Posts by Ian Dalziel
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Capture: Colour is the new black, in reply to Russell Brown,
the season of goodwill begins...
Occupy meets Christmas in Aotea Square
Good that they are still maintaining their presents...
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Bart Janssen,
excise not cuts...
There are lots of ways to pay for a civilised society … but of all of them taxation works.
"Oh, I wish I'd looked after me tithes...
and spotted the dangers beneath,
all the cash jobs and dodges
and mates rates with codgers,
oh, I wish I'd looked after me tithes."<with apologies to Pam Ayres>
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Hard News: How long the leash on the…, in reply to Kyle Matthews,
Nailed it...
Brad must be his drunken name
Zac'ly!
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Legal Beagle: Election '11 -…, in reply to Steve Curtis,
no strings attached...
....seems to suggest which side is complaining the most
Tariana Turia caught quite a bit of flak in The Press letters page yesterday for her ill-considered comments:
Yesterday, after the party lost its southern MP, Mrs Turia accused voters in Christchurch of being ungrateful for help during the earthquakes.
"What do you need to do, eh? You work your butt off. You go round Aranui during the two earthquakes, you make sure that they get everything that they're entitled to and they vote for somebody else." -
Hard News: How long the leash on the…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Forum for, um, the masses...
And I think what it showed up was the gap in what you might call constitutional awareness between Palmer on one hand and Joyce and Key on the other. Palmer would simply never have done what Joyce and Key did, while they regarded themselves as entitled to do what they did.
Indeed, it highlights the craven calibre of some of our elected officials, their complete lack of humility or any sense of civic service or duty - the rise of this culture of entitlement - garnished with overweening ego, personal greed and a need to over-control things - has been the hallmark of modern politics, little wonder that the Fourth Estate should 'mirror' this behaviour, and compromises its own integrity with 'deals' and partisan favours, now the Fifth Estate (the blogosphere and digital commentariat) is starting to become weakened by anonymous rabid responses and ideas lost in gutter language...
woe... -
Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Christopher Dempsey,
It’s our job to be fear, yeah right!
So are we any closer to moving away from my meme Taxes pay for Civilisation…
It appears the ‘me me’ problem is us!
IRD* (no relation) says the ‘Shadow economy’ is costing the country $7 billion a year in lost tax.
(and therefore less civilising activity…)
I also hear anecdotally (and am trying to chase down corroboration) that IRD also loses billions in uncollected or unpursued owed tax, over and above the tax that is avoided by individuals, companies and crafty corporations.
Just not chased up…The Capital Gains Tax is a much needed missed opportunity.
...and look at what's happening to Greece, seemingly due to large scale tax avoidance by the populace...
*<edit> oops it was "According to new research by the international Tax Justice Network" - but IRD kinda backs it up
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Lucy Stewart,
all together, one...
No idea how to put that into three or four snappy words, though.
Do unto others...
not
To undo others! -
Capture: Colour is the new black, in reply to Lilith __,
Green potatoes...
Most of this family are deadly.
Except for the tomato and potato...Tuber, or not tuber...
Hamlet considers cashing in his chips! -
Capture: Colour is the new black, in reply to Lilith __,
shades of night...
This is the right colour.
Solanaceae - it's a ruddy tomato...
Angels' horn*, tree datura - what a family!*must be a Tuba!
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Up Front: What if We Held an Election…, in reply to Emma Hart,
don't spook the voters...
The signs behind the issuing tables are at eye level, so you should see them. But when you walk up to a sitting person, your eye level drops to the level of their head. So the signs are too high up. If they were on the fronts of the tables, they’d be too low down
Where's Temple Grandin when
ya need her?
After all, the polling booths seem
to have doubled as slaughterhouses,
this time round...