Posts by Steve Barnes
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Hard News: Ante Up, in reply to merc,
The problem with the last tv licence fee was that no one paid it and they couldn't force you to. Most fines go unpaid. And they are taxes by another name.
So pay for it out of Taxes, a far lower cost per head than Sky, which people seem to want to pay, it is beyond me why.
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Speaker: Doing the right thing on retirement, in reply to linger,
Should pensions then be linked, not to age per se, but to number of years in the workforce
Not if those years were spent behind a desk running a finance company into the ground for your own benefit at the expense of others. No.
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Cracker: Spotted, in reply to Kumara Republic,
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”
And we will build a Nation of tired, poor huddled masses yearning to breath free and get them to work for us.
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Keyholes
The holes in Key's arguments, worth memorising for when you bump into someone singing the holey ones praises. -
I have been surprised for years that New Zealanders complained about having to pay for a TV licence but are quite prepared to pay almost 10 times as much for Sky TV.
There is more to this gutting of the public broadcasting sector than most realise.
Over the past few years Kordia, the transmission arm of public broadcasting, has been rolling out terrestrial digital TV in the form of Freeview transmission, the backbone of which was TVNZ programming along with several other “Small” stations like TV3, Stratos, Cue, Maori and others.
This Government has thrown all this to the dogs, the dogs being Sky TV and the terrestrial project all but abandoned leaving many people north of Whangarei without TV when the analogue system is turned off next June/July, unless, of course, they have a satellite dish (ie Sky TV)
All the taxpayer funding that has been put into this project will be wasted if we allow National to have their way with our Public Broadcasting network.
Kordia also had a hand in the “Ultrafast” broadband rollout for the “Rural Broadband Initiative” in partnership with Woosh, an existing player in several cities. This initiative was scuppered by National and handed, on a plate, to Telecom and Vodafone.
The pattern is unmistakeable, National are looking after Sky, Vodafone and Telecom in this arena.
It is not so dissimilar from them looking after insurance companies in Christchurch.
It is time for the people of New Zealand to call a halt to this pillaging of our assets,
John Key MUST GO! -
Hard News: We interrupt this broadcast ..., in reply to linger,
Wow. Can we have that as a campaign ad?
I am flattered, if you like it, pass it on.
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Hard News: We interrupt this broadcast ..., in reply to DexterX,
If "We" weren't put on this earth to earn a living - how does the human flourishing eventuate?
You should not have to "earn a living", living is yours by right.
As to the human flourishing, what is that? is it the ability to leave the planet and spread the seed of humanity? if so then we have to work together for some greater good of which we will see no return in our lives, that, in itself, would be beyond the wishes of the resentful, it would only make them more so. If, on the other hand it is a spiritual quest then wealth is a hindrance if anything. It is easy to pass wind in front of a camel but he probably would not notice, or something like that. -
I got a bit angry last night, I heard John Key referring to people on a benefit as “Those People” and solo mothers as “Them”, a bit of othering going on there eh?.
May I remind you Mr Key that as one of the less than 10% that controls over 90% of the countries wealth it is YOU that is the other, it is YOU and your ilk that we refer to as “Those people”. We are the majority and may I remind some of “US” that voting for them will not make you rich like them but it will make you as resentful as them.
“They” spout things like “the politics of envy” well “They” are wrong, we do not envy the greedy, we do not envy those that choose to sacrifice family holidays and home comforts in the pursuit of wealth, we do not envy the attitude of entitlement, remember, it is the desire for wealth that is the root of all evil.
We were not put on this earth to create wealth for others, we were not put on this earth to “earn a living”, the only reason we are here is the furtherance of the species and to do that we must care for our young and nurture the respect for others,
It is not envy that is the problem it is resentfulness, the resentfulness of those that begrudge the welfare of those that are just here to live, love and cherish life.
So, Mr Key, your smile means nothing to me and your wave would be better appreciated if it were a wave goodbye. -
Congrats Chap, & Rebecca.
I shall be buying you a pint later. ;-)
All a parent has to do to make a child thirsty is to go to sleep.
Anon. -
This is so weird, I had a dream about Schnapps last night.
Well, not just about Shnapps, I fought a God and the God won.
But what about the guy's name "Ulf Fuhrer"?
I think I have one thing to add, Ulf, do you think it will be a hit, le shnapps?I also dreamed about Labour willing the Election ;-)