Posts by Paul Williams
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(Hee. This thread is weird as hell. When rugby rules, Tampax and ACC statistics collide!)
Only at PAS I suspect.
And surely I'm not the only one that thought this...
(!)
I'm not sure about that sarcasm tag. It looks like an upside-down vagina to me.
...was pretty funny? I'm sure it's capable of a mysoginistic interpretation, but I'm guessing that wasn't the intent.
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They speak of a superhuman performance by McCaw.
Which is great but we need to be able to win without him also (and need depth in behind him). The stats on lineouts are also fantastic reading - could it be that we've finally got a reliable lineout?
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...returning from Canada, where what I can only assume to be a chronically-understaffed bureaucracy takes months or years to respond to the simplest of paper work, and then does so in the surliest manner possible.
Well if you replace the "un" in this statement ... with... well, you know, you might be describing NSW...
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No. but we are the envy of the world in our simplicity and low compliance costs.
Sure are, but that might not make it ideal from a consumer point of view.
That said, I know few people whose buying is heavily influenced by the vagueries of GST in Australia but you do want to check out that grocery till reciept, it can be quite surprising.
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Cullen has also pointed out that the Nats' version of infrastructure bonds will offer a guaranteed return from the projects they fund, which rather conjures the prospect of digging a very big hole for yourself if things don't work out.
And they don't, not all of them anyway. Take for instance the Cross City Tunnel and possibly the Lane Cove also. FFS. Use public finance to create private profit and then nationalise the debt when it falls over.
if you're interested, here's a link to John Quiggan's blog where he notes NZ Treasury's reservations about PPPs which includes this sage advice:
the advantages of PPPs must be weighed against the contractual complexities and rigidities they entail
...and on the issue of rigidities it's worth noting that in the months before it opened, an agreement between Cross City Tunnel owners and State government emerged showing how government had agreed to change, close and re-route a number of roads to funnel traffic into the Tunnel to guarantee it business - it still failed*. Frankly, National's infrastructure policy is starting to resemble the kind of cobbled together crap the Standard worry about.
* At least economically speaking, perhaps cynically, you might take the view that the State probably picked up cheap infrastructure but I suspect Mcquarie Bank don't see it that way.
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NZ does have a growth problem, I think there's little doubt about that, but I'm not at all confident Key's borrow and hope plan will fix it.
This speech does create a contrast between the parties, one that was in mortal danger as National progressively adopted Labour's policies, but it's largely rhetorical; more I'm ambitous for NZ but don't ask me about the details.
There's a few things about the speech that bother me. First, what's this actually mean?
We will do what works. And let me be very clear today, that includes inviting the private sector back to the table. National will dispense with Labour's blind ideology that has locked the private sector out of government services and ideas for so long.
How will they "invite the private sector back"? In what way have they been locked out? If we assume that it includes assets sales in some imagined second-term, don't we already know the limitations of this approach? Is that it but?
And we will require schools to do something about it when kids are below standard. We will do this because, unlike Labour, we refuse to write some children off as hopeless.
Quite simply, this is complete bollocks. NZ's performance by any credible measure is improved, improving and good by OECD standards. This is nothing short of scaremongering.
Then we get roads and broadband and a huge bill.
This will result in National investing close to $5 billion of additional capital investment over the next six years to fund infrastructure over and above that foreshadowed by Labour. This means that at the most National will be running a gross debt-to-GDP ratio around two percentage points higher than Labour is planning.
So, our growth problem will be public debt for new roads, faster broadband and what... oh now I see how the private sector will be invited back...
In 2008, infrastructure is New Zealand's missing asset class. National will turn that around. We believe New Zealanders should have an opportunity to invest in the infrastructure that will help build our country's future.
PPPs. Don't look to the West John, they've been a bit of mixed bag mate.
And finally, for anyone who doubted the Australian influence on Key, how's this for a rip-off:
National will tap into our communities and our private enterprises to rebuild the ladder of opportunity for every single New Zealander.
Meh, skipped Rudd and Beazley and went for Latho.
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Oh, and just in case you thought going to Gloria Jean's for your chain coffee was cool, it ain't.
As The Fundy Post has pointed out, the chain supports the really creepy Mercy Ministries.
All true; anti-gay, fundamentalists with an entrepreneurial flair. Bizarrely, they set up in Newtown. Bizarre because Newtown's famously and flamboyantly gay-friendly, bizarre because they've set up 50 metres from Campos which serves easily the best coffee in Sydney and bizarre because even McDonald's gave up on Newtown. It's still there but; populated mostly by international students from nearby Sydney Uni accommodation.
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a Presso
Thanks Islander - I realised I'd misread the earlier piece, I think I'd read this as espresso and a reference to its product, not its personality.
I'll track one down, it seems just the answer I'm in need of.
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Just made a coffee. I could see it was coming out beautifully straight away by the blobbing and tiger-striping. I'm now back to wondering why 90% of cafes can't make a cup as good as some munter like me can make at home ...
Doh!
Sorry, this is from a different machine to the manual one you linked to in your main piece? By the way, what's the name of the manual contraption, it greatly appeals!
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Just made a coffee. I could see it was coming out beautifully straight away by the blobbing and tiger-striping. I'm now back to wondering why 90% of cafes can't make a cup as good as some munter like me can make at home ...
Sorry, this is from a different machine to the manual one you linked to in your main piece? By the way, what's the name of the manual contraption, it greatly appeals!