11 Feb 2013
Keys Big Gay Out fail
Yesterday, Stuff reported:
Do I sense a shift in attitude towards John Key? About bloody time.
What a plonker! Not only did Key get HIV mixed up with AIDS, he got the statistics totally wrong as well... According to the Ministry of Health, the amount of gay men contracting HIV has decreased by 24% between Jan 2008 and 2012.
That's good news, but what's even better is that there's been a whopping 155% reduction in the amount of AIDS notifications during the same time period.
That guy can sure sell some snake oil, but he shouldn't be trying to take credit for Labour MP Louisa Wall's Marriage Equality Bill (PDF) or the decrease in new cases of HIV for that matter.
It was a Labour government that introduced HIV screening for new immigrants in 2006, which has assuredly helped to reduce the amount of new HIV cases in New Zealand.
So once again Key is trying to steel other peoples limelight.
In my opinion, a competent Prime Minister should be able to handle skolling a single beer without turning into an idiot.
Key isn't beneath trying to illicit votes from the gay community while also trying to gain votes from the redneck community by calling the gays weird! Bloody politicians eh!
But when he took to the stage at the invitation of Miss Ribena, a drag queen with a penchant for purple, there was a slight shift in mood.
"F*** you John Key," several voices in the crowd called.
Do I sense a shift in attitude towards John Key? About bloody time.
Key spoke to the crowd and reaffirmed his plans to vote for Labour MP Louisa Wall's Marriage Amendment Bill, which would see same sex couples afforded the same rights of marriage as heterosexuals.
He championed that the rate of Aids contraction in gay men had dropped by 30 per cent in the last three years.
"He obviously meant HIV," said a woman after Key's speech.
"He doesn't know what he is talking about."
What a plonker! Not only did Key get HIV mixed up with AIDS, he got the statistics totally wrong as well... According to the Ministry of Health, the amount of gay men contracting HIV has decreased by 24% between Jan 2008 and 2012.
That's good news, but what's even better is that there's been a whopping 155% reduction in the amount of AIDS notifications during the same time period.
That guy can sure sell some snake oil, but he shouldn't be trying to take credit for Labour MP Louisa Wall's Marriage Equality Bill (PDF) or the decrease in new cases of HIV for that matter.
It was a Labour government that introduced HIV screening for new immigrants in 2006, which has assuredly helped to reduce the amount of new HIV cases in New Zealand.
So once again Key is trying to steel other peoples limelight.
Key had recently downed more than a standard drink of beer in less than six seconds after losing a game of beer pong to Grey Lynn resident Mikala Collins so the mistake could be forgiven.
In my opinion, a competent Prime Minister should be able to handle skolling a single beer without turning into an idiot.
And then, Auckland local Andy Lawrie attempted to reinforce the point that Key might not be as progressive as he purported. Lawrie was seen lowering a coat hanger affixed to a bamboo pole over the head of the Prime Minister.
"It's just a little reminder," he said.
On the coat hanger was a "gay" red shirt.
"It's just to make people remember."
Last year Key was lambasted for announcing on radio that the shirt his fellow radio announcer was wearing was a "gay red shirt". He later admitted he had picked up the usage from his children and used it as a synonym for "weird".
Key isn't beneath trying to illicit votes from the gay community while also trying to gain votes from the redneck community by calling the gays weird! Bloody politicians eh!
10 Feb 2013
Lucy Lawless - Hero of the Week
On Thursday, the NZ Herald reported:
Sentenced to community service for doing the community a service.
The Greenpeace activists boarded the Noble Discoverer in February 2012 in an effort to raise awareness of climate change issues and ultimately stop Shell from using the vessel for oil drilling in the previously protected and pristine Arctic, and in many ways their activism has been a resounding success.
But it was nature that ultimately forced Shell to halt its Arctic drilling plans last year... The accident prone company drilling ship left the area to avoid a massive slab of slow-moving ice. There was also the lowest sea ice conditions on record for the North Pole region and slow retreating ice floes in the Alaska's Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas that inhibited Shell's destructive plans.
This was after many public relations disasters and particularly when the same drilling ship slipped its anchor in Dutch Harbor and ran aground. In November 2012, the Noble Discoverer also involved in Shell’s hapless first attempt at exploring the Arctic for oil caught fire while birthed at an international port in Alaska.
It's no wonder many people are now treating Shell Oil as a hostile and dangerous force and taking legal and other actions necessary to defend the environment against them.
Clearly the $600,000 is a complete joke and was rightly dismissed by Judge Roberts. Such an overinflated amount would have initially been requested by Shell, and has more in common with their claims that there's huge oil reserves to be had in the Arctic. However there's no evidence of this, as most estimates show that Shell's $4 billion investment will be wasted.
So for being an invaluable spokesperson, raising awareness of climate change issues and being active at deterring further environmental destruction by one of the worlds worst oil companies, Lucy Lawless wins this week's Hero Award... Keep up the good work.
Actor Lucy Lawless says her sentence for boarding a drilling ship while protesting against Shell's oil exploration plans is "a total victory".
Lawless and seven other Greenpeace activists were sentenced today (Thur) to community work and ordered to pay reparation after earlier pleading guilty to being unlawfully on a ship.
The group were arrested last February after they boarded the Noble Discoverer at the Port of Taranaki and spent 77 hours up a 58-metre tower in protest against Shell's oil exploration operation in the Arctic.
Sentenced to community service for doing the community a service.
The Greenpeace activists boarded the Noble Discoverer in February 2012 in an effort to raise awareness of climate change issues and ultimately stop Shell from using the vessel for oil drilling in the previously protected and pristine Arctic, and in many ways their activism has been a resounding success.
But it was nature that ultimately forced Shell to halt its Arctic drilling plans last year... The accident prone company drilling ship left the area to avoid a massive slab of slow-moving ice. There was also the lowest sea ice conditions on record for the North Pole region and slow retreating ice floes in the Alaska's Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas that inhibited Shell's destructive plans.
This was after many public relations disasters and particularly when the same drilling ship slipped its anchor in Dutch Harbor and ran aground. In November 2012, the Noble Discoverer also involved in Shell’s hapless first attempt at exploring the Arctic for oil caught fire while birthed at an international port in Alaska.
It's no wonder many people are now treating Shell Oil as a hostile and dangerous force and taking legal and other actions necessary to defend the environment against them.
In New Plymouth District Court this morning, Judge Allan Roberts sentenced each of the activists to 120 hours of community work and ordered them to each pay $651.44 in reparation to the port.
But the protesters avoided paying more than $600,000 in reparation to Shell Todd Oil, the joint venture between Shell and Todd Energy which contracted the ship.
The reparation to Shell Todd Oil had been sought by police but was dismissed by Judge Roberts.
Clearly the $600,000 is a complete joke and was rightly dismissed by Judge Roberts. Such an overinflated amount would have initially been requested by Shell, and has more in common with their claims that there's huge oil reserves to be had in the Arctic. However there's no evidence of this, as most estimates show that Shell's $4 billion investment will be wasted.
So for being an invaluable spokesperson, raising awareness of climate change issues and being active at deterring further environmental destruction by one of the worlds worst oil companies, Lucy Lawless wins this week's Hero Award... Keep up the good work.
9 Feb 2013
Mainzeal collapse must be investigated
Today, the NZ Herald reported:
I don't think that's the case with Jenny Shipley's appointment as chairwoman of Mainzeal... Because of her business associations, the former National Prime Minister obviously took an active roll in promoting investments into Chinese companies that were going down the gurgler, and that's one of the main reasons Mainzeal collapsed.
It's also interesting to note that Mainzeal has collapsed at about the exact same time the building industry they specialize in is meant to be booming. With the widespread destruction of Christchurch's infrastructure, you would think Mainzeal would have an overabundance of work and therefore revenue. The investments made under Jenny Shipley's watch must have been seriously bad indeed for them to negate that increased investment.
There was also an obvious conflict of interest with Shipley being a Mainzeal director and on the board of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA). That in my opinion is a serious conflict of interest that should be investigated, especially considering Mainzeal was a significant player seeking Christchurch rebuild CERA contracts.
The other point that should be made is that National ministers and particularly Gerry Brownlee have frequently claimed that the economy will improve when the Christchurch rebuild gets underway... However this doesn't appear to be the case and one can only assume (because the MSM is not reporting on it) that the rebuild, nearly two years after the first earthquake took place, is floundering.
Mainzeal's collapse is a clear indication that all is not well within the New Zealand construction industry and in my opinion that's a clear result of government incompetency. Without any proper governance our economy will continue to stagnate, and more companies are likely to go out of business as a result... Sometimes the end results of the right wings neoliberal agenda speak louder than words.
The Mainzeal receivership highlights once again the poor governance of the Richina Pacific group of companies, inadequate corporate disclosure and the vulnerability of unsecured creditors and subcontractors when a construction company goes bust.
It also shows that former politicians continue to make poor decisions when it comes to accepting board seats with former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley now joining that infamous list.
[...]
Dame Jenny Shipley joins a long list of prominent politicians who have joined the boards of troubled or unsuccessful companies.
These include: Wyatt Creech and John Luxton at Blue Chip; Sir Roger Douglas, Fran Wilde and Philip Burdon at Brierley Investments; Don Brash and John Banks at Huljich Wealth Management; Sir Douglas Graham and Bill Jeffries at Lombard; Sir William Birch at Viking Pacific (now Vetilot) and Ruth Richardson at Dairy Brands and Syft Technologies.
The list goes on and on and the Mainzeal collapse is a timely reminder that retired politicians should be extremely careful about accepting board positions because most of them have little business experience and their appointment can temporarily embellish the reputation of a poorly run company.
I don't think that's the case with Jenny Shipley's appointment as chairwoman of Mainzeal... Because of her business associations, the former National Prime Minister obviously took an active roll in promoting investments into Chinese companies that were going down the gurgler, and that's one of the main reasons Mainzeal collapsed.
It's also interesting to note that Mainzeal has collapsed at about the exact same time the building industry they specialize in is meant to be booming. With the widespread destruction of Christchurch's infrastructure, you would think Mainzeal would have an overabundance of work and therefore revenue. The investments made under Jenny Shipley's watch must have been seriously bad indeed for them to negate that increased investment.
There was also an obvious conflict of interest with Shipley being a Mainzeal director and on the board of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA). That in my opinion is a serious conflict of interest that should be investigated, especially considering Mainzeal was a significant player seeking Christchurch rebuild CERA contracts.
The other point that should be made is that National ministers and particularly Gerry Brownlee have frequently claimed that the economy will improve when the Christchurch rebuild gets underway... However this doesn't appear to be the case and one can only assume (because the MSM is not reporting on it) that the rebuild, nearly two years after the first earthquake took place, is floundering.
Mainzeal's collapse is a clear indication that all is not well within the New Zealand construction industry and in my opinion that's a clear result of government incompetency. Without any proper governance our economy will continue to stagnate, and more companies are likely to go out of business as a result... Sometimes the end results of the right wings neoliberal agenda speak louder than words.
Conniving Key lies again
Yesterday, the National party reported:
So why haven't they done that yet? New Zealand is clearly going backwards under a National government, and Key has had enough time in power to get things right... He's utterly failed!
Funny how John Key chooses the slight fall in the unemployment rate that was a result of a big drop in the participation rate, not more employment. He totally fails to mention that there are now 23,000 less people being employed in the December 2012 quarter compared with the September 2012 quarter.
Comprehensive Business Growth Agenda... Don't make me laugh.
It's disappointing to see a Prime Minister who's so obviously blinded by his own rhetoric that he completely ignores reality. In my opinion, never before has New Zealand seen such a conniving leader who attempts to mislead the public into believing everything is OK.
The truth is that New Zealand under the current administration is far from OK... For instance there's been a 190% increase in government debt since National gained power, which is more than all the other previous government’s debt combined.
A few other major problems include inequality increasing to the highest levels ever seen, child poverty increasing from 20% to 25% since 2009, declining home ownership levels and more Kiwi’s leaving New Zealand than ever before, which are all symptoms of Nationals neoliberal agenda.
The fact that the conniving Key is so overly optimistic in the face of such realities defies belief, and clearly indicates that the Prime Minister won't tackle any of these burning issues... Instead Key is happy to promote propaganda and outright lies.
I wonder how long the public will continue to be deceived by the MSM and remain ignorant of the damage National is causing to New Zealand? Not too long I hope.
One of the most important things National can do for New Zealanders is put the right conditions in place to help create jobs, encourage investment, and build a stronger economy.
So why haven't they done that yet? New Zealand is clearly going backwards under a National government, and Key has had enough time in power to get things right... He's utterly failed!
Yesterday, statistics came out showing New Zealand's unemployment rate fell to 6.9 per cent for the December quarter. However, we know the labour market remains challenging for many people.
Funny how John Key chooses the slight fall in the unemployment rate that was a result of a big drop in the participation rate, not more employment. He totally fails to mention that there are now 23,000 less people being employed in the December 2012 quarter compared with the September 2012 quarter.
This underlines the importance of continuing with National's comprehensive Business Growth Agenda to help businesses grow, invest, and hire more staff.
Comprehensive Business Growth Agenda... Don't make me laugh.
It's disappointing to see a Prime Minister who's so obviously blinded by his own rhetoric that he completely ignores reality. In my opinion, never before has New Zealand seen such a conniving leader who attempts to mislead the public into believing everything is OK.
The truth is that New Zealand under the current administration is far from OK... For instance there's been a 190% increase in government debt since National gained power, which is more than all the other previous government’s debt combined.
A few other major problems include inequality increasing to the highest levels ever seen, child poverty increasing from 20% to 25% since 2009, declining home ownership levels and more Kiwi’s leaving New Zealand than ever before, which are all symptoms of Nationals neoliberal agenda.
The fact that the conniving Key is so overly optimistic in the face of such realities defies belief, and clearly indicates that the Prime Minister won't tackle any of these burning issues... Instead Key is happy to promote propaganda and outright lies.
I wonder how long the public will continue to be deceived by the MSM and remain ignorant of the damage National is causing to New Zealand? Not too long I hope.