Posts by Ross Mason
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Key reminds me of Michael Fay and "His Bank". The story went along the lines that an underling pointed out that Mr Fay shouldn't be doing this with the BNZ money. His reply was along the lines of "I'ts my fucking bank, I'll do what I like".
John Key: "I'll treat this country the way I want. Now piss off".
Is it something in the dealing room coffee that affected the DNA of pricks like this?
-
Hard News: Done like a dinner, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
Another question is why, back in 1971, the government built and owned the dam and the aluminium company the smelter?
Check out these links i posted:
http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-done-like-a-dinner/?i=50#replies -
Noice Paul: 15 minutes.
Here is a [potted (heh) history of Tiwai Point and NZ's Aluminium plant - Up to 1993.
And here is the 2001 PhD of Aaron Patrick Fox on "The power game : the development of the Manapouri-Tiwai Point electro-industrial complex, 1904-1969"
Quote from abstract:
The final design, construction and operation of the Manapouri-Tiwai Point electro-industrial complex, coming as it did at the end of some 65 years of government policy formulation, should have been a significant first step away from New Zealand's economic dependence upon the export of primary produce to the United Kingdom. Instead, the government can be observed hastily and ill-advisedly involving the country in a new form of multi-national dependence within the developing global economy. That the national economic benefits and desirability of the Manapouri-Tiwai Point electro-industrial development remain in doubt makes this topic both a crucial case study and a caution for those considering New Zealand's economic future.
It is really our power and refinery really. We built the power station and the lines to it. They were paying 1/13 the price Joe Citizen was paying. They pay bugger all taxes.
And don't forget the biggest petition in the history of the country to save Manapouri. And don't forget we paid to get the other 10% or so output from the power station by digging another tunnel 'cos the friction down the original one was too high.
Here is what the their webpage says:
NZAS contributes $525 million to the Southland economy (10.5 per cent of Southland's GDP), 3,200 full time equivalent jobs and $1,600 million in Southland regional sales. Export revenue is around $1 billion each year.
Could someone with the ability to decipher statements like that kindly offer an opinion about where the of lose of 700 jobs is in here? Of all those numbers, the one that sticks out is the $1.6B in "Regional Sales". This is just after the $525m to the "Southland Economy". WTF??? Must be a lot of beer cans made down there. What does it mean??
And we should organise a sweepstake on the value of the "Keep us Here Kiwi" gift to them.
-
Paul: I've been to Dunedin. I've been to Auckland.
T.H.E.R.E. A.R.E. N.O. T.R.A.F.F.I.C. J.A.M.S. I.N. D.U.N.E.D.I.N.
Believe me!
-
Hard News: Done like a dinner, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,
It didn't seem to stop people building Silicon Valley in the Hayward Fault Zone
Or putting the north end of the DC power link just above the Wellington Fault.
This could be the joule that sets the house of cards on fire. The power system - generation, transmission, retail - is a fucking shambles. The country is blessed with renewables. The one big problem is the transmission losses from the cheap generators to the black hole of Auckland.
In the 70s there was a subsidy for South Island power uses. It got dumped years later. If we are serious about assisting Auckland in it's death throes, transport, population, housing, lack of dirt until you are miles from anywhere, then use Manapouri to attract people and business down there.
Say - Make it free for 10 years.
Given what we have lost in tax and dirt cheap power anyway, giving it away to business south of Kaikoura is an option.
I have indicated I want some Meridian shares. My alta ego has indicated he wants $1m worth as well. I bet that sort of amount gave the marketers a wet willy. ;-)
Here's an idea, How about we all buy the minimum and GIVE them back to the Govt. Imagine if everyone did that. It would send two messages, It was ours. It is ours. Now FFS listen. We could tag the money we paid to the Chch Earthquake fund. A levy if you like, The one I wouldn't have minded paying to assist the rebuild rather than try and do it piecemeal. You know, when Gerry couldn't turn over and put taxes up to pay for it!!!
-
GTT = Give to the.....
"Why do we tolerate, or perhaps even revel in, the smell of our own farts?"
How on earth would we recognise ourselves if we couldn't at least tolerate OUR aroma? Way back when I was a wolf in a prior life, pissing on the trees to mark my territory enabled me to stumble home after a late night......
Heh. Story - In another prior life wifey and I biked across Canada. Camped in a closed Prov Park close to Banff, cooked ham steaks and pineapple....yes I know....put our food bags away from the tent. I pissed into a plastic bag, diluted it a bit and spread it around the tent on about a 50m radius. We got visited by a bear. I chased it away. We survived. To this day I reckon it worked!!!
-
Ben:
having begun my second undergraduate degree at the age of 41.
Moz: Comic Sans?
That would make knowledgeable Ben Bookman Old Style or Book Antiqua
-
My definition of reaching adulthood was when I suddenly (and seriously) thought about my eventual demise. Which was only a few years ago BTW :-). Suddenly, the second half seems to have an end.....which was something that "less than" adults (ie, when I was one) rarely thought about.
After spending life raising three girls and seeing them disappear to their own worlds, we are happy to see them understand they do have choices, they do make them and the ones they have made have enhanced their enjoyment of life in general. Can't ask for more than that.
So Damien, suggested "end point" could be when the risk taking becomes untenable.
-
Hard News: My Food Bag: is it any good?, in reply to Martin Lindberg,
So long as it’s not carp.
We have done - and probably about to do - some stupid things.
Koi Carp. I thought they were put in drains to keep them clear of weeds. Then the drains flooded and took them into the Waikato. But this says otherwise but the damage is done.
Just like shitty turd beetles which it the latest to look likely to get a head start reading this opinion piece. This debate has been going on for a few years so it looks like someone wants the report to say what they really really want.
-
Hard News: Vivid, lively, unruly, in reply to Keir Leslie,
Also, unfortunately, local government turn out to be a nest of retrograde clowns as far as culture goes surprisingly often.
"Art? Art?" says the nest of retrograde clowns....."the Great Unwashed know nothing about art".
But at least I know what I like.....