Posts by Richard Aston
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And on Jim Mora's radio show this avo . Shirley Murray a NZ hymn writer on her Anzac hymn . The controversial third verse is being omitted by many.
Honour the brave whose conscience was their call,
answered no bugle, went against the wall,
suffered in prisons of contempt and shame,
branded as cowards, in our country's name.The conscientious objectors , like James K's father Archibald Baxter who were seen as cowards .
Not a cool thing to note I know, in the midst of honoring the brave, but when I look at damage that 6 years of being a solder did to my father. I cannot help but reflect on the inhuman result of war.
Not all wars were noble ones .
And yes those poor bastards who went to fight for ideals and to protect those at home , they too have my deep respect and my grieving.
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Interesting to see the vote list and who changed from first to third reading ( not many)
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It was a great day and I am very happy for my gay friends and for the fact New Zealand has evolved in some way through this.
But more than that it was so refreshing to see parliament engaged in an actual civilized debate, a real dialogue with lots of obvious respect being shown from both sides. That gave me some hope.
Winston Peters lost what tiny shred of respect I had for him , such a political stance, voted against but fudged it by saying a referendum was needed and the fact he instructed his whole party to vote as a block - it was meant to be a personal vote. Loved Tau Henare's response though, calling Winston a shyster.
And what the hell was Chester Borrows banging on about ?
I didn't get the endless assurances to marriage celebrants that they would not be forced to marry gay couples. I am a part time marriage celebrant - man I am going to be busy now! - and I as far as I know their has never been a legal requirement on celebrants to officiate if they don't want to. Its a non issue.
On a side note the music Parliament TV played during the vote was just dreadful , elevator music. They could do better.
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An interesting RFP just out on the GETS tender list . The Prime Ministers Dept "Security Sector Professional Development Programme " . A tender looking for " an innovative supplier to provide a professional development programme for executives and senior officials within the security sector. The focus of the programme is to equip officials with the knowledge and skills required to deal with the myriad of security challenges that threaten New Zealand’s wellbeing and prosperity."
Looks like they are trying to up-skill a lot more senior officials around National Security.
Whats going on here then ? -
Hard News: Key Questions, in reply to Islander,
that piece of Danish womanshit
Love it Islander +1
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This one got me deep today for some reason , maybe the words
See her come down, through the clouds
I feel like a fool
I ain’t got nothing left to give
Nothing to loseSo come on Love, draw your swords
Shoot me to the ground
You are mine, I am yours
Lets not fuck aroundCause you are, the only one
Cause you are, the only one -
Aside from the need to upgrade our grid to smart grid the main issue is as others pointed out the competitive nature of our retail power market. But could this be turned to an advantage?
What if the energy company you sold your excess power to was not the one you bought power from?
What if a distributed retail power company was set up purely to buy excess power from thousands of consumers with solar/wind setups? That company could sell that power back to the main retail power companies. That company would have some skin in the game and be motivated to treat their thousands of small power suppliers well, consistent pricing etc. It could even make sense they helped with capital costs. -
Hard News: Done like a dinner, in reply to BenWilson,
Distributed solar is a bloody good idea Ben. It brings some challenges because it will required the grid to be a whole lot smarter but it makes a lot of sense.. to us at least. Doesn't make much sense to larger power companies who want to control the market and own the power.
Looks like a perfect case for an enlightened govt to step in .. oh right we don't have one . Bugger. -
Hard News: Done like a dinner, in reply to Thrash Cardiom,
Not to rain on anyone's parade but would anybody seriously consider placing a major data centre in the South Island with the Alpine fault ready to rumble at any time?
Why not? We are at the forefront of research into designing earthquake proof buildings.
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Seems there is a complete lack of imagination from govt or meridian. We have this huge renewable power resource in Manapouri and all we can come up with is sell it's power really cheap to a large multinational who in addition, pays no tax. Duh.
Sacha has suggested one idea , there must be others.