Censorship is an ugly word.
It has all kinds a negative connotations.
It doesn't happen here ... or does it.
Take a look at this.
It's 10:24 long if you worry about that sort of thing.
Now I am inclined to take at least some of it with a grain of salt, it does sound like a conspiracy theorists fantasy, but I have seen more than one group shut down for "breeches of copyright".
Given the nature of some of the discussions I have to wonder if that excuse was just a little convenient.
I you think I am getting paranoid ask yourself this;
Where have all the msn chat rooms gone and why?
18 August, 2008
04 August, 2008
National slip up
The Nats have stopped waiting around for an election date and started to release some policy promises. Probably as a result of Joe Bloggs starting to have trouble telling National and Labour apart.
Have a look here if you want all the waffle.
Basically more tax cuts come April, more private enterprise involvement in government projects along with a raft of smaller things like funding for certain drugs via phamac.
What they didn't count on was someone with a recording device capturing a conversation with Bill English about asset sales.
First on the chopping block to fund all these promises appears to be Kiwibank.
That is one of the two remaining New Zealand owned banks not counting the Reserve bank (the other is TSB).
Something to think about.
We've been here before.
Have a look here if you want all the waffle.
Basically more tax cuts come April, more private enterprise involvement in government projects along with a raft of smaller things like funding for certain drugs via phamac.
What they didn't count on was someone with a recording device capturing a conversation with Bill English about asset sales.
First on the chopping block to fund all these promises appears to be Kiwibank.
That is one of the two remaining New Zealand owned banks not counting the Reserve bank (the other is TSB).
Something to think about.
We've been here before.
03 August, 2008
Silly Surveys - the public transport edition
No doubt you have been subjected to at least one of those dinner time phone calls asking for 5 minutes of your time to complete a survey. My secretary was the recipient of one a while back on the subject of public transport.
Unlike many others it was short and the results were published in the AA magazine.
Spotted the bias yet?
Apparently hardly anybody would consider catching the bus, train or ferry to go to the doctor or to go shopping.
Well Duh!
The reasons why were not reported and judging by my secretaries experience where not asked.
I can give you some idea why public transport sucks for shopping and doctor visits.
First - shopping.
Once upon a time, 20 - 30 years ago, you could shop at a small local supermarket within walking distance of your home. So close that making more than one trip a week was easy. The weight of a weeks worth of milk was no problem as that was delivered to the letterbox by the milkman and his milk boys.
In slightly more rural areas a couple of decades earlier there were such things as meat vans, bread vans etc that stopped at the end of the street.
No more.
Today's hunter gatherer, the modern housewife heads to a supermarket 4-6 times bigger than that small local one (which is now a video store and pizza takeaway) 2 or 3 suburbs away.
Her weekly haul can fill 5 decent sized boxes, judging by what ends up in the kitchen every week here. Two of those boxes hold just milk and chilled/frozen food.
Carry all that on a bus - I think not.
Carry all that from the bus stop home? -yeah right! pmsl
Then there is the doctor.
We are fortunate here that the nearest doctor is quite close by. A quick 5 minute walk up the road.
Right in front of the nearest bus stop in fact.
Up is the important word.
There is a rule of thumb here - you are sick enough to have a day of work and go to the doctor if you feel like collapsing at the top of the hill- that is half way to the bus stop.
People well enough to walk to the doctor don't often have to go to one - funny that.
Unlike many others it was short and the results were published in the AA magazine.
Spotted the bias yet?
Apparently hardly anybody would consider catching the bus, train or ferry to go to the doctor or to go shopping.
Well Duh!
The reasons why were not reported and judging by my secretaries experience where not asked.
I can give you some idea why public transport sucks for shopping and doctor visits.
First - shopping.
Once upon a time, 20 - 30 years ago, you could shop at a small local supermarket within walking distance of your home. So close that making more than one trip a week was easy. The weight of a weeks worth of milk was no problem as that was delivered to the letterbox by the milkman and his milk boys.
In slightly more rural areas a couple of decades earlier there were such things as meat vans, bread vans etc that stopped at the end of the street.
No more.
Today's hunter gatherer, the modern housewife heads to a supermarket 4-6 times bigger than that small local one (which is now a video store and pizza takeaway) 2 or 3 suburbs away.
Her weekly haul can fill 5 decent sized boxes, judging by what ends up in the kitchen every week here. Two of those boxes hold just milk and chilled/frozen food.
Carry all that on a bus - I think not.
Carry all that from the bus stop home? -yeah right! pmsl
Then there is the doctor.
We are fortunate here that the nearest doctor is quite close by. A quick 5 minute walk up the road.
Right in front of the nearest bus stop in fact.
Up is the important word.
There is a rule of thumb here - you are sick enough to have a day of work and go to the doctor if you feel like collapsing at the top of the hill- that is half way to the bus stop.
People well enough to walk to the doctor don't often have to go to one - funny that.
30 July, 2008
Is National trying to be Labour?
With the latest announcement of National now keeping the working for families tax credit as well as the promised increases in October I am beginning to wonder.
Yet another flip flop for the parliamentary jandel factory.
Yet another flip flop for the parliamentary jandel factory.
As for the weather.....
To put it bluntly it is soggy, very soggy. Not cat weather at all.
I don't know if this has anything to do with global warming but it has gone from being a rather nice winter to monsoon season in the last couple of weeks. The weathermen haven't even bothered to name this weeks two big storms.
As much as I would prefer to be outside visiting the neighbourhood, the grass may look green but I dislike the mud moccasin effect on my paws. I do not wish to have brown socks even if they do look fetching on my friend Cinnamon along with the matching nose and ears.
I prefer to wait it all out in front of the fire. The carbon emisson police can go to hell, or outside for that matter.
Meanwhile ponder this;
If someone invented cat gumboots would I wear them?
26 July, 2008
The election is when?
The short answer is .... dunno
It you thought that the election campaign and policy announcements have been more than a bit lack luster so far now you know why. We haven't got a date for the election yet.
By law the term of any NZ government can only last 3 years, not one day more.
Since the last date for Parliament to sit following the 2005 election was 18 November 2005 (6 weeks after the last day for the return of the writ declaring the election of electorate MPs...yawn). The current parliament will expire on 6 October 2008.
There are a few legal processes that have to take place, details here, all of which mean that the earliest possible date is 6 to 8 weeks from any day between now and 6 October.
The last possible day is 15 November 2008.
It you thought that the election campaign and policy announcements have been more than a bit lack luster so far now you know why. We haven't got a date for the election yet.
By law the term of any NZ government can only last 3 years, not one day more.
Since the last date for Parliament to sit following the 2005 election was 18 November 2005 (6 weeks after the last day for the return of the writ declaring the election of electorate MPs...yawn). The current parliament will expire on 6 October 2008.
There are a few legal processes that have to take place, details here, all of which mean that the earliest possible date is 6 to 8 weeks from any day between now and 6 October.
The last possible day is 15 November 2008.
24 July, 2008
Another one going down the gurgler
The finance company meltdown claimed its 25th and biggest scalp yesterday when Hanover Finance froze repayments to 16,500 investors owed more than half a billion dollars. more...
I am starting to wonder how many finance companies there are left.
I am starting to wonder how many finance companies there are left.
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