Posts by John Morrison
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We are in the wop-wops but, we have fibre running right past our gate. Our cabinet is ~5km away and the best speed we get is ~ 1Mb/sec although routinely 300-400kb/sec.
We would love to get high quality tv/movies, does that require 10Mb/sec?
At the moment, National don't care whether it is feasible or not, because they have the headline, Key is seen as a guy looking forward, business backs the idea etc etc. Details, details we'll worry about that later.
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Instead of the staid "He should be fired..." comment, I thought it would have been better for English to say something along the lines of "I hope Labour keep Williams as their president because he is confused and is gaffe prone". Yet another brain explosion by Williams.
However, it does seem a little dodgy how a good quality tape-recording of a closed session at the Congress ended up in a journalist's hands who then didn't declare that he had it when interviewing Williams. I suppose journalists will say they are just doing their job and they get the scoop any way they can.
Well, if you want something more right wing, you've always got The Listener...
We have been subscribers to this magazine for decades, on and off. Unless the current editorial staff and/or APN depart soon, we will be terminating our subscription. BTW Stirling says Hansford was only on a short-term contract. Is that the reason for her to get rid of him?
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Yes I agree the EFA is a dog's breakfast, but any Electoral Finance Act would be because there is too much at stake and too many smart lawyers around. To me, complete state funding is cleanest solution.
What is National now? "Vote National cos, ummm, its time for a change and we'll be just the same only somehow better".
At least Labour has policy pamphlets to hand out! 6 months before an election and National's bus ticket seems to be just blowin' in the wind. They can't even release something uncontentious as say, their Art & Culture policy. What have they been doing for the last 9 years other than being lazy?
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Clark on Breakfast this morning says these department-generated pamphlets, explaining Kiwisaver, WFF or whatever, should be held by all electorate offices and given to anybody who wants one. Is it really electioneering when activists hand these pamphlets out?
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Again I'm late, but I have to take issue with Don C
Indeed it is. What is depressing is the amount of wastage of water this is leading to. Driving around in January I observed that most irrigation schemes were pumping out water during the hottest, windiest times of day. Crazy stuff that even the least skilled garner knows is wasteful.
It is proven that even on the hottest & windiest days only 3-5% of the water goes to waste. However, if you stuff up the water application timing etc you increase the inefficiency to 30%+.
It is possible to now drive from Oamaru to Wanaka and see heavily irrigated land for almost the entire trip (mainly barring parts of the Lindis).
We are trying to do something about the Lindis too!
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Hey Geoff , are you the same guy who used to be at Otago Uni - I used to enjoy your lectures ... if you are?
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We looked at buying a house in Cromwell awhile ago but the bank manager said it was out of our league
Cromwell is not as bad as Wanaka nor Queenstown, the latter would rank as bad as the North Shore. I would thank that bank manager for not lending you the money - pity a few others didn't offer the same advice
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Isn't it great to have this wonderful blog. This is where you get loads of laughs, discussions take their own meandering course, and most importantly, people are civil with each other and don't belittle others' opinions. Well done Russ!
Now where do I vote...
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We have been desperately trying to pay our mortgage off, started in 2000, so we have made a point of not adding to our debt since.
Maybe it is the Presbyterian in me, but I could see the debt fuelled spending binge that has happened over recent years coming to an end together with the inevitable hangover.
People are both hurting and spooked, especially when they have a $300k mortgage hanging around their necks. Of course, they will blame somebody else, namely the govt. But I just wish Cullen etc. had been a bit bolder early in their reign and tried to move investment away from housing and into productive assets.
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I know I'm awfully late, but I would like to put in my 2 cents worth on the $700m fund.
Ever since Roger Douglas said agriculture was a sunset industry, NZ'ers have not recognised its true worth. I suffered that when we spent the 80's and 90's in ag research trying to do a good job with ever-shrinking resources. We would have regular farewells for colleagues who had either been made redundant or couldn't stand it anymore. There was no job security, having no further horizon than the next funding round in 3 years time. Research cannot operate like that.
I believe you can count on 1 hand the number of soil & plant nutrition scientists working in research now. This in a country reliant upon this science area.The worst part for me was the belief that NZ depended upon primary production, because there was very little chance that we would find anything that came close to replacing its export $$. And so it turned out.
This Innovation Fund you can see, is a real sea change from past dogma. Not only are we talking serious $$ and private industry having to stump up, but there is now a 15 year timeframe. Wow!
Isn't it great to see Key thinking we do not need it.The irony of it all is that local farmers tells me productivity has doubled since those mid-80's. Amazing.