The Daily Blog Open Mic – Friday – 24th April 2020

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Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.

Moderation rules are more lenient for this section, but try and play nicely.

EDITORS NOTE: – By the way, here’s a list of shit that will get your comment dumped. Sexist language, homophobic language, racist language, anti-muslim hate, transphobic language, Chemtrails, 9/11 truthers, climate deniers, anti-fluoride fanatics, anti-vaxxer lunatics and ANYONE that links to fucking infowar.

10 COMMENTS

  1. So; this article (reprint from NZH) has Bennett ascribing the Bridges threat to; “a known stirring leftie…”. I avoid Twitter like the pool of toxic waste it is, but is she correct on that? Or just; assuming while ignorant, again?

    Not a good look if so! But then, I have never really got the point of threatening people. If you’re actually planning on hurting someone, then surely the last thing you’d want to do is leave a trail of evidence indicating premeditation? How can they expect anyone to take them seriously ever again? Unless they are in the same physical space, and are getting all shouty and twitchy.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/man-charged-threat-kill-simon-bridges-family

  2. Bring Back the Ministry of Works
    – This from tvnz, Wednesday:

    For most of its modern history, New Zealand had a Ministry of Works which provided people with jobs and built our nation’s infrastructure.

    It was largely shut down in the late ’80s but now there’s talk of bringing it back.

    The Ministry was responsible for the construction of wharves, power grids, dams, motorways, state highways, and even New Zealand’s first, and only, homemade tank.

    “For most people, it would have been unthinkable that New Zealand wouldn’t have a Ministry of Works,” Wellington City Libraries historian Gabor Toth said.

    “We would be a completely different country had they not done the work that they had.” Full article and a vid at Covid 19 Prompts Talk of Bringing Back Ministry of Works

  3. This is one of many comments from Michael O’Leary, boss of Ryanair UK. There are more outrageous ones where these came from. Actually I rather believe it is a hoax from some popular comedian, but the commenter said otherwise.
    12 “You’re not getting a refund so fuck off. We don’t want to hear your sob stories. What part of ‘no refund’ don’t you understand?”
    15 “The most influential person in Europe in the last 20 to 30 years has been Margaret Thatcher. Without her we’d all be living in some French bloody unemployed republic.”

    For further see – https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-23-04-2020/#comment-1705796 pat at TS.

  4. Things i want in NZ’s near future – I’m not unreasonable, not immediately, but by the end of 2020!

    Work for people who want the physical outdoor life, semi-skilled or skilled:
    Dairy workers for farmers and skilled artisan tradesman and others with different careers, for rural places.
    The government to have an educational vocational course (with block on-school site 2-3 day courses and turorials), and then have guaranteed wages, subsidised by government if necessary, while they work for their employers who have to treat them right, and expect to get loyal working outcomes from them.

    Housing to be of good simple standard on farm, with tax relief for those providing it, or, there be a hostel in a nearby town hub or a group of tiny houses for a group of such workers, so that is their home base. They will be part of the town, or if on a farm, have time off to go in and meet others. There will be subsidised hall for dances and entertainment films etc, or on part of the school, that will receive government money to maintain, heat etc. This will be good for the rural area, and for those who want this sort of life.

    The experienced outdoor/animal worker will be like having a jewel in your crown, and be truly appreciated and feel satisfied with his or her status and encouraged to be responsible and not just go boozing on days off. And so on. Lay down the welcome mat in the rural area, with the extras that dedicated, capable people should expect and rural areas will not be in a decline, and a significant section of the unemployed, footloose, discarded generation will feel good and be good and it will be kapai and positive – a great turn-around noticeable within three years if quickly and well implemented, and then it will be steady growth upwards on the trend.

  5. There is hope for us all. When you read this sort of specious stuff coming from academics it boosts all our egos – we too could be drawing down a nice stipend from some august place of erudition/indoctrination.https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-national/worlds-super-rich-debate-whether-nz-needs-them

    This is nothing new
    A lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management at the University of Otago, Tadhg Ryan-Charleton, said that could be turned to our advantage…
    “Private capital is individual business investors or else a venture capital firm – that doesn’t exist in this country to the same degree as it does in other areas.”
    New Zealand entrepreneurs come up with great ideas full of technical know-how but their ideas do not always reach their potential because of the lack of investment capital, he said.
    “I do think there will be advantages if we could find a way in the current climate, to perhaps fast-track private capital into these ecosystems.

    [Note] The co-founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel, was controversially awarded citizenship in 2011 after spending 12 days in the country.
    New Zealand has since been linked with other rich foreigners seeking a bolthole from toxic political and environmental crises in their home countries.

    I have just looked on Trademe and there was a mention that PayPal always has some problem doing the rounds.
    It seems that doing business with electronic systems is like on-line gambling in reverse, you win most of the time but when you lose it’s not too good, it can cause long-term problems.

    It would be good if we could have grand funds for new ventures created in NZ. If we did and they failed, we haven’t borrowed money or created inflation. If they succeed the first stage and think it could go further, then overseas investment could be sought. But it would be a good idea if we actually invested in ourselves, instead of selling off all our inventions. That isn’t how a country builds a strong economy.

    • That ABC link above doesn’t work. Here’s one from the bbc: Coronavirus Trump – Inject Disinfectant

      “And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?

      “So it’d be interesting to check that.”

      Pointing to his head, Mr Trump went on: “I’m not a doctor. But I’m, like, a person that has a good you-know-what.”

      And from Aljazeera: Experts react – Coronavirus Disinfectant Idea

      Doctors and epidemiologists have reacted with alarm to comments from US President Donald Trump that injecting disinfectant and exposure to ultraviolet rays could help people with the coronavirus.

  6. Tim Macindoe, National Party rep for West Hamilton

    Tim and the Nats’ ‘sense of humour’: National MP Macindoe – Pushing Women off a Balcony

    Please note that a whole group of those Nats are all smiling and laughing.
    They’re the same ones who call Jacinda, “Cindy”.
    They’re the same ones who cozy-up to “shoot them dead” Duterte.
    They’re the ones who set her up to be presented to the world as being “involved in a sex scandal” …At a time when she was on the world stage addressing problems of Climate Change and of live-streamed violence on the ‘Net.

  7. Can we have an exploration of this approach to a giant bubble, that could give a loud po.
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/covid-19/415083/trans-tasman-bubble-could-start-more-quickly-than-we-think-peters
    Australia has had success similar to New Zealand in keeping the number of Covid-19 cases relatively low, although hospitalisation rates are much higher across the ditch.
    The restrictions on Australians have varied, with some states operating a stricter regime than others.

    Can we make arrangements with states rather than the dinosaur T-Rex in the Federal bangout?
    This country does not treat us as an equal but as a larger version of the Pacific Islands over which it plays colonial boss when it can. And it can to NZ, now we have kow-towed to them over so many things. Will more kow-towing have a net positive effect, and how will this be measured. Will we gain the world but lose our soul?

    Off to the side, on that note – in 2008 the Huffington Post did some reflection.
    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/for-what-profits-a-man-if_b_98783

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