Ralston this week
Oh I had forgotten how good a columnist Ralston is, with his having become a suit for so many years. First his take on the pan-Christian party:
What lunatic thought it was possible to unite a religion that’s been riven with rifts for 2000 years?
Let’s take a conservative Catholic like Copeland, lump him in with a charismatic Pentecostal pulpit-pounder like Tamaki, biff in the Sallies, the Anglicans, and some of the Pacific Island churches, and form one, single united Christian political vehicle.
Most of these believers have been burning each other at the stake for centuries and it would be like expecting Sunnis and Shiites to form a coalition.
And then on ACC:
Of course, nuttiness is not confined to the minor parties. It seems to have spread through the Government and into its departments. National MP Anne Tolley raised the case of meat company Affco owing ACC a million bucks because one of its off-duty freezing workers was having a smoke in the company car park and was promptly shot by a gang member.
Unbelievably, ACC regards this as a work-related injury and wants the freezing company to fork out the loot.
Where in the wounded man’s job description was the clause saying, “As directed, you will be required to wander off site and get blown away by a bunch of passing criminals”?
Believe it or not, the minister in charge, Ruth Dyson, staunchly defended the lunacy from ACC, and Affco has wearily resigned itself to going back into meditation knowing it would not get any sense out of Government.
Dyson should have told ACC to pull their head in, and/or change the regulation so that gang related shootings in car parks are clearly not work related injuries.
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:25 am
“and/or change the regulation”
What?!?
The market knows best, privatize accident insurance and give ACC some competition.
This should be a National Party policy spelt out before the election.
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:39 am
As stupid as this sounds ACC will do anything to get out of paying.
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:41 am
really..!
i read it earlier..with a view to linking..
and found it a rather superficial ‘egging’..
devoid of any insight/wit..or any other (possibly) redeeming features..
and mainly a parroting of the current national party/rightwing ‘messages’..
so..i guess you would like it..!..eh david..?
being as/so ‘on-message’ yourself..eh..?
btw..did you see the news about (five-year-long) research from auckland uni..to be published this week..?
showing/proving that only four servings of dairy a day..
increases your chances of a heart attack..or a stroke..by a staggering 40%..(!)
that’s cos’ dairy..yes..does ‘build bones’..
but what this research shows/proves..
is that eating dairy..
also ‘thickens your blood’..
(oo-err..!..eh..?)
forget the a1/a2 milk debate..!
both are ‘white-death’..!
and this of course explains whywe..as one of the heaviest consumers of dairy in the world..
also have worldbreaking rates of both strokes..and heart disease..
one of the great marketing-scams of the last hundred years is exposed by this news..
and hey..!..these white-death peddlers have just been given a five-year ‘pass’ to just continue pouring their cowshit/’runoff into our (already dying/dead)rivers/lakes/waterways..
eh..?
go figure..!..eh..?
http://whoar.co.nz/2007/todays-must-reademailtell-people-storyreason-number-53-not-to-eat-dairyfour-servings-of-dairy-a-dayincreases-the-chances-of-heart-attacksstrokesby-40/
and..um..!..go vegan..!..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:48 am
“and..um..!..go vegan..!..eh..?”
Die early or lose your mind? Tough choice.
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:49 am
“The market knows best, privatize accident insurance and give ACC some competition.”
Damn right!
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:52 am
Hell Yes!
Why should vegans pay higher premiums than non vegans as is case now?
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:56 am
oh..!..and when this news ‘gets out’..
it’ll be..bye-bye dairy industry..!..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:01 am
sould be a lot of cheap country land on the market soon..
that’ll go with the cheap houses..
the smaller/less-economic will be the first to fall..
then..?
talk bout an ‘upcoming buyers’ market’..eh..?..
and andrew w..with your (fatuous to the extreme) words..you prove that your mind..
has already gone..
‘in your own words’..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:06 am
Demand from Asia might stymie your end of dairy dreams there phil. Costs $2000 to buy a cow. Used to be $650 about 10 years ago.
Singapore end of the 1980s all the chicks were slim couple of years ago about 1/4 were um a little lumpy. Not sure about the guys.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:22 am
simon..that demand from asia/new markets will die..
once news of this/the health risks from consuming dairy gets out and about..
if i were a ‘financial-maven’..i’d ‘go short’ on dairy-futures’..
eh..?
and y’know the ultimate ‘blackirony’/vegans-revenge component is..
that this study was set up to prove that calcium not ony built bones..
but was ‘good for you’..in so so many other ways..
just the opposite has been proven..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:24 am
If the dairy industry collapses Phil, you might just find your dole/ dope money disappears with it… better be careful what you wish for..
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:26 am
and of course..simon refers to the ‘weight-issue’ from consuming dairy-fats..
and hey..!..there aren’t that many obese vegans..eh..?
(and it must be just about time to open ‘phils’ vegan cafe’..eh..?
i predict a’growing market’..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:31 am
sigh!..redbaiter..
everything must be bought back to the fact i have raised my son..on a domestic purposes benefit..eh..?
and..um..i think you are still at the ‘denial’ stage..
get back to me when you are halfway between ‘acceptance’..
and ‘seeking solutions’/alternatives..eh..?
and you are right..
nothing is ‘secure’..
in fact..more than perhaps any other time in the (short) history of our habitation of this planet..
everything is very ‘insecure’..
and we all face major upheavels..both economic and environmental..
in the upcoming decade..or so..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
September 23rd, 2007 at 11:56 am
“everything must be bought back to the fact i have raised my son..on a domestic purposes benefit..eh..?’
..and what was he forced to sacrifice so you could afford your weed? Come off it, only the most contemptible no hopers use their off spring as an excuse for failure…
September 23rd, 2007 at 1:57 pm
“major upheavels..both economic and environmental”. The world is safer, cleaner and more stable that it has ever been. I doubt that is about to change in the near future.
“continue pouring their cowshit/runoff into our dying rivers” A large contributor to farming pollution, particularly around Taupo, is the tribal ownership structures. It is almost impossible to sell, subdivide or otherwise improve communally owned land, so the only option is to intensively farm it to maximise profit – even though it may not be great farmland. Fixing that would go a long way more to improving our water quality than pontificating about the ruin of the dairy industry.
September 23rd, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Hey DPF – check your facts first. AFFCO signed a contract, knowing the legislation under which they had contracted. Are you really suggesting that ACC should bail AFFCO out now that it doesn’t like the results of the contract?
ACC didn’t even make the cover decision. AFFCO’s privately contracted insurer did.
Oh and i’m sure all of you have thought of the consequences of changing the LEGISLATION… and that you know that this change would shift the burden of a significant number of accidents to people who pay PAYE. Are you advocating higher personal taxes so businesses can pay less?
September 23rd, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Redbaiter
Haven’t you figured it out – phil grows his own!
September 23rd, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Back to Ralston, I’m getting nostalgic for the old Ralston Group talk show. Much more fun, and better presented, than Eye to Eye.
September 23rd, 2007 at 5:21 pm
so that scientific research/findings dosen’t resonate in that space between your ears..?
oh well..!
carry on..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
September 23rd, 2007 at 5:32 pm
“Are you advocating higher personal taxes so businesses can pay less?”
Typical socialist economic illiterate. Businesses only collect the money from their customers and pass it on to gummint. The view that taxing business means the man in the street pays less is so childishly stupid only a leftist could suggest it.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Weizguy: Hey DPF – check your facts first. AFFCO signed a contract, knowing the legislation under which they had contracted.
What is this about a contract?
September 24th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Phil, if you are right (and it *would* be the first time), why are you taking such delight in our impending starvation? Why is that a cause for so much excitement?
September 24th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Pascal – the Accredited Employer programme (to which AFFCO signed up) requires the employer to sign a contract to take a certain portion of liability in exchange for lower levies. It’s individual risk rating by choice.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:40 am
ACC will throw enormous amounts of our cash away to avoid paying out on legit claims,this has been proved time and time again, the time has come to change the ACC system and get rid of Dyson along with it.