Posts by Lyndon Hood

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  • Hard News: There's a lot of it about,

    Just on one of the technical points - rather than read the report I thought I'd ask here - if they decided the debt wasn't a debt, how can paying it off be a gift?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Hard News: Crash and Contempt,

    Never trust a Grasshopper.

    Funnily enough, I got an email yesterday that apparently been going round - the first bit was a NZ version of an anti-welfarist grasshopper election story that's been circulating internationally with different names for a while but it contained a reply that, judging not least by lack of google results, seems to be new and local:

    The story continued: Fast forward December 2011….

    Grasshopper finds that his bank has been sold off his and hard earned savings have been sucked up in some unregulated offshore financial black hole nightmare – he wonders why Mr Key would sell such a safe and popular cash cow.

    As the economy tightens Grasshopper loses his job and is told that he must take a job at BK flipping burgers for $5.50 per hour – half of what it was when there was a guaranteed minimal hourly rate. This has since been scrapped and the infinite and mysterious wisdom of the free market dictates that this is his new market value pay rate.

    Grasshopper is forced to try and reorganize his finances and find somewhere cheaper to live and after finding out that working for families has been scrapped as it was a communist inspired evil which was keeping him down – Grasshopper and his grasshopper son move to a refuge house and live on canned sardines and cockroaches.

    Grasshopper watches the TV news to find some old relic resembling the Emperor in Star Wars called Roger Douglas has assumed control of the countries SOE's and is working tirelessly with one Mr Key (and other deadwood ideologues like Lockwood Smith) to set up SOE's for quick fire auction to offshore interests looking to find safe cash cows for their retirement schemes – casualties include: Post Office, Air NZ, Auckland Airport, Rail, ACC.

    The outcome is that the majority of Grasshoppers money now flows out to pay to pay offshore transnationals' and good friends on the NZ Business Round Table (who have brokered many of these sales). And as the money flows out of the local economy things become more unpredictable and desperate.

    Grasshopper tunes into the Emperor who tells him its time to tighten his belt for a lean and turbulent times. It's all a necessary evil on the pathway of becoming an economic miracle.

    Grasshopper has heard this before – about 15-20 years ago in fact, and starts having reoccurring nightmares where he is being fisted from behind with no lube by faceless assailants. It's 1987 - 1993 Déjà vu.

    At this point Grasshopper is having serious problems sleeping at night and wonders what benefit he and his family had from a $50 per week tax cut when he now has now so many new user pays, increased bills, less job security and security for his families future.

    As the economy takes an uncontrollable dive and their appears to be nothing left in the financial larder and the state borrows more and more at unfavourable rates (due to offshore market volatility caused by a dying empire in death-throws) he wishes he hadn't been so hasty to end the nine year marriage with Helen and Michael.

    Though it seemed dull at the time, Grasshopper had become apathetic and had failed to foresee the bleak return to old failed free market policies of the new suitors. He wished he had been smarter and had seen the similarities between this sort of economic management and cause of disaster in the western capitalist system. He cried himself to sleep as he wished for a return to financial conservatism and for some economic stability and security.

    Grasshopper and his son were last seen working in a new South Auckland sweatshop making running shoes for the Indian and Chinese market.

    The End

    MORAL OF THE STORY:
    Don't be a greedy short-memory muppet!!**

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Hard News: The TVNZ 7 Internet Debate,

    The limitations they relaxed a couple of weeks back?

    The limitations that they clarified as being what I thought they were anyway, but yes.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Hard News: The TVNZ 7 Internet Debate,

    Not strictly copyright but you could ask about the satire/ridicule limitations on the use of the parliament video.


    FYI there is copyright stuff being proposed to happen for commissioning and parody/satire

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Hard News: The TVNZ 7 Internet Debate,

    Relevant-to-something-above stuff you've probably seen if your interested:

    The Onion has Obama's inbox

    BoingBoing: Copyright's Paradox: brilliantly argued scholarly book tackles free speech vs. copyright

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Hard News: The TVNZ 7 Internet Debate,

    You could ask what they think of the ICT industry uniting against section 92A of the new Copyright Act.

    <i>Sarah palin's inbox.</i>

    Which I must say is rubbish

    Indeed. Still, it might remind people not to base their security on questions that can be answered from publicly available information.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Hard News: The TVNZ 7 Internet Debate,

    "And this just in over IRC, a general question to all the panellists:
    Has you got mah bukkit?"

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Hard News: The TVNZ 7 Internet Debate,

    Re: ACTA there have been a couple of leaks. I would direct you to wikileaks except it appears to currently be sploded, likely under the wieght of people wanting to see Sarah palin's inbox.

    here is the google cache on ACTA - handily, the page came up as a subhead when i did a search for wikileaks.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Hard News: Crash and Contempt,

    I've survived the collapse of some fairly major sponge cakes.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Hard News: Now It's On,

    I'd also like a penalty for "What New Zealanders really [want to know/think/want] is..."

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

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