Does National want to win Mt Albert?

Given some of their candidates comments I have to wonder.

The new motorway is a hot topic in Mt Albert, feelings on the subject are running high and the NIMBYs are frothing in force so I guess Melissa Lee could be forgiven for saying she was all for the tunnel option.

Pity her party had other ideas.

The residents of Mt Albert are less than happy about the prospect of their suburb being cut in half so in the heat of a community meeting and obviously trying to find a positive side to the big road in a trench Ms Lee makes the comment that the new motorway will help stop the criminals from South Auckland from running rampant in Mt Albert.

Pity about the RNZ journo who got it on tape.

While all the frothing is going on I can't help noting a few points.

1. A glance at the local paper seems to show that the worst crimes locally do seem to be committed by low lives from South Auckland, either that or they are the ones that get caught.
2. I don't think the motorway with stop these criminals. I think it is more likely to aid them. That quartet that did the Dukes of Hazard off Beach Haven wharf proved that not only do they have just enough IQ to use an off ramp, even when being blocked by Police but when off the motorway their ability to navigate is highly suspect hence the their escape south being stopped by the Waitemata Harbour.
3. The motorway my benefit the Auckland region as a whole but it is of little benefit and great inconvenience to Mt Albert.

OK, Mt Albert, thanks to former local MP Helen Clark, was a Labour safe seat.

National could have had a good shot at winning it given how blue Auckland turned last election.

Instead National have just handed it back to Labour on a platter.

Are the banks now playing chicken?

Ok, the OCR was lowered again last week. It is now down to 2.5%.

The banks have ...

...done nothing.

Not even the floating rates have dropped.

Now either the banks are playing some sort of game or the Reserve Bank has lost its ability to affect interest rates.

One of those prospects could be very worrying.

I wouldn't like to be in Bill English's shoes right now. Maybe that is why Trevor Mallard is now on the Government's front bench.

It is duck season after all.

Perhaps National is hoping to distract Labour into building a maimai on the opposition benches instead of aiming their guns at the Budget due out in just over 3 weeks.

Caption Please

The kids thought this was hilarious. They get told off for lying in the armchairs like this.
I think it is a classic reason not to leave the camera lying around at 4am in the morning.

I was asleep, OK?

How green is your Kiwifruit again?

I was puzzled by this item here about a study into carbon footprints published in 2006.

"The study estimated that flying 1kg of kiwifruit from New Zealand to Europe causes 5kg of carbon to be discharged into the atmosphere.
But Zespri, which exports 60 per cent of its overseas kiwifruit produce to Europe, challenged the veracity of the study because its fruit all goes to Britain by ship."

On the face of it that seems laughable except that the British took it seriously.

What an opportunity to come up with some correct figures - for advertising purposes of course.
So they did:

"Yesterday, it released the results of its own research - commissioned in 2007 - assessing its carbon footprint across each part of the supply chain.
The study, undertaken by Landcare Research and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, showed shipping accounted for the most carbon emissions for all European exports at 41 per cent.

Consumer consumption and disposal made up 22 per cent, orchard operations were 17 per cent, packhouse and coolstore processes account for 11 per cent of total emissions and repacking and retailer were 9 per cent."

Nice!
Hang on - so what were those total carbon emissions per kilo again?

For whom it may concern: How about comparing apples, sorry, Kiwifruit with Kiwifruit.