General Debate 31 March 2012

March 31st, 2012 at 8:00 am by Kokila Patel
Tags:

112 Responses to “General Debate 31 March 2012”

  1. Thrash Cardiom (272) Says:

    Morning All

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  2. Keeping Stock (8,801) Says:

    Earth Hour has rolled around again, and the woman on the telly this morning said that it isn’t about saving power at all; it’s a campaign. So if you’re a Twitter user, use the hash-tag #earthhour tonight, and tell the world what appliances you’ve turned ON at 8.30pm!!

    http://keepingstock.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/earth-hour-smog.html

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  3. philu (13,393) Says:

    http://whoar.co.nz/2012/the-happiest-countries-are-in-northern-europe/

    “…Is it possible to measure the happiness of the world’s population?

    Remarkably it is – and the first World Happiness Report published today does just that.

    Even more remarkable is next Monday’s United Nations conference on Happiness – for which the Report was prepared.

    Last July the UN General Assembly invited all member governments to give more importance to happiness as a goal of public policy -

    - and mandated this conference as part of the process.

    This means that there is now high world-level support for the demand that governments pay more attention to the happiness of their peoples when they form their policies.

    This is not, we emphasize, a matter of following the whims, fads, and consumer urges of the population.

    These do not, according to the evidence, lead to happiness.

    It is, rather, a matter of helping societies to find a path to what really matters more deeply and lastingly for well-being…”

    (cont..)

    phillip ure@whoar.co.nz

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  4. krazykiwi (9,188) Says:

    KS – just commented over at yours. The only thing Earth Hour measures is the gullibility of the masses. Even if that comes up short, Fairfax Media (the brains behind Earth Hour) can simply report whatever they think will drive readership.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  5. Scott Chris (4,872) Says:

    Earth Hour has rolled around again, and the woman on the telly this morning said that it isn’t about saving power at all; it’s a campaign.

    Yes, it’s a campaign to encourage people not to waste power. ~How insidious~

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  6. Leaping Jimmy (13,564) Says:

    Does anyone believe this complete, utter and absolute bollocks? Anyone at all, in the entire country? Do even the ten-year old primary aged kids and the MSM journos believe it? Anyone?

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10795712

    Mr Allen has suggested changes at the ministry that would save $25 million a year, as demanded by the Government, but they have gone down badly with staff.

    Really? Crikey. Who woulda thunk?

    The Foreign Minister says he can see a situation in which the Government sets its strategic priorities annually with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, indicates how much money it wants to spend in which part of the world, and leaves it to the ministry and ambassadors to decide how it is spent.

    Asked yesterday if that could amount to bulk-funding embassies, Mr McCully said: “I’m quite comfortable about moving down that path.

    He said that was something for Mr Allen to think about.

    So the original plan McCully agreed to didn’t work and McCully pretends not to have been involved and then writes Allen a letter outlining an angle which must have been considered during the planning phase and pretends its a new idea that comes from him.

    More than 30 ambassadors are expected at the two-day meeting to discuss changes. Mr McCully rejected a notion that he would have to repair damaged relationships at the meeting.

    “Many of the concerns that have been expressed by diplomatic staff are addressed by the letter that I wrote to Mr Allen and people are therefore relieved that those proposals are not going to be pursued.”

    Asked if he would have conducted the change process any differently, Mr McCully said: “It’s not for me to answer that question. It’s entirely a matter for the chief executive as to how he carries out that process.”

    Labour’s claim he had been “donkey-deep” in the change process was wrong. The State Sector Act placed limits on what he could do.

    I don’t know about anyone else but I have seldom seen a more outrageous play to place blame for something unpopular onto the CEO and distance himself from any fallout. I mean it’s so bad it’s exactly what I would have expected from Hulun or Hodgson or Wilson or Cullen, it’s that bad. And those people have no ethics whatsoever, that’s always been quite obvious. But conservatives aren’t supposed to be like those people and when a conservative is like that the conservatives normally call him out and ditch him rather than sycophantically applauding the way the left do when someone like one of those aforementioned lefties does something like what McCully has done here. Conservatives are supposed to be better than this but no, not this time.

    It frankly makes me sick, it’s so bad. I’m ashamed to be a conservative during this time, watching the rest of the conservatives stand around and do nothing to call him on this while McCully does nothing but crap on someone who was only ever operating according to instructions from that said someone. It’s the worst display of ethics I have seen to date in this administration and for Key to tolerate this sort of crap from one of his senior Ministers shows his ethics are in fact very very questionable, as well.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  7. mikenmild (6,603) Says:

    Imagine if people actually started saving more power – the horror!

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  8. krazykiwi (9,188) Says:

    SC – Does the font page of http://www.earthhour.org encourage me to
    (a) Save power, or
    (b) Save the Planet?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  9. cows4me (248) Says:

    Bit of an oxymoron there Phil, Marxists discussing happiness.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  10. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    cows4me – what’s wrong with equality of happiness?

    It’s easy to get down in the dumps worrying if some people aren’t as happy as others.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  11. mikenmild (6,603) Says:

    LJ
    I really don’t know why you would expect for from a McCully, say, than a Clark or Cullen. I should have thought that whatever the political stripe of those in charge, the subordinate public servants are always available to take the fall.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  12. tom hunter (3,852) Says:

    Interesting piece here on Obamacare and what it means for other left-wing ideas in the US – and probably around the world:

    But the health care law’s troubles shed some further light on the crisis of American progressivism and the blue social model it has built. Those who believe in the blue model and want to extend it have lost their touch; the dream machines of the blue social engineers don’t sail serenely across the azure sky anymore. Think of the various carbon exchanges and environmental planetary schemes; think of high speed rail proposals like California’s $100 billion train to bankruptcy; think of Obamacare.

    These days the experts, “social entrepreneurs” and smart young blue twenty somethings fresh out of the Ivy League whomp up social programs with as much verve and dedication as their New Deal and Great Society predecessors, but the new Dreamliners don’t take off. At most they roll around the runway, emitting clouds of noxious smoke; wings fall off, windows pop out, turbines misfire and the tires go flat.

    Mead points out the problems, focusing on the complexity, the involvement of all the interest groups, and the fact that technology is roiling the healthcare marketplace. On just the first issue he points out that:

    You can’t regulate something this complicated effectively by a government bureaucracy any more than you can regulate a rain forest by decree: telling the thousands of species of butterflies when to mate, the army ants where to march, the sloths which trees to prune, the jaguars what to kill and when, repressing the anacondas just a touch while encouraging the otters.

    In case anybody should think this guy is a raving libertarian (and therefore not worth reading), he also says this:

    In the real world it is impossible to avoid a significant government presence in the health care sector; from veterans’ care to pediatric care to the care of the poor, there are too many reasons why government at some level must ensure care to build a purely private health system.

    But our approach to health care must be to create possibilities and incentives for innovation and change, rather than to keep the current system alive by pumping ever growing volumes of money into it.

    Read the whole thing, and ask what this might mean for NZ.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  13. krazykiwi (9,188) Says:

    Energy should be celebrated. It has allowed us to produce food, create warmth and shelter, to improve sanitation and water supply, to discover medicines and advances in healthcare. Energy has helped us to trade, travel, communicate and share.

    In the millions of years to-date, no living generation of humans has benefited so much from energy. In short, energy is what has liberated us from the stone age.

    Earth Hour asks us to use less energy. Instead we should be demanding to create more, and to use more.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  14. Leaping Jimmy (13,564) Says:

    mm I’ve never had time for McCully. I’ve watched him his entire career and he has no ethics at all. I’m not surprised over this. I just don’t think its acceptable, and I think Key’s moral vacuum is beginning to show behind the smiling and waving. I’ve also thought of something else on this…

    Further to my 9:14 I wouldn’t be surprised if its even worse than this. I wouldn’t be surprised if McCully handpicked Allen before the Nats were elected or just after and lured him away from his CEO role at NZ Post.

    You can say what you like about political interference and the independence of the SSC in the employment process etc but Hulun proved didn’t she by her immediate replacement of Doone with Broad that in the real world these things happen even when its a constitutionally critical role like who is in charge of the nation’s police during the reign of a politician. So it does happen, doesn’t it.

    Allen took a significant drop in salary too, IIRC, from $1m+ to something like $650k which is circumstantial evidence there were other reasons to take the job – it wasn’t a promotion, in other words. Compared to NZ Post, MFAT is a minnow, in terms of organisational size.

    So if this is right and yes its speculation of course it is: has anyone got hold of the source documents behind the Doone-Broad transition? No, of course not. Does that mean everything was above board there? Well you’d have to be incredibly naive or ignorant to argue that. So it could have happened here too, is all I’m saying.

    Which makes the ethical desert even starker. Here we potentially have someone who hand-picked someone, offering who knows what incentives, then gives them riding instructions with a ridiculous margin, Allen does his bidding then when the inevitable shitstorm arises, McCully pretends it’s all Allen’s fault and it was all his idea.

    Disregarding the career-destruction which Allen has now endured for what are his prospects now as a senior CEO, either in the public or the private sector, here or overseas?

    Meanwhile McCully, the utter scumbag, the man who caused the whole thing, just keeps issuing press release after press release making it even worse for Allen and obviously, what he thinks, better for him.

    The only good thing is McCully this is so obvious you can’t expect anyone to believe you, at all. The only way you’ll ever be -re-elected is as a scum list MP because everyone else in the entire country knows what you’re doing, you can’t hide it. Even though you’ll have a comfortable retirement thanks to your pension scheme, I hope that every night you’ll be kept awake thinking of all the people you screwed and destroyed in your long and execrable career. I’m sure you won’t since such requires a conscience which is something you, Hulun, Hodgson et al all lack. But the thing is McCully, you can’t treat people like you do without consequence and this will come back to you at the appropriate moment, just as it will to those others as well. Good luck with that. Sleep well.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  15. philu (13,393) Says:

    cows 4 me..

    ..there is no reason the revolution cannot be an event of joy..music…

    ..and general all-round happiness..

    ..’cos after all..that is the goal of that revolution (at the ballot box)..

    ..’general all-round happiness’…

    ..not a gloating rich..a nervous middle class..

    ..(divided against the poor..)

    ..and a heaving poverty/under-class…

    ..which is about where we are now..

    ..eh..?

    ..phillip ure@whoar.co.nz

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  16. philu (13,393) Says:

    btw..cows 4 me..i don’t know enough about marx to be able to call myself a marxist..

    ..i prefer equalist…

    ..get that sorted..

    ..that equal access to services/opportunities ..for all..

    ..not just some..

    ..and everything else will fall into place..

    phillip ure@whoar.co.nz

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  17. Keeping Stock (8,801) Says:

    @ krazykiwi (9.45am) – Hallelujah; preach it Brother!

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  18. Other_Andy (2,074) Says:

    @Keeping Stock & KK

    So you will be celebrating “Human Achievement Hour 2012″?

    Human Achievement Hour (HAH) is a celebration of individual freedom and appreciation of the achievements and innovations that people have used to improve their lives throughout history. To celebrate Human Achievement Hour, participants need only to spend the hour from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm on March 31 enjoying the benefits of capitalism and human innovation: Gather with friends in the warmth of a heated home, watch television, take a hot shower, drink a beer, call a loved one on the phone, or listen to music

    http://cei.org/hah

    Sounds good to me.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  19. Paulus (1,677) Says:

    Don’t worry the feral media have got on to McCully on this one – he is next on their list.
    Good leakes from MFAT also.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  20. cows4me (248) Says:

    You miss the point Phil, the UN “demands” the revolution. Since when has happiness ever blossomed from a demand?.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  21. krazykiwi (9,188) Says:

    ..that equal access to services/opportunities ..for all..

    That’s a bit rich, coming from someone who gives other welfare parasites a bad name.

    Other_Andy – Sounds good to me to. I’m planning to switch on as many lights as I can, and drive my V8 up and down the street in 1st gear. Yay for energy!

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  22. Scott Chris (4,872) Says:

    SC – Does the font page of http://www.earthhour.org encourage me to
    (a) Save power, or
    (b) Save the Planet?

    All of the above. But the point is, what’s so bad about conserving resources? You save money and in the process place less pressure on the environment.

    Another example: We humans waste between 20 to 40% of our food. If we were a little less wasteful, we’d require less land and energy to grow the food and thereby protect the ever-dwindling natural habitat.

    Not to get into the spirit of such an idea is simply cutting off your nose to spite your face. So what if you don’t believe in AGW? Do it just to save money. Is saving money bad? Sheesh!

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  23. krazykiwi (9,188) Says:

    SC – Earth Hour is coaxing us to ‘save the planet’ by using less energy. That is a fundermentally flawed proposition, and I’ll take no part in yet another eco-scam. The unthinking will, while those who are interested in being less wasteful are already do this.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  24. philu (13,393) Says:

    cows 4 me said:..”..You miss the point Phil, the UN “demands” the revolution…”

    um..!..where are you getting that from…?

    ..for any revolution to have lasting success..it must have the will of the people behind it…

    ..and all the people able to see how it is working out well for them…

    ..anything else is a dystopian dictatorship..

    ..which is where this path we have been on for the last thirty years is leading us..

    ..(and if you would like to see the end-result/ultimate destination of that wrong path..

    ..you should go book a holiday in port moresby..

    ..and then imagine auckland/new zealand as that…

    ..and also note how we are closer to there than many may think..

    “Since when has happiness ever blossomed from a demand?…”

    well…a demand the elites/1%/banksters et al pay their fair share to enable both ‘road-repair’..and taking us into the future..

    ..has to be a ‘demand’ that is made..

    ..’cos without that..it won’t happen..

    ..and we will still be on that road to perdition/port moresby..

    phillip ure@whoar.co.nz

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  25. philu (13,393) Says:

    and..cows 4 me..

    ..this details one of the main obstacles to that ‘revolution’..

    http://whoar.co.nz/2012/diagnosing-the-republican-brain/

    “…Fact: Conservatives deny science and facts.

    But there’s a reality check that liberals need too.

    We all know that many American conservatives have issues with Charles Darwin – and the theory of evolution.

    But Albert Einstein – and the theory of relativity?

    If you’re surprised – allow me to introduce Conservapedia-

    - the right-wing answer to Wikipedia -

    - and ground zero for all that is scientifically and factually inaccurate – for political reasons -

    - on the Internet…”

    (cont..)

    phillip ure@whoar.co.nz

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  26. Yvette (2,412) Says:

    krazykiwi – In the millions of years to-date, no living generation of humans has benefited so much from energy. In short, energy is what has liberated us from the stone age.

    So now sell 49% of this strategic asset into God-knows whose hands

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  27. Pauleastbay (3,726) Says:

    I would apprecate opinions please folks.

    On Thursday my 15 yr old son comes home from school with a bit of a bruise around an eye.

    What happened.

    He said: I flicked a bit of paper at a another kid in class with a rubber band and he smacked me for it.
    I said ” good job, don’t be annoying,” even if this other boys reaction may have been a bit excesive.

    That night I get a call from the school asking me if there was any reason why my son should not be stood down for the incident. My initial reaction was what else did he do becuase the only thing he told me about was flicking a bit of paper.

    I had several, including that the whole thing was bugger all in the scheme of things.

    I was told that a entry had been made on his school record reading ” Instigate violence against another student by constructing a sling shot and using it against a fellow student”.

    Anyway they stood my boy and the other boy down for a day – correct- a day off school for flicking one piece of paper with a rubber band.

    What I would like your opinions on is whether you think the school was reasonable or whether I am right in thinking the incident was fuck all and my kid should have been made to apologise to the class for the disruption and everyone move on.

    Thanks

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  28. Chuck Bird (3,436) Says:

    I see Shaun Robinson, Executive Director of the AIDS Foundation has declined to answer my challenge regarding the effectiveness of condoms in prevent the spread of HIV amongst promiscuous homosexuals in particular.
    Shaun Robinson: The key to prevent HIV spread

    Shaun Robinson: The key to prevent HIV spread

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10794515

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  29. kowtow (4,402) Says:

    Some chick on TVNZ1 the other day was proudly exclaiming that NZ would be leading the world with Earth Day.(Tax payer subsidised Ludditism)

    Well I’ll be lighting up big time tonight for that hour.

    In the meantime Europe is pushhing for a return to the medieval era. The Germans are shutting down nuclear,and now Britains energy future is in doubt, hahahaha. Invest in candle factories!

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/9173233/E.ON-and-RWE-scrap-UK-nuclear-power-plans.html

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  30. wat dabney (2,698) Says:

    it’s a campaign to encourage people not to waste power. ~How insidious

    Because bill payers are all extremely stupid, presumably.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  31. krazykiwi (9,188) Says:

    Pauleastbay – ott response from the school. Was the other kid stood down for punching your son?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  32. Sofia (552) Says:

    Pauleastbay – Ask that the school record, that ”Instigate violence against another student by constructing a sling shot and using it against a fellow student”, include the explanation “by flicking one piece of paper with a rubber band at the other student, who then assaulted your son giving him a bruised eye.”
    If they do not respond, ask through the Ministry of Education under the provisions of the Official Information Act, why not.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  33. adze (1,443) Says:

    Phil, do you support equal provision of service from all as well as equal access?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  34. kowtow (4,402) Says:

    PEB

    Context is important.
    Flicking a piece of paper with rubber band has the potential to be be dangerous. Think if someone got hit in the eye at close range.
    Also that type of behaviour is disruptive to the whole class.
    The boy who was targetted by your son, is he being picked on,is there a pattern of this behaviour etc. Did the other lad strike your son in class while teaching was going on, if so it sounds like that class is out of control and the school has some explaining to do.

    On the face of it , it does sound ott. Once upon a time . out to the Dean, whack whack and end of story. Now there’s all this record of violence ,standing down, it’s all bollox. Boys will be boys and teachers should be in control of their class rooms. Oh dear.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  35. Pauleastbay (3,726) Says:

    kowtow
    ane others thanks

    There is nothing more to this than what I said, my son being a dork as 15 yr olds are prone and the other kid get up and whacks him n class. Excessive but the other kid is not my problem. Unfortunately retaliation these days goes straight to over the top.

    I accepted to the school that my boy was being disruptive and deserved punishment, no probems there , what I strongly disagreed with was the standing down, I wondered how a day off school was any sort of punishment.

    I have since found out that there has to be a record of stand downs kept for the ministry. I believe it was written up to sound as bad as possible because if you put on the record a boy was suspended for flicking a piece of paper it would show the school up be totally unimaginative and out of touch.

    And lets face it, my kid hasn’t invented using a rubber band for this purpose, I believe it was first done about the time Adam was a boy.

    I shudder to think what the phone call call would have been like if things escalated to hollow plastic pencils, blotting paper and needles, not that that went on at St Patricks Timaru in the early ’70′s at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  36. David Garrett (3,777) Says:

    PaulEast: On the face of it, a ridiculous over-reaction by the school…but as you know, it always helps to have the full picture. and both sides of the story (Oh sorry, no, you were a cop they are only…interested in one!)

    And that comment about “the olden days” (as my kids say) and a whack from the Dean…absolutely right… Regarding 15 year old boys as “adults” who are susceptible to sweet reason is the root of the problem…

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  37. Pauleastbay (3,726) Says:

    DG

    No thats the whole story, seriously, I was waiting for more from the school, because I thought they were taking the piss when I first was rung.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  38. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    Paulestbay – I think your son deserves some sort of reprimand, so what happened sounds reasonable-ish. But the boy who punched him should have greater consequences, responding to something like that with violence is way over the top. He either needs to learn to manage anger or he needs to not resort to violence just becasue he feels like it. His sort of behaviour is what often becomes dangerous is social or family situations.

    A single punch for any reason can result in serious injury like brain damage, or death. No excuse for that sort of violence. It needs to be dealt with.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  39. Morgy (113) Says:

    PEB, the reaction in my view was OTT based on what you have said. Too often we are trying to get to the ‘heart of the problem’ but this was simple; boy being a dick, dick gets a smack, end of story….it doesn’t get any deeper than that! I have had similar extraordinarily minor issues with my 17 year old boy in the past at his school. SPARE ME! You have to ask yourselves……how did we survive when we were young?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  40. kowtow (4,402) Says:

    Can you believe this is happening in modern Britain? Well it’s yet another reason to celebrate and embrace multiculturalism, diversity and the undoubted benefits and richness that mass immigration brings to white boring monocultural societies.

    If Britain then can it be happening here?

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2122736/Forced-marriage-British-girl-5-UKs-youngest-victim.html

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  41. Luc Hansen (4,573) Says:

    I’m staying in Clyde at the moment. First time this far down. Stunning stuff. I really enjoyed looking at the dam – I remember all the fuss when it was built, so it was nice to see it looking part of the scenery now.

    Now going to Alexandra for a wedding. By all means give me a shout out if you see the wedding group. I’m the mouthy one. :-)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  42. Don the Kiwi (956) Says:

    Luc.

    I’m the mouthy one.”

    Tell us something we don’t know ;-)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  43. Put it away (2,887) Says:

    kowtow – well, if the prophet can marry a six year old, five’s not too much of a stretch.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  44. tom hunter (3,852) Says:

    I think the organisers of Earth Hour have not fully calculated the potential carbon footprint of their idea. After all, if the lights, TV and other electronic entertainment are all switched off people will turn to … other activities, the results of which may not be good for the planet, as Kavita Ramdas, executive director of the “Program on Social Entrepreneurship” at Stanford University, explained:

    [Ramdas] argues that fewer births will save the planet. As she told the Daily Caller, “empowering women to time their pregnancies” and avoid unwanted births would reduce carbon emissions between 8 to 15 percent globally.

    So turn up the music, the video and the lights, pour the booze, and start dancing. If you own a mid-60′s Cadillac with the V8 350 cubic inch plant and the bench seats, maybe even take a drive with the future Heidi Klum you met at the party. After all, if what’s going to happen anyway is bad for the planet you may as well do it amidst other hedonistic splendours, rather than grunting in an unheated cave.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  45. Put it away (2,887) Says:

    Making hippies cry during “Earth Hour” is a noble ambition, but burning extra energy for no reason is a waste of money. But… I have a week’s worth of washing to go through the drier, 8:30 seems as good a time as any. Might have dinner a little later, maybe a nice roast. Gotta have a nice big hot bath at some stage… how about starting at 8:30 so the cylinder’s really cranking. It’s getting nippy these days, so the heater will be on. By rough calculation, I’ll be using about 5000 watts during the hour. If the average watermelon household turns off, say, five light bulbs ( energy bulbs, no doubt…) , they’re saving about 100 watts, that means that I can crush the dreams of about 50 hippie households at zero extra cost to myself. Now that’s what I call energy efficiency !

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  46. Keeping Stock (8,801) Says:

    @ Other Andy; thanks for the link to Human Achievement Hour. I will most certainly and aggresively be celebrating technology, innovation and personal freedom at 8.30pm tonight. Anyone who feels likewise can join the Facebook community here: https://www.facebook.com/events/299615773436587/

    At last; a positive, guilt-free alternative to Earth Hour :-)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  47. mikenmild (6,603) Says:

    I think the ‘opponents’ (not really the right word I know) of Earth Hour have something. Although it’s a bit ridiculous to use more nergy than you need out of spite, the nub of the issue is cost. Price controls are the best way to rationalise use of anyhting. Is our energy too cheap at present to encourage efficiency? We hear about the savings from better efficiency, but how many people are actually doing much to save on energy consumption?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  48. kowtow (4,402) Says:

    Another way to celebrate Earth Hour is to open a bottle of a good beer . Carbon dioxide is what produces that beautiful head on your favourite tipple. So drink the planet into oblivion and enjoy yourself at the same time. Cheers.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  49. bereal (2,581) Says:

    Pauleastbay
    Ok you asked for opinions
    .
    Seems like your sprog picked on the wrong kid. ( unless he flicked him in a loving inclusive manner and was missunderstood)
    Are you so unsure of everything that you need guidence on a matter such as this ?
    Your first reaction was fair enough.
    The school is unable to apply common sense due to the PC world and they have to cover their arse.

    This matter is unlikely to be enterred on your kids record at the Wanganui computer so,
    forgeddaboutit.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  50. bereal (2,581) Says:

    Bye the way,

    David Garrett,

    i am glad you have given up the piss.
    i haven’t.
    so, when i call you a weak sook and its after , say, 9.30 or so on a Friday night.
    i trust that i can be cut some slack.
    You would understand that nobody is perfect.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  51. MT_Tinman (2,227) Says:

    Rewarding a kid with a day off school for firing paper?

    Damn! Never thought of that dodge.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  52. Viking2 (9,463) Says:

    Luc Hansen (3,404) Says:
    March 31st, 2012 at 1:59 pm

    I’m staying in Clyde at the moment. First time this far down. Stunning stuff. I really enjoyed looking at the dam – I remember all the fuss when it was built, so it was nice to see it looking part of the scenery now.

    Now going to Alexandra for a wedding. By all means give me a shout out if you see the wedding group. I’m the mouthy one. :-)

    ah, luc, so good things come fromindustry. Not really your mantra. Quite a learning trip for you. There are lots more places like that. Not everything that man doees is bad.

    Pleased you can see the light.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  53. Viking2 (9,463) Says:

    PEB. Fun isn’t it. but you know what. Schools and teachers and justice are an oxymoron.
    At the end of time it will matter not. hope you took the boy fishing. More character building than listening to some useless educator dispensing rubbish justice.

    Boys will be boys. The best way to sort out a a bully is to return the favour. Obviously your boy was bullying and the favour was returned. Will he do it again. Most likely not. Lesson learned. Good day.

    Oh I doubt he will be harmed for life for I’m sure he has more gumption that that.

    Next fine day take both of them fishing.

    Lesson. Never interfere in kids fights. All it does is get up your own nose. The kids will sort it out.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  54. DJP6-25 (1,100) Says:

    Keeping Stock 8:46 am. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll turn everything on for an hour.

    cheers

    David Prosser

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  55. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    I was thinking of taking a bottle of Scotch, a bottle of Port and five doz of beer on tomorrows hunting trip Beryl.

    Do you think that’s enough or should I wait for DG’s opinion?

    ps: What cal should I use after seeing the pink elephants on the top of the tent? :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  56. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    Sorry all.

    I’ve been a bit busy.

    Has anyone congratulated Lord Birkenhead on his masterful defence of the virtually indefensible Trevor Snowden? :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  57. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    I speak, of course, as an old boy of Scots College! :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  58. Pauleastbay (3,726) Says:

    Everybody who played rugby or drank a beer in Wellington at this tiem knew Trev queer

    v2
    Lesson. Never interfere in kids fights. All it does is get up your own nose. The kids will sort it out.

    Totally agree thats why I was astounded the school deprived the two of a days learning over minor shit like this,like I said my kid was being a dork ( don’t know if that could be construed as bullying but..) and he was corrected by the other kid
    presumably there are kids getting expelled for fuck all because schools find it easier than having to think.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  59. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    Away, away, with billy and pack.
    Rollicking up the mountain track.
    We’ll all get lost and never come back.
    In the Tararua ranges!

    (Not of course if our chopper pilot has our GPS coordinates! :) )

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  60. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    Were you a Scots fellow back in the late sixties then PEB?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  61. Pauleastbay (3,726) Says:

    JB
    Na

    Working for the Post Office in the late seventies playing rugby for Athletic, us young guys were warned about Trev by older guys in the rugby scene, he was always fond of young men

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  62. bereal (2,581) Says:

    depends on what you are hunting Johnboy.

    But i have found that my bolt action 1917 Lee Enfield 303
    has always stood me in good stead.

    Not long now before it is an antique.

    i do have a Ruger mini 14, 223 and a Ruger 10/14,22 but…
    Push comes to shove.
    i go with the mini 14

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  63. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    Funny how everybody knew he was a pedo PEB but he went on so long.

    He was a housemaster at Scots in the late sixties and taught PE.

    I was a day boy, so probably escaped his attentions, thank G_d! :)

    I can still remember how he could never quite look you in the eye.

    Those photo’s in the DomPost brought it all all back.

    Thank G_d we have fellows like Lord FESter, who have no moral standards whatsoever, other than the almighty dollar, otherwise we would just have to shoot pricks like Trev! :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  64. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    I got rid of the lot of those inferior weapons Beryl and bought a 7mm Rem Mag thirty years ago.

    Kills anything that walks the face of NZ if you sight it in at 3 inches high at 100metres! :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  65. bereal (2,581) Says:

    Pauleastbay
    youse young jokers …………..and Trev…………….and…
    spit it out now mate.
    Did he get to you ? Who did ?

    Now is the time to spill it all out.
    And where does our mate F E Smitxxxx fit into the sick story ?
    You know you will feel better when you cough it up.
    After all these years.
    Get it off your chest.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  66. bereal (2,581) Says:

    mini 14, 223, straight and true @ 100 meteres.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  67. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    Your Cal’s wound serious targets Beryl!

    Overkill does it for me!

    I’m waiting for a shoulder launched 1kt deer killer that finds, kills, minces, nukes and fries them too!

    If the Boffins can incorporate a device that carries the corpse out as well, I am prepared to invest serious money! :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  68. bereal (2,581) Says:

    OK
    maybe i was influenced by what i thought was what i had was a primo weapon.
    but now i look it up, maybe there are better options available.
    http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-241852.html

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  69. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    Fuck off Beryl. There is no way a serious hunter can launch a 1kt deer killer round from a .223!

    Hell. We have trouble squeezing them into our 7mm weapon of choice! :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  70. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    FESter’s not really a pervert Beryl.

    He only does it for the money.

    A cheap whore, as long as you and I are paying, would be the best way I could think of describing him. :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  71. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    What did you do for the Post Office in the late seventies PEB?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  72. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    I’ve always been fascinated by that era, of course PEB, after reading Prebbles book of what he did in the early eighties! :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  73. Viking2 (9,463) Says:

    Johnboy (7,140) Says:
    March 31st, 2012 at 5:42 pm

    Away, away, with billy and pack.
    Rollicking up the mountain track.
    We’ll all get lost and never come back.
    In the Tararua ranges!

    (Not of course if our chopper pilot has our GPS coordinates! :) )

    So, got into townie habits then johnboy. Helicopter, what a sook.:o

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  74. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    Got sick of carrying the piss V2! :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  75. joana (1,781) Says:

    Pauleastbay
    It sounds like the sort of thing that has been happening in the UK for along time..It is a really serious thing to have written against your son’s name. I would be wanting that removed or changed and I would also talk to A lawyer. There are some reaL psychos in the ed system..Remember their criminal records are expunged after 7 years by the Teachers Council….This could follow your son for years.
    On my son’s first day at a high school , he got accused of breaking into someone’s locker..it turned out to be another boy with problems who had done it..but the headmaster said very scandalous things about my son whom he did not know from Adam..I had a stand up row with him..He later sent me a letter of apology but all he was really sorry for was the fact that the argey took place in the corridor and half the school heard it.
    Stand up for your son….just the mention of lawyers should get some action.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  76. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    ….just the mention of lawyers should get some action.

    Quite right joana.

    Just the very mention of Lord Birkenhead gives me the shits! :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  77. Pauleastbay (3,726) Says:

    JB

    clerk in the Engineer in Chiefs Office a job that was invented for me because I didn’t want to work in Timaru so they got me a gig in Wellington.
    Glide time – in at 9 out at 3 no one cared, Waterloo Hotel next door.

    All the money our office made was transferred onto the railways books by the governemnt to make them look better

    Great days , -seriously Douglas had to do what he did, it was farcical the way Govt departments were run

    Thank Christ I got accepted for the police and got out

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  78. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    Some cunts are just lucky PEB.

    I just got made the bloody manager!

    Working will be new experience for me, since I self-retired on full pay in 1991! :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  79. Viking2 (9,463) Says:

    That’s your problem johnboy. Most of us don’t have an issue.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  80. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    Still after I kill that 14 pointer and win the $25M who gives a shit?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  81. Viking2 (9,463) Says:

    Classic Oz Talk-back Radio…

    6PR Radio Perth WA

    Announcer. What category question would you like?

    Caller. Sport please.

    Announcer. What’s the name of the race that stops a nation?

    Caller. Aboriginal.

    SILENCE

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  82. nasska (6,367) Says:

    Two Irishmen were adrift in a life boat following a
    dramatic escape from a burning freighter. While rummaging
    through the boat’s provisions, one of the men stumbled
    across an old lamp. Secretly hoping that a genie would
    appear, he rubbed the lamp vigorously. To the amazement
    of the castaways, a genie came forth. This particular
    genie, however, stated that he could only deliver one
    wish, not the standard three.

    Without giving much thought to the matter the man blurted
    out, “Make the entire ocean into beer!” The genie clapped
    his hands with a deafening crash, and immediately the
    entire sea turned into the finest brew ever sampled by
    mortals.

    Simultaneously, the genie vanished. Only the gentle lapping
    of beer on the hull broke the stillness as the men considered
    their circumstances.

    One man looked disgustedly at the other whose wish had been
    granted. After a long, tension filled moment, he spoke:
    “Nice going idiot! Now our boat is the only urinal for around 500
    miles!”

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  83. Viking2 (9,463) Says:

    A distinguished young woman on a flight from Ireland asked the
    > Priest beside her, ‘Father, may I ask a favor?’
    >
    > ‘Of course, child. What may I do for you?’
    >
    > ‘Well, I bought an expensive woman’s electronic hair dryer for my
    > mother’s birthday that is unopened and well over the Customs limits,
    > and I’m afraid they’ll confiscate it. Is there any way you could
    > carry it through customs for me? Under your robes perhaps?’
    >
    > ‘I would love to help you, dear, but I must warn you, I will not
    > lie.’
    >
    > ‘With your honest face, Father, no one will question you.’
    >
    > When they got to Customs, she let the priest go ahead of her.
    >
    > The official asked, ‘Father, do you have anything to declare?’
    >
    > ‘From the top of my head down to my waist, I have nothing to
    > declare.’
    >
    > The official thought this answer strange, so asked, ‘And what do you
    > have to declare from your waist to the floor?’
    >
    > ‘I have a marvellous instrument designed to be used on a woman, but
    > which is, to date, unused.’
    >
    > Roaring with laughter, the official said, ‘Go ahead, Father. Next!’

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  84. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    If you had issue V2 I’m sure they would be reading your words and cursing that you had spawned them! :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  85. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    A ventriloquist is telling Irish jokes in Davy Byrne’s pub in Grafton Street, Dublin, when, O’Leary, an irate Irishman stands up shouting, ‘You’re making out we’re all dumb and stupid. I oughtta punch you in the nose.’

    ‘I’m sorry sir, I………..’

    ‘Not you,’ says O’Leary, ‘I’m talking to that little fella on your knee.’

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  86. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    Two Irish mothers, Kate and Lorna were talking about their sons.

    Kate says, ‘My Patrick is such a saint. He works hard, doesn’t smoke, and he hasn’t so much as looked at a woman in over two years.’

    Lorna responds, ‘Well, my Francis is a saint himself. Not only hasn’t he not looked at a woman in over three years, but he hasn’t touched a drop of liquor in all that time.’

    ‘My word,’ says Kate, ‘You must be so proud.’

    ‘I am,’ announces Lorna, ‘And when he’s paroled next month, I’m going to throw him a big party.’

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  87. Luc Hansen (4,573) Says:

    @ PEB 7.41pm

    Does PEB understand that the Police are a government department? :-) :-)

    Such was the quality of our boys in blue…

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  88. nasska (6,367) Says:

    Three shepherds are sat in the Wainuiomata hills, tending their sheep when there is a sudden haunting, angelic sound.

    The sky brightens and a host of bodies starts to descend from the Heavens.

    “Fucking hell!” said JB in amazement. “You know when this happened last time, don’t you boys?”

    “Surely you can’t mean…?” said Tai.

    “Yes,” said Mike, “It was when we all got foot and mouth from that black ewe and were tripping for days.”

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  89. Luc Hansen (4,573) Says:

    I’m thinking about walking around to the Dunstan Hotel to watch the Warriors.

    Does it have Sky?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  90. Johnboy (10,724) Says:

    Fuckin hell nasska. You have to edit your jokes better than that! What you drinkin? :)

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  91. nasska (6,367) Says:

    Johnboy

    Can’t even blame the grog…….I’ve been dry over ten years.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  92. Luc Hansen (4,573) Says:

    nasska…

    go back to the grog. It can’t make you any worse!

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  93. mikenmild (6,603) Says:

    Well the Warriors surely can’t be worse than the Hurricanes were this evening – simply appalling.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  94. Put it away (2,887) Says:

    My neighbourhood is lit up like a christmas tree. Go civilization!

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  95. Pauleastbay (3,726) Says:

    Ah but Luc

    in those days they were autonomous before Helen’s mob wanted control

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  96. HB (212) Says:

    Pauleastbay (2,040) Says:
    March 31st, 2012 at 11:16 am
    “would apprecate opinions please folks”

    If this happened at the high school I teach at I believe it would be dealt with as follows (if both first offenders):
    Both students would be called into the Deans office. They would be individually interviewed so they could tell their side of the story. The teacher would also submit a report. If the reports differed we would also interview a few student witnesses so the facts could be verified. If someone was lying they would be confronted with the stories others had told. 9/10 they then confess the truth. Often in situations like you have described there is some fault on both sides, both will admit fault and can describe how they could have handled a situation more maturely. We then bring the students together and get them to discuss and apologise (if appropriate) to each other for their part and that it (the argument) finishes now. Being sorry is a commitment to not do it again. It is then explained to them what the consequences will be if the conflict continues. Strategies are discussed as for dealing with other students who will ask them about it. Maybe deans detention may be given but definitely apologies to the teacher whose class they have interrupted. Definitely noted on pastoral records.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  97. HB (212) Says:

    also….
    no need to take it to a lawyer. No need to react OTT to an OTT action!
    It will simply be recorded as a pastoral transaction, one of dozens that will be recorded at the school that day. Although most will of course be of a much minor nature.
    Just ask for an appointment to meet with the Dean or the DP in charge of discipline and find out their rationale.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  98. Viking2 (9,463) Says:

    HB (32) Says:
    March 31st, 2012 at 9:07 pm

    Pauleastbay (2,040) Says:
    March 31st, 2012 at 11:16 am
    “would apprecate opinions please folks”

    If this happened at the high school I teach at I believe it would be dealt with as follows (if both first offenders):
    Both students would be called into the Deans office. They would be individually interviewed so they could tell their side of the story. The teacher would also submit a report. If the reports differed we would also interview a few student witnesses so the facts could be verified. If someone was lying they would be confronted with the stories others had told. 9/10 they then confess the truth. Often in situations like you have described there is some fault on both sides, both will admit fault and can describe how they could have handled a situation more maturely. We then bring the students together and get them to discuss and apologise (if appropriate) to each other for their part and that it (the argument) finishes now. Being sorry is a commitment to not do it again. It is then explained to them what the consequences will be if the conflict continues. Strategies are discussed as for dealing with other students who will ask them about it. Maybe deans detention may be given but definitely apologies to the teacher whose class they have interrupted. Definitely noted on pastoral records.

    fucking hell. two silly teenage boys having a bullshit scrap and you roll out like fucking high class educational lawyers . Just tell them both to stop being stupid and get on with life. If it happened on a rugby field you would be praisng one or the other for being a toughy. If it happened down the street or at home you would tut tut and say oh well boys will be boys.
    No wonder NZ is stuffed with bullshit like that everyday. Teachers as detectives.

    What is it that makes teachers think they need to rule the fucking world.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  99. krazykiwi (9,188) Says:

    Well I have to report that the lights went out at Chateau KK this evening. Only for 5 mins, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the eco-rort that is Earth Hour. No, Wellington has turned on a stunning evening. The harbour is like glass and the stars are shining. Lights out, veranda doors open and a nice glass of Pinot were the keys to a few minute’s tranquility.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  100. HB (212) Says:

    well Viking2
    teachers don’t actually.
    we would rather be doing other things.
    it is dumb arse parents who defend their little darlings to the f’n hilt and threaten going to lawyers and the ‘ministry’
    we just follow protocol that is there because of this
    so.
    look at this as product of the society you all have created.
    teachers definitely would not rather be detectives. Shows how much you know about how it all really works.
    expert just because you once went to school?
    the parents are usually worse than the kids…

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  101. HB (212) Says:

    Viking2
    if it happened in the street you can almost guarantee that one set of parents would have called the police and that would be way worse than the dean making you apologise!

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  102. Nostalgia-NZ (3,499) Says:

    HB
    10.19

    When you talk about first offenders, a whole lot of other crap like ‘if someone was lying’ along with pastoral reports, it sounds like omniscient dick heads standing over kids.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  103. HB (212) Says:

    well it is hard to re-create what happens in here in kiwiblog. I was just trying to go with the context Paul gave.
    you all need to get over yourselves and realise I was just telling Paul (who was asking for opinions) what would have happened to his son in the same situation at my school. Which was way less harsh than what he got.

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  104. Luc Hansen (4,573) Says:

    @ PEB

    Crap. Muldoon had you guys on strings. Enjoy your retirement but don’t delude yourself.

    @ HB

    If you came here looking for informed comment, I suggest you move on. Mine host sets the scene here, and he hates teachers – unless, of course, they subscribe to his particularly peculiar view of the world.

    If more than a handful do, well, we’re fucked!

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  105. HB (212) Says:

    Nostalgia-Nz
    are you trying to say we shouldn’t call out liars?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  106. TimG_Oz (829) Says:

    Earth hour. Bollocks to that. Try Earth day, and do it once a week.

    Enjoy the Warriors. What is it now? 20-4?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  107. HB (212) Says:

    oh crap – my TV says 16-4.
    is mine not live?

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  108. publicwatchdog (1,366) Says:

    More to come in this National Government’s arguably corrupt ‘conflict of interest’ department?

    A rather large ‘elephant in the room’ that to date is apparently being rather studiously ignored?

    Does NZ Prime Minister John Key have a serious ‘conflict of interest’ as a shareholder in the Bank of America which has
    a substantial shareholding in the coal mining company Bathurst Resources Ltd?

    NZ Prime Minister John Key ‘officiated’ at the Wellington office opening of Australian miner Bathurst Resources on 21 March 2012.

    Is this not a major ‘conflict of interest’ if Prime Minister John Key stands to personally profit from opencast coal mining on conservation land, because of his personal shareholding in the Bank of America, which, in turn is a significant shareholder in Bathurst Resources Ltd?

    Whose interests are being served by NZ Prime Minister John Key?

    His own?

    Bankers?

    Investors?

    Or those of the public majority of New Zealanders?

    As of 24 February 2012, the Bank of America was a substantial holder of shares in Bathurst Resources Ltd:

    “Class of Securities (4) – Ordinary

    Present Notice “Person’s Votes 72,302,308 Voting Power (5) 10.44%
    http://www.bathurstresources.c

    NZ Prime Minister John Key is a shareholder in the Bank Of America.

    http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rd

    Isn’t this arguably a far more significant ‘conflict of interest’ than that for which Nick Smith had to resign?

    High time for an enforceable ‘Code of Conduct’ for NZ MPs?

    Of course – Prime Minister John Key is arguably not the best person to lead by example when it comes to taking a strong line against arguably corrupt ‘conflicts of interest’, or exhibiting integrity in practice and ethical behaviour?

    Remember TranzRail?

    It’s also been on Prime Minister John Key’s ‘watch’ – that NZ STILL has yet to ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption.

    How embarrassing is THAT for the country ‘perceived’ to be the least corrupt in the world?

    Penny Bright
    ‘Anti-corruption campaigner’

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  109. RightNow (5,365) Says:

    ^meh

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  110. publicwatchdog (1,366) Says:

    Ok Kiwibloggers!

    Spot the difference between the position of the FMA CEO on the ‘Lombard Four’, and the ‘Huljich Two’? (John Banks and Don Brash)

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1203/S01059/lombard-verdicts-highlight-directors-duties-says-fma.htm

    Lombard verdicts highlight directors’ duties, says FMA
    Thursday, 29 March 2012, 5:16 pm
    Press Release: Financial Markets Authority

    29 March 2012

    Lombard verdicts highlight directors’ duties, says FMA

    The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) today acknowledged the High Court’s sentencing of four directors of Lombard Finance & Investments.

    “The guilty verdicts in this case, and the sentences imposed, illustrate the obligation on directors to ensure that investors are properly informed, and are kept informed,” FMA CEO Sean Hughes said.

    “These verdicts, like those in the earlier Nathans Finance case, are a reminder to directors and their advisers that timely, accurate and meaningful disclosure to investors is an obligation which cannot be delayed or delegated to others. These responsibilities are hallmarks of New Zealand’s disclosure regime.

    “FMA is keen to help directors get these obligations right. We have a process underway to provide the market with further guidance.”

    In his 24 February judgment Justice Dobson said the primary issue was the adequacy and accuracy of disclosure.

    New Zealand’s disclosure regime “intended that investors be in a position to make decisions for themselves by being adequately informed on material matters, rather than making an investment decision in reliance on an assessment of the quality of judgment of those who would become custodians of their investments,” the judgment said.

    Lombard Finance & Investments was placed in receivership in April 2008 owing $111 million to around 3,600 investors.

    Sir Douglas Graham, Michael Reeves, Lawrence Bryant, and William Jeffries were found guilty on 24 February 2012 of four charges under section 58 of the Securities Act on the basis Lombard’s December 2007 prospectus and three investment statements contained false statements.

    The value of investments and reinvestments made during the currency of the December 2007 offer documents was approximately $10.45 million.

    ________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Petition stalks Banks, Brash

    ROB STOCK
    Last updated 05:00 11/03/2012

    ……………………….

    The FMA said the Securities Commission “obtained the advice of respected counsel on this issue. That advice was then reviewed and confirmed by a Queen’s Counsel. The commission considered that advice and the results of its investigation carefully.

    “It formed the view that there was insufficient evidence to show that either Dr Brash or Mr Banks would have known that the prospectus contained misleading information.”

    It went on to say that to the best of FMA’s knowledge, the decision was not influenced by political considerations.

    ________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Penny Bright
    ‘Anti-corruption campaigner’

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  111. Nostradamus (2,391) Says:

    *Yawn*

    Still waiting for answers to Nookin’s ARGUABLY very relevant questions:

    Nookin (1,652) Says:

    March 21st, 2012 at 5:32 pm
    So readers can assess your expressions of concern, Penny, please advise
    1. How many shares does Key have in Bank of America?
    2. What is the total share issue of Bank of America?
    3. What percentage of the total Bank of America portfolio is represented by the Bathhurst holding?
    4. What percentage fluctuation in the value of shares of the Bathhurst holding will have any effect on the value of the Bank of America shares?
    5. What fluctuation in value is likely if Key attends?
    6. Will his attendance makes any difference to Bathhursts decision makers?
    7. If so, how?

    *Tick* *Tock* *Boom*

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote
  112. DJP6-25 (1,100) Says:

    I celebrated ‘Earth hour’, by turning on all the appliances in my apartment for the duration. An easy way to give the luddites a one finger salute.

    cheers

    David Prosser

    Vote: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0 You need to be logged in to vote

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.