Posts by Andre

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  • Hard News: 2014: The Meth Election,

    Re: Paula Bennett. Is there such a thing as a 'little hench-woman' and if so can she become leader one day if she does enough henching?

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report

  • Hard News: Decidedly Undecided,

    The research groups' representatives gave a lot of weak excuses and no plans to change. The statement that undecided vote level is a bit higher than it was in "2012 and 2011" is downplaying the main point of Political Scientist's complaints that the level of undecided voters has risen markedly over the last 18 months.

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report

  • Hard News: Illegal Highs,

    I think the government is creating a void that will obviously be filled by something and to do so blindly in a knee jerk fashion seems to be bad governance, intentional criminalisation of a large portion of the population and worse.

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report

  • Hard News: Illegal Highs,

    A friend of mine works for a legal high retailer. He has befriended many of his customers and some have his phone number. When he is late to work his phone runs off the hook. He arrives to a crowd of angry customers threatening to knock down the doors of the shop. Most of his sales are made in the first two hours of opening. The products they are retailing may be slightly different to those originally approved under the regime but there is no testing of the prodyucts so this is covered up. He reports having seen many people go downhill over the time they are taking the product as they become addicted to it. Many customers literally show up in their pyjamas. They have no motivation other than to get stoned, go to bed, get out of bed to go to the shop then back home to bed again.
    Other users are fine apparently - you wouldn't know they are users.
    Many people can't handle their alcohol. while others have no problem. Many people have adverse reactions to marijuana and only take it once and vow never to again. The latter group don't go to hospital because what they're doing is illegal. they just crash out and wake up okay. My friends who work in mental health have horror stories to tell about legal highs. But I think the numbers involved aren't that high considering the massive amount of the drugs that are being sold.
    I do wonder what will happen once the product is pulled off the shelves. They won't turn to alcohol - they will turn back to the gang-run tinnie houses that must have all disappeared in Colorado. It is embarrassing that some states of the USA are more enlightened than us when it comes to this problem.

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report

  • Hard News: Gower Speaks,

    It is worth remembering that the reason for our vigilance regarding political polling in advance of this election was the obvious bias in the way almost all of the mainstream media reported the polls prior to the last election. And the research organisations’ own body even confirmed this after the election itself. Please don’t let them get away with it again and thanks for holding them to account this time around. If the MSM deny this they should agree to run the results including the undecideds every time.

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report

  • Hard News: Republished: The CTV collapse…,

    In 1989 I worked for the company publishing The magazine for Canterbury Civil Defence - a much larger body than the Fire Service and the one responsible for the wider management of the crisis. They wouldn't have known immediately how many people were trapped in the wider city - CTV may have been seen differently on the day. As a volunteer fireman I was at an incident where the local civil defence chief was stuck in traffic on the wrong side of an incident he was meant to be controlling and the local service personnel knew each other well enough to get by anyway but it would be hard in a bigger disaster. The Fire Service is a political and hierarchical organisation but the biggest failure seems to have been the inability of the 13 similarly-ranked officers at CTV to pick a leader.

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report

  • Hard News: What Hekia Parata actually said,

    Thanks for the heads-up Mathew. The 15% difference isn't because of overseas-based owners though. Oh no... of course not. And did you realise that it is IMPOSSIBLE for the government to give a true figure on foreign ownership other than deals covered by the OIC? Not that they're covering up the truth of the matter or anything.
    And hot off the press - more lies from Big Sister...
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11222454

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report

  • Hard News: What Hekia Parata actually said,

    Unfortunately, judging by recent landline-based poll results that still don't include "undecided" voter percentages, the public don't really care if the government is lying to them. Or selling us out to their rich privatisation-advocate mates piece by small piece. You could prove over-and-over again that the entire cabinet is full of corrupt liars with besmirched records, as I think it was Duncan Garner on Radio Live doing so the other day by rattling off every cabinet minister and the mud that has stuck to them, but unfortunately as long as 65% of kiwis own homes and will vote according to their projected mortgage rate, National is still winning at the polls.

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report

  • Hard News: Friday (Thursday) Music: Mad Props,

    And it's great to see a venue, UFO in New Lynn, listed as "no liquor licence, byo" on http://www.undertheradar.co.nz/utr/venues/ID/2360/N/UFO.utr
    I wondered, does that mean BYO soft drink and chips?
    It sounds a bit like the filming of Media7 used to be otherwise. :-)
    I haven't seen Simon MacLaren perform since Loves Ugly Children days so was keen to go anyway, but the chances of my attending the gig just increased markedly.

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report

  • Hard News: Friday (Thursday) Music: Mad Props,

    You'd think making the line-up for Coachella would be enough for the Naked & Famous to think they'd achieved international recognition...

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report

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