Posts by BenWilson
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
(Which is a nice segue to this bit of legal zen: Can you harm the reputation of someone who doesn't actually have one?)
Does he have the reputationless reputation?
-
Yup, unless she is seen to be working for Auckland Central in a big way, it will be National's only flirtation with that electorate. My folks are still reeling that they're living in a blue electorate for the first time in their lives.
-
Alex, in theory there is no need for the Maori seats at all since they should wield influence the way everyone else does it. But that is not how it is, for historic reasons, and it seems unlikely to change. The only counter argument to that is the Treaty of Waitangi which no other race in NZ has with our official sovereign. In that document Maori are accorded a special position, and there is a case that we are all still bound by it. I don't happen to agree with the case, but it's still a case, and not a weak one.
-
Yeah it was nasty all right. Soul is just a bar/cafe in Ponsonby conveniently located halfway along. Makes really good coffee, if I remember right, is quite large, and therefore a good venue for a large celebration.
Time to give Nikki a chance. So far it's apparent she's a hard worker, and that is exactly what you want in an electorate MP.
-
I remember Ted - he was my neighbor when I was very little. A wonderful old guy, fun and funny.
-
I didn't see the Douglas interview as especially threatening. But he did sound a bit drunk or doddery, not sure which.
Anyhoo, I doubt ACT will have anywhere near the power they think they will. National don't need them, and I think they might actually really like being popular again.
Good luck Goff. Pity the entire teaching profession hates him.
-
I'm against the thresholds and always have been. Their deliberate aim is to exclude representation. The guise is 'stability'. But that just seems to be code for 'reducing choice'. As if our representative democracy doesn't already exclude the population from choice most of the time.
-
Heh, Steve, I think that the names of philosophical doctrines are not a good guide to modern language use. I doubt that many pragmatists in the sense I use would have heard about the philosophy, nor would they care to. My own views rise from my opinions on science, definitely heavily influenced by Popper and counterbalanced by Feyerabend. Since they say quite contrary things, you could say I'm undecided, or that I take the bits I like from both.
-
Hilary
This is not the right forum for a discussion on this complex topic.
Heh, yup I'm not going to have any more influence than I wielded with my two insignificant ticks, that's for sure. Are you saying you'd rather talk about it on another thread? Cause I'm interested in the discussion if you if are.
Re children's input, you're right in one sense, we don't get reliable polling data on children's opinions of political matters. But the children who could be either mainstreamed or given more special service are definitely asked a lot of stuff, they're extensively evaluated by trained professionals. Their own happiness is a major factor in the process, which is by no means simple and should not really be ideologically driven.
Steve Parks and Craig
You know, maybe Labour and National should consider forming a coalition. Serious.
That would a fun process -- though you'd have to coduct it somewhere you could just clean the blood and bone off the floor (and walls and ceiling) with a high pressure hose. :) But just because the differences between the center-right and the center-left aren't exactly those that marked the Protestant Reformation, doesn't mean they don't exist.
The biggest difference is tribal I think, it's the demographics, rather than the philosophy. Can city folk and country folk agree on a bunch of issues? Personally I find that easier to believe than the idea that all National voters would be happy with an ACT agenda.
-
I mean if all the votes were about the same level of importance as 'whether income tax should go up 0.0001%', then you could get this kind of pattern in your graph too. Nats would pull one way, Labour the other, followed by their allies respectively.
Last ←Newer Page 1 … 929 930 931 932 933 … 1066 Older→ First