. No Orwell warns that we do not need to live in a totalitarian society to be corrupted by totalitarianism. No Shelley speaks for the poor, no Blake proffers a vision, no Wilde reminds us that “disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue”. And grievously no Pinter rages at the war machine, as in American Football:

    Hallelujah.
    Praise the Lord for all good things…
    We blew their balls into shards of dust,
    Into shards of fucking dust…

    Into shards of fucking dust go all the lives blown there by Barack Obama, the Hopey Changey of western violence. Whenever one of Obama’s drones wipes out an entire family in a faraway tribal region of Pakistan, or Somalia, or Yemen, the American controllers in front of their computer-game screens type in “Bugsplat”. Obama likes drones and has joked about them with journalists. One of his first actions as president was to order a wave of Predator drone attacks on Pakistan that killed 74 people. He has since killed thousands, mostly civilians; drones fire Hellfire missiles that suck the air out of the lungs of children and leave body parts festooned across scrubland.
    • Murray Olsen 14.1

      30 June 2012 at 8:38 pm

      We could do with a few more like Pilger. Hitchens became the darling of the lifestyle left because he was a militant atheist, not because he stood against abuses of power. If I had my time over again, I’d like to be a journalist like Pilger. Being a theoretical physicist doesn’t bring the opportunity to change much that matters.
    • Vicky32 14.2

      1 July 2012 at 6:57 pm

      Thanks to whoever mentioned this documentary by John Pilger… The War on Democracy I have only been watching it in small pieces, so many crimes against democracy and the Venezuelan people are documented.

      I found it in my local VideoEzy a few months back, which is amazing! I look for documentaries, but it’s one of the very few they have.
      It’s so awesome, that I actually cried! 

      Obama likes drones and has joked about them with journalists.

      I heard one referred to, bizarrely, on the BBC news today as ‘an unmanned plane’. I suppose that’s a new eupehmism… it made me feel sick!
15. smokeskreen 15

    30 June 2012 at 3:00 pm

    I see where the uniforms for the NZ Olympic team have been designed and manufactured overseas. The contract was awarded to the NZ arm of Rodd and Gunn and conditions of awarding this contract should have been that it must be designed and manufactured in this country. Instead it was designed in Australia, and manufactured in China, Turkey and Italy. We have plenty of creative talented people in this country and it is outrageous that these people were overlooked. No doubt it was all about price, but what price do you place on national pride and sovereignty.
    • Draco T Bastard 15.1

      30 June 2012 at 4:16 pm

      No doubt it was all about price, but what price do you place on national pride and sovereignty.

      Under the free-market gods? None.
    • Murray Olsen 15.2

      30 June 2012 at 8:42 pm

      Rodd and Gunn sell overpriced crap that falls to bits anyway. As far as I can see, that’s entirely appropriate for overhyped corporate sport. The uniforms are stylistically bad from what I can see as well, although it’s not easy to judge from how they look on anorexic models how they’ll look on athletes.
    • Half Crown Millionare 15.3

      1 July 2012 at 8:56 am

      This reminds me of the Red Sock campaign when the Americas Cup was on. A south island manufacturer offered these socks and sponsorship.

      The next America’s Cup campaign they decided to run the same Red Sock promotion, but this time had them made in CHINA. No consideration for the guy who came up with the original idea, or for the company in NZ which could have manufactured them. Bloody disgusting and I hope the outlet running this promotion ended up lots of unsold stock.
16. Draco T Bastard 16

    30 June 2012 at 3:34 pm

    Gordon Campbell has a good article up about efficiency and how it’s being used to undermine our society.

    It really is a scam. The word “efficiency”is merely the sauna to which the crusty old policies of slashing wages and limiting the role of government are sent, to provide them with an illusion of health. Which is why it can be quite amusing to stop, smell the roses and look back at what has been peddled in the past as the hallmarks of efficiency. A classic example can be found is this celebrated 2005 speech by then-Treasury Secretary John Whitehead, in which he sang loud and long about enhanced efficiency in ways that are now embarrassing, given what has gone down since 2005. Because what seemed like efficiency – to Treasury at least – became a seedbed for criminality.
17. Draco T Bastard 17

    30 June 2012 at 4:15 pm

    Angela Merkel is Playing You For Fools

    See? With bailouts for Spain and Italy now all but inevitable, if you leave Germany out of the picture for the moment, you’re left with no-one at all to pay for those bailouts. Not even a complete and immediate move towards a fiscal, banking and political union would do anything to resolve Europe’s financial quagmire if Germany is not present.

    In other words: it all comes down to Germany. Berlin is on the hook for everything. The required funding for the EFSF and ESM emergency funds would, with Spain and Italy moving into roles as debtors instead of creditors, have to come from Germany to the tune of what would fast approach 50% or so.

    Does anyone think that is realistic? That Germany can make the markets truly, as in for more than a day or so, believe it has that kind of money lying around, and is wiling to gamble it? Or is it perhaps more likely that, if the Germans would even try it, the markets would turn on Berlin the next morning? If you look at bunds right now, there’s no doubt they’re perceived as a safe haven. But what are the chances that perception would last if Merkel agreed to take on the Savior Of All Of Europe part?

    Really do wish these indebted nations would just default and get it over with but it seems that the banksters are in control and are taking as much wealth as they can before reality comes calling.
    • Colonial Viper 17.1

      30 June 2012 at 7:11 pm

      Really do wish these indebted nations would just default and get it over with

      Not so easy in this globalised financial network TPTB have locked us all into. But yeah, its all going to fall over sooner or later, and the more we do the routine ‘pretend and extend’ the harder the fall will be in the end.
    • Foreign Waka 17.2

      30 June 2012 at 8:57 pm

      It won’t be long and the stoic Germans will march on parliament. There are many who are fed up of being ask to carry all of Europe. It all seem to have the same predicament as the situation after the signing of the Versailles contract. If Germany looses its economic footing, things will get very bad.
18. joe90 18

    30 June 2012 at 4:41 pm

    RWNJ commentators let their feelings show.

    http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/28/CBC-Walks-Out-On-The-Vote

    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2900923/posts

    http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=30947

    http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=30827
19. William Joyce 19

    30 June 2012 at 7:05 pm

    Crosby Textor have given The NZ Women’s Weekly exclusive access to John Key’s person photo album. Seems to solve his issue of the 1981 tour
    They look a bit hinky to me
    Link 1
     
    Plus other things he was up to…..
    Link 2
    Link 3
    • chris73 19.1

      30 June 2012 at 8:10 pm

      Sure thats not Kris Fa’foi? I thought he had some past memory lapses?
    • Anne 19.2

      30 June 2012 at 8:12 pm

      A man for all people!
20. Colonial Viper 20

    30 June 2012 at 10:14 pm

    Ever wonder why Assange doesn’t trust the Swedish authorities not to ship him straight to the USA (or worse)?

    http://www.hrw.org/news/2006/11/09/sweden-violated-torture-ban-cia-rendition

    In a decision made public today, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled that diplomatic assurances against torture did not provide an effective safeguard against ill-treatment in the case of an asylum seeker transferred from Sweden to Egypt by CIA operatives in December 2001. The committee decided that Sweden’s involvement in the US transfer of Mohammed al-Zari to Egypt breached the absolute ban on torture, despite assurances of humane treatment provided by Egyptian authorities prior to the rendition.
21. DS 21

    27 July 2012 at 1:32 am

    Look on the bright side, even before The Olympics have started an ‘African runner’ has claimed asylum, the rest of the World is already here so I’m sure there will be a house and numerous hand outs waiting for this freeloader, isn’t it great to live in a country with no borders and that puts everyone before it’s own people? I was seriously thinking of getting away from it all but it wouldn’t surprise me if I got home and found my house had been turned into a mosque or an Eastern European family had moved in, such is life.
    • Murray Olsen 21.1

      27 July 2012 at 1:44 am

      I was thinking of moving to England to start an Eastern European mosque for gay africans. Just post your address and I’ll make sure I do it at your place. I promise to even fold your BNP flags nicely for you.
      • DS 21.1.1

        27 July 2012 at 4:55 am

        Sure it’s:

        My house.
        Nice area with no ‘Polski skleps’, Mosques or asylum ‘overspill’ (as in most parts of the country are full but they still let the freeloaders in). YET.

        I see the torch is in Westminster now, that bunch of traitors deserve the Guy Fawkes treatment.
        • felix 21.1.1.1

          27 July 2012 at 8:28 am

          Stalin.

          Ahem mods, are the openly racist droolings of this fool acceptable now?

          Strange to put such ramblings in a 3 week old post. For my part, I’m inclined to keep an eye on him(?) rather than just ban, insofar as such comments serve to highlight the banal stupidity of racism and so serve a perverse purpose. Of course, another moderator may disagree 😉 [B]
          • DS 21.1.1.1.1

            27 July 2012 at 9:38 pm

            Ah, gotcha, you believe in freedom of speech but only if you agree with what is being said.
            • QoT 21.1.1.1.1.1

              27 July 2012 at 9:40 pm

              Freedom of speech =/= freedom to bizarrely troll other people’s blogs with no moderation.
            • felix 21.1.1.1.1.2

              28 July 2012 at 2:24 am

              You have a problem with what I said there, DS? Am I not allowed to voice my opinion on your horrible bigotry?

              O NOEZ MY FREEDOMZ IZ BEING OPPRESSED ON!!!
              • DS …

                28 July 2012 at 9:54 pm

                So not supporting uncontrolled immigration, believing the EU is rotten to the core, expecting migrants to respect their host nation and suggesting asylum seekers/refugees go to the first safe country rather than travelling half way across the world to an already overcrowded country constitue bigotry? Common sense, more like.

                Tell you what NZ is roughly the same size as UK but with a fraction of our population, let’s dump 4 Million low wage or benefit dependent migrants who take a lot more than they contribute on you, throw in countless asylum seekers who of course need taxpayer funded hand outs not to mention state housing, bow down to muzzie terrorists (taxpayer funded of course) who you can’t deport, yuman rites and all that, hand out Millions to countries that openly despise you, outsource millions of jobs, decimate heavy industry, attack workers rights and promote alien cultures at the expense of your own.

                All of this while having no control of your borders.
                • Pascal's bookie …

                  28 July 2012 at 10:39 pm

                  You might want ot give a cite for those astonishing numbers there.

                  A full half of the UKs population is low wage or benefit dependent migrants?

                  Reckon you should look more at your bankers and pollies of the source of your problems, that at the people those tossers to tell you to look at. Ya big mugg.
                  • Murray Olsen …

                    28 July 2012 at 10:57 pm

                    He’s probably just trying to introduce himself nicely because Key has headhunted him as our next Human Rights Commissioner.
                • felix …

                  29 July 2012 at 8:01 am

                  “So not supporting uncontrolled immigration, believing the EU is rotten to the core, expecting migrants to respect their host nation and suggesting asylum seekers/refugees go to the first safe country rather than travelling half way across the world to an already overcrowded country constitue bigotry?”

                  Not necessarily, but the heat it seems to generate in you is a bit of a pointer.

                  I was more referring to the bigoted shit you wrote before about how a nice area is one with no mosques or polacks though.

                  (I’d have thought that was obvious from the order of the comments)

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