Open mike 17/07/2016

Written By: notices and features - Date published: - 61 comments
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61 comments on “Open mike 17/07/2016”

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  1. 1

    John Key is the strongest argument for restoring the checks and balances of an upper house in this country.

    1. 2.1

      Oh the irony as a lawyer reckons he can sue for ‘humiliation and personal blah blah blah…’ which is pretty much the shit he’s been dishing out to anyone not aligned to his idol shonky on national tv.

  3. 3

    & no wonder the National Ministers are adament about not looking into the cheap Chinese steel, they have threatened our exports if an inquiry goes ahead.

    “China has threatened “retaliatory measures” against New Zealand trade, warning it will slow the flow of dairy, wool and kiwifruit imports.
    The world’s biggest trading nation is angry at New Zealand inquiries into a glut of Chinese steel imports flooding the market; the Chinese believe New Zealand is part of a US-led alliance to target Chinese national interests.
    The behind-the-scenes threat comes just days before the arrival of US Vice President Joe Biden in New Zealand, forcing government and commerce officials to scramble to open urgent talks with China. New Zealand is angry that China should take such a combative approach, and is asking that it desist.”

    I liked the ‘NZ is angry’ but what are we going to do? Our whole economy is out of balance & China can buy it’s milk from anywhere, basically China calls the shots.

    “But somehow, China learned of the application – and it is taking retaliatory action.”

    2. 3.2

      “Joe Biden landed on the USS John C Stennis aircraft carrier in the South China Sea on Friday, where he told crew, “we’re going to be active in the region as long as all of you are alive”.” Jeebus,….

  4. 4

    Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
    We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.

    Uncaring, cruel.

    The lonely life of Daniel Bindner

    He walked the streets and slept where he could shelter. Public spaces were his home and lots of people looked at him – but few actually saw him. Cherie Howie traces the last journey of Daniel Bindner, the man who tragically died in a recycling bin.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11675921

    1. 4.1

      And the media does not seem to be caring enough to get his name correct.

      Earlier the Herald headline to the article linked to above spelt his name as “Binder” but then used “Bindner” in the text. The headline has now been amended to “Bindner” to align with the text. But if you google “Daniel Binder” or “Daniel Bindner” the links to the reports on his death use both spellings. My quick search of the reports failed to discover any that revealed which spelling is correct.

      In such a sensitive situation, you would have thought/hoped that the least they could do if get his name correct.

    3. 6.3

      Lydia Ko does well and is not top story on sports news on a different company to Veitch’s media outfit.

      On many, many occasions New Zealand sports people do well who do not get mentioned by Veitch or any attention let alone extensive, from him and his lot. Some rugby league player uses drugs or scratches his butt (his own not Veitch’s) and its all huff and puff, bluster and bullshit, a big story.

      People should not mistake Veitch’s work as being all about sport or the sportspeople. They are incidental, it is all about him

  7. 7

    China FTA vs TPPA,

    War vs Peace

    Independence and Freedom vs economic and political dependence

    “When you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas” Benjamin Franklin

    “Politics is concentrated economics” V.I. Lenin

    “Politics is war by other means” N. Clauswitz

    “New Zealand and China were “at peace” on trade issues – but apparently not” Stuff.co.nz

    “Peace in our time” N. Chamberlain

    Will the Nats pull out of the Free Trade Deal with China?

    China makes a military expansion and exclusive territorial grab for the large part of Pacific Ocean bordered by Vietnam and the Philippines misnamed the South China Sea.

    The US expands their exclusive economic Co-Prosperity Sphere for the Pacific known as the TPPA, while New Zealand resumes closer economic and military ties with the West including resuming US warship visits and manoeuvres in New Zealand waters.

    None of this goes on in a vacuum.

    Notoriously, Winston Peters who at the time was fine with signing a Free Trade Agreement with China when the Chinese military was shooting down peaceful protesters in the streets of Tibet, is now questioning the relationship. Peters unaware of his own monstrous hypocrisy, cites Chinese military expansionism into the South China Sea.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10498592

    NZ First leader Winston Peters said China was “monstering” Fonterra, Zespri and the NZ steel industry. “And as for the upgrade of the trade agreement, it’s all dependent on what stance we take on the South China Sea. That’s the reality of it now.

    “I can’t believe the ministers haven’t talked. You’ve got officialdom and business operating in isolation from government.”

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/82092018/china-threatens-reprisals-on-nz-dairy-wool-and-kiwifruit-if-government-doesnt-back-off-cheap-steel-inquiry

    As Britons vote to leave the EU, maybe we could take a page from their book, and rethink our policy on doing exclusive trade deals with any of the Superpowers.

    “A pox on all their houses” W. Shakespeare

    1. 7.1

      NZ has been cultivating a one dimensional relationship with China focussed on trade and money. That’s not enough strategically, when it is clear that China is the rising power of the Pacific for the 21st Century.

        1. 7.1.1.1

          not a very friendly interpretation from some quarters there.

          Guan Yu has been deified over the centuries as a General who embodied the highest principles of loyalty, honour, righteousness and brotherly love.

          Who plays a major role in the Chinese classic The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

          http://www.a3guo.com/renwu/shu/Guan%20Yu.htm

  8. 8

    Obama said that the TPPA was a means of holding China at bay in the Pacific. China might yet circumnavigate TPPA.

    1. 8.1

      imagine an Asia Pacific trade agreement…which ignores China

      This is the US game of attempting to isolate China while offering no recompense in return.

      1. 8.1.1

        Poor old John Key who sees everything in terms of money, out of his depth on the horns of a political dilemma and with no moral compass to guide him. He is probably pondering which Super Power he can afford to offend the least?

        Not to mention avoiding stepping on the toes of the Dairy industry which got zip out of the TPP, and which is heavily reliant on the Chinese market.

        I already provide the Yanks with Kiwi cannon fodder and am letting their war ships back into our ports, what more do they want?

        What to do? What to do?

  9. 9

    ‘Astonishing NATO nations did not come to aid of Erdogan govt’

    https://www.rt.com/op-edge/351644-nato-nations-aid-erdogan/

    …”It’s interesting that the Prime Minister so quickly blamed the Gulen movement. Now, who is this movement? The cleric lives in the US. Well, that is the movement that reportedly funds the Hillary Clinton campaign. Certainly there will be people in Ankara not wishing for a Clinton presidency anytime soon given that so many supporters right now are being arrested. There are ties here that show how complex the events of the past 12 hours are….

    ‘Turkey coup attempt: Erdoğan demands US arrest exiled cleric Gülen amid crackdown on army – as it happened’

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jul/15/turkey-coup-attempt-military-gunfire-ankara

    (Recently Turkey had been trying to resume friendly relations with Russia

    ‘Putin Ends Russian Tourism Ban to Turkey After Erdogan Talks’

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-29/putin-lifts-ban-on-russian-tourism-to-turkey-after-erdogan-talks

    ‘Erdoğan has apologised for downing of Russian jet, Kremlin says’

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/27/kremlin-says-erdogan-apologises-russian-jet-turkish

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/28/erdogan-russia-turkey-foreign-policy )

    1. 9.1

      there is some noise out there which suggests that Erdogan has made a decision to take Turkey closer to the Middle East and Russia, and away from Europe and NATO.

    2. 9.2

      “Elaborating on the idea that Erdoğan may have staged the coup attempt, Aslandogan said Friday’s events did not match the pattern of previous coups.

      “The coup appears to be poorly planned,” he said, “very poorly executed and everything seems to be playing into Erdoğan’s hands. There are many big question marks of how [this attempted coup] was executed.””
      Mmm?

    3. 9.3

      I was going to write a post headed “A Turkish Coo?” (Coo being the vernacular for cow…in some places). Anyway I have no time today, but

      Did anyone hear any demands being made by any coup plotters?
      Was there a spokesperson speaking on behalf of coup leaders?
      Did anyone claim responsibility for launching the coup attempt?

      Astonishing as it might seem, I’m wondering if the whole caboodle was stage managed by Erdogan as a precursor to eliminating political enemies.

      In videos of troops, I’ve seen bewildered young boys in uniform waving nervously at crowds waving Turkish flags. And people opposing the presence of the army, just walking up to a tank and clambering atop, or hanging off a tanks front end – it just doesn’t fit with any scenes I’ve seen of coups.

      We know that in coups a presidential palace or a parliament gets shelled – tick.
      We know that popular leaders (well, Chavez) can call on the populace to thrwart a coup – tick.

      Could be Hollywood.

      So yeah. Maybe over the next wee while I’ll look for stuff and form a better informed opinion, but for now I’m calling bullshit on the coup and reckoning it was staged as an excuse to purge.

        1. 9.3.1.1

          Who gave the orders?

          Military coups don’t come out of nowhere they usually have ranking military individuals at their core who give the orders to the troops.

          Who are they?

          Have they been identified?

          What are their names and rank?

          Have they been detained?

          Have they been killed?

          Where are the bodies?

          Are they alive?

          Are they still at large in Turkey?

          Are they being sought?

          Have their photos been circulated or published?

          Have they fled the country?

          Which country?

          Syria?

          Russia?

          Iran?

          The US?

          The answers to these questions will tell us a lot about the true nature of the failed coup attempt in Turkey.

          1. 9.3.1.1.1

            It seems that some of the coup makers including their alleged leader have been taken into Turkish custody and will be put on trial for Treason.

            http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/turkey/1.731349

            General Akin Öztürk, who served as commander of Turkey’s air force, was arrested Saturday in connection with the failed coup. At least five other generals were detained.

            The good news is that it has been announced that there will be trial. This could be one of the most dramatic court trials in recent world history.
            Hopefully, the motives of the coup makers will be examined under cross examination. And revealed to the world.

            The Turkish prosecutor’s office has announced that Gen. Öztürk and his alleged partners would be tried on charges of treason.

            1. 9.3.1.1.1.1

              History in the making.
              Dramatic footage of the alleged Turkish coup leader in custody and handcuffed speaking into a smart phone to give the order for his troops to surrender to the civil authorities.

                1. 9.3.1.1.1.1.1.1

                  Watch the chaos as Turkish soldiers try to take over a civilian news room but are overpowered and disarmed. One reporter puts a heavily armed soldier in a headlock and holds him down near a desk.

          2. 9.3.1.1.2

            Some of the plotters have sought Asylum in Greece.

            Again there will be a legal hearing, this time to decide the worth or not of their claim for asylum.

            Hopefully, while the world looks on, the motives and reasons behind the coup will be brought out under proper cross examination and defendant testimony.

            Again this is history in the making.

            Being held in a jurisdiction independent of Turkey there will be less chance of the Greek hearing being a stage managed show trial that provides the answers that the Turkish government wants.

            http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3693369/Fleeing-coup-Uprising-leaders-land-helicopter-Greece-seek-asylum-Turkish-leaders-demand-treacherous-officers-extradited.html

    1. 10.1

      … very interesting!…..and it seems that Gulen is being blamed for the coup attempt

      ‘Turkey says US is ‘no friend’ for harboring ‘coup planner’ Gulen’

      https://www.rt.com/news/351611-turkey-us-friend-coup/

      “The Turkish government has indirectly criticized its NATO ally, the US, for providing a safe haven for Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara blames for masterminding Friday’s military coup attempt. The cleric is currently living in self-imposed exile in the States.

      “I do not see any country that would stand behind this man, this leader of the terrorist gang, especially after last night. The country that would stand behind this man is no friend to Turkey. It would even be a hostile act against Turkey,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım told reporters on Saturday, as Turkey was recovering from overnight violence…

      (question : is Gulen a fundamentalist Islamic with ties to Saudi as well as USA?)

  11. 11

    paid the car parking fee at Middlemore hospital, ovef the weekend the price has risen 11%, this at time when we are being continually reminded of low inflation.

  13. 13

    Mark Latham speaking sense & gathering public support in Australia. Taking Labor back to Labor and away from the politically correct Progressives.

    Andrew Little should check it out.

    Might get some worthwhile ideas from Mark.

    1. 14.1

      ‘Tis OK Draco. McClay will sort it.
      “Trade Minister Todd McClay says he will be asking officials to contact the Chinese embassy in Wellington to clarify its position on competition issues.

      He was commenting about news reports that China could take retaliatory action against dairy and kiwifruit exports from New Zealand if a formal investigation into alleged steel dumping by China is launched by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment….”
      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11676215

        1. 14.1.1.1

          http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/82192563/john-key-downplays-retaliation-suggestions-over-potential-china-steel-import-sanctions

          “Chinese ambassador Wang Lutong said there was no issue with the imported steel quality but the embassy had been discussing the industry’s concerns with New Zealand authorities.”

          Yet…

          “Prime Minister John Key has downplayed fears of a trade war from China if sanctions are slapped on its steel, saying he has received “no indication” the world superpower is upset with New Zealand.”

  15. 15

    Bloody Hell Bill English was rubbish on Q & A today. All he could come up with was that the housing crisis was all Auckland City Council’s fault because they won’t let a city of 2 million people spread out to be larger than say, Los Angeles with 18 million or be the same size as London with 13 million. In spite of the fact we’re told constantly that land supply is not the main driver of house price inflation. The problem is the lack of actual, fucking houses.

      1. 15.1.1

        He’s the Minister of Finance for Chrissake and I’m just astonished really at what a dipshit fucking plonker he is.

      2. 15.1.2

        This is good sense from the National perspective – they look forward to crucifying Labour on housing and running a dead parrot about their housing solution from opposition “you stunned it, just as it was waking up”

    2. 15.2

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/home-property/82035780/you-can-buy-a-three-bedroom-home-for-under-600000-in-auckland-as-long-as-youre-a-nz-citizen
      However, to qualify for first-home Welcome Home mortgages and KiwiSaver HomeStart grants, the houses need to be under $550,000, which builders don’t believe is possible.
      The GJ Gardner Homes Franklin/Papakura franchise has now taken up the challenge and is prepared to build 24 homes in the Belmont subdivision in Pukekohe and 12 in Papakura, but the price will be $578,250.
      And
      ​The most recent figures from QV put the median house price in Auckland at $975,087. If the Special Housing Area legislation was applied to this figure rather than the September 2015 median, the maximum house price would be $731,315. This is now in complying for a SHA,developers hav to archive as being affordable 😜
      So policies implemented by the govt to solve the housing “non crisis” are not working, anyone in the development industry could have told the ministers,but from my experience our ministers have consulted and been photographed but never asked for our comments.

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