Posts by Rich of Observationz
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I wouldn't trust Labour as far as I could throw Parekura Horomia.
However after hearing the news report on the march with some mad woman going on about how this was the "end of democracy in NZ", I was re-convinced that this bill was a Good Thing.
Nobody's going to be stopped from writing blogs, going on marches, flyposting or whatever. They just aren't going to be able to spend thousands of dollars trying to buy the election.
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I never had a problem with the new AB haka doing the simulated throat cutting. I'll have to tie down why the two are so different for me.
It's called context.
If it's in the context of the officially sanctioned controlled violence that we call sport then that's fine - it's just helping the proletariat let off steam and concentrate their resentment on biased foreign referees and the like.
If it's in the context of unsanctioned protest against established authority then that's bad and needs to be suppressed.
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Blendie: the voice-interacting blender from MIT.
I assume that's the Massachusetts rather than Manukau Institute of Technology? You would have thought the latter might have realised they were acronym-sharing with a much more established institution, no?
(But then, names like Auckland University of Technology University betray a certain illiteracy in the tertiary education business, don't they?)
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Did you report it to the police?
Hang on:
- Actual offence? Yes
- Identified victim? Yes
- Perpetrator likely white middle class? YesSorry sir, the NZ police force doesn't deal with such things, We are mostly concerned with imaginary crimes committed by brown people. Just contact your insurance company please sir.
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It was only when the populace started caring more about peace than about "just wars" that progress could again be made towards a country everybody could live in
I don't intend to try and justify the excesses committed by all three groups in the Troubles, including the one I was forced to help fund (the British security forces).
However, in 1967 there was, as Finn rightly alludes, widespread political and social discrimination implemented by a majoritarian state.
Now, NI has power sharing, robust anti-discrimination laws and an accountable police force. I personally doubt that would have happened without the Nationalist community having kicked back. -
Labour being retrogressive, (and fascist nanny control freaks) what – seriously – is the alternative?
The Greens have made threshold in every election since MMP. They are currently polling around 6% and given the kick minor parties get at election time, I see no reason why they won't do it again.
Which means that switching your vote from Labour to Green won't do anything to help the Nats get back in - it'll just boost the chances of a Lab/Green/Maori Party government that would be a lot more left than the one we have now.
(Incidentally, if there was a right-wing majority of the votes, but due to ACT & NZF missing threshold, a LGMP government, I bet we'd get a lot of insurrectionist chat in golf clubs and the like).
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Have you ever tried to tuck a dollar coin into a g-string?
If she ain't worth $5 she ain't worth anything!
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The North American Numbering Plan is another example of what happens when you don't learn from global best practice.
When introduced, it was an elegant and effective system. 86 places (states and big cities) had 3 digit area codes which were used with 7 digit phone numbers. Calling within a city or state used 7 digits, whilst calling long distance used the full number. Local calls (7 digits) were free on a private line.
But as telecoms changed and improved, the NANP became increasingly creaky. Big cities now have multiple overlapping area codes, mobile phone subscribers get charged for incoming calls and trying to use a phonebooth is a nightmare!
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All starts with the refusal of Americans to accept that $1 is not a reasonable denomination for a banknote.
I can't figure out what that sentence means. Too many negatives. Does not compute.
Ok, I'll rephrase.
Americans believe that a $1 banknote is an essential part of a modern currency. This results in $1 coins (which do exist) being very rare. Consequently, there is no easy and reliable way to put much more than a dollar into a telephone (or vending machine).
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US payphones are remarkably difficult and confusing to use, relative to most other countries, and I think it revolves around weird things relating to area codes. Or something.
All starts with the refusal of Americans to accept that $1 is not a reasonable denomination for a banknote.
Fortunately my Razr (not the 3G one) picks up a GSM network most everywhere in the US.