The Daily Blog Open Mic Wednesday 16th December 2015

1. In the last day or so, in response to the sad statistics about poverty levels in our nations children, we have had several government ministers all earnestly declaring how they are tackling poverty – by increasing benefits, getting people off benefits (an odd juxtaposition I think) and increasing medical benefits, free doctors visits etc.
   Yes, they have done all that and it helps somewhat, I suppose, but it is just really ambulance at the bottom of the cliff stuff.
   The root problems of why are kids are in poverty is that housing is too expensive in relation to wages. Wages are too low, employment is fragmented into part-time, casual and zero-hour contract jobs. Parents struggle to give their kids the things that they deserve to have a peaceful, fulfilling and happy life. National’s inability and unwillingness to admit the harm they are doing is amplified by the increasing dependence of the disadvantaged on foodbanks and charity organizations.
   The neo-liberal world which is everything to National simply cannot admit that having poor people at the bottom is the fault of the system, it is always the fault of the individual.
   National have conned the affluent middle classes into believing all their crap. This is why the sleepy hobbits do not think that having nearly a third of the country’s children is actually a problem. A third of our kids in poverty AND THAT’S NOT A PROBLEM??!! For f…s sake!
   It is an absolute disgrace and a government with a shred of integrity would resign and give the job of tackling poverty in a country which we used to call Godzone to someone who can do it properly.
   We now know that the National government has no such integrity.

   • +100 ….the other problem is that the NZ Labour Party lacks credibility and focus…hence there is no real effective Left led Opposition

     imo time for a new Mana Labour Party or a Labour Party with Mana

2. Many find RT a useful read and source of reference and opinion on world affairs…not least because RT is not afraid to explore opinions from all sides and resources some of the best USA journalists, international experts from academia, think tanks and intelligence analysts

   …but what /who is RT and its history?

   ‘RT`s world’

   https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/325580-rt-broadcasting-media-public/

   “Ten years ago this week RT started to carve out its mark in international broadcasting – and what a ride it has been! Never far from controversy, this network has prided itself on being different and saying what many dare not utter in public. In this edition of CrossTalk, we ask how RT has changed the media environment.

   CrossTalking with Rob Taub, John Laughland, and Dmitry Babich.”

   ( also for light summer viewing)

   https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/325829-syria-isis-us-allies/

   https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/325569-strategy-isis-terrorism-attacks/

   https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/325830-syria-washington-civil-war/

   • Yep Chooky, I heartily agree. RT is well worth a look in from time to time. It provides an interesting and worthwhile alternative perspective on the events of the day.

     Sophie Shevardnadze, (grand-daughter of the Cold War foreign minister, Edouard Shevardnadze?) for example, interviews some interesting commentators from the left in her program, including, recently Noam Chomsky. However I’ve found its necessary to upgrade Firefox (or Chrome) with a free videodownloader and download the programs before viewing, otherwise they don’t seem to show without breaking up. Limited bandwidth somewhere along the way, i suppose.

     Have a good Christmas, and a happy new year Chooky!

3. Thanks for giving us a break this week from your beloved – “Daily Chomsky”

4. RT is a good source of global “balanced ” journalism for sure. Aljazeera is going into corporate mode now sadly.

   NZ broadcasting for Journalistic integrity is zero.

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