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Fran O’Sullivan mentions deep in her piece (on “Hide’s failings like those that brought Peters down”):
The brute reality is that while our leading politicians are resorting to outright sophistry to justify their unconscionable plundering of the rapidly diminishing public purse, other Kiwis are struggling.
Youth unemployment has been rapidly snowballing since New Zealand entered a recession in the first quarter of last year, and shows every sign of being as long-lasting as the early 1990s recession, which resulted in deep and long-lasting damage to far too many of our young people.
Figures out this week show 25.1 per cent of job-seekers between 15 to 19 years of age cannot get work. Just over 10 per cent of those aged 20 to 24 are in the same boat.
If Rodney and Honi didn’t do these things and get in the headlines where would be the inspiration of the youngsters to suceed?
The money they spend is insignificant on the scale of what needs to be done. But people devote their energies to burbling on about Rodney instaed of thinking and doing purposeful stuff about the real problems.
When you don’t work it can get a bit boring with every day a holiday …. the dream of some but hard when you retire and don’t have work to go to. To be unemployed with little hope of getting work must be soul destroying.
It’s not a good way to start your working life. Sets the scene for too many, a proportion of whom end up being professional beneficiaries with poor self esteem – which often leads to crime and/or mental problems.
Michele in Blunderland – the mad nutters Tea Party?
No one said freedom was pretty
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) urged Americans to come to Washington to protest. They came as directed, about 5,000 tea-party regulars and antiabortion activists, to the West Lawn of the Capitol on Thursday.
In the front of the protest, a sign showed President Obama in white coat, his face painted to look like the Joker. The sign, visible to the lawmakers as they looked into the cameras, carried a plea to “Stop Obamunism.” A few steps farther was the guy holding a sign announcing “Obama takes his orders from the Rothchilds” [sic], accusing Obama of being part of a Jewish plot to introduce the antichrist.
But the best of Bachmann’s recruits were a few rows into the crowd, holding aloft a pair of 5-by-8-foot banners proclaiming “National Socialist Healthcare, Dachau, Germany, 1945.” Both banners showed close-up photographs of Holocaust victims, many of them children.
Now, objecting to the health-care bill is one thing. But doesn’t it send the wrong message for House Republicans to hold an event on the Capitol grounds full of hateful and gruesome words and images?
Rep. Virginia Foxx (N.C.), who recently said the health-care bill is more dangerous than terrorists, gave out stickers saying “Govt Run Healthcare Makes Me Sick!”
But unpredictable things tend to happen in the wide-open spaces of the Capitol’s West Front.
Minutes into the rally, a breeze toppled the American flag from the stage.
A man standing just beyond the TV cameras apparently suffered a heart attack. The patient, attended to by about 10 medical personnel from the Capitol physician’s office (that could accurately be labeled government-run health care), was being wheeled away on a stretcher just as House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) stepped to the microphone. “Join us in defeating Pelosi care!” he exhorted. A few members stole a glance at the stretcher.
As you’d expect at a political protest, the messages on signs and buttons were provocative: “Waterboard Congress,” “A Commie Is in the House.” Even the Rev. Stephen Broden, at the microphone to deliver the closing prayer, fumed about “death panels inside this death care,” adding: “It is tyranny! It is socialism!”
By the time it was over, medics had administered government-run health care to at least five people in the crowd who were stricken as they denounced government-run health care. But Bachmann overlooked this irony as she said farewell to her recruits.
“You,” she said, “are the most beautiful sight any of us freedom fighters have seen for a long time.”
“It’s not a good way to start your working life. Sets the scene for too many, a proportion of whom end up being professional beneficiaries with poor self esteem – which often leads to crime and/or mental problems.”
“When you don’t work it can get a bit boring with every day a holiday …. the dream of some but hard when you retire and don’t have work to go to. To be unemployed with little hope of getting work must be soul destroying.”
I’m sure it is jcuknz, but you will of course note that some didn’t even try to all through the noughties and one of the large questions that a responsible govt needs to address is: what do you do about those people?
When conservatives note the fact that people like that do actually in fact exist, lefties never acknowledge that its true and instead always counter with the beneficiary-bashing propaganda line which the media use to ensure the reef-fish never register the first genuine question on their radars.
Which is a shame for the rest of us for why should the 1 million or so workers support people who refuse to try to find work?
Imagine a New Zealand Parliament in which the major parties were Act and the Greens, while National and Labour were reduced to half a dozen seats each. It would be a lot like the US Congress. It shows that the way you construct you political and electoral systems makes a huge difference to the politics you get.
More than one in five borrowers – or 114,000 people – have overdue payments and thousands of students are leaving tertiary education with no qualification and big bills.
The Education Ministry’s student loan scheme annual report shows that $306 million in payments is overdue, a $100m increase from a year ago.
The substantial growth includes a big rise in the level of payments owed by people now living overseas, more than doubling to $114m.
Who cares about the minor amount that Rodney spent. No doubt a fair portion of those making the noise fall into the defaulting category in this report.
…why should the 1 million or so workers support people who refuse to try to find work?
Reid, I’m sure John Keyless has a plan all ready, it’s just been put on hold while he handles a few more urgent matters. Like that Letterman thing, and the Rugby World Cup TV rights, the cycle-way design etc.
Give the man a chance. He’s only had a year. And he couldn’t have known in advance that he was going to be PM. And anyway, it’s only costing $250M of debt a week to keep the Titanic on it’s current course. Steady-as-she-goes, Johnboy.
malcolm, welcome to the enlightenment that is sharia law. Gaining ground in many western democracies, and coming to an area near you soon.
Also, I think you’ll find Christ’s treatment of the woman caught in adultery quite different. After seeing through and confronting the motives of her accusers, which included their choosing not to bring the man involved to him for a judgement, he suggested she go on her way and sin no more.
Speaking of Islam (The peace loving religion) I see that Hasan was very devout:
“While living in Washington DC, he attended prayers at a local Muslim community centre at least once a day, seven days a week, according to Maryland imam Faizul Khan.
Khan, a former imam at the centre, told The Washington Post that Nidal Malik Hasan was “very devout”, and asked him various religious questions.”
I get the feeling the Hide has now been holed below the waterline. But he holds the lifeline for Act through his electorate seat. Hide’s midlife crisis is being played out right in the public eye with his new physique and his new girlfriend and now his new job, with limos overseas trips and much else. He will have to run very fast just to stand still. I suspect there will be no more trips for him and his girlfriend. Or Hide might say – stuff-it I am going to grab it all and damn the consequences. That is what Harawera would do.
“Imagine a New Zealand Parliament in which the major parties were Act and the Greens, while National and Labour were reduced to half a dozen seats each. It would be a lot like the US Congress.”
Really?
From my observations both parties in Congress are beholden to powerful lobby groups including especially from Wall Street, Defence, Big pharma, Big oil and AIPAC. Whatever those narrow interests are promoting basically sums up both the Executive and the Congressional legislative agenda over the last 60 years, whichever side is in power. Of course they can’t make it too obvious so now and again they pretend to have bitter disputes about side-issues that don’t matter. Abortion is the classic one there.
So Maurice has woken from his slumbers and pout forward a proposal to help leaky home owners. As i read whats reported it amounts to paying 10% (now remember that figure) of the cost of the repairs.
So for all the problems that the state building agency was responsible for setting the standards for he is recomending that their share is 10%
Perhaps I’m a bit slow today but the govt’s tax share of the rebuild starts at 12.5% for GST, is added to by paye, company tax, ACC, reduction in the unemployed and all manner of other govt. collections.
Rather makes his 10% look a bit out of wack and kinda mean.
But really what can you expect from a longterm National hack.
Not a lot of intelligence from the National Party as usual.
Taxpayers face $777m bill to help fix leaky homes
4:00AM Saturday Nov 07, 2009
By Anne Gibson
Leaky Buildings
* Editorial: Time Key fixed leak problem
The Crown expects to pay $777 million to leaky home victims in the next two decades, lumbering the country with colossal bills.
A secret Government discussion paper this month being circulated to metro city mayors shows the state expecting soaring bills.
The figures show how subsequent governments and generations of taxpayers will need to set aside money to help victims fix thousands of rotten, collapsing, damp and decaying houses.
These are “indicative” figures only and the fix-up bill could be much higher. But even the $777 million is only 10 per cent of expected house repair costs for those eligible under strict new criteria the Government is planning to set.
The latest figures are based on the assumption that the Crown will make only a tiny contribution to the crisis and target older victims on lower incomes.
To get the state’s 10 per cent, victims will have to pay 64 per cent and councils – now being stung for millions, sparking insurance issues – will pay just 26 per cent.
Hide’s failure has manifested itself in several ways.
1. On a personal level, he has failed himself as a moral watchdog and careful spender of taxpayer money. It just looks really bad.
2. He has failed ACT. As a leader of the party, he has caused the party significant embarrassment.
3. On a political level, he has failed to explain himself to the media and the public.
Boscawen will be rubbing his hands with glee at the prospect of taking the leadership, but in truth, as long as Hide has Epsom he’s safe as leader.
It’s time for Rodney to come clean and apologise.
He should hold a press conference, acknowledge his failings, apologise to the public and his party, promise to do a better job, and work his arse off to deliver a great result for the new Auckland Council.
Key doesn’t have to take responsibility for everyone else’s balls-ups. They have to be responsible for what they do themselves – nothing so far has been government threatening, just sorting out the wheat from the chaff.
“I get the feeling the Hide has now been holed below the waterline.”
He’s definitely received a crippling hit. His previously good reputation on these matters is gone forever no matter what he does. He spent years building that up and through his own actions its been destroyed overnight. It is also a critical part of the ACT brand and one of the calculations ACT will be running is whether its necessary to ditch Rodney in order to rebuild that because it is the only high-profile point of difference between ACT and National in the minds of the reef-fish. However they have no replacement for him so I don’t think they’ll be doing that.
I would suggest the best thing for Rodney and ACT would be for him to do public penance including complete repayment, eschewal of further travel for his partner and push for complete revision of these travel perks. If MPs are benchmarked against corporate salary packages as they claim to be, then which corporates allow family to travel to conferences etc and which corporates provide lifetime travel benefits following retirement?
Meanwhile, cast around for another point of difference that will register with the reef-fish. I would suggest the social justice area remains fertile: promote strong families and full employment; because reversing the 5th Liarbore govt’s secret manoeuvres in that area really cries out for repair.
Speaking of Islam (The peace loving religion) I see that Hasan was very devout:
“While living in Washington DC, he attended prayers at a local Muslim community centre at least once a day, seven days a week, according to Maryland imam Faizul Khan.
Khan, a former imam at the centre, told The Washington Post that Nidal Malik Hasan was “very devout”, and asked him various religious questions.”
Which raises an interesting question:
Why would any western military, especially the US, have openly practicing Muslims within their ranks?
Especially in light of the open declaration that Islam is sought on both the subjugation and ultimate destruction of western (Christian) nations and Israel. And not to forget, as seems the case here with Hasan, that most military activities will be against Islamic regimes or terrorist organisations, and hence Muslim combatants will be confronted with an ideological conflict of interests. Just seems stupid for a whole number of reasons.
On the other hand, Key’s “hands-free” approach has shown his indecisiveness, his reluctance to act where is needed. Is the grinning man fit to lead our country?
Well you have hit the nail on the head really.
This today from SUNLIVE in Tauranga. (how a local newspaper should be by the way) http://www.sunlive.co.nz/10268a1.page
Sun Live / Local News / Business / November 09
Nearly 10,000 jobless in the Bay
06 Nov 2009
Unemployment is up in the Bay of Plenty, increasing from 5.8 per cent in the June quarter to 7.9 per cent for the September quarter. These figures are from Statistics New Zealand and are for the greater Bay of Plenty, including Rotorua and Taupo.
So we have the Herald with nothing better to do than spend its day researching Rodney just so it can wind up all you hand wringers in a bluster of indignation.
We have Uncle Maurice setting up owners for being shafted by the govt of millions of dollars.
We have a burgeoning student loan debt scheme again over 100 million in default.
We have senior ladies being killed in their own homes and babies being murdered.
We have huge unemployment issues for many but notably for teenagers.
We have the lowest number of patents ever being registered in NZ.
We have the highest ever level of welfare NZ has ever had.
Promises of tax cuts that have evaporated into a welter of excuses for new tax collection especially by attacking landowners.
We have a Govt. that ignores the vote of 87% of voters. And all you useless hand wringers can go on about is Rodney.
Where the hell is your head space?
Don’t you all think its about time we demanded unequivocal action to energize our citizens and companies?
Don’t you think its time to attend to the real issues that will make a difference?
What Key needs to do is to remove Williamson who clearly isn’t capable of handling this and put someone like Joyce onto it. This is crying out for someone creative and dynamic who can cut through the bullshit, knock heads together and finally resolve this situation once and for all.
I often say that some people like Douglas for example, advocate the market as the panacea for every ill. It’s not. It is great at determining efficiency but that’s about its limit. This debacle is a classic example of what happens when you let ideology triumph over rational common-sense. I mean, who couldn’t have predicted that a combination of untreated timber and Mediterranean architecture with no eaves would not have produced what we have seen, FFS.
Telecom boss surprised NZ has ‘money to waste’
4:00AM Saturday Nov 07, 2009
By John Drinnan
Paul Reynolds. Photo / Richard Robinson
Paul Reynolds. Photo / Richard Robinson
Telecom’s Scottish chief executive, Paul Reynolds, says New Zealand is wasting money on the Government’s “fragmented” $1.5 billion fibre-to-the-home broadband plan.
“As a relative newcomer I am surprised New Zealand has so much money to waste,”
Reynolds was peppered with questions about the implications of the Government’s regionalised fibre plan and its effect on Telecom’s revenue in the future.
Reynolds said nobody knew how the scheme would pan out but the company was looking at options with other players for working within the plan.
As it stood the plan for local fibre companies created problems with duplication of resources and added costs to Telecom.
“When I worked in Scotland and other rural areas, policymakers looked at efficient ways of doing things,” said the former head of operations for British Telecom.
“This is not headed in an efficient direction. I am just surprised that we have so much money to waste in New Zealand.”
“military activities will be against Islamic regimes or terrorist organisations, and hence Muslim combatants will be confronted with an ideological conflict of interests. Just seems stupid for a whole number of reasons.”
Exactly KrisK I guess they are doing what we are extolled to do and accept these scum into their community working on the basis that if we show them love and acceptance it will be returned. This shows that if you do you are stupid and asking for trouble just like the poms discovered with the underground bombers. There is a simple answer get rid of them all back to where they came from and don’t let anymore in. At least then you can deal to them with a military solution something that is impossible if they reside amongst you.
Exactly KrisK I guess they are doing what we are extolled to do and accept these scum into their community working on the basis that if we show them love and acceptance it will be returned. This shows that if you do you are stupid and asking for trouble just like the poms discovered with the underground bombers. There is a simple answer get rid of them all back to where they came from and don’t let anymore in. At least then you can deal to them with a military solution something that is impossible if they reside amongst you.
Absolutely.
As you state; the rationale that allowing Muslims to be part of your military or, indeed, to be part of the very fabric of your society, will lead them somehow to peacefully coexisting with you is just insane. And like in London, most of Europe, or as with this case involving Hasan, where Muslims have shown again and again that they will not peacefully coexist and assimilate into western (non Muslim) societies, we surely have to ask just how many atrocities do Muslims have to commit before the west, especially politicians, wakes up to the threat that is Islam.
It’s not just the so called radicals, but all Muslims I believe.
I mean, prior to Hasan having his little ‘outburst’ he would have been considered just another good ‘moderate’ Muslim going about his day to day affairs. Why is it only when they reveal their true nature do we consider them to be radical, fundamentalist Muslims. This stupidity is beyond comprehension.
Kris – I believe it was Clinton’s idea to encourage all sorts into the U.S. military in the name of having an “army that looks like America”, but what he seems to have acheived is an army that looks like the enemy.
While we may disagree on other topics, I agree with you on Clinton.
The rot really started to set in through Clinton regarding the US military in this respect. His strong promotion of negotiating land for peace between Israel and her surrounding Muslim enemies was also consistent with his philosophy.
The ‘tolerance for all’ really falls down when considering acceptance of Muslims within diametrically opposed western values based democracies. I believe these two ideologies will never, can never, meet at a point of compromise. It really is a them or us situation, sad to say.
Kris, why do you think the Christian churches have failed so palpably to convert Muslims? Given that Christianity is the one correct religion and that Islam is a fundamentally evil thing.
Are Muslims fundamentally evil people? If not, why don’t they see the evil and flaws in Islam and switch to Christianity?
As far I can tell, all forms of religion require the user to suspend their intelligence and innate sense of reason (at least in respect of the religion) to such an extend that once they’re committed, it’s hard for them to ever exam their beliefs in an unbiased way. A kind of mental one-way valve. The church helps this process with the “us and them” idea that you’re onto the right thing and all the rest are in trouble. All that hell stuff, for example.
If you accept that Christianity is fighting a losing battle with Islam (despite a considerable head-start), do you think it would be better if Muslims were to become agnostics?
“If you accept that Christianity is fighting a losing battle with Islam (despite a considerable head-start), do you think it would be better if Muslims were to become agnostics?”
I think it would be better if they became dead before they make everyone else become dead (or muslim which adds up to be the same thing).
“It really is a them or us situation, sad to say.”
I think anyone who’s interested in the reality as opposed to the propaganda of this developing dynamic needs to make themselves aware of the potential for disinformation to dominate this particular debate.
We saw it happen in the Cold War whereby for decades Russian strength was heavily over-estimated by Western vested interests from a multitude of organisations and countries and in addition their motivations were widely mis-understood as well whereby they were considered to be aggressors whereas the reality was they were adopting defensive postures based on their extreme paranoia which stems from their history of being subjected over centuries to invasion and attack from a multitude of powers.
Once the seeds are planted this disinformation feeds upon itself and we see the same thing happening today in the AGW field whereby respected scientists are increasingly sucked in by false data and unnecessary and unjustified public hysteria abounds.
The best propaganda contains seeds of the truth and is constructed within a believable and understandable framework.
Now the incredibly tricky thing is to sort the wheat from the chaff in an environment where you have a multitude of extremely respectable sources who are all singing from the same hymn book.
I’m not saying that I know the answer to the truth behind the Muslim-Christian dynamic. All I know is that it’s a wise thing to be extremely skeptical about all the data coming from both sides. For example on the Iran dynamic I think Pablo’s post on that was spot on.
IMO, if you’re interested in the truth and not just in reinforcing your own prejudice, then you really do owe it to yourself to adopt a similar approach.
The other five billion of us fire once at a muslim, even if four of us miss the job is done. The same policy the muslims use against the rest of the world but they tend to get better results as we are soft.
We would have to have binding referendum on that one (if Johnkey let us) but I suspect troughing pollies would come even higher on the priorities list than used car salesmen yet again after this weeks little set of revelations.
It think it should be the Christians. While I find many of them to be decent people, they do have a proven propensity for this religion stuff. We just can’t run the risk of Islam popping up again.
Yeah I could go for the Xtians too malcolm but the traditional burning at the stake would create too large a carbon footprint and crucifixion would totally fuck the Amazonian rain forest so thats a tricky one. Let me think about it for a while.
Media bias is a common topic here and I for one will always remain bemused at how some commenters are so naive as to imagine that it happens only in the liberal press. It’s all over the place, and always has been.
If Americans wish to retain the remnants of their liberty, they cannot trust the media to warn them about government tyranny. In order to recognize government deceit, there is no substitute for more citizens to make more effort to find the truth for themselves.
The succession of technical problems the LHC has suffered has led some physicists, apparently in all seriousness, to claim that it is being sabotaged by time-travelling particles from its own future.
Oh, I meant shoot them, like we planned for the Muslims.
Whatever we do, we’ll need the Germans help. They’re good at this stuff. So who suggested we shoot the Germans? We need to shoot him instead. He’s obviously on the wrong side. Reid, Reid!
“Unless Key goes hard right, seems unlikely that ACT will lose any votes over this in 2011. Who else they gonna vote for?”
What if Key stands by smiling – while National stand put a credible candidate in Epsom? Someone who they want to move from the list to an electorate? Then the 1% wouldn’t make any difference.
Good point. We could save bullets on the French. They’ll all bring a baguette of course, because they’re like that. We’ll just beat them to death with their baguettes.
Oh, hang on, we’ll need the French to keep the Germans in line after we’ve sorted out the Muslims and before we sort out the Christians. Once the krauts get a taste for blood we’ll have trouble keeping them in line until we’ve dealt with the Christian enemy within.
I think doing the Muslims first could be the wrong way to go. We could do them last and they could help us with the others first?
How big an army would the US have if they didn’t use anyone “that looks like the enemy”? Arm the Tea Party? Oh, no, they are already fighting amongst themselves>
Kris, why do you think the Christian churches have failed so palpably to convert Muslims? Given that Christianity is the one correct religion and that Islam is a fundamentally evil thing.
Are Muslims fundamentally evil people? If not, why don’t they see the evil and flaws in Islam and switch to Christianity?
If you accept that there are spiritual entities behind all religions, that both God and Satan are real; where God (of the Bible) desires to redeem, or save, the souls of all men, while Satan aims to prevent men from coming to God in repentance, then perhaps you can begin to perceive why many, including Muslims, do not repent of their sins and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
Throw into the mix that man is essentially prideful, has a fallen nature, and prefers to live in the moment, and you begin to see just what a battle it is to get him to humble himself and come to the true God at all.
Regarding Muslims specifically; I believe they are satanically deceived, and as Salman Rushdie implied, the Koran of Islam is indeed the ‘Satanic Verses’.
As far I can tell, all forms of religion require the user to suspend their intelligence and innate sense of reason (at least in respect of the religion) to such an extend that once they’re committed, it’s hard for them to ever exam their beliefs in an unbiased way. A kind of mental one-way valve. The church helps this process with the “us and them” idea that you’re onto the right thing and all the rest are in trouble. All that hell stuff, for example.
I believe ALL religions, with the exception of Christianity and Judaism (though superseded by Christianity), do indeed require the individual to “suspend their intelligence and innate sense of reason”. I believe the Bible can stand up to all the rigours that genuine science can throw at it, and it has often lead science by hundreds or thousands of years regarding scientific discoveries, etc. Fulfilled prophecy also substantiates the Bible, and the God of the Bible. No other man-made religion can measure up in this regard.
And the final clincher; all other religions must WORK for their salvation, in Christianity salvation is a FREE GIFT paid for by Christ’s shed blood; and we cannot earn it by our own efforts.
I’m talking about Biblical Christianity, not Roman Catholicism.
If you accept that Christianity is fighting a losing battle with Islam (despite a considerable head-start), do you think it would be better if Muslims were to become agnostics?
Islam is primarily driven by fear and violence; most Muslims have little or no choice.
The best outcome for ALL men, including Muslims, is that they repent of their sins, and come to Christ – this is the ONLY hope for their eternal souls.
And, of course, the Bible prophesied of exactly the situation we find ourselves in in these end times:
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Sorry Reid, I stand corrected. Cancel that order to shoot Reid and reinstate him with a new medal, a small pay rise and 2 days leave to visit his family and go to church.
We’ll need a conference on the German Muslims Question.
I’ve got to go and mow the lawn now or the wife will divorce me. To make it interesting I’m going to declare all the dandelions muslim and behead the fucking lot of the evil bastards. The daisys are those cowardly French assholes and the Germans are all hiding in the compost bin (they call it a bunker) waiting to make a sneak attack through the dense forest of weeds I have named the ‘Ardennes’.
I will suffocate the germans last of all when I empty the catcher into their bunker.
Right thats the world sorted now for those damned troughing pollies.
Estimates of Muslims in the US range from 1 to 7 million. A third of them are black Americans.
Americans of German descent are the largest ancestry group:
German 50 million
Hispanic and Latino 46 million
African 40 million
Irish 36 million
Scottish 20-25 million
English 20 million
Italian 17 million
Asian 14 million
French 12 million
Arab 3.5 million
Russian 3 million
Problem solved 50 million german americans can easily take out 7 million muslim americans (and the black part is a bonus)
they could miss more often than the world average and still get the job done!
Dinosaur footprints have been discovered by scientists in Nelson.
The 70 million-year-old footprints are the first dinosaur footprints recognised in New Zealand and the first evidence of dinosaurs (apart from Jim Anderton) in the South Island.
Religions are a blight on humanity.
Read “The God Delusion” by Dawkins and “God is not great” by Hitchens to form your own opinion.
Dawkins is a deluded nutjob – someone should write a book called “The Dawkins Delusion”.
He doesn’t even have the guts to debate Intelligent Design advocates or Creationists. Even his science doesn’t stack up.
Re Pete George’s 1.35 “Dinosaur footprints have been discovered by scientists in Nelson.”
Hell Pete, did you see the latest report on this? They are female, and the same size as … yes they are Helen Clark’s! The left footprint is considerably bigger than the right one.
Hell the leftist twits are thick on Kiwiblog this morning. They think they’re safe with the Cat away in the Middle East.
Malcolm : “in Christianity salvation is a FREE GIFT paid for by Christ’s shed blood”
Since blood sacrifice would appear to be an anathema to Jesus it would be disturbing to him that he is considered by so many to have become one for the whole of humanity.
Here’s Ron Paul on the progress of his bill to audit the Fed and why its important. The bill naturally has been completely gutted by guess what? The power of those lobbyists I referred to in my 9:16.
Hide is stuffed unless Key saves him in 2011, I can see the Nat posters now, want to get rid of a troughing bastard Labour supporters, vote National.
Hide will be gone.
Hmm wonder if the lass who is young enough to be his daughter will stay with him now that taxpayer funded politician class holidays are off the menu.
So who gets to get rid of those tough bloody Muslims the Turks, maybe the Israelis will believe their own propaganda and have a crack at them.
The Turks must be good, the Anzacs came second against them.
Using the WH’s own figures, we see that his stimulus package reads:
Funds paid out so far = $83.8 billion + $52.1 billion + $71.4 billion = $207.3 billion
$207,300,000,000 / 640,329 = $323,739.83 per job created
“maybe the Israelis will believe their own propaganda and have a crack at them”
Yeah well before that happens the Israelis are going to have to partition Iraq and take out Iran both of which I can’t personally see happening successfully anytime soon, although that doesn’t mean they won’t try it on.
Oh dear. I am on the verge of getting on a plane and leaving NZ forever. This is really fucking nauseating.
I almost fell of my chair when I read:
“Commissioner Joris de Bres says unlike students wearing Nazi uniforms or schoolboys bowing to a swastika Mr Harawira’s comments are not a breach of the Human Rights Act, because he is entitled to freedom of expression.”
So young kids, (stupid and naive admittedly) who don’t know anything about history, dress up in some silly clothing and carry on like prats.
Yet a parliamentarian, the supposed bastion of civility and honour, refers to “white motherfuckers” in an email.
The parliamentarian escapes censure because he is entitled to “freedom of expression”, yet this right is somehow suspended when it comes to some kids being stupid.
Perhaps if they had said “We are dressing up like Nazis to ward jewish motherfuckers, whose Zionism has been raping and pillaging the german people for centuries”.
Would they have got off then?
Harawira is a racist, a bully, a hypocrite, and a thug, and the Human Rights Commission is an expensive racist joke. Every day that it remains in existence is a travesty, and every day that Harawira remains in parliament puts shame on our country.
Lets not forget how much unemployment these stimulus packages are creating by placing a stealth tax on the population either Reid, the amount per job created is going to be alot higher.
reid : Yvette, the act of Christ’s sacrifice removed the need for blood sacrifice.
“It is ridiculous to claim that the religious leaders of Christ’s time would have plotted his death because he undermined the function of the moneychangers. Nor would the crowd have been “amazed at his teachings” if Jesus was simply telling them to make sure they were not short-changed when they purchased Temple coins. What the people were amazed at was his condemnation of animal sacrifice; it had been hundreds of years since that kind of condemnation had been heard in Jerusalem. A few days after he tried to overthrow the cult of animal sacrifice, Jesus was crucified. The religious leaders of his time were determined to preserve the belief that it had been ordained by God, who demanded its continuance.”
“Commissioner Joris de Bres says unlike students wearing Nazi uniforms or schoolboys bowing to a swastika Mr Harawira’s comments are not a breach of the Human Rights Act, because he is entitled to freedom of expression.”
Joris de Bres is a suckholer to Maori. Harawira’s Certificate is in the mail.
Maybe if those students were [insert oppressed minority here], they could have played the freedom of expression card too. But they weren’t, so they couldn’t. Fuck Joris de Bres. Why hasn’t Key sacked his arse?
“President Whatarangi Winiata said yesterday that the party was on the verge of disciplinary action against the MP, whose behaviour involved “serious breaches of the kaupapa and tikanga of the party”.”
“Commissioner Joris de Bres says . . . Mr Harawira’s comments are not a breach of the Human Rights Act, because he is entitled to freedom of expression.”
So : does Joris de Bres discount the kaupapa and tikanga of the Maori Party in favour of what he calls Mr Harawira’s entitlement to freedom of expression?
I wonder if Hone wants to be ousted from the Maori Party only to come back next Election as an Independent Candidate for Te Tai Tokerau? He has the support.
That way, if he wins, he answers to nobody, only his people.
Investing billions of dollars in commuter rail in 2010, hoping it may still be functioning in 2025, could prove to be a memorable study in the art of bad timing.
It will be as big a loss maker as:
· Investing in a fleet of Boeing Stratocruisers in 1956. (Jets)
· Investing in a vacuum tube company in 1960. (Transistors)
· Investing in a slide rule factory in 1969. (Hand held calculators)
· Investing in a typewriter company in 1975. (Word processing/personal computers)
· Investing in a vinyl record and turntable factory in 1980. (CDs/DVDs)
· Investing in a telex factory in 1985. (Fax machines)
In other words, a free pass to the Dumb Decision Makers’ Hall of Fame.
Only a Government would even think about it. (See Item One)
“It is ridiculous to claim that the religious leaders of Christ’s time would have plotted his death because he undermined the function of the moneychangers.”
Er, Yvette, I wasn’t making that claim, merely making a side-comment around my central point.
So Joris the old commie wants to excuse the brown motherfucker?
Human Rights Act, section 61:
Racial disharmony
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person—
(a) To publish or distribute written matter which is threatening, abusive, or insulting, or to broadcast by means of radio or television words which are threatening, abusive, or insulting; or
(b) To use in any public place as defined in section 2(1) of the Summary Offences Act 1981, or within the hearing of persons in any such public place, or at any meeting to which the public are invited or have access, words which are threatening, abusive, or insulting; or (c) To use in any place words which are threatening, abusive, or insulting if the person using the words knew or ought to have known that the words were reasonably likely to be published in a newspaper, magazine, or periodical or broadcast by means of radio or television,—
being matter or words likely to excite hostility against or bring into contempt any group of persons in or who may be coming to New Zealand on the ground of the colour, race, or ethnic or national origins of that group of persons.
Luckily, I can use the words brown motherfucker to my heart’s content, now I know I’ve got freedom of expression…
Grumpy at 2.44: “…The Turks must be good, the Anzacs came second against them….”
Only at Gallipoli, Grumpy. The Anzac Mounted Division played a big part in the heavy dusting up of the Turks in Palestine, Gaza, and northwards.
The Turks also were well beaten in Arabia and Iraq, etc. At Gallipoli the Turks had a lot of strategic and tactical help from the Germans, and seaborne invasion, always difficult, was a big challenge then without landing craft and ground attack aircraft to soften up the defences, then coming in on rowed boats to beaches under cliffs.
I think the Turks performed well in Korea, and were the eastern anchor of NATO in the Cold War, but they have their own problems. Up to 30 per cent of the people are Kurds or other minorities, and industrialisation and rising living standards will be weakening resolve to die for the Government.
If you judge troops only by their enemies’ success, you would also have to put the Anzacs second to the German airborne troops who opposed the Anzacs in Crete and again at Cassino, but those battle results don’t tell the whole story.
Red Boris has long been a joke. But picking on schoolkids skylarking in a museum, albeit offensively, while only tisk-tisking Hone Harawira proves the whole human rights legislation is a crock. As does the overreaction to the Lincoln students partying as dress-up Nazis.
NZ Race Relations Conciliator and Human Rights Commission official, Joris de Bres has a long history of socialist activism.
While studying German at Auckland University (1965-68) de Bres became active in the Student Christian Movement. Like many marxist groups, the SCM hid it’s real emphasis behind an innocuous name. Far from being a bunch of clean cut spiritual seekers, the SCM was and is a “Christian-Marxist” organisation
Joris de Bres saved few souls in the SCM, but in his own words “I took part in protests against the Vietnam War, the SIS, the nuclear arms race and nuclear power, racism and Apartheid.”
In 1969 de Bres studied at the Free University of West Berlin, a major centre of socialist activism.
“I studied Marx, Engels and Lenin, Marcuse, Rosa Luxemburg, Frantz Fanon, and modern German writers of the revolutionary left. Students saw their hope for revolutionary change in an alliance with the working classes, through radicalised trade unions. They had nearly pulled it off in Paris in 1968.”
After Berlin, de Bres moved to post graduate studies at Oxford University. He eventually dropped out, perhaps because marching with striking “dusties”, picketing with striking power workers and “translating left wing books for New Left Books, Pluto Press, and Penguin” distracted him from his studies.
In February 1972 de Bres and Geoff Bertram attended the “World Assembly for Peace and Independence of the Indo Chinese People” held in Paris. Joris de Bres represented the Wellington Committee On Vietnam, a mainly Maoist organisation. The Conference was however organised by the Soviet front, World Peace Council.
Commissioner Joris de Bres says unlike students wearing Nazi uniforms or schoolboys bowing to a swastika Mr Harawira’s comments are not a breach of the Human Rights Act, because he is entitled to freedom of expression. More than 20 complaints have been made with the Race Relations Commission about the email and Mr de Bres says each one will be looked at individually….
Joris de Bres
Human Rights Commission
Wellington
7 Nov 09
Dear Brown Motherfucker,
I am writing to complain about the email sent by that other brown motherfucker which called NZ Europeans White motherfuckers and alleging we raped land and ripped off brown motherfuckers and that all of us are full of puritanical bullshit.
I find this disturbing and offensive expecially in light of S61(c) and ask that you immediately investigate that brown motherfucker because I think he’s a real c**t.
While acknowledging that some white motherfuckers are full of puritanical bullshit I point out this phenomena is strictly confined to Labour/Green voters who are self-righteous twats and prats as well and I ask you also to make that brown motherfucker issue a public clarification so as to clear up this appalling and hurtful allegation.
Agreed starboard.
What fucks me off is the thousands of kiwis struggling with bills, small business owners struggling with ACC and tax, and yet we continue to tax them out the arse to pay for thousands of fucking useless, pompous, self-elevating numbnut bureaucrats to tell us what to do, what to think, what to say.
If I was the editor of a major paper, the headlines would read “Race Relations Commissioner says- Racism okay”
People for Hone Harewirarghaugsi’s bropartheid racism:
PhilU and Luc Hansen
People against Hone Hariwireresignnow’s bropartheid racism:
Everyone else
Oh, and Phool, Hari is a Marxist idiot who’s only where he is because he shills for the left. I’ll post my part-Fisking of it when it comes up on another blog’s comment section.
Extract from “The Magpies Song” by Frank S. Williamson.
Oh, the noon beside the ocean, when the spring tide, landward set,
Cast ashore the loosened silver from the waves of violet,
As the seagod sang a lovesong and the sheoak answer made,
Came the magpie’s carol wafted down the piny colonnade,
Trolling, trolling, trolling in a nuptial melody,
As it floated from the moaning pine to charm the singing sea.
I have read alot about how the Maori colonized this land before the European nations arrived Phillu, don’t blame others for playing by the rules of the day.
Excuse me for a moment, gotta get my glass of shiraz off the side of the BBQ.
That’s the BBQ that’s cooking garlic and onions and some huge bits of fillet
black arse harawira cant get away with this…he has overstepped the mark big time..he has to go from parliament no ifs no buts..I can call him blackarse cos de bres says its freedom of speech..
Mrs Titiwhai Harawira,
Can you please smack your son’s bum for being a naughty boy? He will not learn until he respects the rights of all New Zealanders instead of racist Maori rights.
Thank you Mum, mother of Maori
“my name is phillip ure; i am an ex junkie (15 yrs clean of junk; still use pot), ex con (armed robbery of chemist shop whilst going through smack withdrawels), vegan,dpb supported sole dad(thanks), environmental/animal rights activist/supporter.
my lineage is irish, scots, welsh; filtered through five generations in this wonderful country. (did anyone see connolly last night, whoar!)
i have travelled/lived in aust, usa, europe, china/asia and other parts of the planet.
i loathe racists my name is phillip ure; i am an ex junkie (15 yrs clean of junk; still use pot), ex con (armed robbery of chemist shop whilst going through smack withdrawels), vegan,dpb supported sole dad(thanks), environmental/animal rights activist/supporter.
my lineage is irish, scots, welsh; filtered through five generations in this wonderful country. (did anyone see connolly last night, whoar!)
i have travelled/lived in aust, usa, europe, china/asia and other parts of the planet.
i loathe racists with an intensity that is visceral. .”
did you mean ALL racists, or does your loathing only extend to white people who are racist towards non-white people? Harawira’s comments yesterday were blatantly racist, and I’m surprised you’re not addressing your vitriol towards him “with an intensity that is visceral”
What Phil – that whites are motherf**ckers? That’s absolute bollocks, and blatant racism. I think you’re being just a little hypocritical here Phil – either you loathe racists “with an intensity that is visceral”, or you don’t – which is it?
There is a truth to it Phillu but the real truth is that ripping of ones fellow man is not exclusive to whitey, if you are wronged do you make innocent people pay for the crime? most who are alive today have never raped or pillaged the land yet are forced to pay for a crime they never committed, so when Honi said what he said it tarred all of one ethnicity with the same brush in an attempt to justify his own hypocrisy.
Yes, he’s said that twice now. Sadly, phil has missed the point. The issue is not whether it’s true, it’s that it’s offensive. Secondly, the brown motherfucker who’s cuzzies rape our welfare system, invited the recipient to go to the media.
S.61(c) of the Human Rights Act which I quoted above, says that that, is a breach of the act. M-kay?
The fact that the brown motherfucker who’s cuzzies rape our welfare system is an MP, makes it twice as bad, not legally, but ethically, which is why the Maori Party are so appalled.
To cap it off, the brown motherfucker who’s cuzzies rape our welfare system, refused to resile from his comments when challenged.
Whichever way you cut it, the brown motherfucker who’s cuzzies rape our welfare system is guilty of inciting racial disharmony, and that is regardless of anything whatsoever to do with the truth or otherwise of his statement. Is that quite clear phil?
“i reckon that him and sue bradford would/could be a powerful nucleus of a kick-arse new political party”
Which just goes to show phil why most people don’t exactly regard you as a towering intellect on the political analytical landscape.
That’s irrelevant Phil. Harawira’s choice of words “white man’s bullshit” and “white motherf**kers” was blatantly racist. If you or I were to comment on “black man’s bullshit” or “Maori motherf**kers”, that would be equally racist.
And FWIW Phil, I dislike racists too; just not quite as viscerally as you perhaps. And Hone Harawira is a racist as far as I am concerned.
reid said “Which just goes to show phil why most people don’t exactly regard you as a towering intellect on the political analytical landscape.
eh…”
Indeed reid – and Phil probably doesn’t see the irony in suggesting that No-smack Sue Bradford could be involved in somethinh he decribes as “kick-arse”
“oh..!..more offensive than the ’screwing over’..?..really..?”
Yeah those damned settlements designed to redress the imbalance are terrible aren’t they phil. What would YOU do were you back in 1984 before it began? What would YOU do, specifically. Be specific phil. Would you give them Auckland. Would you say to every single resident in Auckland that they didn’t have a house anymore because the brown motherfuckers needed them? Or would you (chortle) naively imagine that cause its the gummint, it has heaps of money eh and so we can pay them anything we like. Tell us what you’d do phil, go on. BE SPECIFIC – name dollar amounts.
“and are you quite happy with financing rodneys’ mid-life crisis..?..are you..?”
No, I said that both last night and this morning phil. I think its appalling. Why do you imagine I’d support what Rodney’s done in anyway? What the fuck do you think I am – Rodders all the way, right or wrong? C’mon, I’m NOT like the Greens who decided to let Liarbore get away with such actions because they were “on the same side.” That’s scumbag behaviour and showed the Greens were unprincipled naive liars. I’m not like that AT ALL, thank you.
Btw Phool my food is good right now.
You should convert to Maoridom. Even if you have one brown/black mole on you, this is the path of the bludgers to live off taxpayers.
No more? eat the trough and demand another full trough.
David Farrah is not here, he is overseas earning money and having a holiday.
Thing is, DPF pays. The taxpayer don’t fund him.
Now if he decides to visit another city, it is his choice.
If DPF was going to a meeting somewhere in Europe and got sick, that would be ok.
If DPF was found in another city, that would be ok.
If DPF was funded by the taxpayer to travel to another City, that is not ok.
Hone is entitled to the same as all MPs
philu you must have a semblance of a brain if you obtained a masters, which is why it surprises me you continu to defend the indefensible and have such utter hypocritical double standards, the fact remains that Harawira is a bully and a racist, and you haven’t explained why “white motherfuckers” is justified for a parliamentarian to use.;
“hey buddy..!..’your crew’ are the mega-troughing scumbags douglas and hide..”
Philu, after the last few months on this blog, you will have realised that most people in this thread are relatively apolitical in the sense of following a party, there are very few out and out cheerleaders on KB, most just want the govt out of our lives and pockets, thus many (including myself) feel as disgusted by Hide’s troughing as anyone else’s.
So stop dodging the question, and tell us why “white motherfuckers” is not racist.
“I wish to make an official complaint about Maori MP Hone Harawira referring to my people as “white motherfuckers who have been raping our lands and ripping us off for centuries”.
This maybe true BUT it is outrageous for a MP of our Parliament to say so in this way.
I would expect that the Race Relations Commissioner is also outraged and take steps to censure .. whatever, this person.
He should be dealt with in the same as I would expect to be if I called him (MR Harawira) a “brown motherfucker”, which I would never do of course.
ps .. Mr De Bres does not need to issue me a certificate for standing up to this blatant racist, it is my duty to do so”.
come on Philu .. get a grip, you might be happy to be called a white motherfucker but I’m not. I loved my mum but not that much.
Steve 5:39 .. yep, Sat nights are bbq nights .. scotch fillet with asparagus, glazed onions, broccoli/bacon and tai kumara from the supermarket and yes, washed down with a couple bottles of red (not lion red)) burp/hic
KEVIN RUDD has launched a blistering attack on climate change sceptics and deniers in Australia and abroad, accusing them of a systematic campaign to sabotage global talks in Copenhagen and of being contemptuous towards the interests of the world’s children.
Grumpy old hori (and I won’t use the other elegant phrase that the teammate from up north used), re the Nats.
Why would the Nats want to change things? They are just as big at troughing as the Liarbour Party. No my friend Bill and Nick and Maurice won’t change and nor will they change anything to advantage NZ.
Sometime soon the rest of you lot will start to realize what a waste of space the Nats really are.
A COMPLEX and highly secretive $US125 million ($137m) deal by National Australia Bank, codenamed Project Turtle, is one of a series of transactions by local banks at the centre of a crackdown by the Australian Taxation Office.
Details of the deal, obtained by The Weekend Australian, shed light on “asymmetric swap” schemes with offshore financial institutions as possible vehicles for large-scale tax avoidance.
The ATO’s action, which has split the banking and tax communities, again puts the tax practices of NAB, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Bank under the microscope.
It comes as the Big Four banks, including Westpac, face a hefty
$2 billion tax bill in New Zealand from soured structured finance transactions.
ANZ and CBA refused to comment yesterday on their exposure to asymmetric swaps, but NAB said its transaction was entered into as part of its fee-generating wholesale banking business, and met all relevant internal approval processes.
“NAB will of course co-operate fully with the ATO in its industry-wide review of these transactions,” a spokesman said.
The deals targeted by the ATO, which could involve revenue leakage in the hundreds of millions of dollars, feature a local bank and an offshore financial institution.
The offshore entity typically deals in equities, currencies and commodities and is keen to hedge its trading portfolio.
The local bank agrees to swap transactions, involving its domestic banking operation and its offshore banking unit (OBU), which is concessionally taxed at 10 per cent. Through an arbitrage of the lower OBU tax rate and the 30 per cent rate for the domestic banking unit, the local bank always makes an after-tax profit, after collecting a taxable flow of fees for entering into the swaps.
In Project Turtle, NAB agreed to a long swap transaction with a global investment bank over an equity index involving a notional principal of $US125m.
If the index rose, the investment bank would pay NAB a certain amount, and the reverse would occur if the index fell.
NAB, through its OBU, also agreed to a short swap over the same index for a notional principal of $US97.2m — lower to allow for the concessional tax rate. The period of the swaps was for one year. NAB was to get a fee of $US8m.
In mid-2008, the parties signed off after NAB obtained a favourable private ruling from the ATO.
Soon after, the benchmark index for the deal slumped due to the financial crisis. The parties agreed in April to an early termination, with NAB taking a $US97m loss on the long swap and a $US75.6m profit on the short swap.
After collecting a $US7m fee, the bank lost $US14m on a pre-tax basis, but scored a $US5m after-tax profit. Despite issuing seven favourable private rulings, including one for Westpac that the bank ultimately did not use, the ATO released a draft determination last month saying its preliminary view was that the Part IVA general anti-avoidance provision applied to asymmetric swaps.
By itself, the fact that the domestic bank always makes a profit is not considered sufficient to invoke Part IVA.
The ATO’s draft determination therefore split the tax and banking industries.
“Asymmetric swaps are a much better thing than betting on the Melbourne Cup — the bank makes money if equities go up, and it makes money if equities go down,” a banking industry source said.
“My guess is that the ATO will soon be issuing assessments to the banks, because, in tax, when you think it looks too good you know it probably is.”
A tax expert, who condemned the ATO’s u-turn after its private rulings, said he was still uncomfortable about the major banks benefiting from a domestic tax arbitrage.
“The indexes could have gone the other way and the ATO would have made a windfall,” he said.
“Still, it’s not a good look for the banks to engage in domestic tax arbitrage, when the OBU system was set up to make them more globally competitive.”
Greg Pratt, a partner in Ernst & Young’s financial services tax group, said asymmetric swaps had a big impact on the pre-tax profit line, so the “tax tail should not wag the commercial dog.”
“But for Part IVA to apply, an objective person has to conclude that the dominant purpose is tax avoidance, and it’s hard to see how a draft determination without regard to any particular facts or taxpayers will apply,” he said.
Corporate Tax Association executive director Frank Drenth noted that the draft determination still had to be fully implemented.
But he argued it would be “concerning” for the ATO to issue favourable rulings to the banks, and then invoke Part IVA after seeing how the transactions turned out.
The profits, he said, had ended up in the OBU, taxed at 10 per cent, while the losses went into the entity taxed at the full rate.
“I bet if it had been the other way around, then we wouldn’t be looking at undoing the private rulings,” Mr Drenth said.
In the meantime, David Butler, who as NZ tax commissioner ran the structured finance cases against the Big Four, rejoined the ATO in September last year. He doesn’t have direct responsibility for the asymmetric swaps fracas.
* Yes. Rodney Hide is right. Key needs to get on with reforming the economy and forget about remaining popular forever. (68%, 151 Votes)
* No. He’s done as much as he should have. You’re all a bunch of nervous nellies. Everything is fine (17%, 37 Votes)
* No. He’s rightly waiting for his experts to advise him on the right way to do it. (15%, 35 Votes)
“So who gets to get rid of those tough bloody Muslims the Turks, maybe the Israelis will believe their own propaganda and have a crack at them.”
Pretty Unlikely because Turkey and Israel are politcal Allies – the borders are open between the two countries. When I was in Turkey I was interested to visit a city which displayed the Israeli flag and had a sister city in Israel.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Fran O’Sullivan mentions deep in her piece (on “Hide’s failings like those that brought Peters down”):
November 7th, 2009 at 8:13 am
well..it well and truly is rodneys’ ‘day-in-the-spotlight’..?
..eh..?
(full coverage on kiwiblog..?..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Hey Philu, how many vacations have you taken funded by taxpayers?
November 7th, 2009 at 8:25 am
If Rodney and Honi didn’t do these things and get in the headlines where would be the inspiration of the youngsters to suceed?
The money they spend is insignificant on the scale of what needs to be done. But people devote their energies to burbling on about Rodney instaed of thinking and doing purposeful stuff about the real problems.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:28 am
When you don’t work it can get a bit boring with every day a holiday …. the dream of some but hard when you retire and don’t have work to go to. To be unemployed with little hope of getting work must be soul destroying.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:30 am
It’s not a good way to start your working life. Sets the scene for too many, a proportion of whom end up being professional beneficiaries with poor self esteem – which often leads to crime and/or mental problems.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Michele in Blunderland – the mad nutters Tea Party?
November 7th, 2009 at 8:55 am
“It’s not a good way to start your working life. Sets the scene for too many, a proportion of whom end up being professional beneficiaries with poor self esteem – which often leads to crime and/or mental problems.”
At last an explanation of PhilU’s life.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:55 am
“When you don’t work it can get a bit boring with every day a holiday …. the dream of some but hard when you retire and don’t have work to go to. To be unemployed with little hope of getting work must be soul destroying.”
I’m sure it is jcuknz, but you will of course note that some didn’t even try to all through the noughties and one of the large questions that a responsible govt needs to address is: what do you do about those people?
When conservatives note the fact that people like that do actually in fact exist, lefties never acknowledge that its true and instead always counter with the beneficiary-bashing propaganda line which the media use to ensure the reef-fish never register the first genuine question on their radars.
Which is a shame for the rest of us for why should the 1 million or so workers support people who refuse to try to find work?
November 7th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Imagine a New Zealand Parliament in which the major parties were Act and the Greens, while National and Labour were reduced to half a dozen seats each. It would be a lot like the US Congress. It shows that the way you construct you political and electoral systems makes a huge difference to the politics you get.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Not only are the teens being trashed by Govt. inaction we continue to be ripped off by the university sector and especially the loan system.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3040418/Thousands-default-on-student-loans
Thousands of people with student loans are defaulting on payments, leaving the Government to chase hundreds of millions of dollars.
More than one in five borrowers – or 114,000 people – have overdue payments and thousands of students are leaving tertiary education with no qualification and big bills.
The Education Ministry’s student loan scheme annual report shows that $306 million in payments is overdue, a $100m increase from a year ago.
The substantial growth includes a big rise in the level of payments owed by people now living overseas, more than doubling to $114m.
Who cares about the minor amount that Rodney spent. No doubt a fair portion of those making the noise fall into the defaulting category in this report.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:00 am
/trolling
Finally, a stand is taken on the sin of adultery. And such compassion. Yet more evidence of how religion enriches the human condition:
“Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8347216.stm
/trolling
November 7th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Reid, I’m sure John Keyless has a plan all ready, it’s just been put on hold while he handles a few more urgent matters. Like that Letterman thing, and the Rugby World Cup TV rights, the cycle-way design etc.
Give the man a chance. He’s only had a year. And he couldn’t have known in advance that he was going to be PM. And anyway, it’s only costing $250M of debt a week to keep the Titanic on it’s current course. Steady-as-she-goes, Johnboy.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:07 am
malcolm, welcome to the enlightenment that is sharia law. Gaining ground in many western democracies, and coming to an area near you soon.
Also, I think you’ll find Christ’s treatment of the woman caught in adultery quite different. After seeing through and confronting the motives of her accusers, which included their choosing not to bring the man involved to him for a judgement, he suggested she go on her way and sin no more.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Speaking of Islam (The peace loving religion) I see that Hasan was very devout:
“While living in Washington DC, he attended prayers at a local Muslim community centre at least once a day, seven days a week, according to Maryland imam Faizul Khan.
Khan, a former imam at the centre, told The Washington Post that Nidal Malik Hasan was “very devout”, and asked him various religious questions.”
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/6439413/gunman-alive-after-us-army-base-shooting/
November 7th, 2009 at 9:10 am
I get the feeling the Hide has now been holed below the waterline. But he holds the lifeline for Act through his electorate seat. Hide’s midlife crisis is being played out right in the public eye with his new physique and his new girlfriend and now his new job, with limos overseas trips and much else. He will have to run very fast just to stand still. I suspect there will be no more trips for him and his girlfriend. Or Hide might say – stuff-it I am going to grab it all and damn the consequences. That is what Harawera would do.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:16 am
“Imagine a New Zealand Parliament in which the major parties were Act and the Greens, while National and Labour were reduced to half a dozen seats each. It would be a lot like the US Congress.”
Really?
From my observations both parties in Congress are beholden to powerful lobby groups including especially from Wall Street, Defence, Big pharma, Big oil and AIPAC. Whatever those narrow interests are promoting basically sums up both the Executive and the Congressional legislative agenda over the last 60 years, whichever side is in power. Of course they can’t make it too obvious so now and again they pretend to have bitter disputes about side-issues that don’t matter. Abortion is the classic one there.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:29 am
So Maurice has woken from his slumbers and pout forward a proposal to help leaky home owners. As i read whats reported it amounts to paying 10% (now remember that figure) of the cost of the repairs.
So for all the problems that the state building agency was responsible for setting the standards for he is recomending that their share is 10%
Perhaps I’m a bit slow today but the govt’s tax share of the rebuild starts at 12.5% for GST, is added to by paye, company tax, ACC, reduction in the unemployed and all manner of other govt. collections.
Rather makes his 10% look a bit out of wack and kinda mean.
But really what can you expect from a longterm National hack.
Not a lot of intelligence from the National Party as usual.
Taxpayers face $777m bill to help fix leaky homes
4:00AM Saturday Nov 07, 2009
By Anne Gibson
Leaky Buildings
* Editorial: Time Key fixed leak problem
The Crown expects to pay $777 million to leaky home victims in the next two decades, lumbering the country with colossal bills.
A secret Government discussion paper this month being circulated to metro city mayors shows the state expecting soaring bills.
The figures show how subsequent governments and generations of taxpayers will need to set aside money to help victims fix thousands of rotten, collapsing, damp and decaying houses.
These are “indicative” figures only and the fix-up bill could be much higher. But even the $777 million is only 10 per cent of expected house repair costs for those eligible under strict new criteria the Government is planning to set.
The latest figures are based on the assumption that the Crown will make only a tiny contribution to the crisis and target older victims on lower incomes.
To get the state’s 10 per cent, victims will have to pay 64 per cent and councils – now being stung for millions, sparking insurance issues – will pay just 26 per cent.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Hide’s failure has manifested itself in several ways.
1. On a personal level, he has failed himself as a moral watchdog and careful spender of taxpayer money. It just looks really bad.
2. He has failed ACT. As a leader of the party, he has caused the party significant embarrassment.
3. On a political level, he has failed to explain himself to the media and the public.
Boscawen will be rubbing his hands with glee at the prospect of taking the leadership, but in truth, as long as Hide has Epsom he’s safe as leader.
It’s time for Rodney to come clean and apologise.
He should hold a press conference, acknowledge his failings, apologise to the public and his party, promise to do a better job, and work his arse off to deliver a great result for the new Auckland Council.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Apologise or not, Hide is finished.
He’s lost all credibility and will do well by keeping his mouth shut over the next few months.
On the other hand, Key’s “hands-free” to this situation approach is further proof of his indecisiveness, his reluctance to act when required.
Is the grinning man fit to lead our country?
November 7th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Key doesn’t have to take responsibility for everyone else’s balls-ups. They have to be responsible for what they do themselves – nothing so far has been government threatening, just sorting out the wheat from the chaff.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:45 am
“I get the feeling the Hide has now been holed below the waterline.”
He’s definitely received a crippling hit. His previously good reputation on these matters is gone forever no matter what he does. He spent years building that up and through his own actions its been destroyed overnight. It is also a critical part of the ACT brand and one of the calculations ACT will be running is whether its necessary to ditch Rodney in order to rebuild that because it is the only high-profile point of difference between ACT and National in the minds of the reef-fish. However they have no replacement for him so I don’t think they’ll be doing that.
I would suggest the best thing for Rodney and ACT would be for him to do public penance including complete repayment, eschewal of further travel for his partner and push for complete revision of these travel perks. If MPs are benchmarked against corporate salary packages as they claim to be, then which corporates allow family to travel to conferences etc and which corporates provide lifetime travel benefits following retirement?
Meanwhile, cast around for another point of difference that will register with the reef-fish. I would suggest the social justice area remains fertile: promote strong families and full employment; because reversing the 5th Liarbore govt’s secret manoeuvres in that area really cries out for repair.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Johnboy 9:10 am,
Which raises an interesting question:
Why would any western military, especially the US, have openly practicing Muslims within their ranks?
Especially in light of the open declaration that Islam is sought on both the subjugation and ultimate destruction of western (Christian) nations and Israel. And not to forget, as seems the case here with Hasan, that most military activities will be against Islamic regimes or terrorist organisations, and hence Muslim combatants will be confronted with an ideological conflict of interests. Just seems stupid for a whole number of reasons.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Apologise or not, Hide is finished.
He’s lost all credibility
Unless Key goes hard right, seems unlikely that ACT will lose any votes over this in 2011. Who else they gonna vote for?
November 7th, 2009 at 9:52 am
On the other hand, Key’s “hands-free” approach has shown his indecisiveness, his reluctance to act where is needed. Is the grinning man fit to lead our country?
Well you have hit the nail on the head really.
This today from SUNLIVE in Tauranga. (how a local newspaper should be by the way)
http://www.sunlive.co.nz/10268a1.page
Sun Live / Local News / Business / November 09
Nearly 10,000 jobless in the Bay
06 Nov 2009
Unemployment is up in the Bay of Plenty, increasing from 5.8 per cent in the June quarter to 7.9 per cent for the September quarter. These figures are from Statistics New Zealand and are for the greater Bay of Plenty, including Rotorua and Taupo.
So we have the Herald with nothing better to do than spend its day researching Rodney just so it can wind up all you hand wringers in a bluster of indignation.
We have Uncle Maurice setting up owners for being shafted by the govt of millions of dollars.
We have a burgeoning student loan debt scheme again over 100 million in default.
We have senior ladies being killed in their own homes and babies being murdered.
We have huge unemployment issues for many but notably for teenagers.
We have the lowest number of patents ever being registered in NZ.
We have the highest ever level of welfare NZ has ever had.
Promises of tax cuts that have evaporated into a welter of excuses for new tax collection especially by attacking landowners.
We have a Govt. that ignores the vote of 87% of voters. And all you useless hand wringers can go on about is Rodney.
Where the hell is your head space?
Don’t you all think its about time we demanded unequivocal action to energize our citizens and companies?
Don’t you think its time to attend to the real issues that will make a difference?
November 7th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Bye Bye Hone, and good riddance you lowlife scumbag.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:53 am
so stephen..they should be able to hang on to their 1.2% then..?
(whew..!..that must be a relief for you all..!..
eh..?..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 10:00 am
@Viking2 re: Leaky Homes:
Take a look at this.
What Key needs to do is to remove Williamson who clearly isn’t capable of handling this and put someone like Joyce onto it. This is crying out for someone creative and dynamic who can cut through the bullshit, knock heads together and finally resolve this situation once and for all.
I often say that some people like Douglas for example, advocate the market as the panacea for every ill. It’s not. It is great at determining efficiency but that’s about its limit. This debacle is a classic example of what happens when you let ideology triumph over rational common-sense. I mean, who couldn’t have predicted that a combination of untreated timber and Mediterranean architecture with no eaves would not have produced what we have seen, FFS.
November 7th, 2009 at 10:01 am
More wise advice.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10607778
Telecom boss surprised NZ has ‘money to waste’
4:00AM Saturday Nov 07, 2009
By John Drinnan
Paul Reynolds. Photo / Richard Robinson
Paul Reynolds. Photo / Richard Robinson
Telecom’s Scottish chief executive, Paul Reynolds, says New Zealand is wasting money on the Government’s “fragmented” $1.5 billion fibre-to-the-home broadband plan.
“As a relative newcomer I am surprised New Zealand has so much money to waste,”
Reynolds was peppered with questions about the implications of the Government’s regionalised fibre plan and its effect on Telecom’s revenue in the future.
Reynolds said nobody knew how the scheme would pan out but the company was looking at options with other players for working within the plan.
As it stood the plan for local fibre companies created problems with duplication of resources and added costs to Telecom.
“When I worked in Scotland and other rural areas, policymakers looked at efficient ways of doing things,” said the former head of operations for British Telecom.
“This is not headed in an efficient direction. I am just surprised that we have so much money to waste in New Zealand.”
Anyone disagree with this?
November 7th, 2009 at 10:04 am
“military activities will be against Islamic regimes or terrorist organisations, and hence Muslim combatants will be confronted with an ideological conflict of interests. Just seems stupid for a whole number of reasons.”
Exactly KrisK I guess they are doing what we are extolled to do and accept these scum into their community working on the basis that if we show them love and acceptance it will be returned. This shows that if you do you are stupid and asking for trouble just like the poms discovered with the underground bombers. There is a simple answer get rid of them all back to where they came from and don’t let anymore in. At least then you can deal to them with a military solution something that is impossible if they reside amongst you.
November 7th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Recommend jewel of the palace currently on triangle TV
November 7th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Johnboy 10:04 am,
Absolutely.
As you state; the rationale that allowing Muslims to be part of your military or, indeed, to be part of the very fabric of your society, will lead them somehow to peacefully coexisting with you is just insane. And like in London, most of Europe, or as with this case involving Hasan, where Muslims have shown again and again that they will not peacefully coexist and assimilate into western (non Muslim) societies, we surely have to ask just how many atrocities do Muslims have to commit before the west, especially politicians, wakes up to the threat that is Islam.
It’s not just the so called radicals, but all Muslims I believe.
I mean, prior to Hasan having his little ‘outburst’ he would have been considered just another good ‘moderate’ Muslim going about his day to day affairs. Why is it only when they reveal their true nature do we consider them to be radical, fundamentalist Muslims. This stupidity is beyond comprehension.
November 7th, 2009 at 11:04 am
just spreading a bit of that christian love..eh k.k.k..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Kris – I believe it was Clinton’s idea to encourage all sorts into the U.S. military in the name of having an “army that looks like America”, but what he seems to have acheived is an army that looks like the enemy.
November 7th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Put it away 11:05 am,
While we may disagree on other topics, I agree with you on Clinton.
The rot really started to set in through Clinton regarding the US military in this respect. His strong promotion of negotiating land for peace between Israel and her surrounding Muslim enemies was also consistent with his philosophy.
The ‘tolerance for all’ really falls down when considering acceptance of Muslims within diametrically opposed western values based democracies. I believe these two ideologies will never, can never, meet at a point of compromise. It really is a them or us situation, sad to say.
November 7th, 2009 at 11:21 am
I thought for sure there’d be a time-delayed Berlin Wall, post, DPF.
November 7th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Kris, why do you think the Christian churches have failed so palpably to convert Muslims? Given that Christianity is the one correct religion and that Islam is a fundamentally evil thing.
Are Muslims fundamentally evil people? If not, why don’t they see the evil and flaws in Islam and switch to Christianity?
As far I can tell, all forms of religion require the user to suspend their intelligence and innate sense of reason (at least in respect of the religion) to such an extend that once they’re committed, it’s hard for them to ever exam their beliefs in an unbiased way. A kind of mental one-way valve. The church helps this process with the “us and them” idea that you’re onto the right thing and all the rest are in trouble. All that hell stuff, for example.
If you accept that Christianity is fighting a losing battle with Islam (despite a considerable head-start), do you think it would be better if Muslims were to become agnostics?
November 7th, 2009 at 11:40 am
“If you accept that Christianity is fighting a losing battle with Islam (despite a considerable head-start), do you think it would be better if Muslims were to become agnostics?”
I think it would be better if they became dead before they make everyone else become dead (or muslim which adds up to be the same thing).
November 7th, 2009 at 11:41 am
All 1 billion of them?
November 7th, 2009 at 11:42 am
“just spreading a bit of that christian love..eh k.k.k..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)”
Quardle ardle doodle wardle——-get a job phil.
Said Johnboy
November 7th, 2009 at 11:43 am
“All 1 billion of them?”
Yep.
November 7th, 2009 at 11:45 am
How?
November 7th, 2009 at 11:46 am
“It really is a them or us situation, sad to say.”
I think anyone who’s interested in the reality as opposed to the propaganda of this developing dynamic needs to make themselves aware of the potential for disinformation to dominate this particular debate.
We saw it happen in the Cold War whereby for decades Russian strength was heavily over-estimated by Western vested interests from a multitude of organisations and countries and in addition their motivations were widely mis-understood as well whereby they were considered to be aggressors whereas the reality was they were adopting defensive postures based on their extreme paranoia which stems from their history of being subjected over centuries to invasion and attack from a multitude of powers.
Once the seeds are planted this disinformation feeds upon itself and we see the same thing happening today in the AGW field whereby respected scientists are increasingly sucked in by false data and unnecessary and unjustified public hysteria abounds.
The best propaganda contains seeds of the truth and is constructed within a believable and understandable framework.
Now the incredibly tricky thing is to sort the wheat from the chaff in an environment where you have a multitude of extremely respectable sources who are all singing from the same hymn book.
I’m not saying that I know the answer to the truth behind the Muslim-Christian dynamic. All I know is that it’s a wise thing to be extremely skeptical about all the data coming from both sides. For example on the Iran dynamic I think Pablo’s post on that was spot on.
IMO, if you’re interested in the truth and not just in reinforcing your own prejudice, then you really do owe it to yourself to adopt a similar approach.
November 7th, 2009 at 11:50 am
“How?”
The other five billion of us fire once at a muslim, even if four of us miss the job is done. The same policy the muslims use against the rest of the world but they tend to get better results as we are soft.
November 7th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Once we’ve done all those Muslim nutters, who should we do next?
November 7th, 2009 at 11:58 am
“Once we’ve done all those Muslim nutters, who should we do next?”
How about the Germans, Malcolm
November 7th, 2009 at 11:59 am
We would have to have binding referendum on that one (if Johnkey let us) but I suspect troughing pollies would come even higher on the priorities list than used car salesmen yet again after this weeks little set of revelations.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
“How about the Germans, Malcolm
”
Whatever you do don’t mention the war!!
November 7th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
It think it should be the Christians. While I find many of them to be decent people, they do have a proven propensity for this religion stuff. We just can’t run the risk of Islam popping up again.
Kind of tilling the soil with salt.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Not the Germans, we’ll need their help sorting out the Muslims. If we start turning on each other..
November 7th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Yeah I could go for the Xtians too malcolm but the traditional burning at the stake would create too large a carbon footprint and crucifixion would totally fuck the Amazonian rain forest so thats a tricky one. Let me think about it for a while.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I assumed we’d use the same method as for the Muslims. I’ll leave it with you.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Media bias is a common topic here and I for one will always remain bemused at how some commenters are so naive as to imagine that it happens only in the liberal press. It’s all over the place, and always has been.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
“I assumed we’d use the same method as for the Muslims. I’ll leave it with you.”
You are the man malcolm. I’d never have thought of it. What a dumb prick. Of course. Beheading.
Shit its got everything going for it, bugger all carbon footprint (once you’ve smelted the steel for the swords) and the leftovers make great compost.
Your a genius!!!
November 7th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Now there’s a conspiracy theory:
November 7th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Oh, I meant shoot them, like we planned for the Muslims.
Whatever we do, we’ll need the Germans help. They’re good at this stuff. So who suggested we shoot the Germans? We need to shoot him instead. He’s obviously on the wrong side. Reid, Reid!
November 7th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
# stephen at 9:48 am
“Unless Key goes hard right, seems unlikely that ACT will lose any votes over this in 2011. Who else they gonna vote for?”
What if Key stands by smiling – while National stand put a credible candidate in Epsom? Someone who they want to move from the list to an electorate? Then the 1% wouldn’t make any difference.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Bloody French and their baguettes, maybe the French should go up against the wall after the muslims.
“Having the French on your side in a war is like
taking an accordian player on a deer hunt”
——–Donald Rumsfield.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Further to what I was saying in my 11:46, let’s see how much global coverage this particular bit of news gets:
Prominent Muslim organizations condemn Fort Hood shootings.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
“So who suggested we shoot the Germans? We need to shoot him instead.”
Yes malcolm, if you read it again in context, you’ll realise I was suggesting that we shoot the Germans AFTER we shoot the Muslims.
I mean, really. Talk about disinformation
November 7th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Don’t be fooled by that reid, it’s called ‘running interference’ just keep shooting Germans!
November 7th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
When do we shoot German Muslims then reid?
November 7th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
“When do we shoot German Muslims then reid?”
Yes an interesting conundrum Johnboy, I haven’t thought this through properly, have I?
November 7th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Good point. We could save bullets on the French. They’ll all bring a baguette of course, because they’re like that. We’ll just beat them to death with their baguettes.
Oh, hang on, we’ll need the French to keep the Germans in line after we’ve sorted out the Muslims and before we sort out the Christians. Once the krauts get a taste for blood we’ll have trouble keeping them in line until we’ve dealt with the Christian enemy within.
I think doing the Muslims first could be the wrong way to go. We could do them last and they could help us with the others first?
November 7th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
How big an army would the US have if they didn’t use anyone “that looks like the enemy”? Arm the Tea Party? Oh, no, they are already fighting amongst themselves>
November 7th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Malcolm 11:32 am,
If you accept that there are spiritual entities behind all religions, that both God and Satan are real; where God (of the Bible) desires to redeem, or save, the souls of all men, while Satan aims to prevent men from coming to God in repentance, then perhaps you can begin to perceive why many, including Muslims, do not repent of their sins and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
Throw into the mix that man is essentially prideful, has a fallen nature, and prefers to live in the moment, and you begin to see just what a battle it is to get him to humble himself and come to the true God at all.
Regarding Muslims specifically; I believe they are satanically deceived, and as Salman Rushdie implied, the Koran of Islam is indeed the ‘Satanic Verses’.
I believe ALL religions, with the exception of Christianity and Judaism (though superseded by Christianity), do indeed require the individual to “suspend their intelligence and innate sense of reason”. I believe the Bible can stand up to all the rigours that genuine science can throw at it, and it has often lead science by hundreds or thousands of years regarding scientific discoveries, etc. Fulfilled prophecy also substantiates the Bible, and the God of the Bible. No other man-made religion can measure up in this regard.
And the final clincher; all other religions must WORK for their salvation, in Christianity salvation is a FREE GIFT paid for by Christ’s shed blood; and we cannot earn it by our own efforts.
I’m talking about Biblical Christianity, not Roman Catholicism.
Islam is primarily driven by fear and violence; most Muslims have little or no choice.
The best outcome for ALL men, including Muslims, is that they repent of their sins, and come to Christ – this is the ONLY hope for their eternal souls.
And, of course, the Bible prophesied of exactly the situation we find ourselves in in these end times:
November 7th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Pete – well their army would certainly be bigger by 12 if they hadn’t let this guy join.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Sorry Reid, I stand corrected. Cancel that order to shoot Reid and reinstate him with a new medal, a small pay rise and 2 days leave to visit his family and go to church.
We’ll need a conference on the German Muslims Question.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I’ve got to go and mow the lawn now or the wife will divorce me. To make it interesting I’m going to declare all the dandelions muslim and behead the fucking lot of the evil bastards. The daisys are those cowardly French assholes and the Germans are all hiding in the compost bin (they call it a bunker) waiting to make a sneak attack through the dense forest of weeds I have named the ‘Ardennes’.
I will suffocate the germans last of all when I empty the catcher into their bunker.
Right thats the world sorted now for those damned troughing pollies.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
I just found some new targets as well. Apparently, the gene pool needs some renovation. I’m only surprised they weren’t Americans.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
I was going to suggest that we do wives last.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Estimates of Muslims in the US range from 1 to 7 million. A third of them are black Americans.
Americans of German descent are the largest ancestry group:
German 50 million
Hispanic and Latino 46 million
African 40 million
Irish 36 million
Scottish 20-25 million
English 20 million
Italian 17 million
Asian 14 million
French 12 million
Arab 3.5 million
Russian 3 million
November 7th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Problem solved 50 million german americans can easily take out 7 million muslim americans (and the black part is a bonus)
they could miss more often than the world average and still get the job done!
November 7th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
And it would be bigger by a few thousand and 12 if they hadn’t let GW join.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Huruld’s headline on Fort Hood shootings is retarded.
US in shock as violence of war hits at home
He hadn’t even been deployed. Still, never let the facts get in the way of a good headline.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Dinosaur footprints have been discovered by scientists in Nelson.
The 70 million-year-old footprints are the first dinosaur footprints recognised in New Zealand and the first evidence of dinosaurs (apart from Jim Anderton) in the South Island.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10607872
November 7th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Religions are a blight on humanity.
Read “The God Delusion” by Dawkins and “God is not great” by Hitchens to form your own opinion.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Manolo 2:15 pm,
Dawkins is a deluded nutjob – someone should write a book called “The Dawkins Delusion”.
He doesn’t even have the guts to debate Intelligent Design advocates or Creationists. Even his science doesn’t stack up.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Re Pete George’s 1.35 “Dinosaur footprints have been discovered by scientists in Nelson.”
Hell Pete, did you see the latest report on this? They are female, and the same size as … yes they are Helen Clark’s! The left footprint is considerably bigger than the right one.
Hell the leftist twits are thick on Kiwiblog this morning. They think they’re safe with the Cat away in the Middle East.
Bad news, mo-fo’s!
November 7th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Malcolm : “in Christianity salvation is a FREE GIFT paid for by Christ’s shed blood”
Since blood sacrifice would appear to be an anathema to Jesus it would be disturbing to him that he is considered by so many to have become one for the whole of humanity.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Here’s Ron Paul on the progress of his bill to audit the Fed and why its important. The bill naturally has been completely gutted by guess what? The power of those lobbyists I referred to in my 9:16.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Yvette, the act of Christ’s sacrifice removed the need for blood sacrifice.
Those money changers that Jesus threw out were selling pigeons as well as shekels. It was performed by devouts right up to His death.
When He died, the temple curtain ripped, symbolising the path had been opened by Christ’s death.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Hide is stuffed unless Key saves him in 2011, I can see the Nat posters now, want to get rid of a troughing bastard Labour supporters, vote National.
Hide will be gone.
Hmm wonder if the lass who is young enough to be his daughter will stay with him now that taxpayer funded politician class holidays are off the menu.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
So who gets to get rid of those tough bloody Muslims the Turks, maybe the Israelis will believe their own propaganda and have a crack at them.
The Turks must be good, the Anzacs came second against them.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Here’s one for Obama fans (if there are any).
Obama creates 640,329 jobs at a cost of $323,739.83 per job
Using the WH’s own figures, we see that his stimulus package reads:
Funds paid out so far = $83.8 billion + $52.1 billion + $71.4 billion = $207.3 billion
$207,300,000,000 / 640,329 = $323,739.83 per job created
Read it and weep, Obamaphiles.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
“maybe the Israelis will believe their own propaganda and have a crack at them”
Yeah well before that happens the Israelis are going to have to partition Iraq and take out Iran both of which I can’t personally see happening successfully anytime soon, although that doesn’t mean they won’t try it on.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10607864
Oh dear. I am on the verge of getting on a plane and leaving NZ forever. This is really fucking nauseating.
I almost fell of my chair when I read:
“Commissioner Joris de Bres says unlike students wearing Nazi uniforms or schoolboys bowing to a swastika Mr Harawira’s comments are not a breach of the Human Rights Act, because he is entitled to freedom of expression.”
So young kids, (stupid and naive admittedly) who don’t know anything about history, dress up in some silly clothing and carry on like prats.
Yet a parliamentarian, the supposed bastion of civility and honour, refers to “white motherfuckers” in an email.
The parliamentarian escapes censure because he is entitled to “freedom of expression”, yet this right is somehow suspended when it comes to some kids being stupid.
Perhaps if they had said “We are dressing up like Nazis to ward jewish motherfuckers, whose Zionism has been raping and pillaging the german people for centuries”.
Would they have got off then?
Harawira is a racist, a bully, a hypocrite, and a thug, and the Human Rights Commission is an expensive racist joke. Every day that it remains in existence is a travesty, and every day that Harawira remains in parliament puts shame on our country.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Lets not forget how much unemployment these stimulus packages are creating by placing a stealth tax on the population either Reid, the amount per job created is going to be alot higher.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
reid : Yvette, the act of Christ’s sacrifice removed the need for blood sacrifice.
“It is ridiculous to claim that the religious leaders of Christ’s time would have plotted his death because he undermined the function of the moneychangers. Nor would the crowd have been “amazed at his teachings” if Jesus was simply telling them to make sure they were not short-changed when they purchased Temple coins. What the people were amazed at was his condemnation of animal sacrifice; it had been hundreds of years since that kind of condemnation had been heard in Jerusalem. A few days after he tried to overthrow the cult of animal sacrifice, Jesus was crucified. The religious leaders of his time were determined to preserve the belief that it had been ordained by God, who demanded its continuance.”
November 7th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
“Commissioner Joris de Bres says unlike students wearing Nazi uniforms or schoolboys bowing to a swastika Mr Harawira’s comments are not a breach of the Human Rights Act, because he is entitled to freedom of expression.”
Joris de Bres is a suckholer to Maori. Harawira’s Certificate is in the mail.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Maybe if those students were [insert oppressed minority here], they could have played the freedom of expression card too. But they weren’t, so they couldn’t. Fuck Joris de Bres. Why hasn’t Key sacked his arse?
November 7th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Then Harawira will say “Look what I’ve got Pita, you got one of these bro?”
November 7th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
What a fucking joke alright.
We need a Ron Paul for New Zealand, he’d sack all these idiots.
Pity no-one has the guts to do anything about it.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
“President Whatarangi Winiata said yesterday that the party was on the verge of disciplinary action against the MP, whose behaviour involved “serious breaches of the kaupapa and tikanga of the party”.”
“Commissioner Joris de Bres says . . . Mr Harawira’s comments are not a breach of the Human Rights Act, because he is entitled to freedom of expression.”
So : does Joris de Bres discount the kaupapa and tikanga of the Maori Party in favour of what he calls Mr Harawira’s entitlement to freedom of expression?
November 7th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10607842
Well done [deleted by DPF and 30 demerits for exposing me to contempt of court]
November 7th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
What a joke goonix.
And discharged without conviction for a indecent assault!
No justice at all, shame on the judge.
EDIT: not that I know who the person is, or if goonix is just joking
November 7th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/3040431/Harawira-hints-at-quitting
Do us all a favour and fuck off now.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Black death in the Ukraine
http://ukraineplague.blogspot.com/
November 7th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I wonder if Hone wants to be ousted from the Maori Party only to come back next Election as an Independent Candidate for Te Tai Tokerau? He has the support.
That way, if he wins, he answers to nobody, only his people.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
CRMS Warning for the Week:
Investing billions of dollars in commuter rail in 2010, hoping it may still be functioning in 2025, could prove to be a memorable study in the art of bad timing.
It will be as big a loss maker as:
· Investing in a fleet of Boeing Stratocruisers in 1956. (Jets)
· Investing in a vacuum tube company in 1960. (Transistors)
· Investing in a slide rule factory in 1969. (Hand held calculators)
· Investing in a typewriter company in 1975. (Word processing/personal computers)
· Investing in a vinyl record and turntable factory in 1980. (CDs/DVDs)
· Investing in a telex factory in 1985. (Fax machines)
In other words, a free pass to the Dumb Decision Makers’ Hall of Fame.
Only a Government would even think about it. (See Item One)
November 7th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
“It is ridiculous to claim that the religious leaders of Christ’s time would have plotted his death because he undermined the function of the moneychangers.”
Er, Yvette, I wasn’t making that claim, merely making a side-comment around my central point.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Where is the resident magpie today?
Quardle Oodle Ardle one
November 7th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
It’s too quiet, he’s gotta be up to some mischief
November 7th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
So Joris the old commie wants to excuse the brown motherfucker?
Human Rights Act, section 61:
Racial disharmony
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person—
(a) To publish or distribute written matter which is threatening, abusive, or insulting, or to broadcast by means of radio or television words which are threatening, abusive, or insulting; or
(b) To use in any public place as defined in section 2(1) of the Summary Offences Act 1981, or within the hearing of persons in any such public place, or at any meeting to which the public are invited or have access, words which are threatening, abusive, or insulting; or
(c) To use in any place words which are threatening, abusive, or insulting if the person using the words knew or ought to have known that the words were reasonably likely to be published in a newspaper, magazine, or periodical or broadcast by means of radio or television,—
being matter or words likely to excite hostility against or bring into contempt any group of persons in or who may be coming to New Zealand on the ground of the colour, race, or ethnic or national origins of that group of persons.
Luckily, I can use the words brown motherfucker to my heart’s content, now I know I’ve got freedom of expression…
November 7th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Reid, come on, don’t be silly.
The Human Rights Act only applies to whites.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Yes he had. The jihad is global.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Grumpy at 2.44: “…The Turks must be good, the Anzacs came second against them….”
Only at Gallipoli, Grumpy. The Anzac Mounted Division played a big part in the heavy dusting up of the Turks in Palestine, Gaza, and northwards.
The Turks also were well beaten in Arabia and Iraq, etc. At Gallipoli the Turks had a lot of strategic and tactical help from the Germans, and seaborne invasion, always difficult, was a big challenge then without landing craft and ground attack aircraft to soften up the defences, then coming in on rowed boats to beaches under cliffs.
I think the Turks performed well in Korea, and were the eastern anchor of NATO in the Cold War, but they have their own problems. Up to 30 per cent of the people are Kurds or other minorities, and industrialisation and rising living standards will be weakening resolve to die for the Government.
If you judge troops only by their enemies’ success, you would also have to put the Anzacs second to the German airborne troops who opposed the Anzacs in Crete and again at Cassino, but those battle results don’t tell the whole story.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Re NickB at 3.05 on Joris de Bres.
Red Boris has long been a joke. But picking on schoolkids skylarking in a museum, albeit offensively, while only tisk-tisking Hone Harawira proves the whole human rights legislation is a crock. As does the overreaction to the Lincoln students partying as dress-up Nazis.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
There’s nothing like Trevor Loudon picking apart the fifth columnists in our institutions.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Joris de Bres
Human Rights Commission
Wellington
7 Nov 09
Dear Brown Motherfucker,
I am writing to complain about the email sent by that other brown motherfucker which called NZ Europeans White motherfuckers and alleging we raped land and ripped off brown motherfuckers and that all of us are full of puritanical bullshit.
I find this disturbing and offensive expecially in light of S61(c) and ask that you immediately investigate that brown motherfucker because I think he’s a real c**t.
While acknowledging that some white motherfuckers are full of puritanical bullshit I point out this phenomena is strictly confined to Labour/Green voters who are self-righteous twats and prats as well and I ask you also to make that brown motherfucker issue a public clarification so as to clear up this appalling and hurtful allegation.
Yours sincerely,
Reid
White motherfucker
November 7th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Go fuck yourself de bres…you are a waste of money and a waste of space…John Key…stop smiling..get off your fucken arse..and sort this shit out.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Agreed starboard.
What fucks me off is the thousands of kiwis struggling with bills, small business owners struggling with ACC and tax, and yet we continue to tax them out the arse to pay for thousands of fucking useless, pompous, self-elevating numbnut bureaucrats to tell us what to do, what to think, what to say.
If I was the editor of a major paper, the headlines would read “Race Relations Commissioner says- Racism okay”
November 7th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
what is untrue about what he said..?..reid..?
have you never read/learnt any new zealand colonial history..?
if you had you would hardly call harawiras’ words ‘this appalling and hurtful allegations’…?
eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
blah blah blah blah wardle oodle ardle wank wank..fuck off whore ya tosser
November 7th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
this is about britain..and tory policies there..
but it is most certainly about here…
(especially with reference to the ‘winners & losers’ in this recession/depression..)
and what this piece illustrates..
is how jhn key is doing/has done all the wrong things..
..to repair our economy..
November 7th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
People for Hone Harewirarghaugsi’s bropartheid racism:
PhilU and Luc Hansen
People against Hone Hariwireresignnow’s bropartheid racism:
Everyone else
Oh, and Phool, Hari is a Marxist idiot who’s only where he is because he shills for the left. I’ll post my part-Fisking of it when it comes up on another blog’s comment section.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Must have been a good stogie Phool.
Quardle oodle ardle the stoner said
November 7th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Extract from “The Magpies Song” by Frank S. Williamson.
Oh, the noon beside the ocean, when the spring tide, landward set,
Cast ashore the loosened silver from the waves of violet,
As the seagod sang a lovesong and the sheoak answer made,
Came the magpie’s carol wafted down the piny colonnade,
Trolling, trolling, trolling in a nuptial melody,
As it floated from the moaning pine to charm the singing sea.
I particularly like the fifth line.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
I have read alot about how the Maori colonized this land before the European nations arrived Phillu, don’t blame others for playing by the rules of the day.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Excuse me for a moment, gotta get my glass of shiraz off the side of the BBQ.
That’s the BBQ that’s cooking garlic and onions and some huge bits of fillet
November 7th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
black arse harawira cant get away with this…he has overstepped the mark big time..he has to go from parliament no ifs no buts..I can call him blackarse cos de bres says its freedom of speech..
November 7th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Suck eggs Phool.
No, don’t do that, suck bean sprouts instead
November 7th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Sideshowbob, you finished milking?
Sometime soon you will finish milking, unlike Phool who milks 24/7
November 7th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Mrs Titiwhai Harawira,
Can you please smack your son’s bum for being a naughty boy? He will not learn until he respects the rights of all New Zealanders instead of racist Maori rights.
Thank you Mum, mother of Maori
November 7th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Phillip Ure (5.27pm) defends Hone Harawira.
So Phil – when you said on 14 February 2005:
“my name is phillip ure; i am an ex junkie (15 yrs clean of junk; still use pot), ex con (armed robbery of chemist shop whilst going through smack withdrawels), vegan,dpb supported sole dad(thanks), environmental/animal rights activist/supporter.
my lineage is irish, scots, welsh; filtered through five generations in this wonderful country. (did anyone see connolly last night, whoar!)
i have travelled/lived in aust, usa, europe, china/asia and other parts of the planet.
i loathe racists my name is phillip ure; i am an ex junkie (15 yrs clean of junk; still use pot), ex con (armed robbery of chemist shop whilst going through smack withdrawels), vegan,dpb supported sole dad(thanks), environmental/animal rights activist/supporter.
my lineage is irish, scots, welsh; filtered through five generations in this wonderful country. (did anyone see connolly last night, whoar!)
i have travelled/lived in aust, usa, europe, china/asia and other parts of the planet.
i loathe racists with an intensity that is visceral. .”
did you mean ALL racists, or does your loathing only extend to white people who are racist towards non-white people? Harawira’s comments yesterday were blatantly racist, and I’m surprised you’re not addressing your vitriol towards him “with an intensity that is visceral”
November 7th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
but what he said is true..
wouldn’t you be pissed off..?
if you were maori..?
you’d have to be fucken braindead not to be..
eh..?
and it was written to a maori associate he knows..in an email..
and anyway..as i said b4..
the subtext here is that harawira is pissed off at the maori party selling out to labour..
(and i reckon that him and sue bradford would/could be a powerful nucleus of a kick-arse new political party..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
(edit facility still not working..)
of course..it is national who the maori party have sold out to..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
The Lunatic Racist Party?
The Phool Party?
The How Fucking Stupid Is MMP If These Two Fuckers Manage To Get Into Parliament Party?
Or we can just call them Alliance again.
November 7th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Phillip Ure said “but what he said is true..”
What Phil – that whites are motherf**ckers? That’s absolute bollocks, and blatant racism. I think you’re being just a little hypocritical here Phil – either you loathe racists “with an intensity that is visceral”, or you don’t – which is it?
November 7th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
no..that whites have systematically ripped off maori since early colonisation..
what’s incorrect about that..?
harawira was just stating an historical fact..
(and all this shock!/horror! from the rightwing/openly racist trolls here..is kinda ‘funny’..eh..?..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
White motherfuckers, phool? Or just whites?
Tell me, do you want white motherfuckers subsidising your existence?
Gotta love Phool’s subconscious racism.
November 7th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
how about ‘the workers party’..?
that’s nice and unambiguous..
a party clearly focussed on working for all the battlers/screwed over..
with their combined appeal…
they wd easlily crack 5%..
(and they are ‘needed’..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
There is a truth to it Phillu but the real truth is that ripping of ones fellow man is not exclusive to whitey, if you are wronged do you make innocent people pay for the crime? most who are alive today have never raped or pillaged the land yet are forced to pay for a crime they never committed, so when Honi said what he said it tarred all of one ethnicity with the same brush in an attempt to justify his own hypocrisy.
November 7th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Sir Clive James on the golf-ball based potato chip, and the importance of skepticism in the global warming debate.
It’s a 10 minute audio and, as is usual for Sir Clive, both entertaining and thought provoking.
November 7th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Phillip Ure said “but what he said is true..”
Yes, he’s said that twice now. Sadly, phil has missed the point. The issue is not whether it’s true, it’s that it’s offensive. Secondly, the brown motherfucker who’s cuzzies rape our welfare system, invited the recipient to go to the media.
S.61(c) of the Human Rights Act which I quoted above, says that that, is a breach of the act. M-kay?
The fact that the brown motherfucker who’s cuzzies rape our welfare system is an MP, makes it twice as bad, not legally, but ethically, which is why the Maori Party are so appalled.
To cap it off, the brown motherfucker who’s cuzzies rape our welfare system, refused to resile from his comments when challenged.
Whichever way you cut it, the brown motherfucker who’s cuzzies rape our welfare system is guilty of inciting racial disharmony, and that is regardless of anything whatsoever to do with the truth or otherwise of his statement. Is that quite clear phil?
“i reckon that him and sue bradford would/could be a powerful nucleus of a kick-arse new political party”
Which just goes to show phil why most people don’t exactly regard you as a towering intellect on the political analytical landscape.
eh…
November 7th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Bwadford and Harikari in the Workers’ Party. Hilarious.
Dunno how they’d fight for the Middle Class though.
November 7th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
That’s irrelevant Phil. Harawira’s choice of words “white man’s bullshit” and “white motherf**kers” was blatantly racist. If you or I were to comment on “black man’s bullshit” or “Maori motherf**kers”, that would be equally racist.
And FWIW Phil, I dislike racists too; just not quite as viscerally as you perhaps. And Hone Harawira is a racist as far as I am concerned.
November 7th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
reid said “Which just goes to show phil why most people don’t exactly regard you as a towering intellect on the political analytical landscape.
eh…”
Indeed reid – and Phil probably doesn’t see the irony in suggesting that No-smack Sue Bradford could be involved in somethinh he decribes as “kick-arse”
November 7th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
“..The issue is not whether it’s true, it’s that it’s offensive..”
oh..!..more offensive than the ’screwing over’..?..really..?
you would feel that way were you maori..?
eh..?
“.. Secondly, the brown motherfucker who’s cuzzies rape our welfare system..”
hey buddy..!..’your crew’ are the mega-troughing scumbags douglas and hide..
both with both arms in the trough..and whirring like windmills..
and are you quite happy with financing rodneys’ mid-life crisis..?..are you..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
“..Dunno how they’d fight for the Middle Class though…”
they wouldn’t bother..
national/act/labour/the greens are already squabbling over them..
they’d have pretty much a ‘clear run’..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Phool, the mega trougher, criticises other troughers.
You are such a hypocrite. A glittering career in politics awaits.
November 7th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
“oh..!..more offensive than the ’screwing over’..?..really..?”
Yeah those damned settlements designed to redress the imbalance are terrible aren’t they phil. What would YOU do were you back in 1984 before it began? What would YOU do, specifically. Be specific phil. Would you give them Auckland. Would you say to every single resident in Auckland that they didn’t have a house anymore because the brown motherfuckers needed them? Or would you (chortle) naively imagine that cause its the gummint, it has heaps of money eh and so we can pay them anything we like. Tell us what you’d do phil, go on. BE SPECIFIC – name dollar amounts.
“and are you quite happy with financing rodneys’ mid-life crisis..?..are you..?”
No, I said that both last night and this morning phil. I think its appalling. Why do you imagine I’d support what Rodney’s done in anyway? What the fuck do you think I am – Rodders all the way, right or wrong? C’mon, I’m NOT like the Greens who decided to let Liarbore get away with such actions because they were “on the same side.” That’s scumbag behaviour and showed the Greens were unprincipled naive liars. I’m not like that AT ALL, thank you.
November 7th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
“how about ‘the workers party’..?
that’s nice and unambiguous..
a party clearly focussed on working for all the battlers/screwed over..”
Hahahahahaha WTF would you know about “workers” phool you’ve never done a days work in your whole useless life what a bloody joke you really are mate.
November 7th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Btw Phool my food is good right now.
You should convert to Maoridom. Even if you have one brown/black mole on you, this is the path of the bludgers to live off taxpayers.
No more? eat the trough and demand another full trough.
November 7th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
we all must bow before hide/douglas..
they are the ‘big kahunas’ of the troughing world..(travel-subsection..)
eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
You really are totally ignorant, aren’t you, phool?
November 7th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Hurf Durf,
That’s how it works, diversion. That fucking idiot has no idea about ignorance.
Quardle ooddle aardle the idiot said
November 7th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Guy Falkes,
Phools version is that double happies blast off in the brain, stoned twice from the same spoon.
November 7th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
“..phool you’ve never done a days work in your whole useless life .”
i work every day..
it is a news-aggregating website called whoar.co.nz..
(didn’tyaknow..?..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 7th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Phil – if you “work every day”, why are you on the DPB?
November 7th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
So philu when are you going to stop obfuscating and tell us why the phrase “white motherfuckers” is not racist?
November 7th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
David Farrah is not here, he is overseas earning money and having a holiday.
Thing is, DPF pays. The taxpayer don’t fund him.
Now if he decides to visit another city, it is his choice.
If DPF was going to a meeting somewhere in Europe and got sick, that would be ok.
If DPF was found in another city, that would be ok.
If DPF was funded by the taxpayer to travel to another City, that is not ok.
Hone is entitled to the same as all MPs
Hone is not entitled to make it a racist issue
November 7th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
philu you must have a semblance of a brain if you obtained a masters, which is why it surprises me you continu to defend the indefensible and have such utter hypocritical double standards, the fact remains that Harawira is a bully and a racist, and you haven’t explained why “white motherfuckers” is justified for a parliamentarian to use.;
November 7th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
He probably just did the bunk courses like Social Justice and told his tutors what they wanted to hear.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
“hey buddy..!..’your crew’ are the mega-troughing scumbags douglas and hide..”
Philu, after the last few months on this blog, you will have realised that most people in this thread are relatively apolitical in the sense of following a party, there are very few out and out cheerleaders on KB, most just want the govt out of our lives and pockets, thus many (including myself) feel as disgusted by Hide’s troughing as anyone else’s.
So stop dodging the question, and tell us why “white motherfuckers” is not racist.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Phool is doing vegan BBQ and watching the lights in the sky.
Boom boom
November 7th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
“I wish to make an official complaint about Maori MP Hone Harawira referring to my people as “white motherfuckers who have been raping our lands and ripping us off for centuries”.
This maybe true BUT it is outrageous for a MP of our Parliament to say so in this way.
I would expect that the Race Relations Commissioner is also outraged and take steps to censure .. whatever, this person.
He should be dealt with in the same as I would expect to be if I called him (MR Harawira) a “brown motherfucker”, which I would never do of course.
ps .. Mr De Bres does not need to issue me a certificate for standing up to this blatant racist, it is my duty to do so”.
That was my email to infoline@hrc.co.nz
come on Philu .. get a grip, you might be happy to be called a white motherfucker but I’m not. I loved my mum but not that much.
Steve 5:39 .. yep, Sat nights are bbq nights .. scotch fillet with asparagus, glazed onions, broccoli/bacon and tai kumara from the supermarket and yes, washed down with a couple bottles of red (not lion red)) burp/hic
November 7th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
“Mr De Bres does not need to issue me a certificate for standing up to this blatant racist, it is my duty to do so”.”
LOL at this part jabba
November 7th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Anyone else just had a short, 30 second powercut?
November 7th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
November 7th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Krudd needs to shut his fucking mouth, as he might well say.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Grumpy old hori (and I won’t use the other elegant phrase that the teammate from up north used), re the Nats.
Why would the Nats want to change things? They are just as big at troughing as the Liarbour Party. No my friend Bill and Nick and Maurice won’t change and nor will they change anything to advantage NZ.
Sometime soon the rest of you lot will start to realize what a waste of space the Nats really are.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Q+A in the morning. Apparently the billous one is going to be interviewed. Probably some coded instructions for the lefties and for Trev.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Banks in the crap with Ausiie Tax office.
A COMPLEX and highly secretive $US125 million ($137m) deal by National Australia Bank, codenamed Project Turtle, is one of a series of transactions by local banks at the centre of a crackdown by the Australian Taxation Office.
Details of the deal, obtained by The Weekend Australian, shed light on “asymmetric swap” schemes with offshore financial institutions as possible vehicles for large-scale tax avoidance.
The ATO’s action, which has split the banking and tax communities, again puts the tax practices of NAB, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Bank under the microscope.
It comes as the Big Four banks, including Westpac, face a hefty
$2 billion tax bill in New Zealand from soured structured finance transactions.
ANZ and CBA refused to comment yesterday on their exposure to asymmetric swaps, but NAB said its transaction was entered into as part of its fee-generating wholesale banking business, and met all relevant internal approval processes.
“NAB will of course co-operate fully with the ATO in its industry-wide review of these transactions,” a spokesman said.
The deals targeted by the ATO, which could involve revenue leakage in the hundreds of millions of dollars, feature a local bank and an offshore financial institution.
The offshore entity typically deals in equities, currencies and commodities and is keen to hedge its trading portfolio.
The local bank agrees to swap transactions, involving its domestic banking operation and its offshore banking unit (OBU), which is concessionally taxed at 10 per cent. Through an arbitrage of the lower OBU tax rate and the 30 per cent rate for the domestic banking unit, the local bank always makes an after-tax profit, after collecting a taxable flow of fees for entering into the swaps.
In Project Turtle, NAB agreed to a long swap transaction with a global investment bank over an equity index involving a notional principal of $US125m.
If the index rose, the investment bank would pay NAB a certain amount, and the reverse would occur if the index fell.
NAB, through its OBU, also agreed to a short swap over the same index for a notional principal of $US97.2m — lower to allow for the concessional tax rate. The period of the swaps was for one year. NAB was to get a fee of $US8m.
In mid-2008, the parties signed off after NAB obtained a favourable private ruling from the ATO.
Soon after, the benchmark index for the deal slumped due to the financial crisis. The parties agreed in April to an early termination, with NAB taking a $US97m loss on the long swap and a $US75.6m profit on the short swap.
After collecting a $US7m fee, the bank lost $US14m on a pre-tax basis, but scored a $US5m after-tax profit. Despite issuing seven favourable private rulings, including one for Westpac that the bank ultimately did not use, the ATO released a draft determination last month saying its preliminary view was that the Part IVA general anti-avoidance provision applied to asymmetric swaps.
By itself, the fact that the domestic bank always makes a profit is not considered sufficient to invoke Part IVA.
The ATO’s draft determination therefore split the tax and banking industries.
“Asymmetric swaps are a much better thing than betting on the Melbourne Cup — the bank makes money if equities go up, and it makes money if equities go down,” a banking industry source said.
“My guess is that the ATO will soon be issuing assessments to the banks, because, in tax, when you think it looks too good you know it probably is.”
A tax expert, who condemned the ATO’s u-turn after its private rulings, said he was still uncomfortable about the major banks benefiting from a domestic tax arbitrage.
“The indexes could have gone the other way and the ATO would have made a windfall,” he said.
“Still, it’s not a good look for the banks to engage in domestic tax arbitrage, when the OBU system was set up to make them more globally competitive.”
Greg Pratt, a partner in Ernst & Young’s financial services tax group, said asymmetric swaps had a big impact on the pre-tax profit line, so the “tax tail should not wag the commercial dog.”
“But for Part IVA to apply, an objective person has to conclude that the dominant purpose is tax avoidance, and it’s hard to see how a draft determination without regard to any particular facts or taxpayers will apply,” he said.
Corporate Tax Association executive director Frank Drenth noted that the draft determination still had to be fully implemented.
But he argued it would be “concerning” for the ATO to issue favourable rulings to the banks, and then invoke Part IVA after seeing how the transactions turned out.
The profits, he said, had ended up in the OBU, taxed at 10 per cent, while the losses went into the entity taxed at the full rate.
“I bet if it had been the other way around, then we wouldn’t be looking at undoing the private rulings,” Mr Drenth said.
In the meantime, David Butler, who as NZ tax commissioner ran the structured finance cases against the Big Four, rejoined the ATO in September last year. He doesn’t have direct responsibility for the asymmetric swaps fracas.
November 7th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
http://www.interest.co.nz/ratesblog/index.php/2009/11/06/opinion-why-tax-cuts-would-have-been-better-than-govt-spending-sprees/
Is John Key the ‘do nothing’ Prime Minister?
* Yes. Rodney Hide is right. Key needs to get on with reforming the economy and forget about remaining popular forever. (68%, 151 Votes)
* No. He’s done as much as he should have. You’re all a bunch of nervous nellies. Everything is fine (17%, 37 Votes)
* No. He’s rightly waiting for his experts to advise him on the right way to do it. (15%, 35 Votes)
Total Voters: 223
November 7th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
“So who gets to get rid of those tough bloody Muslims the Turks, maybe the Israelis will believe their own propaganda and have a crack at them.”
Pretty Unlikely because Turkey and Israel are politcal Allies – the borders are open between the two countries. When I was in Turkey I was interested to visit a city which displayed the Israeli flag and had a sister city in Israel.