Posts by WH
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The Bohemian Club
Every year, some of the most prominent men in the world gather in California to pay homage to a giant owl. Despite the uneasy fit with the Christian/conservative prohibition against such practices, it’s mainly a Republican thing. The photo shows Nixon and Reagan in attendance circa 1955.
The Bohemian Club was founded in 1872. It’s Californian sister – the summer solstice celebration Burning Man – was formally inaugurated in 1988.
1964: Johnson v Goldwater
Goldwater’s radical 1964 candidacy shunted Republican politics away from the moderate conservatism of Hoover, Dewey and Eisenhower and put the United States on a course that ultimately led to the Reagan Revolution of 1980.
Was the unlikely pairing a cosmic joke? You decide.
Anthony Wiener
Wiener’s career as a US Congressman was cut short by his compulsive tendency to share intimate pictures of himself on an unsolicited basis. His flaws played an important part in the 2016 Presidential election: FBI Director Comey’s infamous letter to Congress – made public just days before the ballot – pertained to emails placed on Weiner’s laptop by his wife, Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
The Tromp family
During the 2016 Presidential Election, an entire family – the Tromp family – went missing after experiencing a shared delusion that they had been placed under surveillance. The family fled their home in distress and was ultimately found strewn across southeast Australia.
The case is not readily explained. The investigating officer, Sergeant Mark Knight, called the tale the most bizarre thing he’d seen in 30 years of policing.
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Legal Beagle: Questions, but no answers,…, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
It all seems so unnecessary. It's been a month and the Opposition's strategery is already getting out of control. Let us all take a moment to think about the fate of the lockbox. Perhaps each of us could offer a short prayer.
8791 questions in a single month... More than 7000 of those questions came from MP Trevor Mallard alone.
I don't see how that serves a worthwhile purpose. Colour me opposed.
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Great stats – thanks for the link.
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I'm unfamiliar with the rules that govern parliamentary procedure but would have thought that asking 6,000 odd questions is something akin to the common law concept of abuse of process.
The manoeuvre seems intended to tie up resources that would otherwise be used to enact the new Government's agenda.
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Hard News: Harkanwal Singh: What really…, in reply to linger,
It’s a rough figure but it’s not too far off. The 2013 Census indicates that:
In 2013, 49.8 percent of people aged 15 years and over owned or partly owned the home they lived in, compared with 53.2 percent in 2006.
Less than 20% of twentysomethings own their own home; around 40% of thirtysomethings own theirs. The proportions are falling as unaffordability is rising. People in their forties have seen home ownership rates decline to just over 60%.
The older cohorts are better placed but purchased their first homes before the prices rose.
Statistics NZ has said that the home ownership rate dropped to 63% in 2017.
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Hard News: Harkanwal Singh: What really…, in reply to ,
Land banking?
It's interesting to think about the planning that must go into trying to sketch out a vision for Auckland's development over the next fifty years.
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I don't doubt your goodwill on housing and I know you have made a similar point in a previous post.
Around 40% of New Zealanders don't own their own home. That's about two million people. National made a very deliberate decision to preserve the status quo on housing and it was sad to see ultimately baseless claims of racism used to beat back reform.
My mum recently told me that the 120 MPs of the last Parliament owned 302 homes between them.
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Newspaper reports indicate that investors have been purchasing 45% of all properties sold in Auckland. The anecdotes I've heard suggest that overseas buyers have been purchasing large numbers of homes. Do you have any information that suggests this is untrue?
The recent movements in our housing market are a matter for real regret. Contrary to what you have repeatedly implied, the worst of the damage is likely to be inflicted on those least able to take it.
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Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle.
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Sri Lankan cricket captain Dinesh Chandimal has been in the news for attributing his side’s upset win over Pakistan to a blessing he obtained from a meyni, or sorcerer.
Australian MP Bob Katter has attracted international attention for this reaction to the result of the same-sex marriage referendum. As people have noted on Twitter, it’s like watching someone with multiple personality disorder transition between competing personas.
