The Daily Blog Open Mic – Wednesday 9th March 2016

1. Nina Ngata a Environmental educator was on Radio NZ 9 to noon with Katherine Ryan discussing the degrading of Gisborne’s waterways and forestry activities silting of our waterways now causing poisoning of our waterways by Giardia.

   http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/giardia/

   We ask her to also support our efforts to re-instate our rail here as trucks shed high levels of tyre particulates into our waterways due to the heavy weight they carry, and rail has steel wheels and no tyre pollution which is now a global pollutant causing cancer,

   Everyday stories, the degradation of NZ Rivers

   Tina Ngata, an educator from Gisborne,
   Paula Fern, a mother from Hawkes Bay
   & artist Sam Mahon, from North Canterbury

   Are among a host of ordinary New Zealanders speaking out at what they say are unacceptable freshwater standards.
   They’re doing this by taking part in the videos for the Choose Clean Water campaign.

   National Institue of Water and Atmospheric Research figures show that more than 60 percent of the length of New Zealand rivers fail the health standard for swimming, and the ‘wadeable’ standard proposed as the bottom line by government sets an E.coli count of 1000/100ml which is unsafe for humans and twice the recommended safe count for stock drinking water.

   The Choose Clean Water petition goes to Parliament on the 29th March.

   http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201792475/everyday-stories,-the-degradation-of-nz-rivers

2. The article below, re Stephie Key appears in TODAY’S NZH (front page news) yet again, after being published in the same newspaper online, on Saturday 5 March, which is the date listed on the piece! A case of extreme deja vu!

   Is NZH under instruction to give FJK’s family as much exposure as possible, to the extent of repeating the very same story twice in less than one week, about his offspring?

   This is what happens in dictatorships, keeping the dictator’s family out there, only reporting the perceived good stuff about them, to keep the focus and heat off what’s important.

   But this isn’t even good. It’s a load of utter rubbish, of no relevance to Kiwis other than that Ms Key/Lazar is the daughter of the PM! So what? Who cares? Her work is not unique. It is self focused (like Papa J). Nothing newsworthy in that!

   Now what should be headline news is the Health ministry blowout, as well as MBIE’s financial issues, which have recently come to light! So msm, where is it?

   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11600258

3. We hear from many of you that Labour has only to return to their roots to win back the treasury benches.

   You do understand that the Labour “ROOTS” now make up a much smaller proportion of the population than in the days of Micky Savage or even Norman Kirk. Society is riven with endless faults. The simple concept of going back to the good old days of Union -backed electoral success is not a flier, even if it were desirable.

   Every successful policy setting will inevitably be some kind of not-very-sexy mixture of all the elements that make up public policy. It will never be all or nothing, no matter how attractive that idea might be to the angry and frustrated. The mixture-formula is part of the key, but the main path to success is going to be the way a party gains the attention of the public, excites the imagination and provides the image of a path we want to travel.

   In my view you contributors to The Daily Blog are a little harsh on the members of the Labour caucus. Largely journeymen and wonks and, admittedly, some time-servers or revolutionaries of now-dwindling flame, they may be sometimes a bit uninspiring, but where were the brilliant firebrands when the time came to stand for selection? The crop we have got are products of that old saying: “an ebbing tide ground all boats.” (Or if it isn’t it should be.) Some should doubtless stand down. And I don’t necessarily mean the oldest. One of the oldest members of the caucus has consistently been among the best performers. You know who I mean.

   At present, Andrew Little’s speeches and interviews don’t just get lost in the weed, they are nothing but weeds. His background as an employment lawyer is always to the fore: worthy but uninspiring and boring to the majority. He can leave all that stuff to his Trade and Industry spokesperson. What he should do is firstly excoriate the government at every opportunity – even if he plans to ultimately support legislation (like the zero-hours bill now passing – he should underline how the Nats were dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world, not that now he is happy to support the new law). He should be especially hard on the TPPA as it is presented. Even if there are bits in it he can stand, there are endless other bits that will hurt New Zealand. So his job is to learn which are the bad bits and hammer them for all he is worth. His job is not to be fair. His job is to be effective. When some underwhelming bit of legislation is introduced to add $2 to the benefit, he should thunder against the injustice of it, not just say “it’s better than nothing” and support it. No one is keeping score in Heaven. Just here. His second job is to seize every opportunity to paint the big picture: why Labour is different from National, why New Zealand can finally become a progressive enterprising paradise when the Left are finally in power and why, when New Zealanders think back to what makes them most proud to be Kiwis, somehow those things were almost always achieved under a progressive, socially engaged administration, usually Labour.

   If he feels unable to play that part, he is part of the problem, not the solution.

   It is true that the current batch of parliamentarians are a bit short on big-picture people or they would probably already be at the helm. But that doesn’t mean they are not to be found. The Drafting of David Lange offers a formula to be considered. Maybe someone should pick up that glass slipper and hit the road.

   Or maybe, just maybe, Andrew Little can learn.

4. ‘When some underwhelming bit of legislation is introduced to add $2 to the benefit, he should thunder against the injustice of it, not just say “it’s better than nothing” and support it.’..

   i think i will have an irony-overdose if little does this..seeing as labour have only cut beneficiary-incomes for the last 40 yrs..(up to and including clark..)

   remember their 2014 welfare rates policy was the same as the tories..benefits only to rise @ the rate of inflation..

   ..labour are a bunch of sell-out shites..

   ..and you reckon people are ‘hard’ on them..?

   ..nah..!..it is them who have been ‘hard’ on people..especially those doing it the hardest..

   ..a fucken pox on all of them..

5. Reading the above posts – how can it be any clearer to New Zealanders that this Government is running amuck. 60% of our waterways – bung – health – bung – finance – bung – education – bung – housing – bung – farmers – bung – debt – bung – wages – bung – will they ever listen – bung bung bung.
   Unfortunately I don’t think the herald will run a large Headline ‘THE COUNTRY IS BUNG’ on the front page.

6. …and furthermore…here is an excerpt from a Huffington Post article about Bernie Sanders becoming the next American president – it shows why I don’t trust polls anymore or MSM.

   ‘Today’s public relations spin won’t work, especially since you’re reading this online and Americans spend around 2 hours per day on social networking sites. Bernie Sanders now has greater control of the internet than Obama in either of his campaigns. The Washington Post writes “Sen. Bernie Sanders fares so favorably in Google searches” that “nine of his top 10 results were rated ‘very pro’ in the analysis.” Voter sentiment after 2016 will be judged by online metrics, not landline polling data, and we’re already seeing why Bernie Sanders will eventually become president.

   Type “Hillary Clinton” on Google now. Before you get to type “Clinton,” the words “Hillary Clinton Email” will drop down. Also, I explain in this YouTube segment what poll numbers can’t, and why I will only vote for Sanders.

   Social media, from the manner Sanders dominated almost every online poll after both Democratic debates, to the networking done by Sanders supporters across the nation, has undermined Clinton’s advantage in fundraising. Sanders doesn’t have to spend $2.5 billion convincing people that he’s honest. People create the narrative around Bernie Sanders.

   In contrast, mainstream pundits and public relations executives work tirelessly to make you believe Clinton is inevitability. As CNN writes, “The nation’s leading Democratic PR firm will soon be owned by a private equity group run by a longtime Clinton insider.” Without social media, Clinton would undoubtedly run away with the nomination, because she’d be able to control the narrative even further.’

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