jcuknz

2009-07-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

Where am I politically speaking?

Well I don't know how good the poll is but I found this one care ofr Kiwiblog and it put me slightly below the median of Auhouritatian and Libitarian and 7.1 towards the left.

So I guess I follow the typical leftish way of speaking in an independant way from the official Labour policy. Labour seems to split people off and in recent times they have lost those who formed the ACT party, the Greens, and the Alliance.

The only way National stayed in power for so many years was the first past the post system which disenfranchised so many.Those concentrations of left wing supporters such as Mt Albert whose vote would have been more use in other electorates.

2009-07-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

Sharing the health dollar with the private sector.

This is raising blood pressure in the Labour camp and their blog ... which is such a pity that Labourites are so blind with their black and white approach to the subject.
There are many people in the country being conn'd by the health insurance industry with low premiums when they are young and healthy and spat out effectively by greatly increased premiums when they reach retirement age ... makes sense of course becuase they likely need more treatment in their old age. But the truely responsible system would have whole-of-life premiums.
There is only one way this can be done and that is to have either the government or an SOE organisation handle it with everybody paying in according to their means.

The black and white Labour approach is pure ideological stupidity.

2009-06-05T01:51:00.000-07:00

Back here after being moderated off a blog site where the owner didn't like me [wanking as she put it] going on in a similar manner to what she does most of the time. Except she uses the 'f' word quite a lot. She suggested if I wanted to wank on I should get my own site ... fair enough except I thought I was providing a reasoned argument pointing out where she had gone wrong ... so she moderated me out. Not the first time folk have objected to my comments on the web.

Anyway the subject was a media report about an alleged rape which had included the word 'rape'. Obviously some rash editor bucking the PC and bringing joy to a feminist's heart.

My interest is less what words were used in the report but the lack of action by bystanders to stop the act. I guess my opening para wasn't exactly inclined to calm the femine breast ,, whatever ....

Ideologically Impure
090604
I am suprised at your apparent limited comprehension, perhaps I should sprinkle a few 'f' words through my answers to help you.
I can see our interests are different.
Whereas you think that the use of the word to describe the act is important, I am concerned that the citizens stood by and did nothing to stop the act, that the act continued without interuption from your report.
Is it better to describe the act using one particularly emotive word, and hail a sucess that it was used by a print media outlet, or to discuss the failure of the law/citizens to hinder or stop the act as it progressed, instead of watching horrified.
I have twisted your approach to the more important aspect of the case in my view. I am just a mere male and could be expected to perhaps have a different attitude to the act. But I ask why was it permitted to take place and to be charitable to the watchers I can only think that the woman involved didn't object to the act in an understandable way to the watchers, a second reason could be the relative physical size of watchers compared to the the alleged rapist. Another thought comes to me that in a society which for decades has been nursed from the womb to the tomb we expect somebody else to correct matters, we ring the police to apprehend the alleged offender, when actually a restrained interuption of the act would have been more appropriate. I am fortunate to have never been assaulted so I cannot speak from a victims point of view.
Was the use of the word one small step forward for feminists? What is a word but a symbol to describe an act or thing. If the act is disgusting then surely any word or combination of words will do. So long as we know what act happened.
So I don't share your apparent delight at what might be political correctness being overcome.

So if anybody reads this I wonder what you think ......

2008-11-17T22:16:00.001-08:00

Hats off to Mr Key for his astute negotiations which have got the Maori Party onside to balance and remove his dependancy on the ACT Party to govern. I'm sure Mr Hyde is somewhat miffed at this development.

The sad thing is the way the media has painted Sir Roger, with the public letting itself be misled, into the devil incarnate. Completely forgetting that his common sense socialism got the country out of the poo in the eighties and but for the infamous cup-of-tea the Labour party could well have had a two decade rule instead of being thrown out for its in fighting at the end of the eighties.

I can see that John Key simply cannot afford to have it suggested that Sir Roger has any input becuase of the public's concept of Sir Roger's worth, it would loose too many votes.

It is ironical that in the eighties the departing leaders of the Labour Party were part of the cup-of-tea brigade while the new leaders supported Roger Douglas. With some of the media talking about National moving to the right it is fair to ask if both parties are shifting the centre line to the right. So often in recent years I have heard Labour politicians spouting the catchwords from ACT of the nineties. It is rather fun altogether.

2008-11-14T10:19:00.000-08:00

It must be a little frustrating for Rodney Hide and ACT that National is cultivating the Maori Party becuase with them on board John Key has his majority without ACT and so ACTs position is little better than when in opposition.

Still I think it is sad that Rogernomics is such a swear word with most of the population that John Key is forced to exclude Sir Roger out of reasons of self preservation. Sir Roger got the country moving in the eighties and one can only hope he has the answer to our current problems and will be taken notice of .. descretely if not openly.

2008-11-14T10:16:00.000-08:00

A NYT article about pollution in the northern hemisphere ends with the comment that if simply for health reasons something should be done about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/world/14cloud.html?th&emc=th

Perhaps nature is creating this in a way to reduce the effect of endless copulation which is over populating Earth.

2008-11-14T10:14:00.000-08:00

If Prince Chgarles is fed up with kiwikids asking him what it is like to be a prince and doesn't want to come here them we should pick another member of the Royals ... perhaps the one who has lived and taught here .. I forget his name ..Edward?

2008-08-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

Since the government has been giving the Maori tribes loads of money why do the Maori not look after the poorer members of their tribes and counter the rapacious activities of banks foreclosing on poor Maori having trouble meeting mortgage payments due to inflation and escalating the outstanding payments with various fees and valuations.

In supporting their tribal members I would expect them to help also to keep them on a straight and narrow path to financial stability. Budgetry advice etc.

2008-08-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

I am puzzled about Georgia ... as I understand it the Georgian military invaded the provinces thinking that Russia would hold back. They didn't and continue to maintain military presence to safeguard them from the Georgian forces.

Next Russia recognises them as new independant states. That is funny as Russia has usually been the 'take-over' power .... yet the countries which support freedom and self determination .. generally speaking the West .... are refusing to to recognise these new countries,

All very puzzling.

2008-08-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

I think it is sad and amusing that fifty percent of our population believe the mis-information about secret agendas. Of course it isn't mis-information but the concept that only the National Party members have secret agendas.

Everybody politicians and joe muggins has views that are not party policy and/or politically acceptable.

Then there is the curfuffle about $50 tolls ... you pay that much if you use the road, and don't if you do not.

2008-08-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

"The truly green solution is to close the loop between manufacturing and recycling: reusing the old we so quickly and happily toss away to make the new. "

which is a generalised modification of the New York Times editorial talking about the heralded as green, the new corn phones, plastic made out of corn, which said .....

The truly green solution for electronics makers is to close the loop between manufacturing and recycling: reusing the plastics we so quickly and happily toss away to make new cellphones.

As a sometime model engioneer I really enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling when I manage to re-use some of the mountain of junk I have accumualted "becuase it looked to be useful for something, too good to throw away"

2008-08-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

Dope in sport?
An article in today's New York Time suggests that we should stop the silly and hypocratical testing for dope in atheletes which lets some get though and apparently punishes some of the innocent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/science/12tier.html?th&emc=th

I have thought that the pursuit of excellence in sport is not for me but if they are allowed to wear special swim suits which minic the dolphin skin then why cannot they ingest substances to make themselves more efficient. I am cautious about taking aspirin let alone anything more serious but really if they want to endanger their health, or not, in the pursuit of silly records then be it on themselves so long as they has adequate resources so they do not become a burden on the taxpaper as a result of their activities.

2008-08-10T21:22:00.001-07:00

The Lake Hayes Project, a windfarm for the Lammermaul Range [ or however it is spelt]

The extract of the Turner book in the Otago Daily Times doesn't sway me for one moment. What is needed for this country is a balanced supply of power from hydro, wind and sea.

It would be better also if he didn't call the Meridian heads nasty names, that is being childish and typical left wing style of attacking the person rather that the idea. I looked for sensible arguments and found nothing but wooly thinking, shades of the NIMBY attitude.

The New York Times today [11.8.8] has an interesting article contrasting Denmark with America which in recent years has made itself independent of imported oil to a large degree thanks to wind power and changing people's habits. We cannot rely on wind to provide a constant supply, but neither does hydro, and oil and gas is running out ... so the sensible solution is to have all three and hope that collectively they will meet our needs. Conservation comes from the increasing prices and replacing our housing stock with energy efficient dwellings.

2008-08-09T13:32:00.000-07:00

The fate of the SUV ecconomics versus conservation
The NYT editorial ......
Editorial
A Future for S.U.V.’s
'Americans should consider selling their suddenly redundant S.U.V.’s to the scrap market or to a foreign country. If all else fails, there’s always art.');
We have heartily applauded Americans’ collective decision to recognize the finite nature of the world’s supply of fossil fuels and to start driving sensible vehicles. But we must also acknowledge that this abrupt change of heart is creating a new national challenge: what to do with the suddenly redundant S.U.V.?

The question is not only of pressing importance for Detroit’s automakers, which are losing unimaginable sums of money as they rush to replace a business model centered around multiton trucks with one based on cars. It is a growing problem for hundreds of thousands of Americans who can’t afford to drive a hulk that goes 13 miles on a gallon of gas when that gallon costs $4. Monthly sales of new S.U.V.’s fell 25 percent in July compared with the same month in 2007. One report suggested that in the first quarter of the year 17 percent of S.U.V. owners in the country were trying to get rid of them.
It won’t be easy. Thousands of secondhand S.U.V.’s sit unwanted and ignored in car dealerships across the land. On eBay, bids for 2008 Hummers are coming in at 50 percent of the sticker price. Car companies are not selling formerly leased S.U.V.’s for anywhere near the price they counted on.
Some drivers are facing a grim choice between trading in the Ford Expedition for less than what they owe on it and continuing to shell out more than 25 cents per mile for gas. Even donating unwanted S.U.V.’s has become less attractive since the Internal Revenue Service tightened rules on deductions for such contributions.
We suggest exploring foreign countries. The Russian market for cars, for instance, is booming — thanks to a fast-growing economy and generous government subsidies that are keeping a lid on the price of gas. The best part is that Russians prefer secondhand imports over domestic Ladas and Volgas.
Then there’s the scrap market. With demand for steel growing briskly in developing countries, prices of scrap steel have doubled over the past year. Exports in the first four months of 2008 rose 22 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. Demand is so strong that manhole covers are disappearing from city streets, reappearing at scrap yards outside town.
If all else fails, there’s always art.
The artist John Chamberlain made a name for himself making sculptures out of crushed automobile parts. Cadillac Ranch — an array of graffiti-covered Cadillacs protruding at an angle from a field near Amarillo, Tex. — has become one of the nation’s landmarks.
With a few adaptations, a Lincoln Navigator might make a nice streetlamp.

But the point is that while we all want to save on petrol, the ecconomics mean that it makes sense to continue to drive the large car for a reasonable period of time becuase the cost of petrol equals the loss on selling or trading in the SUV. I faced this problem and bought big a coupolle of decades ago when as a family man struggling to make ends meet, sort of anyway :-), I choose to buy the cheaper Holden 2600cc , and later a 3000cc, instead of the more ecconomically running four cylinder car ... that was just too expensive for my pocket book.

I'm glad I have a small one which takes me up the mountains occasionally ... rather than just driving around town ... which currently does 5km to the NZ dollar .... when I bought it three years ago the cost was 7km/dollar. Dunedin to Wanaka was $45, last trip $60. That is towing my baby camper trailer which saves me money when I stay at the motorcamp.

2008-08-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

The biggest State with a big problem.

Texas must surely believe that out of sight, in jail, is out of mind. An editorial about the treatment/ neglect of dis-abled children by Texas

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/opinion/09sat3.html?th&emc=th

2008-08-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

While here in New Zealand it is my impression that the right to vote is sabotaged by individual's own laziness to register it appears this is not so the United States where oprganisers of the voting system actively supress voting of people that might vote against their views.

Today's NYT editorial on the subject ....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/opinion/09sat1.html?th&emc=th

2008-08-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

111 Call goes to Manila ... from Yahoo News service
A Southland man says a 111 call he made early on Thursday morning reached the Philippine capital Manila.
But a Telecom spokesman says the glitch could not have happened and despite Telecom operating a call-centre in Manila, all 111 calls were answered within New Zealand .
Peter Mason, of Lumsden, told the Southland Times he dialled 111 about 2.15am after hearing noises behind shops in Diana St, where he has a flat and woodwork shop, about 2.15am.
Dialling the number from his cellphone, it was answered by a woman with what he described as having a "thick accent" which he found hard to understand.
While the woman knew he had dialled the emergency number, trying to explain where Lumsden was to her was proving difficult so he asked where she was, he said.
"It was definitely Manila. I asked her where she was and she said `Manila in the Philippines'."
Mr Mason said the woman then transferred him to the police communications centre in Christchurch.
Telecom spokesman Ian Bonnar told the newspaper the company traced the call and it had "absolutely, categorically" gone to the Christchurch call centre about 2.30am.
"If you dial 111 there's no way you can be routed through to Manila."
That was the case with both landlines and cellphones, he said.

Pull the other leg Telecom :-)

2006-09-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

We should all try to remember to when in rome do as the romans do ... it saves a lot of strife so long as we are free to retrace our steps to where we came from.