Home » Archives for August 2009
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Unknown on Monday, August 31, 2009
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Unknown on Sunday, August 30, 2009
Is Twitter account owner lying to media over Bradford death threats?
update: apparently so - Henk van Helmond responds in commentsThe man who owns the Twitter account that had
this threat addressed to Sue Bradfords twitter account said he had no knowledge of the threat until
TV3 appeared on his doorstep. He claimed his Twitter account had been hacked. He said that after TV3 turned up he looked at his Twitter account and saw the tweet.
Now TV3 could not have known that Henk van Helmond owned the Twitter site that made the threat before I blogged
this yesterday. Neither did Sue Bradford.
But van Helmond knew about the threat on his Twitter site. He knew before TV3 turned up. Because he wrote
this on the CYFSWatch site at 12:04pm yesterday, commenting on the Sunday News report of the tweet. And as far as I am aware, Sue Bradford knew about that post on the CYFSWatch site before the media was told of the name of the owner of the Twitter account the threat came from.
Van Helmond’s story does not stack up. Either that or his CYFSWatch site was hacked, or someone is writing very similar words to him. Here's what he wrote on CYFSwatch when it was on Blogger in 2007 ( now deleted)
If ever someone needed a beating, it is this sociopathic witch.She is projecting her own allergy to correction or any form of discipline onto the families of New Zealand, so that our kids can end up as sick as she is.Bradford is a worthy candidate for NZ's first political assassination - I only wish I had the resources to do it.
And from his Twitter account in 2009
@suebr is STILL a good candidate for NZ's first political assassination. (watch sue run to the Police because of a death threat, stupid cow).
Go figure.
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Unknown
With the realease off ffmpeg 0.5 there is much better AVCHD support in my experience, so you can use it for perfect conversions. You can download ffmpeg from ffmpeg.org and then use this script:
#!/bin/sh
# ffmpeg-avchd script by linux-tipps.blogspot.com# to encode a directory use this command:
# for i in *.m2ts; do ffmpeg-avchd $i; done
IN="$1"; shift
OUT=$(echo $IN | sed 's/.m2ts//')-720p.avi
echo Encoding $IN to $OUT.
ff="ffmpeg -deinterlace -i "$IN" -acodec copy -vcodec libx264 -vpre normal -crf 25 -sws_flags lanczos -s hd720 -r 25"
echo $ff $OUT
nice $ff "$OUT"
The only thing I'm not really happy with yet is the deinterlacing and deshaking. I would like to use a sharper deinterlacer, but I guess I'd need mencoder for that. The Lanczos software scaler does make steady images pretty sharp already, though.
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Unknown on Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sue Bradford a candidate for assassination
On Twitter, someone recently
wrote this@suebr is STILL a good candidate for NZ's first political assassination. (watch sue run to the Police because of a death threat, stupid cow).
The person who wrote this goes under the name Kiwi1960.
I thought that sounded familiar. A person underthe name of Kiwi1960 has said stuff like this before. He has a
You Tube site. In the intro he says that he is Kiwi1960, has MS. He says that "CYFS created me, and payback is gunna be a bitch". I blogged about Kiwi 1960
and his mates some time ago after Helen Clark got a brick chucked through her electorate office window.
Kiwi1960 is Henk van Helmond, and on
this site he called Sue Bradford a communist.But
here he even comments on the Twitter post in light of an article written by the Sunday News today.
Sue Bradford, you have my Email address, please provide me proof of these death threats, because even if you said the world was round, I’d still think it was a lie because of the mouth it came out of.
Nasty piece of work, isn't he?
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Unknown on Friday, August 28, 2009
Some old images and a Flash loop of the Solar Sailer from the
1982 TRON film as well as some bootleg images from the upcoming
TRON LEGACY movie set to debut in 2010. Check
the trailer.
Keywords: solar sailer concept ships from tron and tron legacy film cinematic movies disney pixar animated flash loop stills frames
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Unknown
Not much from me in the next week
Off to Auckland in the weekend, back Thursday. Things to do in the real world.
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Unknown on Thursday, August 27, 2009
New Zealand Week
Every Friday I wake up and read
The New Zealand week . It's a good wrap up of the news and events of the preceding week and the URL gets delivered straight to my inbox as a reminder. There's always something in there that I have missed.
I recommend it.
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Unknown
John Key to be interviewed on Big News
Prime Minister John Key is going to sell New Zealand to the blogosphere when he is interviewed by top political blog Big News next month.
Mr Key is booked for a mid-September blog post while he is in Auckland to speak at the Family First conference .
He is a key speaker at the forum.
"It's an opportunity to promote to the blogosphere what I really think, it's gold when it comes to New Zealand from a political point of view," Mr Key said today.
"This is a blog that hundreds of people visit worldwide, it really is a Big News opportunity."
Since the election Mr Key has focused on being all things to all people, every day in every way in all areas of New Zealand all the time.
"The blogger at Big News is very keen on New Zealand politics," he said. " He was
last time we met"."I understand he spent a fair bit of time ribbing Sue Bradford about how great New Zealand parents were, so I'm sure I'll be able to reinforce her comments."
Radio New Zealand incorrectly reported Key's interview on Big News was arranged by a National Party supporter who left a comment on Key's Facebook page.
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Unknown
Political question of the day
Who was the first Maori woman to become a minister in the New Zealand parliament?
Too easy? Answer
this, then.
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Unknown on Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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Unknown
Dictator dicatates to the dictated
Well, by now you`ll all know that Herr Key has decreed that National will not support Acts smacking bill, which was drawn out of the ballot today. John Boscawen should postpone the debate on the bill's first reading until just before the election (because National would have been written off by then and is likely to vote for it), then Labour can get back in for one term with an increase in support for NZ First, reject the legislation and get booted out at the following election for rejecting the bill.
Meanwhile, the Treaty of Waitangi and democracy should be taught in all schools and a petition should be creatively drawn up relating to the Boscawen bill - and have it presented just before the bill is due for a vote in the house.
National ignores referenda,ignores select committee deliberations, now it opposes a bill its supporters want to be able to submit to a select committee on. Can we have our democracy back? Hope you are looking forward to the next few polls as well as I am.
Finally, if you voted for National at the election, you should ask yourself why. And watch NZ First rise in the polls soon if it gets its act together.
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Unknown on Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Diet Pills Can Cause Liver Damage!News broke today of a new report on diet pills such as ALLI (the fat busting pill in the windows of almost every chemist and pharmacy in the UK) that suggests these miracle cure super magic bullet diet pills can increase the risk of liver damage.
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is investigating reports of liver damage in patients taking diet pills containing the chemical orlistat, an ingredient in the popular over-the-counter drug Alli and its prescription version Xenical says
www.newsday.comWhile the FDA has not sent out a public warning about the drug, it is looking at reports that 32 cases of serious liver damage have been identified from 1999 to 2008, including six cases of liver failure. All but two of the injuries occurred outside the United States.
"We estimate that since 1999, more than 11 million prescriptions have been dispensed, and we see 32 adverse events around the world. It's a fairly unusual occurrence [for a] very popular drug," an FDA spokeswoman said.
Orlistat blocks the intestines from absorbing fat when taken up to three times a day with meals. The FDA approved Xenical in 1999 for weight management in conjunction with a reduced-calorie diet. Alli, which contains half the dose of orlistat, was cleared for nonprescription use in 2007.
Both drugs are marketed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, though Xenical is manufactured by Swiss firm Roche.
The makers Glaxo Smithkline (GSK) have dismissed claims that the research proves diet pills such as Alli can cause liver damage, suggesting it's the fact that people are fat that makes them more prone to liver problems, not their miracle diet pills that they say can help fatties lose an extra 1lb a week - 3lb of weight loss per week instead of 2lb weight loss.
London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "We were invited to help publicise these diet pills when they were first launched but we refused. We are opposed to them - they encourage the notion that people can eat the same unhealthy food and just take a diet pill to stop fat being absorbed into the body. These diet pills also perpetuate the myth that all fat is bad. Some fats are essential. It's too much saturated animal fat and processed vegetable fat in our diets that is the problem. Meanwhile many people actually have a shortage of the essential omega 3 fats and EPA which is needed for the healthy integrity of every cell membrane in the body and especially the body's vital organs such as the brain."
"Don't take these pills - eat more healthily, eat essential nutrient dense food rather than just belly enhancing calorie dense food" is the Nutritionist's message.
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Unknown
Spass
Boxdorf BMWhttp://www.tu.tv/videos/la-broma-del-bmwEinfach mal hinsetzten und Lachen ohne Ende.
Verarsche von Florian Silbereisenhttp://www.myvideo.de/watch/5392297/Verarsche_von_Florian_SilbereisenOma kauft Windowshttp://videos.rofl.to/clip/oma-kauft-windowsLittle Britain - In der Bankhttp://videos.rofl.to/clip/little-britain-in-der-bankVerstehen Sie Spass?
Kurti in der Discohttp://videos.rofl.to/clip/verstehen-sie-spass-kurti-in-der-discoUnbed. Ansehen!!!!!!!!... v. Sohnemann
Der Stauhttp://videos.rofl.to/clip/der-stau-fettsack(V. meinem Sohn, beides ...)
Sparen, sparen, sparen ...
Toilettenpapier sparenToilettenpapier zu sparen ist in der heutigen Zeit ja ganz dringend notwendig. Und die Krise erreicht auch die Paare in der Sendung “Frauentausch” auf RTL II.
Der langhaarige Mann fragt seine Partnerin doch im Ernst, wie viel Toilettenpapier sie benutzt, wenn sie “ein großes Geschäft” erledigt. Sie zeigt es ihm.
Aber dann kommt sein großer Auftritt:
Hier zeigt er, wie man wirklich Toilettenpapier sparen kann:
http://www.tv-blog.org/666288-toilettenpapier-sparen-der-trick-aus-frauentausch/Music Maestro - Hornhttp://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=-3284492900762181072&q=maestroEvolution of Dancehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNgVerstehen Sie Spass - Wasserbetthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtFMylC41VUVersteckte Kamera: Eine Massage für zweihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5H5U4AyFQEDas SAMMELSURIUMÄrztliche Kunstfehler Stimmbänder
Ärztliche Kunstfehler Boemerang !Deutsch! Uebersetzt
(V. Sohnemman, der hat sich geschüttelt vor lachen ...)
Cindy aus Marzahn /// Gesundheit Tipps, lachenAber sonst GesundSitzen zwei Rentner auf einer Bank im Park. Sagt der Eine:"Ich habe mir gestern dieses brandneue Hörgerät gekauft. Damit höre ich jetzt endlich jedes kleinste Geräusch." Fragt der Andere:"Ja was hast Du den für das Gerät bezahlt?"
"HALB VIER!"
Erste Hilfe in Poleneuro training
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1Ny_Ap81iM&feature=PlayList&p=C20E5CCC9A71DB74&index=10Ein Mann fährt eine steile Bergstrasse hinauf. Eine Frau fährt dieselbe Strasse hinunter. Als sie sich begegnen, lehnt sich die Frau aus dem Fenster und schreit: "SCHWEIN!!" Der Mann schreit sofort zurück: "HEXE!!" Beide fahren weiter.....als der Mann um die nächste Kurve biegt, rammt er ein Schwein, das mitten auf der Strasse steht. Wenn Männer doch nur zuhören würden !
Comedy Falle- Dieter Hallervorden-
Video
Cindy aus Marzahn /// Gesundheit Tipps, lachenMode, fragt der kleine Tim seinen Vater: Papa, was heißt eigentlich M O D E ? Papa antwortet: das ist ein Abkürzug, es bedeutet M änner O pfern D ie E rsparnisse!Verstehen Sie Spass? -
Wasserbett (mit Ton!)
Ein Österreicher nach der Fahrprüfung zu seinem Kumpel: "Ich habe die Prüfung nicht bestanden."-"Warum nicht?", will sein Kumpel wissen. Er antwortet niedergeschlagen: "Auf einem Schild vor einem Kreisel stand 30, da bin ich 30 mal um den Kreisel herum gefahren!" -"Na und..?.. hast du dich verzählt??"
DigiClick - Verstehen Sie Spass?Stoiber Rede - Flughafen München
(v. Sohnemann)
Stoibers
Gestammelte WerkeDie Flugreise: AbflugWitze ComediansLG
___________________________________
Wer mit der Herde läuft muss Ärschen folgen.
Das SAMMELSURIUMWas ist mit der Schweinegrippe?Da geht keine Sau hin!
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Unknown on Monday, August 24, 2009
Telecom injustice
Telecom boss Paul Reynolds is getting paid $5 million salary, after Telecom profit dropped 43.9%, while Telecom workers - the people who actually work for their living for Telecom - are facing a terrible choice between lay-offs with no redundancy pay or buying their own jobs to work for up to 50% less pay.
The company's other top six executives pulled in another $11m between them. Labour Party president
Andrew Little, in his role as EPMU spokesperson, said while hundreds of frontline Telecom workers were having their livelihoods and work rights stripped from them, Telecom was being driven by shameless greed and a disregard for the network they were entrusted with.
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Unknown
Another child dies
When is it going to end?
Story here TV clip
here. Sue Bradford too busy
posting pics of protests on Facebook to comment.
An interview of the neighbour will be on TV3 news tonight.
Update Looks like it may be a premature newborn. The cause of death has not been disclosed. It is as tragic as an abortion.
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Unknown
I find it quite ironic that quite a few two-faced Act supporters are annoyed at John Key's undemocratic stance in ignoring the smacking referendum, but are quite happy for Rodney Hide to run roughshod over the select committee process - and treat a Royal Commission report like it didnt exist - with regards to Maori seats on the Auckland City Council.
On 26 May,
Rodney Hide saidI have faith in parliamentary democracy and the select committee process. I have made it plain what my views are, but ultimately the decision will be made by Parliament.
He had faith in Parliamentary democracy because he knew that Parliament would not be making the decision on the seats: Cabinet had already made it on 6 April 2009 as noted in
Cabinet minute 0912/7, [PDF] that Māori representation should not be provided for within the new Auckland governance structure. At that stage the select committee hadn't even looked at submissions. A week later Hide told John Key that he would
resign if Cabinet changed its mind and Maori seats were introduced in the Auckland City Council.The select committee has not even reported back, yet Cabinet has already made its decision not to include the seats and Key knew for more than two months that he would lose a Minister if the seats were included. I believe that Key and Hide had always intended not to include the seats even before the select committee process started, and that is simply disgraceful.
Rodney Hide is a two-faced hypocrite. Tau Henare has called him a
jerk-off. Hide
urged National to listen to the public after Key told the country he'll ignore the referendum results. But Hide had effectively just told the public he would be ignoring their submissions on Maori seats in Auckland before they even submitted to the select committee.
It's a shame that Act supporters are not outraged about Hide's blatant unwillingness to agree to anyone that disagrees with him on one issue, while at the same time being outraged that people don't agree with him on another. For Act supporters, democracy is only under attack if their views are attacked.
There is absolutely no way Act can be taken seriously in this government.
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Unknown on Sunday, August 23, 2009
Cabinet has agreed to ask police not to uphold the law
Cabinet has
agreed to ask police and Child Youth and Family to review their procedures to ensure good parents were treated as Parliament intended with regards to smacking legislation.
But if the law is working as parliament intended, as claimed by Key, why this move? Obvious, really, the law is not working as Parliament intended so instead of changing the law, the Government will change the administration of it. As Parliaments' intentions don't match the written law, that is the easier option rather than aligning intention and legislation.
So Parliament intended for a law to be passed but not enforced. Because enforcers were enforcing the law the enforcers have been explicitly told not to enforce it because Key doesn't want to relitigate the "explosive" smacking debate , preferring to put in "additional safeguards"
An independent person would assist in the review which would be completed by December.
In the
media conference today Key said
If the law shows that through its application that New Zealand parents are criminalised or their chldren are taken off them for what can only be described as... minor or inconsequential smacking then the law has to be changed
I wonder what
Erik and Lisa, whose kids were taken off them for what can only be described as minor or inconsequential smacking, think of that.
A report on the effects of the law would be brought forward from the end of the year to late September/early October and the police would continue with their ongoing reviews of the law.
Not good enough.
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Unknown
Visit John Keys Facebook page
John Key has a public Facebook site
here. In the past day or so nearly 80 people have left messages urging him to reconsider his position on smacking. Not one supports his stance.
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Unknown on Saturday, August 22, 2009
If you break the law we`ll make sure you don't get prosecuted
This is what I think John Key will tell Cabinet tomorrow.
He will advise that the law surrounding smacking should not be changed. Instead he will instruct police and CYFS not to prosecute or investigate cases of light smacking. [Update: well, not before they report every case of smacking to the Government]. This will not reassure parents because he has said this before and one parent got convicted for smacking, with others getting prosecuted.
Our panty-waisted Prime Minister just hasn't got the balls to change the law. We expect Parliament to pass laws in line with democratic interests, not pass policy. The referendum asked whether smacking should be a criminal offence, not whether parents should be prosecuted or investigated by police or CYFS.
Parents want to live within the law, not to break the law in the knowledge that they wont be hassled.What John Key is effectively doing is putting a used condom over the law to provide added protection. It won't work. It is also undemocratic as the public don't want that. They want to parent within the law and smack their children in the knowledge that such as smack is not a criminal offence.
If we can break a criminal law passed by Parliament with the explicit intention, after an overwhelming referendum ,that it will not be upheld, I guess we can break other laws too - perhaps small amounts of shoplifting will be fine, especially in a recession. After all shoplifting laws are working well, aren't they? And shoplifting, like smacking, can also happen in the supermarket.
Any other suggestions welcome.
More about →
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Unknown on Friday, August 21, 2009
Who said this. And when
The way to send a strong message on child abuse is to make the law clear and precise and then to police it strongly and vigilantly. This bill as it stands does the opposite. For me, a result that sees the criminalisation of parents for a light smack is simply not on the table.
Anyway, its not the "criminalisation" of parents that is the issue here. Parents don’t want to have to be looking over their shoulders or glancing sideways if they should smack their kid in the supermarket or the mall or wherever, wondering who has ratted on them to the police or to the CYFS. Nor do they want fear investigation or prosecution for an act that they dont consider criminal.
That’s what the law has done. The law needs to be changed. As
David Farrar says, Parliament should not insist that a smack is a criminal offence if it lacks majority support for being a criminal act - or in this case one that has massive and sustained opposition. Criminal laws that that have opposition by so many people should be changed.
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Unknown
Maori are not listening to Maori Party over smacking
Those in the Maori electorates are more
opposed to smacking being a criminal offence in New Zealand , on average, than those in the general electorates, despite the Maori Party's stance on the issue
The Maori Party has been encouraging a Yes vote. Yet in one of their electorates it holds, 90.74% of those who took part in the referendum voted no. The lowest was 85.13%. Overall Maori are more opposed to the current law than those in the general electorates.
Wonder what the Maori Party thinks of that.
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Unknown
A lot of people voted NO
post has been updatedA lot of people voted NO in the referendum this month. In fact more people
1,420,959 - voted No than those who party voted all parliamentary parties other than Labour in the
2008 election, and for all parliamentary parties other than the main governing party every other election since 1996.
The Yes Vote has their
collective tails between their legs: The Yes Vote ran a positive, constructive campaign that attracted the support of hundreds of organisations that deal daily with children and families, and thousands of individuals who reject physical punishment as effective parenting,” said the coalition’s spokesperson, Deborah Morris-Travers.
Trouble is, not a great proportion of the people in those organisations voted Yes, so they didn't even influence their own "supporters". Sue Bradford
said she believed that the number of spoiled ballot papers returned may be "comparatively high".
As of today there were 802 invalid votes and 9696 informal votes. Perhaps the 803 invalid votes were spoiled - 0.04%. That's not "comparatively high" and Bradford is nuts to claim that it would be. Its not spin, that's stupidity. Even if you you include the informal votes, that's a little over half a percent, with more votes to be counted.
To further put the vote into perspective, in 1993 55 percent of electors voted in 1993 in the first of a two-part poll, and 85% decided that the electoral system should be changed. In 2009, a higher percentage - 87% decided to vote NO.
More people voted no than supported MMP. More people voted NO than those who didnt vote at all.
John Key said he had listened to the result of the referendum and plans to take some proposals to Cabinet on Monday. But he won't be changing the law.
I think they will give New Zealand parents added comfort that the law is working and that the law will be administered in a way they have resoundingly demonstrated through the referendum that it should be administered.
Oh and another statistic.. The 2008 election turnout was 79.46%, or from 2,386,181 eligible votes, 1,420,959 NO votes out of 2,386,181 people that would bother to vote even in a general election is a 59.55% NO result.
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Unknown on Thursday, August 20, 2009
Legal opinion on pay equity tells us nothing we don't already know
The Human Rights Commission has released
legal opinion [PDF] on pay equity and EEO ( equal employment opportunities) reviews All the reviews except one found gender pay gaps that varied in size from 3 per cent to 35 per cent. The opinion states that even though the Government has scrapped the pay equity review, chief executives must take reasonable steps, based on current information, to implement those duties.
In other words CE's just need to report that they are doing something, without actually bothering to find out or say what they are doing or saying, if anything. All based on "current information".
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Unknown
Boo-hoo Sue
Sue Bradford is
already commenting on the results of the smacking referendum before results are even announced.
Feedback I've received from the public over the last few weeks tells me a lot of people feel pretty angry at the confused nature of the referendum question and the waste of $9 million of taxpayers' money this represents
Feedback I've been getting is that a lot of people are pretty angry that Bradfords bangs on about the law provides children from the same legal protection from violence as adults.
Now if she'd only replaced the word violence with correction, she`d be more accurate. But the word "correction" doesn't have the same violent audible soundbite on TV as the word violence does. Sue Bradford is about to get violently riding cropped by the NO voters and she doesn't like it.
Because the rights of the children should come first - except in Green policies like abortion and gay adoption.
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Unknown on Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Rodney Hide to resign over Maori seats
post has been updatedRodney Hide says he will have to
resign as minister if Auckland gets Maori seats on the super council, as it is fundamentally against the culture of New Zealand. He even said it won't threaten the stability of government as Act will still provide confidence and supply.
He's wrong about the seats. He's partially right about the stability; as the Maori Party also provides confidence and supply, stability wont be threatened even if Act withdraws its support.
My take is simply this: Auckland should get the seats.If Hide wants to resign it is up to him, but he`d be a hypocrite not to if Auckland get the seats. Audrey Young said this in
October last yearAct's Rodney Hide put his weight behind the Maori Party last night, supporting any move to entrench the Maori seats on the basis that what was good for the general seats should apply to the Maori seats too.
Whereas
here he says the Maori seats are " just wrong". If they are just wrong, why support entrenchment and
stand ACT candidates in the Maori electorate at the 2008 election?
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Unknown on Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Is he a jolly Goodfellow?
Stuff reports that National Party president Peter Goodfellow
will not be resigning. Does that mean that National considers their president a jolly Goodfellow?
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Unknown
A must read
I don't very often do " must reads" - but this is a must read.
Bryce Edwards recently spoke at Dunedin's Drinking Liberally and has
put the speech notes - more like a chapter - on his blog.. It's a longish read for a blog post but it is a superb account of the politics of the Left in New Zealand, although with strong leanings towards
Bruce Jesson.
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Unknown on Monday, August 17, 2009
Political question of the day II
Okay,
that first question was a little too easy for some of you. This one may be a little more difficult.
What was the first legislative action that aimed to provide Maori with the franchise?
UPDATE Too hard, huh?
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Unknown
Pesticides in your peaches: Tribune and USDA studies find pesticides, some in excess of EPA rules, in the fragrant fruit -- chicagotribune.com:
Yet more evidence supporting the logic in extra costs of Organic produce
Preliminary 2008 U.S. Department of Agriculture tests obtained by the Chicago Tribune show that more than 50 pesticide compounds showed up on domestic and imported peaches headed for U.S. stores. Five of the compounds exceeded the limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency, and six of the pesticide compounds present are not approved for use on peaches in the United States.
These are the types of findings that have landed peaches on one environmental group's "Dirty Dozen" list -- 12 fruits and vegetables that retain the highest levels of pesticide residues -- and give many consumers pause as they shop grocery aisles. It seems that peaches' delicate constitutions, fuzzy skins and susceptibility to mold and pests cause them to both need and retain pesticides at impressive rates.
Although some pesticides in peaches were found at levels well below EPA tolerances, some scientists and activists remain concerned about even low-level exposure, especially to pregnant women and children. They point to studies, for example, that show cognitive impairment after dietary exposure to chlorpyfiros, a pesticide that showed up in 17 percent of conventional peaches tested by the USDA.
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Unknown
"Don't know" and "dont care" are the top two preferences for Labour's leaders - with "someone else" third
Following on from last night's TV3 poll, people were asked who should be Labour's leader instead of Phil Goff. Twenty three percent said they didn't know or didn't care who Labour's leader should be, the next highest was " someone else" . I'm guessing that the
15.5% who said Annette King did so because they couldn't think of anyone else. Laila Harre polled 7.3% and she`s not even a member of Labour, let alone an MP - that's just a bit less than Shane Jones on 7.6% who is both.
Meanwhile, not a word from
the Standard about the poll.
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Unknown on Sunday, August 16, 2009
Political question of the day
Which person has been married to two different people who have become members of Parliament? At different times, of course..
More about →
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Unknown
Bolt breaks 100m record again
Usain Bolt is super fast. He has
broken the 100m world record again, running 9.58 seconds, beating his own record of 9.69 set in Beijing.Actually he smashed it - by more than a tenth of a second and became the first man to break the 100m world record three times in succession.
You can see the race here. It was also the biggest margin since at least the 1960's. The third place getter ran 9.84. That was the world record way back in 1994, so Bolt is bolting ahead of the field.
Wonder if he`ll break the 9.5 second barrier by the end of the year?
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Unknown
"Politics is a marathon, we're at the start of the race": Phil Goff
Phil Goff really is not helping Labour at all. Labour is running a marathon and Labour is at the start of the race
according to Phil Goff. National is also in the race, but at least it has got off the starting blocks. Isn't it about time Labour at least shows it wants people to know it too is at least out of the the starting blocks.
Goff was responding to the 3 News polls. Labour is at 29.2%. National is at 58.1% . More people favour Helen Clark to be Prime Minister than Phil Goff.
Meanwhile the wheels on the bus go round and round.
All day long.
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Unknown on Friday, August 14, 2009
A basic misunderstanding of politics
Colin Espiner has written an
interesting column saying that although Labour should be critiqing the government, this does not mean it has to take a different position on every issue.
I agree. But
No Right Turn doesn't. He believes that Labour's stance should flow from Labour values and the values of its supporters - or as he says - the people Labour represent - meaning these values, and the values of all its supporters, are not aligned to those espoused by National. By implication that means National's stance should also flow from National values and the values of its supporters and the people it represents. The only time both parties should agree is if they genuinely agree on the issue - in which case the positions of the respective parties and the majority of their supporters would be aligned.
The problem is that many of Labour's supporters are now National supporters and voted National. Labour has a diminishing support base, but this does not mean that non-Labour voters are not represented by their local Labour representative.What if a National voter seeks assistance of their electorate Labour MP - should the constituent not be represented because his or her values are different to that of his representative? Representation by representatives who are aligned to an opposition party is not just about reflecting party values that oppose the Government in every way - it is also acting on behalf of the interests of constituents,according to their wishes, in matters that concern them, and it is about time people who are interested in representative democracy recognise this.
The same applies to representatives in the governing party. But that is something that Labour and National have forgotten recently. Their party positions change without reference to their supporters and voters, which is why Labour has lost support of Maori as well as other groups and people vote National because they are teh lesser of the two evils. If the Opposition is to oppose the Government in everything - except things they genuinely agree on - Idiot Savant would do well to question the values of political parties. He would do well to explain why National supported the smacking legislation that many of its MPs and party supporters were opposed to.
As representation is a democracy is of a kind that reflects the wishes of constituents, Idiot Savant may well consider the principled stand of Georgina Beyer in voting in according to her constituents wishes, but against the wishes of her party in the Foreshore and Seabed legislation. He may well ask why Labour supported the undemocratic Electoral Finance legislation that even some of its fervent supporters
and candidates opposed - but then quickly supported its repeal when National took office.
