Hard News: Show some decency
164 Responses
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I'm personally resigned to the fact that even if National were toppled from power in a few weeks that this will still be a land of pointless drug prohibition, and crippling student debt, and that won't change any time soon under Labour. I'm not happy about it. But I'd be a whole lot more happy about it than National getting in again.
ETA: Damn, this post crossed the page boundary. It's in reference to the last one on the previous page.
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Hilary Stace, in reply to
Katherine Rich was on Nigel Latta's investigation into sugar on TV1 last night. Familiar lines now - attack the international academic expert, and then put it all down to individual responsibility and choice.
(It was the first of the Latta series I have seen and I was quite impressed although perhaps too many rotten teeth extractions from 2 year olds and amputated limbs in the dialysis unit. )
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
But I’d be a whole lot more happy about it than National getting in again.
And that's the 'nub' of it!
I'm happy with 'Factory settings' until someone finds the manual and gets it properly tuned again.
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Rob Stowell, in reply to
they could also be saying that they’re resigned to it.
Or they just don't believe it.
If you trust Key, and he keeps saying 'yes we talk to bloggers' as if that's all it amounts to, and 'left-wing smear campaign' - maybe that's all it takes. Seems to be the end of the story for many.
The other refrain is 'I'm tired of it'. That's harder for me to fathom, because it's a half- acknowledgement there's 'something to see here'. But let's not talk about it because it's- nasty? boring? difficult? clashes with my other beliefs?
I find myself looking sideways at these people. -
A close family member lost most of her retirement savings in Hanover. To think that as she was staring down the barrel of an extra ten years at work, these guys were trying to undermine an investigation into how it happened... To say it makes my blood boil doesn't really do it justice.
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National (45%) down after ‘Dirty Politics’ revelations, but Labour (26%) also loses support while Greens surge to 16% – highest since April 2012. Conservative Party at record high 3.5%
Today’s New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows a sharp decline in support for National (45%, down 3%) following the revelations of Nicky Hager’s ‘Dirty Politics’ and a similar gain in support for a potential Labour/Greens alliance (42%, up 3%). However, the gain in support has come entirely from a rise in support for the Greens (16%, up 4.5%) – now at their highest since April 2012, while potential governing partners Labour’s support has declined to 26% (down 1.5%) just over two weeks before the New Zealand Election on September 20.
Support for Key’s Coalition partners has fallen slightly overall with the Maori Party 0.5% (down 0.5%), Act NZ (1%, up 0.5%) and United Future 0% (down 0.5%). Potential ‘king-makers’ NZ First looks set to return to Parliament with 6% (down 0.5%), while the Internet-Mana Party alliance has declined to 1% (down 1.5%). Support for the Conservative Party of NZ has climbed to 3.5% (up 2.5% and the highest ever recorded) and support for Independent/ Others is 1% (unchanged).
And
Electors were asked: “If a New Zealand Election were held today which party would receive your party vote?” This latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention was conducted by telephone – both landline and mobile telephone, with a NZ wide cross-section of 762 electors from August 18-31, 2014. Of all electors surveyed 3.5% (down 3%) didn’t name a party.
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Rob Stowell, in reply to
Labour (26%) also loses support
I'm bloody close to (returning to) voting Labour. The one thing that sticks in my craw? Labour's pledge to get rid of the 'coat-tailing' provision.
I know it's unpopular. I'd prefer a much lower (2% or less) threshold - swap 'coat-tailing' for that, any day. I know it's unlikely to get passed by a Labour-led coalition.
But it's still a promise to (try to) give us a less democratic government, made for shallow populism. I can't vote for that. -
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10421329
A little 2007 history, as the post-87 stock market controls basically worked, the crooks all fled to the private finance industry. As a broad hint, when "everyone knows" how good some investment or another is, sell it. Faith and promise is absolutely lethal.
Cambell Live running stories about the dairy boom? Sell the farm. Wall-to-wall adds for great returns on investment? Divest. Waiter at lunch chatting about the stock market? Sell your stocks. Newspaper article about a company's bright future? It will crash.
No one tells you if they're onto a good thing. They don't talk to the press about it. They just sit on it and keep the return for themselves. Telling people about real profits floods the market with new capital and destroys profitability. People who tell you how awesome something is going to be, they are confidence men. Thieves. All of them.
Want to know if a business is worth investing in? Walk in on a Tuesday afternoon and check if they've got any customers at all. If the business is some complex financial structure that's hard to explain and doesn't actually sell anything? Don't put your money in it. People getting around "building society" laws by calling themselves a "finance company"? No. -
Is there a stage when you move past anger to sadness?
Yes, when justice is served. Even though people are guilty of horrendous things it is sad to see them go down, they could have been good people in different circumstances.
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A C Young, in reply to
Cambell Live running stories about the dairy boom? Sell the farm. Wall-to-wall adds for great returns on investment? Divest. Waiter at lunch chatting about the stock market? Sell your stocks. Newspaper article about a company's bright future? It will crash.
This is part of the reason I have not been particularly keen to get into the housing market for the last 3 years.
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Rob Stowell, in reply to
A little 2007 history, as the post-87 stock market controls basically worked, the crooks all fled to the private finance industry.
Classic.
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CJM,
Dita de Boni trying valiantly to prick the inane 'balanced' don't-rock-the-boat ethos over at RNZ on the panel today. She's a lonely voice at the Herald and I have quite a bit of respect for her.
John Bishop blathering on and on with the same tired mantra about the Hager 'stolen' information…christ he's boring! -
Ian Dalziel, in reply to
...christ he’s boring
I thought it a bit rich when
Bishop called Hager 'pious'... -
SteveH, in reply to
Or they just don’t believe it.
If you trust Key, and he keeps saying ‘yes we talk to bloggers’ as if that’s all it amounts to, and ‘left-wing smear campaign’ – maybe that’s all it takes. Seems to be the end of the story for many.
The other refrain is ‘I’m tired of it’. That’s harder for me to fathom, because it’s a half- acknowledgement there’s ‘something to see here’. But let’s not talk about it because it’s- nasty? boring? difficult? clashes with my other beliefs?I have a couple of right-leaning friends who just seem to want to ignore it all. I'm sure at least one of them would be all over it if it were a Labour government involved with a blogger doing this shit. They do seem to buy the line that Hager is a left-wing conspiracy theorist but the main one I hear is "everyone does it". Yet they don't actually want to look at it closely enough to even identify what it is that they claim everyone does. I suspect they know that if they actually examine the evidence they'll have to admit that it is a serious problem for National so they're indulging in a degree of willful ignorance. There is definitely some interesting psychology going on.
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Hanover sponsored the state news. The ad was read by trusted state newsman
Richard Long. The ads main selling point was Hanover had been around for a long time and weathered all economic conditions.Hanover is now just another example of our poor/incompetent/corrupt financial capitalism. National will never be able to prepare this because to them deep down Hotchins is just unlucky rather than the obvious shyster his company front was.I honestly feel sick about how many savings were lost.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
When justice is served...
Do you have a recipe that serves 4 million?
<aside>
I hadn't realised that Judith Collins' husband's company, Oravida, is also donkey deep in exporting rare swamp kauri logs...read here
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SteveH, in reply to
National (45%) down after ‘Dirty Politics’ revelations
If National's internal polling matches this (and Collins' falling on her sword suggests it does) Key might have to widen the scope of the inquiry to be seen to be doing something.
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Rob Stowell, in reply to
If National’s internal polling matches this (and Collins’ falling on her sword suggests it does) Key might have to widen the scope of the inquiry to be seen to be doing something.
You don’t think the sudden talk of $10, no $20 or no- maybe $30 a week! tax cut! and for the plebs! is a coincidence?
A few months back, English said tax cuts were unlikely, and if they did happen, would be small.
Now there’s a billion or several being dangled. Show us the money, Mr Key!
If the Roy Morgan is anywhere near close, no seats for the conservatives looks very costly for National. -
Steve Barnes, in reply to
Do you have a recipe that serves 4 million?
Why yes I do.
First peel 4 million onions, watch the people cry.
On the kauri log thing, I mentioned that months back and was ignored.....
Ignored I tell you. :-[ -
Bart Janssen, in reply to
they could also be saying that they’re resigned to it.
Aye that they could. But being resigned to having your party corrupted by some seriously selfish individuals isn't all that flash a position either.
I get that Key and his cronies don't really represent most National party members let alone their voters but that doesn't excuse giving them power.
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SteveH, in reply to
You don’t think the sudden talk of $10, no $20 or no- maybe $30 a week! tax cut! and for the plebs! is a coincidence?
A few months back, English said tax cuts were unlikely, and if they did happen, would be small.
Now there’s a billion or several being dangled. Show us the money, Mr Key!I don't think $10 or $20 or even $30 per week is going to buy off many people who have a strong moral revulsion to the behavior of Slater et al. I hope people also realise that any tax cuts will have to be offset by reduced spending or tax increases elsewhere (c.f. the last time Key graced us with tax cuts and then promptly raised the GST rate). Government debt has already more than doubled under this government and they've repeatedly promised balanced budgets.
I do find the hypocrisy of painting the left as prone to fiscally irresponsible handouts and then hinting at tax cuts quite stunning.
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
the obvious shyster
Can we avoid that word, please? It's caused enough trouble already this election. First time round I found it very hard to believe that anybody would not have known it's an anti-semitic slur, it caused enough fuss back then I don't see how anybody has any excuse to be using it now.
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Richard Aston, in reply to
There is definitely some interesting psychology going on.
You bet !
Willful ignorance and denial have been part of the human story forever.
Fear turns our eyes away from abuse and dis-ease
As Bruce Springsteen sang
Fear, its a powerful thing. It will turn heart black you can trust -
A C Young, in reply to
an we avoid that word, please? It's caused enough trouble already this election. First time round I found it very hard to believe that anybody would not have known it's an anti-semitic slur, it caused enough fuss back then I don't see how anybody has any excuse to be using it now.
According to wikipedia at least, it's probably not anti-semitic in origin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ShysterIt is close enough to genuinely anti-semitic slurs that it is probably not a good idea to use ( like niggardly).
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
You're right, I suspect. It was a very similar-sounding word of Shakespearean origin that caused the earlier bother, wasn't it? Sorry.
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