Mulholland Heft Meer Mmmmmmmm...

Mary Jo Kopechne's Killer Still At Large

Damned seizure didn't quite finish him off.  Bugger.

There will be some great celebrations when this ratbag finally kicks the bucket.  Hopefully it will be soon enough.

Income Splitting: Why Not?

I have been traditionally opposed to tax breaks for families and couples.  My rationale was that an equivalent amount of income should always be taxed the same, whatever the circumstances of the person, because it represented a fair tax for the equivalent amount of work done.

However, mulling over ACT's proposed $10K tax free threshold has caused me to adjust my thinking.  If a man is earning money, not just for himself, but for a dependent wife and two young children, why is his income not assessed as supporting four people instead of one?  He is not just working for himself, but for three others.  With a creative accountant, you could wangle this anyway by making them "employees".  So why not make it official?

This would mean that a man providing for such a family could earn $40k tax free instead of just the first ten.  He could earn $152k and still only be taxed at 19.5c/$ for anything above that $40k.  That would make a huge difference to a family, and would compensate for any reduction in the ghastly Welfare For Families scheme.

I would love to see ACT formalise this consequence of their policy.  Nobody ever lost votes by arguing a policy was good for families.

What is More Nazi?

Painting a swastika on your own roof; or...

Banning someone from doing it?

"Frankly, I'm astonished that it's permissible at all to paint gaudy symbols on the roof of your house..."

Frankly I'm astonished he's astonished!  Property rights are a basic human right, but the "Right Not to Be Offended" is the slippery slope to totalitarianism.  Unless you are forcing the exposure of pornography or violent images on children, free speech trumps all.

If you don't like swastikas on your neighbour's roof, why not put your own up?  It could read "Fuck off back to India, you culturally insensitive twat".  See, there are ways of dealing with these things that don't involve the jackboot of the State.  And nobody has the right not to be offended - ever.

UPDATE:  It's blogpoll time!

Thoughts on the Green Party's List

Of the six top new Green Party candidates, what does it say that two of them are listed as professional campaigners, and two are listed as resource management consultants?

Is there anything on earth more evil than a resource management consultant?  That's almost right up there with Josef Fritzl.  ;o)

Good luck with that threshold guys.  Remember that your actual vote is always 2% less than your polling, so you are going to struggle.  But hey, at least you have finally put an authorisation on your new posters.  Well done.

Sue Bradford Wears the Dunce Cap For the Day

 

"The Green Party has accused the Government of running a "cruel and deliberate" benefit system that forces desperate people to find work."

No shit, Sue!  Congratulations, genius!  Go to the head of the class!

Being on a benefit is supposed to be hard.  It's supposed to deprive you of a normal life.  The whole point is to motivate you to go out and earn some money for yourself so you are not dependent on the State for the rest of your life.

"It was clear Labour believed the best way to motivate beneficiaries into paid work was to keep benefits so low that people were desperate to find work whatever situation they were in."

Ooh do ya think?!  OMG the cruelty!  Making people actually go out and find work!  Those bastards!

I can't believe our media is so lame that a politician can seriously mouth these sentiments and not get called out on them.  The shame.

Topless Teens

What a strange society we live in where having sex with a sixteen year old girl is perfectly legal, but publishing a photo of the same girl is not.

If you're curious (and I know you are, you dirty bastards) you can find some rather delectable samples of the improbably named Zippora Seven here and here.  But while she's a beautiful girl, it's hard not to be creeped out by her age and wonder WTF these parents/modeling agencies are up to being this risque with girls so young.

Funniest/Creepiest Website Ever

ManBabies is now officially my new favourite website.

Clarkson Quits: Will the Nats Run a Stooge?

It looks like Bob Clarkson has been muscled out of standing again for Tauranga.  The Nats want those juicy centre-left reactionary votes that Winston provides for them.  They intend to let him win the seat back.

Hopefully, the local party in Tauranga has other ideas, and selects someone with enough gravitas and motivation to take him on.  Hell, maybe I should put my own name in!  I'd do anything to see Winston off.

UPDATE:  Looks like I'm wrong about the stooge - Simon Bridges has put his name forward for the nomination already.  He's the Chair of Tauranga National and by the looks of things should be quite good enough if nobody even better comes forward.

Thought Provoking Polls

Ooops!  It looks like UK Labour are well and truly f*cked!  23%!  Wouldn't it be nice if we reduced Labour in this country to that figure.  And kept them there!

Some fascinating polls coming out of America right now as well.  Who would have thought that Hillary Clinton had a better chance of beating McCain than Obama?  And if you look at the electoral college maps you can see why.  The Jewish vote in Florida comes out for Clinton, but not Obama, as does the white working class vote in the rust belt.  That's enough to tip the balance in favour of Hillary as far as the superdelegates go.  Those swing states just aren't going to fall for Obama, and if the superdelegates are smart, they will pick Clinton.  Of course, if they did so, there is a high chance that they will alienate their African American base, but the reality is that they are concentrated in mostly unwinnable red states.  OTOH, Hillary will wipe the floor with the NAFTA-supporting McCain in the rust belt.

Is it over for the Hilldog?  Based on this analysis I would say no, but the Democrats do not have a reputation for rational thought, or picking the best candidate for the job.

Racism at Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton, the luxury goods manufacturer, recently held a function at its Customs Street store on Wednesday evening (7th May).  I believe it was a product launch of some sort.  Outside caterers were contracted to provide the drinks and snacks.

I have it on very good authority that this catering company was under strict instruction by Louis Vuitton to supply only "European" staff.  With the exception of the supervisor, who is a Pacific Islander, this instruction was complied with, and the guests were served only by white waitstaff.

Considering the event was attended by people of various nationalities and skin tones, this strikes me as particularly bizarre.  Why request whites only for your catering staff?  What is this, the 1950s?!

Louis Vuitton should be ashamed of itself, and should fire the person who made this disgusting request.  I'll be boycotting Moet et Chandon in the meantime ;o)

Good News for ACT

My biggest fear for the coming budget was that Michael Cullen would undercut ACT to some extent by introducing a tax free threshold.

Aren't I silly?  Being so naive as to believe Labour cared about working class people and the working poor!

Now it looks like ACT has this policy all to itself.  No tax on the first $20k of income, as is the case in most civilised countries, and no 39c rate.  Plus we'll probably keep whatever Labour promise.  Eeeeexcellent.  Go forth and campaign brothers and sisters.

Pity Party for Josef Fritzl

Apparently this depraved monster is a nice guy really.

"Josef Fritzl... insisted that he was "not a monster" yesterday and claimed that he was the victim of a one-sided media campaign to discredit him."

That biased liberal media!  Can't they leave a man to imprison and rape his own daughter in peace?

"I am no monster, I could have killed all of them and no one would have known. No one would ever have found out about it."

See?  Such compassion!  It looks like we've entirely misunderstood this guy.

"Kerstin would not be alive today if it wasn't for me," he told his lawyer. 

"I made sure that she got to hospital."

Yes, I see his logic there.  Because if she had lived a normal life above ground, she'd probably be just as sick, right?  See, he's a model father!  Or grandfather.  Or something...

"Mr Mayer claims that his client is suffering from diminished responsibility and should not go to prison if found guilty. "He belongs in a closed psychiatric unit and not in jail," he said in an interview."

Strangely enough, I agree with Mr Mayer.  After he has had his fingernails pulled off, his testicles electrocuted, every bone in his body broken, and been arseraped with a chainsaw, surely a closed psychiatric unit will be all he is fit for.

Yay!

The return of Goodnight Kiwi?

Hiroshima

New photographs of the devastating results of the atom bomb drop on Hiroshima have just been released.  It is chilling to imagine a city full of bodies like this - lives instantly snuffed out by the blast.

It is the gravest of tragedies that this became necessary to inflict.  Japan was in the grip of a religious cult with Showa Tenno as God, and hellbent on conquest of the pacific.  In his name millions were killed and tortured.  Allied POWs were treated like animals.  Pearl Harbor was attacked without warning.  And New Zealand came within a thousand miles of being enslaved.

It is important to realise that not even this bomb was enough to get Hirohito to stop the war - there had to be a second one dropped on Nagasaki, so earnestly did the cult grip the Japanese leadership.  The people in these photos - ordinary people who knew no better than to blindly support their country - suffered and died as a result.

This is what blind ideology does to people.  They draw up a set of rules, sometimes they are good, sometimes they are bad, but what ends up happening is that people get sacrificed for the sake of the rules.  And it doesn't seem to matter what philosophy or religion you come up with, there will always be people who believe following the rules are more important than doing good by others.  Which was really the whole point of Jesus' message, and what he spent his time railing against.

Don't Worry

Scarlett Johansson isn't really getting married.

Ryan Reynolds is just a beard to cover up her polyamorous relationship with my girlfriend and I ;o)

Honest.

(come home, Scarlett!  we miss you!)

Manukau Needs Legal Brothels

Mulholland Drive's one man campaign for legal brothels in Manukau continues.  The latest consequence of their banning:  Messy and dangerous public toilets in Manurewa.

The streetwalkers of South Auckland are a disgrace to their region and their council.  But they could be gotten rid of in one fell swoop - the Council just has to legalise brothels in the district once again.  Until then, they will continue to suffer the effects as a result of their counterproductive puritanism.  I don't live there, and don't normally visit except during the day for work, but frankly Manukau's shame is New Zealand's shame - it is the gateway to our country and we deserve better from it.

Greens Break Their Own Electoral Law

Normally I wouldn't give a toss about a few Green Party posters put up near my house.  This used to be a democracy, so in theory they should be able to put up whatever they like.  The only trouble is that, since they voted for such draconian electoral law, you'd think they would be able to avoid breaking it?

I took some photos of the offending posters - you can click on them below to enlarge.  Note that there is no authorisation on them anywhere, that all three are clearly campaigning, and one explicitly warns of the consequences of not voting Green (Your grandchildren will give you the finger.  Which sounds fine by me, considering the consequences of voting Green would be starvation through biofuel subsidies and food regulation).

Note also that these are not old posters.  They are only a couple of weeks old, and were put out AFTER Labour and ACT were already rapped over the knuckles.  You have to wonder at the breathtaking arrogance of it all.  Did they really think the new rules would only apply to National and not to them?  Well sorry, you vile pack of communists, if we can't have our free speech then neither can you.  You're nicked.
           

Boris Wins, Filthy Commie Twat Gets Turfed

UK Labour got their arses kicked all over England and Wales yesterday.  And now London has a new Mayor.  Maybe Livingstone can bugger off to Venezuela now and leave one of the greatest cities on earth well alone.

Friday Fun: The Meth Minute

Every Friday a new Meth Minute cartoon gets uploaded.  They are (normally) brilliantly funny.  Check these out:

...and the sequel:

Go pay the site a visit (link also on the left there) - there's a gold mine of other great cartoons there :oP

Not a Candidate But Still a Campaigner for Freedom

After some thought I have decided I will not seek candidacy for the coming general election.

While there's been some opposition to the idea from certain quarters, that's only had a minor bearing.  The main reasons are:

1)  There is a lot of stuff going on in my personal and professional life that would make being a candidate difficult this time around;
2)  It's a better use of my time and skills to manage the campaigns of others and get some party votes around Auckland than a windmill tilt against Helen Clark;
3)  I also want to help National get rid of Tizard in Auckland Central;  :o)
4)  I'm still keen to campaign on the issue of a skeleton Constitution in some capacity.  Currently dreaming up some ideas for that.

A Party Vote for ACT is the only way to save this country from a descent into terminal decline.  In the same way Reagan believed in his country, I believe New Zealand's best years are ahead of us.  We just need a government that will take the shackles off, and the only way we are going to get that is if that government includes ACT.  I will be going hard out to get a full ACT team back into parliament.  So should you.

Fine By Me

All those in favour of the Waihopai saboteurs starving to death raise your hand.

Drugs Will Shorten Your Life

LSD Inventor Albert Hofmann Dead at Age 102.

The End is Nigh!

In politics, there's nothing more satisfying than slaying your enemies, and hearing the wailing of the women.  Or, in this case, of the Guardian.

They must know they have lost the London Mayoralty for the Dictator Fellator - they are pulling out all the stops here.  Just look at that looong list of celebrities accusing Boris of everything from racismsexismhomophobia, to that cardinal sin of the left:  Not Caring Enough About the Environment!  They've even got Bianca Jagger in there!  All I can say is that if Boris's imminent election is going to piss off all these people, it will be a job well done!

BoJo ain't going to be a perfect Mayor for London, but he will be entertaining, and a damned sight better than that antisemitic old communist Ken Livingstone.  It will be great to see all these folk with a sour face tomorrow!  :oP

Sometimes There's Nothing to LOL About

Well at least now we have a replacement Austrian as the embodiment of pure evil.  Fritzl makes me want to believe in the existence of Hell.

Stupid Hippies Help Jihadis Plan Terrorist Attacks

As I have said before, it is one thing to oppose an invasion of Iraq (which I did).  It is quite another to help the other side.

The GCSB plays a vital part in saving the lives of innocent people around the world.  Without them, it is certain  we would have more terrorist casualties.  And yes, they also help US soldiers hunt down and kill insurgents.  That's right, murdering, bloodthirsty, fundamentalists who send suicide bombers into busy Iraqi markets.  The GCSB has our backs and we should be kissing their arses on a daily basis.

That a bunch of IDIOTS claiming to be Christians wander onto the Waihopai base and attempt to sabotage this vital work, then kneel in prayer to thank Allah God for it, disgusts me.

Your God is not mine, and mark my words, your Prince of Peace will condemn you for this shameful act endangering so many lives.

UPDATE:

"The domes, made of a rubberised material, acted purely as a "waterproof jacket" to protect the antennae from adverse weather, he said."

It's good to know the GCSB are leading by example in covering their erections with a rubber.  :oP

Child Poverty Action Group: Only Their Purpose is Mad

The CPAG has released a set of goals to "end child poverty".  Whatever that means.  Let's look at them:

* Pledge to end child poverty by 2020.

What IS child poverty?  Personally I never felt like I got enough pocket money as a child.  Is that what they mean?  I'm sure there are poor parents out there, but child poverty seems a bit silly.  Is chimney sweeping not paying enough these days?

* Raise benefits and family support to 60 per cent of the net median household income, adjusted for family size.

This would be an act of economic genocide.  Unskilled labour would become completely uneconomical.  Large numbers of industries would be decimated.  Why 60%?  Why not 90%?!  What a foolish, ridiculous idea.

* Resurrect universal family benefit of $20 a week for all children under 5.

I've been wise enough not to have children yet.  Why should I be forced to pay for yours?

* Extend $60 a week income-tested in-work tax credit to all families with children.

As above.  But now you want to give it to people who sit around watching Oprah all day too?  Fuck off!  The Government doesn't pay for Sky for me, why should you have it?

* Cut the bottom tax rate to 10 per cent and/or extend the bottom tax bracket to $20,000.

Now this one is the only idea that I don't think goes far enough.  How about we dump the 15c rate entirely, as ACT are proposing?  One thing that actually will reduce poverty, not just cover it up.

* Extend free primary health care for children under 18 to after-hours clinics.

Another subsidy for breeding, all paid for by people who have not bred.  And doctors will likely make up the difference by charging adults more.

* Extend 20 hours free childcare to parent-led centres such as playcentres and kohanga reo.

If we are going to have 20 hours free childcare, I don't see why not.  But I disagree with blanket subsidised childcare.  If we offered it on a time-limited basis to DPB recipients who sought and attained employment, that would be a good idea, and save money in the long run.  But it is not my responsibility to pay for someone else's childcare needs.

* Abolish tax subsidies for KiwiSaver.

The Kiwisaver scheme is just a convoluted way of giving people tax cuts that they don't get until they are 65.  I support the idea of it in that I think it helps people get used to the idea of saving for their own retirement instead of expecting the government to just cough up when they reach a certain age.  But if you abolish the tax subsidies, the whole point of the scheme is defeated.  That would be silly.

Child Poverty is just a propaganda label for Poor Adults Who Don't Take Proper Care of Their Children.  The way you alleviate poverty is to cut taxes, reform welfare, abolish the Ministry of Education, and abolish the planning laws and RMA.  That won't eliminate poverty altogether, but it will allow everyone some breathing room to prosper.

Chutzpah

I'm amazed any journalist could write this with a straight face.

We are honoured to have Castro's brilliant mind on the case!  Fifty years of sound economic management has made him wise indeed!  But this quote from Chavez just takes the cake:

"His closest foreign ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, says Castro was way ahead in predicting the crisis and that the rest of the world is only now realizing that governments have to get involved to regulate the market."

Of course Hugo, those rumours that it was government intervention that got us into this mess in the first place are completely unfounded.  Since it's working so well for us, we clearly need more!

Communism is so 19th Century.  Get over it people.

The Bureaucratic Mindset

This sums it all up:

When flak over the logo started flying after the election and councillors refused to have the image on their business cards, Tania Perkinson vented her fury in an email to marketing manager Dale Clements.

"Quite frankly I think it is appalling that our own councillors do not endorse the logo of the council that they represent," she said.

The documents confirm the lengths executives went to to take ownership of the logo, which was only briefly shown to a handful of councillors and never put to a council committee.

Okay, so not only do the pencil-pushers sneak around behind the backs of our elected representatives spending our money, but they then present it to them as a fait accompli, then complain that the councillors are not represent them to the public properly.

Who is in charge here?  Us or them?

Hopefully it is us from now on.  We sent Banksy in there to give them a kicking, and thus far he has run a tight ship.  Long may it continue.

Sunday Nite Classix

I hate the song Imagine.  It annoys me when people sing it on solemn occasions as a song of hope.  As a man of faith, I find nothing hopeful about the song's atheism.  As a capitalist who believes that system (or lack of one) brings freedom and prosperity, I find nothing hopeful about the song's socialism.

Instant Karma! as an anthem is much better.  I think it's probably the best thing Lennon ever wrote.  It's a three minute summary of existentialism and it is, unlike Imagine, a song of Hope.

FAIL

Darwinism at work:

Police said the man had been drinking with friends at an 8th floor apartment, and talking about jumping into the harbour from the balcony.

However he fell short, landing on concrete near the edge of the wharf.

His body was found just before 4am this morning.

The man is understood to have been a 28 year-old from the North Shore.

Where is that drink taking you?

No, This Time It REALLY IS George Bush's Fault!

George Bush has been blamed for everything from hurricanes to (alleged) global warming itself.  But if you spray an AK47 around, eventually you'll hit something, and it looks like the current food crisis really is the fault of one George W Bush.

This is what happens when you make policy by focus group instead of doing what is right.  John Key take note.

Agricultural subsidies are the biggest killer in the world today.  New Zealand got rid of hers in the 1980s and has never looked back.  I weep to think how much less poverty there would be in the world if, instead of all the mindless protests against the WTO and government environmental policies, trendy activists focused on the lined pockets of US and EU farmers.  And now it's not just the poor who are suffering, it's all of us.

Can we get over this stupid focus on biofuels and global warming, and start feeding some people?

Mark Donnelly is a Bully

Mark Donnelly is the local City Councillor.  He also happens to live in the vicinity of New Zealand's largest sports stadium, forced to live there through poverty, no doubt.

He's now being a dick and trying to stop them redeveloping their own property in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

First of all, what an insane, backward country that would allow a man to do this.

Second of all, it's not like they're building a new stadium in a suburban area where Mark has hitherto lived in peace and tranquility for many years.  They're just developing a stadium that already exists.  It's not going to make traffic levels on match days any crazier than they already are, and already were long before Mark purchased his home prepared to make mischief.

Don't think me insensitive - I live in the area myself.  Roadside parking on match days is impossible to find, and traffic is a nightmare.  I hate it.  But unlike Mark, I don't whine about it.  It just doesn't happen frequently enough for it to be a problem.  And if it was, I wouldn't go crying to city planners, I'd just move.

Immediate neighbours often do have legitimate concerns about sensory and material pollution produced by adjacent property development.  But the sword of Damocles approach we have now is the wrong one.  All we need is legislation that:

1)  Requires notification of adjacent landowners within a certain radius of imminent property development;
2)  Allows compensation claims to a Property Development Tribunal for probable visual, aural, olfactorial or material pollution affecting adjacent landowners and their property.

That's it.  No RMA, no spiritual bullshit, no environmental jibberjabber, no shutting down or delaying development, no forms, no council planners, no bureaucrats, just two interested parties and a magistrate.  Mark Donnelly could seek recompense for increased noise and traffic, the judge would tell him to stop whining like a little bitch, and the temporary stand would get built.  End of story.  And meanwhile, the really stupid developments would get shut down, not because some stickybeaked lobby group started hyperventilating, but because paying people for blocking their views/disturbing their peace/stinking up their living rooms would be uneconomic.

Does Mark Donnelly really wish to be remembered by ratepayers as the man who moved the World Cup Final down to Christchurch?  Be assured Mr Donnelly I shall be reminding them of your actions in 2010.

National's Fibre Cable Policy

Maurice Williamson gets asked quite a few tough questions, and has some pretty reasonable answers:

He makes a very good case for the necessity of the network.  That isn't really in doubt.  I'm also fairly certain that it will be tax positive.  But at what opportunity cost?  Really what we want is 3% GDP growth by using $1.5B from shareholders, not taxpayers.

But this ain't going to happen of course, and Maurice only lightly touches on why.  He notes that small companies just get priced out by Telecom, so to stop that happening, it has to be a big player prepared to roll it out.  Now... why wouldn't that happen?  Why on earth I wonder... oh yeah, maybe it's because the last time a major company had their own telco network in this country IT GOT UNBUNDLED!

So there's your answer right there.  They won't do it because the government will just confiscate it.  They also need all that bureaucratic RMA paperwork done on it.  It's a nightmare for anyone in the private sector.  Who would ever invest in telco infrastructure in New Zealand?

All up, it's a tough one.  You really need to abolish the RMA and have a constitutional guarantee to property rights to get this thing built by itself.  Realpolitik suggests that won't happen in the short to medium term.  So National's policy is simply a mop-up for having poor property rights in this country in the first place.  It's an acknowedgement that only the State can build this thing, because right now if anyone else does, the State would probably steal it.  The State fucked up, and now only the State can fix it.  That sucks.

So what can we do?  It's like universal scholarships for schools - the policy, in itself, if you were constructing a nation-state out of thin air, is ridiculously wrong.  But we live under a regime of virtual state monopoly in education, with zoning and bureaucracy to boot.  So universal scholarships represent a vast improvement.  That's what a PPP fibre network is - not a pure answer, but a vast improvement on the stalemate wrought by the government's own past actions.  We can whine about this policy, hope for an ACT/Libertarianz government to fix it and live in the equivalent of a cyber-stone-age in the meantime, or... we can suck it up and build the thing.  It's a nasty rat to swallow, but I think practicality may well demand we do it and support National's initiative, at least just this once.

ANZACs=Waffen SS? WTF?!

If Auckland was one of those quaint Suthun' towns, Psycho Milt would have been mobbed with torches and pitchforks and lynched from the nearest tree by now.

I'm not sure it's possible to be more offensive in this country.

I can't think why anyone would want to share a group blog with this idiot after this despicable comparison and moral equivocation.  Many of us had relatives who served their country and Psycho Milt just compared them to a bunch of barbaric, murdering pogromistas.  Well fuck you Milt.  You owe all of these great men a sincere apology.

The Truth Is Out There

Jason Beghe is someone you may not have heard of, but chances are you've seen him about playing minor characters in numerous television dramas and the odd movie.  His biggest role to date has probably been as Demi Moore's love interest in GI Jane.  His best friend is one David Duchovney, and he was best man at Duchovney's wedding to certified hottie Tea Leoni.

More interesting than this, however, is that for thirteen years, Jason Beghe was a top knotch Scientologist and was regarded by CoS head David Miscaviage as a "poster boy".  He reached OT Level Five in the church and did voiceovers and presentations on large swathes of CoS videos. But last year, something extraodinary happened:  Beghe decided to become the first "Scientology Celebrity" to leave.

Now he is singing like a canary about these kooky space opera freaks, and has done an interview at his California home which is must-see stuff.  If you ever had any doubts about Scientology being the craziest, most evil f*cked up belief system ever devised by man, this interview dispels all doubts.  It's also an interesting case study of how an otherwise rational person can get lured into any outlandish belief system, and then psychologically broken down, a phenomenon which occasionally occurs in mainstream religion as well, but seems to be the specific goal of the CoS's programmes.

The full interview can be seen here.  Below is a teaser:

Now if we could just get the marvelously talented Beck Hansen away from these people, the world would be greatly improved:

Free China! Counter-Protest This Sunday

This Sunday, CCP lackeys and supporters will be assembling in Aotea Square "in support of China".  But they are not supporting China, they are supporting a corrupt and fascist one party state where human rights are not respected, the press is not free, opposing views are clamped down on and dissenters are imprisoned.

It is because I support China; a China with free speech, freedom of the press, and freed political prisoners, that I will also be going to Aotea Square - to protest against these people and their support for dictatorship.  They are using, in our country, the very freedoms they would be denied in China.  They are hypocrites, and if they love their precious Hu Jintao and his cabal so much, they should go home and live under his jackboot, not steal magazines and suppress free speech here.

I doubt I will be the only counter-protester there, but do join me.  We must show them that New Zealanders are against them and the one party state they support.

Stopped Clocks Occasionally Tell the Correct Time

It's entirely possible that National's plan to roll out a $1.5B fibre network will be tax positive in the long term.  It's entirely possible it will generate the 3% GDP growth needed to justify it.  But Silent T just cuts through all the crap with this gem:

"It's back to the future...if this extravagant subsidy is ever rolled out all the good work the Government, industry and business have done in dismantling Telecom's monopoly position will be lost," he said.

"This puts all of National's eggs in Telecom's basket and means the incumbent has both them (National) and the market over a barrel in future access pricing negotiations."

Mr Cunliffe challenged Mr Key to a debate about how the plan would not create a new monopoly, waste money and reduce competition.

"National's plan risks not only a new round of regulatory failure but would also be a huge waste of taxpayers' money," he said.

Exactly.  And if an interventionist government like this one hasn't done it already, you can guarantee it won't be cost-effective.  Some excellent argument's on DPF's blog on the subject as well.

Then there's the other miracle of agreeing with Labour - Cullen refusing to entertain GST exemptions:

But a statement from Finance Minister Michael Cullen's office last night said the Government would not change the GST system, "as creating exemptions would add extra compliance costs for businesses which would be passed on to consumers".

A one-off change to GST would have had no effect against the "global forces" driving petrol prices.

"If the New Zealand Government had changed GST rules along these lines 12 months ago, no one would have even noticed as the benefits would have been wiped out almost immediately by the global rise in oil prices," the statement said.

When I hear Labour Ministers talking like this, I wonder where all that good common sense goes the rest of the time.  They should try thinking more often, it would do them, and us, a lot of good.

WWJKNC?

It's time for a now regular feature on this blog:  What Would John Key Not Change?

This week it's Superannuation - the single biggest drain on the government's entire budget.  And oh look! wouldn't you know it?  John's not going to change anything!

Not only that, but Key has promised to fall on his sword if it happens.  Gleat shame and ross of honour to famiry - he will commit hari kiri and pull out his intestines if circumstances force his hand!

But hey, it's okay, because he's a "good quality person".

The age must go up to 70, the amount must be fixed not calculated by formula, and payments must be asset tested for new beneficiaries.  Nobody can seriously look at future predictions of expenditure and think the current entitlements are sustainable.  Key is a fool if he is making this his die-in-a-ditch bottom line.

Only the most naive ACT Party members would now think that a deal with these clowns is on the cards.

Public Get No Say On Waterside Skyscraper

Good.  They shouldn't have any say whatsoever on what people do on their own private property.

If we could just get this to happen with every land development, we'll be making some progress toward making housing affordable for middle and low income people.

Is This Funny?

There are a few American bloggers out there questioning the good taste of the new movie Postal, so I thought this could inspire my second ever Blog Poll.  Here's a clip of the opening scene:

BTW, my last blog poll was a close-run thing.  54% of you thought it was more embarrassing to have cabinet ministers singing silly songs at their party conference, and 46% felt the shame belonged to John Key for deservedly inspiring such scorn.

They Did WHAT?!

This has got to be the dumbest move in British politics since the introduction of the Poll Tax.  You hike a lower tax rate to compensate for the reduction in a higher one?  And this from a Labour party, no less.

At first when I read the story I was wondering why so many Labour MPs were against dropping the bottom rate of tax (as is ACT policy), until I realised, to my horror, that the 10p rate wasn't being replaced by a rate of 0p, it was being replaced by 20p.  Which was just beyond my comprehension.

I can't think of any faster way for a government to commit suicide than to raise taxes on poor people to fund tax cuts for the rich.  Utter madness.  Who the hell are these people?

$20k a Bottle

"It is the highest price that has ever been achieved for a single lot," managing director Stephen Williams of the London-based Antique Wine Company told Reuters.

"I don't think he has bought this as an investment - he has bought it to drink," he added.

How can anybody justify paying $20k for a simple bottle of Pinot Noir?  Does a Romanee Conti really taste a literal 1000x better than a standard $20 bottle of Otago?  I think even if I was a billionaire I might baulk at such a price for one bottle.  It's just showing off, isn't it?

One of these days, on a very special occasion, I might splurge out on a $300 bottle of Penfolds Grange, but $20k... well it had really better taste amazing, hadn't it?  I don't suppose Graeme Hart or Eric Watson could shout me a bottle for review could they?  :oP

Free Lollies for Everyone!

Winston Peters hands out yet more baubles to the world's most privileged pensioners.

There's no word yet on whether the budget will provide for gold-plated toilet seats for our senior citizens, or paid servants to wipe their arses after use.  But I expect it's not far off.

On the other hand, that Young Professional Single White Male With No Dependents tax rebate does not seem to be forthcoming.  Which is understandable, as we seem to be the only net tax contributors left.

You Couldn't Make It Up

Imagine the last British MP on earth you would ever expect to have an eating disorder, and voila.

Weird.

Of course, our own anorexic politician, John Key, should beware.  He will need to bulk up substantially to retain the strong lead he has come election time.