Posts by Logan O'Callahan
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One of the things I liked most about the years I lived in London was the diversity of faces and voices (I don't think that's unconnected to Britain's continued cultural vitality). It was actually a relief to return to New Zealand and find our cultural homgenity breaking up.
Parts of London possibly, but for Britain as a whole, the UK census stats I posted elsewhere would disagree.
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What we learn from this:
Temporary support at below subsistence living levels for persons who have assets and are under 65 = BAD
Permanent support at levels 4 times higher, to those over 65, having both assets and incomes = GOOD
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To be honest, this looks like a typical example of what's wrong with NZ productivity: a couple around 60 with 3 rentals and a lifestyle block but not enough liquid assets to get them through even the next 5 years.
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For the debate over the "provocation defence": The maximum sentence for manslaughter is the same as for murder.
For those who think a defence lawyer should always go as hard as possible: Weatherspoon will get a longer sentence having run this defence, and run it the way he did, and failed, than if he had plead guilty to murder and feigned remorse and only raised all of this garbage in sentencing.
I will be interested to see what sentence the Hungarian gets.
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Productivity in healthcare should be measured on health output per dollar input.
Increasing operations per dollar is one aspect, but the big gains should be made by improving nutrition, lifestyle, attitudes and picking up problems early when the solutions are cheaper.
This is the equivalent of improving productivity by redesigning your product to be easier to make and more reliable.
On this measure National needs a new compass. They've essentially gutted Pharmac and removed several core health targets from DHBs.
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We live in a country of endangered birds, and we're attached to their most dangerous predators.
Your pets are even so important to you that you would ignore my other suggestions. Even though they are all positive in their own right.
And yet we criticise the Indonesians for placing their endangered species at risk. Not for the sake of mere pets, but to earn money to have even a fraction of what we take for granted.
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According to Wikipedia (which is probably well managed by the palm industry) one of the main byproducts of producing palm oil is crushed leaves, stems and the pith of the fruit and kernals, which are used as stock food.
Compared with other things (like cattle) palms seems a pretty efficient use of cropping land. The problem we rich folk have is the land they choose to grow it on.
I can't see how that isn't hypocritical. Which is why change has to start locally:
Here's some positive things that we can do: Stop flying off on overseas holidays, stop buying airfreighted goods (including books and stuff bought online), start supporting reforestation projects in NZ, support native wildlife, euthenase feline and canine pets.
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RIghto, That's enough stirring. Just trying to point out that these single issue campaigns sometimes miss the point. And the soap thing is an interesting spin on it.
Back to my steak/roast/cheese/vino/choc covered wafers. Yum.
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Palm oil and save the whales.
Folks look around you. We live in a country kept afloat by our own environmental devastation.
We, who produce meat, dairy and wine, are so sanctimonious about a product that happens to be one of the most productive plantation crops on the planet.
We have cleared 70% of our lands and terminated untold avian species, and we are pointing the finger at someone else?
Protest sure, but reset your mark. Tell people to lay off the dairy, push away the steak, turn down the butterflied leg of lamb, and drink only water.
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If words is enough, you can add Petronius' Satyricon to the list of block worthy classics.
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Doesn't nearly every country use its nationality as a core ethnicity in census questions?
well no actually, some are more blunt about the purpose of the question:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=273
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race/racefactcb.htmlAnd Australians have social science rivalled only by the French:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census_in_Australia
Ethniicity standard