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January 13, 2013 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 13 January 2013

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thedavincimode

Pauleastbay (3,217) Says:
January 12th, 2013 at 9:21 pm
Well, off to watch New Zealand mop up the South African batting lineup and then bat for seven sessions
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January 13, 2013 8:02am
HB

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8165234/More-big-pay-packets-at-Education-Ministry

What the hell is going on here?

” it was revealed that the ministry was hiring external consultants to carry out basic functions.”

“Documents also show that the number of staff earning more than $100,000 at the ministry rose from 151.65 fulltime positions in 2007/08 to 261.83 in 2011/12.
During the same period, the total number of staff fell by more than 120 fulltime positions.”

“Meanwhile, the number of staff seconded to ministerial offices doubled between 2008/09 and 2011/12.
The total cost of servicing ministerial offices in 2011/12 was $948,175.”

What a complete and utter mess. Who is accountable????
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January 13, 2013 8:04am
mikenmild

I woke up early this morning and briefly thought of getting up to see if NZ were batting. I’m glad that I didn’t. I can handle them losing, but some of these players have shown quite comprehensively that they are not up to batting against a good attack, so we see the same mistakes over and over again.
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January 13, 2013 8:06am
mikenmild

HB
I’d agree with you if those figures applied on to the Ministry of Education, but it is probably par for the course across the public sector. The journalist, Kate Chapman, has got hold of the MOE’s answers to the annual financial review questions asked by the Education and Science Committee. She has got two easy stories from them – the first, on Thursday, was about using contractors and consultants to perform very basic functions like replying to official information requests.
Similar information is provided to Parliament each year by every government organisation.
The story on paying SOME people more and using consultant and contractors more is linked to the present government’s obsession with a ‘cap’ on public service numbers. If a department can’t employ more people directly, they are likely to pay SOME of the existing staff more and shell out readily on contractors, who don’t count against the cap.
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January 13, 2013 8:14am
Azeraph

I wondered why no one on this blog talked about consultants.
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January 13, 2013 8:16am
Falafulu Fisi

Hymn quiz. I know the English versions of the followings, however, I just wanted to see if readers here can give me their respective English version titles? The tongan versions may sound funny, however the melody and tune are the same as their English versions.

1) Alifa moe Omeka
2) ‘Oi Nai Toto Ne Mahua
3) ‘E KEU ‘ELELO AFE MAI
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January 13, 2013 8:17am
HB

but surely consultants on contract are more expensive than using an in-house employee?
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January 13, 2013 8:20am
mikenmild

HB
Yes, using contractors is more expensive, but usually come from a different part of a department’s budget. Also, contractors are not counted as employees, so a department can effectively spend more on the same function yet still say they have reduced administrative staff numbers. It’s typical ‘Yes Minister’ smoke and mirrors. Many managers also prefer to have a good number of contract staff so that they have more flexibility to meet changing workloads, etc.
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January 13, 2013 8:23am
nasska

HB

Yes, but you can get rid of the bludgers after the work runs out…..unlike the feather bedded parasites employed full time in the public sector.
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January 13, 2013 8:26am
mikenmild

nasska
You would think so, but there a quite a few ‘contractors’ filling full-time positions on an hourly rate for year after year…
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January 13, 2013 8:28am
Dean Papa

patient, and ballsy innings from Bazza to see off new ball. A pity those who followed could not take advantage.
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January 13, 2013 8:31am
mikenmild

Anyway, back to the cricket (only marginally more depressing than the state of the public sector). Richard Boock reckons Taylor should harden up and get back to the game asap:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion/8171347/Boock-Time-for-return-of-incredible-sulk
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January 13, 2013 8:31am
nasska

mikenmild

Must be ex public servants padding out the hours in case they have to face employment in the real world.
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January 13, 2013 8:31am
Manolo

What a complete and utter mess. Who is accountable????

Hekia Parata? Oh wait, the incompetent minister is on a long holiday.
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January 13, 2013 8:32am
mikenmild

Dean
And what did ‘Bazza’ do to the second ball from the spinner after all his hard work?
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January 13, 2013 8:32am
mikenmild

Manolo
No one is accountable. It is always how the ‘system’ works.
nasska
It’s probably unconnected with prospects elsewhere, but so long as there is demand from the public service for certain skills nothing would be likely to change.
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January 13, 2013 8:34am
Rodders

Falufu @ 8.17am – #2 is a very nice American hymn. This is my favourite arrangement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg6qz1vzvzk
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January 13, 2013 8:40am
Rodders

Oops – I meant to say Falafulu. Sorry.
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January 13, 2013 8:43am
duggledog

Speaking of bludgers –
Anybody read the lead story on the Stuff website about the 83 year old benefit fraudster?

Can’t think of a better example of the roots of so many of NZ’s problems and where we are at now. It’s a beaut.

1: She’s a lazy, amoral, bad person who’s clearly, gaily, sailed along all her life on the backs of others
2: She’s the recipient of much kudos from many people for ‘ripping off the Government’
3: Her punishment upon being found out is not a punishment (although I don’t know what else you’d do realistically)
4: She tells the story of how when she asked to have (one of!) her benefits stopped, the Government Employee not only wouldn’t do that, he increased it!

I know things are tightening up a bit now under National but Jesus Christ. Too little too late?
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January 13, 2013 8:50am
lilman

Dont worry plenty money around,pay the beneficiaries more,cant wait until labour and the greens get in and we……. um…………um……,I gotta get a paper round.
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January 13, 2013 9:04am
Falafulu Fisi

Rodders, well spotted for hymn #2. It is my favourite too, I sing it both in English and Tongan. I like this English of the 3 female trio, Shall we gather at the river. It think that the best version is from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. On certain occasions, I usually sing a line or two and sometimes a whole verse of it in party (Palangi party). See, most people have no idea that its a hymn especially when I sing it Tongan. At times that I sang it in English, it was obviously to Palangi party goes that it was a hymn. Anyway, people complimented that it’s beautiful melody (and especially my barritone/tenor voice). Sometimes I did that deliberately, if I try to catch the attention of a chic that I like, then I move close to where she stands (perhaps she’s busy talking to other people) and starting humming random tunes. Once I get her attention, then I suddenly switch and sing shall we gather at the river, may be for 2 lines and then I stopped. Its usually the request, came back, sir, please sing more, its beautiful and that’s when I go for 2 or 3 verses.
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January 13, 2013 9:04am
Andrei

Hymns on a Sunday, how cool is that! Thanks Falafulu Fisi and Rodders

How about a Christmas hymn S’nami Bog sung by a Spanish choir but in Church Slavonic
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January 13, 2013 9:05am
Redbaiter

“Who is accountable????”

Not the National Party- they are light years away from understanding the simple truth that the Education Dept is a basically set up as a funding source for far left radicals and political activists.
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January 13, 2013 9:05am
Michael

@lilman – got a problem with the family?

France have in the last few days sent troops to intervene in a civil war in Mali and launched a commando raid in Somalia. But I don’t see our lefties arranging protests outside the French Embassy or marching on Parliament? If the Americans were involved I’m sure they’d be there before you could say, “non à la guerre Américaine!”
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January 13, 2013 9:14am
Pete George

Whale blogs on http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2013/01/the-endcof-the-tea-party/“>The end of the Tea Party

I doubt whether it’s the end of it but the hopes of dragging the US further right have been been proven to be overly optimistic. There were some good ideas and intentions but they get overshadowed by the nutter quotient. Most people tend to avoid following the NQ.
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January 13, 2013 9:17am
Rodders

Andrei – Thanks for that. Here is my favourite piece of Russian liturgical music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRHa84ANeBA
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January 13, 2013 9:20am
Pete George

“France have in the last few days sent troops to intervene in a civil war in Mali and launched a commando raid in Somalia.”

Not very successfully by the look of things.

French soldier killed and hostage feared dead in Somalia

A French soldier has been killed in Somalia during a failed operation to free a hostage who is also believed to have died, the defence minister said.

Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters in Paris that a second soldier was missing after the operation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20996963

Failed operation in a failed state.
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January 13, 2013 9:20am
Viking2

Ignorance almost made hungry monkeys of us

More Germans died in 2011 from one batch of contaminated organic beansprouts than Ukrainians from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster.

Imagine that: the worst nuclear disaster in history versus one crop of beansprouts. Organic they were, too.

Worried New Zealanders demanded action. The Government responded by requiring risk and benefit analyses before field-testing a biotech crop. That has created a catch-22. Benefit analysis requires a field test. The field test requires a benefit analysis. Our government bureaucracy has locked New Zealand agriculture into the horse and cart and regulated the internal combustion engine out of existence.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10858719
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January 13, 2013 9:24am
Viking2

Pete George (15,778) Says:
January 13th, 2013 at 9:20 am

“France have in the last few days sent troops to intervene in a civil war in Mali and launched a commando raid in Somalia.”

Not very successfully by the look of things.

Correct. The surender monkeys should have contracted the job out to the israeli’s.

They will not fail.
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January 13, 2013 9:25am
Viking2

Talking of Hyms and things.

A happy result was achieved and a piece of history made in downtown Auckland when a mentally ill man was persuaded not to jump from the Sky Tower after talking to a Jehovah’s Witness minister he had requested to see. This is believed to be the first time <b< anyone has ever willingly received a visit from a Jehovah's Witness

😆 😆
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January 13, 2013 9:30am
Viking2

A nice chap
Notorious escapee trashes $180,000 ‘damage-proof’ cell.

Auckland Prison acting manager Tom Sherlock described the damage as

Auckland Prison acting manager Tom Sherlock described the damage as “minimal” but prison sources disagreed.

New Zealand’s most notorious prison escaper has smashed up a new high-tech cell built at great expense to contain our most dangerous criminals.
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January 13, 2013 9:34am
duggledog

Sub contract our prison system out to the Chinese in the spirit of the FTA.

Everybody wins – $1 a day to keep prisoners over there plus transport costs, and say a halved sentence for the convicted

And a guaranteed recidivism rate of 0.5%
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January 13, 2013 9:43am
Pauleastbay

Looking forward to this evening to watch New Zealand continue bat with the disipline shown by South Africa in the first hour on day two. It will show that the New Zealand batting lineup has matured and , to quote the coach, ” moved on ” from the debacle of the first test. Who knows Watling may get to bat twice on the same day.

Another highlight was to see Wagner step up to the plate at the expense of Chris Martin, what a revelation Wagner has been, obviously playing for Otago has done wonders for his abilities. Patel – world class no doubt about that either.

I was gladdened also to see that the captain has stopped having brain explosions just prior to stumps so he wouldn’t expose a test debutant to the best bowling attack in the world. On ya Bazza .

All in all not a bad days test cricket, something for every deluded ,sad, pathetic New Zealand cricket fan. But I must admit I am starting to believe that its the coach that is dillusional and not the fans, but then again who am I to criticise New Zealand Cricket and their employment policies.
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January 13, 2013 9:49am
krazykiwi

V2 – I read that story. Perhaps it’s time that animal was introduced to a dungeon and chains
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January 13, 2013 9:51am
Urban Redneck

“the simple truth that the Education Dept is a basically set up as a funding source for far left radicals and political activists”

That’s right. National may be in “office” but they are not in “power”. The left-wing bureaucracy churns along unabated, and in the case of the Education Ministry as a money laundering service for left-wing activists who would be all but unemployable in any other capacity.
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January 13, 2013 9:57am
HB

My partner used to work as a consultant for a large firm who had government contracts. He was charged out at huge $ per hour and worked on their contracts full time.

There is nothing stopping a government department employing someone on a fixed term contract if ‘getting rid’ of someone is what you are worried about. You could then cut out the ‘middle man’.
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January 13, 2013 9:57am
HB

Urban Redneck

do you have specific examples of “left-wing activists who would be all but unemployable in any other capacity.” employed by the MOE?

Also, who has approved these large salary increases since 2008?
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January 13, 2013 9:59am
mikenmild

The Ministry of Education is a mess, and has been widely touted as a basket case for years. What hasn’t helped in recent years is two hopeless Ministers, an imported CE out of her depth and distracting sideshows like national standards and charter schools which, at best, would add minuscule value to the education system overall.
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January 13, 2013 10:00am
Pauleastbay

a government department employing someone on a fixed term contract if ‘getting rid’ of
HB

Superannuation, annual leave, sick leave, just some of the things you have to worry about if you employ rather than contract staff.
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January 13, 2013 10:02am
mikenmild

HB
Two excellent points. Fixed-term contracts are used more now, but most senior managers have separate budget for salaries and contractors. I should hesitate to call it corruption, but there are definitely a fair few cosy arrangements around for contractors doing essentially permanent roles. Ironically, the justification can be that an organisation is changing so fast through continual restructuring that it would be wrong to make ‘permanent’ appointments’ when that role might be part of an upcoming review.
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January 13, 2013 10:05am
Viking2

Moce taxpayer funds lost to oversea’s tax havens?

McDonald’s NZ had been reinvesting its profits locally up until 2011, when its US parent asked for the retained earnings to be paid out. As the funds had been reinvested in local restaurants and capital items, the money had to be borrowed from Bank Mendes Gans NV, which manages a lot of the company’s international finance.

McDonald’s was not prepared to disclose exactly how much it makes across its counters each year. However, the total size of the New Zealand fast food restaurant market is estimated to be $1.7 billion and McDonald’s market share is under 50 per cent of that.

The $200m sales figure shown in McDonald’s NZ’s 2011 accounts, filed with the Companies Office, include fees from franchisees and sales from the 20 per cent of outlets it operates directly. It does not include all the sales made by its franchisees.

The dividend payment more than doubled McDonald’s NZ’s liabilities to $301.9m and will similarly boost its tax deductible interest expense in coming years.
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January 13, 2013 10:06am
mikenmild

PEB
All true. personally I think we need to get away from the idea of an established structure with permanent appointments, because departments are restructuring and changing so fast that the org charts can’t even be kept up-to-date. Most organisations could do with a larger core of permanent staff – but not necessarily tied to specific roles, supplemented by smaller numbers of fixed-term and contract staff.
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January 13, 2013 10:08am
Viking2

Moce taxpayer funds lost to oversea’s tax havens?

McDonald’s NZ had been reinvesting its profits locally up until 2011, when its US parent asked for the retained earnings to be paid out. As the funds had been reinvested in local restaurants and capital items, the money had to be borrowed from Bank Mendes Gans NV, which manages a lot of the company’s international finance.

McDonald’s was not prepared to disclose exactly how much it makes across its counters each year. However, the total size of the New Zealand fast food restaurant market is estimated to be $1.7 billion and McDonald’s market share is under 50 per cent of that.

The $200m sales figure shown in McDonald’s NZ’s 2011 accounts, filed with the Companies Office, include fees from franchisees and sales from the 20 per cent of outlets it operates directly. It does not include all the sales made by its franchisees.

The dividend payment more than doubled McDonald’s NZ’s liabilities to $301.9m and will similarly boost its tax deductible interest expense in coming years.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/8171241/McDonalds-pulls-claim-95c-in-dollar-stays-in-NZ
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January 13, 2013 10:10am
Nookin

” but then again who am I to criticise New Zealand Cricket and their employment policies.”

Quite right Paul. NZ cricket is on the up and up. We have gotten rid of Wright. Remember him? He was the non-communicative coach who help guide India to the fore of world cricket. We have sidelined Taylor. Remember him? He’s the guy whose substantial contribution won us the last test in Sri Lanka. We have Hesson. You must know him. He’s the guy who lead Kenya to become one of the super-powers of world cricket ( didn’t he walk out of his contract? Was it Buchanan who said we need trust, reliability etc?). Ad we have the exciting leadership and batting of McCullum. The sheer anticipation of waiting for the brain explosion adds to the exhilaration od watching NZ play.

I see Boock is on the Taylor bandwagon — calling him the incredible sulk. My guess is that Hesson didn’t want Taylor on the tour and that it was universally decided that he should stay at home to calm the tension in the rank and file. Didn’t that work well?
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January 13, 2013 10:25am
HB

Pauleastbay (3,219) Says:

“Superannuation, annual leave, sick leave, just some of the things you have to worry about if you employ rather than contract staff”

He was paid roughly a third of what he was charged out at.
Don’t you think that the consultancy firm factors in these things with what they charge? PLUS a hefty profit, of course.
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January 13, 2013 10:34am
Longknives

McCullum stated after the first test “I think we have shown that we can be competitive”!
“Competitive” with who exactly??

And Jesus Christ please stop all this ‘trash talking’ that has become a fixture in this team- Trent Boult ‘trash talking’ Graeme Smith is roughly akin to Shane Cameron rubbishing and calling out Vitali Klitschko..

What a Bloody disgrace. Oh and someone needs to grow some balls and break the news to McCullum (The self-professed ‘Master Blaster’) that he is in fact a wicketkeeper/batsman and not a Test opener.
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January 13, 2013 10:47am
mikenmild

I really think we need a totally different approach to selecting the test and one-day sides. Our batsmen, led by McCullum are woefully bereft of the abilities needed to tough it out in test cricket. We need to grow a new crop of batsmen who are test specialists.
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January 13, 2013 10:57am
Longknives

I agree Mikey. Though I’d take it one step further and ban our National team from playing T20 ‘Hit and Giggle’….that rubbish is destroying cricket world-wide and nowhere more-so than in NZ
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January 13, 2013 11:01am
MT_Tinman

Oh and someone needs to grow some balls and break the news to McCullum (The self-professed ‘Master Blaster’) that he is in fact a wicketkeeper/batsman and not a Test opener.

No, he’s not! He’s the best opener NZ has at the moment and by far the best top order batsman in the current team.

In fact if you want to question an opener look 22yards away from McCullum.

This side is being thrashed by a far better side – no amount of on-field leadership can solve that – although the captain did keep the right-hand bowlers doing (The cack-handers are simply bloody useless) their jobs reasonably well.

What they appear to be lacking most is the input of a competent coach.
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January 13, 2013 11:01am
mikenmild

McCullum is a wicketkeeper-batsman without the skills or temperament to prosper as a test opener.
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January 13, 2013 11:03am
Eisenhower

Back in 2010 Beijing’s air quality went off the scale at 500mg per m3 and a new term of “crazy bad” was invented to describe it. The US embassy now has it peaking at 845mg with residents describing it as “tasting like burning tires, industrial cleaning chemicals and concentrated car exhaust.”
http://www.smh.com.au/world/beijings-crazy-air-day-20130113-2cn72.html

How many other Chinese cities would be approaching similar levels? It appears their own progress will mitigate population growth as much as ‘one child’.
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January 13, 2013 11:12am
Longknives

McCullum had the potential to be a World class Keeper/Batsman. Pure ego and some ridiculous pandering to his demands from NZ cricket saw him give away the gloves and appoint himself our Captain, opener and all round saviour.
He simply isn’t good enough to open the innings in Test cricket. Fact.
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January 13, 2013 11:14am
Pauleastbay

is the input of a competent coach.

Correct Tinman.

Watching SA get established is wonderful to watch, so professional. Smith struggled badly on day one but toughed it out for his 50, Amla last night toughed it out ( and got out to the worst ball of the morning but…). but he didn’t try and hit boundaries from the word go.

Someone needs to tell the new Zealand side that they have 5 entire days not three hours.

They need to be put in the nets for 6 hours and told everytime they get out it costs them $1000 and if that doesn’t improve concentration drop ’em.

They are playing the best in the world and I don’t expect them to win but its not too much to expect for them to be competative in that they make the opposition do a bit of work.

When your wicketkeeper is top score you are in the shit and a rumour I’ve heard is that there is some new South African born wonder kid keeper who is going to take Watlings spot for the Poms so he must be feeling chipper.

Looking forward to this evening, watch NZ innings end and still get 9 hours sleep
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January 13, 2013 11:17am
mikenmild

The new wicketkeeper is likely to the Luke Ronchi, who has played for Wellington since late last season. He played 4 ODIs for Australia and becomes eligible for NZ this month, I think.
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January 13, 2013 11:32am
MT_Tinman

Longknives, your bias is showing.

McCullum did not appoint himself our captain”. He was appointed the NZ cricket team’s captain, without according to reports, even asking for it.

Notably when he lost the (Bloody disgraceful) run-off for captaincy last year he accepted it with good grace and knuckled down to batting.

The simple fact is that McCullum would not now be playing test cricket had he been forced to continue ‘keeping and whether you like it or not he is still the second best test batsman in NZ (third if Ryder ever returns to the fold).

PEB the farce that is the NZ coaching set-up will continue until all the ND pollution is weeded out, starting with White.

This of course won’t happen any time soon and before NZ plays it’s next away series both the coach and captain will be from that association.

At that point I will no longer be a NZC fan and I have booked a week in Wellington in March to enable me to farewell NZ cricket at the Basin, soon to be the second best first class cricket ground in NZ – after Hagley Park.
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January 13, 2013 11:33am
Pauleastbay

likely to the Luke Ronchi

Correct mm thats who I meant
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January 13, 2013 11:35am
bc

55 posts already. It has to be another day of climate change I thought, but how wrong I was – it’s cricket instead!
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January 13, 2013 11:36am
thedavincimode

bc

It wasn’t cricket. That is the point.
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January 13, 2013 11:38am
Falafulu Fisi

Tongan Hymn #3, is the popular Oh for a thousand Tongues to Sing.

And who says, that drinking alcohol & party doesn’t mix well with singing hymns? Well the English seems to be loving doing it (beer & hymn) during festivals. The drinkers are a bit disorganized at the beginning of the song, but they recovered in the 50th seconds into the song.

Oh for a thousand Tongues to Sing
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January 13, 2013 11:54am
Nookin

Hesson is repoted thus:
“Hesson said the sustained pressure of the South African pacemen, in terms of their pace and bounce, was exposing his players’ techniques.

He insisted they were well prepared, though, after suffering an innings and 27 run defeat in Cape Town in which they were dismissed for 45.”

Mr Hesson. You are the coach. Your job is to correct technical deficiencies. If techniques were exposed as inadequate then the team was not well prepared!!! Nothing has changed. You knew what was wrong. You knew that it had to be fixed. You knew that you would face the same attack using the same strategies.

A word from the long suffering NZ cricket fans. We are sick of the bravado, the hype talk, the “moving on” and the assurances about how much the players are looking at sticking it up the Seth Effricans.

I know it’s before you were born, but why don’t you read a bit about Sutcliffe and Blair. Go to the ground — it’s not far away. Thinks guts and courage. Think getting in there and doing the job no matter what it takes. Think about doing it with the bat, not the tongue.

Stop talking. Stop promising. Just fucking do it!
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January 13, 2013 12:03pm
Reid

KBR used deadly chemicals in Iraq which poisoned not just ragheads but real human beings like Americans, who are dying and have died of cancer.

So the court has said they have to pay $850 million.

However KBR’s deal with the Pentagon indemnifies them for this, so the taxpayer has to pay this, and not them. Plus all the legal fees incurred by poor widdle KBR in defending itself against this action. The agreement is also classified by the military therefore unavailable for public review.

So gee, it’d be nice if there were a record of the conversations between major KBR/Carlyle Group shareholders like Rumsfeld and Cheney and Bush 41 and their close advisers in the months leading up to the signing of the agreement wouldn’t it.

What I’ve never been able to get is that the kind of underhand underarm bowling you here have a possible egregious example of, this venal frankly criminal behaviour and attitudes which engender such, was always visible in Bush 43’s Administration from day one. I don’t get why some allowed their support of conservatism to override their judgement of this aspect so that even when the same venal evil that this contract represents in a small way, was carried out in a big way on the world stage, some conservatives never seemed to see it at the time and some even now still don’t see it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/kbr-guilty-iraq-negligence_n_2436115.html?view=print&comm_ref=false
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January 13, 2013 12:07pm
Manolo

Meanwhile, in the alternate world of Bain lovers and haters, of a multiple murderer and his rotten family, the steam train rolls on, pumping more comments than ever seen before in Kiwi~~blog~~bain.
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January 13, 2013 12:11pm
Longknives

“I know it’s before you were born, but why don’t you read a bit about Sutcliffe and Blair. Go to the ground — it’s not far away. Thinks guts and courage. Think getting in there and doing the job no matter what it takes. Think about doing it with the bat, not the tongue.”

Well said Nookin. This ‘Trash Talking’ bullshit culture that McCullum seems to have instilled into his team is bloody disgraceful and pisses on the legacy of New Zealand cricket.

“Notably when he lost the (Bloody disgraceful) run-off for captaincy last year he accepted it with good grace and knuckled down to batting.”

When has New Zealand’s self-professed ‘Master Blaster’ EVER ‘knuckled down’?? Is throwing your head in the air desperately trying to slog everything out of the ground in the first bloody session ‘knuckling down’?
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January 13, 2013 12:13pm
Paulus

What gives with the Herald on Sunday – usual standard
An article by Kathryn Powley on the medical problems of one Rhozie Edmonds from Tauranga is rather fraught on facts.
Edmonds claims that she has spent $10,000 on scans and other treatment (whatever that is).
I have before me paid accounts for the following scans for a family member.
Doctor Ultrasound
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January 13, 2013 12:19pm
Griff

Some things dont change Reid
Erin Brockovich.
Ring a bell
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January 13, 2013 12:22pm
Reid

Up to 10:15 this is a good dot connection of historical events along the road to WWIII since the 1970’s. After 10:15 it gets a bit nuts.

http://www.youtube.com/user/StormCloudsGathering?feature=em-message_received
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January 13, 2013 12:30pm
Reid

Erin Brockovich.
Ring a bell

Yeah it does but remind me?
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January 13, 2013 12:31pm
Paulus

Will continue above as submit jumped on me

Doctor Ultrasound $225
Bay Radiology CT Scan $1,350
Bay Radiology MRI $960
A second MRI with die was done in the above cost
Bay Radiology, Tauranga based are the only radiologists in Tauranga

An Endoscopic Ultrasound was done at Waikato as there is no private facility for this.

Now where did Herald repeater get her information from ? Made it up ??
Yes – Ms Edmonds I expect is putting on the agony for which the Doctors are not prepared to continue investigation. This presumes that Ms Edmonds is seeking charity to persue her expectations in Australia.

Sunday Herald – getting like SST which is going out of business soon, and with unsubstatiated facts, the Herald will follow.
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January 13, 2013 12:31pm
Manolo

The resident alarmist and warmist will be drooling over this:

A new video game featuring a black alien female superhero delivered to Earth to fight global warming is about to hit the market thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Obama administration.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is funding the Spelman College of Atlanta, Ga.’s multi-episode game called “HERadventure.” In the grant announcement made last year, the NEA said the story “focuses on a young female superhero sent to Earth to save her own planet from devastation because of climate changes caused by social issues impacting women and girls.”

The game is set to debut on March 8 on International Women’s Day.
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January 13, 2013 12:33pm
Nookin

Longknives

I fear that the trash talking started sometime ago and is simply perpetuated by McCullum. I used to cringe at the young guns ads that were on telly — nz cricketers taking it to the world. The batsmen couldn’t use their feet then and can’t now. These guys are paid (well paid) professional sportsmen. They are part of the entertainment industry. Standards apply to them just as anywhere else. Can anyone see an All Black selector persevering with a technically deficient prop, halfback or kicker? Why does NZ cricket tolerate technically deficient batsmen?
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January 13, 2013 12:36pm
Griff

The case alleged contamination of drinking water with hexavalent chromium in the southern California town of Hinkley.

Its interesting that there has been no rise in cancer rates in the Hinkley. area since that lawsuit

Basic h&s tell those exposed of risks. : Fail contractor
Sue and often win with bogus claims of impairment. : Fail claimants
USA political cronyism. : Fail government

Seems to me your story exposes the corruption of all the participants.
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January 13, 2013 12:56pm
Pauleastbay

I used to cringe at the young guns ads that were on telly —

Worse still whenever I saw those ads I segued straight in a Wham dance routine , terrible
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January 13, 2013 12:59pm
RF

Interesting to read about the Cop who was knocked around by 5 offenders and lost his weapons. It’s my understanding that in Aussie and the US you get in deep shit for assaulting a Police Officer. Here in NZ its fair game. I have a sneaking suspicion that the family responsible will be native NZers.
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January 13, 2013 1:02pm
thedavincimode

Why does NZ cricket tolerate technically deficient batsmen?

The same reason it tolerates technically deficient coaches and adminstrators I expect.
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January 13, 2013 1:12pm
mikenmild

Nookin
Martin Crowe blamed the poor technique on the academy system and the influence of the pseudo-scientific biomechanics approach that has been in favour for a decade or so.
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January 13, 2013 1:14pm
mikenmild

This was Crowe’s excellent article on the batting defects:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/581892.html
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January 13, 2013 1:21pm
Viking2

About value for money education. Not in NZ apparently.

Cost and return
The OECD has a truly huge database on education costs and benefits across almost all first-world countries. But how to make sense of it? To solve the problem it ran a competition and this is one of the finalists. The winner is here »

This is intriguing for New Zealand – it suggests we have a low cost, low benefit system. Based on this data, we are not really getting our money’s worth. Your view? Click on this graphic and explore. You can look at many things, although it does just focus on senior secondary, and teriary.
http://visualizing.org/full-screen/44130
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January 13, 2013 1:28pm
lilman

HB ,you want unemployable persons in Education?
Well during School closures under Mallard I met some real tosspots.
One in particular got up in front of 900 people at a heated meeting and said “Dont you accuse me of not knowing these communities,I have a motor bike and rode through this very town last summer”
If ever there was an example of a penis entering a rats arse it would have to be that Ministerial advisor, on god only knows how much a year.
I could even give you his name ,hes still in the education dept advising Hekia
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January 13, 2013 1:41pm
Griff

We export our graduates V2 there is no return from an educated asset that emigrates to Aussie then does not pay their loan
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January 13, 2013 1:56pm
Pauleastbay

These Bain threads are the shit, keeps the kids amused for hours.
What I particuarly like about them is no one has repeated themselves at any point.
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January 13, 2013 2:13pm
Nookin

“What I particuarly like about them is no one has repeated themselves at any point.”

And the discussion is courteous, respectful and constructive!
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January 13, 2013 2:31pm
MT_Tinman

It was Fleming who introduced the “trash talking”, sledging etc..

Before him it was slime doing the beat-up, not the players.

Longknives, not too many years ago McCullum scored three hundreds in a year – one at least against the Ockers at the Basin. I agree he doesn’t always impress with his choice of strokes but he has, unlike every other batsman (and no-hoper) in SA currently shown that he can at least attempt to bat time (He did this morning) even if he doesn’t get it right every time.

The problem is not McCullum, it is the whole badly selected, badly coached team. A properly selected, therefore unpolluted, properly coached team would immediately show an improvement but it would still be thrashed in SA right now. SA are that good.

Nookin, watch domestic first class cricket (if you can, NZC schedules it at bad times and stupid venues more often than not) and you soon see why NZ has few players of any standard. NZC has put nothing into this form of the game and the standard is pathetic at best.

For this reason the selectors, incompetent at best, even if they were capable of picking the best players instead of no-hopers from their favourite association, would still have to select most of the current lot although, of course, were they competent they wouldn’t have dropped the two players who held the team together in the last test innings they played before SA.
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January 13, 2013 2:46pm
Pauleastbay

Tinman

McCullum is a number 6 not an opener.

And I agree 99.9% with what you wrote above. To me watching them getting ready to go out on the field last night was like watching a pub league side. They were under the pump at the start of play yesterday looking down 500 and they were fucking about, not relaxed, but fucking about, unfortunately they look like a group that knows they will still get paid on Thursday rather than a bunch that should be thinking , “when will they ask me to hand my keys in”.

The selections for this test were abit of a mystery as well, Chris Martin might be 38 ( a decade older than the coach) but his bowling average is better than Danny Morrison’s and its miles better and will stay miles better than Neil Wagner. Plus Martin brings experience, but then again Wagner plays for Otago (silly me).

Anyway lets give Matthew Sinclair another go against the poms, they usally trundle him out again when they are in the shit and then never give him a chance, his average is nearly that of McCullum and he is actually an opener
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January 13, 2013 3:05pm
Pauleastbay

And whats disturbing about Guptil and McCullum is that their domestic averages are no where near 40 , you’d expect your internationals to be averaging well over 40 given the standard of NZ domestic cricket.
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January 13, 2013 3:22pm
MT_Tinman

PEB, I agree McCullum is not an ideal opener (I’d play him at five because Williamson is no better than a no.six) but he is all we have.

I agree re Martin and Wagner.

NO! on bloody Sinclair – ever!!! If he was ever the answer the question was bloody stupid.

Instead look at players who have shown a bit of intestinal fortitude along with potential, starting with Brownlie and Astle who at least have helped NZ win their last two away victories, get Guptil a real coach (and ban him from candyfloss crap until he improves) and beg or buy the return of Taylor and Ryder. Add McCullum and Williamson (as a batsman who bowls) and you have the makings of a reasonable team (12)
when adding the right-armers and Watling.

Oh, and stop picking bloody Ockers and Jaapies. The team is called New Zealand!
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January 13, 2013 3:29pm
Falafulu Fisi

The English version of hymn #1 is And Can it be That I should Gain, which commenter Krazykiwi knows. Its a nice hymn.
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January 13, 2013 3:59pm
krazykiwi

Indeed it is Falafulu
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January 13, 2013 4:12pm
krazykiwi

Savvy politicians release bad news just before Christmas. Seems the UK Met Office, fresh from fowling up their rainfall predictions all through 2012, have decided that an absence of runaway, catastrophic warming is bad news and should be released on Christmas Eve.

A forecast the Met Office hoped you wouldn’t see

The Met Office thought Christmas Eve would be a good day for burying good news

It is the graph the Met Office didn’t want you to see, in an episode which, according to one newspaper, represents “a crime against science and the public”.

Inevitably last week it didn’t take long for the bush fires set off by Australia’s “hottest summer ever” to be blamed on runaway global warming. Rather less attention was given to the heavy snow in Jerusalem (worst for 20 years) or the abnormal cold bringing death and destruction to China (worst for 30 years), northern India (coldest for 77 years) and Alaska, with average temperatures down in the past decade by more than a degree. But another story, which did attract coverage across the world, was the latest in a seemingly endless series of embarrassments for the UK Met Office.

Some of this story may be familiar – how on Christmas Eve the Met Office sneaked on to its website a revised version of the graph it had posted a year earlier showing its prediction of global temperatures for the next five years.

Not until January 5 did sharp-eyed climate bloggers notice how different this was from the graph it replaced. When the two graphs were posted together on Tallbloke’s Talkshop, this was soon picked up by the Global Warming Policy Foundation which whizzed it around the media.

So trying to bury news that doesn’t fit the warmist agenda, and then doctoring charts and hoping no one would notice. Never mind the facts… just pay your eco-guilt taxes everyone.
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January 13, 2013 4:23pm
Reid

I often talk about the importance of labels in propaganda in particular lately about the value of the “marriage” label to the evil feminists and their useless moron idiot followers.

Here’s a vid that explains how they work in other contexts.

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/01/using-emotional-labels-to-sell-agendas.html
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January 13, 2013 4:31pm
Kea

So trying to bury news that doesn’t fit the warmist agenda, and then doctoring charts and hoping no one would notice. Never mind the facts… just pay your eco-guilt taxes everyone.

krazykiwi, I think we need to be far less tolerant of this sort of thing. The promoters of AGW are not good people. It is way past time we demanded the truth and did something. They do not give a shit about the planet or the people on it. The people behind this are rotten. They want to destroy the most free and progressive societies on earth, to replace them with a bleak authoritarian socialist state. You see it here on KB, when ever you ask a AGW liar what is the solution to the imaginary problem?, the answer is always socialism. They say the problem is climate, but all they are interested in is political. We need to hold these to account.
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January 13, 2013 4:53pm
Reid

More on propaganda: how news anchors set agendas which beguile those who still watch TV news.

http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/the-ideal-television-anchor-and-his-role-in-the-matrix/

http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/how-the-newtown-massacre-became-a-mind-control-television-event/
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January 13, 2013 5:02pm
Reid

Some EU numbers.

That EU picture at the bottom BTW represents of course, the tower of Bable and those stars are called inverted pentagrams because when they have two points at the top and one at the bottom like that it fits over the goat’s head of Baphomet. It was an early published and withdrawn EU emblem. Perhaps they thought it was just a little too obvious that even the sheeple might notice. But they never did.

So the plan is proceeding apace. As you know wealth is never destroyed it is merely transferred and we are watching it right now.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/by-the-numbers-20-facts-about-the-collapse-of-europe-that-everyone-should-know

One of the things I’ve never understood for example, was the elevation of the oil price from the low $30’s it sat at for decades, to all of a sudden the hundreds, when none of the supply factors had changed, at all. As they still haven’t, to this day. Temporary security issues blockading major routes hasn’t happened, ever, and there is nothing in the supply equation either that would explain it, we have always had enough oil, it is not a scarce resource and never has been. So someone, IMO, made and continues to make fuckloads more money than ever, while the rest of us pay them. And this is the free market that’s done this, as well. Which makes one wonder how it all works. It’s a bit like the fact that somehow since Reagan the US has elected total arseholes to the POTUS. There hasn’t been any greats and none are in the wings. It’s like a ghastly plastic puppet show for Pres after Pres. How come that’s happened, too? Cos it has, hasn’t it.
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January 13, 2013 5:45pm
Reid

This link has a great promo video from the makers of the new Thunderbird 2 dirigible. It’s awesome.

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewnews.php?id=240493&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
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January 13, 2013 6:09pm
wat dabney

“One of the things I’ve never understood for example…”

Cue stupid conspiracy theory.
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January 13, 2013 6:17pm
Reid

Cue stupid conspiracy theory.

You mean about events that happened wat? You mean the oil prise rise is a “theory?”

Really?

Well I never.

So are you saying wat that when you go to a gas station you still pay what it used to be when oil was $30 bbl? Really?

Crikey.

And all the time I’ve been paying the price of oil as if it cost hundreds bbl, and I’ve been wrong, because all of this history is just a “theory?”

Really?

Crikey wikey.
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January 13, 2013 6:42pm
wat dabney

Perhaps it was Satan?

Was it Satan, Reid?
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January 13, 2013 6:54pm
nasska

Griff’s been a bit quiet today! 🙂

Ref: http://imgur.com/gallery/OYECu
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January 13, 2013 7:03pm
Griff

Well done Kk the latest from the nutosphere 😆
Your link does not work but the same silly rubbish is on all the echo sites

When cold snaps become news I guess that global warming is here

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-01/03/content_16076655.htm

The extreme cold has largely been attributed to the shrinking of ice in the Arctic caused by global warming, Zhou Botao, an expert at the National Climate Center, told People’s Daily.

USA all time record 250year hottest year
Does kk post that ?

No much more important we our told of snow ……. in outer fucken Mongolia

Nutters 😆

The weather in India and outer Mongolia is cold

Its winter

Its snowing
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January 13, 2013 7:05pm
SPC

Someone should hire a test match batting consultant for the black caps.

Only those capable of redeeming the lost cause need apply …
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January 13, 2013 7:08pm
mikenmild

Re-jig the domestic competition and make a rule for eligibility so that only those who play in the domestic first-class competition are eligible for test selection.
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January 13, 2013 7:33pm

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