Open mike 22/12/2019

Written By: notices and features - Date published: - 91 comments
Categories: open mike

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

91 comments on “Open mike 22/12/2019”

Comment numbers have changed to permanent references. Older quoted numbers may no longer identify the same comment.

  1. 1

    GEEZ Some aussies!!!

    They need to look out their window!!!

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12295998

    "Tens of thousands of Aussies are lapping up a "ridiculous" conspiracy theory — that climate change is a United Nations-led hoax to aggressively depopulate the world.

    Social media platforms are being used to push the theory, known as Agenda 21, and, in the past four weeks alone, hundreds of Australians have engaged in posts about it.

    The bulk of Agenda 21 conversations are on mainstream platforms Twitter and Facebook — where tens of thousands of Aussies have liked and followed Australian-based pages dedicated to the conspiracy.

    1. 1.1

      Sadly, several commenters have seen fit to post Agenda 21 fruitloopery on this site. Fortunately the pushback is usually swift and firm.

      2. 1.1.2

        When @One Two’s 3 month ban is lifted he will be back to enlighten us about Agenda 21. I have to say I miss his unintended funny posts (if you can call them that)

        1. 1.1.2.1

          I don't think One Two has identified their gender here. If I had to guess from the content of their comments, I'd be more likely to guess she than he.

          I did a quick search for "Agenda 21" on this site and One Two didn't appear in the results. But maybe they just haven't got around to it yet.

          And yeah, their posts are funny. Until they get to the point of where they might contribute to causing actual harm to vulnerable people.

        2. 1.1.2.2

          FYI, bans are not lifted as such because they tend to be for fixed period only with the obvious exception of permanent bans (although a general amnesty has been done here before; the usual suspects usually cop a fresh ban very quickly as the suckers can’t help themselves). Under exceptional circumstances, a ban is lifted or shortened; all this generates more work for Moderators. The commenter in question is currently not banned.

    2. 1.2

      Cool stuff !!! Goes with Area 51 and Room 401 probably heaps more too – reveals something about the standard caucasian brain programme ?

  2. 2

    Wolf begins his remedy article:

    “ ‘It is clear then that . . . those states in which the middle element is large, and stronger if possible than the other two [wealthy and poor] together, or at any rate stronger than either of them alone, have every chance of having a well-run constitution.’ Thus did Aristotle summarise his analysis of the Greek city states. The stability of what we would now call constitutional democracy depended on the size of its middle class. It is no accident that the US and UK, long-stable democracies today succumbing to demagogy, are the most unequal of the western high-income countries. Aristotle, we are learning, was right.”

    A chart accompanying the article shows the five most unequal economies in the world (in terms of disposable income after taxes and cash transfers). They are, in order, the US, South Korea, the UK, New Zealand and Spain. Ours is the best functioning of those five democracies. But rising tensions will sorely test us in our general election next year."

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/12/22/957029/2020-around-the-corner

    The chart's (behind paywall) origin would be interesting as the GINI would indicate otherwise but the general thrust of the argument would be logical

    1. 2.1

      No paywall

      https://www.ft.com/content/4cf2d6ee-14f5-11ea-8d73-6303645ac406

      g

      "Fourth, inequality. As Aristotle warned, beyond a certain point, in­equality is corrosive. It makes politics far more fractious, undermines social mobility; weakens aggregate demand and slows economic growth. Heather Boushey’s Unbound spells all this out in convincing detail. To tackle it will require a combination of policies: proactive competition policy; attacks on tax avoidance and evasion; a fairer sharing of the tax burden than in many democracies today; more spending on education, especially for the very young; and active labour market policies, combined with decent minimum wages and tax credits. The US has poor labour force participation of prime-aged adults, despite unregulated labour markets and a minimal welfare state. It is possible to have far better outcomes."

      and the chart

      Chart showing that The US and UK are league leaders in inequality. Inequality of household disposable incomes after taxes and cash transfers (2016)

        1. 2.1.1.1

          we will never have zero inequality and the Scandanavian countries are far from perfect but its a question of aiming for the best possible outcomes

        2. 2.1.1.2

          Math tends to hurt my brain, but I suspect it's one of those things where approaching the extremes has an exponential effect on the ground.

    2. 2.2

      Oram is lovely, but simply two lines on two good companies and then throwing in a GINI coefficient is no way to propose meeting a new decade differently to the previous one.

      It's also fine to point to our shrinking middle class. But Oram doesn't propose how to expand it here.

      As for starting by complaining about the Nats and praising our high-functioning democracy, it is entirely possible that our electorate will conclude that this lot are great at the media but have simply failed to deliver – and so they get chucked out.

      There is little cause yet for optimism that this government will be re-elected to help us face a new decade differently. They have 9 months left to convince.

      1. 2.2.1

        there is a lot in what you say to agree with,,,and I like Oram (which may colour my view) but believe him a little utopian (or naive if you prefer)….but in terms of the political you may well be right , hence my later post…there is I think a relatively simple solution but it requires distillation (and salesmenship)

        and the 9 months may be a little too fast but certainly over the next electoral cycle

  4. 4

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/118395969/turnardern-man-behind-hiding-campaign-says-pm-is-wasting-time-on-fluff-articles

    This guy Colin Wilson obviously thinks that PMs have to look a certain way and if they don't they're clearly something else. Not surprising that for him Ardern must therefore be a model and can't be a successful PM. It would be good if such as approach didn't matter but it does because after what happened to Corbyn this sort of thing can so easily get out of control. Bridges not being capable of an original thought will be thinking what happened to Corbyn is a gift from God. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come over the coming months and the media see it this sort of behaviour for what it is. It's a major worry.

    1. 4.1

      So… a band of grown men are wandering through shopping precincts turning over books and magazines featuring the likeness of Jacinda Ardern? And they presumably believe they're making some sort of point (other than "Look at us behaving like infants!")?

      Christ on a bike. I loathed John Key with a passion bordering on the religious, but I never took it upon myself to scuttle about in shops deliberately hiding his smirking visage from the general public. Kids, whenever someone tells you to 'respect your elders', don't. Your elders are likely partisan muppets who soil themselves in abject terror whenever confronted by women in positions of authority.

      Colin Wilson, you're a profoundly sad man.

      1. 4.1.1

        The man's just another genius. He and the rest of them apparently have copies of Ardern's daily schedule. That means they keep telling us she spends all her time flitting from one photo op to the next and doesn't actually 'do anything.'

        At least while he and they are pointing that out they're not telling us that teachers work from 9.00 'til 3.00, and then only for half the year, with just 20 kids, are all on $100,000+ and have no accountability.

        1. 4.1.1.1

          Or harassing some other female in their lives – wild guess, I'm thinking these guys are lifetime batchelor types or divorced.

          1. 4.1.1.1.1

            He’s probably the salt of the Earth but misguided (or misled?). If he’s married, his wife is probably happy that het gets out of the house and does his thing. Other guys go fishing or golfing. This way, he gets a full-body workout plus social contacts for free and the satisfaction that he’s doing something right.

            1. 4.1.1.1.1.1

              He will tell you all about it over a warm beer. His shout. Wait, where are you going? Your hair looks clean enough already mate.

            2. 4.1.1.1.1.2

              The first thing that came to mind after seeing this was the way the media dealt to Corbyn. Bridges and the nats will be preparing to do the same thing to Ardern and attacks like Wilson's are squarely in that vein. I hope Labour and the rest of the government are able to successfully counter this, and that the media is able to spot such a disingenuous strategy.

      2. 4.1.2

        Back up a bit there…

        a) not just men doing it.

        b) you might not have scuttled about hiding John Key books, but plenty of others did.

        Those 2 points render the rest of your analysis as, basically, a bunch of emotive crap…. as per usual.

        2. 4.1.2.2

          A. Acting like a petulant toddler isn't gender specific. If women are doing it too… good for them, I guess? Next time I'll write 'men/women' although I suspect it'll disappoint the pedants because they'll have nothing to whinge about.

          B. If people really did wander the malls hiding books about John Key, they're equally sad. Life is short and you're wasting it hiding the faces of people you don't like. That's an impressive legacy to be leaving.

          And that's about all the emotive crap I have for you this afternoon. There's at least a 50% chance I'll have more tomorrow.

    2. 4.2

      It’s amazing how much media space this story has garnered. Some old loser men threatened by a woman spending their dotage traipsing into dairies to turn the mags around and it’s on all the NZ news sites.

    4. 4.4

      I'm more concerned that this article, which was specious enough on RNZ, got recycled by Stuff. So some attention-seeking fwit wants to promote a hate message based on nothing he can articulate – where's the editorial taste and decency?

      1. 4.4.1

        & also meh, book sellers are aware this crap goes on, minutes after these genius brainiacs turn a boom over they get turned back around. I imagine their antics have brought attention to the books and magazines.

    5. 4.5

      They are regurgitating the right-wing lie that the Labour government has done nothing till now. The current Labour led government has done way more to date for the majority of New Zealanders in its short time in office than National ever did in its entire previous terms as the government. Only a small percentage of people had it better under the previous National govenment.

      2. 4.5.2

        That's the scary thing here. Corban hates Jews and Ardern gets her photo taken. Watch Bridges' campaign strategy hit a new kind of low. The question will be whether the media plays ball.

      1. 5.1.1

        I just fucking hate malls.

        And I would rather remove layers of my own skin with a potato peeler than enter one right now.

        Unfortunately the Other Half felt that I hadn't generate 'present parity' across the nephews, so I've just come back from St Lukes's second circle of Dante's Inferno. I believe we have now achieved nephew present parity, and I have achieved Babich Patriach Parity at 3.44pm.

        1. 5.1.1.1

          I wonder if you have noticed why most men hate malls. There is little to nothing there of interest to us. Here is demonstrated a truth; while men may earn a little more overall … women get to spend most of it.

  6. 6

    Ok…so the employer at Reporoa Holiday Park has been found guilty and part of the ruling is that they are banned from employing people for 18 months. This doesn't seem like much given the scope of abuse upon workers, including charging workers a $45,000 bond.

    We can expect more of this type of abuse if the consequence is a wet bus ticket. Those employees won't get any money they are owed.

    Guan was supposed to assist her application for her work visa after she started employment which did not occur.

    Instead her hotel manager job involved her working seven days a week undertaking gruelling tasks. She would be instructed to dig out thermal streams, clear bushes, clear blockages of toilets all without any money to show for it.

    "I was supposed to be staying in the hotel for free and getting two meals a day," she said. "I was given an English contract for $22 an hour. She says to me she does not even want to pay me $2 an hour for my work."

    Wang says she was barely able to get by with what little money she received. She had no car and had to ask guests for help taking her daughter to preschool.

    Guan also told Wang she had to repay her accommodation and the two meals a day which Wang says were supposed to be provided to her when she took on the job.

    "I had no money to pay and she had my $45,000 so I say she just has to take it out of that bond," Wang said. "I had no choice."

    2. 6.2

      The comparison with Joanne Harris is apt: steal that kind of money as an employee & you'll get three years & change in jail. Do it as an employer and no actual punishment will occur.

  8. 8

    The party of ignorant, racist, conservative, anti-science, anti-women, rapture-ready talibangelicals.

    But HRC!

    /

    Six-term Washington state Rep. Matt Shea is accused of participating "in an act of domestic terrorism against the United States," according to a report released Thursday.

    Independent investigators commissioned by the Washington State House of Representatives found that Shea, as a leader of the Patriot Movement, "planned, engaged in, and promoted a total of three armed conflicts of political violence against the United States government" between 2014 and 2016.

    The report also concluded that Shea was involved in training young people to fight a "holy war." He created a pamphlet called Biblical Basis for War and advocated replacing the government with a theocracy and "the killing of all males who do not agree."

    Chat messages showed Shea, a lawyer who was first elected in 2008, condoned intimidation of opponents, political activists, government officials and Muslims. He also offered to conduct background checks on political opponents.

    https://www.npr.org/2019/12/20/790192972/washington-legislator-matt-shear-accused-of-domestic-terrorism-report-finds

    Just minutes after the release of an investigative report that accuses Washington state Rep. Matt Shea of engaging in domestic terrorism, his Republican House colleagues Thursday stripped his name and face from their website, moved his office and suspended him from their caucus.

    But they’re not ready to expel him from the Legislature. And Ammon Bundy, who the report accuses Shea of collaborating with, disputed its findings.

    https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/as-washington-rep-matt-shea-refuses-to-resign-ammon-bundy-challenges-house-report/

      1. 8.1.1

        Sort of proves the point that three little letters will completely distract you from an elected official apparently engaged in domestic terrorism against his own government.

            1. 8.1.1.1.2.1

              You don’t want to know how stupid I can be as it is well beyond your imagination.

              If you cannot address the content, why don’t you stay silent? Your reflexive comments are of no help to anyone.

              1. 8.1.1.1.2.1.1

                Your said somthing about me which was truly dishonest, and your resonspe is to tell me to shut up.

                Maybe you might want to have a look at yourself.

                1. 8.1.1.1.2.1.1.1

                  I now see that I thought you were replying to another comment of mine. Never mind, it doesn’t alter my general comment to you.

                  As it happens, “sex” is one of the most distracting words in the English language and not just in the English language. As it so happens, “sex” is a three-letter word (cf. McFlock’s comment @ 8.1.1). How this says something about you that is truly dishonest, only you can explain because I don’t know you from a bar of soap.

                  If you get too easily distracted by three-letter words and flip your lid maybe you should count to 10 before you fire another salvo of misguided anger or just stay silent. Just saying.

                  1. 8.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.1

                    Again with the shutting down comment, very tiresome from you. Just saying.

                    Edit: The whole projection thing is a bit tiresome as well. Just saying

                    1. 8.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1

                      You still don’t get it, do you?

                      It was a deliberate attempt to distract you and others from yet another tiresome tirade about HRC, Trump, the Russians, Putin, and the Pope. McFlock would get it, which was why I responded to him, not you, @ 8.1.1.1.

                      Spare me your projection of my projection. The choice of words in your comments to describe people you dislike and disagree with speaks volumes about you. Can you not express yourself well enough without using insulting words?

                      It may have escaped your attention that your comments have not been shut down. Stop being so defensive and debate the issues.

            1. 8.1.1.2.1.1

              Nope.

              Just tired of the tired meme – needs to stop.

              Begs the question – do you know how many members of the 4th reich are in the south island? Do you even know who they are? And are you aware who funds them?

              If that is indeed the topic. Is it?

              1. 8.1.1.2.1.1.1

                lol It was pointed out to you that literally your entire comment 8.1 was in response to three little letters in a much longer comment about a republican legislator apparently being a far-right terrorist, so now you're Simon Wiesenthal. Defensive, much?

              2. 8.1.1.2.1.1.2

                I'll also point out that my responses were in reply to the contents of your comments, if you're in any confusion about how to identify a topic. I don't know what SI nazi-adjacents have to do with any of the comments in the thread, but I hope the cops have a decent list of names by now.

                  1. 8.1.1.2.1.1.2.1.1

                    If responding to the actual contents of your comment is slagging you off, try to make better comments. If relevant replies to your comments bear no relevance to the comment you were replying too, take a punt at the cause.

                    I am saddened but not surprised that the repugs will not kick out a domestic terrorist (as long as he's alt-right, they think he's alright, I guess). But look at who they refused to impeach. The state representative is just another force vector in the ongoing high-speed car crash that is the USA at the moment. He's like the bit in the slow-motion footage where you can see a passenger's head bounce off a steel pillar.

                    What are your thoughts on Shea? You still haven't actually said anything about him, either.

                    1. 8.1.1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1

                      My point was, why are you talking about the US when we have a very similar problem here. See first link. I also remember many skinheads joining the police in the 90's, so I'm not sure the police are the answer to this problem of far right violent politics.

                      To respond Shea, he has the support of the paleoconservatives within the gop, and as such he's been in office for a long time. But the fact you can't work out I think he is scum – Is really your problem. As I've been pretty consistent anti-war and violence.

                      Mind you all statist seem to be infected with jinogist crap these days. Maybe you all think everyone else thinks like you?

                      That said, I do think we will be in some sort of ecofascism soon – as there is no organised left. Only pale imitations infected with liberalism.

                    2. 8.1.1.2.1.1.2.1.1.2

                      If you know of any NZ elected officials with links to domestic terrorism, please report them to the police. There might well be some, but as yet I don't think light has been shed on any of them.

                      As for opinions that you believe are so self-evident they need not be expressed, why did you believe nobody knew you felt so gosh-darn strongly about hrc that you commented all about her rather than shea? One is an opinion you feel we should have inferred, the other is an opinion you express at the slightest excuse. As comment 8.1 deomstrates. As I pointed out in comment 8.1.1

                      You're obsessed with her. Merry Christmas.

  11. 11

    These companies owners are so short sighted the world is being poisoned buy there worship of $$$$.

    There are many examples of humans not caring about their environment or their mokopuna future's Collapseing into oblivion. Wake up you fools.

    The Plastics Pipeline: A Surge of New Production Is on the Way

    As public concern about plastic pollution rises, consumers are reaching for canvas bags, metal straws, and reusable water bottles.

    As public concern about plastic pollution rises, consumers are reaching for canvas bags, metal straws, and reusable water bottles. But while individuals fret over images of oceanic garbage gyres, the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries are pouring billions of dollars into new plants intended to make millions more tons of plastic than they now pump out.

    Ka kite Ano link below.

    https://www.enn.com/articles/61431-the-plastics-pipeline-a-surge-of-new-production-is-on-the-way

  13. 13

    Kia Ora Newshub.

    That big car crash pile up looks bad in America.

    Go figure boris new girl friend is a computer analyst.????.
    I seen my nemesis score a own goal the other night they quickly stopped televising that story.

    Ka kite Ano.

  14. 14

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.

    Its good to see the Whakatohea Iwi mussel farming is running great.

    We need go back to how we lived 50 years ago save reuse and have home gardens. I userly growing excellent vegetable but for some reason my vegetable have been failing so I don't waste my time. I know what the cause is.

    Ka kite Ano

  16. 16

    Kia Ora Newshub.

    Hope they can get the rope off the Tohoroa paraao tail.

    The erosion in Port Waikato is part of Global warming sea level rising.

    I have seen trucks driving over the speed limit. All the more reasons to return our Railway back to its former glory it was a major employer back in the day.

    Ka kite Ano.

  17. 17

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.

    Auckland City mission feeding 2000 people that's Ka pai.

    That's great pop up health clinics some people are doing it hard.

    The Australian Tangata Whenua need to get some compensation for the great losses they have had dished up. It good to see the koreo is starting to look promising on that subject.

    Cool to see Maori going to Tahiti to learn Waka building craft that's were the knowledge is.

    Racism rings in my taringa every day especially the sis bullshit lies show on there pakiha kehua FACES.

    Ka kite Ano

  19. 19

    Kia Ora Newshub.

    That happened to my uncle in the states care.

    A bus driver who can't drive A manual vehicle.

    The government must ban the chemicals that are harmful to Bees.

    That's a great way to recycle abandoned tents from concerts send them to refugees in Greece.

    Ka kite Ano.

  20. 20

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.

    The tourist should respect the Iwi of Rotokakahi Lake and stop swimming in the lake.

    Its good to see some brown Judges.

    I know what you say about Tamariki with no taringa Ka pai on you translateing a 100 puka puka.

    Ka kite Ano.

Comments are closed.