Open Mike 09/09/2016

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97 comments on “Open Mike 09/09/2016”

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  1. 1

    I’ve started getting a security error message on any browser on my mobile saying the name on the website security certificate doesn’t match the website. But when I check the certificate it appears to and the certifcate shows as verified on my PC browser. I have checked the issue on line and one suggestion was to browse to an https address not www but this doesn’t seem to help. Can anyone help here?

    2. 1.2

      I get the error on my Android tablet, not on the desktop PC (Win8).

      The desktop displays the url as https://thestandard etc etc

      The tablet shows https://thestandard etc etc

      The struck out portion is shown in red.

      “…security certificate not trusted…”

      Hope this helps.

    3. 1.3

      I suspect that it occurs when we try to access through a link from another site.
      I used to access from bowalley road site until I started getting the error message. I now access direct.

      1. 1.4.1

        Yep. However I was interested in getting HTTP2. The need to have a SSL cert was just a side effect of that intent because most (all?) browsers only support http2 with https.

        It isn’t like we actually need security for man-in-the-middle attacks. The site security is structural and we aren’t transmitting payment info.

        If you want to spend the sites money on costly and non-functional non-essentials, then perhaps you should reach into your wallet and donate for them.

  3. 3

    When it comes down to John Minto running against Lianne Dalziel for the Christchurch mayoralty, I think Minto is the breath of fresh air Christchurch requires.

    Who would you like to see become Christchurch’s next Mayor?

      1. 3.1.1

        Many times I’m sure…

        Minto hasn’t a hope. Dalziel will romp home and it will be a good thing. Christchurch is pretty worn out by the last few years – she is a good steady hand at the tiller, keeping the Council operating without much conflict, pushing the various good issues along.

        Dalziel is th best choice

            1. 3.1.1.2.1.1

              “Some say she is compromised and has lost her edge”

              In what way is she said to be compromised and is this why some believe she has lost her edge?

            2. 3.1.1.2.1.2

              “But is she a good steady hand for the status quo?”

              The fact the Right have not put up a candidate would suggest they believe so.

        3. 3.1.1.3

          In the Press today, Dalziel stated “Your average person is very happy with the way the city is going.” She’s not the first politician to be deluded with their contribution.

          She has clearly confused fatigue, disillusionment and despair with happiness. Most people think the city has become a corrupt shithole and are waiting for the opportunity to leave.

          Dalziel will win the mayoralty because people don’t care anymore.

          1. 3.1.1.3.1

            “She has clearly confused fatigue, disillusionment and despair with happiness. Most people think the city has become a corrupt shithole and are waiting for the opportunity to leave.

            Dalziel will win the mayoralty because people don’t care anymore.”

            That would be a shame as a vote for Minto presents them with a potential opportunity for change.

          3. 3.1.1.3.3

            Dalziel was a capable Labour Cabinet Minister. I’m sure she is well in touch with the state of affairs of the common household.

            1. 3.1.1.3.3.1

              yes she WAS a capable Labour Cabinet Minister

              …but Minto would be better as Christchurch Mayor !

              …Christchurch needs cleaning up in more ways than one!

              …Christchurch needs a new broom, new energy and commitment to this clean up and clean restoration and clean growth

              http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/308571/minto-to-stand-for-christchurch-mayoralty

              I think Dalziel herself recognises this:

              ‘Lianne Dalziel’s possible second term would be her last’

              http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/84089123/lianne-dalziels-possible-second-term-would-be-her-last

              http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/78825384/christchurch-mayor-lianne-dalziel-mentally-exhausted

          4. 3.1.1.3.4

            Dalziel will win the mayoralty because people don’t care anymore.

            IMO, people do care but, with the massive economic failure of the last few decades and the propaganda from the MSM and politicians, they’ve become fearful of the change necessary to bring about a better future and so they vote for the status quo.

          5. 3.1.1.3.5

            “Most people think the city has become a corrupt shithole and are waiting for the opportunity to leave.”
            That I doubt!… your evidence is…?

        1. 3.1.2.1

          @ The Chairman…sadly this place is not a nest of Left wingers…if you want that you are better to go to The Daily Blog

            1. 3.1.2.1.1.1

              And here I was thinking most from the left here would be behind Minto.

              As you know, many who see themselves as “left” are in actual fact not too much more than pro-status quo establishmntarians

        2. 3.1.2.2

          Chairman. Being a left winger doesn’t exclude one from 360 degree thinking. Voters need to think analytically, not in black and white. If anything left wingers demonstrate an ability to think critically, more so than…………others, in my observation.

          To think candidate X = good
          Candidate Y = bad or not so good

          based on political orientation can only be a small part of a consideration for voting in something like local body elections. There are so many other factors that come into play like stability, track record, local knowledge, proof of advocacy etc.

          1. 3.1.2.2.1

            “Voters need to think analytically, not in black and white”

            Indeed, I totally agree, Rosie. However, I’m surprised you’ve seem to have concluded I’ve suggested otherwise.

            To clarify, when taking into account what the two stand for, their experience, attributes, policy, goals and vision, etc… Minto must surely resonate more with a good number on the left (and those unimpressed with the current status quo) than Dalziel.

          2. 3.1.2.2.2

            I like Dalziel. She’s a good person and reasonably left wing. i.e. has a social conscience, is experienced and intelligent.
            I also like Minto. He’s courageous and has a super social conscience. Whenever I hear him speak he makes sense to me. i.e. Town ‘clerks’ shouldn’t be paid mega bucks ($6,000 a week or whatever it is).

            I would vote for both of them.

            On the other hand..Auckland’s choices ?…Oh Jeez! There’s only one choice.
            Where’s Rodney Hide or John Banks when you need a laugh?

            Yeah.. Where is John Banks anyway?

        3. 3.1.2.3

          Is it preferential voting or FPP?

          The answer to that may be the answer as to why people are disinclined to vote for Minto.

      3. 3.1.3

        The Wizard wants the Cathedral restored ( I am sure he would support Minto)

        …it is a disgrace how the Cathedral has been left to rot ( after the earthquakes many overseas were willing to donate to the restoration of the C athedral)

        …a restoration could have been part of the healing process for Christchurch people

        …the Cathedral belongs to the people of Christchurch and Canterbury…it is part of their heritage and part of their square

        …it does not belong to the Canadian Bishop and it does not belong to a small select coterie in the the Anglican Church around the Bishop…who believe they have a God given right to dictate

        1. 3.1.3.1

          +100. The cathedral and its handling by the Bishop has been appalling. She needs to take personal responsibility for its dismal and dying state.

          It is a disgrace

          It looks terrible

          It is a blight on the central city

          Shame on Bishop Verco

          Man up Verco, get the restoration underway. Doesn’t matter if it takes 100 years, just get done what can be afforded each year.

          You
          have
          let
          the
          city
          down
          down
          down

          resign you should

          1. 3.1.3.1.1

            +100 vto…totally agree!….but the Anglican Bishop of Christchurch is Canadian Victoria Matthews and as you indicate she does not fit well …lacks compassion and understanding of Christchurch people and Canterbury people and what THEIR Cathedral means to them…she does not listen…just goes on expensive overseas trips of investigation

            http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8517544/The-Anglican-iron-lady

            http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/84081001/Cathedral-working-group-investigating-how-to-restore-historic-Christchurch-building

    3. 3.3

      I’d like to see Minto rip the top off that eqc/Brownlee can of worms, an audit trail of where all the money has gone would be a good start.

      2. 3.3.2

        @ YNWA (3.3) … Agree 100%.

        Another point is that Brownlee also needs to explain why the Christchurch rebuild process is taking so long. Wouldn’t mind betting it’s become a cash cow for too many National cronies, making money from distress and misery!

    4. 3.4

      @ The Chairman …yes I know people in Christchurch who formerly voted Dalziel but are very happy to vote Minto…they question Dalziel’s economics adviser ( say he is a friend of Jonkey)…and they don’t like the threat of sale of Council owned assets under Dalziel

      I dont know whether their reasons are valid or not but I would vote John Minto if I was a Christchurch resident…Minto really is a person for the people and not big money…this is the way Christchurch used to be so he is a good fit for Mayor…and he wouldnt give Brownlee an easy ride

      1. 3.4.1

        “Minto really is a person for the people”

        Indeed, Chooky.

        I think he’s a far better fit than Dalziel for those on the left and for those unimpressed with the current status quo.

    5. 3.5

      Minto is a good bloke who has, consistently throughout his life fought for the underdog.

      I am working for him in ChCh (in that I have volunteered to deliver pamphlets around where I live.)

      John Minto is part of the anti-establishment represented by Brexit, Bernie and (God help us all) Donald. He has a real chance in CHCH.

      1. 3.5.1

        Yes Minto is a good bloke out there fighting the many good fights… and he should keep at it…

        but Mayor?? Not a position for someone with his talents, skills or experience in my view. He is better occupying other positions within society.

        1. 3.5.1.1

          The same might have been said, with equal justice, about Tim Shadbolt. John Minto will make a great mayor, for he will always act in the interests of the majority of ChCh, not just those who live in Brownlee’s electorate.

        2. 3.5.1.2

          Many people don’t know that MInto when he live up North was a good professional teacher and a very dedicated rugby coach of young kids.
          Just saying….

    1. 4.1

      yes I never liked Barry Soper …too full of sophistry and sophistries?…a tricky dicky PR type

      sophistry

      ˈsɒfɪstri/Submit
      noun
      the use of clever but false arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving.
      “trying to argue that I had benefited in any way from the disaster was pure sophistry”
      a fallacious argument.

      plural noun: sophistries

      synonyms: specious reasoning, the use of fallacious arguments, sophism, casuistry, quibbling, equivocation, fallaciousness
      “to claim that patients differ in any more fundamental way is pure sophistry”
      fallacious argument, sophism, fallacy, quibble;
      paralogism
      “he went along with this sophistry, but his heart clearly wasn’t in it”

            1. 5.1.1.1.2.1

              salon covers it nicely

              Many of the Wall Street donors to former Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush have thrown their weight behind Clinton, since their preferred candidates dropped out of the race.

              More than 500 donors, including many Wall Street executives, who gave money to a Republican presidential candidate who dropped out have since given money to Clinton, according to analysis by the nonpartisan organization Crowdpac cited by the Journal.

              Moreover, the super PAC backing Clinton, Priorities USA Action, “is also heavily backed by Wall Street donors,” the newspaper wrote. Wall Street has poured $18.7 million into the pro-Clinton Super PAC. “No other industry has given more,” the Wall Street Journal added.

              Trump, on the other hand, has never gotten more than 1 percent of Wall Street contributions, in any month through March.

              http://www.salon.com/2016/05/09/hillary_clinton_is_wall_streets_preferred_candidate_financial_execs_pouring_millions_into_her_campaign_to_defeat_trum/

              1. 5.1.1.1.2.1.1

                So the King of Debt’s proposed Wall Street reforms – we have to get rid of Dodd-Frank. The banks aren’t loaning money to people that need it…. The regulators are running the banks – are freebies.

                btw, as opposed to Clinton and despite his promises there’s nothing concrete on Trump’s site about Wall Street reform

                1. 5.1.1.1.2.1.1.1

                  And let’s remember that Bill Clinton repealed Glass Steagal at the behest of the big banks, and all the House Democrats were very happy to support him.

      1. 6.2.1

        While it may make 0 difference to your drinking, it may save a young life or two.

        Was reading a piece the other day stating a study that found plain packaging and warning labels for sugary drinks did have an impact.

    3. 6.3

      Great idea, Barry Soper: plain packaging and warning labels for booze. Definitely worth trying.

      Exactly. Plain packaging including standardised plain bottles and cans.

    4. 6.4

      Definitely worth trying.

      Really? The political party that wants to make it harder for me to tell which beer, wine or whiskey I’m buying needn’t ask me to vote for it – I’d be willing to help its opponents, though.

      1. 6.4.1

        “which beer, wine or whiskey I’m buying “.
        What do you mean “which beer”?
        We will go completely plain package. Opaque glass in a standard size. The only label will be “contains alcohol”. It will only be after you open it that you will discover what sort of product you are getting. Too bad if you discover you bought beer when you only drink fine wines.
        I’m sure that approach would cut the consumption of the demon drink by a huge amount.

    6. 6.6

      What I’d like is to see $/ml alcohol.
      Resurrecting fourth form algebra just to find the best value for money still makes my head hurt.

      As for plain packaging, having Label5 look like a bottle of Talisker (or Mt Gay look like Appleton’s 18yo, or fosters look like emersons) would lead to great sorrow and hardship throughout the land.

      1. 6.6.1

        Resurrecting fourth form algebra just to find the best value for money still makes my head hurt.

        Visiting the bottle store with my girlfriend and her mate used to be a humiliating lesson in how little attention I’d paid at school. They could whip through the most-alcohol-for-least-dollars calculations in a small fraction of the time it took me. I blame the teachers – not one of them ever used this as an example.

  7. 7

    A link with details about tomorrow’s antiTPPA day of action in your area:

    https://itsourfuture.org.nz/day-of-action-across-aotearoa/

    Hopefully the speakers will be addressing TISA as well as the shaky looking TPPA (and TTIP).

    I like the; “Protestival”, angle. As having a range of ages and a bit of colour plays better in the media than a grim threatening mass. I will be heading down there with the kids in Dunedin at 1pm. So have to get them making a placard after kindy today.

    1. 8.1

      Didn’t know him and what a shame I didn’t. That was a scorching track thanks TRP. Was wondering why Radio Active was playing ska all morning.

  9. 9

    Important story on RNZ today – the proportion of income poorer people spend on accommodation has almost doubled since the late 1980’s. I don’t think this is because there has been a doubling in the quality of housing in the poorer end of town!

    And it goes against the lies of the Nats, that things haven’t got worse for the poor in this neoliberal nightmare – we all sense it has got worse, and here is some more solid evidence.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/312895/nz's-poorest-spend-half-their-pay-on-housing

  10. 10

    This is superb re the Colon Craig/Jordan Williams case. I especially like:

    “I make no bones about it: I long ago formed a personal view that Jordan Williams is a shallow puppet and nasty, vacuous, sleaze bag who, like Slater Jnr, will hypocritically use other people as weapons to attack his elders’ enemies.”

    Other than that he is a great guy (sarc). Have a read:

    http://www.thepaepae.com/why-does-jordan-williams-expose-himself-to-so-much-loathing-contempt-and-ridicule/37233/

    My prediction: Williams will crash and burn in this case. Ouch that is expensive.

    1. 10.1

      Lets hope he takes the other nasty pieces of work (including Rankin) with him.

      Even so, I do feel a teensy weensy bit sorry for Colin Craig. But only a teensy bit.

  11. 11

    Humans have destroyed a tenth of Earth’s wilderness in 25 years – study

    “What is critical about this paper is when you erode these wildernesses, they don’t come back, you can’t restore them. They will come back as something else, but you can’t restore them,” he said.”

    “Our Paris pledge on deforestation is shamefully weak – we are comformed with ending only illegal deforestation only by 2030 and only in Amazonia – and we don’t even have a plan for achieving that little. Brazil will ratify the Paris agreement next Monday. If the government is serious about meeting the deal’s long-term goal, it should be talking about zero deforestation.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/08/humans-have-destroyed-a-tenth-of-earths-wilderness-in-25-years-study

    1. 11.1

      As forecast back in 1972 we’re still en-route to total collapse:

      Sobering indeed. Left unsaid (and, as always, there is no criticism intended in noting a research paper not going outside its parameters) is why so little has been done to head off a looming global catastrophe. Free of constraints, it is not difficult to quantify those “powerful societal forces” as the biggest industrialists and financiers in the world capitalist system. As long as we have an economic system that allows private capital to accumulate without limit on a finite planet, and externalize the costs, in a system that requires endless growth, there is no real prospect of making the drastic changes necessary to head off a very painful future.

      Continuing to believe that capitalism is the only way to do anything is both delusional and a recipe for disaster.

    1. 13.1

      Clinton used a total of 8 Blackberries and 5 iPads during her time as Sec State. These were items that she knew were not secure, and suitable for conducting classified business on.

      Reports now indicate that at least some were smashed with hammers, and most went missing and could not be found be investigators wanting access to check her statements regarding her handling of official emails.

      Basically, the evidence wanted by the FBI went missing.

      1. 13.1.1

        and if any had been found with data still accessible, you’d have been decrying the massive security lapse in failing to thoroughly sanitise and dispose of electronic hardware. And in that case, you’d have a point.

        1. 13.1.1.1

          you don’t get it McFlock, the security breach occurred when she used the Blackberries. Smashing them with a hammer was just her cover up.

          1. 13.1.1.1.1

            lol

            Well if they could prove she stored classified data on the blackberries, then they don’t need the blackberries to mount a case in the first place and it’s good that they were securely disposed of.

            BUT if the blackberries were securely disposed of and nobody knows whether classified information was stored on them or not… what basis do you have to claim that she was covering it up?

            She might just have been concerned that the blackberries could have been hacked for personal data that would be misrepresented or used as a package for conspiracy theories invented by monomaniacal obsessives who are happy to lie about her willy-nilly.

            1. 13.1.1.1.1.1

              You’re correct of course, if you do it right there’s no evidence left of evidence being destroyed, when you destroy all the evidence first.

    2. 13.2

      When ones life is a litany of lies and corruption dating back decades, including scandals when she was first lady, there is no positivity which can cover up for such a bankrupt life path

      That people can make excuses for treachary that The Hillarys and Bills of this world have enacted, is a sad reflection of a lemming like mentality

    1. 14.1

      This is an organisation that censors pictures of women breastfeeding. Sorry, but we really shouldn’t have left ICT and social media development to the geek boys.

  15. 15

    Interesting comments from Sarah. Treated well at Work and Income, although I’d say that would’ve happened only after they knew she’d needed to go through Women’s Refuge as well as being lucky enough to come across a worker who was perhaps a bit better than most.

    Bennett says millions spent on emergency housing. I wonder how much of that they’re claiming back through the debts they’ve set up that are for some people are up to $80k, $100k? each?

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/83941349/kiwi-mother-of-five-shares-struggle-with-homelessness-after-addressing-mps

  16. 16

    John Batchelor interviews Stephen Cohen on Russia and USA at the G20

    Batchelor’s regular interview with Prof Stephen Cohen, NYU/Princeton University, America’s pre-eminent expert on Russian affairs.

    – How Obama missed an opportunity at the G20 “pull aside” with Putin in Hangzhou to increase the safety margin preventing nuclear war with Russia to over 14 minutes, by coming to a “de-alerting” “no first use” nuclear agreement.

    – Weakness of Merkel’s political position in Germany due to mishandling of Ukraine and the immigrant issue.

    – Ukraine unilaterally re-writing and hence destroying the Minsk Accords; Poroshenko under influence of hard right in Kiev.

    – Putin as a central figure at the G20 in China.

    – Inability for the US and Russia to agree on even a brief ceasefire in Syria

    – How the US national security establishment consistently refuses to work with Russia and instead chose to fuel a new Cold War.

    https://audioboom.com/boos/5019279-g-20-stare-down-in-the-new-cold-war-stephen-f-cohen-nyu-princeton-university-eastwestaccord-com

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