The Daily Blog Watch Good Friday edition

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Today’s Daily Blog Watch Round-Up of matters that have attracted the attention, assessments, and articulations of this country’s leading bloggers…

NZ Left Blogosphere

We open with No Right Turn’s blogpost, “The Orcs are back“. National has issued eight prospecting permits for mining companies to have a poke around our National Parks.  The Nats – hand on heart – insist that prospecting licenses are not a prelude to mining.  Oh yeah. Like that’s believable.

On The Standard, Karol also writes in “Mining & the sly dismantling of conservation protections” that job and funding cuts at Doc is National’s M.O.  to weaken the guardian of our environment and allow mining in conservation lands. Considering that it’s been revealed that National is allowing prospecting in Schedule 4 Conservation lands, it seems she has a valid point.

Conservation Minister Nick Smith denies that prospecting will lead to mining, saying “It’s not because they’re proposing to mine in that area – Government’s very plain that’s no go.” (“Prospecting but no mining on conservation land – Govt“)

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

Yeah. Right. Mining companies are prospecting because one of their staff lost their watch, and they’re trying to find it. *rolls eyes”

Also writing in The Standard is QoT, with a piece about NZ First MP, Asenati Lole-Taylor’s comments about under-age young women/girls involved in the sex trade in Aucklands. QoT takes Ms Lole-Taylor to task from several angles. See: “New Zealand First: hates sex work, loves rape culture“. Winston will not be a happy chappy.

And LPrent writes in “Surplus power and asset sales” about Rio Tinto’s hands around Meridian’s neck, in an effort to wring a cheaper deal out of the powerco.  This has the potential to destroy National’s asset sales programme, as this would inevitably undermine the value of floated shares in electricity SOEs. Thanks, Rio, keep up the excellent work! 🙂

This is obviously a hot topic – and the heat is likely to build, as New Zealanders come to the conclusion that they’re in for another shafting. Robert Guyton writes in “Tiwai threatens asset sale” that National is being reckless is trying to float shares in such a volatile situation.

The Jackal has also commented on the issue of under-age prostitution/sexual abuse  in Auckland – Prostitution law reform not the answer – and makes the point that the cutting back of social services by a government hell-bent on balancing their books, is probably not helping matters much. Like QoT, The Jackal wonders if “concerned citizens” have  contacted the police, as well as rearing up on their hind legs in Moral Outrage?

The Auckland Transport Blog has taken Gerry ‘The Pieman’ Brownlee for telling fibs  in “Government Misleads on Public Transport Spending In Auckland“. ATB issued an OIA request to  Gerry Brownlee’s office and got back some very interesting information. The upshot, basically, is that Brownlee – like Dear Leader – wouldn’t know the truth if it was spray-painted in 100m tall letters on the Southern Alps. Nicely done, ATB.

More on public transport, the Green Party’s Frogblog reports that the IMF has condemned subsidies for the fossil fuel industry (hear that, you Tory buggers??)  and writes,

“The IMF have come out strongly against fossil fuel subsidies, saying that they are threatening both the environment and the stability of the global economy. The IMF has calculated around $1.9 trillion worldwide, or 8 percent of Government revenue is spent on energy subsidies the vast majority of these contributing to climate change.”

More here; IMF calls for fossil fuel subsidy reform. In’it funny how The Establisment is finally waking up to the fact that Earth is headed toward a Soylent Green  apocalyptic scenario – and it ain’t a particularly nice world to leave our kids. There’s hope for our planet yet…

On Brian Edwards Media, Brian offers us “The BBC’s Eddie Mair with Boris Johnson – Is this the style of interviewing we want to see on our TV screens here?”

“Don’t mention the “C” words” was the last blogpost from the excellent blogger, and critic of Fairfax Media, Fearfactsexposed. Whilst Neil (the blogger who operated Fearfactsexposed ) hasn’t posted since last October, his blogpost on climate change is more apropos than ever. Well done Neil – now please get back to blogging. Your country needs you. Stat!

Gordon Campbell on the “Rocket Docket” US injustice that Dotcom faces, and the Bluff smelter – asks; what do Somali pirates, corrupt Colombian generals involved in the drug trade, and mortgage lending fraudsters have in common with Kim Dotcom? Read and learn, chums, read and learn.

Campbell also writes about the shenanigans surrounding the Rio Tinto smelter and makes a few pointed comments  to those people wanting to buy shares in our powercos.

Meanwhile, Tim Selwyn over at Tumeke suggests that,

“There has been so much secrecy over the smelter deals in the past that NZers have come to have a very cynical view of Tiwai Point and the relationship with government (and later the corporatised power companies). It’s all a bit too matey and it’s all a bit of a mystery.”

Read more at “Helter Smelter“.

On The Daily Blog

Making Bold With The Speaker’s Chair – Chris Trotter writes about David Carter’s shameful behaviour in the Debating Chamber, and why his role as Speaker of the House is threatening Parliament itself.  An insightful look at Speaker Carter’s track record thus far. And why the Prime Minister is getting away with ‘comedy/murder‘…

What we were really thinking on Native Affairs – you and everyone else watching that programme. What on Earth was John Tamihere doing?! His remarks were banal beyond belief.

Department of Conservation Was Just An Aspirational Title After All – Aaron Hawkins writes about National and it’s contempt for our conservation values. Tourism. A cynical Prime Minister. Mining. DoC. It’s all here and neatly wrapped up.

Spinning the Private Prison Stats – Bomber Bradbury looks under the carpet that is the government’s report on prisons in this country, and finds a whiff of something rotten. Would you like a glass of propaganda to go with that Report, Citizen?

– Bomber also writes about The shameful, shameful framing of Teina Pora.  Shameful indeed. In short, Bomber demands the answer to this question,

“This is a shameful, shameful day in NZ justice and serious questions have to be asked of how the Police managed to get away with these types of corrupt tactics and it begs the question, how many other innocent NZers are serving time for crimes they never committed.”

To which can be added the question, “Who is next?”

– And staying on the issue of State power, Selwyn Manning writes Oversight Reform Of Intelligence Agencies A True Test Of Opposition’s Resolve, and Key’s “acquaintance” with the Director of the GCSB. Funny how the rightwing used to paint Helen Clark as abusing state power… while John Key seemingly has the police, SIS, and GCSB cosily in his pocket (though not necessarily in an ‘oversight kind of way’. Manning’s piece puts into perspective what is happening between the Polis and the Spooks.

– Bomber on The Vote writes in Vote Idol not so Idle. Basically it was shite. Nicely dressed up. Decent sized audience. Good topic for debate. Garner and Espiner looked snappy in their threads. But still – shite.

Post of the week

Sue Bradford writes on The Daily Blog about the uselessness of welfare “reforms” in Destroying lives to win votes: National’s anti-beneficiary rampage continues.

Sue puts it all together nicely and reveals for all to see that National’s victimisation of those on welfare ain’t much different to the Nazis persecution of Jews, Gypsies, Communists, Trade Unionists, etc. (And Godwin’s Law be f****d ten different ways. When it squeals like a pig and shit’s pig-poo, it’s a goddamn pig, you Godwin botherers.)

Anyhoo. Back to Sue’s excellent de-construction of National’s welfare “reforms” – this is the sort of stuff the msm should be reporting. God knows they get paid for it.

Read and weep. This is how the much reknowned Kiwi sense of “fairness” died a miserable death.