General Debate 17 January 2012

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Pete George

Colin James claims: Inequalities can no longer be justified.

He’s on a popular theme, so popular he thinks “inequalities are the big political issue for 2012 and beyond.”

Is it a problem we can coerce our politicians into doing something about? Is it something politicians can or should influence?

Or do we expect too much of our government and MPs? should we look at how we can do something about it ourselves?
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January 17, 2012 8:05am
Yvette

A Whanganui DHB spokeswoman said the hospital did not keep a register of non-accidental injuries, so it had no way of substantiating Mr Laws’ claims.

– http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6266511/Laws-hits-out-over-tots-suspicious-death

Should not all hospitals keep such a register?
Or would knowledge of that deter people from taking injured children to hospital?
Because the adults concerned may lack certain traits, but they are not entirely stupid.
They are the ones who now, instead of striking a child, will get an older brother or sister to administer the discipline they otherwise would – not something Bradford really saw coming.
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January 17, 2012 8:14am
Manolo

Inequality is the spice of life!
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January 17, 2012 8:15am
Pete George

Yes, but too much spice gets tongues burning.
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January 17, 2012 8:19am
annie

Yvette –
Hospitals report all non-accidental injuries to children to police, they don’t conceal any, or shouldn’t if protocols are followed.

They may not themselves keep a tally, but the cops would be the people to speak to, not the hospital. The reporter writing the article should have known that.
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January 17, 2012 8:19am
Pauleastbay

Any non accidental injury full stop gets taken to the police, stabbings etc
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January 17, 2012 8:22am
hmmokrightitis

There has always been ‘inequality’. There will always be people who run large companies, and people who move boxes around. And both of them are happy to do so. If they arent, its more important that they have access to opportunity to fix that. What they do with that opportunity is up to them.

Dont fall into the trap of ‘giving’ income to fix equality. Never works. And the sooner we man up as a country and realise all of this – scrap WFF, FFS, please – the better. You cannot force equality through redistribution – you can offer it through opportunity. Its up to people whether they take it or not.
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January 17, 2012 8:36am
reid

He’s on a popular theme, so popular he thinks “inequalities are the big political issue for 2012 and beyond.”

Yes the media and the lefties have been pushing this meme for 12-18 months now and as usual for a meme they pretend from day one that its a fact and that everyone thinks this, they are merely reflecting public opinion, not making it – just like they do with AGW.

It’s a shame most people in this country aren’t equipped to detect propaganda when it happens, it would make NZ a much better country.
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January 17, 2012 8:44am
Pete George

I agree that there will always be inequalities, and they can’t be ‘fixed’ by redistribution.

I do see a problem with obscene and unfair inequalities inincomes, especially when they keep accelerating. Those who decide on the level of inequality are those who benefit the most – it can result in rampant self reward.

Reasonable reward needs to be considered against greed.
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January 17, 2012 8:46am
Elaycee

I see a few ‘Occupy’ morons have set up again in Dunedin’s Octagon. Just after the Dunedin Council had spent several thousand dollars repairing the grass area after it was buggered by the previous squatters, one tent (yup, just one tent) had returned last night so Tee Vee sent a breathless ‘reporter’ along to interview the lead layabout.

So it appears that we have this 0.01% of our population (the placard wavers and dissidents) telling the 99.99% (the rest of us) how we should live our lives. And no doubt, we’ll have a repeat of the previous stunt – the buck will be passed around the Councils / Police until someone finally grows some nuts and tells them to piss off.

Mike Hosking (NewstalkZB) spoke to some clown in Dunedin this morning and the feedback was that the dissidents were going to remain in situ until the world created a more sustainable economy based on a fairer system of ‘wealth distribution’ and it was their right to be able to protest…. yada…. yada…. yada…. [yawn].

No doubt this will be one of the lead items on our TV screens tonight… Pfffttt….
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January 17, 2012 8:46am
hmmokrightitis

Pete, define reasonable. Based on risk / reward model. People who put capital at risk should expect a good – not fair – good return on that capital, because of that risk. I mortgaged my house again to build my company, and will sell it for a tidy sum in a few years. Did I ask the gubbermnint for help, the taxpayer? No. Me, I did it, at considerable risk. And I should be able to reap the potentially not inconsiderable rewards, should I not?

Or should I share that with every man and his dog? Will I share it with my employees – damn straight, they worked bloody hard as well. But if I walk away with say $10M from the sale, is that reasonable in your eyes? $5M? $20M?
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January 17, 2012 8:54am
Pete George

Elaycee – it looks like the Octagon tent was temporary, no sign of it on webcam now, which is wise, they would have seriously pissed off a lot of people if they had restablished their camp on the grass they munted.

http://yourdunedin.org/2012/01/17/occupy-is-back/
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January 17, 2012 8:59am
reid

For those still living in some 1980’s fantasy where America is still the land of the free:

http://jonathanturley.org/2012/01/15/10-reasons-the-u-s-is-no-longer-the-land-of-the-free/

And here’s his response to Carl Levin’s denials: honestly, you’d have to be blind or stupid not to know what’s going on. Of course that pesky cognitive dissonance has to be dealt with before you can see it, perhaps that’s just too difficult for some people. That’s going to be a great shame for them when all this framework is actitvated and people start being sent into the FEMA camps.

http://jonathanturley.org/2012/01/16/indefinite-detention-of-citizens-a-response-to-senator-carl-levin/
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January 17, 2012 9:09am
Elaycee

@Pete George: Thanks for the update – I really hope you’re right, but the chap Mike Hosking interviewed this morning gave the impression that the smellies were back for the duration. Not good. 🙁

Or maybe the few that were there have all raced across to the local soup kitchen to join the other dropouts for a freebee breakfast? Time will tell.
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January 17, 2012 9:15am
Pete George

Not surprisingly Michael Laws has something to say about the recent death of a baby in Whanganui.

He says “central government would have to take the leading role in the fight against child abuse”.

I disagree – central government should take a co-leading role alongside individuals, families and communities. We have to disestablish the futility of always expecting (demanding) government fixes all OUR problems.
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January 17, 2012 9:15am
Manolo

Imbecility to the nth power.

A shrine to Mr Hana on Courtenay Place grew as people added flowers and tributes. Messages were scribbled on walls and on cards, including “thanks for standing for what you believe in” and “love to the man in the blanket”.

WTF? The poor bugger only believed in booze and drugs!
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January 17, 2012 9:20am
Manolo

S&P downgrades one of E.U.’s lifesavers: http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2012/01/16/cuts-continue-sp-downgrades-europes-bailout-fund/
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January 17, 2012 9:24am
reid

I do see a problem with obscene and unfair inequalities inincomes, especially when they keep accelerating.

Pete I don’t disagree with the huge gaps – there is now more inequality than there was before the French Revolution began – but how do you encourage competition if one limits potential rewards? How would one do this? Tax income over say 200k @ 99%?

To me the first step in exploring this issue comes back to defining who is rich. That’s the first thing we should be doing. The poorest people would consider middle class people who owned their own homes as their only asset, as being rich. Should we tax income over $60k @ 99%? The media and the lefties deliberately leave this question undefined which is another sign they aren’t interested in it as a genuine issue but rather merely trying to setup the meme in the heads of the useful idiots (95% of this country’s population). Only once the useful idiots are convinced its a real issue will they then turn to discussing solutions. But they don’t want to explore the definition of who is rich for that would mean most people would end up with a small handful of people, say around a 1,000, with Gary Hart at the top. And then people would realise that maybe its not such a problem after all.

The one dynamic that is never discussed in this question which is the only dynamic that counts, is the mobility rate from the lower to the middle class. If one focused on that and tried to understand the drivers so one could educate the lower class on how to do it, the problem would go away, without employing the politics of envy at all. But that won’t happen, the media and the lefties won’t be doing that, since it doesn’t suit either of their agendas.

It’s merely another version of the politics of envy
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January 17, 2012 9:25am
nasska

PG @ 9.15

Michael Laws has been part of Government or the media for so long that he speaks in sound bites knowing that it is the only way he’ll get quoted. He has a point although……only central government can restrict the availability of the DPB which enables & even encourages these disfunctional people to breed.

Take away the financial incentives & the problem would become manageable.
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January 17, 2012 9:28am
gravedodger

@ elaycee 8 46, In his sign off Hosking opined, maybe a good time for Dunedin CC to fertilize the Octagon grass with Pig manure.
I thought that had already been done.
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January 17, 2012 9:29am
Manolo

“Occupy Wellington” parasites riding the wave: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6266211/Blanket-Man-highlights-troubles-for-city-homeless
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January 17, 2012 9:35am
Pete George

Reid: how do you encourage competition if one limits potential rewards?

That’s a major quandary to which there may not be a workable solution.
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January 17, 2012 9:37am
Manolo

An ungrateful refugee: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-13/caning-victim-considers-legal-action/3772280?section=vic
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January 17, 2012 9:38am
Put it away

Simple solution pete, if you think anyone’s getting paid too much, don’t buy their company’s products and encourage others to do the same. If enough people give a shit, the company will be forced to lower exec pay or go bankrupt and your envy will be satisfied. If not enough people give shit to have an effect, then there never was a significant problem in the first place.
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January 17, 2012 9:56am
mister nui

but how do you encourage competition if one limits potential rewards?

Not only that Reid, competition is also restricted by big business, they’re so far up the gummints ass, getting new bureaucratic measures put in place to stifle smaller more flexible and cost effective businesses.

Just look at GE and the Democrats in the US.
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January 17, 2012 9:56am
reid

An example of the value added by the advertising industry:

http://vimeo.com/34813864
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January 17, 2012 10:05am
Pete George

Put it away – I suspect that’s about the only way it could be done, as you say if anyone other than a few political idealists and moaners gives a toss.
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January 17, 2012 10:08am
reid

competition is also restricted by big business

Yes the modern lobby industry definitely undermines democracy esp in the US and they are simply a reflection of a trend that hasn’t yet reached the same proportions here but it will, eventually.

In my perfect world there would be no lobbyists, no PACs and only natural persons would be permitted to make any political donations. There would be horrendous sentences such as twenty years for any politician and donor who broke the rules. It would also prevent the current practice in the US where people from many industries but esp defence, retire then immediately become part of the Defence Lobby. That’s simply not acceptable.

This won’t ever happen, since politicians are not interested in doing things which impede their re-election.

I’m reading an excellent book called Confessions of an economic hitman which is the tale of a guy who was recruited to work for the World Bank and whose job was to over-inflate a developing country’s growth prospects simply in order that banks could get it into much more debt than it needed to regardless of the fact such debt bondage will exacerbate the country’s poverty. The bankers don’t care. And its all sold under the guise of the developed world doing the right thing for the less developed countries.

Some people have this fantasy everything is kosher in the western world and we’re the good guys. The truth is far from it and the reason is because at the top of industry and in govt there are a great deal of people who have no ethics at all in fact they are evil. The media never talk about because the media is owned by these same people who also own the companies who advertise in the media.
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January 17, 2012 10:24am
reid

Aposite to inequality:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-wall-street-in-one-brief-tale-20120113
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January 17, 2012 10:42am
Weihana

reid,

but how do you encourage competition if one limits potential rewards? How would one do this? Tax income over say 200k @ 99%?

In the 50s the top marginal tax rate in the United States was 91%.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States#Federal_income_tax_rates_2
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January 17, 2012 10:43am
reid

Aposite to migrating from politics to lobbying:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/revolving-door-from-top-futures-regulator-to-top-futures-lobbyist-20120111
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January 17, 2012 10:49am
reid

In the 50s the top marginal tax rate in the United States was 91%.

It was high in the 1980′s here too wasn’t it? Something like 60%?

I just don’t think tax is the right mechanism to address it. The inequality issue to me, is just another label for poverty. It’s part of the same meme. And the answer to poverty is not giving people more money, it’s educating them on how to get themselves out of it just the same way that the other 90% of people in the country do and if 9/10 do it then it can’t be too hard then, can it.

But the lefties who claim to care, won’t entertain this solution for it doesn’t suit their agenda of encouraging victimhood and helplessness.

IMO the aspect of inequality which gets people really excited is the corruption in high places. Like I said above if you dealt to that by getting rid of lobbyists and imprisoning people like in my 10:42 link, plus you started educating the poor, that would be my solution.
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January 17, 2012 10:59am
Keeping Stock

If you need another insight into why Labour was so badly beaten in the 2011 election, Moana Mackey provides it. It’s sad that she can’t say anything at all positive about a project that could revitalise the area, providing jobs and wealth. Instead, she trots out the slogans and attacks the government; it seems to be Labour’s default setting.

http://keepingstock.blogspot.com/2012/01/opportunity-or-threat.html

With people like Moana Mackey still gracing Labour’s benches, David Shearer has a nigh-on-impossible job ahead of him.
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January 17, 2012 11:16am
cha

@ Reid.

This for a fascinating bit of stuff about how secrecy, disinformation etc work.
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January 17, 2012 11:17am
reid

cha thanks for that link. Yes, it’s a bit of a shame the guy can’t wear a nice smart US Marines uniform like Ollie North wore during the Contra hearings. Then the public would really lap him up then, regardless of the truth, just like they did with Ollie. After all, looks really do count with the useful idiots, don’t they.

It’s a real shame that even if one considers oneself an astute political analyst, unless one drops the fantasy that the US is some heroic defender of democracy, one will never see the shit that really goes down and the way the world is going, its becoming more and more urgent that one does drop those scales. It’s quite ironic that the more one thinks one is an astute political analyst, the stronger the cognitive dissonance will be in that person. I see it all the time here, with various commenters.
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January 17, 2012 11:42am
grumpyoldhori

reid in 2008/9 I was arguing that that banks etc should be allowed to fail if need be, and the bloody funny part was that too many on the so called right were stating that was unfair on too many.
After watching over a billion paid out in the South Island to the greedy it is bloody funny looking at posts that seem to state, but they were owed,

If there had been no guarantee there would have been no payout, let greedy fools give their money to so called finance houses and suffer in bloody silence.
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January 17, 2012 1:13pm
nasska

reid

You often refer to ‘cognitive dissonance’ to explain why people normalise a situation or idea that would otherwise conflict with their view of the world. Do you agree with this explanation…ref:http://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-dissonance.html

In particular, do you agree with the evaluation McLeod gives? While I agree that sometimes ‘CD’ is the brain’s conscious reaction to something that grates with preheld ideas there appears ample room to argue that it would be the logical reaction to a lack of reliable information to warrant a change in the way one thought. Not all info is genuine or without an intended bias & without a mechanism to rapidly bin the rubbish our opinions would be worthless to anyone including ourselves.

It seems to me that cognitive dissonance is a coping mechanism when our information channels get overloaded with unverifiable information. I suggest that scepticism would be a perfectly valid synonym.
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January 17, 2012 1:17pm
Paulus

I see Gareth Morgan is going to pay for the “Blanket Man’s” funeral. Still trying for his philanthropic knighthood.
Wish his Kiwi Saver management results were so good !!!!
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January 17, 2012 1:23pm
reid

reid in 2008/9 I was arguing that that banks etc should be allowed to fail if need be, and the bloody funny part was that too many on the so called right were stating that was unfair on too many.

I was saying similar grumpy but the interesting thing is, if another big bank fails, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the same thing happening again.

It seems to me that cognitive dissonance is a coping mechanism when our information channels get overloaded with unverifiable information. I suggest that scepticism would be a perfectly valid synonym.

nasska re: the condition, I prefer this explanation since it covers the dynamics of it in a political context. It operates all the time. Wikipedia gives a trivial example of it: if we bought a new car and paid too much for it then we might make something up like at least we won’t have to service it too often which may or may not be true but that’s easier to believe. However the big problem with it in political analysis I think is that one’s political world view is a whole mosaic of beliefs and emotions built up over a lifetime and breaking through any dissonance which has crept into that over the years involves breaking down a whole edifice and that’s why its so difficult.

Approx 4 mins into the link one person describes what happened to her when it broke and that’s quite similar to how it worked with me. In early 2002 I just started looking at 911 because it was such an epochal event and since I like politics and esp geopolitics I just kept reading stuff on it. After months and months of looking at it, just like the lady on that video, I still clearly remember the exact moment I realised it wasn’t just fantastical bullshit, that things happened that day which were not being explored at all, rather deliberately suppressed and which still haven’t been explored and that was an emotional moment, not an intellectual one.

This is why people don’t even realise they have it/are doing it. It’s a real tell whenever you hear someone say: it couldn’t have happened because it would have had to involve thousands of people and someone somewhere would definitely have talked by now and a hell of lot of people here including DPF, come up with that particular refrain quite often when that event is discussed. I have observed that the stronger one’s ego is in terms of them thinking they really do understand the world and how it works, the stronger this reaction is and I wouldn’t be at all surprised were DPF to add something to that effect if he reads what I just said.

Even though it wasn’t immediate it took literally months before I had that epiphany, I don’t really know why overcoming it on this issue wasn’t a problem for me since all my life politics has been a study hobby and up till that day, I thought about the US exactly what DPF and others still do, that they were the good guys, that its leaders did act in the best interests of its people, etc. All I can think of is that in my particular world view I’ve always consciously adopted the intellectual approach that I just want the truth and I don’t particularly care whether or not I’ll like it. Another reason is when I look at politics I use the legal principal where its not necessary for an accused to explain how the crime the happened, its only necessary to establish whether or not the accused did it, all else is superfluous. That abovementioned refrain I often hear mentioned in the context of 911 is the epitome of the opposite approach and in something like 911 where reliable information on who, why and how they did it is not available, that is fatal if one insists on knowing that. All I do with it is take the Conan-Doyle approach: eliminate the impossible and whatever’s left, however improbable, has to be the truth but many people I don’t think, would be comfortable with that. That’s an important dissonance tell as well, since the Conan-Doyle principle is pure logic and feeling any discomfort in taking that approach with 911 is pure emotion.

It’s interesting however because that moment was like a watershed for me and it seemed to open a door because I still have my old worldview and I still know exactly where people like DPF come from whenever they discuss politics, and I also have additional layers of meaning which I can apply, as well. While these days I never think about 911 – its ancient history now – I see the fallout from it coming thick and fast and its frightening how the pace is increasing.
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January 17, 2012 2:25pm
Elaycee

gravedodger (1,018) Says: “In his sign off Hosking opined, maybe a good time for Dunedin CC to fertilize the Octagon grass with Pig manure. I thought that had already been done.”

😀
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January 17, 2012 2:34pm
Elaycee

I see that Wikipedia is to take itself off line for 24 hours tomorrow in protest at the introduction of Sopa (Stop Online Piracy Act).

How will some of the KB fraternity, possibly cope? 😛

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10779296
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January 17, 2012 3:02pm
Yvette

9/11
It’s a real tell whenever you hear someone say: it couldn’t have happened because it would have had to involve thousands of people and someone somewhere would definitely have talked by now and a hell of lot of people here including DPF, come up with that particular refrain quite often when that event is discussed.

Including of course thousands beyond the USA.
And the one person who knew he himself didn’t do it, was Osama bin Laden, who would have moved heaven and earth to reveal to the US people what their masters had done, if they had.
Which is why they killed him and dropped his body in the Indian Ocean … because … ooooh, shiiittt!
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January 17, 2012 4:29pm
cha

Oh dear.

#LOLGOP
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January 17, 2012 5:18pm
labours a joke

“Wish his Kiwi Saver management results were so good !!!! ”

Cant disagree there. Been paying in from the beginning and Im a thousand bucks in the red.
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January 17, 2012 5:55pm
reid

And the one person who knew he himself didn’t do it, was Osama bin Laden, who would have moved heaven and earth to reveal to the US people what their masters had done, if they had.

Yvette you’re quite naive if you think that was ever possible. Because what would just be the point of saying it? You need evidence don’t you, lots of it, irrefutable, how was he ever going to get anything, let alone the amount he would need to overcome the skepticism of the audience?

Anyway, I refuse to tell anyone about the main strands that are behind it because it’s just so passe these days and it’s all out there, so look it up yourself and you’ll see your objection by comparison to the issues, is rather trivial, not that I care about that issue, it’s just so passe.
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January 17, 2012 5:59pm
publicwatchdog

Seen this Kiwibloggers?

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1201/S00050/nz-asset-sales-policy-began-on-wall-street.htm

NZ Asset Sales Policy Began On Wall Street
Monday, 16 January 2012, 5:23 pm
Opinion: Clutha River Forum

NZ Asset Sales Policy Began On Wall Street

By Lewis Verduyn

The Key government’s asset sales agenda is derived from the Washington Consensus – a set of Wall Street-driven policies that were pronounced dead after the global financial meltdown in 2008.[1] The New Zealand government, however, remains loyal to this failed ideology.

Why? The obvious link is Prime Minister John Key – a former investment banker for Merrill Lynch, the world’s largest brokerage failure.

In most other countries, state asset sales have become a last resort on the road to poverty and ruin, but for the Key government, asset sales are “business as usual.” [2]

So what’s really behind asset sales?
All wealth extraction is facilitated by international and national economic policies, coupled with the private banking system, which together deliver benefits to the financial elite by transferring wealth upward within and between nations.

The state asset sales policy is just one of several reforms under the Washington Consensus, a set of monetary and economic policies designed to allow: the privatization of public resources and utilities, the removal of barriers to foreign investment and ownership, the sale of state assets, trade liberalization, deregulation, the lowering of business taxes, and cuts to public services.[3]

These “free market” reforms are collectively termed neoliberalism.[4] Simply, they provide big business with improved legal access to markets and assets worldwide.

The Key government’s asset sales agenda fits obediently into this ideology  the same ideology that ushered in financial deregulation, record bank bailouts, and the Second Great Depression.[5]

Governments in New Zealand have succumbed to the neoliberal movement since 1987, when the first round of asset sales began, as a Reagan-Thatcher-Douglas experiment.

Under these policies since the 1980s, New Zealanders have experienced almost the greatest increase in income inequality in the OECD.[6]

The deep roots of neoliberalism …….”

[1] Anthony Painter. (2009, April 10). The Washington Consensus Is Dead. The Guardian., Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/apr/09/obama-g20-nato-foreign-policy

[2] Mixed Ownership Monitoring Unit. (2011, December 15). Mixed Owner Model For Crown Companies. Crown Ownership Monitoring Unit , 1 The Terrace, Wellington 6011, New Zealand.
http://www.comu.govt.nz/publications/information-releases/mixed-ownership-model/

[3] John Williamson. (2004, September 24-25). A Short History of the Washington Consensus.
http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/williamson0904-2.pdf

[4] Neoliberalism. Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism

[5] Steve Keen. (2011, December 3). We’re Already In The Second Great Depression, We Just Don’t Realize It Yet.
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-12-03/markets/30471134_1_second-great-depression-hope-new-jobs

[6] OCED. (2011, December 5). Governments must tackle record gap between rich and poor, says OECD.
http://www.oecd.org/document/40/0,3746,en_21571361_44315115_49166760_1_1_1_1,00.html
‘The gap between rich and poor in OECD countries has reached its highest level for over 30 years, and governments must act quickly to tackle inequality, according to a new OECD report. “Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising” finds that the average income of the richest 10% is now about nine times that of the poorest 10 % across the OECD.’

……………………..

(There’s a LOT more! )
____________________________________________________________________

Penny Bright
waterpressure@gmail.com
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January 17, 2012 6:05pm
publicwatchdog

Here you go Kiwibloggers!

MORE ‘SMOKING GUN’ EVIDENCE OF THE LINK BETWEEN THE NZ FOOD BILL AND CODEX ALIMENTARIUS:

Review of NZFSA risk management processes underway | Scoop News
http://www.scoop.co.nz

“Review of NZFSA risk management processes underway

31 January 2008

The initial stage of a review of New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) risk management processes is nearing completion.

In mid-December last year Food Safety Minister Lianne Dalziel announced that internationally-renowned food safety expert Dr Stuart Slorach would be undertaking the review. ….

Food Safety Minister Lianne Dalziel has stated: “Dr Slorach has extensive experience in this area. He was Chair of the Management Board of the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) during its critical establishment phase, and Chair of the international food standards setting agency, the Codex Alimentarius.”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Review of NZFSA risk management processes underway
Friday, 1 February 2008, 1:43 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Food Safety Authority

Review of NZFSA risk management processes underway

31 January 2008

The initial stage of a review of New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) risk management processes is nearing completion.

In mid-December last year Food Safety Minister Lianne Dalziel announced that internationally-renowned food safety expert Dr Stuart Slorach would be undertaking the review.

Dr Slorach has been in New Zealand for the past two weeks, and leaves for Europe today. During his time here he has evaluated NZFSA’s systems and processes and met with Minister Dalziel and a wide range of interested parties, including scientists, members of special-interest groups, and representatives of food industry and consumer organisations.

During February Dr Slorach will visit the government food safety agencies of Ireland, Denmark and Sweden with the aim of comparing the approach in New Zealand with that of these highly regarded, European nations.
Dr Slorach is expected to return to New Zealand in late March to finalise his review, with Ministerial consideration of the final report and recommendations in the second quarter of the year.

Dr Slorach has been given full access to NZFSA files, staff and resources during his time in New Zealand. “I have had an opportunity to meet with people from a range of backgrounds and over the next month will be assessing the material I have gathered during my time here. My next step will be to undertake an assessment of NZFSA’s decision-making processes compared with those of the other food safety agencies.”

Food Safety Minister Lianne Dalziel has stated: “Dr Slorach has extensive experience in this area. He was Chair of the Management Board of the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) during its critical establishment phase, and Chair of the international food standards setting agency, the Codex Alimentarius.”

Dr Slorach also chaired an independent enquiry set up by the Norwegian government into the handling of an outbreak of foodborne illness caused by E.coli O103:H25 in Norway in early 2006

ENDS
________________________________________________________________________

Penny Bright
waterpressure@gmail.com
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January 17, 2012 6:10pm
labours a joke

“nutter alert”..
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January 17, 2012 6:12pm
Elaycee

Penny! You’re here….

Have you completed your ‘Accounting for Non Accountants’ course yet?

Has someone shown you how to correctly read the financials published with an Annual Report?

Have you stopped spreading lies about the remuneration levels of the POAL directors?

Or none of the above?

“There’s a LOT more…..” Pffttt….

Hypocrite: TICK!
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January 17, 2012 6:14pm
publicwatchdog

MORE ‘SMOKING GUN’ EVIDENCE LINKING NZ FOOD SAFETY BILL CODEX ALIMENTARIUS & THE PREVIOUS NZ (LABOUR) GOVERNMENT

http://www.foodsafety.govt.nz/elibrary/industry/Government_Response-Proposed_Thenzfsa.pdf

“(From) Office of the Minister for Food Safety

(To) The Chair, Cabinet Economic Development Committee

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATIONS MADE IN THE REVIEW OF THE NEW ZEALAND FOOD SAFETY AUTHORITY’S RISK MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK AND ITS APPLICATION.

Proposal

1. This paper by way of attachment, sets out a proposed response to the 39 recommendations made by Dr Stuart Slorach in his report Food Safety Risk Management in New Zealand: A review of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority’s risk management framework and its application. The Committee is asked to consider the suggested response (at Attachment A) and the recommendation to release the response and other attachments as referred to in this paper. The Committee is also asked to confirm its agreement to an announcement of the government response.”

(See Recommendation 13, Pg 9, and Recommendation 14, Pg 10 )

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Penny Bright
waterpressure@gmail.com
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January 17, 2012 6:40pm
Pauleastbay

My wife found me blow drying my penis and asked what I was doing.

Evidently “heating up your dinner” was the wrong answer
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January 17, 2012 7:09pm
nasska

Paddy and Liam are leaving the pub, pissed as usual.

“Come on back to my place, Liam” says Paddy, “I’ve got two cans of beer in the fridge. You just have to be quiet because the wife’ll be sleeping.”

On arriving at Paddy’s place, Liam needs to piss, so he goes off to look for the toilet and opens the bedroom door by mistake.

“Paddy,” he says rushing into the kitchen, “there’s a man lying in bed with your wife!”

“Jaysus,” says Paddy, “I hope you didn’t wake him up. I told you I’ve only got two cans in the fridge.”
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January 17, 2012 8:01pm
cha

The Rubberbandits – The Alarm Clock .
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January 17, 2012 8:13pm
nasska

Q. What’s the difference between being hungry and horny?

A. Where you put the cucumber.
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January 17, 2012 8:37pm

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