Open mike 27/09/2015

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62 comments on “Open mike 27/09/2015”

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  1. 1

    http://www.norightturn.blogspot.co.nz

    On Monday, Fonterra announced another round of job cuts, bringing layoffs to 750 for the year. Yesterday, their annual financial figures showed us why: profits were up, but revenue was down 15%, suggesting next year will be worse. So naturally, today we learn that their boss has given himself an 18% pay rise:
    Fonterra’s chief executive received a pay rise of up to $770,000 last year, despite struggling milk prices and hundreds of his staff losing their jobs.

    Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings’ salary for the year to July 31 was between $4.93 million and $4.94 million, it was revealed in the company’s annual result on Thursday.

    That’s up to 18 per cent more then what he was paid in the year to July 31, 2014, pushing his hourly take home wage up to $1595.

    New Zealand’s adult minimum wage is $14.75.

    It would take someone on minimum wage more than two weeks work to earn what Spierings makes in an hour.

    Or 26 years to earn his pay rise.

    Sack lots of people. Make less money. Watch your shareholder / suppliers go to the wall due to low prices. Clearly that’s the sort of performance which demands a boatload of cash.

    1. 1.1

      We often find advocates of CEO pay increases are quick to justify such increases while also being rather good at expressing why common wages should stay down.

      1. 1.1.1

        The sad thing, is that Fonterra is a co -operative – the profits are supposed to be returned to the farmers. Instead they have this imported CEO who specialises in Mergers (why not value added services which is where fonterra should be going) and has got the farmers going into debt with low milk payouts, putting Kiwi workers on the dole with job cuts, while awarding himself a massive pay rise, when turnover is DOWN (not a good sign in a business) and probably lower taxes to the government. WELL DONE NOT!

        Send him a message Fonterra farmers and employees and the public!

        1. 1.1.1.1

          Evidently, with the ever increasing growth in CEO salaries, we’re OK with it.

          Little will change unless a good number make it an issue.

        3. 1.1.1.3

          +100 Ditto
          However “The sad thing is, that Fonterra is a co-operative….”
          It’s a co-operative that’s been buggerised and buggerised by those highly paid ‘leaders’ (ahem) who tempted its members by allowing them to flog off returns for short term gain when times are good (as I understand it).

    2. 1.2

      The farmers have one of those “one remove” closed governance systems where they vote for a committee who sort out the directors don’t they? Just a closed loop really.
      Frankly if you have 17 people paid over a $1m and they didn’t prepare for all this I’d sack the lot of them .

      The original idea of the Fonterra merger was to strengthen the export of consumer products so NZ captured the value added. Instead they’ve exported commodities and wasted money building up production in other countries to compete with the locals and well as building processing plants there?

      Remember the $100m plus factory they lost control of in China – which is still there under local control now. Great gift from the NZ farmers.

      1. 1.2.1

        Yep why sell milk powder for peanuts when you could be adding value and creating jobs) by converting into higher value items and making a much higher return and improving supply chain in those areas? Or Jump on the organics growing at an enormous rate of growth in consumer demand.

        Nope apparently organic milk farmers get the same price as conventional milk through Fonterra (although the consumer has to pay a lot more for it).

        J

  2. 2

    “A cultural failure, at a management level.”

    A banking insider says some New Zealand banks made up to $1.5 million a day manipulating inter-bank interest rates.

    Widespread rigging of the benchmark inter-bank BKBM rate, mirroring Europe’s Libor (London Inter-bank Offered Rate) scandal that rocked markets worldwide.

    Sources claim manipulation in New Zealand dated from the 1990s.

    “Over 20 years, we’re probably talking about billions of dollars”

    But no domestic regulator has ever launched an investigation.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/72422535/banks-accused-of-raterigging-ripoff

    1. 2.1

      A whistle-blower comes forward with an accusation of widespread market rigging (possibly involving billions of dollars over several years) and some would rather talk about the rugby?

      Evidently, a number of citizens don’t care. And if we don’t care, surely we can’t expect anyone to act.

      Carry on, nothing to see here. New episode of The Block starting next week. Red Peak anyone?

      1. 2.1.1

        Hang on a minute….wasn’t Our Leader a big mover and shaker in the sector during this time?

        Whew!

        Luckily there is waay more important shit to occupy the minds of the nation….

        1. 2.1.1.1

          Hopefully, Little and Shaw are done talking about the flag, Green and Labour supporters are over Red Peak and their little tiff, so perhaps now we can work together and focus on the issues that really matter.

          1. 2.1.1.1.1

            Perhaps Shaw will see its actually quite easy to work with Key and will do so on matters that make sense.

            Has a lot more chance to make a difference with the government that the perpetual opposition.

            1. 2.1.1.1.1.1

              Considering the backlash, I think Shaw will think twice before working with National again.

              Moreover, on more pressing matters, there would be little (if anything) where the two (National/Greens) would agree what the sensible approach is.

  4. 4

    the nation shows our favorite wee dirty political rat in action – the ‘sick right’ in all its glory – spin like dirty shit water going down the toilet matty – you have never fooled me.

  5. 5

    Totalitarianism Watch:
    The assault on free speech in American universities continues.
    by GLENN GREENWALD, The Intercept, 25 September 2015

    There is no shortage of American pundits who love to denounce “PC” speech codes that restrict and punish the expression of certain ideas on college campuses. What these self-styled campus-free-speech crusaders typically — and quite tellingly — fail to mention is that the most potent such campaigns are often devoted to outlawing or otherwise punishing criticisms of Israel. The firing by the University of Illinois of Professor Steven Salatia for his “uncivil” denunciations of the Israeli war on Gaza — a termination that was privately condoned by Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin — is merely illustrative of this long–growing trend.

    One of the most dangerous threats to campus free speech has been emerging at the highest levels of the University of California system, the sprawling collection of 10 campuses that includes UCLA and UC Berkeley. The university’s governing Board of Regents, with the support of University President Janet Napolitano and egged on by the state’s legislature, has been attempting to adopt new speech codes that — in the name of combating “anti-Semitism” — would formally ban various forms of Israel criticism and anti-Israel activism.

    Under the most stringent such regulations, students found to be in violation of these codes would face suspension or expulsion. In July, it appeared that the Regents were poised to enact the most extreme version, but decided instead to push the decision off until September, when they instead would adopt non-binding guidelines to define “hate speech” and “intolerance.”

    One of the Regents most vocally advocating for the most stringent version of the speech code is Richard Blum, the multi-millionaire defense contractor who is married to Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. At a Regents meeting last week, reported the Los Angeles Times, Blum expressly threatened that Feinstein would publicly denounce the university if it failed to adopt far more stringent standards than the ones it appeared to be considering, and specifically demanded they be binding and contain punishments for students found to be in violation.

    Read more…
    https://theintercept.com/2015/09/25/dianne-feinstein-husband-threaten-univ-calif-demanding-ban-excessive-israel-criticism/

  7. 7

    I enjoyed this read:

    “We are living in a competitive world and people cannot be selfless, they have to be selfish. But the good news is that this is soft-wired and can be changed. Prayer, selfless service and meditation is the place to start.”

    Ulluwishewa speaks with surety and with passion. His goal is to help people achieve transformation, individually and for a greater good. Through his studies he has noted a trend with people moving away from selfishness.

    “People are now beginning to understand the consequences of consumerism and there are people that appreciate a simple life. The world is changing, the new spiritual revolution is coming from Western countries. One thing is that people are seeking happiness.”

    And the question is there, does God exist? Ulluwishewa says that religion and being spiritual don’t have to mean that you believe in a God sitting on a cloud.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/72248814/Palmerston-North-author-demystifies-spirituality

  8. 8

    And the US takes one more step towards the scenario outlined in The handmaid’s Tale:

    The next day, Shehi and the baby went home, and someone from the Department of Human Resources, the state child welfare agency, paid a visit. In recent years, Alabama authorities have been aggressive about removing newborns from the custody of mothers who abuse drugs, typically placing a baby with a relative or foster family under a safety plan that can continue for months or years. The social worker listened to Shehi and Sharpe’s story and concluded that theirs wasn’t one of those situations. “She said: ‘I understand the pain you are in, and I understand what’s going on. I won’t take the baby away,’ ” Sharpe recalled.

    But one morning a few weeks later, when Shehi was back at her job in a nursing home and the baby was with a sitter, investigators from the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office showed up at the front desk with a warrant. She had been charged with “knowingly, recklessly, or intentionally” causing her baby to be exposed to controlled substances in the womb – a felony punishable in her case by up to 10 years in prison. The investigators led her to an unmarked car, handcuffed her and took her to jail.

  9. 9

    Key and his ignorance really has to go ,everyday theres some cock up or another coming from this govt
    Hes like a permanent state of stupidity like Muldoon over the springbok tour in the 80s
    Can anyone seriously see him as leading this country as I for one wouldnt buy into any of what he makes us endure
    Chaos for the young
    Insecurity for the old
    Fascist allegiance in the workplace and govt
    No moral compass or understanding of the damage war does which makes him the epitome of the saying
    Was going to quote something but what suits Key is “Hes a Bloody Fascist”

  11. 11

    Well the only conclusion now is that the crown know they have no case against dotcom. So far two days of public grandstanding. So far not one shred of actual evidence of any actual crime. They up to page 50 of 250. So i guess they reckon that after ten more days of breathless exposure of sinppits drawn sans context from years of communications, we will all be convinced and the judge will be swayed by public opinion. Well i suppose its a plan when they have nothing else! good old tvnz helping with their multiple references to the “co-conspiretors” and assigning reporter who is totally ignorant of the technical details. But maby the lawyers at Sony who advised them not to participate in the action knew what they were about. We may have to forgo the pandas for a few years untill the public purse recovers.

  12. 12

    EARTH to Co-leader Metiria Turei – ARE YOU RECEIVING? – OVER…..
    I repeat ….
    EARTH to Co-leader Metiria Turei – ARE YOU RECEIVING? – OVER…..
    State your position please ….. over

    Control to Green Squad – no response – should we send out a rescue?

    Green squad to Control – yea/nah, hold off – coLeader Jimmy’s running the options
    STANDBY

    1. 13.1

      Was just looking at that.

      The State may try to stop some families having more children

      Tolley acknowledged it would be a “huge step” for the state to start telling people that they could not have another child, but said it was “a conversation that New Zealanders, perhaps, need to have”.

      Tolley did not rule out limiting or preventing some families from having another child, but said she would wait to see what the panel recommended in December.

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/72451962/state-may-try-to-stop-some-families-having-more-children

      Thoughts?

      1. 13.1.1

        It looks suspiciously like another distraction: Tory scum kill children with their blithering incompetence and vile prejudice, then pretend that the victims are asking for it.

        Tories are walking adverts for post-natal abortion.

        1. 13.1.1.1

          Scorn was poured upon former ACT MP David Garrett’s suggestion that bad parents be offered a fiscal incentive to get sterilised.

          Wonder if Tolley will face the same disdain?

          1. 13.1.1.1.1

            It’s a smokescreen: the trash need something to distract from their policies manslaughter, so they let Anne Tolley run her mouth, everyone gets excited, the manslaughter gets pushed down today’s list of headlines.

            1. 13.1.1.1.1.1

              Alternatively, it’s another attempt to test the waters (to see if the public attitude has changed) and air the sterilization issue again.

              1. 13.1.1.1.1.1.1

                The Sabinist wing of the National Party will support anything that promises to legitimise their sick fantasies. They’re useful as a distraction, and nothing else: National’s owner/donors won’t fund the civil war they crave.

      2. 13.1.2

        I’m going to stick my neck out and say that as long as it is done through educating and making it free to all then offering contraception to people at the troubled end of society is a good thing .

        2. 13.1.2.2

          Part and parcel of the right wing self-serving lie that poverty is inevitable. That’s what it is. Wait, there’s more: it moves beyond victim-blaming into violence.

          Anyone who collaborates in this vile fascism needs to be extradited to The Hague for human rights violations.

          It’s time to get tough on Tory scum.

        3. 13.1.2.3

          We already do that (education and provide free contraceptives).

          Tolley is suggesting we go further, a discussion on forced sterilization.

          2. 13.1.2.3.2

            I did notice there was nothing said about getting men the chop .
            Its cheaper easy and some of the drop kicks I’ve known that think its neat having kids all over the place would probably jump at it for a easy $10 k.
            Just for the record I am totally opposed to forced sterilization.

              1. 13.1.2.3.2.1.1

                What man slaughter are you on about ??
                The two fallas i was thinking about are not victims and there not even that bad a people but they a boys in men’s bodies ,who don’t think that if the have a child they should care for them.

                1. 13.1.2.3.2.1.1.1

                  See if you can figure it out: why on Earth would anyone describe the National Party’s social and economic policies as manslaughter? Why oh why? Perhaps it’s all the deaths they cause.

      3. 13.1.3

        Just another piece of fascist control by the Fuhrer state
        If you cant afford kids you state should have the right to control you why should the rich support the poor blah blah and all the rest of it
        Yeah right 2 crispies with your cuppa Ann? give me strength

  14. 14

    https://theintercept.com/2015/09/23/u-s-state-department-welcomes-news-close-ally-saudi-arabia-chosen-head-u-n-human-rights-council-panel/

    “Last week’s announcement that Saudi Arabia — easily one of the world’s most brutally repressive regimes — was chosen to head a U.N. Human Rights Council panel provoked indignation around the world. That reaction was triggered for obvious reasons. Not only has Saudi Arabia executed more than 100 people already this year, mostly by beheading (a rate of 1 execution every two days), and not only is it serially flogging dissidents, but it is reaching new levels of tyrannical depravity as it is about to behead and then crucify the 21-year-old son of a prominent regime critic, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who was convicted at the age of 17 of engaging in demonstrations against the government.”

    we have become bizarro world.

  15. 15

    Everything You Think You Know About the History and Future of Jobs Is Likely Wrong

    This is not the story we are told. Instead we read story after story like this latest one from the Guardian, claiming that 140 years of job creation show that jobs will always be created. And yet the ongoing trend of such articles is to mostly ignore the potentially unnecessary nature of the jobs themselves, the level of skill involved to perform them, and the lower pay they can command than the jobs they are replacing. Take for example the following excerpt:

    Their conclusion is unremittingly cheerful: rather than destroying jobs, technology has been a “great job-creating machine”. Findings by Deloitte such as a fourfold rise in bar staff since the 1950s or a surge in the number of hairdressers this century suggest to the authors that technology has increased spending power, therefore creating new demand and new jobs.

    So there’s no need to worry about technological unemployment, because there will always be a need for more bar-backs and haircuts? Is that bar-back better off no longer having a manufacturing job paying $40,000 per year and instead having a job paying $20,000 per year in the service industry? Is that an important job to the human species, bringing empty glasses from Point A to Point B? Is the job entirely voluntary or done out of need for income? And is this a job that just can’t possibly be done by a machine, or outright eliminated? Ever? Is the service industry really safe?

    Otherwise known as the Rise of Bullshit Jobs.

    1. 15.1

      Oh, and this bit:

      Those who moved into optimal jobs showed significant improvement in mental health compared to those who remained unemployed. Those respondents who moved into poor-quality jobs showed a significant worsening in their mental health compared to those who remained unemployed.

      So, getting people off of unemployment does help them but only if it’s a good job otherwise it’s doing them harm. Something else this government should be charged with.

  16. 16

    When you have the US and European governments now say, they want to talk with and keep this man in power for a transition time, I can confidently say, the “west” has totally lost the plot and is prepared to make deals with the worst of other parties there are:

    This will give both Nusra Front and ISIS the perfect reason to recruit even more disillusioned to join the war, and also to have bombs blow up in places in “the west”. How stupid is “the west”, how damned ignorant are Obama, Merkel and others, they are digging their own graves, I fear.

    “The west” is the Roman Empire of modern days, and its empire is numbered by days. l also have NO time for Putin and his agenda, who some here seem to support, it is pure madness, what is going on. Denial is the rule of the day, prepare for the worst.

  17. 17

    Another interview with western media, where a ruthless dictator defends himself and his military and police, I cannot believe, that European governments, the US and so want to talk with those supporting him:

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