Summer service: open mike 12/01/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 12th, 2012 - 34 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

As usual, it’s reduced service over the summer break, unless anything big happens. We hope you’ll get a good break with those dear to you, and that we’ll have some decent weather to enjoy. And if you still need your politics fix… Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Step right up to the mike…

34 comments on “Summer service: open mike 12/01/2011 ”

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  1. Jenny 1
    12 January 2012 at 6:40 am

    How’s your recession going?

    “Not to bad, thanks Jenny. Well, isn’t the recession supposed to be, all about viciously re-dividing a shrinking pie, for our side?”

  2. millsy 2
    12 January 2012 at 7:20 am

    The Right begrudge union members earning more than a subsistence wage and having job security.

    That is why they are so against the union.

    They will not be happy until the POA workers are non-union, earning a subsistence wage and completely expendable.

    That is what it is all about.

    Now I wish they would have the guts to admit that.

    • RedLogix 2.1
      12 January 2012 at 7:28 am

      Once upon a time workers used to turn up each morning to a ‘pool’, where some foreman got to pick and choose who got work that day. Workers were treated as nothing more than disposable trash. If they got injured, sick or needed to take time off for any reason… no work, no pay.

      Total casualisation.

      It was appallingly demeaning, prone to abuse and of course made any kind of stable family life almost impossible.

      Abolishing this evil practise was one of the big union victories decades back… and the bosses still resent it.

    • mickysavage 2.2
      12 January 2012 at 7:34 am
       

      Some Maritime Union members say why they are on strike.  Compelling stuff.

       

      [lprent: link ends in a … You will need to get it again. found and fixed..]

      • Blue 2.2.1
        12 January 2012 at 9:41 am

        Thanks for the link Micky. What a fantastic article. If only our MSM had bothered to go and do something like that.

        I’m heartened by the sense of community that these guys display. The casuals support the permanent staff, the ones who are about to retire are looking after the younger guys who will come after them.

        And finally a dose of reality in regards to pay:

        “The company says we earn $91k a year – I’ve never earned that in the 14 years I’ve been here. I get around $64k but I have to work 24 hours overtime and that costs my family.”

      • Jenny 2.2.2
        12 January 2012 at 5:30 pm

        The first goal of the right wing media is to demonise the watersiders.

        What an enlightening counter, that humanises these workers and gives them a face.

        I would like to propose that this link, kindly supplied by Micky Savage, be made up into a full post.

        Any seconders?

        All those in favour type, Aye.

    • Brett Dale 2.3
      12 January 2012 at 12:02 pm

      Millys:

      I think its more about, that the majority of the New Zealand public (thanks to TVNZ) thinks these workers are only on $13 dollars and hour and not the $90 thousand a year that they are on.

      Its the media that people should be pissed off it, not the employers or employees.

      • Lanthanide 2.3.1
        12 January 2012 at 12:27 pm

        Total remuneration is on average $91,000. Actual wages (before tax) are more like $61,000 on average.

  3. The Voice of Reason 3
    12 January 2012 at 9:39 am

    Oxford City FC show the formerly socialist Liverpool FC how to deal with bigots. Sack ’em!

  4. Colonial Viper 4
    12 January 2012 at 9:55 am

    Brand new 30 story, magnitude 9 resistant hotel, assembled in 15 days.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeV8kaElLo0

    A few lessons for NZ here.

    • Lanthanide 4.1
      12 January 2012 at 12:28 pm

      “A few lessons for NZ here.”

      Yes, countries like China can use economies of scale to produce things that smaller countries like us can’t hope of. Who’d’ve thunk it?

      • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1
        12 January 2012 at 12:59 pm

        I’m pretty sure that we could quite easily do the prefabrication that allowed that building to go up in 15 days. We do, after all, already use prefabrication just not to that complexity. About the only reason why we wouldn’t do it would be because the factory would end up with large amounts of idle time and the capitalist system requires that such factories be in use as much as possible (which is another reason why consumerism and growing GDP is pushed).

      • Colonial Viper 4.1.2
        12 January 2012 at 1:26 pm

        Lanth, my opinion is that the “economies of scale” argument – which is one originally based in the realm of mass production and the offsetting of fixed costs through high volume manufacturing – is not completely valid here.

        For one thing I’m not suggesting that we copy the Chinese example holus bolus, but rather to learn what we can from it, and use our ingenuity to adapt it to a NZ situation – say where we have to rebuild many thousands of buildings in Christchurch over the next 5 years, or where many thousands of new houses have to go up on the Auckland isthmus in the same time frame.

        Is that sufficient ‘economies of scale’ to your mind?

  5. ianmac 5
    12 January 2012 at 10:07 am

    Bryan Gould nails it again. “Even the wealthy end up worse off in an unequal and divided society….”
    Fancy criticising the power and justness of the “market forces.’
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10778102

    • Fotran 5.1
      12 January 2012 at 1:09 pm

      Why take any notice of Gould – he is a failed UK one time MP – and the Herald laps up his crap (for which he is well paid). Good private enterprise though.

      • Colonial Viper 5.1.1
        12 January 2012 at 1:12 pm

        Gould takes a very reasoned and even handed approach. Further, he is someone who is very well versed in the politics of industrial disputes.

  6. marty mars 6
    12 January 2012 at 10:27 am

    The Jarawa tribe, who live in the Andaman Islands (owned by India) had first contact with the world in 1998 – since then all of the usual devestating aspects of contact have occured – disease especially, and now a new form of disgusting exploitation has been identified – human safaris!

    From the Guardian link
    ” “Dance,” the policeman instructed. The girls in front of him, naked from the waist up, obeyed. A tourist’s camera panned round to another young woman, also naked and awkwardly holding a bag of grain in front of her. “Dance for me,” the policeman commanded… The role of the police is to protect tribespeople from unwelcome and intrusive outsiders. But on this occasion the officer had accepted a £200 bribe to get the girls to perform. “I gave you food,” he reminded them at the start of the video.”

    What hope for these people?

    Go to Survival International to see how you can help them.

    http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/8001
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/07/andaman-islands-tribe-tourism-threat
    http://mars2earth.blogspot.com/2012/01/jarawa-tribe-used-for-trophy-photos-in.html

  7. Jackal 7
    12 January 2012 at 11:01 am

    Was Rena pushed?

    But what really raised the alarm bells is that in the webcam video below, it’s not the Go Canopus tugboat working around the shipwreck as the stern starts to sink…

  8. Brett Dale 8
    12 January 2012 at 12:07 pm

    Anyone read Stephen King’s new book, 11.22.63?? Its a fiction story about a guy who goes back in time to stop the Kennedy’s assassination.

    At the end of the book, King has done a non fiction piece which virtually states that Oswald was alone and did it. He makes some pretty good points.

    BTW I was a huge fan of Stone’s JFK and until recently was with the grassy knoll people.

  9. McFlock 9
    12 January 2012 at 12:27 pm

    Nice. The Hobbit is so secret even emergency services staff responding to a fire sign confidentiality agreements. Move along, nothing to see here, everything is fine. Fire? What fire? Injury? Only minor, not even worth investigating.

    • RedLogix 9.1
      12 January 2012 at 12:49 pm

      That’s flat-out criminal under the H&S Act.

      Interesting to see that the Dom had to use the OIA to get the information; clearly someone is very unhappy with what’s going on here.

      As for gagging the Fire Service? What the hell is going on here?

      I can understand needing confidentiality around what the Fire crews might see in terms of movie work in progress; but using that to shutdown reporting and investigating an actual incident is a complete abuse.

      Now while this may have been a relatively minor incident in terms of harm; it had every potential to be much worse. And in that case … we can only assume WETA would have sought to cover that up too.

      This comes from the top. Jackson seems to think he’s so big he’s above the law, and the attitude has clearly permeated his organisation.

      • Colonial Viper 9.1.1
        12 January 2012 at 1:28 pm

        Jackson has his own little fiefdom now, complete with its own National-sanctioned reality.

        Some weak kneed management at Fire Service HQ let him get away with this.

  10. William Joyce 10
    12 January 2012 at 12:58 pm

    Do we need to reinstate an upper house?

     
    Lords inflict triple welfare bill defeat on government – Link

    • Draco T Bastard 10.1
      12 January 2012 at 1:20 pm

      No. I’m sure that, if you checked history, for every time that the House of Lords did something right they did several things wrong.

  11. ropata 11
    12 January 2012 at 1:43 pm

    House prices in Auckland are even further out of reach for new buyers.
    Families are suffering in cold, damp rentals.

    Thanks to NACT voters for rejecting CGT and dumping on your fellow Kiwis 🙁

  12. Jackal 12
    12 January 2012 at 2:15 pm

    Web of corruption

    New Zealand winning the top spot in the Transparency International’s Corruptions Perception Index last year would make you think that the authorities have got a good handle on any corruption being undertaken here.

    But this doesn’t appear to be the case. A few years ago, a New Zealand company called GT Group was implicated in a complex financial scheme that embezzled and laundered funds on an international scale…

    • ropata 12.1
      12 January 2012 at 2:39 pm

      Does Transparency Int only count public institutions?
      The private sector in NZ seems to be where the problems reside. For example the Aussie banks $ 4 billion tax evasion. (Another argument against privatisation)

  13. Dave Kennedy 13
    12 January 2012 at 2:43 pm

    An 8% increase in luxury car sales over the past year, banana republic here we come:
    http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-zealand-becoming-banana-republic.html

  14. ak 14
    12 January 2012 at 4:14 pm

    Wonder why there’s nothing in our media about those notorious lefties Merkel and Sarkozy proposing an FTT? Not important enough I guess, when there’s defenceless beneficiaries to kick in the teeth.

    http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-10/sarkozy-wins-merkel-backing-for-financial-transaction-tax.html

  15. Colonial Viper 15
    12 January 2012 at 5:48 pm

    http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2012/01/blood-of-earth-or-pulp-nonfiction.html

    The Archdruid Report – excellent stuff from John Michael Greer.

    THE BLACK GOLD IS THE BLOOD OF THE EARTH
    THE FORCE IN THE BLOOD IS THE FLAME OF THE SUN
    TO DRINK OF THE BLOOD IS TO MASTER THE WORLD
    BUT THE FATE OF THE EARTH AND ITS BLOOD ARE ONE