Pure politics

Written By: - Date published: 11:37 am, October 15th, 2011 - 42 comments
Categories: Conservation, disaster - Tags: , ,

3News reports that: Key dismisses Goff’s oil drilling moratorium as ‘pure politics’.

He’s right.

But not in the way he thinks.  A moratorium on drilling is about the danger to our environment.  It’s about our “100% Pure” brand.  Which is worth a whole lot more to the country (in so so many ways) than whatever dribbles of petrodollar that Big Oil might trickle down on us from their drilling.

Let’s keep it pure.

42 comments on “Pure politics ”

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  1. RedLogix 1
    15 October 2011 at 12:10 pm

    The Prime Minister has dismissed Labour leader Phil Goff’s call for a moratorium on deep sea oil drilling because of the Rena disaster as “pure politics”.

    Interesting…. we’ve been seeing quite a bit of this from the media lately.

    Labour introduces a new policy and the media’s response leads with the first para or two on John Key slagging it off.

    Another example here.

    • burt 1.1
      15 October 2011 at 12:17 pm

      The role of govt is whatever govt say it is.

    • tc 1.2
      15 October 2011 at 6:48 pm

      that’s because their masters directions are:
      1. Place govt criticisms first
      2. Place your own criticism second
      3. If neither 1 or 2 exists make no comment aside from acknowledging some policy thingys got released by someone that wasn’t the messiah Key and make the piece as brief and as far back in the paper as possible.

  2. burt 2
    15 October 2011 at 12:27 pm

    rOb

    Perhaps we should have a moratorium on costal shipping ?

    • Afewknowthetruth 2.1
      15 October 2011 at 12:56 pm

      Only a moratorium for steel-hulled vessels with diesel engines. Wooden sailing ships are not excessively environmentally destructive.

      However, we soon won’t need a moritorium. The best evidence indicates the quantity of oil globally availalbe for international trade will have fallen to close zero a decade from now.

      watch the video here

      http://guymcpherson.com/2011/09/couchsurfing-with-my-soapbox/

      • Nick C 2.1.1
        15 October 2011 at 1:17 pm

        “Only a moratorium for steel-hulled vessels with diesel engines. Wooden sailing ships are not excessively environmentally destructive.”

        Ok until that comment I thought you were a real idiot. Now I think you might just be a very good parody of an idiot..

        Either way that made me laugh.

        • johnm 2.1.1.1
          15 October 2011 at 3:16 pm

          Hi Nick C
          AFKTT gets carried away at times but basically he is right. Industrial civilisation based on primarily Oil is now in its decline phase. Transport fuel will only get more and more expensive until the globalisation system of trade collapses. The question is when?! Don’t forget Oil at around $100 a barrel is already fucking the system big time! Look at all the economic chaos now happening in the U$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and Europe! You use a republican symbol Nick C ! They are the biggest retarded greedy nation destroyers in all history, if it takes another civil war to kick their selfish greedy asses out it will be worth it!

        • Afewknowthetruth 2.1.1.2
          15 October 2011 at 3:56 pm

          The Earth’s geochemical/geophysical systems don’t care what you think and will just keep doing what they do (most of them at an acelerating pace). The Earth doesn’t care what uninformed idiots like you think or write on blogs, and nor do I.

          The only question people alive twenty years from now will be asking is: ‘What did you do to prevent the meltdown’ If you are still alive you will be able to proudly say that you scoffed and mocked.

          On the other hand, if you have met your maker by then and he askedyou what you did to be a good custodian of the Earth you would have been able to tell him the same, that you scoffed and mocked those who cared about being good custodians.

          • burt 2.1.1.2.1
            15 October 2011 at 4:08 pm

            One of my grandfathers died in the mid 80’s and I recall him telling me that when he was younger (circa 1920’s) that the predictions were that Oil would run out in 20 years. He said he was very concerned about that for many years but when he got into his 50’s (1960’s ) he was still hearing how we would run out of Oil in 20 years – we are still saying the same thing today…..

            But sure – it’s real this time…

            • handle 2.1.1.2.1.1
              15 October 2011 at 4:21 pm

              Cigarettes don’t give you cancer either.

              • burt …
                15 October 2011 at 4:24 pm

                I think they do… Now sure when he was younger he would have been told they didn’t. Clearly the self serving cigarette companies managed the message for many years on that one.

                But… Perhaps we need to question the motives behind the perpetual scare of oil running out in 20 years. I’m kind of thinking it would be cheap as chips if there wasn’t impending doom on supply and I don’t see any other beneficiaries for high prices other than oil companies.

            • Draco T Bastard 2.1.1.2.1.2
              15 October 2011 at 5:59 pm

              In the 1920s no one was saying we would run out of oil in 20 years. In fact, they probably weren’t even thinking about the possibility. In the 1960s, with proper research finally be done on it by one person, predictions were that we’d peak sometime around the beginning of the 21st century which turned out to be fairly accurate.

              So, all you’re really proving here is that ignorance runs in your family. You grandfather was ignorant and so are you.

      • burt 2.1.2
        15 October 2011 at 1:20 pm

        Wooden sailing ships are not excessively environmentally destructive…

        Kauri is an excellent timber for building boats with.

        • felix 2.1.2.1
          15 October 2011 at 2:02 pm

          If you think the second sentence contradicts the first, you have a serious problem understanding very basic logic.

          Your comment could possibly be used as a kind of map to chart a course through the thought processes behind many of your other confusing comments, if anyone were interested.

          • burt 2.1.2.1.1
            15 October 2011 at 2:08 pm

            Please explain how you think you understand what I think when I take the piss out of the concept of building wooden ships large enough to transport the scale of goods we currently transport.

            Front up Dr. felix and explain what goes on in my mind.

            • felix 2.1.2.1.1.1
              15 October 2011 at 2:15 pm

              “Please explain how you think you understand what I think…”

              By reading the thoughts you type, burt.

              “…when I take the piss out of the concept of building wooden ships large enough to transport the scale of good we currently transport.”

              Yes, I realise you were trying to do that. I was mocking your incredibly stupid application of the idea which demonstrates a complete failure to understand basic logic.

              Hope that helps.

              • burt …
                15 October 2011 at 3:35 pm

                I’m sorry felix, I though the oil on the beaches came for a poorly navigated ship and not deep sea drilling. But hey, a plane crash can kill hundreds of people at a time so lets ban people riding bicycles.

                • felix …
                  15 October 2011 at 4:21 pm

                  You’re drunk early today.

                  Sorry burt but until you figure out what was so incredibly stupid about your comment I don’t see any point reading any more of your guff.

                  • burt …
                    15 October 2011 at 4:34 pm

                    Great, please don’t read any more of my guff becasue your normal response when you are unable to argue your position is to accuse others of being drunk and it’s dull as.

                • RedLogix …
                  15 October 2011 at 4:32 pm

                  A person is knocked off their bicycle and is badly injured. There will be need for an ambulance, a medic and a hospital.

                  An airplane crashes and many people are badly injured . There will be need for a lot of ambulances, many medics and a big hospital.

                  Can you spot the common thread?

                  Otherwise what felix said.

                  • burt …
                    15 October 2011 at 4:43 pm

                    Perhaps you could tell me which timbers would be suitable for building large scale ships and how sustainable they are.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      16 October 2011 at 9:52 am

                      Timber/tree reliant societies have destroyed themselves in the past, by completely strip felling the forests that they depend upon.

                      Maybe you should take that as a warning sign.

                    • burt …
                      16 October 2011 at 10:13 am

                      No shit CV, why do you think I was taking the piss out of the concept of building ships out of wood – again. Keep up !

                    • mik e …
                      16 October 2011 at 11:51 pm

                      Burt your trying to bamboozel everybody with your psycho babble at least your leader has a very ‘slick’ spin machine you just sound like an idiot.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      17 October 2011 at 12:11 am

                      burt – 🙂

  3. Nick C 3
    15 October 2011 at 12:57 pm

    The reason its pure politics is because he is suddenly announcing it as policy a week after an spill from a boat. Which is basically a completely unrelated event.

    If Labour had come out before this and said “We have looked at the evidence on deep sea oil drilling based oil spills, and the risk is not worth the economic benefit”, that would be fine. But they haven’t. It’s a knee jerk political reaction to an event which should be considered unrelated for policy making purposes, because it in know way effect the benefit or lack-thereof of deep sea oil drilling.

    In that respect its basically the antithesis of evidence based policy.

    • handle 3.1
      15 October 2011 at 1:37 pm

      “basically a completely unrelated event” – keep the spin coming, Nick. No one believes you.

    • RedLogix 3.2
      15 October 2011 at 1:40 pm

      Which is basically a completely unrelated event.

      Have you not noticed the oil spill yet?

      • Nick C 3.2.1
        15 October 2011 at 3:38 pm

        You so clearly missed the point that it seems you deliberatly ignored it.

        Whilst there is a possibility of an oil spill from a deep sea oil well, and whether it should be allowed is a subject worthy of debate, The fact that the RENA just crashed into a rock in no way effects the probablility of an oil spill occuring from deep sea drilling. It is therefore an irrelivent factor to consider when deciding whether or not to ban deep sea oil drilling. It is no more relevant a factor to consider than who wins the rugby world cup.

        Yet Labour seem to have based their deep sea oil drilling policy on it.

        • handle 3.2.1.1
          15 October 2011 at 4:01 pm

          Nice try. The need for a well-organised and resourced response to a toxic spill does not depend on the type of spill. If you can not guarantee a reasonable amount of mitigation then you don’t do risky activities, especially when the economic payoff from royalties and local jobs is so low.

        • Afewknowthetruth 3.2.1.2
          15 October 2011 at 4:13 pm

          Nick C

          You have clearly completely missed the point.

          Industrial civilisation is totally unsustanable and is in the early stages of its death throes.

          Desperation measures to ‘keep the wheels on’, such as deep-sea drilling, are counter productive and simply maintian the status quo of population and ecological overshoot a tiny bit longer but make the crash even bigger whne it comes.

          I assume, from your continued gross ignorance on all the topics discussed that you haven’t bothered to check the link to the truth that I provided.

          http://guymcpherson.com/2011/09/couchsurfing-with-my-soapbox/

          watch the video

          And while we talking of so-called doomers:

          http://guymcpherson.com/2011/09/whos-the-doomer/

          I suppose it’s a lot easier for you to keep churning out nonsense when you are totally uniformed.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.3
      15 October 2011 at 1:44 pm

      …Which is basically a completely unrelated event.

      Except for the oil spill which we can’t handle while this government said we could handle one several thousand times larger.

  4. Afewknowthetruth 4
    15 October 2011 at 1:10 pm

    Anthony.

    ‘It’s about our “100% Pure” brand.’

    That brand is a massive lie, of course, There is nothing pure about NZ. By some measures NZ is slightly less contaminated than other parts of the world but NZ has some of the worst environmental practices and somne of the least supervised chemical dumps in the world; it’s just the low population density, highish rainfal and strong winds that help NZ maintian the myth.

    The per capita squandering of energy and resources and the per capita generation of rubbish of NZers is only a little behind the world leaders the US, Canada and Australia.

    What was that figure quoted for the number of Aucklanders who die of air pollution per annum? 600? And that with high raindfall and strong winds!

    Why are we using the brand? To attract tourists so they can use up the last of the cheap fossil fuels and wreck the atmopshere? To sell stuff overseas so we can use up the last of the cheap oil and wreck the atmosphere?

    Everything in maintream culture is a lie in itself or is founded on a lie.

    • insider 4.1
      17 October 2011 at 10:22 am

      I’m not sure it is a brand that sells much outside tourism. Most of our agriculture exports are into commodity markets. Do we earn more per kg because of that brand? Do we get access that others don’t with a less than 100% or is it all about price? i think it is as much a brand for internal consumption than it is one paid attention to offshore.

  5. ak 5
    15 October 2011 at 2:09 pm

    2.10pm LATEST: Stuff correspondents report that Prime Minister John Key suffered an injury to his thumb while erecting a National Party billboard in the Waikato on thursday. “Obviously something like this damages my erection activities going forward,” said Mr Key “but actually I’m pretty relaxed about it, and deeply concerned of course. As per usual I’ll twiddle it for five days but let’s be realistic here, after that it’s likely to hurt like hell and I’ll be just as angry as anyone else.”

    Associate Minister of Communication Steven Joyce could not be contacted for comment.

    • Puddleglum 5.1
      15 October 2011 at 2:18 pm

      Now, that’s funny.

      The best satire is so close to the truth that you could just about believe it – up until the bit about “erection activities”, I did! 

    • ianmac 5.2
      15 October 2011 at 4:49 pm

      I was a bit worried at seeing Mr Key trying to hammer in a nail with the hammer handle. Those hands were made only for shuffling munny!

  6. Jenny 6
    16 October 2011 at 9:31 am

    The Prime Minister has dismissed Labour leader Phil Goff’s call for a moratorium on deep sea oil drilling because of the Rena disaster as “pure politics”.

    TV3 Friday 14 Oct. 2011

    Phil Goff is a politician, his job is to formulate and promote political policies.

    I wonder what John Key thinks his job is?

  7. Jenny 7
    16 October 2011 at 9:34 am

    John Key to Phil Goff.

    “Keep politics out of politics”

    ie. Shut the #**! up!

  8. Jenny 8
    16 October 2011 at 9:38 am

    As to what John Key thinks his job is. The evidence is that he thinks it is to be the uncritical mouthpiece of big oil, big coal and big business generally.

    Of course he thinks of this as being “unpolitical”.

  9. Afewknowthetruth 9
    16 October 2011 at 10:04 am

    ‘I wonder what John Key thinks his job is?’

    To lie to the masses and convince them that a world run by elites and corporations for the benefit of elites and corporations is a good thing.

    The fake smile on the National billboards indicates he is now having difficulty, not because of conscience but because everything is clearly getting worse by the day.

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