Posts by Steve Barnes
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Speaker: David Fisher: The OIA arms race, in reply to Bart Janssen,
I suspect it comes back to the idea of the government as a business and the PM as a CEO. Government should not be a business, we have private enterprise for that.
Hey, if they want it that way then they should accept that we, the Public of New Zealand, are the shareholders of that company and as such it is the job of the board and the CEO to work in the best interests of the shareholders and not themselves.
As CJ of Sunshine Desserts used to say "I didn't get where I am today by being someone else", Key should take heed..."At the end of the day, people have a variety of different relationships with different people."
Herald
At the end of the day Mr.Key, the relationship the people of New Zealand will want to have with you is that of Ex-Prime Minister -
Speaker: David Fisher: The OIA arms race, in reply to nzlemming,
Key's rule is more about "does the minister want this released?"
That's what ya get with Dictators, power at all costs. That is why I doubt any change for the better under this Government.
I was having a conversation with a Doctor the other day who reckoned that 90% of people who voted for National were deranged, the other 10% might, actually, be better off. -
Gradually, we began to suspect we were being screwed in this way as well. Ministers don't like being surprised by anything. OIA requests would be processed – then sent to the Beehive for sign off. I have the flow charts. I see the processes. They require OIAs which are being sent to the media to be sent to the minister for sign off.
This harks back to the Helen Clark/John Campbell interview, which was at the time described as an "Ambush".
The "No Surprises" expectation that followed came, I believe, directly from this.
The "Corngate" scandal came about by the release of Hagers book "Seeds of Distrust" the information contained in that book, even though damaging to Clark (it is quite possible she knew nothing about the GE modified corn), could have been made available to Hager without her knowledge under the act at the time so the opportunity of political embarrassment so close to the election was almost inevitable.
I still believe the actions of Campbell were, at least, a little disingenuous but hey, that's what "Sensationalist" journalism is all about, eh?
Surely the need for Ministers to be aware of the release potentially political damaging information is a no brainer? but we should also place a limit on the amount of time a Minister, or their representative can have to acknowledge such releases, because this will always be open to abuse. I would also hold that no Minister should be allowed to block any release unless it can be generally accepted that the information would be damaging to security of the country as a whole and not just a particular party or individual, neither should it be in breach of privacy or other human rights legislation.
I think this would go a long way in allowing the people of New Zealand to have some trust in its Government, however, I doubt if we will see anything along these lines under the current Dictatorship. -
Hard News: Media Take: The creeping…, in reply to Marc C,
So it is neither here nor there, just a kind of interpretation of title and role, but we are non the wiser re what happens, and what happened.
I have a broom like that, two new handles and three new heads but its still my broom.
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inherent
ɪnˈhɪər(ə)nt,-ˈhɛr(ə)nt/Submit
adjective
existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute.
"any form of mountaineering has its inherent dangers"
synonyms: intrinsic, innate, immanent, built-in, inborn, ingrained, deep-rooted; More
antonyms: acquired, alien
LAW
vested in (someone) as a right or privilege.
LINGUISTICS
(of an adjective) having the same meaning in both attributive and predicative uses.resolve
rɪˈzɒlv/Submit
verb
1.
settle or find a solution to (a problem or contentious matter).
"the firm aims to resolve problems within 30 days"
synonyms: settle, sort out, solve, find a solution to, find an answer to, fix, work out, straighten out, deal with, put right, set right, put to rights, rectify, iron out,
2.
(of something seen at a distance) turn into a different form when seen more clearly.
"the orange light resolved itself into four roadwork lanterns"
synonyms: turn into, be transformed into, become clearly visible as, change into, metamorphose into, be transmuted into
"the shore came closer, the grey smudge resolving into green fields and a sandy beach"
(of optical or photographic equipment) separate or distinguish between (closely adjacent objects).
"Hubble was able to resolve six variable stars in M31"
separately distinguish (peaks in a graph or spectrum).
noun
noun: resolve; plural noun: resolves
1.
firm determination to do something.
"she received information that strengthened her resolve"
synonyms: determination, resolution, firmness of purpose, fixity of purpose, purpose, purposefulness, resoluteness, single-mindedness, strength of will, strength of character, will power, firmness, intentness, decision, decidedness; More
antonyms: indecision
2.
US
a formal resolution by a legislative body or public meeting.So... Operation What?, Operation It will always look different from afar but when you get closer it is something completely different? or ... Operation we have the right to feel that we must do this?
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I wonder who it was that told John Key to start using the word "Odd"?
odd (d)
adj. odd·er, odd·est
1. Deviating from what is ordinary, usual, or expected; strange or peculiar: an odd name; odd behavior.It is diminutive, it is also hard to take offence to as it is not an outright insult but in some ways it is surreptitiously worse, it is "Othering". It is the kind of term you could apply to an Uncle that is becoming senile "He is a little Odd". To a person that has weird religious beliefs "they listen to trees because trees are God". It is how you refer to people that are not like "us".
He also reinforces this othering when he says thing like this...He added: "If anyone believes that there is absolutely no risk of a form of domestic terrorism here then they are actually deluded."
It also has another meaning that would appear to describe John Key's attitude during the election run-up.
Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)Actively refuses to comply with majority's requests or consensus-supported rules.
Performs actions deliberately to annoy others.
Angry and resentful of others.
Argues often.
Blames others for his or her own mistakes.
Frequently loses temper.
Spiteful or seeks revenge.
Touchy or easily annoyed. -
Hard News: The Hager saga continues, in reply to Richard Aston,
How would you articulate the connection between Social Justice and Sustainability?
Social justice is sharing the resources we have in a sustainable manner, simple.
The system we find ourselves slaves to, the fractional reserve system combined with a fiat currency gives us the worst of all systems, an upward trickle of wealth on top of unsustainable growth due to dwindling resources, only an idiot would suggest such a scheme, a wealthy idiot and we have one of those as our sub prime mincer.
We need a return to the gold standard and an equitable way of sharing the advances of technology and the wealth that was created by those advances, automation of factories was supposed to mean shorter working hours for the same income not redundancies and unemployment of the masses.
We should be looking at a Universal Basic Income from those advances made by those that led the way, not larger piles of cash for those with the wealth to buy the means of production. We should be looking at providing for those in need and receiving from those with the ability to create, build and supply.
We should all have a pony and....
well, you get the gist I hope but, I for one, will not be holding my breath all the while we have a lying bunch of scum running our country and the world. -
Jeez. This is so 2002. We must curtail your freedom because terrorism. Key is playing catchup for his bosses, global corp and the world bank.
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Speaker: An Open Letter To David Cunliffe, in reply to Stephen R,
National led government would still be a better government than Labour led government, given Labour’s apparent internal divisions.
A couple of points here. It is not a fact that National would be a better government, even hough that is what they tell us. Labour had 9 years of responsible economic management that left the country in good shape to survive the GFC, bought to you by the likes of Mr Key. National is, simply worse, they cater only for economic growth at the expence of all else, they are virtually a virus.
The actions of National, as exposed by Hager's book, have led many to believe that a Labour/Green government would be some kind of demonic being hell bent on the destruction of New Zealand and those actions continue, through the MSM, this is simply an illusion.
So what if there is an internal struggle within Labour after such a defeat, it is neither surprising nor worrying to anyone but the gullible sops of Nationals propaganda machine, thing need fixing after such damage, only a fool would disagree.
And Craig, it is not a slur to call John Key a liar, it is a statement of fact. -
Speaker: An Open Letter To David Cunliffe, in reply to Stephen R,
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