Open mike 30/09/2015

70 comments on “Open mike 30/09/2015”

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    1. 1.1

      And the media just repeat the government’s lies, day after day after day.

      In answer to Jarrod Gilbert’s question yesterday, “did we elect idiots or did we elect smart people who have treated us like idiots?” We elected idiots, who are run by smart people who really run this country.
      These people own the politicians and own the media.

      1. 1.1.1

        You quote an article highly critical of the ‘Governments lies’ that was published in a MSM outlet, but at the same time you say the media is ‘owned’ and ‘just repeat the Govt’s lies’.

        You seem to have disproved your own argument there Paul?

            1. 1.1.1.1.1.1

              Anything negative towards National in the media is the truth, anything supportive of National in the media is lies and anything negative of the left in the media is *cue ominous voice* dirty politics

              1. 1.1.1.1.1.1.1

                Paul’s world view may very well be along those lines, but as he runs away from the discussion every time someone raises a seemingly contradictory statement he has made….it is very hard to know for sure.

                1. 1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1

                  How the elite manipulate the media is a little bit more complex than this somewhat reductive view of yours.
                  There has to be a perception of some balance.
                  Hence Fox have Hannity and Colmes. Nevertheless, the basic prejudice of the media is towards right wing governments across the western world.
                  This of course is no surprise to anyone informed and educated on the matter.
                  Look at who owns the media, lost sheep.

                  May I suggest you watch this film?

              2. 1.1.1.1.1.1.3

                That is not or has never been my argument.
                However, if you wish to reduce the debate to such an infantile level, yes, I shall choose to avoid debating with you.

        1. 1.1.1.2

          Ah, no. Occasionally the MSM will publish an article critical of the government to give the illusion of being balanced while all the rest of the time they act as supporters and propagandists of the government.

    2. 1.3

      And meanwhile, young people are being cajoled into trades at an increasing rate, including funding incentives…and in 8 years Bill?

        1. 2.1.1.1

          No. I mean zero evidence. A complete and total abject failure to come up with anything. A level of failure and incompetence even greater than that of the National Party. Embarrassing, credibility destroying drivel.

        1. 2.2.2.1

          classic propaganda hate-piece – photo of second plane hitting WTC, and underneath it is a photo of corbyn doing a thumbs up.

    1. 2.3

      Corbyn says Bin Laden was set up:

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3249892/Corbyn-s-conspiracy-theory-9-11-attacks-manipulated-make-look-like-Osama-Bin-Laden-responsible.html

      Of course being extreme right wing lying media it’s presented as a hit piece but that doesn’t mean the truth isn’t the truth!

      9/11 was an inside job!!!

      He didn’t say anything of the kind. He comments on how the events were manipulated to justify war. He does not say the attacks were not carried out by crackpot Muslims in planes.

      Note how little actual quotation from Corbyn there is, and how desperately the Mail spins it to make it look like something it isn’t.

  1. 3

    Love it, below, our data a “full-take collection” of information from New Zealand’s Pacific neighbours, sweeping up information from the region and passing it on to the NSA. (but this is NOT mass surveillance). Hmm?

    Also along with the corporate welfare and you have to wonder about our intellectual property and security as, the NSA supply the Cortex program which is installed on “A growing number of private companies and government departments to get “official protection from powerful cyber attacks”.

    (In another context installing foreign programmes is not really recommended which are not regulated and under secrecy). As well as being able to access NZ data collected from these major IT companies it is unknown what is done with it, how it is stored, how often it is accessed by the NSA and other organisations etc).

    But in spite of the high secrecy of the GCSB they are going to have a reality show Rebecca Kitteridge, NZSIS director, recently said.

    My God! What a joke. They are so secret the public is not allowed to know anything but not so secret they can have film cameras in there filming a reality show. Um only it sounds more like a propaganda show. Possibly because the GCSB are not really in charge of our security anymore it is actually the NSA and they are just the ‘window dressing’ to appear on reality shows.

    Hope the illegal spying on Dotcom gets int here. However we do not have to worry though as “A major review of the GCSB and NZSIS is under way after a series of revelations and allegations, including illegal spying in the Kim Dotcom case”.

    You have to wonder about the implications of people’s personal privacy when NSA and whoever they want to give it too as well as presumably the GCSB are installing programmes on companies like Telecom.

    I guess if the NSA ever turn against us, it will be pretty easy to a) get intelligence as our bumbling agencies have already put foreign software on all our major companies and b) an easy way to put glitches and stop the companies working if they ever wanted to – say if some lobbyist wants to put their rival telecom company in there.

    1. 3.2

      The other question is, should our GCSB be getting tax payer money when they are wasting money appearing on reality TV shows, and is their really a need for them to be getting all that extra funding or even be there, if they have got time to appear in reality shows and their role is to ‘sell’ themselves and how competent and indispensable they are, and the brainiac idea of putting NSA software on NZ companies. Remember the Trojan Horse.

      Maybe instead of 10 million to oil companies the government could have spent some of the science grants money to the NZ IT elite to design something to protect them.

      Although like in the Alan Turing case, after helping to break the Nazi enigma code he became persecuted from his own government later on. Would anyone intelligent and moral want to put their hands up to work with GCSB – not likely.

  2. 4

    ‘The latest on the fight against TPPA’ by Professor Jane Kelsey

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/09/30/the-latest-on-the-fight-against-tppa/#sthash.Er2apMn3.dpuf

    “Five and a half years is enough! The obsessive secrecy that shrouds the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations was challenged in the High Court in Wellington on Monday….

    A ruling in our favour will help to breakthrough the secrecy of the TPPA and prevent a re-run in future negotiations. Already a similar pact applies to the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), where documents are to be kept secret throughout the negotiations and, aside from the final text, for five years after the agreement comes into force. Future agreements could extend that period to 10 or 20 years, or even indefinitely.

    The case could also serve a much wider purpose. This is the first time the New Zealand’s courts have reviewed some provisions of the Official Information Act. A progressive interpretation that reflects the Act’s objectives of promoting democratic engagement and accountability would benefit journalists, campaigners, academics, NGOs and many others who have been frustrated by the rise of executive power and its corresponding unaccountability.

  3. 5

    TPPA- Big Pharma try to get maximum profits using “safety reasons”
    (Obama Pushes For Flexibility On Key Issues In Calls With TPP Leaders · Import Penetration Is Key Yardstick In TPP Dairy Market Access Talks http://insidetrade.com/

    ““But US health experts have revealed a new TPP proposal based on Japanese practice which would enable effective extension of monopolies by three years without changing Australia’s or other countries’ laws. Japan’s system of ‘post marketing surveillance’ allegedly for safety reasons, provides effective extension of data protection monopolies through administrative decisions, without requiring a change to the law. This produces the same result as the original US proposal by preventing access to clinical data and registration of cheaper versions of medicines for eight years,” explained Dr Ranald.”
    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1509/S00398/tpp-robb-should-reject-new-sneaky-tricks-to-extend-medicine.htm

    The following link gives you some idea of the lack of moral compass of some of these Big Pharma corporations and the difficulties involved in holding them to account.

    http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/miracleindustry/americas-most-admired-lawbreaker/chapter-15.html

    1. 5.1

      TPPA protests in Canada
      “Tractors, cows take over Ottawa, Parliament Hill as dairy farmers protest TPP”
      “Dairy farmers from eastern Ontario took their tractors and cattle to Parliament Hill to protest possible dairy concessions in the soon-to-be-signed Trans-Pacific Partnership.

      The farmers rolled down a busy Bank Street in downtown Ottawa on Tuesday, one day before trade ministers from 12 Pacific Rim member countries were set to meet in Atlanta to discuss the TPP.

      They also brought cattle.”
      http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/trans-pacific-partnership-dairy-farmers-ottawa-protest-1.3248479

      TPP trade deal will be decided by Canadians, not ‘foreigners,’ Harper says
      http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-harper-tpp-trade-talks-1.3248876

  4. 12

    Ms Judith Collins is back in the news…

    “Under the Extradition Act, the Justice Minister is meant to be given a copy of provisional arrest warrants and the supporting evidence, as part of a briefing.

    Mr Ortmann and Mr van der Kolk’s lawyer, Grant Illingworth, asked a Ministry of Justice witness, Charlotte Haigh, whether those documents had been included in the briefing given to the Minister at the time, Judith Collins.

    Ms Haigh told the court she didn’t recall if that was recorded on the Ministry’s file.

    Judge Nevin Dawson has ordered Ms Haigh to review the file and confirm whether the Minister was given the relevant information.”

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/285563/doctom-hearing-ministry-under-microscope

    1. 14.1

      Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert show up the hypocrisy in the media treatment of Corbyn vs Cameron…really Cameron needs to be hammered every time there is a right wing attack on Corbyn

      https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/316161-episode-max-keiser-813/

      “In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the role of #PigGate on national and economic security. They also look at the war machine and the Norman Bates-like fight Janet Yellen is having with the markets. In the second half, Max interviews Mark McGowan – aka the Artist Taxi Driver – about David Cameron’s relationship with pigs – both those at the trough and those on the platter.”

  5. 15

    ‘Saving Syria’

    https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/316465-syria-us-regime-change/

    “The Russians have once again thrown Washington a lifeline to rescue Obama from his administration’s catastrophic policies in Syria. After years of demanding forced regime change and watching the rise of Islamic State, can the official groupthink in Washington finally accept defeat and embrace Putin’s offer?

    CrossTalking with Sami Ramadani, Abdel Bari Atwan, and Daniel McAdams.”

  6. 17

    Tolley said some at-risk families are “simply unable” to look after their children.

    But isn’t this partly due to the failures of Child, Youth and Family (struggling families further deteriorating due to not sufficiently receiving the help they’ve required) thus largely leading to the call to overhaul Child, Youth and Family?

    Tolley would like to be assured that we’re not just turning up and taking babies and thinks we need to be getting in there with better contraception and family planning advice.

    How about addressing causes and helping families turn their lives around? One would think Tolley would like to be assured that addressing causes and turning lives around will be a priority of a newly overhauled Child, Youth and Family.

    As for getting in there with better contraception and family planning advice, Tolley didn’t rule out certain mums actively being encouraged to undergo a long-term or permanent procedure.

    How does Tolley foresee actively encouraging certain mums to undergo a long-term or a permanent procedure taking shape on the front line?

    Key would not rule out punitive consequences for certain parents.

    However, isn’t punitive measures basically forcing (therefore, going beyond encouraging) people to be sterilized?

    David Farrar floated the idea of paying people. A few years back, scorn was poured upon former ACT MP David Garrett when he suggested similar.

    What will the panel recommend? Ultimately, what will Tolley do?

    Thoughts?

    1. 17.1

      Ultimately, what will Tolley do?

      Nothing. It may be a fact that some people are write-offs and the only useful thing they can do for their society is not reproduce, but it’s not a fact that a politician can put to the voting public and expect to survive. She’ll dog-whistle it some more, but that’s as far as it will go.

      1. 17.1.1

        That seems to be what Tolley is conveying ( some people are write-offs).

        Alternatively, some would argue some people are merely more challenging.

        Which raises the question, what defines a write off? Moreover, when do we cease assistance and focus on their ability to reproduce? What’s to say with a little more assistance, we couldn’t have turned a family around?

        Tolley has made to much song and dance out of this to then turn around and do nothing. She will be expected to act.

        I’m guessing predicative algorithms will be given the go ahead. Doors will open for further data sharing. Privatization and the investment approach will be taken on.

        But what shape the active encouragement will take is a tricky one. Can the Party utilize its political capital to push something through? Some will argue they can, thus should.

        Others (considering the public disdain) will be concerned its a step too far too soon.

        Key seems rather relaxed about punitive measures, so it could be the path they take.

      2. 17.1.2

        Get Serco to deal with it or some other private practise. Anything to throw money at a corporate instead of tackling real causal factors – like education and minimum standards of living in this country.

        1. 17.1.2.1

          Yes, I have an uncomfortable feeling if more money is recommended, it will largely go to the private sector to help combat the problem, opposed to dealing to the causes.

  7. 18

    This is weird @ No Right Turn!
    “The Crown has been unable to produce the original notices asking for Kim Dotcom and his co-accused to be extradited to the United States……

    Mr Dotcom’s lawyer Ron Mansfield pointed out the documents were not date-stamped and asked Ms Parkes if she knew whether any originals existed.
    She said she did not……”
    And his comment,”This matters. A key question in extradition hearings is whether the supporting documents have been produced to the court.”

    And more http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2015/09/muppets.html

    1. 19.1

      Ah ha. Thanks. I was trying out the object caching model in wordpress again. It is impossible to tell if it is doing what I expect in a test framework. I have to try it on a real system. The mods were warned to watch for complaints about that.

      OK, that means I will have to Ajax it.

      I will revert it to database caching.

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