OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!
848 Responses
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giovanni tiso, in reply to
But if you’re still not sure what I meant, go ask Ian.
You know, I really, honestly would like to ask him. But let's not digress.
So, was I entitled to be surprised by the policy to remove funding for victims of sexual violence of not?
Sure, even though it seems a little hair-splittey. If that's the kind of thing you are basing your disappointment with National on, surely you would have known in advance of the election which party would be more likely to enact such legislation? The reason why National had to solemnly swear not to touch state assets or ACC was that... everybody naturally assumed that they would.
You can see how expressing surprise that a Tory party has reduced taxes to the rich and cut social spending is going to leave people a touch puzzled, yes?
(ETA: Sacha, snap! This is like some serious hivemind shit.)
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recordari, in reply to
Surely you can see how expressing surprise that a Tory party has reduced taxes to the rich and cut social spending is going to leave people a touch puzzled, yes?
Did I say I was surprised by that?
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Well, what did you think that "cutting social spending" would mean? You thought they'd just hit the undeserving poor, somehow?
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recordari, in reply to
You win. Feel happy now?
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You might find I'm the dissenter on a lot of things on this forum. My ideas are challenged, my facts are challenged, I'm good with that.
If you can't stand being told that expressing surprise at how the National party has acted in government is not quite as admirable a trait as owning up to the fact they did exactly what people who paid attention said they would, I'm not sure what to tell you. Do you want us to feel sorry for you that they made you vote Tory, so that you won't go on a walkabout sulk? Perhaps if you were one of the people on the receiving ends of those spending cuts I would be prepared to consider it. Otherwise, suck it up.
[ETA: mmmmh... okay. I was obviously responding to a different comment, since edited twice. I'm going to leave this one as is, eh?]
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
were it not for the difficulty of speaking while fellating the Leader of the Opposition.
OK, so a plurality of the electorate are fuck-wits and the media are all meat-bots who can’t do anything unless John Key is fisting them and wiggling his fingers. Does the Labour Party have any level of responsibility for losing the 2008 election, or do they just have the misfortune of being in a world that doesn’t deserve their incandescent collective righteousness?
Seriously, folks, when you're starting to sound like Kiwibog, c. October-November 2005 it's time to worry. Or get the carpets professionally cleaned. Whatever floats your boat.
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Ye Gods! Did I start this?
Just to clarify - when I said
Are you prepared to accept that the MPs in the party you like are morons, but it's still the better party?
I wasn't addressing you, Recordari. I curse the lack of the generic you in the English language. I'll need to resort to one to rephrase that.
Is one prepared to accept that the MPs in the party one likes are morons, but it's still the better party?
Actually, that sounds pretty good. I shall now use one henceforth.
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Is one prepared to accept that the MPs in the party one likes are morons, but it’s still the better party?
Well, I can’t happily point at various spots around the House and bewail the lack of compulsory IQ testing (and a thorough psych assessment) as a qualification to be a member of the House of Representatives. But that may, on sober reflection, raise more problems than it solves.
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Just yesterday, I got a very dismissive response to a detailed, and I thought fair, set of criticisms of the Labour Party backing down from priniciples they claim as their core: "it must be nice to be up there on your moral high horse".
New Zealand's a small place, and you end up with pretty withering criticism of people you either know personally, or are friends of friends. It does seem to be hard to get the balance right. Either you're peddling softly, and stepping around what you feel amounts to the core of the issue - in which case you're ignored and the issue at hand isn't addressed, or you're hammering the issue, with all that entails.
Or maybe I'm just not very delicate. But I promise I'm not concern-trolling.
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
The government plans to spend $27 million on a network of high-performance computers “to keep New Zealand researchers at the cutting edge of science,”
In other "News" Wayne Map has just ordered a fax machine to speed up Government communications.
This mob are so far behind the eight ball they think high speed broadband is 10 meg per second.
What next, ponies?. -
Sacha, in reply to
Does the Labour Party have any level of responsibility for losing the 2008 election
Most certainly. Though little sign that some of them have accepted that.
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Does the Labour Party have any level of responsibility for losing the 2008 election, or do they just have the misfortune of being in a world that doesn’t deserve their incandescent collective righteousness?
That position won't find any dissent from me. I think worst of the last Labour Government is still unrecognised, because it pertains to issues where the disagreement between Labour and National is a matter of degree, rather than kind. Things like an unregulated housing market, food price affordability, laisse faire employment markets.
The political centre in NZ is actually pretty far from where it is in other countries, on a range of issues. Sometimes it's a good thing, other times obviously not.
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andin, in reply to
various spots around the House and bewail the lack of compulsory IQ testing (and a thorough psych assessment)
Could we start with the rest of the country first. I'd really like to know who the dumb and crazy ones area...well apart from the obvious ones.
And anyway why should pollies get all the fun.
Ok, so I like psych assessment.
Hands up who doesnt! -
Sacha, in reply to
Steve, to be fair they'll probably spend a lot of it on the processing and storage gear, but yes, it's just playing catch up really. The govt services cloud proposal looks more bleeding edge.
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By the way, I follow 27 of you on Twitter, which is one reason I was so disappointed to the attitude to Ian deciding not to post here any more. You all just let him go without so much as a 'oh, that's a shame'. Nice to know where we stand.
So if you're going to make fun of the whining Tory, then you will just be adding to my enjoyment in life, so thanks.
If you could all give my apologies to Jackie tomorrow, that would be good. Something's come up.
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You all just let him go without so much as a ‘oh, that’s a shame’.
For the record, I missed that event, and I'm sorry to hear it. I will miss him.
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Sacha, in reply to
Ian deciding not to post here any more
eh?
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
Wayne Maps office...
"Right, we've got all the gear in place now all we need is an IP Address"
"Sorry Minister, I meant to tell you earlier but..."
Unfortunate bad timing as usual.
Yeah I know it won't really matter but you know how I love irony. ;-) -
Ian deciding not to post here any more
eh?
I know how he feels, you guys can be a bit harsh at times. I hope he comes back, perhaps with the thicker skin of an alien lizard.
Love your words Ian. ;-) -
You all just let him go without so much as a ‘oh, that’s a shame’.
I don’t think he announced it here, did he? It was on Chad Taylor’s blog during the whole plagiarism hoo-ha.
ETA At which announcement I was completely nonplussed. I thought it was just a disagreement over the nature of plagiarism, not a crisis point. But, as I'm sure we have established, I don't really know shit.
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You all just let him go without so much as a 'oh, that's a shame'. Nice to know where we stand.
Yeah, not only did he not tell us he was leaving, but you don't actually know what's been said to Ian behind the scenes. Perhaps it would be nice not to leap to judgement quite so quickly?
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Sacha, in reply to
you guys can be a bit harsh at times
True, and when the discussion touches on subjects like abuse, we really do need to look after one another better.
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Well, I have no idea what happened, or until now that anything had happened, but I'm bummed out about it no matter the circumstances.
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True, and when the discussion touches on subjects like abuse, we really do need to look after one another better.
Word.
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Sacha, in reply to
It was on Chad Taylor’s blog during the whole plagiarism hoo-ha.
Oh, *that*. I thought it was a passing comment. But then I don't know about other conversations which may or may not have happened either. Wouldn't be the first time Ian has taken a break and I hope he's back when he's ready.
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