Posts by Matthew Poole
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Hard News: Community standards, in reply to Euan Mason,
Some seem to have mislaid their moral compasses, as evidenced by the GCSB bill. :)
Not mislaid, lost. Permanently. Long ago.
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So Dunne just couldn't resist selling out. Utterly worthless. Not surprising, but no less infuriating. His response to Key should've been "I'll vote with the majority, but I will not be the majority."
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Hard News: A different kind of country, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Even Deb Hill Cone smells a rat, no matter how hard she tries to avoid political commentary.
From memory, DHC is rather sympathetic to our Shon-Key PM, too. I found the piece quite enlightening, though I doubt it'll actually change her vote.
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Legal Beagle: Council Elections: STV Q&A, in reply to Paul Campbell,
we have to depend on the accuracy and independence of the people doing the data entry
Given the esteem with which the Electoral Commission is regarded both nationally and internationally, I think we're probably OK to have that dependence. I'd be more concerned if it was the appointed overlords of ECan who where running the regional elections.
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Hard News: A different kind of country, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
The absurdity about Labour’s attempt at bedding in the “secret agenda” meme (and National’s in 1999) is that it was about as secret as a flasher’s knob.
As opposed to the current term's "unspoken until right up to the moment where we ram it down your throat" agenda, such as charter schools. Or widely empowering the GCSB to spy at will on NZers. And then there's Key's threatening dismissal of the Human Rights Commission, with such disdain for the HRC's very existence noticeably absent from National's campaign materials.
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Legal Beagle: Council Elections: STV Q&A, in reply to Hebe,
The staff and medical care the boy received were Absolutely Awesomely Amazing though.
Seconded. Our wee lad lost a bit more weight than anticipated after birth due to feeding issues, and it ended up being a week before we got him home from National Women's. The medical staff were, with only one real exception, utterly wonderful; and that one exception was more her being overly take-charge and bossy than poor care, but not getting to give his first bath was kinda shit. Supportive, attentive, caring, helpful. And after hearing some pretty awful stories (plural) from others in our ante natal class who were bullied by Birth Care staff to try and enforce breastfeeding (hours trying, mother and infant wrecked, and finally able to nag a few mils of formula) we were glad that we were forced by circumstance to remain at Auckland Hospital. For all the shit that gets thrown at them, and the abysmal treatment of the public healthcare sector by the present regime, the people within it truly care about their patients and about providing quality care.
Our only complaint was the average food, but it was still edible and recognisable (possibly due to being for maternity patients). I certainly can't see Ryall's proposals improving it.
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Hard News: A GCSB Roundup, in reply to Steve Barnes,
I cannot site the article but I read the other day that a total of 3 people were killed last year buy “Red Light Runners”. Tragic as that may be I doubt the “Millions of Dollars” tag.
Three fatalities is $12m using NZTA's model for determining the value of life for deciding if road safety upgrades are worth doing. So, yes, "millions of dollars". And that's just the cost of the deaths, not any of the dozens of injuries, or the costs imposed by impacts on traffic in the aftermath of a serious crash.
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Toby Manhire sums it up beautifully. "GCSB urine furores" indeed.
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Hard News: A different kind of country, in reply to Keir Leslie,
if you just let Sky City handle it, that's an arguably commercial issue, and not really a BORA thing.
Maybe not BORA, but still Human Rights Act in relation to discrimination in the provision of services. The entire veto concept is a ticking bomb for everyone. Just shows the utter arrogance being engendered by the current regime that it's even been considered.
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Hard News: A GCSB Roundup, in reply to Steve Barnes,
These days Its not “Reds under the bed” its “Redlight runners” and the cameras that trap them.
Unlike a notional Communist threat, however, people who run red lights are unarguably responsible for deaths, injuries, and many millions of dollars in cost to society.