Open Mike 21/11/25

Written By: notices and features - Date published: - 24 comments
Categories: open mike


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24 comments on “Open Mike 21/11/25”

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    1. 1.1

      Oh they are, but all so many people have to hear is "tax cuts", and think they're going to be richer. So brilliant political manipulation, and pure greed.

  2. 2

    Trump derangement. Amerikan fascism gets closer….

    Trump floats death penalty for Democrats urging military to refuse orders

    Note..the illegal orders

    US President Donald Trump has evoked the death penalty for Democratic lawmakers who urged the military to refuse illegal orders, calling them traitors and accusing them of sedition.

    The lawmakers behind the message included Senator Mark Kelly, a former member of the Navy and NASA astronaut, and Senator Elissa Slotkin, who served with the CIA in Iraq.

    The six accused the Trump administration of "pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens".

    "Right now, the threats to our constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from right here at home," they said, adding: "You can refuse illegal orders."

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/579562/trump-floats-death-penalty-for-democrats-urging-military-to-refuse-orders

    IMO NZ should not be appeasing, or schmoozing, any of the hard right fascists coterie of criminal creeps.

  3. 3

    I've been driving Mum around a lot more lately. Drs visits, shopping, pharmacy.

    Mum has a mobility parking permit and it seems the most common transgressor in these parks is a fellow mobility permit holders.

    There will be someone without mobility issues 'just ducking in' while the lesser mobile one stays in the car.

    I decided to mention this to the last people I saw doing this. I prefaced it with 'I am being gentle here' and said to look at the 6th paragraph on the permit.

    I am bigger than average and don't want to intimidate folk. Any tips on wording or tactics?

    It can be a rigmarole getting someone out and onto their walker let alone an independent wheelchair user

    1. 3.1

      Mobility parking permits seem to a be a sensitive issue even among those who could qualify. People get defensive when they are in the wrong.

      I have a permit, and we have a friend who is 75 and has had a mild stroke affecting one leg. He doesn't have a permit but has been using the parks. He was seemingly blissfully unaware of the permit arrangement and got quite antsy when I explained it and suggested he go through the application process including payment!

      1. 3.1.1

        Yr first paragraph sums it up. When folk go on the defensive most communication is useless.

        I'm aware of checking the righteousness that arises within me. It is disappointing when someone with mobility issues consciously denies easy access to another.

  4. 4

    What do you think of this article by Ani O'Brien?

    And Now a Woman Is Dead

    Makes you think, doesn't it?

    [I’ve checked and you have no record of engaging in discussions here and an history of spamming the site with random links without commentary (https://thestandard.nz/open-mike-11-06-2022/#comment-1893635).

    You’re in Pre-Mod until you provide your own thoughts on the article you linked to and you show that you’re a genuine participant in robust debate here and not a link-whoring lazy spammy troll – Incognito]

    [Final note: we’ve waited long enough, but as expected you haven’t engaged with a single reply to your comment, i.e., you’re still a link-whoring lazy spammy troll. To prevent you from wasting people’s time and to lighten the workload for the Mods in an election year your commenting privilege has been revoked for a year – Incognito]

    2. 4.2

      Any rehabilitation programs in NZ are lip service.Ticking boxes .There is no serious program .Look at the recent UN audit of NZ prisons .Raises a lot of of red flags.

      Look at the recidivism rates of countries who do take rehabilitation seriously, and endeavour to reduce crime by addressing the core issues that lead to it.

      They are half NZ's rates, not by being tougher on criminals and making prison life as brutal as it can be .

      What country treats prisoners the best?

      Correctional facilities in Norway focus on maintaining custody of the offender and attempting to make them functioning members of society. Norway's prison system is renowned as one of the most effective and humane in the world.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_Norway#

      1. 4.2.1

        it is difficult for a judicial system built by and for men to cope with the fact that these violent men will not stop until they kill.

        1. 4.2.1.1

          I totally agree that this man should never have been allowed out .I just disagree with the generalised "offenders" .It smacks of the Sensible sentencing trust.It's violent offenders that require the most rigorous assessments.

        1. 4.2.2.1

          The FBI's Behavioural Science Unit did a worldwide study of crime levels in the 1980's for a link to pornography.

          They found Japan and Scandinavia has low levels of crime and high levels of pornography. They explained this as a consequence of monoculture and egalitarianism.

          Then noted higher levels of crime was based on inequality related to ethnic difference.

    3. 4.3

      It does not mention

      1.the assessment made by the medical experts.

      2.the regime the person was under, after release.

      The new stalking law has its processes.

      One would have thought any threat at all made by the person after release would have been grounds for return to prison. And also that their location was constantly tracked.

      1. 4.3.1

        One would have thought any threat at all made by the person after release would have been grounds for return to prison. And also that their location was constantly tracked.

        Based on the reports of this and other cases, the commonsense approach you outline – just doesn't happen. Recidivist criminals are rarely recalled to prison. And location tracking is routinely evaded with few, if any, consequences.

        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/editorial-foiled-attempts-to-curb-offenders/ZREWBMZEUNC3BDQMPPFHGYU2XI/

        This is an old study – but it's unlikely anything has changed

        Electronic monitoring for violent male parolees does not have any significant effect on the likelihood of a parolee being committed to prison during the follow up period or on the amount of time before recommitment to prison

        https://share.google/2mrHP735QL8iKqnLR

        1. 4.3.1.1

          Yeah, but any threat would have invalidated the assessment made that led to the release … .

          Electronic monitoring for violent male parolees does not have any significant effect on the likelihood of a parolee being committed to prison during the follow up period or on the amount of time before recommitment to prison

          If they abided by the terms this should be the case.

          But not where they do not. That should have consequences.

  6. 6

    From The Guardian today, conclusions on the UK government's Covid response.

    Thank goodness we had Jacinda.

    “The evidence from the inquiry is clear….Boris Johnson [is] blamed in black and white for the catastrophic mishandling of the pandemic, it is devastating to think of the lives that could have been saved under a different prime minister.

    “We now know that many of our family members would still be alive today if it weren’t for the leadership of Boris Johnson and his colleagues.

    “As the report has found, the government’s approach to the pandemic was undermined from the beginning.

    “If Johnson had listened to scientific advice and locked down even a week earlier, around 23,000 people could have been saved. Instead, throughout the pandemic, Boris Johnson put his political reputation ahead of public safety."

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/nov/20/covid-inquiry-report-pandemic-labour-conservatives-andy-burnham-uk-politics-live-news

    2. 6.2

      Thank goodness we had Jacinda.

      And not Boris ..or Rishi Dr Death Sunak ! (Interesting how these types are the same World wide : (

      UK PM Sunak reportedly said 'just let people die', Covid inquiry hears

      Previous evidence has shown he was branded "Dr Death" by one government scientific adviser over his "Eat Out to Help out" policy in the summer of 2020, which subsidised meals in pubs and restaurants but was criticised by health experts for spreading the virus.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/502883/uk-pm-sunak-reportedly-said-just-let-people-die-covid-inquiry-hears

      Patrick Vallance contradicts Rishi Sunak’s evidence to Covid inquiry

      PM would almost certainly have known concerns over ‘eat out to help out’ scheme, says former chief scientific adviser

      https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/20/patrick-vallance-contradicts-rishi-sunak-evidence-to-covid-enquiry

    1. 7.1

      WTF! Not even Erica Stanford or Charter Schools would dream of pushing this kind of madness onto our innocent little children.

    2. 7.2

      Clever to pose them as Arabic numerals rather than Indian (both his parents were born in India).

      Arabic numerals refers to a system that originated in ancient India and was transmitted to Europe by Arab mathematicians.

      Western Europe also received knowledge of Greek learning via Arabs who cultivated what Christianity chose to suppress.

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