Posts by tussock
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Matthew; such is the process of monopolies, legal or otherwise.
I have a digital signal processor, most folk do these days. It's got cheaply extendable storage of various types, plenty of processing grunt, and IO channels to handle whatever you want to throw at it for the cost of a cable or two to connect various things. There's cheap expansions available for an arbitrary number of signal generators as they're needed. It even came with very sharp HD viewing screen.
And then you give someone a monopoly on something, and all of a sudden you've got to buy a few special "certified" boxes at a grossly inflated price and reduced performance to do all the same stuff you could be doing with everyday hardware, and pay them again for a list of what you might be allowed to view on it at any particular time.
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Ben: the treaty is an agreement made by the crown (as represented by parliament) with Iwi and Hapu, not any one race (there being no such thing as race).
And Māori are very poorly represented with MMP thanks to their typically low proportional lurnout, which was well recognised at the time MMP was introduced. There would be no Māori party overhang if Māori turned out at the same rate as Pakiha (of course, there would arguably have been no confiscation act or Māori party if they turned out as well).
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Ah, the "PM doesn't like cute kittens" moment on 3 news, from two angles no less.
Does the media tend to promote candidates who make for stronger stories, rather than better governance? 'Cause this new PM of ours is giving me a few GWB vibes. The currency-trading investment banker now ruling over one of the largest traded currencies and a multi-billion dollar investments, sort of like the oil man in the white house? Both men who "failed to notice" serious corruption going on under their noses.
Brain of mine always tries to draw things together like that, so I've no idea if other folk see it.
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On this basis, Obama isn't the President-elect either.
Voters in the US elect members of the electoral college, who choose the President.
The "electors" here are most everyone over 18 who cares to vote; in the US they're the guys in the electoral college, who are themselves elected by various popular voting means. Our electors choose the composition of parliament by apportioning lists, theirs choose the president and VP.
John Key is the leader of the party who will form the core of our next government, and will (by convention) be the next Prime Minister. But the electors haven't chosen a PM, and neither has the next government yet (they could just as well choose Maurice when the time comes).
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Meanwhile, from the Hollow Men Consultation Corporation, Ltd.
Oh, come now, zoos are a tired policy, we need a change.
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What? That is a complete policy paper. You can trust me, I'm a banker. No, they went bankrupt after I left. Did I mention I wanted to be Prime Minister when I was young?
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Tough we could redistribute votes, with a preference, or even let the parties do it themselves after the fact. It'd restore proportion in a fair part without letting in the little guys, and might be something the majors would go for easier.
I'd love to see more people able to express what they really want. We should have Condorset for the electorates for the same reason, Smith/IRV for the finicky details.
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1.4 rather than 1 for the first divisor, means you only get a seat with about half the vote that would get you two seats. Keeps the joke parties out (with apologies to the Kiwi party, but they'd get more anyway, Bill and Ben wouldn't, and probably wouldn't run anyway).
New Zealand National Party - 56 seats
New Zealand Labour Party - 41 seats
The Greens - 8 seats
New Zealand First Party - 5 seats
Māori Party - 5 seats
Act New Zealand - 5 seats
Jim Anderton's Progressive - 1 seat
United Future New Zealand - 1 seatHowever, we'd have Outdoor Rec, ALCP, Alliance, and probably some Christian splitters too. They've all been blocked and then undervoted.
Oh, and keeping out the personality cults? Am I the only one here who saw Helen and John's campaigns this time? Epic fail.
Oh, and Prime Minister elect my ass. We do not elect the Prime Minister. Damnable US influence on our vernacular.
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And no, I'm not happy that Winston's gone. 88 thousand people's voices said he should stay and on a day when we're all supposed to be equal, that should be enough. 10% of our new parliament has less support.
The threshold distorts the left/right choice of the populace, distorts people's real preferences at the ballot, and is only really there to kill parties until we're back to three or maybe four.
How long 'till the greens go? How long will the Nats keep saving Act? Why aren't people allowed to vote Outdoor Rec, ALCP, Christian, Alliance, ...?
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And I mentioned Clark because I was enormously moved by human empathy
Heh. All I did was cry like a big girl.
By my rough calculations and guesses (which have thus far been wildly inaccurate), the specials are heavy in the po' seats, and will shift a seat to Labour (it's currently .37 Nat rounding uup, .36 Lab rounding down).
Greens are .26 down maybe get that over Labs, left either way, Act are safe at .78 up, Jim .27 down wont climb quite enough, Dunne .14 down. The rounding is favoring the right by 1, but shouldn't hold that way. Māori .87 up, but no special votes in the Māori seats shown?
With no threshold, Bill would get in, as would Larry Baldoc. I've always suggested a modified initial divisor though, 1.4 rather than 1, which would keep both out by 1000+ votes. Kiwi party did well, really. Winston would get ...
Grn 7.86 = 8
Pro 1.14 = 1
Lab 41.28 = 41
NZF 5.14 = 5
Māo 2.74 = 3+2
Ufy 1.09 = 1
Nat 55.56 = 56
Act 4.55 = 562 NAU, 60 Other. No change in government, but they'd need Dunne. Specials very unlikely to change that.
If Bill and Larry also got in, they'd steal from Nat and Act (which is a bit random, but there you go). Bill would do the decent thing and constantly abstain (61-60) leaving us with another small Christian element to ban teh gays in parliament. Hmm. Stable enough, and at least leaves National looking more like a 45% vote catcher than a 50% one.
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Oh, huzzah.
Shipley's caucus is back in power, and this time they can blame it all on Act. Not to worry fellow poor folk, we can always eat what trickles down from the rich, and it's even legal now.
Key a moderate? Fuck, but people are dumb. Honestly. He'll be gone by lunchtime if he tries to stop the looting, not that he will. He's a full on hollow man and will smile at the 10% unemployed they so sought last time and blame the smear campaign again.
Anyone remember Bush coming into office? A "uniter", tax cuts, less regulation, just a good old boy, cut funding to schools (I mean, leave no child behind), more funding for private insurance and health, going it alone, ignoring facts that disagree with dogma. How'd that work out again?
Oh well. You takes the good with the bad. And that speech by Clark? AWESOME. Obama and McCain got nothin' on that strait talk. Thanks Auntie H, endless foot dragger of a government you ran, you were a great PM, and a top person (when not in a petty huff).
I think I'll go to bed. Call me in three years.